Robin gestured for Elizabeth to join her on the couch. "I think this may be the first time we've had a moment since before I went to the hospital."
"I hate to admit this but I think you are right." Elizabeth agreed as she sat down.
"They're getting so big," Robin nodded toward the crib where the twins lay watching them through the wooden bars.
"I know. I swear they grow a foot each day."
"How do you keep up with three of them? I mean, Cameron can walk and run and everything."
"Thankfully the twins are pretty immobile. And Lucky helps out tons. I couldn't do it without him." Elizabeth smiled. "Not that I tell him that or anything."
"Of course not. The second a man realizes how valuable he can be..." Robin let the rationalization hang in the air. "Can you believe Nathan is almost a month old?"
"No. I still don't believe Cameron is in kindergarten."
"Morgan's going to be eight this year." Robin said in awe.
"We are far too young to have children, much less ones that are in school and everything." Elizabeth declared.
"I agree," Robin nodded. "And soon they'll be in middle school. And then high school." She blotted at her eyes with a handkerchief. "Stupid leftover hormones."
"It's ok. I remember them well." Elizabeth assured Robin with a squeeze of her hand. "Have you given any more thought to the thorny problem of Morgan as a teenager?"
"Well considering we're on the top floor, that's not exactly a problem right now, but the second we move into a house...not that we're in any hurry to do that."
"Well it's not like you could move an entire family into a house in one day or anything. You need at least two. One to find a house and one to do the moving." Elizabeth nodded sagely. "But for argument's sake, let's say you've moved out of the football field and into the Mansion."
"I'll start growing cacti the moment we move in and get Patrick interested in spy equipment so we can keep an eye on our boys."
"Oh sneaky and likely to work since we both know Patrick loves toys. I'm still leaning toward nailing the window shut and installing alarms. You know, like in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun?"
"I never did see that movie." Robin answered.
"Sadness. You missed out on great cinema. I'll make sure to rectify that situation." Elizabeth promised.
"What do you suppose they'll grow up into? Doctors? Lawyers? Actors?"
"Well Jake is a little ham so I think acting works for him." Elizabeth nodded to her son who was currently trying to figure out how to stuff both of his hands into his mouth.
"And Grace?"
"I think she's going to be full of surprises. She'll probably be the race car driver."
"Uncle Patrick would love to see that."
"I think it's probably his master plan."
"That would explain all the time he spends with her."
"Well that and she totally has him wrapped around her little finger. Just like she has her dad."
"Do you ever catch Lucky singing to her anymore?"
"No." Elizabeth pouted. "Think we can interest Patrick in spy equipment faster if we throw in a chance to get another tape of Lucky as a bargain?"
"I think you may have an offer that even my husband can't refuse."
"We'll have to keep that in mind." Elizabeth giggled. "What about you? Any plans for Nathan yet?"
"Well Patrick's spending five or six days a week at the track and since I'll be going back to work I'm going to have to take him with me. The thing is he hates crowds. He can only stand two or three people at a time. Morgan is the only one who can make him laugh. I've been thinking of asking him to join me there after school."
"I'm sure Morgan would love that. So I guess any future that involves large crowds is out then?"
"He won't be my little performer that's for sure. Maybe an artist or something."
"So I guess I better start buying art supplies for him then."
"Let's start with finger-painting and go from there."
"Of course. What about Morgan?"
"Now that I don't know. He's always my little helper. I think he'll want to do something for other people. Maybe he'll use the time he spent mute when he first came to live with me and teach deaf students. I don't really know."
"I can see that for him. Or a social worker."
"Yes. I think he would be very good at that."
"There is only thing I'm positive with about Cameron. He'll end up dating Kristina."
"But she's a girl." Robin taunted, repeating Cameron's previous arguments.
"I know. And despite that he can't stop hanging out with her. It's true love."
"I could see him with an older woman."
"Besides, can you see Luke's face when his grandson starts dating a Cassadine?"
"I'll drink to that." Robin poured the remainder of the iced tea into each of their glasses.
Elizabeth held up her glass for a toast. "Here's to totally not mapping out our children's lives."
"Here's to letting them be whoever and whatever they want to be." Robin added, lifting her glass.
