Tissues at the ready.

Partially edited.

Chapter Twelve

Breaking Points

Alexis was exhausted. Ever since her vivid dream, she found herself more so unable to sleep than previously. Every time she closed her eyes, she grew terrified that she might see him once again lying beside her, taunting her about never leaving her and being with her always. When she would finally enter into a somewhat deep sleep, it was riddled with nightmares of him luring her to him with false acts of kindness; she woke up feeling like a fool each and every time. She took one or two showers in the middle of every night, feeling as though he were all over her, making every effort to hurt her more than the last nightmared encounter. His stench emanated from her skin, but despite how much she scrubbed, it remained; nothing helped her get him off of her mind. She felt as though she had been transported back to that day; it terrified her.

She sat in scalding water, hugging her knees to her, trying not to cry too loudly so that she might not frighten her daughter who was watching a movie with her Teddy Bear, Danny, in the living room. Her life, while for the relative, better, had changed dramatically in the past month. She had been in her final year of law school, the editor of law review, had a six figure paying job waiting for her, which would have finally enabled her to remove the financial hold the Cassadine family had had on her since she was made to live with them after her parents' deaths. More importantly, she had finally come to terms with closing the door on yet another past. She had finally fully begun to embrace her life as the unstoppable Alexis Davis, but her daughter yanked her back into Alexandra's life and the painful memories associated with the poor orphan's life. Although she did not for one moment regret her daughter in her life, she was afraid.

Helena jolted up from her sleep to notice that she was alone in the bed. She looked around almost in a state of panic; where had he gone? While she and Mikkos were not the lovers they had once been, she still preferred his cold presence in her bed rather than none at all. As hard of a woman as she could be, she never cared for the size and darkness that made up their master suite; such an atmosphere led to thoughts she would have rather forgotten. Such an atmosphere led her to a feeling of being buried alive, or alone in a grave… she could not handle it. Considering the largeness of her room, it seemed strange to have such thoughts, but there they were nonetheless; she felt as though she were suffocating and there was no one to help her.

She slipped out of the bed, reached for her robe, and made her way downstairs. She figured that her husband had not left the house as his own robe and slippers were missing; she knew he must have been once again in his study.

She walked the long way from the master suite to the study hearing the sounds of laughter fill the air. It was not the type of childish laughter of children at play; instead, it was more so the antagonistic kind of a young boy who did nothing in his life, but strive to please her by emulating her distaste for the unwelcomed visitor in their home. The empty halls, the quiet, the darkness filled her with a sorrow so gripping it seemed as though it had only been yesterday, rather than five years, that he was taken from her. As she walked the halls, her heart felt heavy; her beautiful boy, the love of her life, her pride, and her joy, was no longer. She missed him terribly; she felt blessed to have had him choose her to be his mother.

Flashback

Theirs was a love affair seen only in the books. He, a member of the great Cassadine family, the owners of Europe's leading steel manufacturing company, was taking over the corporation and quickly attaining transcontinental notoriety as a savvy young businessman. He was both Greece and Russia's most eligible bachelor. And yet, he met her, in Prague on a warm, but rainy spring afternoon in a café a few blocks from Charles University where she was studying to be a doctor… a cardiologist to be precise. She, the daughter of the great Cristof Benedikt Komensky, owner of the largest energy producing company throughout Czechoslovakia, was attaining her own fame in her field of medicine. As an impeccably mannered aristocrat, she was every man's dream, but as an intelligent, independent, and at times, quite arrogant, brain, she could be his nightmare.

She sat alone reading a medical journal, too immersed in the article on new developments to surgical techniques used on the heart, to notice the random patrons around her. However, as though by some spark of kismet, she looked up at the exact moment he walked into the café shaking his umbrella of the rain. She was intrigued.

He was a sight to see, the epitome of the 'tall, dark, and handsome' type. He wore an expensive tailor-made grey suit, with impeccably shined black shoes. His tie was black to match the darkness of his eyes. They were of such a dark nature, one could easily get lost in them; she was sure to be one of its many inhabitants. His hair looked as though it were made of the finest black silk, cut only for the robes of the Gods. His stature was regal, even in suit, his body appeared muscular. He was, in one word, extraordinary. She was in love.

