Hi all,
This chapter has a little bit of angst for Sonny and Alexis. Mostly Sexis, some Jarly. By the way, I know the writers changed history to make Alexis go to Yale, but in my mind she'll always be a Harvard grad. Reviews are greatly appreciated.
Chapter 21
As they stood in Penthouse Four, Sonny looked at Brenda with amazement. She was alive. It was some kind of miracle that meant being with him wasn't some kind of death sentence. While it was true that Brenda "died" while she was with Jax and not him, Sonny couldn't help feeling that the women who loved him were somehow cursed. The feeling started when he was a boy with the punishment his mother endured from his stepfather because she loved him. And it continued with Lily, his first wife, dying as the result of a car bomb. Brenda's survival meant he and Alexis had a chance of being happy.
"I can't believe you're alive." He grinned at her before pulling her into a hug. "This is the best day of my life."
About the same time Sonny was hugging Brenda, Carly came downstairs carrying Michael. She nearly dropped the baby at the sight of shirtless Sonny hugging another woman. "You slimeball! Fifteen minutes after you're with my best friend, I find you all over another woman?"
Sonny pulled out of the hug with Brenda. "Carly would you relax. Nothing is going on between me and Brenda. I'm just happy she's alive."
"Carly and Alexis are best friends? Did I come back to the Twilight Zone?"
Carly ignored Brenda's presence. "Sonny, do you need to be happy about Brenda without a shirt? I'm sure Alexis would have something to say about that."
"Alexis has my shirt."
Carly smirked. "And I guess I'd be totally crazy for thinking you have 100 more shirts upstairs...in your room."
Typically Sonny would have been annoyed at Carly's outburst, but not today. He was still floating on air after being with Alexis and he was glad Carly was so protective of her. "Relax Carly."
Brenda hated Carly for breaking up her best friend, Robin's, relationship with Jason and she was growing more annoyed with her by the minute. "Carly, exactly how is Sonny's state of dress or undress any of your business?"
"It's my business because he's Alexis's man. I thought you drove your car off the side cliff into a lake? "
"Carly…" Sonny warned just as Jason entered from the kitchen.
"Brenda?" Jason was surprised to see her. Still, he expected no warm hugs. They had been friends once, until Carly; and yet, if he could do everything all over again, he wouldn't do anything differently. "You're alive?"
"Hi Jason," Brenda greeted him coolly.
Carly smirked as she moved closer to Brenda, "You know Brenda, I was just thinking…"
"That's either dangerous or miraculous." Brenda interrupted.
"Well since I wouldn't want to hurt myself, maybe I'll just ask you: Why is it that some people can't manage to stay dead?"
"Carly…" Jason tried to stop her.
"I don't know," Brenda responded. "Maybe you can research that, disappear for a while and make the world a better place." Neither Brenda nor Carly was a woman who would back down from a fight.
Carly took another step in Brenda's direction. "You want to come a little closer and say that?"
"Bring it." Brenda answered without blinking.
"Hey, knock it off." Jason warned both women.
Sonny shook his head. "Jason, can you make sure your girlfriend doesn't hurt Brenda, while I get dressed?" As Jason nodded, Sonny headed toward his room.
Carly called after him, "I'm his fiancée."
Brenda looked at Jason with disgust. "Seriously, Jason, tell me you did not propose to her."
Back in Penthouse Two, Jax continued to wrap his brain around his impending fatherhood. "You're absolutely sure that everything is fine with the baby." He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her nod.
Alexis walked to her desk and opened the drawer. When she returned, she handed him a picture of their baby from the ultrasound. Though the baby was little more than a blob, the sight of this particular blob was beautiful. "He or she is beautiful. Are we having a boy or a girl?"
Alexis shrugged, "I don't know. I thought I'd wait for you, so we could find out together.
He took her hand and kissed it. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Alexis took a deep breath as she prepared to answer the million-dollar question, "I guess I was trying to wrap my mind around having a baby with my best friend…and ex-husband."
"What's to wrap your mind around? Dad and Lady Jane are going to be thrilled. Have you thought about names yet?" Jax was growing more delighted by the minute.
"I presume I'm confined to names that begin with J?"
"Of course."
Alexis had been waiting for this moment. She gleefully moved to her desk and returned with a book.
"What's that?"
"It's a book of Russian baby names." The names weren't cool or trendy and she expected him to hate most of them; still she wanted to lighten the moment. She needed to prove to him that they could all still get along. She also wanted him to be a little more open-minded about names. "I thought it was important to incorporate both of our traditions into the baby's name."
"Fine, let's try out a few."
