Month 9
Claudia's legs were shaking as she drank her coffee at the breakfast table. Her and Sonny were the only ones up and the sun was just rising. It was December, ten days until Christmas day to be exact, but more importantly Ava's due date was rapidly approaching. She was due in two days and Claudia barely had a plan in place. Ava had a doctor's appointment today just to make sure everything was okay and she was ready to deliver. Claudia knew she could go into labor today or in a week, due dates were just an estimate, but she still felt like the time was ticking away. Her eyes shift over to Sonny, who is sipping his coffee and reading the paper.
"Are you sure you trust me enough to take Ava to the doctor all by myself? I mean what if my nine month pregnant best friend overtakes me and steals my car? Then I know you really will hate me."
His eyes look up from the paper and a scowl spreads across his face. Ever since she left after they had sex nearly a month ago, they had been on a rocky road, but they still were having sex- actually Sonny was coming on to her and she was constantly giving in against her better judgment.
"Claudia, if I didn't trust you I would be going with and watching both of you like a hawk, but I do need to go to work and I do trust you. You asked me to trust you all those years ago and now I do."
She looks down at her empty coffee cup and then at her pajama clad legs. She needs to go get dressed and wake Ellie to take her to Carly's house for a play date with Josslyn. Claudia was going to be busy for most of the day, planning Ava's escape and she didn't want her daughter to feel neglected. She puts her coffee cup down on the table, the cup making a distinctive bang, before standing.
"I don't know if I really need your trust anymore."
She goes to walk away but his voice beckons her back.
"It this how we're going to be until I make up my mind about Ava?"
Her head snaps back at him and a scowl spreads across her face. But she does not move from her spot in the kitchen doorway. Usually if they fight it only ends in two ways- sex or anger where they end up not speaking for days.
"Yes, Sonny, this is the way it is going to be until you make up your mind about Ava and if you make the wrong decision about Ava this is how it will stay until I can get a flight out of the states. I shouldn't have to keep repeating this ultimatum."
"Well, keep saying it and I may believe it."
Her eyes narrow in his direction and she knows he's joking, because he does believe her, but the joke isn't funny. She wants to smack him across the face like she did all those years ago, but she can't. She knows what he went through as a child and she knew raising her hand at him would not be okay.
"Why did I ever think we could work this time around? You're still the same self-righteous bastard you were all those years ago, just with a few more wrinkles and more stubborn than you were. It's not good for anyone to be around you anymore, Sonny."
She turns on her heel and walks out of the room, but she still hears his deep intake of breath. It's frustrating to her to feel the way she does about him. If he does kill Ava, if somehow her plans fall through, she will never forgive him and her heart will break in two by taking their daughter and leaving him, but she knows that's how it'll have to be. Even if her plan does work, she and Ellie will still have to leave him in order to get Ava and the baby out of the country. Either way, they'll continue to be star-crossed lovers and nothing more.
She takes a deep breath before walking up the stairs and knocking on Ava's door twice before opening it. Ava is still asleep, her mouth slightly open with drool dripping from her mouth. Claudia is tempted to take a picture as best friend blackmail, but she figures that Ava has enough going against her right now. She doesn't want to wake her, because at nine months pregnant, she knows how exhausted the older woman is. But her appointment was in two and half hours and she would not get up by herself these days, which ultimately made it Claudia's job.
She walks over to the side of the bed and sits down next to her. At these moments, she's thankful that Sonny confiscated all of her guns, because when people used to shake Claudia awake they often found a gun pulled on them. She gently shakes her shoulder and Ava's snoring stops and is instead replaced with a groan.
"Claudia."
She moans, her eyes barely opening before she rubs the sleep away. She doesn't even sit up, because with her stomach the size that it is, she's placed in more of a permanent lounge position. Claudia smiles gently down at her, hoping that it will improve her mood, not that it actually does.
"Come on, your appointment is in two and a half hours and I have to go out before that, so we don't have time for you to act like a five year old, mom."
Ava's eyes shoot open when Claudia says she has things to do before the doctor's appointment. Claudia rolls her eyes at her best friend's noisiness. Ava always needed explanations and information, but Claudia couldn't get too mad because she was exactly the same way.
"Where do you have to go?"
Claudia shakes her head.
