When she walked in the door and saw the suitcases sitting at the bottom of the stairs, Alexis felt her breath catch in her throat.

[I]Don't cry. Not till he's gone."[/I]

She closed the door and crossed the room to the large cherry wood desk that had been beside the fireplace since the day they'd moved into the house.

[I]"It's very... masculine."

"Well, so am I."[/I]

Her fingers ran along the edge as she sat her purse down and spied his briefcase sitting to the side. The desk was always neat and orderly unless she had been there working or unless he'd spent the afternoon coloring atop it with Kristina. It was neat today. She couldn't tell if he'd packed it up already or if it was just the result of his usual need for order.

"I didn't hear you come in."

Alexis turned and saw Ric standing next to the three black leather suitcases. He was dressed casually--jeans, a cashmere black sweater that she recognized as the one she'd bought him for Christmas.

"I just got back. Is, uh, is Kristina napping?"

He nodded. "She went down about an hour ago. We had a busy morning."

Alexis motioned toward the suitcases. "I can see."

She had played this scene before... another time, another home, another man... but she knew the lines. She had fallen... fallen hard, but he was in love with someone else. He'd tried to be careful with her feelings, and he'd certainly never overtly tried to put distance between them, but still, it was clear to Alexis that it was time to let him go. He'd kept his promise to her. That was all that had really bound them together. He'd never offered her more than that, and she had not had a right to want more.

But she did.

"I appreciate you staying with her," Alexis said as she crossed to the sofa and began sorting through the mail he'd left on the coffee table.

"You know I never mind spending time with her," he answered.

He didn't. Ric had been a wonderful father figure to Kristina from the beginning. The little girl adored him, and Alexis had found herself easily trusting him with both her daughter's care and her own confidences.

The beginning... that made it seem so planned, so simple. One gut-wrenching confession of terror had changed her life forever.

They'd been at the Cellar having dinner when the news had broken... Michael Corinthos III was missing and presumed dead after a kidnapping gone wrong. Ric had dropped her off at home and rushed down to headquarters to check in with Mac. By the time he'd returned hours later to check on her, she was a wreck... and none of his attempts to calm her down had worked.

[I] "Oh, God, Ric, you don't understand."

"What, Alexis? What don't I understand?"

"I put that little boy in that house! I did that! I fought for Sonny and Carly and I put him there, and now... God, I can't let it happen to her, too, I can't!"[/I]

Somehow by then, the taunts and the barbs had softened to playful jests and double entendres that resembled friendship even if Alexis had remained leery of Ric's intentions for some time. His hatred of Sonny was always there... but he had willingly admitted his mistake with Skye's prosecution when Luke had returned with proof of the woman's innocence, and he had worked diligently alongside Alexis to get the adopted Quartermaine heiress back to her family where she belonged.

After that, there had been coffees and legal debates and once or twice, dinner. There had even been more dancing... but only after she'd practically dared him into it by saying, "You're so insanely smug and sure of yourself, you probably think I'd dance with you right here on the courthouse steps, don't you?"

He had... and she had... and they laughed about it all the time.

So that night, when she'd been heartsick for Sonny over the loss of Michael and at the same time been battling her own guilt and her fears for her child, Ric hadn't just been someone she knew or worked with or faced in court...

He'd been someone she was coming to count on.

[I]"Sonny is Kristina's father."

"I know."[/I]

She'd been shocked and angry. She'd thrown him out of her apartment. She'd ignored his phone calls and every attempt to communicate with her for three days.

And then the envelope arrived via messenger.

"I can't regret what I did... because then, I might never have found our friendship. You are my friend. Please... trust me."

The copy of Kristina's paternity test had accompanied the note.

She decided to trust.

They considered themselves very good friends by that day in late summer when they'd been sitting by the lake watching Kristina chase butterflies, talking once more about what she could and would do if Sonny ever found out the truth.

[I]"This would all be so much easier if I'd just run off when I'd started to," she said. "Or if I'd just gone to Jax and gotten him to go for the fake marriage again. He'd have never forced my hand the way Ned did."

"Well, it's not too late."

"What do you mean?"

