Chapter 22

Cameron awoke the next morning to the smell of strong coffee and rolling over he groaned at the empty pillow beside him. He sighed heavily realizing he hadn't awakened soon enough to reach the coffee pot first. He wasn't ready to face the first hour of the day with a cup of Alexis' coffee. In resignation he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He felt good and well rested. In fact he hadn't slept that soundly in quite a while. He knew the reason. It was her, his angel. Never had his arms been so full as they were the night before. He held her close all through the night, never once relinquishing his hold on her. He reached down and lifted his t-shirt up to his nose and breathed deeply whispering, "Such wonder never graced the heart as the scent of a woman upon a man. Such intimate wonder he begs to remain beyond eternity." He felt like a kid again and with both hands he pulled the cotton up to cover his entire face and chuckled as her scent completely filled his senses.

"What are you doing, Cameron Lewis?"

He froze at the sound of her voice in the doorway. Grinning behind the veil of his t-shirt at what he must look like, he suddenly thought 'so what', I feel too good to let a little embarrassment get in the way of a beautiful morning and a little fun with Alexis. Dragging his shirt slowly down he stopped when it reached the bridge of his nose and peeked over the edge at her with a light of mischief filling his eyes. He could see she was struggling to keep from laughing at him so he yanked the shirt completely free of his face and motioned her closer.

"Come here. I'll show you."

Sitting down beside him on the bed she grinned at the twinkle in his eyes and lost control of the laughter she was holding back as he thrust the neck of his t-shirt toward her.

"It's a t-shirt, Cameron. I know what a t-shirt is."

"Smell it."

She leaned back to put a little distance between herself and the shirt he was attempting to thrust into her face staring at him dubiously.

"Excuse me?"

"You wanted to know what I was doing. So go on, take a whiff of it."

She was laughing almost uncontrollably now. Between the light in his eyes and the mischief on his face she couldn't help it.

"Now why would I want to smell a shirt that you've had on since yesterday morning, Cameron?"

"Ha, just goes to show what you know. If you think you're going to smell me on this shirt, then you've got another think coming. And why would you even consider that smelling my own body odor could put a smile this big on my face? And if you don't wrap this shirt around your nose within the next minute I'm going to take it off and do it for you."

Her eyes became perfectly round saucers as they widened dramatically at his threat.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh wouldn't I?"

He reached toward the hem of his shirt and inch by inch began lifting. Her eyes remained fixed on his hands until the planes of his stomach slowly came into view and a warm sensation began to fill every pore of her body. She quickly grabbed both of his hands and yanked them back down.

"Alright, Alright. You win."

She reached for the top of his t-shirt and pulled it smartly toward her choking him purposely. Burying her nose for a nano-second she let go and pushed him backward.

"You smell like a girl, Cameron. I would suggest you shower before going to work unless you really want the grapevine buzzing at General Hospital."

"You are so wrong, angel. I don't smell like a girl. I smell like you and I wouldn't at all mind smelling like this the rest of the day. At least I would have a delectably enticing reminder of why I smell like you… all… day… long…

He drew his last words out slowly as he leaned closer and watched the crimson tide wash across her face. No tide had ever been blessed with such beauty. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped at her nervous fidgeting hands as he finally reached his destination just half a breath away from her ear.

"…and my day will be so much more enjoyable with this vision of you… asleep… in my arms… dreaming… about me. Care to give me another visual to take to work with me?"

He laughed with amused fascination, as he watched her quick nervous retreat from the carnal pleasure she was finding a little too enjoyable considering their close proximity. Upon hearing his laughter though, she quickly settled an expression of matter-of-factness on her face to hide the evidence her pleasure. He caught himself wondering just how many sleepless nights she must have spent trying to figure out ways to stop the tell-tale nervous ramblings he was somehow beginning to predict. Even more interesting to him in that moment though was just how long her current ramble would last.

