*Family Court Judge, Tracy Quartermaine married sane psychiatrist Dr. Ryan Grabler in 1985. They had two children Dylan Albert (in September 1986) and Shannon Lila (in May 1991). Unlike their older brother they have hyphenated names.*

*In this version of canon Alexis never had cancer in 2006 although she and Sonny still connected some in friendship as he was dealing with his bipolar and Alexis was recovering from the Sic affair.*

*Alexis met Trevor once during her marriage to Ric. He subsequently came to Port Charles in early 2007 to blast Alexis for not bringing Kristina and Molly to Ric's funeral. Alexis slammed the door in his face and wouldn't let him see Molly.*

Chapter 12: She doesn't want to sleep with her boss. He isn't into incest.

Alexis was proud of her external feigned calm demeanor. Especially since inside she was a mess of nerves and feelings. Did Sonny really think she had feelings for Scott? That was so ridiculous…he was her boss for heaven's sake.

Of course, as Alexis struggled to take another deep breath, she figured that probably supported Sonny's theory. After all, Kristina had been conceived while Sonny had been her boss. Molly had been conceived while Ric had been. But Sonny had been her friend and well, Ric, that was just a mistake Alexis couldn't begin to explain or defend. Thinking about it just made her head hurt more and made it even harder to breathe. She was still trying to forget about Ric when the orderly came to take her away for the Chest CT.

XXXXXXXX

"I swear it's a word, Granny," Brooke Lynn Ashton said after laying tiles down on the scrabble board.

"Can you use it in a sentence?" Tracy Quartermaine-Grabler asked her granddaughter.

Brooke Lynn shrugged her shoulders. "Well, no, but, really, I swear it is a word."

"It is a word, and after we're done playing you're going to look it up in the dictionary. That is what I used to make your father do."

"You played scrabble with my dad?"

"Yes, it is one of the things I don't regret about his childhood."

"You have regrets about dad's childhood."

"Yes, I think all parents have some regrets when they look back. But I suppose I have more regrets about your father's childhood than Dylan or Shannon's. It can be very hard to be a single parent. It can also be very hard to grow up without your father which is why I think your mother did a very brave thing last spring when she brought you back. I'm sure that wasn't easy for her."

Brooke Lynn shrugged her shoulders again. She seemed to consider that but didn't say anything as the doorbell peeled in the background. "You should just put a sign on the door; Shannon is at the football game, her flowers can be delivered there," she suggested.

"You know I'm sure Dylan would have taken you with him if you had wanted to go," Tracy said as she got up from the couch.

"I didn't really want to go. Football is kind of silly, at least soccer takes a little skill. Dad played lacrosse I might do that in the spring. Dylan showed me how to catch and strike," Brooke said as she followed her to the front door.

When Tracy opened the door, she didn't find another florist delivery man but the person she had been speaking of just moments earlier, her former daughter in law. "Hello, Lois, this is a pleasant surprise."

Lois's expression seemed to reveal she didn't exactly agree but she didn't say anything as Kristina pushed past her and ran into the house.

"Grandma!" Kristina cried happily as she dove into Tracy's arms.

Tracy met Lois's eyes above Kristina's head. "Why don't you come in? Your daughter is beating me at Scrabble."

"Mommy doesn't let us play Scrabble because Molly likes to eat the letters," Kristina said.

"Well, maybe Brooke would be kind enough to put the Scrabble board out of almost two-year-old reach then."

Brooke turned to go back into the living room without comment or, Tracy noted, actually addressing her mother. For years when people had asked, she told them she had three granddaughters. Occasionally she even showed them pictures of Brooke that Brenda had smuggled her. But if she thought too much about her response it was just painful. For years she had, had three granddaughters but there was one she would never hold, one she was afraid she would never hold again, and one that many people would claim wasn't really hers.

She hadn't dug her heels in to remain in Kristina's life because she hoped it would give her leverage with Sonny to convince Lois to let them see Brooke. She had done it because Kristina seemed like a little girl swirling in a storm unsure who to cling to. She had no doubt that Alexis loved her daughter but Ned had truly been the one who raised her. Ned had been a wonderful father, just like he had been with Brooke Lynn. Then, just like with Lois, he had been willing to accept that he no longer had any place in his daughter's life when Alexis told him as much. Tracy hadn't been able to accept that, and while she had almost accepted that perhaps it was too late to change anything for Brooke Lynn she had been unable to let another little girl grow up unaware of how loved she had been and always would be. The fact that Kristina hadn't actually inherited any of the Quartermaine DNA had been largely immaterial.

Remaining Kristina's Grandma hadn't always been easy, but fortunately Alexis had realized how much Kristina needed them so legal action hadn't been necessary. Interestingly when she had mentioned to Ned that she would pursue that if it came to that he hadn't said anything. When she had suggested the same thing with Brooke Lynn years earlier, he had sworn he would never speak to her again if she ever tried it. That had been more than a little bit of a deterrent. Yet, often Tracy had wondered if she had failed her son more by not going against his wishes than anything else. Once Lois had brought Brooke home the prior spring she had tried to let go of those thoughts and focus on getting reacquainted with her twelve-year-old granddaughter.

