Whoo, this is my most reviewed fanfic! Anyway, there are spoilers that may or may not concern Abigail and Andre. So, before everything turns to crap, here's a happy filler.
A man in his mid-twenties strolled through the Town Square, smiling. He had a striking resemblance to Sonny and Justin. His cell phone rang.
"Yeah? ... Yeah, I'm in Salem for a long-overdue visit. ... Yep. I figured it's high time I met my brother-in-law. After all, he almost died twice in the last year. I may not get another chance." The man joked over the phone. He saw a pregnant man sitting at a table, texting on his phone. He recognized the man as Will. "Okay. We'll talk soon. Bye." He remembered that Will cheated on his baby brother twice, but apparently, he's changed. He decided to test that theory.
XX
Will finished his text and walked inside the cafe to get a pastry.
"Hey, baby. Come here often?" Will turned to see a man in his twenties, leaning casually against the doorframe, smiling flirtatiously.
"Uh, yeah. Excuse me." Will said.
"Well...I may just have to stop by more often just to catch a glimpse of that gorgeous face of yours." Alex replied. "You know, I have been all over the world and I never saw anyone as beautiful as you. What do you say...we head to my hotel room?"
Will chuckled, uncomfortably. "Dude, I'm married."
"Doesn't bother you if it doesn't bother me." Alex smirked.
It took a minute, but then, Will suddenly recognized him. He folded his arms. "Well, it should bother you, considering I'm married to your brother."
Alex laughed softly. "Damn, I thought I was doing good!"
"I've seen pictures of you, Alex. I know it's you." Will smiled.
Alex sighed and shook his head. "Nice to finally meet you, Will."
"You too." They shook hands. "What was with the creepy flirting before?"
"I was testing your loyalty to my baby brother." Alex explained. "Don't worry, man, I'm straight as a pole."
Will scoffed and shook his head. "Sonny did tell me you're a little overprotective."
"Well, you can't really blame me, can you?" Alex raised an eyebrow.
Will laughed softly. "No, I guess I can't. Sonny also tells me you take your role as eldest brother very seriously."
"Indeed I do." Alex nodded. "Sonny tells me that you're the oldest in your family, too?"
"Yeah. I have a younger sister and we have a younger half-brother and half-sister." Will replied. "Two of them are twins."
"Wow, we kind of have the same family set-up." Alex replied.
Will chuckled. "Yeah."
"Alex?" They turned to see Sonny walking in, all smiles. "Oh my God! What are you doing here?" They laughed and hugged.
"I decided to visit the family and finally meet my baby brother-in-law and little niece." Alex explained.
"Took you long enough." Sonny said half-jokingly. "So, what was your first impression?"
"Uh, well, he's definitely loyal to you." Alex nodded.
Sonny was confused, then he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Will?"
"Yeah?"
"Did my brother fake flirt with you?" Sonny asked.
Now it was Will's turn to be confused. "Uh, yeah. Why?"
"Oh my God, Alex!" Sonny groaned in annoyance.
"Has...he done this before?" Will asked.
"Oh, yeah." Sonny nodded. "He's done this to every single one of my boyfriends- girlfriends before I came out. The ones that he's met, anyway."
"Hey, just making sure." Alex raised his hands in surrender, then hugged Sonny's shoulders. "I just don't want my baby brother to get hurt, that's all."
Sonny scoffed lightly. "Speaking of, are you still with that Brandi girl or whatever her name is?"
"Brenda, and yes, as a matter of fact." Alex nodded. "We've been going out for a year. I'm thinking of proposing."
"Really? Wow, that serious?" Sonny asked.
"Yeah!"
"Alex?" They turned to see Adrienne smiling and walking towards the men. "Oh my God!" She laughed and they hugged.
"Hey, Adrienne." Alex greeted.
"When did you get in?" Adrienne asked.
"About an hour ago." Alex replied. "I finally met Will."
"And let me guess: you fake flirted with him to test his loyalty." Adrienne guessed.
"I'm that obvious, huh?" Alex asked.
"Oh, yeah." Adrienne nodded and turned to Will. "He's done this to all of his brothers' girlfriends- boyfriends in Sonny's case."
"Well, it sounds effective." Will commented. "So, did anyone fail your loyalty test?"
"Once. One of Joe's girlfriend failed horribly, and Joe then accused me of stealing his girl and beat me up." Alex nodded.
"It took me, Vic, and both our parents to break up the fight." Sonny added.
