Chapter 174

Let the storm pass on through
And work your way back up to the clearer view

Coming through the door, Eric was surprised to see Josh and Kristina sitting on the couch and Alexis sitting on the table sorting through the first aid kit. Both children turned to the door as they heard him come in and he was unable to mask his surprise at seeing Kristina with a cut, swollen lip and Josh with a black eye.

"Did world war three break out?" he asked as he shrugged off his jacket.

Looking at him overtop her glasses, Alexis shook her head. "No. Apparently we have two little pugilists on our hands that got into a dust up at school."

"With each other?" He was having difficulty imagining the two of them fighting each other; they had been practically inseparable since Josh's arrival.

"Kristina or Josh, would either of you like to tell Eric what happened?"

"We didn't start it" Josh replied quickly, not quite able to meet either adult's eyes.

"It was their fault" Kristina added.

Taking a seat on the table next to Alexis he looked from one child to the other. "What happened?"

The two of them looked at each other, then across the table and back again before Kristina finally spoke up.

"There was a boy – Stephen – and he was picking on Josh – callin' him a freak and a weirdo. I told him to shut up. So then he hit Josh's sh-sh-" she paused over the word.

"His shunt?" Alexis offered.

The young girl nodded. "His shunt. So I punched him. And he punched me back."

"And then what happened?"

Josh looked up, nervously chewing on his lip. "I punched him in the nose. You aren't supposed to hit girls."

"You aren't supposed to hit anyone" Eric reminded him gently.

He dropped his gaze to his lap. "I know. Then Stephen hit me in the face and the teacher broke it up. We all got detention tomorrow."

Alexis gave her boyfriend a knowing look. "I told them it was a good thing that they stuck up for each other but things are better resolved without punching than with punching."

Eric winked at her. "Alexis is right."

"I've kind of patched them up" she said, "put you may want to take a look at Josh's shunt. I'll take Kristina in for her bath."

"Okay," he brushed his lips against hers. He took Kristina's seat on the couch and gently took the young boy's arm in his hand, examining it. "Does it hurt?"

Silently, he shook his head biting down on his lower lip. Eric tried to catch his eye but Josh steadfastly refused to look at him.

"It must have hurt when he hit it though?"

Getting no response, he pulled him onto his lap and closed his arms around, kissing the top of his head. "I'm sorry Stephen was mean to you" he told him softly.

"Are you mad at me?" came the small voice.

He gently rubbed his back. "No Josh, I'm not. I'm proud of you for sticking up for Kristina but Alexis is right, it's better to avoid fighting if we can."

Finally looking up at him with tears in his eyes, Josh hugged him back. "I love you Eric," he whispered.

His heart near to bursting, he scooped the young boy up in his arms. "I love you too. Now, let's get you cleaned up, okay?"

*****
With all three children fed, bathed and in bed, Eric grabbed a beer from the fridge and headed out to the front porch where Alexis sat under a blanket, staring up at the night sky. Taking a sip of his beer, he slipped behind her on the lounge chair and passed the bottle to her. He closed his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.

Alexis took a sip and leaned back against him, her head resting on his shoulder. She was torn about her daughter's actions. She knew she should be more upset that her bright, mannered child had resorted to fisticuffs to solve her problem but at the same time she admired her spirit and her loyalty. But she was also distracted by other thoughts and feeling Eric's tongue curl around her earlobe only further drove those thoughts home.

"Brenda is beautiful, don't you think?" she asked quietly.

Busying his hands by undoing the ties on her dress, he shrugged and continued to lave his attention on her neck. "Yeah, I suppose."

"She was with Sonny for a long time – I mean before he and I were ever together. She's…uh….she's single."

Eric stopped his ministrations and lifted his head. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No" she replied quietly, shivering slightly as her dress started to fall open. "I was just thinking that you're kind of both closer in age and probably have a lot in common."

With his brow knit together in confusion he shifted on the lounge chair so they were facing each other. He gently brushed her bangs from her face and gave her a small smile. "I'm not interested in Brenda, Alexis. Is there something about my behaviour that leads you to believe otherwise?"

Sighing quietly, she shook her head. She hated being neurotic; she hated being jealous; she hated being so insecure in any relationship that she kept expecting the other person to leave her. It had been an innocent, innocuous sight - Brenda in Eric's office - but it had stirred up some terrible memories and she had been left feeling off balance ever since.

