~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ric welcomed the burning sensation in his legs as he ran his final lap around the park. Anything to keep his mind off of Alexis. He slowed down his pace before coming to a complete stop, bending over to catch his breath. It had been three days since Jax's wedding but he could still picture her perfectly. He could still see her smile. He could still smell her scent. He could still feel her in his arms. He shuddered slightly.

He needed a cold shower.

As he made his way through the park to the Metro Court, the object of his desire appeared before him.

"Hi," he smiled as they crossed paths.

Alexis couldn't help but smile in return. "Hi. Out for a morning jog?"

"Yeah, I have plenty of time on my hands nowadays."

She nodded slightly, her hand rubbing her stomach. She knew that they needed to talk, but she wasn't prepared to see him this morning. Her gaze traveled up and down his body, the t-shirt he wore clinging to him with sweat. She licked her lips quickly and her gaze went back to his face. She wasn't prepared at all. It would have to wait for another day. "Well, I should be going."

She stepped forward to the side as Ric stepped to his right trying to let her pass, but they bumped into one another in the process. Ric grabbed hold of her upper arms gently and didn't let go.

Her eyes danced across his face landing on the large cut on his bottom lip. Ric had been walking around bruised for the past three weeks and for the first time she had a small inkling of sympathy for him. "Someone else hit you?" she asked.

He smiled gently, his tongue probing his injured lip. "Yeah. It was Ned's turn."

"Hmm." She couldn't pull her gaze away from his mouth and her hand traveled up to his face, her thumb tracing his bottom lip. Ric sucked in a breath at her intimate touch and didn't dare to let it go. "It looks like it hurts," she murmured.

"Not anymore," he finally whispered in reply.

Her eyes flashed to his once again and she suddenly realized what she was doing. She quickly pulled her hand away and tried to step back, but Ric was still holding onto her arms.

"You deserved it," she finally told him.

"You'll get no arguments from me."

"I--I really should be going."

"What if I don't want to let you go?" he asked her softly.

An eyebrow went up at his remark. "You don't have a choice," she told him pointedly and shrugged herself out of his grasp taking a few steps back.

Ric's arms fell to his side. "Alexis, I know you're furious with me right now and I more than deserve it, but I want us to move on with our lives - together."

She rolled her eyes in response and turned on her heel beginning to walk away in the same direction she came from. Ric quickly ran and blocked her path, his confidence beginning to surface.

"You can't run from me for forever," he told her boldly.

"Wanna bet?"

He frowned slightly. "Tell me what I have to do, Alexis, and I'll do it. If you want to hit me--"

He didn't need to finish his sentence as Alexis pulled back and clocked him right in the eye.

"Aw God!" he shouted. He covered his right eye in pain. "Oh my God, that hurt!"

"Good," she told him.

"Damn," he continued to curse. He put his hand down, but kept his eye closed. He was going to have a black eye in the matter of hours. "You punch harder than Jax, Ned, and Nikolas!"

She smiled at him. "Thanks, I've been practicing."

"Do you feel better?"

"Just a little," she shrugged. "Can I hit you again?"

He quickly shook his head no. "Let's wait until my eye heals and then you can have another go."

"I don't want to wait," she told him and dug the heel of her Jimmy Choo sandal into his foot.

"Gah!" he grasped his foot in pain and hobbled back as he lost his balance and landed on his ass.

"There. Now I feel better," she told him.

Ric looked up at Alexis in complete disbelief. His wife had just beaten him up.

She looked down at him with a smile. "Are you alright?"

"No."

"Good." She began to walk away and he quickly got to his feet to hobble after her.

"Alexis, wait!" She didn't stop. "Alexis, please!"

"What, Ric?" she finally asked, turning around to face him. "What could you possibly want to say to me now?"

Ric limped his way toward her and grabbed her by the shoulders as he kissed her hungrily. She kissed him back, just for a moment, before puling away from him.

"What the hell?" she asked him angrily, once again shrugging out of his grasp.

"I love you," he told her quietly. "I love you and I miss you. I just want you to know that."

