Throw Me to The Wolves & I Will Return Leading the Pack
Summary:Morgan, the newest member of SVU hasn't had much luck with men, but her new partner might just be the one for her, if only she could let Sonny Carisi know. Men come much easier to her friend Riley, who's maybe not prepared for the challenge that Peter Stone provides.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Law and Order SVU, Morgan and Riley however are all mine.
Chapter 28:
The intention had been for Peter to help Sonny build the crib, though Sonny had insisted he could do it himself, he had given in to Morgan's pleas because if Peter was over, it meant she could spend the afternoon with Riley; and who was Sonny to deny his wife an opportunity to spend some time with her best friend?
Morgan sat on one end of the couch in the living room while Riley sat at the other, the two of them looking at each other and waiting for the next round of curse words to erupt from the nursery upstairs; so far there had been a few good ones from the Catholic man named Sonny, words that neither girl knew he was capable of saying.
"Son of a bitch!" Came Sonny's loud voice and Riley couldn't help but smirk. Morgan fought off a giggle and shook her head, wondering why her husband sounded like he was having such trouble building something as simple as a crib?
It wasn't like they had picked out an elaborate crib, no, it had looked pretty simple set up in the store, but yet, with the amount of swearing coming from the second floor, Morgan figured it probably wasn't as easy as Sonny and her had believed.
"I feel like he's struggling, a lot." Riley remarked with a chuckle. "Which is kind of funny because Sonny seems like he'd be pretty good at putting shit together."
Morgan gave a quick shake of her head, "typical male that he is, he throws the instructions out of the way as soon as he sees them."
"Why? Instructions make everything so much easier." Riley remarked with a knowing smile. "They're there for a reason."
"Oh I know that, and you obviously know that, but Sonny Carisi is a stubborn old fart when it comes to instructions. He thinks they're a waste of paper." Morgan explained. "He'd much rather spend an extra couple of hours fighting with things than to just look at the instructions."
"Men confuse me." Riley teased. "Can you imagine if we relied on a man to build all of our shit when we moved into the apartment? We would've waited forever."
"You had that stuff put together so fast!" Morgan gaped. "I was so surprised at first, you're a master builder, you know that, right? There was so much stuff to build and you did it all."
"I may not be able to build stuff with planks and saws and stuff but I can put it together like a son of a bitch. I didn't go to engineering school for nothing."
"Fuck!" Sonny's voice was getting louder and louder with each passing minute. Riley snorted at his word and made a move to stand up, Morgan following suit. The two of them paused in front of the couch and waited for another curse word to erupt. After a good thirty seconds of silence, Riley shook her head and stepped away from the couch.
The two of them wandered towards the stairs side by side and climbed up them, pausing at the top and giving each other a smirk.
What would they encounter when they approached the nursery? Would Sonny be about ready to pitch the whole crib out the window? And what about Peter, who was in the room with Sonny but had yet to make a sound loud enough for them to hear? What was he doing with the crib; was he trying to help Sonny build it or was he just staying silent and watching Sonny curse?
With an ever-growing smirk on her face, Morgan wandered towards the baby's room, Riley trailing along behind her, and poked her head inside, taking in the sight in front of her. Sonny was kneeling on the ground, Peter beside him, with the crib way less than half built on the floor. There was a small plastic bowl full of screws and brackets nearby, pieces of wood belonging to the crib behind him and the one side of the baby's bed half built and leaning against the wall; the freshly painted light blue wall.
The name 'Michael' was hanging on the wall, made out of wooden letters painted a shiny black colour. Morgan had gotten Sonny to hang them once the room itself had been painted (complete with white trim along the door, window and baseboards), which Sonny had done all by himself because he had insisted that Morgan was not to ingest paint fumes if she was pregnant.
Overall, he had done a great job on the room itself, but it still lacked furniture, which was what the two men were working on as she looked into the room, happy that they were one step closer to being prepared to welcome their little boy into the world.
