The sun tickled the backs of her eyelids causing Bobbie to groan rolling over to escape the invading rays. Last night had been the first night since Cameron's accident she had slept in her own bed. After nights folded into uncomfortable positions actually being able to stretch out her legs had felt like heaven. There was no way she wanted give up such a luxury simply because it was morning..
Maybe just maybe if she lay here with her eyes closed she could convince the sun to just move on skip over her house today and she could lay here all day. Of course that would be all the more enticing if she could convince a certain magazine editor to join her in playing hooky from the world.
Ever since they found out Cameron was going to be fine Cruz had immediately shifted gears. It wasn't that he hadn't been watching her and making sure she was taking care of herself; he just became more insistent about it. He had even enlisted Laura to help him by having her back up his insistence she go home to sleep. She might have argued being needed with just Cruz, but once Laura joined in she knew she had no chance. Bobbie knew her sister-in-law. It didn't matter the objection; Laura would find some way to counter it.
Cruz had been her rock since this had started. Without him, there she was sure at some point she would have broken down completely overwhelmed by her own memories of losing BJ. His presence had kept her able to focus on her nephew, her son, and this new baby. And the sad thing was he was probably completely unaware of just how thankful she was for him. Maybe, she thought mischievously, she should just wake up and thank him properly.
She reached her hand out expecting to find his shoulder beneath it. Bobbie's eyes flew open in shock when her hand connected with nothing but the sheet beneath it. He rarely awoke before her, especially on mornings when he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. So where was he?
Cruz hummed as he waited for the final touches to be complete. It had been days since Bobbie had eaten a real meal. While he appreciated and admired her dedication to her family, Cruz knew she had to take care of herself. The book said this was a critical time of development. Ok, he amended, the book said that for all areas of development but it didn't make it any less true.
As much as he hadn't wanted her see him with that book, he didn't want her to know he had already finished reading it. Cruz was sure somewhere his picture was being erected in the dork hall of fame for even admitting that to himself. He had seven months to get ready and he read that book in less than twenty-four hours? If his friends ever found out about this, they would tease him until he was a grandfather himself.
Bobbie sat up in her bed pulling the covers closer to her chest as she listened closely for any noise to indicate Cruz was still in the house with her. Nothing. The clothes he had discarded so quickly last night were gone from their heap on the floor. There was none of his tell-tale splashing coming from the bathroom, no hiss of the shower.
"You're being ridiculous." She announced to the air. "He could just as well be downstairs reading the paper or using the computer. Why do you insist on jumping to conclusions?"
She'd deny it to her son if he ever questioned her on it, but it was Lucas' voice that answered her. "Because he hasn't promised anything? Because you have no idea if he'll stick around?"
Bobbie shook her head trying to rid herself of the unwelcome intruders. She trusted Cruz. He was nothing like Carly's father. He hadn't run when he had first heard the news. He had come with her to the first doctor's appointment. All of those were good signs.
The doubts reared their ugly heads once more. But that was before Cameron's accident. They had barely begun to process this pregnancy and the complications her age brought with it. Just when they were starting to discuss what bringing this baby into the world was going to mean, the family crisis hit. She knew Cameron didn't plan this, but his timing could have been better. Cruz wasn't an unfeeling bastard. If he had begun to have doubts, she didn't think he would voice them during a family crisis. Especially something involving one of his best friends.
What if he had begun to have second thoughts? What if buying that book had just been a gesture and nothing more? What if he was having doubts and now felt free to act on them since Cameron was going to be fine?
His friends weren't going to understand at first, but hopefully Bobbie would handle this newest surprise a great deal better. He hoped so, otherwise the sleepless nights he had had spent contemplating this very moment would have been for nothing. What if when the time came he lost the ability to speak? What if she assumed the worst and the moment was ruined? This is God getting you back, Cruz mused thoughtfully. He's paying you back for all of those pointless relationships you started with no intention of finishing, for leaving those women before you even had a chance to take off your coat. Time to be a grown-up. Are you ready for this?
A baby is not going to factor in how many hours of sleep you need to function. Nope he's going to only care that you're up when he's unhappy when he needs to be changed or fed or burped--or when he feels sick and needs to be rocked coincidentally deciding that your favorite shirt is his new barf rag. How are you going to handle that? You can't spank a baby. Could you even raise a hand to a kid? Your mother would cut it off and you know it. No you'll be the type of dad that reasons with the unreasonable child begs pleads and otherwise signs a contract in your own blood to get him to eat his vegetables…or her vegetables. Bobbie saying she thinks it's a boy doesn't automatically mean that it can't be a little girl.
