"Spinelli," Nadine's anxious voice said over the phone, "you need to come to the hospital. The baby's coming."
Spinelli looked over at Georgie and she knew what was happening immediately.
"I'll drive," she said as he fumbled for his money to pay Mike for their dinner.
"Don't worry about it," Mike said with a smile. "We'll settle it later; go see your daughter come into the world."
"Thank you, Senior Sir."
Georgie glanced over at him as she started Spinelli's car. He was more nervous than she had ever seen him.
"It'll be OK."
She kissed his cheek before pulling out of the parking lot. He nodded.
As Georgie drove, Spinelli reflected on all the changes that had taken place since Ian Devlin had been killed. Nadine had asked him once what kind of world they were bringing Kendra into. As Jolene's due date had approached, Spinelli had begun wondering the same thing. They were on the verge of a mob war; if and when they found proof that Devlin had not lied about The Zacchara organization breaking the truce and targeting Sonny, a mob war would break out and Spinelli could do nothing to stop it. He didn't know if he still believed what he had told Nadine, that fear shouldn't stop people from bringing children into the world.
On top of all that, he had his own self-doubts to contend with. Intellectually, he knew he would be a good father. But as the reality approached, his emotions took over and his anxiety had increased.
Michael had been sent to a permanent care facility in Manhattan. Sonny had retired and Jason was running the business. Sonny had undergone some changes, too, and not for the better. Spinelli thought Mr. Corinthos, Sir, would be happy out of the mob, but he was only angrier and acting like a bullying child. Sonny and Georgie had had some arguments over the way Sonny had been treating Spinelli. For his part, Spinelli worried that Sonny would go too far one day and hurt Georgie for defending him. He was afraid of the Former Godfather, but he would not allow him to hurt his girlfriend. If Sonny even looked as if he was going to cause bodily harm to Sweet Georgie, Spinelli would employ every bit of the self-defense training he'd learned over the last few months.
Spinelli couldn't help feeling angry at Sonny when he thought about Jason running the business. He had agreed to take over if Sonny signed over his rights to Michael and Morgan. Jason had sacrificed the life he could have had with Elizabeth and her boys just so Sonny could have a life with The Fashionista. Sonny had repaid that sacrifice with insults, anger and disrespect.
His mind went back to the last conversation he'd had with Sonny, just a few hours earlier. Sonny had barged into Jason's office, where Spinelli was going over some information he'd found for him, and began hammering Spinelli with insults for not respecting him and leaving when he told him to get out of Jason's office.
"You gonna disrespect me by not doing what I tell you? Huh, Freaky Boy? What are yah gonna do, Freaky Boy? Answer me, Freaky Boy!"
"Sir, I-"
"Get outa here and I don't want you anywhere near me or Kate!"
"Why would The Jackal go near the Fashionista?" Spinelli asked.
"I saw you at her office a few weeks ago!" Sonny yelled, as if Spinelli were a child who was lying to try to get out of trouble.
"Yes, Sir, but only that once because she asked me to find her a blogger for her magazine. Wise Georgie accepted the job and tells me The Fashionista is very impressed with her writing."
He knew he was babbling, but Sonny still made him nervous. He was Jason's friend and Spinelli didn't want to make him angry with him. He also didn't want Stone Cold to be in a position where he had to choose sides.
"Didn't I tell you to get out of here?"
Jason had watched this exchange, glaring furiously at Sonny, who suddenly made as if to punch Spinelli in the face. Spinelli ducked and rolled, coming up behind Sonny, surprising him. A physical threat to himself had sent Spinelli running from Sonny in the past. But if someone else were in physical danger, Spinelli would try to defend them. He had never had to defend anyone physically against Sonny before, to his relief. He wouldn't have been able to stand up to Sonny before. He was much more confident now, thanks to his newly acquired self-defense skills. Sonny had expected him to run, terrified, out the door.
Part of him still wanted to do that, but he knew he would never be able to set a good example for his child if he let Sonny's playground bully act scare him away. It didn't matter in the short term, but if Kendra grew up seeing her father being pushed around like that, it could cause her to think it was OK for people to bully you just because they could. That meant she either could start bullying other people to get what she wanted or become intimidated and allow anyone who wanted to push her around to do anything they wanted. He wouldn't have that for his daughter.
"Leave him alone, Sonny," Jason ordered.
"Why don't you run the business I gave you instead of baby sitting Spinelli? Now I want you to fire him because I'm sick of tripping over him!"
"I'm not firing him, and you don't get to give me orders anymore!"
