Outback, Port Charles – 3 weeks later
"Holly, I don't think that's a good idea just yet. With everything going on telling him now is probably not the best timing." Mac states as he is organizing things behind the bar. Holly is sitting on a stool facing him.
"Mac it's been long enough, I mean it's a fact and it's something that Robert will just have to deal with, unless of course you're not happy about us."Holly says with a pout.
"No of course not, that's not it at all, it's just that Robert has so much on his mind right now with Anna's due date in a a week, I really think he's losing it, I've never seen him so frazzled. If I add to that now with this, I think Anna will seriously hurt me." He laughs.
"So when then? In a couple of weeks? I want to be a part of your life and your life includes your bro.. your family. As it stands now, I feel like we are sneaking around, we can't be seen together, I can't be with you here when you have events or anything and I can't be a part of your family gatherings. Which by the way seem to occur almost every other day." She states beginning to lose patience.
"I know Holly you're right I'm sorry, I didn't realize how much this was affecting you. I promise I will approach the subject with him, I'm sure I'm overreacting and its more me than him, I promise it will be soon." He says before reaching over the bar to kiss her.
"Uncle Mac, Holly?" Robin says coming through the door. They are both startled and break away quickly.
"Hey Robin what are you doing here? Did I forget we had something today?" Mac says gently trying to avoid the elephant in the room. "No, I just stopped by to see you, I haven't seen you in a couple of days, plus Mom and Dad are driving me crazy so I had to get out, Olin dropped me off. Hi Holly, it's great to see you again. Soooo whats going on here? Are you guys, like, together?" she says with a big smile on her face. "If you are, I think that's great, does this mean you're back in Port Charles for good Holly?"
Mac quickly interrupts the barrage of questions. "Robin hang on a second ok, Holly is not living here permanently and yes we are seeing each other but it's actually not something we are ready to let everyone in on yet, ok? Can you understand that? So can you keep this a secret for a little while longer, please." Mac tries to say as calmly as possible.
"Yeah sure, not a problem, I won't say anything, but what's the big deal?" She asks innocently. "There is no big deal just do this for me, you understand with everything going on with your Mom, I don't want to take anything away from that. How is she doing by the way?" Mac says trying to change the subject.
"She's great, but I think Dad is driving her crazy though. She thinks he's hovering too much and that he's too nervous all the time and well Mom has a lot less patience now, with both of us actually. Sometimes she just snaps for no particular reason. But I know, Dad keeps saying it's the hormones, but when he says that in front of her, its well, it's not pretty." Mac laughs out loud at that one.
"Robin, it's not much longer just hang in there, you know your parents they're very intense people with quick tempers. And weren't you just in here last week saying you couldn't stand it because they are constantly all over each other even in front of your friends and that I quote, you were totally embarrassed? Just try to be patient and stay out of the cross-fire." Mac says
"Why do you think I'm here?" Robin says in a huff. Holly listens to this entire exchange without saying a word but is seething on the inside. This is all taking too long and she can't wait much longer.
Scorpio House, Port Charles
"Robert it's still so bloody hot in here, didn't you raise the air conditioner?" Anna shouts from the couch to the office, without looking up from her book. No response.
"Robert did you hear me?" she shouts again. He comes out of the office wearing his leather jacket over a sweatshirt and with a painted smile.
"Yes dear, I heard you, and yes I did when you asked me the first time. I set it on 55 degrees just like I told you twenty minutes ago." He grits out.
She glares at him, "You don't have to get nasty, I just don't feel the difference yet. Excuse me if my discomfort is inconveniencing you in any way, I mean its…"
He holds up his hands to stop her. "Don't say it, please don't say it, I know, I know. This is my fault. I did this to you. It's my child you're carrying, I get it, I also got it the 100 other times you said it." He says through clenched teeth and walks back into the office.
"Ingrate" She mutters as she stares at his retreating form. Well at least he's not hovering anymore, she thinks.
An hour goes by and Robert comes out of the office to find her asleep on the couch, but she doesn't look comfortable at all. "Anna, Love, why don't you go upstairs and take nap, this couch can't be comfortable for you." he whispers while caressing her face.
She awakens and attempts to sit up but her neck is so stiff she yelps in pain. "What's the matter, are you ok, what happened?" She glares at him.
"You woke me up that's what happened." She says.
