Chapter 14

A week had passed, and with each day, Kristina seemed to adjust a little more to living without her mother. She was still very sad, which was to be expected, and sometimes, Carly would pass her bedroom and hear her crying in the middle of the night. When she'd go in to check on her, she'd pretend to be asleep, so trying to help her wouldn't do anything just yet. They just had to let her get through it. Lainey Winters had said that Kristina is doing well in the family environment, and she told Carly and Sonny that they were doing a great job and to keep it up.

On this particular morning, the boys were off at school, Molly was sleeping upstairs, and Kristina was watching The Little Mermaid upstairs in her room.

Sonny was sitting at his desk, when Carly walked in, her hair straight again and let down, shimmering, as it fell down her shoulders and back. Sonny looked up from his papers, gaping at the sight of Carly in those tight jeans and a shirt that was short cut but not enough to show any skin. He couldn't stop staring, hoping to get a glimpse of her gorgeous stomach. When his eyes met hers, she smiled at him.

"Morning," he said with a dimpled smile. She leaned over the desk, kissing him softly.

"Good morning," she greeted him. "Sleep ok last night?"

"Worst night of sleep in a long time," he confessed. "I wish you'd been there with me."

"Me too," she admitted. "But Morgan's going through that nightmare phase of his." She paused. "What about you? Anymore bad dreams?" He shook his head.

"No. I haven't been this happy in a long time. I just wish I could hold you and fall asleep with you."

"I'm sure he'll grow out of it soon, Sonny." Sonny nodded, and he studied Carly's face for a moment. She couldn't read him, and that concerned her. "What is it?"

"I'm just wondering when you're going to tell Jax about us." Carly sighed.

"I told you, Sonny. I want to do this right, and I want to tell him to his face. I don't want to have to call Jane and try to get him to talk to me. He needs to know that it's over between us and that you and I are back together. Then we can tell the rest of the world. Doing things right was your idea, remember? After that, we can let everybody else know."

"I should've kept my mouth shut," he teased, standing up and kissing her across the oak desk. Carly giggled, as his hands rounded her shoulders and then went further south, but the desk got in the way, and Carly teased him by crawling up on top of it, her knees against the surface, as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm getting all of your work papers all crumpled," she laughed.

"Forget the papers. I'd rather have you on my desk." His lips caressed hers again, and she playfully nibbled at his bottom lip. His fingers ran through her hair, and the fact that just a week ago, they'd made love to one another and hadn't had the chance again, made their desire so much deeper. They'd had a taste of what they'd missed, and now they were constantly hungry for it.

Hearing movement from upstairs, Carly and Sonny both pulled away, and Carly made her way over to the couch, her cheeks flushed. She felt embarrassed that they had to sneak around. But she missed being with him. It felt as if they were starting from the beginning. Every spare moment was filled with thoughts of one another and being with each other in the wee hours of the morning.

Sonny crossed the room and sat beside her on the couch. His hand rested on her knee, and the look in his eyes reflected the one in hers. Carly looked toward the stairs, and hearing nothing now, she leaned in, pressing her lips against Sonny's. He moaned softly, and her hand softly caressed his thigh through the fabric of his pants.

Just as she was about to crawl into his lap to straddle him, little footsteps started coming down the stairs, and Carly backed off, but not soon enough, because a giggle came from the staircase. Carly and Sonny both got up quickly to see Kristina standing there in her Ariel pajamas with her Ariel doll.

"What're you guys doing?" she asked with a giggle.

"Ah, Kristina," Carly said, placing her hand over her mouth for a moment. Sonny chuckled and moved toward the staircase, lifting his daughter into his arms, hoping to not have to answer her question.

"Hi, Princess. You're still in your pajamas."

"I like these," Kristina said with a frown. "Mommy bought them for me." Sonny kissed her forehead.

"They look really pretty, baby girl." Kristina smiled and hugged her daddy. In her father's arms, Kristina turned toward Carly. "Carly?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Could you braid my hair for me? Like Mommy used to?" Carly and Sonny shared a glance, and Carly smiled.

"I can give it a try. Come sit by me." Carly sat back down on the couch and patted the cushion beside her. Sonny let his girl down and watched as she hurried over to Carly, clutching her doll firmly in her arms. She sat with her back to her, and Carly began to run her fingers through the child's long, dark hair. There was no mistaking that child was a Corinthos. She had dark hair and lots of it!

