Family Reunited
by de

Chapter 6

Sonny felt like he had been run over by a truck.

One minute he was sitting there with Alexis' daughter, waiting for her to return with her son. He had been so nervous, yet hopeful. Alexis was letting him be a part of her children's lives. That was a start.

And then it happened. She returned with her son. One look at the little boy and he knew...parts of their conversation flood his brain..."I'm not the person you think i am..."I don't deserve your trust. You will never forgive what I have done."

Then the realization, Alexis was not allowing him to be a part of her children's lives, she was allowing him to be a part of his children's lives...their children's lives.

He was speechless. How did he feel? What was he thinking? His feelings and thoughts volleyed back and forth inside his head.

Betrayed. He had been betrayed by the one person he had trusted more than life itself.

Abandoned. Not only had Alexis left him, she had taken with him something that he had always dreamed, his children.

Hurt. She had lied to him.

Anger. How could she do this to him?

Confusion. How could he not know?

But then their was joy. He was a father. He had a son and a daughter.

"Hello, Kristopher," Sonny softly stated, as he reached out and lovingly ran his finger across the young boy's cheek.

The little boy displayed his dimples to his father again and then quickly turned his face into his mother's chest.

"He's shy," Kristina explained. "Not like me."

Sonny looked down at Kristina and laughed softly.

"No, I wouldn't say that you were shy," Sonny said to Kristina as he placed the palm of his hand on her cheek. The little girl smiled brightly.

"He's my little brother. I'm not little...like him."

Sonny glanced between Kristina and Kristopher. His eyes rose and they locked with Alexis' tear-filled eyes.

Alexis had been afraid to look into his eyes but she knew that she had to. She didn't know what she expected to see in them. The moment they locked eyes she saw confusion, anger, hurt, disbelief and joy.

"Kristina, why don't you and Kristopher go into your room and you can watch that new DVD that Nicholas sent you," Alexis said after a long silence.

"Sonny...I'll be right back," Alexis said nervously.

"Maria," Alexis called out.

"Yes?" she answered as she met Alexis in the hallway.

"Could you please sit with Kristina and Kristopher while they watch that new movie that Nicholas sent them? I have some business I have to take care of. I may need to leave for a bit."

"Is everything okay, Alexis?" Maria asked as she heard the fear and worry in Alexis' voice.

"I think so," Alexis answered quietly. "We just have to wait and see."

As Alexis walked back into the living room, she saw that Sonny was standing in front of the fireplace. He had one hand on the mantel and his other hand rubbed his forehead.

"Sonny," Alexis said so softly she wasn't sure he heard.

He stood there for what seemed like hours, with his back to her. Then he turned to face her. He was now rubbing the fingers of his right hand over his lips.

"I think it is best that we go somewhere else and talk," she said. "I don't want them to get upset when the yelling starts."

"When the yelling starts?" Sonny questioned softly, though she couldn't miss the edge in his voice. "You're so sure that I'm going to yell and break things..."

"Sonny...you just found out that the woman that you trusted, the woman that you changed your life for, kept your children from you," Alexis voice cracked with emotion. "You have a right to be angry...I just don't think it will benefit Kristina and Kristopher to hear any of this discussion..."

"Okay," Sonny said as he walked to the French doors, opened them and walked out onto the deck overlooking the beach.

Sonny leaned on the railing as he heard Alexis walk out behind him and close the doors.

"Why...why didn't you tell me...do you think I didn't have the right to know," Sonny asked.

Alexis recognized the anger and hurt in his voice but saw that he was fighting to stay in control.

"Sonny, lets walk on the beach. The children are right inside."

Sonny and Alexis walked side-by-side toward the beach. Neither said a word until they reached the water's edge.

"I'm sorry," Alexis said.

"You're sorry?" Sonny asked, his voice raised for the first time. "Would you ever have told me if I wouldn't have shown up here today?"

"I don't know," Alexis answered truthfully.

"Why? How could you of all people do this to me?," Sonny questioned, the hurt painfully obvious.

"I tried to tell you so many times. Something always came up. I had every intention of telling you. Then I heard you order that beating on Zander. I don't know if I finally saw you for who you really were, or if I just panicked because you were doing something like that to someone you claimed to love.

"I always put you first, Sonny," Alexis said softly. "I could not put you before my child, our child. When I found out I was pregnant, I was shocked. At first I had to come to terms with the fact that I was going to be a mother, something I never considered. The one thing I knew from the beginning was that I loved that life growing inside me and I had to do everything to protect it. It was okay for me to risk my life around you but I couldn't risk the life of my child."

"So you resigned as my attorney and moved?" Sonny asked.

"Yes. Then, when you showed up at my apartment demanding to know if you were the father of my child, I panicked. That was not the person that I had come to know."

"You lied to me, Alexis," Sonny stated harshly.

"By omission. When Ned claimed to be the father, I didn't deny it," she said.

"You knew the baby was mine?" Sonny questioned. "Or were you just afraid that it was?"

"I knew the baby was yours because I never slept with Ned," Alexis stated as she looked at Sonny. "I thought you knew me...I would never had slept with my sister's boyfriend. I knew that if Kristina found out the truth that she would tell you...so we told the lie to my sister and it cost her her life.

"You said yourself Sonny that your life was dangerous," Alexis said. "I'm not saying it was right, but I did what I thought I had to do at the time to protect my child."

Sonny rubbed his hands over his face.

"I've always wanted to tell you, Sonny," she said as the tears began to fall from her eyes. "I didn't know I was having twins until I moved to London. I was in shock. The first thing I did when I got home was to pick up the phone to call you...but then I realized I couldn't...it was you I wanted to be with me when they were born."

"Did you know that Jason had taken over my business? That I had divorced Carly?" Sonny questioned, the pain evident in his voice.

"No. Whenever the guilt would become unbearable, I would remind myself of the dangers around you," she answered truthfully. "I guess I was afraid to find out what was going on in your life. I was afraid that I would want to tell you and that they would be hurt or killed because I let you near them."

Sonny blew out a puff of air.

"What now?" he asked as he looked at Alexis.

She lowered her chin to her chest.

"I don't know Sonny. I told you that I was not the person that you thought I was, that you would not be able to forgive me," Alexis said as she wiped at her tear-stained cheeks. "No matter how you feel about me Sonny, please don't hold it against them. Everything I've done, I've done for them...whether right or wrong. They didn't ask for any of this."

Alexis turned to walk back toward her villa. Sonny grabbed her arm and turned her back to him.

"I don't know how I feel. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do," Sonny said quietly. "I have to think. Can I...can I come by later?

"Yes. Take your time, we'll be waiting," Alexis said, as she turned to go. "They deserve to know you. You deserve to know them."

"Alexis."

"Sonny?"

"They are beautiful," Sonny whispered quietly.

"Yes they are," Alexis answered as she turned and walked back to the villa.

chapter 7