Chapter 1
Johnny sat quietly outside the door of his newfound "sister's" penthouse and reflected over the past few days. He couldn't believe that his life had changed as dramatically as it had in just three days. The moment he saw Alexis Davis step out of the elevator at the Port Charles hotel the first time, somehow, he knew his life would never be the same. He liked her instantly. She had fire, and humor and he totally enjoyed the fact that she could stop his boss mid-sentence with well-placed zingers.
Johnny resigned himself to a lifetime of grief when his little sister died. The memory of her still held power enough to bring him to his knees. He had loved her, adored her, and cared for her as if she had truly been his own. He tried very hard to leave her memory tucked away in the dark recesses of his heart. It simply hurt too much to think of her. At the moment of her death, he built a wall around his heart. No one would ever be able to get to him again. As much as he loved his little sister, he wasn't willing to let anyone capture his heart as completely as she had ever again.
It wasn't until Alexis entered his life that he began to deal with the pain of his little sister. Alexis was the only one who had been able to soothe his heart. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the embossed card she gave him the night he first met her. The little card meant the world to him. It connected him to someone who willingly chose to love him again; just as his little sister chose to love him so many years ago. A sister that he gave a special nickname that was just between the two of them, and he smiled longingly as he softly whispered it to himself. "Lexie."
In allowing his heart to accept Alexis he began to feel alive again. He now wanted her to know what she did for him, by asking him to be her brother. Her total acceptance of him began a healing process he so desperately needed. So, in a moment of pure and total commitment to the woman who meant so much to him now, he gave Alexis his little sister's special nickname. Alexis was now his little 'Lexie' and his heart felt the rightness of it.
Placeing the card back into his wallet, his eyes fell on the picture of his mother. She wasn't really his mother. She was the woman who had raised him the first 15 years of his life. He never knew who his real mother was. All he knew was that she carelessly abandoned him when he was born and he had hated her ever since.
To Johnny, giving that woman even one thought was more than she deserved, so he shut her out of his mind as completely as he had shut her out of his heart. She wasn't worth the time it took to have a thought.
While Johnny sat out in the hall reflecting on the events of the past few days the night had given up its darkness to a new day. And within the safe and peaceful walls of the Port Charles penthouse the two people who meant the most to him in the world were slowly beginning to awaken after their first night together.
Sonny with his arms wrapped around Alexis, watched her sleep. He loved to watch her breathe. The slow rise and fall of her body as she breathed was like watching the sun rise to a new day over and over again. He lay quietly not wanting to move for fear of waking her before she was ready, so he lay there and, like Johnny, let the events of the past few days wash over him.
He was grateful to Alexis for securing Michael's custody for him. But, he was totally unprepared for the contract of adoption she placed in his hands the night before. Although he was shocked and overjoyed with the contract, what amazed him the most was the fact that she drew up the contract after his second meeting with her two weeks before. What did she see in him that would have allowed her to make such a bold move on his part? She hadn't even met Michael and didn't know a lot about Carly at the time. Alexis was a total surprise to him from the moment he first met her.
As he lay there daydreaming, inevitably his thoughts turned to his business. Sonny was angry with himself for letting things get so out of hand. It wasn't like him. And from what he heard from Alexis regarding the 'attempted take over', he resigned himself to the knowledge that he let his problems with Carly overwhelm his life to such an extent that he lost control of his organization. He needed to get it back and he needed to do it now. He uncharacteristically left himself wide open and vulnerable, and because of it an outsider was able to infiltrate his organization and get information she shouldn't have been able to get.
Sonny understood that the information was needed to gain custody of his son. But, if one person could come in and get that much information, then it was just a matter of time before someone else took the initiative. The longer Sonny lay there, the more anxious he became to get things going in order to regain control of his organization.
Alexis felt warm and contented this morning. She was enjoying lying there in Sonny's arms; resting in that still small moment between sleep and waking. For the first time in her life she slept in the arms of a man she loved and it had been the most peaceful sleep she could ever remember enjoying. Just as she was about to lift her head to kiss Sonny good morning she felt his arms grow tense around her. She gently pushed away from him in order to look up and saw that he was awake and deep thought.
"Hey there, would you like to come back down to earth and kiss an attorney good morning?"
"Well, I don't know about kissing an attorney, but I'd sure like to kiss you."
Sonny pulled her back to him and kissed her. He wanted to cocooned with her all day and let the world pass by without them. But, he knew he couldn't. He knew he wouldn't. There was a job to do today and it wouldn't be an easy one. As much as he loved the woman in his arms, he needed to take care of business today and he needed to have a serious talk with her. One he was sure she wouldn't enjoy. But, that would wait until this evening.
His kiss seemed preoccupied. There was something on his mind and she was afraid she already knew what it was. There were going to have to deal with how she accomplished the goal of retaining Sonny as Michael's legal guardian. Taking a deep breath she sat up beside him and leveled an intense gaze at him.
"Okay, you want to talk about it now?"
"No, I don't."
"We need to in order to get past it, Sonny."
"I know and we will. But, it will have to wait until this evening. There are things I have to take care of at the warehouse this morning."
"Just how mad at me are you?"
"Alexis, I'm not mad at you. You told me when this all started that your first priority was Michael and you would do whatever you had to for his protection. And, you did. And for that I am indebted to you. Now I have to go clean up the mess I've let my business get into. Can you give me a little time to process all of this and assess the damage that has been done?"
"Okay Sonny, but I need you to promise me something."
"If I can, I will."
"Don't shut me out."
"I won't. Just let me take care of business this morning." Sonny knew she could feel the distance he placed between them. He didn't want it there any more than she did, but he needed time to sort everything out. He also needed to take the look of concern off of her face. He needed to see her smile.
"Hey, how about I join you right here around 1:00 for a quick 'roll in the hay'?"
"Sweetheart, there's nothing quick about you and you've got a date. But before you leave sign the adoption papers on the table."
