"Alright, Michael, why did you call me down to Kelly's?" Mike as he sat
down across from Sonny.
"I just wanted to get your opinion on something. Not your advice, not your
approval, just your opinion." Sonny reached into his pocket and pulled out
a ring box. He tossed it on the table and leaned back, stroking his chin.
Mike slowly looked at the box then at Sonny then back at the box again. He
picked it up and opened it. He whistled lowly at the size of the diamond.
Sonny grinned. "I was thinking it was time for me to settle down for real."
"You're going to ask Carly to marry you?" Mike said softly. "This is a
surprise. Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I asked Carly to move in with me and she turned me
down."
"So you decided to ask her to marry you instead? Michael, if she won't live
with you then she probably won't marry you."
"It's because I was asking her the wrong question. I figured it out the
other night. I love her, she loves me, and what do I do? I ask her to
*move* in?" Sonny shook his head. "I should have proposed. I should have
done it a long time ago. I'm crazy about the woman. I want the whole world
to know that I love Carly Spencer. I want her as my wife, Mike."
"Does this," Mike lowered his voice and looked around before continuing,
"have anything to do with Jason coming back? I mean, I've seen the way he
looks at her."
Sonny sat back. He fiddled with the salt shaker. "Part of it, I suppose.
But the thing is, I know she loves me. Yeah, she loves Jason. She'll never
stop loving him and I know that and respect that. I had to hear her every
night when she cried herself to sleep over him during those first few days.
I know how she feels but she's still with me. She loves me more. If she
wanted to be with Jason, I would have known by now. You know Carly, she's
never quiet about what she wants."
"So you really think she'll say yes?" Mike said doubtfully.
"Of course. I just have to get her alone. I've been busy the past few days
and every time I do get to see her there's always someone there."
"What about Jason? Have you considered his reaction?"
Sonny shrugged. "He'll just have to live with it."
~*~*~
Carly smiled at Jason as she let him into her apartment. "Hey you. Michael
and I haven't seen you in days. We missed you."
"I was busy with things for Sonny." Jason shoved his hands into his pockets
and walked past her.
"I guess Michael and I are going to have to get used to not having you
around 24/7, huh? I think I'll be able to handle it but Michael…He's
convinced you're like SuperDad or something." She laughed.
"I went to your job and V said you called in sick? Are you okay?" He asked
with concern.
"Yeah, yeah. Just a touch of that stomach flu that's going around. Just in
time for the holidays, yay!" Carly said sarcastically and ran her hands
through her hair.
"You sure you're okay? You look…bad." He frowned.
"You know just what to stay to turn a girl's head, don't you?" Carly
brushed past him and flopped down on the couch. She sat Indian-style and
looked up at him. "Sit, sit."
"If you're not feeling well I can come back another time." Jason began as
he sat next to her.
"I'm fine! I had a little run in with the porcelain god this morning so I
decided to skip work." Carly nudged him. "It's obvious you want to talk
about something. Why don't you just say it?"
"I was curious about your relationship with Sonny." Jason admitted.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to know, that's all. You guys got together after I left,
right?"
"It wasn't like that exactly. Yeah, I moved in, I kinda forced myself on
him. It was a long time before we even began to think of each other in that
way. I remember our first kiss. It happened during a fight, naturally."
Carly laughed and shook her head.
Jason clenched his jaw. "So it was gradual?"
"Yeah, it just kinda snuck up on us." Carly shrugged.
"And then you two broke up and you started dating Garcia."
Carly narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so curious?"
"I just want to know, I've been away for so long." Jason lied with a shrug.
"I left Sonny for the stupidest reason. I thought that our being together
was wrong for us. That I used him as a crutch to get over you." Carly
looked at him with a smile. "Turns out I was wrong."
"Were you?" Jason asked earnestly and inched closer to her. "Maybe Sonny
was just a replacement for me."
Carly laughed nervously. "Jason, what are you trying to say?"
Jason cupped her face. "I'm saying that now that I'm back you don't have to
be with him anymore. Carly, I want another chance."
Carly couldn't move as Jason came in for a kiss. She allowed him to slowly
kiss her. Part of her responded to his kiss and the other part just watched
in amazement as it happened. Finally she broke it off. She shook her head
and scrambled away from him, perching on the arm of the couch.
"Carly…"
"What do you think you're doing?" She pressed her hand to her mouth.
"What's the matter?" Jason was confused by her reaction.
"You can't just kiss me!" She exclaimed.
"You kissed me back." He pointed out. He couldn't understand why she was so
angry. This was what they both wanted, right?
"Yeah, I kissed you back because you surprised me and it's been so long
and…and…Look, I don't know why I kissed you back but you shouldn't have
kissed me in the first place. It was wrong."
"How was it wrong? I wanted it, you wanted it."
"I didn't want it. You said you wanted another chance and then you kissed
me. Jason, I can't give you that chance." Carly hesitated then said softly.
"It's too late for us."
"What?" He whispered.
Carly reached out to gently touch his cheek. He flinched and she brought
her hand back to her lap. "I'm sorry. I love Sonny. I just decided to move
in with him again."
"You…love…Sonny." Jason dragged each word out. He stood up, shoved his
hands into his pockets and stared at the wall.
Carly stood also. "You have to admit that we're better friends than
lovers."
Jason gave her a cold stare. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Jason. I had to move
on. I thought you were dead."
"'I thought you were dead.' That's a pretty good excuse." Jason muttered.
"It's not an excuse, it's the truth." Carly stated firmly. "You *were*
dead. I couldn't have lived my whole life dedicated to someone who was
died. What kind of life was I supposed to have, Jason?"
"All you had to do was wait and you couldn't do it." Jason accused her.
"Wait a second." Carly frowned. She'd heard those words before but where?
"What am I waiting for? To hear more about you and your love for Sonny? No
thanks." Jason started for the door.
Carly hadn't heard him. She was too busy trying to remember where she knew
that phrase. Finally it came to her. That dream she had about Sonny and
Alex, the one where she had to choose between them and Jason had shown up
at the end. Was it her subconscious trying to tell her that Jason wasn't
dead after all?
She turned and saw Jason almost gone. "Jason, wait."
He paused. "Why?"
"Look, don't leave here angry. I want to still be friends. Can we?" She
said softly.
"I need some time to think about this."
"Why are you acting like the wronged party here?" She snapped. "You
couldn't have expected that I would fall into your arms the moment you came
back, did you?"
Jason looked guilty at his feet. "Not exactly…"
"God, how selfish are you? You can't be that upset about this." Carly's
expression softened as she stared at his dejected pose. "Are you?"
"Carly, I told you how long I dreamed about you, right?" He murmured.
"Yeah, but that was just about the sex."
"It was more than that." He rubbed his face. "Damn it, I fell in love with
you. How do you think it feels to fall in love with some woman you didn't
know, get your memory back and still be in love with her only to return
home and find out that she loves someone else. Your best friend."
"Jase, I didn't know…" Carly bit her lip.
He shook his head. "Don't…don't worry about it."
"But—"
"I said, don't worry about it. I'll just need more time to get used to it
all, okay? If you don't mind, don't invite me over for any group dinners
with Sonny for awhile, all right?"
~*~*~
"And where do you think you're going, young lady?" Keesha had to wince at
her own tone and choice of words. She sounded like her mother for God sake.
Melinda paused in putting her coat and frowned at Keesha. "Out. People put
on their coats to go outside and that's what I'm doing. See you later." She
shrugged in her coat and started to open the door.
"I don't think so." Keesha snapped. "Have you seen your room lately?"
"Uh, yeah? I live in it remember?" Melinda said sarcastically. She rolled
her eyes.
"Mel, don't take that tone of voice with her." Taggert said as he came out
of the kitchen. "Show her some respect."
