Baby Book
by SexisFan

Chapter 14

Alexis sat reading in the shade of the seaside gazebo Sonny had instructed be built for her. It was another glorious day. The afternoon sun was warming the white sand and creating jewel-like sparkles on surface of the crystal clear blue sea. Gentle waves lapped softly against the beach, lulling her senses. A whisper of a warm breeze crept softly over her skin in a tender caress, eliciting a deep sigh as her attention drifted from the documents in her hand.

Life was good here, much better than she ever would have imagined her life could be.

A movement in the bassinette beside her caught her attention, making her instantly alert to the child at her at side. The sounds of the ocean always calmed the baby, too, ensuring an extended afternoon nap and a little time for Alexis - on a day such as this - to catch up on her work. But nap-time was apparently ending, which could only mean one thing.

As if on cue, Alexis heard Sonny's soft tread upon the wooden walkway leading to the gazebo.

"You two are like clockwork," Alexis smiled, tipping her face up to receive his kiss.

"Again?" Sonny asked, stepping quietly to the bassinette and peering in at the squirming bundle that was his child.

"Every day. Just before you come down here, the baby starts to wake up."

Sonny reached into the bassinette and scooped the tiny infant into his arms. "My son enjoys my company," Sonny beamed, bending his head to the baby's and placing a soft kiss on a sea of soft ebony waves.

"Lucky for you someone does," Alexis teased, her delivery deadpan.

"Awww, come on," Sonny coaxed as he nudged some room on the chaise next to her luscious legs and sat, facing her. "You know that I enchant both of our children. And you as well," he reached up to draw his thumb softly along the fullness of her lower lip, smiling at the shiver his touch set off in her.

"Speaking of children. . ." Alexis dodged.

"Mommy!" The delighted squeal accompanied the thundering of three-year-old feet down the wooden walkway.

"Hey, precious," Alexis smiled as she opened her arms to her daughter. "Did you enjoy your Papa-time today?"

Dark curls bounced as Hope nodded her head in exuberance. "Papa bought me a new party dress!"

"A new party dress? Whatever for?" Alexis asked as she smoothed her daughter's curls.

"It's a secret!" Hope whispered loudly against her mother's ear, her happy face mere inches from Alexis' own.

"Hope. . ." Sonny's tone held a gentle warning.

"It's okay, Papa," the little girl giggled over her shoulder at him, "I didn't say anything 'bout the prize party for our bersury!" she exclaimed.

Alexis' smile met her husband's. "A surprise party for our anniversary, huh?"

"Oooops!" Hope turned in her mother's arms to face her father, a pout forming on her little lips. "I wasn't 'posed to tell."

"It's okay, Little One," Sonny assured her, using the pet name he'd picked up from Alexis while she was pregnant with their daughter. "This was the perfect time to tell mommy the secret." His hand gently ruffled the soft curls on his daughter's head.

A bell tolled happily behind them, catching Hope's attention and brightening her affect. "Tea-time!" the tot burst out happily, shooting off of the chaise and capturing her mother's hand. "C'mon! It's tea-time!"

Tea-time was a favorite of Hope's. Every afternoon, after she enjoyed some of her father's undivided attention during her brother's nap, the little family came back together for tea-time, which was actually milk and cookies for Hope. But since Hope had picked up the phrase "tea time" from Alexis' assistant, every afternoon her milk and cookies had become a "tea" party with her parents.

The Corinthos family made their way up from the beach, Hope happily skipping along the weathered walk between her parents, her right hand in her mother's grasp, her left hand in her father's. Meanwhile, the new baby, comforted by his father's presence, still lay peacefully in the crook of Sonny's left arm.

"Mama? Papa said you didn't like parties before he made you love him."

Alexis shot Sonny a sideways glance, biting back a smile as she met his lopsided grin with a teasing glare. "Is that so? He made me love him, huh?"

Hope nodded, her little head bobbing up and down with great exaggeration. "Papa said he taught you how to be happy!"

"Reallllllly?" Alexis questioned, having picked up her husband's drawling version of the word over the years.

"How come you didn't like parties before Papa loved you, Mama?"

"Because Papa is the reason for everything, sweetie," Alexis answered with a plastic smile and an exaggerated sugary tone.

Hope looked up at her father adoringly. "Are you Papa? Are you really the reason for everything?"

Sonny smiled down into his daughter's earnest dark eyes, so much like her beautiful mother's. "No, honey. That would be you." He lifted his gaze to Alexis', "And your mother. And now," he gave a quick glance down at the baby in his arms, "your brother." Sonny's eyes found Alexis' again. "My family is the reason for everything that I do, and for who I am now."

Alexis felt her eyes mist as the sincerity of his words touched her heart. It was true, she knew. Sonny had changed his whole life for them.

"When are Corky and Krissy coming?" Hope asked, hopping off onto another topic of more interest.

Alexis eyed her husband again. "Courtney and Kristina are coming? For the surprise party?"

"The something-less-than-a-surprise party, now," Sonny sighed.

"When are they getting here? Michael's coming right? We can play in the 'sino, right Papa?"

