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"Daddy," someone whispered, "Daddy," and now he felt someone shaking him.
Will peeked up at the clock.
6:30 a.m.
No, Will thought, hiding his face in the pillow.
"Daddy!" the shaking persisted.
Will groaned, rolling over to face his eleven year-old daughter. Sonny always said she was a splitting image of him with the curly dark blonde hair that had slowly gotten darker as she got older and the blue eyes. Will always said that she looked like Sami.
"What is it, sweetie? It's Saturday and it's early," Will sighed, sitting up.
"Papa is downstairs yelling again," Arianna crossed her arms, "Me and Henderson were 'sposed to make you guys breakfast and I couldn't 'cause Papa told me to come up here."
Will sighed, running his hand through his hair, "Right...well, take the stairs that go to the kitchen and I'll go tell Papa to knock it off."
Arianna grinned and kissed his cheek, "Thanks, daddy," she chirped before running off.
"THIS IS MY COMPANY, NOT YOURS ANYMORE! YOU ABANDONED IT!"
Will groaned, resisting the urge to hide his face in the pillow and scream. He got up and started to get dressed.
Things had changed a lot over the past ten years...but they were still going strong.
After Chad returned to Salem, things had quickly gone down hill for TBD. Sonny and Chad no longer got along like they used to and, eventually, Sonny demanded that he owned all of the business since he was the one who took care of it. Chad (being Chad) said no.
They grudgingly worked together for about five years, expanded to five more shops and a line of their own coffee mix to sell in stores. Then things some how even went further down the metaphorical hill.
Chad opened his own business to compete with Sonny's, used the same recipe for the coffee mix, they sued each other, neither of them won, and they've been fighting ever since. The DiMera/Kiriakis feud had started despite the promise to Maggie.
It got even worse after Sonny became head of Titan Industries when Victor fell ill.
Eventually, things started to get violent, just like last time. Will, Arianna, and Sonny moved into the mansion for safety. It had better security than their apartment. As much as Will loved the place, he'd gotten used to the mansion at this point and it was safer for Ari.
Will stood by Sonny no matter what and kept up his writing career. He didn't throw his morals out the window, he still never wrote about his family. He didn't write about the Hortons, he didn't write about the Bradys, and he didn't write about the Kiriakis...es...Kiriakises?
Will wrinkled his nose at the thought of trying to turn that name into the plural form.
Anyways, the DiMeras were fair game.
He had kind of made an enemy out of them again after his first article that slammed Chad, then the next one that got Kristen, and eventually one on Stefano. He never told his mother of anything that had been going on since he came home from LA, he didn't want to put her under any stress. She had three of her kids and a production constantly going on around her.
Will sighed as he walked downstairs and took a deep breath before walking in the doors to the living room, "What the hell is going on?" he demanded and groaned when he saw Chad holding a gun and Sonny holding one as well, "You guys! Ari is in the kitchen!"
"HE PUTS HIS DOWN FIRST!" Chad yelled.
"At the same time," Will said calmly, "Don't make me call Victor."
"LIKE I'M SCARED OF THE OLD MAN! IF I BLEW ON HIM, HE'D FALL OVER!" Chad continued to yell.
Will could already feel the headache of the day forming.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY UNCLE LIKE THAT!" Sonny yelled and the gun clicked as he aimed it at Chad.
"Sonny," Will ran over, standing in front of him so he blocked his line of vision, sighing in relief when Chad slowly lowered the gun. Even if Sonny and Chad were at odds, Chad would always care for Will, deep down.
Sonny attempted to glare around Will.
"Sonny," Will said, putting his hands on his cheeks, "Be the bigger man, okay?"
Sonny stared at him before slowly lowering the gun. He glared at Chad, "Get the hell out of my house," he snapped at him.
Chad gritted his teeth and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Things had changed about Sonny over the years. One day, when Will had been walking home with Arianna from her basketball practice, a shot was fired. No one was hit, but the bullet almost hit Will. Something changed in Sonny when he got the call from Hope. Sonny would never in his life get violent towards Will or Arianna or even be mean to them. Towards other people, that was a different story.
Sonny personally took to finding the guy who did it and took care of him. Well, at least he didn't kill him. It involved a lot of blackmail, a gun, and a one way ticket to Alaska.
"Sorry," Sonny mumbled, "Did I scare Ari?"
"No, she's used to it," Will muttered, "She just wanted one Saturday where she could sleep in...both of us did."
"He just showed up...I was making coffee for you and I was pissed," Sonny mumbled.
"It's fine," Will said, "Try again next Saturday?"
Sonny just nodded, putting his forehead on Will's shoulder.
Will sighed, kissing his head.
Someone rang the doorbell.
"Six forty five," Will said under his breath, going to answer the door, "What?" he snapped.
"Uh...delivery for Will Horton?" the man tried.
"That's me," Will crossed his arms.
The man smiled and handed him a small box and then a large bouquet of roses.
"Oh, jeez," Will said, trying to struggle with both of them, "Do I need to sign?"
"No need," the man waved him off, "Happy anniversary, sir."
Will smiled, regretting snapping at the man, but it was six forty five so he slammed the door in his face the best he could with his hands full.
"I'll get you a vase for those, sir," Henderson said, already walking away.
"Oh, no it's...fine," Will sighed. Five years and he still wasn't used to having a butler. Will smiled, leaning on the wall and reading the tag that was typed in a small, elegant font on a large piece of paper.
Ten years ago today, I married the love of my life. I never in a million years thought I would settle down so early, but you proved me wrong. I've never been happier and I'd like to thank you for all of this time that you've put up with me.
So, love of my life, take these as a gift...and hopefully this won't be as big of a miscommunication as the last time I sent you one of these.
Will pursed his lips and put the card down, smiling when Henderson took the flowers from him and put them in a vase before setting them on the table, "Thanks," he said quietly, sighing when Henderson walked away.
He opened the box and froze up.
It was exactly the same MP3 player engraved with their initials...it even at the same card that said To our new beginning. The MP3 player Sonny had gotten him had been lost in the move to the Kiriakis mansion. It broke and Will cried over it because they had no idea how they were even supposed to get an MP3 player again because of all the new things coming out through the last ten years.
Sonny, of course, still had the music downloaded and he could listen to it anytime he wanted. But it meant something.
Will laughed in shock, "Oh my God," he breathed out.
"Happy anniversary," Sonny said, leaning in the doorway.
"How did you...?" Will trailed off.
Sonny smiled, "Lots of digging...lots of money...I finally found one and got someone to engrave it for me."
Will put it down and hugged him tightly, "I love you so much."
"Gross," Arianna commented and walked over, looking at the box, "What's that?"
Sonny rolled his eyes, "You listen to music on it...me and Daddy had that when we first got back together."
Arianna wrinkled her nose, "Well, I don't care. Go back to bed, I'm making you guys breakfast."
"Well, be careful!" Will called, "Don't touch the hot pans, let Henderson help you. Just butter the toast-"
"Go!" Arianna whined, shoving them upstairs.
"And make sure-" Sonny started.
"UNCLE VICTOR!" she screeched.
"We're going, we're going," Sonny laughed, hurrying upstairs with Will.