Chapter Seven

"There he is!" Alexis tried to sound excited for her daughters. Ric walked in to Kelly's and enveloped Kristina in his arms.

"Hey baby!" He put her down and sat across from Alexis, greeting Molly who was in her stroller, "Hey baby doll!"

"We missed you!" Kristina told him.

"I've missed you. Are you two being good for Mommy?" He looked at Alexis.

"Of course! Oh, we ordered for you. Pancakes!!"

"Yummy!! You know I love pancakes!"

"Yep!" Kristina ran over to see her Grandpa Mike make the pancakes for them.

"Alexis."

"Ric."

"So, how was your date last night?"

"You should know … you were there."

"Yeah, that was fast."

"We're friends."

"Sure."

"Shut up."

"Okay." He just sat there. Alexis was furious. How dare he even mention last night.

She glanced back up to him and just looked. He was nervous. She just stared.

"Alexis,"

"Don't."

"I'm …"

"Don't," she repeated.

"I'm sorry."

"I hate you."

"I know."

"Then why apologize? Accept it and move on."

"I want to do something, something to make this up to you."

"There's no coming back from this Ric. I shouldn't have forgiven you after … the other one."

"Reese."

"Ugh."

"I'm sorry, you have no idea …"

"No, Ric, I don't. I have no clue as to how someone could sleep with their …"

"Pancakes are ready!!" Kristina ran back to her Mommy and Daddy Ric and waited patiently for Lulu to bring over their pancakes.

"Thank you Lulu," Alexis said politely.

"You're very welcome. If you need anything else, just let me know!"

"Thanks."

They looked like a happy family. Eating pancakes with too much syrup on them and laughing at Kristina's jokes. Alexis smiled at her daughter, but was crying inside. How did it get this bad? How could this bastard do this to his daughters?

"Sam!"

Oh God, thought Alexis, she's early. Alexis asked Sam to meet them at nine o'clock … it was eight-thirty. She assumed that Ric would be gone by nine. It was bad enough that she had to spend time with both of these people who broke her heart, but seeing them together.

Kristina ran into Sam's arms.

"Oh, hey sweetie. I'm sorry I'm early," she apologized to Alexis, feeling the tension when she noticed Ric.

"That's no problem. Why don't you go ahead and take the girls to the park and I'll meet you there in a little bit?"

Sam silently helped Kristina gather her things and rolled Molly out of Kelly's. She wanted to be out of there.

Finally alone, Ric said, "I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that."

"I'm not going to stop saying it until you forgive me."

"Then you'll be saying those words forever."

"Come on Alexis, let me explain …"

"What's to explain, Ric? You slept with my daughter! I don't want to hear that you're sorry. You're only sorry because you got caught. How long has it been going on? No, don't answer that. I don't want to hear that you were drunk, or insane, or that you thought it was me. I'm so sick and tired of the lies, Ric. I want a divorce. I would love never to see you again, but I won't be that lucky. I know you love Kristina and Molly, and we'll work this out. They'll never know that you FED their sister."

"Alexis!"

"Ric!"

"Shhh…"

"What?! Am I being too loud? SORRY RIC! I DON'T WANT TO EMBARRASS YOU…. GOD FORBID!" She screamed, grabbed her purse, and walked out. Phase one of three complete … Ric down, Sam and Sonny to go.

Walking to the park alone, Alexis' cell phone rang.

"Alexis Davis."

"Hello, gorgeous."

She smiled. That voice …

"Hello, yourself."

"Dinner last night was amazing."

She laughed, "Nothing like cafeteria food."

"I thought it was wonderful."

"You didn't eat."

"Oh, yeah, who can think about eating when they're with you."

She blushed, "What can I do for you, Dr. Drake?"

He grew serious, "Just wondering how breakfast went."

"I yelled, very loud. I said my favorite curse word."

"Oh, no."

"Yeah, Mike probably would have kicked me out if I hadn't have left first."

"Do you feel better?"

"Oddly enough, yeah."

"Well, good. Look, I also wanted to ask you, tomorrow night, Patrick, Robin, and I would like you to join us for dinner."

"Hmm … dinner with three doctors on call twenty-four hours a day. Will you promise me that I'll eat something besides stale carrot sticks?"

"Yes, I promise that at least one of us will make it through dinner with you."

"Great … where are we going?"

"Wherever you want."

"Oooh, do they like Chinese?"

"They love it."

"Great, I'll meet you at the China Garden at six."

"Can you make it five? I would like you to myself for a while. They'll meet us at six."

She blushed again, "Okay, it's a date."

"Yay," he grinned.

"No you did not just say 'yay'."

He smiled, "Try to have a good day."

"I'll try. The worst is over."

When Noah hung up, he looked behind him to Robin and Patrick, who were listening intently with huge smiles plastered on their faces.

"I really hope you guys like Chinese."