IBWhat is this? What is this? So remember when Kristin said there maybe some special updates...yeah that's called Beth gets to call the update shots...and since I have to update everywhere tonight...I declare it EARLY UPDATE NIGHT! Oh yes...yes I do. I know! It's crazy...but that's how much I love you guys! So leave lots and lots of feedback so Kristin feels bad about abandoning me at this crucial story junction will ya? Never let it be said I don't play dirty...I totally do. Kisses! Beth/B/I

BOne Foot In Fron of the Other/B

Robin glanced nervously at her cell phone, turning it over and over in her palms as she tried to pretend she was somewhere else. She had been avoiding just about everybody to keep them from finding out about this. Elizabeth's suggestion had come two weeks late, but how was her friend to know that? It wasn't often Robin found herself turning to a therapist.

"So Robin." Gail Baldwin kept her voice soft and non-threatening. She smiled softly at her new patient as she rested her pen against the legal pad perched on her knee. Her grandmotherly features radiated calmness, serenity, and wisdom. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"I own a bakery on the far east side of town. I recently gained custody of a friend of mine's sons, one of which I sent to live with his biological father. There's not a lot to me." Robin answered timidly, still focusing on her cell phone.

Gail nodded. It was par for the course, in her experience, for a new patient to dodge the first question. She mentally shrugged off Robin's protestations of there was nothing much to her. The young woman came to see her for a reason and it was her job to find out what that reason was. "So you're a mother. How old is your boy?"

"He'll be seven in March. March twentieth." Robin replied proudly.

"And he's doing well in school?"

"Absolutely! He has a lot of friends. I was worried at first, because I had to switch him out of his other school. I simply couldn't afford it. He's adjusting nicely though." Robin replied convincingly.

"That's wonderful. What's his name?"

"Morgan. His father named him after a business partner. They both had to go away." Robin didn't think it relevant to explain where they had gone away to.

Gail nodded, her face not showing her recognition of the name Morgan. The fact Robin was raising the son of Sonny Corinthos confirmed her belief that there was a lot more to her patient than she was letting on. "Sounds like you were thrust into this rather unexpectedly. I hope you have support."

"The bakery is doing well and I have a side business with my boyfriend's aunt." Robin clarified. Sonny had given her money for Morgan, money that she refused to touch. It was for his college. She had been tempted when his school told her how much they charged per semester, but decided college was much more important than prep school.

"Well that is wonderful your businesses are doing well, but I was talking about emotional support. You said you have a boyfriend? How was he about this instant family?"

Robin squinted her eyes in confusion. "I don't really see how that's important."

It seemed she struck a nerve with her patient. Gail gently pressed forward. "In my experience, motherhood is a stressful situation in the best of circumstances. It sounds to me that you were thrown into this quickly, and it would only be natural if you were feeling stressed." Gail looked into Robin's eyes. "Feel free to correct me if I am wrong."

"It was a little stressful in the beginning, but we've made it so far. As far as my boyfriend goes, he came in after." Robin answered, not wanting to get into details if she didn't have to.

The tension was fairly radiating from Robin. Whatever the reason she had sought help, Gail was willing to bet this boyfriend was a part of the reason. "He must be an extraordinary person to help you adjust to such a new situation. Not many men would."

"Well, it's not like my son is a stranger to him. They're actually cousins on the Spencer side. I admit it's a little confusing." Robin wished she wouldn't continue to press on about Patrick. Gail Baldwin was nice and all, but her interrogation was starting to make Robin very uncomfortable.

"That certainly does help." In other towns, the interconnected family tree would immediately intrigue a therapist. Here, in Port Charles, it was just another fact of life. Gail noticed Robin's shifting in her seat. "Are you uncomfortable about something?"

"No. I'm alright." Robin lied through her teeth.

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm fine, I'm fine." Robin repeated, clearly flustered. "I'm sorry. Scorpio temper. It sneaks up on me sometimes." She smiled bashfully.

"Quite alright." Gail made a brief note on her pad. "At any rate I'm glad your boyfriend is supportive. And the rest of your family? Are they in town?"

"My uncle. He lives a few streets over from my loft."

"And are you close?"

"Closer than close. He was the one who convinced me I could be a good mother to Morgan. Without him, I think I'd still be clinging to a lifesaver."

"Good for him." Gail noted the obviously positive familial relationship. Depending on how far Robin went in therapy, his help may prove useful. "Now why don't you give me some idea what I can help you with."

"There was an occurrence recently and I'm trying to get over it, but it's starting to affect my personal life. I'm here to talk it out with you so I can get past it." Robin explained matter-of-factly.

"Affect your personal life in what way?"

"My ex-husband tried to rape me." Robin said quickly.

"I see." Gail nodded in sympathetic understanding. "That must have been traumatic for you."

"Yes. It has been." Robin answered rather remotely, not picking up on the past tense signal. "And I'd just like to get over it so I can move on."

Gail made a note on her pad. Robin wasn't going to just get past this and from what she could see the young woman had barely begun to acknowledge her pain. This was not going to be something she would just get over. However, she had enough experience to not say these thoughts aloud. Robin would run right out the door. "Then why don't we discuss how best to do this?"