"What's the next step?" Sonny muttered to his partner and the two of them turned around, looking for something, Morgan could only guess that it was the instructions but then again, it wasn't like Sonny would use them even if he found them. Sonny turned the opposite way and let out a groan, not seeing the booklet of instructions that was tucked half under his feet directly behind him.
Riley took up a stance inside the room and furrowed her eyebrows at the total lack of crib. The two of them had been upstairs in the room for a good hour and this was as far as they had gotten. What the hell had they been doing this whole time? Why wasn't the crib more than partly built?
"How many lawyers does it take to build a crib?" Morgan posed, clearly making fun of them.
"Hey, where's you best friend Barba?" Riley piped up and Morgan threw her head back in laughter.
"He was adamant about being smart enough to hire someone else to do it." Morgan answered, receiving a glare from her lovely husband.
"That's what I tried to get him to do." Sonny growled and Riley looked from him to Peter, who merely raised his hands in defeat.
"And what am I here for?" Peter pressed.
"To distract Morgan from his lack of manly abilities." Riley joked.
"Hey, I got her pregnant, didn't I?" Sonny fired back. Riley lifting a hand up as if to say 'okay, point taken', but she didn't move from her spot in the door.
"Have you never built anything before?" Morgan leveled Peter with a look, and he offered her a shrug.
"Cribs are complex." Peter replied, as if it was the simplest response in the world.
"Need some help?" Riley asked and Sonny's entire body stiffened at the sound. Letting out a giggle, Morgan entered the room, standing next to Riley, and planted her hands on her hips.
Riley wandered in further though and dropped down sit next to Peter, leaning against his side as he held the one piece of crib in his hand, waiting for Sonny to tell him what to do with it. Sonny dropped back down directly on his butt and Riley leaned forward, reaching behind him and grabbing hold of the instructions, pulling them free from his feet and offering them to him.
"Uh no, no I got this." Sonny countered, glancing around the room, taking in the sight of the pieces of the unbuilt crib, as he took the instructions in his hand before tossing them back to the floor. "I think I got this."
"Rule number one of master building is to read the fucking instructions." Riley instructed and grabbed hold of them once again, flipping them open to the first step. "May I?"
"Go for it." Peter waved at the scattered pieces in front of him, ready and willing to let her take the lead.
"No hey, she doesn't get to come in here when we're almost done and take the glory. Seriously, we got this." Sonny argued and whipped the booklet out of her hands. Riley shot a knowing look over her shoulder to Morgan, who fought back a smile, knowing that Riley just wanted to get her hands on the crib and get it put together, preferably without swearing and cursing.
"Why don't you come down for a snack?" Morgan suggested in an attempt to entice Sonny out of the room. "And a beer. I feel like you two men need a beer, you've certainly earned it."
"Mo, we're busy here." Sonny countered.
"Busy with what exactly? Making kindling?" Riley retorted.
"No, we're busy trying to get some of this furniture built; and yeah, okay maybe it's not going as smoothly as I figured, but we're still going to build it because that's what us men do, we build stuff." Sonny growled.
"Sonny Bunny, come take a break." Morgan said softly and let out a hum. "And have a beer, please?"
"I just thought that since I'm going to be a dad, I should maybe make an attempt to put this shit together."
"And what a fine attempt it is." Riley snorted, Sonny glaring at her. She merely smirked at him, waiting for him to argue back or bark out a snide remark, but he didn't, instead, he remained silent.
"Seriously, break and beer." Morgan glared and before either man could object, Peter was on his feet offering a hand to Sonny to help him up too. "Good."
Morgan led the two guys out of the room and down the stairs, where they took a seat at the table. She freed two bottles of beer from the fridge, popped the caps off and set them down, one in front of each man. Sonny dropped his head against the table and let out a dramatic sigh, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do if he couldn't get the damn crib put together.
Surely him and Peter, two highly intelligent people, could figure it out, right? So why were they struggling so bad? Why was it so hard?
"You know Riley's a master builder." Morgan offered up with a smile.
"Took her more for a masterbator." Sonny countered and Morgan slapped him on the shoulder, taking offense for the girl who wasn't even in the room to defend herself.
