Ric stood there beside her, both in their jeans, and both with the same look on their faces

They looked like a happy married couple. Relaxed, comfortable standing there by each other’s side

They could have fooled anyone

They could have fooled her best friend and his wife

“Alexis they’ll be fine I promise”

Ric handed the last of Kristina and Chloe’s things to Jax while Alexis swept Kristina up in her arms

“You have all of our numbers?” Alexis questioned to Jax

“Alexis I know your numbers by heart and besides you’re the same number on my speed dial that you’ve been since the last what 7, 8 years?”

Alexis rolled her eyes and immediately went to her goodbye’s with Kristina

“You be a good girl for Aunt Courtney and Uncle Jax ok?”

Kristina shook her head

“You’re going to have so much fun!”

“Yeah!” Kristina said wide eyed to a grinning Jax and Courtney

Alexis kissed her “I love you”

“I love you” Kristina repeated

Alexis sat her down for Ric to have his goodbyes with her

Alexis went to Chloe in her carrier “If I forgot anything…” Alexis said looking to Courtney

“Then we’ll get it! It will be fine” Courtney said then leaning in giving Alexis a hug. She understood it was a big step letting them take the girls

Alexis kissed Chloe

Ric handed Kristina to Jax and then gave Chloe a quick kiss and stare before handing the carrier to Courtney

“Alright! A weekend surrounded by beautiful girls!” Jax said giving Kristina a tickle

Ric held the door for them

 “I love you and we’ll be fine” Jax assured

Alexis smiled, defeated “I love you too”

He leaned in and kissed her goodbye

With the close of the elevator they were gone

Ric closed the door behind them

Alexis was now standing in the middle of the room looking around

“What?” Ric questioned

“Quiet… and everything’s still”

Ric laughed

“It will be ok I promise. It’s a good thing to be quiet and still for at least the next two days”

“Two days is a long time for quiet and still”

Alexis suddenly felt a lump in her throat, nervousness

Kristina and Chloe were a good distraction, they occupied time

Now it was just the two of them together and everything was quiet and still

“Um you know I have a lot of work to catch up on. I’ve missed a couple of meetings and I…”

“Alexis”

Work had always been her avoidance tactic… why wasn’t it working now?

“Alexis, no work”

“No?”

“No, none”

“Then what am I suppose to do?”

“You can do other things beside work”

“Like? If I’m not working I’m with the girls…”

“Exactly”

“So I’m going to work while the girls aren’t here”

“No you can do anything but work since the girls aren’t here”

Alexis rubbed at her eyes confused with the back and forth conversation

“We could go to the movies. We could go dancing. We could go to the park and sit under the tress and stare at the clouds…”

“Honey?” Alexis questioned, raising her brow

Ric laughed

“Ok maybe not staring at the clouds but even if you wanna stay here we could rent a movie, order in…”

Alexis opened her mouth to say something…

Nothing but thin air

Ric studied her face

It was a look he had come to recognize

A look in her eyes that she was trying to take away the cloudiness that was making her vision unclear

“Alexis?”

She went to the couch making a slight breathy laugh as she sat down folding her legs under her

He was talking about movies and dancing and the park…

There she was, with him again

Maybe he should go…

Maybe she shouldn’t be so self-destructive…

Maybe she should make him go before it becomes destructive again

“Hey…” Ric said trying to get her attention as he sat down beside her

Alexis smiled half heartedly

“What is it?” He questioned ready for disappointment

“I, I maybe I should spend the weekend alone”

Self-destructive… destructive

“Alexis I thought… I mean I thought everything was fine, that I would keep you company. I didn’t mean to…”

“Ric”

She was biting her bottom lip

“Alexis…”

She reached up placing her finger at his lips

He let her glad his lips were touching her skin

“I have this bad habit…”

“Please Alexis don’t, just let me…”

“It’s so easy to fall… it’s so easy to slip right back in to where my heart thinks it belongs”

“Maybe your heart is right…”

Alexis shook her head “Something keeps convincing me it’s not”

“Me?” Ric questioned blatantly

“You said yourself a year ago we would always be detrimental to each other. That we would always come back to the same moot point…”

“Alexis we’re past that”

“We’re past the subject but we’re not past all the pain it caused, I’m not past it. It made you say you wanted to divorce me. It made you cheat on me…”

“I’ve begged for your forgiveness! And I’ll continue to beg for your forgiveness for as long as I live”

“Ric it’s all water under the bridge… but instead of crossing the bridge I’m in the water treading for dear life. And if I just let you back in, the water gets deeper. Ending up in the hospital the other day was just an example of me no longer being able to tread the water but rather drowning despite both of our efforts!”

“It’s me, it is me” he said running his hands through his hair “I’m hurting my wife. The one person that I don’t want to more than anything…”

“That’s how you feel today but it wasn’t how you felt a couple a weeks ago…”

“Alexis. I thought I had it all figured out. I thought if I just pushed you away, you could have the great life you deserve. I want you to have love, be in love, and I thought if I walked away, if I could walk away… But I’m in love with you. And it’s hurts too much to let go, and not fight for you. I try and do the right things but then I see you, I see Chloe and Kristina… It just reminds me how much I love you”

“But we go through this every time. I forgive you, you forgive me. We end up in bed together…”

“It’s not about sex”

“No it’s about us. I know now it’s about good ol’ destructive us. This is our pattern! Nothing has changed in the past year…”

“Yes it has!” Ric blurted

Alexis stood staring

Ric tugged at his face, gathering his thoughts

“What?” she finally questioned “What could have possibly changed? What’s different than the last time?”

