Disclaimer: All characters belong to the creators of General Hospital.

Sam knelt in front of her daughter's grave and brushed the grass off the headstone before laying the bouquet of lilacs in front of it.

"Hi, baby girl. It's Mom. I'm sorry I haven't been here in awhile. There's been a lot going on but I haven't forgotten about you. I could never forget about you. For nine months you made my life better than it had ever been and you gave me a reason to hope, but there's still a part of you here. Even as you died, you helped save your big sister's life and you probably already know that, I just wanted to tell you myself. I love you so much and I'll be back to see you soon."

She stood and turned to leave, blinking in surprise when she saw Sonny. "How long have you been here?"

"I got here just after you did."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to interrupt. Listen, Sam, I—"

"Save it, Sonny. I don't need your apologies and I sure as hell don't want to hear them."

She brushed past him and left the cemetery, leaving him no choice but to follow her. When he finally caught up with her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around so that she was facing him. "Will you listen to me for five minutes?"

"Listen to you? After everything you said to me and accused me of two years ago, you want me to stand here and listen to you give me some lame apology? I don't think so. Now, let me go!"

She placed her free hand on his chest to push away from him but just as she did, Sonny pulled her closer to him.

The move brought them face to face and the passion that had led to the conception of their daughter once again made itself known.

"No." Sam had meant for the word to be spoken strongly but instead it had come out as a whisper.

She couldn't let this happen. She wasn't that person anymore, but with Sonny looking at her so intensely—no, it wasn't going to happen. Now she just had to convince both of them of that.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"What?"

"You're crying," he answered softly, reaching up to brush her tears away.

"Sonny, I can't do this. There's too much history between us and I've finally gotten to a good place in my life. If I let myself start backsliding now, I'll become the person I don't want to be. I really don't want to be her again, Sonny. I can't be her. I hate who I used to be."

Sonny nodded, he could understand that feeling. He'd been someone that he didn't want to be more times than he could count, but it was more than that. He could tell by the look in Sam's eyes.

"Let's go back to my place."

"Sonny," she admonished.

"To talk," he clarified, smiling at her. "Just to talk."

She eyed him warily. "Can I trust that?"

He hated that she couldn't trust him anymore, but it was own fault. He was the one who had verbally attacked her and used their daughter against her. As soon as she'd left he'd regretted it, but there hadn't been anything he could do. Now all he could do was hope that he could fix what he'd broken two years ago.

"Talk to me," Sonny requested softly when they were both sitting on his couch.

"I don't even know where to start," Sam admitted, looking down at her hands. She still didn't know why she'd agreed to come here. Any of the good memories she had made here had long since disappeared. Sonny was the last person in the world she wanted to be with today, but yet here she was. Sitting on his couch listening to him talk to her like nothing had ever happened.

"Start with why you were crying after we left the cemetery."

"It's my birthday."

"And no one remembered?" She wasn't giving him much to go off of so he was left having to take blind guesses.

"No. My mom and sisters, Nikolas, Spencer, Maxie, and even Jason remembered. It's also Jake's birthday."

Now they were getting somewhere. He couldn't imagine how hard that must be for her. But there was more. Sonny could tell by the way she was playing with a loose thread on one of his cushions.

"Two years ago today I found out that Jake was Jason's son."

Now he understood why Sam, who was normally so strong, had been unusually quiet and let him convince her to come back to his house.

"And then you—you made things so much worse. You stood here and read me the riot act because I couldn't possibly understand the pain of losing a child. Do you have any idea how badly that hurt me, Sonny? Do you? I loved our daughter and my heart breaks every day that she isn't here with me. The only thing that brought me comfort was knowing that a part of my little was girl would always be with Kristina. But apparently my grief couldn't compare to a complete stranger's."

"Sam, I'm really—"

"No. No apologies, Sonny. They can't repair the damage your words caused. And I'm past the point of caring. I told you that I've moved on with my life and I have."

"Then why do you look like you're about to cry again?" Sonny asked, cupping her cheek.

Sam sighed and turned into his touch. She might have moved on with her life but since she and Lucky had broken up last year, she'd been so lonely. It just wasn't the kind of loneliness that finally having a family and good friends could fill.

She wanted a man to love her unconditionally and put her first above his job and his best friend and his ex-wife and any other menial distractions.

"Because I'm tired of being alone."

That was something else he could identify with. For the first time in his life he wasn't in a relationship and while the freedom had been nice at first, now he really missed having someone to come home to. Someone he could talk to that truly understood him and would listen without judging.

"Hey, I know you said you didn't want me to apologize, but I really am sorry for the things I said to you. It doesn't excuse my behavior, but it's the best I can do."

Sam smiled and pressed a kiss to his palm. "I accept." She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "Sonny, I'm so tired."

He knew what she meant. She wasn't physically tired. It was an emotional, mental tiredness and Sonny was experiencing the same thing.

"I know. So am I."

When she felt herself drawn to him this time, she didn't fight it. She let her lips meets his in a kiss that was anything but gentle.

He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him, a silent signal that he didn't want to wait.

She understood the feeling. She was desperate to feel the warmth of a man again, but she didn't want this to be one quick coupling.

"Sonny," she whispered against his mouth.

"Please don't tell me to stop," he pleaded.

"No. Not stopping just slowing things down. I want this to last. I don't want it to be as slow as making love, but I want to enjoy it."

Sonny nodded in understanding and stood up, holding his hand out to her. "Let's go upstairs."

It wasn't a command, but it wasn't a question either. It was more of a neutral statement. He was giving her one last chance to back out. He wouldn't blame her if she did, but he was praying that she didn't.

