On a personal front, from the moment he woke up in the hospital, Sonny had the feeling of having a great weight lifted off of his shoulders. He had no idea that the weight he had been carrying on was the memory of his real life. Nor did he miss it. He was finally able to throw himself wholeheartedly into his new life without anything holding him back. Although he still would get this uneasy feeling at times that someone could come and take this all away from him at the oddest moments.
Even though Sonny had no memory of his past life, he still retained the feelings he had for Michael in that life. Because he'd saved Jamie's life, a relationship developed between the two. While Sonny was still in the hospital recovering for his injuries, Carly had brought her son to see Sonny and thank him for what he had done. Jamie responded naturally to Sonny who was a natural with children, and soon Sonny was meeting him in the park to play catch with him. It wasn't long before Sonny was filling in for AJ at school functions AJ was too busy feeling sorry for himself to attend. In a very real way, Sonny had the exact same relationship with Jame in this life that he had with Michael in his real life.
Carly still hadn't given up her plan to nab Sonny for herself, and used the budding relationship between Jamie and Sonny to get a foot in the door with Sonny. Whenever Jamie had a school function she would call up Sonny claiming AJ was too busy to attend a school function with Jamie and Sonny would offer to fill in for him. Of course, Carly made sure she was at the school function, to try and get closer to Sonny. Carly really didn't feel that she was using her son to nab a man for herself, but that Jamie was helping her get a man who would be a much better father to him than his own father was.
As for Brenda, she was making quite a name for herself as a columnist. There wasn't a person in Port Charles that Brenda hadn't skewered with her column. While Brenda was busy with her new job, she wasn't blind to what Carly was doing. She knew she was still after Sonny, but Brenda wasn't worried, because she knew Sonny loved her and she was the only woman he really truly wanted or desired.
So time went by and the years began to pass until it was Michele's fourth birthday and Sonny and Brenda were hosting a party for her at their penthouse. The party was being attended mostly by adults, since a lot of parents wouldn't allow their child to associate with the child of Sonny Corinthos. While Brenda had rubbed the past mistakes in the noses of the people who wouldn't let Sonny forget his past, it still didn't cause them to change their ways and suddenly treat Sonny differently. If anything, Brenda only succeeded in making them more determined to try and ostracize Sonny for his past mistakes and had now added her to the list. But Sonny didn't care what they did to him. Each time he read one of Brenda's columns in the newspaper and knew she was doing this to try and help him, he just didn't care. All that mattered was his wife had turned against her friends for him because they refused to treat him decently and everything else became insignificant to him but Brenda and his love for her.
Brenda was not thrilled that Sonny had insisted that Jamie be invited to Michele's birthday, which meant Carly would be in attendance, as well. It was fine that Sonny wanted to associate with Carly's son, but did that also mean their daughter had to, as well? Brenda knew Carly would just use the occasion as another excuse to try and get into Sonny's pants and she'd prefer not to have to watch the desperate woman's attempts at seducing her husband at her daughter's birthday party. While Brenda wasn't threatened by Carly anymore, she was getting extremely tired of her. You'd think after almost four years of pursuing Sonny and getting nowhere with him she'd finally give it up and move on to someone else. But she just wouldn't quit.
Brenda and Robin stood apart from the others watching Sonny doting on Michele. Then they looked over at Carly and Jamie. "Why did Sonny invite her to this party?" Robin wanted to know.
"It's a package deal." Brenda sighed. "He wanted to invite Jamie to the party and since Carly is his mother, she's along for the ride." Although there was no real reason Carly had to come to the party and both she and Carly knew she was using this as another occasion to get close to Sonny.
They watched as Carly sidled up to Sonny and began to get touchy-feely with him. "How do you stand it, Brenda?" Robin asked. "She's all over him. I wouldn't be able to stand it if she was still all over Jason like that."
"Sonny's a one woman man and I'm that woman." She told her. "There was one night I was scared she might take him away from me, but Sonny knows now that she can't give him anything that I can't. So she's no threat to me." She added. "Let her try all she likes, she'll never get him."
"I don't understand Sonny's fixation with her son." Robin declared in confusion. "Why does he go out of his way to pay attention to him."
"I think Jamie reminds Sonny of himself as a child." Brenda hypothesized. "And maybe a little bit of Michele, as well. A lot of people won't let their children play with Jamie because Carly is his mother the same way they won't let Michele play with their children because she's the daugher of Sonny Corinthos."
"It's just encouraging Carly." Robin declared. "She's not above using her own son to get a man and since Sonny's so attached to him, she thinks she's got a chance with him." She added. "You should make Sonny stop being so close to him, then Carly would get the message and go away."
