Bobbie leaned her head out the door to see which guard was watching the
Brownstone that morning. She could never keep their schedules straight. But
if she were lucky she wouldn't have to worry about it for much longer.
Carly and Sonny should be coming back home soon. She was not surprised to
see Johnny standing outside. He was the house every day since Carly left.
She saw him more often than the other guards.

She leaned against the doorjamb. "Good morning Johnny. Do you ever sleep?"

He nodded and said seriously. "Of course, Ms. Spencer."

"I was just kidding." Bobbie grinned. "You want to come in for breakfast?"

He shook his head. "No thank you."

"Guess you already ate then." Bobbie hesitated before saying, "Have you
heard from Sonny? Because I was just wondering *when* they were coming
back."

"I haven't spoken to Mr. Corinthos but I'm sure it'll be awhile. They did
just get down there a few days ago and this isn't something that they can
just deal with on a weekend." Johnny stared off in the distance. I'm sure
that Carly…Ms. Benson is doing her best to handle this though it must be
hard for her. She'll be back once she puts herself back together."

"Well…" Bobbie studied Johnny. She slowly raised an eyebrow. "Hmm…"

"Yes?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing, just noticed something…" She patted his shoulder. "Instead of
haunting my stoop, why don't get give a little more responsibility to the
other guards and take some time for yourself."

"I promised Ms. Benson that I'd watch out for Michael while she was away."

"Don't worry about it, he's got his grandma to watch him." Bobbie grinned.
"Why don't you go out, se your girlfriend…"

"Oh, I don't have a girlfriend and I wouldn't feel right. I did promise Ms.
Benson."

Bobbie sighed. "Somehow I knew you'd say that. Okay, Johnny but don't work
yourself too hard."

"I won't, Ms. Spencer and if Mr. Corinthos calls, I'll let you know."

Bobbie nodded. She started to go back inside but paused as she suddenly
remembered something. She frowned over her shoulder at him. "You wouldn't
happen to know where A.J. is?"

Johnny shook his head solemnly. "Sorry, I heard he was missing but I don't
know where he is."

"Mm-hmm. Right." Bobbie looked at him skeptically.

~*~*~
The next morning after a long sleepless night for both of them, Carly and
Sonny met up at the breakfast table. The cook had laid out a lavish
breakfast but both just nibbled at the food. Neither looked the other in
the eye. Finally Carly took a deep breath,

"About the last night—"

"I was thinking—" He started at the same time.

Carly fiddled with her napkin. "You go ahead."

He rubbed his chin and nodded at her. "No, I can wait. Say what you were
going to say."

"I was just going to say that what happened last night? Should just stay
there, you know? We don't have to bring it up again."

"You want to forget about it?" He stared at her.

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah, it was stupid, you know? And talking about
it isn't going to help things. I don't want something like that to
complicate our time down here. It's better that we put it all behind us."

Sonny stood up abruptly, carrying his plate. "Carly it was just a kiss."

She twisted around in her seat and watched as he carried his plate into the
kitchen. "That's what I'm saying. It was just a kiss that I'd like to
forget about."

"You want to do that? Fine with me." He walked back to the table.

"Uh, good?" She was puzzled by his behavior. Wouldn't he want to forget
about it also? "So what were you going to say?"

He hesitated and then shrugged. "The same thing you said."

She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Really?"

"Really." He nodded and gestured towards her plate. "You finished with
that?"

"Oh, yeah sure. Thanks." Carly went to hand it to him but he said. "Good,
don't forget to clean up after yourself before you go out."

She made a face. "Cute. I'm not going anywhere today though."

"Why not? Seen all that the island had to offer already?"

She shook her head. "I think I should stay here today. Don't you? I mean us
connecting isn't going to happen with me halfway across the island, right?"

Sonny sat down next to her, his arm thrown across the back of her chair. He
looked into her eyes and murmured. "What do you suggest we do?"

She leaned back away from him and his intense gaze. "You're the man with
all the ideas, you think of something."

He closed his eyes and thought about it. Carly took the opportunity to
scrutinize him. She was close enough to smell his aftershave and could see
where he nicked himself shaving that morning. Because of the tropical
weather he'd left his heavy somber suits back in Port Charles and switched
to a more casual style. His pants, though black, were linen and the top
three buttons of his light blue short sleeved shirt were undone.

