A Brief Conversation, A Lykaia Side Story

+ CAST: Lucian & Amelia Carranza, Lou & AJ's Parents.

+ WARNINGS: Brief mentions of child abuse. Mildly proofread. Probably bad writing.

+ WORD COUNT: 2.3K

+ AUTHOR'S NOTES: I figured the events of this story took place not long after Amelia had woken up. I like to think that she spent the first few weeks learning about all the advancements that had been made in the past 25 years. i have a hard time figuring out where to fit some things in the series, so here we are with the written stories.

“This is a phone?” Amelia asked as she sat crossed legged on Lucian’s soft green couch. The fabric of the sofa rubbed softly against her bare legs as she sat partially clothed in one of his old t-shirts. The newest Helios Model X mobile phone weighed heavily in her hand, as the screen lit up to the touch of her finger. “You only need this thing to talk on. All these flashy screens and buttons are unnecessary. It is a scam to be charging thousands for this.” She trolls her eyes as she lightly tosses the phone to Lucian, who is watching her attentively as he sits beside her on the couch. Cheerfully he responds- “I said the same thing. Yet Annie and Lou were hellbent on me buying this. It’s a waste.” He adjusts himself in his seat and sits back. “I only use it to talk to them. And to take pictures-” “It takes photos? Let me see.” Before he can answer Amelia is already reaching the phone. Aptly, he pushes her hand away. “Ah!- I will show you. Just wait.” Turning himself to completely face her, Lucian brings up the camera app on the phone. Angling the camera towards her he grins- “Say cheese!” “Fuck you.” Amelia retorts as the sound of the camera shutter fills the air. Lucian inspects the photo for himself first, showing all his teeth as he smiles at the phone. “See? Look how beautiful.” he says as he hands the phone off to her. Amelia whistles, “This is nice! It’s so clear!”, she turns her head towards him- “how many more of these can you take? 20? 30?” Lucian chuckles lightly. “Hundreds or thousands depending on how much storage I have left. I have quite a few photos on there already. Here-” He taps on the phone as she holds it tightly in her hands opening up his photo album. There’s hundreds of pictures of Lou and AJ over the last year. Lots from casual hangouts with the two of them and their partners. A large bulk of the photos are from Lou’s 21st birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. Amelia taps on one image in particular of Lou, AJ, and Lucian standing together near the skee-ball games. Each of them smiling widely as Lou poses with his swath of tickets won for him by Imogen. “This was his birthday?” Amelia asks as her eyes are glued to the phone. “Yes.” Lucian responds as his eyes shift towards Amelia’s face. “It was just this past summer. He wanted to have a full-blown child’s birthday party. To..” Lucian slows his words for a second “make-up for all the years we didn’t get to celebrate together when he was a child.” Amelia doesn’t respond immediately. Instead her finger hovers above the screen as she prepares to swipe to a new photo. Lou looks a lot like his mother in this photo, she thinks. He’s got Lucian’s eye color, but the shape of his eyes and the tint of his hair all scream, Melissa Howell. The photo and the thought of her puts a sour taste in Amelia’s mouth, so she quickly swipes away from it. After shuffling through a few more photos she hands the phone to Lucian, turning her head slightly to face him. “..That’s nice” she answers as she plops the phone into his hand. The two are quiet for a moment. Waiting to see which one of them would speak first and acknowledge that exchange or move to another topic. Amelia hoped it was the latter until Lucian’s voice filled her ears asking “Does that bother you?” Exhaling a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, Amelia shifted her body more to face Lucian. 

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You have to ask me why it would bother me to see you celebrate the birthday of a child with the woman you replaced me with?”

“She was never a replacement for you. Ever.”

