September 15, 2006

Wyndemere: Nursery

Nikolas Cassadine had grown up in a family that had defined everything a family shouldn’t be. Manipulative, deceitful, abusive, unloving and outright insane at times. The first time he’d even had contact with a normal family had been with the Spencers and no one would ever accuse Luke Spencer of being normal.

Despite his uncle’s high hopes for the future of the Cassadine family and Nikolas’s role in reviving their once rich heritage, Nikolas had made his own plans years ago and despite a few detours along the way, he’d stuck to it. He had planned a life with Gia, but they had never intended to have children. He’d married Emily but they’d never had a moment’s peace to think about children.

So he’d never had to explain to either woman why he didn’t intend to procreate. That he wanted the direct Cassadine line to die with him. And it almost had. Until Courtney became pregnant and the possibility of having children became tangible.

During those long, awful months after Courtney’s death, watching Jax and Carly with Misha (though he’d been John in those days), a piece of Nikolas’s heart opened and for the first time, he wanted a family. He wanted a life. He’d sent his grandmother to the ends of the earth and paid men quite well to see that she stayed there. He’d done that after discovering that John was, in fact, his son.

In those first few terrifying weeks of being a father, Nikolas realized that a nanny would not provide everything that his son needed. Misha would need a mother, a family, and that had been the start of Nikolas’s grand vision of revitalizing the Cassadine family and making it something to be proud of.

His proposal to Robin had been painstakingly thought out–he’d thought about Emily, but only briefly. She’d been through too much thanks to his family and even so, she had been in love with Sonny. Nikolas didn’t altogether mind Emily being in love with someone else, but Sonny was dangerous in his own ways and Emily would always be tied to him. Being a Cassadine was bad enough without cursing Misha twice, so Emily had never been a serious option.

When his brother’s marriage collapsed and Elizabeth indicated that she would be seeking a divorce, Nikolas had briefly entertained her as a possible candidate but there were too many reasons that it could never work–most notably, he loved his brother too much. So she had never been a serious option either, though she’d been more likely than Emily.

No, Robin had been the best choice and though she’d turned him down the first time, he’d known she’d change her mind. She was too warm, too loving and she wanted a family too much to wait around for Patrick Drake to come to his senses. So he’d bided his time and it had taken only a week for Robin to find the doctor with Carly Corinthos at his hotel room. She’d come straight to him and accepted his proposal. They’d left for Greece only days later.

It didn’t particularly bother him that she was more than likely still in love with Patrick. He was still in love with Courtney and it was really too soon to move on from her. But Misha needed a mother and Nikolas wanted a family. He knew he could trust Robin to be faithful, so even if she still had feelings for the doctor, it would never go anywhere. She was beautiful, she was intelligent and above all, she loved Misha. She was the perfect wife and mother.

With Robin at his side, he could change the way Port Charles looked at the Cassadines. They would think of Alexis Davis, the district attorney. Samantha McCall, the college student. Robin Scorpio-Cassadine, the brilliant and dedicated doctor.

And one day, Helena, Mikkos and Stavros would be distant memories and in a few generations, they wouldn’t be remembered at all. This was the plan Nikolas had set out for his life now and he would do anything to ensure its success.

So he sat in the nursery and rocked Misha to sleep, telling him a story about his own childhood on Mykonos–one of the few happy stories, which involved learning to ride his first horse under the tutelage of his uncle.

When he’d set the sleeping infant into the crib and turned, he was startled to find Robin standing in the doorway with a soft smile on her face. “I didn’t realize you were back yet.” He switched Misha’s night light on and moved into the hallway, closing the door softly behind him.

“I was hoping to get here before you put him down for the night,” Robin murmured. She checked her watch–there was still a half hour before Alexis, Ric and the girls were due to arrive. “Nikolas, we need to talk.”

Unconcerned, he led the way to the master bedroom and disappeared into the dressing room, changing for dinner. “Is something wrong?”

