PI Office, Port Charles
Sean is staring at a computer screen with reams of computer printouts in his lap and on the floor. He is diligently taking notes trying to maintain a professional distance as he notes items and sequences he does not like. Frisco comes through the door carrying a briefcase and additional files under his arms, he pauses over the desk and drops his stuff unceremoniously on the surface.
"Geez man, What the hell is this?" Sean exclaims. "There used to be a time when you never let anyone startle you, losing your touch I see." Frisco says. "Funny. How was New York, hope you found out something that will change this picture, because from what I'm seeing here it's shaping up to be very ugly."
"Wish I had better news for you Sean, but I'm afraid it's what we originally suspected and unless there is a rational, logical explanation for these connections, this will be devastating for all involved."
"But can we prove it? Can we prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt because we're going to have to in order to be able convince Robert and Anna. You know how they are in normal situations; we are now talking about his ex-wife, to whom he was married to for three years." Sean states emphatically.
"I know, but at this point it's all just circumstantial, granted its damaging circumstantial evidence that would definitely hold up in court, but I'm not sure it will hold up for Robert. All the connections are there, the phone taps and records have been verified as accurate, well at least the ones I was able to grab before the file redaction you had ordered. I know there has to be more, but unfortunately it's all we have plus the ones from her stay in New York and London. Faison was very thorough, but he did miss some of the Wyndemere logs. I'm wondering if he really even intended to destroy them, knowing him it was probably an extra bonus to drive Robert crazy if the truth is uncovered. I am working on the family history now to uncover the connections and how this whole thing might have developed. It's not pretty Sean, from what I've seen so far it directly involves Anna as well."
"What? What directly involves her?" Sean says startled.
"No I don't mean this unholy alliance, I mean in her history, and more specifically her childhood. It's not a clear picture yet, but there is definitely something there. We know already that Nanny McTavish was employed by Anna's family for a short time, but we don't know what happened after that." Frisco replies
"Okay then we need to step up this operation but we still need to be careful in how we proceed, because if Robert or Anna find out prematurely, it will not be good. I don't want to upset them especially now. So I think I want to put another plan in motion, one that I thought of a couple of weeks ago when Holly showed up at the party. I think Tiffany could help us out, but we will need to let her in on most of this. I have been able to keep her at bay for the last couple of weeks, but she does sense something is very wrong and that you and I know what it is. If Tiffany can somehow gain Holly's confidence and because they have known each other for a long time, I really think it could work. Plus you know how persuasive my wife can be. Maybe she can get her to tip her hand or possibly point us in the right direction. I believe Holly is not handling Robert's marriage to Anna very well and this pregnancy must be a really be hard to handle. So, if Tiffany can play the sympathy angle you know a shoulder to cry on, I think it's worth a shot. With the whole Mac involvement now there is an added factor that will keep her around town. However, we do have to wait until they bring their relationship out into the open. Right now we are not supposed to know anything except that he invited her to the Outback casually once and that's it. If we reveal we do know the real story she will suspect something is up and that she is under surveillance and she might flee. I still don't know or like the implications of this relationship, but like I said we can use this to our advantage."
"I agree, I think it's a good plan, I just hope that this Mac angle doesn't throw a monkey-wrench into this thing. Do you she thinks she's using him to get to Robert? If she's innocent in this whole thing, would anyone date their ex-husband's brother willingly? It just doesn't seem plausible, in a normal situation."Frisco states.
"No, I think you hit the nail on the head. If all of this points to her involvement with Faison, then this is most likely her Plan B, since the original plan failed miserably." Sean says.
"By the way, how ARE you keeping Anna in the dark about this? I mean she's still working here so she has to have access to everything you are working on? And she is by nature, very inquisitive and well suspicious." Frisco asks incredulously.
"Well, lucky for us, she is preoccupied with other things at the moment, yes she does come into her office, but her brain is barely here. The cases that she is working on are run of the mill ones, so she doesn't have to travel, and they have kept her busy. Plus they are generating a lot of revenue, for which I'm grateful. But, most of the time I walk in and she is daydreaming so it's just a waiting game until she leaves in a couple of weeks. I'm not worried, believe me. Today is unusual I don't normally have this stuff lying around, but I know for certain she's not coming in today. Her baby shower is today, I guess you haven't been home yet?" Sean says with a smile.
"Oh that's right. I guess that means I have to go home to an estrogen festival." Frisco says with a face.
"Robert why are we here? I have a million things to do today" She asks for the third time in 15 minutes.
"It will take 3 minutes Anna. I just want to talk to Frisco about something. Its not a big deal." He says starting to lose patience.
"Well I wish you would have told me, I would have taken my own car and went straight home." She says as they walk up to the Brownstone.
He gives her a look and she gives it right back to him and sighs. He opens the door and they walk through, and everyone yells surprise. She looks back at Robert and hits him in the stomach and everyone laughs. She hugs him and he kisses her quickly and walks up to Tony. They quickly make an exit to the kitchen.
