Sunday at the Drake's was a joyful time for everyone. Just being together again for such a normal family event as Sunday dinner was something Robin never thought would happen again. Having both her parents together with her and her own family meant the world to her. But Robin, being Robin sensed something was off even for them. She caught both of them on numerous occasions just staring at the other as they ate or played with Emma. She also noticed that there seemed to be tension between her mother and Duke as they barely spoke to each other during the entire evening. As Emma was getting ready for bed, she asked Robert and Anna to read her a story as she sat between them on the couch. To an unknowing eye, watching the 3 of them together laughing with Emma and each other it would appear they were a lot more than just ex-spouses. Robert had his arm on the couch around both of them as he and Anna acted out the story for Emma who laughed and held both of their hands. Robin noticed this interaction as well and sensed more than something was going between her parents. She watched both of them intently as they looked into each other's eyes on more than one occasion and she hadn't seen those looks in a very long time. As she glanced back over to Duke sitting in the chair, she realized he was also seeing the same thing. She made a mental note to invite her mother to Kelly's tomorrow. She had to find out what was going on. /p
For Anna, the prior few of days had been hell. After leaving Robert that night she struggled with her thoughts and decisions. She found herself constantly reliving her brief encounters with Robert and she realized with painful clarity that she missed Robert, she needed to see him, and she wanted to be with him. In some sense she always wanted him but when he gave her the choice, basically stating that he did want her again she knew there was only was choice for her. She made her decision that night but she struggled with how she would reveal this all to Duke. She didn't want to hurt him, he had been hurt so much and for so long, she knew it would devastate him. She decided to wait after the Sunday dinner at Robin's to have the discussion, she didn't want to ruin it for everyone. Robin loved Duke as well and Anna didn't want him to be excluded considering it might be the last time they were all together. For most of the weekend, Anna avoided Duke by working at the office to wrap up the Franco/Jacks/Webber case. The excuse seemed to work as Duke didn't seem bothered by it, plus he was equally busy with Sonny working on how to bring down Julian. As Sunday morning dawned Anna found herself excited at the prospect of seeing Robert that day. In fact she couldn't wait to see him, she only hoped it would not be awkward. She needn't have worried. When her and Duke arrived, Robert was seated on the couch with Emma playing their Diggeroos and having a ball. She couldn't help but break out into laughter at seeing the two of them. She could see how much Emma loved her Grandpa and it warmed her heart. Robert was acting all goofy and Emma was eating it up. Robert had no sense of ego when he played with Robin as a child and she could see he was the same with their granddaughter and she loved him for it. Although Robert was disappointed that Anna and Duke showed up together, he didn't let on. He hoped all weekend that he would hear from her, but was not surprised that he didn't. He figured now by the fact that they showed up together, that she has made her decision. It saddened him greatly, but he understood and wouldn't let it ruin the rest of the evening.
After they all said their hellos Robert had to excuse himself to wallow in his disappointment and was in the kitchen looking for a beer in the fridge when Anna walked in. "Hey." He said while opening the top. The next few moments felt to Robert as if he was standing outside himself. She stood there and stared at him from across the room and smiled. Then with deliberate grace she walked up to him and grabbed his head and kissed him hard. Robert was so shocked that he could barely respond. The kiss turned tender and loving as she hugged him close to her. They broke their kiss and Robert tried to recover. "What was that for?" He asked as she wiped her lipstick from his lips. "I must be losing my touch if you have to ask?" Anna said with a smile. "I don't understand." He said confused. "I'm sorry, I know it looks strange since I showed up with Duke tonight. I was going to come see you tomorrow and tell you, but I couldn't wait. I love you Robert, I always have and I always will. I want to be with if you'll have me." She said knowing with all her heart that she was where she wanted to be forever, in his arms and staring into his eyes. Robert stared at her in surprise not knowing if he was dreaming and if he heard her correctly. "You know I want you. I have wanted you forever and that is never going to change. I love you Anna Devane with all that I am." They kissed again, this time with intent. They both became lost in the moment when they heard Robin approaching the door yelling back to everyone that dinner was ready. They sprang apart fast and unbeknownst to Robin were adjusting themselves when she walked in. "Hey, you guys ready? Mom can you help me bring the food out?" Anna winked at Robert as she said "Sure sweetheart." Robert was still in shock. He still didn't understand what was going on. Why was Duke here if she had decided that she wanted to be with him. "I'll help too Robin, we'll be right out." He said. Robin looked back at both her parents with a questioning look but decided that obviously they were engaged in a pretty intense conversation when she walked in. She decided to leave it be and left. Quickly he turned back to Anna. "Whats going on? Why is Duke here?" He asked in a hushed tone. "Shhh." She admonished, "I'll explain it all later, but I plan on talking with him tonight about us." Anna said. "You mean he doesn't know anything?" "No. He has no idea. I was going to tell him yesterday but I decided tonight would be better." Robert didn't like the sound of that. He assumed incorrectly that she and Duke spent the weekend together and now that bothered him greatly. "So are we just going to go on with the evening as if nothing's changed?" Robert asked incredulously. "Yes we are." Anna stated matter of factly. "Robert, please be patient. I know that's not your strong suit, but I promise it will be worth the wait." Anna said kissing him with more than a little lust. She knew that would shut him up and it did.
