UNDERSTANDING

Part Twenty-Nine

Sonny sat in his office at the warehouse, worrying about Carly. He had wanted to go with her to the Doctor's office today, but as usual Benny had called with an urgent problem. She'd assured him that it would be okay, but he was still reeling from her being taken from him, and he didn't want to let her go for anything. What would he do if she were pregnant? It would be wonderful, he admitted, but what if they lost the baby. He didn't think he could take another loss. The last one had nearly killed him. What if they were cursed? It felt sometimes as if his life were cursed. Everything that had ever been good in his life, he'd lost. Now he had everything he'd ever wanted, a woman he loved and who amazingly enough loved him back, and a child he loved more than life itself. And now, it seemed, he might get another chance at his own child. He couldn't help but think it was all too good to be true. Two children. Two children he'd lost already. His heart couldn't take another one. He didn't know if Carly's could either. He promised himself that if she was pregnant, he would go to any lengths necessary to keep her safe. The kidnapping had been too close a call. Jason. Every time he thought of the man who had been like a son to him, he almost couldn't breathe. He tried to remember what Carly had said, it wasn't his fault, but deep in his heart he knew that it was. He'd pushed Jason over the edge, just as he had Brenda. He could feel the darkness closing in around him, and fought it with all his might. He wasn't going to do this anymore. He had too much to keep him going.

Thankfully, Johnny knocked on the door, interrupting Sonny's dark thoughts. He entered, "Sonny, we have to talk."

Sonny nodded, there was still quite a lot of business to be attended to.

************************************************

Carly stared at the doctor, "I'm pregnant."

"Yes, Carly you are. About 3 weeks along, I'd say." Dr. Meadows smiled at her.

Carly's face broke into a huge grin. She couldn't believe it. She'd thought it would be hard for her to hear that she was, but now that she knew for sure.........she was ecstatic. A baby. Hers and Sonny's. She thought of their lost child, and her face suddenly sobered. "Doctor, is everything okay? You know, since I lost the baby the last time?" She was scared, almost too scared to hear the truth.

"Well, you are perfectly fine inside Carly. As far as I can tell, the baby is doing just fine also. You told me about the physical abuse you've experienced recently, so I ran every test I could, and everything seems to be going as normal in you, Carly. I'm not forseeing any complications. Your body is still tired from the last time Carly, so I'm going to ask you to take it easy, but I think you should be just fine." She smiled, and patted Carly's hand. She knew the woman was scared, and she had every right to be.

Carly smiled again, and she felt tears threatening to overflow. Only this time they weren't tears of pain or anger...........they were tears of pure happiness. "Thank you Doctor!"

"You're welcome Carly, I've set up your schedule for prenatal visits, and ordered a prescription for Prenatal vitamins. You can get all that while you check out. I'll see you next time." And with that, she walked out of the room, leaving a scared, but excited Carly to get ready to go.

As Carly was checking out, she felt someone come up behind her. Turning around, she came face to face with Chloe.

"Hey Chloe!"

"Hey! What's got you so happy today?"

"Oh! It's just a great day! What are you doing right now?" Carly really wanted to be friends with this woman who had helped her. She was the only one in the whole town who seemed to be willing to talk to her, and it made Carly feel good to have someone who wasn't afraid to be her friend.

"Nothing right now. I just had my doctor's appointment."

"Great. You want to go have lunch with me?"

"Sure. To tell you the truth, I really didn't want to go home. Jax and I haven't been getting along all that well lately." Strangely enough, Chloe felt like she could talk to Carly. She didn't know why everyone hated her so much. She was perfectly sweet and funny.

"Aww. Well, come on girl, you can tell me all about it at lunch. Do you mind if we stop off for a minute to see Sonny? I've just got to tell him something!" Her laughter and spirit was infectious and Chloe found herself linking arms with Carly Benson, heading off to her boyfriend's coffee warehouse. She laughed to herself, If only Jax could see her now.

**************************************************

"Alright Johnny, tell me what's up." Sonny was anxious to get this over with. He knew what was coming.

"Well, we cleaned the building where Carly was being held. The body was taken care of, and after asking some questions around town we found out that no one even knew Jason was back in town.............except for Helena Cassadine. What should we do about her?"

"I want you to make sure she stays close, Johnny. Her yacht is NOT to leave Port Charles. I am going to find out what she's up to. She is not to come anywhere near Carly or Michael. I want her followed wherever she goes."

