Sorry it's taken awhile to post. I've just been really busy. Thank you for your reviews. I really appreciate them and look forward to reading them. I hope you enjoy.

Ch. 4

A couple of months had passed and Christmas was upon the city of Port Charles. Brenda was still under Jason and Sonny's protection as the threat on her life was just that a threat. Robin had agreed to counseling with Patrick. It had it's ups and it's downs but things were getting better. She wasn't as angry as before but she still didn't trust him.

Maxie found herself at Kelly's having finished up running Kate's errands. She had some time for herself to grab a coffee. The last two months had been difficult. She finally broke up with Spinelli and had planned on talking to Matt. He somehow disappeared instantly. She had gone to General Hospital to find out that he was abroad in Europe for two months learning some new surgical procedure. She called him several times without any luck. She had to admit she was missing him like crazy. She turned to leave and ran right smack into Matt.

She dropped her bags and looked to find Matt right in front of her. She shrieked in anger and surprise, "Matt Hunter, where in the world have you been?" He looked at her trying to not notice how her blue eyes sparkled or admire the shoret skirt she was wearing despite the 40 degree weather. He kept it nonchalant with her, "If you must know I've been in Europe broadening my surgical skills."

"And the reason as to why you didn't answer my calls or emails?" she questioned. He wanted to laugh at her because she was so cute when she was obviously annoyed. But he also couldn't forget this woman somehow had a hold on him and had lead him on. He replied gruffly as he walked passed her headed towards the counter, "Look Maxie, I'm a doctor."

She replied sarcastically, "Oh really? Like I didn't know."

He turned to again and continued in a more serious tone, "Everyday I deal with things that matter. People live or die and that's on me. I don't have time for your silly games."

"What games are you talking about? I called you. The right thing to do is to at least call me back."

Maxie stated simply. He looks at her now angrier than ever with her plead of innocence, "Maxie, why do you need to talk to me? I mean we have nothing to talk about especially now. I know that Robin and Patrick are still not back together, and you're with Spinelli. So why don't you just leave me alone?"

She looked at him confused, "With Spinelli? I'm not with Spinelli."

He shook his head, "I saw the two of you on the docks. You were kissing him. I'm done with that Maxie. I told you I wanted something real."

She rolls her eyes at him and punches him in the arm, "You know you're an idiot!" He cringes, "Ouch what was that for?"

"Is this the reason you ran off to Europe? " she asks.

He looks at her a bit embarrassed. He was supposed to be the cool doctor that could get women left and right. But in reality all he wanted was her. He slowly admitted, "Maybe."

She just crossed her arms and stared at him for awhile, "I seriously cannot believe that you just ran off to Europe without even confronting me." She thinks about the situation for a moment and laughs, "Wow, and here I thought that I was immature. Good to know that I'm starting to evolve."

He looks at her strangely, "What are you trying to say?"

She laughed in his face, "You Matt Hunter are a total and complete idiot. When you saw me with Spinelli I was saying good-bye. I returned the non-engagement ring to him. We've made peace and we're really cool with each other. And that is the reason I was with him on the docks that day. You seriously are an idiot."

He was a little dumbfounded and laughed to himself. He suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her close, "Well I guess I must be an idiot because I'm completely in love with you." And with that he kissed her deeply.

Robin and Patrick enter Kelly's to find Maxie and Matt in a deep kiss. Patrick goes over and leans in "Do you think you two will come up for air?"

Matt looks up to find his brother and Maxie just smiles. She turns to see Robin and heads over to her. "Hey how's it going?"

Robin laughs, "Well it looks like things are going well for you? So you and Matt, you two an item?"

Maxie turns to look as the two brothers continue to speak, "I don't know exactly what we are. I'm just glad he's back in town. What about you and Patrick? Things getting better?" "We thought we'd grab some coffee before we head out to our counseling session." Robin stated simply.

"Is it working?" Maxie asked.

Robin shrugged, "If not being as angry before is a consideration then maybe yeah. I think it's helping."

Matt walks towards Robin and greets her. She smiles at her brother in law, "It's good to see you back home." Matt stares at Maxie as he answers, "It's good to be back at home. I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

Robin nods her head, "Yup."

Both Maxie and Matt leave as Robin takes a seat at a table. Patrick comes over with two cups of coffee and gives her one. "So what's going on with those two? Are they dating?" Patrick asks.

"It looks like that. Or maybe it's a hook-up?" Robin ponders. Patrick smiles. Robin looks at him, "What's that for?" "Nothing." He states.

She looks at him closely, "What are you thinking?" Patrick laughs, "I was just thinking that's how it was with the two of us once, remember?"

"You mean the whole I hate you but no I really like you phase?" she asks.

He leans in and continues, "Well that and all the times we would sneak away from work." Robin reminisces, "We had some good time didn't we?"