"Oh of course, Uncle Marcus, I'll never do it again." Melinda batted her
lashes at Taggert. "Is that all? Because I'm meeting people."
"You're not going anywhere until you clean that room of yours. It's
disgusting and a mess like attracts bugs. I will not have bugs in my
house." Again, Keesha was reminded of her mother.
Melinda turned to Taggert. "Can I just do it tomorrow, Uncle Marcus?"
Keesha shook her head. Not this again. Ever since Katarina left, whenever
she and Melinda disagreed on something she immediately ran to Taggert to
intervene.
Taggert held up his hands and backed towards the door. "I am not involved
in this. This is between you and Keesha. I'm sick of you putting me in the
middle. I'm going out with Garcia, I going get him drunk and hopefully he
won't talk about Carly the whole night. The fool is still in love with her.
When I come back I want this to be settled."
He grabbed his coat and quickly left. Melinda waited a beat before saying.
"So I'll see you later."
"Uh-uh." Keesha grabbed her arm and tried to lead her to the room. Melinda
snatched her arm away.
"Hey!"
"Look you will clean that room, now." Keesha gritted out.
"I told you I'll do it later. I've got plans." Melinda snapped.
"You can get away with that attitude with your mother and your uncle but
not with me." Keesha folded her arms. "You leave here today and I'm
changing the locks on you. You will not be welcome back in until you can
respect me and my rules."
Melinda folded her arms also and smirked. "You can't do that. Uncle Marcus
won't let you."
Keesha slowly raised her eyebrow. "Then Marcus will get locked also."
Melinda narrowed her eyes. She couldn't be serious. "You're lying."
"I will not be disrespected in my own home. If Marcus doesn't understand
that…" Keesha trailed off and shrugged.
Melinda studied her. She shook her head. She was bluffing, she had to be.
"Yeah, right, if I leave you're not going to do that. You don't have the
guts."
Keesha leaned forward and looked straight into her eyes. She said slowly
and deliberately. "Try me."
They stared at each other in silence for several moments. Melinda was the
first to look away. "God, all this just because of a dirty room?"
"It's more than that Melinda and you know it. Are you going to clean it or
are you going to be looking for a new place to stay while you're out?"
Melinda rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. She shrugged out of her
jacket and stomped past Keesha, muttering the whole way. "This is
unbelievable, I should have stayed at the school."
Keesha smirked and nodded to herself in satisfaction. Round one, me.
~*~*~
Elizabeth covered another yawn as she listened to Jason go on and on. She
glanced around the docks for something interesting to look at. She was
getting pretty good at pretending to listen. It helped him open up to her.
Ever since that night at the docks she started to search out Jason more and
more. She was going to win his friendship and rub it in Emily's face if it
killed her. But God he could be boring, going on and on about how Carly
dumped him. She was confused about how the two of them even had a
relationship when everyone in town knew about her and Sonny Corinthos.
"And she wants to be friends and I'm supposed to be okay with that? I'm
supposed to be happy that she and Sonny are involved?" Jason ranted.
"It's not right, Jason, not right at all." Elizabeth shook her head.
"Anyone can see that she's still in love with you."
"You think so?" Jason looked at her, then shook his head, unable to
actually hope for it. "I'm beginning to think it's not the kind of love
that I want."
"Poor Jason." Elizabeth pouted. "There's a woman out there for you. I'm
positive."
"Maybe. Listen to me, dumping all my problems on you. That's not like me at
all."
"I really didn't mind. I love to hear about other people's problems." She
lied. "I like to help. I want to help you anyway I can."
"Just listening helped, thanks." He touched her arm.
"You're welcome." She smiled at him.
He nodded and an easy silence fell between them. Finally he said. "I'm
sorry, am I keeping you from something?"
"Actually, I should get going, I have a class. Could you perhaps give me a
ride to campus? I'm a little late."
"I kept you here listening to me, I owe you that much."
~*~*~
"Stefan?" Carly said in surprise as she opened the door to him the next
day.
"I visited your place of work but Mrs. Jacks said you took the day off?"
"I'm a little sick."
"She said it was the second day in a row?"
"The *flu*." She shrugged. "It's no big deal."
"I apologize if I have somehow overstepped my boundaries."
Carly hurried to assure him. "Oh, no, no, it's just that everyone keeps
jumping down my throat about it. Why are you here?"
"May I come in?"
"Right." Carly stepped aside. They walked over to the couch and sat down
facing each other. After a few minutes of silence, Carly nodded and said,
"Well, this was a productive visit."
"I came by to inform you that I will be removing the guards."
"That's good to know." Carly said. "I was getting tired of seeing them
freezing their butts off standing outside. Do you know how cold it's been?"
"I am aware of that." Stefan nodded. "The danger I was afraid of has
passed."
"Do you mind telling me exactly what I was in danger from?" Carly pressed.
"I was afraid that an associate of Victor's would have come after you."
"Why?" Carly questioned, then she held up her hand. "Wait, I bet it's just
one of those Cassadine things I'm better off not knowing. I just don't have
to fear this guy anymore, right?"
"That is correct."
"So that's it?" Carly started to stand. "Thanks for stopping by then."
"Actually, there is more." Carly flopped back down. Stefan stared into her
eyes. "I would like to be your father, Carly."
"Hey, we already went over this. I do not want or need a father." Carly
jumped back up again.
"Perhaps that didn't come out as well as I had planned. I would like to
attempt a relationship with you. We've talked about it before but neither
of us has taken the steps to putting such a plan into motion."
Carly rolled her eyes at his way of putting things. "You want to do lunch a
few times? Fine, as long as you're paying."
"I want more than that, Carly, and you know it. I already missed out on too
many years of your life."
"Well, whose fault is that?" Carly snapped and folded her arms in anger.
She sat back down but wouldn't look him in the eye.
"It is my fault and I apologized for that. Do you understand how much it
hurt me to know that I had a daughter out there somewhere that I couldn't
claim as my own?"
"Do you know how much it hurt me to have to live with the Bensons and live
with the fact that my own parents didn't want me?" Carly shot back. "Don't
try to lay a guilt trip on me."
"Carly, you were wanted, by me at least. I cannot speak for your mother.
However at the time it was impossible for me to come and get you. By the
time I could I felt it was best to leave you where you were. I didn't want
to disrupt your life."
Carly stared down at her hands. "You don't understand what it was like…"
"Tell me." Stefan gently took her hand in his. "I want to know."
"No." She shook her head. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered that
night.
***Bang! Bang! The gun went off. Frank went down. All Caroline saw was the
blood. The blood was everywhere. Everywhere she looked was blood. She could
hear Virginia screaming over and over in the background, "What have you
done, Caroline? What have you done!"***
She closed her eyes and whispered hoarsely. "I can't tell."
Stefan started to touch her cheek. He hesitated before wiping away the
tears that escaped. He murmured. "That is fine. I can wait until you feel
that you can confide in me."
Carly swallowed hard. "No…I…no."
"It's alright. Let's put the past behind us. I can't change the way I
handled things but I do want to make amends. I want to be able to look at
you and say to the world that you are my daughter."
"You want people to know about me? You don't know me that well do you?"
Carly sniffed.
"I don't." He admitted. "But you are a Cassadine. I already have a feeling
what you can be like."
"Don't just throw the name Cassadine out there like that." Carly said. "I
don't feel like a Cassadine. Hell, I'm just getting use to being a
Spencer!"
"I'm not asking you to take my name, though it would please me very much."
He arched his eyebrow.
"Uh-uh, don't even think it." Carly swore. "How about one step at a time?"
"All right. I won't push the subject again. But I still want to get to know
you. And Michael."
"Michael would love to have another grandfather. But watch out. He has
Jerry, Alan, and Edward completely wrapped around his finger. You might be
his next victim."