As the evening progressed Anna and Robert were pretty confident they were keeping their feelings in check, but as observed by Robin and to some extent Duke, Robin knew something was going on, she just didn't know what. She remembered the conversation with Anna at Christmas regarding her Dad and Duke and was surprised that her mother admitted to loving both men. She was also rather surprised that Anna never gave her answer on what she would do if Robert walked through the door and asked her to be with him. She wondered silently, if something had changed in the last few months. The evening ended uneventfully as they all said their good-byes with Robert leaving first and giving the women of the family hugs and kisses trying awkwardly to kiss and hug Anna without any apparent meaning.
As Anna and Duke were on their way back to the hotel, she asked Duke to come back to her room. Duke unaware of anything else said there was no place he would rather be and chalked up the tension and the observations of the evening to his own imagination. As they entered her room, Duke made a move to bring Anna into his arms and kiss her. She pulled away gently saying "Duke, we have to talk." At that his phone rang and it was Sonny. He decided not to answer it. He did not like the sound of what she just said and if he told her Sonny was calling him, it would only provoke her even more. He suspected that she decided she can't deal with his involvement with Sonny and he would have to make a choice. "Okay let's talk. My guess is that you're having second thoughts about me working with Sonny." Anna looked at him trying to muster the courage to continue. "Actually that's not what I want to talk about. It is true, I will never be ok with this arrangement. I think it's too dangerous for you and I fear this will all end badly." "Anna, I told you before I have to do this, for you, for us." Duke replied. "Duke, please I don't want to have this conversation again. It's not what I wanted to talk to you about anyway." With that, Duke was a little concerned what else could be going on and then it dawned on him. "Duke, you know I love you and I was so happy when we found you in that clinic alive and well. It was a dream come true for me. I had missed you so much the last twenty years that I thought I had finally what I always wanted." Anna said grabbing his hand. Duke picked up on it immediately. "You thought?" Duke asked. "Yes, when we came back to Port Charles after Robert was in a coma, I thought that we could just pick up where we left off and everything would be perfect except of course that Robin was not here. And to some extent we did, but I still felt something was missing and I attributed that to still not having Robin in my life. But now she's back and I am overjoyed about it, but there is still an emptiness. Over the last few months, although I have been denying it to myself up until recently, I have come to realize what that missing piece is." Anna said looking at Duke and willing her tears not to fall. "It's Robert isn't it?" Duke asked without hesitation. Anna didn't answer, but looked down at her hands. Duke really wasn't sure up until that point, but obviously he was right. "I see. What are you telling me Anna? Is it over between us? Are you with Robert now?" Duke asked standing up. "No I'm not with Robert, Duke. What I'm saying here is that I've tried to make this work with us and I thought it was but I realized it's not." Anna replied. "Please tell me the truth Anna, I saw you and Robert tonight and I sensed something was going on. So please tell me is Robert the reason you're ending this." Anna knew he deserved the truth. "Yes." That's all that she wanted to share with him. She didn't want to hurt him with the details. "I can't say I'm surprised." He said pacing back and forth. "Does he know? Forget it don't answer that I don't want to know. This is unbelievable. It's unbelievable to me that you are willing to throw away what we have to go back to a man who has abandoned you time and again." Anna was startled by his outburst but she let him continue. "Anna can this really be what you want? What happens in six months when Robert decides once again that he needs to leave you behind again? What will you do then, because as much as I love you I won't be here to pick up the pieces? I may have lost 20 years of my life but I still have my pride." Anna replied softly. "I wouldn't expect you to. I don't know what my future holds nobody does, but I can't go on lying to myself or to you. If this is our one last chance, I have to take it. I'm sorry but I do love him and I need to do this." Anna said openly crying now. "I refuse to accept this. I think you are just confused with everything that has gone on the last few months with finding Robin and Robert coming out of his coma. I think you are confusing those emotions with having renewed feeling for Robert. I know you two spent a lot of time together finding Robin and I'm sure you bonded over that or did something else happen then or recently? Have you slept with him?" Duke asked now wanting to know if he was being made a fool of. "No, no I would never betray you like that." Anna said realizing instantly an old wound she had exposed. "Then why all of a sudden? This makes no sense." Duke responded. "It's not all of a sudden Duke, well not really. I think I have known for a long time now but I was in denial. Look I know this is not fair after everything you've been through but I couldn't go on lying to myself and to you." Duke didn't know what to say. He couldn't believe this was happening. He refused to believe it. She had to come to her senses. "I'm sorry Duke, I am so sorry." Anna said crying. He couldn't answer but headed for the door. "I refuse to believe this is over." He said looking back at her as he closed the door behind him. She watched him leave and then broke down when he closed the door. That was one of the worst things she ever had to do, but she knew it was the right thing.