"Sorry I just thought you'd be more comfortable upstairs that's all. So come on I'll help you up." He says about to grab her arm. She pulls away still glaring at him.
"Robert, I say this with all the love in my heart, but if you don't get away from me, I'm getting my gun, are we clear?"
Taken aback, he straightens himself willing his temper under control. "Crystal. I'll just leave you then." He says with a little nastiness while walking away muttering.
She's pretty sure she heard bitch in there somewhere but she's too tired to deal with it. She finally was able to sleep for the first time in what seemed like days and he wakes her up. She knows he means well and is really trying but right now she doesn't care. She's fat, she's exhausted and her back is killing her. "You better come out soon buster. You're already two days late and your father's life depends on it." She says to her stomach.
Outback, Port Charles
Robert wanders in alone and sees Mac behind the bar working on paperwork. It's quiet, just the staff mulling around getting ready for the evening. "Hey Robbie, you don't look so good. Did she throw you out?" He says with a chuckle.
"Shut up. Is it that obvious?" He says with a pitiful look.
"Well I kind of figured, she came close to throwing me out yesterday and she was the one who invited me over. Be patient Robbie, I know that's not your strong suit, but she is 3 days overdue, now."
"Tell me something I don't know, she tells me every five minutes. I mean I love her to death, but man did you ever love someone so much but you couldn't stand the sight of them for another minute?" He asks to no one really.
"Hello Robert, how are you?" Holly says suddenly appearing from the back hallway. "Holly, didn't expect to see you here." He says glancing at Mac.
"Am I interrupting something here?" He asks them both. "No, of course not." Mac answers quickly. "Mac, don't you think it's time we tell him?"Holly says looking right at Robert.
"Tell me what?" Mac is not at all happy, but now has to reply. "Well Robbie, I guess it is time. I was going to wait until after the baby was born, thinking you have enough on your plate, and quiet honestly I really didn't know how to tell you." Robert sense his brother's discomfort and has mercy on him.
"Mac you don't have to say it, obviously it is what it is." Robert cuts him off. "Look its fine, I can't say it's not a strange situation, but it's really none of my business what you two do, so if you're both happy that's all that matters to me." He says all of this looking at both of them.
Holly is disappointed in his reaction, she was hoping for a little more emotion, maybe jealousy, maybe an outburst saying he won't stand for it, but none is forthcoming.
"Thank you Robert, for your understanding, please know this was not planned it just sort of happened." Holly states.
"I know, I do things just happen and sometimes you can't control it." He says looking right at her with a knowing smile.
"Look guys I have to take care of some things in the storeroom, I'll be right back." Mac says giving them a moment.
"Are you happy? You know I only want the best for you." Robert says quietly.
"I am Robert, but are you really comfortable with this? I mean we have not gone public with this until Mac had a talk with you, but now that's its out in the open, we won't want to hide any longer." Holly says laying her hand on his on the bar.
He grabs it and says, "Yes, I'm really fine with it. My brother is a lucky man and I know that personally." Holly has tears in her eyes, "Thank you and Anna is a very lucky woman, I hope she knows that." Holly says. "Well she might disagree with you right about now, but I'm sure she'll remember, someday." He says jokingly.
Holly is a little startled by that statement, recovering she says "I'm sure she will. How about giving your ex-wife a kiss for luck, remember I'm getting involved with a Scorpio again, I'm going to need it."She says hoping he will take her up on her "innocent" request.
"That is true." He says getting up and going for her cheek, but she changes the angle and it's directly on her lips, He pulls back quickly with a startled look on his face. She is thrilled and believes it proves he really does have feelings for her. He looks at her and sees that smirk he knows so well. He knows she did that on purpose and it makes him angry.
"Well, hope that does bring you luck." He says trying to hide the awkwardness he feels. "I'm sure it will, thank you Robert, thank you for accepting this, well us, Mac and me." She stammers out.
"Well I have to go, tell Mac I'll call him later ok, thanks." Then he walks up the stairs and out the door. Once on the other side, he leans against the door heavily and scolds himself for what just happened. He has seen that look on his ex-wife's face many, many times before, so now he truly wonders why she is with his brother. Is it because she wants to be close to him? He shakes his head and he just wants to put it behind him. Suddenly, he has to get home, he has to see her, even though she might rip his head off, he needs to see her now.
