Chapter 18

Walking into the penthouse with his mother, he closed the door behind him.

He steered her towards the bedroom, "Mom, you are going to take a nap. It's been a stressful day and I don't want you to have to worry about anything else. I'm having food brought over from the No Name and Aunt Kristina will be by later to ensure you eat it all."

Alexis rolled her eyes and said, "You are worse than your father."

Michael smiled gratefully and said, "Thanks for the compliment. I will take it to heart and let Dad know the next time he wonders if I'm taking good care of you."

They sat in the car for five minutes staring at the house. "Dad, are we going to go in? She can't win over every part of our lives. Come on, let's give her hell."

Sonny shook his head at his daughter in laughter. She was always the one that everyone counted on to lighten up a situation with her humor. He nodded and they all stepped out of the car and headed towards the front door.

Kristina took Morgan's hand into her own and squeezed gently. "It's going to be okay brother. We'll get through this."

Ric nodded and said, "I heard about what happened last night and I was just checking in on you."

Alexis smiled gratefully as let him in the penthouse and said, "I'm fine, and Sonny's the one that you need to worry about. He's going through a rough time of it."

Ric smiled and said, "You two are always looking out for each other. He tells me he's worried about you, you tell me you are worried about him. You two are sickening with your love sometimes."

Alexis laughed and said, "So about those divorce papers? Any luck?"

Ric shook his head and said, "I'm checking all kinds of precedents dating back to early times. We will find it Alexis. Maybe not today, nor tomorrow but soon and when we find it she will be out of your lives forever. You won't have to put up with her for too much longer."

Kristina smiled to herself, she was going to make her wish that she had never stepped foot in this house. "Carly, how wonderful to have you back with us? So how long are you planning to stay?"

Kristina sat down on the chair in the living room and crossed her legs and looked at Carly in challenge.

Carly laughed to herself, if this little bitch wanted to play hardball. Hardball it was. "I'm doing fine Kristina how's your mother?"

Kristina nodded pleased that she didn't let the beginning stab go to Carly. "She's fine happy and so much in love with my father that she can't stand it. I'm sure you're aware that she's pregnant with twins."

Sonny put a quieting arm on her shoulder and said, "Kris, that's enough. Carly, what do you want?"

Carly smiled and said, "Honey, I'm back for good."

A Couple Hours Later

Sonny smiled and turned over positioning the cell phone under his ear. He had just gotten finished dead-bolting his bedroom door shut when he realized that he hadn't spoken to Alexis since she left the hospital. He picked up his cell phone and pressed Speed Dial 1, and spoke softly into the phone, "What are you doing? I'm trying to get comfortable in bed without you in it. This will be the first time in I don't know how many years that I'm trying to fall asleep without you by my side. Even when Kristina was born, I stayed in the hospital where you were that night. I feel so crazy tonight Alexis, I'm scared."

Alexis grimaced softly and said, "Well, it's no picnic over here either. Your sister-in-law wants me to get mad and make Carly pay so after force-feeding me dinner she proceeded to tell me I needed to work on a game plan. I just want to get through the rest of this pregnancy with no complications."

Sonny smiled at the exasperation he heard in her voice, "I'm sure you will be fine. You have one of my best men on you at all times."

Alexis laughed softly in his ear "Michael is quick becoming ten times worse than you. Do you know that he got rid of all of the popcorn in the house that Jason brought me? I mean what kind of maniac does that?"

Sonny laughed from the bottom of his stomach for the first time in days and said, "I love you sweetheart. Will you stay with me while I fall asleep?"

Alexis started to talk in a low tone voice. Talk about the weather, talk about the children, and talk in general until she heard Sonny's slow rhythmic breathing that let her know he was asleep as well.

Chapter 19

Next Morning

Michael rolled over in bed at the sound of a knock on the door. He squinted at the alarm clock on his bed next to him and shook his head. Who could it be at this hour of the morning? He quickly got out of bed cognizant of the fact that his mother was still asleep. When he went into to check on her last night he saw her curled up in bed with the pillow between her legs and the cell phone under her ear. The picture she made brought back memories of hatred of Carly even deeper for tearing his family apart in this manner. He opened the door and saw his brother Morgan, Kristina, and his father leaning against the doorjamb all still clad in their pajamas. He looked at them in shock

"What are you guys doing here?"