"Yikes." Will said. "Did you test Paul's loyalty?"
Alex shook his head. "I never met Paul. He's still here in Salem, right?"
"Yep. He's now a private investigator with his dad and my uncle Steve." Sonny replied.
Alex laughed. "I cannot imagine Paul Narita as a PI. He looks more like a hitman."
Will laughed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, really! 'Oh, don't worry- I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to investigate you.'" They all laughed.
"So, Alex, how long will you be in town?" Adrienne asked.
"Only a few days." Alex replied. "I'm here to revisit old haunts and visit family, and that's it."
"Oh. Well, I wish you could stay longer." Sonny said.
"Ah, me too, but. duty calls, you know?" Alex shrugged.
"Okay, well, my dad is actually bringing Ari in just a minute here. You can meet both of them." Will said, smiling.
"Awesome."
Just then, Lucas and Ari walked into the cafe.
"Daddies!" Ari exclaimed. She ran over to them.
Sonny swooped down and picked her up. "Hey, sweetheart. Did you have a good time with Grandpa Lucas?"
"Yeah!" Ari replied.
"Ari, I'd like you to meet someone." Sonny said. He pointed to Alex. "This is your uncle Alex. He's my big brother."
"Hi." Ari waved to Alex.
"Hey, there, sweetheart." Alex greeted. "It's nice to meet you. How are you?"
"How am I what?" Ari asked obliviously. Everyone chuckled lightly.
"Tomorrow, Adrienne and I are taking her to the zoo." Lucas announced.
"Oh, you never forget your first zoo visit." Adrienne replied. "Justin took me there on our fifth date."
"Wait, that was your very first zoo visit?" Will asked. Sonny shot him a look. Will quickly changed direction. "I remember mine well. I believe I was just a bit older than Ari, right, Dad?"
"You were." Lucas nodded. "You were excited throughout the whole thing...but then we visited the monkey cages."
"Whoa, slow down, buddy. The animals aren't going anywhere." Lucas laughed as he followed his toddler son towards the monkey cages.
"Look, Daddy! Monkeys!" Little Will exclaimed. He ran up to the glass cage, reached for the railing and pulled himself up. Lucas held him up. Will pressed his face against the glass to get a better look. All of a sudden, a monkey popped up right in front of him, screeching! Will screamed in fright and turned around, clutching Lucas. "Daddy!"
"I've been afraid of monkeys ever since." Will nodded solemnly.
"Sami accused me of planning that. She was convinced of that for a year." Lucas shook his head. "Then she took him to see Tarzan. When he saw one of the gorilla scenes, Will screamed loudly and started crying."
"Okay, that's enough embarrassing stories for today." Will rolled his eyes.
"Will, that is nothing." Alex replied. "When we were little, we went to Bear Country, USA kind of by Mount Rushmore. One of the bears suddenly jumped up, put his paws on Sonny's window, and roared. Sonny jumped a mile out of his skin, screamed like a girl, and pooped himself."
Will and Lucas cracked up, and Sonny glared at them, blushing a deep red. "You know, Sonny still actually screams like a girl."
"Will!" Sonny exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, honey, but it's true. Remember Halloween after we first started dating?" Will asked. "Someone quickly pushed a mummy statue in your path. You jumped back, screamed, and hid behind me."
Alex burst out laughing. "Oh...my...God!"
Sonny glared at the two and smiled mischievously. "Hey, Alex."
"What?"
"Spider behind you." Sonny joked.
Alex jumped and clutched onto Adrienne. "Where?!"
Sonny, Will, and Lucas laughed. Alex glared at Sonny. "You'll pay for this."
"Uh-oh. Victor and Deimos 2.0 in the making!" Lucas joked.
Sonny laughed and shook his head. "Never. Alex, let's promise to never become those two."
"Oh, you can count on that." They shook hands and hugged.
"I wish I had an older brother who looked out for me." Lucas mused, gazing off.
"Wait, I thought you have two older brothers...?" Sonny asked.
"I do, but, I can't stand 'em." Lucas shrugged.
"Oh." Sonny nodded.
"So, have you two thought of names for your babies?" Adrienne asked Will and Sonny.
"We have." Sonny replied. "We haven't settled on first names, but our boys' middle names will be Lucas and Justin."
Lucas was touched. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Will smiled. "Despite what you put me through during my early childhood, I still look up to you."
"Aww. Come here, you!" Lucas pulled Will into a hug.
