“Once upon a time...”

“Why do stories always start out like that?” Four-year-old, Brooke Lynn Ashton
asked.

“I’m not sure, they just do,” replied Brooke Lynn’s godmother, Brenda Barrett.

“Oh.”

Brenda and Brooke Lynn were curled up on the couch. Brooke Lynn was laying
down next to Brenda, listening to her read her favorite story, ‘Cinderella.’ Brenda
started to read again. When she reached the part where Cinderella danced with
the prince at the ball, Brooke Lynn asked her another question.

“Auntie Brenda, do you think that someday you will meet a prince and marry
him?”

Brenda laughed. “I don’t think so, sweetie.”

“Why not?” Brooke Lynn asked, sounding a little disappointed.

“Well, its not everyday that you meet one and usually when a prince marries, he
marries within his own circle of people.”

“That’s really dumb.”

Brenda laughed. “Yes, it is, but I’m just afraid that’s just the way it is.” She started to read the story again.

About ten minutes later she finished reading and looked down at Brooke Lynn, who had suddenly become very quiet. The child was fast asleep. Being careful as not to wake her up, Brenda gently lifted her from the couch and carried her upstairs to her room. She laid her down on top of the bed and put a blanket over her. A lock of Brooke Lynn’s hair fell over her forehead. She smoothed it back into place. She sighed. She hoped someday that she could have a child like Brooke Lynn. If it ever happened. She sighed again.

Brenda quietly closed the door to Brooke Lynn’s bedroom, and went across the
hall to her own. She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. Brooke Lynn’s
question from earlier echoed though her head. “Auntie Brenda, do you think that
someday you will meet a prince and marry him?” Brenda shook her head, she
didn’t ever think that would happen. She thought she had come close though. It
hurt to remember, but suddenly her head was filled with memories from five years ago.

Brenda had moved to Port Charles, New York to start over after her father and
sister had both been killed in an automobile accident. She had been so utterly
devastated, when she first arrived in Port Charles and that was when she met
Brooke Lynn’s mother Lois Ashton. Lois had been her savior. She gave her a
reason to live. She had made her a full partner in her record company, L.
Records even changing the name to L and B. Records. She had then started to
strive in her new life. That was until she met him, her prince, or so she had
thought at the time.

Him had been a friend of Lois’ from when she lived in Bensonhurst, New York.
Michael Sonny Corinthos, Jr. Lois had introduced them and they had been
inseparable from that moment on. Brenda had eventually moved into Sonny’s
penthouse apartment. She had questioned the need for bodyguards, but Sonny
had quickly quieted her questions, only explaining that the bodyguards was
necessary due to him being a high player in the world of investments and high
finance. Sonny had told her that she needed to trust him and not ask questions.
Brenda had trusted him and with that trust he had broken her heart.

Brenda eventually began to suspect Sonny was not what he seemed. He was
into something much more dangerous. He had secret meetings and was gone all
the time. It wasn't until she had been shot in the shoulder that she realized what
he was into. Sonny was a high prince in the mob. When she had found out, she
had been torn as to what to do. Should she turn him in or not?

A police detective, Marques Taggert, had come to see her while she was
recuperating in the hospital. What he said about Sonny made her toes curl.
After she had listened to what Taggert had said, the decision was easy to make.
Sonny had to be stopped.

She had worn a wire and secretly hidden in a closet in the penthouse while Sonny
held a meeting. She had cringed at some of the things she had heard. She
hadn’t believed he was the same man. Because when he had been with her, he
had been so kind and gentle. But the man she was listening to was cold and
unfeeling. Sonny had been in the process of ordering his men to kill key
members of the Port Charles community. The police commisior, Mac Scorpio,
was number one on the list.

Then the police had busted in and taken Sonny and his men into custody. She
had emerged from the closet after they had been taken out. Taggart and Scorpio
had thanked her for her help. They had then taken her into protective custody
until the trial. They hid her in a cottage in the woods until the trial started.

After the trial was over and before Sonny was lead away for his life sentence in
Leavenworth, Kansas. He had vowed revenge on her then. Taggert and Scorpio
had wanted her to go into the Federal Witness Protection program. She had
refused, choosing instead to stay in Port Charles with Lois and her husband, Ned,
whom she now considered her family. Lois and Ned had asked her to move in
with them and help them raise her goddaughter, Brooke Lynn. As the years had
passed, Brenda worried less and less about Sonny’s threats. He had just been
blowing wind in the courtroom that day.

Brenda returned to the present and turned on her side. If another such a man did
appear would she try again? Would she be able to trust again? Would she allow
herself to get sweep away again? She closed her eyes and fell asleep dreaming
of all the possibilities.