Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, I'm just using them for a bit of fun.

Thank you all for your feedback. I'm sorry that this chapter has taken a bit longer to write than the previous ones, but I've been a bit busy elsewhere. Please R/R.

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The next morning Elizabeth woke up to the demanding noises coming from the direction of Ella's room. It was 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning, but as much as Elizabeth would have wished to continue her sleep, she had to get up to check on her daughter.

"I'm coming!" Elizabeth muttered sleepily, stretching and blocking her eyes from the rays of the raising sun that were already shining through the window. It was a beautiful morning and were she not suffering from a little hangover, Elizabeth might even have enjoyed it, regardless of the early hour, but now the bright light was only hurting her eyes.

"Mama!" Ella greeted her mother excitedly, jumping up an down on her bed when Elizabeth finally entered the room. "Mama, mama, mama!" , she chanted.

Elizabeth lifted Ella up from the bed and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Good morning, my sunshine. Mom's a bit tired this morning."

"No" Ella protested, looking at Elizabeth accusingly.

"Yes" Elizabeth replied with a yawn before placing another kiss on Ella's face.

"Mama always tired."

Elizabeth smiled regretfully. Ella was right. She spent too much time at work and when she was at home she was usually very tired. It was something Elizabeth often regretted, but there was nothing she could do about it. Somebody had to do the work and since Robert was disabled, it was she who had to do most of the surgical operations.

But this weekend would be different. She would spend two days at home with Ella, for they both needed the time together.

"Very well. I'm awake. Mom won't be tired today." Elizabeth assured Ella and then carried her to the bathroom to give her a bath before it was time to get dressed and have breakfast.

This way the morning passed pleasantly, and it was only a little before midday when Elizabeth remembered Robert again.

He hadn't called yet, but Elizabeth assured herself that it was probably just because he was still sleeping. After all, he didn't have a two-year- old to wake him up at ungodly hours during the weekends. Elizabeth looked at Ella who was sitting on the floor, playing with her dolls, and she began to wonder how Ella and Robert would get along if they met. It was all hypothetical thinking of course, as Elizabeth told herself, because it wasn't likely that the two would ever meet, other than briefly at the hospital from time to time, but it was an interesting thought nevertheless. Now there was yet another thing to be added on the long list of things that Elizabeth didn't know about Robert: Was he good with children? She knew for a fact he wasn't good with grown-ups, but children were different, and Elizabeth had sometimes witnessed Robert being kind to little patients when he thought no-one was watching....

Another hour passed with no call from Robert. Elizabeth began to twist a bit uncomfortably in her chair while she was watching Ella play. What if something had happened to Robert? Surely he would have gotten up by now if everything was alright. But then again, Elizabeth had to remind herself, she had no reason to expect that he'd call her the first thing in the morning. He might just as well have decided to wait until the evening. Or maybe he had forgotten about it altogether. Why did she have to be so worked up about it anyway? It was just a bloody phone call.

Finally Elizabeth got up, deciding it was time to have some lunch. Not that she was feeling particularly hungry, but Ella would probably need something to eat before her daily nap, and she herself needed something else to think about. Her obsession with Robert was becoming unhealthy. Elizabeth realized she was thinking about him far too much for her own good.

She took Ella with her to the kitchen and they were just about to start eating when the phone finally rang. At first Elizabeth stiffened, then she jumped up and rushed to the telephone, much to the delight of Ella who seemed to find her mother's sudden leap highly amusing. The child's giggles brought Elizabeth back to her senses and she paused to gather her breath before picking up the phone:

"Hello?" She spoke to the telephone.

There was a short silence, then a quiet: "Elizabeth?"

It was Robert. Elizabeth couldn't mistake that voice.

"Robert!" she replied.

"Hi," he greeted in a firmer voice. "I wasn't quite sure if you remembered the conversation we had last night..when I asked if I could call you today."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "What? You thought I was that drunk?"

"Well, you seemed a bit tired...."

"I was, but not unconscious!"

There was a silence again. Both seemed willing to talk more, but for a while nothing was said.

"So... how did you get home last night?" Elizabeth finally asked, determined to keep a level head in the conversation this time.

"I walked."

"Walked?" Elizabeth couldn't hide her astonishment. "Isn't it a bit of a long way to walk?"

This finally opened the conversation. Robert snorted.

"You seem to forget, my dear, that I still have two perfectly good legs, and as I'm planning to keep them functional I decided to use them, so-"

"Robert, I didn't mean to imply that....", Elizabeth started, but then it hit her that Robert had just called her his 'dear'. That wasn't the worst part of the realisation, however: Elizabeth knew she should have been affronted that he was taking such a liberty, but to her own astonishment she was not. In fact, she found she had almost liked the sound of it. Something had to be very seriously wrong with her.