He reaches out and holds her hand, "It doesn't have to end Robin." She pulls away from him, "Patrick, don't please. I know you're really trying. I can see it but I can't help if I still feel how I feel. "

Patrick whispers back to her, "I really am trying here Robin." She looks into his pleading brown eyes, "You don't think I know that? I appreciate it but I'm still not where I need to be. I want to forget. I wish I could. But it's still hard for me Patrick. I don't doubt that you love me. I can see it in your eyes and when you speak to me. But I don't know if I can trust you just yet. "

He leaned in closer to her, "Do you think you ever will?" She turned away as she wiped a tear away, "I don't know Patrick. I really don't know."

Later that day at General Hospital…

"Did someone call me?" Robin asked as she arrived onto the emergency floor reception. Epiphany looks up, "There's a patient in room 3. They need stitches and specifically asked for you." Robin looks a bit confused. Ephiphany looks at the doctor, "You're going to want to take this."

Robin heads over to room 3 and finds Michael and Morgan. She smiles at both boys, "What is going on here?" Michael looks at Robin nervously, "I was trying to show Morgan how to do something when I almost cut my finger off. I think I'm going to need some stitches." Robin looks to Morgan, "Do me a favor and wait in the lobby for me?"

The young boy simply nods as Robin takes a seat, "Let me take a look at it." She takes the bandages off and notices the wound has not stopped bleeding. Okay yeah you definitely are going to need stitches. Probably a few." Michael licks his lips nervously which Robin notices. She looks at him and rub his shoulder reassuringly, "You're going to be okay Michael. A few stitches, and you should be fine in a few weeks." He shakes his head, "it's not that."

It's obvious he has something to say but is afraid. He gathers the courage to ask, "I need for you to do me a favor and I need you to promise me that you can't tell anyone." Robin nods her head, "As your doctor, I'm bound to keep your case confidential." He looks to the ground, "I need to take an HIV test." Robin takes the gravity of his words in. She nods, "Have you had unprotected sex, Michael?" He's still a bit too scared to look at her, "I don't really want to explain it, but I think I need one. I may have infected Morgan. When I cut myself he was helping me with the bandages when I told him to stop."

Robin can see the fear in his eyes, "Okay you need to calm down. Lets take this step by step. First I'm going to stitch up that wound, and we'll get you the test. After, I'll examine Morgan to make sure he didn't have any open wounds." Michael whispered, "Thank you."

Thirty minutes later, Robin was taking the last blood sample. "The results will be identified by this number so no one will know it's you." Michael looks to her, "When will I find out?" "In a few days." He was quiet for awhile just taking in the information.

She looks at him, "Michael, as I said before as your doctor I'm bound by confidentiality to not tell anyone about this. But as someone who has gone through what you are going through, it's best to have family and friends supporting you no matter what the results are." He nods his head, "I understand. I'm just not sure my parents will."

Robin looked at him and all she wanted to do was give him a hug but she decided against it. She simply looked into the young man's eyes and replied, "If there is something that I know for sure, it's that Jason and Sonny will be understanding and supportive if you're HIV Positive. I know we talk about it as if it's in the past but Jason, your dad, and I were as close as could be. They were there for me in the first couple of years I was dealing with this."

A few hours later as Robin was about to leave for the day, she sees Patrick at the nurse's station. "Do you have a moment?" she asks.

He smiles as he walks with her towards the waiting area. "Is everything okay?" he asks with concern. She nods her head, "I'm fine. I plan on taking Emma to see

Santa Claus, and I thought you'd like to join us? I was thinking maybe on Friday?"

Patrick tried to act calm and casual, "I think that would work. What time?"

Robin replies, "5 pm?" He nods his head, "I'll be there." She smiles and simply replies, "I'll see you then."

Jason looks up at the full Christmas tree that he just dragged into the penthouse half an hour ago. From the couch, Brenda takes a look at it, "Perfect. It's just in the right place." He looks at her and responded, "Are you sure? You've been saying that for the last fifteen minutes, and I've been moving this thing around."

Brenda giggles as she focuses on the ornaments in front of her, "Yes, it's perfect." Jason smiles more to himself not wanting to admit it was kind of nice to have a Christmas tree in his home. He can't even remember the last time he had one. He would have never taken the initiative to get one on his own.

Brenda turns to him, "What are you doing?" Jason goes over to her, "Just trying to remember when was the last time I had a real Christmas." She hands him an ornament and the two begin to put hooks on them. Brenda responds, "I know what you mean. It's been awhile for me too. It's kind of nice isn't it? What made you even think about getting a tree in the first place?"