"Will you make us hot cocoa?" Mommy can't make it because she can't boil water and daddy is always complaining it has too much sugar," Kristina asked.

"Molly is too young to have chocolate," Lois said pointedly as she picked Molly up from the floor.

"But I wanted hot cocoa," Kristina whined.

"How about hot apple cider with snicker doodles instead?" Tracy suggested.

"What are snicker doodles?" Kristina asked.

"Brookie's favorite cookie, besides Oreos. Except no one makes them the way Mrs. Verdillo did," Lois said.

Kristina's lower lip protruded into the classic Cassadine pout. "Why didn't you make my favorite cookie?" she asked as Brooke came back into the room.

"Brooke, you should show your mother your English paper. Her teacher wants her to submit it to this writing contest. You really should read it, Lois, I'm sure you'll be very impressed and proud of her. Kristina and Molly can help me get the hot cider ready while you're doing that," Tracy said as she reached for Molly.

"Your paper is here?" Lois asked but she did pass Molly to her.

"We just got them back today and Granny picked me up after cross country practice because dad had to go to Pine Valley for the day. Something about the pharmaceuticals plant ELQ has there. He should be back late tonight and we're going to go pick apples tomorrow because I don't have a cross country meet," Brooke said.

"Well, that's nice," Lois said but she didn't look like she really thought that.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the PCGH Emergency Department, Sonny looked up as the orderly wheeled Alexis's gurney back into the room. "Baldwin had to go, some kind of family emergency. So, umm, I can stay, you know, if you want."

"Kristina needs her inhaler. You know if she doesn't do that before bed, she might have an asthma attack in the night and die," Alexis said.

Sonny didn't really think the situation was as grim as Alexis made it out to be. But maybe he would be more terrified for Kristina's life if he had watched her fight for it when she had been first born. He hadn't realized she was his then so he hadn't. He supposed he had that in common with Baldwin. He hadn't been planning on letting Kristina go without her inhaler though. "Well, Bruno is already on his way to pick up the inhaler so you don't have to worry about that."

Alexis did look worried though. "What if Lois doesn't know how to do it right and Kristina doesn't get the medicine all the way into her lungs."

"Brooke had one of those in first grade I think Lois can handle it," Sonny said.

"Brooke has asthma?"

"They thought she did but then once they got rid of all the mold in her school she did a lot better so maybe it wasn't really that."

"Why would her mother send her to a school with mold?"

"Let's get one thing straight, Lois is a good mother and if she had known that there was mold in the school obviously, she wouldn't have sent her there. It's not like it was obvious there were spores in the vents or something."

"Fine, but if you marry Lois, she will not be raising my daughters."

She thought he was interested in Lois? What? Sonny shuddered a little at that thought. It was practically incest. It would be like her and Stefan. Well, he had heard rumors about that but he had never believed them. "Lois is like a sister to me. I'm not planning on dating or marrying her ever. Kristina and Molly are our daughters and I will never keep their mother from their lives," he finally said.

He wouldn't. He had, had his chance to take full custody of Kristina and it had been tempting, she had been almost four then and she barely knew him. There was only so much that could happen with a few dinners at his house a week. Plus, there was the whole Ric issue, he didn't want Ric anywhere near his daughter. But when it came down to it, he hadn't been able to take Kristina from her mother. He knew he would never be able to. What he wasn't quite brave enough to spell out to Alexis was that it wasn't just Lois he didn't want to marry. There really wasn't anyone he wanted to marry except for her.

"If something happens to me, I want you to take Molly too. The girls should be together. I asked Lauren to draw up papers for me to sign. I'll have her messenger you a copy. I'm sure Trevor will challenge it. But he won't get to Molly, even over my dead body. I'm trusting you to protect her."

Sonny's heart lurched. That hadn't been the response he had been expecting. "You know I would do anything for our daughters," he said. He would and the fact that she was finally acknowledging that to him gave him hope. "I would do anything for their mother too," he said as he laid his hand over hers.

Alexis didn't say anything but she didn't pull her hand away. She gave him half of a smile but still didn't speak.

Sonny realized she had said she asked Lauren to draw up papers. He doubted she had called her from the ER so it was probably something she had done earlier in the week. He recalled how upset she had been the day before and realized she must have known she was sick before passing out at work. "You asked Lauren to draw up papers for you?"

"Yes, was that not ok? I realize you have her on retainer and speed dial for your custody crises but she does still have a private practice and other clients," Alexis retorted.

"It's fine. I was just surprised."

"Well, it wasn't like I was going to ask Jordan Baines."

No Sonny didn't think she would do that. Jordan had represented him in his first two custody battles with Carly. During the first one Alexis had represented Carly and before the second one Jordan had helped him file against Alexis for custody of Kristina. Jordan had planned to represent him in his third custody battle with Carly but he had hired Lauren Saylor instead. "It's really fine, Lex, and I'm honored but I'm also not going to let you give up here."

"I'm just being realistic. You know if I don't take care of all of the legalese Trevor will be after Molly. I'm not sure that wouldn't be worse than Ric raising her by himself and you know we would have never let that happen."