Lucas scribbled a bit of obligatory information into his notebook, half listening to his new prospective client, Eleanor Blanc. She suspected her daughter was planning to take her fortune. It was a lot of ridiculousness, but Lucas didn't really get to pick and choose when it came to this business. Bills needed to be paid; he needed to do his part to provide a somewhat stable living situation for his and Dillon's son. Ever since their dinner with his mother and Cruz, he had done the exact opposite of what his mother had suggested: he hadn't been brave enough to strike up a conversation with Dillon, not even if only to clarify what that kiss at the airport had been about.

He was a coward. He didn't want to hear the words that he suspected Dillon would be telling him soon enough: that Georgie was his heart and he was leaving Lucas. Maybe it was naïve, but he had actually believed they would share the next hundred years together when he had made his vows. He wondered if his husband remembered anything he had said at their ceremony. No matter that the Quartermaines had threatened his fortune and place in their family when he had told them that he was marrying Lucas. It all seemed a lifetime ago. What if there really wasn't anything left to fight for?

"So Mr. Jones, how long do you think it will take you to prove my Candice is planning on stealing my money?" Eleanor asked, leaning back into the chair, folding her arms across her chest.

"I don't have a time table for you, Mrs. Blanc. I like to be certain before I start digging into people's lives." Lucas explained. Why was it so damn hard to focus? Why couldn't he just keep his mind in his work? He forced himself to meet her eyes. She was done up like a middle-aged prostitute with her crimped brown hair, bright red lipstick, and dark blue eye shadow.

"Well I was told you were the best to come to, but if you are clearly not up to the task, I will take my business elsewhere." She started to lift herself out of the chair, pausing to struggle with untangling her purse from the leg of the vacant chair beside her.

"Nonsense. I didn't say I wouldn't take the job." Lucas quickly reassured her. "I think I have enough here, but will you leave a phone number with my secretary in case I need to collect some additional information from you?" His eyebrows lifted in question.

"You're just too good to be true..."

Lucas blinked several times, thinking the words had come from his client. He had thought he had made it clear that he preferred the other white meat. "I beg your pardon?"

"Can't take my eyes off of you…"

"Are you a ventriloquist?" Lucas asked her, though she looked put off at the mere implication. "Never mind." He let her leave, thinking maybe he was just losing his mind.

"What is going on outside?" Eleanor made a move to peer through the slats of his closed mini-blinds. Turning back around, she blinked several times. "Why is there a young man with questionable hair singing through a megaphone?"

"You'd be like heaven to touch."

Lucas spun around so fast it was amazing he didn't suffer whiplash. There was his husband, decked out in a utilitarian-white outfit, posing as a window washer. He had a yellow sponge in one hand and a microphone in the other. The microphone looked a lot like the one from Lance's karaoke machine, but Lucas was still blown away.

"I want to hold you so much." Seeing Lucas finally appear in the window, Dillon offered up a cheerful wave. Well it was about time his grumpier half showed his face. Was he going to have to get to the second verse before he decided to see what was going on? Was being serenaded like this a common occurrence? Actually if that was true, Lucas had better be the one serenading him. "At long last love has arrived."

"What are you doing out there?" Lucas called to him, throwing his office window open. "You know you're terrified of heights." He pointed out, trying to keep from smiling. His husband put a new spin on the word extravagant, and he loved him for it.

Dillon rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to be romantic here. Now hush." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He had actually forgotten how high up Lucas's office was until he mentioned the heights thing. Damn his husband. "And I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't keep my eyes off of you." Lucky wasn't going to sign him to L&B any time soon, that was for sure, but this would work. At least Dillon thought it would work. It had in the movie.

"You've made your point. Now will you get down from there?" Lucas pestered, trying to grab a hold of the side of the boatswain's chair.

"No. You haven't seen the big dance finish." Dillon began to sway wildly from his rigging, kicking his legs in time with the music only he could hear. "I love you baby...and if it's quite alright I need you baby..."

Lucas clapped his hands along with his husband's far from melodic voice, unable to keep his emotions in check. There really was no deterring him when he got a thought in his head.

"To end my lonely nights, so let me love you baby...let me love you..." Dillon flung his hands open and paused for breath. "Are we talking again or do I have to do a second verse?"

"I don't know how much talking we'll need to do after this, but we're definitely over that fighting thing." Lucas told him.

"Oh thank God." Dillon ran his hand through his hair. "I hate the silent treatment you know that."

"My hero." Lucas grinned like a damned fool. He didn't care who saw. His previous worry about Georgie and the memories she had tried to tie around Dillon had gone away the instant he recognized his husband's voice.

"So does that mean you are admitting you were crazy and I should have had you committed?" Dillon laughed. He knew he was probably pushing it, but how often did you risk death for a man? You had to see the moment out.

"It means that I was wrong to pick a fight with you and I should try trusting you." Lucas explained with a slight nod.

"Note to self. The only way to get my husband to admit he was wrong is to risk falling to my screaming death while singing him a song. Please keep this in mind."

"Will you get down from there before you break your neck?"

"Only if you say you love me."

Lucas pretended to consider this. "I guess...I kind of...feel something...I love you." He muttered good-naturedly.