"And just why would I care to give you anything to make your day easier? It won't phase me in the least if you decide to torture yourself all day long with this sick fascination you have with what I smell like. And just for your information all you need is a bar of soap if you really want to smell like a girl all day long. But why any man would want to smell like a girl is totally beyond my realm of understanding."

Standing to follow her out, he laughed at her further attempts to hide the blush that remained on her face and couldn't help further teasing her.

"Alexis, don't you think you may have used a bit too much makeup this morning? Your face looks a bit redder than usual or are you just a bit embarrassed at being in the same bedroom with me?"

Without any warning he suddenly found himself being shoved off his feet to land flat on his back on the bed. Looking up, he became a mass of raging schoolboy hormones at the picture of her standing over him with an impish smile of her own peeking out at him. Somewhere between his teasing and her attempts to regain her emotional equilibrium, Cameron found himself looking into the eyes of a woman who was definitely in control and knew how to use her effect on him as a weapon. She leaned down suggestively propping herself up with one hand on each side of him bringing her face so close that he could feel every breath she took. A shiver passed through him at her seductively whispered words.

"I think I've had a lot more practice keeping my, shall we say, appetites under control than you have. So don't get the idea that I'm easy by any means. Just because I've allowed your hands to take certain liberties with my person… I do believe, if I tried hard enough, I could render you speechless with very little effort on my part and still keep my own… how shall I put this…

She leaned down further until her lips lightly brushed his ear and finished her verbal assault on him.

"Ah yes… and still keep my own rather robust appetite from causing you too much discomfort."

Her words left him speechless and fighting desperately to gain control of the fire that was quickly converging into one area of his body. As she drew back, she proved the truth of her words.

"Then again, it appears as though it doesn't take more than just a few well placed heated suggestive words to render you incapable of coherent thought."

He helplessly watched her slow retreat and found he couldn't move or speak. His throat was dry, his knees were weak, and there wasn't a hint of oxygen in his lungs. She walked out with a victorious grin on her beautiful face and it took him a few minutes before he could shake off the very evident arousal her sweet hot breathe had elicited from his body. Breathlessly he spoke to an empty room. "You may have won the battle this time, Alexis. But, the war belongs to me."

Standing up he looked back at the disheveled bed then at the door she had just walked out of and allowed the release of one final resigning thought… "Hell, who am I kidding. Best just to surrender now. She won the battle before I ever raised the bugle to sound the 'charge'."

****************

Following Alexis out, Cameron looked at his watch and instead of turning toward the kitchen for breakfast, he headed to her desk and sat down picking up the phone. Playtime was over for now. It was time to get back to the business of reuniting Alexis and Kristina. Picking up the phone and dialing quickly he looked up briefly to find her standing next to him with a cup of coffee and smiled at the question written across her face. Lifting a finger to ask her to wait a moment, he made a quick grab for her as she turned to go. Gently pulling her back to him, he didn't have time to explain before his call was answered on the other end.

"Hi, Gail. It's Cameron. Got a minute?"

The eager expectation that lit Alexis' face caused a flood of happiness to infuse him and as he began to release his hold on her hand she turned her wrist quickly to hang onto him as she leaned against the desk in anticipation.

"Yes, I'm doing fine. But, I have this lady friend of mine who is very impatient to know how things are proceeding and I was hoping you might have some news. Is there anything you can tell us yet?"

Her grip on his hand was becoming quite painful, so cradling the phone on his shoulder he reached toward his imprisoned hand and gently pried her fingers loose stretching his own to coax the feeling back into them. He winked at her whispered apology while reaching for her with both hands to turn her around and pull her back to him to sit comfortably on his lap. He grabbed the phone that was slipping off his shoulder just as Gail's last comment pulled his attention back to her.

"How did that go? …. Can you see any problem areas?"

Alexis' curiosity to see the reactions on his face caused by the conversation he was having got the best of her and forgetting the unease of finding herself perched on his lap, shifted further around to be able to see his face fully. His welcome smile sent her blood racing.

"I see. So you have everything you need? … Do you have any idea when that will be?"

