Hi all, in celebration of the Fall TV season, I finally wrote something new. I hope you are still reading. And I hope you enjoy. This one is all Sonny and Alexis with a brief Jason appearance…it sets up the Jason/Alexis angst that's really coming. Hope you enjoy. And as always, replies are appreciated.

Stronger Than Pride – Chapter 14

Sonny wasn't a man to panic, at least not intentionally and not often. Still, he didn't like the trend he noticed. Ever since Ric's encounter with him and Jason at Kelly's, he noticed that Ric began to go out of his way to antagonize Jason. It seemed as though he dragged Jason in for questioning at least once per week. Diane even joked that she should have an office at the police station. Ric also picked fights with Alexis, purposely returned Molly late and began to flaunt his affair with Claudia publically.

Much to Sonny's relief, Alexis seemed to be taking it all in stride. At five months pregnant, she was showing and she seemed to be glowing. When she first told him she was pregnant with Jason's baby, Sonny wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it. However, he found that it was a joy to be around her when she was so happy. His only inclination had been to feed and take care of her during the hours she "worked" for him; it never seemed like work because they generally had such an enjoyable time.

One day, while Alexis was handling the negotiations with the union leader of the sugar cane workers, Sonny walked into her apartment and was surprised to find she was nearly as fluent in Spanish as he was...and she knew quite a few bad words.

"Hey, how come you never told me you spoke Spanish?"

Knowing she was busted, she shrugged and said, "You never asked."

"But you've heard me speaking Spanish lots of times and you never said a word. What else are you hiding?"

"I'm an open book." She gave him a dimpled grin.

"Wow, if I didn't know you were a lawyer, I would swear you were a mob boss." He laughed out loud.

"Very funny.

Sonny liked that they could laugh together now. They were friends again. It was something that he'd missed during their war over the years. She was happy and she deserved to be. Both he and his brother had been unkind to her in the past and a small part of him took comfort in knowing that Jason would never hurt her the way he and Ric had. In fact, Jason barely let her move a muscle. Sonny had never seen Jason walk around with such a big smile plastered on his face.

Even Sam was no longer a threat to Alexis's happiness. A month or so ago, something told Sonny to intercept Sam on her way to Alexis and Jason's penthouse.

"Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Actually, I was on my way to see my mom."

"It'll only take a minute."

She looked around suspiciously before she followed him into the Penthouse. "So, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, it's about your mother; she's pregnant."

Sam looked as if she'd been punched in the gut. She slid herself onto the edge of a nearby chair. "I can't handle this. She's having Jason's baby? I can't go in there and be with her, not now."

"You can and you will, Sam. That's why I told you so you can pull it together and give your mother what she needs."

"What she needs? She basically stepped into the life I thought I was going to have. And now you want me to smile about it and pretend to be happy? I can't…"

"You can do it the same way Alexis did when she found you on the floor with my brother right after she learned she had cancer. Sam, Alexis didn't end up with Jason as some sort of revenge against you. It just happened and she needs your support."

"And you're okay with this?"

"If Alexis is happy, I'm happy for her."

"Right…"

"I owe her…and you do, too. That's all I'm saying."

Apparently, Sam took his speech to heart because when Alexis showed up for work that day she mentioned that she thought Sam took the news pretty well. And now, it seemed that Sam's enthusiasm about the baby had grown with Alexis's belly because every time shestopped by to discuss her upcoming nuptials, she had a little trinket of some sort for her newest sibling.

Alexis wasn't the only one who was happy. He was too. Anna Devane had finally agreed to see where her relationship with him would lead. They'd been on exactly two "dates," so far. But they'd laughed and danced and she'd even let him kiss her, though she made sure it ended there. He felt like he was finally getting to a good place.

Still, he couldn't help but worry about Ric. Although the most he had done was harass Jason, Sonny couldn't help but worry that Ric was a ticking time bomb. He stared out of the window.

"Does Anna know you brood?" Alexis called out from the desk where she was working.

"I don't brood." He smiled at her before walking toward the desk.

"Moving along, does Anna know today is your birthday?"

"Nah, me and birthdays don't get along. It seems my birthdays start off perfect and then all hell breaks loose." He looked at her and remembered one birthday in particular in 2002.

"Well, I'm fairly certain that no one will end up in the lake this time." He watched as she smiled awkwardly then looked away. After a moment or so, she began again. "So, this year, why don't you let me, the girls and Jason treat you and Anna to a wonderful birthday meal at the restaurant of your choice."

"Deal."

He smiled before they shook on it.

Now, three hours later, Sonny found himself on top of the world with the people he loved at Uncle Jack's Steakhouse in the middle of Manhattan. Things were going well, too. Jason and Alexis had only given each other gooey-eyed looks a few times in the last couple of hours. Plus, he had Anna there to hold his hand and remind him he didn't have to be trapped in a prison of loneliness.

His cell phone rang. He smiled as he saw Carly's number flash. It seemed Morgan had remembered his birthday after all. "Hey…"

"Sonny, it's Carly." He noticed how her voice quivered.

"What's going on?"

"It's Michael. It doesn't look good. You need to get here right away."