Chapter 19

Will looked up from the book he was reading as he heard Sonny walk in the door of the club. It never failed to amaze him how his heart would speed up at just the sight of his handsome, sexy boyfriend…fiancé. Looking down at his ring he smiled. It was so hard to believe that almost 3 months had passed since they got engaged. So much had happened. Sonny converted the coffee house to a club. Construction had begun on their new house. Gabi did stay with her mother and grandmother after signing all her rights as a parent over to him. Many people didn't think she would but whether she just knew Ari was better off with them or if she truly just didn't want to be a mom he didn't know. All he knew for sure was Ari was fully his and Sonny's and no one could ever take her away from them. Rafe, he knew, was keeping his big brother eyes out for her. Which is good. He's glad that things seemed good in Gabi's life. After all, if it wasn't for her then Sonny and his life would be boring that's for sure! Letting out a giggle as he glanced over to Ari, he jumped as he felt hands grip his shoulders and squeeze gently.

"And what has you laughing over here may I ask?" Sonny teased.

"I was just thinking of everything that has happened these last few months. And then of course I was thinking of how lucky we are to have Ari in our lives. And that made me remember the look on her face as we tried to get her to eat peas at lunch!"

Sonny chuckled as he bent down to brush a kiss to his temple. "That was hilarious! I'm not sure who had more peas on them… us or her!"

"Had to be a tie." Will said shaking his head. "Anyway, what's up? You wanted to talk about something? Is everything ok?"

"Definitely ok babe. I was out at the house site today. It's amazing Will! We should be in by Christmas no problem. Can you believe that?"

"Oh my God honey, that's great!" Will exclaimed as he jumped up from his chair and grabbed Sonny in a huge hug. "I haven't been out there in quite a while. I'm sorry I haven't been much help."

"Will come on, you've had midterms and Ari has been teething. You've been exactly where you need to be. Besides, it's not like I'm doing a whole lot out there. I just like being on site to make sure everything is just the way we want it. The crew my dad recommended is awesome. Once in a while I pitch in and do something to help but that's all. They know that construction is not exactly my area of expertise."

"Well," Will murmured quietly as he ran his hand slowly down from Sonny's shoulders till his hand cupped and squeezed his ass, "I can think of quite a few areas where you are definitely an expert."

"Mmm" Sonny purred. "Is that right Mr. Horton?"

"Oh yeah, and if you can manage to leave here anytime soon… I'll even let you prove it to me."

Sonny leaned in and softly kissed Will. Running his hands through his hair he felt the shiver that went through him at his touch. Breaking the kiss and gazing into those blue eyes Sonny smiled as he saw they were slightly unfocussed. He loved how Will responded to his touch. "Well, talk about motivation babe. I'm thinking I better get to work."

"Yeah, I think you better. And while you are working, pray Ari sleeps better tonight then she has been lately. Poor sweetie, those teeth are really bothering her lately."

"I know. Go ahead and take her home babe. Hopefully you both can both get a nap in. I want you awake later" he growled.

Will let out a soft moan. "Oh man the growl," he said as he reached down to adjust his swelling erection. "Damn it Son, you know what the growl does to me!"

"You bet I do." Looking around and seeing that no one was paying them any attention he reached out and slid his fingertips softly up and down the now hard bulge. "I can't help myself where you are concerned babe. I want you so much. If I'm tied in knots thinking about later… so should you be." He said with a devilish chuckle.

"Ugh… knots, yeah I think you accomplished that." Will said with an agonized groan. "I'm going to leave now… while I can still walk that is." Giving Sonny a quick kiss they walked back to the stroller. Seeing Ari still sleeping they smiled at each other. "See ya later tonight honey." Will said as he guided the stroller out the door.

Sonny turned back towards his office with a big smile on his face. He never imagined he could be this happy. Everything was on track it seemed. He wanted to talk to Will about some ideas for the wedding but he would rather discuss it in private. Well, the quicker he got things done the quicker he could go home. There were advantages to being the boss after all.

Later that evening…

Will, startled out of a deep sleep, jerked and sat up on the couch. Looking around trying to figure out what had woke him up so abruptly he heard his cell phone ringing. Quickly grabbing it and looking at the local number on the screen he answered even as he wondered where Sonny was. It was dark out; he should have been home already. "Hello?"

"Will, it's Cam." He heard.

Dread set in his stomach. "Cam? What's wrong? Sonny, is it Sonny? He's not home yet…"

"Will calm down and listen ok? Sonny was brought here a little bit ago."

Will let out a sob. "Oh God Cam, is he ok? What happened? I need too…"

"Will, listen to me. Calm down ok? Sonny's going to be fine. Apparently he was on the roof of your new house and slipped and fell off. He did lose consciousness for a few minutes so one of the workers called 911 and they brought him here. He has a few bruises and he does have a concussion so we are keeping him overnight. No broken bones though. He is groggy from the medicine we gave him, so I told him I would call you."

Taking a deep breath, trying to control his emotions, Will asked "Can I see him? Please?"

"Of course. But Will, be careful getting here ok? He really is ok."

"Ok Cam. Thanks so much man. Please tell him I will be there soon."

"You bet buddy. See ya when you get here." Cam said before hanging up.

Will shut his phone and dragged his hands down his face. Please God, just keep him safe. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting him be ok. We need him so much. Letting out a ragged breath he reached for the phone again. He needed to find a sitter for Ari because if Sonny was staying all night at the hospital, so was he. "Mom? I need your help please…"

Walking quickly into the hospital, Will spotted Cam at the nurse's station and hurried over to him. "Cam, Sonny? Where is he? Is he still ok?"