"It would be a great honor." He nodded. "He is a charming little boy."
"He is, isn't he?" Carly beamed with motherly pride, latching onto the
subject. "Christmas is coming up and so is his birthday."
"If it's alright with you I would like to give him a gift?" Stefan said
hopefully.
"Michael loves gifts. One more wouldn't hurt. Just don't do anything
extravagant like an island or a castle. He's only a little boy." She
laughed.
"I'll try to keep it small then. Is there anything in particular that you
want?"
"For myself for Christmas?" Carly sat back shocked by the suggestion. She
thought about it. "No, I have everything I need. My best friend's alive, my
son's happy and healthy, I'm in love. I'm fine."
"I only ask because I owe you for all the Christmases and birthdays that I
missed. All your firsts that I should have been there for." Stefan broke
off and looked away.
Carly screwed up her face and tried to fight her tears. "Don't do that.
Don't make me feel sorry for you!" She took a deep breath. "Look, you want
start new? Start a fresh relationship, where you don't owe me anything?
Then fine, it's all right with me. Just don't make me feel sad about all
the things we missed out together, okay?"
They sat in silence again. Stefan started to answer her but then,
"The door was open so we let ourselves in." Eve said as she and Emily
trooped into the living room. They stopped short when they saw Stefan.
"Oops, we'll come back."
"That's quite all right, I was on my way out." Stefan stood.
Carly stood also and wiped her face. "I'll call you sometime this week.
We'll have lunch when I'm feeling better. We can talk about Michael's
gift."
"Hey, are you alright?" Emily frowned at Carly's tears.
"Yeah, my father just got me a little emotional that's all." Carly tried to
pretend not to see the way Stefan's face brightened at her use of the word
father. "Let me walk him out to the door, I'll be right back."
They walked to the door. Stefan was still beaming about the father comment.
Carly scowled. "Don't let it go to your head."
"Feel free to say it anytime." He remembered their encounter at his office
and the way she called him Dad. "Just not in an insulting manner."
"Get out of here." She said with a mock frown. Then surprising herself and
him she gave him a quick peek on the cheek. "Alright, now go."
He smiled and nodded. Carly closed the door behind him and leaned against
it for a second. She sighed heavily. Then she remembered Emily and Eve.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We're supposed to have lunch, remember?" Emily reminded her. "Karen's
meeting us here."
"I totally forgot." Carly smacked her forehead. "I've been so sick lately."
"Yeah, how are you?" Emily asked.
"Fine, I think the bug finally past over. I only stayed home today because
I was a little queasy this morning." She rubbed her stomach and glanced at
Emily. "What about you? How are you doing? You disappear for days and then
you just show up out of nowhere?"
"I'm sorry for the disappearing act. I've got my head on straight now."
"What is going on with you and Nikolas?" Carly asked.
"We're in a relationship of sorts." Emily shrugged. "Right now, we have
this little bet thing going on."
"What kind of bet?" Eve asked.
"Um, how long we can go without sex."
"What?" Carly laughed. "Who came up with that?"
"I did. Our whole relationship is based on sex." Emily wailed.
"No, it's not, you've guys have been friends for years." Carly reminded
her.
"Yeah but—"
"If it was just sex, then why was he banging on your door for hours trying
to get you to let him in?" Jason had told Carly the whole story.
"Yeah but—"
"You guys are not about sex. He cares about you, you care about him, it's
simple." Carly shrugged.
Emily frowned. "Could I at least say something? I'm think I was wrong to
think that. I mean it's so hard. Nikolas is fighting dirty. We go out and
have a nice time but when it comes to saying goodnight, he always leaves me
wanting more. I can't stand it anymore."
"How long has it been?" Eve asked.
"Only a few days." Emily admitted sheepishly.
"You're a wild woman, you can't control yourself." Eve laughed.
Emily scowled at her. "Thanks, I feel so much better."
Eve turned serious. "Look, you and Nikolas are wasting too much time
testing the relationship. If it's going to work out you just need to go
with the flow."
"Listen to her." Carly advised.
"Speaking of the flow. I think I know why you're sick, Carly." Eve
announced.
"Yeah, the flu."
Eve shook her head. "This isn't the flu. Carly, when was the last time you
had your period?"
"You don't think…It can't be!" Carly exclaimed.
"Wanna bet?" Eve whipped out a paper bag. She had stopped at the drugstore
before coming by so she was prepared.
"You didn't." Carly gasped.
"Take the test, Carly, just so you can be sure." Eve urged.
"You're being ridiculous. I'm late that's all."
"You're having morning sickness." Emily said.
"I'm sick!" Carly denied.
"Are you sure?" Eve arched an eyebrow.
Carly grabbed the paper bag and started to march towards the bathroom. "I'm
going to prove you wrong. I am *not* pregnant!"
~*~*~
"Hey Lucky." Nikolas called out to him as he entered Kelly's. "I figured
I'd find you here. Do you ever go anyplace?"
"Why are you complaining? It's easier to find me right?" Lucky smirked. He
lost the smirk as he studied Nikolas. "You look like crap."
"It's Emily." He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. "She's
driving me crazy."
"Hey, I told you, I'm Switzerland. Don't put me in the middle." Lucky held
up his hands.
"I'm not putting you in the middle. It's just that she's got this crazy
idea that I'm only with her for the sex."
Lucky placed his hands over his ears. "La la la la. I'm not listening
because number one, I don't need to hear about your sex life and number
two, I'm not getting in this."
"Lucky, grow up." Nikolas growled. "She thinks I don't care."
He sighed and took his hands down. "Okay, I'll be…England for a few
minutes. Emily is crazy if she doesn't think you care about her. Figure out
a way to show her that it's more than her body you're interested in. And
now I'm back to Switzerland."
"Thanks." Nikolas clapped him on the back. "You got any problems I can help
you with?"
"Yeah, she's about yea tall, blond, and drives me nuts!" Lucky said.
"Maxie still at it?"
"The girl never gives up."
"Admit it, you like the attention." Nikolas laughed.
"I don't!" Lucky denied. Then he groaned. "She drives me crazy and I like
it. I think I like it too much."
"If you like it, what's wrong with it?"
"Because I shouldn't encourage it." Lucky said.
"Why? Don't you like her?"
"Yeah, I like Maxie." He said fiercely with a frown.
Nikolas scratched his ear. "Uh, Lucky, if you like the attention, and you
like her, why shouldn't you encourage it?"
"Uh…" Lucky thought about it. "I have no idea!"
"Lucky, you need to open your eyes. There is no reason you shouldn't pursue
whatever this thing is with Maxie. It's not like she's giving you a choice
in the matter. You see what you want and you go for it."
"Just because you did that with Emily, doesn't mean it's the right thing
for me." He mumbled.
"What happened to Switzerland?" Nikolas raised his eyebrow.
"It took a break." Lucky sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
"You're going to follow your…er, heart." Nikolas smiled. "Look, I gotta go
but good luck in whatever you decide."
~*~*~
"I'm pregnant." Carly announced glumly as she walked into the kitchen. Eve,
Emily, and latecomer Karen had taken over her kitchen and began lunch while
she was away. They all stopped what they were doing.
"What?" Karen's jaw dropped down. Eve had told her, her suspicions but she
hadn't believed her.
"I can't believe this." Carly buried her face in her hands.
Emily walked over to her and threw her arm around her. "Come on, this is a
good thing."
Carly glared at her and Emily backed away. "I hadn't planned on having
anymore children. Michael was always enough for me."
"Well now you'll have one more." Eve beamed.
"You are just too happy about this." Carly narrowed her eyes.
"I love being Aunt Eve. It's fun."