"That soon?"

Cameron looked up at Alexis and felt his heart melt at the confident patient trust he saw in her eyes. As much as he enjoyed having her so close though, her wiggling around on his lap needed to stop… and soon.

"Thank you, Gail for everything you're doing for us. And yes, we'll be ready when you need us to be."

Disconnecting the call, he handed the phone to Alexis and sat there a minute without saying anything knowing that his silence was driving her mad. A slow teasing grin began to appear on his lips until she grabbed hold of his ear and yanked.

"Owww. What did you do that for?"

"Cameron Lewis, don't you dare tease me over something this important."

"Ok. Ok. I'm sorry. But, I just love to see you get so animated."

"I'll animate you if you don't tell me right now what Gail said."

Cameron placed his arm under her knees and rose from the chair taking her with him holding her cradled in his arms. He wanted her close when he told her the news.

"Gail hand delivered her report to Farmer late yesterday afternoon. When she checked her e-mail this morning there was a message from Judge Marks that he would be taking over your case immediately."

With the mention of Marks name, Alexis' face fell instantly forcing Cameron to put her down as concern spread across his face when she stepped away from him.

"Cameron, he's a tough one. The toughest I've ever come across. This is not good for us."

With a smug knowing grin he reached for her and pulled her back to him then locked his fingers behind her trapping her within the circle of his arms.

"No, Alexis. This is good news for us. Gail's percentage of wins with this guy is as good as it gets. He knows her and he knows what Farmer's been up to. According to Gail, Judge Marks taking over your case is the best we could have hoped for. Gail is pushing this through fast and she is very optimistic. Right now she's putting together a profile of your case, from the beginning; that will also include a copy of all my files as well as everything the police have. DA Baldwin was not happy with his stepmother at all. Seems he wasn't prepared to have his office ransacked last night for anything having to do with you or the Q's. Marks signed a search warrant immediately after his first contact with Gail. It doesn't look good for the idiot to say the least. Anyway once she has everything together she'll courier it to Marks this afternoon. The only set back is, Marks agreed not to go after Baldwin for anything found in his office. Gail didn't have it in her to go after the boy directly. Baldwin doesn't know anything about that part of the deal so you might say she has him walking a pretty precarious tight rope right now."

"I don't care about Scott, Cameron. What happens now?"

"We wait until Gail calls. She figures Marks will want to talk to both of us and we have to be ready when she calls. We may not have much notice before being summoned to the courthouse. So you're going to have to stand on ready, Alexis."

Alexis stepped back forcing Cameron to let go of her then moved to sit down on the sofa crossing her legs, her face a study of concentration. He followed and sat down beside her within arms reach.

"What's wrong, angel?"

Folding her arms she glanced quickly at him then down to her foot idly swinging back and forth.

"If Scott has been alerted to Gail's involvement then you can bet Edward, Ned and Skye know what's going on. Ned is not going to sit still without raising a hellacious fit over what we are doing and you can just imagine how Skye is going to react."

Cameron reached across and laying his arm along the back of the sofa ran his fingers through her hair then dropped his hand to her shoulder.

"I'm sure Ned probably does know what we're up to by now. But it doesn't matter, Alexis. He doesn't have a leg to stand on."

"Cameron, you and I know that and he knows that. I can't afford for anyone else to know that right now. Least of all that filth he's been cozying up to. If Ned begins to feel he's losing the battle, there's no telling what he might do just to hurt me for taking Kristina away from him. And if Skye were to find out that Ned is not Kristina's father… I shudder to think what would happen."

"Hey, let's not borrow trouble. We have enough to deal with right now without all the what-ifs. You need to prepare yourself to go before Marks and detail the truth. Alexis, you are going to have to lay it all out for him beginning with the loss of your sister. You can't leave anything out and you can't give him a load of bull. Gail and I will be right there with you to back you up. With my testimony, her files from Scott's office, and her in home visit report, I can't see us not walking out of there without full custody of Kristina."