Ric picked up a giggling Kristina and spun her around in the air before answering. "We could get married. I could adopt Kristina. That way, even if Sonny does find out, he's fighting the image of Kristina having a happy, stable family, not just you versus him."[/I]

She'd been shocked again... this time by the fact that he'd be willing to try such a thing given how she knew he still felt about Elizabeth. Yes, Elizabeth was dating Lucky... but Alexis knew Ric still loved her very deeply. She couldn't imagine he was giving up.

[I] "Look, I'm not being totally selfless here. I mean, part of my problems with Elizabeth stem from her thinking I can't love anyone more than I hate Sonny. Maybe this is a way to prove that I can put someone else first."

"But, Ric," Alexis argued, "there's no way of knowing how long... I mean, my God, I hope he never finds out, but if he does, it could be next week or it could be 20 years from now."[/I]

But he was resolved, and finally, he had convinced her. It was worth a shot, and it wasn't like either of them was even in the frame of mind for dating someone else. And so marriage it would be. And there hadn't been any quickie wedding in Vegas or Atlantic City. There had been a proper engagement announcement in the [I]Port Charles Herald,[/I] a small but elegant ceremony in the garden of the new home they had purchased together. And finally, there had been the adoption papers... an act of faith that Alexis still marveled she'd been able to go through with.

Carly had, of course, given a finite period of time to the necessity of the marriage when she'd thrown a raging fit and blurted out to Sonny that Kristina was his. Then there had been the threats and the legal papers and the media circus that inevitably followed when Sonny was angry and determined to get his way.

The court battle had been brutal... but Alexis had not only survived, she had come out on top. Ric had been a big part of that. His support had been incredible. Though they'd officially retained Manhattan's most feared child custody attorney as their lawyer, the two court warriors had made a formidable team behind the scenes, cajoling even people who loved Sonny to testify against him "for Kristina's sake," lining up experts, and all the while, maintaining a healthy home for Kristina where she continued to thrive despite the nightmare going on around her.

They'd been waiting for the judge's ruling on Sonny's visitation when they'd run into Liz in the park. Alexis caught the wince on Ric's face as he saw his ex-wife hand her son Cameron over to Lucky. She'd known instantly that he still missed the life he could have had if he'd been able to do then what he was doing now... putting she and Kristina ahead of his vendetta against his brother.

She also felt the tiny stab in her heart at seeing him miss another woman.

It had been the night she'd had to stop denying that she was feeling more than just friendship and camaraderie with her "husband." And Alexis had known, even then, that today would come.

The court battle had raged on. The judge had granted Sonny one 3-hour visit per week, supervised. It was a huge victory in their fight, and in the end, a sign of things to come. Though the judge had allowed the supervised visits to continue and added to them, he had refused to overturn Ric's adoption of Kristina, and full legal custody of Kristina Davis remained with her "parents."

And with that war won, and her relationship with Sonny at least something akin to civil as his love for his daughter won out over his anger at her mother, Alexis had brought herself to last night and to the conversation she no longer felt she could put off.

[I]"I think maybe it's time for us to get a divorce."

"W-what?"

He was surprised. That, in turn, surprised her.

"You've done so much for Kristina and I," she began, "but, Ric, I know this isn't how you want to spend the rest of your life--in a marriage of convenience--when you really want to be with the woman you love. And frankly, you've become... you mean too much to me to let you do that to yourself."[/I]

She hadn't expected him to leave so soon. Actually, a small part of her had hoped he wouldn't leave at all. But the suitcases made his intentions clear. It was over.

"So, um, I mean, clearly," she began, desperate not to show him any of what she was feeling, "we'll work something out where Kristina is concerned because, well, you're very important to her far and above being her father on paper. I hope you know that."

Ric nodded. "I do. She's very good about letting me know how much I'm loved."

Alexis smiled a bit and sat down on the arm of the sofa. "Yeah, her extra-special hugs will do that."

She was quiet, her eyes dropping to the floor. It was only the feeling of him watching her that finally drew her gaze toward him.

"What?"

"You know, if I was just some man idly watching your life from the outside, I'd be fascinated by this. But as a man in your life, I have to say... it's quite a wall to get over."

"What are you talking about?" Alexis asked, genuinely perplexed.

She grew more confused when he laughed.

"You are a master at jumping to conclusions. Where do you think I'm packed to go, Alexis?"