As she noticed him, he too noticed her. The moment he walked into the café, closed his umbrella, and placed it into the stand, his eyes were directed to what he was certain must have been a heavenly vision seated alone at a small table. Her long blond hair was tied back by a scarf, without a single strand out of place. Her lips were painted with the softest pink lipstick to match the rouge on her high cheekbones, which were like the most beautiful hills he had ever seen. His eyes traveled over her hills and focused on the green orbs that made up her eyes. They were the deepest green, such as that found in an Amazonian rain forest; they were capable of holding the world's mysterious creatures and wonders. She was the definition of perfection; he was enamored.

He fixed his collar and brushed away any droplet that may have landed onto his attire. He needed to meet this young woman. He walked over to her with a smile on his face revealing sparklingly white teeth so bright they were blinding on such a cloudy day.

--- "Hello."

As he approached her, she smelled the soft, yet musky scent his cologne; she was entranced. She smiled sweetly at him before replying in the most sensuous voice she could muster, raising an eyebrow as spoke.

--- "How do you do?"

And it was in the simple exchange that two of Europe's great families were merged.

Unfortunately, a year after they exchanged their vows, tragedy threatened their happy union. There as they made haste down the long steps of the Cassadine mansion in Russia, she was in labor.

--- "It's too soon, Mikkos!"

His heart raced, as he knew she was correct; she was barely seven months along in her pregnancy. He saw fear in her eyes.

--- "It will be alright, Layna."

This was his nickname for her. He gave her hand a squeeze.

--- "Our children are strong! They will be fine."

She looked at him praying that he was right; she could not lose their children. The moment she learned she was carrying her husband's children, she fell more deeply in love with him, and therefore in love with the lives growing inside of her.

--- "Mikkos—"

She screamed out in pain as another contraction tore through her. The tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at the man steadying her from a painful fall to the ground.

--- "Please—"

She had attempted to be strong, but the pain was too much for her. He nodded his head and carried her toward the awaiting car.

--- "Layna, I promise you, the children will be fine. They come from the two greatest families; they are strong and they will make it."

She buried her face into his chest breathing in his scent as she breathed out the pain.

--- "I lásku vám."

She told him she loved him before passing out from the pain.

******

Upon arrival at the hospital, Helena was taken in for an emergency caesarean section. Mikkos, while he was far from a religious man, he nevertheless believed in God, and prayed often that the happiness that he found with his wife would remain. He had never loved another more than he loved Helena; when they had learned that she was pregnant with twins, he feared that his heart was not large enough to love them all the way they needed. Perhaps this was his retribution for doubting the gift that had been bestowed upon him.

He knelt down before the crucifix and stared at it for quite some time before bowing his head. He did not know what to say. Should he have apologized for being ungrateful? Should he have pleaded for the lives of his children and wife? Should he have bargained for one life over the life of two, or two for the life of one? He did not know what to do; he simply knew that he wanted nothing more than to see three pairs of eyes looking at him when he walked into the hospital room. Yes; that was what he would pray for.

But before a single prayer could be uttered from his lips, the nurse appeared.

--- "Mr. Cassadine?"

He wiped his fallen tears before turning to face her.

--- "Yes?"

--- "Your wife is in recovery."

The look in her sympathetic eyes was enough to indicate to him that the news was dire.

--- "And my babies?"

She shook her head.

--- "I'm sorry—"

Without waiting for her to complete her sentence he ran out of the room in search of his wife; he needed to be with her. This was a nightmare.

He ran down the halls until he found her lying in the bed with silent tears rolling down her cheeks holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. He smiled at the sight, believing that he had misunderstood the nurse. He walked up to the bed and sat down beside his wife.

He took his finger and ran it through the child's lightly colored hair; undoubtedly she would look like her mother when she grew older.

--- "She's beautiful."

She had been staring at the child's little face since he had walked in; she wanted to stare at her baby forever, but she knew that she never could. She looked up at him with tears freely rolling down her cheeks. She stared into his eyes wishing that she could lose herself within them so that she would not have to face a future without her children. Alas, she could not; this was her reality.