Are you ready for ballet recitals or little league games? You can't just expect Bobbie to raise the kid alone. Isn't that what you're still doing here? You love her, but are you absolutely certain this is the right thing? The book didn't have a section for this level of anxiety. What if he screwed the kid up? "Do as I say not as I do," the quote said, but dads were a major presence in their kid's life; Cruz would have to lead by example. Kids repeated what they heard right? What if he accidentally slipped around his impressionable one-year-old and then for the rest of his life heard from Bobbie how that was not an appropriate thing for a baby to say? Hadn't Lucky gone through something similar? What were Cameron's first words? Oh yeah. "Bitch Please." There were times when Laura still brought it up because, as luck would have it, she had been there to experience it. She had been there when her first and only grandchild had uttered those two little syllables for which Lucky would be apologizing for until the end of time.
Step up or walk out, an impatient voice advised him. Step up and be a man: marry Bobbie, start a life together, and raise your daughter (or son) in the kind of way that will make your mother proud. Walk out and never look back: walk away from Bobbie, from your friends, from your whole life, and leave your child to grow up wondering what he or she did wrong to deserve a life without their father. What's it gonna be Cruz?
Emily Quartermaine smiled devilishly as she twisted her wrist clockwise using the shiny red tool to cut a perfect circle in the middle of the glass patio door. Reaching through with her right hand, she flipped the lock up and yanked the door open silently. Best to get rid of the evidence, she figured and threw the glass cutter over the balcony barely registering its collision with a trashcan several stories down. Shutting the door behind her, she pulled the thick black curtain in front of it to keep anyone from realizing she had broken in. It'd be best to surprise Patrick; he had always liked surprises.
It only took a minute to get up the stairs; she had to stop in the doorway and use it to hold her up as she gazed upon the sleeping man she had missed all these months. His naked back was free for her perusal, but the line in the sheets proved that he was at least wearing a pair of boxers.. She wondered if he had thrown out the smiley face boxers she had bought and mailed to him for his last birthday. When Emily didn't spot them right away, she assumed that he had hidden them. It'd be a little awkward for the shiny new girlfriend to catch him with a gift from his last serious girlfriend of whom he was still head over heels about.
This was the time to take drastic measures Emily had realized a few weeks ago. She had been so surprised when he showed up in Manhattan at the same place and time she had. It had been impossible to ignore the tension between Patrick and Nikolas. Nikolas was just a passing fancy, a friend with benefits, and the young billionaire knew this to be true. However, in order to make Patrick jealous, she had convinced him to play like they were in love and had completely forgotten about him. And just the opposite was true. The minute Emily had found about Patrick hooking up with his ex-sister-in-law of all people, she had almost suffered a nervous breakdown. How he could be attracted to a woman so different from her was inconceivable!
There was a lot she had done in the past couple of months that she wasn't proud of but as she stood here she started to worry that Patrick may not be as understanding as he needed to be to accept her faults and look past them. It had been a mistake, one that she hadn't been able to come forward with before now. What if he was mad? What if he couldn't forgive her? Well he would just have to see reason and she wasn't leaving until he did.
Climbing in on her side of the bed, she pushed the covers out of the way and snuggled up beside him feeling immense relief when he leaned into her. He must have felt her presence; his soul must have recognized hers and sought it out. They were meant to be; he was just too proud to admit it. His friends weren't exactly helping matters any, but luckily for her they were otherwise distracted and this would be her only chance to take what was rightfully hers. She regarded this other woman--Robin Scorpio or so it had said on her chart--with pity. If only she knew that her whole world was about to be turned upside-down. Maybe it'd be best to just rest here beside Patrick and let this take its course. Yes she liked that idea.
Robin knocked quietly on the door to Patrick's studio realizing that it was very early and that boyfriend of hers was not much of a morning person. When she received no answer after the third knock she felt justified in trying the door, finding it locked, and then taking out the portable lock picking tools her father had insisted she always carry with her.
She hadn't meant to fall asleep last night, not in the company of her son, but when she had woken up to explain it all to Patrick he hadn't been there. Well why would he stay? She hadn't had any trouble getting to sleep and he had probably only planned on staying until she felt safe. But she hadn't felt even the slightest bit secure when she had realized he was nowhere to be found. She had sent Morgan off to school and told Lucas that he would be opening alone today that he might get the whole day if she had her way. There were no more excuses. She trusted Patrick now. It had taken a long time, but she finally felt like she could. Even the brief run-in with that twit Greta hadn't been enough to make her truly doubt how important she was to Patrick.
