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Family
Reunited Chapter 3 Sonny walked to the French doors that overlooked the beach. He couldn't believe it. He was here with Alexis. This had to be fate. Of all the times to decide it was time to reconnect with Alexis, the first week of her one-month vacation in Puerto Rico, of all places. When he had called Benny the week before and told him to find Alexis, he was expecting to be told she was in Europe or, perhaps, Greece. Imagine his shock when Benny told him of Alexis' vacation destination. He wondered if it was fate.
He would see her around town, Kelly's, The Grille, the courthouse, the hospital, they didn't speak, but he did see her. He hated that things were so bad between them. He hated that he had hurt her. He hated that she had sought comfort with Ashton. He hated that she was pregnant with Ashton's child. He hated that he had confronted her the way he did when Jason had told him she was pregnant. But he didn't hate her. He couldn't hate her...she mattered to him. Then one day he realized he hadn't seen her around for a while. It just hit him. He felt a chill go up his spine as the fear spread through his body like a wildfire out of control. He immediately called Benny. "I need to make sure Alexis is okay," he had told Benny. It took Benny exactly one hour to get back to him. That was the longest hour of his life. The fear was palpable. The only thing he had ever experienced close to this was when Deke had locked him in a closet when he was a child. "She's gone boss." Benny's words echoed in his head. "What do you mean 'She's gone'?" Sonny's voice boomed. "She filed documents with the court removing herself as attorney of record in all of her pending cases. She packed her suitcases, donated the furnishings in her apartment to charity and was last seen boarding the Cassadine jet to destinations unknown one week ago. She's not coming back, Sonny." "FIND HER!" Sonny had screamed at his trusted, loyal employee. "No," Benny softly answered. "No! No! What the hell do you mean, No?" "Let her go Sonny. She lost her sister; everything and everyone that meant anything to her. She deserves to be happy. She wasn't happy here." "What else do you know?" Sonny demanded. "Where is your loyalty." "I know nothing else. I am loyal to you, like Ms. Davis was loyal to you. I have a great deal of respect for Ms. Davis. I will not help you find her. But Sonny, before you get someone else to do it for you, think about this. What are you going to do when you find her? What reason does she have to come back here?" Sonny realized that Benny was right. It was selfish of him to want Alexis in his life. If she really mattered to him, he wanted her to be happy. He knew he couldn't do that for her. No matter how much he wanted her in his life, the truth was, she didn't belong there. She deserved better. He wasn't a good person. She was. He didn't deserve Alexis in his life. For her, he had to let her go. Sonny began drinking more and more after he learned Alexis had left Port Charles for good. He had slipped further into the darkness. What was his problem? He had everything he every wanted - his wife and child, Carly and Michael. But he didn't have Alexis. She was the only person that truly believed in him, made him a better person. One of the only people he trusted. Without her, Sonny was lost. He was out of control. He had no focus. Without Alexis to reason with him, to help him think things through, he made bad decisions. He made stupid, reckless decisions; decisions that could have resulted in his death, as well as the deaths of Carly and Michael. "I can't live without her. I need her in my life. I have to find her," Sonny announced to himself a Tuesday evening almost four months after she left. This realization came to him as he sat on the sofa in his darkened penthouse, seven days into one of his infamous drinking binges. Carly had taken Michael and they had gone to the Brownstone to stay with her mother, something that had become a regular occurrence. She had come home to find the tenth set of barware she had purchased in the last three months shattered in the penthouse. She didn't know what was wrong with Sonny and she didn't know how to help him so she left. Sonny had gotten up off of the sofa on the seventh day, walked to the front door, as glass crushed into the carpet under his expensive Italian loafers. He jerked the door opened and demanded that Johnny bring the car around. After climbing into the limo, Sonny muttered only one word, "Luke's." Luke saw him the moment he walked through the door. Luke would have sworn he was some bum off the streets if he hadn't been wearing a thousand dollar suit, which by the way, looked like it had been slept in on more than one night. He didn't appear to have shaved in a week. Instead of his usual slicked back, controlled hairstyle, his head was covered in wild curls. Luke had thought he looked lost, that is until he zeroed in on Luke behind the bar. He quickly walked toward Luke, a looked of desperation on his face. "Where is she Luke?" he demanded in a hoarse, desperate voice. Luke wrinkled his nose at the stale smell of alcohol emanating from him. "She may be my niece but she's your wife," Luke had spat. "No!" Sonny bellowed. "Alexis...Where is she? I have to find her!" "What's the matter Sonny-boy, the PCPD coming down on you again? You in need of her fine legal services." Sonny just stared at Luke, his eyes, cold and dark. "If she'd have wanted you to know where she was, she would have told you." "Where is she?" Sonny demanded as he reached across the bar and grabbed Luke by the collar and pulled him up on the bar. "I don't know...and if I did I wouldn't tell you," Luke spat through clenched teeth. "Nicholas...he knows where she is...doesn't he? He has to," Sonny said in desperation as he pushed Luke, released his collar and turned to leave the club. "Sonny," Luke bellowed. Sonny turned once more to look at Luke. "Look at yourself, Sonny. If you find her all you're gonna do is bring her down. She deserves better. Take it from somebody who knows. If you really want to find her, pull yourself together first. Be someone she wants to see..." Sonny
had rushed from the club and stumbled into the back of the limo.