She shook her head as she stopped him from caressing the child's cheek. There was no point; their baby could not feel it.

--- "Mikkos—"

He looked back at her. For the first time he noticed what he had been afraid to see and what he had been unwilling to hear.

--- "My Layna—"

He carefully moved to wrap his arm around her, but she just as carefully, attempted to push him away from her.

--- "She's gone!"

She felt as though she were suffocating as she held the still child in her arms.

--- "She's gone."

He took her face into his hands, wiping her tears with his thumbs. He then gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, allowing his own tears to fall and connect with her own.

--- "Our Sofia Alexis Cassadine."

She laid her head onto her chest as she continued to sob.

--- "She is so beautiful—"

He ran his fingers through her hair, kissing the top of her head.

--- "Just like her mother."

They remained that way for some time holding their dead child, rocking her, kissing her cold little cheeks, and telling her how much she was loved. Finally, when the time arrived for the couple to turn the child over to the hospital until arrangements could be made for her burial, Helena quietly handed her over to the workers. She lied back onto the bed without a word, allowing Mikkos to wipe her tears.

--- "Layna?"

She knew what he wanted to ask.

--- "He's tiny. They don't think he'll survive through the night. He can't breathe on his own, he's hooked up to many machines."

The blow to his heart was hard; they could not lose their son, too. This was the result of his doubt. He would doubt no longer.

--- "He will live—"

She shook her head. She was a medical professional; if he survived, he would certainly suffer numerous developmental delays. She did not want that for him; it would have been best if he joined his sister in heaven.

--- "Mikkos—"

He put his finger to her lips.

--- "We will not doubt; our son will fight because he is a Cassadine man. He is destined for greatness."

She simply nodded her head and closed her eyes; the effects of the drugs were taking their effect on her.

******

They named the baby Stavros, meaning cross, in honor of the crucifix his father attempted to pray before the night of his birth. He remained in the hospital for two months, fighting to remain alive; he was not yet ready to leave the earth. However, afraid to become attached to a child whose fate remained uncertain, she spent very little time visiting him. She was more often found at the cemetery bringing flowers to her little girl, talking to her of what could have been, of what should have been, and of who she would have become. She poured out her heart of what she would have wanted for her little Sofia and of what she envisioned of her life and their lives together. None of this was fair.

On the day on which she was to have given birth to her little angels, Mikkos found her once again seated at their daughter's grave. He was angry. He had been patient with her and allowed her to grieve, leaving him to tend to their son's care, but this was too much, their son was now home for the first time, and she did not seem concerned.

--- "Helena—"

She was preoccupied with brushing the fallen leaves from the tiny tombstone to notice that he had spoken to her. He forcefully took her by the shoulders and lifted her to a standing position.

--- "Enough with this!"

She could not believe he would be so harsh with her… in front of their child.

--- "Mikkos, please lower your voice; you'll wake her."

Seeing the pain in her eyes, he softened. As difficult as she found the hospital to be, his daughter's gravesite was as painful for him to visit.

--- "I apologize, but Layna, she's gone. You have to let her go."

She looked from him down to the ground under her feet where her child lay rotting away into dust.

--- "I can't."

He lifted her chin.

--- "You have to; there's nothing you can do for her. Our son needs you. You have to be his mother because I can only do so much, Layna."

Her eyes welled with tears until a sob escaped from her lips. She leaned into him and allowed him to comfort her.

--- "I wanted so much to give you a little girl."

He blinked away the tears that threatened to escape; he wanted to remain strong for her.

--- "You've given me a son, my love. As much as I would have loved our beautiful Sofia, she's playing with the angels. She's looking down on us and wondering why we've left her brother alone."

His last comment caused her to cry harder; she never meant to abandon their son. She wanted to be a good mother to him… to both of her children, but she did not know how; it was easier to tend to one who was already gone, than one who was as delicate as a flower.

--- "I'm sorry—"

--- "No apologies."

He released her so that he could place a kiss on his daughter's grave.

--- "My Sofi, Papa loves you very much, but Mama and I must attend to your brother."

He smiled sadly at the little grave before standing to face his wife.

--- "Are you ready?"

She shook her head. She turned once again to look at her daughter… at her tombstone.

