To my new reviewers, thanks!
Sarah- I hope this update is soon enough to please you.
Shadow- Don't worry about spelling his name wrong, a few of my other reviewers have done the same, its okay. This MIGHT be corny, the way I have set it up, but I certainly hope it doesn't sound that bad. Still, that is not for me to judge, that is for you and the other readers. You haven't annoyed me, and thank you for the praise, it makes me happy.
Story-
Damian couldn't help but laugh at Sonny. It wasn't an uproarious laugh in his face, but he did get quite the chuckle out of it. Had Sonny just expected him to jump at his order? That wasn't his style. But there was a look in his father's eyes that he saw. One that burned him to the core. The laughter quickly faded. "You're serious about that?"
"I'm rarely ever not serious, and I certainly wouldn't be here looking like this if I was just playing a game with you."
Damian shook his head, "I'm not going back to your place, Sonny."
"It's not my place anymore. It's our place."
Damian walked over to the bed and sat down, "Look, I appreciate the offer. Really, I do. But I saw how your wife looked at me. I heard the way she talked to me. Carly doesn't want me in your life, and she sure as hell wouldn't be open to me living with you."
"Carly just needs some time to adjust. We all do."
"Would that adjustment time be better spent apart than together? We've been ripping each other to shreds since we got those results-"
Sonny was quick to interrupt, "No, you've been ripping me to shreds, I've just been taking the hits."
Damian smirked, "Point to you. Still, I don't want to expose Michael to a bunch of yelling between us, or worse, between his mother and I. Sonny, you're not thinking this through."
"Yes, I am," Sonny calmly replied as he sat on the end of the bed, "As much as I hate to have been away from you for your life I know I can't make it up, and I know what you're feeling. I felt the same way about my father after he ran out on me and my mom. Be thankful you didn't have to live with an abusive step-father for years, because I'd rather live in a single parent home than deal with that guy again. When I did find out that Mike was alive and around here I did nothing to patch things up with him. The hurt was still there, still fresh in my mind, and I wasn't ready to let go. I'll never forgive my father for what he did, for deserting me when I needed him, but a part of me really wishes that I could. Damian, I don't care if it takes me the rest of my life, but I don't want you to have so much hate for me that you could never forgive me. My father might be able to live with that guilt, but I never could. I'm sure that the only way we can become civil with one another, build a better relationship between the two of us, is if we don't spend so much time avoiding each other."
"You had an abusive step-father?" Damian was seeing something that he never thought he would see in his father: a human side. Sonny was pouring himself out to this boy based only on the fact that they were blood related. He didn't know Damian, and the same could be said the other way around, but he was telling his son things that he wouldn't tell people who he did know. Damian was able to focus on who Sonny was as a person, not as who Sonny was as a father and was never there. The boy sighed and plopped his head back on his pillow, "I don't know, Sonny. You're asking me to help make a choice that will touch more than just the two of us, and you know that some of those other people are not going to just live with one of the outcomes willingly. Aren't you being a little selfish?"
"I know I'm right, and in time they'll know I was right as well."
"I signed a lease for the school year on this apartment."
"I have more than enough money to keep the lease unbroken. I can pay for this place while you come and live at home."
"Stop that!" Damian jerked his head back up, "Stop calling it home! It isn't home, not for me. Even if I tried to let it become home, it might not be possible."
"Why are you avoiding this so much?" Sonny wondered, "I'm giving you a chance to build relationships that will last you the rest of your life. You can see your brother's grow up, you can give any children you might have a grandfather. There's so much that can happen if you just give it the chance."
"Like have my hopes crushed," Damian softly stated.
"What?"
Damian shook his head, "Nothing. It's just, when Michael was saying that Carly could fill in the gap that had been caused when my mom died. I thought about it. For a brief second I thought about the possibility of having someone that I could consider my mother again. But then she came in and basically said that I could never be a part of her family. And I believed her. I still do. Sonny, even if I do become more civil with your wife she might not ever see me as anything more than your son, the anomaly in her otherwise perfect family that can never go away. Michael's a smart kid. I know he'll pick up on the animosity. Maybe he'll resent me for making his mother unhappy. Or worse, he might do the same to you or her."
"It won't be like that, Damian."
He chuckled at his father's perceived ignorance, "And how can you be so sure?"
