After the Rain

Alexis walked between Stefan and Ned, trying to pretend to be happy. She had given up on actually being happy several weeks ago and was now focused on creating a facade for the outside world. The truth of the matter was she had been going through different stages of mourning ever since she had packed up herself and Kristina and fled Port Charles. She had tries to put as much distance between them and Sonny, hopping that it would make her forget that she had feelings for him. It had only made matters worse though. Now not only did she love and want Sonny, she missed him as well and now Kristina missed him too.

Just when Alexis thought her life could not possibly get more complicated, she had found out that she was pregnant with Sonny and her second child. Her brother Stefan upon learning the news had jumped to the erroneous conclusion that she was carrying her ex husbands child and had called Ned to the island to work things out with the mother of his children. So Alexis was now faced with deal with another unexpected pregnancy with all the physical and emotional aspects, while missing the real father of her children and trying not to vomit every time she was in the presence of the man who was pretending to be the father of her children. Add to that the fact that her and Stefan were trying to rebuild a relationship that had suffered since the death of their sister.

Alexis was keeping secrets from her brother and he was gently trying to control her life while pushing her towards Ned. It all left Alexis feeling like a bigger emotional basket case. Little did she know that something had just landed on the front steps of the Cassadine compound that would complicate her already complicated life even more. It would also force her to face head on many of the issues she had been running from for the better part of her adult life. A unconscious question had always had always tugged at her soul. Given the choice, under dire circumstances would she place family loyalty over her heart. A set of circumstances was about to set her on the path to answer that very question.

Sonny stood at the door of Stefan's villa. He had been there for nearly 30 minutes and he still could not bring himself to knock on the door. He knew why he was there, he had come for Alexis and Kristina. He had spent the flight over trying to figure out how he was going to convince Alexis to come home with him. He still had no idea what he was going to say. How do you show a person what is inside your heart. If he could he would just open up his chest and show her all the love and respect he carried for her and Kristina. Then she would know the truth once and for all. His heart beat for the two of them and he did not feel whole without them in his life.

A part of him had been lost when he walked away from Alexis the first time. it was if she had kept not only his heart, but his soul as well. He was still alive, but he was no longer a member of the living. He was a much better man when Alexis loved him and through a series of out of control events he had lost her love and lost her respect and somehow Sonny Corinthos had lost himself as well. The worst part had been knowing that she was carrying his child and yet keeping him from that child. He had bonded with Kristina anyway and he had rediscovered a apart of himself as well. He realized that he still had goodness and light in his heart. He had only buried it deeply when he had returned to Carly so he would not have to feel the pain of losing Alexis. He still had the capacity to feel joy and love, he saw it every time he looked into Kristina's eyes. He saw in her the best of both of him and Alexis and he started to feel alive once more.

Then one stormy night something amazing had happened, Alexis came back to him. She was in trouble and she turned to him. It was the most wonderful gift he had been given in a very a long time. For a few beautiful moments Alexis had believed in him. He felt worthy of her trust and maybe even for the first time ever, Sonny felt worthy of her love as well. For a few hours that night he had been on top of the world both physically and emotionally.

Then the world came crashing down as it always seemed to do for him. He woke the next morning and found that Alexis was gone again. This time she took not only his heart and his soul, but also his daughter. Sonny found his reasons for living had disappeared into the night with out a trace. He was left with nothing more than memories, a handprint of his precious daughter and a hole where his heart used to be. He could have given up and gone back to his old way of looking at life. He could have drank himself to sleep at night or turned to anyone of a hundred women. He could have done so many things to hide form the pain, but he didn't. He faced it head on and he felt it with every fiber of his being. He rode it out and then he took action. He found where Alexis had taken his daughter and then he waited. He waited for her to make contact, he waited for her to reach out to him. When that failed, he went after her. He went after his love, his life and his future.

Sonny was about to learn two very valuable lessons. Never underestimate you enemies and you have to love yourself before you can let another into your heart to love you.

Sonny felt like he was in junior high school knocking on the door of the house of some girl he had a crush on. In fact, it was almost the exact same feeling he had the first time he ever showed up at the house of his jr. high crush, Didi Genoveve. His palms were sweaty and his stomach felt like he had just been on a 3 hour roller coaster ride. He really wanted to run the h*ll away, get back in his jet and hightail it back to Port Charles and forget that Alexis Davis even existed. His heart told him that was no longer possible. He had to win her back or die trying, because without her and Kristina in his life, he did not want to live. He finds courage in that thought and finally knocks on the door. It slowly opens and he swallows hard. A tall, regal looking woman who must be in her 70's faces him.

"May I help you?" She eyes him suspiciously, almost as if she already knows who he is and who he has come for.

"Is Alexis in?" Sonny gave her a charming smile, which evaporates into thin air before it reaches her.

"Who?" She narrowed her eyes at Sonny.

"Is Natasha here?" He tried again with his voice full of confidence.

The woman gave him a blank look. In his mind, Sonny corrected himself. This wasn't at all like jr. high. It was more like the secret club houses in grade school, complete with a sentinel at the door a secret word to get in.

"I am here to see Stefan's sister." He sighed and rubbed his temples .

"She is out!" The woman barked in a voice that sent Sonny reeling backwards several steps.

"I would like to wait for her." He explained with a little less bravado than before.

The woman indicated a small bench in the foyer. Sonny sat on it gingerly and the woman left without so much as another word to Sonny. He took in his surroundings and noticed that the house is very different from the Cassadine house on Spoon Island back home. Sonny expected something very dark and gothic. From what he could tell, he was seated in the hall of a very light, Mediterranean villa. It was large and elegant, but understated as well. A breeze was blowing through the open door of a nearby balcony. He heard voices in the other room, one of them was the unmistakable tone of his angel on earth Alexis. His heart beat faster just hearing her lovely voice.

"Were you expecting someone?" Stefan asked his sister.

No. Alexis replied simply.

Someone else said something that Sonny did not catch, but it made Alexis laugh and a small smile formed on Sonny's face.

Alexis walked into the foyer, carrying a small bouquet of wild flowers she had picked when they were out on their walk. She was wearing a white cotton sundress, and to Sonny, she looked just a bride walking down the aisle toward him. Alexis looked up and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she saw her visitor.

He looked tired, like he had not been sleeping well, but then again she had not been sleeping well either so that gave her no room for judgment. Their eyes met and the electricity between them permeated the room. Alexis had to stop herself from running to him and melting in his arms. Sonny had to hold himself back from grabbing her and kissing her like she has never been kissed before in her life. He wanted her so badly, he could hardly stand it, but he could hardly just grab her and make love to her right in front of God, her brother, the over protective house keeper and NED ASHTON! What the H*ll was Ashton doing there?

"Sonny, what are you doing here?" Alexis gave him a fake smile.

"I am here for my conjugal visit, counselor!" Sonny gave her a scorcher of a look.

Alexis jaw dropped and her face turned pink. She looked mortified and Sonny just grinned. Ned and Stefan exchanged puzzled looks. Then the true meaning of the words dawned on Stefan and he looks mortified as well.

Alexis took Sonny by the arm and dragged him towards the balcony and out of ear shot of the others in the entry hall. Her and Sonny were face to face, so close that they could almost feel the other breathing. It was almost too close for comfort for Alexis, but at the same time it felt right to be near him. Sonny gave her such a hot intense look that her heart nearly burst into flames. She tried to give him a perturbed look, but she was scared to death that he could see right through her and know the truth, she wanted him there. He could see right through her and he really liked what he saw. Alexis placed one hand on the railing of the balcony. The other hand still held the bunch of flower as if they were a rare treasure.

Sonny reached around her and picked up the hand that she had resting on the rail . The nearness of his body and his hand on hers sent warm pleasant feelings pulsating through her whole body. Alexis felt her emotions racing out of control. A large part of it was her pregnant hormones. She knew this in her head, but it did not stop the feelings from coming or make them appear any less intense.

For Sonny, touching her in that gentle way was the realization of a thousand dreams he had since she left.

Each of them was so deeply and profoundly affected by the touch from the other that neither of them could even speak. They just looked up at each other, mesmerized. Their hands became tangled together on the railing, intimately stroking each other in an erotic dance of fingertips. Suddenly and without warning he felt mouth come crashing down on his in a kiss both fierce and passionate. At the same time it was desperate and longing. The passion between them became so intense that the flowers in her hand tumbled to the floor of the balcony and lay scattered at the two lovers feet. They continued to kiss with unguarded desire and fervor, exploring each other's mouths as their hands explored each other's bodies. Alexis reached for the bottom of his shirt and pulled it out of his pants. She was desperate to feel his skin and when her hand made contact with his bare chest she heard him moan softly. If it had been possible they would have just as soon taken each other right then and there on the hard, tiled floor of the balcony. Sonny tried his best to find some way to touch her through her dress, but the design of the outfit made it impossible for him to touch her without completely undressing her at the same time. So he had to be satisfied with touching her through the thin material of her dress, which caused her to gasp and moan insatiably. At the same time, Sonny relished the feel of her hands on his bare skin. Sonny and Alexis were first and foremost connected as lovers and they had been deprived of the others touch for far to long. To both of them it seemed like an eternity since either of them had experienced such intense feelings and neither of them wanted to stop the rush they were feeling. Sonny moaned softly. Alexis was brought back to reality and one of her oh so famous mood swings kicked in and she gave him a hard shove in the opposite direction. Sonny pulled back stunned.

