"What in the world were you thinking?" Alexis fumed as she stormed through the house searching for her glasses.
"I'm not sure I follow," Ric answered innocently as he trailed her frantic search from room to room. "We just got a glowing review from the social worker and the adoption is now merely a formality. We should be celebrating!"
"Is everything a celebration to you?"
"Is everything a melodrama to you?"
Alexis spun around and he nearly ran into her. "Are you saying that I'm "over the top" on this?"
"I think that was fairly obvious," he said, stifling a laugh.
"Oh, you think this is funny, don't you?"
"Come again?"
"Discussing our sex life with a total stranger? Especially because you know how sensitive I am about that right now!"
Ric blinked a few times and grinned suggestively "If I didn't know better, I would swear that's pent up frustration talking."
"I am not frustrated," she said sweetly and then the fire returned to her eyes, "I'm humiliated!"
Ric rolled his eyes and she continued to ransack the house. "Alexis!" he groaned. "You're making a mess!"
"I'm making a mess? At least I'm not mocking your personal life in front of god knows who -"
"Is that really what all this is about?" he interrupted skeptically. "I told Mrs. Walker about our bedroom because you were on the verge of telling her that we're sleeping in separate rooms; not exactly the way to score points in family court. In short, I was simply trying to validate our marriage in her eyes."
"You validated it all right, right down to the R rated vision that you planted in her head."
Ric furrowed his brow, "Are you always this paranoid?"
"Now I'm paranoid?"
"Yes, you are!" he snapped, trying to reign in his own growing agitation Taking a deep breath, he turned to her and offered calmly, "I never meant to embarrass you and I would never mock how you feel about our making love. I said that I would give you time and, albeit somewhat begrudgingly, I am. You'll know when the time is right. I trust you on that."
Damn! Did he have to be so understanding now? She was enjoying their sparring. It made her feel far less guilty for not living up to the picture he so vividly painted for Mrs. Walker. Truth be told, every time Ric was near her, she wanted to reach out and pull him into a passionate kiss. When she felt his soft lips and warm breath on her neck, she wanted to give in and completely surrender her body to him. It was the soul that she was guarding carefully.
Strong, independent Natasha would not relent so easily. She kept her vigil over Alexis, warding off all whom wanted to lay claim to her heart. She was the spirit that ran from Ned in the church; she was the woman who so resolutely sent Sonny back to Carly and now she was the one who was fending off Ric. He'd come so close to overpowering her on Martha's Vineyard, closer than any man ever had. He'd revealed his darkest demons but until she could unveil hers as well, she would never truly be his wife.
Ironically, Sonny had many pieces of the puzzle; he was just frightened to put them together for it would have meant the complete destruction of his "safe" existence with Carly. Alexis saw how dangerous he really was and now there were children involved she was grateful for his hesitation.
She spied her glasses and wearily picked them up and put them on. With the clarity they provided came rationale. She sat down on a box and looked up at Ric who tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Now that's the Alexis I know."
"Remember on our wedding night when you told me that I was born worthy?"
"Yes."
"I need to believe that Ric."
"I'll show you," he begged.
"You can't. No one can but me."
He sat down on the box beside her and put his hand on her back, rubbing gently in circles.
"You've only had a small taste of Helena but, believe me, she makes your step mother look like a pussy cat."
Ric's firm hand on her back with its steady, soothing motion was like a truth serum forcing Alexis to relax and willingly disclose in greater detail what was really on her mind.
"I would like to have met Helena's mother. Maybe then I could understand how a woman could be so cold and full of hate. There must have been some redeeming quality in her for Mikkos – my father - to marry her in the first place. Maybe he was trapped by an unfortunate illusion and didn't see Helena for who she really was until the damage was done.
Ric could tell that Alexis was on the verge of something monumental and he wanted to make sure that they were undisturbed. He removed his hand from her back and gently prodded, "Why don't you go downstairs and I'll look in on Kristina? I'm sure she's out like a light, but I think that you'll be more comfortable having this conversation there."
"Bring the baby monitor?" she asked. "I want to hear her if she wakes up. She might be frightened by the new surroundings."
"I know exactly which box it's in." he assured her and got up to take care of it.