She was right. Just as he hadn't been able to take Kristina from her mother, he would have never let Ric take Molly from her mother. It hadn't come to that because Ric was arrested a few months after their September 2006 divorce and then fled to Canada to avoid prosecution. In theory he had died there, although Sonny had more than a few doubts about that. He liked that she had used the word we, that she could acknowledge that at least sometimes they made a pretty good team. If she could just keep remembering that maybe there really was hope.

"Sometimes we don't make such a bad team. We made Kristina. Tell me what is really going on, let me help you, Lex," Sonny said as another African American nurse appeared in the doorway. Unlike the woman who had been in the room before she looked familiar. She also did not look happy. Actually, he believed the word Alexis would probably use would be irate. But then he and Epiphany went way back and he wasn't sure he had ever seen her happy. Eventually she would grasp that her son, Stan, was an adult and if he chose to become an IT specialist for Corinthos-Morgan rather than the doctor or lawyer she had envisioned as the ideal career path for him, well, that was life and shooting daggers in his boss's direction every time they crossed paths really wasn't going to change much. Or he told himself that, he wasn't sure if he actually believed it.

"Now, Mr. Corinthos, I may have to take a triage shift in the ER in a pinch but I don't have let those felons you have in your employ wreak havoc on my waiting area while I do that. I'm giving you five minutes to handle this and then I'm not calling hospital security I'm calling the PCPD myself!" Epiphany ranted.

Yeah so Bruno isn't much better with timing than he is with car seats or playpens, Sonny decided as Epiphany stalked off. There was a reason Bruno hadn't been fired, although he couldn't recall exactly what that reason had been. He made a mental note to check with Jason about that on Monday. "That's probably just Bruno coming to get Kristina's inhaler and Epiphany overreacting. Don't go anywhere I'll be right back," Sonny said. He stood, gently brushed his lips across her forehead, and then slipped from the room.

XXXXXXXX

After Sonny left the room, Alexis wondered if she really could do that. She had planned to make it seem like she was just randomly putting her affairs in order. Explaining it all to Sonny was more than she could face, at least in the moment, and maybe ever. She was still contemplating all of that when Dr. Scanlon stepped back into the room.

"So, the good news is that the Chest CT is negative, so no blood clots in your lungs," Dr. Scanlon said.

"So, does that mean I can go?"

"Although the head CT was normal, I think clinically you definitely sustained a concussion with your fall so an observation admission overnight would be the prudent thing to do. I think Dr. Quartermaine would be willing to take care of that when she gets done in the cath lab."

"I've had concussions before, they haven't required admission," Alexis protested.

"Is there someone you could stay with then? You really need someone to wake you up during the night," Dr. Scanlon said.

"She can stay with me," Sonny volunteered as he came back into the room.

Alexis struggled to take a breath as she tried to decide whether spending the night in the hospital or with Sonny was the worse option.

"Well, if you're willing to do that I'll get your discharge paperwork together with some good head injury instructions. Central scheduling will make you appointments for follow-up with Dr. Thornhart for the pulmonary function testing and with Dr. Quartermaine. You should make your own appointment with your internist to follow-up the other issues we discussed earlier," Dr. Scanlon said.

"What did he mean about what you discussed earlier?" Sonny asked.

"I can't discuss this here," Alexis said. She couldn't. However, she wasn't sure if she could discuss it anywhere.

*In case anyone is curious about Scott's family crisis:

His nephew's wife is having an emergency cesarean about ten weeks before her due date. His interventional cardiologist sister, Monica, is stuck in the cath lab with her misogynistic patient from Chapter 9. His trauma surgeon brother in law, Alan, is in an OR somewhere dealing with one of the victims of the multiple vehicle collision on the highway mentioned in Chapter 11, and his niece, Emily, is on call in the NICU, so, someone has to go support AJ through this (especially since Edward is already en route to the hospital thinking he will do that). None of that will appear in this story except possibly to be mentioned in passing conversation, but just in case anyone was curious.*

*The presumption has always been that Sonny is a good father and that should excuse his other faults(and to be fair in the context of GH, in spite of him rarely sharing scenes with his kids, he may be one of the most involved parents). However, even when I watched GH, I don't recall really seeing much evidence of that actually play out on screen so I'm not sure if my take on Sonny's approach to fatherhood is accurate or not but it works for this piece so I'm going with it. Much of his parenting style is probably modeled after Carmine Cerullo (who was probably the closest thing Sonny had to a father growing up). I have probably made Sonny's relationship to the Cerullo's a little closer than canon I don't think he actually officially moved in with them in the history Lois originally recounted to Brenda but he stayed with them a lot when he couldn't handle things at home so maybe it was almost the same thing I just formalized the relationship some. This works better for strengthening Sonny's bond to Lois and makes some of his approach to Ned and Lois's divorce explained as just being a protective older brother which I think perhaps makes it easier to pull off civility between Ned and Sonny in the future if Ned and Lois are doing better. I think it also supports Sonny's motivation to raise Michael and to be Molly's father as understanding that they need him the way he needed Carmine Cerullo.*