Chapter 21

General Hospital Cafeteria

Carly found Sonny sitting in the cafeteria drinking coffee. She sat down across from him. "Hey, I felt kinda foolish when I came back with a guard and no one was there." Sonny shrugged. Carly sighed. "So what happened after I left?" Sonny shrugged again. "They all told me their sob stories about how they want the feud between us and AJ to end." Carly leaned back in the booth and looked down. "Jax has been trying to convince me of that as well. I think Courtney put him up to it." Courtney and Jax had struck up an unlikely friendship after she had arrived in Port Charles. It had been yet another thing to drive Sonny nuts. "Why is it that all the women in this town like to go to Jax with their problems?" Carly smirked. "Afraid you're being usurped as the town hero? I dunno, Jax is a good listener I guess." Sonny looked up at her. "You don't seem to have a problem with it. Yet when we were married, and women came to me for advice, you'd throw a fit." Carly smiled ruefully. "Well, for one thing, I thought Robin, Lizzy and Emily were goody two shoes little twerps. And with Alexis, I assumed she was after you." Sonny lifted one eyebrow. "And you don't think any of Jax's female friends are after him?" Carly thought about it. "I'd have to say no. Except maybe Skye – she'd definitely like to get her tentacles on him." Sonny glared at her. "Skye is no longer interested in Jax. I don't want to hear you say another word about her."

Carly narrowed her eyes. "You have a thing for her, don't you?" Sonny leaned back. "No, I don't." She nodded. "Oh yes you do. The way you get angry when I call her names – oh yeah, you got it bad." Sonny was silent. Carly shook her head. "What in the world possessed you to get involved with AJ's sister of all people?" Sonny shook his head. "I'm not involved with her. We both recognize that we're on opposite sides of this…conflict…and try to stay out of each other's way." Carly sighed and closed her eyes. "Ah yes, the feud. You know, I'm almost sick of it myself. It was so much easier when Michael was littler, we were married, and AJ was still behaving like an asshole. Now things are so different. Mikey is getting older and more observant, he's going to start asking questions soon. And I don't know how I'll answer them." Sonny tapped his finger against his cup. "Courtney was pointing out the same thing. Its definitely a can of worms. I also can't ignore the fact that AJ is being a good husband to her. My spies have told me that he hasn't taken a drink in a long time, and regularly attends AA meetings."

Carly's eyes filled with tears. "I wish that I had never in a million years slept with him!" Sonny shook his head. "Then you wouldn't have Michael." She took a shaky breath. "Okay, but I wish AJ had never found out he was the father. Or maybe if he had stopped drinking sooner…before…" She sobbed. "Oh, who am I kidding? It wasn't his fault. It was all my fault. I'm the one who killed our child!" Sonny stared at her in surprise. He gripped her hand. "Don't talk that way!" She shook her head wildly. "Its true. I'm an incompetent, horrible mother! Look what happened to Michael. He could have died in that crash! How could I have been so stupid as to try and start driving after all these years? I'm so stubborn! If I hadn't been so stubborn and temperamental, I wouldn't have jerked my hand away from AJ and lost my balance. Then our child wouldn't be dead. It's all my fault! All my fault!" Sonny could see that this had been building in her since the accident several days ago. "Damn it Carly, would you stop beating yourself up! You are not a horrible mother!" She wailed, "Yes I am, look what I did to our children!" Sonny rubbed his face in his hands. "Those were accidents. You know that. Everybody makes mistakes in judgement. AJ shouldn't have been drinking. You shouldn't have been fighting with him. Sometimes we pay terrible consequences. But we learn and grow from those mistakes. As for the car accident – that wasn't your fault! The other driver was completely negligent. Carly, you would only be a bad mother if you didn't care about what happened to your children, and I know you care. Deeply." She grabbed a napkin and blew her nose.

"Look, Carly…you were happy when Mike and I finally reconciled. I saw that he was trying hard with Courtney, and despite several mistakes along the way, I could tell that he was changing for the better. For Courtney's sake I decided to try and put the past behind us. I'm wondering…" he paused, clearly waging an internal battle. "I'm wondering if we shouldn't do the same with AJ." Carly was silent a long time. Finally she grudgingly said, "I suppose I would be a hypocrite if I wanted you to forgive Mike his past addictions and I couldn't forgive AJ." Sonny smiled tenderly. "You know, you've matured a lot in the past year." Carly tried to smile. "So have you. It makes sense, though. We both had people come into our lives that not only accepted us for who we were, but also brought out the best in us. Courtney has helped to knock down some of those walls you've built up for years. Zander and Jax showed me how to reign in my temper…for the most part. But I gotta tell you, Sonny. I'm scared to be contemplating all this. What if handing Mikey over to AJ is the right thing to do? Cause if it is, then I don't want to do the right thing!" Sonny shook his head. "I don't think it needs to come to that. If AJ is being honest with me, there is another solution." Carly looked at him wide-eyed.

