Waving her finger in warning under Lindsay's and Ronnie's faces, Georgie chewed her lower lip nervously. "Remember not a word about Steven. Nothing."

Offering up a mock salute Lindsay smiled a lop-sided grin. "We've never met him. He's a ghost. Vapor. Nothing."

"Certainly we've never ever been witnesses at his wedding. Or help his bride get ready." Ronnie chimed in.

"Covered her ass with the dorm monitor." Lindsay ticked off on her finger.

"You guys." Georgie pleaded with them.

"Hold on. We've never had to call them to tell him his wife's family has been leaving mass messages for her here and maybe she should call him." Ronnie continued.

"Guys, come on. This is important." Georgie whined, barely resisting the urge to stomp her foot like a five-year-old. Robin was due to show up any minute now and she was gong to have to lie through her teeth for the first time in her life. This was going to take planning and if her best friends weren't going to cooperate then everything was going to go horribly wrong.

She clutched at her rings, securely clasped around her neck on a thin gold chain. Robin would spot them on her hand in a second, even if she twisted her engagement ring upside down. If Robin found out, it was a matter of days before her dad would. And then she would have the worst possible case scenario. Her dad, fully aware of her marriage and Steven, all alone in a strange town with no one to run interference between him and her father. Or her father's gun.

She hadn't even talked with him since he landed in Port Charles. A quick text message to let her know he was fine. She had been in class when he left her the voice mail about staying at his grandmother's house instead of the Metro Court, as was the original plan. Georgie had to admit she liked that much better. It would be easier to get to Audrey Hardy's house once she got home than sneak in and out of the Metro Court. It was taking all her strength right now to not grab for her cell phone and listen to his voice just once more before Robin knocked on her door. Then maybe she could do this.

"Relax Georgie." Ronnie laughed, walking over to hug her friend. "We aren't going to drop the bomb unless you tell us it's alright. Your secret life is safe with us."

"Hey, who are the two that constantly tell you to have more excitement in your life?" Lindsay joked as she leaned back on her slightly unkempt bed. "Like I'm going to do something to return you to your formerly boring existence."

"Thanks so much for your concern Linds." Georgie responded over Ronnie's back, sticking her tongue out.

"That's me. I'm a giver." Lindsay shrugged her shoulders.

The knock on their shared door cause Ronnie and Georgie to jump, while Lindsay rolled her eyes. "This is it." Georgie declared nervously as she made her way to the door. "Wish me luck."

"Luck." Lindsay and Ronnie called out softly as she opened the door.

"I told you. We're seeing him tomorrow." Robin assured him. Her father had called her before she boarded the plane out of Port Charles to tell her that Georgie had invited them out for dinner to make up for his absence. She knew it was only partially true because Georgie had invited her long before her father cancelled on her, but she had humored him and asked when they would be meeting up with them. He had told her that there would be a man at the airport waiting for her, Arturo Magnamara, who would take her to Georgie's first and then to his apartment. She hoped the part about him meeting them there in the morning was true. She couldn't remember the last extended visit they had had.

The door swung open and Robin looked up quickly to meet Georgie's tight expression. It couldn't be called a real smile, because that would require her eyes, her cheeks, and her teeth. The expression her cousin was giving her was barely more than a grimace. "Did you swallow something bad?"

"No. Lindsay just told a terrible joke." Georgie forced herself to relax and try to smile at her cousin. No matter how hard it was going to be to lie to her all night, it was good to see her again and under better circumstances than her trip home. Opening up her arms for her cousin, she tried to keep a light tone in her voice. "It really is so good to see you."

"You too." Robin nodded. "Morgan's a little wiped out." She gestured toward her son to explain his silence. He was halfway behind her once he realized Georgie wasn't alone.

"Hey Morgan." Georgie knelt down to meet his eyes. "I know my friends look crazy, but they are pretty nice."

"Well we do have all the best toys." Lindsay offered. "Anytime you want to play X Box Morgan, you are welcome here. You have to be a better player than Georgie."

"What? Like that's hard?" Robin inquired glibly as Morgan launched himself into Georgie's arms.

"Not really." Georgie admitted.

"I was only teasing you sweetie." Robin assured her. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah why not?" Georgie let Morgan go, smoothing her skirt over her thighs as she stood up. Pausing as she straightened her spine, she tilted her head to the left. Was Robin....Georgie shook her head and looked again. She had to be imagining things. No way would Robin just show up in Paris pregnant without telling her first. But as she looked again, there it was. Small but still a tell tale bulge. "Oh my God." She gasped, holding her hands over her mouth. "Robin."