"Hey!" Peter objected. "Don't talk about my fiancé like that, even though it was kind of funny."
"Sorry. I just didn't think-"
"She's an engineer you know." Morgan cut him off with a knowing smile. "Way smarter than anyone else I know."
"Law school." Sonny stated.
"I stand by my statement." Morgan cooed. She headed back over to the fridge and pulled out a couple bricks of cheese, working away at cutting up some pieces off each of them.
She then moved over and pulled a couple boxes of crackers out of the cupboard, setting them on the surface in front of Sonny before dropping a small pile of sliced cheese on the table too, not even bothering with a plate. Without a word between them, Morgan wandered back over to the fridge, put the cheeses away, and got some cold meat to go along with the cheese and crackers.
Once the two boys were silently munching away, she peered over towards the hallway stairs and listened for any loud, unnerving noises coming from the nursery but all she could hear was silence. Shooting a quick text to Riley, Morgan sat down at the table with the two and nabbed a couple crackers and some cheese.
"Aren't you excited though?" She asked in a low tone, scared that if she asked too loudly that she'd ruin the moment of peace and quiet that she had managed to achieve. She wanted to get Sonny's mind off of the crib, at least for the time being.
"For what exactly?" Sonny asked back, bringing his hand up and running it through his hair.
"For the crib to be built?" Peter threw out and took a big swig of beer. "Because that would be exciting seeing how complicated it is to put together."
"So help me god, I will build that fucking thing if it's the last thing I do." Sonny muttered.
"No no, for the baby." Morgan rolled her eyes.
"Well yeah, of course I am. I'm ecstatic." Sonny stated firmly but his voice was softer than it had been seconds ago, soothing to her now that he didn't sound as frustrated and angry. She didn't want him to be frustrated by something as simple as a crib but she knew that he couldn't help it. He was trying so hard to get himself ready to be a dad and Morgan appreciated every second of it.
"Our own little baby." Morgan murmured. "Michael Anthony."
"Good name." Peter gave her a nod.
"And you?" Morgan questioned, looking over at Peter. "Are you and Ry any closer to getting pregnant?"
Peter shook his head no, "we've sort of put it on hold until after we're married."
Morgen gave him a nod of understanding and made her way back to her feet. She wandered back and forth across the kitchen, letting the two men snack on their crackers, cheese and meat, as well as drink their beers. She eventually settled in to lean against the counter and busied herself with her phone, reading the response that Riley had sent her.
'All good up here so far, keep the guys out of my hair for a little while longer.'
Good, Riley was doing just fine on the crib, at least Morgan assumed so by her text message, and honestly, she had faith in her friend. Riley had put together many things in their apartment, end tables, bookshelves, a nightstand too, and it had all seemed fairly easy for her.
She clearly enjoyed putting things together, and she was damn good at it, Morgan just hoped that Riley could get it mostly together before Sonny realized what she was doing up in the nursery and put a stop to it. He was too proud to give up but if, by the time he went back upstairs, the crib was mostly done, then it wasn't like he would take it apart just to put it back together again.
"I feel bad for Ry, she deserves to have a baby, you know?" Morgan said.
"She'd make a great mother." Sonny added, genuinely meaning it. "She's a good woman too."
"I agree." Peter smiled. "To both."
Morgan beamed at him and felt proud of Riley. Riley was her best friend, she was glad that she had managed to find a man like Peter, a man she wanted to settle down with, the one man that had managed to steal her heart. Peter Stone was good for Riley, and Morgan was glad for that.
They worked well together too. Peter was patient with Riley and Morgan knew how important it was for friend to have a patient partner. She was frustrating at the best of times, Morgan certainly couldn't imagine how much trouble Riley could be in the worst of times, or when she was having trouble conceiving.
Riley was an anxiety ridden person. Peter knew that, he had witnessed her panic attacks, once at the early stages of their relationship. It didn't matter though, Riley was a great woman, a woman he loved and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, anxiety, infertility and all.