"Because I know Carly better than I know a lot of other people," Sonny said, "I know what she's like, and I know that she thought that she would never fall in love with me, that she would always hate me. Now look at us. We've had more than our fair share of rough spots, sure, but we love each other, and it's a genuine love. She's hurt, angry and scared right now, but in time she won't be."
"I wish I shared your confidence."
"You'll never find out what could have happened unless you take those first steps towards it. Even if Carly never comes around, you'll always have me."
"I would have never thought you could be so sincere about something unless you came here, Sonny." The boy sat up and walked to the dresser, "I may regret this, but you're right. If I don't do this now I'll always ask myself what could have happened if I did. I might regret it later, but it is the right choice."
"You're coming home?" Sonny wondered.
Damian nodded, "Yeah, I'm coming home."
Sonny smiled and got up, looking around the room and noticing how bare it was, "You have some more things coming from Los Angeles soon?"
Damian dropped his clothes on the bed, "No, this is all that I've got. We didn't have much money, and paying for mom's funeral only took away what little money we did have saved up."
"I would have come," Sonny muttered, "If I knew, I would have come."
Damian looked up from packing his things into his bag, which he had pulled out from under his bed, "It means a lot to me hearing you say that. I'm sure it means something to her, too." He zipped up the bag, his clothes messily stuffed inside. He never was the tidiest person on the planet, and he was only going to take them to the penthouse, so the clothes being folded didn't seem that important. "I've just got to get some things from the bathroom and I'll be ready."
Downstairs-
Elizabeth constantly found herself eyeing Jason. She still had feelings for him, she always would. But they were better suited being friends, and she realized that. What they had was great, but it was in the past. She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't love him and worry every time she heard the sirens going that he was lying in a pool of his own blood, slowly dying without her there to hold his hand. He was just sitting at one of the tables, looking into the void. Some people, most people, would think that he was just being absentminded. She knew better, though. She knew that he was thinking about something. She put the plates down on a table where they were supposed to go and walked over, "Penny for your thoughts?"
Jason turned his blue eyes up at her, "It's nothing, really."
She sat down, "Jason, despite everything that has happened between the two of us over the years I still want to be your friend, and I still want you to think that you can trust me."
"I do, Elizabeth," Jason replied.
"Then why won't you tell me what you're thinking about? I've seen that look on your face plenty of times, I know what it means."
"I'm trying to think about why Sonny would come here and talk to some college kid. I just can't see it happening. He's got so many other things to worry about, what makes this Damian so special?"
"I don't know," Elizabeth answered as she turned around and watched Sonny come down the stairs. "But it looks like you might get your answer sooner than you thought."
Jason stood up, "Sonny."
"Sorry about earlier, Jason. I just needed to come here and talk to someone."
"Why?"
"Courtney didn't tell you anything about last night?"
"I woke her up to tell her that I was going out early in the morning, but she didn't mention anything." Jason's face didn't show his concern. He was very good at keeping a blank face. Jason saw a teenager walking down the stairs, his gaze shifting between the two.
"Jason, this is Damian. He's my son."
"What?" Jason asked, no longer able to keep a blank face. Elizabeth was also listening in. Her jaw dropped and she was very thankful that she did not have anything in her hands because they would likely be spilled all over the floor now. Sonny had another son?
"I'll explain everything while we walk back to the penthouse."
Damian saw that Elizabeth wasn't taking her eyes off of him. "Sonny, could you give me a minute?"
Sonny nodded and walked outside, Jason close behind.
Damian walked towards Elizabeth, "So, I take it you heard."
"That you're Sonny's son?" Elizabeth lowered her voice as she finished her statement, "Yeah, I heard."
"I'm going to stay with him and his family for awhile. He's really very persuasive and I think he genuinely wants to start building a relationship with me. It doesn't look like I'll be able to bug you while you work."
She laughed softly, "You never bugged me, Damian. You even helped me make a decision that I'm very happy about. Just don't be a stranger. If you never ever need someone, even if it's just a friend, you know where I am most of the time."
He smiled warmly, "I'll remember that."
She watched him head towards the door before she called out to him, "One more thing, be careful." She walked back behind the counter as she watched them walk out of sight. Sonny's life wasn't the easiest to become adjusted to. She knew this personally. She didn't want to see Damian get hurt. There wasn't much she could do. She only hoped that he would find something that would make him happy. She could never find it.