Amelia scoffs and rolls her eyes. “‘Never a replacement’, really?” There was a hint of disgust in her tone. “I had only been dead, what? A year before you ran right back to her. Not a replacement- please. She got all the same treatment that I got as your wife. I thought it would stop at the sex and the relationship, but you just had to give her a baby too. She got everything I got. You used her to replace me. That was your other wife.” she says, turning her head away from him at the utterance of the last statement. She had long forgiven Lucian for the mistakes he had made. She had years to sit with what had happened. There’s nothing but time and silence in the underworld, which created the perfect storm for her to constantly replay the events of their marriage in her head. Amelia could accept Lou. She was happy to accept him. He was simply the byproduct of their dysfunction and shouldn’t be made to film shame for it. And he had so happily accepted her as his mother that she couldn’t help but to adore him already. Though she couldn’t help but still feel bitter about Melissa. It was a pain she just couldn’t seem to shake off. The way she was betrayed by the both of them- it was unforgivable. She waited a while longer before turning back to face a silent Lucian. He had been chipper the entire day since Dallas had dropped her off to visit, but now a pained expression painted his face. Bright hazel eyes were now partially filled with tears as his lips pursed tightly together. Perhaps that was a little too honest and mean. Amelia could hear and see every time Lucian came to visit her grave from the moment she was buried. She watched him cry and beg for forgiveness. She watched as he struggled with his grief so severely that he was unable to live alone. And she watched and listened as he told her about every single detail of his life that she had missed since she passed. His decision to rekindle with Melissa because he felt so alone. His decision to not follow her to Copperdale when she moved there from Texas. Even down to his decision to leave her when she said she would not accept Annisa. Amelia had heard it all and throughout it were apologies peppered in. He was disgusted by the way he treated her, how he constantly took her constant presence for granted. He missed how she’d call him stupid when he very clearly did something incredibly stupid. He missed the friend he had known since he was 17. Lucian had no one but her in the states. The two came on there on their own. While they made some friends, none of them could compare to the support and comfort they gave each other. After she passed he wasn’t keen on going back home since his family had just about shunned him for the way he treated Amelia. He was left alone to raise a newborn in a foreign place he didn’t care to be in without her. He only came to the states for Amelia and with her gone what reason did he have to do anything? A heavy tear rolled down his cheek as he forced out a strained “I’m sorry”. Amelia never knew Lucian to cry. In all the years they had been together she hadn’t seen him cry once. He was stoic in that way. A bit old fashioned. His papa had raised him to believe that men never cry. That they should be strong and bravely face anything that came their way. Amelia had always thought it was a stupid notion. She wasn’t one to cry either, but she surely didn’t think less of him if he did. After she passed it seemed that all Lucian did now was cry. He would attempt not to whenever he brought Annisa to visit her grave site. He’d often find himself choking back tears to not alarm AJ, but he would always cry when he came alone. More recently, he would always cry whenever he brought Lou along with him. She’d hear him urge Lou to not take Imogen for granted. To give her all the love and respect he wishes he would have given Amelia. And Lou would always accept his advice and hug him. He would suggest to Lucian that Amelia may have forgiven him for all he had done. Acknowledging that it was okay to cry, but he didn’t have to. She may not hate him still. She might understand. And Amelia did. Eventually. She had been angry for a while. Especially once she was informed of the existence of Lou. After everything the two of them had been through, he still went back to Melissa once she was gone. And what’s worse is that she got to carry his child and be there to see him grow. Meanwhile, Amelia’s time with AJ was limited to trips to her grave or speaking through Dodona. Melissa got to be alive and be physically present in Lou’s life, yet she wasted it. Beat the boy bloody on a constant basis and shunned him once he was larger than her. Amelia would have loved him. She would have protected him. She would have let him know his father. It was unfair and she was jealous. Melissa had all that Amelia could have wanted and yet she squandered it. Ruined her relationship with Lou, Lucian, and Annisa. 

Somber green eyes shift downwards towards her palms. Her hands were interlocked now as she held them in her lap. “You don’t have to keep apologizing, Lucky. I forgave you a long time ago” she was looking at him now. Her eyes locked with his. “I am just.. Sad. And angry that I was gone. That.. she got to have you and have the life I should have had with you. I don’t-” she struggles with her wording for a moment. It’s a new habit she’s seemed to pick up lately as she’s been constantly surprised by Lucian’s newfound listening skills. He would have interrupted her already if this was 25 years ago. “I have no bad feelings towards you. Or towards my Lou. I am just-” she exhales again “hurt.” Another tear rolls down Lucian’s cheek as he reaches for her hand. She quickly accepts his in hers. His hands were much larger than hers. A lot more callous due to all the years of physical labor he’s done, but still surprisingly soft and warm. She had missed just holding his hand. “I know. I won’t stop apologizing for it. I never meant to hurt you, Ame. I just didn’t care if I did or not. I was selfish and self-centered-“ he says, dropping his head. “I can never forgive myself for it. For putting you through all of that. You didn’t deserve it. I promised you that I would protect you and always take care of you. I hadn’t ever considered myself someone you’d need protection from. “ With her free hand Amelia waves it in front of her face dismissively. “I didn’t need to be protected from you.” she retorts. 

“I just need you to be devoted to me like you should have been.” 

“And I will.” Lucian says quickly. 

“I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Or what is it you want to do, but whatever you decide- even if you never want to be with me, I promise I will take care of you. And I will protect you. And I will stay devoted to only you for the rest of my life. I will make up for everything I did before.” Gripping her hand more tightly he says “I promise.” Amelia cocks her head to the side, raising a freshly manicured brow in the process. “Together or not? We are not together?” Lucian hesitates to speak for a moment when a hard shove hits his shoulder. “Heh?” Amelia asks, now waiting angrily for him to respond. Shocked by her anger, Lucian responds “You still want to be with me? After everything I’ve done?” Her face softens after processing his words and she laughs lightly. She releases his hand and moves hers to cup his face. Her fingers lightly moistened by the tears that once coated Lucian’s face. “You are still my husband, Lucky. There was no till death to we part. You were stuck with me in this life and the next.” Amelia smiles gently at him. Her eyes never strayed from his. “I still don’t fully understand how I’m here, but I plan on taking full advantage of it. I got a second chance at life, I think it’s only fair to give everything a second chance. That includes our marriage. I want everything back that I lost. Every experience I didn’t have. Everything I didn’t get to do or try, for as long as I’m here this time I want all of it. Raising my baby- as big as she might be now. I could still put her over my shoulder and burp her-” Lucian chuckles as another tear rolls down his cheek and onto Amelia’s thumb. “And that also includes being the wife I didn’t get to be. Having the family I didn’t get to have. I’ve missed you, Lucky-”

“I’ve missed you more-” Lucian answers quickly, grabbing Amelia’s wrists and gently pulling her onto his lap. He buries his face in the crook of her neck as the two settle into a tight hug. Both her arms wrap tightly around his neck and shoulders, as one hand works her way into his hair. It’s soft to the touch, the brown curls loosely wrapping around her fingers, and almost getting caught in her wedding band. He always took good care of his hair, but to her dismay he often kept it short. It’s nice to see that he’s grown it out. “I should die more often.” Amelia says grinning. “I didn’t know that’s all it took to get you to behave.” Lucian scoffs and pushes her off his lap. “Die again and I’ll kill you.”