--- "Goodbye, my love."

It took everything in her to walk away, but her husband was right; she had to be a mother to the one who needed her.

He held her hand as they walked into the house, up the staircase, and into the nursery where their son was waiting. She slowly stepped close to the crib to see him looking around. He was a beautiful combination of his father and her.

--- "My Stavros Tomas Cassadine, you are by far the most handsome little man I have ever seen."

Mikkos moved to her side.

--- "And what does that make me?"

She leaned her head onto her his chest as she continued to marvel at her son's beauty.

--- "You are everything."

Stavros looked up at his parents and cooed before smiling for the very first time. In that moment, Helena fell in love with her little boy.

End of Flashback

She entered Mikkos' office to find him pouring over several documents. She shook her head in annoyance, as she believed him to have left their bed to work. She had told him on more than one occasion that she did not like for him to leave her, and for thirty years he had obliged her, but now there he was, ignoring her wishes.

--- "What are you doing Mikkos?"

He looked up at her in confusion as he had not heard a word she had asked him; rather, he had not even realized that she had entered the room.

--- "I'm sorry?"

--- "I asked you what you were doing down here I woke up and you were gone—"

Seeing the trepidation and sorrow in her eyes, he immediately regretted what he had done. In fact, he had been leaving the bed every night for the passed week. He would sit in his study for hours staring at the files that presently lay on his desk. He would return to the bed merely minutes before she was due to wake. He did not think that she would have noticed.

--- "I apologize; I couldn't sleep and I did not want to disturb you."

She had noticed the bags forming under his eyes.

--- "I see. And what, pray tell, is keeping you awake at night?"

He was not ready to disclose such information to her until he got down to the bottom of the situation.

--- "Alexis and this school business… I just don't understand what has gotten into her."

She knew all too well that he was lying to her, but she decided to remain quiet; she always learned of everything that needed to be learned in due time.

--- "Hmm—"

He looked up at his wife.

--- "I know you too well, Helena. In fact, seeing as I have the painful wound from your—"

He stopped speaking when he noticed the pained look in her eyes. He looked at the calendar and noticed the date. It may have been the middle of the night, but it was still the next day; it was the thirty-second anniversary of the day on which their twins were to have been born. He closed the file and walked toward the woman.

--- "Are you alright?"

She glared at the man she had once loved deeper than she had ever though imaginable.

--- "I'm surprised you even realized what today was; you're too preoccupied with your Alexis."

She stressed the young woman's name with such venom the girl must have felt it slicing through her veins from across the ocean that separated them.

Mikkos, on the other hand, knew that he had made a severe error in judgment by giving the girl the name of their beloved child, but when he had looked at her, so intelligent, calm, gentle, and beautiful, he imagined that Sofi would have been like her. He could not allow his only daughter's name to go for so long without use.

--- "I would never forget, Helena. Believe it or not, I love our children; all of them."

He attempted to wipe the single tear that rolled down her cheek, but she stood up and walked towards the bar. She poured herself a glass of water.

--- "You never cared for Stavros; I think you would have liked for him to have died instead of Sofi. Actually, I think you would have preferred them both to have died."

He did not have a single idea from where all of this was coming, but he certainly did not like it; she never before reacted in such a hostile way on the anniversary of the day on which the children should have been born. Usually, she was quiet and uncharacteristically emotional. On those days, she remained in their room, with strict instruction that she was not to be disturbed, or would make her way to the cemetery where both Sofi and Stavros were reunited. The anger he saw in his wife's eyes was unusual for the day.

--- "I treated all of the children in this house equally—"

She threw her glass across the room.

--- "They were NOT equal, Mikkos! Sofi and Stavros meant the world to me; they were all I needed. I never wanted that other one! And I certainly could have done without… her in my house."

Mikkos saw the fury in her eyes; he knew better than to push the conversation any further. He walked over to his wife and held her hand for a moment, before pulling her into him.

--- "I'm sorry, Layna. I'm so sorry."

There were but three days in the year on which she would ever allow him to see her cry: this day, the actual day of their children's birth, and the day of their son's death. While he was concerned about Alexis, he missed the days when he and his wife were close; he therefore took advantage of the rare opportunities when he could comfort her.