She let her gaze drift toward the top of his head. She smirked; the suits
weren't the only things he left in Port Charles. Instead of being slicked
down by a ton of styling gel as usual, his hair was in its natural curly
state. She wondered what it would feel like. She couldn't remember if she
touched his hair that night everything changed and last night the last
thing on her mind was touching his hair. Her hand flexed on the table as
the sudden urge to run her fingers through his hair came over her. She
clamped her other hand on top of it to curb the urge. Where did that come
from? She shifted her eyes back to Sonny's face only to find him watching
her with a bemused expression.

"Carly?" He said with laughter in his voice. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just waiting for you to make up your mind." She snapped. Her tone
was sharper than she meant but she was a little embarrassed that he caught
her looking at him and also ticked that he would laugh at her.

"I was going to say let's take a walk on the beach since I know you like it
out there." He said coolly. "But if you changed your mind, I can get you a
ride into town."

"I didn't change my mind." Carly sighed. "I was…" She waved her hand in
front of her. "Never mind what I was doing. A walk, huh? Why do I feel like
someone's golden retriever?"

"Not going to touch it." He stood up. "Okay, I'll meet you out on the deck
in ten minutes. Don't forget to clean up after yourself."

They spent the rest of the day leisurely walking up and down the beach
talking about whatever popped into their heads. By an unspoken agreement
they stayed away from the topic of Angel. They tiptoed around the subject;
neither wanted to speak about the reason they were on the island. That
afternoon they went their separate ways, Sonny, to take care of business
and Carly to rest. Sonny called the States to check up on his business and
to make sure that everything was still running smoothly. After that he
checked in with Johnny. After listening to Johnny's reports, he told the
guard that things were going well but he and Carly weren't going to be home
anytime soon. Before going to her room for a long nap, Carly went to the
nursery. She didn't go inside, she only stood outside with her hand pressed
on the closed door. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath then
went on her way.

Later that night they shared a quiet dinner and then stretched out on the
deck chairs. They stared up at the stars and listened to the waves crashing
on the beach. They were having a heated discussion about movies when Carly
snickered at a comment Sonny made. "You can't be serious. How can you like
the *sequel* better than the original."

Sonny sat up and faced her. "Because it's a known fact that the sequel
surpasses the original. That's the purpose of a sequel."

"A known fact?" Carly repeated in disbelief. "Where do you come up with
this? Sequels are never better than the first. In fact they're always a
severe disappointment. The only reason sequels are made is to cash in on
the success of the first. They're not made to 'surpass the original'.
They're made because Hollywood doesn't believe in unique and creative ideas
anymore. They believe that if it worked the first time then it'll work the
second time and the third and the fourth, hell, even the fifth. They take
the 'if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it' motto to the extreme. It's
not just movies. It's TV too. You'll see the same storyline over and over
again on a soap opera but with just different characters. It's ridiculous.
Sequels should be banned."

"When a movie is over, don't you wonder what happened with the characters
afterward? Don't you wish you could see more? Don't you want to…I don't
know, visit with them again?"

"No." She said simply. "When the movie's over, the story's over. If I want
to see the characters again, I'll just watch the movie again. Simple as
that."

"Come on, there isn't one sequel out there that you've enjoyed?"

"Well…" She smiled slyly. "I have to admit that the second Weekend At
Bernie's was *almost* on the same level as the first."

Sonny chuckled. "Tell me you are kidding. Please."

Carly tried to keep a straight face. "No, no, I'm totally serious. I mean,
who would have thought they could make *two* great movies about people
partying with a dead guy." She couldn't hold it in any longer and she burst
out laughing.

"An example of fine cinema, I'm sure." Sonny's shoulders quaked with
laughter.

"It was, it was." Carly said around her giggles. "Especially when every
time the music played he'd get up and dance!"

"Stop, stop!" Sonny held up his hand.

"Man, there was some great acting in that movie. And I'm talking about the
guy playing Bernie of course." She finished with a silly grin.

"Right." Sonny shook his head. Carly stretched out on her stomach and
rested her head on her folded arms. She glanced up to see Sonny staring at
her with surprise on his eyes. She narrowed hers. "What?"

"This…You and I have never shared a laugh before."

"Weird huh?"

"You could say that."

"I do have a sense of humor, you know." She said.

"I never doubted that." He said. "It's just that we've never had much to
laugh about."

"Like we have so much to laugh about." Carly said softly. She closed her
eyes as Angel immediately came to mind. Somehow she hadn't thought of her
daughter once that day. It was like she forgot about her. The last thing
she wanted to do was exactly what she was doing. She spent the day with
Sonny, laughing and talking and Angel never appeared in her mind. She sat
up horrified.

"Carly?" Sonny said gently.

"I…I think it's time I went to bed."

