Chapter 2

September 12, 2007

You come off so cool
Denying emotions, the unwritten rule
And it's getting so old
To fear that you might lose control

"'Let's take this one day at a time?' What does that even mean? What's he planning to do? Does he want to be a part of the baby's life?" Brenda Barrett goaded, taking Robin's hands in hers as they sat having tea in her apartment. When life refused to make sense, Robin always found herself at Brenda's apartment, seeking advice. This wasn't to say that Brenda always had the right answer, just that she always had an answer ready. It might have seemed drastic for Robin to make such a long trip, but she didn't really have any friends in Port Charles that she was ready to share this news with.

Brenda was practically unbiased. She hadn't ever met Patrick due to the fact that there were two years in-between her leaving Port Charles and Patrick coming there to assist upon request. After being publicly scorned and humiliated at her wedding to Jasper Jacks, Brenda had gone to Jason Morgan. He, in turn, got Brenda on the first plane to Paris, France. Robin was her only real contact with Port Charles anymore since Sonny was too busy trying to remember which woman he was with and Jax was wound up in Carly's lies.

"I don't know. He needs time to think, but we haven't broken up. That's a good sign right?" Robin asked, her voice light but hopeful. She sunk back on the couch, lazily throwing her arms over her stomach as she waited for Brenda's take on things. Praying that in five months her decisions would be the right ones, Robin worried that she was in way over her head. Her solutions were based on suppositions. There was no stability to what she had with Patrick, no matter how hard she wished for it. He was so overwhelmed by everything. The reality was that he had helped create a baby and his decisions would affect their baby's life, no matter what he ended up doing. Robin always found herself holding his hand and assuring him that it would all work out.

"A good sign. Maybe. Don't give me that look. I only know Patrick from what you've told me and from what I recall, it isn't the prettiest picture. Especially the way things started off." Brenda added softly, taking a drink of her tea and staring down at the dark liquid thoughtfully. She wanted to give Robin the best case scenario, but she needed to stay realistic if she really meant to help her friend. This wasn't just about Robin or Patrick; there was a baby involved now, and that meant that both of them needed to consider the best option for it first. They were parents; on purpose or not, they were solely responsible for the well-being of the baby. She knew that her friend was far too naïve, especially when it came to her heart. There was nothing wrong with this and she wouldn't delude herself into believing that she wasn't the exact same way. She and Robin were merely friends over continents; they hadn't had a stable friendship in years. She wasn't in danger of siding with either of them; she did have to think about her future duties as an honorary aunt/godmother though.

"He lost his mother through unfair circumstances, and when his father should have been there to pick up the pieces, he ran away." Robin stated defensively, her insecurities spilling out like blood from an open wound. Only Brenda knew about their baby; neither of them was ready to tell the world until they had a set plan. This baby would change everything.

"What makes you so sure that Patrick won't do the same?" Brenda wondered in a steady voice, not wanting to pick a fight. Robin's hormones were erratic enough when she wasn't pregnant. She didn't want to dash her friend's hopes even if it was for the best; if it was up to her, if there wasn't another life to consider, Brenda would have blindly believed whatever Robin told her. As it stood, she didn't even know Patrick and that was going to have to change.

"He's so afraid of becoming Noah." Robin answered without hesitation.

"Do you trust him?" Brenda inquired, meeting Robin's eyes.

"No." Robin whispered, quickly brushing away a tear.

*****
"Didn't I tell you this would happen?" Pete Marquez, Patrick's only acquaintance, chuckled.

"I don't remember you telling me that Robin would get pregnant." Patrick retorted, his temper too short to be talking to his good 'ole college buddy, Pete. He felt beaten down, confused, and left to clean up his own mess. Mess pretty much described the awkward life he had with Robin now. Whatever they had had before clearly wasn't strong enough to stand on its own, so, as it happened, they both changed dramatically to keep from having to end things.

"I said she would do whatever she had to do to keep you with her." Pete corrected, rolling his eyes at Patrick's statement. He downed his glass of scotch before setting up his shot and knocking two striped balls into the same side pocket.

"She didn't do this on purpose. You don't know her like I do." Patrick insisted, remembering how flustered Robin had been when she worked up the courage to tell him the truth. She wasn't a desperate woman; nor was she selfish or clingy. In the last few months, she had come to care about him, inadvertently pressuring him into admitting his feelings before he was even fully sure what the hell was going on. Did he love her? Yes he did. Had he ever planned on saying the words aloud? Only if she had had a gun aimed at his head.