"Well, I hate to cut this short, but I wanna see Uncle Vic and Maggie and Brady and the baby." Alex said.
"Okay. We'll all go." Sonny replied. He turned to Will. "You coming?"
Will sighed. "I would, but, Victor can't stand me, and I don't want to deal with that."
"Smart move." Adrienne nodded.
"It was nice meeting you, Alex." Will said.
"You, too." Alex replied.
Sonny kissed Will on the cheek. "See you at home." He turned to Ari. "Bye, sweet pea. Daddy will see you later."
"Bye." Ari replied.
Will turned to Ari. "Ready to go, princess?"
"Yeah." Ari replied.
Will settled Ari into her stroller and walked out of the cafe. He decided to take a stroll through the square. He spotted Marlena sitting on a bench outside a store, sighing at something on her phone. He leaned down. "Wanna say hi to Grandma Marlena?" He strolled to Marlena. "Hey, Grandma."
Marlena looked up and smiled. "Oh, hi, Will." She leaned down towards Ari. "Hi, sweetheart."
"Mind if we join?" Will asked, sitting down.
"Well, since you already sat down, you might as well." Marlena said teasingly. They laughed. "How are the babies?"
Will rubbed his belly. "They're good. Healthy."
"That's good. How are you?" Marlena asked.
Will sighed. "Exhausted. Ready to meet my boys. I now sympathize with all women. I don't know how you manage! My ankles are swollen, I cry at the drop of a hat, I have these weird, vivid dreams..."
"It's a tough journey, but the end result is worth it." Marlena said.
"I'm sure it will be." Will replied. "So, how are you doing? You seemed a little sad when I walked up."
Marlena chuckled softly. "I just told your mother that John and I are renewing our vows."
"She's not happy?" Will guessed.
"She is, but, she's not coming home for the wedding." Marlena replied. "I guess it's just as well. Andre's out of prison. He'll come after her."
"Or me." Will stared ahead. He sighed. "But I have a feeling he has bigger fish to fry."
"Really? What?"
"Chad. Andre can't be too happy about Chad not having his back." Will shrugged.
"Oh, dear." Marlena said. "Speaking of, is there any word on Abigail?"
"No." Will sighed. "I keep hoping she'll call or turn up, but she completely fell off the face of the earth."
"Do you think Chad may have something to do with it?"
Will sighed again and closed his eyes. "No. I know Chad better then most of the people in town...and I still thought he was the necktie killer last year. I'm not making the same mistake twice, by thinking he's hiding my cousin."
Marlena nodded. "Good point. Let's talk about happier things. Have you thought of names for the boys?"
"Actually, yes." Will sat up and smiled. "One of them is going to have the middle name Lucas after my dad. And the other one is going to be named either Darrin or Devon with the middle name Justin. We'll call him DJ for short." Marlena smiled sadly. "But, if it upsets you too much..."
"No, no. Don't be silly." Marlena waved him off.
"So, you're okay with that?" Will asked to be sure.
Marlena smiled. "Only if you let me be one of the first people to hold him."
Will laughed. "Deal!"
Jennifer hurried up to them. "Will! Glad I found you."
"Hey, Aunt Jen." Will greeted. "Have they found Abigail yet?"
"No." Jennifer sighed. "I was actually hoping you heard from her."
"Oh. No, I haven't." Will replied. "I'll let you know if I do, though."
"Thanks. Um...are you and Chad still friends?" Jennifer asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well, I was hoping you could talk to him." Jennifer replied. "Maybe find out whether or not he's hiding her?"
"I don't think he'd ever hide her, but I will talk to him." Will promised.
"Well, I hope you're right." Jennifer admitted. "Thank you, Will. I'm so glad you and Abigail are close." She hugged Will and smiled. "I was wrong about you. You really are a Horton." She pulled away and walked off.
Will laughed softly. "Well, I get where she's coming from."
"Yeah. I was wondering when your father's side of the family would see past Sami being your mother." Marlena commented.
Will laughed louder and shook his head. "Hey, in Sami's defense, she always saw past who people's parents are."
"True." Marlena nodded. Her phone buzzed. "Oh, excuse me." She read her phone and sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Just another news alert. There's been another fire- Baron's." Marlena replied.
"Oh my God! Did anyone...?"
"There were at least ten injured, but no deaths." Marlena replied.
Will sighed. "Not another serial killer!"
"I know. Really."