Sean and Frisco join them a half hour later. Anna is amazed at all the gifts she received and the generosity of her friends. Robin is helping sort through everything and loves all the little outfits and everything. She shows her mother all the cute little onesies and socks and shoes. Since they don't know the sex of the baby yet, everything is pretty agnostic.
"Where's your father?" She asks Robin. He's in the kitchen with the other guys." She says. Anna gets up and goes into the kitchen to see all the guys laughing. "There she is." Frisco says. She smiles and walks up to Robert taking his hand.
"Having a good time?" He asks. "Yes, wait until you see all the stuff we got." She says smiling. "Always love free stuff." Robert says. "Sorry I was so mean to you earlier." She says. "That's ok, I'm used to it." He says and she hits him and then she kisses him sweetly and then squeezes his hand and returns to the other room.
They finally get home and Anna heads straight upstairs. She is exhausted and tires very easily now. Robert brings everything from the car into the living room. He figures tomorrow she will want to sort through everything herself. The entire room is packed with packages. All the furniture is set up in the nursery except for the crib which will arrive tomorrow.
He goes upstairs and sees Robin is in their room with Anna. They are talking and laughing about the day. Anna is changing into something more comfortable. She sees him. "Hey is everything in the house." She asks.
"Yup down in the living room. Unfortunately, there is no place to sit." He says smiling. She walks up to him. "Thank you, sweetheart." She kisses him quickly. "You should get some rest, ok? Its been a long day for you." He says putting his hand on her belly.
"Don't worry I will." She smiles at him. Robin is smiling at her parents. She has never seen them so happy.
About an hour later, Robert goes back upstairs to make sure Anna is resting. He sees Robin and Anna laying on their bed. Anna is sleeping and Robin is reading a book he assumes is for school. His heart is full.
"Hey Dad." Robin whispers. "Hey, how long as she been sleeping?" He whispers. "About an hour." Robin answers. "Good. Are you guys getting hungry?" He asks sitting on the bed.
"Yeah, maybe pizza or something." Robin says. "Good idea. What are you reading?" He asks her. "Believe it or not Tom Sawyer. We have to give a speech about it and about the the age in which this book was written. I'm not happy." He chuckles. They start talking about the book. Robert gets comfortable leaning against the head board as Robin snuggles closer.
Robert is very knowledgeable about it and Robin is once again impressed with her father's knowledge and the time frame in which the book was written. They are both whispering but Anna still awakens and listens to them both talking while still pretending to be asleep. She loves listening to them talk. Robin and Robert have this special relationship where they can literally talk about anything except one thing Anna thinks and laughs internally.
Robert looks over and sees Anna's eyes are open. "Hey sorry, did we wake you." He says. "No not at all." He notices a tear in her eyes. "Everything ok?" He says concerned. "Yes, everything is absolutely perfect."
Scorpio House, Port Charles
"Well that's it, I think we're done." Robert says to Mac in the living room as he is tightening the last bolt on the crib. He looks at his watch. "It only took four hours for a two-hour job, we should be proud." He says sarcastically looking at the directions in his hand and the state of the living room.
"Let's get this upstairs. The quicker we do the quicker we can have a beer or two or three." Mac says. "Good point let's do it. You take that end and I'll guide us backward up the stairs. Ready? On three."
On three, both men attempt to lift their respective ends, but the crib is immovable. "Geez, Robert. How much does this thing weigh anyway?" Mac asks. Robert takes the instruction manual and looks at it briefly trying to find the weight information.
"According to this, 400 pounds, give or take." Robert says exasperated. "Leave it to Anna to not only pick out the most expensive one, but the heaviest as well. Let's just try it again, but this time give it everything you've got. Ready? On three." He says.
They both manage this time to lift it off the floor but are strained to their limits. As they both move toward the stairs, they show signs of struggling. "I think I'm going to die." Mac says through gritted teeth. "Me too." Robert says. Just then Anna and Robin walk through the door loaded with shopping bags. They both look at each other and shake their heads.
"What are you two doing?" Anna asks incredulously. "What does it look like?" Robert says in a strained voice. "Well, it looks ridiculous. Can I ask you something?" She says trying to hide the smirk as she watches them very slowly proceed up the first step.
"Anna, little busy right now." Mac replies. "Yeah, I can see that. At the risk of stating the obvious, why didn't you put this together upstairs in the nursery?"
Both Robert and Mac look at each other dumbfounded. "Put it down." Robert says and they both lower the crib to the floor. Out of breath, they both say, "It's his fault." "Besides who knew it was going to be this heavy when it was put together." Robert adds glaring at Mac.
Anna and Robin both burst out laughing. "Well maybe the fact that each piece alone weighs about 100 pounds probably should have tipped you off." She says leaving the room with Robin and heading for the kitchen where Robert and Mac can still hear them laughing.