"Amen to that. May we never ever be compared to my parents." Elizabeth clinked her glass to Robin's.
*****
Alexis knocked lightly on Georgie's door. "Can we talk a minute?"
"Sure." Georgie stepped back and allowed Alexis to step across the entryway. Audrey had left a few minutes ago to go grocery shopping. She had planned to help, but her nausea this morning convinced Georgie it wasn't a good idea.
"I didn't think you'd stay here after Steven left."
"I thought about coming back to Dad's, but Audrey insisted I stay. And Steven feels better if there is someone close to her at all times in case she has an emergency."
"That's not what I meant."
"Oh it wasn't?" Georgie shook her head. "Sit down Alexis. It's been awhile since I saw you."
Alexis chose to stand. "I know how hard it is when you love someone but things keep getting in the way."
"Yeah but we're trying. And we'll be stronger in the end right?" Georgie smiled hopefully.
"Not always."
"Alexis. You suck at pep talks."
"Sometimes we let life take us over and steal from us what we thought we would never lose. Is that what you're doing?"
"Dad sent you over to get me to talk to Steven about the exchange program didn't he?"
"Your dad did nothing of the sort. He's spent every waking moment working on the hit-and-run. It's all I can do to get a word in edgewise."
Georgie sighed and began to pace the room. " I know I need to talk to him. I do. And I've learned the longer you put something off the harder it will be to tell someone something big like this. But I know Steven, Alexis. He'd quit and come home. And nothing I would say could change his mind."
"What if I could get you there?"
"Get me there?" Georgie stopped and put her hand out on the couch to steady herself when she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She must have gotten up too quickly. "What are you talking about?"
"I have enough money saved. I could get you there and you could tell him the truth. Then you can both stay there until his project is over. It's a win-win."
"But school..."
"I know how hard you've worked," Alexis nodded. "And it's terrible to ask you to give that up. I won't ask you to. I'm just worried that you and Steven have spent far too much time apart and eventually you'll have more reasons to stay apart than to stay together."
"I'm not going to lose Steven. I'm not going to let that happen."
"You look pale. Sit down." Alexis ordered.
"I'm not feeling all that well. I think it's that bug that's going around." Georgie explained weakly as she followed Alexis's orders.
"There is no bug going around. I would have known; my doctors would have made sure I know. My immune system is shot to hell." Alexis countered.
"Then I ate something wrong. You know how risky that Chinese restaurant on Fifth Street can be."
"Do you suppose...?"
"Suppose what?" Georgie didn't like the look that was on Alexis's face.
"Could you be pregnant?"
"Preg...pregnant?" Georgie sputtered the words out and nearly leapt off the couch. "I couldn't...I mean...that's...it couldn't be that."
"Unless you've been a nun it's very possible."
"But Steven's in Australia." Georgie insisted.
"Did you, um, before he left?" Alexis had never felt an ounce of modesty before but this was her stepdaughter and that meant a whole different ballgame.
Georgie felt herself blush bright red. "Alexis I don't think we should be talking about that."
"If you don't know how babies are made then maybe we should."
"I know how babies are made. I just…I just..." Now that Alexis had presented the idea, the possibility wouldn't leave her mind. Could it really be true? Could it possibly have happened? Sitting down in shock, Georgie almost whispered, "I didn't think it would be this soon."
"You don't know anything for certain. How about you make an appointment before you jump to conclusions, hmm?"
"Would you come with me?"
"I had every intention." Alexis promised, sitting beside Georgie and hugging her tightly. "Don't worry," she whispered, "No matter what happens..."
"You'll help me pull Dad off the ceiling when he finds out the reason for the appointment?"
"Only if there's a reason to tell him."
*****
It was an odd experience to be actually shopping for food, David mused. He rarely cooked before Samantha came into his life and her domestic skills rivaled his own. He was notorious for buying food and forgetting it was in the kitchen until it developed an odor. Take out was easier, and in many cases safer.
It still didn't hurt to have a few essentials on hand. The crazy weather in Port Charles could mean anything from freak blizzards to floods. A few staples to bridge the gap until the Chinese restaurant was able to deliver was just plain smart. And since Samantha was spending some time with Kristina, he was stuck with the shopping.
