Chapter 53

Patrick pushed Robin's hair from her face as she slept. She had fallen asleep almost as soon as the plane had taken off and was now nestled against his shoulder with her hand resting on his thigh. As soon as they got back to the hotel Robin packed while Patrick called the airline to change their flight home. They had said little to each other but shared excited glances and small giggles. In bed together, they had held each other closely with his hand on her still flat belly. It didn't matter to him that their child was the size of a peanut -their child was there and it would only be a matter of months before they would meet him or her. His heart had expanded yet again as soon as Robin had announced she was pregnant again.

"We're having another baby, baby."

The words continued to bring a smile to his face. It had only been slightly more than a year that he and Robin had been together but his life had taken a complete 180 in that time. Everything in his life had come together and he no longer questioned his purpose. Loving Robin had revealed his path to him and he really and truly loved his life. Before Robin, before Rian, he loved his work and really liked parts of his life but now he was content and at peace. He pressed his lips into her forehead. There was just no way of knowing that such a small person would have such a force of personality.

Bleary-eyed, they cleared customs and collected their bags. They took a taxi straight to the hospital not wanting to wait a minute longer to see Dr. Maida. Robin's happiness was slightly muted as she still feared that she may have exposed her husband to HIV and there was nothing he could say or do to asuage her fears. The fear at having exposed him the first time never truly left her and had been the only cause of reticence at having a second child. Her first pregnancy was not as joyful as it could have been with the spectre of Bruce hanging over them and then the accident that resulted in Rian being born prematurely. She rubbed her belly and made a silent wish for history not to repeat itself.

Patrick paced from one end of the small exam room to the other while Robin munched on soda crackers in an attempt to keep her nausea at bay. "You're making me dizzy" she teased as he crossed the floor for the umpteenth time.

He smiled as he looked up at her. "I'm making myself dizzy. What's taking him so long?"

"I don't know" Robin said innocently. "Maybe it's because this was his day off but yet you still had Epiphany phone him and berate him in to coming in."

"He's our doctor" he protested.

"Yes" she said slowly, loving her husband's singular focus. "But there are several other specialists on staff who could run the tests for us."

"I don't want other specialists, I want him" he whined.

"Ask and you shall receive" Dr. Maida said coming in to the exam room. "Nice to see you both."

"Michael, I really hope we didn't pull you away from anything too important" Robin said apologetically.

"Just doing some stuff around the house" he smiled. "So - you took a home pregnancy test and it was positive."

"Three" Patrick said.

"Pardon?" Dr. Maida asked.

"Three - she took three home pregnancy tests and they were all positive."

"Well actually I took four" Robin corrected. "The first one was negative."

Holding up his hands and shaking his head, Dr. Maida sank to the stool. "No mas" he joked. "Let me see if I understand this - you took one pregnancy test and it was negative but three subsequent tests were positive."

"Yes." Robin confirmed. "But I'm worried that Patrick has been exposed and that it wasn't the a.i that resulted in the pregnancy but a faulty condom."

Flipping open the file, he reviewed her chart. "Did you have intercourse during your ovulation?"

"No" Patrick answered quickly.

"Then it was the aritifical insemination."

"But the first test, a week ago, was negative" Robin continued. Her concern for Patrick was still at the forefront of her mind.

"Well" the doctor said gently. "If you had come in to see me after the first test, I could have run another and it likely would have confirmed then that you were pregnant. Home tests are about 95% accurate but it's not unusual for a false negative."

"Oh" Robin said sheepishly.

"I think you should ask the Sorbonne for your money back" Patrick teased gently, kissing her forehead. Robin swatted at him playfully. "So what's next?"

Dr. Maida made several notations in the file. "The lab is rushing the test results back which I expect will confirm what your previous three home tests have said. I'll give you a presecription for a new protocol for the first trimester and we'll book some follow up appointments." He closed the filed and looked at both of them. "I need to remind you both that it will be normal for Robin's viral load to rise slightly during the pregnancy - it's an extra stress on her body and the new protocol will throw things for a bit of a loop - but that being said, it should level off and all other things being equal there is no reason for you not to have a healthy and happy pregnancy."

"What about her blood pressure issues last time?" Patrick asked as his thumb moved in tiny, soothing circles along Robin's palm.

"Impossible to predict" he said "but we'll monitor it closely and if it flares up we will move quickly to deal with it. And Robin" he said looking pointedly at her, "that could mean anything from stopping work to bed rest."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be a good girl, I promise."

"Uh-huh - your work ethic is legendary in this place - I have my ear to the ground."

Robin smiled and rolled her eyes. "Who knew you were such a gossip lover?"

Their conversation was interrupted by Epiphany entering the room with Robin's test results. She smiled at her colleague as she handed them to Dr. Maida. "Here you go Doctor."

"Thank you Epiphany"

"Yes thanks Epiphany" Patrick said, flashing his dimple at the nurse. Frowning, she cuffed him on the back of the head. "Hey!" he exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"Making me call this poor man in on his day off because you think your wife is the first woman on the planet to be pregnant. I'll be reminding you of this next time some patient needs you on a day off." Robin bit her cheek in attempt to stiffle her giggles.

"But..."

"Don't but me boy" she said. "Dr.I want what I want when I want it" she grumbled. She gave Robin's arm a quick squeeze as she left the room.

"She loves me" Patrick sniffed as the door closed.

"And sometimes love hurts" Robin teased.

Dr. Maida shook his head. "You two." He reviewed the results in front of him and looked up smiling. "Congratulations - you are in fact pregnant."

Robin squealed and threw her arms around her husband. "It's really happening."