ELQ, CEO's office

Skye hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. Alan had called to tell her that Michael was released from the hospital in good condition. After a few days in bed he would be in perfect health again. The good news helped her to concentrate on her work a little more. She guiltily realized that she needed to call Gia Campbell. The day after her dinner with Taggert, Gia had called her up and said she heard about Skye's proposal and was interested. They'd met for dinner, and Skye had fleshed out her idea. General Hospital sponsored a Nurse's Ball every year to benefit AIDS. While it was a lot of fun, it was more like a theater event than a ball. Skye mentioned that when she was in Pine Valley, her sister Hayley had showed her pictures of the Crystal Ball that happens every New Years Eve. Skye realized that she would love to see something similar in Port Charles, perhaps to benefit the children's wing at the hospital. She proposed to Gia that they organize a masked ball to coincide with Halloween. There wouldn't be very much time to organize the whole thing, but hopefully they could both pull some strings to get it done in time. Gia had loved the idea, and suggested Wyndemere as the setting. Since Skye had to prepare for her upcoming conference, Gia offered to start the ball rolling. Unfortunately, Skye had neglected to get back to her since arriving back home.

She dialed the telephone and was happy to get an answer. "Gia! This is Skye Chandler-Quartermaine. I am so sorry I haven't called you sooner. I feel like such a bum for dumping this all on you and leaving town." Gia laughed. "Don't worry about it! I've been having a blast. I'd gotten so sick of the details for my wedding that it was a relief to do something else for a change. And besides, I heard about what happened to your nephew, so I figured you've been preoccupied." Skye sighed. "Yes, I have been. I'm glad you're not mad at me. So how's it going?" "Amazingly well. I am shocked at how everything is just falling into place. As soon as I mention the children's ward, people fall all over themselves to provide their services. We're at the top of everyone's list – the caterer, the florist, the band, invitations. This is really coming together quickly. All the costume makers in town have been in a frenzy. This masked ball is going to be fantastic." Skye laughed. "That's wonderful! Gia, you are just amazing. I knew you could do it!" "Yeah, well I've had a lot of practice lately. I better go, I have a meeting with the shuttle service that's going to bring guests over to the island." "Well, is there anything I can do?" "Just keep making sure your accountant pays those bills! And think about what costume you want to wear." They said their goodbyes and hung up.

When Skye got back from lunch, she saw that AJ was waiting for her. He jumped up from his chair and bounded over. He had a huge grin on his face. "Skye! You will never guess what happened! I am the happiest man on the face of this earth!" Skye stared at him wide-eyed. "Is Courtney pregnant?" AJ paused. "That's not it, but I do look forward to that. No, this news has to do with my already existing child." Skye smiled and put her hand on his arm. "Yes I heard. Alan told me that Michael has been released in good health." AJ laughed and swung her around in a circle. "Oh I'm definitely glad he's out of the hospital, but there's even more!" Skye laughed. "AJ, you're making me dizzy. Okay, I'll stop trying to guess what it is. Just tell me already!" AJ pushed her down into a chair and leaned down to face her, his hands on his knees. "Sonny and Carly are going to let me have supervised visits with Michael." Skye shot to her feet, almost knocking him down. "You can't be serious!" AJ stumbled back, laughing. "I am totally serious! He sees his Aunt Courtney all the time – so now he'll be seeing his Uncle AJ too!" Skye narrowed her eyes. "AJ, have you been drinking?" He immediately became serious and raised his eyebrow. "No, smell my breath if you need to." He opened his mouth wide. She shook her head. "I'll pass, thank you. So all this giddiness from you is…joy? Because what you say is true?" He closed his mouth and nodded solemnly. "I may not get to be his father – I blew that chance long ago. But I do get to be a part of his life." Skye's eyes filled with tears. "Oh AJ!" She reached out her arms to him. He enveloped her in a bear hug. "My family's growing, Skye." He pulled away and held her face in his hands. "And you…you get to finally be his aunt." She sniffed and nodded.

He dropped his hands and paced the room. He stopped and looked at her. "Now that this feud is hopefully permanently suspended, do you think that you and Sonny will get together?" Skye bit her lip. "I'm afraid that's something I have no control over." AJ frowned. "Oh, come on, sis. You always go after what you want." She put her hands on her hips. "You remember what happened the last time I chased after a man. Forget it. If Sonny wants me, he can damn well chase after me. If he doesn't, then he's not worth it." AJ grinned. "Atta girl!" Skye folded her arms in defiance, not letting AJ see her inner turmoil.