Her mouth opened to respond, but it closed once again. "Ric," she began after a moment. She stopped again, a smile brightening her face.

"Alexis?" She grabbed his hand and placed it to the side of her stomach. "What? What's wrong?" he asked her concerned. She didn't say anything and Ric watched her worriedly. "Alexis?"

"Shut up, already," she told him with a small laugh.

A few seconds later, he felt it. A light fluttering beneath his palm. He quickly pulled his hand away in surprise. "Was that?"

"That was your son or daughter saying 'hi'," she told him with a smile.

His eyes darted to her face, down to her stomach, and back to her again. "Can I?" he asked her motioning to her stomach.

She nodded quickly and he placed his hand over her stomach as he quickly licked his lips. Again he felt the light flutter. He crouched down and pressed his ear to Alexis's stomach as if trying to hear the baby himself. Her eyes widened at his move, but she didn't pull away. What she did, however, was want to run her hands through his dark locks.

"Hey, little one," he spoke to her stomach. "I feel you kicking in there." He rubbed his hand over her stomach lovingly. "I love you," his voice cracked.

Alexis quickly wiped away a tear before he could see it. He pressed a kiss to her stomach and stood again his eyes downcast to the ground.

"Sorry," he told her after a moment. "I know that--"

"It's ok," she interrupted with a sad smile as her hand rubbed the spot he had just kissed.

He nodded silently as he looked above at the sky. "I hate this, Alexis. I hate this so much." His eyes darted to her once again. "I love you," he whispered.

"I-I love you, too," she told him in the same tone.

His eyes stung at her confession. It was the first time she had told him that since this mess had begun. "I know you still need time. You can't trust me with your heart yet, but I want you to know that I'll wait for as long as I have too, Alexis. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not giving up on us."

She cupped his face and kissed him softly on his lips. "I know," she whispered against his mouth. "But not yet." She pulled away and his eyes fell downcast again. "I have to go," she told him quietly.

"Can I walk you to your car?"

"No, that's ok, but thank you."

"Ok . . . I'll see you soon."

She nodded her assurance and he began to walk away with a slight limp. She couldn't let him go this time. They needed to settle this once and for all. "Ric," she called after him. He turned back to face her, his eyes wide. She chewed on her bottom lip in contemplation. "Why don't you call me tomorrow? Maybe we can take Kristina to lunch."

His eyes brightened and the smile on his face could light up a room. "I'd love to take my girls out to lunch."

"I'll hear from you tomorrow then?"

"Count on it." He gazed at her for another moment before walking away. He could finally see a glimmer of light out of the dank dark tunnel he was in.

Alexis couldn't help but smile as well. She walked over to one of the benches and sat down continuing to rub her stomach. "Well my sweet baby, maybe me and your daddy can work things out after all." Again the light flutter could be felt. "I see that makes you happy, hmm?" she laughed lightly at herself. For the first time in weeks, she felt hope. For the first time in weeks she felt that whatever issues they had between them, they could work out over time.

Alexis rose from the bench and felt a slight pressure in her chest. She winced in pain and rubbed the spot over her heart. And as quickly as the pain came, it was gone. Monica had warned her about the palpitations and this wasn't the first time she had felt it. She bit her bottom lip and began to walk to her car.

It was just the heart murmur she reasoned.

It was no big deal.

She was fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ric rearranged the table toppings and silverware at his table nervously for the tenth time. He glanced at his watch and then to the clock behind him. 12:55 pm. Four days. Four days he had been waiting for this day and moment to arrive and the butterflies in his stomach were making themselves known. He felt like he was in high school again. He shifted the salt and pepper shakers again and glanced at his watch once more. Mike watched him amused from behind the counter before going over to him.

"Big date?" Mike chuckled.

Ric grinned up at him. "With the two most beautiful ladies in town."

And as if on cue, Alexis and Kristina walked into Kelly's chatting away happily. Mike made his way into the kitchen as Ric rose from his seat, the smile on his face widening even more. As soon as Kristina saw him, she let go of her mother's hand and ran in his direction.