Robert, however, had either not noticed his slip at all or had used the endearment intentionally for reasons Elizabeth did not wish to think about, because he continued as if nothing special had been said:

"So, I walked all the way home last night, and this morning I walked back to the County to get my car."

Elizabeth registered Romano's words, but wasn't able to reply at once. The silence finally caught Robert's attention.

"Lizzie? You still with me?"

"Uh....Yes." Elizabeth mumbled, deciding to drop the subject of endearments. Robert was probably just being Robert and hadn't meant anything by it anyway. She'd better turn her attention back to the conversation. "So, you were saying you walked...."

"Ten points, Lizzie! And here I was thinking you weren't listening at all and I'd have to start all over again."

"Of course I was listening!" Elizabeth protested. "I- I just didn't expect you to get up so early and walk through the city only to get your car. I thought you'd sleep late when you had the chance. I know I would have."

"You have obviously never had a dog, then" Robert replied with a snort. "They need to be taken out every morning, early, weekend or no weekend."

"Not so different from having a toddler then." Elizabeth retorted, glancing at Ella who was stuffing food to her mouth and decorating the rest of her face with it in the process.

"I guess so. I take it, then, that you didn't get too much sleep either?"

"That's right."

Suddenly a new idea began to form in Elizabeth's head, and no matter how crazy she told herself it was, she decided to pursue it: Ella would soon have finished her meal and then she would have to go take a nap, while Elizabeth herself hadn't even touched her food yet. This would leave her in want of some company while eating. Elizabeth had to admit herself she would probably end up thinking about Robert anyway, if she was left alone, so she might just as well invite him to come over for lunch.

"Elizabeth?" Robert's voice brought Elizabeth's mind back to the conversation at hand. "You seem a bit distracted today. Are you sure I'm not interrupting anything?"

"No, no, not at all. Why would you think that?" She hastened to reassure Robert.

"I just thought maybe you have some other company since you only seem to be keeping half of your attention in this conversation."

Robert sounded grumpy, leading Elizabeth to wonder whether he thought she was entertaining a man in the house or if he was just generally displeased by the lack of attention. She smiled mischievously. Maybe she could, for once, toy with Robert a bit.

"No" She finally replied, stretching the word. "But I am actually expecting someone."

"Oh." Romano replied curtly. "Well, maybe I shouldn't keep you any longer then..."

The disappointment in Robert's voice, even though clearly attempted to conceal, encouraged Elizabeth to continue.

"You are not interested in finding out who I am expecting?"

"Quite frankly; no. It's probably some tall and handsome geek of a doctor you met somewhere." He replied grumpily. "Just don't tell me it's that annoying blue-eyed jerk...what's his name again?"

"You mean Dr. Dorset?."

"Yeah, that Blasted Eddie."

"Fast Eddie."

"Whatever."

Elizabeth smiled. "No, I wasn't talking about him."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it."

"Actually..." Elizabeth continued. "I'm not sure yet if this man is coming at all."

"He'd be a fool if he didn't."

"You think so?"

"Yes."

"So, you will come then?"

There was stunned silence. Elizabeth smiled triumphantly. For once she had managed to make Robert Romano speechless.

Finally Robert found his voice again:

"W-What did you just say?"

"Well, the thing is that I was just going to have lunch with Ella when you called, and now it looks like Ella will be finished before I can even get started, so I was thinking maybe you could come over to keep me company instead. Besides, I'm afraid I made a bit too much food and it looks like we might need a third to finish it." Elizabeth tried to sound casual, but despite her recent success in teasing Robert, she was beginning to get a bit nervous about the idea.

Yet another silence. Robert was probably either contemplating the offer or simply too surprised by it to say anything.

"Well...." He finally started. "I haven't had anything to eat yet..."

"Shall I take that as a yes?" Elizabeth asked anxiously.

"If you're sure about this, then...yes." Robert replied after a short pause.

"Good. Can you come right away?" Elizabeth wanted to finish the conversation quickly before she would start getting second thoughts.

"I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I'll see you then."

With that, they both hung up and Elizabeth took a deep breath. She wasn't sure what she was getting herself into, but she couldn't regret the decision to invite him over. For the last few days she had been thinking about Robert a lot more than was healthy for her, and she had finally come to the conclusion that she could no longer just shrug it all off as some sort of a mental disturbance that would wear off in a couple of days. Something was happening to her and she was planning to find out what it was.