Sam was one of the best lovers he'd ever had and Sonny wanted to be with her now. No one else. Only her.

"Let's go," she agreed, slipping her hand into his.

He brought their intertwined hands up and pressed a kiss to hers as they started upstairs.

They'd barely made it into his room when he kissed her again. This time Sam gave herself completely to the kiss.

She wasn't going to give herself time to stop and think about this. If she and Sonny were truly going to rebuild their friendship, the conversation they'd had downstairs was only a start. It would take several more long, emotional conversations for them to be in the place they had been before she and Jason had started having problems. But as long as she was in his bed none of that mattered. As far as she was concerned the rest of the world didn't exist.

He began moving her toward his bed and when her legs hit the end of it, she allowed herself to fall backwards onto the mattress.

Sonny landed directly on top of her, his left leg between both of hers, pressing against her center.

She arched against him even as she began unbuttoning his shirt.

When Sonny's mind finally caught up to what she was doing, he broke the kiss and looked down at her. "Still want to take things slowly?"

"Yes." She finished unbuttoning his shirt then pushed it down his arms.

Once it was on the floor he sat up, bringing Sam with him and pulling her shirt over her head. Before it had even hit the floor he was unclasping her bra and throwing it carelessly over his shoulder.

She lay back down then reached up and cupped his face, pulling him down for a kiss.

He responded briefly then turned his attention to her breasts, lowering his mouth to one of them as his hand teased the other.

She gripped his shoulders, digging her nails into his flesh as he continued to tease her. When she was breathless and begging him for release, Sonny began trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down to the waistband of her jeans.

"Sonny, please. I can't wait anymore."

Sam reached down to unbutton her jeans but he swatted her hands away. "Not so fast."

"Sonny."

He simply smiled in response and unfastened her jeans before pulling them and her barely there panties down her legs and sending the garments sailing to the floor.

"Be patient," he murmured, moving down on the bed then lowering his mouth to her center.

The second he made contact, Sam's hips came off the bed. Sonny laughed and pushed them back down. "Easy, sweetheart."

She whimpered impatiently but the sound turned into a moan when his tongue came into contact with her clit. "Sonny, please. More."

He complied and slid two fingers inside of her as his tongue continued to flick against the most sensitive part of her femininity. The tension between them was so thick and his actions were so fast and intense that it only took a few strokes before she was crying out and spilling onto his hand.

When Sam's breathing returned to normal he kissed his way back up her body, stopping when he could finally brush his lips over hers. Sonny pulled away then brought his hand up and traced his fingers over her lips, coating them with her juice.

Her brown eyes opened wider with lust as he again lowered his mouth to hers. Being able to taste herself as he kissed her was incredibly erotic. As the kiss became deeper and more demanding she began rocking her hips against his, feeling him grow hard against her.

Sam's actions forced Sonny to break their kiss. "If you don't stop, I'm not going to be able to get out of my pants."

She whimpered impatiently but reached for the button of his pants and helped him discard the offending item.

"Thank you," Sam murmured as Sonny handed her a glass of scotch.

"No problem."

She took a sip of her drink then looked back up at the sky. At some point during their rounds of sex they had wound up back downstairs and now they were on the patio in the early hours of the morning. "I'm sorry about crying again."

"You don't have to apologize. I told you I understand. You've been holding everything inside for two years and it was bound to come out sooner or later."

"But I know this isn't what you were expecting."

"Hey, no expectations," he reminded her softly, caressing her cheek. "I'm here for whatever you need. Isn't that what we agreed on earlier?"

She nodded in response and took another drink. "Yeah, it is."

"Okay then. No more apologies. You can yell, cry, scream, fight, whatever you need."

Sam smiled as she continued to look up at the full moon. It seemed brighter tonight but she knew that was probably just her imagination or a physical projection of the sudden lightness in her mood. "Do you ever think about her?"

"Lila?" Without waiting for a confirmation, Sonny continued. "All the time. I wonder what she would look like, what kind of personality she would have, what she would be interested in. I never stop thinking about her especially when I'm with Kristina."

"That's when I remember her the most. You know, she saw my ultrasound pictures the other day and asked who the baby was."

"What did you tell her?"

Sam laughed and turned to face Sonny, leaning against the wall that lined his patio. "I gave her the simplified version. I told her that Lila was her little sister and that she helped her get better."

"Did she understand any of it?"

"As well as a seven-year-old can understand a situation that complicated. She said she wished she could have met her baby sister. Kristina is a great little girl, Sonny. You had a big part in that."

"I would have loved our daughter. You know that, right?"

"I know," she assured him. "I know you did love her. I could see how excited you were about finally having a daughter when I was pregnant." She set her glass on the ledge and slipped her hands into his. "You have no idea how much tonight has meant to me. Hearing you be so open about everything and reassuring me that you did love our little girl has helped me so much."

"It's helped both of us, sweetheart. We've both been lonely and we've cut ourselves from people outside of our families. Tonight's been a big step for both of us."

"I'm glad it was you that found me at the cemetery."

"Why is that?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Because you knew exactly what I needed. You gave me space when I needed it, you let me talk and you talked back. You've been everything I needed tonight."

"That goes both ways, you know."

She nodded and tilted her head to smile up at him. "I know but I also know that I have you to count on as a friend now and that's something I really need. I finally realized that I can't handle everything that I'm feeling by myself anymore and you were there when I was in desperate need of someone outside my family to talk to." She brushed her lips over his then pulled back. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "Happy birthday, Sam."