"That wasn't so bad." Paul said as they walked back to the car. Sonny was being exceptionally quiet for most of the time they were at the pub. Arianna was fighting sleep. It hadn't been the easiest meal they had in public… especially since there had been an older couple that had been shooting them indignant looks the whole time they had been there, and then a younger woman who had been quite vocal about her opinion. It of course was not enough to change his mind about Will and Sonny, he just hoped it wasn't enough to change theirs either.

When they were finally in the car and on their way, Sonny began to open up again. "It wasn't that great either." He said simply. He was angry and hurt. He just wanted to scream and rage at people to mind their own business. But mostly he just wanted to not care what they thought. He had known it was going to be a challenge and that people were not going to understand. But he could not believe how open people were in their hostility.

"Sonny." Will said quietly. "It doesn't matter., their opinions, their stares… nothing."

Sonny sighed.. "Don't you think that I know that Will… I don't even care what people think about us. What is getting to me is how people are going to treat our daughter…How they are already treating her. Didn't you hear that woman… 'That poor child.' …" he mimicked her.

"Yes." Will agreed, "I heard her. But do you think for one second that Arianna is 'that poor child' that she was imagining?" he asked.

Sonny remained quiet for a couple of minutes mulling over the question, before he finally shook his head no.. "No." he said quietly.

"And why isn't she?" Will pressed him further.

"Because she has all three of us that love and adore her." Sonny answered immediately.

"EXACTLY!" Will said. "They just don't understand, and who really cares if they ever do."

"I'm sorry." Paul spoke up from the back seat. "If I hadn't held both of your hands across the table, then no one would have thought a second thought about it. We could have just been three friends out enjoying a meal together."

Will shook his head. "Nooo…" he said adamantly. "No apologies for wanting to touch one of us or both of us.. we were holding hands, it wasn't like we going at it in the booth or something. If we start apologizing for wanting to show affection now, we are going to be apologizing for the rest of our lives."

Paul nodded at Will and sat back in his seat, relieved.

Sonny glanced over at Will, he had been feeling so guilty, especially in the beginning, but it had never really gone away. But he was starting to realize more and more that the guilt was misplaced and not necessary. Will wanted this as much as he did, maybe even more. Will was an all or nothing Man…. He was either in 100% or not at all, there was no in between with him. He was now realizing that he had been doing Will a dis-service by thinking that he was going along with this relationship to hold on to Sonny. And Will was right about Arianna too, she was an amazing little girl and she was so lucky to have so many people to love and care for her.

Will reached over and twined his fingers with Sonny's, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "We are going to make it through this.. ALL of us." He stressed, catching Paul's gaze in the rear view mirror. Paul gave him a half smile and nodded.

Once they had arrived back at the apartment, Will carried Arianna in and took her straight into her bedroom, he tugged her shoes off and tucked her underneath her covers. He knew she was not down for the night, but it had been a big day and Will figured she deserved a late nap. He stood over her for several long minutes, gazing down on her, wondering how he had gotten soo lucky, to have such a beautiful young daughter.

Soon he wondered back out into the living room where Sonny was sitting on the couch and Paul was no where to be seen. "Where's Paul?" he asked.

Sonny glanced up at him, then went back to examining his nails. "He mumbled something about needing to get something from the hotel anyway. He said he would just see us tomorrow." Sonny said.

"Was he upset?" Will asked.

Sonny looked up again. "I think so." He said, "I am pretty sure that he probably thinks I am having second thoughts. He didn't say anything, but I could tell something was wrong."

Will nodded. "I thought he may have something on his mind. You should go and talk to him."

"You should go." Sonny said. "He will listen to you."

Will shook his head. "No, I think it has to be you. Paul knows where I stand on this… he knew from that first time. He needs to hear from you, alone… without me."

"Are you sure?" Sonny asked warily

"Yes of course." Will said, "You go, I am just going to stay here and wait for Ari to wake up."

Sonny pushed himself up off of the couch. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He said as he walked out the door. Will watched him go until the door was closed firmly behind him, then he dropped onto the couch and leaned his head back. It was way too early for everything to be falling completely apart already.

Paul wandered along, meandering aimlessly through town, taking the scenic route to the hotel. Soo many thoughts were running through his mind. Was he doing the wrong thing, was he being selfish? Could he really jeopardize Arianna's family life? What if they couldn't make it work? He knew he would be devastated. The more time he spent with them.. the more he fell in love with them… all of them, even Arianna. He could see himself being there to watch her grow up into a beautiful young woman. But what would Arianna be put through if they had to split, would she be able to move past it? He loved Sonny, he always had, but Will held the other half of his heart. "Ugh…" he groaned aloud. He was so busy waging his own personal battle in his mind that he was paying virtually no attention to where he was going.