"You don't need to know yet, part of my master plan."
"If this master plan is a plan to save my life shouldn't I be a part of it? Or at least know half of what is going on in that head of yours? Even if this master plan isn't to save my life, I should still know cause I'm your best-slash-only friend."
Claudia stands and shoots her hands out to help Ava get up. She sways momentarily, so Claudia holds onto her for a little bit longer to make sure she doesn't fall. An early trip to the hospital, plus the stress that could put Ava into labor, was not in Claudia's plans- she was assuming she at least had two days.
"You are an integral part of my master plan, babe, and right now your part is getting dressed and forcing Sonny or someone to make you breakfast, because you're pregnant and shouldn't be on your feet for too long. That's all I need from you, okay? I have to go wake Ellie and get her dressed. You may be at the house with Sonny alone for a little bit, but he's going to work and I'll be back as soon as-"
"Claudia?"
"Hmmm?"
"You're hurting my arms."
The younger woman looks down and realizes that she is still holding onto Ava's arms and quite tightly at that. She apologetically grins as she lets go of Ava's arms. Ava shakes them gently and returns as much of a smile as possible. If the birth of her child didn't sign her death certificate, she would want her out now, the last month or more of pregnancy was always the worst.
"Okay, I'm gonna go. Be ready in about two hours, kay?"
"Yeah, yeah, get out of here."
Claudia smiles at her before running out of the room, closing the door behind her with a slight bang, and going to Ellie's room down the hall. She doesn't knock on her daughter's door, but when she opens it she finds Ellie already dressed in a winter dress with tights, but she's having difficulty with the shoes. The child looks up at her mother with a big toothy grin and Claudia can't help but smile back at her daughter as she sits on the floor with her feet sticking out.
"Mama, I can't figure out my shoes."
Claudia kneels down next to her and kisses her temple, running her fingers gently through the little girl's tangled hair. She knows she still needs to brush her hair and help her brush her teeth, but she can't believe how quickly she's growing up. She takes the shoes from Ellie and puts the correct shoe on the correct foot. Ellie looks at her feet and smiles.
"There ya go, baby! Now we just have to brush your teeth without getting toothpaste everywhere like you and Auntie Ava did yesterday, cause mommy really doesn't want to have to clean that up again and you don't wanna take another bath, especially this morning."
"Mama, what about breakfast? I'm hungry this morning."
Ellie was always hit and miss when it came to breakfast. Some days she was extremely hungry and wanted to eat everything in the morning, but other days eating something in the morning would make her sick. So Claudia was never sure whether or not to have breakfast ready for her.
"Well, how about I take you to eat breakfast with Spencer before you go play with Joss? And that means you get to take the ferry boat again."
"Okay, let's go brush my teeth!"
Claudia had managed to get her and Ellie out of the house without Sonny hearing them, which meant there were no questions as to why she was going to batman's house for breakfast. She really just needed to talk to Britt, but if she could enlist Nikolas' help as well it would be even better. They were almost at the launch on the island and Claudia wonders if Britt will kill her for showing up at this time, asking for more help and for them to feed her child.
"Mommy, I love riding the boat."
Claudia smiles down at her as they walk to castle door.
"You know daddy and your brothers have a bunch of boats, maybe if you ask nicely they'll take you out on one of them. I'm sure you could have a lot of fun, baby girl."
"Can Auntie Ava come?"
"Maybe, baby."
Ellie reaches out and rings the doorbell when they reach the door. She's learned now that she's only supposed to ring the doorbell once unless there's no answer and then it is acceptable to ring it again. But a second ring is not necessary, because Britt answers the door with one half of her hair straightened while the other half is in disarray.
"Claudia…? Hey Ellie, Spencer is in the breakfast area, why don't you go get some breakfast with him?"
Claudia and Britt watch as Ellie runs down the hallway and they listen to the kids mumbling to one another.
"I'm sorry just to show up unannounced like this."
Britt shrugs, she's used to Claudia acting strange at times and this was just one of those times.
"It's fine, why don't you come upstairs? Nikolas and I are just getting ready and if I stop to talk I'm going to be terribly late."
Claudia follows Britt up to her and Nikolas' room and Claudia is surprised to find that it, just like Sonny's room, has not changed. Britt motions to the chair by the dresser and Claudia sits down as Britt continues to straighten her unruly hair.
