Note: Oops! I put the wrong chapter up on March 17th, so if you're reading this on March 18th, go back and make sure it's not about LiRic… everyone else, you're fine…

Journeylove-

Like I just said above… that chapter's supposed to go up tomorrow, but since I was stupid I put it in on accident. I love the Elizabeth/Ric relationship very much as well, I think it is a wonderful part of the show, but alas, it has ended. That's all well and good, but in my story it isn't over yet. So yay.

Story-

Corinthos Household, Morning-

"So… you're going to pick her up?"

"Yeah… I'll pick her up, we'll leave the car at the airport and take the jet to New York."

"Need some money?"

Damian rolled his eyes, "You've already given me plenty of money, plus a few credit cards…"

"Most people wouldn't turn down the chance to get some more money, you know?" Sonny snickered. His boy was so un-materialistic that it was nearly impossible to believe that he was born in the 1980's.

"How many times do we have to go through this?"

"I know, I know. You're not most people. I get it. But when Carly…"

"And now you're comparing me to Carly? I'd rather be compared to 'most people…'"

"Are you going to let me finish?"

"I was going to try and head out the door before this became one of our rare heart to hearts…"

"I thought you liked those. You know, I could just call the pilot and tell him not to take you and your girlfriend to New York so that you could do something that you don't want to tell me about…"

"All right! You win…" he had a feeling that his father was merely jesting about the denial of the jet, but he wasn't going to chance it. Time was limited. Not the time of his little brothers or of Carly, but his time. School would start on Monday and once it started he would have no possible way of getting out of town for a day, or even for a few hours. Plus, he did like the heart to hearts.

"When Carly goes to New York she usually takes a few thousand dollars with her. She always finds something that she wants to buy and just can't live without."

"You're giving her a lot of credit by saying that she only finds 'something.' Carly usually finds a way to make sure that she comes back from New York with more than a few things that she 'just can't live without.' I've seen the bags that she brought with her from her pre-Christmas shopping spree. Including the ones that she tried to keep hidden from you…"

"What?"

"Nothing…" he tried to correct his error, giving his step-mother more room to get away with her splurging antics. It was hard to keep secrets from Sonny, and it was Carly and her clothing.

"What are you hiding from me?" The boy was a horrible liar, just like Carly. They could attempt to keep secrets from him, but he was Sonny Corinthos, and Sonny Corinthos always had a way of finding out in the end.

"What are you two doing down here?" Carly asked as she walked down the stairs.

"Damian's tongue managed to slip… I know, Carly."

Carly stopped walking down the stairs and just stood there in silence. Sonny knew? Sonny knew everything that she had done? Was he going to leave her? Of course he was going to leave her, why wouldn't he? "Sonny… I'm so sorry! I didn't mean…"

The quivering in Carly's voice was enough to alert Damian to the fact that she thought Sonny knew something else, something that Sonny could never find out about. "I'm sure Carly feels horrible about spending so much money in New York when she left, dad, but she's a woman… and she loves to shop."

"What?" Carly's eyes turned to the boy. What the hell was he talking about? Why was he trying to make the situation seem like it was less important. Sonny would hate that even more.

"I told dad about the extra bags that you had stashed over at Aunt Courtney's… you know, the stuff that you didn't want him to see?"

"Shame on you, Carly…" Sonny added humorously. "I'm going to need to buy a bigger house just so you can have enough closet space."

"We're getting a new house?" Michael, who had also woken up, came running down the stairs, moving past Carly as he heard the words that appealed to him on every conceivable level. He latched onto Sonny's leg, "Can it have a tree house, and a big back yard, and can we take Rosie?"

"That was a joke, buddy," Sonny looked down, seeing Michael's hopeful eyes staring at him. "We're not getting a new house. I thought you liked it here…"

"I do… I just wanted a place where I could play outside."

"You can always go to the park and play whenever you want," Sonny did feel a small amount of guilt, never having realized before how the penthouse deprived his children of things that others had. Even when he was growing up, as painful as his childhood was, he still had plenty of room to run around and play. Michael was confined to the house and the hallway. It didn't really seem fair. "As long as your homework is done and it isn't too late. You know that."

"It's not the same…"

"I bet you don't even realize how jealous the other kids at school are of you, Michael," Damian tried to cheer the boy up.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've got the best view in Port Charles. You can look out of your window in your room and you can see everything, the ocean, the lights, the boats that come in to the harbor at night. How many of the kids at school can say that?"