"Already? You had the big nap this afternoon." He looked at her closely.
"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah." She lied as she quickly stood. He simply looked up at her
until she rubbed her hands over her face and admitted. "Okay, okay, I'm
tired. I…it's Angel. I didn't think about her today. I mean, it's like I'm
forgetting her. That *can't* happen."

Sonny rose also. "You're being irrational. You're not going to forget about
her just because you spent one day not thinking about her."

"It's easy for you to say." Carly snapped. "If I hadn't seen you in the
penthouse I wouldn't know if losing Angel affected you at all."

Sonny narrowed his eyes. "You think I don't know what I've lost? You think
that it doesn't hurts me also?"

Carly looked at the floor silently. She knew she was being impossible.
Attacking him wasn't the answer. It wasn't going to erase the guilt she
felt for having a good time. "You know, I really should go to bed before we
end up in a fight."

Sonny rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, that might be a good idea…"

She waited for him to say more but he stayed silent. She started to move
past him when his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. She jumped from the
surprise of him touching her. "Sonny?"

He looked into her eyes and his hand began to move unconsciously up and
down her arm. He murmured. "Carly, there's nothing wrong with having a
little fun sometimes. Even if it is with me."

She smirked. "I can't believe *you* are telling *me* to have fun. How did
this happen?"

"Stranger things have happened."

"I know." She immediately thought of their one-night stand and the kiss the
other night. She stepped away from him and went to the doors. She stopped
when he called out her name. She looked over her shoulder to see him still
standing by the deck chairs wearing a hint of a smile.

"Just don't expect me to discuss movies with you again."

"Don't worry, you'll see things the way I do. They always do." She boasted
before slipping inside.

~*~*~
Carly smoothed her maternity dress over her rounded stomach as the wind
whipped her clothes and hair around. She reached up to pull away a strand
of hair that blew into her mouth but a hand beat her to it and gently
pulled it away. She smiled up at Johnny and murmured. "Thank you."

"It's kind of windy. Maybe you should stay inside today." Johnny suggested
even as he helped her down the stairs of the beach house.

She shook her head. "Michael was going a little stir crazy in the house."

"Michael! Honey, don't run so fast." Carly called out as Michael ran up
ahead of her and Johnny.

"He'll be fine." Johnny reassured her.

"Mmm, I guess." Carly casually slipped her arm through Johnny's as they
strolled down the beach to where Michael now played in the sand.

"I need to go into town tomorrow." She informed him. "I've grown out of
some of the pants Carlos picked up. I knew I should have gotten the bigger
size."

"I'll take you in the morning then."

"Oh, you don't have to do that. Carlos or one of the other guys can do it."

"I don't mind." He smiled shyly.

"You really want to go shopping with a pregnant woman who has to pee every
five minutes and a two year old?" She arched her eyebrow.

He shrugged. "I really don't mind."

She grinned up at him. "You are such a sweetheart."

"Because I want to take the woman I love shopping?" Johnny raised his
eyebrows. "Is that the prerequisite for sainthood or something?"

"Don't make fun of me." She punched him the arm. "I like it that you take
care of me."

He ran his hands through her hair. "I will always take care you. You and
our child." His hand came down to massage her stomach. Carly covered his
hand with hers. "I am so lucky to have you."

She smiled brightly at him and he felt his heart began to beat faster. She
always had that effect on him. "No, I'm the lucky one." He swore.

"We are not going to argue about this." She poked his broad chest with her
finger. "Let's just call it a draw, hmm?"

"Okay with me." Johnny bent his head and was just about to kiss her when
the phone rang, bringing him out of his favorite dream right before the
good stuff started.

"Damn it." He muttered. This always happened when he least wanted it to.
The bodyguard was sprawled out in the middle of his bed. He'd been sleeping
peacefully before the phone rang. He sat up and ran his hands through his
hair. He kicked away the sheet that had gotten tangled around his feet
revealing the fact that he slept nude, something that his Peeping Tom
neighbor Sally was grateful for.

He reached for the phone. "Yeah?" He barked. He listened quietly before
saying curtly. "Yeah, I'll relieve you in two hours. Next time *don't* call
me."

He tossed the phone away and closed his eyes. There was no way he'd be able
to go back to sleep and resume his dream. It was probably for the best.
Dreaming about Carly Benson was going to get him in trouble. He was just
her *friend* and no where near Jason Morgan or Sonny Corinthos on her list
of men who were more than friends.

~*~*~
Carly stood barefoot in the middle of an open field. Her toes dug into the
warm grass as the sun beat down on her. The day was one of those picture
perfect days that rarely happened. Behind her, someone called out to her
but she couldn't tell who it was. She looked over her shoulder to see a
little girl about five or six with long blond hair, big blue eyes, and
dimples just like her father's framing her wide smile running towards her
calling,

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Carly's jaw dropped and she whispered. "Angel?"