"I cannot wait until you get pregnant. When you're three hundred pounds
with swollen feet and can't keep anything down I'm going to laugh at you. I
swear!" Carly vowed.
Eve rolled her eyes. "Don't say it. Chris is making noises about starting a
family right after we get married."
"God. I hope he succeeds and you end up with triplets." Carly grumbled.
"Whatever." Eve kept on smiling. "I'm godmother right?"
"Hey, what about me?" Emily protested.
"You have Michael. I was the one who figured out that she was pregnant
anyway." Eve said smugly.
"Um, what about Sonny?" Karen piped up. "How's he going to feel about
this?"
Carly ran her hands through her hair. "God, I hadn't even thought about
him. How in the world am I going to tell him?"
"Candlelight and negligée." Karen suggested. "Distract him."
"Hmm, I'll think about it." Carly dropped her hand to her stomach. "I
just…I'm pregnant. Wow."
~*~*~
After Nikolas left Lucky came to a decision. He might as well see how far
this thing with him and Maxie would go. He started out for her house but
was only a few blocks away when he saw her coming towards him. "Hi."
"Hey, I was just coming to see you." She smiled.
"I figured. I was on my way to see you too." He murmured. "How have you
been doing, you know with your father leaving and everything?"
Maxie waved her hand. "I don't want to talk about that. You were coming to
see me? Really?" She grinned at him. She couldn't believe it.
"Yeah."
"Why?" Maxie frowned, suspicious of his reasons.
"I gotta have a reason to come see you?" He teased.
"Yeah, because you don't seek me out. It's the other way around. What are
you up to?" She tilted her head.
"I wanted to see you." He swore.
"Because…?"
"Because…because…This is harder than I thought." He muttered.
"Spit it out, it's easier that way."
"You want to do something? Get something to eat, go ice skating, I don't
know?" He said in a rush.
She gaped at him. "Did you just…did you just ask me out?"
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He didn't understand why Maxie
Jones was making him nervous but she was. He felt like he was a kid again
asking a girl out for the first time. He mumbled. "Yeah, I did."
"Well you have to do better than that." Maxie folded her arms and waited.
"What?"
"I've invested too much just to have you say, 'you want to do something?'
Please." Maxie rolled her eyes. "I want better."
"You should just be happy with what you get." Lucky glared at her. He
turned around and started to walk away. He didn't even get a few feet
before turning around. He threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! Maxie, will
you go out on a date with me?"
"Sure." She beamed and threw her arms around his neck. She gave him a quick
kiss. "All you had to do was ask."
~*~*~
Emily walked down the stairs of the docks. She was on her way to Wyndemere
to see Nikolas. She smiled when she saw him on the docks, obviously waiting
for the launch. She smiled to herself and called out. "Nikolas!"
Nikolas turned around to see Emily running down the stairs and towards him.
She stopped short a few feet. He opened his arms. "Emily."
She ran the rest of the way and jumped into his arms. She covered his mouth
with a long deep kiss. Nikolas immediately understood what the kiss meant.
Nikolas broke off the kiss to whisper. "What about the no sex thing?"
"Nikolas, do you really want to go back to that?"
"It was only a few days." Nikolas teased. "You couldn't hold out that
long?"
"Could you?" Emily shot back.
He shook his head with a smile. "I was just debating whether or not I
should get on the launch or go to your place."
"But what does this say about us?" Emily worried.
"It says that we like being together and there's nothing wrong with it."
Nikolas ran his hands through her hair. "Really, Emily, you're worrying too
much about nothing."
"So what do we do now?" Emily chewed her lip.
"Wyndemere's closer than your place." Nikolas suggested with an arched
eyebrow. He released her and took a step back. He held his hand out to her.
"Emily?"
Emily hesitated for only a second. Then she smiled slowly and took his
hand. "All right."
~*~*~
"Hello." Carly leaned against the doorjamb and gave Sonny her sexiest
smile.
Sonny did a classic double take. Carly was dressed in a slinky black
negligée with soft music playing in the background. The lights were dimmed
down low. He smiled slowly as he took in the arrangements. He had a feeling
that Michael was conveniently away at someone else's house that evening. It
was good thing he remembered to grab the ring box on his way out.
"I'm so glad you could get here so quick." Carly helped him out of his
coat. She took his hand and led him over to the couch.
"You said it was important." Sonny sat down and looked up in surprise when
Carly straddled. He placed his hands on her waist. "Hello."
"Hi." She murmured.
"I assume we're alone." He looked around.
"Yeah. I wanted to spend some time alone with you. I have something very
important to tell you. I have a…surprise for you."
"If it's from you then I'll love it." Sonny cupped her face and brought her
down for long slow kiss. Her hair fell down creating a curtain around them.
Carly raised her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. "That can wait
until after I tell you my surprise. Reserve judgment until you find out
what it is. You may not like it."
"Carly, just tell me—wait, I have something for you." Sonny shifted under
her and dug into his pocket.
"Sonny, let me say this while I have the courage." Carly took a deep
breath.
"I'm taking back my invitation to move in."
Carly gaped at him. "What? Why? Well, I might as well spit it out now.
Sonny—"
Sonny pulled out the ring box and opened. "Carly, will you marry me?"
"I'm pregnant." She said at the same time.
The two of them stared at each other in silence. Finally Carly said slowly.
"What did you just say?"
"I asked you to marry me. Did you say *pregnant*?" Sonny demanded.
Carly scrambled off of him. "I can't believe this."
"I can't believe it either. You're pregnant." Sonny grinned and placed his
hand over her still flat stomach.
"Forget the pregnancy, you just asked me to marry you!" Carly's voice rose.
"Carly, I think this is a little more important than a marriage proposal.
You're having my baby, it's…a miracle." Sonny grinned at her as he gently
caressed her stomach.
"It was kind of a surprise." Carly smiled weakly. "I had just decided to
move in and—"
"You were going to move in after all?"
"Yeah, I had this…little run in with Jason and it opened my eyes."
"What did he do?" Sonny demanded.
"He didn't do anything." Carly quickly lied. The last thing she wanted to
do was start a fight between the friends.
"He must have done something." Sonny gritted out.
"He just kissed me, that's all." Carly said causally. When she saw Sonny's
eyes glaze over she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "Hey, I
think we have more important things to deal with than your jealousy."
"I'm not jealous." He muttered. "But you're right, we have this baby to
think about. When did you find out for sure?"
"I took a at home test the other day and when it came out positive, Eve
helped me get another one done at the hospital. That one came out positive
also." Carly's eyes glowed.
"You're happy about this?" Sonny said softly.
"It took me awhile to get used to the idea but I am, aren't you?" She said
hesitantly.
"Of course I am." Sonny took her into his arms and dragged her onto his
lap. "Carly, I've always wanted to have a baby with you. This baby is a
blessing."
Carly snuggled into his arms. "Out of all the times we forgot the birth
control I actually get pregnant this time. I guess it was meant to happen
now."
"You know, you haven't answered my question." Sonny murmured and pulled the
ring box from the out of the seat cushions it had slipped under. He held it
open for her. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes, of course!" Carly grinned. She held out her hand for him to slip the
ring on. She admired the ring on her finger. "How soon do you want to get
married?"
"I wouldn't mind doing it as soon as possible. I'd rather we'd be married
before the baby comes."
"Me too. We don't need a big ceremony." Carly looked up. "So we're getting
married then?"
"Don't sound so excited." Sonny frowned.
"It's just so overwhelming. Okay, how's this. We're getting married!" Carly
squealed.
"Don't forget the baby." Sonny reminded her.
Carly threw her hands up and exclaimed. "And we're pregnant too!"
Sonny laughed and hugged her to him. He kissed her softly. "I love you."
She kissed him back and ran her hands through his hair. "I love you too."
