Hi all. Sorry if this story is dragging. It seems as though a day lasts four chapters in this story. Anyhow. I hope you enjoy it. Replies are greatly appreciated.
The Break- Chapter 12
The clock flashed 6:00 a.m.; it symbolized a night of interrupted sleep. It was the first since Alexis awakened to her new family. Racking her brain, she tried to figure out why. Although the gaps in her memory had been present since she first regained her awareness, walking into the midst of the secret conference between her daughters made her feel for the first time that she was deliberately being kept in the dark about something. And that something was Sonny Corinthos. For instance, most kids wanted their parents to get back together; yet, Kristina was terrified that she would fall for her father. What she couldn't understand was why the girl was so worried about her own mother having a possible romantic entanglement with the father she herself so obviously adored?
In her head, she heard the voice of her cousin, Stefan. The cousin she'd only recently learned was her brother. "A cat always knows whose meat it eats, Kroshka." She thought it odd that her brother's words echoed in her head now. But as she pondered the meaning of his words further, she realized that for all of the time she and Sonny spent together in Puerto Rico, they'd only talked about her. She still knew very little about him.
Taking a deep breath, she headed to Sonny's bedroom. Although it was early, Sonny typically rose before she did; so, there was a good chance he would be awake. She was halfway to his room before she realized she was only dressed in the short nightshirt she'd worn to bed the night before. She hesitated for a minute and considered heading back to her room to grab a robe when it occurred to her that Sonny saw a great deal more of her every morning on the beach.
"Sonny," she called out softly as she entered his room. With a glance at the bed, she noticed he was still sleeping. Something about the way his typically-tame curls fell free made her smile. He was even handsome when he slept.
After entering the room, she felt a chill. She noticed Sonny had fallen asleep with the window open and the cool, early morning breeze crept in. She couldn't blame him for it, though; the sound of the waves crashing against the surf was soothing. It was one of the very few things she ever missed about living in Greece. Sonny showed no signs of waking soon. So, she decided to pull his blankets up to keep him from catching cold, and to keep herself from continuing to stare at his very muscular and very bare chest.
But then, something unexpected happened. As she moved the blanket, Sonny awoke and gently brought his hands to her wrists. Alexis froze, not because he scared or hurt her, but because for a second she was transported to a different place. She was in a living room. Sonny was sleeping on her sofa. When she moved to pull the blanket up he grabbed her wrists. He hadn't hurt her, but it was clear that she'd startled him. Then he recognized her and let go.
"Alexis, Alexis," Sonny's voice broke through her haze. She blinked a couple of times before she took a step back. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"
Alexis nodded. She wasn't certain whether she was more jarred by Sonny's use of the word Sweetheart or by what must have been a memory. "I think I just remembered something."
"Sit down." Immediately, he rose from the bed and helped her to the nearby chaise-lounge. "I need to call your doctor."
"Would you stop it with calling the doctor already?" She snapped at him. A wave of guilt washed over her nearly immediately. Before she spoke, she consciously softened her tone. "What I'm trying to say is that we should probably make sure I really had a memory first. Besides you promised me that you would give me time before we got the doctors involved…I want to give my daughters a crisis-free Christmas."
After a deep sigh, he kneeled in front of her. "Okay. You want to tell me about it?"
She pushed out a breath of air. "Did you ever sleep on my sofa?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Why depends. What you were wearing?" As he must have realized how he sounded, he flashed her a killer set of dimples.
"What do you mean what was I wearing? How many times did you sleep on my sofa?"
"Lots." He smiled at her again. "So, do you remember what you were wearing or not?"
"Yes," she found herself blushing. "I had on a light blue peignoir. And you had on a white shirt." That you kept open, she thought to herself. She was still suspicious about his inquiry into her attire. "Sonny, if you spent the night on my sofa that many times, you can't possibly remember each time by what I was wearing."
He chuckled. "I remember the blue gown. That time, you had some trouble with your family. I spent the night to make sure you were safe. I remember the first night after you woke up here, too. You wore this little red satin number with lace around…"
She blushed. "I remember what happened this week and what I was wearing. Thank you very much." From the smile on his face, part of their relationship included his enjoyment of teasing her. It must have also included his use of diversion because once again, he'd changed the subject from their past to the present. "Why do you change the subject every time we start to talk about the past?"
He stood and shrugged his shoulders in the process. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. Just because I can't remember the last 20 years doesn't mean that I've lost my common sense."
"I never said you…"
She stood now. "You know Kristina thinks you want to get me into bed before I get my memory back."
Sonny didn't answer. Instead, he gave her an intense gaze that started at her feet, lingered too long at her legs and finished at her mouth. Then he moved his head from side to side as he pretended to weigh whether getting her into bed was a good idea. She felt the blush rise to her cheeks, which must have resulted in a blush because Sonny began to laugh.
