Hey, what do you do when you get in a fight with your boyfriend on a Friday night? You update your story! Thanks for all the feedback, guys! I think you'll all be very surprised to see how Faith and Lorenzo are connected (but you won't find out now, he he he)…
This was crazy. Absolutely unfathomable. Elizabeth had been pacing in front of the front door for almost fifteen minutes, and she still hadn't brought herself to knock. There was no reason the person on the other side should talk to her, or even want to. No, this was all a mistake, she should just turn around and-
"Elizabeth?"
She whirled around at the sound of Carly Corinthos' voice. She hadn't seen her since right after she'd been let out of the panic room. She looked back to her old Carly-self: glamorous, perfect, not a hair out of place, but with the warmth only a mother can have. "Carly, hi."
"Hi, Elizabeth." Carly's face registered surprise, curiosity, but not…not the cold, hard hatred from Elizabeth's dream. That gave her a little courage.
"Um, do you mind if I come in for a minute?"
"Sure." Carly stepped back to let Elizabeth in the door. "I just dropped Michael off at his swim lesson, so I've got some time to kill." Elizabeth paced around the room nervously, facing away from Carly. She never liked the dark inside of Sonny's apartment, and now it felt as though it were closing in on her. "Why don't you sit down?" Elizabeth complied, chewing nervously on her lower lip. "Well Elizabeth, do you mind if I ask what you came here for?"
Elizabeth let out a deep breath, finally looking into Carly's dark eyes. "Carly, I came here to apologize."
Carly's left eyebrow tilted upwards. "Apologize?"
Elizabeth was back on her feet, pacing. "I should have done this a long time ago. In the summertime. I came here to apologize for what…for what Ric…for what my husband did to you. And to your family." Finally getting out the last words.
Carly looked down, and Elizabeth didn't know if she was going to throw her out of her house on the spot. "Elizabeth, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Did you know what was going on?"
Elizabeth's blue eyes widened with horror. Carly noticed how the expression made her look like she was still sixteen. "Of course not! Carly, you don't really think I would have let you stay in there all that time if I had known, do you?"
Carly's face softened, her smile brave, but Elizabeth could still see the pain in her eyes. "I know that, Elizabeth. Which is why you don't need to apologize for anything. No one could imagine their husband doing the things that Ric did. It's unthinkable, holding a woman captive in a secret room in your own house. You're not to blame for his sickness."
Elizabeth was speechless at Carly's forgiveness. The two had never been friends, and Elizabeth suddenly wondered why.
But the moment was broken by the sound of a cry, full and lusty coming from upstairs, and Carly immediately went into mother mode. "Oh, that's Morgan," she said, heading in the direction of the nursery. She looked back to Elizabeth. "Would you like to meet my son, Elizabeth?"
Wordlessly, Elizabeth followed Carly up to the nursery, which she was surprised to see decorated in pale shades of blue and yellow. She would have thought Sonny Corinthos' son would have a chrome crib. Lifting the infant into her arms, Carly kissed the baby's head softly. "Oh, what's the matter? Mommy's here." She turned so that the baby could face Elizabeth. "This is Elizabeth, Morgan."
Elizabeth peered forward, and in a gentle tone said, "Hi, Morgan."
But the baby didn't stop fussing after he had been rocked for a minute and his diaper was still dry. "I'm gonna have to go fix him a bottle," Carly turned back to the baby's crib, and then turned around suddenly. She looked at Elizabeth for a moment, and then smiled. "Would you like to hold him?"
Elizabeth was touched by Carly's natural maternal way. "I'd be honored." And she held out her arms, and the baby was placed inside while Carly headed down to the kitchen. To her surprise, Morgan stopped fussing and settled down in Elizabeth's arms, looking up at her with huge dark eyes. The boy was a splitting image of sonny, and she couldn't help but wonder if this is what her baby would have looked like. Big brown eyes and baby-fine dark hair like its father, or sapphire eyes and sandy blonde hair like Elizabeth had a baby? Elizabeth placed her cheek on his downy head and breathed in that wonderful smell that babies have. She didn't begrudge Carly and Sonny's happiness, especially after all they'd been through. But dear God, why had He seen fit to take away her own child?
And then Carly was back in the room with a warm bottle. "Hey, you got him to stop crying! You're a natural, Elizabeth," and Elizabeth had to hand the boy back to his mother. She mumbled her good-byes. She had to get out of the door.
And she found herself where she had been so much earlier in the day, on the far end of the docks, and she didn't really know how she got there. Holding her hand over her heart, she could still feel little Morgan in her arms, and she felt the moistness on her cheeks.
"Elizabeth?"
Her head sprang up to see Lorenzo standing there, exactly where he had been at dawn. She'd have to make a conscious effort to stop coming to his front doorstep to think her troubles away.
"Elizabeth, are you okay? Is it Ric again?"
"No," she said, happy that at least she wasn't thinking about the bastard she married for once. "It's just that…" Don't do it, Elizabeth. "It's just that…well…" You can't fall apart on this man every time you see him, especially not twice in the same day! "Lorenzo," she looked up into his eyes, allowing herself full eye contact. "Do you know what it's like to lose a child?" The moment she said those words, it was as if a floodgate had been let loose, and just as he had that morning, he sat down next to her, but this time put his arm around her.
She sobbed, and he stroked her back, and when she finally subsided, he handed her a silk white handkerchief and spoke. "I have a little girl," her head shot up in surprise, but, like always, she couldn't read his eyes for a moment…And then an unmistakable shadow passed through them "And I…I had a son once, too."
* * *
Faith looked intently at her once-and-future partner. After hearing Ric spew about Lorenzo Alcazar, she had wasted no time finding his whereabouts, and kicking herself for how easily she'd accomplished that. He'd been right under her nose all along! Or rather, she'd been right under his nose.
And then she went to him last night, just to observe him with that child, Elizabeth Webber. And he was kissing her! Did that girl get her hooks into just anything?
And here they were again, exactly where they'd been at dawn.
And she had spent the day formulating a plan. A plan so perfect, she may never have to run again. But only if she pulled it off without a hitch. And to do that, she needed help.
"So, what do you think, babe? Let's do it?" she looked expectantly at the man next to her. His face was a mask of shock, fury, disbelief, and anguish.
"Oh God, Faith," he ran a hand through unruly dark hair. "Yes. Yes, you know I'll do it."
Ric turned his attention back to the tender moment between the couple on the pier. The couple? No, never. Elizabeth was his. Regardless of their current state, she was his, his soulmate. And no one would take her away from him. He would see to that.