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Family
Reunited Chapter 11 April 2007 Alexis found herself with Sonny and their two children, staying in the same Puerto Rican villa she had rented when Sonny had arrived at her door that day a year ago. And, Alexis found herself feeling something she hadn't felt this strongly since that time, nervousness. She wasn't sure why. After all, Sonny had not given her any indication in the last year that he was interest in sharing anything with her besides a roof over their heads and their children. "What could he be planning?" she asked herself. "I mean it was his idea to make sure Maria would remain with them the entire month this time, instead of visiting her cousin in the United States." She quickly pushed aside the disappointment that began to creep in. "Stop it. Things are good. Everyone is happy. Anything between us would risk that." They hadn't been in the villa for an hour when Kristina announced it was now time to go to the beach. Sonny looked at Alexis, who gave him a stern look. Sonny turned to his daughter. "Kristina, if you would like to do something you ask...you DO NOT demand," Sonny told her. Kristina sighed, walked up to Sonny with a smile on her face, wrapped her arms around his legs. "Please Daddy...can we go to the beach NOW," Kristina said in her best "you can't deny me anything" voice. Alexis rolled her eyes as Sonny looked to her with that "how can I say no" look in his eyes. "She is SO YOUR daughter," Alexis said in defeat. And so they were off, on their first beach excursion in a year. Kristina dragged Kristopher by the hand to a spot on the beach and announced this was the perfect place for them to build a sand castle. Sonny deposited the bag with the shovels and buckets that would be needed for the project on the sand next to the children. Sonny took the blanket Alexis had been carrying and spread it on the sand a short distance from where the twins played in the sand. Alexis placed a small ice chest on the sand near the blanket. Sonny sat on the blanket and reached up for Alexis hand and pulled her to the blanket with him. She opened the ice chest and removed two bottles of water. She handed one to Sonny, who was smiling proudly at his children. "They are so amazing," Sonny said. "I know I said this before...but...thank you." Sonny brushed the piece of Alexis' hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear and smiled at her. "No...thank you...for giving me something I will cherish the rest of my life," she said, giving him a shy smile as she dropped her eyes to her water bottle and remember the time she told him that on the docks so many years ago. "You know...when you said that to me....I...I...hoped that you were referring to your baby...but I thought it was just me wanting something that I couldn't have," Sonny said quietly. "I came so close to telling you that day," Alexis said. "You know...that was one of the last civil conversations we had." "Yeah," Sonny acknowledged. "Hey...what are we doing...that's the past. We have accepted it for what it was. We both know things weren't meant to be then. As much as I wanted a child of my own...I think now it wasn't that God didn't want me to have a child...he wanted me to be ready to have a child and he wanted me to have that child with the right person - you. You, Alexis, are the kind of mother to my children that I always wanted my mother to be." Alexis' looked into Sonny's eyes and saw the unshed tears. "Thank you...that means a lot," she said, with unshed tears of her own in her eyes. "This last year...Alexis...I've been happier than I ever thought I could be in my life," Sonny said, as he took Alexis' hand in his. "Me too," Alexis answered softly. "Can I ask you something?" Sonny said as he watched his children play in the sand. "Did you ever think about having another kid?" Sonny asked. Alexis cocked an eyebrow, squinted her eyes and turned her head sideways to look at him. "I never thought about having these two," she said with a hint of humor. Sonny laughed. "Point taken." Sonny watched as Alexis' expression became serious. She looked straight ahead. "No. From the time I found out I was pregnant, I put them first...everything that I did was for them. I could never put anyone or anything before them." "You...you don't think you could love another child as much as you love them...or do you think you could love another child more?" Sonny questioned. "Oh...no...it's not that...I...," Alexis tried to come up with words to explain this. "Kristina and Kristopher are so different. Kristina, she's a lot like my sister...maybe like I would have been if my childhood had...had been different. Kristopher, on the other hand, he's the little boy that I always saw in you...without the hurt, fear and anger. I don't love one more than the other. I love each with my whole heart. Do you understand?" "Yeah...that's how it is for me too...I don't love one more than the other. And...for me...I mean...Michael's not my biological son, but I don't love him less than the twins." "I think another child would be the same way," Alexis said. "It's just that, well, I was happier than I had ever been in my life, I didn't need to be romantically involved with anyone. I would have had to put myself before my children. I could never do that...so I never thought about it." "Do you think you'd like to have another child?" "If you had asked me that while I was pregnant, I would have said no...but now...let's just say I couldn't rule it out." Sonny looked away just in time to see his son running toward him. He let go of Alexis' hand and held his arms out to Kristopher, who threw his arms around his father's neck, put his head on Sonny's shoulder, and gave him a tight hug. Kristopher pulled away and looked into Sonny's eyes, displaying his dimples to his father. Sonny returned the smile and placed a kiss on his son's forehead. Kristopher climbed off his father's lap and into his mother's lap. The little boy's favorite place was still cuddled up in his mother's arms, with his head tucked up under her chin. Alexis hugged him tightly to her. "I love you, Little One," Alexis whispered in his ear. He raised his face, placed his forehead against hers and smiled as he gazed into her eyes. "Kristopher...are you gonna help me build our castle or not?" Kristina called to her brother, somewhat exasperated. Sonny and Alexis laughed as Kristopher stood and ran back to his sister. He grabbed her from behind and hugged her, and then took his place back in the sand.