He was completely shocked when he bumped into Adrienne Kiriakis. "I's so glad we bumped into one another." She said. "I think it is time that we have a little talk."

"Uh sure." Paul said, knowing that it was a very bad idea, but he could see no way around it. He nodded to the small alcove in the park with a bench in it. At least it would offer a minimal amount of privacy. "Over here." He said, leading the way without turning around.

Once they were seated on the bench, Paul gave her a wary glance as he waited to see what she had to say.

"Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on between you and my son?" She asked pointedly.

"Not really." Paul answered honestly. "I don't see how it is any of your business."

"Jackson is my son." Adrienne said, glaring at him, as if she didn't like having to state the obvious.

Paul grinned at her, unabashed by her anger. "Your GROWN son, who has a mind of his own and is quite capable of running his own life." He reminded her.

"AND he is a married man." She spat at him, jumping up off of the bench and turning on him. "And I want you to leave him alone."

Paul opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again, when he realized that she had no idea that the three of them were all together. Apparently she thought that his goal was to break up Sonny's marriage. She raved on and on while he tried to think of a gentle way of breaking the news.

She had worked herself into a frenzy. "Sonny is finally happy, he has the life that he wants, and there is no room for you in his life or in this town."

"Mrs. Kiriakis… I am not here to ruin Sonny's relationship with his husband. I would never do that, I love your son."

She looked at him, and her expression softened. "Oh honey… if that is true, then you have to leave Salem… for good and let Sonny be happy." She said.

"That's the last thing he needs to do to make me happy." Sonny said stepping into the alcove and surprising them both.

Adrienne whirled around, "Honey, what are you doing here?" she asked. "You should be home with your husband."

Sonny ignored her and went straight to Paul. "We were worried about you." He said, he reached down and took both of Paul's hands in his. "We want you to come back to the apartment."

"I'm sorry, I just needed to get out and clear my head. And I also wanted to give the two of you some time to talk in private." Paul said. "I was going to come back in the morning."

Sonny nodded. "We may have things that we need to talk about." He acknowledged. "But we need to talk about them together… ALL three of us. Whatever is going on whatever happens, we are all affected by it."

Paul nodded, "I just don't want you or Will to feel like I am causing problems for you. I saw how upset you were when we left the pub, and I never want to give you any reason to feel upset like that. I will walk away before I bring any kind of pain or embarrassment to you or Will, or Arianna." He vowed.

Adrienne stood over to the side, listening intently to the conversation. Will's name kept coming up over and over and it was becoming clear to her that Will knew where Sonny was, but it wasn't adding up.

"Don't talk like that." Sonny said, "You could never cause her any embarrassment or pain. What could be better for our little girl, than to have three men in her life that love and adore her. She is going to grow up with three doting fathers."

Paul grinned at Sonny, "I do love that little girl." He admitted.

"And she loves you too." Sonny said, stepping closer to Paul. "Now will you please come home with me, where you belong."

Paul hesitated for a brief moment. "I need to go to the hotel and grab a few things. But I will meet you back at the apartment, if that's okay."

Sonny nodded. "Why don't you go ahead and check out of the hotel room and just bring your things to the apartment." He suggested. "Your apartment will be ready in a few days anyway."

Paul looked at Sonny wide-eyed. "Are you sure?" he asked "What is Will going to think about that idea?"

Sonny grinned widely, "He will think it is the best idea I have ever had. He is the one that sent me after you."

"Okay then." Paul said. "I will see you back at the apartment?"

"Yeah, I am going to go and let Will know that I found you." Sonny said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

Paul gave him a little wave and turned to leave. "Goodnight Mrs. Kiriakis." He said, when he noticed that she was still standing there.

Adrienne stepped in front of Sonny when he moved to leave. "I need to talk to you. NOW." She stressed.

Sonny rolled his eyes and resigned himself to her usual hysterics. "Make it quick." He said. "I have plans tonight."

"Oh Honey…. What are you doing?" She wailed, dropping onto the bench.

Sonny looked at her. "Being happy Mom… that's what I am doing." He said.

"But at what cost? This is never going to work out. It just isn't right, and you are all going to get hurt…. Especially Arianna." Adrienne said.

"Who says?" Sonny asked. "Who's to say that what we want for our lives is wrong… All three of us agree, this is what we want."