She couldn't help smiling herself even though he was incorrigible. "Sonny, I'm being serious. I feel like there is something you…and the girls are keeping from me. And a large part of me thinks it is about more than your rather active love live…as Kristina implied." She became more serious. "I want to know what it is and why."
Sonny moved backward until he sat on the bed. "'Lexis, here's the thing: You left us because there were things in your life that you couldn't handle. I don't want to do or say anything to cause you to leave us again."
"You mean leave the girls, again."
"No, I meant us." He smiled. "You gotta understand something. You are one of my best friends and I hated being without you the last eight months. I don't want to talk about anything that might make you go back to that place"
"Oh." She didn't know whether to be insulted or flattered by the simplicity of his answer.
"And…"
"There's an and?"
"Yeah," he nodded then returned to his feet once more. He extended a hand and helped her onto her feet as well. "Kristina might be right."
"About you getting me into bed?" Alexis's cheeks felt like fire.
"No, not that…Well, not exactly that." Again, he gave her the dimples. "I'd be lying to you if I didn't admit that it's nice to be close to you without you remembering all of the ways we hurt each other. Not to mention there are things about me that I wish you never had to find out…but you will. I just want you to experience all of the good between us before you remember the other stuff."
"Weren't we getting along before I went on my little "mental vacation"? She used her fingers to demonstrate quotes when she said mental vacation. That was really what it felt like because aside from her wretched childhood in Greece, the rest of her life that she could remember was pretty pleasant. And from what Sonny and the girls both said and didn't say, the life from which she escaped was pretty bleak.
"Yeah…we got along the way we get along, but-"
"But what?"
He took her hands. "When you get your memory back, I want more. I want you to be with me."
She swallowed hard. "When you say "be with" what do you mean? You're not proposing or anything, are you? Don't misunderstand me, I like spending time with you but this "being with me" thing that you're talking about is a bit much after two kisses don't you think?"
Sonny chuckled. "Breathe, Alexis." She took a deep breath, which admittedly made her feel better. She waited for him to continue and after a minute or so, he did. "I'm not saying that we need to be together tomorrow or anything. I just want you to keep an open mind to the possibility because when we get back to Port Charles, you are going to hear a lot of things that will make you question whether you and I being together is a good idea."
"What makes you so sure that it is?"
"Because no matter what happens, whenever it counts, we're always there for each other. And it wasn't until I almost lost you that I realized I didn't want to lose you again."
"You sound like you've given this a lot of thought," she said when she managed to find her voice. "Why are you telling me all of this now?"
"Because I want you to know that what I want from you is more than something casual. I know what Kristina said on the beach probably made you wonder about my intentions, so I wanted to make sure you were clear about what they were." He released one of her hands and touched her face.
Despite some of her misgivings she leaned into his touch. "Does this mean you plan on pursuing me?"
"Absolutely," he leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him with a finger to his lips.
She took a step back. "I don't think kissing you right now is a great idea considering that we are both half dressed." She took a step back. "Why don't I change the subject? I'm going shopping with the girls in a few hours and I still don't know what you want for Christmas."
"That's easy: you." He took a step closer to her.
"Sonny," she laughed. "I'm being serious."
"I am too. I have everything I want."
"Fine." She turned and walked toward the door without releasing his hand. "When you wind up with ugly neckties and Santa Claus socks, don't say I didn't warn you." They both laughed as they walked her together. She asked, "I'll see you later?"
"Do you have to ask?"
"Good." In a move that surprised even her, she gave him a tender kiss on the mouth before she turned and headed toward her girls.
In Molly's room, once again she found all of her daughters together. "What are the three of you plotting this time?"
"Your Christmas present." Molly said, matter-of-factly.
"And we're trying to figure out what to get Dad." Kristina added.
"I'm so excited about spending the day with my girls." Shopping was one of those things Alexis always wished she could have done with her own mother.
"Do you still feel up to it?" Sam asked, cautiously. She knew Samantha was still uncertain about her stamina.
"Yes. And while we're out, I need you three to help me find the perfect dress for my date tonight…with Sonny."
"You're going out with Dad? But he promised me he wasn't going to hit on you." Kristina stood up. It was obvious from the way her jaw tensed that she inherited her temper from her father.
"Just a minute, young lady. You and I talked about you not making decisions for me. Besides, your father doesn't even know about the date, yet. I wanted to surprise him by doing something nice for him as a Christmas present."
"But Mom."
"Kristina, your father and I both love you and respect your opinions, but the truth is, I plan on seeing a lot more of your father, whether you like it or not."
"Well for the record, I hate it." With that Kristina walked out of the door and slammed it behind her. Sam hopped to her feet and went after Kristina.
Alexis flopped on the bed. "So much for the perfect Christmas."
Molly soon joined her. "It depends on who you ask."