After the accident she had thought that he was only sticking around out of obligation and a little curiosity. Now, mere months later, she couldn't justify that way of thinking anymore. He had not only pulled her out of the car, but he had said that he didn't regret his decision. She wouldn't go so far as to believe he really loved her, but maybe that was just the skeptic in her. Maybe he had meant it. She really wanted him to say it again. She wanted to say them back. It was obvious to everyone but Patrick how she felt and she had to do something about that. How perfect that she should get to be the first person he saw when he woke up? And if she had her way she would be the last person he saw when the day was over.
She was so giddy climbing the stairs that she almost stumbled over her own feet. Dumb ass, she thought to herself and couldn't hold back her stupid smile. Grabbing a hold of the rail with her right hand she leapt up the stairs taking them two at a time. Either he hadn't heard her yet or was pretending to be asleep. She didn't know which one she preferred. As long as he's in bed, she answered herself silently.
Throwing open the door in an exaggerated motion, her face fell; it became incredibly difficult to breathe. Her brain couldn't register what her eyes told her to be true. Patrick was in bed alright, but he wasn't alone. Resting against his right side was a woman that Robin couldn't ever remember meeting. Her hair was the color of spun gold and her eyes…they were closed, but she was smiling. Obviously she had been happy when she had fallen asleep. The cream-colored sheet exposed her naked back and only her grip on the sheet kept Robin from seeing the rest of her attributes.
Robin tried to close her eyes tried to will the haunting images away. She was imagining all of this…surely. This wasn't really happening. She was trapped in some suspended reel of time and this wasn't Patrick. She was reliving the morning she had found Logan in this exact same position. All she had to do was open her eyes and she would see how foolish she was, see that her mind was playing tricks on her. How many times had Patrick sworn he shared only a last name with his brother, nothing more? How many different ways had he convinced her that he was a good and would never hurt her this way? Just open your eyes, you coward, an inner voice screamed at her. Prove to yourself what you already know: that you're just hallucinating and he's still the man who told you he loved you. Prove me wrong, the voice challenged.
Robin did open her eyes, but she didn't look directly at the bed. She, instead, focused on a sleeping Patrick. Taking her time to determine that he was asleep--as she had hoped he would be--that he was dressed in a pair of tight boxers--as she had fantasized about for as long as she could remember--and then finally that he was in bed with another woman. Clamping her teeth into her lip hard enough to block out the threatening cry, she started shaking her head. There had to be an explanation. Patrick wouldn't…he wouldn't do this to her. He knew what Logan had done. He would never repeat his brother's mistakes. He wouldn't hurt her this way. Then what's he doing in bed with this woman? The bitter voice wanted to know. Give me a real answer and I'll leave you to your blissful ignorance.
God, the oxygen she craved was choking her. She gasped, the sound startling the other woman. Hurrying backwards, she didn't have time to find her footing before tumbling over a small suitcase she hadn't noticed until just now. It must have belonged to this woman. Had Patrick called her over once he saw that Robin was asleep and wouldn't be waking up until the next morning? Now you stop it! There are a million and one reasons…there is at least one explanation…I knew…better. I knew better.
At her startled cry, Patrick flipped out of the bed and landed on his right shoulder. The sheets clung to his ankles and he had to kick them away if he expected to stand up and face whatever situation lay in wait for him. Reaching for the windowsill, he got to his feet and locked gazes with his trembling girlfriend. She had one hand pressed against the doorframe and the other gripping the side of his dresser her face paler than a ghost's. Moving toward her, he was aware of only two things: she was retreating and she wasn't the one who had snuggled up to him a few minutes ago.
He felt like he had been thrown into a dramatic scene from a soap opera full of clichés and forgotten to pick up his actual lines. His eyes shot from a seemingly sleeping Emily Quartermaine to a distraught and clearly panicked Robin Scorpio. He hoped his bottomless brown eyes were conveying to Robin just how confused he was. Knowing her though he bet she had already made up her mind that he was to blame…and really who could blame her what with his reputation and her own painful past?
All of the time they had spent together, the meals they had shared, the trust they had found, had it all been for nothing? If she didn't believe what he was about to tell her then it surely was. The work they had each put into this relationship would be obsolete after today. Tears started to collect at the corner of each of his eyes and he was too stunned to brush them away. What was he going to say? The truth was completely irrelevant because no one, not even Lucky, had bought it as anything but his whacked-out paranoia.
I should have known, Patrick mused silently. I should have been prepared. She promised vengeance. Why didn't I take her seriously? Why did I automatically assume it was only my life she was going to screw with? Was this the first trick she had pulled in their time apart or was there something else he didn't know? Had she found out about Robin and decided to ruin his first good relationship? It was incredibly likely.
"Emily what have you done?" He asked the lean blonde as she started to wake up. Her first response was to pull the sheet around her while still letting all parties know that she wore nothing underneath. This whole scene was making him sick, but he had to face one problem before he could even think of explaining all of this to Robin.
