Carly was enjoying a loud, laughter filled dinner with Jason, Spinelli, Michael, and Morgan; "her boys" she now called all of them; when they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
She got up to reveal Jax on the other side. Her smiled fell instantly, "Jax! What are you doing here?
"I hear I'm going to be a father"
Carly turned towards the audience she had watching her intently and asked, "Spinelli, can you please take the boys upstairs? You can finish your dinners in your room"
Spinelli nodded and the boys followed their mother's gentle orders as they trudged up the stairs. Jason stayed in the room and moved to stand next to Carly.
As soon as she knew the boys were out of ear shot she turned her attention back to Jax, "Yes I am pregnant and you might be the father, but we won't know for sure until a DNA test can be performed"
Jax nodded in understanding and then addressed the problem that ate at him the whole drive to the penthouse, "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"Yes of course I was going to tell you. I planned on calling you this week to tell you. I just found out yesterday. By the way, how did you find out?"
"Kate told me when she told me about her own pregnancy."
"I see" Carly remarked, irritated once again by the great Kate Howard.
"I'm staying in Port Charles now. If one of the babies, or even both of the babies, turn out to be mine then I want to make sure I don't miss any event"
Carly nodded, "Understandable, but you won't be kicking Jason out either. He may be the father too and deserves to be there just as much as you do"
"Fine, I'm sure we can reach some sort of mutual ground for everyone… for the baby's sake."
Finally decided to add his own grown rules since Jax was, "And for Carly's sake. She's carrying the baby, she's high risk, and she doesn't need any stress… from anyone!"
Jax went to say something, but Jason cut him off, "And I won't let you treat her as an incubator for your child. She is the child's mother and until we know who the father is, she makes all decisions regarding the baby"
"Well isn't that so convenient? Especially since Carly is living with you and will do anything you say… I mean you're her saint Jason" Jax snarled.
"I mean it Jax! I won't put up with you badgering her. Carly will call you with updates, appointments, and anything else she feels you need to know."
"Fine I'll agree but I want all updates and appointments"
Carly nodded, "I promise Jax. I don't want to kick you out of your child's life, nor will I try. You do have the right to be as much apart of this pregnancy as Jason or I do. Okay?"
Calmed by her promise Jax turned to leave, but he stopped once he was on the other side of the door and turned back around, "By the way, I'm glad you are pregnant. I know how much you wanted another baby, even if it isn't under the circumstances you expected"
Carly smiled as she placed her hand over her stomach, "Thank you Jax"
"Enjoy the rest of your evening. I look forward to hearing from you"
And with that he was gone. Carly let out a huge breath as soon as the door closed, "That went better than I expected"
Jason pulled her into his arms, "Don't worry Carly, I'm going to keep this pregnancy as stress free as I can"
Carly smiled as she fell more in love with him, "Always my protector"
"Forever" he finished
Carly pulled back and looked at him playfully, "So, a stress free pregnancy huh?"
Jason smiled, "I know how much you want this baby and I'm going make sure he or she is safely delivered to you"
"That's a pretty big goal" she goaded.
"I'm very ambitious"
He smiled seductively as he pulled her face up to his for a passionate kiss.
"Ahem"
The two broke apart to see Spinelli standing on the staircase, "The Jackal heard the Australian Tycoon leave, and came down to ask if what my ears heard was true or not"
Carly laughed at Spinelli's weird language that she was still trying to understand, "And what did your ears hear?"
"That the Valkyrie is with child"
Carly gasped in shock "Oh my God! We forgot to tell Spinelli! Yes I am pregnant"
Spinelli smiled, "That is most wonderful to hear. I am assuming the Australian Tycoon is the expectant father?"
"He is one of two options. Its either Jax or Stone Cold here" she laughed, poking Jason in the side.
Jason chuckled slightly at Carly using the Spinelli's nickname for him, "Why don't you go get the boys and tell them we can watch a movie tonight"
Spinelli did a slight salute as he went to retrieve the M brothers as he referred to them. Carly turned to face Jason and smiled, "I love living here"
Jason smiled and pulled her close again, "I love having you live here… but we might need to invest in a bigger place soon" he said lovingly rubbing her stomach, "We're already overflowing this place"
Carly smiled as she understood his meaning, "Jase… are you implying that you want us to get a place together… for both of us to live in and raise our children in?"
Jason kissed her softly, "Yeah you could say something like that?"
Carly's face broke into a huge smile that reached her eyes as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around him, "Oh Jase! I love you!"
Jason laughed, "I love you too"
"So does this mean we are officially together?"
"When haven't we been together?" he joked.