As the limo pulled to a stop on the dock, Sonny got out and walked over to the water's edge. The launch wasn't at the dock. As he looked down into the water, he saw his reflection. He saw how bad he looked. Then he saw her face. It was like she was in the water staring back at him. At that moment he heard her voice, "What are you doing to yourself, Sonny? Was I wrong? Are you the person that everyone warned me about?" Sonny choked back the tears that were now burning his eyes. "I was a better person with you...you made me be a better person, Alexis...I need you." "No, Sonny...you don't need me in order to be a better person. You know the difference between right and wrong. I just helped you see things. You can do that on your own. Be a better person for you. You deserve it," he heard her say. Sonny closed his eyes. He tried to keep the tears from pouring from them. He fell to his knees. Johnny saw what was happening and went to Sonny. "Boss, let's go. You can see Nicholas tomorrow. You need to get some sleep." Johnny had helped Sonny back to the limo, where Sonny sat slumped in the seat as he stared down at the floor. When they arrived back at the Harborview Towers, Johnny had Max meet him to help remove Sonny from the limo. Johnny and Max each threw an arm around Sonny and pulled him to the elevator. The two body guards were just tall enough that the tips on Sonny's shoes dragged on the floor as they carried him. Sonny's chin stayed on his chest the entire time. He gave them no indication he was alive, though Johnny had made it a point to make sure he was breathing. When the elevator arrived on the penthouse floor, the two bodyguards dragged Sonny into his apartment and deposited him on the couch. Johnny didn't know how much more of this Sonny could survive. Johnny walked directly over to Penthouse 2. After a few minutes Jason answered the knock at his door. "Johnny...what's up?" "It's Sonny. He was at Luke's tonight and on the docks. If his enemies saw him they know he is in bad shape. Things were already volatile. This isn't going to help them get any better." "Did he go to Luke's to drink?" Jason asked. "What was he doing on the docks?" "I think he's looking for Ms. Davis. After he left Luke's he wanted to go to Wyndemere. He was really in bad shape. I brought him back here." "Thanks, Johnny...if anyone comes looking for him, tell them he is not at home. Do not let anyone in to see him. And, if he wants to leave, call me first. Thanks." Jason shut the door and sighed. What was Sonny doing? They were already in the middle of one mob war they didn't need anyone else realizing how weak he was now. Benny had told Jason that Sonny had wanted Alexis found and Benny had refused to look for her. Sonny had told Jason a number of times since that day that Alexis had suffered too much and deserved to start over and be happy. Jason had come to believe that Sonny told him this to convince himself, not to inform Jason. Jason decided he was going to have to talk to Sonny in the morning. This had to stop. As Sonny lay in an alcohol induced sleep on the sofa that night, he dreamed of a life where he was a legitimate businessman. He dreamed of his family - Alexis, his beautiful wife, and their two children. They had a house with a white picket fence, a dog and SUV. He felt happy, not haunted like he did in his real life. When he woke the next morning he felt a peace he hadn't felt since the morning he woke up to Alexis trying to sneak out of his bed. He showered, shaved and put on a fresh suit. He was eating breakfast - an omelet and strawberries, when Jason entered PH4. Jason was shocked. With what Johnny had told him the night before, this was not at all what he was expecting. "Jason, can I get you some breakfast?" Sonny asked. His mood seemed to be light and cheerful. "No thanks," Jason answered, still not sure what was going on. "Sonny...we need to talk about business...things are getting dangerous...we need to make some decisions," Jason said, waiting for Sonny to scream that it would all be okay; that Jason didn't need to worry. But that isn't what happened at all. "Jason, I've been thinking...I'm not...right now...I'm not capable of taking care of the business like I need to be...In order to protect everyone...I think that I need to step back for awhile...I think you need to step in...like you did the last time...you did a good job then...we need to make it look like you took control from me...we need to make it look like that so that the five families don't decide to come at us because of my recent show of weakness." Jason sat with his mouth opened. He didn't know what to say. "I think we can do that Sonny, but are you sure that's what you want. It's gonna be hard to turn things back over to you again..." "That's just it Jason. I don't want you to turn it back over to me. I want the coffee business and the casino and hotel in Puerto Rico. I want Cary and Michael to have enough money to live comfortably wherever they chose to live. I've got enough put aside in offshore accounts that I will be able to run those two businesses without any additional help. I need to get away Jason. I need to re-evaluate my life. I can't do this any more." Jason sat there and stared at Sonny. "Are you okay? Are you leaving because you are afraid for Carly and Michael." "I'm leaving Jason because I can no longer live my life this way. It's time I took responsibility for the things in my life and the way they are and stop making excuses. Carly and I aren't good together. You know it Jason. We bring out the worst in each other. I'm sorry I took them away from you Jason. They were your family." "Is this about Alexis?" Jason asked. "No Jason. It's about me."
And here he was, over three years later, a new man. The timing had not been right before when he pushed their relationship to the next step. It failed horribly and he hurt her. Not this time. He was just going to put all his cards on the table. He was willing to take whatever Alexis would give. He even wanted to be a father to Alexis' child - Ned's child - the child that should have been his. He loved Michael like his own son even though A.J., his sworn enemy, was Michael's biological father. He loved Alexis, how could he not love her child like his own. "Stop acting like a school boy showing up at the home of his first crush," he admonished himself as he looked down at his shaking hands. "This is Alexis...you used to be able to tell each other anything. You had a connection. Everything is going to be okay...it has to be..."
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