Before he could answer, Robin and Emma enter the room. Robin's eyes widen at how big the tree is, "Oh my god. That's a huge tree. Emma, look." The little girl points to it and softly says, "Tree." Jason's blue eyes light up as he replies, "I thought that Emma might like it." Brenda looks at Emma, who is attempting to grab the ornaments. "Oh I think she's enjoying it." Robin sits across from Brenda and Jason with Emma in her lap. She looks to Jason and replies, "You know this wasn't necessary." He shakes his head, "Nonsense. Emma deserves to have a great Christmas."

Brenda grabs Emma from Robin and walks over to the tree, "Where do you want to put the first ornament Emma?" Robin looks at Jason gratefully, "Thank you, Jason." He responds softly, "It's nothing." She smiles back and responds softly, "You always say that but it's never true. It means a lot." Brenda looks at the former lovers and smiles to herself as she helps Emma put more ornaments on the tree.

Michael stares out at the dock with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Kristina sees him and walks over to him, "Michael?" He turns to look at her and smiles, "Hey Kristina." She looks at him with great concern and gestures, "Oh my god what happened?" She suddenly gets angry, "Does that have to with dad?"

Michael immediately shakes his head, "Relax Kristina. It was my fault. I was trying to help Morgan with something and I accidentally cut myself." She seems to be relieved to hear this, "Must have been a deep cut?"

Michael shrugs his shoulders, "A few stitches. It should heal in about a week or two." She looks closely at her brother, "Is that all that's bothering you?" For half-siblings they had a very close relationship. Being the eldest he didn't want to worry her and quickly changed the subject, "So tell me what's on your Christmas list this year? I need to know what to buy you but most importantly I need to let dad know."

Kristina took a seat on the bench, "After all that's happened this year, I just want to spend quality time with dad. I'm tired of blaming him for everything that happened in my life. I have to admit I did some stupid stuff and I've had to learn the hard way. I just want to have a real honest relationship with him."

Michael sits next to her, "Well if that's what you want then you need to tell him that. I know that he's super-protective of you. But can you blame him?" Kristina thinks about the life she's lead and her experiences and admits, "I think I've blamed him enough." Michael jokes, "Wow it looks like my little sister is becoming more mature."

"Well this year made me have to grow up. I mean you have to admit Michael. We're no longer those immature kids. I've been so caught up with everything that happened to me, and well what you've gone through is much worse than what I went through." Michael stares at his half-sister as he thinks about his present situation and replies, "My experience was not worse than yours Kristina. It was different. But you're right. We've had to grow up pretty fast. Faster than I would have liked." As both stare out onto the dock, Kristina softly replies, "That's for sure."

"Looks like Emma takes after me in the charm department." Patrick stated happily as he gave his daughter a kiss on the head. Robin laughed, "Wow. Some things just never change." "

Patrick asked bewildered, "What? I mean you saw how she charmed Santa Claus? She's quite the little poser, isn't she?" Robin laughed again, "No you're absolutely right." Patrick watched Robin just enjoying her company. It had been a long time since they just simply enjoyed each other. He looked at her longingly, "Thank you for inviting me to come along today. I had a really good time." Robin pushed her hair back also enjoying the moment. She hadn't felt this way in a very long time. It almost felt that her life was almost back to normal; just a happy family life.

She reached out and pulled Emma's hat a bit tighter on her head as she looked to Patrick, "This has been nice." He wanted the moment to last a bit longer and decided to ask, "Do you want to grab something to eat at Kelly's?" She smiled back at him, "Actually, I'd love to."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Brenda asked as she popped a fry into her mouth. Jason stared at her, "You told me you felt cooped up. So I took you out."

"Max or Milo could have accompanied me." she stated simply. He stares at her a bit harder now. "What?" she asks. She leans in to the table and whispers softly, "Have you had any leads?" Jason responded, "We're close to making this all go away. Then you can return to Rome." Brenda just nods her head without a word. "You don't seem to happy to hear that?" Jason asks.

"No I'm grateful Jason. I'm just not sure if I want to return to Rome. Being here just makes me realize how much I miss it?" Jason asks, "Even though half the time you've been cooped up at my place?" Brenda smiles, "Yes, even if it's being cooped up at your place. I mean Robin needs me. She's going through something really difficult and I've never really been around for that."

"You mean you weren't there when I broke her heart?" he states. She responds, "I didn't say that."

"You didn't need to. It may have been years ago but I know I hurt her deeply. And well you were presumed dead. So you can't blame yourself for that." Jason stated before taking a sip of his soda. Brenda responded, "I know that Robin is trying to keep a brave face for everyone. But you know as well as I do that this is really hard on her."

Just then Patrick, Robin, and Emma walk into Kelly's. Jason looks up to see them and Brenda turns. They acknowledge each other before Patrick, Robin, and Emma take a seat at a separate table. They order and Jason and Brenda hear laughter coming from their table.