"Okay, so what's wrong? I feel like something's wrong. You wouldn't show up like this, with this stressed out look on your face, if something wasn't wrong. What can I do?"
Claudia pulls on a string that's hanging on her sweater, she doesn't know how to say that a man she's very possibly on love with may kill her best friend. So she just blurts it out because Britt is used to her doing that.
"Sonny is going to kill Ava as soon as she has the baby and I need your help to save her."
"Wha…I thought you and Sonny were tog-"
Before Britt can let out a coherent thought, Nikolas walks into the room.
"Who are we saving? Hey babe, hi Claudia."
He kisses Britt and they both hear how surprised he sounds to see Claudia at their home at such an early hour. But she knows he'll help, because he kept her secret all those years ago. He could've gone to Jason and Sonny and signed her death certificate, but he didn't and he didn't judge her for what she had done. She wasn't going to tell them what Ava had done or what Sonny had done, because it could risk both of them and she couldn't do that.
"Hey batman. I need help getting Ava and her baby out of the country the day the baby is born."
Britt puts the finishing touches to her makeup and gives her undivided attention to Claudia, Nikolas does the same as they sit down on their bed.
"Are we saving her from Sonny? What do you need from us?"
Nikolas is the one who asks, mainly because they all know Britt will help any way she can.
"Of course from Sonny, Nikolas, who else would wanna kill Ava? Okay, Claudia, what's the plan?"
Claudia takes a deep breath; they're going to think she's going crazy, but actually
Nikolas may expect this from her.
"Can Ava give birth here? Like when she goes into labor can I bring her here instead of the hospital? God, I know this is a big request but I will pay whatever it takes to get my uncle's private plane here to fly her to Italy. Please you guys, he's going to kill her and I can't let that happen."
Britt runs her hand through her hair and lets out a deep breath.
"Claudia, it's…you bringing her here and us getting you guys a plane is fine, we would be okay with it, but because of Ava's situation in what we call "advanced maternal age" she can't give birth here, it's too dangerous for her and the baby. We'll have to figure out a way to get her and the baby here."
"I'll need someone to get Ellie, I can't leave the country without my daughter."
"I'll get her, Claudia, you just have to tell me where she is and I'll get her, bring her to Wyndemere where she's safe. She'll stay with me and Spencer until Ava has the baby. My private plane will be here, it would be less suspicious for me just to keep it here than to have your uncle fly his in."
Claudia nods.
"And I'll get the baby out of the hospital after I take her to the nursery to get checked out, that just leaves you with Ava. You can take her out the other door about ten minutes after she has the baby, but you'll have to be careful with her."
"Okay, so we're doing this? And you guys are okay with helping me? I mean Britt, you taking a baby from the nursery, you could get in some serious trouble. I don't want any of you to get hurt for me and Ava. I don't want to drag you into her-our mess."
"Well I've always been part of your mess before, might as well keep up my streak."
She smiles over at Nikolas, Britt of course has no idea what they're talking about, but she knows that Nikolas truly means what he's saying. He kept her secret when he didn't have to, when he barely even knew her.
"And you know I'm game, you're one of my only friends, I can't say no to you."
Claudia grins at them before checking her watch. She needs to get Ellie back to the mainland so she can take her to Josslyn's house. She also needs to get Ava to the hospital and Britt needs to get to work. She hugs each of them.
"I should get Ellie and take her to Carly's house, plus you probably need to get to work."
Britt nods.
"We can take the launch together. Let's go get Ellie or else we'll both be late."
Ava is sitting on the patio furniture outside when she sees Claudia's car pull into the driveway. They smile at each other, making eye contact through pairs of sunglasses. Ava puts her hands out so that Claudia can help her stand up, which she does. Claudia notices how upset Ava looks and she squeezes her hand reassuringly.
"What's wrong, babe?"
She walks beside her as they make their way, very slowly, to the car.
"I think I'm in labor, Claudia, like really, really early stages, but still labor, but it could be Braxton hicks, I have no idea."
