That evening, because of recent events, mostly those that happened earlier that day, Will and Sonny called a family meeting. Key members of Will's family, and Sonny's, were invited. They included: Sami and Lucas, Adrienne and Justin, Marlena and Kate, as well as Victor and Maggie and Hope. They would have the meeting, and if things went well, those that didn't kill each other, would be invited to a dinner that would be served afterwards.

Sonny and Will basically drew lots and Sonny 'won' the privilege of presiding over the meeting. And so he called everyone to order and explained a few ground rules, which included no shouting, and that Will and Sonny would have the final decision on any of the topics; but he also explained that he and Will needed advice and lots of it. "We may not take all the advice given, so I hope you all can respect that. If you think that you can't please leave now. Will and I would like to thank in advance all those that do stay, for their advice and support."

To Will's and Sonny's surprise, everyone agreed, and so the meeting continued with all present.

A few announcements were made, including the result of the paternity test and that the birth certificate would list Will as the father of Little Ari. The next item on the agenda was living arrangements.

There was some grumbling about not having enough access to Arianna Grace, mostly from Sami and Lucas, and that they felt uncomfortable having to come to the Kiriakis Mansion to see their granddaughter, but in the end, everyone agreed that the Kiriakis Mansion was the best solution, temporarily.

Will and Sonny announced that they had started looking for a suitable apartment, but hadn't found one yet; but that Will especially would be stepping up the search. It was Justin that interrupted Sonny to announce to him and Will that most of the people in this room and some that were not present had pulled their resources together and created a fund so that Will and Sonny could buy a house: "So Will, you may want to concentrate on that instead. And you can refuse the money if you like, but if I were you I'd just smile and take it."

Will and Sonny both looked at each other and both noticed that the other had developed a slight moisture problem in the eyes. They both started to stutter and couldn't get any words out finally Will managed to say: "But we can't accept that…I don't know what to say…" Sonny couldn't help but finish Will's thought with: "Except thank you…"

It was Kate that spoke up for the rest of the group: "You both have far too many things to think about. You have a baby to take care of. And, luckily for you, you both have people in your lives that can afford to help you…"

Uncle Vic continued: "You won't be able to afford a house like this one…But I'm sure you'll find something to suit your needs"

Will looked at Sonny and said: "All we really need is each other…"

The next big topic that the group tackled was the notice to appear in family court. Some in the group, such as Justin, had been informed about this beforehand, and so, those that knew did not really react. Sami and Kate, and to Sonny and Will's great surprise, Victor, did not know and all three had very strong reactions.

Kate's reaction was a simple shouting of: "Damn that Nick!"

Victor's reaction was to slam his fist on the wall next to him and shout: "Damn that nephew of yours Maggie. Nobody goes after a Kiriakis! Nobody!" Maggie was a bit shy about all this. She loved Nick but she also loved Will and Sonny. She had seen Will and Sonny with Little Ari and knew that they would make excellent parents; but she also could see where her nephew Nick was coming from.

Will and Sonny could only smile at Victor's reaction. Will looked inquisitively at Sonny's Great-uncle Vic; and upon seeing Will's reaction Victor simply said: "Will, you are a part of the Kiriakis family, whether Sonny is the legal guardian of Arianna Grace or not. Sonny loves you and that makes you a Kiriakis in my book. We'll fight this."

Sami's reaction was the most predictable: "That bastard! Why is he doing this? It's not as if he can take care of Arianna Grace from prison!"

Hope answered Sami's outburst with: "Sami, Nick won't be going to jail. He has agreed to give state's evidence against some very shady characters in exchange for leniency."

Sami was now even more upset. She shouted even louder, and started to wail against Hope: "How is that even possible! How could you let that happen? He shot my son! He is guilty of blackmail and extortion! And he is ultimately responsible for his own wife's death! Gabi would still be alive if not for his actions! He should get twenty years! And you are letting him go free?!"

Justin stepped forward and got Sami's attention. He let her calm down and then he said: "It gets worse." Sami was incredulous: "What could possibly be worse than this?"

Justin explained that he tried contacting the judge in family court to inquire as to the rush in proceedings. He was told that the reasons could not be discussed; Justin was only told that it was unavoidable.

Questions were being asked all around, mostly by Sami and Kate. Justin simply lifted his hand to indicate that he wasn't finished explaining and continued: "The only explanation that I could come up with is that Nick is entering witness protection and plans on taking Arianna Grace with him."

That explanation brought on another round of verbal diarrhea from Kate and Sami. As both women exploded and most people were forced to calm them down, Will went off into a corner to remain calm and think things through. There was one more thing that Will wanted to do.

He had been thinking about this for quite a while now; and as he noticed his mother and grandmother freaking out, and how Sonny was handling them, in his usual calm yet forceful manner, just one of the many things about Sonny that Will found exceedingly sexy, he made his mind up.

He stepped back into the fray, took a deep breath and said rather loudly, but trying to not to sound as if he were shouting: "Mom, Grandma Kate, please calm down! I have something to say…"

It took several minutes for Will's mother and grandmother to do what he asked of them, but they finally did.

Will took a deep breath and walked over to Sonny. He grabbed each of Sonny's hands with one of his own, and took another deep breath.

He tried to forget about everyone else in this room. No one in the room mattered right now except for Sonny, especially since Little Ari was upstairs sleeping inhis her crib.

Will took yet another deep breath and caught Sonny's gaze, and with a smile Will began to tell Sonny a story.

He told Sonny that from the very moment that he and Sonny met, Will knew that Sonny was special to him. As time went by and with Sonny's help, along with his grandmother Marlena's, Will found the courage to accept who he was. There were ups and downs, rocky starts and sudden yet quickly restarted stops along the way, but finally Will also admitted his deep and pure feelings for Sonny.

The day Sonny first told Will that he loved Will, even though Will first heard it from his father, was one of the happiest days of Will's Life.

Will went on to tell Sonny that he couldn't believe that he got to be with someone so thoughtful, so compassionate, so responsible and so forgiving as Sonny was. Will was amazed and grateful that Gabi had finally seen what Will saw in Sonny and that her last act was to give Sonny legal responsibility of her daughter.

Will told Sonny that he was so immensely proud to have witnessed and experienced Sonny's unconditional love for his daughter; because it was the right thing to do; because Little Ari was Will's, and Will knew without a shadow of any doubt whatsoever that Sonny loved Will; and that Sonny loved Arianna Grace.

Will told Sonny that several people they had met today were sure that Sonny and Will were meant to be together; that their love would be enough. That they could succeed because they had each other; total strangers had noticed that. So that must be a sign.

Will breathed in another deep breath and smiled a glorious smile, his eyes twinkling with the anticipation of what he was about to say next.

"I don't know if I will ever deserve you, or be good enough for you, Sonny. But I do know that I love you with all my heart and soul. I know that my daughter deserves to have you as a father; and I will try my hardest to deserve to have someone as good as you to share my life forever.

I know that we are both young. But I also know that I will never find anyone like you ever, anywhere. And since we have both made a commitment to Arianna Grace to be her fathers, I think it only fitting that her fathers make a commitment to each other. Don't you Sonny?"

Will then went to one knee and looked up to Sonny to catch his gaze again; he smiled and said: "Jackson Kiriakis, will you marry me?"

A/N : To be continued...obviously :-)