Awakening

Chapter:11

Pairing: Robert & Holly

Rating: PG

Robert's lips gently touched her check. Once. Twice. Thrice. And then they seemed to hover above her own for the longest time before they actually brushed against hers. Holly's eyes moved from his lips up to his eyes to find them burning into hers.

"I'm scared." she confessed. "I can't seem to relax. The thought of Basil coming after Ethan..."

"Don't worry about your family." Robert told her. "Everything is going to be taken care of."

Holly moved away from him, relying on her cane for support. "What does that mean, Robert?" she asked. "You're starting to scare me."

He reached for her hand and led her over to the bed. "Sit down." he said, taking a seat beside her. "You know that I would never do anything that would jeopardize my ability to spend the rest of my lives with you and our children."

"But there are ways that you could get around..."

"There are." he confirmed. "As angry as I am I could never do anything like that and live with myself. I'm not going to lie though the thought of killing Basil did enter my mind, but I'm not going to kill him. Basil and the rest of the Durban's are going to be dealt with in a way that's going to be worse than death for them. They're going to be caught and exposed and they'll never hurt you or Ethan ever again, I promise you."

"They always find a way."

"Not this time." he assured her. "This time you and I are going to determine what happens from here with no third parties involved."

Holly smiled, warmly. "I like the sound of that but..."

"No buts, Holly."

"It doesn't seem attainable."

"It is." Robert said. "You and I are going to get this right if we have to take on the entire world."

"You're determined."

"I'm in love." he replied, softly. "I would do absolutely anything to keep my family together. Nothing is going to come between us. Not old lovers or the WSB or enemies or family members. I don't want to waste another second shuffling around a truth that we both already know."

"I still like hearing the words." she told him. "Simple but beautiful words."

Robert took both her hands in his. "I love you more than life itself." he told her. "Noone else has ever come close to my love for you."

"I want this to work." she said. "I finally want to have my family together. I know that it's going to be a slow build, but I don't care. I want us to get to know Ethan and I want him to know us. I want him to know Robin and Patrick and Emma. I even want him to know Anna. I love you Robert more than I ever thought possible. I want everything I missed out on."

"And you'll have it." he promised her. "You'll have it and more. Whatever you want we'll have. We can move and start over. We can stay here. We can travel the world if you like."

"You know what I really want?"

"What's that, luv?"

"I want to go back to Port Charles." she told him. "I want to see all my old friends and maybe even live there again."

"I'd like that."

"You think Ethan would?"

Robert smiled. "I think that Ethan is like his old man." he said. "He would follow you to the ends of the earth. He loves you, he feels connected to you."

"He doesn't even really know me."

"He knows enough." he replied. "He knows that you're kind and loving and generous. He knows that there's a long road ahead of us but he's willing to stick it out. He's willing to see where it leads him, where it leads us."

"Ethan's a good boy." she pushed the hair away from her face. "A little rough around the edges but I like that. It fits him well."

Robert nodded. "We have a son."

Holly smiled. "Yes we do." she said. "I look forward to getting to know him better. I think he has a lot of your qualities."

"Hopefully not all."

"Wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"As long as he has some of yours and a lot of his own." he agreed. "I want him to be a good combination of us, but his own individual."

"I don't think we have anything to worry about there." she said. "Isn't that right, Ethan?" she called out. "You can come in now."

Ethan pushed the door open. "How did you know..."

"Experience." she smiled, reaching out for his hand. "Come sit."

He walked across the room and took his mothers invitation, his hand sliding into hers. "I wasn't trying to invade your privacy." he sat down beside her but didn't let her hand go. "Sorry."

Holly squeezed his hand. "It's okay." she smiled. "How much did you hear?"

"Just the last few minutes." he replied. "So Port Charles, huh?"

"Doesn't have to be forever." Robert old him. "Your mother and I have a lot of friends there."

Ethan nodded. "Port Charles is fine with me." he smiled. "There's this girl there that I kind of like. In fact I wouldn't mind spending a lot of time there getting to know her better."

Holly arched an eyebrow. "Does this girl have a name?"

"Yeah." he breathed out. "Lulu, you know Luke and Laura's daughter. Unless you think that's weird. That's not weird though is it? I mean because of your past with Luke."

"No, it's fine." she laughed. "Luke and I are on good, friendly terms."

"I'm glad you said that." Ethan exhaled. "Because I really like Lulu and I would like to explore our relationship a little more."

Robert watched as Holly and Ethan slid into a comfortableness that only mother and son could share. Her eyes sparkled and she was so relaxed. Ethan seemed to be opening up more, he seemed to be letting go of some of his fears. This is what he had always wanted. A family with Holly, his Holly.

Finished.