Chapter 178

It looks like rain

Josh crawled into Eric's lap, resting his head against his chest. He sighed sadly as he felt Eric's arms close around him. "I don't wanna go with aunt Lucie. Please" he asked plaintively, "please let me stay." Soothingly rubbing the young boy's back, Eric looked over at his girlfriend who was cuddling both of her daughters.

It had been a difficult 24 hours since the judge had rendered his decison. He had pointed out the newness of the relationship between Eric and Alexis and reminded them that they were not married and under other circumstances would not have even been considered as foster parents. While he praised the home they had provided he did not believe that it would trump the home that a blood relative could provide. Lucie, a single woman with no children of her own, had been living in Oregeon and claimed to have been unaware that her nephew was in any trouble at all. She had agreed to move to Port Charles temporarily so that his medical care could continue. Josh had been inherently suspicious of her and held fast to Eric's leg when they were introduced, unwilling to do more than shake her hand.

He and Alexis had done their best to explain the judge's decision first to Josh and then to the girls but it had done little to stem the flow of tears from any of them nor slow the presentation of possible solutions that only children could come up with.

"Josh, Lucie loves you very much and she's going to take good care of you. And I'll still see you at the hospital when you have your dialysis appointments."

He looked up at him, his eyes wide, betraying every fear he had. "But...but what if you aren't working when I have my appointment?"

Smiling reassuringly, he stroked his hair. "I've written down all your appointments and I promise even if I'm not working I'll be there."

Sniffling, the young boy looked over to where the girls were sitting. "What about Alexis, Kristina and Molly?"

"Well you'll still see Kristina at school," Alexis replied once she saw the difficulty Eric was having formulating an answer. "And Molly and I will come visit you at the hospital."

"Promise?"

"We promise" she told him. "Super duper promise."

A knock at the door signalled the beginning of the end and Eric felt Josh coil in his lap. Alexis slowly got to her feet and answered the door. She was having difficulty hiding her own disappointment at not being able to sway the judge and felt as though she had failed her family. She greeted Lucie and the case worker with a brave smile and let them in.

Eric had prepared a list of things Lucie needed to be aware of - how to care for his shunt, his medication, techniques he had used to soothe him when he was plagued by nightmares. He had also given her the portable video game he had bought and when she refused at first, saying she didn't believe in video games, he told her it was important for his ongoing hand/eye coordination that had been impacted by her sister's abuse. He had tried not to be bitchy but wasn't always successful.

"Hi Josh," Lucie said, crouching down. "Ready to come home?"

"I am home" he answered, flatly.

Plastering on a smile, she nodded. "I know but we're going to go to you new home. I have a room all set up for you and Eric has given me your Harry Potter bedspread, so we're set. Why don't you say goodbye to everyone and then we'll get going?"

Eric gently put him on the ground and he reluctantly made his way over to Kristina and Molly who had both started to cry again. The three children hugged tightly until Eric slipped his hand inside Josh's and carefully pulled him away from the group. Josh ran to Alexis and let himself be scooped up in her arms.

"I love you Josh" she told him as she kissed his cheek. "Very much."

"Me too" he replied quietly.

She had no sooner set him back on the ground than he had moved back to Eric, taking his hand and sticking close to his leg. Eric crouched down and brushed his hair from his face. "I've put my phone number inside your Harry Potter book and inside your pencil case" he said quietly. "If you get scared or have a problem, you call me and I'll be there."

"Really Doctor Smitherman," Lucie interrupted, "I don't think that's necessary."

The muscle along his cheek twitched as he ground his teeth together in an effort to reign in his temper. "I do" he bit out. "Josh is free to call me any time he needs to." Turning his attention back to the young boy, he pulled him into his arms. "I love you buddy" he told him quietly. "I love you lots."

"I don't want to go with her," he sobbed softly into his shoulder.

Eric kissed his cheek. "I know you don't but you have to. She's going to take really good care of you Josh, she loves you just like we do." Afraid if he held on to him much longer he would never be able to let go, he dropped his arms and gave a nod in Lucie's directions. "Go on" he whispered.

He looked uneasily at his aunt and then back to Eric, unable to move. Lucie walked over to him and took him by the hand, gently leading him towards the door. "Let's go home Joshua."

They all waved as he walked out the door and Eric followed them out to the deck, watching as the car drove away. When he could no longer hear the car in the distance, he turned on his heel and followed the deck around to the back, falling into a chair and staring up at the sky. He had no words left.

Alexis watched from the window and felt her own heart cracking at the air of resignation about him. As she watched him slump in the chair she thought that he looked like someone who had had all the air let out of their tires. Looking over and seeing her older daughter comforting her younger one she felt pushed to the breaking point. Picking up the phone, she placed a couple of calls hoping they would help.

******
Robin's knees started to shake as she saw Patrick hop out of his car. Alexis had called her an hour earlier asking if she could join them for dinner, explaining they were in need of some friendly faces and a way to shift their focus off of themselves. After all the support her friend had provided her in the last year, she was happy to oblige but somehow she had not considered that Patrick would also be there.

She had not seen him since leaving his apartment the day before and her good night text had gone unanswered. His words and his anger had both struck a chord with her but she wasn't any closer to figuring out how to reconcile what he needed with how she felt. And while their relationship had often defied description she truly was at a loss to define what they were to each other today.