"I know." Brenda admitted. "But I think I've got a way to nip this thing in the bud without getting Sonny's back up by telling him what to do. I think it's time for Sonny and I to have another child. A son." She added. "That way he'll be too busy with his own son to have time for Carly's."
"That's not the only reason you want to have another baby is it?" Robin gasped.
"No." Brenda assured her. "I've been thinking about this for awhile. I made my point with my column in the paper and now I'm ready to give it up." She added. Of course, getting Sonny to agree to have another baby might be a problem."
"Why?" Robin wanted to know.
"You didn't see the way Sonny reacted the first time I was pregnant." Brenda revealed. "He was not happy and it wasn't a happy time for Sonny. He was constantly afraid I'd lose the baby because of the danger we were in. And the night Michele was born, Sonny's worst nightmare came to life."
"But you're no longer in danger from the mob." Robin reminded her. "Surely, it would be different this time."
"You never know with Sonny." Brenda sighed. "He never gets over anything, and I don't think he's gotten over the night Michele was born by a longshot."
"Daddy?" Michele looked up at Sonny as he was trying to put together the doll house Mike had giving her for her birthday.
"Hmm." Sonny replied without looking up at her.
"Can I ask you something." She continued to stare fixatedly at her father.
"If it's when I'm going to get this stupid thing put together." Sonny was rapidly losing his patience with the toy. Leave it to his father to give his granddaughter something her father couldn't put together. "I have no idea."
"No." She shooked her head. "It's about Jamie's mother." That got Sonny's attention. "Why is she always touching you so much."
"What do you mean, sweetheart?" He knew exactly what she meant. He hadn't told Carly to stop because he was afraid she'd get mad and keep him away from Jamie and the kid needed him in his life. But if his own daughter was starting to notice, it looked like it was time to finally tell Carly to just stop it.
"She's always touching you like Mommy does." Michele complained.
"And you don't like that?" He asked carefully.
"No!" She said forcefully. "And Mommy doesn't like it, either. I can tell." She added. "Only Mommy should touch you like that. I want you to tell her to stop touching you like that whenever she gets near you."
"All right." Sonny kissed her on the forehead. "If that's what you want, then that's what I'll do. It's your birthday, so your wish is my command."
"Do it now." She demanded.
"Do you know." He picked her up in his arms. "That you are the only one I allow to order me around like this. And I only do it because I love you so much." He got to his feet and set his daughter down on her feet. "Do you want to come with me when I do it, or do you trust me enough to do it on my own."
"Of course I do, Daddy." She was horrified that he might think she didn't trust him. "I always trust you. I just want you to make Jamie's mommy stop touching you like you belong to her." She added, with words far wiser than her years. "Your ours, not hers."
"And don't you forget it, either." He leaned down and kissed her on the tip of her nose, then he looked over to Carly with dread, dreading what he had to do. "I'll be right back."
Carly smiled a very sexual smile at him as Sonny came towards her. "Just couldn't stay away from me, could you."
Sonny decided to cut to the chase. "Carly, this has to stop." He told her. "Michele has noticed the way you're always touching me and I'm sure Jamie has, too."
"And what did you tell her?" Carly smirked at him.
"I didn't have to tell her anything." Sonny replied. "Even as young as she is, she knows you think you can steal me away from her and her mother, but it's never going to happen, so you need to accept it and move on."
"Something almost happened between us once." Carly reminded him. "And it still could if you'd stop fighting it."
"The reason it almost did." Sonny returned. "Was because I was angry at Brenda for encouraging Jax and I felt alienated from her, but that's never going to happen again, and even then I stopped myself." He sighed. "Look, Carly, if you want to be free of AJ, I'll help you get free of him, but you need to accept that I'm not an option for you." He added. "Maybe something could happen between us if Brenda wasn't in my life, but even if she weren't I just don't think it would work really work between us. We're too much alike and one if not both of us would have to change into somebody we're not just to make it work."
"You love Jamie." She pointed out. "You're more of a father to him than his own father is."
"And I hope you'll continue to let me be." Sonny said with great feeling. "But I love Brenda and that's not going to change. Even if something were to happen between us, I would still love Brenda and never stop wanting to be with her."
"Did you mean it?" Carly seemed to finally get that she would never get Sonny away from Brenda and she was just wasting her time by continuing to try. "That you'd help me get free of AJ."
"Yes, I meant it." Sonny assured her.
"How will you do it?" Carly wanted to know. "
"Don't worry about it." Sonny declared arrogantly. "I have ways of getting what I want. That's all you need to know."