Sonny touched her stomach and whispered. "You too, little one."
down across from Sonny.
"I just wanted to get your opinion on something. Not your advice, not your
approval, just your opinion." Sonny reached into his pocket and pulled out
a ring box. He tossed it on the table and leaned back, stroking his chin.
Mike slowly looked at the box then at Sonny then back at the box again. He
picked it up and opened it. He whistled lowly at the size of the diamond.
Sonny grinned. "I was thinking it was time for me to settle down for real."
"You're going to ask Carly to marry you?" Mike said softly. "This is a
surprise. Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I asked Carly to move in with me and she turned me
down."
"So you decided to ask her to marry you instead? Michael, if she won't live
with you then she probably won't marry you."
"It's because I was asking her the wrong question. I figured it out the
other night. I love her, she loves me, and what do I do? I ask her to
*move* in?" Sonny shook his head. "I should have proposed. I should have
done it a long time ago. I'm crazy about the woman. I want the whole world
to know that I love Carly Spencer. I want her as my wife, Mike."
"Does this," Mike lowered his voice and looked around before continuing,
"have anything to do with Jason coming back? I mean, I've seen the way he
looks at her."
Sonny sat back. He fiddled with the salt shaker. "Part of it, I suppose.
But the thing is, I know she loves me. Yeah, she loves Jason. She'll never
stop loving him and I know that and respect that. I had to hear her every
night when she cried herself to sleep over him during those first few days.
I know how she feels but she's still with me. She loves me more. If she
wanted to be with Jason, I would have known by now. You know Carly, she's
never quiet about what she wants."
"So you really think she'll say yes?" Mike said doubtfully.
"Of course. I just have to get her alone. I've been busy the past few days
and every time I do get to see her there's always someone there."
"What about Jason? Have you considered his reaction?"
Sonny shrugged. "He'll just have to live with it."
~*~*~
Carly smiled at Jason as she let him into her apartment. "Hey you. Michael
and I haven't seen you in days. We missed you."
"I was busy with things for Sonny." Jason shoved his hands into his pockets
and walked past her.
"I guess Michael and I are going to have to get used to not having you
around 24/7, huh? I think I'll be able to handle it but Michael…He's
convinced you're like SuperDad or something." She laughed.
"I went to your job and V said you called in sick? Are you okay?" He asked
with concern.
"Yeah, yeah. Just a touch of that stomach flu that's going around. Just in
time for the holidays, yay!" Carly said sarcastically and ran her hands
through her hair.
"You sure you're okay? You look…bad." He frowned.
"You know just what to stay to turn a girl's head, don't you?" Carly
brushed past him and flopped down on the couch. She sat Indian-style and
looked up at him. "Sit, sit."
"If you're not feeling well I can come back another time." Jason began as
he sat next to her.
"I'm fine! I had a little run in with the porcelain god this morning so I
decided to skip work." Carly nudged him. "It's obvious you want to talk
about something. Why don't you just say it?"
"I was curious about your relationship with Sonny." Jason admitted.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to know, that's all. You guys got together after I left,
right?"
"It wasn't like that exactly. Yeah, I moved in, I kinda forced myself on
him. It was a long time before we even began to think of each other in that
way. I remember our first kiss. It happened during a fight, naturally."
Carly laughed and shook her head.
Jason clenched his jaw. "So it was gradual?"
"Yeah, it just kinda snuck up on us." Carly shrugged.
"And then you two broke up and you started dating Garcia."
Carly narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so curious?"
"I just want to know, I've been away for so long." Jason lied with a shrug.
"I left Sonny for the stupidest reason. I thought that our being together
was wrong for us. That I used him as a crutch to get over you." Carly
looked at him with a smile. "Turns out I was wrong."
"Were you?" Jason asked earnestly and inched closer to her. "Maybe Sonny
was just a replacement for me."
Carly laughed nervously. "Jason, what are you trying to say?"
Jason cupped her face. "I'm saying that now that I'm back you don't have to
be with him anymore. Carly, I want another chance."
Carly couldn't move as Jason came in for a kiss. She allowed him to slowly
kiss her. Part of her responded to his kiss and the other part just watched
in amazement as it happened. Finally she broke it off. She shook her head
and scrambled away from him, perching on the arm of the couch.
"Carly…"
"What do you think you're doing?" She pressed her hand to her mouth.
"What's the matter?" Jason was confused by her reaction.
"You can't just kiss me!" She exclaimed.
"You kissed me back." He pointed out. He couldn't understand why she was so
angry. This was what they both wanted, right?
"Yeah, I kissed you back because you surprised me and it's been so long
and…and…Look, I don't know why I kissed you back but you shouldn't have
kissed me in the first place. It was wrong."
"How was it wrong? I wanted it, you wanted it."
"I didn't want it. You said you wanted another chance and then you kissed
me. Jason, I can't give you that chance." Carly hesitated then said softly.
"It's too late for us."
"What?" He whispered.
Carly reached out to gently touch his cheek. He flinched and she brought
her hand back to her lap. "I'm sorry. I love Sonny. I just decided to move
in with him again."
"You…love…Sonny." Jason dragged each word out. He stood up, shoved his
hands into his pockets and stared at the wall.
Carly stood also. "You have to admit that we're better friends than
lovers."
Jason gave her a cold stare. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Jason. I had to move
on. I thought you were dead."
"'I thought you were dead.' That's a pretty good excuse." Jason muttered.
"It's not an excuse, it's the truth." Carly stated firmly. "You *were*
dead. I couldn't have lived my whole life dedicated to someone who was
died. What kind of life was I supposed to have, Jason?"
"All you had to do was wait and you couldn't do it." Jason accused her.
"Wait a second." Carly frowned. She'd heard those words before but where?
"What am I waiting for? To hear more about you and your love for Sonny? No
thanks." Jason started for the door.
Carly hadn't heard him. She was too busy trying to remember where she knew
that phrase. Finally it came to her. That dream she had about Sonny and
Alex, the one where she had to choose between them and Jason had shown up
at the end. Was it her subconscious trying to tell her that Jason wasn't
dead after all?
She turned and saw Jason almost gone. "Jason, wait."
He paused. "Why?"
"Look, don't leave here angry. I want to still be friends. Can we?" She
said softly.
"I need some time to think about this."
"Why are you acting like the wronged party here?" She snapped. "You
couldn't have expected that I would fall into your arms the moment you came
back, did you?"
Jason looked guilty at his feet. "Not exactly…"
"God, how selfish are you? You can't be that upset about this." Carly's
expression softened as she stared at his dejected pose. "Are you?"
"Carly, I told you how long I dreamed about you, right?" He murmured.
"Yeah, but that was just about the sex."
"It was more than that." He rubbed his face. "Damn it, I fell in love with
you. How do you think it feels to fall in love with some woman you didn't
know, get your memory back and still be in love with her only to return
home and find out that she loves someone else. Your best friend."
"Jase, I didn't know…" Carly bit her lip.
He shook his head. "Don't…don't worry about it."
"But—"
"I said, don't worry about it. I'll just need more time to get used to it
all, okay? If you don't mind, don't invite me over for any group dinners
with Sonny for awhile, all right?"
~*~*~
"And where do you think you're going, young lady?" Keesha had to wince at
her own tone and choice of words. She sounded like her mother for God sake.
Melinda paused in putting her coat and frowned at Keesha. "Out. People put
on their coats to go outside and that's what I'm doing. See you later." She
shrugged in her coat and started to open the door.
"I don't think so." Keesha snapped. "Have you seen your room lately?"
"Uh, yeah? I live in it remember?" Melinda said sarcastically. She rolled
her eyes.
"Mel, don't take that tone of voice with her." Taggert said as he came out
of the kitchen. "Show her some respect."
