Baby Book
by SexisFan

Chapter 1

Alexis sat on her bed staring at the empty book. A baby book. The kind young mothers use to record remembrances of all the major milestones in the lives of their little ones. Alexis wasn't quite so young anymore, but she was a mother. Sort of.

She sighed. Kristina had been so excited when she gave the album to Alexis as a gift. It was an absolutely Kristina kind of thing to think of. A baby book hadn't even crossed Alexis' mind. Maybe she just wasn't cut out to be a mother.

A little too late for that astute observation, counselor, she chided herself.

Pushing her self-doubts aside for the time being, Alexis turned her attention to the cardboard box sitting on the bed next to the baby book. At one time, the box had held one of Kristina's many pairs of new boots from last season. Now it held memories. Alexis lifted the lid and peered inside. This was going to be one weird baby book.

After a quick scan of the contents, Alexis reached into the box and removed a small slip of paper. Bluish print spelled out the name of a drug store, along with the time and date of her purchase. This was the day her suspicions had been confirmed, the day that she was given proof that she was carrying Sonny's child.

She'd felt the changes in her body, but the idea of pregnancy hadn't crossed her mind at first. She was tired. She got dizzy spells. Her stomach wasn't quite right. Some days she battled nausea and couldn't eat a thing. Other days she made up for her missed meals with a ravenous hunger. At first she thought it was all stress related. From the morning she'd wakened in Sonny's bed, her life had been lived on tenterhooks. For weeks she'd carried the guilt of thinking that Carly was dead because of what had happened between Alexis and Sonny. The image of Carly drowning in the lake haunted Alexis' dreams during those weeks when Carly had been missing. A sick feeling sat in the pit of her stomach day and night. When Carly returned and the nausea remained, Alexis didn't think a thing about it at first.

Then she realized that she was late. Okay, that could have been stress related, too. But she had to know for sure. She had to put her mind at ease. So she went to the drugstore on the street level of the Harborview. And she bought a home pregnancy test. The experience was a bit surreal. Her whole future could be changed by the contents of a little cardboard box in blue and white.

Alexis paid for her purchase, receiving the receipt that she now held in her hand. Eager to get home and dispel the insane notion that she'd changed her entire life with one unprotected act - well, several unprotected acts in one unprotected night - Alexis slipped the receipt into her wallet along with her credit card, stuffed the bag containing the test kit into her purse, and rushed from the store.

Upstairs on the penthouse level, she'd heard the ding of the elevator as she'd been standing at her door with her purse tucked under her arm, wrestling with the damned sticky lock on her front door. The sound of the elevator doors sliding open set her into a near panic, causing her to work frantically to open her door so that she could escape quietly into the safety of her apartment. She didn't want to face anyone right then. And certainly not him. She'd been avoiding him like crazy since sending him back to Carly. And when she couldn't avoid him, she put on her most practiced 'light and breezy' manner, determined to keep him far enough from her heart to mitigate the damage that would result from the inevitable pull that Carly's presence would exert upon him.

"'Lexis?"

His voice was always like a caress. Only these days she tended to flinch under the touch of it.

"Can I help?"

I highly doubt it. "Thanks, but I think I've got it."

"I don't get to see you much. How are you doing?"

Other than the fact that I may be pregnant with your child while you're in love with someone else... "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine, Alexis. Can I please help you with that?"

He'd crossed over to her door and reached for the keys in her hand as she attempted once again to jiggle the lock loose. As his fingertips skimmed the back of her hand, she'd jumped back, dropping both the keys and her purse.

Confusion, then hurt, swept over Sonny's face before being replaced by his unreadable façade. Alexis had dropped her eyes from his, only to have her gaze fall upon the contents of her purse scattered on the floor at their feet. The corner of the blue and white box peeked out from the opening of the drug store bag.

"Let me get those. . ." Sonny made a move to gather up Alexis' belongings, only to have her drop quickly to her knees before him.

"I've got it," Alexis snapped, quickly tucking the drug store bag back into her purse and covering it with the remaining items from her purse. Sonny stood in silence watching her. Why didn't he just leave, she wondered. It would make things so much easier if he'd just leave her alone right now.

"Alexis, I think we should talk," Sonny began as Alexis rose from the floor.

Alexis didn't get a chance to answer, though, as a wave of dizziness overcame her, threatening to take her right back to the floor, only this time unconscious. Instinctively, Sonny reached out and caught her by the elbows as her knees buckled.

"I'm okay," she protested, attempting to pull away from his steadying presence.

"Alexis, something is wrong."

"It's just a bug. I'll be fine," she covered, leaning away from him and using the wall behind her for support.

"This bug isn't going away. I think you should see a doctor."

"Excellent suggestion," Alexis remarked coolly. "I'll call for an appointment now, if you'll excuse me." Alexis pushed past him on unsteady feet. Fumbling to get the key in her lock, she felt another wave of nausea and dizziness overtaking her. Alexis leaned her head against the cool wood of her door and closed her eyes. All she had to do was keep breathing and she'd be okay in a minute.

Sonny reached around Alexis and slipped the keys from her hand, receiving no resistance this time. As he leaned in toward her and coaxed the lock open, Alexis could feel Sonny's breath through the hair curtaining her face. A chill crept along her spine as his proximity elicited an automatic response from her body.

Without lifting her head from the door that was keeping her horizontal, Alexis held out her hand, her palm upturned. Wordlessly, Sonny laid her keys in her hand, letting his fingertips linger just a second or two on her palm.

"Thank you," Alexis whispered weakly.

"Let me help you. . ."

"I'm fine Sonny. Go home."

"'Lexis, don't do this."

"Do what?"

"Don't push me away. Please. I - I miss you."

Tears had welled in Alexis' eyes, tears she never let him see. "I can't do this now, Sonny. I just can't." With a quickness that obviously took him by surprise, Alexis turned the knob and darted through the open door into her apartment. Before he could protest, the door was closed again and Alexis was alone.

Only not alone. She was carrying Sonny's child. The little blue lines on the little stick from the little blue and white box gave her that news within the hour.

Alexis recalled with amazing clarity the sensation of numbness that spread through her as she'd looked down at those two little lines. Even now, she felt a hint of that old fear settle in the pit of her stomach as she remembered how uncertain the future appeared for her then. Not that it was much more certain now.

Alexis sighed and laid the receipt back into the box. If this receipt would be put on page one of the baby book, then page two would have to be the next turning point in her journey with this child. And that would be. . .yes, there it was. Rummaging through the box of mementos, Alexis found what she was seeking.

Wondering how she'd ever mount it in a baby book, Alexis fingered the softness of the worn and wrinkled piece of fabric. With a soft smile she thought of the man to whom it had belonged.

Yes, this would definitely be page two.

Chapter 02