"I don't know... a hotel, a new apartment. Maybe Liz's I guess, though I'd think that was a bit sudden, but then again, who am I to judge."

He shook his head. "None of the above. Want to try again?"

Alexis sighed. "Not really. Look, I... I admit, I'm a little surprised you're leaving so soon, but I did say you should have your freedom back, and I don't know why I'm shocked you'd want it back so quickly after living like a monk here with me, so... you know, go, be happy."

She stood, crossing back to the desk. She couldn't imagine the big space filled with anything else, but she couldn't bear the thought of it standing empty, either.

"Well, what you said made sense." Ric moved closer to her as he spoke, she could tell from the volume of his voice. "I mean, you're right. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a marriage of convenience when I could really be with the woman I love. So I decided there was no point in waiting."

"So... good!" Alexis couldn't keep a flare of hurt out of her voice. "I... I want you to be happy."

"And I'm sure I will be."

Now he not only came closer, he came right up behind her. She bit her lip as she felt his approach and fought back a burning in her eyes when his hands fell on her shoulders.

"I'll be happy because you've taught me what I'm capable of, Alexis. I can't tell you what that means to me. You... I know you think I was helping you, protecting you, but the truth is... you saved me from myself. You saved me from who I would have been if I hadn't finally chosen something other than hating Sonny."

Her throat tightened. "You deserve better than that from your life, Ric. You always did."

"I know."

His voice was low and hushed. His hands pushed on her shoulders, turning her toward him. She fought at first because she wasn't sure she could keep her promise anymore. She wanted to cry. She wanted to ask him not to go.

"So those bags..."

She closed her eyes. [I]Let him go. Just let him go.[/I]

"They have about everything I could think of that the three of us would need for a weekend at Martha's Vineyard."

Alexis' lids popped open.

"What?"

"Kristina's favorite toys, that book you keep saying you want to read... though, if I have my way, reading will be the last thing on your mind."

Confusion left her feeling stunned, punch drunk. "Ric... I thought... I mean... "

"I don't want to live the way I've been living. You're right. But the thing is--and this is the thing that is so patently frustrating about you--is you seem convinced that I want to be somewhere else... and all I want, Alexis, is to be here... with my wife."

"But... Elizabeth..."

"What is with you and this obsession that I'm in love with Elizabeth?" he asked, half amused, half exasperated. "Alexis, she's happy now... and I'm happy for her. And she's very, very proud of me... and glad that I've found what I want."

"I don't.... I don't understand."

"Alexis..." Ric took her hand and led her to the sofa. "I hate to break this to you... but really, for a woman who claims to be so observant... really, not so much. See, everyone in Port Charles seems to get that I am absolutely crazy about you. Even Elizabeth. She saw us together one day, and she came by the office to tell me how nice it was to see me so at peace with myself and my life. With our life."

She felt like she was falling and floating at the same time. "But I... you never said anything..."

"Sweetheart, I don't know if you've missed this, too, but you're a little prone to freaking out when you feel cornered and overwhelmed, and I sorta had a feeling that even though, you know, I was getting signs that you felt the same way... well, this was definitely freak-out territory."

She looked at him sharply. "Signs? What signs?"

"Oh, come on... you know you'll just get mad if I tell you 'cause then you'll get embarrassed and... you know what? Never mind."

Ric's arms were around her before she could think, and his lips against hers made all further possibility of thinking disappear. Dear God... had she just actually finally gotten what she wanted, what she dreamed of without fighting for it?

"Now obviously," Ric said as he pulled back from several long moments of kissing, "I have not been very good at showing my wife what she means to me... not if you had this silly notion that I was going anywhere without you and Kristina. So will you please come with me to Martha's Vineyard and maybe help me finally make a happy memory in that house?"

"Ric... you're... you're sure?"

Eyes rolling, he stood, pulling her up and against him. More kissing followed. And when Alexis was sure she might pass out from the heady feeling of it, Ric scooped her up into his arms and headed for the stairs.

"What are you doing?"

"Clearly we need to make a happy memory here first... one long overdue in coming, if you ask me, Mrs. Lansing."

He laughed. She laughed with him. And for the first time in a very long time, Alexis decided to not think too much about anything but the moment she was in.

"Mrs. [b]Davis[/b]-Lansing... and you're moving awfully slowly up these stairs."

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