|
Family
Reunited Prologue August 2002 The timing couldn't have been better for Alexis Davis' brother to re-enter her life. The high-powered attorney who thrived on control, found her life spinning entirely out of control. She was pregnant with the child of her former client/ landlord/best friend, Sonny Corinthos, one of the most powerful mob bosses on the Eastern Seaboard. This was a secret she had convinced herself she had to keep in order to protect her child. That secret led to the tragic death of her sister, Kristina, who had walked into an apparent mob war bombing of Sonny's coffee warehouse. Alexis was glad when Stefan had agreed to reclaim a role in the family business after it had suffered at the hands of their nephew, Nicholas. The young prince had wanted so much to show his uncle and aunt that he was capable of running the family business on his own. And, in the beginning, he had done well. But, then it began to consume him. A few bad business decisions and the fact that Gia broke off their engagement caused him to slip into a downward spiral, resulting in a late night visit to his Aunt Alexis. She frowned as she remembered the defeated look on his face. He had stood before her, his eyes cast down to the ground. She would never forget the words that rang loudly in her head, though he had barely whispered them, "I can't do it anymore Aunt. I am not strong enough. I've truly tried but it is destroying me. I don't know what to say or do. Please help me." Alexis immediately took her nephew in her arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Nicholas, I am so proud of you for coming to me. Our family has been plagued by curses for years, many that we cast upon ourselves. Times are changing. You deserve to be happy, something that has escaped many Cassadines before you." "I have failed. How can I ever face Uncle?" Nicholas whispered. "Stefan will not be disappointed in you, Nicholas," Alexis assured her nephew. "How can he? He's the one that turned everything over to you in search of his happiness." "What happens now?" Nicholas questioned. "Stefan turned it over to me. I don't want to do this anymore. You're the only one left. And, though I know you are more than capable of handling it, why would you want to?" "Well...you do have a point there. Of course, I'm sure Helena would be happy to re-stake her claim, even if she has to run things from her prison cell," Alexis stated sarcastically. Nicholas had watched as his aunt stood deep in thought, her bottom lip held between her teeth. Suddenly, her eyes began to sparkle, as a smile crossed her face, "Why don't we run things as a family. Each of us has our strong points. I can handle the legal aspects and we can share the other duties." And that's what they had done. Nicholas and Alexis joined Stefan in Milan for a much needed family reunion. Stefan was still in search of happiness, but he had grown bored with some aspects of his new life. So, he was more than willing to take on some of the Cassadine duties again. Not to mention the joy of having Alexis and Nicholas back in his life. Since the Cassadine holdings were spread throughout the world, the three agreed that the family business could be best served by having each work from a different area of power: Port Charles, London and, of course, the family stronghold, Greece. Nicholas had wanted to stay in Port Charles and try to rebuild his relationship with Gia, as well as strengthen his relationships with his mother, Laura, and his half siblings, Lucky and Leslie Lu. Alexis had listened closely to Nicholas' desire to remain in Port Charles. A knot had formed in the pit of her stomach. If Nicholas stayed in Port Charles, then that meant she could not. Questions began flooding Alexis' mind; so many questions, so quickly, she wasn't even able to consider answers to them. Port Charles had been one of the only places she had ever felt at home. Why had that been? Could she do it? Could she leave Port Charles? Stefan noticed immediately how quiet Alexis had become after Nicholas had spoken of his desire to remain in Port Charles. He studied her face. Her eyes were cast down and she seemed to be staring through the marble table before them. She had drawn her bottom lip between her teeth and she seemed to be trying to control her breathing. "What do you say we call it a day?" Stefan stated to the family members. "After all, one of the reasons we are here is to make life easier for each of us. I believe the first matter of business we should have discussed is eight-hour workdays, no more than 40 hours a week. If an emergency arises that warrants additional hours, then each of us will work to correct the problem. That should leave each of us time for our personal lives." Nicholas' jaw dropped to the table as Alexis squinted her eyes and said, "You are not Stefan Cassadine. What have you done with my brother?" A smile crossed Stefan's face. "I'm right here in front of you, dear sister. Though the time that she and I spent together was far too short, Chloe did get me to see life a little differently," Stefan whispered sadly. Alexis stood and walked toward Stefan, pulling him from his chair and wrapping her arms around him tightly. "I think I could get to like the new you...and who knows...maybe you'll teach me a thing or two," she whispered softly, as a tear rolled down her right cheek. Stefan and Nicholas had gone into town for a nice dinner. Alexis had bowed out, doing something she had not done before, using