Jess Mariano's Daughter

Visit From Uncle Luke

Jess was doing... okay. Well he and Lory weren't dead yet, so he was at least on the right track. He managed to find a small, shared apartment.

I knew that buying the essentials for a newborn and food for him was going to make things difficult. He did have the money Luke slipped him, but he decided to save part of it for emergencies, and use the rest to buy stuff for Lory.

He got a job close by and when he was looking at the apartment the building manager must have taken some pity on him because she offered to watch Lory while he worked.

Everything was working out. Things weren't great, but they were manageable. Things were moving smooth... and then Luke showed up.

Jess' POV

I was getting ready when there was a knock at my door. I answer it to see Luke standing there.

"Hey, neighbor! The guys next door just ran out of crack to sell, so they sent me over to borrow a cup. Hey, nice place. You put those holes there yourself?" Luke asks, as he enters the apartment.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, already not happy to see him.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Going great," I reply.

"Great. You're doing great. Wow, you're doing great. I'm not doing great and I have running water."

"The place is fine," I say.

"Fine, not great. What happened to great?" Luke asked.

I just want him to leave. I don't want to see his reaction when he sees that it's not just me here, but also my baby, who is lucky for me, is currently asleep.

"All this and no housewarming gift."

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I just thought you were going absolutely nowhere with your life. Glad I'm wrong," he says sarcastically.

"Hey, which filthy mattress is yours?" he asks.

"Right there," I say and go to slip on my shoes.

"You got the good corner, with the view of the mold."

"Yeah, I won the toss. Now if you don't mind, I've got places to be," I say.

"Let's get down to it. Liz told me you weren't coming to the wedding," Luke says.

"No way you're here about that," I reply.

"I am here about that."

"Why?"

"Why? Your mother's getting married, and you're not coming."

"No biggie. I'll just catch the next one."

"Jess, this guy is different."

"Come on."

"Well he could be different. He seems different."

"Jeez, man."

"I've seen him with Liz. They seem to work. We need to support this thing, to give it a chance," Luke says.

I open the fridge to get Lory a bottle, " no, we don't," I say.

"You are going to regret this," he tells me.

"Doubt it."

"No, you are. If you ever manage to grow up and get yourself together and drop this selfish, self-destructive behavior that you are so fond of, if that ever happens, you are gonna look back on this moment, and you're gonna feel like a big seaming mound of crap that you missed this."

"This could have been a turning point, and you could have witnessed something good for your mother, who, yes, has screwed up a bit in her life, but now-," he keeps taking, but I miss it because I hear small cries coming from across the room.

Before I can react to her my pager goes off.

"What, are you a drug dealer now?" he asks.

"I'm a messenger. I gotta go. Hey, Todd, it's four," I go over to pick up my daughter, who is now awake.

"You owe me. I was there for you when no one else was, and I want you there... and you owe me" Luke says.

I turn around and he sees Lory. His eyes look like they might pop from their sockets.

"What is that?"

"This is just another selfish and self-destructive act," I reply.

"Who's baby is it?"

"Mine," I say flatly.

"Yours? What do you mean it's yours?" Luke questions.

"It happened in California. I didn't know until I got back to NewYork. That's why I came back for the car," I say.

"So, um, the mom-"

"Not around. Just us," I reply.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, just looking at her. She definitely has my eyes.

"I kind of named her after you," I say, not looking at him.

Instead I was looking at Lory, as she peered up at me.

"Really? Why?" he asks.

"Because like you said, you were there when no one else was. You and-" I cut myself short and look up at him.

"Eleanor Lucelle ," I say.

"That, that's a good name," he's still in shock.

"You want to hold her?"

"Um, well, I, uh," he rambles out.

"You'll do fine, here," I positioned her in his arms.

He just looks at her for a little bit.

"So, Eleanor?" he asks.

"I call her Lory," I state.

This causes him to look up from Lory, and at me.

"Really?"

"Yeah." I say, looking at the ground.

I can't help, but smile a little. I check the time again.

"Crap, I gotta head out. I was serious about having to be places," I tell him.

"Okay, well, here," he hands Lory back to me, and I put her bottle in her diaper bag, and pick it up.

"I'm serious about you coming. I still say that you owe me," Luke says.

"I'll think about it Luke," I say, ushering him towards the door.

"Hey, Todd!" I yell again, as I follow Luke out.

I drop Lory off and head to work.