One

A chime of the doorbell shook him from his work. Who on earth would be ringing the doorbell at this hour? Anyone who would call at this hour would surely have a key, he could only think of a few. Perhaps whoever it was had forgotten it. He really wasn't in the mood for visitors, but it chimed again and so it was with a great reluctance that Robert shut his laptop and answered the front door.

He certainly wasn't expecting that.

His wife, well his former wife actually, looking drawn and cold, stood shaking in his doorway.

"Cora?" It had been well over two years since she had last been to this house. What on earth was she doing here now?

She seemed to have lost the ability to speak and her lower lip trembled as she looked up at him.

Curiosity got the better of him, "Come in out of the cold," he ushered her inside and shut the front door quietly. He gently led her to the couch where she sat down silently, accepting the offered throw which she wrapped around herself. He could feel her watching him carefully as he sat near her, but not so close that they touched. Robert hoped desperately that nothing too serious had happened and was just about to ask when she began to cry. Slowly at first, he watched as tears began to make paths down her flushed cheeks. Then she seemed to give into her tears and before he knew it he was holding her close to him, her tears wetting his shirt.

She was sobbing now and he wrapped his arms more tightly around her with a gentle sigh. Something had obviously gone wrong, although why she wanted to cry to him was a mystery. They had broken up over four years ago now, she had moved on with her life. He would be the last person she would turn to, it must be something bad, hopefully nothing to do with the girls, although he supposed he would have heard if anything had happened to them. It really was such an odd sensation and he considered that perhaps he might be dreaming, he often dreamt of Cora, although generally not like this.

They sat like that for a longtime, she crying and he proving the little affection that he would under the circumstances. Eventually he felt her pull away gently, her breathing had slowed and although it looked like an effort she had calmed her tears. His shirt was wet with them though and she muttered an apology but remained with her arm wrapped around his as though anchoring herself to him. Her face was red and puffy, her makeup had run and joined the tears on his shirt. He felt a stab at his heart for her and spoke softly, cautious of frightening her.

"Cora has something happened?"

A silly question he knew as soon as the words passed his lips, but it had to said, he had a right to know what was going on.

She swallowed heavily and bit the inside of her cheek, pointedly avoiding his eyes he knew, "I dumped Simon."

He certainly wasn't expecting that.

A thousand questions jumped to mind, the most obvious of all being why? Why would she dump him? A thousand old memories flicked through his mind, as did a sense of guilt, which never seemed to quite leave where Cora was concerned. Hopefully he hadn't done anything too horrid; Cora certainly did not deserve that.

Robert had met Simon Bricker only a handful of times, but the amount of dislike he felt for the man was intense. Bricker did however appear to make Cora happy and after all he had put her through, he was loath to allow her that. The girls seemed to think he was okay and from what Robert could tell from the papers they were quite a happy couple. Sure he was a bit of a sleaze and Robert never had a good feeling about him, but who did like their ex wife's new lover?

Would be it wrong of him to be happy that she had left him?

Yes.

Extremely wrong.

He was bumped out of thought by Cora shifting in his arms, "I left and… I" she hiccupped softly, "I don't want to be alone, but" she seemed almost ashamed to say it, her eyes leaving his "I don't want the girls to see me like this."

That made sense, Cora was always one for keeping up appearances, especially where their children were concerned. She was a highly emotion person (something about her being American his mother would always say), but only ever in private. He supposed he should ask why they broke up or even if she needed anything, instead he pulled her back in for a hug. Seeing Cora cry had always tugged at his heart strings, even after all these years and all their disagreements. Now that she was here, he might as well be kind to her. He felt somewhat flattered that she could trust him so profoundly after all this time and that she could forgive him.

They stayed intertwined lost in thought before he felt her whisper against his shoulder, "Would it be okay if I stayed here tonight?"

He assumed she meant in his house and nodded his consent, still reeling with the possibility that this was a dream.

"Of course, you shouldn't be out alone in London at this time of night."

It was by now well on the way to midnight and he wondered if being alone with Cora was such a good idea. She seemed intent on not moving and it was some time before he had to heart to move, tolerant of the fact he had to be up for work in less than 6 hours.

"Cora" he whispered, unsure if she was still awake, her breathing had evened out, and she felt heavy in his arms, "I think you should be getting to bed."

He felt her breathe in deeply, before muttering her sleepy reply "Stay with me?"

"Cora, I.." She cut him off before they could argue, "Please Robert, I don't want to be alone."

A million memories flooded his mind for the second time that night. Memories of laughing and kissing, their children, holidaying in France and Egypt, Christmases spent with family, how they had slowly grown apart, how he had betray her, her finding out, yelling and crying and then finally waking up to find her gone. Robert would never forgive himself for hurting her and yet now here she was, asking for his help.

He took a deep breath and accepted, "Right, off we go."