Alexis shifted nervously then looked up at Cameron with trepidation.

"It's too easy, Cameron. There's something about it that just sounds too easy."

"Angel, you're forgetting one of the most important weapons in your arsenal."

She looked at him curiously then her eyes rounded as she remembered the documents he handed her in the foyer of the Quartermaine mansion. She jumped up and raced to her desk quickly opening the file drawer sharply. Reaching inside she twisted her wrist upward searching for her lock box key. Finding it quickly she peeled the tape down freeing the key. Glancing toward Cameron, she raised the key and stated emphatically.

"You never saw that."

"No. I'd swear I never did."

She turned and approached the china cabinet and opened the bottom compartment and pulled out her lock box then returned to sit down beside Cameron. She ran her hands over the top of the metal box as if it contained the secrets to the world and let her gaze find him again.

"How will I ever be able to thank you for all you've done for me, Cameron? I've had friends most of my life, but none of them have stood by me the way you have. Not one of them would have gone to the lengths you have to help me get my daughter back."

He reached toward her and slid his hand down the back of her head capturing a hand full of hair and watched it slowly sift through his fingers. Repeating the action once more he let his hand fall to rest at the nape of her neck and caressed her lightly with his fingertips pulling her eyes and attention fully to him.

"Alexis, what you and I do for each other, we do because we care about each other. Look what you did for me last night. There's a connection between us that neither one of us was prepared for and we're still working out the mechanics of it. Once we have Kristina home, you and I need to sit down and talk. Away from the cares of this fish bowl we live in. I want us to take little Kristina out to the cabin and spend a few days together. Just the three of us and see if we can start distancing ourselves from all of the chaos and maybe find a way to be together without all the constant upheaval. Will you promise me we can at least try to do that? I mean get away… just the three of us. I know you're not capable of looking to the future yet and it's perfectly understandable given what you've been through. But, I've caught brief glimpses of a woman who is self-assured, confident of her abilities and possesses a spirit of determination that defies anything I've ever seen before. I want to know more about that woman. I want to see more of that woman and I want to know what it's going to take to bring her back. Everything up until now has been a matter of reaction on your part. Every step you've taken has been to react to an outside force. You need to turn that around, angel. You need time to readjust… to start calling the shots instead of dodging them."

He waited for her response not knowing how she would react to his idea. She was twisting her rings with a studious expression on her face. She stopped her movement and looked up at him.

"Just the three of us?"

"Just the three of us."

"Without any outside interference?"

"Without any outside interference."

"No phones, no appointments, no unplanned visitors…?"

"None of the above."

"No Ned, No Skye, no Edward… no one but just us. Just you, me and my daughter."

"That's the plan."

He watched a small tear fall from the corner of her eye and reached to take hold of her hand. He didn't need to say anything; he could tell the idea was appealing to her on so many different levels. The only one he was unsure of was the concept of his man to her woman and the attraction that lay smoldering between them.

"Could that really be possible, Cameron? I mean could we really hide out for a few days away from all this mess. Just forget Port Charles ever existed for a while?"

"All you have to do is say yes, angel. And once we have your baby girl in your arms, we are out of town faster than you can say go."

He saw her slowly reach for him and as her hand slipped behind his head she pulled him to her laying her lips against his cheek. She stayed with him longer than he expected and he felt the wetness of her tear transfer to his face and his heart clutched. When she finally pulled away her tender smile lit the darkest corner of the room and with a voice as quiet as could be…

"I'm almost afraid to hope that this will all end as you say it will, but it's been a long time since anyone championed a cause so vigorously for me. So if everything goes as you say it will, I think I'll take you up on that offer, Dr. Lewis. I need time to recuperate and regroup and I need to find out more about the man who is saving my life."

No sooner did she complete her sentence than they both leaped from the sofa at the thunderous assault on her door.

"ALEXIS, OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW. ALEXIS? I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE. OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR BEFORE I BREAK IT DOWN."