Ava gets in the passenger side of the car and Claudia stands by the open door. She has to believe that this plan will work, but it might not and her best friend might die. She steps closer to the SVU and rests her head on Ava's shoulder, Ava's head rests on her's and for a while they just stay like this. But then the clock shows that they may late to the appointment. So Claudia walks around and gets into the drivers side. The drive is quiet for a while until Claudia decides to speak.
"There's a plan in order, we're going to Italy, to my uncle's compound, after the baby is born. You'll be safe there. But you can't come back here, we may be able to get Morgan to come eventually, but there's no coming back here for either of us."
"Ellie's coming too, right?"
"Of course, I wouldn't leave without her."
"But, Claudia…"
"There's no buts, Ava, not in this situation. If I don't get you out of here, Sonny will kill you and I will not let that happen and I can't let it happen. My daughter would be so upset, I would be in shambles, your daughter wouldn't know her mother and I can't deal with that."
"You love Sonny, I see it every single time you look at him, and I can't take you away from him."
Once they're at a red light, Claudia looks over at the older woman.
"Do you understand that if he kills you I'll lose both of you? Not just him and not just you, but both of you. If I get you out of here, I'll at least have you and that is enough for me. I'll have you and Ellie will have you and you'll be able to raise your little girl. That is enough for me. It will hurt to leave him again, but I will do it. This is all I want, just please let me do this, please Ava."
They make eye contact and Ava smiles slightly at her, knowing that her best friend will not back down from this idea. Ava knows that Claudia wants to try and save her so she's going to let her, because she doesn't know what else to do.
"Okay, we'll do this your way."
The doctor's appointment had gone well and Britt had been nearly positive that Ava was not in labor, but that the contractions she was feeling were totally Braxton hicks. They had gone through the rest of their day without a hitch, Claudia was even able to pick Ellie up early from Joss' and bring her home. Dinner had been eaten all together, even Morgan, Michael, and Kiki came over, somehow Ellie had managed to not notice the awkwardness or maybe she just didn't care. Claudia liked to believe that having most of her family under one roof made her so happy that she didn't even realize the tension. Claudia wanted her to enjoy the last few moment she had with her family, because soon enough she'd be ripping the family Ellie had come to know and love away from her. She felt horrible, but she knew there was no other way.
Ellie hadn't even had a chance to meet Kristina yet, which Claudia hated, but she had met Molly and they had hit it off. She had such a good support system here, one Claudia could never dream of giving her back in Italy, but her, Ava, and the new baby would have to do. It would be okay or at least that's what she kept telling herself, because it was the only thing that made her feel better.
God, she would miss Sonny. Sure Ellie would miss her father terribly, but Claudia thought for sure that she would miss him more if it were possible. She didn't know where these feelings had come from, but today as she talked about smuggling Ava out of the country she realized that if this were to happen she would never see Sonny again. Never hear his voice again or feel his fingertips lightly tap against her skin. She would never feel their bodies mold together and feel the tingle of her lips after he kissed her, but she had to do this for Ava. What she had said earlier to her best friend was true. She was willing to give up possible happiness with Sonny for Ava, of course women like Claudia never really got to be happy. It was an unspoken rule somewhere; she just hadn't found the book yet.
"Claudia…?"
She hears Ava's voice right outside of her door, but her name comes out of Ava's mouth as a moan and that's when she knows. It's time for Ava to have her baby girl and even though she believed she would have one last true moment with Sonny this is it. She slips on the sweatpants she always wears to bed and shoves any thing that can't be replaced into her bag. Her and Ava had already done the same thing for Ava earlier so that they were prepared.
When she opens the door, Ava is in a swat position, breathing as deeply as possible. Claudia puts her shoulder under Ava's and grabs her hospital bag from her hand. With an excited smile, they walk downstairs to the door and get Ava situated in the car.
"I have to go wake, Sonny, and tell him to get Ellie to Carly's. I'll be back soon."
As soon as she closes the car door, her phone is out and speed dial number three is pressed.
"Ava's in labor already?"
Britt sounds groggy and annoyed. She had been hoping that Ava would go into labor during the afternoon or late morning- a time where she didn't have to take the launch to get to the hospital.
"Yeah, sorry, she seems to progressing pretty quickly- I don't think her water broke yet, however. Look tell batman that Ellie will be at Carly's house, telling my ex-husband to take her straight to Wyndemere would raise too many suspicions on our part. If he just tells her that I said I wanted her to spend time at your place, because she has her own room or something, I'm pretty sure Carly will believe him. See you soon?"