Johnny nodded and continued, "Alright Sonny, now.......we have two other problems. Their names are AJ Quartermaine and Joanna Sorel. People are starting to ask questions about AJ, and Sorel is getting antsy. There's no telling what's going to happen. I have people covering Sorel, and they've caught him looking at Carly and Michael a few times. Something has to be done........"

Sonny was hit hard by the news of Sorel watching Carly and Michael. Johnny was right, something had to be done. "Alright Johnny, can you buy me a couple more days? I've got an idea about Joanna, but AJ's just going to have to stay put for a little while longer. No one will miss him that much. Increase security on Carly and Michael, and put a man on Bobbie Spencer. We both remember what happened last time......"

Johnny nodded. "Sonny, if you want me to take care of AJ Quartermaine, I will. I have no qualms about doing that. He's been asking for it for quite some time. Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Thank you Johnny. I know you would do that. Let him suffer a little longer, then I think I'll have a little chat with him.......see if he's ready to behave. I don't really want to kill him........because of Michael. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." Just then, they heard giggling, and Carly and Chloe burst through the door, laughing and talking with one another. Carly walked over to Sonny, and put her arm around his waist.

"Hey baby," she said.

"Hey." Sonny looked at her anxiously, and he could tell she wanted to speak with him privately.

Chloe looked at the two of them, and then looked over at Johnny who was in the office with them. He was looking at her intently, and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "Hello." She said, rather shyly.

Johnny couldn't believe the angel in front of him had just spoken.......TO HIM! When she'd come to the penthouse the other night, he'd been astounded by her beauty, but he'd been too worried about Carly to be too deeply affected by it. Now, he was transfixed on her. "Hi."

Sonny looked at the two, and smiled. "Hello Chloe."

Chloe broke her gaze from Johnny, and smiled at Sonny. "Hey."

"Listen, Chloe, Johnny..............could you leave Carly and I alone for a few minutes? We won't be long. Johnny, why don't you show Chloe around the warehouse?"

They nodded, and left together.

Sonny turned to Carly, who was looking a little nervous. "Carly........?"

"Sonny............" She was so scared of his reaction. "We're going to have a baby." She bit her lip, waiting to see what he would say.

Sonny's face broke out into a huge grin, and he swept Carly up into his arms. "Oh baby! We're having a baby!" Carly laughed at his corniness, and she was just as excited as he was.

"How far along are you?"

"About three weeks, the doctor said. She said everything was fine Sonny. She checked me out and said our baby was fine."

His face softened, and he looked her in the eyes. He was so amazed by her. He brought his lips down to cover hers, and she melted in his arms, feeling closer to him than anyone else in the entire world at that moment. When they pulled apart, Carly smiled at him.

"Sonny, we're going to be so happy. You don't have to worry, because I'm going to be so careful. I'm going to protect this baby with all that I have, and I'm not going to do anything dangerous, I promise."

"I know." He said, his voice thick with emotion. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

He brought his mouth down to hers again, and let his hand travel down her body to rest on her stomach. He felt a surge of love shoot through his heart, and in his head, he made a promise to his unborn child. You're the one, little baby. You're the one who's going to make it into this world. Daddy can feel it, and he's going to protect you with everything he's got.

Okay, call me crazy, it's alright! Everyone remember when I killed off Benny??? Well, then explain to me how he called Sonny with urgent business in the last chapter??? LOL! I'm so silly. What can I say? I've lost my mind, and this makes twice! LOL! I need to keep a list of those I've killed so I don't use their names! LOL! Sorry guys!!

UNDERSTANDING

Part Thirty

"No way!" Chloe exclaimed. She and Carly had been at lunch for over two hours, talking about everything. Carly had just gotten through telling her of all the things she did when she first came to town. It was amazing to Carly that she and Chloe could laugh about all of it, and that Chloe did not judge her behavior. They had only been friends for a few hours, but already Chloe and Carly knew as much about each other as their significant others did.

"Yes way! I actually was with Tony Jones..........can you believe it?" Carly could laugh about it now, thinking of how lucky she was to have such a gorgeous man now.

"You and my doctor," Chloe laughed, "I really can't believe it. Isn't he like old enough to be your father? Well, I guess so, if you stole him from your mom!" They were laughing so hard, they were getting stares from the bartender.

When they finally stopped giggling, Carly got very serious. She couldn't believe she had a friend. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. "Chloe......"