"Oh of course, Uncle Marcus, I'll never do it again." Melinda batted her
lashes at Taggert. "Is that all? Because I'm meeting people."
"You're not going anywhere until you clean that room of yours. It's
disgusting and a mess like attracts bugs. I will not have bugs in my
house." Again, Keesha was reminded of her mother.
Melinda turned to Taggert. "Can I just do it tomorrow, Uncle Marcus?"
Keesha shook her head. Not this again. Ever since Katarina left, whenever
she and Melinda disagreed on something she immediately ran to Taggert to
intervene.
Taggert held up his hands and backed towards the door. "I am not involved
in this. This is between you and Keesha. I'm sick of you putting me in the
middle. I'm going out with Garcia, I going get him drunk and hopefully he
won't talk about Carly the whole night. The fool is still in love with her.
When I come back I want this to be settled."
He grabbed his coat and quickly left. Melinda waited a beat before saying.
"So I'll see you later."
"Uh-uh." Keesha grabbed her arm and tried to lead her to the room. Melinda
snatched her arm away.
"Hey!"
"Look you will clean that room, now." Keesha gritted out.
"I told you I'll do it later. I've got plans." Melinda snapped.
"You can get away with that attitude with your mother and your uncle but
not with me." Keesha folded her arms. "You leave here today and I'm
changing the locks on you. You will not be welcome back in until you can
respect me and my rules."
Melinda folded her arms also and smirked. "You can't do that. Uncle Marcus
won't let you."
Keesha slowly raised her eyebrow. "Then Marcus will get locked also."
Melinda narrowed her eyes. She couldn't be serious. "You're lying."
"I will not be disrespected in my own home. If Marcus doesn't understand
that…" Keesha trailed off and shrugged.
Melinda studied her. She shook her head. She was bluffing, she had to be.
"Yeah, right, if I leave you're not going to do that. You don't have the
guts."
Keesha leaned forward and looked straight into her eyes. She said slowly
and deliberately. "Try me."
They stared at each other in silence for several moments. Melinda was the
first to look away. "God, all this just because of a dirty room?"
"It's more than that Melinda and you know it. Are you going to clean it or
are you going to be looking for a new place to stay while you're out?"
Melinda rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. She shrugged out of her
jacket and stomped past Keesha, muttering the whole way. "This is
unbelievable, I should have stayed at the school."
Keesha smirked and nodded to herself in satisfaction. Round one, me.
~*~*~
Elizabeth covered another yawn as she listened to Jason go on and on. She
glanced around the docks for something interesting to look at. She was
getting pretty good at pretending to listen. It helped him open up to her.
Ever since that night at the docks she started to search out Jason more and
more. She was going to win his friendship and rub it in Emily's face if it
killed her. But God he could be boring, going on and on about how Carly
dumped him. She was confused about how the two of them even had a
relationship when everyone in town knew about her and Sonny Corinthos.
"And she wants to be friends and I'm supposed to be okay with that? I'm
supposed to be happy that she and Sonny are involved?" Jason ranted.
"It's not right, Jason, not right at all." Elizabeth shook her head.
"Anyone can see that she's still in love with you."
"You think so?" Jason looked at her, then shook his head, unable to
actually hope for it. "I'm beginning to think it's not the kind of love
that I want."
"Poor Jason." Elizabeth pouted. "There's a woman out there for you. I'm
positive."
"Maybe. Listen to me, dumping all my problems on you. That's not like me at
all."
"I really didn't mind. I love to hear about other people's problems." She
lied. "I like to help. I want to help you anyway I can."
"Just listening helped, thanks." He touched her arm.
"You're welcome." She smiled at him.
He nodded and an easy silence fell between them. Finally he said. "I'm
sorry, am I keeping you from something?"
"Actually, I should get going, I have a class. Could you perhaps give me a
ride to campus? I'm a little late."
"I kept you here listening to me, I owe you that much."
~*~*~
"Stefan?" Carly said in surprise as she opened the door to him the next
day.
"I visited your place of work but Mrs. Jacks said you took the day off?"
"I'm a little sick."
"She said it was the second day in a row?"
"The *flu*." She shrugged. "It's no big deal."
"I apologize if I have somehow overstepped my boundaries."
Carly hurried to assure him. "Oh, no, no, it's just that everyone keeps
jumping down my throat about it. Why are you here?"
"May I come in?"
"Right." Carly stepped aside. They walked over to the couch and sat down
facing each other. After a few minutes of silence, Carly nodded and said,
"Well, this was a productive visit."
"I came by to inform you that I will be removing the guards."
"That's good to know." Carly said. "I was getting tired of seeing them
freezing their butts off standing outside. Do you know how cold it's been?"
"I am aware of that." Stefan nodded. "The danger I was afraid of has
passed."
"Do you mind telling me exactly what I was in danger from?" Carly pressed.
"I was afraid that an associate of Victor's would have come after you."
"Why?" Carly questioned, then she held up her hand. "Wait, I bet it's just
one of those Cassadine things I'm better off not knowing. I just don't have
to fear this guy anymore, right?"
"That is correct."
"So that's it?" Carly started to stand. "Thanks for stopping by then."
"Actually, there is more." Carly flopped back down. Stefan stared into her
eyes. "I would like to be your father, Carly."
"Hey, we already went over this. I do not want or need a father." Carly
jumped back up again.
"Perhaps that didn't come out as well as I had planned. I would like to
attempt a relationship with you. We've talked about it before but neither
of us has taken the steps to putting such a plan into motion."
Carly rolled her eyes at his way of putting things. "You want to do lunch a
few times? Fine, as long as you're paying."
"I want more than that, Carly, and you know it. I already missed out on too
many years of your life."
"Well, whose fault is that?" Carly snapped and folded her arms in anger.
She sat back down but wouldn't look him in the eye.
"It is my fault and I apologized for that. Do you understand how much it
hurt me to know that I had a daughter out there somewhere that I couldn't
claim as my own?"
"Do you know how much it hurt me to have to live with the Bensons and live
with the fact that my own parents didn't want me?" Carly shot back. "Don't
try to lay a guilt trip on me."
"Carly, you were wanted, by me at least. I cannot speak for your mother.
However at the time it was impossible for me to come and get you. By the
time I could I felt it was best to leave you where you were. I didn't want
to disrupt your life."
Carly stared down at her hands. "You don't understand what it was like…"
"Tell me." Stefan gently took her hand in his. "I want to know."
"No." She shook her head. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered that
night.
***Bang! Bang! The gun went off. Frank went down. All Caroline saw was the
blood. The blood was everywhere. Everywhere she looked was blood. She could
hear Virginia screaming over and over in the background, "What have you
done, Caroline? What have you done!"***
She closed her eyes and whispered hoarsely. "I can't tell."
Stefan started to touch her cheek. He hesitated before wiping away the
tears that escaped. He murmured. "That is fine. I can wait until you feel
that you can confide in me."
Carly swallowed hard. "No…I…no."
"It's alright. Let's put the past behind us. I can't change the way I
handled things but I do want to make amends. I want to be able to look at
you and say to the world that you are my daughter."
"You want people to know about me? You don't know me that well do you?"
Carly sniffed.
"I don't." He admitted. "But you are a Cassadine. I already have a feeling
what you can be like."
"Don't just throw the name Cassadine out there like that." Carly said. "I
don't feel like a Cassadine. Hell, I'm just getting use to being a
Spencer!"
"I'm not asking you to take my name, though it would please me very much."
He arched his eyebrow.
"Uh-uh, don't even think it." Carly swore. "How about one step at a time?"
"All right. I won't push the subject again. But I still want to get to know
you. And Michael."
"Michael would love to have another grandfather. But watch out. He has
Jerry, Alan, and Edward completely wrapped around his finger. You might be
his next victim."