Knowing that if she wanted to this hashed out before their family arrived, Robin would have to deal with his routine of changing before every meal and speak to him through the walls. “I want you to promise me that you won’t go to Patrick again and ask him to stay away from me.”

Nikolas stepped into the door, clad only in a pair of dark trousers, a frown marring his face. “What are you talking about?”

“Nikolas…” Robin sighed and leaned against the mahogany bedpost. “I know you were at the hospital today–Elizabeth mentioned it and I can’t think of a single reason why you’d go out your way unless you went to see Patrick.”

“Robin, I am the hospital’s chief administrator,” Nikolas reminded her. “I’m on the board of directors. There are any number reasons why I would go to the hospital.”

Robin stared at him for a long moment and her heart sank when she realized he wasn’t going to volunteer the information that she needed. “Don’t lie to me, Nikolas.”

He exhaled slowly, his jaw tensing. “I cannot believe he would complain to you about it. It just proves my point that he is nothing but a worthless-”

“I had to pry it out of him,” Robin argued. “Nikolas, you don’t know him. Please stop judging him based on my relationship with him. If nothing else, he saved Cameron’s life. He saved Sam’s life. Why can’t you remember those things?”

“Because I remember that you had tear stains on your cheek when you accepted my marriage proposal,” Nikolas said bluntly. “He hurt you, Robin. He knew sleeping with Carly would hurt you and he did it anyway. That makes him both a very poor judge of character as well as a bastard. So I’m sorry if I wanted to protect you from that–”

“I’m not going to deny that I was hurt that day,” Robin said slowly. “I was devastated, if you want me to be honest. I thought that I was falling in love with Patrick, that we were building something between us. That was why I turned you down initially.” She hesitated for a moment. “But it’s not fair to blame my behavior on that. It’s been two months since that day, Nikolas. And Patrick has nothing to do with why I’ve been distant since we came home.”

Something twisted in Nikolas’s gut and he forced himself to take a deep, calming breath. “You think we’ve made a mistake, then. You’re regretting your decision.”

“No,” Robin said, with a wistful smile. “I’m adjusting to my new life. Before, I was just Robin Scorpio, a doctor. And now, I’m Robin Scorpio-Cassadine, a doctor, wife and a mother–not to mention all the other things that comes along with being a Cassadine wife–” she sighed. “Nikolas, we have been friends for nearly a decade and I love you. But you went from being just a friend to being my husband. We didn’t date, we didn’t live together first. But here we are, married. It’s not going to be perfect right away, okay?”

Nikolas nodded. “Okay, I can accept that.” He looked towards the windows, his eyes taking in the grounds surrounding the estate. “I’m overbearing, Robin. I tend to think I know what’s best for people whether they agree with me or not and I’m not subtle about trying to make people do what I want them to do. I don’t know how to change that about myself.”

“Well, I’m quick to jump to conclusions; I have a bad habit of setting impossible to set standards and then being self-righteous when people fail to meet those standards. I also tend to believe the worst in people.” Robin’s lips curved into a mischievous smile. “Now that we know each other’s worst traits, we can watch out for each other and try to curb them. That’s part of being married. I’ll tell you when you’re being an arrogant, over bearing jerk and you’ll tell me when I’m being a pain in the ass.” She held out her hand and after a moment’s hesitation, he took it, lacing their fingers together. “We’re going to make this work, Nikolas. I promise.”

Patrick’s Apartment: Living Room

Patrick didn’t manage to get the front door full open before a blur was sliding past Elizabeth and hurtling himself at Patrick. “Patty!”

With reflexes he’d once used to race cars, Patrick caught Cameron as the toddler threw himself into Patrick’s legs and lifted him in the air. “Hey, buddy. Busy day?”

“He ate his weight in sugar today,” Elizabeth remarked with the tired smile he’d come to know so well over the last few months. “Cam, we’ve talked about this. When we go to someone’s house, what is the right way to say hi?”

“Hello, my name is Cameron Webber, is pleasure to see you,” Cameron recited dutifully before turning his grin on Patrick. “Patty!” he cheered.