"What was that for?" He asked with a look of shock in his eyes.

His lips were swollen and hot from the kiss and he had her lipstick smeared all over his face, but then again Alexis was in the same shape.

"What makes you think that you can waltz in here, plunge your tongue down my throat and expect all to be right with the world?" She warned.

Sonny, who thought she was kidding, proceeded to tease her.

"You give as good as you get in the tongue department Alexis." He moved close in order to kiss her again.

Alexis slapped him hard, then instantly regretted what she had done. She knew that Sonny hated being hit, but she needed to get his attention somehow.

Sonny stood there stunned both physically and emotionally with tears forming in his eyes.

"I thought you understood me better than that, Alexis? I thought you loved me?" He shook his head sadly. "Coming here was a mistake. It is obvious that I am intruding on your life. I am smart enough to realize when I am not wanted!" He started to walk away with a defeated look in his eyes.

Alexis bit her lower lip nervously as she watched him turn his back to her and walk away. It was more than just him walking away for the day though. Alexis knew in that moment that if she let him leave, it would be forever. Their future was in her hands. As much as she hated the fact that he was making her decide what happened next, it had to be her choice.

After The Rain Part 2

Alexis could tell by his body language that Sonny was disappointed. He was willing to just walk away, go get on his jet and fly out of her life for no other reason than that was what he thought she wanted. In the past, Alexis would have spent days trying to figure out how that made her feel. By then it would have all been over, the decision would have been made for her. She had almost lost him for good once already by pushing him away and making him think it was what she really wanted. It was not going to happen again.

"Sonny wait!" She called out to him in an urgent voice.

He does not turn around to face her, but he does stop.

"It seems as if waiting is all I have done lately and all it got me was a slap across the face." He responded with a shrug and started to walk away once more.

"Sonny, I'm sorry I hit you. It will never happen again." She calls out again, trying to keep panic out of her voice.

Sonny turned to face her and she let out a sigh of relief.

"I hope not, because I hate being slapped, almost as much as I hate being locked up in a jail cell." He ran his fingers across his eyes and wiped away tears.

"I know you do." Alexis gave him a sympathetic look and spoke softly in a loving manner. "I just wanted you to pay attention to what I as saying and take me seriously."

"Alexis, I always take you seriously, even when I disagree with what you are saying. I respect you too much not to take you seriously." He told her in a matter of fact tone.

"Most of the time I believe that you do respect me, then you do something so off the cuff and disrespectful that I end up having doubts." Her look was detached, but serious.

"Disrespectful?" Sonny questioned her. "I really have no idea what you are talking about. Please tell me you are not still talking about the kiss we just shared, because I am pretty sure that you wanted me as much as I wanted you just now." He gave her a slight smile.

"Sonny, I am not talking about the kiss. I admit I wanted the kiss and I wanted you too." She gave him a sly smile in return.

"Thank you!" He replied simply, feeling validated.

"I am talking about the first words out of you mouth though." [i]"I have come for my conjugal visit."[/i] "We are not married, you can not have a conjugal visit!" She reminded him sternly.

"I thought it was kind of cute. Besides, it is not my fault that we are not married yet. You can hardly say that I have not worked my butt off trying to get you to marry me!" He grinned.

"Regardless, Sonny, you embarrassed me terribly and you did so in front of someone whose respect I am trying to earn back." She gave him a disappointed look.

"Are you talking about Ned or Mrs. Bulldog?" Sonny questioned.

"Her name is Mrs. Maddox! I was referring to Stefan! You can not say those kind of things in front of my brother!" Alexis pleaded

"Why not? Surely he realizes that you are a beautiful and extremely sexy woman. He may be your bother, but he isn't blind." Sonny winked at her.

"Sonny, please stop saying those type of things about me!" Alexis blushed, which made him smile.

"Alexis, you are the most ravishing woman on the planet. Yet pretend to be completely unaware of your beauty, grace and charm. I find that to be a rare and undeniably sexy trait in a woman."

Her let out a sharp puff of air that sounded almost like a whistle. Alexis' face flushed warm and pink.

"Sonny, you really should get out more." She rolled her eyes and tried to hide her nervousness.

"You are so cute when you get all flustered and that turns me on beyond description. You really think your brother will fail to notice how much I want you Alexis?" Sonny gave her a dimpled grin.

"As far as Stefan is concerned, Ned is the only one who should think of me in that way."

Alexis insisted, which made Sonny frown and made him a little bit angry as well.

"Ned is a class A moron and he has no right to think of you at all!" Sonny reminded her sharply. "He gave up that right the night he threatened to have you committed to Ferncliff."

Alexis could hardly deny that Ned had lost many rights where she was concerned. His worst offense had been when he confessed that every time he looked at Kristina all he saw was a vicious demon who spawned her. Alexis was very forgiving by nature, but that was one sin that she would never forgive.

"Alexis, have you forgiven Ned for everything he did?" Sonny asked and then dreaded the possible answer.

She shook her head in the negative and a far off look crossed her face. Concern showed on his face.

"Alexis, sweetheart, something is wrong and you are scaring me. Will you please tell me what is going on in that pretty little head of yours." Sonny kept his voice soft and soothing.

"Are you trying to patronize me?" Alexis snapped at him.

Sonny took a step back from her, surprised at her tone.

"Of course not I know better than to talk down to you. After all, you are trained to verbally banter. Any battle of words I started with you would be quickly forfeited." Sonny shrugged

Alexis sighed

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. It wasn't anything personal." She promised.

"Good, then I will try not to take it personally." He promised back.

"I hope you will not take this personally either. Do you ever look at Michael and see AJ?"

"I no longer look at Michael on a regular basis." He replied as he gave her a sad smile.

Alexis gave him an empathetic look as well.

"Did you ever hold it against him that AJ was his father?" She asked simply.

"If anything, I should feel sorry for the kid because of who he has for a mother." Sonny dryly remarked.

"I'm serious!" Alexis insisted.

"No, I know he is part Q, but where he came from was never important to me." Sonny stated with deep feeling in his voice.

"Ned hates Kristina because he sees you in her." She gave him a sad look.

"Ned hates Kristina because she looks like me?" Sonny laughed.

"No, Ned looks at her and sees his hate for you reflected in her eyes." Alexis practically choked on tears.

Sonny became very serious at that moment and concern entered his voice.

"That is too bad, Alexis, because Kristina is a wonderful girl and he is missing out by not being a part of her life. Heis the one who is loosing out though." He tried to sound encouraging.

"I know, but that is how he really feels and I find it hard to get past." She wiped tears from her eyes.

"So let him! You do not owe Ned anything. Your tears are too good for him." Sonny reached up and dabbed at her tears.

"Sonny, did you travel all that way to give me a pep talk about dealing with Ned or is there some other reason you are here?" She inquires slyly.

"I told you I came for you and Kristina. Alexis I am not leaving here until I see my daughter!" Sonny insisted.

"Could you keep your voice down!" Alexis suddenly demanded, which caught him off guard once again.

"I just want to see Kristina." He replied with a look of surprise on his face.

"She is sleeping and I would let you see her now, but you would just wake her up and she has not been sleeping well at night so I would like for her to have some uninterrupted sleep now."

"If she has been sleeping badly it is probably because she misses her father." Sonny causally replied.

"That maybe true. However, I have not been sleeping well either." She sighed.

"You miss me too. I know I have missed the two of you like crazy." He grinned. "Alexis I can solve that problem right now. Pack up and come home with me right this minute. Everyone will sleep just fine tonight. You and I will be in each other's arms and Kristina will be able to sleep just fine knowing that her mommy and daddy are nearby."

"You claim that you missed us, but were you missing us during the time you have been spending with Carly?" Alexis snapped.

Sonny wondered if it was his imagination or if Alexis was even more moody than usual. He made the mistake of wondering it out loud.

"Alexis, I am used to you mood swings. At least I thought I was used to them, but baby, you seem moodier than usual."

"I am not your baby!" She yelled at him. "Stop patronizing me and answer the question!"

"What question?" Sonny answered, genuinely bewildered.

"Did you miss me while you were with Carly?" She snapped.

"Carly?" He answered as if the name was foreign to him.

"I know you were with Carly while I was away. Did you sleep with her again?" Tears spill from her eyes and Sonny's heart breaks.

"No! never, the thought of that turns my stomach. I hardly saw her!" He admitted truthfully.

Alexis gave him a disbelieving look.

"Than why is it that every time I called your penthouse, she answered?" She shot him her best angry lawyer glare.

Sonny was stunned for a moment, then a grin spread across his face.

"You called me? You tried to make contact with me?" He softly asked. It meant she cared and wanted to work things out. That meant everything to him. he wanted to yell for joy. he wanted to lift her off the ground and swing her around. He wanted to let her know that she had just made him the happiest man on that little island. The serious look on her face quelled his excitement a little though.

"Yes I called and I always got her on the phone!" Alexis snapped.