"What is it Carly?" She too had missed this kind of friendship. Sure, she had Alexis, but no one she could just sit and talk with without them being worried about her health constantly and asking all sorts of questions. Carly was just content being with her, and having fun........something she'd had far too little of lately.

"I just wanted to, you know.........say thank you. It must be hard being my friend knowing what every single person in this town thinks of me."

"Carly..........I don't care what anyone else thinks of you. I think you're a sweet person, and very fun to be around. I'm doing this as much for myself as for you. At least you're not constantly hounding me to take it easy or something."

Carly smiled a broad smile, "Come on....let's go shopping! I always have to go with Francis, not that he's a bad guy, but he's just not much fun to go shopping with."

Chloe stood up, and let Carly lead her out the door, laughing the whole way.

As they were walking into Wyndam's, they ran into Bobbie. "Carly, where have you been?"

"I've been here and there, Mom. Where have you been, as if I don't already know." Carly rolled her eyes. Her mother was just way too wrapped up in Roy DiLucca these days. She hadn't seen her in weeks, and it surprised her to know that she hadn't missed her that much.

"Well, I've been busy Carly," Bobbie said dryly. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, I was almost killed in my home, uh........I was kidnapped, and today I found out I'm pregnant again." Carly smirked, let her try to digest all that at once.

Bobbie's mouth dropped open. "What? You were almost killed, and kidnapped...............and, oh Lord, you're pregnant? Whose baby is it this time?"

Carly stared at her mother. It was just like her to expect the worst. "Sonny's of course..........What do you take me for?" she spit out.

"Oh. Well, who kidnapped you?"

"That's a long story.........and it reminds me of some things we need to discuss." She had almost forgotten what Helena had told her about being her Grandmother. "I'm busy shopping with Chloe right now, but we need to talk."

Bobbie nodded, wondering what Carly needed to talk to her about. She knew she hadn't been there for her much lately, so she said, "Alright, why don't you come over after you go shopping. We can talk then."

"Will you be home Mother? Will Roy be there?" Okay, Carly thought, so I'm a little bitter over the Roy thing.

"Yes Carly, I'll be there, and Roy has to work tonight."

"Alright, I'll be over later. Bye." Without giving her mother another glance, Carly linked arms with Chloe and walked off.

"WOW! What was that all about?" Chloe asked. She'd stayed silent, not wanting to intrude.

"Well, it's a long story that you already know part of.........Needless to say............my Mother and I, we definitely have some issues. Come on, let's go look at the dresses."

****************************************************

Sonny and Johnny drove up at the building where AJ and Joana were being kept. Sonny needed to talk to AJ. If he didn't think he'd be able to behave himself, he'd have to kill him. He had no other choice. He had to protect his family. AJ had been a threat for too long. Could he afford to give him another chance?

Sonny opened the door to AJ's room. AJ was laying on the bed, looking at the picture of Sonny, Michael, and Carly. His eyes were blank, and he seemed to have no spirit left.

"AJ." Sonny said, ready to get this over with.

AJ sat up swiftly, looking at Sonny. "What's going to happen to me?" He looked scared, like a little child.

"I want to know what you think I should do to you, AJ? What do you think the man who torments my family, even after I give him a warning.................what do you think should happen to him?"

AJ feels a little upset at Sonny's mention of "his family", but he knows he better keep his thoughts to himself. He realized it now................they were Sonny's family. They had been for a long while now. It had taken a few weeks locked up in a room, and finally getting sober to realize that. He needed to get out of here, and he was willing to do whatever it took to do it. "I don't know Sonny.............but, I won't bother you or your family anymore."

Sonny looked at AJ. He looked like he meant it. Maybe he could be useful. "Alright AJ, here's how it's going to go. When Joanna was putting things in the penthouse and trying to torture Carly............I had security cameras installed. Yes, that's right, that means that when you came to my home, and tried to kidnap MY child, and kill MY woman........I got it all on tape. So, now that you know exactly where you stand in terms of who's in charge of you life.................here's how we're going to handle this. I am letting you go. You will resume your life as normal, and you WILL stay sober. Not one drop. I don't care what you have to do, you better not put one drop in your mouth, because the second you do, you'll either die or go to prison, whichever strikes my fancy on that particular day. You will get back in the good graces of your family, and you will make a new friend." Sonny smiled...........Junior was gonna pee his pants when he heard this part.

AJ looked up, thankful that he would get out of here, but also afraid of what Sonny Corinthos had in store for him. "A new friend?"