Sonny finished cleaning the kitchen and walked into the living room where Alexis sat on the couch. "Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner tonight?" he asked with a hit of shyness in his voice. Alexis raised her eyes from the legal document she had been reviewing. She looked rather puzzled as she removed her glasses from her nose. "I've had dinner with you and the twins every night in the last two weeks. What's different about tonight?" "Just you and me, Alexis...no children allowed...you know...dinner...gambling...dancing...," he whispered. "No," she spat out. "We can't, Sonny." Alexis dropped the legal documents on the coffee table and got up. She began pacing in front of the French doors. They hadn't even been there a day and he was going to do this, she thought. "Why not?" "You told me you wouldn't push. You would be happy with whatever I wanted," Alexis stated as she let out a sigh. "I know Alexis. We were concerned about the twins and how they would adapt to my being in their lives. It's been almost a year. They adapted better than we could have hoped." "I refuse to have a relationship with you because you are the father of my children," she said defensively. "It's not fair to the children." "What are you talking about?" Sonny spat. "Sonny, of course you have feelings for me...I'm the mother of your children. That doesn't mean that we should act on that." "Wait...you sound like your saying I want to be a part of your life because of the children?" "Isn't that it, Sonny?" Alexis interrupted. "Alexis..." "Sonny, the children are happy. They adore you. I am happy that you are such an important part of their lives. They love you so much. I would never do anything to risk their happiness," Alexis stated. "Ok...let me get this straight," Sonny said in frustration. "Their mother being happy would cause them to be unhappy how?" "Sonny we re-established our friendship. We were always good at being best friends. Have you forgotten what happened when we took that one step further last time," Alexis questioned. "We got two beautiful children out of the deal," he whispered. Alexis' eyes locked with his and immediately fell to the floor. She was speechless. Sonny rubbed his hand through his hair and sighed. "Alexis, this isn't like last time. Carly is no longer in my life. I've changed my life for the better so that you could be a part of it." "I'm happier than I have every been in my life, Sonny. That's enough. If we try again and it doesn't work, then the twins lose," she said as she looked at him. He could see the fear in her eyes. "HAVE you forgotten when I came here, Alexis?" Sonny said raising his voice, before realizing the children were asleep down the hall. He quickly dropped his voice. "What did I tell you? I told you I became the man that deserved someone like you in my life. I told you that I wanted to be a father to your children before I knew I was their father. How can you say that I ONLY want you because you are the mother of my children?" Alexis sat down on the couch and stared down at her hands, so not liking where this was going. Sonny sat next to her and placed a finger under her chin, bringing her eyes to his. "I love you, Alexis..." Sonny said. Alexis
pulled her face away from him, got up and quickly walked away from
him, needing to distance herself from the feelings his closeness
was bringing out in her body. "I have loved you for so long," Sonny whispered as the unshed tears in his eyes threatened to fall. "I don't remember when it started. I hurt you. You hurt me." Sonny got up off the couch and stood in front of Alexis. He placed his hands on her shoulders in an effort to keep her from walking away from him. "We've worked through so many things. Please take a chance. Don't be afraid. My life has become something that I never imagined. I'm not going to sit back and settle. If I had done that I would still be with Carly, running my territory, tied up in mob wars and putting the lives of those I loved on the line. I changed, Alexis. Your love helped me do that. I knew I had to do it for me in order to make it work and I did. But my goal was to seek you out and win you back. Alexis did not pull away from Sonny but she refused to look at him. She kept her eyes cast to the side. He could see the tears pooling in her eyes. "I know you have feelings for me, Alexis. I see it in your eyes. I saw it in your eyes and felt it in my heart and soul the night those children were conceived. You know that's the truth. We were just so afraid of getting hurt we ran from it. Sonny saw as the tears began to spill down Alexis' cheeks. Sonny was no longer able to contain his tears, as they spilled down his cheeks. "Don't run this time, Alexis. We're already a family. We are more of a family than Carly, Michael and I ever were. Please, Alexis," Sonny pleaded, as he took her