Hello everyone! I was going to post this later on today, but I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I don't own GH or any of its characters, but all originals are mine.
Summary: A person's whole life can change in an instant. No one knows this better than Dr. Patrick Drake and Dr. Robin Scorpio. The idea came to me after listening to "Golden" by Fall Out Boy and watching a Night Shift episode of all things. Tell me if you like it.
Rating: PG
Prologue
Five years earlier
Leonard Ascot was in his early sixties, but he could have easily passed for ninety some days with balding gunmetal gray hair and a face that resembled a squashed piece of Play-Doh. His sapphire razor-sharp blue eyes set him apart from the sagging old men he played weekend golf with at least. It was only sheer will on his wife's part that he was still able to get himself dressed and to work in the morning. Alice had suggested they move his office to the house since he had a bad hip, but he would hear none of that. The day his patients had to come visit him at home would be when his legs no longer supported him. He had tried to explain to her that he didn't want to appear weak.
With three decades of psychiatry under his belt, he was the top analyst in the state. In the beginning his rates had been atrociously high, but now he figured they were adequate. His house had been paid off years ago and his money went one of two places now: his grandchildren's savings or the pharmacy. His dad hadn't been lying when he had warned him about what a pain in the ass growing up was going to be. His body shut down a little more everyday, but he was a stubborn man. He took his medication religiously, knowing that it would keep him going as long as he needed it to. His daughter, Emma, was in her last month of pregnancy and he wanted to see his grandson, Adam, before he passed on.
Leonard clasped his hands together in his lap as he leaned back against his desk. It was all for show. Once his patient was gone, he would collapse in a chair and need assistance from his secretary to get back on his feet. For now, he had to appear strong and able. The man sitting on the maroon couch in front of him had been coming to him for the better part of three years. He had known this man since his infancy, having befriended the Drake family when he and Alice moved to Albany with, at the time, baby Emma. The two children had been inseparable until young Patrick went off to medical school. Poor Emma had cried for a month after he boarded the plane. If Theodore McNamara hadn't come into the picture soon after, Leonard had no doubt that his daughter would still be pining after young Patrick all these years later.
"I really have to wonder why you felt compelled to come in today, Patrick." Leonard regarded the twenty-seven year old with a small smile. Since the man and his young wife, Penelope, had moved to The City their visits had become few and far between. The drive was inconvenient Leonard knew, but Patrick made it once a month to talk about how his life was going. If the grin was anything to go by, he was doing just fine. Still, he had called his mentor two weeks early, having something important to discuss with him.
"I wanted you to be the first to know." Patrick beamed, sitting with his hands under him resembling an impatient child. His ego had grown several sizes too big since the last time Leonard had seen him. It was a wonder Penelope could keep him in line, but she was an incredible young woman. Unlike Patrick, she worked as a corporate executive for SemGroup, a private billion-dollar company founded in 2000. They had met at a New Year's Eve party thrown by a friend in common and hit it off almost immediately. Six months into the relationship, Patrick moved her into his condo.
"The first to know what, dear boy? You keep up the suspense and I might have to pop another pill."
Patrick bit the inside of his cheek. Leonard had one of the easiest personalities. Where he might lack in a socially acceptable point of view, he more than made up for with his quick humor. Leonard was famous, at least in the Drake family, for his charcoal suites, mismatched ties, and unrealistically shiny loafers. He had coached every one of the neighborhood baseball games until he suffered a heart attack in Patrick's fifteenth year. While it had been mild, Alice had taken it as a sign from God that her husband needed to eat better. He had done his best to grin and bear his way through sugar-free breakfast cereal, Fig Newtons, and dinners consisting only of vegetables for a whole year. Finally, he had gone to the doctor and caught a break. Alice hadn't questioned the doctor's meal suggestions, and before anyone knew it, Leonard was back as if he had never left. Granted, Patrick had caught him with a bottle of Mylanta in his back pocket when they would go and get pizza after each and every one of his victories, be they school-related or sports-related.
Abruptly, Patrick moved his hands to his knees and explained, "Penny's pregnant." It was so good to tell someone. Penny had sworn him to secrecy, wanting to share the good news at Christmas, but she had made one concession and he was standing in front of Patrick. Leonard shot up from his lounging position-at least as fast as a sixty-three year old man could-and shook Patrick's hand, clapping his back with his right hand. Rising to his full five foot eleven inches, Patrick embraced the older man and they did the man hug thing before pulling away and smiling at each other.
"That is great news, Patrick. Absolutely incredible news. How far along is she?" Leonard said, glancing over at the pictures of his own family on his desk. There was a candid of Patrick in a NASCAR uniform from when he had driven race cars back in high school. "You never know incandescent joy until you are holding your son or daughter in your arms and they reach out and grab your finger with their tiny fist." The old man continued his voice soft as if he might be fighting back a tear or two. Patrick knew he had made the right decision in coming to Albany instead of telling Leonard over the phone.
