5 Years Later

It was a quiet and warm summer night as Will and Sonny lay in bed fast asleep. Sonny twitches thinking he hears something. He slowly comes out of his state of sleep and hears the noise again. It's a very quiet and quaint whisper, "Daddy...Daddy...". Sonny smiles and turns over to meet 2 big blue eyes looking at him.

"Ari sweetie, what's wrong?"

Ari very quietly whispers, "Daddy, I had a bad dream and now I'm scared. Can I sleep with you and Dad tonight?"

"Jump up here munchkin," Sonny says as he reaches over and pulls her into bed between him and Will.

Ari snuggles up close to Sonny and he wraps an arm around her. He can feel Ari calm down and she asks in whisper, "Daddy, can you tell me story before we go to sleep?"

Sonny pulls her a little tighter to him, "Okay, but we have to be very quiet so we don't wake up Dad. He has to get up really early for work tomorrow."

"Okay."

Sonny begins the story. "Okay, there once was this boy that got to travel all over the place. He had so much fun getting to experience all these different things. Then one day the boy stopped having fun doing that. He wanted to find somebody he could share his life with. So he decided to go back to his home town where his parents lived. He hadn't been back in years. Once he moved back he met up with his cousin so she could introduce him to some of her friends. So they all gathered at the lake one hot summer evening. His cousin..."

Ari interrupts, "Daddy, can we just call her Abigail and everybody else by their real name?"

Sonny giggles quietly, "FINE. So anyway, Abigail introduces me to her friends. So we all sit down on the beach to enjoy some sun, when I hear a voice behind me," Sonny changes his voice to make it really high, "Hey Abigail, I got hung up at the house."

"Daddy!", Ari says loudly, but still in a whisper, "Dad does not sound like that." And then starts to giggle which makes Sonny start to giggle.

Laughing he tries to whisper, "shhhhhh...remember, we don't want to wake Dad up." As they both calm back down.

"Anyway, I turn around to see the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. I'm so nervous to say anything because I was stunned. I couldn't even get my name out. Thank goodness Abigail was there so she could tell your dad what my name was. So after that moment I knew that your dad would change my life forever. You know how I can be nerdy sometimes?"

Ari nods her head and giggles, "All the time." Sonny reaches over and tickles her a little, but still being cautious not to be loud enough to wake Will.

Finally they are settled back down, "I didn't know how to talk to your dad, so every time I would see him, I would act like I accidently ran into him. I even took some classes at school just because he was in them. One day I finally got the courage up to ask him to have dinner and a movie with me. He said yes, much to my relief and that was the beginning of your dad and me. I finally found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and it felt great. I thought at the time, there would be nothing ever happier in my life than that right there. I mean how could anything make me feel better than having found the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with? Right?"

Ari whispered, "Right."

"But you know what?"

"What?"

Sonny whispers, "I was wrong."

"You were wrong?" Ari asks a little concerned.

Sonny says, "Yes. Because the day I delivered you and held you in my arms for the very first time, was when I felt that feeling I always have about your dad, but magnified so much more. So you and dad are the most important people that will ever be in my life. Now lets go to sleep." as he puts a soft kiss on the top of her head. He could feel the smile spread on her face.

Ari, sleepily says, "That is my favorite story. I love you Daddy, goodnight."

And like that, Ari was sound asleep. Sonny puts his arm back around her and pulled her close. Then he felt movement on the bed and then a large arm wraps around him Ari. All he hears is a whisper from Will, "That's my favorite story too."