"Wic Daddy!" she squealed happily.

Ric scooped her up in his arms and squeezed her tightly pressing a kiss to her head as his eyes went to Alexis. She was smiling happily at the reunion and bit her bottom lip to keep her tears away.

"Hi," he mouthed to Alexis.

"Hi," she smiled in return.

"Hello, sweets," he murmured into Kristina's hair, the smell of baby shampoo filling his senses. "I missed you so much." His eyes went back to Alexis. "I miss all of you."

Alexis cleared her throat and shifted on her feet. This was her idea she told herself. She knew that they needed to clear the air on the mess that their marriage had become, but it was still slightly uncomfortable. They couldn't just bypass this and wait for the next disaster to strike them. Regardless of what had happened, she still wanted Ric in her life and in her children's lives. And in order for that to happen, they needed to talk. And more importantly they needed to listen.

Ric's eyes remained on Alexis even as Kristina still clung to him. "Well let's sit down and have some lunch, huh?"

"Good idea," Alexis agreed.

He sat Kristina down on one of the chairs and pulled out the other one for Alexis. "You look beautiful, Alexis," he told her, his eyes traveling down her body.

"Thank you."

Ric's smile continued to remain on his face as he sat down with his two girls. This is what he so desperately wanted for so long now. Just a chance to sit down and try to talk things out and he had a feeling that that's what Alexis wanted as well. He sent another silent prayer asking that this turn out well.

Kristina finally noticed the large bruise around Ric's eye. "Gots owie?" she asked him with a frown.

"Yeah," his told her, his smile not wavering. "But I'm ok."

She tilted her head to the side and watched him carefully. He reminded her of Alexis at that moment. "No hurts?"

"No, sweets, not anymore."

His gaze flickered to Alexis and she simply smiled at him. She had hit him hard enough to cause the bruise to form, but not enough to cause his eye to swell shut.

"Thank you," he told her softly.

An eyebrow went up curiously. "For what?"

"This. For letting me spend time with both of you. I miss this."

"I know . . . I do too."

They ordered their lunch and began to eat talking about every little day things and Kristina's mini-adventures. The tension between them was still there, but not as heavy as it had been. Kristina didn't seem to notice, happily munching on her french fries with her Mama and Wic Daddy.

Alexis looked at Ric as she bit her bottom lip in contemplation. "I think it's time for us to talk," she began quietly, her gaze flickering to Kristina and back to him. "About everything."

He nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah."

"Viola's going to be by later to pick up Kristina, but if you have something else--"

"No," he interrupted. "Nothing's more important than this."

She smiled briefly. "Good."

Ric smiled back at Alexis, happy that he would spend more time with her that day. Granted they would be discussing not so pleasant issues, but it didn't matter. Time with her was time cherished. His eyes fell to Kristina and he smiled lovingly at her.

"She's gotten bigger," he noted.

"Yeah, she's been growing like a weed," she laughed softly.

Ric ran a hand down Kristina's curls and she smiled at him prettily, a french fry clasped in her small hand.

"Wic Daddy happy?"

His eyes went to Alexis and he smiled faintly. "Yeah, sweets, I'm happy."

Kristina nodded her approval and Alexis bit her lip as she took in her small family. She was happy too she thought to herself. Or at least on her way to being happy.

The family of four continued their lunch and Jax came in a few minutes later, his eyes twinkling in happiness when he saw them seated together.

"Well isn't this a sight for sore eyes!"

He kissed Alexis on her cheek, Kristina on the top of her head and he slapped Ric's shoulder roughly. Ric winced and Alexis bit her lip to keep her laugh at bay.

"The Davis-Lansing family out and about. It's about time," he told them.

"Jax, we're just having lunch," Alexis told him softly.

"For now," he conceded.

He sat in the empty chair in between Alexis and Kristina and winced when he finally saw Ric's black eye.

"Nice shiner," he told Ric with a grin. "Who's that one from?"

"You're sitting next to her," Ric chuckled probing his eye softly.