"What do you really know about her? She seems to bounce from one guy to the next until they get tired of her." Pete replied, stepping back so that Patrick could take his shot. He was in the lead, but he might just let his confused friend win tonight.

"Her first love died." Patrick argued, missing his shot and swearing under his breath. "As far as the last guy she was with, she exposed him for the coward that he was, and he couldn't look at her after that." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, cringing at the tequila as it burned down his dry throat.

"You're so blind, buddy." Pete informed him, studying the balls in front of him before taking his turn.

"How am I blind? What would you do?" Patrick challenged, folding his arms over his chest.

"Me personally? I would get out before things got too complicated." Pete clarified without a moment's hesitation.

"How can I when she stayed with me after I was stuck with that needle? She didn't give up on me." Patrick sighed, squeezing his eyes shut when the world became nothing more than a hazy blur.

"You make her sound so noble, so perfect." Pete scoffed, taking the drink from Patrick and slamming it on the bar. Coleman barely glanced up at him.

"She's flawed and that's what made her so enticing." Patrick clarified, sounding like a stupid fool under the influence of improbable love. Pete could see it; why couldn't Patrick? Was he so desperate to make things work with Robin? Was it just to prove that he and Noah were nothing alike? Didn't he see that this was exactly what Noah would have done, exactly what he had ended up doing. Noah never would have left a pregnant Mattie, so why did Patrick feel the need to copy him in that respect?

"Is it worth throwing your life away because of a mistake? Is she worth losing your freedom?" Pete demanded, shaking Patrick's shoulders so that he opened his eyes. Patrick's gaze was dark and spooky. He wasn't even here in his mind. He was so obviously drunk that there was only one solution: he had to take him home. Robin would throw a fit if Patrick showed up this way, but it was about time she realized what she was going to be dealing with if she kept up her little charade.

*****
Robin was ripped from her dreams by the sounds of loud talking and the shattering of a lamp. She reached for her taser, not trusting Patrick's alarm system, and tiptoed down the stairs and into the living room where the noise originated from. The lights flipped on and she paused, her location obvious as she stood on the last step of the stairs. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed Pete in her apartment. He never looked up at her, just helped a stumbling Patrick to the couch. Robin watched in horror, wanting to shut her eyes to clear the scene from her mind.

"Hey Robin." Pete waved his hand at her and Robin barely gave him a nod of recognition. "Sorry if I woke you up. It seems Patrick had one too many drinks tonight. I wanted to make sure he got home all right." Pete went on, feeling obligated to explain.

"And I'm sure you have no idea how he got to be inebriated?" Robin sneered through her teeth. Pete only shrugged his shoulders.

"Thank you so much for bringing him back to me. There really is no other reason for you to hang around. I'm sure you have something important to do." She hurried him toward the door, her nails digging into his back as she pushed him forward.

"I am doing something important: I'm taking care of my friend." Pete shot back, frowning at Robin's sharp tone.

"Taking care of him? By getting him drunk? Maybe you should look up the word friend in the dictionary. You must have misread the definition." Robin snapped, opening the door for him.

"Congratulations on your kid. It's a little hard to think that Patrick's reproducing." Pete mused. "Before you start in on your lecture, think about how all of this is affecting Patrick. You really think he's strong enough to handle something like this?" He stood in the doorway so that she couldn't kick him out without hearing what he had to say.

"You make it sound like I got myself pregnant." Robin was angry, more so than she had been in a very long time. Only Carly Corinthos could provoke this kind of reaction from her.

"Didn't you? You wanted Patrick and so maybe you did what you could to make sure that a baby was in your near future." Pete declared judgmentally.

"If you're implying that maybe I suggested we leave a condom off or something, you obviously don't understand the situation. If we were ever to have unprotected sex, I could infect Patrick with HIV. As his best friend, shouldn't you know this? Shouldn't you have all of the facts before jumping to conclusions?"

"I don't know why he thought you were worth the risk, or the trouble." Pete shook his head and left. Fighting back the urge to cry, Robin twisted around to face the couch where Patrick had passed out.

"He's wrong. You know that, don't you?" Robin asked, not expecting an answer. "He's right about it being hard for you to deal with this, but that's just it: you don't deal with pregnancy. We've clearly gone about this the wrong way. When you wake up, after I make as much noise as possible, you're off the hook. I won't let our child become the excuse you need to go out and get drunk." She pressed a warm kiss to his forehead and returned upstairs, wishing that there was another way. If she walked away now, Patrick wouldn't have to live with guilt. He wouldn't have to be blamed for them not lasting; she would take full credit.

Author's Notes: Song credit goes to Scott Clifton's "Deep."