Letters to Muffin (Part 7)

Part 7:

Robert made himself comfortable at the desk in Robin and Patrick’s study. He figured it would be a relatively safe place to sit down and contemplate what he wanted to say to his granddaughter. He was still in shock that he was going to be a grandfather. He’d wanted this for Robin for so long, but was afraid when he’d learned that she had HIV that she wouldn’t get this. She wouldn’t get the happy ending that every parent wants their child to have…..but as always his Robin was a fighter. And she’d proved him wrong. She had everything she wanted. She had a baby on the way, a fiancé that loved her, and the biggest support system of anyone he’d ever met. He knew that no matter what the future held his child, and his grandchild would be cared for. Even if he couldn’t be there to take care of them.

Sighing he picked up the pen and opened the book to the next blank page.

My littlest luv,

Hello little Emma Grace, I’m your grandpa Robert. I’m honored that your mother and father asked me to be a part of this book they are making for you. Honestly I’m glad that I am here and able to do this. You see very recently I was diagnosed with colon cancer, and I had to go away for treatment, but my cancer is in remission so I can be back here with my family while we wait for your arrival and the day your parents get married. For a while there I wasn’t sure I’d be here, but I am and I have to tell you that one of the things that convinced me to fight was you. You see granddaughter I knew that I couldn’t go yet….I wasn’t done here. I hadn’t staid alive this long only to end up missing out on the greatest gift that God was giving my family……you.



You are the one thing that I never thought that my daughter would get to have. But now you are almost here, and she’s about to get married to the man that she loves….and that my darling granddaughter is the only thing that I’ve ever wanted for your mother. Happiness. She deserves it. God knows that your grandmother and I put her through enough…it is about time that she gets what she wants…she gets to be happy and in love with a family of her own.

Ever since I learned about this little book your parents were putting together form your grandmother, I have been trying to figure out what to talk to you about. I could talk about what a strong, courageous woman I think your mother is, but I’m sure that every other person has already done that. So I finally decided to tell you about something that is very special to me…..I’m going to tell you how I met your mother, and a few things that happened later.

You see I’ve loved your grandmother for so long I can’t remember a time I didn’t. She was/is my soul mate. The woman I am meant to spend my life with. Anyways, because of our jobs things between us didn’t work out….but the one thing that did was Robin. She was our love child, only I didn’t know about her for the first seven years of her life. She lived with Philomena, her grandmother, and at the time she didn’t even know that Anna was her mother, she thought she was just her friend Luv. Well one day I came home to find this adorable little girl standing in my living room. To say I was shocked would be an understatement….ask your father to explain that big word to you…..but there she was wearing an adorable blue dress and holding her doll Cindy.

I don’t think that I’ve ever seen such a beautiful creature before. Well besides your grandmother, you would have thought that I would have realized right away who she was, but I didn’t. So I asked her who she was, and she turned to me and said that she was Robin. I swear I fell in love with her that very moment. Of course I’d really never been around children at that point so I didn’t know what to do with her. It was a bit awkward between us at first, me not being used to children, and her not knowing me. Eventually we seemed to warm up to each other and I decided to feed her. I remember making her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sat with her while she ate it.

Shortly after your grandmother showed up. I watched as your mother and grandmother interacted and thought it was odd that Robin called her Luv instead of Anna or even mom at that point. I think I was slowly putting it together that Anna was Robin’s mother, but I didn’t say anything. You see I wanted to let your grandmother tell me what she knew about Robin. Later after your mother went to bed your grandmother admitted that Robin was her daughter. It was due to Anna’s job that she had kept Robin from knowing she was her mother. It was also shortly after that I found out that I was Robin’s father.
By this time your grandmother and I had been apart for a while, seven years to be exact. I had no idea that your grandmother had even been pregnant. I was shocked when I found out Robin was my daughter….it didn’t seem to fit into my lifestyle for many reason, the biggest being the dangerous job that I had, like your grandmother. But there was this big part of me that was so excited to know that I had fathered a child with the woman I was in love with. You see even at that time I loved your grandmother.

