"They are never going to be able to pull this off." Sean says sitting next to Tiffany. She turns to him confused by his statement. She follows his line of sight and sees Robert and Anna sitting alone together at their table oblivious to everyone around them. Anna has her arm around Robert's shoulder whispering in his ear as they both watch their daughter holding their son as she walks around the room. Tiffany immediately knows what he is talking about but doesn't share the same pessimism.
"Sean, it will work. They can do this, knowing what's at stake here." She says not sure if she believes it herself.
"Where have you been all day? Practically the entire town is here and every time I turn around those two are all over each other. Do you honestly think everyone is going to believe that suddenly their marriage is in trouble, including Holly?" He says fiercely. "This party was a mistake; especially on this scale." He adds still watching them and shaking his head.
"Sean, what did you expect them to do? They didn't want anything to interfere with this day. Anna especially was adamant about that. You have to understand that knowing they missed out on sharing this experience together when Robin was a baby. It was extremely important to Anna, in fact she would not stand for any alterations, believe me I tried."
Tiffany is about to say something else when she notices Luke and Laura enter the club. They are greeted warmly by everyone in the room who are equally shocked and happy to see them. Robert notices their entrance as well and is pleased they decided to come. He has been looking forward to seeing Laura again as well as introducing her to Anna. He decides to wait until the crowd dies down before greeting them. He turns to Anna who is sitting closely to him with her arm around his shoulder.
"Did I tell you today how beautiful you look?" He whispers close to her lips so that she can feel his breath on her face. He has never seen her more beautiful. With her hair down and curled it reminds him of that special Valentine's Day that he will never forget.
"Yes you have, but don't let that stop you." She says as she brings her hand from around his shoulder to caress his lips with her thumb.
"Thank you." He says looking into her eyes.
"For what?" She asks with a smile a little confused. He looks back over at Robin holding William proudly as she shows him off to the group of people crowding around her.
"For giving me everything." He says turning back to her. Tears instantly come to her eyes as she looks at him.
"I love you." She says with a choked voice before kissing him gently. She pulls back and watches Robin with their son. "She's taking her role of Godmother very seriously, you know. I think William is in a lot of trouble." She says with a chuckle. He laughs.
"I've noticed that too. She hasn't let anyone hold him except Mac and that was only because she had to. Mac is also taking his role pretty seriously and if he does one more Marlon Brando impression, I'm' going to deck him." He says as she laughs.
Luke and Laura finally make their way over to Robert and Anna as the crowd around them disperses. Robert stands as he sees Laura approach. He didn't realize until that moment how much he missed her and like his wife he muses she gets more beautiful with age. They just look at each other with smiles.
"Laura." Is all he says.
"Robert, it's been way too long." They hug tightly for a long moment.
"You look as beautiful as ever." He says pulling back but holding her hands. "I would have thought hanging around this guy for so long would have aged anyone, but it seems to have had the opposite effect on you." She laughs with him and at that moment realizes how much she missed this man as well. He remembers suddenly and turns to Anna.
"Laura, I'd like you to meet my wife Anna." Anna stands and extends her hand to Laura. Anna is thrilled to finally meet this woman whom she has heard so much about from Robert. She has always been more than a little curious to meet the woman who has shared so many years with her husband.
"Laura it's an honor to finally meet you. Robert has told me so much about you." Laura gives her a genuine smile.
"I feel the same way and can see that hanging around with this guy doesn't seem to have affected you either." She says winking at Robert who rolls his eyes.
"Well that remains to be seen." Anna replies to which she they both laugh. Luke and Robert both look at each other with a mixture of pride and dread as the two loves of their lives finally meet and seem to genuinely like each other.
"Should we be worried?" Robert says to Luke at the bar as both men continue to watch Anna and Laura. They have been sitting alone at a table for the last hour in a deep conversation, interrupted only with several moments of laughter.
"I think we passed the "worried" stage a half hour ago when they were looking right at us in a fit of hysterical laughter. Now I think we should be in the "frightened" stage." Luke replies quickly downing his scotch.