"Helena Cassadine." Sonny watched as AJ's face went white. "You will get as close to her as possible...................whatever it takes AJ. Whatever it takes. I want to know everything about her. I want you to be the one she confides everything to. I want you to find out what she wants with Carly."

AJ looked disbelievingly at the man who held his now bleak future in his hands. "Helena Cassadine?"

"Yes. This is very important Junior, and I know that you will do this job right. You know why I know.................because you, my boy, belong to me. I hold your life in my hands, and you will do whatever I say. I can send you to jail, or I can kill you.........with just a snap of my fingers."

AJ looks down in defeat, knowing Sonny was right. He had to do this, for now at least. "Alright." He agrees grudgingly.

"It's not a question AJ, it's an order. And while we're on the subject of orders, here's another one. If you see Carly and Michael walking down the street, if you happen to run into them somewhere...................you turn and run, not walk the other way. You will have no contact with them. None whatsoever. Is that understood?" Sonny wanted to make himself very clear.

AJ nodded again. "Understood."

Sonny went to the door, and opened it up. "Out AJ, I don't care what you tell your family about why you were gone, as long as it's not the truth. I want all information you find out about Helena as soon as you get it. Your contact person will be Johnny, and he will give you his number on the way out." AJ walked over, and Sonny stopped him, looking him dead in the eye. "Don't try me Junior, you know I will do as I say. You've messed with my family far too many times, and you still don't know what will happen to you when all this is over. Remember what I say right now..................The only reason you're getting this chance is because of Michael. This is your LAST chance. The very last one. Don't mess it up, or you will die..........no matter what." With that, he pushed AJ out the door, and watched as Johnny led him outside. This better work, he thought.

*********************************************

Carly was wore out as she rang the doorbell at the Brownstone. She and Chloe had shopped til they dropped, and made plans to meet again soon. She really didn't feel like having this out with Bobbie right now, but when would she ever? She needed to know the truth.

Bobbie answered the door, and led her to the living room. "What's up Carly? What'd you need to talk to me about?"

Carly took a deep breath and steeled herself for the battle she was sure to come. "I want you to tell me about my real father. Is it Stefan Cassadine?"

UNDERSTANDING 

Part Thirty-One 

Bobbie stared incredulously at her daughter. "What are you talking about Carly?" She turned away, and went to sit down. How could she know, she thought. 

"Mama, is Stefan Cassadine my father?" Carly was not going to back down until she had her answer. 

"Where would you get that idea?" 

"Remember when I was kidnapped.........well, no you wouldn't, would you..........cause you've been too busy with Roy to even know about it. Well, it was Helena Cassadine that had me kidnapped." 

Bobbie's eyes went wide. Helena knew! This could not be. They'd tried too hard to cover it up. "She kidnapped you?" 

"Yes, and she told me that I was her grand-daughter, and that Stefan was my father. Is it true?" Carly was almost afraid of the answer, though she knew by now that it was true by her mother's reaction She needed to hear it, though. 

Bobbie put nodded her head, and started to cry. "Yes, it's true Carly," she breathed out. 

"WHY?!?" Carly exclaimed. "Stefan Cassadine is my father and he's been living in the same town as me, and he never told me. Is he that ashamed of me?" Tears began to roll down her face. 

Bobbie sobbed harder, and couldn't get the explanation out. How
could she tell her daughter that all they'd done was for her? They'd
done all this to protect her from Helena. 

"Oh, I get it," she cried out, "I'm such a trashy whore, right? The big
and powerful Cassadine didn't want me in his family tree? Well, that's
just fine." She stormed out of the house, and ran to the limo that
awaited her. 

Bobbie Spencer pulled herself together, and walked over to the
phone. She dialed the number to Wyndamere, and when he answered
she said, "Stefan..........she knows." 

********************************************** 

Sonny entered the room where Joanna Sorel was being kept. He
looked at Johnny, silently asking if everything was ready. Johnny
nodded, and patted his jacket pocket. He had the syringe of medicine.
Joanna was laying on the bed, looking at the ceiling, listening to her
father's voice tell her how much she had disappointed him. 

"Joanna." Sonny said simply. 

She sat upright swiftly and glared at him. "Mr. Corinthos." 

"Are we ready to talk about what you've done, and how you're going
to pay me back?" 

"Well, I guess we are. I don't have anything better to do." She stated
glibly. She just wanted to get out of this room, and the taunting voices
she heard. She had to play it cool, though. If mob life had taught her
anything, it had taught her that even if you're broken, you play it cool.
Cool and detached. 