"What?" It hurt Robin to have to feign confusion. There was no worry about how Morgan would react because she had managed to tell him on the plane ride. He had been quiet for a very long time and then said, "Is that why we have the spare room?"

"You're…you're…" Georgie faltered.

"She's what?" Morgan wanted to know.

Robin shuffled from one foot to the other. "I guess the secret's out."

"What secret?" Morgan prodded impatiently.

"You haven't told him?" Georgie asked.

"Oh like she's one to talk." Lindsay muttered loud enough for only Ronnie to hear.

"Of course I've told him." Robin ran her fingers through Morgan's hair. "He was one of the first ones to know. On that note, my parents don't know and neither do the Spencers."

"That explains why I didn't hear about Dad having a heart attack." Georgie reasoned. Suddenly another bit of news flashed through her brain. "Wait. Is this why Patrick proposed?"

"Yes and no. Let's go to dinner." Robin insisted in an almost desperate tone. She didn't want to go into the other reason, not in front of her son. He hadn't been plagued with anymore nightmares and she didn't want that to change. Logan might always be the Boogie Man, but he was learning to not believe in such horror stories anymore. She wished she could be so lucky.

"I'm going to be a big brother." Morgan said.

"I can see that." Georgie assured him. "I'm just a little surprised is all."

"Why? Robin's fat." Morgan stated matter-of-factly.

"The baby's due in September. That's why I'm fat." Robin defended herself.

"I just haven't seen her in a bit buddy. Lots of things can change in a few months." Georgie explained sweetly.

"Like what?" Morgan prodded. "What's changed?"

Lindsay and Ronnie barely disguised their laughing as a coughing fit. Seeing the three Scorpio-Jones turn their heads, Ronnie waved her hand. "Dust. Lots of dust."

"Maybe we should just go to dinner." Georgie offered, giving her roommates her best warning look.

"That is the best idea you've had all night." Robin agreed with a sigh.

"Can I get a toy?" Morgan inquired looking from one family member to the next.

"We'll see." Robin told him.

"That can be arranged." Georgie promised.

"Have fun!" Lindsay called out cheerfully. "Ronnie and I will just sit and wait for the phone to ring."

"Don't worry Georgie. We'll be sure to take down any messages about your study session." Ronnie teased, unable to resist the urge, even with the wild look in Georgie's eyes.

"Thanks. I appreciate that." Georgie forced past her lips. If she got out of here without Robin thinking she or they had a screw loose, it would be a miracle. "Now I think we have some celebrating to do."

*****

At what point did Mac Scorpio start being the one in the dark about everything going on around him? It was the question he had asked himself since Georgie told him she would be going to Paris on a scholarship for a semester and never seemed to end. Robin had left him a voicemail about her own plans to visit Robert and Georgie in Paris a few hours before she boarded the plane. Kristina kept insisting that her father's death wasn't accidental which concerned him, but not enough to clue her mother in about it. Maxie had taken on extra shifts at the diner, so she was never home. He missed their late-night talks over hot cocoa. Alexis had called him last night to tell him that she was checking herself out in the morning and would he please come and pick her up? He had argued the point until he was blue in the face, but the fact of the matter was that none of the treatments were working. Chemo left her in such a funk that she would go to sleep crying and wake up disoriented. It hadn't helped his case that she was in tears when she told him her plan to leave the hospital and come home.

Kristina couldn't be more ecstatic about her mother's return and had talked the adults in her company into letting her skip school today so that she could spend some real time with Alexis. They were upstairs now and Mac had no idea what they were doing. It was customary for Kristina had catch a quick nap after school, squander thirty minutes to catch up on her cartoons, and then play on the swing set in the backyard. She had hinted about a puppy, but that was one front Mac and Alexis were in agreement about. Until things settled down, a dog was out of the question.

When he tried to ask Maxie what was going on, when she had suddenly developed a love for morning and evening shifts, she would distract him with her concerns about Alexis and he would spend the rest of the day wondering how he could help his fiancé. She absolutely refused to talk to Dr. Bernstein so all of his calls came directly to Mac's cell phone. It wasn't easy convincing a medical professional that his sick patient knew what was best for her, to hell with modern medicine, but he had managed it for the time being. What Mac didn't want to admit was how terrified he was for Alexis' life. She could, without warning, collapse again and, if she refused to go to the hospital—hell, it wasn't even making a difference and everyone all knew it. Everyone that is, except Kristina. She was certain her mommy had gone to the doctor, gotten some medicine, and come home good as new.

