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A Series of Endless Fails Part IV
Out of Gas
“We should try and get tickets for next week’s game, tonight was awesome.”
I grin to myself. I don’t know too much about baseball, but I love seeing Will get so animated. Just the way he leans over with his arm around my shoulders, trying to explain what’s going on, or the way he yells at the players…it’s cute as hell, and he’s such a guy about it.
“Yeah, we―” I break off when the car engine rattles and the lights dim for a second.
“Are we low on gas, or something?”
“No.” I say, frowning at the dials on the dash. “I filled up yesterday, we’re fine.”
“We don’t sound fine.’
No, we certainly do not. In fact, Betty―my Chrysler―was making a… chugging sound? Will leans over, like he doesn’t believe me.
“Your engine light is on.”
“The what now?”
“The engine light. The light that indicates there’s something wrong with the engine?”
“Oh, I thought…” I manage to stop myself just in time, biting my lip and instead focusing on the empty road ahead of me.
“You thought what?” I can already hear the amusement in his goddamn voice. “What did you think?”
“I…I thought that light just meant the car was turned on, is all.” I admit quietly.
He thunks his head back against his seat. “Oh my god, Sonny.”
“I haven’t had Betty long, it’s always been on!”
“I told you to wait until I had an afternoon free so I could come car shopping with you, but no.”
“It was a steal!”
“Yeah, and I think we both know why!” He laughs.
Betty starts to sputter, and another light―additional to what I now know is the engine light―starts to blink. “Oh crap.”
“Okay, we’re fine, just pull over into that layby up ahead.”
I do as he says, but I have to squint through the windshield because wouldn’t you know it; the street lights are few and far between down this road, and the rain which until now was just been a light patter is now starting to pour. I park, feeling marginally better now that we’re off the road, and click on my hazards.
“You’ve got breakdown cover, right?”
“Um…”
His head lolls back against the headrest again. “Of course you don’t.”
“Look, I’m sure it’s something simple.”
He lifts an eyebrow at me, doubtful. “Like what?”
“Like a sparkplug or something.”
“And what’s a sparkplug look like, Son?”
I worry my lip. “Like a plug, but…sparkly?”
“Literally the gayest thing to ever come out of your mouth.”
“Maybe it’s a loose wire?”
“It’s an engine, not a TV.”
“Well you come up with something then.”
He rolls his eyes again, but he’s wearing that small, fond smile, too. “Pop the hood.”
“Really?”
He pulls the hood from his jacket up over his head and opens the door. “Just do it.”
As soon as he steps out he lifts the hood, and then he’s obscured from view. He’s out there maybe a minute, a minute and a half before he climbs back in the car, pulling down his hood and shivering. When he doesn’t say anything I lean forwards, my hand wresting on the wheel. “Well?”
“Yeah, I don’t know anything about engines.”
Now I’m the one to roll my eyes.
“Hey,” he says, pointing his finger at me. “At least I know what an engine light is.”
“Why did you even go out there?”
He shrugs. “I thought it might be a sparkplug, or something.”
I reach back through the gap between our seats for the foam finger from the game and smack him with it. He curls away a little but he’s laughing at me, trying to grab it. “Okay, okay! Quit it!”
He snags the foam glove from me and eventually our laughter dissolves into quiet chuckles. I let out a deep sigh. “Crap.”
“Crap?”
“I’m going to have to get my car fixed.”
“You’re going to have to get it off the road first.”
“I guess I’ll call my dad and ask him to come pick us up…” I begin to reach onto my pocket, but Will lays his hand over mine.
“Hang on a second.”
“What?”
I know that look. That’s his sneaky, playful look. “We’re stranded on an empty road; it’s dark and storming outside, no one’s around for miles…”
“So?”
“So come over here and make out with me.”
A breathless laugh leaves my lips. “You can’t be series.”
He gives me his cheesiest come hither look, lifting his chin a fraction. “Get you’re cute butt over here, I’m gonna make out with you and I’m gonna to grope you like crazy.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice, I unclick my seatbelt and shimmy over, sniggering quietly. My hand blindly reaches for the small lever down by the side of his seat, giving it a tug when I find it. The air whooshes out of him and he blinks in surprise when he realizes he’s suddenly horizontal. I smirk, and when I move over him he laughs and his hands go straight for my butt.