Jason found Sonny sitting on a bench down by the docks. Scanning their perimeter, he saw no guards and frowned. "Sonny?"
He grunted in response and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and looking out over the water. He'd been there for hours and the isolation was not good. It gave him time to think and the more he thought, the less he liked the conclusion that he was coming to. Kristina was around two years old and, if he did his math correctly, it was entirely possible. Ned was no longer a visible part of her life, which made no sense whatsoever, unless…Then there was Ric's sudden pursuit of Alexis and this marriage out of nowhere. It gnawed away at his core and consumed him. He recalled how comfortable Kristina was with him when she wandered into the hospital maternity ward. She was so calm, in fact, that she let him help her up to see the babies through the window chattering away in baby talk as if she'd known him all her life. Alexis's strong reaction when she saw them together was also suspect. At the time, he'd chalked it up to her usual neurotic behavior but now he wasn't so sure.
"We were just having fun looking at the babies."
"Could you please get her down and give her to me?"
"I'm not going to hurt her, Alexis."
"Sonny!" Jason demanded, "What the hell are you doing out here without guards? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"There's no one around," he brushed it off. "Did…did you get the records?"
He nodded and produced a file folder and handed it to Sonny. "There's not much there. It all looks fairly routine. It was a premature delivery but no C- section. Kristina was in the neonatal ICU for weeks. Ned's listed as the father."
Sonny scowled as her perused through the pages, not finding what he was looking for. Jason watched his reaction and was clearly confused by his obvious frustration.
"Are you gonna tell me what this is all about?"
"A hunch," he growled. "Can you locate the lab technician who did this paternity test?"
Jason shrugged. "Should be no problem but why are you so interested in this? You had your suspicions back then, I know, but the tests proved you wrong. Sonny, you and Carly moved on with your lives, you had Morgan and Alexis shut you out and moved on with her life too."
"She moved on all right…"
"What?"
"Nothing. Just get a hold of that lab guy. Tell him I have a few questions and if he's got answers, I'll make it well worth his time."
Jason stared at him dumbfounded. "Sure," he mumbled. "I'll get right on it. But I'm getting a guard down here and I don't want an argument about it."
"Whatever," Sonny acquiesced and now Jason was seriously concerned. Sonny never reacted well when he tried to tell him what to do and this time he gave in far too easily. Whatever was going on with Sonny was big and for Carly and the kid's sake, Jason was determined to find out what it was.
"She's fast asleep!" Ric announced as he bounded down the stairs and handed the baby monitor to Alexis.
"The excitement of the new house must have exhausted her," she concluded and set the monitor on the table. "I brewed some tea. It's not nearly as lethal as my coffee."
Ric picked up the mug and looked at it confidently. "You couldn't possibly mess up a tea bag and hot water…could you?" He chuckled and took a sip, nodding in approval.
"Perfect! Now, you were telling me about Helena?"
"My father, actually," she clarified. "I wouldn't be here if he hadn't become disillusioned with his marriage to Helena and fallen in love with my mother. She took a great risk being with him."
"I'm glad that she did."
"But didn't turn out well for her at all."
"I know," Ric noted sadly. "You told me that Helena murdered your mother."
"In cold blood. Kristina was just a baby but I remember every detail. The necklace I wore the day we were married was Mama's. That, a sapphire ring and a faded picture that Kristina gave me years later are all that I have left of her."
"That sounds familiar," he reflected wistfully. "All of the memories of my mother came from Sarah... Didn't you say that your mother was a singer? Surely there are recordings?"
"Crude ones," she admitted. "She was an opera singer and, believe it or not, Luke Spencer recovered some of them and gave them to me."
"How did Luke get involved with your family?" Ric asked, surprised. "I know that it had something to do with Laura and perhaps it's why he's on the run now."
"The Cassadine-Spencer feud," she sighed and cupped her hands around the warm mug. "Luke was at war with my father and uncles for years. They kidnapped Laura and while she was their captive, she became pregnant with my nephew. It's really true what they say; sometimes life is stranger than fiction. That's why it's a miracle that Lucky and Nikolas get along so well. If there were ever a ray of hope for the future, it's their relationship."
Ric shrugged optimistically. "They a seem very close; legal troubles not withstanding."