Adrienne opened her mouth to answer, but Sonny held a hand up. "Never mind don't answer that, because it is not going to make a difference. I don't care what anyone else thinks. I love them, BOTH of them." He said.

"And what happens when one of you gets tired of sharing?" Or even worse than that what happens if one of you falls in love with someone else. Are you going to just open your relationship to that person too?" She asked glaring at him.

"Why do you have to do that? You make it sound like something cheap and disgusting." Sonny said, his voice raising. "It's not like that, this is about the three of us taking an unusual situation and making it work for us."

"I'm just worried about you… you're my son and I love you, I don't want to see you get hurt." She said reaching out to him. She placed her hand on his arm, looking at him pleadingly.

Sonny reached her hand and held it between his own. He knew from experience that nothing that he could do or say would appease her or make her happy. "Then just be happy for me mom, and pray that this works out for me. I'm sorry but I have to get home." He said, releasing her hand. "I love you, Mom."

He turned and walked off without a backwards glance. Glancing at his watch, he thought he would have just enough time to get home and tell Will that he told Paul it was okay to move in with them until his apartment was ready. He felt like that news should come from him.

He got to the apartment just as Paul stepped out of a taxi and handed the driver a folded bill. He jogged over and grabbed Paul's two dufel bags from the trunk while he grabbed the suitcases. "Ready?" he asked.

Paul nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They walked into the apartment building together. When they made it into the apartment, Will was no where to be seen. Sonny walked into the nursery to find it empty. He wondered where Will and Arianna had disappeared to in such a short time.

Sonny walked back into the living room. "They aren't here." He said stating the obvious. "I have no idea where they could be."

"Maybe he left a note." Paul said, glancing around but not seeing one.

"It's pretty late for Will to be taking Ari out." Sonny said worriedly. "Usually we don't take Arianna out this late, it's really close to her bed time."

"Yeah, but she did have a late nap." Paul reminded him. He sat own and patted the cushion beside him. "You may as well come sit down with me, you aren't going to grow any taller… and you may just wear a hole in the carpet pacing if you don't stop." He said.

Sonny sighed but went over and sat down beside Paul on the couch, his knee was leaned casually against Paul's leg. Without Will there it felt a little awkward, and the silence stretched out between them.

Paul didn't want to admit it, but it felt strange to be alone with Sonny. And it didn't make sense because now that the three of them were in a relationship together, there would be no way that all three of them would be together every second. He knew that there was going to be times that Sonny and Will would be together without him, just like he knew that he would be alone with Sonny at times and Will at other times. He guessed it would take some time for them all to get used to how things were going to be. For now he would just settle for breaking the tension that had settled in the room.

"So I should say Thank You for standing up to your mom for me tonight." Paul said. "it was amazing to see you so confident about what you want."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sonny asked. "I know I have been on the fence, more than you and Will, but it is only because I felt like Will was going along with this to make me happy and I want more for him than that. I would never let him make such a huge sacrifice for me." Paul thought about that for a minute. "That's understandable. But Will has a lot of pride, and even taking into consideration how much he loves you, I don't think that Will would go along with anything like what we have to keep you or me… Trust me when I tell you that Will loves you, and he loves me. And he WANTS this… he wants to be with you and he wants to be with me. This is not a sacrifice for him.

Sonny closed his eyes relishing the words. "I know that in my heart." He said. "I just wish I could explain it to my brain… it keeps telling me that I am expecting too much and taking advantage of the situation."

"Don't over think it…. Just trust in Will, and his love for us. He would tell you if he felt taken advantage of."

"You should listen to him Sonny… he's pretty smart" Will said from the door way.

Sonny's eyes flew to meet Will's. "How long have you been standing there?" He asked.

Will shrugged, "Long enough." He answered, walking into the room and closing and locking the door behind him. He eyed the suitcases sitting over by the bedroom, and looked at Sonny raising an eyebrow.

Sonny smiled sheepishly. "I kinda told Paul he could stay with us till his apartment is ready." He said.

Paul stood. "I'm sorry, I can go back to the hotel if you…"

"I think you staying here is a fabulous idea." Will said, walking over close enough to pull him into a kiss. "You are always welcome here." He said when they broke apart. Will reached out to Sonny, pulling him up off the couch.

"Sorry I wasn't here when you both got home, but I got a call from Grandma Marlena who asked to have a slumber party with Arianna tonight." He said.

"Oh…" Sonny said, "So we have the place to ourselves tonight?" he asked.

Will nodded, "It appears so." He said as he grabbed each of them by the hand and led them toward the bedroom.