Chapter Three

Felicia was lying on her back as Mac rubbed her swollen feet. They had come into their room for some alone time but Felicia's pregnancy hormones had other ideas. They did not make it two feet into the door before she made a beeline for the bathroom. Mac stood behind her holding her hair as she threw up.

"Is there anything else I can do for you," he asked her? She was pretending to look at a baby book but she already knew what she wanted to name their child. She knew now was as good a time as any.

"You can come lay with me," she stated. "I rest better when you hold me."

"That's something I can do," he says.

As soon as Mac's arms come around her, she looks at her husband. "Mac, we need to discuss baby names. "

"This early," he questions.

"I really want to name our son after your brother. "

"Are you sure the world can handle more than one Robert Scorpio?"

Felicia laughs as she kisses him slightly. "Well we can think of a variation if you want. Maybe Bobby. You know that only Anna calls your brother that occasionally. Do you really think he'd mind?"

He smiles as he kisses her forehead. "Actually I think he'd be honored. Bobby Scorpio sounds perfect. "

"Oh Good. I was afraid you would put up more of a fight."

"Why would I? My brother is one of the reasons you are still with us. Honoring him seems only natural."

"I love you Mac Scorpio."

"And I love you Felicia Scorpio."

He pulls her closer to him as she closes her eyes. She is asleep within minutes.

Robin and Nikolas were lying on the couch with Emma. Robin was stroking Emma's hair as she slept against her chest. Nikolas was watching Robin.

"You're worried about her aren't you?"

"How can I not be? I remember what it was like to find out that my parents were both dead. I felt like I could not even breathe. I was lucky though. I had so many people that looked after me. I also got a second chance with them. Emma cannot have what I ended up having. I wish she could but…Patrick is truly gone. I saw his body. He can't ever come back to us."

"I know that you are hurting...both of you are…But Emma has you Robin. You will make sure that she has everything she needs."

"She needs her daddy Nikolas…and that is the one thing I can't give her. "

"I'm sorry Robin. I know what it is like to think that you have a lifetime ahead of you…and then in the blink of an eye, it is all gone. I wish I had some words of advice for you but all that I have is to tell you that it does get better. You will miss him. That much will never go away. You will see him in Emma every day… and one day it will not take your breath away. One day you will wake up and the pain will not consume you. It will still hurt but you will be able to move on. I know that you know this."

"I do. Still does not make it any easier to have to go through it…and this time, I have a daughter to help through it too. I wish I could protect my little girl from this kind of pain. I wish she never had to know the kind of loss I did."

"I know Robin…but we both know that life doesn't work like that. Sometimes life is just plain hard."

"Unbearable sometimes," she whispers against his chest. She cries softly against him as he holds her, both of them careful not to wake the child between them.

Kiki and Griffin have just come down from the high of their lovemaking, her head upon his chest. She is feeling much better now that the worst part of the aftermath is over.

"Are we going to set a wedding date Griffin? I know there is a lot going on in my family right now but maybe we should start talking about dates. We need to stop standing still."

"I would marry you tomorrow if I thought I could… but I think we should wait a little longer…out of respect for all the lives that were lost. I know it has only been three months but…"

"No, you are right Griffin. I want people to be able to come to our wedding and enjoy themselves. I want them to be as happy as we are."

"A Year Keeks. How does that sound…Next year on Thanksgiving…we will give this town something to be thankful for."

"Oh Griffin…I love you."

She throws her arms around him and kisses him passionately.

"Is that a yes?"

"I think a Thanksgiving Wedding is perfect. It will also give my dad plenty of time to regain the use of his legs. I might not know much about him but I do know that he is a stubborn man…"

"And that stubborn man would love to walk his little girl down that aisle."

"I am so happy Griffin. This could have had such a different ending. Instead, I have found my real family and I am going to marry the love of my life…How could life get any better than this."

"I think I have one way it might," he says, reaching into his coat pocket on the floor and pulling out a box.

"I was going to wait until Christmas but I think this is important enough to give you now."

She smiles at Griffin as she takes the box out of his hand. Inside was a frame with the certified copy of the legal name change she had petitioned the court for as soon as she learned she was not a Jerome.

"How did you get this ," she asked him excitedly.

"I called in a few favors."

"You mean you talked to your friend and my mom."

"She thought it might be a nice present for your dad too."

She ran her fingers across the frame with her name and smiled.

"Kiki Scorpio. I like the sound of that."

"Pretty soon you're going to have to add Munro to that."

"I like the sound of that too. Kiki Scorpio-Munro."

He kisses her once more and soon she is asleep in his arms. For the first time in a really long time, Kiki was happy.

Robert is adjusting himself into the bed when Anna comes out of the bathroom. She tried to help him into the bed but he insisted on doing it himself. She watched him for a while but eventually had to tell herself that he would fine if she went into the bathroom for a few minutes. She knew he wanted time to do things at his pace.

"I see that physical therapy has been helping you," she states, pulling back the covers the way he used to do for her so many years before.

"Anna," he questions.

She knows what he is struggling to say. He is a proud man and he wanted to be at his full capacity before he allowed himself to be intimate with her again. They had been dancing around their feelings a lot lately. Anna was simply tired of waiting.

She climbs into the bed beside him and watches as his eyes try to avert the red nightie she had just changed into.

"You had to put on red didn't you," he whispers huskily.

"Only because I know that you like me in Red."

She skims her fingers across his bare skin and kisses his shoulder.

"I'm going to tell you something and I want you to listen to me. Can you do that for me?"

"I will listen Annie but…"

"I know. I would never push you into doing anything that you are not ready for. I just want you to know how I feel."

She takes a deep breath as she pulls back the covers on his side of the bed. "You don't have to feel ashamed Robert. I love you. I would never hurt you."

"Anna, it's been…"

"Three months. Three months and I have not thought of him once. You know whom I have thought about though. You. I have been thinking about you. All the time. Every day. When I am asleep and when I am awake. I cannot stop thinking about you okay. I cannot get you out of my mind."

Robert clears his throat as he caresses her cheek. "I think about you too Annie. More than I should. I think about those times when we were kissing on the porch swing and you were telling me you would not let me quit."

"I meant that Robert. I'm also not going to let your pride interfere with something that has been building between us for a lot longer than just these last three months."

"Anna, I'm…"

"You are paralyzed Robert…but you are not unable to feel things. If you do not want to make love than that is fine…But I am going to show you that you are still the man that turns me on if it is the last thing I do."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'm going to take these pajama bottoms off for one," she states.

Robert groans as Anna's hands pull at the fabric of his pants. "Tell me you can't feel that Robert," she asks, her hands slipping inside his boxers. "I know you can feel that."

"Annie," he gulps.

"Please Bobby…Tell Annie what you feel. I bet I can guess."

"These dreams that you are having," he starts. "What kind of dreams are they?"

"Well they involve your hands…I want your hands on me so much."

"Where do you want them?"

"Everywhere."

"Would you settle for in your hair…I need a little help Annie. You know this isn't easy for me."

"Then for once, let me do all the work. Let me help you make us both feel good. I know you want me."

"That's never been the issue."

"I need you."

"Again…that's never been the issue."

"Then what is?"

"I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to see me as weak."

"I don't see you as anything but the man I have loved since I was nineteen years old…You aren't going to hurt me Robert…you never could."

"Oh how I ache for you…with every beat of my heart."

"Then stop being so stubborn...let me show you how much of a man you still are."

His fingers skimmed through her hair just a moment before his mouth claimed hers. The years spent apart did nothing to quench their desire. They were like magnets drawn together by an intense electricity