"Being away from Helena, Nikolas has a shot at being the first Cassadine to experience true, unbridled happiness. His love for Emily is pure and untainted and that's why I defend it so vigorously. Helena tried but she's failed to break him and that's a miracle."
"How could she break him?"
Alexis leaned forward and looked at him intensely. "By destroying his free will. She wants total control of people so that they obey her and do her bidding. If you resist, you become her enemy and that is a fate that I wouldn't wish on anyone. She slowly preys on your spirit until you surrender your soul and by then you're lost. She did it to my father by slitting my mother's throat. She did it to me by concealing and then denying my identity as his daughter."
Ric carefully studied the expression on her face as she recounted her past. Her eyes, usually bright and shining, were cloudy and her voice wavered in a fragile way that he'd never heard before. The person she described sounded uncannily like Sonny from the insatiable thirst for power and control to the ruthless intimidation tactics. It was no wonder that Alexis was sucked into his vortex.
It reminded him of certain victims he'd encountered in court; they were so conditioned to their cycle of abuse that they didn't see it nor would they admit to it on the stand. It was an illogical dedication to protecting their abuser that he never fully understood until now. Perhaps that's what kept Alexis defending Sonny all those years at great cost to her personal well being. After all, she'd grown up knowing nothing else. After witnessing her mother's grisly murder, she must have been so emotionally raw and vulnerable that it was easy for Helena to manipulate her and to crush her self-esteem.
"You were born worthy, Alexis."
No wonder she couldn't accept that. He felt selfish about his recent monopolization of her time and attention. Here he was, licking his wounds about Sonny, his mother, Elizabeth and their lost child, while Alexis was dealing with her own private hell. That's why she understood his motivation all too well and why she'd been able to be almost flip about the panic room, the most psychotic time of his life. It was the sadistic comprehension of the power of evil.
"I never realized how much that you had to endure," Ric admitted quietly. " It does explain a lot though, like your almost obsessive need to protect Kristina from Sonny, the fact that you don't even flinch at my dark side and our undeniable attraction to one another."
"It's perfect," she said. "Which is why it's frightening. But it's also vulnerable Ric. One wrong move, one fractured trust and we could lose everything that we've built between us."
He absently rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I never looked at the stakes as being that high before."
"But they are!" she insisted passionately. "That's why understanding our motivation is so important. What made you want to marry me and adopt Kristina? When we make love, what does it really mean? Do I love you because you have the capability of being devious enough to take on Sonny or Helena and beat them at their own game or is it because I love the man that you are deep down inside?"
In an instant, every word Alexis said faded into the woodwork except for one. Ric's pulse began to race and he put his tea down and looked at her as if he'd just experienced an epiphany. "Whoa! Alexis, did you just say that you love me?"
She caught her breath and reviewed her words in her head, then looked at Ric astounded. "I think I did."
"But when? - "
"I don't know," she breathed in, still stunned by her own revelation. Her eyes began to sting and with the precursor of inevitable tears of relief. How long had that emotion been pent up inside of her?
Ric resisted the impulse to hold her as he watched the resurrection of long buried emotions rise to the surface. Alexis put her hands on her cheeks and felt their heat as they were being doused by a waterfall of tears. She lightly laughed and looked at Ric helplessly as the tears would not stop flowing.
He reached out and tenderly wiped them away. "I've been in love with you for a long time but refused to admit it. When I saw you with Kristina in the park, so vital and beautiful, I knew that there was no use fighting it. I only hoped that one day you would feel the same."
"I - I'm not sure how to deal with this," she stuttered. "I know what it means but-"
"Shhh," Ric put his finger to her lips. "This is an incredible moment Alexis. Don't over analyze it."
He took the mug from her hands and set it on the coffee table, then reclined on the couch and pulled Alexis down with him. Ric wrapped his arms around her and she closed her eyes, resting her tearstained face on his chest. His steady, strong heartbeat was mesmerizing as it lulled her to sleep. He didn't know how many hours they laid there together with him gently stroking her hair, only that he saw the sunset over the water through the window and soon succumbed to peaceful slumber as well. And so the Lansings spent the first night in their new home together, safe and content in each other's arms.