"Whoa." Cam said laying a steadying hand on Will's shoulder. "Deep breath buddy. He's ok. He's in room 202 right over there. He's resting. We have to wake him every hour to do neuro checks on him, but so far all tests are good. He has a pretty bad headache but that's normal with a concussion. You can go in, just keep it quiet."

Thanking Cam, Will walked over to Sonny's room and reached out a hand to open the door. Seeing the shaking he took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly he quietly pushed the door open. Despite whatever assurances a person receives regarding that a loved one is ok, it's never enough when faced with the reality. Will felt the sting of tears as he gazed at Sonny… his beautiful, strong Sonny… lying so still in that bed. Walking up to stand beside the bed Will reached out and touched Sonny's brow gently. Stroking his fingers ever so softly, he followed the contours of his cheekbones over his lips. Continuing at his shoulder, down over the chest that he loved to lay his own head on and just rest listening to Sonny's heartbeat as they drifted off to sleep, down his arm until he reached Sonny's hand. Feeling the warmth of his skin, seeing his chest rise and fall with each breath he took, Will felt the tears begin to run down his cheeks. Thank You God. I don't know how to live without him. Feeling the hand beneath his move, Will's eyes shot up and gazed into dark chocolate eyes.

"Babe, you're here."

Hearing that voice and feeling Sonny grasp and weakly squeeze his hand was the last straw in even trying to keep his emotions in check. Sitting in the chair beside the bed Will dropped his head to lay on their clasped hands. Turning his head to the side he kissed the warm hand he was holding. "You're here. Where else would I be? God Sonny, when Cam called I was so scared. I had been sleeping and I woke up to the phone and it was dark and all I could think of was you should've been home by then. I almost didn't want to answer the phone. And then when Cam said you were here, do you know what I thought of?"

"Shhh babe. I'm ok. What did you think of?" Sonny asked, knowing Will had to tell it to let go of the fear and worry.

"Today, at the coffee house, we were joking around and then Ari and I left and… I never said I love you. We just left. And all I could think of was 'oh my God what if I don't get the chance to tell you again?' I love you so much. Every minute of every day… every beat of my heart belongs to you."

Sonny felt his own heart melt not only at the words Will was saying but also at feeling his tears as they fell from his cheek onto their clasped hands. Moving his finger he attempted to wipe Will's tears. "Baby, it's ok. You and I, we don't always need the words. They are great to hear don't get me wrong. I never tire of hearing you say you love me. But I always know how much you love me. Every day you show me in a million ways. Please never doubt that. I love you just as much babe. Heart and soul. I'm so sorry about this. Sorry I scared you."

Sitting up and scrubbing his eyes and cheeks Will asked, "What happened anyway? Cam said you fell off our roof?!"

"I stopped at the house on my way home. Steven, one of the workers, had yelled down that he needed this tool. I volunteered to take it up to him. Well after I handed it to him I turned around to go back to the ladder and the next thing I knew I was falling. Then I woke up in the ambulance. It all happened so fast."

Will felt lightheaded just thinking of how much worse this could have turned out. Looking down he noticed that as he was listening to Sonny's story he was rubbing at the etchings on his engagement ring. Looking from his ring into Sonny's eyes he said softly "Marry me."

"Didn't we already have this conversation? Twice as a matter of fact?"

"I mean soon. I don't want to wait much longer Sonny. Time…no one knows how much time we have here. I want whatever time I have left to be your husband." Will murmured.

"Ok... babe, I will marry you anytime anyplace you know that. In fact I was going to talk to you about that. Tell you it was time to make some plans. Any thoughts on when? Where?"

"Where… I was hoping at the club? It just seems fitting there. And I was thinking Thanksgiving. It's a day to celebrate all you're thankful for. In my whole life, besides Ari, I'm most thankful for you."

"Thanksgiving? It sounds perfect babe .You're right… it would be perfect. To have you as my husband, to belong totally to you… I would be very thankful for all that! But Will, that's 3 weeks away! Can we plan it all by then?"

"Are you kidding me? All we have to do is tell our mothers and sit back." He laughed. "I doubt we would have to do much besides write our vows after that. Speaking of mothers, mine is watching Ari by the way, but where is yours? I thought your parents would've been here by now."

"They went away for the week. Dad had finished up a tough case so they wanted to get away. Mom called, ready to run home but I assured her I was ok and that you would take good care of me." Sonny said with a grin.

"Oh you wait till I get you home… I promise I will take such good care of you… every part of you." Will said eyebrows dancing up and down as he slowly licked his lips.

"Ring the call bell Will." Sonny said urgently.

Frowning Will said quickly "What's wrong are you ok?"

"Better then ok, I'm ready to get outta here and go home. My man has some ideas brewing in those eyes of his."

Will laughed as he leaned forward and softly kissed his man. "Soon honey. Get better first. Then we can go home and plan our wedding." Resting his head lightly on Sonny's chest, he felt Sonny playing with his ring, twirling it around. Looking up and seeing that dark loving gaze on him he whispered "going to be all yours Son. Forever just like you promised. I love you."

Sonny smiled as he played with Will's ring. "You're already all mine babe. Forever. I love you so much Will… Thanksgiving." Sonny whispered.

Will smiled "Thanksgiving." He whispered.

To be continued…