Anna pulled up in front of Robin's apartment building and had to stop to take a deep breath. There was something about Christmas that to this day set her off her game. Even during those years with Bart, there had been something deep inside her that screamed at her that something was missing from her life...and the screams were always loudest in December. Once her memory returned, she'd understood. It was the last time her family had truly been complete and happy, and to this day the moment the lights went up and the carols started she had an instant sense of foreboding. A part of her wanted more than anything to go back in time and tell her younger self to hold on to Robert and Robin for dear life...to enjoy every moment...and for the sake of all things holy not leave the house that fateful day, but this year she would do her best to wade through those regrets. It was Emma's first Christmas, and nothing would spoil it. She only wished Robert were here. May be with him at her side it would be easier, but it wasn't to be this year. She'd made another trip to see him after a long overdue talk with the higher ups in London, and promised him that she'd be back after the holidays for a long overdue talk with him. If life had taught her anything, it was that everything can go up in smoke in an instant. They couldn't wait any longer. It was time to make some real commitments.

She forced herself to get out of the car and trudged up the stairs lugging the million and one bags of things Robin had requested from London for the baby. Anna hoped it would lift her daughter's spirits a bit. Robin as always was being tight lipped, but Anna knew from the underlying sadness in her voice and the endless phone calls to her that something was up. Robin rarely called her when she knew she was on assignment, but since leaving Port Charles she'd called Anna three or four times a day. A fact that made it difficult to hide her visit with Robert. Anna knew that Robin would be happy to have them back together, but she also knew how fragile her daughter was right now, and how sensitive she'd always been when it came to the state of her parents relationship. She didn't want to give Robin any false hope until she'd had a chance to talk to Robert clearly about where things were going, and that was a conversation she wanted to hold off until he was in remission. She needed to know that Robert was committing to her because he wanted to and not because he was terrified he was going to die alone.

She balanced the bags as best she could when she made it to Robin's door and slipped the key into the lock calling out for her daughter. She got no answer, but as she lay the bags down her heart skipped a beat, and she knew she was not alone. There was only one person...one man...that could do that to her. "Robert?" she questioned, afraid to turn around.

"Hi, honey. I'm home."

She was going to kill him. What the hell was he thinking leaving treatment? Did the man have a death wish?

Robert could clearly see the conflict in Anna's eyes when she finally turned to face him. He knew full well that she was glad he was here with her, but he also knew that she was furious he wasn't in the hands of the team of world class doctors she'd found for him. The cancer had scared him, but it had terrified her. He regretted causing her any undue worry, but he hadn't had time to call her before booking a flight to Port Charles. Dr. Carter had come to see him a couple of hours after Anna had left to join Robin and Emma for Christmas to bring him the news that he was in full remission. No sooner had the words left the man's mouth, Robert packed a bag and headed for the airport. He knew how hard Christmas was for Anna. Hell it was hard for him too. There were too many memories...too many woulda, shoulda, couldas associated with the holiday, and besides that something was off with his wife. Ex-wife he reminded himself, something he would definitely have to get around to changing. She'd come to him a week ago fresh from resigning from the agency, and he'd instantly known something was different. There was a tiredness about her. Even her body felt different as they'd made love. He couldn't pinpoint what it was, but somehow she'd just felt different. As beautiful as ever, but different. A thought that crossed his mind again as she stood before today, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"If you've jeopardized your treatment Scorpio, I will kill you."

Uh-oh, thirty plus years and he still hadn't learned not to let himself get distracted when it came to Anna. She'd always made fun of him, but the truth was it was her that you had to be careful of when scared. He was pretty sure if she had her way, he'd currently be wrapped in bubble wrap in a padded room with the best doctors from at least three different continents monitoring his every breath. Until he convinced her he wasn't about to keel over, she was going to smother and overprotect him to death. There were two ways to go about this: he could be sensitive and honest or he could be his usual sarcastic self in the hopes she'd accept it as proof that he was back to himself. "I'll have you know darling, nagging isn't very sexy. I'm a grown man. I don't need a mother," he threw at her with a bit more exasperation than intended.

Before the fire reached her eyes, he already knew he'd gone a step or twenty too far.

"Oh what have I gotten myself into again. The great Robert Scorpio thinks he's invincible. I swear you're insufferable Robert. It's like being in love with a five year old!"

Robin could hear the raised voices from the moment she got off the elevator. What was her father doing here? From the sounds of it exasperating her mother, his favorite past time. She quickly unlocked the door stopping her parents in their tracks. "What are you doing?"

"We're fighting," her mother answered somewhat sheepishly.

"We're playing catch up," her father corrected with a slap to her mother's rear. The look her mother shot her father from the corner of her eye told Robin perhaps even more than the slap. She'd definitely have to play catch up with her mother at the first opportunity, but first she needed to know what the doctors in Bern had told her father. She really hoped he hadn't pulled a vanishing act and left AMA. Neither she nor Anna could handle another scare like the one they'd just had a couple of months ago. However, before she could get to asking him anything Emma made her presence known by starting to fuss. Oh no, please not in front of them baby girl. Nervously, she started bouncing softly hoping to soothe her daughter, and thankfully although she didn't stop, Emma quieted.

"May I?" she heard her father say as he approached reverently, obviously mesmerized by the baby.

"Sure," she smiled. Then she turned to her daughter and told her as she placed her in her father's arms, "Emma, this is your grandpa, Robert Scorpio. If you ever need a hero, he's your guy."

"Robbie to you little one," Robert told the baby girl as he took her in his arms. Looking at Robin, he added, "And I promise you I'm not going anywhere this time."

Robin couldn't help the tears from rolling down her face. She knew it was her father's way of apologizing for the years he'd been away and for how hard he'd been on her since his return. Then she felt her mother wrap her arms around her from behind, "...and neither is Luv."

Robin felt a weight lift off her chest with the words. She hadn't realized until now just how much she'd needed to hear those words. Watching her father stand start to walk around the apartment singing Waltzing Matilda to Emma when the baby started to fuss anew, from her mother's arms she knew in her heart of hearts that her parents were here to stay, and boy was she going to need them if she was going to figure this parenting thing out.

"Anna, she won't stop."

On second thought, maybe just her mom. She had to chuckle at the look of panic on her father's face. Her mom took Emma from him and started softly humming almost instantly quieting the baby. This time she had to chuckle out loud at the look on her father's face. "Don't worry, Dad. She does the same thing to me. She can be screaming and the moment Patrick picks her up, she stops."

"I guess."

At least she'd have a partner in Baby 101. She and her dad could watch and learn together from her mom and Patrick. She watched her mom gently place Emma and couldn't help but wish her mother had been allowed to truly enjoy being a mother. With her she'd been in hiding, Duke's baby hadn't even had the chance to be born, and Leora had been ripped away from her mother almost as soon as she'd arrived in this world. It wasn't fair.

"I can't believe how much she's grown," Anna said in a voice that let Robin know she wasn't the only one that wished things had been different.

"You mean she was smaller than this," Robert replied looking over Anna's shoulder. Three for three, thought Robin. Watching her mother look back at her father with such love in her eyes, even if she thought she was hiding it from her, gave her one consolation. Life may have cheated her mother in the motherhood game, but it would seem it was giving her back that piece of her soul she'd lost so long ago in exchange.