The next morning, Robin was back at the hospital, grateful to be behind her desk. A yellow pencil held her dark hair off her neck in a messy bun as she hovered over Monica's latest report on their mutual patient, Mrs. Cramer. An older woman in the final stages of cancer, they'd both focused on her in the days after Alan's death. They had worked diligently with the family to try to make her as comfortable as possible. An educator for more than 50 years, the older woman had agreed to be apart of a research protocol to help bring hope for future patients.

"Are you about ready to go home, Mrs. Drake?" Patrick asked from the doorway, leaning gingerly against the heavy wooden frame. A lock of dark hair fell across his mischievous eyes, earning a smile from his gorgeous wife. "I know, I'm not supposed to call you that when we're at GH, but I just can't help it."

"You can call me anything you want when we're in private," she cooed as he came in, shutting the door behind him. "I can't believe we are finally going to be at our new house. I love my Uncle Mac, but living with him isn't exactly conducive to being newlywed."

"You're telling me," he murmured, coming behind her to place a soft kiss on the hollow of her neck. "Are you still working on the Cramer case?"

Robin nodded tiredly. "The numbers just don't make sense," she explained. "By all accounts, medication shouldn't be working at this point. Monica thought she had less than a month to live almost a year ago. Mrs. Cramer has truly defied the odds."

"She's kind of like you in that way."

"Mmhmm," she muttered distractedly. She flipped back to another chart and studied the figures. Nothing added up like she had expected, but then again, it often didn't in the medical world. Finally, defeated, she tossed the charts back into their folder and tucked it among the stack in her satchel. Then, looking up at Patrick, she pulled the pencil from her hair and allowed her silky tendrils to flow around her face. "I'm ready to go home."

"Your wish is my command, Dr. Scorpio," he recited professionally, giving her a mock salute. Just as he was about to maneuver her outside, a very tired Monica knocked against the wall just inside the door. "Hey, Monica."

"Hi, Patrick. Can you excuse us for a minute? I need to speak with Robin in private."

He glanced at Robin before nodding. Kissing her intently, he waved silently to his superior and headed for the hallway. "Monica, what's wrong?" Robin asked with concern. "You don't look well."

"Mom, there you are!" Emily exclaimed as she came bounding into the room.

"Em!" Monica cried happily, wrapping her arms around her only daughter. "I've been looking for you. I came to ask Robin if she had seen you."

"Why did you send Patrick out of the room?" Robin asked confusedly.

"I wanted to actually talk to you about Em," she confessed, turning to her daughter. "I was worried when you didn't show up this morning. I knew you had the dinner at Wyndamere last night, and I was afraid that it didn't go well. When I couldn't get a hold of you all day, I was starting to get really concerned."

"Oh, Mom, I'm sorry," Emily apologized genuinely, rubbing her hands over her mother's arms affectionately. "I switched with one of the other interns so that she could go to her nephew's birthday party tonight. I was asleep at the house. Alice must not have seen me come in."

"I'm just glad you're okay."

"You look exhausted, Mom. Maybe you should take the rest of the day off and go home. Jason called me on my way here and asked us to dinner. I said that I couldn't go, but he was going to call and see if you wanted to go. He's going to bring Michael."

"Michael?" the oldest woman cheered considerably. "Well, I guess I could spare a few hours here to see my only grandchild."

"You're soon to have two," Emily reminded her. "I'm sure that Jason will be happy to give you all the latest details on the baby. But you'll have to be nice to Carly."

"Carly loves Jason," Monica said simply. "Too much has happened for anything from the past to matter anymore. I'm getting a second chance with the only son I have left, and I plan on taking full advantage of it. I owe it to both of us – and your father – to do it. And you know what, I think it's going to work out this time."

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before the matriarch excused herself to go call Jason. Once Robin was alone with Emily, she asked her what was really going on. Emily explained the awkward dinner and how she had convinced one of the students to trade shifts with her. She had needed the morning to decompress. Lucky had tried to talk to her about it, but she had refused. She wanted some time to gain a little perspective before she shared anything else on the situation. If the dinner had proven anything it was that there were things she wasn't dealing with either.

"The worst thing is, I've been encouraging Lulu to get all this help, and I think I almost need it as badly as she does," Emily confessed. "I go with Lucky to NA meetings sometimes, but we usually just talk about battling our addiction there."

"I didn't know you were still going to the meetings."

"I wasn't for awhile, but when Lucky and I got together, I thought it might be a good idea to go to a few. If anything, it was to show him support at first. But when an overdose patient came in last weekend, he offered me drugs to not file the report. A little plastic bottle of pills is all it took to tempt me. No one would ever think that I'd go back there again, but it would have been such an easy option. Going throw the trauma of the hostage situation and losing my father has triggered the need to escape inside my head."

"What about Lucky? How is he dealing with everything?"

