The Convenient Wife
by Kelly

chapter 59

"There," Alexis sighed, zipping up the last suitcase and lugging it
into the living room to set it by the sofa. Hands on her hips, she
looked around her and took mental inventory of the bags that had
already been packed.

She sighed, her breath lifting her wispy bangs away from her
forehead. Why, she asked herself, did I leave this for the last
minute? Their flight to Puerto Rico was scheduled for tomorrow
afternoon; she'd had all week since the hearing to pack. Yet she'd
waited till today to throw her clothes in a bag.

Then again Sonny had kept her rather busy this week, she mused, a
secret smile playing about her lips. One would have thought that
they'd started their honeymoon the night of the hearing by the way he
had so energetically and thoroughly made love to her deep into the
night. The entire week since then had been idyllic.

There had been the tender moments between just the two of them, as
they'd walked alone in the park or dined in a quiet out of the way
restaurant like two normal newlyweds. They had had time to just be…
There was no pressure…no court judgment hanging over them now. Just
the sense that they could be themselves and that they had all the
time in the world.

And then there had also been so much precious time spent with their
daughter; Sonny just getting to know her as his own. Finding
wonderful similarities in their personalities…and some rather scary
ones such as the little girl's fiery temper that readily matched his
own!

But in quiet moments, when he would think that he was alone,
sometimes Alexis would catch him looking a bit sad; his eyes would
dim and take on this faraway look and she would wonder where he'd
gone inside himself. Once, she'd even asked him about it, but he'd
explained it was only a result of the trauma of the past weeks, that
he was tired, and that their honeymoon trip would refresh him.

It was an excuse that she did not entirely believe, but she was at a
loss as to what was really troubling him. She had thought it was that
he missed his boys, though twice this week already he had gone to
visit them at Carly's.

A knock at the door stirred her from her thoughts and she crossed the
room to answer it. On the other side stood Jason in his ever-present
leather jacket, looking as intense as he ever did, but now…she
noticed…his eyes took on a slightly softer look when they lit upon
her. They had come to a new understanding through this whole
conflict, and Alexis was grateful for that.

"Hello, stranger," she said to him warmly, opening the door wider for
his entry. "Haven't seen much of you this past week."

He walked past her to stand in the living room. "Thought I'd give you
guys space to spend some time together after…everything," he
explained with his customary shrug.

She shook her head, a big smile on her lips. "No one would ever guess
you're this sensitive, Mr. Morgan."

"So let's not tell them, Ms. Davis-Corinthos."

She laughed. "I won't. I'm afraid you just missed Sonny though. He's
off with Kristina at the store buying her a new bathing suit and some
of those swim fins for our trip."

His eyebrows rose. "You're taking her with you? Thought this was a
honeymoon?"

"It is," she nodded. "But I'm afraid Sonny has fallen head over heels
in love with his daughter, and he just can't leave her yet. Even for
a week, poor man. So we decided to make it a family trip. He can't
wait to take her to the ocean for the first time."

Jason flashed a brief smile. "Then he must be feeling better?"

"Better?" she asked, nonplussed.

"About this situation with the boys. I was there last week right
after his fight with Carly."

She blinked up at him, having no idea what he was talking about. A
fight with Carly last week? Sonny had said that the two of them had
talked and that they were working things out.

Jason obviously took no note of her silence as he kept on
speaking. "I tried to talk to her, you know. I tried to get her to
see that what she's doing isn't about love; it's revenge. And that
it's bad for the boys. But she just…Carly gets something into her
head and she won't let it go."

Alexis nodded as if she understood, and kept silent hoping that Jason
would tell her the rest of it. But when the man lapsed into one of
his sudden silences and stared at her awaiting her reply, she had to
fish quickly through her brain for something non-committal enough to
keep the conversation going. She needed to know what Sonny was hiding
from her.

"I-I'm sure you did your best to—to change her mind, Jason," she
said. "You are her friend, and she respects you."

He sighed. "Does she? I don't know anymore. I wanted her to listen to
me and think about what I said, but all she could do was to go off
about how Sonny chose you. And so far she's sticking to her threats…
if he stays here he can't ever see the boys."

Alexis froze. So that was it? Sonny had been presented with an
impossible choice: his new wife or his children. Carly had determined
that he could not have both.

What an absolutely vicious shrew, Alexis thought. Her heart broke for
him, landing in several pieces somewhere in the vicinity of her feet.

"Did he like the custody lawyer Justus recommended?"

She shook her head to clear the sudden fog that had descended over
her brain. The times Sonny had "gone to see the boys"…he'd probably
been going to see this new lawyer with Justus instead.

"I—I don't really know," she told Jason now. "He—uh--he hasn't talked
about the lawyer."

That at least was the truth.

The man nodded. "Yeah. It's probably best if he just takes his time
with the case...waits till after your trip to deal with it. You two
deserve to have a good time away from here…with no worries."

She blinked up at him surprised. "I know that has to be hard for you
to say. You wanted Sonny and Carly to keep their family together very
badly."

"No, Alexis, I wanted something positive to come out of the worst
experience of my life: losing Michael," he corrected her. "If Carly
wrecked my life to be with Sonny, then I wanted her to STAY with him
and be happy so that it all wasn't for nothing. And I wanted the boys
to have a good life with both their parents.

"It's not gonna work out the way I thought, but those boys can still
have a good life…with two homes. And lots of people who love them."

She could only nod, her lip caught painfully in her teeth as she
strove to hold herself together.

He frowned, touching her shoulder lightly. "You okay?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Just a little distracted. I…still have a lot of
packing to do."

"Oh yeah, sure. Let me get outta your way. Tell Sonny I'll call him
before the flight."

"Okay."

He was gone as suddenly as he came. And Alexis was left alone with
the truth: Sonny could not have her and his children, too. He had
tried to protect her from that, to pretend that he was happy with
their lives when all along he had to have been in such pain…

Alexis raked a hand through her long hair. So what the hell was she
supposed to do now?
Try to forge a life with him while his heart was in two places at
once?

Or set him free?

chapter 60