Jax turned his eyes to Alexis. "Alexis!" he exclaimed proudly.

She smiled at him with a shrug of her shoulders.

"She hits harder than you, Jax," Ric told him with a small laugh.

"That's my girl," he told her kissing her forehand.

"Wic Daddy gots owie," Kristina announced sensing that's what the adults were talking about.

"Yeah, it's a beauty alright," Jax laughed as he rubbed Kristina's small back.

"S'purple."

Jax beamed at Kristina. "You're such a smart girl," he told her and she grinned at him in return. "How about you spend the day with your Uncle Jax?"

Her eyes widened excitedly. "Unca Jax!"

"Oh, no, Jax," Alexis began. "It's bad enough that you postponed your honeymoon, but a newlywed man should not be babysitting a two and half year old."

"Sure he should," he argued. "Besides, I haven't spent enough time with my favorite little girl."

Kristina clapped excitedly. A day with her Uncle Jax meant sugar and toys for sure.

"Jax, no, you need to spend time with your new wife. Not to mention that Viola is going to be picking her up soon."

"I'm not budging on this one, Alexis. You need to spend time with your husband. What time was Viola going to have her home?"

Alexis eyed him warily. "Four."

Jax glanced down at his watch. "2:15. That gives me two hours to spend with my beautiful niece and the two of you to start talking about whatever it is you need to talk about." He glanced back at Kristina with a smile on his face. "How about we go to the zoo, Kristina?"

Her eyes widened excitedly as she nodded her head. "Zoo," she repeated.

Alexis shook her head at Jax in amusement. "You're spoiling her," she grinned.

"All princesses should be spoiled," he laughed. "You ready, Kristina?"

She nodded her head quickly already excited. Jax lifted her out of her seat and swept her up in his arms.

"Say bye to your mum and dad."

She waved at them quickly and Ric rose from his seat to kiss her on her cheek. "Bye, sweets," he told her softly.

"Bye Wic Daddy," she smiled. "Bye Mama."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A short time later, Ric and Alexis sat in the park, the silence hanging over them like a dark cloud. Where to begin? It could take months to hash out their issues, but they needed to begin regardless.

"Alexis, I don't know what else to say about what happened--"

"Stop," she interrupted, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. It still stung. The thought that he spent the night with another woman would always sting. "I think we're pretty much clear on the topic of your night with Agent Marshall."

"I am so sorry," he apologized again. "I regret it more than you know. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat. I . . . I'm so sorry, Alexis."

"I know," she began, her gaze focused on her folded hands resting in her lap. "Believe me everyone has reiterated that you weren't yourself that night and that you were inebriated beyond belief."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really?"

"Well except Ned and Lorenzo."

His eyes narrowed at the name. "Alcazar approached you?"

"Pretty much everyone in town has, Ric," she chuckled off of his look. "You'd think it was a town tragedy the way everyone acted. Even little Jimmy stood up for you."

"Jimmy? The bellhop?" his smile widened.

"He's a good kid."

"Yeah, he is," he murmured softly.

Again the silence hung between them.

"We need to go back to when our problems started," Alexis finally began softly.

"Sonny?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "You told me that you felt that my fighting Sonny was more important than our marriage . . . Is that true?"

Ric watched her pensively. He didn't want to rock the boat unnecessarily especially now that they finally began to reconnect.

Alexis quickly picked up on his distress. "Tell me, Ric. I'll listen to whatever it is you have to say. We need to talk this out."

He nodded quickly, his eyes focused on his feet. "It's true, Alexis. I felt that your priority was to keep Kristina away from him at all costs. I don't think your wanting to put her safety and the safety of our other child as your first priority is wrong - in fact it's one of the reasons why I love you - but this thing with Sonny . . . its never-ending, Alexis. And our marriage . . . our life together as a couple, I want it to be never-ending as well. But it was third or lower on your list of priorities. I couldn't deal with that. I know you love me and I love you, but if our life is going to be built around keeping Sonny away . . . that's not healthy."

She nodded slowly, taking in his comments. "You realize that the reason we married was to keep Kristina away from his life?"

