I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update. And for those of you who kept bugging me, it finally is here! :) I am back in school, so the updates won't be as frequent anymore. I apologize in advance for that. I will do my best to post weekly like I have before, but I offer no promises. As always, thank you all for being so amazing and continuing to read this story. There are only a couple of chapters left, so enjoy! :)
Sonny wakes up before anyone else. He gently lifts himself from Will's lap and decides to check in on Arianna. He finds her quietly playing in her room.
"What are you doing?" Sonny whispers.
"Play dolls. You play?" Arianna asks, holding up one of her dolls.
"Sure. How do we play this?"
Arianna giggles at Sonny's question. "This Lily. She my fabrite."
"You are letting me have your favorite doll?" Sonny asks, smiling.
Arianna nods her head enthusiastically and points at Sonny. "My fabrite!"
"I'm your favorite?" Sonny asks, confused.
Arianna again nods her head enthusiastically.
"Shhhh. Don't tell your dad that," Sonny says with a finger to his lips.
This makes Arianna giggle some more. "Lily get ready."
"Oh, where is she going? Somewhere fancy?"
"See mom."
"She's going home?"
Arianna shakes her head no. "Stays wif mom. Wanna live wif daddy."
"Why can't she live with her dad?"
"No know. Mommy says so."
"Well, what does her dad say?"
"Stay wif mommy."
"Oh." Sonny is beginning to see where this is going. "Does Lily like living with her mom?"
Arianna shakes her head no, again. "Loves mommy. Wanna stay wif daddy."
"Does daddy want Lily to stay with him?"
Arianna slowly nods her head and whispers,"Mommy say no."
Sonny is trying to keep his voice steady, but he knows that Arianna knows that she is going back with Gabi soon. And his heart is breaking not only for this little girl, but also for her father. Sonny lays the doll gently on the ground and opens his arms. Arianna drops the other dolls and runs into his awaiting arms. She begins crying into Sonny's shoulder, while he just holds on tight. She wraps her arms tightly around his neck, sobbing into his shirt. Sonny is unsure of what exactly he should be doing. So he just lets her cry, as he begins stroking her hair and whispering soothing words in her ear.
Sonny looks up and sees Will standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Will quietly walks over to where Sonny and Arianna are on the floor, giving them a quizzical look.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Will asks kneeling beside the two.
"We were playing dolls. And Lily has to go back to her mom's house, but she wants to stay with her daddy." Sonny fills Will in on what happened before he woke up.
"Oh," Will whispers.
Arianna peeks her head out from Sonny's shoulder and looks at her father. Will gives his daughter a weak smile.
"Come here, baby girl," Will whispers.
Sonny hands Arianna off to Will, then stands up to leave so they can have some alone time. Sonny stands at the door watching them and feeling his heart break for the two people who have stolen his heart.
"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Will asks his daughter.
"No wanna go," Arianna sobs out.
"You don't want to go where, sweetie?"
"Wanna stay wif you and Sonny."
"How did you know your mom was coming back?"
"Hear you say Sonny."
"Oh, you heard that?" Will whispers, hurt consuming him.
Arianna nods her head. "Wanna stay, Daddy."
"I know you do, baby girl. I want you to stay, too. But your mom misses you terribly. Don't you want to see her?"
Arianna nods her head again. "Miss mommy. Live wif you."
"I know you do, sweetie. I know you do," Will whispers as he rocks his daughter in his arms.
Everything that Will had originally planned for the day was now no longer an option. He knew what his daughter needed and wanted was just to be with him. For the rest of the day, Arianna refused to leave Will's side. She followed him every where he went. And when he went to the couch, she would crawl on to his lap and snuggle. She just wanted to be in his arms, because that's where she felt safest.
Sonny decided he would make them all dinner, so they wouldn't have to leave the house. And after he was done with dinner, Sonny decided it was best for him to leave. He knew that Will and Arianna needed this time together.
"Since everything is all cleaned up, I think I will head home," Sonny says to Will.
Will comes up behind Sonny and wraps his arms around Sonny's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. "You don't have to leave, Sonny. You can stay with us and watch a movie."
Sonny turns around in Will's arms and rests his hands on Will's shoulders. "No. You and Ari need this time together before she goes back with Gabi. We have plenty of time to have movie nights in the future."
"Okay," Will says sadly. "I guess you're right."