They stood together in his quiet office allowing the ice that had formed between them over the years to be melted away by her tears. He would worry about his niece later; for now, he wanted nothing but to hold his wife.

Stefan, using his key, let himself into the apartment. He made it a habit to stop by every day with breakfast, lunch or dinner, as he did not think it safe to allow his cousin to cook for his little raven who, as he noticed, was quietly seated on the couch watching television.

He set the bags down onto the counter and approached the child.

--- "And what are we watching?"

Sam turned from the television to smile at the man; she was quickly growing as attached to him as he was to her.

--- "The Little Mermaid."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

--- "May I sit with you and—"

He pointed to the bear knowing its name, but hoping to continue to engage her in conversation. She nodded her head.

--- "Danny."

--- "Ah, yes, that's right. Hello Danny."

He took his seat beside her, careful to mind her still casted leg. She moved into him, prompting him to lift her onto his lap. He gave her a little hug.

--- "Ah, The Little Mermaid; is this another of the fairy tales you like?"

--- "Yea."

She resembled her mother in many ways, but there was something more to her. He stared at her for a moment, as her eyes remained glued to the television. He took in her dark eyes and hair, along with her button-like nose. He thought about her personality and how similar it was to Nikolas'. Although the boy was quite formal, this was attributable to his upbringing. He was still, like Sam, shy with those whom he was unfamiliar, yet quite verbose, playful, and displayed a vulnerability with his family. It amazed him how easily the children could pass for siblings rather than distant cousins.

--- "So, where's Mommy?"

She took her eyes off the television to look up at the man.

--- "She's taking a bath."

He frowned slightly at the way in which she replied to him. He sensed there was more to what she was saying, but being that she was still recovering, she was unwilling, or unable, to elaborate.

--- "And so I see, you are being a big girl and sitting out here watching a movie by yourself while your Mommy gets pretty?"

Afraid that he might ask her about her mother's strange behavior, Sam squeezed her bear tightly and nodded.

Stefan gave her a kiss on the top of the head. He had been watching Alexis for the past week since she had finally spoken to Mikkos; he noticed significant changes in her appearance and personality. She was tired, with bags underneath her eyes, and she looked as though she may have been losing weight. More discouraging, she barely laughed anymore. She was typically, even in times of stress, quite bubbly and jovial; she was different this time. The glimmer in her eyes was quickly fading.

She attempted to hide her upset with rather small chuckles, and shy smiles, but he was always able to read his cousin; there was not much that she could hide from him. There was something that occurred in the past week that she was keeping from him. If he wanted to help her, he would need to know what it was.

--- "So, my little raven, how are you doing today?"

Feeling more comfortable with the conversation, she loosened the grip she had on her bear.

--- "Fine."

Her actions indicated to him that she knew something about her mother's behavior. If he wanted to attain any information on his cousin, he needed to be tactful.

--- "How are your little wings now that they've fully mended?"

Knowing he spoke of the casts that had just finally been removed from her arms, she lifted Danny in the air for him to see. She twirled the bear around to display her regained range of motion. When she was done, she once again held her bear to her and rested her head against the man's chest.

--- "I couldn't do that before. I can't color for long because my hand gets tired."

He took her hand into his.

--- "Well, that's because they were in casts for so long."

She nodded.

--- "Mommy said it would take a few days to get strong."

He tapped her little hand and held his out for her.

--- "Squeeze my hand."

She looked up at him in confusion, but he kissed her forehead and nodded in approval. She did as she was told. He let out a scream.

--- "My goodness! It looks like my raven is already pretty strong for having a minimal amount have of her strength returned. I suppose I should be terribly afraid of you in a few days."

Sam laughed at his poor attempt at having been hurt by her act. She leaned back into him and continued to watch the movie. He hated to interrupt her once more, but he believed she had just given him an in on finding out about her mother's behavior when he was not around.

--- "Samantha, can you tell your Cousin Stefan how Mommy is? Is she sad? Happy?"

