AN: Look, I return. I finally got MS Word on my comp, YAY! =D Thanks for all your awesome reviews. I'm sorry this hasn't been updated as frequently as before, but I'm working full time and also busy on weekends, while battling a slight case of writer's block. So I apologize.

I took all your requests into consideration, and the totals go something like this:

It was really close, but the winning situation was any variation of Jason telling Sonny about Kristina, although there was a suggestion that they tell him together. (4 votes)

Coming in at three votes was a tie: Kristina telling Sonny herself, and Loren overhearing/telling Sonny. Personally, the latter is the one I wanted, so I'm happy with you guys for reading my mind, LOL!

And then there were the stragglers: a vote for Kristina telling Bella and a vote for Carly overhearing. I worked all of it into this story, or I will, so don't worry, everyone will be happy with a bit of it. [I hope.]

Anyway, here's your next chapter—you know the deal, they're not mine, enjoy, review! Yay!

Golden Child

Chapter Five

"Hey, everyone," Sonny greeted as he walked towards us, kissing his wife on the cheek, embracing his youngest, and welcoming hugs from his nieces. From all the things I'd heard about him, he didn't seem too bad.

"Hey, yourself. You ready to eat?"

Sonny nodded, and I could feel a smile play on my lips as I recognized his eager expression as one I took on frequently. As we all sat down at our places, he looked directly at me and I involuntarily gulped. His questioning glare was quite piercing and I shuddered. "And who might you be?"

"I'm…" My voice failing me, I took a sip of water and tried again. "I'm Kristina. Bella and I are really good friends."

"Really."

I nodded. "Yeah, we met at school."

He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I see." I took the opportunity of him talking to Jason and Courtney to raise my menu, shielding myself from him. Bella, who was sitting next to me, smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. Once you get to know him, he's not as intimidating. And I'm sure you'll get to know him, now that I'm back in Port Charles full time."

"What? Really?" I asked excitedly.

"Yeah, my parents decided they missed me too much, and now that Michael's out of the house, they want to spend time with their other child. So I'm going to the local high school this fall."

I smiled. "That's great news, Bella." I wasn't sure myself if I was going to continue high school at another snotty private school, which I didn't really want anyway, and if Great-grandfather ever found out about me and who I really was, he'd probably throw me out so I'd have to go to the local high school anyway… but again, I digress. At least, though, it was taking me away from having to face the inevitable.

"So, what do you all want?" This was Elizabeth—there was an episode about the same time as the Cassadine downfall with her and her husband, well then husband, and he had kidnapped Bella's mom when she was pregnant with Bella and was going to steal Bella and give her to Elizabeth to raise. Thankfully, Bella and her mom were saved, but Elizabeth found out the whole ugly truth and divorced Ric, her husband. She then found out she was pregnant with her own child, finally—that was the whole reason Bella's mom had been kidnapped, anyway—and when Jonathan was five, Elizabeth found stability again, with a man named Alcazar of all people… yeah, that goes into another long story in itself, but I'll spare you from that… and now Jonathan, who is about the same age as Hope, is a perfectly adjusted and happy kid. I've met him a few times and he's pretty cool.

But anyway, as the ordering started, I looked over the menu and sighed. "I don't know what I want, Bella. What are you getting?"

"Clam chowder. The soup here is awesome."

I sighed again. "Oh, I can't get that… I'm allergic to clam."*

"That's weird," Courtney, who had just placed her order, piped up, hearing my comment. "Sonny and I both are allergic to clam, also. Being raised in a coastal town, it totally sucks."

I nodded vigorously, showing my agreement. I noticed that Bella's mom had picked up on this fact and raised an eyebrow, muttering to herself. I was honestly starting to think that she knew something, if not everything, about my situation, and I needed to find out if she did.

"But you know what's really weird?" Sonny added. I looked at him directly for the first time. "What?"

"I don't think I've ever met anyone besides my sister who's allergic to clam. You're the first."

"Yeah, that is kind of strange," Hope agreed, and Bella's mom continued to mutter to herself.

"Well, then," Bella interrupted, "why don't you get that, instead?" She pointed to something on the menu, and by that time, Elizabeth had gotten to me. I nodded and smiled up at the pale woman, putting in my order for chicken fingers. Why exactly do they call them fingers anyway? I shrugged in my inner thoughts and then focused on the task at hand. So I had looked at Sonny. That wasn't too hard to do. I recognized the eyes instantly—they were ones I saw in the mirror every day. My hair was wavy like his, but quite a bit lighter. There was a resemblance, I noticed. And that scared me. What if smart people—like Carly—figured it out? What was I to do?