Sonny watched two of the most beautiful girls in his life, and Carly looked up at him, smiling happily. It had been a long time since she'd really felt like part of a family, and this was her family now. She enjoyed getting Molly out of bed every morning. She enjoyed teaching her new words. She loved reading with Kristina and helping tuck her in at night. But the best moments were when the boys were home, and they all gathered at the dinner table. She'd never thought she'd have a big family considering the way she grew up. Now she felt like she had it all, and she hoped it wasn't too good to be true.

A few minutes later, Carly had a perfect braid down Kristina's back, and she led her to the mirror, lifting her up to see.

"You like it?"

"Uh-huh! You did a good job!" Kristina beamed, hugging Carly. "Thank you. Just like Mommy did it." Carly gave the girl a gentle squeeze, and that was when Max came in.

"Sam McCall's here."

"Sam!" Kristina exclaimed, as Sam walked in. Sam hurried over to pick her little sister up and hug her tightly.

"Hey, Kristina!"

"I missed you, Sam!"

"I missed you more," the older sister replied, kissing the top of her head. " You look pretty today."

"I'm still in my pajamas," the girl replied with a grin. "They're the ones Mommy got me for Christmas."

"I see that," Sam said with a sad nod.

"What brings you here?" Carly asked, stepping toward the two, as Sonny came up behind her.

"Well, I was just going to take Kristina to the movies, if that's alright with the two of you. If you had other plans, it's alright, but I just thought I'd spend some time with my little sister." Carly and Sonny looked at one another and then back at Sam.

"We don't have any plans," Sonny replied. "I think it'd be nice for her to get out and spend some time with you." Sam smiled gratefully.

"What movie?" Kristina asked.

"It's your choice."

"Ok," Kristina replied with a smile.

"Let's go get you dressed then, huh?" Kristina hurried up the stairs with Sam following right behind her. Carly and Sonny turned back to one another.

"You realize what this means, don't you?" Sonny asked.

"What?" Carly asked.

"We'll have the house to ourselves." He stepped toward her, placing his arms around her waist. Carly giggled, as he kissed her neck, but she pushed back on his chest.

"Um, aren't you forgetting someone? Molly's sleeping upstairs!"

"She's a baby…"

"So? She's old enough to talk a little bit. What if she…"

"She can't get out of her crib."

"But she might cry. That could…ruin the mood," Carly teased.

"Damn," Sonny replied, realizing she was right.

"And she'll probably be waking up any minute." Footsteps came down the stairs again, and Kristina was all dressed and bundled in her coat.

"We're all ready," Sam announced.

"Alright." Sonny knelt down in front of Kristina. "You be good for Sam, ok? We'll see you this afternoon."

"Ok, Daddy. Bye! Bye, Carly!" Carly and Sonny waved, as Sam took off with Kristina. Sonny turned to his wife, and he smiled a little.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just…I appreciate you being here for the girls. They really love you."

"I love them too, Sonny. I want to be there for them as much as I can, and…now that we're a family again, I can always be here."

"I like the sound of that," he admitted, getting a smile from her.

"I don't know. You'll probably get tired of the yelling and the running around after a while." Sonny smiled too, remembering a conversation they'd had years ago when Carly and Michael were first living with him.

"Nah, I love it. I love having my family here." He reached out and took her hand, brining it to his lips to kiss. "Having you here makes my family complete."

"Complete," Carly said, cocking her head to the side, as she and Sonny pulled each other into an embrace. "So we're finished? Just you, me, the boys, Kristina, Molly?"

"Well," he said, dimpling, "we'll see what happens." He kissed her then and pulled back a moment later. "It's strange, you know? Not being able to tell people about us. It feels natural, being with you." Carly smiled a little.

"I know. But, as soon as I can tell Jax to his face, we'll tell the rest of the world. We're doing this the right way." Again, Sonny cursed himself for having said that. But, he knew she was right.

"Well, until then, how would you feel about joining me for a romantic dinner tonight…in my room." Carly grinned.

"Ooh, I think I like that idea," she whispered, hoping Morgan wouldn't have a bad dream again tonight. "But you know we'll have to be quiet."