"Mommy, me and Mikey and Daddy are playing tag. Daddy's it!" The little
girl giggled as she ran past Carly.

"Wait, wait, come back!" Carly ran after the girl. "Angel!"

She stopped and waited for Carly to catch up. She fidgeted. "Mommy, I gotta
go. I gotta go play."

Carly looked around for Sonny. But she and Angel were alone. Carly crouched
down to Angel's level. She ran her hands over the girl's face. She
breathed. "Angel…"

The girl cocked her head to the side. "Mommy?"

"Oh my baby." Carly tried to hug the little girl to her but she squirmed
away.

"Mommy, I *have* to go." She said insistently and stared into Carly's eyes.
"*Now*."

"No, you're staying here, with me." Carly declared firmly. She stood up and
held her hands. "Let's go find your brother and your daddy and…and we'll
all stay *together*, okay? All of us together. Would you like that? Come
on."

Carly tried to lead the child down the field but she stayed rooted to the
spot. Carly looked over her shoulder. "Come on baby."

She shook her head. "Uh-uh. I can't go that way. I have to go over
*there*." She pointed in the opposite direction.

"No." Carly whispered and knelt back in front of the girl. She held her
hands. "I am not going to let you leave, you hear me?"

"I have to, Mommy. I'm going to have fun there and play and be happy. Can I
be happy, Mommy?"

"Of course you can sweetheart."

"Then I have to go there." She smiled at her; her father's dimples
reappearing. "I'll be happy. Let me go, please."

Carly watched, unable to move as she slipped her hands out of Carly's and
took a step back. "Bye Mommy."

"Bye Angel." Carly whispered with a lump in her throat

She turned and ran down the field, pausing once to wave at Carly, then
laughing happily she started to run again. Carly watched until the child
had disappeared and even then she still stared down the field.

Carly sat up in her bed and pushed her hair out of her face. "What kind of
a dream was that?" She whispered to no one in particular.

"Was that supposed to make me want to say goodbye to my baby?" She
muttered.

"Bull." She threw off her covers and got out of bed. She marched back and
forth across her room, talking to myself. "I'm supposed to be comforted by
the fact that she's in a much better place now? Is that supposed to make me
feel better?"

She paused and sighed. "This…this is crazy. I'm going to drive *myself*
crazy. I need something to drink."

She dragged on her robe and while tying the belt around her waist she
stalked out her room. She was heading towards the kitchen for water when
the door to the nursery sidetracked her. She stared at the door. Earlier
that day when she passed by she couldn't go in. She couldn't bring herself
to do it. Maybe her dream…

She took a hesitant step forward then stopped. She shook her head. What was
she doing? She couldn't do this. So what if she saw her daughter. So what
if the child told her goodbye. *She* wasn't ready yet.

But as if she was being pulled towards it she walked slowly towards the
door. Before she knew it she was turning the doorknob and slipped inside,
flipping on the light switch as she did. She sagged against the door and
took in a deep breath. She knew that Sonny had cleaned up but she hadn't
realized how much.

Everything was back in their places. The bassinet, the teddy bears, the
curtains, everything. It was like she hadn't lost control and destroyed it
all. It was perfect again.

She covered her face and laughed softly to herself. What was with tonight?
Was everything supposed to be a metaphor? The dream? Let go of Angel and go
on with her life? The room? Forget about her and act like nothing happened
at all? This was stupid.

She reached up for the teddy bear that she held the other night and out of
the corner of her eye she noticed a rip in one of the yellow curtains. She
returned the bear to the shelf and went over to inspect it. She pulled at
the material to see that right in the middle of the curtain was a huge
hole. She poked her hand through the hole.

"See." She whispered. "Everything doesn't go back to normal no matter how
hard you try. You can pretend it didn't happen but it's still there."

She clamped her hand across her mouth and thought about what she just said.
It looked like her dream was effecting her after all. Before she knew it
she'd probably be saying things like "and you have to live with it."

This was too much to take in all in one night, she thought to herself. She
had to get out of there. She turned off the light and backed out of the
room. She padded quietly down the hall. She had to get away from the room
and those thoughts. And she still needed that water.

~*~*~
Sonny opened the door to the penthouse and the first thing he heard was the
sound of laughter. Sonny smiled and leaned against the doorjamb to take in
the sight. Carly was on the floor tickling Michael mercilessly. "You give
up, huh? Huh?" She laughed as Michael tried to squirm away.