"When did you call?" Sonny asked. Still feeling euphoric from her unconscious declaration of feeling, but also feeling a little cautious.

She had started to call right after she found out she was carrying his second child.

"I started trying to call you about 3 weeks ago." Alexis gave him a puzzled look

The joy returned to his heart.

"Well, that explains everything. 4 weeks ago I moved out of the penthouse. I bought a house with a yard and every thing. I guess Jason moved Carly back across the hall after I left. It is a wonder that he didn't kick her out long before that." He absolutely glowed when he told her his news.

"Mr. penthouse with bullet proof glass bought a house?" Alexis gave him a skeptical look.

"I wanted everything to be perfect for you and Kristina when I brought you back to Port Charles. You live in an apartment and I lived in a penthouse. Our daughter should grow up in a house with a huge yard and neighbors with kids her age. I want us to be a family. Maybe not a married couple with a picket fence and 9-5 jobs, but a family none the less. I know that you will probably hate the house, but it is a start."

Alexis tired to stop her jaw from dropping. In a rare occurrences she found herself speechless.

"It sounds like a pretty good start." She was finally able to mutter.

"I know you will probably want to redecorate as soon as you see the place." Sonny informed her.

"I do not decorate! She replied. It is not something that I do!"

"We can hire someone to decorate. As long as the three of us are together, nothing else matters." Sonny was absolutely giddy.

"Sonny, that is a lovely future you are planning and I wish it were that simple, but it is complicated." Alexis sighed.

"Why did I know you were going to say that." Sonny gave a heartfelt sigh.

"Maybe, because it is the story of my life. Nothing is ever simple." Alexis sighed and gave him a weary look.

"So we can simplify it. Sweetheart, I know why you left. You were trying to teach me a lesion in perseverance and patience. I can not expect us to become an instant family. I know that I already have your love, but I am going to have to work to get your trust and your respect. In order for me to do that we have to at least be on the same continent." His speech was humble, yet impassioned.

"That makes some sense. We should at least try to raise our daughter together" Alexis agreed in a business like tone.

"Fine than lets go tell your brother that you and the baby are leaving with me right away!"

Sonny took her hand and started to lead her off of the balcony.

"I can not just pack up and run off on my brother and Ned." Alexis insisted

Sonny felt like he was banging his head against a brick wall. He really wondered what it would take to get through to the lovely creature who owned his heart. What would it take for her to do the only thing he ever really wanted. What would it take to make Alexis choose him? He wanted desperately to ask that very question, but instead he asked another.

"What is Ashton doing here anyway?" He remained detached and tried to keep any hint of jealousy out of his voice.

"Stefan invited him." She answered. Sonny noted that her voice was emotionless.

"I never knew they were friends." Sonny replied simply.

"They most certainly are not friends." She proclaimed. "Stefan invited Ned here because he thinks that Ned and I should work on our relationship. So, he sent for Ned."

"Why on earth would he do that? You did tell Stefan that you are in love with me right?"

"Stefan thinks that Ned is Kristina's father." A guilty look crossed her face.

She watched as his face feel. He felt as if he had been kicked in the gut and it showed in his eyes.

"I was going to tell Stefan the truth." Alexis promised.

"That I am her father or that you are in love with me, which one Alexis, because it matters!" Sonny replied angry once more

'Of course I was going to tell him about Kristina!" She explained softly.

"However, you were not going to tell him that you are in love with me?" Sonny accused.

"Sonny, that is something that is very hard to admit even to myself and to you." She insisted.

"Because, you think it is wrong to love me and you are ashamed of me." Sonny shrugged.

"If you mention the word peasant I am going to smack you up one side of your beautiful face and down the other. I am not ashamed of you or think I am too good for you. You are not the lowly peasant toiling in my fields. Oh god, why did that just turn me on to no end?" She asked out loud.

Sonny was giving her a look that indicated that it had turned him on as well.

"Because, right now I would like nothing more than to get down and dirty and [i]toil in your fields.[/i]" He grined seductively.

"You know what I mean! I do not look down on you. You are every bit my equal, but my feelings for you are personal and private and I have difficultly sharing them with the world."

She gave him a determined look. Then noticed he was hardly paying attention.

"For goodness sake, stop imagining yourself toiling in my fields!"

"Hey, I just want to reap what I sow!" He winked. Then his faced turned serious.

"Alexis, I have seen you look hardened criminals in the eyes and not even flinch. I have seen you take on crooked cops and corrupt judges and think nothing of it. Why is it so hard for you to stand up to your family and Ashton?"

"I have no idea, but I am sure you are going to tell me." She rolls her eyes.

"I would never dream of it, but if you will not tell Stefan the truth, I will."

"No, please! My relationship with my brother is tenuous at best. We had hardly spoken since our sister died. He blames me for not taking better care of her and I am angry at him for not acknowledging her death. Sonny, he did not so much as send flowers to her funeral. Then 2 months ago I showed up here upset and he opened his home to me. We have been rebuilding our relationship, but I do not need the complication of him knowing that I have been lying to him. At least not yet."

Alexis pleaded and Sonny being so head over heels in love with her, could not find it in his hear to deny her anything.

"For the record, I think you brother is right. You need to work things out with the father of your daughter." Sonny gave her a sympathetic look.

"What do you expect me to do about it right now?" Alexis asked in an exasperated tone. Stefan thinks that Ned is Kristina's father. I much as that idea makes my skin crawl, it is making my brother happy. I can not just drop the bomb on him that you are really the father of my child."

"This looks like a big house, with lots of rooms for guests." Sonny got a wicked grin on his face.

"Yes, there are enough guest rooms." She replied, not following his logic at all.

"Good than get me invited to stay here. I am not leaving here without my daughter and I am not leaving her mother here with Ashton." Sonny informed her in a matter of fact tone.

"I will see what I can do." She winkles her brow. "Stefan does not seem to like you very much."

"Maybe he will like me more when he finds out I am Kristina's real father?"

Sonny makes as if he is walking back into the living room prepared to tell all.

"Fine okay. I will see what I can do. You can stay for dinner and I will work out the rest later." Alexis gave him an exasperated look.

"Good." Sonny ginned.

he exhausted her at times. He had to be in control and he had to be right and sometimes it just left Alexis bone tired because she was the exact same way. At the moment, her life was further complicated by her raging prenatal hormones.

" You smug little fink! I hate you right now!" She stated simply.

"Even better!" Sonny gave her a sexy smile that made her blood boil on so many levels. If he had not been the man she desperately loved, Kristina's father, and so damn sexy to boot, he would have been dead long ago. He thought he had her in his control and she hated that. She let him belief that she was at his mercy for about two seconds. Then she reminded him exactly who was in the drivers seat and she did it in the best way she knew how. Alexis grabbed him, pushed him up against the wall and kissed him passionately. Just as she started to feel his body respond, she pulled back and left him standing there alone. It took him several minutes to recompose himself enough to appear in public. He found her waiting for him to catch up in the hall way. She gave him a fiery look and then stormed into the living room.

"Mr. Corinthos is staying for dinner." She announced to those gathered in the room.

"Is that so?" Stefan raised a questioning eyebrow.

"If that is alright with you?" Alexis added a bit more timid.

"What is that saying they use in America? [i]The more the merrier[/i], I suppose." Stefan muttered under his breath.

"I doubt that!" Alexis exclaimed as she shot Sonny a dirty look.

"Dinner is served at promptly 8:00. And we dress formally for the meal." Stefan stiffly informed Sonny.

"If you need something appropriate to wear I probably have something that would fit." Ned smugly informed Sonny.

"I am afraid that your pants would fit me rather snugly in a very delicate area, Ned, but thanks for the offer." Sonny smoothly replied and then winked at Alexis. She gave him a warning glare that would have dropped lesser men dead in their tracks.

"Mr. Corinthos, I imagine your clothes are on your plane. You should probably go back there and dress for dinner, before you meet with some type of unfortunate accident that would make those pants of Ned's fit just fine after all!" Alexis seethed.

Sonny just grinned at her less than subtle ominous threat.

"I will be back here shortly before 8:00." He replied.

"Dinner is promptly at 8:00. You need not arrive early." Stefan insisted.

"I need to arrive early so I can spend some time with Pookie Pie before dinner." Sonny corrected.

"What is a Pookie Pie?" Stefan asked with a disapproving arch of his eyebrow.

"He means Kristina." Alexis dryly remarked.

Then why didn't he say Kristina? Stefan asked.

"It is a nickname. He thinks it is cute!" Alexis rolled her eyes.

"I want to see the little tyke before she gets put in her highchair and bellies up to the main table." Sonny remarked.

Alexis saw Stefan winch and she knew this was going to be a very long night.

"The child does not dine in the dinning room." The Mrs. Maddox interjected.

"Why not?" Sonny addressed his question to Alexis.

"She is a child and as such, she is fed in the kitchen." The older woman answered

Sonny turned to Alexis obvious confusion written on his face. She gave him and apologetic look, but there was desperation in her eyes as she pleaded with him not to make a fuss. He nodded his head in understanding. He did not understand though. he could not fathom why their child was sequestered away in the kitchen as if she were a second class citizen. Even when Michael was a baby, neither he nor Jason would have even considered feeding Michael anywhere other than at the dinning room table. It was about more than convince, it was about keeping the family unit intact. A baby was a part of the family and should be treated in an equal way.