"That's true and it was my idea, but we also agreed to build on something more, Alexis. And we did . . . or began to at least. We fell in love. We created another child. I would say that's more, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. But we still agreed that Sonny's lifestyle was still too dangerous for Kristina, right? I need to know what happened, Ric. What happened between the day we got married and today?"

He stared off straight ahead processing her questions. Did he tell her that his obsession to destroy his brother came to a halt when he realized that Faith was the reason he lost his first child? Would she understand that his break with reality was blamed on Sonny and then to find out that it was unjust he in turn felt he needed to repent? Did he understand it himself?

Alexis nudged him softly with her elbow. "Hey, what are you thinking?"

"I don't know," he lied.

"You're lying to me, Ric," she sighed. "If we want to rebuild what we had we have to be honest with each other . . . I realize that I'm not the most unbiased person when it comes to Sonny, but I want to hear what your reasoning was. Obviously it was enough to change your mind about him. I want to understand where you're coming from."

He nodded slowly. "When Elizabeth miscarried . . . I blamed Sonny. I thought he was the one that pushed her down those stairs. I thought he did it to hurt me . . . so I wanted to hurt him back. I wanted to take what he took from me."

"Carly's baby," she stated softly.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to be miserable. I wanted him to feel what I was feeling. So I kidnapped Carly. I kidnapped her, stuck her in a panic room and was going to wait until she had the baby and then . . ." he trailed off.

Alexis's eyes began to water, but she quickly blinked away her unshed tears. She grabbed his hand instinctively and gave it a squeeze.

"When Faith told me that she was the one that pushed Elizabeth and not Sonny, it felt like I'd been punched in the gut and I realized that everything that I did . . . to Carly . . . to Michael to Sonny, it was all for nothing. All that misery that I caused them for something that he didn't do. And when Michael was declared dead . . ." He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut remembering Carly's tortured screams when she believed Michael to be dead. "All this guilt that I felt. I didn't know what to do with it. I questioned myself what would have happened if I didn't do what I did. Would Michael still be dead? Would you still have gone through that misery of not knowing if Kristina was ok?"

"I never blamed you," she whispered softly.

"I know," he nodded. "I blamed myself for the both of us. I didn't know what to do, Alexis, so I tried to alleviate all that guilt. I tried to make things up to Sonny. I told myself that I could be a good brother and help both of our families." He smiled sadly. "But it didn't work. I was straddling a crevice that was this close to splitting for good. And when it did, I ended up falling on my face. I never wanted Sonny to be more important than you or our family, Alexis. I just wanted us to be . . . I don't know. At peace?"

"You didn't want to lose Sonny either," she told him softly. He turned to her, shock in his eyes and he shifted uncomfortably. "You mentioned once that you wanted to see the good in him. The part of him that was the deciding factor your mother made in choosing him over you."

He nodded softly and Alexis cursed silently. If Adella were alive today she'd kill her for causing such misery to her son.

"Yeah, that's part of it too. Until this happened, I used to think that Sonny was the only connection I had to her. The only connection I would ever have to her."

"And now?"

He licked his bottom lip quickly. "Now I realize that she'll live on in me . . . in Kristina and in this baby we created. You were right, there's no good in Sonny and if there was, something happened and it's . . . gone. Whatever it is that my mother saw in him died when he became what he did. I'm just sorry it took this to happen for me to realize it."

She nodded thoughtfully. A million thoughts running through her head. But her original question to him and his response came back to the forefront of her mind. "I never meant for our marriage to take a backseat to my custody battle with Sonny," she told him after a moment.

"What happened, Alexis?" he whispered. "Why couldn't you come to me?"

"It was nice," she told him softly after a moment. "Having someone on my side. Someone who would support me when it came to dealing with Sonny or anything for that matter. It was a first for me. So when it came to this sudden end - when I realized that my husband would no longer back me - it hurt," she admitted. "And it made me remember why I couldn't rely on anyone but myself."

His forehead wrinkled in thought.