"Jelena…um, NEVER. Sounds too much like Helena," Alexis grimaced before she continued. "Jasha, Jeirgif, Jermija…"
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. There's also Jurg, Julya and Jenica."
Jax sighed, "Jenica isn't too bad. We better pray for a girl." The two shared a laugh before Jax took Alexis's hand. "Alexis, how long are we going to avoid talking about the elephant in the room?"
"Elephant? That's a horrible thing to call a pregnant woman." Alexis did her best to divert Jax's attention from the subject she'd successfully avoided so far: Sonny.
In contrast, back at Sonny's place, as soon as Jason and Carly left to take Michael for a walk, Brenda cut to the chase. "I can't believe you're with Alexis."
"Why not?" Sonny chuckled, exposing a deep set of dimples in the process. Though he never admitted it to anyone other than himself, he was also a little surprised that the Harvard/Oxford grad had decided to be with him. He wondered how Jax's return would affect their relationship.
"If I remember correctly, she's a little rigid." Brenda didn't mean it half as catty as it sounded; still, a small part of her was a little jealous when she' seen the way both men fought over Alexis at Alexis's apartment.
"Rigid?" Sonny thought of making love to Alexis less than an hour before ad broke into a full smile. "Alexis is definitely not rigid."
"Ew, TMI," Brenda sank into the sofa. She took a look at Sonny and noticed how happy he seemed. She liked Alexis and she hoped Sonny wouldn't break Alexis the way he had broken her. "Honestly, I'm kind of happy that you're with her. For a minute, I thought I had a reason to be jealous; she and Jax are pretty tight."
Sonny took a deep breath and released it. "They're about to get tighter. Alexis is pregnant with Jax's baby."
"Does Jax know?"
Sonny leaned his head back against the sofa. "She's telling him now."
"Something tells me this is going to suck." Brenda pouted.
"Not if I can help it." Sonny hopped to his feet and headed toward Alexis's penthouse. Now was the time for him to stake his claim. When he arrived at Alexis's door, it was partially open. He heard Jax tell her that he hoped she would consider what he'd said. Then, Jax hugged Alexis and placed his hand on her stomach. The gesture was enough to make the hairs on the back of Sonny's neck rise.
Sonny's presence in the doorway was enough to irritate Jax. Although he'd found Brenda, he was beginning to believe that leaving Alexis in Port Charles near Corinthos was the worst mistake of his life. It was a mistake he would do his best to rectify. He mumbled the man's name as he passed him in the doorway. "Corinthos."
Sonny walked to Alexis and touched her shoulder. She surprised him when she stepped away from him. He tried to size her up as he asked, "Everything okay?"
"Everything is fine." She rubbed her arms, as she suddenly felt chilled. The day had been much more difficult than she had expected. Brenda was the love of Sonny's life and now like the phoenix she arisen from the ashes. She wondered where exactly that left she and Sonny. "How's Brenda?"
"Alive. You sure everything is okay?"
"Yes. "
"How did Candyboy take the news that he was going to be a father?" Sonny asked, though he already knew; Jax had to be thrilled. Alexis was smart, beautiful and tough as nails. She was going to make a great mother.
"He was excited. He wasn't happy that he missed so much of the baby's development, but he wants to be involved every step of the way from now on." She wanted them both there, but they didn't get along. If she had to choose, Jax was the only choice she could make because he was the baby's father.
"Of course." Sonny fought the urge to punch a wall. "You want to come over. I'll make you lunch."
Alexis shook her head, "no." "I'm sorry, Sonny. I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to take a nap and then work on a couple of cases."
"Okay," Sonny nodded. The writing was on the wall. She was already considering going back with Jax for the sake of the baby. "Call me later?"
"Of course."
Sonny kissed the side of her forehead. Although they'd been together only a couple of hours ago, anything more would have felt too intimate. He gave her another glance as he walked out of the door.
Minutes later, Alexis found herself in tears. Before she knew it, she was sobbing. In fact, she'd been crying so hard that she didn't hear Carly enter the room.
"Alexis, what's wrong? What did Jax do to you?" She knew his return meant trouble, which was why she tried so hard to get them all to Puerto Rico before Jax ruined her perfect plan for domestic bliss.
Alexis wiped her face. As a Cassadine, she was mortified that she'd been caught crying by anyone…even if it was Carly. "It's not Jax, it's Sonny."
"Sonny? Whatever he did, we can fix it."
Alexis shook her head in protest. "You can't fix this. I think it's over."
Carly joined her friend on the sofa and rubbed Alexis's back as she tried to regain her composure. Though Carly remained silent, she knew one thing for sure: If she had anything to do with it, Sonny and Alexis were far from over.
