Family Reunited
by de

Chapter 8

As Sonny walked into the living room with two mugs of coffee, he froze.

His heart melted at the sight before him. Alexis and his son, their arms wrapped around each other, foreheads pressed together staring into each other's eyes. Hot tears flowed down his cheeks. Alexis loved her son, his son, like he had always wished his mother had loved him.

Then he saw the tear fall down her cheek. He watched as the boy raised a small finger and wiped it away. And then a lump formed in his throat and his chest tightened as he heard the boy's whispered words reach his ears.

"Don't cry Mama. It's all gonna be okay."

The guilt washed over him like the waves of the ocean. He quickly sat the coffee down on the nearby desk and grabbed the doorframe as he felt his knees buckle.

"My God...what did I do to her...what did I do to me...what did I do to us?" Sonny asked himself. It wasn't until that moment that he felt the pain that Alexis had felt all those years ago. What choice did she have? What choice did I give her?

Sonny vowed that he would never intentionally hurt her again. And, yes, he had to admit to himself that he had intentionally hurt her, first by choosing his promise to Carly over the promise he made to her, and then by pushing her away. He had tried to do that before and she had refused to let him. A part of him had thought that by pushing her away, she would fight for him. And, when she didn't he was hurt because she didn't want him like he wanted her.

But now, the reality was hitting him in the face. Her sister had been right. Alexis had been in love with him. And, yes, he had ripped her heart out. Alexis didn't fight for him because she loved him and she wanted him to be happy, even if that was with Carly. Selfless - Sonny had never known anyone like her.

"It's all gonna be okay. Don't worry about it," Sonny vowed to himself. "This time I will keep my promise to you, Alexis."

Sonny heard Alexis' soft voice. He wiped the tears from his face.

"You need to go to bed, Little One," she said as she hugged him close.

As she leaned to put him down, she saw Sonny in the doorway. She looked back at Kristopher.

"Goodnight. Sleep well."

Kristopher looked at Sonny, smiled and then turned and scampered back down the hall.

Sonny picked up the coffee mugs and walked toward Alexis. He held a mug out to her. She took it.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"No, thank you," he whispered, as he looked in her eyes.

Sonny looked away and sat on the couch next to her.

"I...," Sonny began as he rubbed his finger over his lips. "I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I hurt you."

"Sonny...that's the past..." Alexis began.

"Yeah...your right it is the past," Sonny said. "But...I...I...want you to understand that I don't want to ever do that to you again. Please...I don't want you to hold against me what I did to you in the past...Alexis...I've really changed...I'm not the person I was then...When you look at me now...I don't want you to see...to see the person I was then and...just be waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Sonny...I can't deny that you hurt me very deeply...but I hurt you too. You are making every effort to overlook the fact that I lied to you and kept your children from you for over three years...if you can do that...how can I not do the same thing?," Alexis responded.

"Good coffee," Alexis said raising the cup to Sonny.

"Yeah, it is," he said with a dimpled grin. "I made it."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Some things may have changed... but your ego is still in tact."

Alexis placed her mug on the coffee table and did the same with Sonny's. She stood and reached out for his hand.

"Come on...I want to show you something," Alexis said with a smile.

She led him down the hallway and stopped outside Kristina's room. She placed a finger over her mouth signaling for him to remain quiet.

She led him to the edge of the bed and they looked down. There in the soft glow of the nightlight, combined with the Puerto Rican moonlight, lay Kristopher and Kristina, cheek to cheek, fingers entwined, curled up in the bed that Sonny had tucked Kristina into earlier.

Sonny placed his arm around Alexis' waist and squeezed her closer to him.

Alexis reached down and pulled the covers over them. She turned to Sonny and pointed toward the hallway. As he and Alexis exited the room, she closed the door.

"They're inseparable," Alexis said with a smile.

"Yeah...like people said we used to be," Sonny added sadly.

Alexis did not respond and sat back down on the couch. She picked up her coffee and took a drink. She sat there with her eyes cast down.

"Can I ask you something?" Sonny said, as he sat down on the couch next to Alexis and looked at her.

"What?"

"Earlier...when Kristina..." he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he laughed. "When Kristina called room service...you called her by her full name..."

Alexis could read the question in his eyes.

"Ah...yes...I did...well...sort of..." she lowered her eyes and then brought them back to his.

"You named her after my mother? Alexis...I don't know what to say..." Sonny said. "After everything that I did to you...you still cared..."

"Sonny...I never stopped caring. We hurt each other. It had nothing to do with them. It wasn't their fault. I always hoped that one day you could be a part of their lives," Alexis said.

"I just wanted to tell you that it means a lot to me that you would name her after my mother," Sonny said. "Alexis, what did you mean by 'sort of?'"