"Is your baby going to be here before or after our wedding?" Peter spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Sonny was no longer munching away, instead he was slumped back in his chair sipping on his beer and seemingly relaxing from his previous state of frustration.
"He's due before." Morgan answered with a smile. "But not by a lot. Thank god because I don't really want to be fat in my bridesmaid dress."
"Not fat, pregnant, which is beautiful." Sonny piped up. "You're gorgeous Mo, pregnant or not and you'll look gorgeous as Riley's bridesmaid no matter what."
"Suck up." Peter joked. Morgan wandered over and stood behind Sonny, leaning down so that her forearms rested against his shoulders. She ran her hand over his chest and Sonny reached up, taking hold of her hand, ceasing the movement
"It works though." Morgan whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. She then straightened up and leaned her hip against his chair, Sonny still holding on to her hand. "I love being buttered up."
"Happy wife, happy life." Sonny stated with a smile.
Morgan's face broke out into a giant smile and her gaze flickered down to the side of his head. Yes, this Sonny was much nicer to deal with than angry, swearing Sonny, and Morgan would keep him this way as long as she could. She just hoped that Riley was getting close to finishing the crib, because she wasn't sure how much longer Sonny was going to sit in the kitchen drinking his beer.
"We should head back upstairs." Peter suggested and Sonny freed himself from Morgan's hold before making his way to his feet. He chugged back the last of his beer, Peter doing the same, before the two of them took off for the stairs. Morgan did a quick clean-up and then followed suit, heading up the stairs and stopping just outside the nursery.
The two men were blocking the doorway and when Morgan forced her way into the room, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight. Riley had managed to get most of the crib put together and had a few pieces left, Sonny was staring at her in awe while Peter was grinning from ear to ear.
"Like I said, master builder." Morgan remarked and carried on into the room further, pausing at the end of the nearly fully built crib. She ran her hand over the railing and shot Riley a smile. "You're a genius Ry."
"Yeah, a genius who reads the damn instructions." She muttered in response, not even bothering to waste her time to look over at Sonny. "They were put in the fucking box for a reason; dumbass."
"Hey!" Sonny fired back but Riley merely paused, shot him a glare, and then went right back to finishing up the crib.
Morgan gave Sonny's chest a pat and the trio watched Riley work away at the last few little things that needed to be done. A few minutes later, she stepped back and looked at the crib, loving that she had managed to put it together. She loved building things, she loved putting them together and figuring it all out, and this crib was a fun activity to her.
Peter stepped forward and slipped his arm around her waist, hugging her closer to him while Sonny sauntered in and inspected the crib, running his hand over each and every piece of wood he could find. He even gave the whole thing a rough shake, testing to make sure it was sturdy and once he was sure that it was good, he took a step back and admired Riley's work.
"What else can I put together?" Riley asked, Sonny letting out a huff at her question. Peter leaned in and kissed the side of her head, proud of the woman he was going to marry. "Seriously, got anything else you need me to put together?"
"I can handle it from here." Sonny grumbled.
"We can put the mattress in though!" Morgan announced and Sonny gave a nod of understanding before disappearing from the room. Morgan wandered closer to the crib and peered inside of it, loving that her friend had managed to put it together so easily while Sonny, who had refused to use the instructions, had struggled so badly.
"God I want one." Riley murmured.
"A crib?" Peter teased, knowing exactly what she meant; she wanted a baby.
"Yes, I want a crib for the baby I can't have." Riley scoffed, feeling him tense against her. She turned to look at him and forced a smile onto her face, letting him know that she was teasing, even if it held the tiniest bit of hurt.
"One day." Morgan tossed out, letting a silence fall over them.
Sonny came bounding back into the room lugging the mattress for the crib, which had been left in their bedroom. He lifted it up and slipped it inside the crib, letting it settle against the bottom. The four of them merely stood there admiring the piece of furniture, Morgan with a giant smile on her face and Riley with a wishful expression.
"Bet you can't fit in there." Riley challenged suddenly and Morgan straightened up at the dare.