“Smooth” he murmurs into our kiss.
A make a mental note to check that tank is empty next time we decide to go for a drive.
Experiments Gone Wrong.
“Daddy,” Ari whispers to me while keeping an eye on Sonny who’s humming away in the kitchen. “I don’t know if I can eat this.”
Do not laugh.
“If you eat it all I’ll buy you a pony.” I whisper back.
She looks at her plate of mush that holds a closer resemblance to gruel than risotto. “Half.” She haggles.
I try to hide my grin, begrudgingly proud of her, but before I can answer, a beaming Sonny walks over to the dining table, still wearing his oven mitts and carrying a plate.
“You guys didn’t have to wait for me.” He sets down the plate and I’m grateful that I can at least identify it as garlic bread.
“It seemed only polite.” Ari mutters, staring at her plate. She’s ten, but I love the fact that her vocabulary is closer to Sonny’s than mine.
“Thank you, pumpkin.”
I can’t help but grin at him and tap his foot with mine under the table. “Suzy homemaker.” I accuse quietly.
He gives his best wrestler pose, curling and flexing his arms in front of him and making Ari giggle. He reaches for his knife and fork, but then pauses. “Whoops, I left desert in the oven, don’t want it to get all gross and burnt!” he says, pulling a silly face at Ari.
“Nope, we don’t want it to be gross” she answers with a straight face and oh my god my daughter is a comedic genius because I’m a second away from cracking up over here.
Sonny, adorably oblivious, leans over and kisses her cheek. “You guys go ahead and dig in.”
She watches Sonny―one of her favorite people in the whole world―and waits until he’s out of ear shot before turning to me. “You first.”
I pull a face at her. “You first.” I hiss back.
She’s pursing her lips the way she does when she wants to look angry but is actually amused as hell. “You have to go first.”
“Why? The saying is woman and children first, not daddies.”
“That only works on Titanic; not Sonny’s cooking.”
“Fine.”
A force a forkful into my mouth, and good god it’s bad. After some effort I manage to swallow and then gesture at her plate with my fork. “Now you.”
“That isn’t your happy face, daddy.”
“No, it’s my eat-your-dinner-now-or-you're-grounded face.”
She does as she’s told and takes a mouthful, and her expression is utterly priceless; I have to lay my cutlery down to cough into a napkin to keep from laughing.
Her eyes are wide when she looks at me and she shakes her head. “Daddy…” she whispers, “I love Sonny, but that’s real bad.”
I hear a clatter from the kitchen and a muted curse, and I instantly turn towards the kitchen, already half out of my seat. “Son?”
“Don’t worry,” he calls, gesturing me away with a wave of his hand.
“Are you okay, Sonny?” Ari asks, her little brow creased with worry.
“I’m fine, sugar pie. I just burnt my finger, that’s all.”
I get up and walk over to him, holding my hand out to inspect his injury. He tries to bat me away like it’s nothing, but I examine his hand anyway. “You know the drill, under the tap and lashings of antiseptic, stat.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “I’m a big boy, Will.”
“No, Sonny. If you’re hurt you have to do what daddy says, okay? Please?”
He looks between us and then laughs quietly. “Look at you two joining forces. I can’t win against two sets of blue peepers and you know it.”
“Go on, bathroom cabinet, go.” As soon as I hear him walking up the stairs I dash back to the table and pick up our plates.
“What are you doing?” Ari hisses at me.
I pause just as I’m about to pour the majority of what’s on our plates into the garbage. “I’m going to throw some of this away so we only have to eat a little.”
“Daddy,” she admonishes me, “that’s not nice!”
I lift an eyebrow at her questioningly. “Do you want to eat it?”
She bites her lip. “Only throw away a little.”
I empty half our plates and then quickly take my seat again. I reach over and mover the food around with her fork and then place a slice of garlic bread on her plate. “Eat a few a few mouthfuls and that slice, and then say you’re full.”
“Okay.”
“And, um…you know that lying is bad, yes?”
She nods her head.
“It’s just that sometimes little white lies are okay, if it isn’t―” I glance towards the doorway when I hear the stairs creek and quickly shove another forkful into my mouth just as Sonny walks back into the room.