"Ummm...Sonny...you said I called her by her full name...that's the sort of," Alexis said.

"I'm confused," Sonny said, as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well...when she was born...I named her Kristina Adella Davis and I named him Kristopher Alexander Davis...but Stefan had been making a big deal about the family name...,” Alexis stumble.

"Not Cassadine," Sonny said, an uneasy feeling forming in his stomach.

"NO...oh...no...Sonny...umm...that's what Stefan wanted me to do...but after everything I suffered at the hands of the Cassadines...I could never....not to mention that would have defeated the purpose of protecting them from their father's enemies if I turned them over to their mother's..." Alexis rambled.

"Alexis...breathe," Sonny laughed.

Alexis jerked her head up. Her eyes locked with Sonny's.

"I...I never thought I'd say this...but I really missed you saying that," Alexis said softly.

"I'll remind you of that when you tell me you get tired of hearing it...because you are going to be hearing it a lot," Sonny responded, softly, as he reached out and squeezed her hand.

Alexis didn't know how to respond. She gently removed her hand from his, brushed her hair behind her ear and continued.

"That's the surname on their birth certificates, Davis, I mean. I didn't...want to do anything that would risk their lives....but I wanted to...I wanted to give them something from their father...you." Alexis said.

Sonny raised an eyebrow but did not speak.

"So, the lawyer in me...I petitioned the courts to change their names to Kristina Adella Corinthos and Kristopher Alexander Corinthos...and I had your name put on their birth certificates...then...I had the court seal them." Alexis said.

Alexis raised her eyes to Sonny's and saw the tears pouring down his cheeks.

"You did all that for me? Oh...Alexis..." Sonny whispered.

"You were their father. I never forgot that...I didn't do it for you...as much as I did it for them," Alexis said softly.

They wrapped their arms around each other. Sonny pulled Alexis as close as he could get her.

"Thank you...that matters to me." Sonny said.

"I know."

"If you cared enough to give them my name..." Sonny asked, as his eyes locked with Alexis' eyes.

She saw the intensity in them. She saw the fear. She knew what was coming. She had to figure out how to answer it.

"What have you told them about me...I mean...what do they know about their father?"

Sonny quickly looked down at his hands fumbling nervously in his lap.

"Sonny," Alexis said and she reached out and took his hands in hers.

"I told them that their father loves them very much. I told them that if he could, he would be with them but that he doesn't want them to get hurt and he has to wait until it is safe," Alexis answered very carefully.

"I told them about the good that I saw in you...and I told them about Puerto Rico," she said shyly, casting her eyes down to their joined hands.

"Sonny I always hoped that you could be a part of their lives," Alexis answered. "I wanted to make that a positive experience for both you and them when it happened."

Sonny couldn't believe his ears. Alexis was an amazing woman. Everything he had done to her and she told his children nothing but good things about him. He couldn't help but think how Carly had been with Michael about Michael. Hell, he had helped her make sure that Michael had nothing to do with A.J.

They sat in silence for what seemed to be the longest time.

"Aexis...you know how your sister used to talk about fate...karma...and that stuff." Sonny questioned.

"Yes," Alexis answered, a sad smile on her face.

"You said the twins were born on New Years Eve 2002?"

"That's right." she said.

"Well...I told you that after I found out you were gone my life spun out of control?" Sonny asked.

"I remember."

"I...one night...I went out after having way too much to drink...to see Luke...to see if he would tell me where you were...he wouldn't," Sonny said looking down at his hands in his lap. "Well...then I tried to go see Nicholas...but I collapsed on the pier...Johnny took me back to the penthouse and put me on the couch. I passed out. That night...I had a dream about you...and what life would be like if I was a different person. We were married and we had two kids..."

Alexis' head snapped up and their eyes met.

"When I woke up the next morning, I felt at peace. I decided to change...to become the kind of person that was worthy of you." Sonny said. "Alexis..."

"Sonny...don't...don't ask me..." Alexis choked out.

Sonny smiled as he realized what she thought he was about to do - to ask her to marry him.

"Oh...no...Alexis...I'm not...that's not it...it's not what you think...please just give me a second," Sonny chuckled nervously. "What I'm trying to say is that happened on New Years Eve 2002."

"What?" she asked in shock.

"What I'm saying is....the night that you gave birth to our children...I had a dream about us...you...me...them...and because of that dream...I changed my life...that's why...I'm here...with you...with them."

"Sonny."

"Don't you see Alexis...this is meant to be...this time everything is gonna be okay."

Sonny wrapped his arms around Alexis as she tucked her head into his shoulder and cried. And that is where they fell asleep, in each other's arms.

chapter 9