"Just as soon as I can get there, Nikolas will be at Carly's house as soon as he can to pick up Ellie. Your daughter won't fall through the cracks in this plan, Claudia, I promise you on Ben's life."
Earlier that day, the three of them had talked about this master plan and Claudia had voiced her own concerns that somehow they would have to leave without Ellie. Britt had understood and promised her that Nikolas would get Ellie to Spoon Island as soon as he could. Claudia trusted both of them so much that it was hard not to believe.
The line goes dead as Claudia climbs the stairs of the mansion for possibly the last time. She tries to ignore the aching feeling in her heart and just keeps walking until she hits his room. She knocks twice before going in and shaking him awake.
"Claudia…?"
"Ava is in labor, I need you to take Ellie to Carly's and call Morgan so that I can focus all my attention on her, okay?"
"Yeah, I got it."
Just before she walks away, he grabs her wrist and pulls her to him to kiss her. She's not expecting it and it's definitely not the time to be kissing, but she sinks into it for just a second because she knows it may be the last time she kisses him. Before he's ready to release her she pulls back.
"My best friend is having a baby and this isn't the time for this."
He watches her as she goes and deep down he knows that after the baby is born she's going to leave, with or without Ava.
The nurses had hooked Ava up to all sorts of contraptions for the baby and for her. Claudia knew she was terrified, she had to be. If their plan didn't work then Ava's life was slowly slipping away in these moments. Between the labor and the breathing, she was dying and neither of them wanted to think about it like that.
"Claudia, I have to tell you something."
Her breath is uneven and Claudia is wiping a wet rag across her forehead trying to keep her cool. She keeps looking back at the door, waiting for Britt or Sonny or Morgan to rush in here, but none of them are here yet.
"What's wrong? Can it wait? You have all the time in the world after this little girl is born."
Ava grabs her wrist and doesn't let her dip the rag in the cold water again.
"If this doesn't work, if Sonny…if Sonny kills me, the baby…"
She stops speaking as a contraction rips through her body, Claudia lets her squeeze her hand before turning to a nurse.
"Where is Dr. Westbourne? She should've been here by now!"
The nurse's eyes go wide as Claudia yells at her.
"I'll call her right now."
The woman runs out of the room and Claudia turns back to Ava.
"What were you saying, Ava?"
"If I die, you get the baby- it's in my will, that you take her, because I only trust you with this sweet little baby girl. Take her away from here, don't let Sonny get near her, swear to me."
"Ava…"
"Swear to me, Claudia!"
Claudia's eyes get wide just as the nurse's eyes had earlier, mainly because Ava had never yelled at her, but she understood. She was in pain, she was in labor and she was possibly going to be murdered. She was scared and Claudia understood.
"I swear on Ellie's life, Ava, if you don't make it I will take our girls far away from this place where they are safe."
Ava nods and close her eyes, laying her head back on the lumpy pillow. Claudia turns as Britt runs into the room, grabbing the papers running from the machine. She nods and smiles approvingly.
"Sorry, I'm so late. The boat wasn't running, so we had to get someone to bring another one to the island. It was a big mess."
"Royal issues there."
Ava mumbles, eyes still closed, but a smile dances on her lips. The other women look at each other and share a small smirk. She's in a bunch of pain and still able to be a smart ass, that's what they loved most about Ava. Britt checks Ava's progress before speaking.
"All right, well you are most definitely in labor."
"Thank you Captain Obvious."
Britt lightly hits Ava's forearm.
"Okay, smart ass, will you shut it and listen for a second? You're pretty far along and because of our plan, I really can't give you an epidural or else you won't be able to walk out of here. So just stay relaxed and let Claudia dab your face with the wet rag, I'll be back to check on you in a little bit, okay?"
"Mhmm."
Britt squeezes Claudia's shoulder before walking out of the room. For a little while it's just her and Ava with no nurses or other hospital personnel, it's calm and Ava is doing well with breathing through the pain. After some time, though, Morgan runs through the door and Claudia can see Sonny standing outside of the room. She won't leave Ava, though; she has to be here when Ava sends Morgan out of the room, because she knows that will be hard for her. Claudia watches quietly as Morgan kisses Ava.