PI Office, Port Charles
Sean and Frisco are pouring over paperwork and files discussing back and forth the implications of what they have accumulated so far. Tiffany knocks on the locked door and announces it's her. Frisco gets up to unlock the door and let her in.
"Hi you two, why is the door locked and what is all this stuff? It looks like a paper bomb went off in here." She says looking over Sean's shoulder at all the debris on the table.
"Well honey this is why we I asked you to come down here today. We have a little project for you and we need to bring you up to speed on what's going on before we give the assignment."
"Does this have something to do with Holly?"Tiffany asks not sounding surprised.
"Yes, actually it does, but like I said you need to know the back story, but please understand everything you are about to hear, must stay in this room, people's lives depend on it." Sean says very seriously.
"Understood, now what is going on Sean, I know something is wrong. Frisco is this why you came back to Port Charles? Is Robert and Anna in danger again?" Tiffany says whiling looking from one to the other.
"No Tiffany, I didn't come back to town just for this, Felicia and I had been planning that for some time. What's happening here is just a timing coincidence, but I am involved with Sean in trying to sort things out. To answer your other question, we just don't know yet, we don't think they are in immediate danger if any at all, but we need to find out the truth soon, to be sure."
With that they proceed to relay what they know up to this point. They have phone records and wire tapping recordings as well as money transfers that all point to Holly, Faison and Holly's family. The timing of all these events coincide with the events preceding Anna's abduction and for time a time during up to and including Faison's death. In addition, they have discovered business dealing between Faison and Holly's family in England dating back to Faison's first appearance in Port Charles back in 1990 and continuing during 1991. They believe Holly's family might have been the silent partner in the Cartel, but as of right now they are hitting walls in trying to obtain financial records out of Luxembourg where most of the financial accounts reside. They do not know at this time if Holly was involved with her family's dealings with the Cartel or even if she knew about them. They explained further that the phone records between her and Faison are circumstantial and that they do not want to her confront her until they have something more concrete and that's where she comes in.
Tiffany listens in horror and is completely thrown. She cannot fathom that Holly would willingly put Robin or Robert in danger for any reason, but she knows that the two of them would not reveal something like this if they were not completely convinced. She tells them she will do anything they need and that she will not let another tragedy befall her friends, if she can help prevent it. They proceed to fill her in on the plan and what she needs to do. She agrees to all of it. "Sean, we have to find out the truth, and if it is true, this will devastate Robert and Anna."
"I know babe, we will do everything we can to prove or disprove this whole nightmare, I just sure as hell hope it's the latter."
Scorpio House, Port Charles
As Robert walks in the door, he notices the house is very quiet and unusually dark. Just as he's hanging up his coat, he sees Robin and Olin coming out of the kitchen.
"Hey Dad. We've been waiting for you to come home. Don't worry Mom's fine, she's upstairs, she went to bed early." She says with slight relief. "I'm going to spend the night at Jodi's and no don't worry there's no party and no boys." He's a little confused at first but catches on quickly.
"Sure Love do you have your stuff for the night?" "Yup I'm good to go." Robin replies quickly retrieving her coat.
"Hey Commish, since your home now, I'll walk Robin over to Jodi's then I'm going to take off for the night"
He looks at both of them and asks with raised eyebrows, "That bad huh?" Robin and Olin look at each other then respond.
"Don't ask" they both say in unison. Robert sighs but tries to lighten the mood. "Well the Calvary is here. Don't worry. You guys take a break tonight, I'll take it from here."
Robin gives him a big hug and whispers "Good luck. You're gonna need it".
After they both leave he proceeds to lock the doors and close up downstairs. He feels helpless in trying to ease her burden. He knows she's so uncomfortable now and is barely getting any sleep. He mentally prepares himself for whatever mood she might be in and judging from Olin and Robin, its not going to be good.
He walks quietly into the bedroom and the only light is on his nightstand and it's very dim. She is on her side facing away from him. He stands in the doorway just watching her and smiles to himself.
"I'm not sleeping Robert, I'm just laying here as usual." She says with an exasperated sigh. "Okay here we go." He thinks to himself. He walks over to her side and kneels on the floor next to her and strokes her face.
"Love, I know you're having a really rough time, I really do. I mean I can't imagine for obvious reasons, but please tell me what I can do to make it better for you." The tears come to her eyes quickly as she looks at him and then she covers her face with her hand.