Alexis, who had been watching the exchange, did not appreciate her cousin questioning her daughter about her, but she also wanted to hear the child's response. While she attempted to shield her distress from her daughter, but she was certain that she was failing terribly. She cried everyday, at night, and possibly in the little sleep she managed to get each night; Sam must have noticed. For a child as clingy as her daughter, Alexis believed that Sam must have seen the look of desperation in her eyes, so much so that she allowed her a few moments alone to once again scrub her body raw in the shower. She hated what all of this was doing to the girl.

She watched as Sam squeezed her bear tightly for a moment before poking the man in her arm. In that moment, Alexis knew that her daughter noticed her standing in the entryway. She went to turn back and hide in their bedroom to wipe her fallen tears, but Stefan caught her escape.

--- "Lex, are you alright?"

She quickly wiped her eyes before turning around to face her cousin. She smiled slightly.

--- "Stefan, you're here."

He noticed her puffy red eyes; she had been crying for some time.

--- "As always."

He looked her over from head to toe. She appeared worse that day than she had the previous day; there was something weighing heavily on her mind and he did not like it.

--- "If you'll excuse me saying Lex, but you look like—"

He covered Sam's ears before continuing.

--- "Shit."

Alexis rolled her eyes before moving toward the kitchen area.

--- "Yes, you certainly are a man of great manners and formality, Stefan. I appreciate the compliment. Sam, baby, were you good for Cousin Stefan?"

Sam smiled up to the man before looking at her mother who returned a smile to her.

--- "Yes."

Alexis looked from her daughter to her cousin; it astounded her how different Stefan was to his brother. Where Stavros was cold, cruel, and heartless with everyone outside of his mother, and to some extent his father, Stefan was sweet, gentle and caring. Granted, his personality was only seen by her, as Mikkos was himself too cold to notice, and Helena was too wrapped up in her own life and ensuring that her prized son was, when the miserable wretch was alive, happy, to be interested in who Stefan was as a person. He was always her backbone; she hoped that she had returned the favor to him on more than the one occasion.

--- "That's my good girl. What do you want to drink with your breakfast? Milk or apple juice?"

--- "Apple juice, please."

Stefan moved Sam from his lap and onto the couch. As he went to leave her side, she grabbed his hand; now that her mother was back in the room, she wanted to be by her. He obliged and carried her to the kitchen area. He placed her onto a stool and turned to Alexis.

--- "When was the last time you slept?"

She once again rolled her eyes at him as she set the plates and cups onto the island.

--- "Um, last night?"

He shook his head at her knowing that she was not being entirely truthful.

--- "I suppose I should rephrase my statement. When was the last time you slept for more than ten minutes at a time, Alexis?"

She went into the refrigerator so as to avoid his scrutinizing stare. It was her greatest annoyance that this man knew her inside and out. She placed the bottle of apple juice in front of her daughter.

--- "Look, I'm a light sleeper, Stefan, you know this; I wake up for everything especially now since—"

She switched into French so Sam would not understand her.

--- "I have my daughter with me. Look at her! Up until yesterday, she was unable to do anything for herself; she still can't walk because the cast is passed her knee. When she needs something I gladly wake up and take care of her."

Stefan was not buying her excuse for one minute. She was keeping something integral from him, and for that reason she was becoming increasingly defensive.

--- "Please! You're hiding behind her! I can tell something is bothering you! Goodness, look at your eyes! If I didn't know you so well, I'd think you were sick, but I do, and you've been crying."

She let out a deep sigh.

--- "Stefan, can you please just drop it? I look like this because I wasn't feeling well last night; I had an upset stomach, so I tossed and turned."

He knew they were not going to go anywhere with this conversation, at least not until her daughter was out of the room; he decided to loosen up on her, as he did not want to add more stress to her already heavily burdened shoulders. He smiled and reverted into English as he poured Sam a glass of juice.

--- "Perhaps it's all that unhealthy American food you like to consume and feed this beautiful little girl, who, I must say is finally putting on weight."

She smiled from Stefan to her daughter who was intently watching her every move. She lifted her from the stool and covered the girl's face with kisses, causing her to laugh.

--- "I love you, Chipmunk."

Sam took her mother's face into her hands and gave her a kiss in return before resting her head on her shoulder. It was moments such as that that allowed Alexis to forget about her tortured nights. She gave her a kiss and placed her back onto the stool.