It was good for Samantha to get to know her little sister. Between Kristina and Alexis, Sam had been the least able to rationalize reasons for Kristina to be disappointed with her or hate her. Spending one-on-one time with her would go along way in easing Sam's continuing jitters about her role in her newfound family.
Stopping by the dessert aisle, David scanned his memory to see if at any time something had been said about Kristina's favorite treats. Surely at some point the Commissioner or the D.A. had said something in passing. And it wouldn't hurt to have a few things on hand in case Kristina wanted to spend time at their place. Besides, David thought with a wicked grin as his hand reached out for a box, it was always a good idea to have some cake mix on hand.
A giggling little girl with dark hair and blue eyes ran into his leg. Looking down, David estimated her age was probably about four or five years old. She was a tiny little thing, dressed in jeans and a purple and green striped shirt. Scanning the aisle, he looked for a frantic parent or a bored sibling. Realizing they were the only two in the aisle, David knelt down to her height. "Hi. My name is David. What's your name?"
Shaking her head, she smiled at him. "You're a stranger."
Biting back his own smile, he had to give her points. "Very good. I am a stranger. Did your mommy teach you that?"
Nodding her head, she popped her middle two fingers into her mouth.
"Is she here? I want to tell her what a good job you did with a stranger."
A frazzled woman with wild brown curls came whizzing past the aisle, stopping only when she noticed her daughter's chocolate pigtails. "Deliah! I'm sorry," she told David. "I turned around for a second..."
"Carole?" David blinked in shock. He hadn't seen her in four years, right before she left town for a new job. They had a brief relationship and parted on good terms. "Carole?"
"Yes?" she finally looked up after checking to make sure her daughter hadn't picked up any new cuts or bruises.
"Carole, it's me David. David Harper." He shook his head laughing. "I didn't think it had been that long since we last saw each other."
She laughed too. "Motherhood strips you of your memory or so my husband tells me."
"Motherhood? So this is your little girl?"
"You don't think we look alike?" she asked jokingly. It was true. Delilah's most striking features hadn't been inherited from her mother.
"Well certainly she has your charm."
"Did you meet my good friend David?" Carole prompted, peeling her daughter's sticky fingers away from her purse strap.
"Hi." Deliah offered with a wave.
"Hello Deliah. That's a pretty name." He looked up at Carole. "From her father's side?"
"I got it out of a baby book." Carole explained hastily.
"How old are you Deliah?"
"Four."
Four? Carole must have had her when she moved out of town. "Did you just move back in town?"
"Ben was transferred here for his job and we followed him. Didn't we honey?" Carole pulled her daughter's hair out from the back of her shirt in a motion so familiar she barely recognized she had done it.
Deliah nodded and pulled on her mother's arm. "Mommy? I'm hungry."
Carole took a tiny plastic bag of Goldfish crackers and handed them to her daughter. "We should go."
"Yeah. Sure. It was good seeing you again Carole. Nice to meet you Deliah."
"It was very nice to meet you David." Deliah giggled at her attempt to be polite and followed after her mother who thought it best to leave her groceries in the basket and hightail it out of the store.
Watching the pair scurry out of the store, David couldn't help but wonder about how strange life could be sometimes. He hadn't thought of Carole in four years, but he had never pictured her married with a child. And that little girl was a looker too. When she was a teenager in ten years, her parents were going to have problems on their hands. With those blue eyes and dark hair...
His hands lost their grip on the package of Oreos that he had absentmindedly picked up at some point. Rapidly he began to do the math in his head. The blue eyes. The dark hair. The age. Carole's haste in getting away from him. She wouldn't. She couldn't have. It wasn't possible. It was a strange coincidence and nothing more. Surely she would have let him know if... David shook his head to rid himself of the thought. "Get yourself together. You're crazy. You're wrong. There is an explanation for all this and it's not what you think it is. Stop thinking it."
Long ago, he had taught himself there was no such thing as coincidence. It was the motto he staked his entire investigative career on. No matter how severely he told himself it was nothing, his instincts and reason told him it wasn't. There was a very real chance he had just met his own daughter.