“Well, at least he knows what he’s supposed to do.” Elizabeth entered the apartment and closed the door behind her. “Let’s see this new place of yours.” She set her bag down and sent Patrick a bemused look. “I thought you said you were all moved in.”

“I am.” Patrick shrugged. “I just haven’t gotten around to unpacking the boxes.”

Elizabeth eyed the living room skeptically which consisted of a couch, a coffee table, a big screen television and piles of boxes. “When do you plan on getting around to those?”

“Eventually.” He set Cameron in front of the couch where he had his race car track set up. “Remember this buddy? From the hotel room?”

Cameron reached for the controller. “Lemme play!”

“Cameron…” Elizabeth set her hands on her hips. “What have we discussed?”

Cameron sighed impatiently and looked at Patrick. “Can I please play, Mr. Patrick?”

“Thank you, Cameron,” Elizabeth nodded, perching on the sofa. “Eventually you’ll remember to ask nicely before I have to remind you.”

“Hmm…” Patrick handed Cameron the controller and joined Elizabeth on the couch. “If he were a girl, I’d say yes. But he’s a guy. Chances are…you’ll be reminding him on his wedding day.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I don’t even want to think about that right now. I have to get through the next two decades.”

Patrick stood and pulled her to her feet. “You gonna be okay out here for a while, Cam?”

“I win!” Cameron crowed.

“I think he’s going to be fine, he seems to have discovered the gene for competitiveness. I’ll have to sign him up for some kind of activity where he can bash people.” Elizabeth followed Patrick to the kitchen where he poured her a glass of wine. “So Robin said she left you alive but was not going to promise the same for my brother-in-law.”

“Yes, the good prince stopped by my office to remind me that Robin was his wife and I should stay away from her.” Patrick took the steaks out of the fridge and headed for the patio where the grill was set up.

“That’s strange…” Elizabeth shook her head. “Well, I suppose Nikolas had his reasons. He usually does.” She sipped her wine and stared out over the cityscape. “You have a great view here.”

“The one from the hotel was better,” Patrick said absently, tossing the steaks onto the grill. “But I got tired of spending all that money on a hotel suite.”

“You also got tired of running into Carly all the time,” Elizabeth pointed out. “Anyway, I don’t know what took you so long to get an apartment, it’s like you weren’t even planning on sticking around.”

“Well, I wasn’t.” Patrick closed the lid and sipped his own glass. “I was going to perform the surgery and go back to Manhattan.”

“But then you met Robin, fell madly in love and moved here for her,” Elizabeth teased.

“Ha,” Patrick countered sardonically. “No, Alan Quartermaine offered me a better job here. More money, and more reign over choosing my surgical team. But I guess with my dad being here, I didn’t think I’d stick it out.”

“I was only supposed to stay here for a year,” Elizabeth said, leaning against the patio wall, one eye on her son in the living room. “My parents dumped me on some neighbors back in Boulder, my sister on my grandmother here while they went on a one year tour for Doctors Without Borders.”

“So what happened?” Patrick asked. “You liked it so much, you decided to stay?”

“Well, first my parents decided to stay in Europe, so my sister went to live with them but by that time…” Elizabeth sighed and looked away. “I’d met Lucky and things…there were some extenuating circumstances. I didn’t feel ready to leave. And I never have. Except for a short stint in Napa when I had Cam.” She swirled the wine in her glass, wondering why she’d chosen not to tell him about her rape. It wasn’t a secret, it wasn’t something she’d be ashamed of but she didn’t want to see that look in his eyes that everyone else seemed to get when they found out that eight years ago–

“Where’d you go?” Patrick’s voice broke into her thoughts and she looked at him, slightly confused. “You just kind of zoned out–are you okay?”

Elizabeth smiled faintly. “I’m fine, I guess. Justus called while I was on my way over. He filed my divorce papers at the courthouse so…I guess I’m single again.” She raised her glass in the air. “Three times divorced. Just call me Elizabeth Taylor.”