"What are you doing?" He pushed away from the door and slowly walked over
to them, shedding his suit jacket as he did. He knelt down beside them.

Carly glanced at him. "We *were* going to wait for you to get here but Mr.
Man got a little antsy."

"Uh-huh. Mommy torturing you?" Sonny rubbed the toddler's hair
affectionately.

"He likes it." Carly swore. "He kept saying 'more, more', I swear."

Sonny smirked at her. "Right. How was Angel today?"

"Like the proverbial Angel, perfect of course." Carly grinned.

He looked around the room, searching for her. "Where's the baby?"

"She's sleeping." Carly told him.

"I want to see her." Sonny walked away from her and Michael, still looking
for the child.

"Sonny…she's sleeping. She's nice and peaceful, I don't want to disturb
her."

"I said I want to see her." Sonny demanded. He suddenly had a bad feeling,
an eerie sense that something was wrong. He had an urgent need to see and
hold their daughter.

"But Sonny…"

"*Now*." Sonny nearly shouted the word. Michael jumped and Carly
immediately hugged him to her. "It's alright, Michael, Sonny didn't mean
it. *Right*, Sonny?"

He rubbed his temples. "I didn't…I didn't meant to yell but could you get
Angel, *please*."

Carly nodded slowly. "Okay…Michael, come help me get your baby sister."

Sonny watched as Carly led Michael by the hand up the stairs. He sat down
on the couch. He covered his eyes and groaned. There was nothing wrong.
Everything will be all right after he saw the baby. The couch moved as
Carly joined him. He opened his eyes. Carly cradled Angel in her arms. He
murmured. "That was fast."

Carly just smiled mysteriously at him. "See? She's fine."

He reached out and touched the wisp of blond hair that covered the baby's
head. "I didn't mean to scare Michael."

Carly shifted the baby into his arms and laid her head on his shoulder.
"It's alright. He was just startled."

Sonny studied the baby's face. He smiled when she yawned widely in her
sleep. He whispered. "God, she's so…beautiful…"

Carly stroked the baby's soft cheek. "I know."

He glanced at her. "Thank you."

She looked at him warily. "For what? I didn't do anything."

"You know what you did." He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her
softly and quickly. "I shouldn't have to tell you."

He turned his attention back to the sleeping baby. "I think we should take
her out this afternoon, maybe take her and Michael on a picnic? It's nice
out. What do you think?"

It took Sonny a few moments before he realized that Carly hadn't answered
him. He glanced over and frowned when he saw that she was gone. Maybe she
went back upstairs to check on Michael. He called out. "Carly?"

Still no answer. He stood up with Angel in his arms and walked over to the
stairs. "Carly?"

Nothing. He went towards the kitchen. "Carly?"

He crossed the room and jerked open the door to ask the guard if he saw
Carly leave. But there was no guard at the door. He stuck his head out and
yelled into the hall. "Carly!"

There was still no answer. He strode towards the middle of the room.
"Where did your mother go?" He glanced down at Angel and was shocked to
discover that his arms were empty. "What the hell?"

He could have sworn that he had the baby in his arms. He ran back over to
the couch to see if maybe he left her there. The couch was empty. He looked
around in a panic. "Angel? Where are you, baby?"

He ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He threw open the door to
the nursery, only to discover it completely empty of furnishings and
people. "Angel? Carly?"

He turned around and went back downstairs. The living room was darkened and
his voice echoed as he repeated. "Angel? Carly!"

He was alone. He sank down on the couch and buried his face in his hands.
He was alone. There was no one there. Not Carly, Michael, or the baby. He
whispered hoarsely, "Carly…"

~*~*~
Once again Carly's feet took her in a different direction. She was
surprised to find herself outside of Sonny's door. She didn't know why she
was there or how she got there. Well, she thought, I'm not going to be the
only one up tonight. Might as well see if he wanted to get something to eat
and hopefully make her something also.

She raised her hand to knock on the door but decided against that. She
slowly opened the door and whispered. "Sonny? Hey Sonny, you awake?"

Her eyes widened when she heard him mumbled the baby's name followed by
hers. "*Sonny?*"

She quickly went over to the bed. "Hey, wake up."

It took her several minutes and she had to shake him a few times before he
finally opened his eyes. He stared at her without really seeing her. "Where
did you go?"

Carly shook her head, confused. "I'm right here. I didn't go anywhere."

"You left." He accused her harshly. "You *left*. And then so did she."

"Sonny, I don't know what you're talking about." She said sadly.

He suddenly shot up and grabbed her arms. The sadness in his eyes caused
her to shrink back. "She's *gone* Carly."