Love and Litigation - An Alex Cabot/Law and Order SVU fanfiction

Chapter 31

That evening: 

-

-

- 

Although he'd been looking forward to a night in with Alex, Luke's planned had changed. He was now headed to dinner with the man he commonly referred to as the "sperm donor". His plan for the night was simple. Get to the bottom of what his father's intentions were, and get out of there as quickly as possible. He didn't want this to drag on any longer than it had to. 

Luke opened the diner's doors and quickly spotted his father sitting in a corner booth. As he made his way to him, he removed his sunglasses and slipped them into his shirt pocket before sitting down. To his surprise, there were already two colas sitting on the table. 

"I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of ordering for us. Cokes too." 

Luke took a short sip of his drink, his eyes continually glued to Jack Dawson. A few moments of silence filled the air until his father broke it.

"Look, I won't beat around the bush," he said, removing a manilla folder from the empty seat next to him.

"When your mother died, I was still her power of attorney even though we were separated."

Luke kept his eyes on his father. 

"I still own the house you kids grew up in. She never wanted it to be sold. She made that clear in our conversations." 

"Conversations?" 

Jack situated himself in his seat. 

"When we talked about getting divorced, there were a lot of arguments. One, in particular, was about who would get the house. She was going to have a will drawn up, but she didn't get around to it before--" 

He stopped mid-sentence. Clearing his throat, he went on. 

"She wanted you to have it." 

Mr. Dawson slid the folder across the table to his son. Inside were papers, handwritten by his mother detailing her wishes. Luke's eyes glanced up.

"Why me? Why not Camelia?"

"Your sister was always going to marry well. She'd talked about it non-stop since she was a kid. But you? You've always been a loner. Your mom always wanted you to have a place to come home to."

Luke stared at the papers, placing his hand on the ink of his mother's handwriting. Oh, how he missed her. 

"So why am I just finding out about this now?," Luke asked, anger creeping into his tone. "Mom has been dead for over fifteen years. You didn't think I might want to know about this?" 

"You went overseas right after she died, and then you wouldn't even speak to me once you got home. The next thing I knew, you had moved here to New York. When was I supposed to tell you? You cut me out of your life." 

"I wonder why that is. It couldn't have to do with the fact that you were a drunk and a wife beater, right?" 

Jack stiffened. 

"You'd do well to watch how you talk to me, boy. I'm still your father." 

"Or what? You gonna hit me again, dad? Just like old times?" 

Luke stood up, towering over his father like a beast over man. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he laid out a warning. 

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm bigger than you now. I'd love to see you try what you did back then." 

He stormed out, leaving his father sitting alone in the diner. Before he could get to his car, a voice echoed behind him. 

"That house could be yours, Luke." 

He turned around. 

"Come home. You don't belong here." 

Closing the distance between them, Luke's suspicions grew stronger. 

"I knew you wanted something. Go on and say it." 

"Come back to South Carolina, and I'll sign the deed over to you. I've got a job waiting for you at the factory. We can start over." 

"Do you hear yourself?" Luke asked, disbelief covering his face. 

"This is my home! I have a career that I love, and you want me to go back and do something I hate?" 

"Oh, please. You're going to choose this fantasy life over your life back home? Your family is there. Your childhood home is there. Have some damn pride for once!" 

"There he is," Luke breathed with a nervous grin. "I knew you'd blow your top eventually. You never change." 

"You're the one who's changed. What the hell happened to you?" 

Luke dropped his hands from his hips, slowly steadying his breath. As he walked towards his father, he looked him dead in the eyes. 

"You want to know what happened to me? You. You happened to me. You think you can come here and try to blackmail me into coming back? You're out of your damn mind. And the house? Move into it. Sell it. Burn it down. I don't care. I don't want it. And I don't want you."

Staring his father down one last time, Luke turned and walked away from him. As he got in his car to drive home, his phone chimed. It was a text from Amanda asking him to come over. What could she want this late?

-

-

-

Luke impatiently stood outside of Amanda's apartment. Just as he was about to knock again, she opened the door. He knew immediately that something was off.

"What's wrong?" 

She motioned him inside and closed the door. 

"Can I get you some coffee? Or some tea? It's pretty late." 

"I'm fine. What's going on?" 

He watched as the paced her living room floor. He had almost forgotten his own anxiety at the sight of hers. 

"You weren't asleep, were you? I hope I didn't wake you up."

"Amanda," he said sternly, grabbing her by the wrists and attempting to center her. "You're scaring me. What's wrong?" 

The look on her face remained serious. She took a deep breath, seemingly trying to find the words. 

"I'm pregnant." 

Luke dropped his hands, clearly stunned. 

"What?" 

"I just needed to tell somebody and you're my best friend, Luke. Plus, I trust you more than probably anybody else on this planet." 

Her nervous smile made him reciprocate as he pulled her into a tender hug. He could feel her relax as they embraced. 

"How do you feel?" He asked as he released her. "Are you okay?" 

She moved towards the couch to sit down and he followed. 

"I'm not sure yet. I think so. It's just--"

Luke waited for her to continue. 

"It's scary because it's so unexpected, and I don't even know how to be a mom." 

"You're gonna be a great mom. That's gonna be the luckiest kid in the world."

Amanda offered a half-smile. 

"They're probably gonna put me on restrictive duty, but I'm still gonna carry my weight. Don't worry about that." 

"You know I'm not worried about that. I'm here for whatever you need. You're not gonna be doing any of this by yourself." 

She wrapped an arm around him, burrowing into his chest. He held her as she came to the reality of her situation. 

"I'm so lucky to have you in my life. I don't know what I'd do without you." 

Luke held his best friend tightly, knowing in his heart that he felt the exact same way.