As he left the house Alexis slipped a note into his pocket.

It read: "We will be on the beach at 7:30. Meet us there."

There was absolutely no doubt in his mind who she meant by [i]"We"[/i]

After two long months he was finally going to get to see the light of his life. He was going to be reunited with his daughter.

As he left, he heard Stefan comment that he was nothing more than a peasant. I only made Sonny grin at the thought of toiling in Alexis' fields. Although Sonny did not see it, the comment made Alexis grin as well.

Alexis, carried Kristina in her arms as she walked ahead of Mrs. Maddox and towards Sonny. She wore a silk sundress that perfectly incorporated the colors of the ocean. The sea breeze gently blew her wavy hair. She looked like a vision, a goddess from the deep carrying her own little angel in her protective arms.

Sonny had to pinch himself to make sure he was not dreaming. Sure enough, he was awake and completely captivated by the image. He wanted nothing more than to sweep them both into his arms and never let them go. Alexis look up at him and smiles and his heart melts. Sonny smiled back at her.

"Look there is your daddy sweet pea." Alexis whispered to her daughter. "With his hair all wavy and natural and wearing that coffee colored linen suit, he looks absolutely edible."

Kristina rested her head on the shoulder of her mother and drank in her ever word. Alexis knew that her daughter never got tired of listening to her mother talk about Sonny. Which worked out just fine because Alexis never tired of talking about the father of her baby.

"I told you everything would be alright. Now, as drop dead gorgeous as your father looks and as charming as he will no doubt be, we can not let him melt our hearts and reduce us to jelly. We must be strong!"

Alexis stopped by the edge of the sea and placed Kristina on the sand, where the curious child begun to play with seashells. Alexis looked up and saw Sonny standing above her and Kristina with a huge smile on his face. Alexis found herself emotionally overwhelmed by the nearness of him and had to consciously catch her breath. Kristina looked up at her father and a smile spread across her face like a rainbow.

"Dada!" The child exclaimed as she reached up for her father.

"Kristina!" Alexis marveled and blushed slightly. "She has never done that before."

"Dada!" The little girl repeated.

Sonny's eyes twinkled with glee as he swept his daughter up into his arms and smothered her with kisses. Kristina giggled and for the first time in his life, Sonny realized he was truly happy.

"You know that secret you are trying to keep from Stefan? Maybe you should tell our daughter that no one is supposed to know that I am dada!" Sonny teased Alexis.

"Turncoat!" Alexis gently teased their daughter.

"Mama!" Kristina giggled and reached for Alexis. Sonny, slightly offended, handed her off to her mother.

He kissed the little girl on the forehead and then gave her mother a scorcher of a look.

"So do I pass the test for dinner dress?" Sonny beamed

"Yes." Alexis breathlessly answered.

"I suppose it will have to do." She insisted, after regaining her composer. She gave him a shy smile.

Kristina saw something shiny on the sand and indicated to her mother that she wanted to be sat down on the beach. Alexis placed her on the sand and then her and Sonny sat down as well and watched their daughter play.

Sonny reached up and touched Alexis' hair.

"I like you hair when you let it wave naturally like that." He smiled.

"I know you do." Alexis leaned into his touch and smiled as well.

"Were you wearing it like that earlier?" He cocked his head in confusion.

Alexis laughed. How he loved that laugh.

"No, I showered after you returned to the plane and I let me hair dry naturally. Neither Stefan nor Ned have seen my hair yet. I imagine they will not be too pleased. They prefer me prim and proper." She sighed.

Sonny ran his hand through her hair again.

"Then they are missing something very important about you Alexis, maybe even your essence. As for that shower, you should have called me and I would have come right over and joined you."

He gave her a sultry look. Alexis averted her eyes nervously.

"You know, Sonny, I have met with kings and dukes. I have flirted with heads of countries and men with much more standing and education than you could possibly imagine. Why is it that you are the only man who has ever made me blush?" She smiled slyly.

"Maybe because you know that I know things about you that they could never fathom. I understand you on a deep level and I know that you deserve to be treated like a goddess, a queen, a woman." He gave her a penetrating look.

Mrs. Maddox watched from a distance with a disapproving eye. She was to far away to see exactly what was going on between Sonny and Alexis. However, she could tell from the way that Alexis was holding her body that she was comfortable with the man. It was a comfort level that Mrs. Maddox found completely unacceptable. More to the point, it was Mr. Corinthos that she found completely unacceptable. Sonny glanced over at her disapproving stare.

"What is with her? She has been staring daggers in my general direction since the moment I appeared at your door."

Sonny indicated the sourpuss.

"She took care of me when I was a child and then she took care of Nikolas when he was a child.

Very few people know this, but she also knew my mother."

"She was a friend of your mother's" Sonny asked.

"Yes, in fact, my father brought her to live with us after Helena murdered my mother. Although she only told me this recently" Alexis choked on the last words.

Sonny picked up her hand and stroked is lovingly.

"She is protective of me and Kristina." Alexis proudly proclaimed.

"So am I. He grins and looks down at his happy child." He took Alexis hand and lightly kissed her fingertips. Alexis whole body shivered with excitement

"Then I understand why she is so protective of you in that case." Sonny nodded. "I am glad you had her in your life while you were growing up."

"Really?" Alexis gave him a slight disbelieving look.

"Yea! Really." He dimpled. "I had Joe Scully while I was growing up and you had the Dragon Lady!"

"Sonny!" She scolded

"Alexis!" He gave her and innocent and teasing look.

"She is an old friend, you should respect her." She insisted

"Like she respects me? She pretty much sent me to the servants entrance!" He pouted. "Besides, all I said was that I was glad you had someone in your corner when you were growing up. I never said I liked her."

He grinned.

"Do you think Joe Scully would have liked me?" Alexis asked.

"Are you kidding? He would have been enchanted by you, Alexis."

"Enchanted?" She laughed.

"Yea, enchanted, just like me."

Sonny moved into kiss her, nuzzling he neck.

At the moment they were each feverishly anticipating the kiss, a shadow loomed over them and Mrs. Maddox coughed rather indiscreetly. Alexis looked like a teenager caught necking in the backseat of her boyfriend's car and Sonny tried to give the governess his most charming smile.

She did not buy either look and glared at the two of them. Alexis squirmed out of Sonny's arms and he tried to hide the look of devastation on his face. He was trying desperately to believe Alexis when she told him that she was not embarrassed by their relationship. However, the moment anyone of breeding entered the scene a mask fell across her face. That worried him and it upset him as well.

This was the woman he loved more than he ever thought it was possible to love another human being. He wanted her and Kristina to be his family. After all, they were already his life. He just wasn't sure that was possible if Alexis kept publicly denying her feelings for him. He felt rejected and he did not handle rejection well.

It seemed as if Mrs. Maddox had just noticed Kristina playing in the sand.

"That child is going to get filthy!" She yelled and picked the child up.

Kristina started to whimper, until she saw the stren look the woman gave her. Then she became quiet and sullen. Sonny wondered silently if maybe Mrs. Maddox had something to do with Alexis being unable to express her feelings. He silently vowed that no child of his would grow up believing that her feelings had to stay bottled up inside.

"She is a baby, they tend to get dirty." Sonny shruged.

"The child must be taken back to the house and fed!"

Mrs. Maddox replied, ignoring Sonny and his protests.

A guilty look spread across Alexis' face, but she said nothing to correct the woman. That just made Sonny more upset.

"Mr. Corinthos, you are welcome to come back to the house and help us feed her."

Alexis gave him a shy smile and Kristina pouted.

Sonny hated being called "Mr. Corinthos" like he was a stranger and he hated even more that Alexis felt she needed to issue an invitation for him to feed his own daughter. For her part, she was following custom, but she realized she had made a mistake when she saw anger flash through Sonny's eyes.

"I would rather go back to my plane and have a drink."

He snapped with his jaw set in anger.

Alexis her bottom lip and tried to think of a way to make him less angry. She realized that to someone not used to formalities, calling him by his surname was probably seen as an insult. She hoped that he realized how she really felt about him by the intimacy they shared in their private moments . She realized that she had thought wrong.

Alexis would have sooner cut off one of her own limbs than hurt Sonny, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was hurt badly. To try and reason with him when he was in such a sate was useless. It was better to get herself and their daughter away from him. If Sonny wanted to self-destruct, he could do so without an audience.

Alexis took their daughter from Mrs. Maddox and dismissed the woman with a wave of her hand.

"If you want to drink, you had better do it before you arrive!

You will not find alcohol at my brother's table!" She snapped.

"What is my incentive to show up for dinner then?" He snapped back.

"I thought it was enough that we would be spending time together, but maybe I would rather you not show up at all rather than you showing up intoxicated!"

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Maybe I won't show up!"

He answered in a huff, with tears in his eyes as well.

"I am going to go feed my daughter!" She turned on her heel.