Alexis sighed and shook her head. Busted. Hope just adored visiting the casino floor with her father when he did his rounds of the resort they owned. Alexis wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of their daughter growing up with the blackjack table as her playground, but those two were incorrigible. Hope's favorite treat, and Sonny just couldn't bring himself to deny her, was playing with the roulette wheel. When she was just a tot, it was nothing more than a noisy ball and spinning colors. Alexis knew it was little more than that to her daughter even now. Still. . .who lets their child cut her teeth on casino chips and roulette wheels?

It could be worse, though. They could still be living in Port Charles. Sonny could still be in the mob. Alexis could be in Switzerland or Australia raising Hope alone, no father and no new brother in the picture at all. Given those alternatives, a little fun with the roulette wheel in a legitimate casino was certainly the most appealing option.

"So, 'Papa,' when are the guests arriving for our 'prize' party?" Alexis asked with a smile and a bat of her lashes.

Sonny grinned and sighed. "Soon, ladies," he replied with a resigned shake of his head, "Very soon."

*****

Sonny entered their room silently, loathe to disturb the tableau before him. Alexis sat at the far end of the room, overlooking their balcony, framed by the open French doors hung on either side with sheer white floor-length curtains billowing in the breeze. She wore a gauzy, summery dress in white, a stark contrast to the bronze of her sun-kissed complexion. Her hair, a warm chestnut now streaked by the sun, hung in soft, natural waves around her face as she gazed down upon the baby at her breast. Gently, she rocked their nursing son in the same white rocker that had once graced Hope's nursery in the little house by the lake.

They were a long way from Port Charles now, in very many ways. But that was a good thing.

Sonny continued to gaze at his amazing wife. Alexis had given him so much more than he'd ever thought he deserved. He not only had a wife of beauty, wit, intelligence and charm, he had a partner who was fiercely loyal and who believed in him enough - cared about him enough - to inspire him to be a better man than he'd ever hoped to be.

It had been rough between them in the first months after their daughter was born. Sonny had wanted Alexis to move into the penthouse with him, to become a family. But she'd have nothing of that plan. She wasn't 'you know who' she would tell him. She sure wasn't.

It didn't work for Sonny to keep his penthouse but try spending all of his nights at Alexis' lake house either. For a few weeks, she went along with it, saying nothing. Then she confronted him. She was not going to join his life by default. She was not going to rear her child in the mob.

The decision she'd made was to leave Port Charles. And she meant really leave Port Charles, as in move onto another continent. She'd not deny Sonny visitation on her turf, but she would not have her child out of her care and she would not allow her anywhere near the Eastern Seaboard, let alone inside the city limits of Port Charles. Her daughter was not to be a target.

Sonny had nearly gone insane with frustration and fear. He didn't want to lose Alexis or his child. He didn't want to be an occasional visitor who flew in from the States to shower gifts upon his little girl. He didn't want to live his life alone. The only thing that meant anything to him anymore was his family, his daughter and Alexis.

The answer had come from a question Alexis had naively asked one night as they argued about her plan to leave the country.

"Why don't you just come with us, Sonny? Why can't you just leave this all behind."

"Alexis, you don't understand! People just can't walk away from this life. . ."

"Jason did! He left and traveled the world!"

"That's different, Alexis."

"Why?"

"Because it is! Jason isn't important enough for anyone to worry about. He isn't powerful enough for anyone to fear."

Alexis' face took on that look that Sonny knew so well, that expression that she wore when she was preparing a case.

"Then maybe you need to lose your power and importance," she replied.

"What in the hell are you talking about," he asked, totally lost.

"What if you didn't leave the mob. What if you were forced out by someone more powerful who took over your territory? Would anyone other than that person have any reason to fear you?"

"No. But I still don't. . ."

"And if that person who took over your territory and 'forced' you out did so at your request, knowing that you held no ill will and wouldn't have any reason to come after him. . .then even he wouldn't need to fear you, right?"

Suddenly, Sonny saw where she was going with her reasoning. And as crazy as it sounded, it made some sense. If someone, say someone in his own organization, rose up and forced him out - sparing his life out of respect, but sending him packing in shame - no one would care anymore about the once powerful but now washed up Sonny Corinthos.

Sonny took the kernel of the plan to Benny and Jason. Jason might have been the most likely candidate for the job. And Sonny would have let him step up to the plate if he'd wanted to do so. But there were two major drawbacks to having Jason play the role. The first was that it would be iffy whether his enemies would believe that Jason had turned on Sonny after all this time. The second was that Sonny would be able to have no contact - nothing at all - with anyone from his past life. If Jason took over the organization, it had to be with the understanding that he and Sonny would never see or speak to each other, never even speak about each other to family or mutual acquaintances, ever again.

When Jason opted out as Sonny's replacement, their choice became Sonny's number one man in Puerto Rico, Fernando Rodriguez. Rodriguez had proven himself trustworthy. He would do well at the top. And Sonny was certain Rodriguez would understand that Sonny posed no threat to him in the future.