One day, when Robin was still young, your grandmother and I sat her down and told her that we were her parents. We told her that she had been created out of love, and that she was our love child. We told her she was very lucky to have been born out of the love that Anna and I had for each other, even if we couldn’t be together. I remember on that same day that Robin asked us to promise to love her forever, and it was easy to say that we would. In fact every time I look at your mother I still remember that little girl standing in the middle of my living room. The innocent way she smiled at me and told me her name.

Things between your mother and I haven’t always been good. You see when she was thirteen years old your grandmother and I were involved in a boat explosion. Your grandmother got amnesia and later reconciled with your mother, but to keep your mother safe, I let her believe that I was still dead. It was wrong of me, I know that, but I just wanted to protect your mother, and luckily through some work on both our parts she forgave me.

But I will tell you my little luv that I did what I thought was best. I will always stand by that belief……and I did do one thing right with your mother, I gave her the best father anyone could have….Mac. He took great care of your mother, as if she was his own kid, and I’ll always be grateful to my baby brother for the way he raised your mother. He taught her to be independent, self sufficient, and to excel at all he did. She’s grown into a mini version of her mother, and I know that you will be a mini version of your mother; it’s the Devane blood in both of you. It will also mean that you will be a control freak and stubborn….but the one thing I definitely know is that you will be a smart little girl, it will be hard not to be with two doctors for parents.

But whatever you grow up to become, a cop like Mac, into fashion like Maxie, have a lust for learning like Georgie, a super spy like your grandmother and I, or a doctor like your parents, I know that you will make the most of it. That is what this family will teach you. Your mother and I will teach you that life is a gift and not to take a moment of it for granted, and your father will teach you how to learn to open your heart. He fought against it from what I’m told, but with the way he loves your mother, the way I see that he loves your mother, that is one gift I hope that you receive from him.

There is one more thing that I need to tell you Emma Grace before I end this letter, and it’s important so pay attention.

You are the greatest gift that this family has gotten in a long time. You are the one thing that your mother wanted and was afraid to have. You are her miracle. The one thing that proves to her that no matter HIV or not, she can have just as normal of a life as anyone else. You will be the reminder that your mother succeeded in living a full, happy life. I know that every time she looks at you she will remember that she got to have the life she thought died with her first love, and shattered with the end of her second.

You are the greatest gift that your father could ever have given your mother, besides his love. You are the culmination of their love, the creation that their endless bond made.

Learn from your parents Emma Grace, learn how to survive, how to get past the prejudices, the pain and learn what real and everlasting love is. Because my sweet baby the love your parents have is a love that only comes around once in a lifetime and last forever. It’s what fairy tales are based on and my greatest wish for you is that one day you will have a love like theirs.

That my little luv is the only thing I can wish for you. A life full of love and happiness.

I love you,

Grandpa Robert

Closing the book Robert wiped the lone tear that fell down his cheek and smiled. As he was writing the letter he realized how truly blessed he was to have beaten cancer, to be here to see his grandchild born, to be there when his daughter gets married….to be with his one true love again. But most of all to be surrounded by the love that flowed through the Scorpio/Drake family. That he knew was the greatest gift he’d been given. The chance to be there for the important things that he’d missed as Robin grew up, he was going to see the milestones she set as an adult. Sighing contentedly he stood up with the book in his hand and made his way into the living room to see his soon to be son-in-law sitting on the couch watching tv.

“Here.” Robert said handing him the book.

“Thanks.” Patrick said taking it and placing it on the couch next to him. “Thank you for doing this for us.”

“There is absolutely no thanks needed.” Robert told him. “It is an honor that I get to be here for this, that I get to be apart of all of this. There was a long time there, even before the cancer, that I wasn’t sure I would get to be.”

“Robin loves you Robert.” Patrick said. “She wouldn’t have kept you away from your granddaughter.”

“I like to think you are right, but I’m more thankful I’ll never have to wonder about that.” He said settling himself in a chair next to the couch.

“Me too.” Patrick said with a smile.

“So who’s next on Robin’s list?” Robert asked.

“Me.” Patrick said. “I’m the last one to write in the book. Robin started it and I’m finishing it.”

“Good, that is the way it should be.” Robert said as he turned his attention back to the television.

“Yeah.” Patrick agreed before letting himself get lost in the hockey game he was watching.

TBC…………..Up Next Patrick