And I know that you try so hard
And you wait so long
And you don’t know the moment when you went wrong
But I think you should know
It doesn’t make you unbeautiful

July 18, 2006

Robin’s Apartment: Living Room

Robin sleepily shuffled to the front door and unlocked the two padlocks before unlocking the door lock. She pulled it open and peered blearily up at Patrick. “It’s late isn’t it?”

“Ah, if eleven is late, sure.” Patrick rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry for waking you up–I meant to be earlier but there was an emergency at the hospital and then–”

Robin shook her head and held up a hand. “Say no more, it’s okay.” She stepped back. “Come on in.”

“If you want to go back to sleep,” Patrick began, “I’m sure this could wait until then. I just didn’t want you to think that I flaked out on you.”

“I’m awake now,” Robin sank onto the couch and curled her legs up underneath her. “I fall asleep all the time right now. Steven says that after the first trimester, my appetite and sleeping habits should level out again. At least for a while.”

Patrick sat next to her and absently let his hand drift over the warm skin on her knee, his fingers tracing little circles. “So I know we never finalized which apartment we were going to use after the wedding but I’ve been thinking we should use yours.”

“Fine with me but you just bought that condo,” Robin said, a little more awake now. “And I only rent, so–”

“Yeah, but…” Patrick shifted uncomfortably. “Elizabeth went home on her break this morning and saw Lucky cheating on her.”

Robin’s eyes bulged. “Are you serious? She’s sure?”

“Yeah, I asked her if she was when we were picking her things up from the apartment tonight to take to her grandmother’s. That’s the other reason I’m late. She didn’t want to ask Nikolas because that’s Lucky’s brother, her brother Steven might kill him and the only other guy friend she has is Jason, who apparently might also kill him.”

“It was nice of you to help her–what did she say when she asked?”

“Well, she replied–and I quote–the naked bouncing and the grunts and groans are pretty hard to mistake.”

Robin bit her lip. “Oh. Well, yeah that would be hard to mistake.” She propped her elbow on the back of the couch and rested her hand against her face. “That’s so awful for her, she was so happy. So happy that she kept trying to set me on blind dates the entire six weeks we were broken up.”

Patrick frowned. “And she was encouraging me to work it out–that little brat.”

“I think she was trying to make a point,” Robin considered. “Because I came up with a lot of creative excuses to wiggle out of those dates and after a while, she was just making guys up I think. She has a twisted sense of humor and she liked to see me squirm.”

“Yeah, well…she feels funny staying with her grandmother so I offered her the condo.” Patrick tugged on his ear, slightly uncomfortable. “Rent-free.”

Robin smirked. “You’re just a softy when it comes to her, I think. It’s cute, really. If I didn’t know Liz any better, I might be jealous.”

“Hey,” Patrick said, trying to decide if he was insulted. “I thought we were working on trusting me.”

“We are, which is why I’m not smacking you,” Robin replied. “Besides, I know you and Liz are just friends. And it’s good for you to have a female friend. You don’t think I know some of your words are actually hers?”

Patrick grimaced. “I’ll have you know that I am one hundred percent original–”

“The lame come-ons, sure,” Robin giggled. “No, I just mean I recognize Liz’s brand of advice, that’s all. Anyway, it’s nice of you to offer the condo. I just hope she’s making the right decision. She and Lucky were together for so much of their lives…it’s a shame.” She looked down at her hands.

Patrick took her hand in his, his thumb rubbing over his mother’s ring. “It is a shame but I can’t blame her. I mean, fidelity is pretty important.”

Robin arched an eyebrow. “Are you, Dr. Patrick Drake, speaking in defense of fidelity? I’m shocked.”

He scowled, “I never cheated on anyone, Robin. I never dated one girl for more than a few weeks at the most but I never made any promises I couldn’t keep either.” He straightened and slid away from her, a little hurt by her obvious low opinion of him.

Robin sighed and followed him, tucking her head into his chest, “I was just teasing, Patrick. I know you wouldn’t cheat. You may not have been monogamous but you certainly weren’t a cheater.” She bit her lip. “And you’ve never broken a promise to me, which is important. I know I can trust you.”

“Well.” He would find it difficult to be upset with her after that. “It’s getting late, I should probably head home.”

When he would have stood, Robin put a hand on the inside of his forearm to stop him. “Why don’t you stay?” she asked softly. When he looked at her curiously, she flushed and ignored the urge to look away, choosing instead to meet his eyes. “We’ve made the decision that this not going to be a marriage of convenience, right?”

“Right,” Patrick drawled. “But–”

“So we’re going to have to share a bed in the near future. C’mon, Patrick, it’s late and you’re exhausted. I would feel much better if you stayed here tonight rather than getting behind the wheel of car.”

“Are you sure?” Patrick asked quietly. “I don’t want you to think–”

“I’m not saying we have to…do anything. We can just sleep, or whatever.” She bit her lip and smiled shyly at him. “You’re not going to make me worry about you driving are you?”

He grinned and leaned forward to kiss her softly. “I wouldn’t want you to worry on my account.”

July 19, 2006

Robin’s Apartment: Bedroom

Patrick stirred and reached across the mattress, frowning when his arm met empty space. He cracked an eye open and rolled over when he saw Robin’s side of the bed was still warm, but deserted. “Robin?” he called blearily.

His only answer was a rustling from the bathroom. He sat up and shoved the sheet off his body. They had done nothing the previous night except sleep though he wondered if that would have been the case if Robin hadn’t passed out almost as soon as her body hit the mattress. He grinned to himself–less than two weeks until that changed.

He heard another sound from the bathroom–and this time, he recognized it as the sound of retching. Morning sickness, he thought to himself and stood to pad out to the kitchen and get a glass of water. He took a wash cloth, ran some warm water over it before taking both into the bathroom.

Robin was seated next to the toilet, her feet planted flat on the ground, her arms resting on her knees and her head leaning back against the cool white tile. “Hey,” he said. “Water?”

Robin cracked her eyes open and groaned. “Patrick…really…you don’t want to be in here right now–”

“No, but you don’t want to be in here either so I’m staying.” He sat next to her and rested the cloth against her cheek. “I haven’t been able to here for you for this and I want to be, Robin. Going to doctor’s appointments isn’t all there is. I want to help.”

Robin smiled wearily and rested her head against his shoulder. “You’re really sweet, Patrick,” she murmured, taking the glass of water from him and taking a long gulp.

“Shh, don’t let that get out,” Patrick said with a half grin. “I have a reputation to protect.”

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