She marched over to the crib and started to lift her leg over the railing but Sonny grabbed her hand and put a stop to it.
"You'll get stuck." He stated but Morgan shook her head, pulled away from his grip and climbed right in.
Morgan managed to get herself in the crib and she dropped down to sit cross-legged, grinning at the three people remaining in the room. Sonny gave her an impressed look while Riley fought back the urge to laugh.
"Can you lay down?" Riley mused and Morgan turned her head sideways, looking down at the mattress and debating if she wanted to try- well hell yeah she did.
She wanted to fit, she wanted to prove Riley that she could and damnit, she was going to give it her all.
Morgan gracefully tucked and rolled so that she was laying in the fetal position in the crib. Riley gave her a snort of amusement and watched as Morgan wriggled, getting herself comfortable (well as comfortable as she could) in the crib. When Morgan let out a small whimper, Sonny was quick to reach in and offer her his hand.
"What's the matter Mo?" Sonny asked and ran his hand up her side.
"Okay, so I might…I might be stuck." Morgan stated and Riley broke out into a fit of laughter. In her head, worst case scenario is that they took the crib apart to get Morgan out, there was no need to panic, it was a simple enough process.
"Actually stuck?" Sonny tilted his head to the side and studied Morgan.
Morgan made an attempt to move but only managed to twist her body up worse. Her elbow was stuck between two of the rungs and her legs were bent and crossed over one another.
Sonny gave her hip a gentle squeeze and Morgan huffed at the predicament that she had gotten herself into. Riley couldn't contain her laughter at all and when Morgan made a pitiful attempt to get herself out, she merely laughed even louder than she had been seconds before.
Sonny shook his head at Morgan in amusement and fought off the urge to laugh himself- at this point what more could he really do. In front of his very eyes, twisted up like a pretzel, inside the crib, was Morgan, a glare very present on her face and a growl erupting from her throat. She did not like to be the source of someone else's amusement.
"Are you really stuck?" Peter questioned and stepped closer to the crib with Riley, getting a better look at the woman tucked away inside.
Morgan made another attempt to get out but she wound up with her face pressed against the rungs of the crib. She stuck her tongue out at Riley outside the baby bed and then moved her arms slightly and made a lame attempt to grab at her best friend through the crib.
"I thought you were smart enough to ignore a bet that you couldn't fit in there. It's a crib, it's made for a baby." Riley teased.
"Joke's on you, I do fit." Morgan shot back and wiggled her feet as she tried to free herself from the confines of the crib.
"Wow, so you really are stuck." Peter chuckled and Sonny made a move to reach in to help Morgan but the pregnant woman scowled at him and waved him off.
"I got this." Morgan mumbled and locked her eyes on Riley, who was trying to hold back a grin.
"There's no way you can get out on your own." Riley jeered and Sonny moved his hand up, running it over the top of her head gently.
"I think maybe you should shut your face." Morgan grumbled.
Morgan thrashed the slightest little bit inside the crib and managed to get her feet out and stuck them into the air before pausing to take a break.
Morgan scooted backwards as much as she possibly could and ended up freeing her shoulders from the position they had been stuck in. Propping her feet up on the top of the railing, Morgan managed to give herself more room to maneuver while simultaneously managing to get herself free.
Getting into a kneeling position, she wrapped her arms around Sonny and held him tight while glaring up at Riley, who was standing just out of reach with an amused grin on his face.
"I bet you can't fit in there too." Riley commented, giving Sonny's back a rough pat.
"Riley." Morgan hissed. "Shut up."
She made another move to get out of the crib but let out a wince, Sonny immediately tensing at the sound.
"What's wrong?" Sonny wrapped his hands around the top railing and leaned over the crib, watching Morgan carefully as she pressed her hands into her lower back.
"It's moving." Morgan whispered. "I can feel him moving."
Morgan blew out a low sigh and leaned her back against the side railing of the crib. She ran her hands up and down her sides, digging her fingers into her flesh gently, massaging her flesh. Sonny threw her a smile before motioning for Morgan to finally get out of the crib.