Emily smiled widely. "You know what? He's doing great. He talks a lot at the meetings, really shares how he is feeling with everyone. Barring something else happening, I think he's past the point of returning to drugs. I think if he has dealt with everything that has happened for now, he really can get past anything."

"And how is Lulu? I keep meaning to go by and see her. She took very good care of me when we were in the Metrocourt."

"I haven't seen her in a few days, but Lainey said that she is still going to her sessions. I know that Dillon has been going with her. She had kind of a break through the other day, but the ever-professional Lainey wouldn't tell me anything else. We're supposed to have dinner with them tomorrow. You two should join us."

Robin thought for a moment. "I'll agree to it on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I want you to invite Elizabeth and Nikolas, too."

"We just had dinner last night, and as I told you, it obviously didn't go very well. I don't want to do it again, at least not so soon."

"Then, do it for Lulu because it sounds like she really needs the support of her family, and whether the four of you like it or not, Elizabeth and Nikolas are just as much apart of that family as you and Lucky."

"I know, I know. The one thing we have all agreed on is that we need to focus on Lulu and the boys. Even if we can't stand each other, we all agreed that we have to make it work for them. Lulu is in such a vulnerable place right now."

"So, what do you say to dinner?"

"Fine," Emily relented, "but if you want them to come, you invite them. I don't want them to think we're reaching out to them or they might get the wrong idea."

Robin agreed on the condition that Emily would convince Lucky to come. She was also responsible for setting things up with Cook since they'd have it at the Quartermaines, and inviting Lulu and Dillon.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Emily, Lucky was meeting with his brother to talk about their little sister. Dillon had called that morning to tell him about Lulu's latest session. Lainey was requesting a family session that would include both siblings as well as Luke and Dillon. She'd even requested that Tracey attend, but that was still up for debate. Luke wasn't sure that it would be productive for either of them, and Dillon didn't want to be forced to choose sides.

Shoving his keys into his pocket, he jogged into Kelly's and motioned for his customary cup of coffee. With a pleasant smile, Mike brought it just as Nikolas came in. "I'll be back with another," he said as Nikolas took his seat. Lucky just gulped the hot brew nervously.

"I'll get straight to the point," Lucky stated. "Dr. Winters has asked for a family session for Lulu. She wants all of us to understand where she is at in her recovery. I know firsthand how overwhelming they can be, so I think we need to agree to get along for her sake."

Nikolas obliged his request happily. "Who else is going to be there?"

"My dad, Dillon, us and maybe Tracey," he listed.

"What about Emily and Elizabeth?"

"She didn't ask about either of them. Since neither of us is technically married, I guess it didn't necessarily occur to her."

"It's probably better to keep it as simple as possible," Nikolas decided aloud. "Although, they are both apart of her past and her future. They are part of her family."

"I don't want to put Emily though anything else right now. She's had all the heartbreak she can handle," Lucky countered. "I'd prefer that Elizabeth not be there either, but that's up to you. Lulu still isn't entirely comfortable with the situation, but she is working on it for your sake and Cam's. I don't think it's fair to take something that is supposed to be about her and ask her to compromise. Lu never really asks us for much."

"She's so much like Mom it nearly breaks my heart."

"I think that's the first thing you have ever agreed with my dad on. In fact, I think he's said that exact thing to her more than once. He's certainly shared the insight with me."

Nikolas grinned for a moment. "You want to hear something funny? I always liked that Luke had a nickname for me. It made me feel like part of the family," he remembered. "You were Cowboy, Mom was Angel and Lulu was Gumdrop. He called me Prince. Sure, it was cynical and dripping with distain, but it was a nickname nonetheless."

"That's kinda twisted," Lucky laughed. "But maybe you're onto something there. I mean, he calls Tracey his Pink Popsicle."

"And you call me twisted?" he taunted. For the first time in awhile, they truly felt like brothers. Nikolas entertained the thought briefly that maybe everything was going to be okay. It certainly wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. "We're okay without the girls."

"My anger isn't about you, but when you're with her, I know that you're taking her side. That's hard for me."

"I know. I can't say that I blame you, Little Brother, but I love her. You know what it's like to be in love. I saw it last night when you were with Em. You want to protect her from anything that is going to hurt her. That's how I feel about Liz."

"I'm glad that she has you. She is going to need you when she has this baby. Elizabeth is a strong woman, but she can only take so much. I am trusting you to take care of my family."

"They're still your family."

Lucky shook his head. "My family is Cameron and Emily now, and I'm okay with that. It's what I want, they're who I love. I care about Elizabeth deeply, and I will until the day I die. But you are her home now, and I am asking you – as a brother and a friend – that you take care of her, the baby and even Cam when he's there."

"As long as I have breath in my body, I will protect Elizabeth and her children. You have my word," he avowed. "And I ask the same thing in return for Cameron and Emily."

"You know that I will."

"We're going to be okay, Lucky, you know that? This conversation tells me that we're going to make it through this."

"We're getting there, Nik, we're going to get there."