Ch. 17 Burning It Down

The penthouse was quiet. A strange thing for a place where two growing boys lived. But they were at Bobbie's, so the place was silent. Sonny did not like the silence; it gave his mind free reign. He would think and wonder about his life and everything in it. These days he thought of Carly. He thought of how much he loved and hated her. How much pain and pleasure they brought into each others lives. But at this particular moment, he thought of how he missed her. Sure she was living with him, but for all specifics, she couldn't be farther away.

"Sonny." he heard his name and was more than surprised to see her standing in front of him. "Where were you just now?"

"Thinking."

"About…?"

"Ric."

"Ric?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah; this situation, his murder, Courtney being charged, it's just got me thinking. It's like we've worked hard and fought against everything to build this family. We know that there are problems with it and we do our best to ignore it and move on. Then out of no where the foundation is knocked out and the building collapses." he explained.

"I know what you mean." she responded, sitting down next to him. "But as many nose dives as our family has taken, we've survived. Sure right now we're apart, but we're still standing."

"Barely." he informed. "Being a part of this 'family' destroys you. Once you've been touched by it, you're tainted for life. If you're lucky, you find something that makes you happy enough that you…that you forget."

"Are we talking about us now?" Carly asked, to which he shrugged his shoulders. "Our marriage-"

"Marriages." he corrected with a small grin on his face.

"Marriages, sorry." she said smiling. "Our marriages were disasters. A wave of horrible disasters that tore apart everyone involved."

"Yeah, yeah."

"But…"she added. "they were beautiful. A series of beautiful disasters that I wouldn't trade for anything, and I wouldn't change anything about it either."

"Even the hurt?" he asked, and she sighed.

"You told me that if we light a match, the whole house would burn down. I didn't listen, we took the chance and we lit the match. And you were right." she smiled. "But we've survived the fire, literally. As disastrous as it was, we survived it. If you ask me it was worth every second. It's made me the woman I am today."

"You're blaming me for that?" he teased.

"I'm serious." she chuckled. "It made me the strong, stubborn, not to mention genius of a woman you see now. The woman that's not afraid of anyone. The woman who knows that her sons have the best father anyone could ask for. The woman that loves you."

Sonny wasn't sure he'd heard her right. It had to have been a trick his mind was playing on him. But then again…

"You're saying you love me?" he asked to be sure he hadn't made it up.

"Sonny, you're the father of my children. I'll always love you." she admitted.

"But we don't work?"

"I guess we've proven that a few times over." she replied. "But like I said, I don't regret any of it."

"I do." he stated.

She stared at him in disbelief. Apparently they had very different views on their relationship. Maybe he was helping her, she needed to shut the door on Sonny Corinthos and move on with her life. It was for the best. But it sure as hell didn't feel like it.

"You regret us?" she asked afraid of his response.

"I regret letting you go. Each time." he answered, and brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face. Her eyes held his chocolate gaze, neither able to look away. Slowly, the space between them disappeared and their lips met in a soft, tender kiss. After a moment, Carly pulled back slightly and rested her forehead against his.

"Sonny what are we doing?" she asked breathless.

"Lightning a match." she smiled at the answer and he showed her his gorgeous dimples in return.

Her lips quickly returned to his and she leaned back until she was laying on the couch with him hovering on top of her. The perfect moment was ruined when a quick knock sounded from the door.

"Mmm…ignore it." she begged. "If it's important they'll come back."

Just as the words left her mouth, another, louder knock came. Groaning, he reluctantly got up and went to the door. He opened it and felt his happiness dive into a deep pit at his visitor.

"Hi." she greeted. Unable to respond, Carly appeared at his side.

"Sonny who is-" she halted and felt her anger rise. "You."

"I need to talk to Sonny." she began. "It's important."

"Sorry we're busy, you'll have to tramp up our doorway some other time." Carly spit. She grabbed the door and began to shut it.

"But-"

"Bye." she said cutting off the woman. Before the door could close, she shouted loud enough for anyone in the building to hear.

"I'm pregnant!"