She reached into the bag to see what her cousin brought them for breakfast. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she laughed aloud.

--- "Sammy, aren't we grateful that instead of the unhealthy American meals we stuff our faces with each day, Cousin Stefan decides to bring us bacon and eggs. This is so Greek of him; shall we thank him?!"

Sam, holding her mother's shirt in her hand, turned to the man.

--- "Thank you, Cousin."

He pointed at the pair amusingly before reaching into the bag.

--- "You two think you're funny!"

He placed two yogurts onto the counter.

--- "And you are very welcome."

Alexis gave him a kiss and a hug. She held onto him for a few seconds longer than ordinary. He was her backbone and she was falling apart; she was grateful to have him.

--- "Thank you, Stefan."

After watching the remainder of "The Little Mermaid" with Sam, Stefan decided, since Nikolas had a few more hours of instruction, to stay with the ladies. While Sam fell asleep with her head in her mother's lap, at the beginning of "Beauty & The Beast," Alexis soon found herself resting her head on her cousin's shoulder; she quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Flashback

Stefan and Alexandra exchanged emails several times a week. Being quite chatty and interested in sharing the new things that she had learned and applying them to random situations, her emails tended to be quite long. She would go into detail about every activity of which she took part. She was so vivid in her descriptions, at times he found himself imagining himself at the exact place, in the exact time, and at the exact moment a certain event occurred. He looked forward to hearing how happy she was at her school, and away from the verbal and at times physical abuse they grew up with at the Cassadine Estate.

However, over the passed few months, he noticed that the emails were not only decreasing in length, they were fewer and number, and lacking in the descriptive value to which he had grown accustomed. When he did not receive a response to his email questioning whether or not she was doing well, he immediately knew something was wrong with his beloved cousin.

She had received the email, read it numerous times, but knew not of a way to respond without cluing him into the fact that everything was not fine. She did not know how to convey into words the fact that she had not only been raped… she could not even say the words out loud, let alone like at them in writing on a computer screen… but that she was also carrying the spawn of the devil incarnate inside of her. How could she tell this man, whom she looked upon as a brother, that at fifteen, she was carrying something, not even someone, that turned her stomach inside and out; her own body realized that it had been invaded by something so evil she could not keep down anything she forced herself to eat. There were no words to describe the hate she felt for her body's intruder. There was no way she could write any of this in a casual email. In some ways, she knew that by not responding, he would come to her. He knew everything about her; he would figure it all out without her having to explain the dirty details of what had been done to her.

And to a certain extent, she was right; when he did not receive a response to that email, or the one he sent afterwards, or the one after that, and she failed to respond to her phone calls, texts, and voicemails, he knew that she was waiting for him to come to her. And so he did.

The moment she heard the knock at her dormitory door, she knew that it was he. She slowly moved from the desk to the door. She quickly glanced at herself in the mirror. She was not sure why she had even bothered; no matter what she did to conceal it, he would undoubtedly know that she had been crying. She sighed deeply before opening the door.

The moment she saw him, she collapsed into his arms. She had spent several months being weighed down by this secret; she was happy to see the face of someone she loved so deeply, and whom she knew, loved her back. She could no longer shoulder the load alone. She had to let it go.

--- "I'm so happy you're here."

He was shocked to see her so upset. He held her tightly, and led her back into her room before anyone noticed her upset.

--- "Alexandra, you must allow me to close the door."

She was slightly embarrassed by her reaction to seeing him that she quickly released him and turned away to grab a few tissues to wipe her tears. She had not expected to become so emotional when he arrived.

--- "I'm sorry, Stefan."

He turned to face her. For the first time he realized what had been troubling her; she was pregnant.

--- "Alexandra—"

He was at a loss for words at seeing his fifteen year old cousin several months pregnant.

--- "What… How… Goodness!"

Seeing his reaction, her eyes once again began to well with tears. They began to flow more and more quickly as she began to hyperventilate. Stefan quickly grabbed her inhaler that he knew she kept in her nightstand drawer. He led her to the bed and handed it to her.

--- "Breathe."

She regained her composure. She looked at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.