Patrick paused as he saw her, giving her a small wave. "Hey" With much of his immediate anger dissipated, he was quieter and more reflective than he had been.

"Hi," she replied tentatively. "I...I didn't know that Alexis had called you too. I hope it's not a problem that I'm here."

Cocking his head to the side, Patrick smiled shyly at her. "Of course not. I hope....I hope we can help them because it sounds like it was a pretty bad day."

Relieved that he wasn't shooting daggers at her, she nodded. "Yeah. Shall we go in?"

He extended his hand to her to guide her up the stairs. Her bump had seemingly shown up over night and Patrick couldn't take his eyes from it; nor could he quell the sudden urge to wrap her in bubble wrap.

Molly ran to the door, jumping into Robin's arms as soon as she walked through. "Robin! Robin!"

"Hi ya Munchkin" she greeted her cheerily, laughing as the young girl gave her a raspberry.

Sneaking in behind her, Patrick joined Alexis and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. With a cursory glance he noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the way her mouth was drawn in a tight line. "How are you?" he asked.

Exhaling, she gave a half smile. "I'm really glad you both could come, I think it'll be good to just have a night among friends."

"Where is he?"

Jerking her head towards the back of the house, she replied, "He's been sitting out there for about two hours, just staring into space."

Nodding, Patrick made a quick detour to the kitchen and retrieved two beers from the refrigerator before joininig his friend on the back deck. He twisted the cap off and passed the bottle to him.

"So you've had a shitty day"

Taking a long drink, he nodded. "Yup. But it was to be expected. We were only his foster parents, it's not like we were adopting him."

Raising his eyebrow, he let him know that he was not buying his line. "But you wanted to and you love him and it sucks that he isn't here."

"What are you going to do?" he asked, shrugging. "He's with family and we all know that family matters."

Leaning back in his chair, Patrick stared out across the lake and for a moment reflected on how far they had come. When they had meant in first year, they had two goals - getting through school and getting girls. As the years went by, their friendship grew and expanded in response and now they were both on the verge of family lives and settling down and their friendship was still stong. It was rare to find someone who could grow with you and still like you at the end.

"Yeah, well you and I both know that love is more important than any genetic ties and the judge was stupid not to recognize it."

Eric took another long sip. "So tell me," he began, changing the subject. "How are things with Robin? Are you ready to propose yet?"

A cold shiver ran down Patrick's back. "I don't want to talk about it."

Scoffing, Eric shook his head. "Well l sure as hell don't want to talk about me so we're going to have to talk about you. What happened?"

"I blew us up" he replied simply.

Extending his bottle, he clinked the neck against Patrick's. "Well done," he drawled. "What did you do?"

It was Patrick's turn to shrug. "I told her that it was bullshit that she couldn't forgive me and that we had no future until she did."

Looking over his shoulder back into the house, he saw Robin and Alexis deep in conversation. The sudden swell of her belly was one of the most amazing sights he had ever seen. The long line of her neck was calling out to him to cover it in kisses and he wanted to get lost in her long, silky hair. Robin was in his system and there was simply no turning away from it, even if he wanted to.

"Wow, what did she say?"

He shook his head. "She said she's working on it."

"Ouch" he observed.

"I know," he sighed. "The thing is Smitty, I really want her to forgive me. I want her to do it so that we can move forward. But mostly I want her to do it because she knows I deserve it."

"She will."

"I hope so" he said hoarsely. "So now can we talk about you?"

"Nope," he replied evenly.

"Smitty - seriously."

He rubbed his hand along his cheek, momentarily contemplating growing a beard. "You warned me - you told me not to get too attached. I got what I deserved."

"You didn't deserve this. You-"

"Patrick!" Alexis called to him from the door. "Come here!"

The urgency in her voice sent him scrambling to his feet as he stumbled through the patio door. He was beside Robin's side in a shot. "Are you okay?"

Nodding tearfully, she reached for his hand and placed it against her stomach. "Our baby just kicked."

"What?" he asked bewildered, sinking to his knees in front of her.

"A kick," she said breathlessly, "our baby just kicked."

"Did it....did it hurt?" he asked. His hand was still pressed against her stomach and his eyes remained locked on hers; his heart thumped loudly in his chest.

"No. It....it feels like a butterfly - a soccer playing butterfly," she amended laughing.

"When I have a pain in my tummy, Eric says it's dragons" Kristina piped up.

The adults laughed heartily and the tension that had been threatening to strangulate the house was suddenly broken. Reaching for Alexis, Eric tugged her towards him and hugged her tightly. He pressed his lips to hers and gave her a small smile. "I love you" he whispered.

"Back at ya" she replied.

"Oh my god!" Patrick exclaimed, his brown eyes wide in shock.

"Did you feel it?" she asked.

"I...I...I think I did." He shook his head in wonder. "That's amazing!!"

As he moved to take his hand away, Robin closed hers around it and kept it where it was. They stared at each other for several beats, saying as much with a look as they could ever possibly say with words.

"We do have a future together," she said quietly.

Patrick gently removed his hand but stayed where he was. "That's up to you."