A Real Family

by Irish Rose1

Robert and Holly Scorpio have been living apart for years, but they're still legally married. When he suddenly shows up at her door with a request to end it, their lives change in a way neither expect. Needless to say, this is an AU set around 2006.

1. A Real Family

She didn't know who was more surprised when she found out she was pregnant; her or Robert because she'd come to the point in her life when children seemed unlikely. But when Nanny told her the things she needed to know all those years ago, she'd told her that just because a woman was going through her change of life, didn't mean she couldn't conceive.

And at that moment, Holly could not conceive of the idea that she and Robert were finally going to have a child together.

She kept telling herself that it had been a dreadful idea to let him into her house when he'd showed up unexpectedly on her doorstep that evening. She'd been feeling particularly melancholy that night, remembering a long ago life with him in Port Charles and from the look on his face, he seemed to have been remembering it, too.

It hadn't even occurred to her until later the next day that he'd known where she lived, even though she'd never told him. But if there was one thing she knew about Robert Scorpio was that he had the contacts and resources to find just about anyone; and it was truly a surprise that he'd wanted to find her.

He'd showed up around tea time and though she was sure he'd refuse, invited him to join her even when she wasn't entirely sure she wanted him there; but he'd accepted. Tea time then became dinner which stretched into a couple of nightcaps topped off with them dancing.

It was all too familiar and comfortable when she found herself being held close in his arms and for the first time in a very long time, felt safe. And when the one song she'd refused to listen to after all their years apart began to play, she felt him tense and was absolutely certain the evening was about to end:

"Night and Day, you are the one;

Only you beneath the moon and under the sun…"

She got the most peculiar feeling that he was fighting a battle with himself; whether to reject the past or embrace it. And when his lips sought out hers and he kissed her, he'd apparently decided to embrace it.

But even as her arms wound around his neck and she kissed him back, she knew it was wrong to give into her love for him because she had no idea how he felt about her. Nevertheless, she willingly assisted him in finding the way to her bedroom and then made love with him as though no time had passed. And lord knew that being in his arms, feeling him so close was something she never thought she'd ever experience again.

Waking up with him the next morning, she felt like the young woman she'd once been; so deeply in love. He must have been feeling much the same way because the look of love she saw when he first opened his eyes kept her momentarily frozen in that time. But just as quickly, they each seemed to realize where they were and that they weren't those people anymore.

As they each proffered hasty apologies to the other for what had happened, they tried to get out of her bed and find their clothes without causing themselves or the other further embarrassment. They avoided any kind of eye contact as Robert collected his things and rushed for the bathroom; no doubt to dress so he could get himself out of her house as quickly as possible.

When she got the news six weeks after he walked out her front door, she couldn't decide if it was luck, or fate that had him back in London that day because they literally ran into each other as she was coming out of the doctor's surgery.

And for only the third time since she'd known him, he blushed. If she hadn't been so startled at seeing him right in front of her, she might have laughed at the sight he made. But instead she took in a deep, nervous breath and told him that they needed to talk.

You might as well get on with it, Holly.

She'd forgotten that he knew London about as well as she did when he suggested a tea shop just up the road. And when they'd gotten settled and ordered a pot, she started to shake terribly.

It would have been one thing to tell him that she was carrying their child when they were still together because she knew how over the moon he would have been. It was her biggest regret that she'd never had that experience, to see the look on his face when he realized that they were going to be a real family.

Instead, she sat across from him that foggy morning in the cozy warmth of the small shop wondering how she was going to tell him. She pulled a handkerchief out of her handbag to give her hands something to do, a nervous gesture since childhood and when she took another breath, she started to cry.

"Holly, please don't." His voice was low and almost pleading. "I can deal with anything but that."

"I'm sorry." She shook her head, trying to compose herself as she dabbed at her eyes. "This is just so unexpected."

"I know." He agreed with a nod. "London can be an awfully big city until you run into someone-"

"You don't want to?" She finished his sentence for him, the hurt squeezing her heart.

"I was going to say, someone you weren't expecting." He scolded her gently. "And I certainly wasn't expecting to see you."

"I think somewhere fate is laughing at us." She dried her eyes and took one more breath before she found the courage to look up at him and into the blue eyes that she still saw in her dreams.

"What do you mean?" He asked her as he sat straight back in his chair. It was a posture she remembered well; he was preparing himself for what she was about to tell him.

"I've been to see my doctor." She started and then hesitated before she began again. "I haven't been feeling well lately and thought maybe I'd caught a bug. So he did a thorough examination and when I saw him today he said that nothing was wrong."

"You were coming out of the surgery when we ran into each other." He was starting to look a little wary and Holly sensed that he might be catching on.

"Yes." She replied. "So after he examined me he decided to run some tests, just to make sure he hadn't missed anything."

It was Robert's turn to sigh; he knew.

"You've had a pregnancy test, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"I've had the strangest feeling the last few days that something was about to happen, but I had no idea what it could be." He took a deep breath of his own and sat forward. "Six weeks."