"Besides," Spinelli blurted out automatically, "I'm gonna be a father any minute now; I need-"
"What?" Sonny demanded. "You're gonna be a father?"
Spinelli nodded.
"You're gonna be a father? Is he for real?"
This last question was directed at Jason.
"You can't even tie your own shoes. How are you gonna take care of a kid?"
"That's enough!" Jason yelled.
"Someone's gonna let him near a baby? The kid'll be as weird as he is."
"Shut up!" Jason yelled, making as if to step between them.
Before he could, Sonny reached past Jason and grabbed Spinelli, causing him to employ automatically one of the first self-defense techniques he had learned. Sonny looked up at him in surprise from the floor.
"What did you just do to me?" he demanded angrily.
Spinelli stared down at him in disbelief. He had just floored his former boss. Mr. Corinthos, Sir, was going to kill him. Kendra's father was a dead man.
"Sir, I'm so sorry! I've been taking self-defense classes and they taught us months ago how to counter against someone who grabs us the way you did."
"Spinelli, what are you apologizing for?" Jason asked, smirking at Sonny, who was still on the floor. "Your reflexes are supposed to take over in threatening situations; you did good."
Spinelli grinned nervously, then tried to help Sonny up. Sonny pushed him away.
"Leave me alone and get outa here; I wanna talk to Jason. One more thing, though; if you're smart and you love your kid, you'll give it up for adoption before you mess up its life with your freaky behavior."
"Spinelli," Jason began.
"It's OK. We'll talk later."
"He's wrong; you're gonna be a great dad and you know it!" Jason called after him as Spinelli left the office.
He gave his mentor a grateful smile before closing the door.
He ran to the peer; he needed to think. Sonny had just voiced every doubt Spinelli had been having as Kendra's birth approached. How could he be a good father? How could he raise a normal child when he wasn't normal? Sonny had voiced with two words what most people thought of him. "Freaky Boy." He didn't want Kendra to grow up known as the daughter of Port Charles's resident weirdo.
"Hey," Georgie had said, coming up behind him.
He looked at her, confirming what she'd already known; he was upset.
"What's wrong?"
"Mr. Corinthos, Sir, has just confirmed The Jackal's every doubt. How can he possibly be a good father? He's too weird and-"
"Stop," Georgie said firmly. "Sit down."
Her voice was gentler now. They sat on the peer together. She spoke slowly and deliberately, making sure he would catch every word.
"Sonny doesn't know you. He doesn't know anything about who you are. I know you, Spinelli, and I've watched you do everything you had to for your daughter. You've put her first from the minute you found out you were gonna be a father, even before that! The minute you learned that it was possible that Jolene's baby was yours you've thought of nothing but how to prepare for the birth of your baby. Sonny has no right to tell you how to be a father; he got his child shot!"
Spinelli said nothing. He couldn't argue, but a small part of him felt obligated to defend Mr. Corinthos, Sir. But the truth was that if Sonny had done the smart thing and had guards, Michael might have been saved.
"You love Kendra," Georgie continued. "That's what matters. Kendra will know that her Daddy loves her; everything else is secondary."
"I don't wanna fail her," he said softly.
"You won't!"
She put her arms around him and pulled him close.
"You're gonna be Kendra's rock, just like you've been for me since Maxie died. It's your love and strength that are gonna make her a strong, smart person who puts the people she loves above herself, just like you do."
"But she'll grow up knowing people think her father is a freak; I don't want that for her!"
"She'll grow up knowing her father is a good person who is more of a man than Sonny Corinthos will ever be! As for those idiots who think you're a freak, they don't know the real you; Jason, Lulu, Nadine, Mike and I do and so will Kendra. Probably the most important thing you can teach her is that it's OK to be unique. You're gonna be a success as a private investigator, and most importantly as a father . Sonny may be a successful coffee importer, but he endangered his child because what he wanted had to be the most important thing. He had to prove he could go around without guards and look where it got him. He chose to become a mob boss; the minute he made that choice everyone he loved became a target. You've chosen to leave the mob for the safety of your child. Sonny is selfish; you're not. You love your daughter enough to always put her needs above yours; that's why you could never fail her."
He hugged her back, feeling better. She was right. His relationship with Kendra was more important than what anyone else thought of him. He loved her unconditionally and Kendra would feel that. Nothing Sonny or anyone else could say or do would change Kendra's feelings for Spinelli.
He jumped and came out of his thoughts when he felt Georgie's hand on his shoulder. The car had stopped and she'd turned it off.
"We're here."
He gave her a nervous smile as they got out of the car and headed into the hospital.