"We can be quiet," he promised, nuzzling her neck, tasting her soft flesh. She moaned softly, tilting her head back. "Well, we can try." Carly laughed, as they tumbled down onto the couch and showered one another with sweet kisses. It was that moment that Molly chose to woke up, and she began crying upstairs. Carly and Sonny chuckled, resting their foreheads together for a moment, before pulling away. "I'll get her." Carly nodded, and she watched Sonny start up the stairs to get the baby. She sighed, leaning back onto the couch cushions and putting her hand over her stomach. She smiled, thinking about those kisses and looking forward to continuing them later.

Fifteen minutes before the movie was supposed to start, Kristina and Sam hurried into the theater, where it was nice and warm. Kristina was excited, because she'd gotten to pick the movie, and she'd settled on Charlotte's Web. It just so happened that as soon as they got through the doors, Sam spotted somebody very familiar. It was Lucky sitting there with Cameron.

She had hoped to avoid him after having yelled at him the week before, but as soon as he looked up, he spotted them and waved them over. Considering there were only a few other people sitting in the theater, she knew he'd been gesturing toward her. So, she took her little sister's hand and smiled nervously, walking over to the empty seats beside Lucky and Cameron.

"Hey, Kristina," Lucky said with a smile. "You want to sit with Cameron and watch the movie with him?"

"Sure!" Kristina said eagerly, smiling at the younger boy, who was stuffing popcorn in his mouth and giggling, as he made faces. Kristina sat next to him, and Lucky motioned for Sam to sit down next to him.

"Why don't you sit here?" Sam swallowed nervously, and she remained standing. "I wanted to apologize for what happened last week. I was out of line, and I shouldn't have been so bold."

"It's ok, Lucky, really. I was really upset, and I didn't have anyone else there to lash out at. You were there, and…I'm sorry."

"Hey, you don't have anything to apologize for. How are you doing?" Sam shrugged.

"A little better. It's still hard, but I'm trying to make things better, especially for Kristina." Lucky nodded.

"Have a seat."

"Thanks." She sat down next to him, and he passed her the bucket of popcorn with a smile on his face. She smiled back. She looked over toward Kristina and Cam, who were giggling and talking about something, and she was relieved that Kristina was having a good time. So, she decided that she would too. She couldn't spend all of her time cooped up in the penthouse while Jason was off working or helping Elizabeth out. She had a life to live, and she was going to do it.

Jason entered the penthouse, his arms full of grocery bags. He'd gone out shopping especially for this day. He wanted to surprise Sam with a romantic dinner, because he knew she was feeling a little neglected because of everything with Elizabeth and the baby.

"Sam?" he called out, hoping to hear from her. When the only noise her heard was Spinelli's boots on the stairs, he sighed.

"Hey Stone Cold." Jason sighed heavily.

"Where's Sam?"

"The Goddess…ah, Sam," he said, remembering how Sam had snapped at him for calling her that before, "she took her little sister to the movies." Jason nodded.

"Alright," he replied.

"What's in the bag?" Spinelli went to peek, but Jason moved away from him. "Oh, I get it. I'll just go find The Blonde One."

"You don't have to leave right now," Jason told him. "Sam probably won't be home for a little while."

"No, that's ok. I need to take a look at Lulu's computer anyway." He paused for a minute. "Hey, Stone Cold, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Do you think Mother Blonde One likes me?" Jason furrowed his brows. "Laura?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think she doesn't like you. Why?"

"I was just wondering," Spinelli replied quickly, grabbing his laptop off of Jason's desk. Jason knew Spinelli was falling for Lulu, but the problem was that Lulu hadn't shown much of any sign of reciprocation. They'd become friends throughout the entire Lorenzo/flash drive fiasco, and he'd been more of a constant in her life than anyone else. Well, now that Laura was back, she had her, but she still came to him to talk once in a while, when she needed somebody else's opinion.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about in that department," Jason pointed out. "It's Luke that I'd be worried about."

"Father Blonde One," Spinelli gulped. "Thanks for the tip."

"Get out of here," Jason laughed, as Spinelli hugged him, grateful to have another male around that he could talk to about things like this. Jason wasn't much for idle chitchat, but he was pretty good at the advice.

Spinelli left quickly, pulling on his coat, and Jason set about the apartment, getting it ready for tonight. He couldn't wait until Sam got home so he could surprise her. He only hoped that this was a start to making up for not having been there for her lately.

Author's Note: Thanks again for the feedback! Please keep it coming!