Sonny was in the kitchen making breakfast when he heard someone entering the front door.
"Sonny?" The familiar voice called.
"I'm in the kitchen Jason," he called back.
"Hi, how is Alexis doing?"
"Good, I think."
"You think?"
"Well, physically she'll be fine, eventually." He had told Jason about the gunshot wound but not the other marks. Not because he didn't trust him but because he didn't want to acknowledge them himself. "She woke up a couple times last night in a panic. I had taken Kasey to her own bed earlier, thank goodness. She was crying out in her sleep, she sounded so scared Jase."
"You still don't know what happened to her?"
"No, I mean it's a safe bet Helena was behind the whole thing, but as far as what actually happened..."
"Did you ask her?"
"She just keeps saying it's over and she doesn't want to talk about it."
"Speaking of secrets, have you told her yet?" Jason asked.
"She just got back, it wasn't the right time to get into it."
"You know she'll find out eventually, and if she doesn't hear it from you she's going to be upset."
"I know. I am going to tell her I just want to give her a chance to get settled first. So did you just come over to bother me?"
"Pretty much," he replied smiling. "Actually I wanted to drop off some papers for you, they're in the living room."
"Daddy?" A tiny voice called from the living room.
"In here Kasey," Sonny called going to the door. "Good morning princess." He said picking her up and bringing her over to Jason. "This is my good friend Jason."
"Hi," she greeted smiling shyly. "This is Popcorn," she said as she held him up for Jason to see.
"Popcorn?" He asked turning to Sonny.
"What can I say, she's her mother's daughter. Speaking of Mommy," he continued now focussing on Kasey, I'm just finishing breakfast, should we bring it upstairs so we can all eat together?" Kasey nodded enthusiastically. The idea of the three of them being a family was still new to her but she definitely liked it.
Sonny carried the tray upstairs with Kasey following close behind. She entered the room and saw her in his bed, still asleep. Part of him still couldn't believe that she was really there. Mommy sweeping, Kasey whispered with her finger to her mouth to indicate they should be quiet.
"Maybe we should come back later," he whispered just loud enough to be effective.
"Hey, is that coffee I smell?" Alexis asked her voice still sleepy.
"Mommy we brought cafe and jugo de naranja." Kasey announced proudly as she attempted to climb into the bed. "Mommy gwumpy without coffee." She confided to her father.
"Which reminds me, how is it that our daughter speaks Spanish?" Sonny asked, carefully putting the tray on Alexis' lap before lifting their daughter onto the bed and handing her the orange juice while Alexis gratefully sipped the coffee.
"Um I bought a book while I was pregnant actually. I'd been practising since before she was born so that by the time she was old enough to talk I could teach her." Sonny stared in silence. "Of course I figured eventually you would teach her, I just wanted to get her started."
"She's good
"Mommy a good teacher." Kasey told her father proudly.
"I know, she taught me a lot."
"What she teach you?"
"That something's are worth waiting for, no matter how long they take." He looked into Alexis' eyes as he spoke. "So um where have you two been living?" He asked attempting to sound causal.
"Sweden." She answered quickly taking another sip of coffee. He was being too sweet, to wonderful. She needed to be wide awake and alert to keep control of the situation.
"Sweden?" He would have been less surprise if she'd told him they'd lived in Cuba. "Isn't that a little ... cold?
"Not really, the summers were quite warm where we were and there was snow in the winter. It was nice."
"Okay, why Sweden?" Sonny asked still trying to wrap his brain around this new piece of information, though the way she spoke about it in the past tense made his heart a little lighter.
"I did tell you my mother was Swedish, remember?"
"Of course, I just didn't think you had any connections there now."
"Neither did I but then I did some research. It turns out my mother had a brother. He passed away a few years ago but I contacted his children, my cousins. I've spent the last three years getting to know the other side of my family."
"They're nice people?"
"Extremely, though after the Cassadines just about anyone would seem good."
"Yeah I guess so. Wow, our daughter was born in Sweden. So I guess she has dual citizenship right? I mean you took care of that all?"
"Um Sonny, Karina wasn't born in Sweden." She told him fiddling with the food in front of her so that she wasn't looking at him.
"But you just said..."
"I wasn't in Sweden when I had her, I was actually on a vacation, sort of." She explained.
"Okay then where was she born?"
"In the United States." She replied still not looking at him.
"Where in the United States Alexis?" he asked gently placing her hand under her chin and raising her head so that he could look into her eyes.
"First I need you to promise to remain calm."
"I'm liking this less and less, now where was she born?"
"Alaska."
"Candyboy." It was almost a growl.
"Jax has been very good to us, his whole family has, now do you want to hear this or not."
"Fine, you were in Alaska." He sounded like a petulant child and he couldn't care less. Jax had been there when his daughter was born. Jax had held Alexis' hand, it was he that held Karina and handed her to Alexis. At that moment he had never hated him more.
"Right, I was invited to spend the holidays with Jax and his parents. Anyway your daughter was impatient and decided she couldn't wait until the due date. She was born on Christmas Eve, the best present I've ever received."
Kasey who had been watching the conversation with interest now attempted to climb off the bed, over Alexis. She could not help the gasp of pain she uttered before Sonny picked up their daughter.
"Mommy?"
"It's okay, I'm fine." Alexis reassured her daughter.
"Sure?"
"Yeah."
"Okay I go play." She told them heading to her own room but stopping just before the door. "Mommy, mean man hit you gain?" Alexis gasped softly. She should have known.
"No."
"Good." Their daughter smiled at her mother then left the room. Sonny was sitting beside Alexis completely still. Whatever had happened their daughter had witnessed it. Hearing that someone had dared to raise a hand to Alexis, even though he had already seen the bruises was too much. Pulling her gently into his arms he held her as tightly as he dared, not wanting to hurt her. Feeling his arms around her, knowing that he would be there for her no matter what Alexis decided she needed to tell him what had happened.
"Sonny, I want to tell you what happened but you need to promise to let me finish before you say anything." She knew that if he started to comment on what she had been through she would never make it through.
"Okay," he agreed still holding her.
"It was Helena, she found us in Sweden. She brought several of her men with her. I tried to fight but it was no use. They didn't hurt Kasey she quickly assured him." He unconsciously moved his hand to her jawbone, as if to say, but they hurt you.
"Anyway Helena wanted me to help her. According to everyone in Port Charles she was dead. If she returned to town they would realise they're mistake and she would be arrested. She wanted me to find a legal technicality to get her off. She claimed she wanted to be free to live here and watch her great grandchildren grow. I promised to help her on the condition that she let Karina go. She had someone take her and later she showed me a picture one of her men had taken of you and Karina at the police station. Once I knew she was safe I told Helena the truth, that I would never help her. I couldn't allow her to be free, free to hurt our daughter. She realised I was telling the truth. She also realised I wasn't afraid to die as long as our daughter was safe. She went crazy. I thought she was going to kill me and then... I killed her Sonny. I killed her." She was now sobbing in his arms.
"It's okay, it will be okay. You had to defend yourself Alexis you did what you had to do. Alexis our daughter needs her mother, and I need you. Helena had to be stopped."
"She won." He barely heard the words though the sobs.
"What?"
"She told me, before she died... My mother had been willing to die for her children, Helena had been willing to kill for hers. In the end I was more like Helena than my own mother, in the end, she won."