After some small talk and conversation, through which I came to learn a lot more about my biological father, and found some subtle but still important similarities—like insomnia, for starters, and our love of suicides [the drink, not the actual act, mind you], and our devotion to the people we loved, our willingness to sacrifice everything if necessary… I mean, I was sure the DNA proved our connection, but this was just unsettling. And the fact that we both preferred ranch dressing to any other sauce—I was getting my chicken fingers with ranch, for instance. Bella smiled at me, amused, as she watched me eat my food. I have the weirdest way of eating my chicken fingers, and I don't know why—I cut all of them in half first, then those halves in half, and then I drizzle ranch on top of them and then eat them with my fingers. I know it's kind of… well… uncivilized, but it's good. I also noticed that Sonny had an identical amused expression on his face, just like Bella's. "What?" I protested.

"Nothing, that's just funny. I've never seen anyone eat like that—you are quite unique, you know that, Kristina?" Sonny mused, as he watched me eat my food.

"Is that a good thing?" I retorted.

Sonny nodded. "I'd believe so."

And after that, suddenly the tension was broken—for me, anyway—and I was able to see this man for a real person and not a shadow of my own existence, not as my biological father, but as Sonny Corinthos. That was good. I wasn't so nervous anymore, I was able to loosen up and tell everyone at the table something they didn't already know about me, save Jason and Bella, while still being very careful about exactly what I said. By the time lunch was done, even Carly was smiling, too.

"Well," Sonny announced, after everyone was eating and was just talking, "I hate to leave you all now, but Carly and I must go; we've got a prior appointment."

"Yeah, Jason and I and the girls are going somewhere this afternoon as well," Courtney followed suit.

So everyone said their goodbyes, and in the midst of it, I could hear Bella's mom asking her where she was gonna be.

"Um…" She looked at me. We somehow had this thing where we could pick up on each other's feelings, and I think she knew that I wanted to talk to her about this whole DNA fiasco. "I'm gonna hang out with Kristina for a while," she decided, and smiled at me.

"Okay, but don't stay out too late, okay? And be careful."

"Alright, Mom." Bella gave her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. Love you." I watched her a bit enviously, knowing that the same reality I used to have was now so unstable that it may not even be there anymore. I sighed, and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Kristina, are you okay?"

I turned to see Jason, and smiled. "I'm fine. I'll be okay."

"Alright… but if you need to talk to me, you know where to reach me."

"Thanks, Jase." I hugged him goodbye and waved to Courtney and the girls. Justine waved merrily and skipped out after her mother and sister. I smiled. That girl was so cute.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Bella asked me.

"What? Oh, yeah. Let's go."

We wandered in the general direction of the park, and sat down on a bench. Bella looked at me and asked, "Kristina, what's wrong?"

I sighed heavily. "Everything."

"Well, tell me from the beginning."

I nodded. "Okay… it all started yesterday, when the doorbell rang and I went to get it. All of a sudden this lady that I've never seen before comes in, and starts to ask for something, but then she sees me and goes, 'Kristina?' and hugs me, right? And I'm like, 'Okay, I don't know you,' I mean I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but you know, I don't know her, right? Or I didn't."

Bella nodded in agreement and then urged, "Go on."

"Okay. So Skye—Mom—comes down the stairs after hearing my grandfather Alan yelling at this lady, right? And so they get into an argument—the lady and Skye—and somehow it slips out that the lady is my mom, my real mom."

"Wait… so you mean Skye isn't your biological mother?" Bella asked incredulously.

"That's right. That's why I'm calling her by her name. But don't worry—this is just the beginning of the story.

"It turns out that the lady is Alexis Davis, who's actually a Cassadine. And I'm like, 'Okay, so why am I with Skye and my dad when Skye's not my mom?' So I go to Alexis for answers. I mean, she's the one with all of them, right? She has to know my true parentage. 'Cause like, Skye was yelling at her for not being a fit mother or something like that, so I went to go hear her side of the story."

Her eyes wide, Bella leaned in closer, wanting to hear more.

"So I went to Wyndemere, saw Nikolas, because I knew he knew Alexis, and then it turns out that she was staying there. So I go to see her, ask her questions, you know? I wanted to know why I was with Skye and my dad instead of her, what were the circumstances of the arrangement… it was crazy. She told me that she had gotten herself pregnant after a one night stand with a man who was already married and better yet, his wife couldn't have kids. Anyway, so she told Ned about it, and he pretended to be my dad to protect my mom. At the time, he was going out with my aunt—my namesake, I was named after her—and so she got hurt and like, left him or something, I don't know. Anyway, while my mom was still pregnant with me, my aunt got killed because she walked into a trap meant for someone else. So my mom went crazy, she loved her sister—she had just found her—and killed the guy whom she thought was responsible for her death, and then I was born. I guess I had some complications 'cause I was born really early, and had to be in the NICU for a while. So then my mom got charged with murder and was gonna be locked up, but she didn't want to be away from me, so she faked insanity and said her alternate personality killed the guy. And then, people found her to be an unfit mother to me, so there was a custody battle. Mind you, no one knew that Ned wasn't really my dad except for my mom and my biological father's wife." I stopped and gasped in realization. "Oh my gosh. That's how she knew."