Sarah- I hope this update is soon enough to please you.
Shadow- Don't worry about spelling his name wrong, a few of my other reviewers have done the same, its okay. This MIGHT be corny, the way I have set it up, but I certainly hope it doesn't sound that bad. Still, that is not for me to judge, that is for you and the other readers. You haven't annoyed me, and thank you for the praise, it makes me happy.
Story-
Damian couldn't help but laugh at Sonny. It wasn't an uproarious laugh in his face, but he did get quite the chuckle out of it. Had Sonny just expected him to jump at his order? That wasn't his style. But there was a look in his father's eyes that he saw. One that burned him to the core. The laughter quickly faded. "You're serious about that?"
"I'm rarely ever not serious, and I certainly wouldn't be here looking like this if I was just playing a game with you."
Damian shook his head, "I'm not going back to your place, Sonny."
"It's not my place anymore. It's our place."
Damian walked over to the bed and sat down, "Look, I appreciate the offer. Really, I do. But I saw how your wife looked at me. I heard the way she talked to me. Carly doesn't want me in your life, and she sure as hell wouldn't be open to me living with you."
"Carly just needs some time to adjust. We all do."
"Would that adjustment time be better spent apart than together? We've been ripping each other to shreds since we got those results-"
Sonny was quick to interrupt, "No, you've been ripping me to shreds, I've just been taking the hits."
Damian smirked, "Point to you. Still, I don't want to expose Michael to a bunch of yelling between us, or worse, between his mother and I. Sonny, you're not thinking this through."
"Yes, I am," Sonny calmly replied as he sat on the end of the bed, "As much as I hate to have been away from you for your life I know I can't make it up, and I know what you're feeling. I felt the same way about my father after he ran out on me and my mom. Be thankful you didn't have to live with an abusive step-father for years, because I'd rather live in a single parent home than deal with that guy again. When I did find out that Mike was alive and around here I did nothing to patch things up with him. The hurt was still there, still fresh in my mind, and I wasn't ready to let go. I'll never forgive my father for what he did, for deserting me when I needed him, but a part of me really wishes that I could. Damian, I don't care if it takes me the rest of my life, but I don't want you to have so much hate for me that you could never forgive me. My father might be able to live with that guilt, but I never could. I'm sure that the only way we can become civil with one another, build a better relationship between the two of us, is if we don't spend so much time avoiding each other."
"You had an abusive step-father?" Damian was seeing something that he never thought he would see in his father: a human side. Sonny was pouring himself out to this boy based only on the fact that they were blood related. He didn't know Damian, and the same could be said the other way around, but he was telling his son things that he wouldn't tell people who he did know. Damian was able to focus on who Sonny was as a person, not as who Sonny was as a father and was never there. The boy sighed and plopped his head back on his pillow, "I don't know, Sonny. You're asking me to help make a choice that will touch more than just the two of us, and you know that some of those other people are not going to just live with one of the outcomes willingly. Aren't you being a little selfish?"
"I know I'm right, and in time they'll know I was right as well."
"I signed a lease for the school year on this apartment."
"I have more than enough money to keep the lease unbroken. I can pay for this place while you come and live at home."
"Stop that!" Damian jerked his head back up, "Stop calling it home! It isn't home, not for me. Even if I tried to let it become home, it might not be possible."
"Why are you avoiding this so much?" Sonny wondered, "I'm giving you a chance to build relationships that will last you the rest of your life. You can see your brother's grow up, you can give any children you might have a grandfather. There's so much that can happen if you just give it the chance."
"Like have my hopes crushed," Damian softly stated.
"What?"
Damian shook his head, "Nothing. It's just, when Michael was saying that Carly could fill in the gap that had been caused when my mom died. I thought about it. For a brief second I thought about the possibility of having someone that I could consider my mother again. But then she came in and basically said that I could never be a part of her family. And I believed her. I still do. Sonny, even if I do become more civil with your wife she might not ever see me as anything more than your son, the anomaly in her otherwise perfect family that can never go away. Michael's a smart kid. I know he'll pick up on the animosity. Maybe he'll resent me for making his mother unhappy. Or worse, he might do the same to you or her."
"It won't be like that, Damian."
He chuckled at his father's perceived ignorance, "And how can you be so sure?"