"You two kind of looked good together...when she was in your office."

Smiling sympathetically, he circled his arms around her and tugged her towards him. He brushed his lips against hers before holding her even tighter. "I really wish you'd let me lobotomize your ex-husband," he said swallowing down his anger. Every time he thought of the way she had been treated - with such callousness and disrespect - he wanted to find him and remove his frontal lobe. Or temporal lobe. Or his cerebral cortex. He really wasn't fussy about which.

"I'm sorry I'm so neurotic" she mumbled against his chest.

"I don't need you to apologize" he told her softly. "I just need to know that you believe me - that I'm no interested in Brenda or any other woman - that I'm in love with you."

"I do" she whispered.

"Good. Because I love you and I love the pseudo-family we're building."

Lifting her head from his chest she traced his bottom lip with her fingertip. "Nothing pseudo about it" she corrected. "We are a family."

******
"So you haven't spoken to him in three days?" Brenda asked, passing over a milkshake as she unpacked their lunch from Kelly's.

Robin gratefully sucked on her drink as she shook her head. It had been a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings and fears since the early morning unveiling of truth. His words continued to echo loudly in her head and some of her feelings about his actions swirled up, biting at her, reminding her that she still hadn't said everything she needed to say. As had become habit, her hand slipped into her pocket and fingered the medallion she had pinned there. He had called her a warrior when he had put it around her neck and she was. She was fighting for herself and for them. For their family.

"I'm still sorting through it all," she finally answered.

"You haven't told me much of what he said," she observed.

"I don't think I want to" she answered quickly and then paused. She had, somewhat out of character, kept the conversation to herself. She had not unloaded on Mac nor had she revealed all to her best friend - the one who knew every secret she'd ever had. "Patrick....I share a lot with a lot of people," she admitted. "And I think sometimes that may not leave a lot left for me to share with him - or it dillutes what I share with him."

Brenda cocked an eyebrow. "He only wants you to talk to him?"

"No, no. He just doesn't want me talking to others to his exclusion. And he's right. I've not done a good job confiding in him - we've not done a good job in confiding in each other. The crazy thing is, I think we've both tried in our own, clumsy way but we've not come close." She set her drink down on the table and pulled her legs underneath. "I...I told him I couldn't trust him."

Turning on the couch to face her, Brenda fixed her with a look. "You weren't without reason to say that Robin."

"I know but-"

Brenda shook her head. "No buts. Look, Robs, I want you two together - I think he is so good for you and more importantly I think you are the catch of the century. But just because you guys have hashed some of this out I don't want you to just sweep everything else under the rug."

Chuckling softly, Robin smiled. "You're unstoppable."

"Most days"

"You're right though. There are reasons why I told him that and we will work through them but at the same time I need to show him that I'm willing to try. I think...I think one of the ways I can do that is by not sharing every detail with others. I want him to know that our relationship, what happens between the two of us is important...and for us."

Her best friend grinned at her as she popped a french fry into her mouth. "Sounds smart."

"We'll see" she laughed. Taking a bite of her hamburger, she replayed parts of their conversation - their fight - over again. "There is one thing he did say - he accused me of hiding."

"That can't be a surprise to you"

Blowing out her cheeks, she shrugged. "Not really but I thought I was getting better at that."

Tilting her head to the side, Brenda studied her for a moment before speaking. She had literally seen her best friend through some trials - in all honesty, they had seen each other through - and she sometimes felt she knew her better than she knew herself.

"You've never been this close to having it all before," she remarked. "You were a girl with Stone and things were....they were unsettled with Jason. I don't think you knew who you were yet then. And when explosions and endings are all you know, it's not unreasonable for you to hide when the finish line gets close thinking it's going to happen again."

Robin did a double take as a slow smile spread across her face. "When did you get to be so smart?"

Brenda shrugged. "It was bound to happen eventually."

Stifling a giggle, Robin took another bite of her hamburger. A sense of peace was poking and prodding through all the madness and she knew she just had to keep taking steps forward and eventually it would come together. "I know Patrick and I aren't out of the woods yet but for the first time I think I can really see the path - I know where I need to go."

Scooting over on the couch, Brenda wrapped her friend in a warm embrace. "I am so proud of you" she told her. "You know, another time, another place and you would have given up and walked away by now."

"Not here though" she replied. "I love him and I won't give up. The truth is the former won't let me do the latter and that is what keeping me going."