Hope

He was nervous….not once in his entire 30 years had he ever been nervous about going out on a date. But tonight he was. Tonight was their first date and he wanted everything to be perfect. He’d picked out the perfect outfit, of jeans and a black polo shirt, taken his normal 20 minutes to get his hair just right and now that he was satisfied that everything was perfect he grabbed his keys, wallet, cell phone and bouquet of flowers and walked out the door. He got into his car, placed the flowers on the passenger seat gently and within moments was driving towards her house. The entire way over he tried to keep his nerves from overtaking him. He shook his head still in disbelief at how nervous he was about this date. He knew it was because he just wanted everything to be perfect for them. He wanted it to be something that they would remember for a long time to come.

Taking a deep breath he pulled the car into the driveway and shut off the engine. He placed his forehead on the steering wheel as he once gain tried to calm himself before he got out of the car. He picked up the bouquet, pulled the key out of the ignition and unfolded himself out of the car. He shut the door behind him and strode towards the front door of the house with a smile on his face. He stopped and rang the doorbell and held his breath hoping that she would really be on the other side. It only took a few moments for the door to open and as he saw her beautiful smiling face he released the breath he was holding and returned her smile.

“Hi.” She said softly.

“Hi yourself.” He said still holding the flowers. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself. Would you like to come inside?”

“I would love to.” He said walking in after she moved away from the door to let him. “These are for you.”

“Thank you.” She said taking the flowers from him. “They are beautiful. I’ll just go put these in water and grab my jacket. I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Take your time.” He said leaning against the back of the couch. “We have plenty of time.” He told her as he watched her walk towards the kitchen. He couldn’t help but smile at her as he watched her walk. It hadn’t taken him long to start to notice the subtle differences that were starting to show in her body. At five months pregnant her small baby bump was becoming more and more visible under her clothes and the shirt she was wearing tonight definitely did not hide the fact that she was expecting.

“Ready.” She said coming back into the living room. “Care to tell me where we are going?”

“Nope.” He said with a playful smile as he reached for her hand, interlacing their fingers together as they walked towards the front door. He let go long enough to open the door and usher her out of the house. He then took her hand again as he walked them to the car, again only letting go after she was securely inside. He was thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was once again able to touch her without her cringing away from him. It had taken a month and a half to get to the point that they could speak without yelling at each other and another month before she let him close enough to touch her again….and now after five months of not really being together they were going on their first date as boyfriend/girlfriend. Well not their real first date, that date was two years ago, but their first date at the beginning of their new relationship. The relationship that they both agreed needed to start from square one in order to erase past mistakes and move forward, with the hopes of getting to the place where they wouldn’t repeat their mistakes from the past.

“No clues?” She asked turning towards him in the car.

“There is food and entertainment involved.” He told her as he pulled out onto the main street. “Now stop being so impatient and enjoy spending this time with me.” He said reaching across the gearshift and taking her hand in his. “That is what I am going to.” He said before bringing their joined hands up so he could kiss the back of their hand. While they hadn’t been intimate with each other since the night of her cousin’s funeral, for fear of falling back into old patterns, they had done their fair share of making out over the past month. In fact almost every time he saw her he couldn’t stop himself from having to kiss her….he’d missed the taste of her lips over the months they were apart. Hell if he was honest with himself he’d missed everything about her, the feel of her skin next to his, the way she slept tucked up next to him at night with her head resting over his heart, or the way they could just lie with each other on the couch and watch tv with no words passing between them. And now that he was getting another chance with her he wasn’t going to screw it up.

“Kelly’s?” She said with a giggle as they pulled into the familiar parking lot.

“This would be the food part.” He said with a dimpled smile. “You sit tight I will be right back.” He said before leaning over and giving her a quick kiss.

She laughed as she watched him jump out of the car and make his way to the front of Kelly’s and disappear inside. She shook her head as she placed her hand on her baby bump. She couldn’t believe how far they had come in the past couple of months. They had gone from not snarking at each other to him being happy about her being pregnant, to roses on Valentine’s Day to him taking care of her when she passed out in the ER. From there things went downhill for a while, but one day with one look that passed between them, things started to look up and now they were happy and working on a new beginning. She watched him saunter back towards the car with food in hand and it took everything inside her not to shout out that she loved him. But she bit her lip and wouldn’t allow herself. She wasn’t sure why but since they had gotten back together neither had said it. Not that the looks they gave each other or the way they were with each other didn’t show each other that, they just hadn’t said the words again….no matter how many times she’d wanted to, she was afraid that it was too soon in their still fragile relationship for it. So she kept her mouth shut and enjoyed the peace that was between them.

She enjoyed being able to fall asleep in his arms again as they watched tv, and the late night phone calls when they couldn’t see each other. They had fallen back into a beautiful routine and moved passed the reasons that they broke up in the first place. They had hashed out his reaction to her sperm donor list and her reaction to his moving on with the nurse. But after all this time none of that mattered anymore….all that mattered was them and the baby she carried.

“Mmmmm that smells good. Can I eat now?” She asked as he put the food into the back seat.

“No.” He said with a laugh. “You will wait till we can eat together.”

“But the baby is hungry.” She said rubbing her stomach.

“Not nice using the baby like that.” He told her as he started the car again. “I promise you can eat as soon as we get to our next part of the date.”

“Fine.” She said pouting as she folded her arms across her chest as he drove.

“God you are sexy when you pout.”

“Whatever.” She said turning towards the window.

“Baby I promise we will eat soon. We are almost there and trust me you are going to love where I am taking you.” He said touching her cheek softly.

“Ok.” She said melting every time he talked sweetly to her like that, which was becoming more and more often. They sat quietly holding hands as he drove them from Kelly’s to the Port Charles park. When they arrived he parked the car in as close of a spot as he could, so that she wouldn’t get tired out walking, then after getting out of the car he got her out, and then went back for the blanket and food. Taking her hand in his he led her from the car into the first open spot they found near a tree. He let go of her hand and placed the blanket on the ground before settling himself down with his back against the tree. He then helped settle her in front of him with her back against his chest. Once settled he told her that they could eat as soon as the movie started.

“What movie?” She asked him turning her head to look at him.

“Beauty and the Beast.” He told her as he placed his hands on her stomach.

“You brought me to a Disney movie four our first date?”

“Yes.” He told her. “I thought it would be safe.”

“Safe how?”

“Well we can’t have our little girl hearing swear words so it’s Disney movies from here on out.” He said with a signature dimpled grin. “So get used it missy.”

“I love you so much Patrick.” She said unable to hold it in any longer. Especially after hearing him talking about their daughter. She’d finally told him that the baby was his and after his initial anger at her lying to him about it, he’d actually become excited at the prospect that she was having their baby….and even more excited when he found out it was a little girl. Because now no matter what happened he’d always have a mini Robin there to remind him of his love.

“I love you more.” He said as he leaned down and captured her mouth in a sweet kiss. They were so caught up in each other they had actually missed the movie starting