"So I began to distance myself. I knew I had to fight alone. I knew you loved me, but you loved your brother too and there's nothing wrong with that, Ric. Believe me I understand what it's like to have a brother and to want him to be a part of your life. But when he became as important or even more important to you as me . . . it was too much. So I decided to fight alone. It's what I did for years and it was as if I switched on autopilot."

"So you had another layer of wall I missed."

She bit her lip in thought. "I guess you could say that."

He nodded sadly. "I want to know all of those walls, Alexis. I thought I did. Is that wrong of me? To want all of you? To have your heart? Because you know you already have mine."

She blinked back her tears, her hand slipping out of his. "It was yours and then you broke it."

He winced at her words. It felt like a slap to his face because he knew it was true.

"I was afraid that you wouldn't choose our family over Sonny," she continued. "I knew there was a shift between the two of you after the kidnapping and I didn't talk to you about it. It was there, I felt it, but I chose to ignore it. Maybe if I had asked you we could have avoided this."

Ric took her hand again and she didn't resist. "It's not just you, Alexis. I could have just as easily volunteered the information."

They both remained silent again taking in what the other had said. Ric looked down at their joined hands and smiled. "This was a good first step, I want to keep talking. I want us to rebuild our life together. All four of us."

She squeezed his hand in response. "So do I." She glanced at her watch and sighed. "I should get going. Jax will be home with Kristina soon."

"Ok," he responded softly. "Maybe we can talk again? Tomorrow maybe?"

"I think that's a good idea."

They rose from the bench and began to make their way back to Kelly's. Ric shoved his hands in his pockets to keep himself from wrapping her in his arms.

"I'll call you later then?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "I'm glad we finally talked, Ric."

"Yeah, me too."

He took in a deep breath. The issues between them unresolved, but a little more clearer. They stared at each other longingly as John Durant came upon them.

"Well, well, well, Mr. Lansing it's so nice to see you," he began, his eyes twinkling in delight. "I just wanted to say thanks. You quitting has left me the perfect opportunity to clean house in this town. A special election is gonna be held for DA and guess who's running?" He didn't wait for a response. "Wanna hear the best part? It looks like I'll be running uncontested. Fun, huh?" he chuckled.

Ric stared at him angrily and Durant turned to Alexis.

"Mrs. Lansing," he greeted. "Or is it Ms. Davis already? Such a shame you two crazy kids couldn't take the heat. Such unnecessary drama," he grinned and walked away without another word.

"I seriously detest that man," Alexis sighed.

"The feeling is echoed believe me," Ric shook his head at the thought of Durant running the district attorney's office. "I can't believe he's going to take over my job."

Alexis bit her lip as she stared at Ric. "Maybe he won't."

He turned his eyes to her. "How do you mean?"

"What if we get your job back?"

"Alexis, I kinda quit."

"So?" she shrugged. "I'm sure we could pull a few strings here and there and get you appointed again."

"What exactly are you thinking?"

A delicious smile spread across her face and Ric followed suit. "Follow me, counselor," she told him walking a few steps ahead waiting for him to join her.

He walked to her and held his arm out. She stared at it for a moment before taking it. They walked away arm in arm as Alexis began to regale him with her plan of action. By this time tomorrow, if Alexis had her way, Ric Lansing would once again be Port Charles's District Attorney.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexis fidgeted with her purse strap as she sat in the park taking stock of the past month. It wasn't that long ago that her world was thrown for loop. Her marriage almost came to an end, her husband committed adultery, but things were beginning to right themselves once again. She rubbed her ever expanding belly and a smile came to her face. She and Ric had been talking and listening. Communicating. It finally felt like things were back on track. They were making their way back to each other again, slowly but surely. Ric was willing to do whatever it was that she asked of him. It was on her terms.

Her eyes lit up when she saw him approaching. "Well if it isn't the DA. I was looking for you in court earlier."

"My apologizes, Ms. Davis," Ric grinned taking the seat next to her. "I've been awfully busy. I'll be sure to have my assistant pencil you in for lunch this week."

