Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes)

Lucas Jones (born Spencer, formerly Stansbury) is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital. Lucas is the adopted son of Tony Jones and Bobbie Spencer. Uncharacteristically of soap operas, Lucas was never SORASed, as his birth date has remained the same since the character's actual birth on the show. He was most recently played by Ben Hogestyn.

Birth and adoption
In 1989, Tiffany Hill's sister Cheryl Stansbury is pregnant, seemingly with mobster Julian Jerome's child. Cheryl is on the run from Julian, and boards a bus. During a stop over in Delaware, Cheryl wakes up in a clinic with a doctor and nurse hovering over her. They tell her that she passed out in the bus station and was brought to the clinic. The doctor, Dr. Perry, informs Cheryl that she is sick and he doesn't know if she will be able to deliver a healthy baby safely.

Meanwhile, back in Port Charles, Bobbie Spencer wants to adopt a child. She is hopeful that she will be able to adopt the baby of a pregnant woman named Molly, but after the baby is born, Molly decides to keep the baby. Bobbie is devastated. She then meets a man named Clayton who tells her that he can help her adopt a baby, for the right price. Clayton then calls Cheryl's doctor, Dr. Perry and tells him that he has a potential client, and asks if Dr. Perry has a patient.

Cheryl then goes into labor. Later, Clayton goes to the clinic where Dr. Perry tells him that the baby is fine, and that the mother is still under anesthesia after the c-section. When Clayton hears she had a c-section, he tells Dr. Perry that since Cheryl doesn't remember the baby being born, Dr. Perry can tell her that the baby died. When Cheryl wakes up, that is what the doctor tells her. Bobbie is overjoyed when the baby is brought to her in Port Charles. She names him Lucas Spencer, after her brother, Luke, and asks Robert Scorpio and Terri Brock to be his godparents. He is christened on September 14, 1989. Unbeknownst to everyone, Lucas is actually Cheryl's baby; and Cheryl believes that Robert, not Julian, was actually her baby's father. After the christening, Tony Jones proposes to Bobbie, she accepts, and they are married on October 13. Tony then adopts Lucas, making him Lucas Jones.

Illegal adoption revealed
In April of 1990, Lucas becomes very ill. For a while, no one knows what is wrong with him. Bobbie goes to Clayton to try and find out about Lucas' family medical history. He is of no help and she realizes that the adoption was actually illegal. At one point, Bobbie can't wake Lucas up and rushes him to the ER, where he is put in ICU. He’s in a coma for a short time and Simone Hardy diagnoses him with Type I diabetes.

Robert Scorpio begins to investigate Clayton and his illegal adoption ring. He is led to Dr. Perry, whom Robert also starts to investigate. Meanwhile, Tiffany tells Bobbie that her sister Cheryl lost a baby the previous year, around the same time Lucas was born. Bobbie begins to notice signs that Lucas might actually be Cheryl's. On one occasion, Lucas has an insulin reaction and Cheryl knows exactly what to do and helps him. She tells Bobbie that diabetes runs in her family. Tiffany had also told Bobbie that Cheryl's baby was born in Delaware, which is where Dr. Perry used to have a clinic.

Bobbie tracks down Esther, Dr. Perry's nurse, to get answers. Esther confirms to her that the baby is in fact Cheryl Stansbury's. Bobbie is shocked, and decides to keep it a secret because she loves Lucas and does not want to give him up. The only person Bobbie confides the truth in is her Aunt Ruby.

In December of 1990, Cheryl collapses and is put in General Hospital. During her time in the hospital, she tells Tiffany that her baby is alive. Tiffany and Cheryl's doctors, Alan Quartermaine and Tom Hardy, think that Cheryl is refusing to accept the loss of her child and try to convince her that her baby is dead. She also tells Tiffany that Julian Jerome is not her child's father, but that Robert Scorpio is. She tells Robert that she knows her baby is alive because she heard him crying. Without telling him that he is his father, she asks Robert to find him, which Robert agrees to do.

Frisco is working on the illegal adoption ring case and finds out that Bobbie's son Lucas is actually Cheryl Stansbury's. He goes to Bobbie and confronts her with the information. He finds out that Bobbie has known for months and has kept it a secret. Bobbie is able to convince Frisco to keep the secret and to help her keep Lucas from going back to Cheryl. Frisco lies to Robert and Anna and tries to keep them from finding out about Lucas.

Robert and Anna, however, are only one step behind Frisco and end up finding out the truth anyway. Robert confronts Bobbie and tells her that she has to give Lucas back to Cheryl because he was taken from her illegally. Bobbie refuses. Robert tries to convince her, but she still refuses, so Robert tells her he'll have to take legal action. Several days later, Robert again tries to convince her, and then demands that she give up Lucas. When she won't, he goes to the nursery to take him, but he's gone. Bobbie has sent him to stay with Ruby. Robert goes to get a court order and Bobbie packs a suitcase, planning to take Lucas and run. When Bobbie arrives at Kelly's to get Lucas, Tony is there, and she has to tell him everything. Robert goes to Kelly's and Bobbie tearfully and painstakingly lets Robert take Lucas from her arms.

Robert then takes Lucas to Cheryl, who is now out of the hospital, and tells her that Lucas is her son. Cheryl is shocked, but overjoyed, and tells Robert that he is Lucas' father. Robert denies it. Cheryl points out that they were together at the right time and tries to convince him. Robert demands a blood test to prove it. Cheryl is so convinced that she has no problem with him getting a blood test, thinking it'll prove he is the father. The blood test, however, proves that Robert is not his father, meaning that Julian Jerome is Lucas' father. Cheryl takes Lucas and moves to Phoenix, where she has accepted a job.

Cheryl's death and custody battle
On October 2, 1992, Tiffany receives a phone call from Phoenix saying that her sister Cheryl was in a car accident and that she's in critical condition. Tiffany and her husband Sean fly to her bedside to find that she's in a coma with a severe head injury. Cheryl unfortunately does not make it after several days in the coma, and Tiffany has to explain to little Lucas why his mommy won't be coming home. Tiffany and her parents decide that it's in Lucas' best interest for him to live with her and Sean, so they take him back to Port Charles with them.

When it comes time for the reading of Cheryl's will, everyone is surprised when the instructions state for both Tony and Bobbie to be present, in addition to Sean and Tiffany. Scott Baldwin plays a video tape that Cheryl had made in the case of her death explaining her decision for custody of her young son Lucas. In the video, Cheryl leaves Lucas in the custody of Tony and Bobbie, who raised him the first eighteen months of his life. Tiffany is devastated at this and right away believes that either Cheryl wasn't in her right mind when she wrote the will, or that she was mad at her. Tiffany can't believe that Cheryl didn't leave Lucas to her and Sean.

Tiffany refuses to give Lucas over to Bobbie and hires a lawyer to help her sue for custody of him. She says she loves him and can't let him go, especially after losing her sister. Tiffany cites that she is Lucas' blood relative and should have custody of him. At the court hearing, after hearing several witnesses testify, the judge awards sole custody of Lucas to Tony and Bobbie, as Cheryl's will stated. They promised to allow Sean and Tiffany a relationship with him and told them they could come over whenever they wanted. On March 1, 1993, Tiffany tearfully hands Lucas over to Bobbie. Both Tiffany and Sean retain a relationship with him until they move to Boston in 1995.