The details of the plan were worked out. Sonny had stashed money enough from legitimate off-shore businesses to finance their new life. In addition, he received money from the sale to Rodriguez of his shares in those legitimate businesses - an arrangement that appeared to all outside eyes to be a great act of generosity on Rodriguez's part, even if he did only 'pay' Sonny thirty cents on the dollar for those shares. But it was more than enough for what Sonny had planned.

When the plan went down, Rodriguez 'took over' and Sonny was sent 'in shame' from Port Charles, 'instructed' never to return. His lady lawyer and her child left with him.

It was the beginning of his life.

Watching his wife as she gently rocked their son, Sonny was struck once more by the unbelievable good fortune that had come his way because of Alexis. She truly had become his salvation. Because of her, he'd made his way out of the mob. He was now totally and completely legit, operating his own tropical resort and casino on a small, private island in the Caribbean. With the income from his businesses, his investments, and income from Alexis' Cassadine holdings and investments, life was good.

In fact, life was better than good. And not just because they wanted for nothing materially. No, Sonny had found a way to come to terms with some of the demons of his past, to atone for some of his sins. He'd found a purpose for his wealth. And that, too, had been Alexis' inspiration.

With her legal expertise, they had set up a foundation, the purpose of which was to offer inner city youth the opportunity to create a future for themselves, allowing them to escape the street life that had taken so much from Sonny through the years. Through the foundation, Sonny and Alexis funded college scholarships. They financed training programs for youth less academically inclined. They financed young entrepreneurs in legitimate business ventures. And they established businesses that became training grounds for some of their youth, making available legitimate employment and training experience through real-world operations that in turn produced income that fed back into the foundation to assist other youngsters.

Alexis continued to handle the legalities of the foundation operations. She and Sonny together reviewed applications from interested youth and proposals from their hopeful young entrepreneurs. Back in New York, AJ and Courtney oversaw the hands-on management of the foundation. AJ, especially, had proven invaluable managing the businesses owned by the foundation as well as assisting their entrepreneurs in implementing their business plans.

For years, Sonny had written huge checks for any number of charitable causes. It had seemed to be a way of buying some mercy from the heavens for the why he lived his life. This was different. His life was legit now. He'd finally found a freedom he'd not known before in life. He had his wife and his children. He was truly blessed, though he felt like the last man on earth who deserved such blessings. With this foundation, Sonny had a chance to share his good fortune with others, a chance to step in and offer other young lives an option that he hadn't had in his life. While he enjoyed his life on the island overseeing the resort, his greater purpose in life now was to help others avoid the mistakes he'd made. It was a way of making his past mean something, a way of making something good out something that had been anything but good.

Sonny stepped quietly across the room toward his wife, the movement catching Alexis' eye and drawing her face up, her gaze smilingly meeting his.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked teasingly.

Sonny shrugged. "I was just watching you and thinking that you look like a TV commercial for laundry detergent."

Alexis laughed softly. "Watch it. Don't overwhelm me with romance or anything," she quipped.

"Ahhhh, but don't you get it?" Sonny drew near and bent to place a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Everything on TV commercials is perfect, just like you."

Alexis chuckled softly. "Nice save, Romeo," she smiled up at him. "Where's Hope?"

"She's busy helping Elton make party plans," Sonny replied, his eyes dropping to admire the son asleep at Alexis' breast.

"Ah-ha! So that's why I haven't been able to get any work out of him for the past week!"

Sonny smiled back at her. "Don't worry. The party will be done soon, and you'll have your assistant back."

"You know that nothing he does for me excites him like working for you does."

Sonny smiled, flashing those deadly dimples her way. "Speaking of exciting. . ."

Alexis instantly read the gleam in her husband's eye and smiled. "I was speaking of Elton's excitement," she corrected.

Sonny placed a hand on each arm of the rocker and bent his face close to hers. "Elton who?" he whispered, brushing her lips with a soft kiss.

"Am I supposed to be flattered by this Pavlovian response to a bared breast?" Alexis teased.

Sonny drew back enough to catch her gaze with his. "You wound me, Alexis!" he answered in mock surprise. "You know that I love you in spite of your beautiful breasts."

Alexis' soft laughter was silenced as Sonny leaned back in to recapture her mouth, his teeth nibbling at the fullness of her lower lip. She sighed against his mouth, melting under the soft flick of his tongue.

Sonny trailed his kisses from her lips, along her jaw, to the tender spot behind her ear. "Isn't it time for the baby to be in his crib?" he whispered, his hot breath sending a chill down her spine.

Alexis let her lips flutter against the curve of his neck, capturing a bit of his skin between her teeth as her tongue grazed the salty surface.

"You want to take him to his room?" Alexis breathed against Sonny's throat.

"I would. . .if I could walk," Sonny teased in a sultry tone.

Alexis laughed softly. "I suppose we're stuck here until he crawls, then," she replied lightly.

Sonny pulled back once more, smiling down at her. "Woman, you drive a hard bargain."

"So I see," she returned, shooting a glance at the evidence of his desire for her.

*****

Life on the island continued on in a quiet, soothing, yet celebratory rhythm that years earlier neither Sonny nor Alexis could have ever dreamed was possible for either of them. Their future lay together, in their marriage, in their children, in the work of redeeming a past built on pain...in filling the pages of yet another Baby Book

The End!