Later, after they’d eaten dinner and Cameron had crashed on the bed in the guest room, Elizabeth had had three glasses of wine and Patrick was considering the possibility of hitting on her for real. “What do you think it says about a girl if she’s divorced three times before she’s twenty-five?” she asked, idly.

“That she really likes weddings,” Patrick replied.

Elizabeth sighed and curled her legs up underneath and leaned her head on Patrick’s shoulder. “I’m so glad we’re not like that.”

“Like what?” he replied, wondering if their friendship would survive an actual pass. He was ready to move on from Robin, he couldn’t think of anyone better than Elizabeth. She was gorgeous, she was intelligent and God knows, a piece of him had been attracted for months. And she was also single.

But she was Robin’s friend and while that didn’t entirely bother him (except for a tiny bit but he was ignoring that bit, wrong brain and all) he was sure it would bother her. Was there a way around that? Or did you just write off all friends of the women you’d slept with?

“I mean, I can sit here and talk with you and be almost sure that you’re not thinking about the best line to use to get me into bed.” Elizabeth kicked her shoes off.

Patrick coughed. “Ah, right. So glad we’re not like that.”

“I’m glad that Robin seems happy with Nikolas,” Elizabeth continued, “but I’m still sorry it didn’t work out for you two.”

Robin again. How the hell was he supposed to move on from her if the people around him didn’t let him? Nikolas warning him to stay away, Elizabeth offering her regrets and Robin just…being there all the time and looking so beautiful–damn it.

“Let’s not talk about Robin or Nikolas anymore,” Patrick said decisively. “That’s–I want to move on from all that. She’s married, it didn’t work. Life goes on.”

“Right.” Elizabeth reached for her wine and sipped it. “So how many times did you almost make a pass at me tonight?”

Patrick almost choked on his own wine. “Excuse me?” he asked, flustered. “I didn’t–I would never–”

“Please–” she laughed.  “You think I don’t know that look? Gaging whether I’d smack you or not if you went for it.” She swirled her wine for a moment before looking at him with considering eyes. “It’s a shame that you’re still in love with Robin and I’m…” she waved her free hand. “Whatever.”

“It is?” Patrick asked, a little confused. “Wait, I wasn’t going to make a pass–” she arched an eyebrow and he coughed again. “I mean, yes, I had considered it but obviously, it’s too soon.”

“And that’s only one of the many reasons it wouldn’t work.” Elizabeth nodded firmly. “For one, I value our friendship and I saw what happened to you and Robin. You guys were really close and now…you’re not. So I would hate for that to happen.”

“That’s a good point,” Patrick allowed.

“And even so, I value my friendship with Robin and I’ve already dated one friend’s ex so I’m not doing that again,” Elizabeth continued. “And even all of that weren’t the case?”

“You don’t see me that way,” he muttered, cursing all the karma in the world. He’d fallen for the one girl in Port Charles that was friends with everyone and screwed his sex life up forever.

“Oh, that’s not the case,” Elizabeth assured him. “I mean, hello, you are a beautiful man, but there’s just one really big problem.” She eyed him. “I have a thing about fidelity. Exclusivity, if you will.”

“I’m beginning to think it’s in the water.” Patrick collapsed back against the couch and sighed heavily. “So because I dated Robin first and allowed us to become friends and don’t do the one woman thing, I can’t make a pass at you.”

“You are free to make all the passes you want,” Elizabeth said primly. “I’m just free to rebuff them.” Her eyes softened. “I know you want to put Robin behind you, but jumping into bed with the first available woman is not going to get the job done.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Patrick sat up and set his wine back on the coffee table. “Just for the record, if I ever make a pass at you for real, Elizabeth–” He gripped her chin in his hand and pressed his thumb against her bottom lip. “It won’t be because I’m trying to move on from another woman.”

“And if I ever accept said pass?” Elizabeth grinned. “It won’t be because I’m feeling lonely and any man will do.” She pulled away from him and finished her wine. “But I think it’s time for Cam and I to head home for the night.”

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