Morgan carefully made her way out of the crib, cautiously throwing her leg over the side, before climbing out, with Sonny there to keep her stable.
"Is he still moving?" Riley quipped in a low tone.
"Um, maybe." Morgan replied, stepping forward. She took Sonny's hand and gently placed it near her side. "Wait for it."
Morgan set her hand on top of Sonny's, pressing on it gently, the two of them completely silent as they waited. Seconds later, a slight movement bounced off Sonny's palm, and he let out a gasp at the feeling.
"Wow Mo!" Sonny stared at Morgan, eyes wide with amazement. "That's so cool."
"Yeah, it is."
"Can I feel too?" Riley asked in a whisper.
Morgan took hold of Riley's hand and lifted it upward and towards her side, pressing her palm right next to where Sonny's remained.
"He might've settled down but he might do it again." Morgan explained in a low tone. She moved Riley's hand so that it was right next to Sonny's and leaned against his chest, waiting for movement.
Morgan remained still, not moving a muscle as she waited for something- anything- to happen. Peter remained out of reach but Riley was staring at her in awe. Sonny drummed his fingers against her flesh and, yet again, another slight movement bounced off his hand, Riley feeling it too.
"Holy shit!" Riley immediately turned her attention towards Sonny, who was smiling wide.
"Right?" Sonny grinned and reluctantly moved his hand away, grasping Morgan's hand with it instead. Riley stepped back, her hand falling to her side.
"Okay, now I need a beer." Riley stated and smiled at Morgan.
"Yes, beer, I could go for another beer too!" Sonny threw out.
He grabbed hold of Morgan's hand, Riley reaching for Peter, and let her lead the way out of the nursery and into the hall.
Now that the crib was built, Morgan felt a lot better about having a baby. She'd have somewhere to put him when he was born, thank god for Riley and her skills.
Sonny would have another chance though, there was still some more furniture for him to put together and Morgan couldn't wait until he did.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
There was a car in her driveway that didn't belong to her or Sonny, or Barba for that matter, no, this car belonged to someone that Morgan preferred not to have to see when she didn't have to. Why in the hell was Gina at her house, and more importantly, what was she currently talking to Sonny about seeing as the two of them were inside, alone?
Surely Gina was informing Sonny that he had married the devil and then impregnated said devil, that seemed very likely seeing as her and Gina were still not getting along like the sisters-in-law that they were. God Morgan hated how they still treated her like some random bimbo who was with their brother, she loved Sonny, why couldn't they see that? Why did they have to act like she was not worthy of their brother's affection?
"Don't let her get to you." Barba sing-songed as he wandered to the back of his car and pulled the many shopping bags from the confines of the trunk. "You're a better woman than her."
Morgan simply growled as she stared at the front door of her house. Gina didn't need to even be in her home, especially when she wasn't there. It bothered her, a lot, and Morgan wasn't sure how to handle it.
She could walk right into her house and kick Gina out but that wasn't really being the bigger person. Did she really care about that now though? She was hormonal, she was pregnant and she just wanted her home to double as her sanctuary, which it currently was not seeing as Gina was inside.
"I don't want to be the better woman, I want to kick her in the ovaries."
"Hit her where it counts." Barba smirked.
"She just makes me so mad." Morgan muttered and let Barba take the lead as he closed the trunk of his car and lugged the bags towards the front door.
Morgan wrapped her hands around her keys, which were in the pocket on her jacket, but she figured it would be unlocked. When she got to the door and tried the handle, she smiled to herself and waltzed right into her home, locking her eyes on Gina and Sonny, who were sitting at the kitchen table having a coffee together.
"This guy is a walking sin." Gina remarked right off the bat and Morgan snarled in response.
"Hello, I'm fine, thank you for asking." Barba snipped back and wandered into the living room, where he promptly set the bags down on the couch, Morgan sticking right by his side.
"Play nice Gina." Sonny scolded and stood up, wandering over to greet Morgan with a kiss, but she turned her head and let him peck her on the cheek. He cocked his head at her but when he took note that Morgan was glaring at Gina, he knew what was wrong. "Buy anything interesting?"