Carly laughed, "You're right. Well now that we got that out of the way, I'm going to go get Alvin and the Chipmunks out of the movie case"
Jason nodded and watched as the boys ran down the stairs and jumped on to the couch with Spinelli following suit. Carly then started the movie and cuddled with Jason on the love seat as the family watched the movie.
Carly could honestly say it was the happiest moment of her life. She had two great little boys, a genius teenager that she was growing to love as a son, she was back together with the love of her life, and she was expecting his child, hopefully.
The only thing that would make this moment better was if she was holding Jason's daughter in her arms and not in her stomach.
Kate sat on her patio watching the lake as she massaged her stomach thinking about her situation when she heard the door behind her open. She turned to see Sonny standing there.
"Sonny I'm so glad you're here. We need to talk"
Sonny stopped her, "No. I'm going to talk and you're going to listen"
Kate sat back as she waited.
"You slept with Jax. The night I proposed to you. You then came crawling back to me and begged me to forgive you and continue dating. Now you may be pregnant with my child… or Jax's"
Kate nodded, "Yes"
"I can't forgive you for sleeping with Jax. But I will play nice until we find out if that baby is mine or not. If it is mine, then we will remain civil for the baby. If it's not then I don't ever want to see you again… do you understand?"
Kate nodded with tears in her eyes, "Yes… I understand… Sonny… I am so sorry…. I didn't mean to hurt you"
"I can't keep playing this game with you Kate. As long as the baby is mine I will continue to protect you and play nice with you. But I don't want a relationship with you. You've hurt me enough for one life time and I refuse to put myself in a position for you to hurt me again… its bad enough I'm going to get attached to a child that may not even by mine. But I won't be getting attached to you. From now on if you need to talk to me it better be about the baby. I don't want any apologies. I don't want any excuses. I don't want any begging. From this point on we are just parents and nothing else"
Now crying uncontrollably, Kate nodded, "O… okay… S… so…. Sonny"
"Good night Kate" and with that he left.
Kate turned back to the lake and slid the ground sobbing because she had just lost the love of her life for the second time, and this time she wasn't getting him back.
This is how Jax found her. He slowly leaned down and pulled her into his arms, holding her as she continued to cry. As her sobs subsided Jax asked her, "What happened? Is it the baby?"
Kate shook her head, "No. Sonny was here. He told me he didn't want anything to do with me unless it pertained to the baby. And if the baby turns out not to be his then he never wants to see me again"
Jax continued to stroke her hair, "I'm not going to say I'm surprised or sad to hear this. Sonny is a very unforgiving man, you're lucky you're pregnant or he could have been worse. I'm also not sorry to hear it because it means you are out of harms way by not being associated with him any longer."
"Not associated with him? I may be carrying his child! I'm always going to be associated with him."
"Well then maybe it would be better if the child was mine"
"I know what you're saying Jax, but I need this baby to be Sonny's. If I can't be with him, at least I can have a part of him and be in his life that way."
Jax shook his head; he would never understand this power Sonny had over women; this control that made them desperate and needy for him. He got up slowly, "Let me put you in bed"
Kate nodded, "Okay"
Jax carried Kate upstairs and gently placed her in her bed, "Try to get some sleep. You need to focus on your baby now"
Kate nodded, "I know, I know… from now on this baby is my number one priority"
"I'm glad to hear that" Jax turned to leave when Kate stopped him.
"Don't get me wrong Jax. If this baby is yours I'm not going to resent you or love it any less. I just really love Sonny and don't want to lose him."
Jax nodded and left without saying a word.
Claudia walked into her room with Johnny right beside her holding onto her arm like she was going to fall at any moment, "John, I'm not going to die. I'm just a little sore, all I need to do is go to bed and get some rest"
Johnny nodded, "Sorry, I want to help you, I just don't know how in this kind of situation"
Claudia smiled at her much younger brother, "There's nothing you can do. Just let me rest. I'll probably stay in bed tomorrow too, so if any thing business has to be done please come in and talk to me first. Don't try to handle it yourself"
Johnny nodded, "Will do. I'm just down the hall. Call if you need anything. I'll be in to check on you in the morning"
Claudia smiled and nodded, "Thank you for coming with me today. I really need the support. I'll see you in the morning. Good night"
"Anytime sis. Good night" Johnny kissed her forehead and then left his older sisters room.
He may not have agreed with her decision but she was older than him and she did what was best for her. He understood why she didn't want to have the baby, because he'd be contemplating the same decision if he were to ever get someone pregnant, but he still wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill his own child. He felt it would make him too much like his father. But again Claudia did what was best for Claudia and he could never hate his sister for that.
