"Brenda, you look amazing," Carly told her friend. Brenda wrapped an arm
around Carly's shoulders and
 the other around Alexis'.

"You don't look so bad yourself. Either of you."

"I wish we could have gotten together under better circumstances."
Alexis whispered, still quite in shock  over the death of her "niece."

Brenda sighed. "Me too. But, C&B will never, ever get off of the ground
if we don't start negotiations with other business owners. Now, are you
sure that Alex said to meet him here at 9?"

 ~~~~~

Sonny's heart stopped cold. "What the hell do you mean, Morgan's her
daughter?"

Jason rolled his eyes and leaned his arm against the bar. "Sonny. What
do you *think* I mean?"

"Brenda's married?"

"No."

"Then who's the father?"

Just then, the door to the club opened, and to Sonny's chagrin, Brenda
walked in, her arms wrapped around Carly and Alexis. She was laughing.
Sonny felt his palms grow sweaty like they did everytime she  was so
close, but too far to be reached. Brenda brushed some of her hair out of
her eyes and looked straight past Sonny at Jason. Carly gave her husband
a kiss and Brenda called, "Hey, Jase." She didn't even look at Sonny.

"Hi Brenda, Alexis."

"Is Alex Particelli here yet?" Carly asked.

Jason shook his head. "No."

Sonny cleared his throat. Brenda looked at him for the first time.
"Could I speak to you?" Sonny asked  Brenda.

Carly and Alexis both raised eyebrows.

Brenda sighed. "I'm...I'm busy, Sonny."

"It won't take but a moment."

Brenda sighed and nodded. She followed Sonny into the back room.

"What was that all about?" Carly asked. "Sonny looked ready to kill
her."

 ~~~~~~

Brenda leaned her arm against the pool table and rolled her eyes. "What
do you want?"

"Why did you lie to me?"

Brenda looked at him in shock for a moment, before laughing. "I have an
easier question. How about-Why did you leave me at the altar?"

"Because I loved you. There, answer my goddamn question." He pressed her
against the pool table and  looked into her face. "Why didn't you come
out and say that Morgan was my daughter?"

Brenda's eyes filled with angry tears. "Cause she's not, you bastard!"
She hit him hard on the arm. Sonny was surprised. Then who's was it?
"Who told you who Morgan really was?" Brenda demanded furiously.

"Why?"

"Dammit, who told you!"

"Jason."

Brenda pushed him away from her as hard and as far as she could. "Well,
let me set you straight." Her mind worked at nearly 100 miles per hour
to come up with a good lie. "I was raped, Sonny. Some man took advantage
of me, some man pulled me aside one night and forced himself on me! I
don't know who the father is! I don't want to know! I like it that way-"
Sonny shut Brenda up the only way he knew how. Kissing her. He pressed
her up against the pool table and sipped hungrily from her delicious
lips, kissing her with as much passion as he could. He felt Brenda's
hands digging into his chest and she pushed him away with all of her
might. "Stay the hell away from me," She barked angrily. She wasn't
really angry at him. Well, she was angry at the fact that he knew her so
damn well. Brenda picked her purse up and stormed out of the room. When
she entered the club again, Jason was sitting at the bar in a deep
conversation with Carly.

"Where's Alexis?" Brenda snapped.
Carly raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. She got beeped and is
calling whoever beeped her back in the office."

Brenda threw her bag back down again on the bar, and it flew over the
side and onto the floor. She walked right up to Jason and slapped him.
"Let me tell you something," She said through gritted teeth. Jason's
hand flew to his cheek as he looked at her with a "What the hell did you
do that for!?" face. "If you ever tell Sonny--or ANYONE for that
matter--any more of the secrets that I told you and your wife-" She
pointed to Carly to make a point "-in PRIVATE *ever* again, I will
absolutely, positively NEVER speak to you as long as I live! Do you
understand?"

Jason opened his mouth and asked her calmly, "What the hell was I
supposed to do? LIE? I'm not like you,  Brenda."

Her eyes filled with big tears. "No." She whispered hoarsely. "You're
not." Brenda turned and rushed from  the club, Carly right behind her.
 

"Brenda! Wait a minute." Carly finally caught up with Brenda at her car.

"What?" She said turning around.

"What happened?"