"I know how hard this is for you. So call me if you need anything and I will be right over. Okay?"
Will nods his head and then calls over to his daughter, "Ari, come say goodbye to Sonny."
Arianna has fallen asleep on the couch. Will walks over to the couch and sees his daughter curled up in Sonny's jacket, asleep. He decides it would be best not to bother her. Will instead pulls Sonny outside to say goodbye to him.
Will closes the door gently behind him, leaving it cracked slightly open so he can hear if Arianna wakes up.
"You really don't have to leave, Sonny," Will states, sadly.
"Yes, I do," Sonny whispers, cupping Will's face with his hands and gently stroking Will's cheeks with his thumbs.
Will leans forward placing his head on Sonny's forehead, closing his eyes and sighs,"I don't want her to leave tomorrow."
Sonny pulls Will to him, hugging him tightly and whispers, "I know you don't, Will. I know you don't."
"What am I going to do without her here?" Will asks, trying to hold back his tears. "I've gotten so used to her being around all the time."
"I know. And she has gotten used to being around you all the time. But I'm sure we can figure something out," Sonny winks, trying to make Will smile.
"Sonny," Will smiles. "You can't already be starting with that already."
"Oh, I can."
"Thank you," Will whispers, combing his fingers through Sonny's hair.
"For what?"
"For everything, really. For loving my daughter. For being my friend. I don't know what I would do right now without you."
"Lucky for you, you won't have to figure that out," Sonny whispers, inching his face closer to Will's.
Will tightens his grip on Sonny's hair, as Sonny's lips meet Will's. They meet in a gentle caress. Will sighs into Sonny's mouth as he deepens the kiss. Sonny pushes Will up against the wall next to the door and then grabbing on to Will's shirt to help steady him. The gentleness is quickly replaced with roughness. There is a deep need for more, as Will's hands embed themselves into Sonny tightly. As Will's lips attack Sonny's mouth with a fury and his nails dig into Sonny's skin, leaving behind crescent shaped indentation. Sonny moans out needing more contact when they hear a scream from inside the apartment.
"Daaaaaaddy!"
Will quickly breaks away from Sonny, receiving an involuntary groan from the latter.
"Sorry," Will whispers and goes inside to check on his daughter.
"Daaaaaaaddy!" Arianna shrieks out again.
"I'm right here, baby girl," Will breathes out as he gets closer to his daughter. "I'm right here."
Will picks up his daughter as she begins crying. Arianna grabs ahold of her father's neck and holds on tightly, nuzzling her face into his neck.
"What's wrong, sweetie? Were you having one of your nightmares?"
All Arianna can do is nod her head as she continues sobbing. Will wishes he could do something to make all these nightmares go away. He thought they had gotten better. And they seemed to have lessened since she had been staying with him.
"Don't worry, baby girl. Daddy's got you. Nothing will ever happen to you, okay?"
Arianna nods her head as she begins to calm down. Will is rubbing her back until the sobs cease. He places a soft kiss on her forehead and continues to whisper soothing things in her ear as Sonny watches from the doorway. The sight breaks Sonny's heart. Watching this little girl, who has gone through so much in her young life, have these nightmares. And the only place she can seek refuge and feel safe is in her father's arm. Sonny can see how broken Will looks when his daughter is like this. And all Sonny can do is stand back, which kills him. When all he wants to do is protect both of them from all this pain.
"I'm gonna go," Sonny whispers to Will as he closes the door.
Will nods his head in assent. "Do you want to talk to me about what happened in your dream?"
Arianna shakes her head no. "Stay daddy. No leave."
"Sweetie, I'm not going anywhere."
"No leave, daddy. No leave," Arianna starts crying again.
"I'm not going anywhere, okay?"
Arianna nods her head in understanding, but still continues to cry. She keeps whispering,"No leave."
Will hates this. He hates seeing his daughter like this. He hates knowing that she won't be with him all the time anymore. It kills him that Arianna is going back to live with Gabi after tonight. He would do anything to keep her here. And he knows that this is what she wants too. Will just wishes that Gabi could understand that his daughter wants to be with him. That she needs to be with him. Last time they had this discussion, though, it didn't go so well.
"But Gabi, she cries every time she leaves me."
"She's a toddler. She cries all the time."
"So you think it's okay that she cries all the time?"
"No. I don't. She just gets fussy. The doctor said it's normal."