"Well, hopefully we won't be targets this time." Will said, trying to lighten the mood. Marlena laughed and nodded in agreement.
XXX
"So we're back to where we were before Deimos drowned, huh?"
Brady and Justin were at Victor's townhouse, explaining the situation. Kate still has all the money and resources and will not give it back to Victor.
Justin sighed. "I have half a mind to seduce Kate to get it back, but she'll see right through me."
"Good point." Victor grumbled.
"Guys, it's not that bad. We still have money squirrelled away." Brady shrugged. "Maybe-maybe we can sue Kate or something."
"I don't think that's gonna work." Justin replied. "Honestly, I don't think anything is gonna cheer me up right now."
Someone knocked on the door. Brady got up and opened the door and smiled. "You sure about that, Justin?" He stepped aside revealing a smiling Alex in the doorway.
"Alex!" Justin exclaimed in surprise. He got up and they hugged. "Oh, this is a surprise!"
"Hey, Dad." Alex replied.
"About damn time you showed your face here." Victor said, standing up.
"Hello to you too, Uncle Vic." Alex said. He hugged him. "So...how's everything going?"
"Dismal. The only bright light is that your brother is co-CEO of Titan." Victor replied.
"Oh. Well, then why the long face? You'll have everything back soon enough." Alex said.
"It's not that easy." Sonny replied. "Kate is controlling, ruthless, and power hungry."
"Well, I'd be glad to help." Victor said.
"Just don't corrupt my son too much, Uncle Vic." Justin said.
"Oh, don't worry, Justin. I'll have Sonny committing espionage within a week." Victor joked. They all laughed.
"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor." Justin remarked.
"Yeah. No way Uncle Deimos can take that away, right?" Alex smirked.
Brady chuckled. "So, how long are you in town?"
"Only for a day." Alex admitted. "I wasn't able to get off work longer."
"Oh, well, that's a shame." Victor said.
"Yeah. So, I was hoping I could use the Titan jet." Alex glanced over at Sonny.
"Nope. Sorry." Sonny said, folding his arms. Then he smiled. "Nah, I'm kidding. You can totally use it."
Alex laughed and clapped Sonny's shoulder. "I love having a rich and powerful brother."
"Yeah. Don't get too used to running to me whenever you need money or the jet." Sonny said.
"That's my boy." Victor said, raising a glass.
"Oh, fine." Alex said half-jokingly. They laughed. "Hey, Brady, when can I meet that little boy of yours? I wanna meet him."
"Actually, he's probably awake from his nap if you wanna come over." Brady said.
"Sure!" Alex turned to everyone else. "I'll see you guys. Maybe I'll come at Thanksgiving or Christmas."
"Looking forward to it." Justin said. Sonny nodded in agreement.
"Bye." Victor said as they left.
Sonny took a deep breath and turned to Justin. "So, there's something else I want to tell you."
"Should I be sitting down?" Justin asked, warily.
Sonny laughed softly. "No. It's good. Will and I have been planning baby names. One of our kids is going to have your name as his middle name."
Justin was touched. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Sonny said, nodding. "You taught me that no parent is perfect...among other things."
"Oh..." Justin grew teary-eyed. He pulled Sonny into a hug. "come here, you!"
Sonny laughed and hugged back.
XXX
The next morning, Will got to work on his next article. This one is about the serial arsonist. "So, I almost got killed by a serial killer, now I'm writing about one. This is going to be one hot article." He looked down at his belly and rubbed it. "What do you think, little buddy?" He felt some movement and gasped. "Oh my god. Sonny! Sonny!" He stood up just as Sonny bounded downstairs wearing nothing but a towel.
"What? What's wrong?" Sonny asked frantically.
"He's kicking." Will said, smiling. He grabbed Sonny's hand and pressed it where the baby was kicking.
Sonny exhaled sharply and smiled. "Oh...hi, there."
"Hey, is everything okay? I heard yelling." Gabi asked as she waddled into the living room.
"Yeah. I just felt the baby kick." Will replied.
"Oh." Gabi replied. She felt her own baby kicking. "Oh! This baby's kicking too!" She grabbed both Sonny's and Will's hand and pressed them against her belly.
"You know...these two remind me that this world isn't so cruel." Sonny said. "Good can actually happen."
"Hold me, Sonny. That was beautiful." Will joked. Gabi laughed.
Sonny playfully shoved Will. "Hey, I'm serious!" Then he laughed with them.
