A sequel to "Adella's Boys"



She stared at the test results. She had made the doctor print them out because hearing it hadn't been enough. Even staring at the white page and black print wasn't making it real.

Alexis took in the words again and then folded the page and put it back in her pocket. One last glance in the rearview mirror told her that her earlier crying jag wasn't that obvious, but just for insurance, she pulled out her sunglasses. Thank God it's clear and bright today, she thought, even if the weather was in no way reflective of her mood.

They came into view as she rounded the last curve before the slides. Sonny had Kristina up on his shoulders as he ferried her back to the platform for the "big girl" slide. Alexis stopped a moment and watched as he kept a hand against their little one's back while she sat down and scooted into position to slide, giving her some independence but providing backup just in case.

There was so much to regret about her life the last few years, she thought, a laundry list of missteps and wrong turns, starting with not telling Sonny the truth on day one and ending most recently with her disastrous engagement to Ric. But seeing Kristina and her daddy together, Alexis felt something she'd once thought impossible in this situation--gratitude. She might doubt in her lowest moments that most of what had passed between she and Sonny had been as important to him as it was to her, but she never doubted that his love for Kristina was true… never wondered if he would use a child to manipulate her or gain her trust or…

Alexis shook her head and moved forward. She stepped into the soft sand of the big slide "jungle" in the center of the park just as Sonny crouched down at the end of the large plastic chute, his hands extended before him.

"Okay, sweetheart, Daddy's ready."

Kristina rocked side to side a moment, then giggling, she scooted forward and eased onto the slippery surface. Her eyes lit up as she began to pick up speed and then jetted down, coasting into her father's arms.

"Oh, look at my baby. She's such a good slider!"

The joy in Alexis' voice was real despite her heavy heart. Kristina was a godsend to her in that way. No matter what else was trying to drag her down in life, she had this amazing child to pull her back into the light with just one of her happy giggles or bright smiles.

"Hey," Sonny said as he stood up with Kristina in his arms, "look who's here."

It took only a few beats for their daughter to ease from her father's embrace into her mother's. Alexis squeezed her baby girl against her and reminded herself that she would cry no tears in front of Kristina. Everything was confusing enough now--they'd left their home, Ric had disappeared from her life and it didn't seem there was any way to explain that to a toddler who only knew that her world had changed overnight and without warning.

"It looks like you two have had a fun day," she said, hoping that talking would distract her from the things she did not want to think on just yet.

Sonny nodded. "She ought to go down pretty easily. We did about 100 laps here in the park, didn't we?"

His hand came to rest on Alexis' back much the same way it had earlier against Kristina's. Alexis let him guide her toward the edge of the slide jungle and the bench that sat empty on the opposite side of the narrow walkway.

"And she ate real good," he told her. Sonny always felt compelled to update her on what Kristina had done or eaten in her absence. At first, Alexis had thought he was worried she would think he wasn't taking good enough care of their little girl. Now she realized he did it to try to ease them into conversation. If they were talking about Kristina, they could speak easily. Everything else was unsteady ground.

"Mike gave her a c-o-o-k-i-e, too," Sonny continued, "but it's wrapped up in her backpack for now. I figured you could give it to her after her nap."

Alexis nodded as Kristina glared at her father in response to the dreaded mention of napping then crawled over to sit between her parents on the bench, her body relaxing against her mother's.

"I, uh... I know that it's been hard these last few weeks with us out at Wyndemere, and I appreciate you being flexible... with your visitation times, I mean."

Since the night Alexis' world had collapsed around her and Sonny had stood silently on the docks watching over her until the Wyndemere launch arrived, they had not discussed Ric or her decision to leave him at all. His only veiled reference to it had been a phone call to the estate the next morning when he had told Nikolas to pass on a message that he understood if Alexis "wasn't up to bringing Kristina into town" that afternoon. She had honestly forgotten it was his day for a visit and had been grateful for the reprieve. But the next day, Alexis had felt guilty over the lost time between father and daughter. Sonny had agreed to meet them at Kelly's for lunch. And since, they had simply spoken about times to meet and places to connect and what Kristina needed.

No mention of his brother and of the mutual betrayal that only served as another bond between them.

"I was wondering if, um... if you'd like to have her... for the night. I know it's short notice, so if you can't..."

Sonny's hand touched down on her shoulder, drawing her eyes to him.

"Of course I'll keep her," he answered. But there was more. She could feel him saying, 'and I'll listen if you need to tell me what's wrong.' But Alexis couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Not yet.

"I'll, uh... I'll come get her in the morning, then," she said, declining his invitation as her eyes dropped to their daughter. "Okay, my love, is that okay? You can stay with daddy and sleep in your bed at his house?"

"Mommy call?"

Alexis smiled and leaned over, kissing the top of her baby's head. "Yep, I'll call you later and make sure you don't miss me too much. Deal?"