Ric shook his head “Let’s just say I got a swift kick in the head the other day”

“Me ending up in the hospital won’t change us…” she protested “If anything it should change me, the way I do things”

“Knowing you were there partly because of me was a horrible realization. But something else gave me the swift kick I needed”

“And that was?”

“Jax”

“Jax?” Alexis questioned almost worried now what exactly a “swift kick” meant

“He said, ‘love you or leave you the hell alone’”

Alexis breathed in

She didn’t breathe out

“I’ve played those words in my head over and over for the last couple of days… and not to mention replaying everything that’s happened in our lives together. How could I do all the things I’ve done to you? You love me. You fell in love with me and despite my past agenda you still found a way to truly love me and I in return continued to try and break you though I know I love you more than anything. What kind of sick bastard am I?”

“I’ve asked myself that few times” Alexis quipped

“Alexis I know this now. Please give me the chance to build back what I’ve torn down. Let me build the bridge Alexis so neither of us has to continue treading and fearing that we may drown”

“I’m supposed to give you another chance just like that?”

“No, you’re not. I don’t deserve that. But I am asking you to, in time let me prove it. Let me show you how much I love you. How much I love our daughters”

Uncontrollable tears fell down her face, despite her relentless pursuit to stop them

Ric caught one before it had a chance to fall from her face

Her cheek fell in to the palm of his hand

He went to pull her close

She pushed away

“I’m tired! I’m tired of having to build myself back up because of you. I’m tired of having to make myself seem strong because ‘I’m Alexis Davis. I can handle anything! Even her husband being a bastard and stringing her along…!”

“I’m so sorry!”

“I’m a fool for believing this. I’m a fool for letting you do this to me again”

“I won’t… I know I can’t screw this up. I know you won’t forgive me again. And I know that sooner more than later Kristina and Chloe won’t forgive me for doing this to you once again. I’m taking what Jax said to heart! If I can’t love you like I should then I will, I will go away. I’ll leave you alone; let you have a life without me!”

Alexis pressed the palms of her hands in to her burning eyes

Ric then pulled at her arms pulling her hands from her eyes

“Just let me…”

Before she could finish his sentence Alexis leaned in to him and he quickly wrapped his arms around her to console her

Neither said a word after that

They had said enough, stated their peace

She stayed the rest of the afternoon in his arms despite every protest her brain could muster, her heart wanted to be right there

Ric’s fingers played at the ends if her hair, wrapping strands loosely around his finger and then letting go

She fell asleep

She had curled her body in to his and fell asleep

++++++++++++

For the first time in Ric’s life he truly felt he didn’t have an underlying agenda. He wasn’t lying or scheming, not to his wife, not to his brother…

If there was such a thing as mercy

If there was such a thing as confession and forgiveness

It would be all he could hope for now

There she was lying in his arms

Where she belonged

She was content

She wasn’t unhappy

Or fighting

Or “treading water”

Ric wanted to hold her tighter

He wanted to comfort her, remind her

He wanted to remind her of the good they made between them… Chloe

Their beautiful baby girl

She had Alexis’ eyes and her long, thin fingers and toes

She was a happy baby

Healthy

Born with rosy cheeks and to this day barely a hair on her head

How could he take all of this away from himself?

How could he do that to the woman lying in his arms?

The sun quickly disappeared

Alexis awoke realizing where she was

She looked up at Ric

“What time is it?”

“Almost 6:30” he said glancing at his watch

“I slept the whole afternoon…”

“You needed the rest”

“I guess I did”

Alexis sat up

“You, you didn’t have to stay. I mean if I fell asleep…”

“I’m glad you got some much needed rest” he said ignoring her protest “Hungry?”

Alexis shook her head “Yeah… I am actually”

“How about I go and get us something?”

“You don’t have to…”

“Are you cooking?”

“I’ve been craving Italian?” Alexis said taking her reprieve and the offer for take out

“Your usual?” Ric grinned

Her usual

It was good to have someone who knew her usual

Alexis shook her head

“And get that desert, the one with the raspberries and chocolate!”

Ric laughed

“I thought you were going to be turn in to raspberries and chocolate as much as you ate that while you were pregnant!”