“Alright, crisis averted. How’s the…” he trails off when he sits, looking at our plates. A big smile spreads across his face. “That good, huh?”
Both Ari and I mumble the affirmative around mouthfuls of garlic bread.
“Awesome, I mean I know it doesn’t look all the great but I’m glad it tastes good.” He lays his napkin back across his lap and picks up his fork. “You know, it was super easy to make and there should be enough for leftovers―”
He practically freezes when he takes a mouthful, slowly pulling the fork out of his mouth and then carefully chewing and swallowing. He calmly lays his fork down beside his plate, and Ari and I glance at each other warily.
“It tastes like glue” he says with a shudder. He looks between the two of us, down at our plates, and then at me. I prepare myself for a tongue lashing, and not the good kind, but then his expression softens.
“Unless your taste buds have dissolved, I’m going to assume that you both ate that to make me happy.”
I give Ari a careful look, and then slowly nod my head. “Yes. That is what we did.”
“You guys, I swear…” he shakes his head and the reaches out to take our hands. “I love you two so much.”
And that’s all it takes for Ari’s lower lip to start trembling. “Ari…” I say carefully. “Why don’t you go―”
“We put it in the trash! I’m sorry, Sonny, It was mean of us!” she pushes her chair back and runs to his side, hugging him.
He hugs her close, and glances over at me with a resigned, unimpressed look. I give him an apologetic shrug, and he turns his attention back to Ari. “Sweetie, it’s alright…” He strokes the back of her head gently and pushes away from the table enough so that he can sit her in his lap.
“I can go get it out of the trash if you like, I can eat it.”
He hugs her close, laughing. When he looks over at me he laughs louder, so I can only guess at how guilty I must look. He pulls his head back a fraction to look her in the eye. “Let me guess; the brains behind this plan belonged to a certain gorgeous someone with blond hair?”
“It was daddy’s idea” she whispers, brightening when she sees that Sonny isn’t the least bit upset or mad.
“Traitor” I laugh.
“I can’t believe you put it in the garbage, Horton.”
I wince. “We didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I’ve got three words for you, Kiriakis: Yak. Butter. Tea.”
His smile is slow and warm. It was more than a decade ago, but the memory is clearly still as fresh in his mind as it is in mine.
“Okay’ he says, standing with Ari in his arms and shifting her onto his hip. “How does pizza sound?” He asks her.
“Sounds good to me,” I say, pushing away from the table.
“I believe I was speaking to little miss Ari. Not you, Horton.”
My mouth falls open and Ari giggles. “What? You’re going without me?”
“Pretty much” he says smugly as he slides his wallet from the side cabinet into his back pocket.
“But she didn’t eat it either!” I pout, throwing my daughter under the bus and not giving a damn because I’m hungry as hell.
“I’ll tell you what; you clean up this place…” He gestures to the dining table and through to the kitchen. “And I’ll bring you home a slice.” He looks at Ari. “Does that sound fair to you?”
She’s smiling and giggling at our banter, making it impossible for me to be annoyed, and nods her head. “I think so.”
Sonny looks back at me, completely unapologetic. “See ya!”
I cross my arms, trying my best to look annoyed. “I want pepperoni.”
Ari looks over Sonny’s shoulder, hugging his neck. “Maybe,” she says, and Sonny laughs out loud.
My daughter is either going to be the future president, or an evil genius.
Blessing.
Five years together and his mother still makes me nervous. His dad and I are cool, but his mother never really did warm up to me again. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I’d invite her over for lunch, or let her hold Ari. It didn’t seem to matter that I treated Sonny like my prince; she’d be all smiles for Sonny, but if she caught my eye I’d see nothing but resignation and disapproval.
Well, it’s time for her to get over it.
After forcing myself to man up and knock, I’m guided through to their living room (which seems bigger than mine and Sonny’s entire house) and asked to wait. It isn’t long before Adrienne comes through; looking surprised and not overly excited to see me.
“Will, this is somewhat of a surprise, I have to say. How are you?”
The words are neutral, but her gaze his guarded. “I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”
She frowns slightly. “No, no you’re fine. Were you here to see…?” She gestures behind her just as Justin walks in behind her.
