Sonny looked at Brenda. Her long brown hair framed her face with waves cascading around her shoulders. She had on blue jeans and a navy blue sweater. Sonny smiled when he noticed that she tugging on her sleeves. Old habits die hard he thought. She was a vision in a dream, only this wasn't a dream. She was really standing in front of him. As she smiled at him, her eyes looked at him with a mixture of love, uncertainty, relief, happiness, and fear. She was probably as scared as he was at this moment. He wanted to take her in his arms and never let go, but he also wanted to know and understand what was going on in her life. He nodded at her to go on explaining things.

Brenda clasped her hands together in Brenda fashion. She looked down at her feet as if she could find the answers to the questions he was going to ask her down there. When she looked back up at Sonny she realized she didn't know what to say. So much time had passed. Would he ever understand what or why she did what she did? "Sonny, this is so hard. I don't even know where to begin."

"Start by why you never came home. You know I played your last message on the answering machine over and over looking for a clue to where you were," quietly he added, " And I wanted to hear your voice again and again." Those words are forever etched in my mind, 'I'll be home soon, honey. Just have to finish up a few details with Lucy. I have the best news to tell you! See you soon!' I waited and you never came. Do you know how much it upset me when the police found your car abandoned near the Port Charles Bridge later that night?"

Brenda groaned. She didn't want to relive that night, but she was going to have to. She stepped closer to Sonny. She brushed her fingers against the palm of his hand. He didn't move his hand away from her touch, but he didn't take her hand fully into his either. God, he didn't know what to think of the situation Brenda thought. He was afraid and confused. Brenda silently pleaded with God to not allow Sonny to push her away when he knew everything. She needed him more than anything right now, and she could tell that he needed her. She moved her hand away and that's when he grabbed it and held it tight. Brenda's heart soared, he wouldn't give up, not now, not ever. He pulled her closer to him and said, "Don't ever leave me like that again, promise?" Brenda leaned against him and nodded yes. Tears started to form in her eyes. He had been hurt so badly, could she ever forgive herself for that?

"Sonny, I'll never leave again if I have a choice. I'd never left in the first place. Tom dragged me away from Port Charles at gunpoint." Sonny stiffened and let go of Brenda. Brenda watched his eyes turn black with anger, before he could say anything Brenda continued on, "It wasn't loaded, of course I didn't know that, it was just meant to scare me so I'd go with him."

Sonny was really fuming now. "Who does he think he is? Forcing you to go with him? Did he hurt you in any way?"

"Sonny calm down, I'm trying to explain things to you…."

"Calm down?!" Sonny interrupted. "That maniac took you away from everything an everyone you loved. He took away our chance to be a family! Just wait 'till I get my hands on him."

"Leave him alone, he was just doing what needed to be done." Was she hearing herself correctly? She was actually defending Tom, what was the world coming to? "My life as well as Julia's were in danger. I know he acted irrationally, but he believed the best thing was to get me out of town."

Sonny, who is trying his best to calm down and take in what he is hearing, is pacing the length of the living room. "What about me? If you were in danger I could have gotten you the best protection in the world. Did Tom forget about that?"

"Tom didn't want to get you involved, the situation would have become more dangerous if you were. It's already become more dangerous with you here." Brenda ducked her head for a minute, as much as she hated admitting it, Sonny shouldn't be involved in this, no matter how much she wanted to get him involved in the past.

Sonny stops his periodic pacing and stares at Brenda, "Brenda, you are my wife. We are or were supposed to face the hardtimes together. Danger or not, you should have told me. I would have done anything to help you. I will do anything right now to help you if you just tell me what's going on."

"Sonny, I didn't know I was in danger until that night, how could I have told you? Why should I have told you? You never see it fit to tell me when you are in danger. I would just go about blindly doing my business and you would put yourself in danger almost everyday. Don't you think I had the right to know about that?"

"Brenda!" Sonny tersely screamed in frustration. He was going to get some answers no matter how she tried to change or avoid the subject. "I tried to protect you by not telling you what was going on. That is not the same as what you did. I did not disappear, make my friends and family think I was dead, and leave an infant daughter with strangers." With those last words, Sonny watched Brenda's face crumple and watched her fight back tears. He immediately regretted saying them. Brenda walked over to the couch, sat down and curled her legs up under her. Sonny went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, "Brenda, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that."

Brenda shrugged his hands off of her. "Yes you did. You think I'm a terrible person because I left Sara behind. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't bring her with me, she could have been in the middle of crossfire at anytime. I was always on the run, that's no way to raise a child. I'm sure you could talk to Luke about that. I couldn't tell you or anyone else at home because I was supposed to be dead, remember?" She said almost cold, but also as explanation offer.

"Brenda..."

"No let me finish. I did the only thing I thought I could do with her. I told Jane James, the nice lady I met in Seattle to find a safe and loving place for her to live. I gave her up for adoption, I didn't want to, and it tore me up inside, but I believed I was doing the best thing for her at the time. You'll never know how much I thought about returning to Seattle just to see her, or even the day when we could all be reunited together." Tears were rolling down her face now.

Sonny wrapped his arms around Brenda's shoulders again. This time she didn't move away. She turned her head and cried into his shoulder. Sonny smoothed her hair as sobs wracked her body. "Baby, I know how hard it was on you. I can see it in your eyes. I've dreamed about being a family, too ever since I found out I was a father. I'm sorry that you were ever caused so much pain. Who caused this pain, Baby, please tell me."

Brenda gasped for air and in between sobs, she whispered the words, "Daddy. Daddy did it all."