Chapter 17: What a Nightmare

Sonny added two bowls of soup to his tray of sandwiches, picked up the tray, and started out of the kitchen. He set the tray down on the coffee table in the living room, but Alexis didn't raise her head to even acknowledge it.

Sonny sat down on the couch beside her and laid a hand on her knee. "I heated up some clam chowder and made some sandwiches. You really should eat something."

She didn't say anything. Wordlessly she reached for a bowl of soup and a spoon from the tray. For about ten minutes they ate in silence. Or rather, he ate in silence.

"Would you like something different? You really need to eat something." Sonny finally said as he watched Alexis stir, but not eat, the clam chowder in front of her.

"I understand that you mastered the art of force feeding during your little intervention with Brenda, Sonny, but I'm just not hungry."

"Whoa! Hey! I don't know what Jax told you about all of that but that isn't what happened," Sonny said indignantly. It wasn't. He had guided, not forced, there was a big difference.

"Was it? You know, Ned had to convince Brenda's sister to not have you arrested for kidnapping."

What? Brenda had called him, not the other way around. "Brenda went with me willingly. Jax just could never accept that Brenda and I will always have a deeper connection than she ever had with him," Sonny said.

"How closed minded of him. I guess Cruz is just more enlightened."

More enlightened than Jax? Practically anyone must be, Sonny thought. "I never said that situation applies to Cruz," Sonny said. He wondered if she was picking a fight because she was afraid that she would otherwise break down and tell him what was wrong. He was sure she would deny that, but he suspected he was right.

"So, you're not going to arrange for Cruz's other wife to show up at Brenda and Cruz's wedding?"

"Cruz doesn't have another wife. Anyway, as I told both you and Hannah at the time, I had nothing to do with Miranda showing up at Brenda's wedding. I thought at least you believed me," Sonny said. Technically Hannah had claimed that she did believe him that he hadn't arranged for Miranda's appearance, but she didn't believe him that he was over Brenda. Hannah had been right; Sonny hadn't really even made much effort to deny that. But that had been in 1998 and a lot had changed since then.

"Listen, Lex, we can keep going around in circles over ancient history or we can actually deal with what is happening now."

"Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it," Alexis challenged.

"I'm not asking you to forget the past. I made some mistakes, I'll grant that. But if you really forgive me like you have claimed you do then stop dancing around the truth and tell me what is wrong with you so we can deal with it. You can't just basically tell me you think you're dying; you want me to take Molly, and then refuse to talk about it."

"Do not tell me what I can or cannot do!"

She had a point. He hadn't meant it to sound controlling but he was frustrated and scared. He wasn't ready to lose her. He probably never would be. "That wasn't how I meant it. If you're sick, we're going to have to tell the girls something. Kristina is a smart little girl she isn't going to be fooled."

"I can't talk about this tonight. Please, just let me sleep tonight and I'll try to explain something in the morning," Alexis said.

Sonny heard the desperation in her voice. "Ok," he finally said.

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As she pulled back the covers Alexis realized that Sonny still had satin sheets. They had actually received some as a wedding present from some distant relative of Mark's but she had quickly buried them in the bottom of the linen closet. Mark had never asked about them. Although perhaps that was because she doubted Mark had much idea about most of what they had received as wedding gifts. He should have since Alexis had made him write all of the thank you notes. But she suspected he did that on autopilot by rote from the handy list Lila had compiled that cataloged everyone's gift and whether they had actually attended their cursed union.

Lila hadn't referred to their wedding as a cursed union though. Alexis thought she had called it the blessed event. She was idealistic or optimistic that they were in love. Sometimes Alexis had wondered how she could have believed that. Two months before their wedding Mark had proposed to Kristina. Did Lila really believe that her nephew whom she had raised, was that fickle? Perhaps she did, his track record didn't exactly argue to the contrary.

Alexis didn't really believe that. Lila Quartermaine was proper, refined, kind, and diplomatic. But Lila Quartermaine wasn't stupid. Alexis was well aware that Lila, and probably all of the Quartermaines, had probably believed that she and Mark had indulged in a momentary indiscretion after Kristina's death. Alexis had never corrected their incorrect assumption because it had served her purposes-convincing everyone that her child had no ties to Sonny Corinthos' world.

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Sonny stood in the hallway outside the master bedroom suite and debated if he was supposed to knock before he entered his own room. It was probably safer that way, well, unless Alexis told him to go away. Eventually he brought himself to rap lightly and received a frustrated "What now?" in response.

Ok that wasn't exactly the response he was hoping for, however, there was the implication he could come in. He decided to focus on that and opened the door. "I just wanted to make sure you have everything you needed," he said.

Alexis looked more at his comforter than him. "I told you I picked up toiletries at the drug store."

"Right, ok, great. Are you warm enough? Do you need another blanket?" Sonny asked as he started to take the cushions off the couch.

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing my bed. This thing pulls out and the bed really isn't that bad."

Alexis stiffened. "You're sleeping in here? But you said…"

"I said I would sleep on the couch. This is a couch. Anyway, you're the one who doesn't want to confuse Kristina. If she gets up in the middle of the night and finds me sleeping on the couch downstairs that will definitely confuse her."

Alexis shook her head, obviously dissatisfied with his logic.

"I'm supposed to wake you up every hour or so do you really want me to have to haul up from the living room every hour on the hour?" Sonny asked. Of course, once the words were out, he realized that she probably would be ok with that.

"Our earlier discussion is over," Alexis said before she flopped over on her right side effectively turning her back to him.

Sonny tried to not read into her position but that was hard. "Ok, well, sleep well."

"Daddy! Daddy!" Kristina's wails broke into their conversation. They escalated as, Sonny presumed, their source got closer to his bedroom door.

A look of new terror came over Alexis's face. "That is Kristina! I can't, I can't" she gasped before she threw his down comforter over her head.

"I'll get her, she probably just had a bad dream," Sonny said as he opened the door. At least Kristina could wake up from her nightmares. Sonny wished he could.