"Oh, don't you? I would've thought you would be a little more
cooperative after your extended stay here." 

"Well, I'm a mob boss' daughter, Corinthos. I'm acting exactly as
trained. Let's cut to the chase. What do you want from me?" 

Sonny stared at her hard. This woman had tortured Carly, and death
would seem the only true justice, but he had another idea. A fate
much worse than death. "I want you to bring your father down." He
stated matter-of-factly. 

"Hah!" She snorted. "Yeah right." 

"I really don't think you're in any position to be objecting to my
requests Ms. Sorel. It's rather poetic justice, don't you think?" 

"You think I'd bring my own father down? You must've gone crazy." 

"Oh, I think you will. You want to know why?" 

"Yeah, why don't you enlighten me?" 

"Because I hold your life in my hands, doll. I can kill you, I can let you
go, heck, I can cut off your fingers if it strikes my fancy. Whatever I
want to happen, I can make it happen. I can send you to jail, by the
way." 

"You have no evidence against me. None whatsoever. Besides, my
Dad would come for me, no matter what." 

"You think so, huh? You ever wonder why he hasn't come for you yet?
Why you've been here for weeks? If Daddy's so powerful...........you
would've been home weeks ago. You heard what he said on the tape. I
can tell you, if my daughter were taken by him, they'd have been
home the very same day. Oh, by the way, I had video cameras
installed at the penthouse. I've got every move you made in my house
on tape. I'll take it to the police without a backward glance." He
bluffed a little. He only had the one incident on tape, but she didn't
know that. 

She sat there, contemplating what he said. She didn't want to go to
prison, but could she really bring down her own father? Could she be
that ruthless? I never should have trusted her........her father's words
replayed in her head. She made her decision then and there. "Ok, I'll
do it." She brought her eyes up to meet his, and he knew she was
telling the truth. 

"Alright, Ms. Sorel. A word of warning. You work for me, and you
report to me. You bring every scrap of evidence you find against him
to me, and I'll take care of the rest. Be warned, I have men
everywhere, even inside Sorel's outfit, and if you mess up............just
once, you will pay." He motions for Johnny to take the syringe out of
his pocket. "You see this? This is what you will get if you do not do as
you are told. It is a rather new medicine, and if injected into a
human.............well, let's just say it will cause for a very, very painful
death. Shaking, bleeding......you know, all the fun stuff." 

Joanna stared at the syringe, and knew he wasn't lying. 

"Don't try to run from me, I can get to you at anytime. I can find you
anywhere. I'm a very powerful man, Ms. Sorel. Ten times more
powerful than dear old dad, and I have friends all over the world. You
have tortured my family, and tried to destroy Carly. Now, you will
destroy your family. You shouldn't have any trouble doing so. You're
very good at deception. Do not cross me." He turned and walked out
of the room, Johnny following behind. 

"That went well Sonny. Do you think she'll do this?" Johnny asked
when they were in the hall. 

"Oh yeah, she'll do it. She's just ruthless enough. You take her back to
Sorel, and tell him it's an act of kindness toward him that she is not
dead. You make sure she understands before you drop her off that we
are dead serious. She'll do just as she's told..................or she will
die. What do I have to lose?" He walked out of the building, and
headed home. He was ready to see Carly, and celebrate. 

************************************************** 

Carly had the driver take her to the docks. She stood there, letting the
wind whip her hair around her face. She stared out across the water
at Wyndamere, tears streaking her face, and wondered why her
father hadn't wanted her. Was she so terrible? She sat down on the
bench and put her head into her hands, and let the sobs rack her
body. 

Sonny spotted her as soon as he got to the docks. He ran over to her.
"Carly? Are you alright?" 

She looked up at him, her eyes red and her face stained with running
mascara, and tears. "Sonny..........." 

"Oh Carly.........what happened?" He grabbed her into his arms and
held her close. She sobbed into his chest for a long time, and he just
held her and stroked her hair. He whispered tat it would be alright,
and pressed his lips to her forehead. Finally, her tears slowed down,
and she pulled back to look up at him. 

"Sonny........" she said softly, looking into his eyes. "Take me home. I
don't want to be here anymore." She felt her eyes filling up with tears
again, and buried her face once more. 

"Shh baby, it's okay." He scooped her up in his arms, and carried her
to where the limo was waiting, wondering what it was that had her so
upset, and vowing to make it better.