"What have I done or what would I like you to do?" Emily's brown eyes shining at her own little joke. Robin made a beeline for the living room but clamped onto her bare left arm.
"I have to go home." Robin told him unable to meet his eyes out of fear that she might start crying again. She had been able to hide her tears from him so far but it was only a matter of time.
"You have to listen." Patrick argued spinning her around.
"I'd rather not hear the details." Robin protested holding up a warning hand.
"The details about what? You can't honestly believe I slept with that woman." Patrick didn't even try to conceal the incredulity in his tone. She needed to know that the very thought was preposterous. He didn't want Emily, he wanted Robin.
"Right, because finding my boyfriend in bed with a complete stranger is a common occurrence in a healthy relationship!" Robin shot back trying desperately to free her arm.. She didn't want him touching her, not now, not ever again.
"I know this looks bad, but I swear to you I didn't sleep with her. We broke up almost a year ago and she won't leave me alone. She's trying to ruin my life. It makes perfect sense that she would show up here and try to break us up." Patrick insisted his hold only tightening. He knew how much she wanted to close her eyes and run away from all of this. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't lose her.
"Perfect sense? Perfect sense? I've underestimated you, Patrick. You really are the best liar I have ever met!" Robin retorted in an accusing voice. She thrashed against him as she tried to break free. Her resolve was shattering with every passing second and she didn't want him to see her that vulnerable.
"I'm not lying! Could you try trusting me for once?" He whispered harshly though it might as well have been a shout for the way it caused Robin to openly flinch. "I don't know what else to do!"
"You could respect me enough to tell me the truth." Robin shrieked as she felt her knees start to buckle. There was no way she could lean against him now; she'd rather fall on her face. "Was it something you planned on doing eventually or was it a whim? I don't suppose it matters one way or the other--" She prattled on noncommittally.
"I didn't sleep with her Robin!" Patrick countered angrily.
"You fooled me. Congratulations." Robin lifted her eyebrows in a mocking fashion; he immediately released her arm. Stumbling back, she was barely able to reach out and grab the back of the couch.
"Don't do that. Don't run! I'm right here and I'm not lying. I wouldn't do that to you." Patrick persisted spreading his hands out in front of him as he continued to reason with her.
"Because you have such a loyalty to all of the women you're sleeping with. Oh wait. That's right. We haven't slept together yet…at all. That's what…Emily is doing here.. She's doing you." Robin caught her bottom lip with her teeth and then released it making a tsking sound.
Shaking his head and willing those unpleasant images from his thoughts, he stared at her helplessly. "Just ask Lucky. He knows all about what Emily is capable of. She started stalking me months before you were even in the picture. She's only interested in getting back at me."
"She can have you." Robin assured him in a tight voice.
"I don't want to be with her." Patrick insisted. "It's you or it's no one."
"I bet she didn't even think twice when you called her over for a quickie." Robin's words were as sharp as a razor blade.
"I don't know how she got in, but all we have to do is check the windows and the locks. I'm right. You know I'm right."
"I know you're a coward. Why do you keep lying? Do you even know the difference?" Robin's voice rose slightly as she tried to make sense of the feelings coursing through her. Even the naïve voice she had depended on since entering into this chaotic relationship refused to side with Patrick. His words didn't make any sort of sense. He was grasping at straws. He wanted to have both of them. What he didn't seem to realize was that he didn't have to choose. She had already made the decision for him. She was out of here!
"Can't you give me the benefit of the doubt? Just this one time? All I'm asking is for you to hear me out." Patrick snapped impatiently..
"I'm the one who asked too much." Robin countered folding her arms across her chest. "I asked you to be honest with me. I didn't ask for monogamy--that was you remember? You made me believe you! You made me trust you! Why? If you were just going to turn to someone else, how were you able to justify doing this to me?" She shrieked her legs buckling beneath her. "No." She shook her head when Patrick rushed to her side. "You don't get to touch me. Get away from me!"
"Am I to be blamed for my past for the rest of my life? Because that's all this is. You don't want to think you could be wrong because how often does that happen? You'd rather believe the worst in me than try trusting that I might be telling the truth." Patrick reprimanded bitterly as tears slid shamelessly down his cheeks.
"I hate you." Robin told him knowing her words were all he had left her with. "I hate you so much." She insisted watching him wince each time she said the words.
"Tell me how to fix this. Please? There has to be something I can do." Patrick begged reaching for her shoulders and shaking her. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she looked so exceptionally small as she cowered under his hands.
"You can go to hell." Robin replied after almost two minutes of absolute silence. "That's what you can do for me. You and your Goddamn brother." With that she got to her feet and pushed away from him running for all she was worth.