"Have you filled Laura in on what's going on?" Robert asks.
"Yeah, I gave her the rough outline. She's worried man. She's worried that we are getting involved with the Cassadines again. I can't blame her after what she went through. We have led a relatively peaceful existence over this last decade, in fact it's been the happiest time in our lives. I have to admit, I'm worried as well. I don't want this to be the end of that. It's kind of bizarre though when you think about it." Luke says almost as if he just realized something.
"What's that?" Robert says as he continues to watch the two women and downing his drink as well.
"Both of our wives have been the object of an obsession that on the surface seemed completely unrelated, but now we know that it was all part of some huge multi-family plot that is bringing us back into each other's orbit again." Luke responds.
"Yeah, it is a little disturbing. Add in the fact that the center pin in all of this is Holly and its sounds like the plot of some Greek tragedy, pun intended." Robert says sadly almost to himself.
"So do you think we should have mercy on them and join them at the bar? They look positively frightened." Laura asks laughing noticing that their husbands are still stealing glances in their direction.
"Normally, I would say no. I like seeing Robert thrown off his game once in a while." Anna says as they both laugh. "But it does look like William is getting ready to scream any second and wow its way past his feeding time." Anna says looking at her watch after noticing that Bobbi is having trouble keeping William from fussing.
"You and Robert must be very proud. You have two beautiful children and your daughter is very mature for her age." Laura says.
"Thank you, yes we couldn't be happier and thankful for what we have. Robin is the best daughter a mother could ask for. Thankfully she has inherited whatever positive qualities that her parents possess, although at times her father's arrogance does come through." Both women laugh.
"You should be proud as well; Lucky is a very charming boy and seems to have inherited a lot of your qualities as well." Anna says as she watches her daughter and Lucky over by the jukebox looking at song selections.
"We are. Lucky is a combination of us but, he is getting more like Luke every day." She says chuckling.
Anna watches Robert as he takes their son from Bobbi and he immediately quiets down, but knows it won't last. She still can't get over how handling William seems to be second nature to Robert. She can't help the look of pride on her face as he holds him up so that he and Luke can babble to him like two idiots. She wishes at that moment that she had Robin's camera.
"Come on lets go join them." Laura says noticing the look on Anna's face and smiling herself.
"I'm gathering you're thinking the same thing I am." Frisco says sitting down next to Sean as they both observe Anna and Robert at the bar with their son.
"Is it that obvious?" Sean says as Robert hands William to Anna and they exchange a lingering kiss before she walks to the backroom behind the bar.
"Yeah well, the scowl on your face that you have been wearing all afternoon has matched mine, according to Felicia." Frisco states.
"I told Tiffany this party was a mistake which she was not too happy about. But none the less, I don't think it's going to be plausible to anyone who is here today that all of sudden those two are having marital problems." Sean replies.
"I agree, but Holly is not here thankfully and she is the one that needs the most convincing." Frisco states.
"True, but I think we need to come up with a more plausible scenario now. Something that will convince not only Holly beyond a shadow of a doubt. She knows almost everyone in this room and they must be convinced as well."
"What are you suggesting?" Frisco asks somewhat alarmed.
"I have an idea, but it will take agreement from all involved. Let's meet tomorrow at my house and put this original plan in motion and pitch this idea." Sean says.
"Care to let me in on it?" Frisco responds. Sean proceeds to detail his idea to Frisco who at first is completely against it but comes around eventually after Sean convinces him there is no other way.
Scorpio House, Port Charles
She closes and locks their door, turns on the baby monitor and proceeds to get undressed.
"So you and Laura seemed to get along really well."
She hears him say from the bathroom. She smiles knowing he has been dying to find out all night what they were talking so intently about. She's not about to relieve his stress anytime soon.
"Yes, she's very nice. Very easy to talk to." She replies sincerely. It has been so rare for her to meet someone who she senses she can immediately trust. She felt that connection instantly with Laura. She doesn't know what to attribute the instant bond but assumes it's mostly due to the fact that Robert places tremendous trust in her as a result of their shared experiences.