Kristina walked into the penthouse and flopped onto the couch. She looked back at her brother and said, "Mike, we are a family and for everyday of the last 8 years of my life we have had breakfast together. Dad makes it and we eat it. Now how are we supposed to do that if we are living in separate households?"

Jason looked up as Ric came off the elevator and into his apartment. "What's up man? I have been staying out of trouble so I don't know why you here."

Ric looked at Jason with a smile and said, "Don't worry I'm not here to bust you. I'm here to get some information that I need for a case I'm working on."

Jason looked at him in shock and said, "You need my help. This is definitely a first, what case is it?"

Ric looked to him and said, "Can I sit down?"

Jason nodded and said, "Do you need a drink or anything?"

Ric shook his head and said, "I need to ask for your assistance. I've heard from my client that the last time this person in question disappeared you were able to find her whereabouts as well as the ones she didn't say."

Jason smiled and said, "This is for the divorce right?"

Ric smiled softly "Of course, you don't think I would bother you for anything else do you?"

Jason smiled "Whatever you need. I'll help anyway I can."

Ric nodded while standing up "Good, that's good. I need to know where Carly has been for these last 5 years."

"So Dad is pathetic right?"

Michael looked at his sister in shock and said, "What are you talking about?"

Kristina laughed and said, "You know what I mean. I woke up this morning realizing that this would be the first morning in awhile that we weren't all together so I came up with this idea. Leave Carly high and dry and come over here so Dad could make us all breakfast. You know together as a family. So I go into Dad's room to wake him up and what do I find? He was curled up in the middle of the bed with a pillow between his legs and a cell phone still in his hand."

Michael laughed and said, "Then Dad isn't the only pathetic one. That's how I saw Mom last night."

Morgan looked at his watch "Speaking of Mom, where is she? Shouldn't she be up by now?"

Sonny stuck his head out of the kitchen door and said, "Let her sleep. She's had a stressful couple of days."

Kristina yawned while standing up and said, "I'm still sleepy. Last one to her bed is a rotten egg."

Morgan jumped up eager for the chance to beat his sister and was running towards his mother's room as Sonny's voice trailed behind them "Let your mother sleep you two."

Michael laughed and stood up walking towards the kitchen said, "So Dad, need any help in the kitchen?"

Kristina knocked on the door of the penthouse and was shocked when her brother-in-law answered the door. "Come on in Kristina and Zander breakfast is almost ready."

Kristina smiled and put down her purse while removing her jacket "What are you doing here Sonny? Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that you're here, but what's going on?"

Sonny smiled at the both of them and said, "It's your namesake. She woke me up this morning around 6 reiterating to me that she has had breakfast together as a family everyday for the last 8 years and that's is how it was going to continue even if it meant we had to raise like early birds still in our pajamas to make it over here."

Kristina smiled pleased at her namesake and said, "So where are Morgan and Kristina anyway?"

Michael came out of the kitchen with fruit in his hand to set on the table and said, "They are still in bed. I think in all of the excitement of getting out of the house without Carly knowing, they forgot how tired they really were."

Carly checked her watch in disgust. So she had made move one into the house but they were intent on counteracting all of her moves. Very well, the gloves would come off. She was tired of being treated like the bad guy. She wasn't going to continue to play games with Sonny and Alexis for her kids. If they wanted a war, a war they were going to get.

There was someone in her bed. She knew like she knew Roe vs. Wade verbatim. It couldn't be her husband because her husband was across town with her worst enemy. No they weren't together but if she didn't watch out that is how they were going to end up. Opening her eyes slowly she looked down and saw Morgan and Kristina curled up on the left side of her. She felt the tears spring to her eyes as she looked at the two of them sleeping so peacefully next to her. She kissed her fingertips lightly and then brushed it against each of their foreheads. They were here. Maybe this had all been a bad dream. But as she looked around her bedroom, she realized it wasn't. This wasn't the house that Sonny and her had been so excited about buying. This was a hotel room and not the house she shared with her children. Her life had been turned upside down by the one person that she had thought could never hurt her again. A dead one.