"How's your back?" She asks him as she comes into the living room seeing him trying to straighten it before he sits down.
"Swell. I think after finally getting that crib up the stairs and the Lamaze class, I might be in traction for a week. Especially sitting on the floor for two hours watching that movie of childbirth, which, by the way, is something I never want to do again after having Chinese food." He says sarcastically.
She laughs out loud at him. "I'll keep that in mind Coach. At least that was the last class, you should be happy about that. By the way while you were splashing cold water on your face, we received our graduation certificate" She says standing in front of him showing him the certificate as he sits in the chair.
He lowers his head and berates himself for being so grumpy. He takes hold of her hand and guides her to sit in his lap. "I'm sorry Love, just ignore me." He says. "I usually do. Robert I'm too fat, I'll hurt you." She replies resisting his efforts.
"You are not fat Anna, you're pregnant and truth be told you don't look more than four months pregnant anyways." He says as he successfully guides her to sit with him and she puts her arm around his shoulder. "Good answer." She says smiling at him. "Thank you. I thought so. Really, I'm sorry. I really am enjoying every moment of this pregnancy with you; gory movies and all."
She smiles at him knowing he means every word. They sit in silence for a few moments, but she knows he's thinking, she can feel it so she waits him out. It doesn't take long.
"You must be getting nervous now that's its getting closer to lift off?" He asks kissing her head.
"Surprisingly, I'm not. I was definitely more nervous when I had Robin. Nervous and very scared but that was over fourteen years ago." She stops herself from adding that she was scared because she was so alone when she had Robin, not wanting to add to both their guilt over that time in their lives. "You'd think I'd be more nervous now, maybe I'm losing my mind but I'm actually more excited this time." She says honestly, leaning her head against his.
"Good, good, I'm glad." He says pausing. "Because I'm a wreck." She laughs but then leans back to look at him. "You are? Why?" She asks, genuinely surprised.
"I have no idea really. I guess because this is all new to me and I don't want to screw it up." He says looking past her. "Robert, you're a wonderful father to Robin you always have been and I have no doubt in my mind that you be will just as wonderful for this baby." She says.
"That's just it. I have not been a father to an infant from the beginning. I actually can't imagine myself in that role quite frankly. It's a strange feeling. I guess I'm not explaining it well." Anna lets him finish. She is a little sad at his declaration knowing he did miss out on the early portion of Robin's childhood. That will forever and always be a point of regret for her but she knows that his source of nervousness is now her strength because she will have him with her this time.
"I think you've just figured out our mutual problem Robert. I am not nervous because you will be here with me this time and you are nervous because of the same reason. Why don't we just rely on each other like we've always done and swear to have each other's backs? Ok partner?" she says smiling and raising her pinky at him. He smiles back at her and links his pinky with her.
"Pinky-swear". They say at the same time. He just stares at her with a smile falling in love with her all over again for the millionth time he thinks. "Love you." He says quietly. "Ditto". She replies. She leans over and kisses him gently. She pulls back slightly and as they both look at each other, the spark is ignited. Both smiles fade as they both lean in again and kiss this time more urgently. She wraps both arms around his neck as their kisses become deeper and longer. His hand travels down her thigh back up under her skirt while her hands have moved to his head to hold him to her.
They are moaning into each other's mouths and becoming more and more swept away when suddenly the front door opens and closes loudly.
"Mom! Dad!" Robin says utterly exasperated and completely embarrassed standing with Jodi in the foyer witnessing her parents display. They both break apart immediately and remove their hands from each other but Anna's condition prevents her from jumping off his lap. They both just sit there in stunned silence.
Robin turns around quickly without giving them a chance to respond as she pushes Jodi toward the kitchen. "Geez, that's like the third time this week. Maybe we should hang out at my house from now on. I know we won't walk in on my parents doing anything." They hear Jodi say to Robin as they walk into the kitchen. Anna and Robert look at each other and burst out laughing.
The next day Anna spends most of her time putting the finishing touches on the nursery. She has put away all the clothes and stuff they have bought and received. It really looks beautiful and she feels sometimes like she is in a dream. In a month, she will have another baby. She is still amazed that this is happening for her, for them.
She looks around at all the little things. She goes to the changing table and looks at the tiny little diapers and can't believe she and especially Robert will be changing diapers.
"Hey, I knew I'd find you in here." He says coming through the door . She turns and smiles at him.
"Hi, didn't expect you home so early." She says smiling at him. He walks up to her and takes her in his arms. Its not an easy task, since she is very big now.
"Well I just had this overwhelming urge to see you." He says kissing her. "Why aren't you resting?" He asks.
"Actually I was just about to go and lay down. Care to join me?" She says. "That is a great idea." He says smiling at her. They go into their bedroom and Anna goes and lays down and Robert joins her after taking off his suit coat and tie. He spoons behind her and places his hand on her stomach caressing her. He knows she loves it when he does this and she quickly falls asleep. He joins her not long after.