"I don't know. I mean I know I'm just miserable and I'm miserable to everyone else and that's the worst part. I think my daughter hates me." She rambles out. He smiles to himself because he can't help it.
"Anna, come on be serious. She loves you more than anything and believe me she does understand. Don't forget she and I are in this together and she does talk to me. She knows you're having a rough time right now. She's very smart our daughter. She must take after someone we all know and love." That gets a smile from her and it's the first he's seen in a couple of days.
"I love you, you know." She says with her hand on his face.
"Yeah I know." He kisses her briefly. "How's your back tonight. Is it really bad again?" He asks while taking his tie off and standing again.
"Yeah, it's been one of those days when nothing seems to help." She says exasperated. "I don't remember it being this bad with Robin. It must be a boy this time." She thinks out loud.
"Do you really think so?" he says with excitement from the bathroom.
"Only explanation I can think of. Hurry up will you, there's a line forming out here." She says while struggling to get up.
"Oh sorry. It's all yours." He says coming out half dressed with just his pants on. He helps her up and she hugs him around his waist when she's fully standing.
"I'm really sorry for how awful I've been lately." She says kissing his chest. "Forget it Anna. Please stop worrying. Just know that both Robin and I love you more than anything and the fact that you are a bitch on wheels is not going to change that." He says. She's laughing against his chest and then she pinches him.
"I hate you" she says looking up at him. He smiles back at her. "Now get out of my way mister." "Yes ma'am." He responds stepping aside.
She comes out of the bathroom moments later and sees him standing bare-chested with a smile on his face as he is placing his watch and wallet on his dresser. She is suddenly overcome with her love and desire for him that her breath momentarily catches in her throat.
"Hey. All set?" He says when he finally notices her standing there. "Yeah." She says momentarily distracted. He notices she does look at little more relaxed. He realizes she must have been more stressed than he thought because of how awful she's been these last few days.
"Robert, can you rub my back again like you did last night? It really helped."
"Absolutely, I'm at your service." He helps her into bed and lies down behind her. He massages her back for about twenty minutes and he can tell it's helping her because her muscles are beginning to release the tension. She has been quiet for awhile. He thinks she's finally asleep so he stops, pulls her t-shirt back down and lightly kisses her neck.
"Thank you, I feel so much better. You have magic hands." She says quietly on an exhale. He wraps his arm around her middle to caress her belly. "You're welcome Love. I thought you fell asleep on me. Do you think you can sleep now?" He asks against her ear.
"Yeah. I think so." She pauses. "But I'm not sure if I want to sleep now though." She adds. He's confused.
"Why? You need your rest Anna." He is silent waiting for her to explain.
"Robert. It's been almost two weeks. I miss you, I miss us." She says as reaches her right hand behind her to caress his thigh. Now he gets it. He doesn't know how to respond or even if he should.
"I know Anna, believe me I know, but is it really a good idea, considering?" He whispers in her ear as they unconsciously begin caressing each other with intent.
"It's always a good idea." She moans and arches her neck back to give him better access as he kisses her neck and shoulder. "Anna, please I need to know if this is safe for you, for the baby." He whispers while reaching under her shirt and inching higher.
"Doctor said its perfectly fine, in fact, might help, oh God." She moans as his hand is now between her legs. That's all he needs to hear and is quick to remove all the clothing barriers. He brings her right leg over his right thigh gently and enters her very slowly. "Oh Robert." She exhales and arches back. It's a slow and lazy dance but they reach completion very quickly. They are still wrapped around each other and are breathing heavily, when they both feel it at the same time.
"Anna?" He says in a panic. "Robert, I think my water just broke."
Robert quickly searches for his boxers and jumps out of bed to grab his pants off the back of the chair. He pulls them both on quickly while he watches her sit up in bed. "Robert, help me get up."
He rushes over to her and pulls her to her feet. "I'll call the doctor now." He says in a rush.
"Call the doctor and then help me take a shower ok?" He suddenly has a panic look on his face. "What? Now?" He asks.
"Yes, now. I'm not going to the hospital like this Robert." She says sternly. She sees he is about to protest again.
"Don't argue with me. Just call the doctor and then meet me in the bathroom after I'm in the shower you need to take the sheets off the bed." She says as she walks past him. He stands there momentarily stunned and then does as she asks. He will never understand women he thinks.