After the Fire

A General Hospital fan-fiction

Chapter Five: Alcazar's Return

Somewhere off the coast of South America

Lorenzo Alcazar set his jaw as he looked out the window of his stateroom. Three months had passed since the fire that claimed the life of the woman he loved. He had left town shortly after Carly's funeral but found he was unable to forget his pain. Her memory haunted him. Haunted him so much that a fury built up within him. A fury that was directed at the man whom he felt was responsible for Carly's death…Sonny Corinthos.

Lorenzo looked up as his right-hand man walked into his stateroom on his yacht. "The gentleman has arrived," he informed his boss.

Lorenzo nodded. "Show him in." He folded his tall frame into a seat to await his visitor. He smiled as AJ Quartermaine was led into the room.

AJ reacted when he spotted Lorenzo. "Alcazar," he said. "I thought you were dead."

Lorenzo grinned. "Have a seat, Mr. Quartermaine," he said, gesturing to the seat opposite himself. "I think I can alleviate your confusion."

AJ sat down and looked around the room. Decorated in greens and blacks, the furniture was imposing, imposing and a little intimidating. He wiped his hands on his pants before resting them on each arm of the chair. "What am I doing here?" he asked.

"First, allow me to introduce myself," Lorenzo announced, leaning forward and extending his hand. "My name is Lorenzo Alcazar, Luis was my older brother."

AJ shook his hand. "Luis' brother, huh?" he began, "well, that explains why you look like him." He dropped his hand and leaned back. "Now all that leaves is why I'm here."

Lorenzo laughed. "You cut to the chase, Mr. Quartermaine," he said, "I like that." He paused briefly before continuing. "I understand you are the biological father of Carly Corinthos' son, Michael."

AJ lifted his eyebrows. "Michael? What do you know about my son?"

"Your son?" Lorenzo quipped. "I was under the impression that he was Sonny Corinthos' son."

AJ rolled his eyes. "That's what Carly wants Michael to think," he said, "it's her little fantasy."

Lorenzo realized that AJ had no idea of Carly's demise. "Mr. Quartermaine, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your ex-wife is dead."

AJ's jaw dropped. He was stunned. "What? When?"

Lorenzo nodded. "I had a feeling you didn't know," he said, "it was about three months ago. The Port Charles Hotel burned to the ground. Carly was trapped in an elevator."

"I didn't know," AJ revealed. "When I left Port Charles, I didn't stay in touch with anyone." He paused. "Michael's okay, right?"

"Michael's fine," Lorenzo told him, "he wasn't at the hotel."

AJ relaxed, relieved at the news. "Is this why I was brought here, to talk about Carly and Michael?" He was skeptical of Alcazar's motives.

"I would have thought you'd be worried about your son, Mr. Quartermaine," Lorenzo pointed out. "I thought I'd do you a favor."

AJ was suspicious. "What kind of favor?"

"I'm going to help you get custody of your son."

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Back in Port Charles...at Sonny's penthouse

Sonny walked out of the kitchen carrying a big bowl of spaghetti. "Okay, whose hungry?"

Michael was the only one to answer verbally. "Alright, I love spaghetti!"

Mike laughed and turned to Kristina. "What about you, little girl? Do you like spaghetti?"

Kristina nodded, her eyes bright. "Uh-huh."

Sonny set the bowl on the table. "Okay, let's have some plates," he said, clapping his hands together.

Once everyone's plates were full, Sonny seated himself at the head of the table and turned to Michael. "Michael, can you say grace?"

"Dear God, please bless this food we are about to eat. Amen."

"Amen," Sonny and Mike reiterated. As they started to eat, there was a knock on the door. Johnny stuck his head in. "Sam McCall is here to see you, sir."

Sonny stood up. "Yeah, let her in."

Sam walked in and smiled at Sonny. "Hi, Sonny," she began, noticing everyone at the table. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time."

Sonny shook his head. "No, it's okay," he told her, leading her to the sofa. "What brings you here?"

"Well, this will be very short because I don't want to interrupt your dinner too long," she began, as she sat down next to him, "but I just wanted to let you know Jax and I are getting married."

"Really? When did this happen?" Sonny asked.

"Today, he asked me today." Sam paused. "There's more, Sonny," she continued, "I'm pregnant. I just wanted to tell you before you found out. It's not your baby."

"And you know this how?"

"I knew we were together at the time of the fire but you also know that I was with Jax too," Sam explained, "that was the night we got back together. And I admit when I found out I was pregnant, I didn't know if you or he were the father so I had a blood test."

"A blood test?" Sonny's eyebrows shot up. "How does that prove that I'm not the father?"

"Because we used your medical records from the last time you were shot," Sam explained. "You and Jax have different blood types. He's AB and you're O . I'm an A."

"And the baby?"

"Matches Jax's exactly. Dr. Meadows says that there's no way that you could be the father," Sam assured him.

Sonny sighed. "Well, that's it then. Thanks for coming to me," he told her. "I have to admit that if I had found out you were pregnant, I would have assumed I was the father and you were keeping it from me. I'm happy to know that I can trust you. Like always."

Sam grinned at him. "Yeah, like always. You were good to me, Sonny. I will remember our time together as only happy times."

Sonny grinned back. "Me too." They stood up. Sonny looked over at the others. "You want to stay for dinner? There's plenty."

Sam shook her head as she walked toward the door. "No, I'm meeting Jax at Kelly's in a few minutes. Thanks anyway." She waved at Mike and the kids. "Bye everyone, you can have Sonny back now."

Once Sam was gone, Sonny rejoined the others at the table. "Okay, how's the spaghetti?" The sight of Michael and Kristina's spaghetti-covered faces met him.

A/N: Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. I hope you like it.