"I'm sorry," she told him with a shake of her head. "I'm not available."

"You don't have time for lunch with your husband?" he questioned with a frown.

"Nope," she grinned. "You are opposing council after all."

He scooted closer to her. "How about dinner?"

Her eyes danced across his face amused. "Maybe," she conceded. "I'll have to check my schedule."

"Of course," he whispered.

They stared at each other for a moment, the pull to fall into one another's arms intense. Alexis cleared her throat and brushed back a lock of her hair. "So how does it feel?" she asked.

"Like riding a bike," he chuckled. "I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you, Alexis."

She smiled at him thoughtfully. "I know how much being DA meant to you. I'm just glad I could help. Believe me, it didn't take much. One call to the mayor and another to the governor and it was done. Richard Lansing once again Port Charles's District Attorney."

Ric's eyes dance across her face. "How are you doing?"

She chuckled lightly. "No change since yesterday. My feet are still swollen, your baby keeps kicking me awake in the middle of the night, and I have weird cravings all day long . . . it's been great."

He nodded sadly. The things he had been missing out on hitting him harshly once again. The tension that was between them had for the most part, faded away, but it was the fact that they needed to continue to rebuild their trust that was ultimately keeping them apart.

"Alexis, I've been thinking. Maybe we should consider counseling," he suggested sincerely.

"Really?" she asked surprised. "As in marriage counseling?"

"Yeah. I mean, we still have problems. As much as I wish we could sweep them under the rug, they're still there. I think we've come a long way on our own, but maybe we could use the extra help. I want to get back to the way things were. I want it to be better. Stronger."

She nodded in thought. "Maybe you're right . . . as long as it's not Dr. Winters," she told him with a smirk.

He smiled in return. "I agree. I heard Kevin Collins is opening a practice nearby."

She nodded at the name. "I like Kevin, but there's a conflict of interest. I represented him once."

He grasped both of her hands. "What if we go to the city?"

"For counseling?"

"Yeah, I mean we won't find anyone with hidden agendas or prior biases. It'll be a fresh look."

"Yeah, that's actually a good idea."

"Thank you," he grinned

She squeezed his hands in return. "I love you."

His eyes welled with unshed tears. "I love you too. So much, Alexis."

"I know," she smiled.

Again they stared at one another longingly.

"Are you on your way home?" he asked her softly.

"No, the courthouse actually. One last case to finish up and then I'm free for the day."

"Would you like to join me for dinner?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "That would be nice."

His smile lit up his face. "Can I walk you to your car?"

"Sure."

They made their way through the park and along the way their hands instinctively linked. As they neared the parking lot, they ran into Sonny.

"Alexis. Ric."

"Sonny," they both responded.

The relationship between the three was still far from strained, but that was beginning to ease with time as well. Sonny's eyes flickered to their joined hands. "Did you two get back together?"

They remained silent.

"I'm just asking cuz," his eyes flickered to their joined hands again and they quickly separated. It was an instinct that neither one of them noticed.

"Just get it over with and make up," he sighed. "The whole town knows it's gonna happen. There's even a pool."

"What?" Alexis asked exasperated.

"Oh, yeah. You didn't know about it? I think this is Jax's week if I'm not mistaken. But if you hold out another week, I win," he grinned, his dimples making their presence known.

"Sonny that is so inap--"

But before Alexis could finish her sentence, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the park. Ric threw himself in front of Alexis, pushing her to the ground as gently as he could and Sonny tried to push them both down quicker. The one shot was heard and then there was nothing but an eerie silence.

"Ric," Alexis groaned. "You ok?" But there was no response. She began to panic and she shook him, his lifeless body still draped over her. "Ric?"

The deep groan followed and she sighed in relief. It was then that she felt the warm fluid penetrating her and panic set in again. She wasn't in pain, that much she knew. Her hand flew between her body and Ric's and she felt the warm sticky substance. She brought her hand back to her line of vision and saw the red dark stain painted onto her hand.

She knew she wasn't the one bleeding.

It was Ric.

"Oh God no," she whispered.

Part 8

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