Chapter 28

Robin sat on the front porch staring out at the woods. Mac had taken Emma to a little pond on the property to go fishing and everyone else was in the house going over security measure for their return to Port Charles. Tomorrow they headed home.

It had been a long two weeks for Robin, going through everything that had happened to her over the past year. It had been good but difficult and, truth be known, she still wasn't sure she was ready to head back home. What if Helena went after her again or, even worse, Marcus? They still had no idea who he was, the prints Patrick had gotten were a dead end, and now they didn't know where he was. She wasn't worried about herself, she was worried about Emma. Neither one of them would have any problems with using her little girl to get to Robin.

A coffee cup appeared in front of her and Robin looked up to see Patrick standing there smiling down at her. "Hot chocolate?"

Robin nodded and took the cup from him. Robin was amazed at how great Patrick had been over the past few weeks, always there with a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on, not pushing her or asking her any questions, just letting her do what she needed to do. They had spent the evenings together as a family: playing games, going for walks, doing schoolwork. After Emma was in bed, Patrick caught her up on what their little girl had been doing while Robin was gone. No pressure, just there for her as a friend. "Why don't you have a seat?"

"Thank you." Patrick sat down next to her on the swing. "You ready to head back to Port Charles?"

"I think so. It's easier now that I know Marcus isn't there but still…" Robin wondered, not for the first time, if it would have been better if she had stayed gone.

"Stop that." Robin looked at him. "The best thing that has happened to Emma or me in the past year is you coming home."

"How did you know that was what I was thinking?" Robin gave him a little smile as she spoke in an almost teasing tone. "Maybe I was thinking about the hospital."

"Because I know you Robin. Don't worry about Marcus or Helena, worry about coming to terms with what happened to you and returning to a normal life as Emma's mom and a doctor." Patrick wanted to say something about being his wife again but it was much too soon for that and he knew they had a lot to work through. "And since we are on the subject, I have a proposition for you."

Robin gave him a questioning look. She had noticed he didn't mention anything about them getting back together. She didn't want to be hurt by that but she was. "A proposition?"

"I want you to move back home with me and Emma."

Robin sighed. "Patrick…"

"Just listen to me." Patrick took the cup from her hands and set it on the porch. He then took her hands in his. "I'm not expecting us to go back to the way we were. I'm not going to lie – I want to but I know we have a lot to figure out before we can even consider it."

Robin felt tears come to her eyes but they were tears of relief. She was certain Patrick had given up on them. "How could you after what I did?"

"What did you do? Try to help a friend? Be the wonderful, caring and selfless woman I fell in love with? Robin, you have done nothing wrong and I hate that you think you did." Patrick gently rubbed her hands.

"But Marcus, I was engaged to him."

"Not by choice. Robin, he was manipulating you and abusing you. You never loved him, I could tell." Patrick was trying to reassure her that he in no way blamed her for what Marcus and Helena had done. "Whatever happened, know I don't blame you."

Robin realized what he was saying. "Thank you." She took a deep breath. "I don't blame you either. I was gone, I signed the divorce papers, you had every right to move on. I, uh, I have to admit I didn't think it would be with Sam but I don't blame you either."

"Well that makes one of us." Patrick started but stopped, remembering Lucky's words from when he first got to the safe house. "But this isn't about me – we have plenty of time to deal with that later. This is about what is best for our family. I really want you to move back in to our home Robin. I'll even put a new bed in the master suite for you."

"What about you?" Robin didn't want to be an inconvenience to him.

"I'll sleep in the guest room. This way we can both be there for Emma and it will be easier for the guards if we are under one roof. Your parents even had a state of the art security system installed. So what do you say Scorpio – you want to live with me?"

"I don't know…"

"It's fully furnished and clothing is optional, at least when Emma is not there." Patrick gave her his best sexy smile and Robin laughed, remembering the first time he tried to get her to live with him. It seemed like another lifetime.

"I would love to come home. Are you sure?"

"I have never been surer about anything in my life." Patrick squeezed her hand. "I have one more thing to discuss with you." He took a deep breath. "When we get back home I would like for us to go into counseling, separately and together."

"Patrick, I don't know. I have been through some pretty major counseling here…"

"Robin, this is deprogramming, not counseling. Yes, you have been discussing what happened to you but I can see the walls you have around you even if no one else can. This isn't just about what happened with Marcus and Helena, it's about my turning my back on you. It's about your mom and I not noticing that something was wrong when we were talking to you. It's about the hell you went through when you were presumed dead. We have a lot of issues to work through so we can at least be friends again." Tears came to his eyes. "I want more, but we are not ready for that yet. I still love you, I never stopped and I want us to be a family again but only if you want to and at your pace."

Robin's tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "And I still love you, so much. Yes, I will move back home and yes, I think we should do the counseling." Robin scooted over on the seat so she was next to him. "You need to know that nothing happened with Marcus. I couldn't…"

"I wasn't asking Robin." Patrick didn't feel it was his place.

"I know." Robin smiled at him. "Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

She picked up his arm and put it around her shoulder. "Hold me."

Patrick wrapped his arm tight around her and Robin snuggled into his chest. He placed a kiss on the top on her head and smiled. "Always."