Sorry it took me so long to update. School just ended and I was really stressed with finals and everything. I however am back, nad hoping to update more often. So here you go, and thanks to all of you who have reviewed, means a lot to me.

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Chapter 35

Michael walked up the path to his Mother's house. He had just stopped at Kelly's to pick up the food she ordered, and wasn't surprised at the amount of sugar the bag contained. His mother always seemed to think that sugar could cure anything. He wasn't so sure that sugar was what was needed at this moment.

He walked in the front door not even bothering to knock; it was his mother's house after all. He walked through the rooms and into the kitchen. He didn't see anyone in the house so he opened the sliding door and walked into the back yard. He saw them sitting off to the side in the grass just staring off into space.

He slowly approached them setting the bag next to his mother as he grabbed a seat next to his Aunt. He looked at both of them. He was positive they knew he was sitting there, he also knew each of them had a lot to think about. So he just sat there waiting for them to say something to him before he left to meet his wife for lunch.

Michael watched as his mother reached into the bag and pulled out the ice cream. Handing a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough to Courtney, Carly grabbed the double fudge chocolate brownie and the two spoons.

Carly took the lid off her ice cream and looked at it for a second before plunging her spoon into the silky smooth chocolaty heaven and inserting the ice cream filled spoon into her mouth. She let out a moan, tilted her head back and shut her eyes as the chocolate substance came in contact with her tongue. She needed this, this small release that she had found in a frozen desert.

Courtney just stared at hers. She wasn't hungry, and ice cream wasn't what she needed. She needed her problems solved. To make them all disappear and make her family happy, to make her daughter happy. Happy. She wasn't sure what that word meant any longer as she dug her spoon into her ice cream and ate it just because she needed something to do.

Michael watched the two as they ate the ice cream. He wasn't going to get an answer out of either of them as he stood. He leaned over and kissed his mother on the forehead, as he did the same to his.

"Thanks," She spoke as he stood up straight and looked down at the two.

"Not a problem. Eat your ice cream. I'll see you both tomorrow or something," Michael replied as he turned and went to meet his wife.

"Ok," Courtney said as she turned to face Carly who had a mouthful of ice cream.

Carly used the spoon to scrape the last of the ice cream from the container into her mouth as she let out one last moan and turned to face her friend. She sat watching her friend finish off the last of her own ice cream before setting the empty container next to her. Seeing this Carly reached into the bag and took out two Styrofoam cups and set them between the two as she reached into the bag again and pulled out two containers of food, and handed one to Courtney.

Carly dug into her food ignoring the fact that Courtney just sat staring at hers. Sure she knew she should eat, but she wasn't hungry as she set the burger back in the box and shut it. This action made Carly look at her friend as she took another huge bite of her burger.

"I need to go," Courtney said as she stood and looked down at Carly.

"Ok," Carly said as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and began to stand.

"No, Stay put. I just need some space," Courtney said as she walked to the side gate and out of sight.

Carly watched the spot where her friend previously stood before turning back to her food. She understood why Courtney walked away, she needed to think, she needed time to understand, and get the events of the day in order. Carly understood that the life she lived was starting on that whirlwind trip that was likely to destroy what Port Charles looked at as story book endings.

Sonny sat on the couch in Jason's contemplating what he should do, what he should say. He was so confused, lost, unsure of what to do, or what had just happened.

He had a niece, a niece. She could have been Lila's friend, but instead the girls hated each other. Hate was an understatement in all truth as a laugh of utter confusion left his lips. His niece hated his current wife and daughter, and most likely himself as well.

What could he say to that? As angry as he was he couldn't help but to think that maybe it was all his fault. Maybe he had driven his sister away, his ex-wife. Maybe it was his fault that his son's didn't grow up with both mother and father together. That he was the cause of the unhappiness of his best friend. Maybe it was his fault that Carly had left him.

Carly. The woman that still held his heart, his whole heart whether the mobster liked it or not. He had tried to forget her. Tried to erase the woman from his mind. He had even tried to move on with Sam. It never worked. Sure he loved Sam. She was his wife; he just didn't love her as a wife should be loved. He loved Carly that way, as his wife. At this moment he was unsure if he had ever stopped loving her in such a way.

She had done terrible things to him and their relationship in the name of love, but he had done the same. They had ripped each other down so many times that by the time she left him neither had much left to give. That was one of the reasons he had asked Sam to come back to him, and one of the reasons why he had stayed with her through everything.

Sonny had learned from his mistakes with Carly. He had tried not to hurt her, but for some reason Sam hadn't felt the same. She had continually done things to hurt him, and Jason. Things to turn the men against each other, to make sure that both still trusted her, but not each other. Her plans never worked. Sam was the last thing that would tear the friends apart, and she wanted to, unlike Courtney.

Courtney never wanted either of them to hurt. Heck she never wanted to hurt anyone, She had sacrificed herself many a times to ensure that the friends would still be friends at the end of the day. Perhaps that had been why she had left, to protect him and Jason.

Sonny shook his head of that thought. There had to be more to it. Some deep dark secret like Emma was actually Jax's. Sonny just couldn't accept that it could possibly have been his fault that his sister. That his only sister had left to keep his family intact. He wasn't ready to admit that it was his fault that he never knew.

Jason stood in the kitchen leaning against the counter sipping a beer. It was just after noon and he was drinking, but he didn't care. He had so much on his mind and he couldn't figure a thing out.

He couldn't quite grasp the fact that he had a daughter, a daughter that his ex-wife was back in Port Charles with. His daughter, he was a dad. He couldn't understand how he never knew, how he never bothered to figure it out. Was he that involved in his own life that he couldn't even notice her when she had needed him the most?

Yes. He had always been so fixed on making things better for everyone else that he hadn't bothered to think about her. He knew she loved him, and him her, but it wasn't enough. He was never fully there for her and he realized now, but was it to late. Was it too late for him to go to her, to tell her that he had messed up and wanted the chance to know his daughter? He wasn't sure if it was to late or not, but he wasn't going to wait around to find out.

He set his beer on the counter and ran his hands through his hair. Would he really do it? Could he really admit that maybe he had been wrong. That it was his fault. He should be able too, it should be possible for him to do, but the more he thought of it the harder it seemed. He wasn't sure he could do it, he wasn't sure about anything anymore.

He had so much to figure out, he just couldn't sit around his pent house it was too confining. He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He saw Sonny deep in thought sitting on the couch. He went right past him grabbed his keys and walked out the door. He just needed sometime to think, and the last thing he needed was to listen to Sonny.