“Actually I was hoping to speak with both of you.”
“No, I meant―”
“Will,” Justin says, striding over to me, unintentionally interrupting his wife and holding his hand out to me which I shake, grateful. Justin’s always been good to me, and considering how much Sonny’s mother dislikes me, it makes me appreciate it all the more. “It’s good to see you.”
“Thank you, Sir.” I’m not sure where the Sir came from, and neither does Justin judging by his somewhat bemused expression.
“Everything okay, Will?”
“I’d like to speak privately to you both about Sonny, if I may.”
Adrienne frowns, looking at Justin. “Well then this probably isn’t the best time, see―”
“He’s out seeing to some errands so I have to make this quick.”
“Yes, well if either one of you would let me finish a sentence―”
“I want to propose.”
Silence.
Both gawp at me, but to my utter relief, Justin at least begins to smile. But when neither of them says a word, I feel the need to clarify. “As in…ask him to marry me.”
“Yes, we got that.” Adrienne says as she sits down, practically slumping in her chair.
My heart sinks.
“We’ve been together for five years now; he’s like a second father to my daughter…” I wet my lips quickly, my mouth feeling suddenly bone-dry. “…I love him beyond measure, I really do. He’s my partner, he’s…he’s everything to me, everything, Adrienne. And I…I just want―I need to be married to him” I say with a breathless laugh, shrugging helplessly.
Adrienne closes her eyes for a moment and rubs her temple, as if I’m giving her a migraine. My heart continues on its journey down to my feet. “And that right there…” I say gently, gesturing to her rubbing her temples. “…Is why I’m here.”
“What do you mean?” Justin asks, sitting beside his wife and rubbing her back.
“You…” I let out a heavy sigh, smiling sadly. “You don’t like me, I know that…”
“Oh here you go again…” She says, standing with a huff and walking over to the small bar to pour herself something to drink.
“Hear him out, come on…” Justin says gently.
“He’s painting me as a villain!”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
“Oh no? Then why does it seem like every time I bring your name up my son grows cold towards me?”
“Maybe it has something to do with whatever it is you were saying about me?”
She has the good grace to flush slightly and look away. I glance at Justin, rub my hands together nervously and then stand, moving to stand beside her. “Adrienne, I…I know I lied to Sonny, I did. I lied about Arianna and I hurt him…but that was so long ago. We moved past that, I don’t know why you can’t…”
“My dislike for you has nothing to do with that, not anymore.”
I can’t help it, actually hearing her admitting to it out loud stings me a little, and I think she realizes it when her expression softens slightly.
“That’s not…I didn’t mean―”
“It’s okay” I say softly. “We can’t be liked by everyone, though…I’d like to understand why.”
She turns her body away from me for a few moments, resting her hands on the bar. I glance helplessly at Justin when I’m sure that she’s done with me and doesn’t want to discuss it any further, but then she takes my wrist and pulls me towards the sofa to sit beside her.
“My son had plans, Will. I don’t dislike you; you have a good heart, but your life is a complicated one that was weighed down with a lot of responsibilities at a very young age. When Sonny chose to love you those responsibilities because his responsibilities too, and all of his opportunities…his ambitions…they eventually became smaller and smaller until eventually his whole life seemed to revolve around you and your daughter.”
I swallow hard. “Our daughter.”
“And that’s the other reason right there.”
I shake my head minutely, not following. “What?”
“I know Arianna loves Sonny, and I know you do too, but legally? He is nothing in that equation.” She glances at Justin for back up. “Am I right?”
Justin reluctantly lifts one shoulder. “She’s not wrong, Will.”
Her hand covers mine, and squeezes gently. “So tell me this, what happens if you two breakup?”
“Adrienne, I’m talking about marrying him, we’re not going to break up.”
“Life gets in the way, Will. Sometimes we get distracted and people drift. It doesn’t mean you love them any less, but it happens, trust me.”
“It’s not going to happen to us. Sonny and I are meant to be together.”
“You haven’t answered me.”
“Yes I have. We’re not breaking up. Ever.” I bite out.
“Then humor me. Make it hypothetical. You two break up, and Sonny’s rights to the little girl he considers to be his own are…what?”