"Yeah." Morgan's sour look dissolved quickly and she closed in on the bags, digging right in and looking for something specific.
Barba shot Sonny a knowing look but Sonny was too busy looking between his sister (who was currently silent) and his wife. Morgan moved on to the next bag and when she finally managed to find what she was looking for, she freed it from the bag and held it up, turning to face Sonny with a tiny, baby sized three-piece suit in her grasp.
It was a deep navy-blue colour with a white dress shirt to go underneath it and even had a little black bow tie to match. She beamed at the suit with a proud smile and Sonny let out a laugh.
"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen." Sonny teased and grabbed at the sides of the suit with his hands, getting a better look at it. "Why would they even make something like this for a baby?"
"Because it's cute." Morgan countered. "And anyways, Rafi bought it for little Michael."
"When's he ever going to get a chance to wear this?" Sonny let out a chuckle and Morgan handed it off to him, digging back into the bags and pulling out a pair of tiny baby dress shoes. Sonny's eyes bugged out slightly at the sight but before he could stop himself, he started laughing.
A suit for a baby? God it was such a ridiculous sight to see, and when the heck would they ever get a chance to put Michael in it? He certainly wouldn't be wearing it around like an everyday outfit.
"Riley's wedding." Morgan stated and Sonny stared at her, wondering what she was going on about- oh yeah, he had asked her when the baby would ever wear the suit. It was navy, which meant it fit in with the groomsmen suits. Maybe Morgan did have a point, this would be too cute on Michael at Riley's wedding. "He can't just show up in a lame old onesie."
"He'll be even better dressed than his father." Barba threw in with a smirk. "You're welcome."
"You…wow you really thought of everything." Sonny shook his head, more in awe than anything. He hadn't given it much thought but Michael was due before Riley was supposed to get married, he just figured they'd manage to find something for the kid to wear, but this- as ridiculous as it was- was perfect. "Bow tie and all."
"Not so ridiculous now is it?" Morgan shot him a glare and grabbed it from his hand, stuffing it back into the bag along with the shoes. "I also managed to find some fun things for me, but since you're being a bit of a turd, you don't get to see that stuff."
"Like a slutty outfit?" Gina piped up from her place at the table. She had, thankfully, remained silent during the whole suit presentation. God only knew what she was thinking, but she had kept her stupid mouth shut. "You know Sonny's this kid's father- wait, he is the father right?"
"Gina." Sonny hissed and he threw an apologetic look at Morgan.
"Well as the probable father, don't you think he should be the one buying baby clothes for your son?"
"What?" Morgan cast a shocked look in Gina's direction. "I just figured-"
"You figured what? Because Sonny would've loved to have gone shopping to pick out adorable three-piece baby suits, instead you chose to go with the walking sin." Gina remarked, standing up but remaining in the kitchen.
Sonny looked at his sister with a curious expression but quickly turned his attention to Morgan, who was looking like she was about to cry. Damn the hormones, he didn't want her to cry, and he certainly didn't want the reason she was about to cry to be because his sister didn't know when to shut her mouth.
"I…I didn't…I just figured…" Morgan stammered and when Sonny reached out to try and comfort her, she shied away from him. "I'm sorry Sonny Bunny…"
"Why?" Sonny countered quickly.
"Don't apologize." Barba huffed.
"She's right though." Morgan whimpered.
"No she's not." Sonny shook his head, leveling his sister with a glare.
"She most certainly is not right." Barba was bordering on yelling but Gina didn't seem to flinch. "First of all, Sonny is not allowed to go shopping for the baby because he has shit taste and bad judgement, which is evident by the fact that he still allows you to be in his life."
"Rafi." Morgan murmured, unsure how she felt about conflict at this precise moment. Gina wasn't totally wrong, but did that mean she just got to say whatever she wanted?
"Secondly," Barba carried on as if Morgan hadn't said a word, "and I know it's hard, but if you could pull your head out of your ass for two seconds and focus on something besides yourself you would know that your brother doesn't give a shit about clothes- although look at how you're dressed, that clearly runs in the family."