Patrick nipped at her lips. "I love you" he whispered against her mouth. "Just in case you had any doubt."

"Never" she whispered back.

Standing up, Dr. Maida pulled out his prescription pad and scribbling quickly passed three sheets to Robin. "Here you go."

Taking them, Robin scanned them making note of the drugs and what she knew about them already. "Thanks Michael."

"Start on those today and I'd like to see you in a week to run a blood panel."

"Thanks for coming in" Patrick said extending his hand.

"Congratulations again" he said shaking it before leaving them to their celebration.

"What do you want to do?" Patrick asked, sucking on Robin's ear lobe.

Tilting her head to the side, she sighed in relief as her hand ran over his shoulder. "I want to go get our son and tell him he's going to have a little brother."

"Sister" Patrick corrected.

"Oh come on" she groaned.

"I know - it's a girl."

"You got lucky last time"

"I get lucky every time" he teased kissing her neck.

"It's a boy - I'm the mother and I know these things."

Pulling away from her, Patrick stared lovingly in to her eyes. "Wanna bet?"

"Fine" she said as her brown eyes danced.
"If I'm right - which of course, I will be, I want you to take me and our children to Paris and show us where you lived and tell us about your life while you were there."

Robin's eyes teared up. "Really?"

"Really."

She kissed him gently, sucking on his lower lip before pulling away. "And WHEN I'm right - I want you to rent us a house in Hawaii for a month and invite our parents and our friends to come and celebrate with us."

"Fine" he replied quickly.

"Fine?"

"Sure" he shrugged. "Great idea, it's just never going to happen because I'm right."

"Whatever - you have no clue" she dismissed. "Let's go get our son."

************
Nikolas pulled his robe tightly around him as he walked to the kitchen. Jet lag having disrupted his sleep, he had stolen quietly from the bed, taking care not to wake Nathalie. He had watched her sleep for a while - touched that she had refused to remove her ring even to sleep - there was a peace that came to her face only when she slept and it was one of his favourite things about her. In the few pictures she had shown him of her life before him, that peace existed then as well. He was resolute that he would bring that back to her. Yawning, he flipped on the lights in the kitchen.

"When did you get back?"

Rubbing his eyes, he was surprised to see his sister sitting on the counter eating ice cream from the container. "Lulu"

"Mint chocolate chip?" she asked, offering the container to him. Shrugging, Nikolas hopped up on the counter beside her. Relieving her of her spoon, he dug out a large spoonful and popped it in his mouth. "Everything okay with psychogranny?"

He nodded, swallowing the ice cream. "She is securely locked away at a facility. I've paid them a huge sum of money and that should keep her under control. What's new with you?"

"Ethan's upstairs" she said, taking the spoon back to scoop out another helping.

"Oh god, Lu - seriously - I'm not ready to hear about you having sex" he teased.

Furrowing her brow, she looked at her brother. "That's not what I meant - I mean after the debacle with his father and Nathalie's appeal, he came here."

Nikolas turned to look at his sister. "What do you mean the debacle with his father and Nathalie's appeal?"

Suddenly aware that Nathalie may not have brought her brother up to speed on what happend while he was away, she attempted to change the subject. "So were you in Greece?"

He took the spoon from her, helping himself to more ice cream. "That was not even close to being subtle. What happened?"

"Didn't Nathalie tell you?"

He shook his head. "It's possible she wanted to but I may have distracted her."

"Oh god, Nik - seriously - I don't need to hear about you having sex."

He grinned at her. "I asked her to marry me."

"REALLY?" Lulu squealed. "Oh my god!! Oh my god!! What did she say?"

Smiling shyly, he looked over at his sister. "She said yes."

The ice cream forgotten, Lulu threw her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly. "I am SO happy for you Nikolas."

"Thanks" he said, squeezing her back. "Me too."

"She's lucky to have you" she said seriously.

"It goes both ways."
Letting go of her brother, Lulu couldn't keep from grinning. "Nathalie and Nikolas sitting in a tree......k-i-s-s-i-n-g - first comes love, then comes marriage then comes another niece or nephew for Lulu to play with."

"You'd like that, would you?" he grinned back at her.

"I would" she nodded. "Though holy full house - Spencer, Grace, Oliver and another little one - we could open a daycare."

"Well I hope we can help you out with that soon" he said cheerfully.

Lulu slipped down from the counter and hugged her brother again. "I should get back upstairs but I am so so happy for you Nik - you deserve this."

"Thanks Lu" he said kissing the side of her head. He watched her bounce from the kitchen before picking up the ice cream and digging the spoon in. His mind drifted back to Lulu's comments about Ethan's father and Nathalie's appeal - apparently a lot of things happened in the short time he was away and Nathalie had told him none of it. Every time he was confident he had shattered the last of Nathalie's walls he came across another. He sighed as he wondered how many more were left and if she would ever truly let him in.

********
Bruce pulled on the chains to ensure they were securely attached. Despite using almost all of his force, he was unable to make them budge and if he couldn't do it then there was no way either of his guests would be able to. Looking around the room, he pushed the two beds further apart; the last thing he needed was the two of them bonding or taking strength from each other. If his captivity courtesy of Robert Scorpio had taught him anything, besides the value of psychological terror, it was that it was important to be prepared.

The room was soundproof and there were no windows. Escape through the only door would be near impossible as the guests would have no idea just how far underground they really were. Madame wanted the plan moved up and he had moved heaven and earth to make sure it all came together. With everything in place the only thing remaining was to pick an appropriate time and place to make his move.

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out his wallet and retrieved the small photo from it. His finger stroked over the familiar face, pausing on her lips.

"Soon Robin - very soon."