"Gabi, it is not normal. And don't you think it's odd that she has less nightmares when she's with me?"
"No. Not really."
"You call me when she has these nightmares! Because I am the only one that can calm her down."
"Your point?"
"Arianna needs me. And I need her. Don't you understand what you are doing to our daughter? She always begs to stay with me."
"Because you're the fun parent, right? Because she loves you more, right?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
"Gabi, don't you see what our daughter wants?"
"She's not living with you full-time. I have custody. We have arrangements. Plus, she's three. She doesn't know what she wants."
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely. She's mine. We aren't having this discussion again."
"She's ours, Gabi! She's ours," Will yells out.
"I'm done talking about this with you."
Will just wishes he could make Gabi see how much his daughter needs him. And how much he needs her. Above everything else, Will wishes he could make all the nightmares go away.
"Wanna sleep with daddy tonight?"
"Yes, daddy," Arianna whispers, between sobs.
Will stands up with his daughter holding on tightly to him. He grabs all her pajamas and lays it on his bed. Then brings her to the bathroom so she can take a bath and get ready for bed.
After the bath, Will gets her all ready for bed and lays her down. She refuses to go to sleep without him laying next to her. He does his usual routine when she sleeps with him. Will pulls her daughter to him, so she is nestled into his side and sings her their song. Tonight it is especially hard for him to get through it, because she truly is her daddy's little girl.
After he finished the song, he notices that she has fallen asleep. He gently slides out of bed, not to disturb her. Then quietly walks out to the living room. But as he sits there, he realizes the silence is deafening. Will decides to call Sonny, mainly to apologize for the fact that he basically made him walk home this evening. And also, he realizes that he needs him so much right now. Will isn't sure how Sonny has so quickly become the person he depends on the most, but he doesn't care right now. Because all Will knows is that he needs his friend so badly in this moment. Friend? Or is it boyfriend? Have we made anything official? Does one date make us an official couple? , Will questions himself.
Will picks up his phone and calls Sonny. "Hey."
"Hey. How are you doing?" Sonny asks, concerned.
"Not great, honestly."
"Do you need me to come over? Because I can."
"No. You don't have to do that. I wouldn't ask you to come over, especially after I basically made you walk home today."
"You didn't ask. I offered. And it wasn't that long of a walk."
"I'm sorry. It's just that-"
"Don't apologize," Sonny interrupts. "And if you need me to come over, I will."
"I need you," Will whispers.
Sonny arrives at Will's apartment in 15 minutes. Will popped up off the couch when he heard the gentle knock on his door. He had just been sitting there in silence. Waiting.
The second Will sees Sonny, he just breaks down. He lets all of his emotions consume him. He has been strong all day for his daughter, but he has finally reached his breaking point. Sonny pulls Will into his arms and just holds him. He is rubbing Will's back and stroking his hair. Sonny is doing his best to stay strong for Will, but seeing him like this just kills him.
"Shhhh," Sonny whispers into Will's ear, soothingly. "It's okay. I'm right here."
Will is holding on to Sonny for dear life. He feels like if he let's go, everything will just fall to pieces. This is the only thing stabilizing him. This is the only thing keeping him grounded.
They just stand there in the doorway for a couple of minutes, until Will has finally stopped crying. Sonny wipes the tears from Will's eyes and places a soft kiss on his lips.
"How about we go sit down?" Sonny asks.
Will nods his head. After Sonny closes the door, he takes Will's hand and walks them over to the couch. Will sits down, then Sonny sits down next to him. Sonny pulls Will into his arms. Will lays his head on Sonny's chest, as Sonny wraps his arm around Will.
"Thank you," Will whispers to Sonny.
"For what?"
"Coming over. You really didn't have to. I'm sure you have so many better things to do than deal with me."
"Right now, you are the most important thing, okay?"
Will nods his head. "Do you have to work in the morning?"
"Nope. I'm off tomorrow, too."
"Good. Because I know I am going to need a friend tomorrow after she leaves."
"I would like to think I am more than just a friend now," Sonny smiles.
"Well, I wasn't sure if we had defined this," Will gestures between the two of them, looking up into Sonny's warm, brown eyes. "I didn't want to call you my boyfriend, if that's not what you want."
"You have to be kidding me, Will. That's all I want."
"Okay," Will whispers. "I am really going to need my boyfriend tomorrow."
Sonny leans down a places a soft kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