"Who do you think you are?" Gina barked.
"Gina." Sonny raised his voice, shooting his sister a warning glance. "Now's maybe not the best time, okay? Please just leave it alone?"
"Now's not the best time?" Barba piped up and shook his head in disbelief.
"I don't even know what I did to you." Morgan was staring at Gina, her eyes welling up with tears. "I have tried to be nothing but nice to you-"
"You didn't do anything Mo." Sonny broke in softly.
Morgan dropped her head and tried to fight off the tears that were threatening to spill. She didn't want to give Gina the satisfaction of knowing she had made her cry, instead, she'd try her hardest to pull herself together. She wasn't going to give in to Gina's bullying.
"Hey, Mo?" Sonny called out to her, his voice calm and soothing. She shook her head but brought her eyes up to meet his.
"It's fine." She forced the words out and Sonny studied her for a few more seconds, knowing that it wasn't fine. Gina had gotten to her, she had put ideas in her head and Sonny didn't like that one bit. He loved Morgan and he should've done a better job at protecting her from his sister.
"Honest to God Mo, you can go shopping with whoever you want, whenever you want." Sonny supplied and Morgan sucked in a shaky breath. "I swear to you, I'm not mad that you went with Barba, but I certainly would've taken you if you wanted."
Morgan let out the breath she had sucked in and shook her head. Her hands were up in the air and she was glancing over her shoulder at the man in question. It wasn't that she didn't want to go shopping with Sonny, it was just that it hadn't been a shopping trip where she was planning to buy much for the baby, no, she had gone more for her than anything.
Barba had happened to find the baby suit though and that had spurred Morgan on. The fact of the matter was, she had bought more stuff for herself than for Michael and she figured Sonny wouldn't want to participate in that sort of shopping.
Forcing a smile onto her face and letting out a snort, she locked her eyes on Sonny, "no offense Sonny Bunny but Rafi here is more fun to shop with."
"Shopping is mine!" Barba snipped, eliciting a genuine giggle from Morgan. "That and Broadway."
"I'm not going to see anything on Broadway until I get back to my normal urination schedule." Morgan countered. "Being pregnant sucks for my bladder."
"And your skin." Gina muttered but when Sonny shot her a look, she plastered on the fakest smile ever. "Well, I guess we're all done here Sonny. I really hope your wife here was faithful but I guess we'll get to see the truth when that kid's born."
"And it'll look exactly like Sonny you skank." Morgan barked.
"Sure sure." Gina waved her hand at Morgan and meandered to the front door.
"I'm sorry, I missed the part where anyone asked for your fucking opinion!" Barba called out after her but she didn't even glance back at him, didn't even give him the time of day.
The house was silent as she slipped on her shoes, grabbed her jacket from the tiny closet there and left through the front door. Morgan let out a low growl as the devil herself disappeared from her home, then she set her sights on Sonny.
"You know this kid is yours, right?" She pressed, desperate to find out if any of what Gina had said had gotten to him. "I'm not-"
"I know Mo." Sonny cut her off with a smile. "I know."
Barba gave Morgan a pat on her shoulder and she curled into his grip, letting the man comfort her from her horrific Gina experience. When were his sisters going to realize that she was here to stay and that her and Sonny loved each other? She would never dream of cheating on him and the baby was his, so what was so wrong with Gina that she had to fire out low blows to try and get to Morgan?
"You're still a better woman than her." Barba commented and Morgan let out a sigh. "Do you think when she was plotting with her flying monkeys that she thought about what was going to happen here?"
"She's just mean." Morgan remarked with a scowl.
"Sonny, have you not realized that she's a little bitch yet?"
Morgan snorted at his question and dropped down to sit on the couch, a smile present on her face. Leave it to Barba to make her feel better, even though she prayed that there would come a day when Gina would at least be civil to her.
She just wanted to be welcomed into Sonny's family and not have to fight with his sisters every time she saw them.
Was that too much to ask for?