"Because I know Carly better than I know a lot of other people," Sonny said, "I know what she's like, and I know that she thought that she would never fall in love with me, that she would always hate me. Now look at us. We've had more than our fair share of rough spots, sure, but we love each other, and it's a genuine love. She's hurt, angry and scared right now, but in time she won't be."
"I wish I shared your confidence."
"You'll never find out what could have happened unless you take those first steps towards it. Even if Carly never comes around, you'll always have me."
"I would have never thought you could be so sincere about something unless you came here, Sonny." The boy sat up and walked to the dresser, "I may regret this, but you're right. If I don't do this now I'll always ask myself what could have happened if I did. I might regret it later, but it is the right choice."
"You're coming home?" Sonny wondered.
Damian nodded, "Yeah, I'm coming home."
Sonny smiled and got up, looking around the room and noticing how bare it was, "You have some more things coming from Los Angeles soon?"
Damian dropped his clothes on the bed, "No, this is all that I've got. We didn't have much money, and paying for mom's funeral only took away what little money we did have saved up."
"I would have come," Sonny muttered, "If I knew, I would have come."
Damian looked up from packing his things into his bag, which he had pulled out from under his bed, "It means a lot to me hearing you say that. I'm sure it means something to her, too." He zipped up the bag, his clothes messily stuffed inside. He never was the tidiest person on the planet, and he was only going to take them to the penthouse, so the clothes being folded didn't seem that important. "I've just got to get some things from the bathroom and I'll be ready."
Downstairs-
Elizabeth constantly found herself eyeing Jason. She still had feelings for him, she always would. But they were better suited being friends, and she realized that. What they had was great, but it was in the past. She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't love him and worry every time she heard the sirens going that he was lying in a pool of his own blood, slowly dying without her there to hold his hand. He was just sitting at one of the tables, looking into the void. Some people, most people, would think that he was just being absentminded. She knew better, though. She knew that he was thinking about something. She put the plates down on a table where they were supposed to go and walked over, "Penny for your thoughts?"
Jason turned his blue eyes up at her, "It's nothing, really."
She sat down, "Jason, despite everything that has happened between the two of us over the years I still want to be your friend, and I still want you to think that you can trust me."
"I do, Elizabeth," Jason replied.
"Then why won't you tell me what you're thinking about? I've seen that look on your face plenty of times, I know what it means."
"I'm trying to think about why Sonny would come here and talk to some college kid. I just can't see it happening. He's got so many other things to worry about, what makes this Damian so special?"
"I don't know," Elizabeth answered as she turned around and watched Sonny come down the stairs. "But it looks like you might get your answer sooner than you thought."
Jason stood up, "Sonny."
"Sorry about earlier, Jason. I just needed to come here and talk to someone."
"Why?"
"Courtney didn't tell you anything about last night?"
"I woke her up to tell her that I was going out early in the morning, but she didn't mention anything." Jason's face didn't show his concern. He was very good at keeping a blank face. Jason saw a teenager walking down the stairs, his gaze shifting between the two.
"Jason, this is Damian. He's my son."
"What?" Jason asked, no longer able to keep a blank face. Elizabeth was also listening in. Her jaw dropped and she was very thankful that she did not have anything in her hands because they would likely be spilled all over the floor now. Sonny had another son?
"I'll explain everything while we walk back to the penthouse."
Damian saw that Elizabeth wasn't taking her eyes off of him. "Sonny, could you give me a minute?"
Sonny nodded and walked outside, Jason close behind.
Damian walked towards Elizabeth, "So, I take it you heard."
"That you're Sonny's son?" Elizabeth lowered her voice as she finished her statement, "Yeah, I heard."
"I'm going to stay with him and his family for awhile. He's really very persuasive and I think he genuinely wants to start building a relationship with me. It doesn't look like I'll be able to bug you while you work."
She laughed softly, "You never bugged me, Damian. You even helped me make a decision that I'm very happy about. Just don't be a stranger. If you never ever need someone, even if it's just a friend, you know where I am most of the time."
He smiled warmly, "I'll remember that."
She watched him head towards the door before she called out to him, "One more thing, be careful." She walked back behind the counter as she watched them walk out of sight. Sonny's life wasn't the easiest to become adjusted to. She knew this personally. She didn't want to see Damian get hurt. There wasn't much she could do. She only hoped that he would find something that would make him happy. She could never find it.