"It would be a great honor." He nodded. "He is a charming little boy."
"He is, isn't he?" Carly beamed with motherly pride, latching onto the
subject. "Christmas is coming up and so is his birthday."
"If it's alright with you I would like to give him a gift?" Stefan said
hopefully.
"Michael loves gifts. One more wouldn't hurt. Just don't do anything
extravagant like an island or a castle. He's only a little boy." She
laughed.
"I'll try to keep it small then. Is there anything in particular that you
want?"
"For myself for Christmas?" Carly sat back shocked by the suggestion. She
thought about it. "No, I have everything I need. My best friend's alive, my
son's happy and healthy, I'm in love. I'm fine."
"I only ask because I owe you for all the Christmases and birthdays that I
missed. All your firsts that I should have been there for." Stefan broke
off and looked away.
Carly screwed up her face and tried to fight her tears. "Don't do that.
Don't make me feel sorry for you!" She took a deep breath. "Look, you want
start new? Start a fresh relationship, where you don't owe me anything?
Then fine, it's all right with me. Just don't make me feel sad about all
the things we missed out together, okay?"
They sat in silence again. Stefan started to answer her but then,
"The door was open so we let ourselves in." Eve said as she and Emily
trooped into the living room. They stopped short when they saw Stefan.
"Oops, we'll come back."
"That's quite all right, I was on my way out." Stefan stood.
Carly stood also and wiped her face. "I'll call you sometime this week.
We'll have lunch when I'm feeling better. We can talk about Michael's
gift."
"Hey, are you alright?" Emily frowned at Carly's tears.
"Yeah, my father just got me a little emotional that's all." Carly tried to
pretend not to see the way Stefan's face brightened at her use of the word
father. "Let me walk him out to the door, I'll be right back."
They walked to the door. Stefan was still beaming about the father comment.
Carly scowled. "Don't let it go to your head."
"Feel free to say it anytime." He remembered their encounter at his office
and the way she called him Dad. "Just not in an insulting manner."
"Get out of here." She said with a mock frown. Then surprising herself and
him she gave him a quick peek on the cheek. "Alright, now go."
He smiled and nodded. Carly closed the door behind him and leaned against
it for a second. She sighed heavily. Then she remembered Emily and Eve.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We're supposed to have lunch, remember?" Emily reminded her. "Karen's
meeting us here."
"I totally forgot." Carly smacked her forehead. "I've been so sick lately."
"Yeah, how are you?" Emily asked.
"Fine, I think the bug finally past over. I only stayed home today because
I was a little queasy this morning." She rubbed her stomach and glanced at
Emily. "What about you? How are you doing? You disappear for days and then
you just show up out of nowhere?"
"I'm sorry for the disappearing act. I've got my head on straight now."
"What is going on with you and Nikolas?" Carly asked.
"We're in a relationship of sorts." Emily shrugged. "Right now, we have
this little bet thing going on."
"What kind of bet?" Eve asked.
"Um, how long we can go without sex."
"What?" Carly laughed. "Who came up with that?"
"I did. Our whole relationship is based on sex." Emily wailed.
"No, it's not, you've guys have been friends for years." Carly reminded
her.
"Yeah but—"
"If it was just sex, then why was he banging on your door for hours trying
to get you to let him in?" Jason had told Carly the whole story.
"Yeah but—"
"You guys are not about sex. He cares about you, you care about him, it's
simple." Carly shrugged.
Emily frowned. "Could I at least say something? I'm think I was wrong to
think that. I mean it's so hard. Nikolas is fighting dirty. We go out and
have a nice time but when it comes to saying goodnight, he always leaves me
wanting more. I can't stand it anymore."
"How long has it been?" Eve asked.
"Only a few days." Emily admitted sheepishly.
"You're a wild woman, you can't control yourself." Eve laughed.
Emily scowled at her. "Thanks, I feel so much better."
Eve turned serious. "Look, you and Nikolas are wasting too much time
testing the relationship. If it's going to work out you just need to go
with the flow."
"Listen to her." Carly advised.
"Speaking of the flow. I think I know why you're sick, Carly." Eve
announced.
"Yeah, the flu."
Eve shook her head. "This isn't the flu. Carly, when was the last time you
had your period?"
"You don't think…It can't be!" Carly exclaimed.
"Wanna bet?" Eve whipped out a paper bag. She had stopped at the drugstore
before coming by so she was prepared.
"You didn't." Carly gasped.
"Take the test, Carly, just so you can be sure." Eve urged.
"You're being ridiculous. I'm late that's all."
"You're having morning sickness." Emily said.
"I'm sick!" Carly denied.
"Are you sure?" Eve arched an eyebrow.
Carly grabbed the paper bag and started to march towards the bathroom. "I'm
going to prove you wrong. I am *not* pregnant!"
~*~*~
"Hey Lucky." Nikolas called out to him as he entered Kelly's. "I figured
I'd find you here. Do you ever go anyplace?"
"Why are you complaining? It's easier to find me right?" Lucky smirked. He
lost the smirk as he studied Nikolas. "You look like crap."
"It's Emily." He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. "She's
driving me crazy."
"Hey, I told you, I'm Switzerland. Don't put me in the middle." Lucky held
up his hands.
"I'm not putting you in the middle. It's just that she's got this crazy
idea that I'm only with her for the sex."
Lucky placed his hands over his ears. "La la la la. I'm not listening
because number one, I don't need to hear about your sex life and number
two, I'm not getting in this."
"Lucky, grow up." Nikolas growled. "She thinks I don't care."
He sighed and took his hands down. "Okay, I'll be…England for a few
minutes. Emily is crazy if she doesn't think you care about her. Figure out
a way to show her that it's more than her body you're interested in. And
now I'm back to Switzerland."
"Thanks." Nikolas clapped him on the back. "You got any problems I can help
you with?"
"Yeah, she's about yea tall, blond, and drives me nuts!" Lucky said.
"Maxie still at it?"
"The girl never gives up."
"Admit it, you like the attention." Nikolas laughed.
"I don't!" Lucky denied. Then he groaned. "She drives me crazy and I like
it. I think I like it too much."
"If you like it, what's wrong with it?"
"Because I shouldn't encourage it." Lucky said.
"Why? Don't you like her?"
"Yeah, I like Maxie." He said fiercely with a frown.
Nikolas scratched his ear. "Uh, Lucky, if you like the attention, and you
like her, why shouldn't you encourage it?"
"Uh…" Lucky thought about it. "I have no idea!"
"Lucky, you need to open your eyes. There is no reason you shouldn't pursue
whatever this thing is with Maxie. It's not like she's giving you a choice
in the matter. You see what you want and you go for it."
"Just because you did that with Emily, doesn't mean it's the right thing
for me." He mumbled.
"What happened to Switzerland?" Nikolas raised his eyebrow.
"It took a break." Lucky sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
"You're going to follow your…er, heart." Nikolas smiled. "Look, I gotta go
but good luck in whatever you decide."
~*~*~
"I'm pregnant." Carly announced glumly as she walked into the kitchen. Eve,
Emily, and latecomer Karen had taken over her kitchen and began lunch while
she was away. They all stopped what they were doing.
"What?" Karen's jaw dropped down. Eve had told her, her suspicions but she
hadn't believed her.
"I can't believe this." Carly buried her face in her hands.
Emily walked over to her and threw her arm around her. "Come on, this is a
good thing."
Carly glared at her and Emily backed away. "I hadn't planned on having
anymore children. Michael was always enough for me."
"Well now you'll have one more." Eve beamed.
"You are just too happy about this." Carly narrowed her eyes.
"I love being Aunt Eve. It's fun."
"I cannot wait until you get pregnant. When you're three hundred pounds
with swollen feet and can't keep anything down I'm going to laugh at you. I
swear!" Carly vowed.