"Deal!"

She stood to head back to the car after one more kiss good-bye. Sonny's hand took hold of hers though, stopping all of Alexis' movement except her turn back toward him.

"We'll see you tomorrow."

Alexis nodded and then began the walk to the parking lot. Part of her hated that she would be without Kristina tonight, but she knew that she needed to cry out all the pain today's doctor's visit had awakened in her. She had to let go of some of this burden if she was going to be able to function and take care of her little girl and take care of herself. And she didn't want her daughter to see her hurt like this... she didn't want anyone to see it.

The plan was simple. Go back to the house, go to her room and just hide until morning. Nikolas knew all too well that approaching a wounded Cassadine was risking your life, so he would give her the space she needed.

But the car wouldn't seem to head back to the waterfront. Instead, she found herself driving in circles around Port Charles, her eyes misting over as she toured the years of her life she had spent in this city both physically and emotionally. There was the place the Port Charles Hotel had stood, a place she had called her home as both the woman who had loved Ned Ashton and the wife of Jasper Jacks. There was the cemetery that now held the bodies of her beloved siblings. There was the hospital where her daughter had been born and where a desperate fight for life had been won. And the courthouse--a scene of so many triumphs and the stage for her great charade as a crazed woman pushed to kill.

And there was the pretty little house on the perfect street with the unfinished swing set in the backyard. It was that destination that marked her greatest defeat... not as an attorney, but as a woman.

It was growing dark when she pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned off the ignition. Her eyes were burning, exhaustion and hours of tears combining to create their red rims. Alexis closed them a moment, biting her lip at the sting, and then she turned, lifting her lids to take in the one place she had avoided until finally she was too tired to fight its pull anymore.

The Harborview Towers was lit up, shimmering against the evening sky. For so long, this building had been her home... her first real home. Now it was Sonny's home... the one he shared with Kristina on the odd afternoon and night.

"If you change your mind..."

His voice returned to her from earlier that afternoon.

"If..."

Alexis wrapped her hands around the steering wheel as tears welled up and spilled over her lids once again, finally overwhelmed by the "ifs."

*****

"Hey, boss."

Sonny looked up from where he and Kristina were sitting on the floor drawing a picture together before bath time. Max was standing half in the doorway.

"Yeah."

"You said Ms. Davis was coming in the morning, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Sonny replied. He stood up and walked over to the guard. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. Lance just called from downstairs. She's sitting across the street in her car."

Sonny shook his head, his eyes closing a moment to try to hide his sadness. He'd known something was wrong earlier when Alexis had asked him to take their daughter for the whole night. Normally he had to work on her for days to get an overnight visit… for her to just offer when her eyes were so sad... well, he'd known that something was wearing her down, and his money was on the heartache his little brother had caused her.

From various sources--Courtney, Liz, his father and even Emily--Sonny had heard that Ric's overtures had all been rejected. Alexis would not accept his phone calls, allow him to visit her or Kristina and had already sent his brother a request that he buy her out of their house. She was done with him, Ric just hadn't gotten the message. But that didn't mean her pain had just evaporated, and if he knew Alexis at all, and Sonny liked to think he still did, she wasn't sharing that burden with anyone.

"Max, can you do me a favor and help Kristina finish her picture?"

The other man nodded, and Sonny returned to his daughter's side and crouched down beside her.

"Hey, Daddy's gonna run downstairs for a minute, okay? Can Max help you finish coloring the sky?"

Kristina picked up the blue marker her father had abandoned and offered it to the guard. Sonny stood as the larger man folded down to the ground and after grabbing his coat, Sonny made his way to the elevator.

He could see before he even made it across the street that she was crying and, not wanting to startle her, Sonny pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed her number. He watched as she tried to find her own phone inside the car and then finally answered.

"Hi, Sonny, is--is everything all right?"

"I'm, uh, I'm coming towards the car. I didn't want to scare you. Think maybe we can talk?"

Her eyes jerked up and sought him out. Once he knew she had seen him, Sonny completed his approach and walked around to the passenger side of the car. He heard the beep of her car lock disengaging, and he climbed in, re-locking the doors behind him.

The first thing he noticed was that even though she was wearing her own coat, she was shaking. Moving quickly, Sonny shrugged out of his and reached over, wrapping it around her shoulders. Alexis kept her eyes focused ahead on the steering wheel as she eased forward and let him settle the rich fabric over her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He pulled back his hands and turned slightly so he was leaning against the door and facing her.

"You could come up."

She shook her head. "No. I don't want Kristina to see me like this."

Alexis' head leaned forward and even though her hair fell softly with her movement to shield her face from him, Sonny knew she was crying again. He thought to reach out to her… he nearly asked her what he could do. But finally Sonny decided to simply sit and wait.

