Marlena had requested a few minutes alone with her grandson, and if Sonny was being honest, he was happy to step away for a few minutes leaving Will in trustworthy hands. Not that he wanted to leave Will, but he couldn't get Arianna-Grace's little face out of his mind. She was barely a day old and she already had Sonny wrapped around her tiny little fingers. He kissed Will on the cheek as he left the room and headed toward Gabi's room. She was probably asleep, but it was worth checking. He peeked his head through the door; Gabi looked up and smiled, surprised to see Sonny standing in the doorway.

"Hi Sonny."

"Hi," Sonny replied with a pensive expression.

"Is everything with Will ok? Is something wrong? Has he woken up yet?" Gabi fired rapidly.

"Oh no…Gabi, everything is fine. He hasn't woken up, but Marlena wanted to talk to him."

"Oh."

"I…umm…I well…..I was wondering…" Sonny worried his lip, not sure how Gabi was going to take his question. Their relationship hadn't always been the best, and he still wasn't sure where they stood, even after Arianna- Grace's birth.

"Sonny, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I…umm…I just wondered if you would give permission for me to go sit in the nursery with Arianna- Grace? I just…I can't stop thinking about her and holding her in my arms and that…"

"Sonny. Stop," Gabi said sharply.

"Oh I'm sorry, I should have never asked. That was very presumptuous of me...I'll go…"

"No, Sonny. That's not it. Of course you can go sit with her. You didn't need to ask. Sonny, she might not even be here if it wasn't for you. I know you're always going to be a part of her life. I know she is important to you, and I know you will be just as important to her."

"Really? Gabi, you really don't know how much that means to me. I just, I never expected to love her so much. My God, when she started crying I lost my breath; I felt like I gave her all the breath I had been holding in that moment." He stopped, remembering that life changing second. How could such a little person alter his life so drastically with just one look and one sound? He snapped out of the reverie and smiled a small, shy smile. "So…umm…thanks. I'm uh, I'm going to go hold her for a few minutes then."

"Great. I'll call over to the nursery. It's almost time for her bottle and I was going to have them bring her up to me. Maybe you could just feed her while you're there?"

"Thanks," Sonny said as he turned toward the door grinning ear to ear.

"No… Sonny, thank you. Thanks for being a part of her life." Gabi looked up at Sonny as he exited the room, thankful that her daughter had such a caring man in her life.

As Sonny reached the nursery, the nurse waved and opened the door. She knew exactly who he was looking for. The heroic tale of Arianna- Grace's birth had gone viral throughout the hospital, well, probably all of Salem for that matter. She led him to her bassinet and pulled a rocking chair close. He sat down, waiting for the little girl to be laid in his cozy, muscular arms. The nurse turned and brought the sleeping baby to him.

"Here you go, Arianna-Grace. Here is your hero, himself," she said laying the little girl into his arms. "I'll be right back with a bottle. She'll probably be hungry soon."

"Thanks," he replied, unable to tear his eyes away from the baby.

He didn't know what to do. She looked so peaceful, so perfect. His eyes brimmed with warm tears as he thought about Will lying in the room upstairs. He wanted him to wake up so badly so he could see his gorgeous daughter. He imagined how sweet their first meeting would be as a single tear dropped from his eye onto her tiny little face. She slowly opened her eyes and let out a sleepy yawn.

"I'm sorry, little miss, did I wake you? Silly, Sonny can't control his emotions right now." He ran his soft fingertips across her cheek as he wiped away the tear that had fallen.

"Sonny?" he said to himself with a laugh. That sounded weird. He wasn't sure what she was going to call him. He and Will hadn't had a chance to talk about this yet. It wasn't like she was going to be talking soon anyway, but he did want her to know how important their relationship was. He didn't want to just be "that guy" that was always hanging around daddy.

"We'll just have to think about that, won't we, missy?" Sonny asked her quietly. Her big blue eyes were locked on him, and he couldn't pull away from her gaze.

The nurse returned with a warm bottle and showed Sonny how to test it on his wrist for temperature. He took the bottle and held it up to Arianna- Grace's teeny lips. She latched on quickly, clearly hungry.

"Umm, do you think you could take a few photos of us?" Sonny asked glancing at his cell phone on the table next to the rocking chair.

"Of course." She took a few pictures as Sonny stared at the little girl. He kissed her forehead and she took one final photo. She smiled and laid the phone back on the table, leaving the two together to bond.

"You're perfect, you know it? Do you know how perfect you are, little missy? When I saw you for the first time I didn't know what to do, you know it? I just wanted to stare at you forever, just like this." Sonny continued chatting with Arianna-Grace in the cutest baby voice that was reserved for conversations between only them. "Now, we just need your daddy to wake up so he can see how perfect his little angel is. And then maybe, just maybe, we'll all be able to go home together soon, healthy and happy."

Arianna-Grace, happy and tummy full, drifted back to sleep. It was getting late and nursery visiting hours were coming to an end. The nurse came and tapped Sonny on the shoulder.

"That time already? But we're so comfortable aren't we, baby girl?" Sonny said.

"Afraid so," she said with a smile.

Sonny kissed Arianna-Grace on the head and lifted the little bundle up to the nurse's arms. "Thank you for letting me stay so long. We had a great chat."

"Of course, it's important for daddy and baby to have those deep conversations."

"Oh no…I'm not…" he stopped himself. "Nevermind, you're right, it is important for daddy and baby to bond."

He smiled at his daughter. His daughter. His daughter. Daddy. Oh my gosh. Daddy. His mind raced as he stared at his perfect baby. Regardless of how she came into this world, who she was genetically joined to, or what they called each other, he knew that Arianna-Grace was his daughter and he was her daddy.