"Just remember who her father is Alexis!" He turned and headed the opposite direction back to the landing strip and his plane. Which held what he figured was the only comfort he was going to get that night, a bottle of good scotch.

Alexis looked down at Kristina, the spitting image of her father in every way. From her dark soulful eyes, to her even darker curly hair, to her dimples so deep you could get lost in them for days.

As if I could ever forget. You stubborn jerk"

Alexis yelled back at him and then sighed as she walked back to the house.

"Princess Portentous! He replied.

"Well honey, your father is being a jerk and I have no idea why. We love him more than life. He is the most important person, next to you, in my life. I would sooner run away with him than get up tomorrow morning. I want to do this right though. I want my brother and the whole world to love him and accept him the way we do sweetheart, but his ego is not helping maters. His ego and connected inferiority complex are the price we must pay for having the most wonderful man in the world in our lives pumpkin. It is a small price to pay though, because I can not live without him. No man has ever treated me like the way your father treats me. He makes me feel loved, respected, cherished, dare I say even worshiped. There are tasks that your father is very very exquisite at performing. Things that I miss terribly when we are apart. I admit that I goaded him just now. At least I have a good reason for my emotions to be all over the place. I am adding a brother or sister to our little family arbor. I wonder what his excuse might be?"

She tried to keep the pain and tears inside, but they slid out in buckets.

Sonny turned and watched her walk away, He could see her body quivering and he knew she was crying. She would be done by the time she reached the house though, The emotionless mask would fall and she would shove all her feelings inside.

It hurt Sonny to have her ignore him and that was why he had lashed out, but now his heart was breaking for her because he knew that acting so indifferent caused her pain.

She was living in two worlds right now, the world of people like Stefan and Mrs. Maddox. A world, where Ned Ashton was actually a better suitor for her heart, than Sonny. A world where a fiend was accepted because he was the fictive father of Kristina. Then there was his and Alexis' world, the world where a princess loved a no good street thug from Bensonhurst. A world where Alexis allowed a morally bankrupt and socially repugnant mobster into her heart and into her bed. A world where their love had created the most beautiful and pure creature in the universe, their daughter Kristina.

Alexis was existing in both worlds, but she was not functioning very well. She would have to make a choice and she would have to make it soon. Otherwise, Sonny would make it for her and it would break both their hearts. Because, if Alexis did not publicly chose him soon. He would have to walk away. To keep up the charade would tear her apart over time and Sonny would rather die than see that happen. He sat down on the sand and looked out across the ocean, his thoughts lost in the waves.

Alexis arrived late for dinner, which resulted in a disappointed frown from her brother and a non-descriptive look from Ned. Sonny could tell from the way that Alexis held her body that she felt duly chastised by the look her brother gave her. That frown had been the equivalent of a tongue lashing. Sonny hated the way Stefan and others used looks and little expressions to keep Alexis in her place or at least the place in which they believed she should be kept.

It made him aware of little things he might have done in the past to control her as well. Alexis was one of the most independent and strong minded women Sonny knew. Yet it was becoming clear to Sonny that Alexis had been conditioned to respond the whishes of certain men in her life. Ashton had recognized this and exploited it for his own benefit as a flaw. Sonny recognized it, but vowed not to exploit it as a flaw. He vowed to celebrate it as one of her unique characteristics.

Sonny was not sure if Ned and Stefan were upset at her tardiness that evening or if they were surprised that she had not taken the time to strengthen her hair and fix it in a manner they deemed proper. Of course Sonny was thrilled that she had worn her hair wavy and natural, because he knew she did it for him alone. She had entered the dinning room with poise, grace and she absolutely glowed.

She had changed out of her sundress and into a regal sky blue gown of light weight velvet. It was conservative and on most women it would have appeared stoic. However, Alexis had a way of wearing buttoned up clothes that made them extremely feminine, sexy and regal. The velveteen dress was no exception and Sonny spent most of his few enjoyable moments of the evening fantasizing about ways to get dress off of Alexis’ luscious body in under 60 seconds. His mother had been a seamstress, so he knew a great deal about women’s clothing. He decided that the front buttons were merely decorative. He figured that the dress had to close in the back. He could see no signs of a zipper, so he figured that it had to latch with hook and eye. The most difficult type of closure known to man. He tried to catch Alexis’ eye several times during the night to try and communicate what he was thinking. However, she seemingly had ignored all his attempts.

As if Alexis needed to look at him in order to know what he was thinking. He was thinking the same thing she was thinking. Large, flat dinning room tables looked like they would be great for sex. If only all of those other people would just leave them alone so they could get to it. She smiled sly and wondered how long it would take Sonny to realize that the buttons on the front were just decorative and that the dress actually opened and closed in the back. Knowing Sonny as she did, he had probably figured it out within minutes.

She had been late and had made a grand entrance. Sonny had probably figured out how to get her out of that dress minutes after she walked in the door. The instant she walked through the door she had been unable to take her eyes off of Sonny. Alexis had been so captivated by him, that she had barely noticed the disappointed looks Stefan and Ned had given her. She tried to ignore them as best she could and concentrate on Sonny. She had been able to steal fleeting looks at him all evening as she fantasized about all the things she wanted to do to him and with him on that dinning room table. She was surprised to see him there at all. She had been afraid that he would make good on his threat and go back to his plane and coddle a bottle of scotch. However, he had not only showed up for dinner, he had showed up sober as well. Sonny had a choice and he had once again proved that he would always choose Alexis.

As far as she was concerned, the evening had gone extremely well. That was until the biscotti arrived. There was nothing wrong with biscotti in general. However, Alexis had found it nearly impossible to daintily eat the dessert all the while knowing exactly what was going through Sonny’s mind. Besides, here and Sonny had a history with biscotti. It was significant to them. Alexis had allowed him to believe that she had her first biscotti with him, at the No Name in what turned out to be a very sexy situation. She had allowed Sonny to believe that he had been a part of a lot of her first moments. Her first taste of biscotti, her first night of gambling, among other firsts. She had done all of those things before, but it made Sonny feel good about himself to believe that they were first moments they shared together. So she was happy to allow him those moments, even though she was being deceptive at the same time.

He had given her so many real first moments. He first real kiss, her first real love, her first born. Of course, none of that changed the fact that she found it nearly impossible to eat biscotti in front of Sonny without turning several different shades of red.

Sonny was convinced that he had just had the most horrible meal of his life! It was not the food per say that was bad, not that he really knew what the food tasted like, it was the general environment surrounding the meal that left him feeling like a condemned man. He and Ned had spent the whole evening glaring at each other. Stefan was less than amused and Alexis had sat there looking as uncomfortable as Sonny felt. By far, the worst part of the evening was he could not make any eye contact with Alexis. Every time he tried to catch the eye of his lady love, he received a death glare from her watch dog Mrs. Maddox. Sonny felt like he had somehow been dropped straight into one of those turn of the century, battle of the classes romance novels. In high school he had to get drunk before he was able to read those books. Now he was living one and he was having to do it stone cold sober because Stefan had declared that no alcohol would be served until after dinner.

Then the worst thing imaginable had occurred, dessert was biscotti!

He had to sit there and watch the woman he wanted more than he wanted to draw breath as she ate the second most sexy dessert on the planet. The only thing more difficult would have been having to watch her bite down on a juicy strawberry. Sonny could not help but wonder if Alexis had arranged for the biscotti to be served just to torture him! She knew what biscotti meant to them. She had to remember that night at the No Name. He had wanted her that night. He had wanted her badly and yet she had coolly rebuffed his advances. She had even joked about writing him a personal ad based on a woman that sounded strikingly like Alexis. He had to have known then that when she ignored him and rebuffed him, it only made him want her more. As if that were humanly possible. Sonny was convinced that she did it on purpose. That was the only reason he could think of to explain how she could sit there happily munching on a cookie and watch him want her more than he had ever wanted anyone in his life.

Out of the corner of his eye Sonny saw Alexis glance in his direction for the first time all evening. By the time he turned to return her look, Mrs. Maddox had leaned over and was whispering in her ear. Sonny saw a quick pained look cross he the face of his beloved, but it vanished quickly.

"If you will excuse me, gentlemen, I need to go tend to my daughter, Kristina."

Alexis rose from her chair without looking at Sonny or Ned, she briefly smiled at Stefan.

"Of course, Kristina should be hungry right about now. Then you will give her an lavender bath, read her a fairy tale and kiss her goodnight. Kristina does love her bath and story." Ned commented and smiled as he recited the nightly ritual Alexis and Kristina shared. It made Sonny want to vomit out the four course dinner he had just consumed. Either that, or kill Ned with his bare hands. How dare Ned pretend to understand what his daughter needed?

Mrs. Maddox smiled and nodded in the general direction of Ashton. Sonny could feel the vein on the back of his neck throb.

"Yes she does!" Mrs. Maddox replied.