"Who? Who knew what?" Bella asked eagerly.

"Oh… nothing. Let me finish my story first. Anyway, so Ned got custody of me, and then he fell in love with Skye, but don't worry, they're not really related so it's okay, and that's how I was raised."

Bella nodded again, taking in everything. "So… did she tell you who your biological father is?"

I nodded. "That's the hard part."

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Yeah, it can." I took a deep breath before disclosing the news to her. "Bella, my father is your father. We're sisters."

The look on Bella's face was priceless. "What? You mean… oh, wow. That's why my mom was acting all weird around you."

"Yeah, I think she knows." I sighed again and then said, "Bella, you have to promise you can't tell anyone. This is going to ruin things so much."

"Kristina, my dad has to know. He would want to know if he had another daughter somewhere. I know him."

"Okay, but what am I supposed to tell him? 'Yeah, hi, remember me, I'm one of your daughter's friends, but actually I'm really her sister, see you're my dad 'cause you had a one night stand with my mom, Alexis?' Or, 'I know you don't know me that well, but I think we should get to know each other 'cause you're my dad?' I don't know, Bella. I can't spring that news on him just like that."

"Well, then… tell Jason."

"What?"

"Tell Jason. He'll know what to do."

I thought over this option. It seemed logical. I was planning on telling him anyway. "Okay," I said slowly. "I will."

"Good." Bella sighed, not unlike I had been doing lately. "Wow, that is a lot of news to learn in two days. No wonder you seem so pensive."

"Yeah… I'm worried. I told both Skye and Ned. Skye freaked out a bit, but Ned knew the whole time. I'm just worried I'll be kicked out of the house and won't have a place to stay."

"You could stay with us," Bella suggested.

"I wouldn't want to do that—I'd feel like a burden," I admitted. "Yeah, if I do get kicked out, where am I supposed to stay? I'm raised as a Quartermaine, my mom is a Cassadine, my father is a Corinthos… what happens during the holidays? Who do I go to? Which family do I sit with at dinnertime?" I put my head in my hands. "I'm so worried that I'll feel like I won't fit in anywhere but have everywhere to stay, you know?"

Bella put her hand on my back reassuringly. "Don't worry, you'll be okay. You're strong. You're a Corinthos, remember? And you're not only my best friend, but my sister. I'll be there for you even if no one is."

"Thanks, Bella." I smiled tearily and hugged her.

"Of course, that's what I'm here for." We sat there in silence for a minute and then Bella looked at her watch. "Hey, Kristina, I'm really sorry, but I have to leave."

"That's okay. I better get going home anyway—I have a feeling the whole house is gonna know soon and I'll have to figure out what to do from there."

Bella nodded. "Remember, I'll be here if you need me."

"Okay. Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Only if you promise to tell Jason."

I narrowed my eyes. "You drive a hard bargain."

She shrugged. "Get it from my dad, I guess."

I smiled. "I guess. See you later, Bella."

"Bye, Kristina." With one last parting hug, we went our separate ways. I turned to walk towards the Quartermaine mansion when a familiar figure popped up out of nowhere. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked, alarmed.

"Long enough," the cold voice known as Loren Spencer replied. "You know, you shouldn't have conversations like that in the park. People can easily eavesdrop."

"Like you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Maybe," he answered, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't look at me like that, Kristina. It's your own fault that you weren't careful enough. Unless you want the whole world to know your so-called 'secret.' Although if people are smart enough, they'd figure it out for themselves—you do have many of the traits that your parents have."

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" I nearly pleaded, hating to have to beg.

He shrugged. "Depends. Probably not—why should I? It's not my place to tell."

I was so relieved that I threw myself at him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you." I looked up at him, then realized what position I was in, and quickly detached myself. "Sorry."

He just shrugged and walked away. I stared after him, wondering what it was about him.

*Okay, so I've never met anyone who's allergic to clam—but it can happen, right?

Review! Please! I love your kind words! I'm addicted! =D (Hey, I was just reading the last part of this chapter, and when Loren comes out and starts talking to Kristina—totally reminds me of how Lucky and Lydia are right now on the show. Does anyone sense an impending romance between those two…? =D)