"Can you believe that our little girl is almost here? Ava, you've made me so happy. I love you so much."
She watches as Ava cups his face, but her eyes hold so much pain, because she has to leave him and take his daughter from him. Claudia wonders why she left the baby to her, but then she understands that Morgan would keep the baby here and he would let Sonny and Carly be around her.
"I love you too Morgan, more than anything."
Five Hours Later
"Aghhh, I need to push, I need to push, Claudia, get Britt, please."
Claudia stands from the chair she was sitting in and pops her head out of the room in order to call Britt in. Britt rushes in and checks Ava's progress again. She drops part of the bed and gets Ava's feet into the stirrups. The nurses prepare themselves and finally Britt looks at Ava's labor "plan". Her eyes shift to Morgan. She knows Ava and Claudia won't have the heart to tell him to get out so she will.
"Morgan, I'm sorry but Claudia is the only one listed to be in the room for the birth, you have to leave."
He looks at Ava, but he's not hurt. They were on the rocks and that's when she made the very short list, he knows it. He knows that she doesn't want him to see her so vulnerable. He'll get to see his daughter soon enough and if he doesn't get to see her born it's okay. He kisses her forehead and whispers encouraging words in her ear.
"I'll see you soon, I love you. Claudia, you keep her safe."
"I will, Morgan."
She smiles at her former stepson, hoping that when this is all over, Morgan will understand that she was doing just that- keeping Ava safe.
When he's gone, Claudia steps up to Ava's side and grabs her hand. They share a smile and Claudia is amazed that her best friend can even smile right now. She feels the fear radiating off of her, however.
"Ava on your next contraction I need you to bear down and push as hard as you can."
Ava nods just as a contraction comes. She squeezes the life out of Claudia's hand as she pushes as hard as possible. Claudia smiles as Britt informs them that she sees a head of blond hair. Seconds pass and Ava pushes again and again. The contractions are coming one on top of another and Ava is crying out in pain, but soon her cries are replaced by a newborn's cries. Ava falls back on the bed, releasing Claudia's hand as her child is placed on her chest.
"Oh my gosh, hi baby, hi my beautiful baby girl. I'm your mommy and I love you so much."
Claudia watches as tears pour out of her best friend's eyes and she kisses her daughter's head. Claudia grabs a blanket from the nurse and tries to clean the baby, while Britt stands on Ava's other side and does the same thing. The nurses leave, because they aren't needed since Claudia and Britt are doing what they usually do. They make eye contact and Claudia knows that Britt has to take the baby, because Sonny will soon be bursting in here after he sees his granddaughter.
"Ava…"
The older woman looks up at her two friends and she knows. She looks down at the baby and kisses her head and hands.
"Mama will see you soon, my sweet little one. Okay, okay, you can take her. Let Morgan see her, please."
"I will, don't you worry. Claudia, you have to get her out of here, through that door over there. I can't guarantee how long you have once I leave this room. Nik has a car waiting for you out back."
They watch as she wraps the baby up and takes her out of the room. Ava watches them until they're out of sight and Claudia sees the tears starting to form. She gets Ava's feet out of the stirrups and grabs the sweatpants Ava will have to put on.
"You're going to see her again, so no crying, none. Get these on, we have to go. I know you're exhausted and I understand, but we have to get you out of here before Sonny strong arms his way past the old Zacchara guards I have outside. Come on, Ava, we can do this."
Ava nods, steels herself, and slips on the sweatpants. She so sore, but she manages to only let out a single moan. She takes a deep breath, knowing that Britt will get her daughter to the island. Claudia gets on her one side to support her and they open the side door ready to leave, but Claudia stops, leaning Ava against the doorframe, turns around and pulls her gun. When Ava looks up she sees Sonny standing on the other side of the room, holding his own gun.
"Claudia, I can't let you take her away. You'll take her to your uncle's compound, I know that much."
Claudia's gun doesn't shake and she doesn't waver. She puts herself between the end of Sonny's gun and Ava; she looks at Sonny defiantly.
"I'm not gonna let you murder my best friend."
"You'll have to shoot me then, I won't let you leave."