Sonny saw Alexis tense up. Something had changed between her and Ashton. It was no longer fear that he saw in her eyes when she looked at her former husband, it was more a form of contempt. He made a mental note to try and find out from Alexis why she seemed to loath Ned. It had to be something more than just anger at the comment Ned had made about Kristina. Then again, it was hard to tell with Alexis. Sonny knew her better than he knew any other woman in his life. Yet, she was still a woman and that made her an enigma at times. He had noticed that she seemed more emotional as well. Her moods seemed to swing and her reactions to him seemed to run hot and cold. He had seen her behavior before, but he could not place when or where. If he had stopped to think about it, he might have realized that she was pregnant, but he did not stop to examine the situation to closely. All he knew was, moody or not, he had to get Alexis and their daughter away from that house of confidence destroying lunatics.

As Alexis and Mrs. Maddox left the room both Ned and Stefan stood out of manners and Sonny reluctantly followed suit. Alexis told Stefan and Ned goodnight exited the room without so much as a glance in his general direction. Mrs. Maddox did take the time to glare at Sonny before following Alexis out of the room.

Stefan excused himself and followed Alexis out into the hall.

"May I have a word with you Alexis!" Alexis knew it was not a question.

She stopped and turned towards her brother.

"Yes of course. I am sorry that I was late for dinner. I took Kristina for a walk and it took longer than I had anticipated." Alexis looked down at her hands and tried to avoid looking at her brother.

"Mrs. Maddox mentioned that you met with Mr. Corinthos?"

"Sonny was on the beach when Kristina and I arrived." Alexis bit her lower lip nervously.

"At your suggestion?"

Of course it had been at her suggestion, but Alexis did not feel the need to explain that to her brother.

"He is free to roam the island as he pleases or is he a prisoner?" Alexis deflected answering his question with one of her own.

"Of course he is free to go wherever he pleases." Stefan responded defensively.

Alexis silently wondered if that roaming privilege extended to her bedroom.

"Then what exactly are you suggesting?" Alexis accused her brother.

"I am merely suggesting that you consider your relationship with Mr. Corinthos very carefully and decide if it is worth the trouble it may cause in the long run."

Alexis almost laughed outloud. She had one child with Sonny and was carrying his second child. How much more could she be connected to the man. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. A part of her would have preferred for Stefan to completely forbid her from being with Sonny. At least then she would have some reason to fight. As it was, he was being far to polite and that was driving her crazy.

"Stefan are you trying to tell me to stay away from Sonny?" She narrowed her eyes at her brother.

"Of course not, Alexis. I would never tell you how to live your live. However, I am concerned that your infatuation with Mr. Corinthos may be clouding you judgment. You deserve the best of all things Alexis. That is my wish for you, that you only surround yourself with the very best life has to offer." Stefan insisted in a serious tone.

"How strange!" Alexis replied. "I would have hopped that your wish for me would be for my happiness and the happiness of my daughter."

She shook her head sadly and walked away.

Sonny and Ned had been engaged in a stare down ever since Stefan left the room.

Sonny finally had enough of Ned glaring at him and made the first move.

"Ashton, you want to take another swing at me? I will have you polishing the floor with your butt in 10 seconds flat." Sonny gave him a smirk.

"I have no idea what you thought you would achieve by coming here. You are the last thing Alexis needs." Ned gave Sonny a satisfied smile.

"You have proved time and again that you have no idea what Alexis needs, or wants or desires."

Sonny glared at Ned. At that moment Stefan reentered the room. He immediately felt the tension in the air and was desperate to break it anyway he could.

"We shall retire to the library for sherry." Stefan announced to no one in particular.

Ned nodded his head in agreement and Sonny wondered if he should mention that he knew a stripper at the Paradise lounge named Sherry. Also, the day he joined either of them for a drink was the day that the devil wore ice skates. He decided against making either of the declarations for the moment. Instead he informed Ned and Stefan that he was exhausted from his trip and would rather turn in than have a drink.

"Perhaps you will join Ned and I for a drink tomorrow night when you are more rested?"

Stefan was cordial, but Sonny saw that it was insincere. He obviously favored Ned as a suitor for Alexis over Sonny. Not that Sonny cared, he did not need Stefan to approve of his relationship with Alexis. He loved her and their daughter. They were what he wanted most in life. They were his family. Sonny knew that if he could just get Alexis alone for a few minutes he could convince her of that fact. The only problem was Stefan, Ned and Mrs. Maddox were all determined to keep him from looking at Alexis, much less getting her alone long enough for him declare his undying love.

"I will think about it. Now where did you say I would be sleeping?"

Sonny politely asked Stefan.

"William will show you to your room. I hope you have a pleasant nights sleep Mr. Corinthos."

Stefan indicated for a manservant to come forward and whispered something in his ear. Sonny followed the man out of the room. The instant they had left Ned glared at his host.

"It is not good for Alexis or Kristina to have him here." Ned snapped angrily.

"That may be one of the few things we do agree on, Mr Ashton." Stefan sighed wearily.

"I want him gone before dinner tomorrow." Ned insisted.

"Alexis will not be easily convinced." Stefan admitted. "For some unknown reason she seems to be drawn to Mr. Corinthos."

"She feels sorry for him." Ned shrugs. "Sonny uses that, along with a fair amount of guilt to control Alexis. I trust you to handle it, Stefan." Ned glared.

"I will handle Mr. Corinthos, with or without the cooperation of my sister. If I must, I will handle him the Cassadine Way. I will do everything within my power to make sure Alexis is protected."

Stefan assured his nervous guest.

Sonny was glad to get out of the dinning room, He felt that there had been more false sentiment in that room than there was backstage the Miss Port Charles competition. Sonny felt fortunate to escape with his meal intact. The butler William, showed him to his room. As they walked down the hall Sonny tired to get the lay of the land, so to speak.

"Where does Stefan sleep?" He asked innocently.

"On the other side of the house." The servant idly replied.

"What about Alexis?" Sonny tried to keep the gleam out of his eyes.

"Ms. Davis sleeps two doors down from your room." The butler replied.

"Who sleeps next to my room?"

"That is the nursery, the mistress Kristina sleeps there."

Sonny reveled in the knowledge that at least he was near his daughter. He was also not to far away from Alexis. Things were looking up, then a horrible thought crossed his mind.

"Ms. Davis arranged for you to sleep in the room next to the nursery. She said that you were accustomed to sleeping near a child. She indicated that you were married to one for some time?" The man gave Sonny a puzzled look.

Sonny grinned at the witty sense of humor the love of his life possessed. It just reinforced his belief that she was the most wonderful woman on earth. She knew that he would want to be near Kristina. He reveled in the knowledge that at least he was near his daughter. He was also not to far away from Alexis. The fact that Alexis had arranged his sleeping quarters made it even nicer. Earlier in the evening he had wondered if Kristina was the only person in the house who liked him at all. He knew that Stefan and Ashton would have just as soon wished him dead as wished him well. Mrs. Maddox looked down her nose at him every chance she got and Alexis seemed more perturbed than usual at him. As he looked at the nursery door, he knew that there was one person who loved him unconditionally.

His daughter needed him as much as Sonny needed her. By placing him in a room next to Kristina, Alexis was demonstrating that understood that need and accepted his role in their daughter’s life. It made Sonny feel like he was a part of something good for the first time ever. It made him feel as if he was a part of a family. He, Alexis and Kristina made up the family Sonny had always wanted.

Things were looking up, then a horrible thought crossed his mind.

"Where does Ashton sleep?"

Sonny swallowed hard and held his breath for what seemed to him like an eternity before the man servant answered.

"His room is next to that of Master Stefan."

Sonny let out an audible sigh. Alexis and Ned had not slept together while they were married. So, the chances were that they were not sleeping together now that Alexis had their marriage annulled. He had to be sure though, before he made a fool of himself.

"That was the right answer." He informed the butler, giving him a relieved smile.

"I am so glad, sir." The man sarcastically replied and rolled his eyes. He lead Sonny into his bedroom.

"Now I can move ahead with operation [i]Sweep Alexis off of her feet and make her fall as head over heels in love with me as I am in love with her.[/i]"

Sonny gave William a self satisfied smile.

"Okay, so maybe I am going to have to find a shorter title for my mission. How about [i]Operation make Alexis the happiest woman on earth[/i]?"

The butler rolled his eyes again.

"I think Mr. Ashton already has a jump on that particular mission." William smirked

"You can go now Willie!" Sonny informed him in an irritated voice.

As soon as William left, Sonny started to pace and talk to himself. He wandered out to the large balcony

"What does that stuffed windbag know about making Alexis happy? I know more about what she wants and needs and likes than all of them combined! Of course Willie is right, Ashton has been here for a while and Alexis and Stefan have not kicked him out. In fact, he and Stefan seem pretty close, almost like they are soul brothers or something. Well, damn it Alexis and I are soulmates!"

Sonny turned his back to the railing and leaned against edge and continues to speak out loud.

"I know Alexis better than anyone. I know what passions drive her. I know every inch of her body. When I close my eyes, I can see the details of her face. Those beautiful chocolate brown eyes of hers. they say the eyes are the windows to the soul and that is so true of Alexis. He eyes show me her vulnerabilities and her strengths.

Sonny smiled.

"I wonder if Ned even knows the color of her eyes? The there are her gorgeous pouty lips. I love how red and plump her lips look when I have just kissed them. Hell, I just love to kiss them, then move down her throat and neck, to her shoulders and..."

He flet flushed for a moment.