"None…"

"And how many of the kids at your school have backyards that they can play in?"

"A lot…"

"See?" Damian hoped that his logic would work, sometimes it was hit or miss, especially with kids. "You have something that nobody else has, but you want something that plenty of other people do have. What you have now, here, in the penthouse, is something that is way more special than a plain old backyard. Plus, there's an elevator outside…"

"Can we go to the park now?" Michael requested.

"I think you should get dressed first, Mr. Man," Carly said, holding back a chuckle, "Spider-Man pajamas don't really make for the best clothing to wear at the park."

"Maybe you could have given him something better to wear if you wouldn't have spent so much money on yourself," Sonny said in a mockingly cold tone of voice.

"You won't be complaining when you see how those dresses look on me, Sonny Corinthos. I can promise you that."

"Are you going to come?" Michael looked at Damian, not understanding or wanting to have anything to do with his parents' conversation. They had their own language, and it probably involved kissing.

"I can't, Michael…"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to fly to New York with Maxie…"

"But…" Michael lowered his eyes. "But I wanted to stay up till midnight with everyone… now you won't be here and it won't be as fun."

"Hey," Damian started to speak, voice soft and kind, "I don't intend on staying the whole night, Michael. I'm going to be back before the end of the night… trust me, I want to get out of New York as soon as I can."

"Why are you even going?" Carly asked, not having heard of the plan until that very moment.

Damian's face was blank, as blank as he could make it. Carly couldn't know that she was the reason that he was going to New York City because then she might be able to piece together the fact that the person who Bobbie thought was her father was there. "Maxie wants to go."

"On New Years Eve?"

"What better time to go then on New Years Eve, Carly?" Damian retorted. "All the people from all over the world… a social butterfly like Maxie could have plenty of fun."

"And what about you?" Carly knew how he didn't really like big crowds. New York was big enough on a regular day, New Years Eve was sheer madness.

"I'll just find some cardboard box to hide under or something. Hopefully a hobo won't be inside."

"You have everything you need?" Sonny wondered.

"I think so."

"Do we need to run down the list?"

"Dad… would you stop treating this like it's me going out to prom? The only thing you're missing is a camera with the flash going off in my eyes."

"I didn't see a prom picture…"

"That's because I didn't go." There was no need for him to even fathom attending his high school prom. Or any other dance for that matter. If Maxie were still in high school… well, they probably wouldn't be a couple if she was still in high school. "I need to get going… if I'm going to get Maxie and make it to the jet on time."

"Have fun," Carly was finally getting the feeling back in her body, the fright that had consumed her washing over her like it was never there. But she knew it was. Each time she saw Sonny give her a questionable look she would wonder if it was because he knew what she was doing, what they were hiding from him, and then it would be all over. But she couldn't let that continue to eat at her, at least not as much as it had. If Carly let the guilt eat at her then she would snap. "And if you can…"

"I'm not buying you any more clothes!"

"Don't you have enough clothes, mommy?"

"Et Tu, Michael?"

"Huh?" The boy obviously didn't understand what Carly meant. It was the only thing from that play that she could remember.

She just laughed, not at him, but at the way he was looking at her. "Nothing, sweetie. Why don't you go run upstairs while I talk to your father for a minute, okay?"

"Okay."

When Michael was safely out of the room, Carly continued the few steps before she was near Sonny, "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"He's only been gone… what… a minute?"

"It doesn't matter, Sonny. I know you. It could be a minute, it could be a second. He's your son, you love him, and he's not going to be around you so you can't protect him. It must drive you crazy."

"It does…"

"And I know what you're thinking. You've probably got a few people on call to drive down to New York and hunt him down…"

"They would find him. I know they would."

"I don't doubt it, Sonny, but you can't do that." Carly rubbed his back, feeling the tension that he had hidden from both of his children, but Sonny couldn't hide it from her. Carly knew him too well. "Damian trusts you now. If you don't trust him enough to let him go out with his girlfriend alone then you might lose that trust all over again. None of us wants that to happen."

"The last time he went away from me I almost lost him…"

"Faith is gone, Sonny." Carly would always count her blessings when it came to Faith no longer being a part of their lives. "She can't hurt him now."

"I hope you're right…"

"I think I am."

Sonny hugged Carly, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Carly."

She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes, feeling the love wash over her, the same love that she felt for him. The frail love that could be shattered so easily. She didn't want to lose it.