He couldn't take it any longer! He had to know what they were doing upstairs, what they were doing without him! This was his home too and he couldn't have felt more than an intruder, especially once he made it up the stairs and peeked into his and Alexis' room where Kristina lay sleeping. The monstrous green and blue comforter seemed to swallow her up and he couldn't help but notice how tiny and innocent she was. Alexis was typing furiously at her computer, her reading glasses, much to her frustration, sliding down her nose.

"Cat got your tongue?" Alexis teased without glancing in his direction.

"Is there a reason you're working when you're supposed to be recuperating?" Mac asked sharply, his voice moderately low to keep from disturbing Kristina.

"I never said I was coming home on the condition of recuperating." Alexis countered defiantly, the pressure she kept on the keys intensifying.

"Silly me for believing you're actually worried about your health." Mac grumbled unhappily.

Alexis turned her chair to face him. "Something on your mind Malcolm?"

"Alexis, you're sick." Mac reiterated for the thousandth time.

"Thank you for telling me. I almost forgot." Alexis replied bitingly. "The hospital recommended a wheelchair since I'll be an invalid before long and completely unable to take care of myself."

"Is this your attempt at a joke? Because you suck at it." Mac told himself not to take the bait. She wanted to fight and he just wanted answers. How could she come home and not take a little time to relax?

"I've been stuck in a hospital bed for weeks." She pointed out.

"So you thought being stuck in front of a computer screen would be a nice change?"

"I was going to take a brisk walk, but Kristina fell asleep…"

"Why are you doing this?" Mac challenged angrily.

"What am I doing?" Alexis retorted with a wild wave of her hands.

"You don't have to prove to us how healthy you are. We know it's bullshit." Mac watched his words cause Alexis to flinch. He so seldom swore that it caught her unawares.

"So I should what? Fall back in bed and let you bring me every meal? Not a chance. I'd rather put a gun to my head than be that...useless." Alexis hadn't realized her hands were shaking until Mac settled his on top of them.

"Why is it a crime to let me take care of you?" Mac wanted to know, pulling her to her feet and keeping a good hold on her hands.

"I've been on my own my entire life." Alexis reminded him.

"You're not alone now." Mac insisted drawing her closer.

"But I am..." Alexis tugged her hands free and walked over to the bed. Bending down, she kissed Kristina's cheek. "This is my condition. You can't fight it for me. You don't get to decide whether or not I stay in the hospital or come home. You can't make this decision for me."

"And you can't make it without me." Mac argued.

"I've been thinking..." Alexis moved away from the bed.

"That's Alexis speak for we have to talk." Mac shook his head.

Ignoring him, she continued, "Maybe Kristina and I moved in prematurely—"

For several seconds, Mac couldn't speak. "What?"

"Getting engaged and moving in together...maybe we were being naïve..."

"Stop it Alexis." Mac cut her off. "Stop this nonsense."

"It's not nonsense."

"It is. You can't have second thoughts now, not after everything we've been through together." Mac closed the space between them and lifted her chin with his thumb. "I want to marry you and you want to marry me."

"Oh Mac—I can't." Alexis shoved him backwards and he let her go, feeling as if the planet was off axis.

"What do you mean you can't?" Mac didn't let her answer before he said, "We love each other."

"Yes. I do love you."

"Then what's the matter?"

"We have to be realistic."

"Your idea of what's real is different from mine."

"There's nothing I want more than to be your wife." Alexis told him.

"Then why are you creating drama out of thin air?"

"I'm not. What if I don't get better?"

"We're not going through this again." Mac waved her off.

"Maybe we need to. Nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed. You're home now. You're with your family." Mac grabbed her wrists gently and placed kisses on her knuckles.

"I want so much to have your unwavering optimism of our future together."

"But you can't see it happening." Mac finished for her.

"No, I can't."

Previews:

"Hi Liz. What's up?" He couldn't find enthusiasm. She was not the one he was missing. Still, her voice was a nice change to the deafening silence that surrounded him.

"It's a rare moment when I have both the twins asleep." She admitted, secretly glad he hadn't ignored the call as she had feared. Everyone had told her about the unwritten rule of not calling Patrick on Sunday and she had been worried about breaking it. "I wanted to ask you something."