"Is it getting hot out here or is it my imagination?"

Sonny unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt and continued to pace while he talked.

"So I want Alexis, what else is new? I have wanted Alexis for a long time now, wanting her and convincing her to choose me over Ashton are two separate issues."

Sonny poured himself a glass of water.

"What do I have to that that makes me a better choice for Alexis than Ashton? There is the obvious of course. I have more money and I am a better dresser. I am also better looking than him and Alexis and I have been intimate 7 times since the last time she was with Ned. It hardly matters that 6 of those times were in one night. It is still 7 to 0 in my favor!"

Sonny glanced at the wall that separated him from his daughter.

"Then of course there is Kristina. She is our daughter and that really bonds Alexis and I together. She did ask me to help her get Kristina away from Ned and his family once. That has to work in my favor as well. Also, I am far better looking than Ned and a hell of a better lover!"

"You already mentioned those last ones!"

He heard Alexis' mocking announcement call out from somewhere beneath the balcony.

Sonny jumped, startled to have her voice invade his private thoughts. Then he realized that those thoughts might not be so private. She might have heard every word that had uttered. He rushed to the edge of the railing and saw Alexis sitting on a stone bench in the garden below. She had changed out of her formal dress into his favorite yellow shirt and lowcut jeans. He smiled at how easy it was for her to look drop dead gorgeous without even trying.

"How long have you been listening to me?"

Sonny demanded.

"Since you told William the title of your mission plan."

She rolled her eyes. Sonny tired to hide a smile. She had heard everything he had said and she was still speaking to him. That was a good development.

"It is not polite to eavesdrop Alexis." Sonny dryly remarked with a gleam in his eyes.

"I was here first! I could hardly help over hearing. Did you mean any of it?" She gave him a coy look.

"Not a word!" Sonny lied and then grinned.

"Well, in that case, it does not count if 6 of those times were in one night!" Alexis replied miffed.

"Which ones failed to count Alexis? Because I will find some way to make them up to you." He gave her a seductive smile. Which made her blush and he smiled again.

"Well, if you must get technical, none of them actually failed to count." Alexis replied softly. She was reluctant to admitted it, knowing it would only fuel his already overly inflated ego.

"That is because I am more than capable of handling the technical stuff!" Sonny winked at her and he laughed. Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Bragging about that kind of thing is very chauvinistic and uncouth Sonny." She insisted, halfway teasing.

"It is only bragging if it is a lie, Alexis." He let out a heartfelt sigh.

"It is still not very polite." She blushed again.

"Hold that thought, Alexis and I will be right down. There is something important that I want to say."

I will be glued to this spot, waiting in anticipation!

She wearily commented as she watched him run back into the house like a school boy who was late for lunch.

Sonny made a beeline for the garden realizing that this was his opportunity to tell Alexis what he wanted to say the night she left. He has gone over all of it in his mind a thousand times over the past few months while they have been apart. He was planning on telling her that he wanted them to be a family with Kristina. How he realized the night that she left that her and Kristina were the definition of family. They represented that sense of belonging he had spent his whole life in search of. He found Alexis in the garden waiting for him. He sat beside her and gave her a dimpled smile.

"Alexis, you're here!" He let out a breath of air in relief.

Alexis gave him a puzzled look.

"Where exactly did you expect to find me, Sonny? Considering that less than two minutes ago I told you I would be here waiting in anticipation! Although, I have no clue as to what I am waiting for exactly!"

"I know you said you would wait for me, but it is still hard for me to believe that were are here together, alone."

He suddenly felt extremely nervous. What if she reacted badly to his declaration of love. What if things had changed between them while she was away. If she rejected him, he would have no choice to crawl away and die. He tried to form the words, but his mind was a blank. He had never put his heart on the line before to the extent that he planned to do with Alexis. He had never wanted to open up to any woman as much as he wanted to open up to Alexis. He always put on an air of being in control, yet at that moment he felt less in control than he had ever been in his life. He also felt more fear than he had ever felt in his life.

Alexis mistook his hesitation for game playing and she was not in the mood.

"If you have something to say, Sonny will you please do so?" She gave him an exasperated look.

Sonny looked at her and saw detachment and a hint of annoyance.

"Do you have someplace to be, Alexis? Is there something wrong with Kristina?" There was slight panic in his voice.

"She is prefect. She was already asleep when I went upstairs to give her a bath. So I let her be for tonight."

"If there is nothing wrong with Kristina, then I guess that you would just rather be somewhere, anywhere besides her alone with me?"

His tone came out as sarcastic and challenging, mostly because of his nerves. He had wanted it to sound more teasing.

This irritated Alexis. She could feel that they were on the verge of a turning point in their relationship, but the dance they were doing felt uncomfortably familiar. One of them would be on the verge of sharing their feelings, but the other would not push and so they would end up dancing around said feelings until their feet were numb. Alexis was no longer willing to accept that standard. She had one child an another on the way. Both sired by a man that seem incapable of expressing to her how he really felt. She had never pushed before because she was afraid of losing him as her friend, but she was going to push now. She had to much to gain and nothing to loose. So she pushed in the one way she knew would get his attention. Alexis pushed the jealously button hard.

"Actually, I am supposed to meet Ned down by the beach. We are going for a midnight swim."

Alexis lied with confidence and then waited for his reaction. Sonny felt jealousy building up in the pit of his stomach. Alexis saw it in his eyes and realized that it had worked. She wanted to get a reaction from Sonny and he reacted like an exploding nuclear warhead.

"What the he*l is that supposed to mean?"

Sonny challenged. He tried and failed to keep the pain out of his voice.

"I am going swimming with Ned. I enjoy his company and I could hardly go swimming at night by myself."

She continued to spin her tale, feeling more guilty the second time.

"Since when do you enjoy the company of Ashton so much?" Sonny challenged with bitterness and pain in his voice.

She hated to see him in pain. Alexis wanted nothing more than to take him in her arms and tell him that she wanted him, not Ned. That she was lying if she said anything less than that she loved him with her whole heart and soul. That her body was his and only his, that no other man existed in her eyes. That declaration would come soon enough, but she was going to make Sonny work for her love first.

"I decided I liked the company of Ned about the same time you decide you would rather go back to you plane for a drink rather than help me feed Kristina."

"I showed up for dinner and I never did get that drink. If you had been on time, you would have known that. What does Ned suddenly have that I am lacking?" Sonny frowned.

"Manners for one! Besides, Stefan likes him and hates you. My brother has impeccable taste when it comes to people." Alexis glanced into the darkness, avoiding the pleading look in the eyes of her beloved.

"I could care less what your brother Stefan wants. What do you want Alexis?" Sonny challenged.

She wanted him, desperately. He had to know that she wanted him and only him.

"How about a little respect and maybe a little tenderness?" Alexis sighed. "Tonight, my brother reminded me that I deserve nothing less than the best life has to offer."

"Ashton suddenly fits into that category?"

Sonny tried to control his temper, but mostly he was just confused. He had come to the garden with the most honorable of intentions. He had intended to open his heart to Alexis. However, it had gone terribly wrong and instead of it being about them, it was now about her and Ned. It made Sonny absolutely heart sick to even think about Alexis with anyone else, much less with Ashton. If there was any man on earth that deserved Alexis less than him it had to be Ned.

"At least Ned does no pretend that he is ill breed." Alexis replied, her resolve was weakening and she knew that if Sonny pushed her about her feelings for Ned she would have to give in and admit the truth.

"So, now I am ill breed?" Sonny sighed.

"No, but you like to act as if though you are lower class than those around you. I think it gets you off on some level Sonny. My brother notices such things." Alexis answered with a far off sounding voice.

"Does Stefan know the truth? 3 months ago I found you crying your eyes out in the rain because you were scared to death of what would happen if you and Kristina stayed with Ned. You asked me to help you get your daughter out of that house. I put everything on the line for you and revealed my trump card to them and I brought our daughter home! Then you stood in the living room of my apartment, wearing only my shirt I might add, and you demanded an annulment from Ned! You were scared of him, of his whole family What happened to that fear? Is the hate you feel for me really that strong that you can just forget what they are capable of doing?"

Tears ran down his face and there was confusion and desperation in his voice. It scared Alexis because she was afraid that she had pushed too hard.

"I changed my mind." Alexis swallowed hard and refused to meet his gaze. Refused to see the pain in his eyes, even though she could not help but hear the pain in his voice.

"Fine." Sonny replied with defeat in his voice. "I give up, I came here right now to tell you how much you and Kristina mean to me. I wanted you to know that the night you left I realized that the two of you were the most important things in my life. You are my life."

"You realized that the night I left?" Alexis asked, feeling her resolve cave as her knees became wobbly. She had been standing, but now she found she had to sit down once more on the bench before her legs failed her and she fell to the ground.

"Yea." Sonny continued. "I wasn't sure what I was going to say when I went up to the bedroom where you were feeding Kristina. As I walked up the stairs I felt so many raw emotions swirling inside me. I was angry at you for keeping Kristina from me and I felt jealous of all the moments I had missed sharing with my daughter. I was mostly jealous because you had allowed Ashton to be apart of those moments and not me." Sonny stated with a voice filled to the brim with emotion.

