Chapter 16

"Dad? Hey, Will and I may have a problem. Can you come over to our place? No, we're ok, Gabi called and we aren't sure what's going on but I think it's time to sit down and see where we stand legally. Ok, thanks, see ya soon." Sonny hung up the phone and turned to Will who was just setting his phone down on the table. "Did you call Sami?"

"I texted her, I didn't want to chance waking Ari up if she was sleeping. I asked her to bring EJ and meet us at home. She wanted to know what was going on but I just said we would explain then but that we were ok."

"Ok then let's go. It's going to be ok babe. Arianna isn't going anywhere."

"You're damn right she's not Son. Gabi left her weeks ago. Weeks where we have had what… a few calls and that's it. Arianna doesn't even know who she is at this point. She knows us. She knows home. She will not grow up like I did being bounced from house to house or in this case continent to continent! If that's what she thinks she's doing… she's dead wrong."

Will and Sonny leave to head home calling out a good bye to Chad as they do, ignoring the smirk he sent their way. Having their lovemaking overheard was the least of their worries at this point. Arriving at home they settle on the couch waiting for everyone to get there. Sonny leans his head down on Will's shoulder. Watching as Will starts tracing over the symbols in his ring and twisting it around and around, his thoughts wander to the problem at hand. He knows Will's worried enough so he doesn't want to add to it. Please God, don't take that little girl away from us. We love her so much. We're a family Lord. Please… Closing his eyes against the sting of tears those thoughts brought he snuggled in a little closer. Reaching out a hand he placed it over Will's and squeezed. They both looked up towards the door and then to each other as they heard a knock. They both jumped up to answer.

Justin stood just outside with a frown on his face, Adrienne standing beside him. Just as they were walking in the door, Sami and EJ arrive with Ari all bundled up in her pink blanket. Sonny reached out for her and took her from Sami. Snuggling her close to his chest he bent his head down nuzzling into her hair breathing deep that wonderful baby smell that is hers alone.

After everyone gathers inside Sami spoke up. "Ok, we're all here I guess. What's going on? What's wrong?"

Adrienne, who had been quiet up until now, spoke up. "Oh my God Sonny, what is that ring on your hand?! Is that…?"

"Mom, please. We were going to stop out and share the news with you guys, we just haven't had time." Stepping close to Will's side he looked up and smiled at Will. "Will proposed to me Friday night in the most romantic way possible. As you can see… my answer was… and still is… YES!"

"But Sonny…you guys are so young. Don't you think you should,"

"Mom, stop. This isn't even open for debate. Ever. This is what I wanted from the time I first met Will. He might have beaten me to the punch by proposing first but… either way… I'm the happiest man on the planet."

"You were thinking of proposing too? Justin, don't you have anything to say here?!"

"Yes I do." Justin said smiling. "Congratulations boys! I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Dad. That means a lot to us. And yes Mom, I was planning on proposing too. You haven't even noticed Will's ring yet."

Adrienne looked from one person's face to another settling last on Sami's. "You knew about this?"

"Well I didn't know that the boys were planning on this but Lucas and I babysat Ari the night that Will proposed. So we noticed the ring when they got home. Imagine my surprise today when I stopped in to steal my little pumpkin that Will had a ring on too. Sonny, it's absolutely breathtaking. Will said you had it specially made for him. I recognize the symbols but he wouldn't tell me their meaning."

Sonny smiled tenderly at Will. Noticing that his thumb on that hand was once again rubbing against the symbols he softly said "Yeah, well that's between Will and I. As long as he knows… and remembers… that's all that matters."

Adrienne said hesitantly "Can I see your ring Will?" After looking at it she smiled at both of them. "I'm not going to say I'm not worried. I'm a mother. But I will say this… I will try my hardest to support you both in anything you do. I'm sorry, that's all I can say right now besides this… I love you Sonny. I only want you to be happy." With tears in her eyes she embraced both boys.

Will, who had been quiet up until now spoke up. "I love him Mr. and Mrs. Kiriakis. I love him with everything that I am. I will do anything to make him happy. I promise you that. We are a family… Sonny, myself and Ari. That's why we needed you guys here. Gabi called earlier. She's only called a few times before, to see how Arianna was, how I was feeling. So when she called today I just thought it was going to be another call like that. Instead," Will broke off and looked down at Sonny who was still hugging Ari close to them. Taking in a deep breath he finished, "she said she wanted to Skype with us later, that she needed to talk to us about Arianna." Looking up in between EJ and Justin he added "it's time we sat down and discussed this. I need to know what my rights are as her father. I need to know what she can do as her mother. Because to be frank… it'll be a cold day in Hell before we let her come back here and take her away from us."

Sonny looked at his Dad "Please help us Dad. We can't lose her. "

Justin held his hand up as Sami and Adrienne both spoke at the same time. "Hold on. Let's all sit down here." Once seated, Justin looked at EJ. "Do you want to take this, or have anything to say?"

"Actually, if you would all excuse me, I have a few phone calls to make. I just want to check on a few things." EJ said as he squeezed Sami's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile then left the room.

Will looked at his Mom with eyebrows raised in question. Sami reached over and laid her hand on his arm. "It'll be ok honey. You have the DiMera and the Kiriakis name behind you. Something tells me it will all work out ok in the end."

Justin smiled at Will and Sonny. "Ok guys here's the deal. Gabi left, and left the baby willingly with the baby's father. She has had no physical contact and minimal verbal contact since she left. So, first thing I want to do is file a judgment claiming Will as the Primary Custodial parent. That is when one parent has more than half of the physical custody of the child. She lives here, so that means you Will. Gabi cannot come and get Arianna and just leave to go back to her family without your permission Will. And it takes both parents signature to obtain a passport for a child under the age of 16 unless documented proof that there is danger involved. So no worries there either. I think you need to hear her out, see what she has to say because we may be all worrying for nothing. In the meantime, I'm going to draw up the papers, swing by so you can sign them and get them filed first thing in the morning."