Eve rolled her eyes. "Don't say it. Chris is making noises about starting a
family right after we get married."
"God. I hope he succeeds and you end up with triplets." Carly grumbled.
"Whatever." Eve kept on smiling. "I'm godmother right?"
"Hey, what about me?" Emily protested.
"You have Michael. I was the one who figured out that she was pregnant
anyway." Eve said smugly.
"Um, what about Sonny?" Karen piped up. "How's he going to feel about
this?"
Carly ran her hands through her hair. "God, I hadn't even thought about
him. How in the world am I going to tell him?"
"Candlelight and negligée." Karen suggested. "Distract him."
"Hmm, I'll think about it." Carly dropped her hand to her stomach. "I
just…I'm pregnant. Wow."
~*~*~
After Nikolas left Lucky came to a decision. He might as well see how far
this thing with him and Maxie would go. He started out for her house but
was only a few blocks away when he saw her coming towards him. "Hi."
"Hey, I was just coming to see you." She smiled.
"I figured. I was on my way to see you too." He murmured. "How have you
been doing, you know with your father leaving and everything?"
Maxie waved her hand. "I don't want to talk about that. You were coming to
see me? Really?" She grinned at him. She couldn't believe it.
"Yeah."
"Why?" Maxie frowned, suspicious of his reasons.
"I gotta have a reason to come see you?" He teased.
"Yeah, because you don't seek me out. It's the other way around. What are
you up to?" She tilted her head.
"I wanted to see you." He swore.
"Because…?"
"Because…because…This is harder than I thought." He muttered.
"Spit it out, it's easier that way."
"You want to do something? Get something to eat, go ice skating, I don't
know?" He said in a rush.
She gaped at him. "Did you just…did you just ask me out?"
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He didn't understand why Maxie
Jones was making him nervous but she was. He felt like he was a kid again
asking a girl out for the first time. He mumbled. "Yeah, I did."
"Well you have to do better than that." Maxie folded her arms and waited.
"What?"
"I've invested too much just to have you say, 'you want to do something?'
Please." Maxie rolled her eyes. "I want better."
"You should just be happy with what you get." Lucky glared at her. He
turned around and started to walk away. He didn't even get a few feet
before turning around. He threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! Maxie, will
you go out on a date with me?"
"Sure." She beamed and threw her arms around his neck. She gave him a quick
kiss. "All you had to do was ask."
~*~*~
Emily walked down the stairs of the docks. She was on her way to Wyndemere
to see Nikolas. She smiled when she saw him on the docks, obviously waiting
for the launch. She smiled to herself and called out. "Nikolas!"
Nikolas turned around to see Emily running down the stairs and towards him.
She stopped short a few feet. He opened his arms. "Emily."
She ran the rest of the way and jumped into his arms. She covered his mouth
with a long deep kiss. Nikolas immediately understood what the kiss meant.
Nikolas broke off the kiss to whisper. "What about the no sex thing?"
"Nikolas, do you really want to go back to that?"
"It was only a few days." Nikolas teased. "You couldn't hold out that
long?"
"Could you?" Emily shot back.
He shook his head with a smile. "I was just debating whether or not I
should get on the launch or go to your place."
"But what does this say about us?" Emily worried.
"It says that we like being together and there's nothing wrong with it."
Nikolas ran his hands through her hair. "Really, Emily, you're worrying too
much about nothing."
"So what do we do now?" Emily chewed her lip.
"Wyndemere's closer than your place." Nikolas suggested with an arched
eyebrow. He released her and took a step back. He held his hand out to her.
"Emily?"
Emily hesitated for only a second. Then she smiled slowly and took his
hand. "All right."
~*~*~
"Hello." Carly leaned against the doorjamb and gave Sonny her sexiest
smile.
Sonny did a classic double take. Carly was dressed in a slinky black
negligée with soft music playing in the background. The lights were dimmed
down low. He smiled slowly as he took in the arrangements. He had a feeling
that Michael was conveniently away at someone else's house that evening. It
was good thing he remembered to grab the ring box on his way out.
"I'm so glad you could get here so quick." Carly helped him out of his
coat. She took his hand and led him over to the couch.
"You said it was important." Sonny sat down and looked up in surprise when
Carly straddled. He placed his hands on her waist. "Hello."
"Hi." She murmured.
"I assume we're alone." He looked around.
"Yeah. I wanted to spend some time alone with you. I have something very
important to tell you. I have a…surprise for you."
"If it's from you then I'll love it." Sonny cupped her face and brought her
down for long slow kiss. Her hair fell down creating a curtain around them.
Carly raised her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. "That can wait
until after I tell you my surprise. Reserve judgment until you find out
what it is. You may not like it."
"Carly, just tell me—wait, I have something for you." Sonny shifted under
her and dug into his pocket.
"Sonny, let me say this while I have the courage." Carly took a deep
breath.
"I'm taking back my invitation to move in."
Carly gaped at him. "What? Why? Well, I might as well spit it out now.
Sonny—"
Sonny pulled out the ring box and opened. "Carly, will you marry me?"
"I'm pregnant." She said at the same time.
The two of them stared at each other in silence. Finally Carly said slowly.
"What did you just say?"
"I asked you to marry me. Did you say *pregnant*?" Sonny demanded.
Carly scrambled off of him. "I can't believe this."
"I can't believe it either. You're pregnant." Sonny grinned and placed his
hand over her still flat stomach.
"Forget the pregnancy, you just asked me to marry you!" Carly's voice rose.
"Carly, I think this is a little more important than a marriage proposal.
You're having my baby, it's…a miracle." Sonny grinned at her as he gently
caressed her stomach.
"It was kind of a surprise." Carly smiled weakly. "I had just decided to
move in and—"
"You were going to move in after all?"
"Yeah, I had this…little run in with Jason and it opened my eyes."
"What did he do?" Sonny demanded.
"He didn't do anything." Carly quickly lied. The last thing she wanted to
do was start a fight between the friends.
"He must have done something." Sonny gritted out.
"He just kissed me, that's all." Carly said causally. When she saw Sonny's
eyes glaze over she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "Hey, I
think we have more important things to deal with than your jealousy."
"I'm not jealous." He muttered. "But you're right, we have this baby to
think about. When did you find out for sure?"
"I took a at home test the other day and when it came out positive, Eve
helped me get another one done at the hospital. That one came out positive
also." Carly's eyes glowed.
"You're happy about this?" Sonny said softly.
"It took me awhile to get used to the idea but I am, aren't you?" She said
hesitantly.
"Of course I am." Sonny took her into his arms and dragged her onto his
lap. "Carly, I've always wanted to have a baby with you. This baby is a
blessing."
Carly snuggled into his arms. "Out of all the times we forgot the birth
control I actually get pregnant this time. I guess it was meant to happen
now."
"You know, you haven't answered my question." Sonny murmured and pulled the
ring box from the out of the seat cushions it had slipped under. He held it
open for her. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes, of course!" Carly grinned. She held out her hand for him to slip the
ring on. She admired the ring on her finger. "How soon do you want to get
married?"
"I wouldn't mind doing it as soon as possible. I'd rather we'd be married
before the baby comes."
"Me too. We don't need a big ceremony." Carly looked up. "So we're getting
married then?"
"Don't sound so excited." Sonny frowned.
"It's just so overwhelming. Okay, how's this. We're getting married!" Carly
squealed.
"Don't forget the baby." Sonny reminded her.
Carly threw her hands up and exclaimed. "And we're pregnant too!"
Sonny laughed and hugged her to him. He kissed her softly. "I love you."
She kissed him back and ran her hands through his hair. "I love you too."
Sonny touched her stomach and whispered. "You too, little one."