"Last night I ran into Sonny at the park and I slipped and mentioned
Morgan when he asked who she was I told him that she was my dog.  Then I
guess Jason and he were discussing me or something and Sonny must've
mentioned that he ran into me and that I told him I had to go home to my
dog and Jason must've told him that I have no dog so I'm guessing that
the next question was who's Morgan?"

"I'm going to kill him."

"No don't do that.  Just castrate him."

"Then I'd have to find some nice young boy toy."

"Poor thing." Carly and Brenda smiled.

"So what happened when you two went in the back room?"

"He wanted to know why I lied to him.  Why I didn't tell him that Morgan
was his daughter."

"And?"

"I told him that she wasn't.  That I was raped and Morgan was the
result.  That I didn't know who her father was."

"Well it wasn't a total lie."

"Then why do I feel so awful?"

"Because. A part of what you told Sonny was true.  You were raped and
you did get pregnant but the awful thing is it was someone you know.
Someone you really trusted."

"Jax." Brenda said softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sonny?"

"Luke!"

"Man when did you drag your sorry ass back into town?" Luke laughed as
he gave his friend a hug.

"Yesterday."

"Luke?"

"Yeah Tasha?"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Have you seen Carly or Brenda?"

"Outside Alexis."

"Thanks Jason." Alexis exited the club in search of her business
associates.

"Tasha?" Sonny asked as they walked into the back office.

"Long story.  She goes by Alexis.  Alexis Ashton."

"Ashton?  She married Nedly?"

"Yep about two years ago."

"How's Lois?"

"Still in Brooklyn so I don't know really.  I expect she'll be here for
Robin's funeral though."

"How are you?  I know that you were pretty tight with her old man."

"Robert.  I'm okay.  I'm just glad he's not here to see this though.
His little girl survives HIV+, goes on to have a marriage and a
daughter, only to spin off the road on a patch of ice."

"Robin has a daughter?"

"Karina Anya.  She's beautiful."  Luke surveyed the pictures on his
desk.  Finding the one he was looking for, he plucked it off and gave it
to Sonny.  "This is the most recent."

Sonny studied the framed picture he held.  A little girl with Robin's
chestnut brown hair and smile and Nikolas's eyes stared back at him.
"She's beautiful." He whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah, isn't she?"

Sonny put the picture back down and in the process knocked over another
one.  He leaned over and picked it up.  He was about to put it back when
he got a look at the kids.  "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?" He said as he lit a Havana.

"Who are these kids?"

Luke looked up. "Morgan and Scorpio Barrett."
 

Sonny nodded. He cleared his throat.

"Go ahead, ask," Luke told Sonny, taking a sip from his beer.

"Brenda said that the kids weren't mine..."

"Yeah, they're not," Luke whispered softly.

Sonny nodded his head. "She said that she was...raped..." He brought his
eyes up to Luke's. "Somebody  raped Brenda? Raped the woman that I love?
How-I..." His voice trailed off. He looked at Jason. "I love  her,
Jason."

He nodded. "I know."

"Do you?"

"It's not hard to miss, buddy," Luke murmured. "I know what love is,
because you look at Brenda the same way Laura looks at me...the same way
Jason looks at Carly."

Sonny bit his lip as tears pooled into his eyes. "I want her back. I
want her back right now. I want to  protect her like I couldn't when
that bastard hurt her..."

"She doesn't want that, Sonny," Jason told him soothingly.
"She's...she's surviving. You know I don't want  to hurt you, but she's
made it perfectly clear that she's...she's not in love with you
anymore."

Hearing those words was one of the most painful things Sonny ever had to
endure. A tear slid down his cheek and he angrily wiped it away, shaking
his head. "No. No. She loves me. She does. What we had was...was too
incredible to let go."

Jason put a hand on Sonny's shoulder. Sonny flinched and looked up. "You
have to."

 ~~~~~~
 Later That Night
 ~~~~~~

Brenda and Lois prepared the pasta for that nights dinner.

"So, you're still mad at Jason for telling Sonny about the kids, huh?"
Lois asked.

Brenda sighed. "How could I not be? Jason knew that the last thing I
would ever want was for Sonny to know that his children--that he had
children! How could he do that to me?"

Lois put a hand on Brenda's shoulder and whispered, "Do you love Sonny?"

Brenda dropped the knife she held and quietly began to sob. Lois sighed
and wrapped her arms around her friend. "I hate him!" She whispered. "I
hate him for hurting me that way, and I hate him for leaving me with
Jax!"

Just then, three cheerful voices could be heard. As well as a doorbell.