"Ned was hardly ever there for Kristina." Alexis reminded him.

"That means a lot Alexis. Mostly though, that night I felt shame, because of the things I said to you Alexis. You are the mother of my child and the woman I respect most in the world. I am sorry for that, sweetheart." He gave her a sad smile and Alexis felt her heart nearly beat out of her chest.

"I know that you never meant a word of it." She gave him a soft smile

"None of the bad things I said that night were true. I was desperate and angry and the words flowed from some black place in my soul before he could stop them. My emotions were so tied up in knots that I could not find the ends to unravel them. All of that changed the moment I stepped into the bedroom."

"I had just finished feeding Kristina and told her we were leaving for a while." Alexis sighed sadly at the memory.

"I never suspected the bottom was about to fall out of my world. Alexis, you were lying on the bed with our daughter protectively resting in the crook of your arm. You were both asleep and your perfectly synchronized breaths were shallow and calm. It was the most beautiful and tranquil site I had every seen. If pure love could be perceived by the naked eye, I imagine this was what is must look like. When I close my eyes I can still see that scene. It has gotten me through many lonely nights."

Alexis sighed as Sonny continued to pour out all the feelings that had been trapped in his heart for so long.

"In that moment all of my feelings became less complicated and I realized that what I had been looking for my whole life was right in front of me. You and Kristina are the definition of family I have been looking for my whole life. At that moment, I wanted to tell you how I felt. Hell, Alexis, I wanted to tell the whole world how I felt. You and Kristina looked so peaceful that I decided it could wait. I sat down on the bed and I noticed that most of my clothes were on floor along your clothes and a handful of empty condom wrappers. The life I had always wanted was in that room. From the stormy, yet soulful sex, to the woman and child asleep on the bed. It was what I wanted more than I had ever wanted anything in my life."

Alexis tried to cover a blush and then tried to speak, but the words would simply not come.

"Then I woke up the next morning and you were gone. All I was left with were memories of what we had shared and the handprint of out daughter preserved in clay. I forced myself not to run after you, Alexis, because I believed that was what you wanted. So, now you are telling me that you want Ned. If that is what you really want than far be it for me to stand in your way. If you

you want to be married to Ned again, I can go get a priest and you can remarry Ned here and now."

Sonny soulfully responded while he wiped away his tears. The ball was now very much in her court. There was nothing Alexis could think of to say that would rival the emotional outpouring Sonny had just completed. All she could do was react.

"No! Marrying Ned isn't what I want. It was never what I wanted. It was just the easiest thing!"

She sobbed. Sonny gave her a sympathetic smile and pulled her to her feet into his arms in a tight embrace.

"Now we are getting somewhere." Sonny whispered into her hair as his arms encircled her waist.

"Why does everything have to be so difficult?" She sadly bemoaned.

"Not everything is difficult Alexis, only those things that are really important."

He ran his hands through her hair and down her back, making her whole body tingle with excitement. She felt him smile against her shoulder.

"Alexis, for once can you just tell me what you want?" There was desperation in his voice.

"I want you, Sonny. I have always wanted you. I am afraid of Ned. I have not forgotten what the Quartermaine clan is capable of doing Sonny, but a part of me wants to believe him when he says that he is different from the rest of his family."

She pulled out of his embrace and sits back on the bench.

"Because you are so in love with Ashton that you are willing to live in fear and put our daughter in danger?"

Sonny practically choked on the words. Alexis looked up at him with tear soaked eyes.

"No, because I am so in love with you Sonny." She desperately states. He is stunned for a moment.

"Would you say that again?" His request was dry and serious, but it caused her to roll her eyes.

"What? Once is not enough for your huge ego?" She teased.

"No, once is more than enough. You have never said those words to me before though. They are probably the most wonderful words I have ever heard and I would kind of like to hear them again just to make sure I heard you right." He stated out of breath.

"OMG! Sonny you are rambling. You have been spending to much time around me." Alexis teased.

"Correction, I have not been spending enough time around you, but I am planning on changing that right now. Do you happen to have a paper bag? Because I think I am about to hyperventilate."

He was serious, but he made her laugh.

"Fresh out of paper bags." She teased.

"Please, Alexis say it again." He was almost to the point of getting down on his knees to plead.

"I am in love with you Sonny. So in love with you that I would rather marry a toad like Ned than face rejection by you because it would break my heart in two if you did not love me back."

He saw a light in her eyes that he only saw when she was looking at their daughter. It was love, only this time it was for him.

"You sound like that is a bad thing?" Sonny gave her a sheepish grin.

"It is the most frightening feeling I have ever had." She said with honest feeling in her voice.

"I am in love with you too, Alexis." He gave her a serious look.

"Well, that is pretty obvious after that impassioned speech you gave me 5 minutes ago." She returned his sheepish look.

"You liked that? Because I am not really that good with words. I mainly speak through actions."

He gave her a sumptuous look that sent her pregnancy hormones shooting though the roof. It also served as a reminder that she had pregnant hormones. Alexis realized that there was something she could say to Sonny that would be equal to the declarations of love he had made. She had something to give him besides her heart. She could give him the knowledge that he was going to be a father again.

Alexis was about to confess, but it was clear that Sonny had other ideas. he was trailing kisses across her throat and before she could protest, he was devouring her neck as well.

"What are you doing?" She breathlessly asked.

"Showing you how good I am with actions. Because, seeing you in this moonlight makes me want to kiss you until we are both too numb to speak." He informed her in a low seductive voice.

He ran his hands down her back and pulled Alexis to him. He felt her body shudder with pleasure.

Sonny smiled at the knowledge that he affected Alexis as much as she affected him. He took her face in his hands and kissed her ferociously on the mouth. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, searching for the answer to his question.

"Here in the garden?" She asked him, blushing slightly.

"Why not? It is dark and secluded. The only room that look down on it is my room and no one is in there." He answered with a devilish look in his eyes and then proceeded to kiss her behind one ear and then the other. At first she seemed a little surprised when he kissed her behind her ear. No man had ever don that to her before. By the time he moved his lips to the other pulse point behind her other ear her heart rate was racing and she was making soft moaning sounds. He moved his mouth to hers again and finally felt her give in completely. She kissed him back with more vigor and enthusiasm than he had felt in a long time. They pulled apart only to breath and then kissed again, even more passionately than before. As seconds turned into minutes, the kiss deepened to the point that Alexis forgot where they were. The whole world vanished around her and she was only aware of Sonny’s gentle touch. Sonny leaned her back onto the bench, not breaking their kiss even for one second. He loved the feel of her body against his, the way that her pulse raced and her heart beat a little faster when they touched. It was electric and sensual. Alexis affected him in ways that no other woman ever had or ever would, and on so many different levels. Being near Alexis ran so much deeper than fulfilling a physical need. He wanted her more in that moment than he had ever thought it was possible to want another person, but it was because she completed him on an emotional level. Their kiss was having a similar profound affect on her. The feelings and desires that he awakened in her would had made it easy to completely get caught up in the moment. Alexis found herself desperately wanting to fully experience the burning passion he had stirred in her. Yet before they completely gave into their passions they were rudely interrupted.

The shrill unmistakable voice of Mrs. Maddox could be heard hollering from the bushes.

"Alexia!" She screeched in a voice that reminded them both of nails on a chalkboard or worse of Sonny‘s ex wife. Sonny felt Alexis tense up in his arms and he tired to reassure her by gently rubbing her back

"Alexia?" Sonny whispered into her hair, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"It is no use trying to correct her. Stefan and I have tried for over 3 months." Alexis sighed.

"She has supposedly known you for years. has she always gotten your name wrong?" Sonny teased.

Before Alexis could answer, the two lovers were forced to pull out of their embrace as the woman approached.

"Alexia, your child needs you and all you can think about doing is cavorting in the garden?"

She gave Alexis a disapproving scowl.

"Pookie Pie is just fine. Sonny insisted. Unless you woke her with your shrill voice."

Alexis gives him a good natured jab in the ribs. The woman acted as if he did not exist and continued to chastise Alexis. Sonny noticed that it had a particularly devastating affect on the woman he loved. However, before he could defend Alexis, the vile woman had dragged her away by the arm. The last thing that Sonny heard was the woman proclaiming that she would never allow Alexis to throw herself at a man like Sonny Corinthos.

"Alexia you are behaving like a common trollop. You deserve better and your children deserve better. If you can not tend to you off spring, we can find one of the cousins that would be willing to take them in. Just because they were sired by that unfortunate peasant does not mean they should not be given ever opportunity to excel in life."

It took several seconds for the last part to register with Sonny. Alexis was pregnant again and he had no doubt in his mind that once again she was carrying his child. A grin spread across his face at the prospect of being a father again. Then it dawned on him that he had to talk to the mother of his children. he had to talk to Alexis right away. Just in case she was scared again at the idea of having him in the lives of his children. He had to reassure her that his family came first. He had to let Alexis know that he would do anything for them.

"Alexis we have to talk!" He cried out desperately and followed them both into the darkness. Alexis looked back, but there was too much night separating her from the object of her affection. Besides, Mrs. Maddox propelled her back towards the house and away from Sonny.