her pregnancy as an excuse. "Food doesn't sound good to me at the moment...I think I'll pass." "We could go tomorrow night. I will have cook prepare a meal for us here, tonight." "No...please...go...the time alone with Nicholas will be good for both of you." Stefan reluctantly went, though he suspected her lack of desire for food had more to do with the losses in her life instead of what seemed to be her one true happiness, her pregnancy. Alexis walked silently through the garden of Stefan's home in Milan trying to determine where the feeling of utter sadness had come from. What did it mean? When did she first feel it taking over her body and soul? Was it when she realized that this new joint business venture meant she would have to leave Port Charles? Or was it when Stefan had mentioned Chloe? Why had Port Charles come to mean so much to her? Chloe had been one of the best friends she ever had. But, Chloe was no longer there. Chloe had died at the hands of Alexis and Stefan's evil brother, Stavros. There was her friendship with Jax. "Yeah right, some friend. He disappeared to go in search of the long dead love of his life. He was the man who had taken Carly on as a business partner and was now romantically involved with Skye Quartermaine, of all people," she told herself. There was Ned. They had become good friends despite the fact she left him at the altar. "What are you thinking, Alexis? Ned is the one that helped turn your life upside down. The noble gatekeeper who claimed your unborn child as his own to protect you despite the fact he was currently dating your younger sister. He's not entirely to blame for this mess you call a life. I mean, after all, you didn't have to go along with the lie." Why did he do it? She had asked herself that many times. She believed that he had really loved her sister. Did he just not think when he dove in to protect her and her unborn child from Sonny's wrath. Alexis wanted to believe that, but the more she thought about it the more she believed he had done it to take control of her life. She had never wanted to give him that control and it had led to their breakup. The fear that had crept into the back of her mind was that Ned had done it to get back at her because she had ultimately chosen Sonny over him. Ned had always accused her of putting Sonny before him and her other friends. He never forgave her for not marrying him. She did not want to have children with him. And, now, here she was pregnant with Sonny's child. Of course it wasn't planned, but did Ned look at this as the ultimate betrayal? He was claiming the one thing that Sonny had always wanted, a child of his own. This had already gone too far and Alexis could not see any good coming from continuing this charade. After all it had already cost too much, the life of her sister. Her sister, whom she had been reunited with about a year ago, had been killed at the hands of a madman out to get Sonny. As much as she wanted to blame Sonny for her sister's death, she knew where the real blame lay, with she and Ned. Ned started the lie, she embraced it and it hurt her sister deeply. Her sister ultimately found out the truth. She tried to get Alexis to admit that she and Ned had lied. When that didn't work, Kristina felt the need to go to Sonny to tell him that Alexis' child was his. Kristina would have never been at Sonny's warehouse that fateful night if it had not been for the lie. Ah, yes...Sonny...her best friend, the only person that had ever understood her...the one person she could never lie to...the one she had let believe the biggest lie of her life. One night after a heated argument between the two that could have resulted in the end of their friendship, they had given into feelings that had been developing for a long time. That night they chose each other. That night Alexis had followed her heart, not her head. The next day the nightmare began. Sonny's ex-wife had seen them together and had driven her car off a cliff. When they realized Carly had seen them, they were overcome with guilt that Carly's life had ended because of their choice. Carly returned from the dead at her own funeral, no less. Sonny, who had lost two of the other women in his life to tragedy looked at it as a second chance. Sonny had tried to get Alexis to talk about their relationship but when she asked him if he still loved Carly and he stated that he did, she told him to go back to his wife. Alexis then watched as Sonny became a cold, calculating, uncaring, violent person. Or had he been that person all along? Had she just refused to see it? She
couldn't think of one reason to stay in Port Charles. Everything
that she ever had that had meant anything to her there was gone,
with the exception of her unborn child. Alexis gently placed her hand on the bulge in her abdomen. "Well Little One, Stefan talked about finding happiness. Port Charles holds nothing but fear and sadness for me. Let's start over...what do you say? London here we come." It was simple, Nicholas stayed in Port Charles; Alexis moved to London and Stefan returned to Greece. This arrangement had worked perfectly for all involved. The family business thrived with the input of all three. They communicated almost daily by phone, fax and email to keep up with the family business as well as each of their lives. As Alexis' pregnancy progressed, Stefan and Nicholas began spending more time with her. They couldn't wait to celebrate the birth of the newest generation of Cassadines.
|
|
|
|
|