in his arms and held her as she sobbed. They stood like that for what seemed like forever. Alexis slowly raised her head from his shoulder. Sonny could feel the coolness of the tear-stained shirt against his skin. Alexis raised her eyes to meet his and she said so quietly Sonny wasn't sure he heard her, "Okay...I'll have dinner with you." Alexis pulled away from Sonny and turned. "I guess I need to go buy something to wear...for tonight," she said with a shy smile. "I guess you do," Sonny said returning the smile. "Go...the twins and I will be fine." Alexis had returned to the villa with her purchases and gone directly to her room. After Alexis had showered and finished her hair and makeup, she heard a light knock on the door. A smile crossed her face. "What can I do for you, Kristina?" Alexis asked. "Can I come in Mommy?" she asked quietly. "Alexis walked over to the door, wearing a short black slip, and opened it enough for the small girl to walk inside. "Whatcha doin?" Kristina questioned. "Getting dressed for dinner." Alexis answered. "Do I have to dress for dinner too? Is Uncle Stefan coming to dinner? We only dress for dinner when Uncle Stefan is coming to dinner," the little girl rambled. Alexis laughed and turned to her daughter. "No to all of your questions. Your daddy and I are going to dinner tonight. You are having dinner with Kristopher and Maria." Alexis removed her dress from its bag and put it on. She walked to the floor length mirror to see how it looked. The first thing she saw in the mirror was her daughter sitting on the bed, Indian style, watching her mother carefully. When Kristina saw her mother looking at her she smiled. "You look pretty, Mommy," the little girl stated to her mother. "Thank you, I just hope your father feels the same way," she mumbled. "He will...Mommy...you know Daddy loves you." the little girl stated. "He just doesn't tell you like he tells me and Kristopher. But he looks at you that way." Alexis arched her eyebrows at her daughter as she walked over to the bed and sat down as the young girl handed Alexis a shoe. Alexis placed the black sling backs with two-inch heels over her silk stockings. She had decided against the four-inch heels because she didn't want to be taller than Sonny. Alexis stood and reached for Kristina's hand and pulled the girl to her, hugging her tight. "I love you so much," Alexis said as she kissed the girl on the forehead. Alexis again took her daughter's hand. "Help me pick out my jewelry," she told the little girl. They walked over to the dresser where Alexis opened the small box of jewelry she had packed for the vacation. She held the box down so that Kristina could see inside. "That!" Kristina said excitedly as she pointed to the single strand of pearls. "Okay,"
Alexis said with a smile. "The pearls it is." Sonny was standing in the living room in front of the French doors in his black tux, white shirt and black bowtie. Kristopher knelt in front of the coffee table with his coloring book and crayons strewn about. "Mama's ready!" Kristina announced as she skipped into the room. Both Kristopher and his father looked towards the hallway as Alexis emerged. Sonny gasped as he saw Alexis standing before him. She wore a black silk dress with spaghetti straps. The dress hugged her curves and stopped just short of her knees. Sonny noticed the single strand of pearls and single pearl earrings that complimented the dress. "You look beautiful," Sonny said as he walked to Alexis and reached for her hand and placed a kiss on top of it. Kristopher placed his crayon on the table, walked over to his parents and pushed at his father's leg. "Move," the little boy commanded. Sonny turned to look at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "Move please," Alexis told the boy. "Move please," Kristopher repeated as he displayed his dimples and looked up at his father. Sonny stepped aside as Kristopher reached up for his mother's hand. Alexis lowered her hand to her son. He took it in his, repeated what he had seen his father do moments earlier and placed a kiss on the top of his mother's hand. "Bootiful," Kristopher stated as he smiled at his mother. Kristopher then reached for his father's hand and placed it in Alexis' hand. "Okay," he stated proudly, as he turned and went back to his coloring book. "Demanding and charming," Alexis stated as she raised an eyebrow at Sonny. "Most definitely your son." Sonny responded by displaying his dimples. "You ready?" he asked. "As I'll ever be," she mumbled. "Maria," Alexis called out. "We're going. We shouldn't be too late. If you need anything call Sonny's cell phone." "Go. Have a good time. We'll be fine," Maria said. Sonny opened the door and as Alexis stepped out, he turned back to Maria, smiled and winked. Maria returned his smile.
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