"Yes." She was shaking again, but this time he reached across the table and laid his hand over hers. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, unless you're planning on doing something about it-" He started and Holly shook her head.

"I could never do that." Her heart was fluttering furiously. "To myself or to you."

"You do have a way of surprising me, Holly Scorpio." He sighed again. Then his demeanor changed suddenly and there was that sarcastic tone in his voice she could never abide. "Or is it still Sutton these days?"

"My legal name is still Scorpio, Robert." She leaned forward as she quietly reminded him. "I only started going by Sutton when you were married to Anna."

He seemed to flinch at the mention of his second ill fated marriage to her.

"Holly." He curled his hand around hers and held it. It was the first time in more years than she cared to remember that he'd held her hand. "It shouldn't have been like this, you know."

"And whose fault is that?" Holly tugged her hand out of his grasp and couldn't help giving voice to the bitterness she felt from that time and still rubbed her raw on occasion. "You were the one who chose other priorities over me."

"I did." He agreed without any argument and that rather surprised her. "And they're decisions that I've regretted for longer than I can say because I lost you."

"Well at least you realize it."

"More than you know, luv." He sighed and sat back as their pot of tea was set on the table.

"Shall I?" She asked with a gesture toward the pot and with a nod from him she picked it up to pour each of them a cup. After she set it down, she reached for the cream pitcher. "Still three drops?"

"Yes." His head dipped and she wondered what was going through his mind when he looked up and caught her eye. "You still remember after all this time."

"You'd probably be surprised what I remember."

"So would you." He remarked before he picked up his cup and took a sip. A startled look flashed across his face and he set it down on the saucer so heavily that when it clattered, a number of patrons glared at him.

"You remember it?" Holly asked, quite certain that he hadn't. The decision to request the special blend whilst he'd stepped outside to take a call was one that had left her somewhat uneasy because she wasn't sure if he'd recognize it.

"It's a little difficult to forget Nanny's special blend." Robert seemed to chastise her for thinking he'd forgotten. "Robin tried to make it for me once, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't get it quite right."

"It was very sweet of her to try, though."

"Yeah, it was." He agreed and took another sip. "You know, of all the things that have gone wrong in my life she's the one thing that has always been right."

"I'm glad for you, Robert." She took a sip from her own cup, wondering if he'd ever feel the same way about their child.

"The little one you're carrying is part of that, too." He still had the ability to read her mind it seemed when he reached for her hand again and held it firmly in his grip. "I did a fair bit in mucking up our marriage, but I will to do better by him or her."

'If it was a boy, I think we should call it Mortimer.'

'She will be called Samantha.'

"That's all that really matters." A pang of regret rushed through her and she wanted to say, "What about us?", but their time had long passed. And as to what they were going to do about the child she was carrying; well, there was time to make those decisions before the baby was born.

'Let's bury that argument until the day of the blessed event.'

'Agreed.'

"Who'd have thought I'd be having another child at this point in my life." He took another sip of his tea and suddenly laughed; a surprisingly happy and joyful laugh. "I'm too old for this."

"Well I'm not exactly in the blush of youth either." Holly chided him as he picked up the hand he held and kissed her fingers. The spontaneity of it startled her and him as well because he quickly set her hand back down on the table and withdrew his; old habits. "But there's no doubt about my having it."

"I'm glad to hear that." He nodded. "I guess the question now is; how would you feel about my popping in every now and again over the next few months?"

'Now and again' was better than nothing.

"I know you'd probably prefer my not hanging about, but I didn't get the chance with Robin. I'd rather not miss it this time, if you don't mind."

"You're so certain what I'm thinking." Holly lowered her eyes to look into her half filled cup before she looked up into his and had the urge to cry again; bloody hormones. "I would never deny you that."

"I'm sorry, Holly; but I had to ask because I feel like I don't know you anymore."

He was being honest and her heart squeezed painfully because once upon a time, he never would have felt that way. "Did it feel like you didn't know me six weeks ago?"

"Ah, luv; it was like we'd never been apart." It was Robert's turn to contemplate the contents of his cup and his hands were visibly shaking. "It felt like our wedding night all over again."

"I was so scared that night, when we finally made love." She'd never told him that before and wasn't sure why she was doing so now.

"Of me?" He sounded a little hurt and she laid a hand on his arm.

"Never of you, Sweetheart." A long ago endearment slipped out and as Holly felt her face flush, pulled her hand back. "It was what I felt for you that scared me. It was so much more than what I'd ever felt for Luke and I thought I knew what love was with him.

"But your friendship, your caring and your love for me was always unconditional. And on our wedding night whilst we were dancing, I knew with all of my heart that I'd found the love of my life and that frightened me."

"You felt guilty."

"Yes." She admitted with a nod. "It didn't seem possible that I could fall in love with you so easily. And yet living with you everyday and getting to know you as someone who was more than Luke's best friend, especially after I'd lost the baby, I found myself doing exactly that."

"I felt so helpless then." He put his cup down. "And with that infuriating Baldwin case to deal with as well, I didn't feel like I was being much of a friend, let alone a husband to you."