“You daughter turned out fine!” Alexis quipped back

Ric laughed again

“Ok I’ll be back …” He said slipping on his jacket

“I think I’m going to take a shower while you’re gone… haven’t had a long one in a while…” she said following him to the door “Ric…”

“Yeah?” He said

His eyes hopeful

“Thank you”

He smiled “You’re welcome”

Pressed against the back of the door, she once again had her lip tucked between her teeth as she let out a deep breath

Maybe, the breath she had been holding for hours

+++++++++

She stood in the shower for what felt like forever, letting the warm water run down her skin

She had forgotten what it felt like to just stand there in silence, to hear nothing but water hitting her skin, hitting the tile below her

She stepped out sliding on her bathrobe, the white terrycloth one Ric had bought her when they were Christmas shopping for the girls that past Christmas… It felt like heaven, soft against her skin

Alexis stood at the bathroom mirror combing through her hair, trying desperately not to be defeated by her own curls. The ones she liked to keep so neatly tucked away

She heard a knock at the door she assumed was Ric

“You didn’t forget the desert…” She said swinging open the door

Her eyes widened

“Hi”

“Hi” She said surprised

The grin on his Peter’s face was irreplaceable at the sight of her

The sight of the revelation of her, of her wavy hair, the contrast of her tan skin against her robe

“I’m sorry it seems I’ve forgotten desert, but if I had known…” Pert said charmingly

“Um… Ric, he went to get dinner and I thought…”

Peter looked a bit disappointed at the sound of Ric’s name

“And he was supposed to get desert too?”

“Yeah, he was…” Alexis let a pause fill the room “I’m sorry come in” She said stepping out of the door way

Peter made his way inside looking around her apartment as Alexis realized she had nothing on underneath her robe

She pulled her robe closer to her body

“This is a great apartment”

“Thank you”

“I know you hate to give it up”

“Yeah… I do” she said not remembering she told him she was looking to move

“Actually I wanted to tell you I saw a great house this morning on Grand View I think it was... I mean I’m not sure exactly what size house you’re looking for but you should take a look at it…”

Alexis shook her head

She had obviously mentioned she was looking for a house

“Yeah I will…” She smiled. That was thoughtful of him “Would you like to sit?”

“Uh no I’ve obviously caught you at a bad time. I mean, Ric will be back soon I guess and well I, just…” Peter stuffed his hands in his pocket nervously

“Peter?” She said seeing him suddenly get flustered

“Yeah?”

When he looked up at her he had the most innocent face. A face of a teenage boy trying desperately to talk to a girl

She laughed out loud, tickled “I didn’t know you made house calls”

“Uh yeah, I guess I do for certain patients of mine… I wanted to see how you were. Make sure you were… ok”

“I’m ok. Really I am. Jax and Courtney took the girls for the weekend and I actually fell asleep and slept most of the afternoon” She said making a guilty face

“Good. I know you needed the rest”

That was just what Ric said

“Yeah I did and I feel much better!”

“Well I won’t keep you. You look like you were in the middle of something…”

Alexis looked down at herself as she caught Peter scanning the length of her. She realized her quickly forgotten bathrobe

“I took a long shower”

“You probably really deserved a long shower too”

Alexis smiled

“I had forgotten what it was like to not have to rush around…”

“Well I’m glad to see you’re following doctor’s orders!” He grinned

The turn of the door knob stopped their conversation

“Sorry it took me so long it seems everyone… Dr. Martin?” Ric said looking up to see him standing there

Suddenly Alexis felt awkward

Why should she? Peter just came to check on her

“I was just um…”

“Peter came by to check on me” Alexis said jumping in

“Oh” Ric said a bit confused

“Yeah and I’m glad you’re doing so well…” Peter said then looking back to Ric “I see that you’re taking good care of her”

“For what she’ll let me” Ric said jokingly trying to ease the odd amount of tension that seemed to me looming around the room

“Well I should go, let you two get to your dinner”

Peter made a quick bolt to the door

“Thanks for checking on me” Alexis said giving Peter a shy grin

There was something incredibly sweet about his efforts though she knew whatever his plans were she and or Ric and squashed them

“Yeah… I hope you two have a great evening. Enjoy your weekend”

“You too” Ric said speaking up

Ric waited until Alexis closed the door and Peter was for sure at a safe distance behind it

“Did you know him before?” Ric asked confused “I mean isn’t he new at General Hospital…”

He was trying to make sense of why this man chose to come ‘to check on’ Alexis

“Yeah, I mean sort of. He’s an old friend of Jax’s and we met at the Metro Court about two hours before I had my little moment” Alexis said wide eyed “It turned out it was some kind of fate to meet him because I obviously needed a cardiologist the other day…” She said now rolling her eyes

Ric furrowed his brow

“What?”

“Nothing”

Nothing…nothing?

The good doctor was hitting on his wife. It was blatantly obvious. He had come by to check on her… and Ric’s response was nothing?

“Ok then…” Alexis said studying his face “Can we eat now?”

“Oh yeah”

“Did you forget the desert?”

“Have I ever?”

Alexis grinned

Ric had succeeded; he had managed to not be what stressed her out, what caused her heartache and pain the whole day

Only the rest of their lives to go…

Ric poured Alexis a glass of wine and they settled in to common everyday husband and wife conversation

Conversation that made them seem relaxed and comfortable with each other

Conversation that flowed, that caused laughter…

Ric had, had time to think. Time to convince himself that he was man enough to admit all the pain he had caused her. Ric vowed he would mend what he had broken…

He would win her heart again… the only flaw in the plan suddenly seemed to be the man that by “some kind of fate” had come in to their lives... where had Dr. Peter Martin come from?