"Wow, maybe I was wrong." Brenda states as she notices Jason still staring off at Patrick and Robin. "About what?" he asks. "Maybe Robin and Patrick will work it out after all. Looks like they're having a good time."

Matt Hunter stared at his watch. It was 6 am and he just put in a double shift. All he wanted to do was head home and go to bed. As he entered his apartment, he was surprised to see Robin and Patrick on the couch. Patrick had his arm around Robin, and she had her head on his chest. It was obvious that they had fallen asleep watching a video. Matt smiled to himself hoping that the couple would soon be reconciling. He went over to the television and quickly shut it off.

Robin suddenly began to stir and noticed Matt. She was confused a bit as she realized where she was. "Oh god Matt, I'm so sorry. We must have fallen asleep." Matt smiles just watching his brother and sister-in-law, "It's okay." Patrick began to stir himself. He looked to see Robin who quickly spoke, "Emma and I should go."

Matt shook his head, "You can stay awhile longer. I could cook breakfast." "You must be tired, Matt. Didn't you just pull a double shift?" she asked. Matt replied, "Well I'm awake and I'd love to spend some time with my niece."

Patrick looked to her and pleaded, "It would be nice if you two could stay for a little while longer. I'll help Matt with breakfast, and I'll clean up so he can sleep." Robin looked to the brothers, "Are you sure?" Matt nodded, "Definitely." Robin heads towards the room and Patrick follows as they go look in on Emma.

Matt smiles as he quickly dials his phone. "What are you doing calling me at such an ungodly hour?" Maxie whined. "Well hello to you too. I just thought you'd want to know what I found in my apartment this morning." Maxie groggily replied, "Well it obviously isn't me and you better not have another woman there."

Matt laughs at her jealousy as he replies, "Patrick and Robin. She fell asleep here. I think they may soon be back together." This news excites Maxie who seems to be more awake now, "Are you serious?" "Wouldn't that be a great Christmas gift for Emma?" Maxie sits up in her bed, "That would be a great Christmas gift for all."

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Michael asked. Sonny looked at his son and replied, "Sure what's up?" Michael took a seat on the sofa, "I just was wondering. I know that Stone Cates means a lot to you. I noticed the wing at the hospital and Robin mentioned that you had donated the money to make it happen. Why was he so important to you?" Sonny was surprised to hear his son ask, "Why are you asking?"

Michael feigned innocence, "I guess I just want to know more about you. I mean you're my dad and everyone knows you as this mobster. I'm starting to get to know Robin more and she tells me these stories about how you two were really close once. She said it was because of Stone?"

Sonny went over to the bar and grabbed a bottled water recalling the past, "Stone was like a brother to me. He had it tough as a kid. When I met him he was just trying to get by. No place to live, no food. I don't know why but I thought I could help him. I gave him a job, a place to stay. He was a really good kid. What none of us knew is that he was infected with the HIV virus. The disease was so brand new then and no one really knew that much about it. If I could have done things differently, I would have with him."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked as he listened intently.

Sonny took a seat as he continued, "Like I said I gave him a job, a place to stay. I should have made him go to the doctor and get a check up. I never really thought about his health. He just looked healthy. That was the thing about HIV and AIDS then. We all just assumed you had to look sickly to have the disease. Anyway he was getting sick all the time. I just thought he had a poor immune system since he had it hard as a child. Only to find out that it was the HIV virus that turned into AIDS. By the time we found out it was too late."

"You weren't afraid of getting it?" Michael asked.

Sonny shook his head, "No. I mean he was practically my brother. Before Jason came along, Stone was the closest thing of a brother that I had. I was never going to turn my back on him. He is the reason that Robin and I became close. When they first dated, she saw me as most people saw me: a dangerous mobster."

"But she said that changed. That you two became close after having gone through that experience."

Sonny replied, "We were very close. She was like a sister to me. But things happened and well we're not as close as we were once. But we've slowly have been building that relationship back."

"What did mom think of Stone?" Michael asked.

"Your mother never knew him. She didn't live here yet." Sonny stated. "Where is this all coming from Michael?"

Michael smiled, "Like I said, I was just wondering what your life was like. You know before you were a dad. Brenda mentioned to me that you two used to date?"

Sonny laughed, "I don't know if dating is what you would call it. Brenda and I have a very complicated relationship."

"More than your relationship with mom?" Michael asked.

Sonny had to think about it for a moment as he took a sip of his water, "Yup. Believe it or not more complicated than what your mom and I have."

"So when do you move back home?" Matt asked his brother after having gotten a full 8 hours of sleep. "You that eager to get rid of me?" Patrick asked.

"Did I not see Robin in your arms this morning? I mean that's progress considering what's been going on in the last few months?" he stated. "It is. So I'm not trying to rush her. It was a good first step for us." Matt grinned, "Well here's to hoping for more good steps then."