Claudia doesn't look at Ava, but the older woman knows that Claudia is starting to cry. She feels Claudia's confusion coming off of her in waves and watches as her legs start to shake. She grabs Claudia's side, trying to steady her.
"Sonny…"
Her voice comes out as a tortured whisper, but he doesn't respond.
"Don't make me do this."
Her body has stopped shaking and her voice is strong. She'll shoot him somewhere not deadly just so she and Ava can get away. She looks in his eyes and sees that there are tears in his eyes.
"I don't wanna lose you."
"Let us go then."
"I can't- Connie deserves more."
"Ava's suffered enough. Think of your son and your granddaughter. Think of Ellie and me. We need Ava."
She hears footsteps behind her, but she can't look, because she has to keep her eyes on Sonny. Ava looks back to see the prince behind her, so she whispers who it is in Claudia's ear.
"Batman, what are you doing here? You had another job."
She struck with fear that maybe Carly wouldn't let Ellie leave with him and that this whole plan might be over if it means she doesn't have her daughter.
"My job is complete. She's with Spencer, she's safe."
He whispers this to her, because he doesn't want Sonny to hear him and go into a blind rage. Nikolas thinks he has to know that they have Ellie, because Sonny has to know that Claudia won't leave without her daughter.
"Cassadine, I should've known you were a part of this."
"Sonny, leave him alone."
Nikolas puts a hand on her shoulder, letting her know it's okay.
"Claudia, give me the gun and get Ava out of here. Everything is ready. You have to go."
"No, Sonny will shoot you and not think twice about it, but…But if the feelings he thinks he has for me are true, then he won't shoot me."
They're laying in bed together and he knows that soon she's going to get up and go across the hall after ranting about how this is wrong and how they need to stop, but right now she's here and it's wonderful. He has to say it.
"Claudia, I think I love you."
Sonny puts his gun on the bed and raises his hands above his head. Claudia watches him in awe as he backs up to the door. His eyes say what his mouth won't and she resists the urge to run to him. She has to get Ava out of here. She puts her gun back into its holster and turns to Ava. Her and Nikolas get on either side of her and exit the room.
She looks back only once to see his eyes following her.
At Wyndemere, they're all preparing to leave for Italy. The Cassadine family has decided that they want to take an Italian vacation, mainly because when they told Spencer that Ellie was going back to Italy for good he practically had a fit. They decided to leave in the morning, because there was no way of Sonny making it to the island. Ava and all the kids were in bed, Nikolas had retired as well, but Britt and Claudia had stayed awake. Claudia held a mug of tea in her hands as she watched as it started to drizzle outside. She found it was fitting that the weather was as it was outside.
"Claudia?"
"Hmm?"
"You love Sonny, don't you? Nikolas said the way you were looking at him…"
"I don't know, I just know never seeing him again will be awful."
"Well it's your lucky day."
She hears his voice and pulls her gun, moving over to Britt in order to protect her. Sonny lifts up his hands just like he did in the hospital room. She puts her gun away and just looks at him.
"Britt, can you…?"
"Yeah, I'll be in the other room if you need me."
"How'd you get here, Sonny? The launch wasn't even running."
"I brought my boat out of storage."
"Why?"
He walks to her and pulls her body close to his. Her body flushes against his. She takes a deep breath, her heart is pounding, and her stomach is dropping. She waits for him to pull her into a kiss, but he doesn't.
"I am in love with you, I have been in love with you since I saw you standing there in my living room. I don't want you to leave me alone here. I won't kill Ava, she can go live with Morgan and their daughter-"
"Anna, her name is Anna."
He smiles.
"She can live with Morgan and Anna. I'll let it go, because even if Connie was a live I would want to be with you."
She pulls him closer and kisses him.
The next day, everything seems lighter. Everyone had slept at Wyndemere and that day they were leaving to go home. Ava would stay at Sonny's for a little while, until Morgan was finished the Brownstone. Claudia comes downstairs and sees Ava sitting on the couch.
"Hey where's Anna?"
"She's still sleeping. You know you're the best friend I've ever had."
Claudia hugs her.
"I'm the only best friend you've ever had, don't lie."
"Well you've ruined anyone else for me."
They sit down together and Claudia knocks her shoulder with Ava's.
"You've ruined everyone else for me too."
The End