"Yeah Luke is a very lucky man." He says as he comes out of the bathroom dressed in only his pajama pants and a smile.
He walks over to her seeing her standing by her dresser wearing his favorite black nightie. She recognizes that look on his face as she watches his eyes rake over her body.
"You think so huh?" She says as she walks up to him placing her hands on his chest.
"Well not as lucky as me of course, but I'd say it's pretty close. Everyone asleep?" He asks placing his hands on her hips pulling her closer.
"Yes, I think Robin passed out before William did." She says stroking his chest.
"Good, it has been a long but wonderful day." He says.
"It was a wonderful day and I'll always cherish it. Thank you for agreeing with me and giving us this day." She says.
"I wanted this as much as you did. We promised each other we are not going to let anyone or anything stop us from enjoying our family and our life together. Never again Anna." He says with conviction.
She smiles at him with tears in her eyes and caresses his face. They smile at each other before he kisses her gently and then more deeply. His wandering hands travel from her hips up to her waist and to the shoulder straps of her nightie. He proceeds to lower them as he kisses the line of her jaw to her shoulder. He hears her quietly moan and feels her tremble slightly as he kisses the top of her breast while his thumb gently brushes across her newly exposed nipple. He proceeds to lower the the nightie over her hips and lets it fall to the floor.
As she stands naked before him he pulls back slightly to take in the sight of her. Her eyes are hooded with desire and he is overcome with his need for her. She smiles up at him seeing the effect she is having on him as she places the fingers of both her hands inside the waistband of his pajama pants pulling him closer. He bends slightly and she assumes he is reaching to pick her up in his arms but then places his open mouth over her nipple and proceeds to caress her with his tongue. She gasps as her knees buckle slightly at the sensation and she has to hold on to his arms. To her delight he has become very skillful over these last two months in pleasuring her this way without causing a milk letdown. It is something she is extremely grateful for, especially at this very moment.
She is completely lost in the sensations and is barely aware when he does pick her up and places her on their bed. She watches him with unfocused eyes as he lies next to her and caresses her face moving his thumb across her lips.
"You are so beautiful." He says looking into her eyes.
She smiles and caresses his cheek and reaches up to kiss him as she pulls him to her suddenly needing to feel his skin against hers. The kiss quickly escalates as she wraps her arms around his shoulders grabbing at his back to bring him fully on top of her. He complies and eases himself between her legs as she wraps her right leg around his hip holding him flush against her. As he begins to gently suck on the spot between where her neck meets her shoulder he begins a slight thrusting motion against her. His motions quickly bring her to the brink of climax but she doesn't want it this way so she attempts to rid him of his pajama pants with her hands but she can't reach far enough.
"Robert, Robert." She half whispers half moans while coaxing his head gently from her breast to get his attention. He looks at her slightly concerned until she says.
"I need you inside me now." He can only shake his head in the affirmative and helps her remove his pants the rest of the way off. She helps him with the condom and since both their hands are shaking with their desire they both begin to laugh at their clumsiness.
Once they are successful he moves back between her legs as she wraps her arms around his neck. She places one of her hands on his face as her other hand guides him to her. She struggles to keep her eyes open as he enters her fully. This moment is always so precious to her because she can see the emotions play across his face completely unguarded.
He lowers his head to her shoulder and releases a low moan that combined with the sensations she is experiencing forces her to arch off the bed. Her movement causes him to moan uncontrollably, "Anna, Oh God." She quickly places her fingers over his lips realizing that one was a little too loud. "Sweetheart, shhhh." She says smiling up at him as he opens his eyes. He nods his head and returns her smile, then kisses her deeply while resuming his movements. As they both near release they instinctively reach for each other with their mouths to mute their mutual sounds of pleasure.
"Hmmm. I love you." She says into his ear while running her hands up and down his back.
"I love you too." He kisses her tenderly and moves her side laying his head on her chest. They both fall asleep very quickly, very happy and very content.