--- "It wasn't my fault!"

He nodded his head, as he wrapped his arms around her.

--- "I believe you."

He was not sure how something such as this could have happened to someone so engrossed in her education and her books. In no email had she ever disclosed to him that she was interested in any boys. In fact, she attended an all-girl school; with whom of the opposite sex was she associating who could have done this to her?

--- "Alexandra, who did this?"

She shook her head in despair; she could not get the words to leave her mouth.

--- "Stefan—"

He took her face into his hands.

--- "No, Lex, I certainly did not do this to you. I want to know how this happened to you!"

She stared at him willing her mouth to form the words. She wanted this burden to leave her. She wanted someone else to know what had been done to her. She wanted the thing inside of her to leave and to never return… Just as she thought she could finally tell him what had happened to her, she felt the intruder move for the first time. Previously, while it was silent inside of her, she knew that it was there because it haunted her dreams.

This was different. In the five months she had hated it, it never responded. It never moved. In fact, it never made its presence known to her until that moment as she sat there beside her concerned cousin. She did not experience any morning sickness, or any aches and pains; but for the missing periods, she would have gone several months, until her belly began to show, without any knowledge that something was growing inside of her.

As she sat there holding her belly shocked by the feeling of movement, she questioned how she could possibly hate something that neither caused her initial pain nor further pained her. It sickened her that she had so profoundly hated something that did nothing to her. Was that not how she was treated throughout her life? She could not feel that way about another person.

She looked deep into her cousin's eyes.

--- "It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did… and I… I think I love it."

Although he was not sure what to think about her response, and he was certain that his worst nightmare for her might have occurred, because she had come to terms with her predicament, he accepted it. He would do everything necessary to ensure the health of both his cousin and her child.

End of Flashback

Alexis jolted from her sleep to find her daughter missing. Her heart began to race.

--- "SAM!"

As she ran towards her bedroom, Stefan came out with a finger to his lips.

--- "Alexis! It's okay. Both you and Samantha fell asleep during the movie; I put her to bed."

She looked at him incredulously. She pushed passed him and into the bedroom.

--- "Sam, baby!"

She nearly collapsed when she saw him lying beside her sound asleep daughter, decaying and reeking of a rotting corpse, caressing her cheeks.

--- "She's beautiful, our girl."

The stench in the room was overbearing; she wanted to vomit. First, she needed to save her child.

--- "Let go of her!"

He gave Sam a kiss on the cheek before turning his attention back to Alexis.

--- "She looks so much like us both, don't you think?"

As he smiled, she noticed that maggots had replaced his teeth. One detached itself from his decomposing gum and onto Sam's arm. Alexis felt as though she could no longer breathe.

--- "Oh God."

She began to run to her daughter, but Stefan held her in her spot.

--- "Alexis, stop!"

She struggled in his grasps. She could still see him touching their… no, HER daughter, as though he were a loving parent. She could hear him humming to the sleeping child, and whispering soft Greek and Russian lullabies to her. She wanted to grab him and beat him to a pulp; she wanted him away from baby.

--- "LET GO OF ME, STEFAN! HE'S GOING TO HURT HER! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!"

Stefan's heart raced as he saw his cousin having a breakdown right before his eyes. He had never before seen her in such a state of hysterics.

--- "Alexis, there's nobody there! There's no one there! Look at her."

She blinked away the tears that had begun to blind her. When she regained her vision, he sat up in the bed, soil falling from the holes in his skin as he moved.

--- "I'm always with you, my pet."

He blew her a kiss and disappeared.

She felt as though she were losing her mind; Stefan had to have seen him. This was not in her mind! He was haunting her.

--- "Stefan—"

She collapsed onto the floor.

--- "He was here! He was here."

Noticing that Sam had awoken from the commotion her mother has caused, he knelt down beside Alexis and allowed her to cry. As he rocked her mother, he looked into the little girl's frightened eyes; he finally saw it. Seeing Sam clutch her teddy bear tightly with tears streaming down her cheeks, he finally understood what his cousin had been afraid to tell him all those years ago. It made him sick to his stomach.

--- "It was him; wasn't it?"

The only confirmation she gave him was a muffled sob into his chest.