"Mommy!" Came Morgan and Brooke Lynn's voices.

"Yes?" Lois and Brenda called.

"Can we get the door?"

"Yes, but remember what I told you!" Brenda answered.

 --

Sonny stared nervously at Brenda's front door, and was surprised when it
opened and he was staring at the air. Then he heard a small voice, "Who
are you?"

Sonny looked down and was surprised to see two adorable little girls
with dark brown hair, dimples, and  very mean expressions upon their
faces.

"Oh, I'm...Sonny...I'm a friend of your-" He pointed to Morgan "mom's."

"Mommy's only friends are Uncle Ned, Aunt Alexis, Aunt Lois-" The second
girl jumped in and said,

"She's my Mommy!"

"-Uncle Nikolas, Aunt Carly and Uncle Jason."

Sonny smiled. "Are you two Morgan Barrett and Brooke Lynn Ashton?"

Morgan nodded. "Yes. Who are you?"

"Morgan, Brooke, who's that at the door?" A thick Brooklyn accent wafted
through the air, and Sonny saw Lois walk to the door. Lois gasped in
surprise when she saw Sonny.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" The little girl said excitedly. "This man said
he's a friend of Aunt Brenda's-"

Lois beamed at Sonny. "That's right, Brooke. And you know what? He's a
great friend of mine too! He's also your Godfather!"

Morgan seemed unimpressed. "Where's Mom?"

"She's in the kitchen," Lois told the other child. Morgan turned,
screaming her mother's name. Brooke followed her friend. Lois lowered
her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see Brenda."

"Lois, what's this about an old friend of mine-" Brenda stopped when she
saw Sonny. Lois had let him in and he was now looking around the
cottage, nodding his approval.

"Why are you here?"

Sonny looked at her. "I needed to see you...I needed it more than I need
to breathe."

Brenda's heart skipped a beat. Lois cleared her throat. "Well, I'm gonna
go start working on the pasta  sauce-" She stopped. "Sonny, once Brenda
gets through yelling at you, mind if you come into the kitchen  and
teach me for the billionth time how to make a good pasta sauce?"

Sonny smiled and nodded. Lois left.

"Sonny, I-"

"Baby, there's so much I want to tell you." He drew her to the couch.
"Please, listen to me."

Brenda looked down at her hands. "Talk."

"I can't if you won't look at me." Brenda reluctantly brought her eyes
up to his. Sonny let out a deep breath. "You know that I'm not good at
saying what's in my heart."

"I'm not sure I know you at all anymore." Brenda mumbled. "The Sonny
Corinthos I knew and loved would never leave the woman he loved at the
alter-ever."

"The Sonny you knew would die for anyone that he loved. But he wouldn't
let them die for him."

"Do you know that I hate you for leaving me? Do you know that I LOST MY
MIND, had a nervous breakdown, and ruined my modeling career? Do you
know that I fell  asleep every night crying because you had hurt me so
badly? Do you know that...I considered killing myself because any life
without you wasn't really a life at all?"

Sonny was crying now, and so was she. "I've changed now. I'm different."

Brenda nodded her head. "So am I. I've changed so much that I don't even
know that I'm in love with you any longer. I think you've been gone so
long, you've finally allowed me to be free."

"You don't mean that. We were too much together for that to be true."

"Shut up," Brenda snapped, surging to her feet. "Just shut up."

"I can't." He walked over to her. Brenda stared into his face, as he
drew closer and closer. "I can't when I love you so much. That's why I
came back. I wanted you back."

"Yeah, well, it's a little too late to just COME back to whisk me off of
my feet, Sonny."

He smiled, and nuzzled her neck. His lips went to her ear as he
whispered, "But that's exactly what I intend  to do."

Brenda shivered within his embrace involuntarily.

"I need to kiss you," Sonny told her.

"No."

"I mean, really kiss you."

"No."

His lips drew closer. "Try to stop me."

Brenda moaned hungrily as his lips touched hers. They began to kiss
passionately, and Brenda gasped as  his tongue entered her mouth. His
hands roamed over her body to cradle her face, and he continued to sip
at her lips lovingly. Brenda didn't realize that she was kissing him
back, even as he pushed her against the wall and continued to make
wonderful love to her lips. Brenda wrapped her arms around his neck, and
jumped up into his. Suddenly, a young voice in the background exclaimed,

"Ewwww! You two don't look like any friend's *I'VE* ever seen!"


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