"I'm... I'm pregnant."

He could hear so much in the admission she made after several minutes of sobbing--she was afraid, she was sad, she was resigned.

"What are you going to do?"

She sniffled and wiped her cheeks, sitting back, her hair moving so that he could see her profile again.

"I'm going to... well, I'm not going to repeat past mistakes, I know that. I can't have any more lies in my life."

Sonny nodded. "He's in no position to make demands on you, Alexis."

"Oh, believe me," she said, chuckling bitterly, "I know it."

Eyes closing, Sonny let his head lean back against the cool glass of the window. He knew what he should say next, not because it was what he wanted for her but because it was what he thought she might need to hear. So he drew in a long breath and Sonny opened his eyes and looked at Alexis and spoke.

"He loves you. I don't think he deserves you, but he loves you and if you wanted to give him another chance... everyone would understand."

Her face screwed up again, but she fought off the tears. When she shook her head, Sonny couldn't deny he felt a small tug of relief in his gut.

"I love him, too. But this isn't... we can't come back from this. How do I forget that at some point he viewed my baby--our baby--as a weapon? He looked at Kristina and he saw a way to manipulate me and to get back at you and how do I believe that won't happen again? God, I mean... it would be one thing if I could know, if I could just know that any of it was real. But I can't do that. And for all I know, he's just going to view this baby as a way to get me back and I'll still never be sure if he wants me or if he wants... "

Alexis began to shake again from her effort to keep herself from falling apart, but Sonny knew she needed to fall. She needed to let this out and it was him she had come to--and as he had done in the past, as Alexis had done for him--he would be that safe place for her to break. Finally daring to invade her personal space, Sonny reached over and took her hand. He sighed when she let him.

"I just don't know how I do this again," she said, her voice breaking. "I don't want to be alone again and I don't want to be afraid that I'm going to have to fight over another child. I can't face that again, but I..."

When her hand moved in his, Sonny thought she was pulling away. But instead, Alexis turned her palm up so that she could grab hold of his hand in return.

"I want my baby."

"Then have it, Alexis." Sonny leaned forward, erasing more of the distance between them. "Have your baby. Because you won't be alone. I promise."

For the first time since he had climbed into the car, Alexis turned and looked at him. Sonny could see the toll their conversation was taking on her in every aspect of her face.

"Sonny," she said, her eyes never wavering from his as she spoke, "you hate him."

He nodded. There was no denying that, he did hate his little brother. "But I don't hate you... and I could never hate anything or anyone that was a part of you."

Sonny wasn't sure if he moved first or if she did, but he did know that in a moment they were embracing, the discomfort of doing so in the car ignored as they pulled into a tight hug. It was brief, but it was strong and familiar.

"Well, at least Kristina's family life will be sufficiently strange enough to fit in with ours," Alexis spoke as she pulled back, her tears finally stopped. "Her half-brother or sister will be her cousin, too. That sounds very Cassadine."

"Yeah, and given my half-siblings popping up outta nowhere... " Sonny chuckled and much to his surprise and relief, his companion echoed the sound.

"Why don't you come up?" he suggested again. "We can give Kristina a bath together, read her a story."

Alexis shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I should go home and take a hot bath and go to bed. And then in the morning, I'm going to get up and I'm going to go see Ric and tell him that we need to figure out what his role is going to be in this baby's life... and make it clear to him that whatever that is, it won't include a place back in mine."

She stopped talking and took a breath, letting it out slowly. Then she looked at him, a small smile on her face. "And then maybe we can meet at Kelly's and have breakfast with our daughter."

"Breakfast at Kelly's it is," he answered and he returned her smile. "Call me when you know what time."

"Okay, I will."

Sonny unlocked the door and climbed out of the car. Alexis shrugged off his coat and reached over the empty seat to hand it to him.

"Kiss our girl for me."

He smiled and took hold of the coat. "I will."

"And tell her I said thank you for sparing you. This helped, Sonny."

"I'm glad. See you tomorrow."

Sonny stepped back onto the sidewalk and he pulled on his coat as Alexis started the car and pulled away from the curb. Her car moved into traffic and only once she was safely underway did he cross the street and return to his building and his home and their daughter.

When he opened the door of the apartment, it was to Kristina terrorizing Max with a red marker she was determined to use on his face. Her giggles and Max' feigned panic drew a laugh from Sonny as he eyed the little girl and saw all the things in her that told the world she was Alexis Davis' child.

She hadn't been able to come to him three years ago, but Alexis had come to him tonight. And maybe he hadn't been able to stand by her side before, but this time he would.

He had told his brother that the only thing either of them could do was try to find a way to prove themselves to Alexis again. He didn't know if Ric could or would do that. But Sonny knew that he [b]could[/b] do it.

It wasn't a perfect second chance... but it was a chance.

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