"Four weeks. It was a complete surprise, let me tell you. I had just gotten home after a twelve-hour shift and I found Penny asleep on the couch waiting for me. When I went to carry her up to bed, she woke up and smiled at me. She started talking so fast it was hard to understand her. By the time we got upstairs, I finally realized what she was saying. She said baby and I almost dropped her, swear to God. She just started laughing and hopped down. As tired as I was when I left the hospital, that's how alive I felt after hearing the news that I was going to be a father." Patrick was still in awe from the entire experience. Penny had started to tear up and he hadn't understood, automatically assuming the worst. It wasn't until her lips curved into a smile that he realized how wrong he had been. "I've never been one for dancing, Leonard, but I tell you, we danced until the sun came up."
"Where is Penelope now? Why didn't she come with you?" Leonard wanted to know, his tortoise-shelled glasses sliding off of his broken nose. He had always told Patrick and anyone else who would listen that he had earned the broken nose defending Alice's honor. He had never elaborated, but the story just made Patrick admire him more. If it cost him his hands, he would always protect Penny the exact same way. She was the light at the end of the tunnel, that much-needed cup of coffee after an all-nighter of studying and partying, and most importantly, she kept him grounded when he was close to losing it.
"She had a board meeting this morning that she couldn't miss. She sends her love though." Patrick promised, wondering, not for the first time in the last week, if this was all a dream. Would he wake up covered in sweat and find out that all of this was simply a hallucination? Well if he was dreaming, he prayed he never woke up to face a cold, lonely morning.
"What kind of father do you think you'll be?" Leonard asked, morphing into doctor mode.
"I don't know, actually. I just keep hoping I don't drop it." Patrick answered truthfully, a bashful grin spreading across his face. His chocolate, half-moon eyes glittered with silent laughter and he lifted his chin proudly. "Penny's got me reading all these parenting books and, let me tell you, I'm freaked out."
"You've been around babies and small children before haven't you? Even if only in passing?" Leonard suspected. Patrick was a doctor. Whether or not he had ever had a young child as a patient, he had to have at least seen them in the hallway.
"Yeah, once or twice." Patrick responded slowly. "I'm an only child and so were both of my parents. What if I screw up once he's here?" His eyes were round and imploring. Leonard could still remember how overwhelmed he had felt when the doctor placed Emma in his arms. He had vowed then and there to protect her always. Holidays were a little strained these days, because it was hard to take his daughter's husband seriously. The man had tried everything he could think of to make Leonard like him. What he didn't seem to understand was that the older man's distaste had more to do with the fact that he had taken his daughter out of the state than his personality or lack of sense of humor. God, the guy was boring at dinner. Leonard had gotten to where he would say the prayer and gobble away at his food, blocking out whatever 'ole Teddy might have said.
"I can tell you for certain that you're going to make mistakes." Leonard replied, watching his young protégé go pale. "It's part of being a parent. You'll learn though. In time you'll be able to change a dozen diapers in one point eight seconds."
Patrick chuckled uncomfortably. "Penny's already started looking for a good neighborhood to move into, you know, one with a good school and such. I don't know how she has time for any of it."
"Women are resilient, didn't you know that Patrick?" Leonard shook his head knowingly. "Are you staying in The City or are you thinking of coming home to Albany?"
"I like The City." Patrick wasn't going to be baited by the question. Leonard was worse than overbearing mother when it came to his choice of where to live.
"Have you told your father yet?" Leonard wondered.
Patrick shook his head no. "Penny and I wanted you to know first. Everyone else has to wait a week for Christmas."
"Can I at least spill the beans to Alice?"
"By all means. She can keep a secret like no one else." Patrick recalled.
"That she can. That she can." Leonard agreed. "This time next year, there'll be two babies at the dinner table."
"How is Emma?" Patrick inquired, lifting an inquisitive bushy brow.
"The baby could be here as soon as next week. Teddy tells me that her hormones have reached Level 10. I think he was relieved when her friend Robin came to take her out for a spa day here recently."
"Robin?" Patrick couldn't remember ever hearing about her, but it made sense for his childhood pal to have friends besides him. He cringed at the thought of his wife turning on him. She could hold a grudge like no one's business, so he'd have to watch his back over the next eight months. He'd gotten halfway through the baby book she had given him and one of the first things it warned the expectant father of was how his wife could take almost anything he said out of context. They were extra vulnerable during pregnancy. Basically, talking to his wife would be like running across a minefield and praying he didn't blow himself up. He hoped he made it to the third trimester alive.
"Robin Scorpio. You remember her. She was at Emma's housewarming last year." Leonard reminded him.
"Are you sure I met her?" Patrick liked to think he paid attention, but then what was one more guest at an overcrowded event anyway?
Leonard scratched his chin. "Unless you left Penelope's side at some point during the party, Emma must have introduced you. She's a doctor too."
"Doesn't ring any bells. Does she work in New York?" Patrick answered noncommittally.
"Port Charles General." Leonard supplied and decided to abandon the subject. "You said four weeks? Oh, you haven't even gotten to the fun stuff yet. Wait until she asks you to bring back some of the strangest combinations of food you've ever seen. For Alice it was pickles wrapped in cheese."
Patrick made a face of disgust, one that Leonard immediately mimicked. "Penny's having some morning sickness."
"Alice used to tell me that it should be called 'all-day sickness' since she spent a good part of her pregnancy bent over the toilet." Leonard sighed.
"Any suggestions?" Patrick asked.
"You mean besides, 'Don't drop the baby'? Nope. It's a learning process. You don't learn French overnight and the same goes for parenthood. You'll make a fine father just wait and see."