"Robert, if it hadn't been for your forcing me to face up to what had happened; I'm not sure what would have become of me."

"I didn't have a choice. You'd become an important part of my life without even trying and without my realizing it. Before you lost the child, I'd never felt the need to take care of a woman before. But seeing you in so much pain, it's all I wanted to do."

"I don't think I ever properly thanked you for seeing me through that."

"Yes, you did." He assured her. "Not with words, but with the way you became your own person. You weren't Holly Sutton anymore and you weren't Mrs. Robert Scorpio; you were just, Holly Scorpio and I was very proud of you. I was proud to be able to call myself your husband."

"You still are, my husband." She clarified quickly. "And I'm still your wife."

"I know." He picked up the teapot, refilled both of their cups and set it down again. The simple act didn't go without notice because it was the first time she could ever recall that he'd done it. "How do you feel about that?"

"How should I feel?"

"Don't answer my question with a question." Robert nearly growled at her. "Holly, we're either married or we're not and what we've got right now isn't a marriage."

"It isn't even what we had at the beginning." She found herself agreeing with his assessment. "We may not have loved each other then, but at least we saw each other every day."

"Have you changed your mind about that?" Holly saw his face go a little pale.

"About what?"

"Holly."

"What?" She was almost certain he wanted to know if she still loved him, but she wanted to hear him ask, just to be sure.

"Have you changed your mind; how you feel about me?" And he leaned across the table, grabbing her hand tightly; his words slow and deliberate. "Do you still love me?"

"With all my heart." Her answer was honest and direct; now came the hard part. "Do you still love me?"

"I love you more than life itself." He didn't hesitate and his words were equally as honest. "And my life hasn't been worth a damn since we've been apart."

"All right, we love each other." She stated it as a simple fact. "So what are we supposed to do about it, then?"

"The reason I showed up a few weeks ago was to talk to you about a divorce. It just seemed the only thing to do since I wasn't sure if you still loved me and we hadn't lived together since you left Australia."

"You left long before I did, Robert."

"And I've already told you that I made a mistake." He frowned at her. "I put Anna and Robin and even the WSB ahead of you and I've been paying for it ever since."

It wasn't all his fault, Holly.

"You said earlier that you did a fair bit in mucking up our marriage, but you weren't the only one. I ran to England to help the family when I should have stayed put and fought for you, for us. I should have called you the moment I came out of that coma to let you know I was alive." She looked down and put her hand on her abdomen before she looked back up at him. "I should have done this with you when we were still together."

"I shouldn't have dropped everything and left you every time Anna called." He voiced his own recriminations. "And I bloody well shouldn't have gotten so involved with the WSB again."

"No use crying over spilt milk now, I suppose." She shrugged. "We can't undo the past."

"But if you'd be willing to take a chance on the future, we might just be able to change it." He put all of his cards on the table and waited. "I'm done with the WSB for good this time. I've done everything they've asked me to do and I'm under no further obligation to them."

"So what have you been doing then?"

"Traveling and consulting; doing a bit of investigating." He smiled. "And I like it. I can come and go as I please without constantly being monitored."

"Would you ever consider going back?" It was a question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to.

"After what happened to us? Never." He held her gaze. "If I'd known all those years ago that my getting pulled back into the WSB would cost me the life I had with you, I never would have done it."

"What about your need for adventure?" She had to know exactly where she stood before she agreed to anything.

"I can still get it; but on my own terms, not someone else's." He started to run his thumb across her knuckles; in bygone days, he did it to soothe her. "I know why you're hesitating and I can't blame you for that."

"We're not the same people we were then, Robert."

"I know that and it's going to take time; but don't you think we owe it to our child to at least try?"

"Only if we do it with a clean slate." She laid her own cards on the table and waited.

"I'm getting a sense of déjà vu, here." Robert let go of her hand and sat back.

"If you truly want to do this, we start at the beginning; just like we did when we first got married."

"Rebuild the trust and see where it goes." He added with a nod. "Anything else?"

"Yes." She answered him. "We get a minister and make our vows properly this time."

He seemed to consider it and nodded again. "All right; but we're going to need witnesses."

"I'd like to ask Celia. She's been living in Paris the last few years and she could be here as soon as the arrangements can be made."

"But it's going to take my brother some time." He countered. "And he's going to have to collect our marriage license."

"We probably won't need it."

"Maybe not. But the minister may ask for it and I'd like to have it just to be safe." He sat back quietly.

"All right."

"So we're really going to do this, then?" He looked as unsure as she suddenly felt.

"It's not too late to back out." She made the offer to him, remembering the last time she'd done it.

"'Fraid not." He answered with a shake of his head. "This child of ours is going to have the both of us around for as long as you can stand me."

"That could be awhile." She suddenly had the absurd urge to smile, but resisted it.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He looked to her to be relieved that she was willing to go along with him, as she had the first time. That set her mind at ease at what they were about to do and he reached across the table to take her hand in his.

And with a handshake their deal was struck.