"Is there anything I can do Dad?" Sonny questioned.

"Not really, let's just see what she says, I'll work on these papers, and we'll go from there."

Will's text message ringtone went off and everyone looked at him as he picked up the phone and unlocked it to read it. Hey Will, I'm sorry we can't talk tonight. My Mom got really sick and we are taking her to the hospital. Will call you in a few days.

After reading the text out loud for everyone to hear, he reply's to her Can you tell me what this is about?

Looking at Sonny he said "She hasn't answered."

Justin and Adrienne stood up and got ready to leave. "Let us know if she says anything Will. I want to get home and get those papers wrote up." Justin said.

After they left, EJ came out from the other room. "Justin leave?" At Sami's nod he added "I think we should too. Give William and Sonny time to get little Arianna ready for bed. William, I'm looking into a few things. I just want us to have a clear picture of what Gabi has been doing since she has gone back to her family. Knowing all the little details helps at times. Otherwise, Justin is doing everything I myself would have done. I will let you know when I hear something." After hugs and kisses from Sami, the boys are finally once again alone with their little princess.

"I don't think I'm ready yet to get her ready for bed Son. How about we get her pj's on and we can sit on the couch with her and watch a movie. Grandma Marlena actually bought her a movie and dropped it off earlier. Wait till you see it." Will said with a chuckle. Retrieving the movie he turned it towards Sonny "It's a princess movie called Sophia. Grandma said a princess movie for a princess."

"Oh sweet Ari, you know you are loved soo very much when your daddies are very willing to watch a Disney movie over a horror movie." Sonny teased.

"Well Grandma said we better get used to watching these Disney movies because when she gets bigger that's all that we will be watching."

"Fine with me babe. If it's for Ari, whatever it is, it's just fine. I'm going to go get her changed and dressed for bed and if you wanna set the movie up and fix her a bottle we will be back in a few."

"Sounds good hon. I'm going to get some pajama pants on myself. Get us something to drink. "After getting the pops and bringing them back to the living room he sees Sonny and Ari beat him there. Sonny has her lying on her back along the seam of his legs so that she can look right up at him while he's talking to her. Hearing Sonny talking so sweetly to their baby girl never failed to melt his heart. He remembered when he was so afraid to tell him that Gabi was pregnant. He felt for sure Sonny would leave him. Who, at their age, wanted to be parents honestly? But then when you look into that sweet beautiful face… you realize you're the lucky one. What would they do without her?

"I can hear your brain sputtering from here babe. We can't do anything more tonight. Dad didn't sound too worried and God knows what EJ is up too. Let's just enjoy some us time ok? I think we all need that tonight. Isn't that right princess? You want to watch a movie with your daddies? Oh my God Will! She just smiled did you see it?!"

Will sat down close to them. "I sure did baby girl. You have such a beautiful smile, smile again for us princess." Will encouraged as he smiled tenderly at Ari. Ari looked between Will and Sonny and another smile erupted over her face even as her hands and legs were wiggling in excitement.

"Wow babe, how amazing we got to see this. She's just so perfect, who knew love like this existed huh? You being afraid I'd miss my old life." Sonny shakes his head in amazement. "You name one damn mountain, one of anything in this world… that could compete with what we have right here in this room. Because I can tell you with all the certainty in the world… that everything I will ever want or need… is right here. Every day she will be doing more and more new things. Crawling, walking, talking… there just isn't anything in this world Will that's more amazing to me that watching and sharing this with you. I love you both so much."

"Well I happen to know we love you just as much. Can you just picture her getting bigger? She's so incredibly beautiful. She's going to have all the boys…" Will and Sonny stare at each other in horror at the word boys. They looked down at Ari and said at the same time, "No boys allowed Arianna!"

"No girls either!" Sonny chuckled. "You can't leave your daddies until… oh I'd say… 50 or so." Running his fingers down her cheeks and down to her tummy he tried getting her to smile again even as he felt his own smile slip. "Nope baby girl, you can't leave your daddies. We'd be so lost without you." Feeling himself choke up he ducked his head even as he continued to play with her. Feeling Will slip his arm around his shoulders he leaned into him. "I'm sorry babe."

"Sorry for what honey? For loving our daughter?"

"For not staying strong. I'm trying so hard to keep it together. If I'm upset about this I can only imagine the thoughts you're having," he broke off as Will reached and turned his face up so he could see him.

"Hey, we are both her daddies Son. We both love her just as much as the other one does. She's ours. Not mine…ours. Whatever happens… we will get through this together, as a family, because that is what we are." Holding up his ring he tapped the infinity sign, "beyond forever remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember Will. You're right, as long as we are together, we can get through anything." Tipping his head up he begged a kiss. He closed his eyes as he felt Will's soft full lips settle gently on his. After a moment of just gaining strength from the gentle caress he slowly ended the kiss and looked at Will with eyes full of love. "Start the movie babe. Let's introduce our princess to Princess Sophia." Sonny said as he turned Arianna around to where she was facing the TV, but leaned back against the warm bodies of her daddies. Who knew what tomorrow would bring much less the future. But right here, in this perfect slice of heaven… it couldn't be more perfect than right now. The three of them snuggled together, the outside world forgotten for now. Whatever Gabi wanted, whatever was going to happen could wait till tomorrow. Besides, Sonny thought with a small grin, with Justin Kiriakis and EJ DiMera standing behind you nothing could really go wrong… If taking Ari away was what Gabi had in mind… she was in for the fight of her life.

To be continued…