“Right now? Nothing. He has no rights.”
“Exactly.”
“But my proposal comes in two parts, Adrienne.”
Both of them snap their heads up to look at me. “What do you mean?” Asks Justin, already in lawyer mode.
“We all know that Gabi is no longer in the picture and why. Arianna has been raised by two men; your son and I. He is as much a parent to Arianna Grace as I am, and if you don’t believe me, you can ask Arianna. She calls him Sonny because she thinks she’s supposed to, but don’t think she hasn’t slipped up a few times and called him dad.”
She rubs her temples again. “This is so complex.”
“It’s actually very simple. Arianna thinks of him as a father, Sonny feels like her father, and I want him to sign the papers which mean he will legally be her father.”
Justin’s hand reaches to rub Adrienne’s knee, and he’s smiling softly. “You see?” he says to her.
Her eyes are wet with unshed tears, but I can tell she isn’t completely won over yet. “Alright,” she says, clearing her throat. “Alright, what about the next disaster, the next big cover up that the two of you get dragged into…what if Sonny…” Her voice breaks slightly. “What if Sonny’s luck runs out, and eventually he is the one to get hurt through the absurdities brought on by your family and―”
“That isn’t fair,” I interrupt her. “I have zero control over other people, I can’t change who it is I’m related to.”
“I don’t care about fairness, Will. That doesn’t matter to me and you should understand why because you’re a parent.”
And there it is. The root of every look, every awkward conversation and every harsh word: she just wants to protect her son. I take both of her hands in mine. “Adrienne, hurting Sonny is the last thing I would ever want to do. Hurting Sonny is like hurting myself, because he is my other half.” I shrug helplessly, and then carry on in a whisper. “I would die before I let anything happen to him.”
She closes her eyes, and Justin’s settles just behind her, rubbing her arms. “Hey now…” he whispers. “We can’t stop the world from touching our son, sweetheart. He is an adult; he’s been an adult for some time now. We have to let him go. He needs to make his own mistakes, and he needs to follow what it is that makes him happy, and I think we both know that what makes him happy is Will and Arianna.”
“He’s my youngest” she whispers.
“I know,” Justin soothes. “But he’s also grown.”
“I don’t want him to limit himself.” She looks at me, apologetic. “And I don’t mean for that to be an insult to you and Arianna, I love that little girl and despite what you think, I care a great deal about you too…”
“But?” I edge.
“But when you entered the picture, Will, everything he’d always wanted to do, every adventure he’d envisioned for himself just faded away. And you don’t understand because you didn’t know him when he was younger, but his adventures meant the world to him, it was such a huge part of his personality, and all of that is just pushed aside for what is best for you and your daughter.”
I take a moment to take in everything she’s saying, to really absorb it, and eventually I nod my head, and wet my lips. “I understand what you’re saying, and I understand why you’re saying it, but what I need you to realize is that you knew him best before, but I know him best now.”
“That’s not―”
“Let him speak…”
I shoot Justin a small, thankful smile. “Adventures change. Plans change. People change, Adrienne. We just…” I let out a harsh sigh. “Sonny and I just smashed into each other and changed each other’s courses, but do you want to hear the good news?”
She quickly wipes away a tear, and whispers. “What?”
“We’re happy. We are blindingly happy. I mean, don’t get me wrong…” I say with a small chuckle. “We have our moments and we have our fights, but we fit, Adrienne.”
She watches me, and bites her lip. “I don’t think that’s something I can deny.”
I take a deep breath. “I came here today because I want to wipe the slate clean with a promise. I want to promise you that I will always put Sonny before myself. I promise that if he’s in pain, that I will feel that pain with him. I promise to push him to follow every idea, every hope and every new venture that pops into his wonderful head. I promise to make him travel. I promise to make him feel loved and cherished. I promise that if he ever chose to leave, that I will beg him to stay. And if he left anyway? Well then I promise that a part of me will die, because what it comes down to is this: I can’t live without him. I have no intention of ever living without him, and I promise to live every day―to begin every day with the intention of loving him more than the last.”
She says nothing but her brows arch sadly, and one of her hands―that until now I had been holding in my own―pull free and rest over mine. Justin says nothing, but he does reach a hand out to grip my shoulder.
“When I ask Sonny to be my husband, I want to be able to tell him that it was with your blessing because he loves you both so much. You are so important to him, which makes you important to me. And I don’t want there to be the smallest amount of sadness in his answer, or the tiniest bit of doubt in the back of his mind, all because he’s worried about disappointing you.”
I rub the back of my neck. “I guess what I’m asking is for you to please be happy for him―for us. Please make the day we get married be the happiest day of his life by being there, by accepting us.”
Adrienne takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, she glances behind her at Justin, and they seem to carry out a brief, silent communication. When she looks back at me, her hand reaches out and touches my cheek.
“If he says yes, then you will have our honest support. If you are what brings him joy then I will change the way I think. I’ll accept you completely.”
A rush of relief and unadulterated happiness runs through me and I let out a harsh breath, smiling widely at both of them. “Y-you mean that? You…really?”
She smiles at me and nods. “Yes, Will.”
“Okay.” I say, nodding, and then laugh, running my hand through the hair at the back of my head. “Okay then, I guess now I just have to hope he says yes.”
“He says yes.”
My smile vanishes as my head snaps around to see Sonny standing in the doorway. I stand quickly, looking between him and his parents. “Uh…h-how long have you been there?”
“Pretty much the whole time.” Justin answers for him, smug. He takes Adrienne’s hand and pulls her up with him. “We’ll give you some privacy.”
I look at Sonny, suddenly more nervous than I’ve ever been. “Did…did you hear―?”
“―Hear you ask my parents for their blessing to propose?” He finishes for me, stepping closer, and as he does I can see that his eyes are glassy with emotion. “Hear you humble yourself to my mother despite the way she’s always treated you? Hear you say―” His voice breaks, and his throat bobs as he swallows hard. “Hear you say beautiful, beautiful things?” He nods his head. “Yes,” he whispers. “I heard you.”
“Oh.” Is my whispered, super intelligent response.
He takes my hands in his, and when a tear escapes the corner of his eye he ignore it, and lets it fall. “And even if I hadn’t heard every perfect word that just came out of your perfect mouth, my answer would still be the quickest, easiest, most heartfelt yes, Will.”
The lump in my throat makes it difficult to speak and it makes my breathing sound unsteady. “Yes? Yes you’ll marry me?”
His hand reaches for cup my cheek, and he’s laughing softly and nodding his head. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I am so marrying you.”
My hand covers his and I let out a breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding, my smile feels shaky and I just feel like crying and yelling and laughing. “I was…I was gonna do this whole big thing w-with a ring, and I was going to get down on one knee and, and…”
He shakes his head at me. “You will never know how perfect this proposal was, Will. I just…you fixed the one thing that made me sad. You did that for me.”
“I thought you were running an errand, that’s why I came over now.”
He laughs. “I was.” He ticks off on his fingers. “I was returning Ari’s library books, I went to go sign for an order at the club, and then I stopped by to visit with Uncle Vic and the folks.”
“Oh,” I breathe. “Did…did you hear what I said about Ari, and―?”
“Are there really papers?” He whispers and his expression changes to one of cautious hope, like he might breakdown if I say no.
I nod my head quickly. “There are papers, legal adoption papers. All ready for you to read and sign, if that’s what you want―”
He nods his head quickly. “Yes!” He chokes out. “Oh god, I want that more than I can say. I want Ari, and I want you. That’s my adventure, Will. You and Ari, my family.”
“Can I ask again? Properly this time?”
He laughs, nodding his head.
I don’t drop to one knee, instead I crowd close, taking his face gently in my hands and wiping away a stray tear with my thumb. “Sonny…”
“Yes. The answer is yes.”
I grin. “Let me ask.”
“Okay, okay, sorry. It’s just that the answer is yes and I love saying it.” He bites his lip.
“Sonny, my love, will you do me the honor of being my husband?”
He lets out a shaky, broken laugh, nodding his head. “Yes, yes with everything I have, yes.”
I press my lips to his, and too emotional to deepen it, our kiss remains a simple thing, an affirmative―a promise.
I came for a blessing, and it worked, because I feel well and truly blessed.