Part Nine
Jason looked as nervous as she did. He looked her over looking for any signs that she was pregnant with his child. He knew it was too soon but he couldn't help it. She looked healthy…well except for the dark circles under her eyes. "Can we talk?"
Gia had a frightened look on her face. "Not here."
"Who is it?" Carrie called down the hall.
Gia shut the door and looked back at her cousin. "It's Maria. You don't remember her, do you? She was a friend of mine from school. I saw her earlier at the school when she was there to pick up her cousin. She said she might drop by." Gia realized how easy lying was for her. She didn't know whether to be ashamed or proud.
"She wants to know if I'll go down to café on the corner for a chat and a bite to eat." Gia grabbed her coat. "I shouldn't be long."
"Gia." Carrie said. "I don't know."
"Let's get something straight." Gia said closing the space between them. "You are not my mother and therefore cannot tell me what to do. You are one year older than me so you aren't that much more experienced in life than I am. Don't tell me that I don't know anything about hard times because I haven't been raising a child since I was sixteen. I haven't seen my father for ten years now and I am constantly under my family's microscope."
Carrie had a shocked look on her face.
"And no matter how much you push, I will not tell you who the baby's father is so you can tell Mom." Gia slipped into her coat. "I will listen to you talk about raising a child because I want to know what I'm getting into. But that can wait. I just found out about the baby yesterday and my life has been flipped upside down since then. I think we can take the night off." She knew that Carrie had a lecture planned for the night. "So let's try this again. I shouldn't be long."
"See you later." Carrie mumbled back, slumping back on the couch.
Gia nodded and slipped out the door. Jason was standing the hallway looking confused. "Sorry about that but I think Carrie's a spy for my mother. If she saw a guy here she would definitely tell Mom."
Jason nodded. "So they don't know yet…"
"I couldn't tell them it was you." Gia said quickly. "Not because I'm ashamed or anything…but because I was worried of what Marcus might have done for you. I know he has it in for Sonny Corinthos and I know you were work for him. I didn't want you to get into any trouble…well, anymore trouble." She started down the hallway. She looked back at him standing there. "Come on. We can talk in the café down the street."
They both exited the building into the cool night air.
"How did you know I was here?" Gia asked.
He remembered Lucky asking him not to say anything. "Sonny found you."
"But how did you find out about the baby?" Gia pulled her jacket closer to her body. She wasn't really that cold…just nervous.
"Nikolas of all people." Jason told her. "When did you find out?"
"Yesterday." Gia said. "Lucky made a joke about it and it just clicked. I remembered…" She blushed a little thinking of their night together. "I remembered that we didn't use any protection."
Jason opened the door to the café. It wasn't very busy so they took a seat at the table in the corner. A waitress came over and Jason asked for a glass of water. He looked at Gia. "Hungry?"
"Kinda." Gia admitted. "But I don't have my purse…"
"I got it." Jason said. "Order whatever you want."
Gia grinned a little and looked at the waitress. "Can I have a hot fudge sundae with lots of nuts and cherries?" Once the waitress left to fill their order she looked back at Jason. "I was going to tell you."
"I know, I know." Jason reassured her. "I know you wouldn't try and kept it a secret from me. When I found out I had to come and talk to you right away. I know your family was hard on you. I know that you're hurt by it. I wanted you to know that I am going to help you Gia. I am part of the reason this happened. I want to take responsibility."
Gia felt relief overcome her. She had been worried about Jason's reaction and now she knew her feelings. "So where do we go from here?"
Jason shook his head. "I don't know. I want to be a part of this baby's life. But I know you need to get to know me better…so you know you can trust me. If we are going to have a child together I don't want us to be strangers."
"I don't want that either." Gia said digging into her sundae when it arrived. She glanced over at Jason. "You're right though…I don't know much about you."
"There isn't much to know." Jason said. "You know about my accident."
Gia nodded. "All I know is that you work for Sonny. You're Emily's sister and you drive a motorcycle. You play pool at Jake's and you're loyal to your friends." She summed it up. "What do you know about me?"
"I know you blackmailed Emily. You locked Elizabeth on the roof of a building. You got in an accident with Courtney Matthews and then helped Helena Cassadine." He said.
"Ouch." Gia winced. "Not my best points…"
"I also know that you work to hard to try and please your overbearing family. They can't see that you're happy with your life and that you work hard to make sure you get what you want." Jason said, in a softer tone. "You kinda remind me of Carly."
"Is that a good thing?"
Jason nodded. "I don't look at Carly for all the wrong things she has done…just like I don't look at you for what happened in your past. The main thing that counts is that you have a kind heart and you'll be a good mother."
Gia put down her spoon and pushed the rest of the sundae away. "Thank you Jason…I think I need to hear that."
Jason reached across and touched her hand. "We may have not been thinking clearing when we began this path but one thing I know is that we will get through this and raise this baby."
Gia looked down at their hands on the table. "What about my family?"
"What about them?" Jason shrugged.
"My brother hates you, and my mother doesn't know you. They aren't going to like this."
"I don't care." Jason said. "I want to be there for you. If they don't like it…tough. They'll just have to get used to it."
Gia nodded. She looked at her watch. "I have to get back. Carrie will get suspicious." She moved her hand out from underneath Jason's. "Are you going back to Port Charles tonight?"
He shook his head.
"I see." Gia said standing. "Carrie has classes again tomorrow and Lance is in school. It'll be safe to come over and talk some more if you want."
"I'll be there." Jason promised. He paid the bill and then they exited the café.
Gia shivered a little. This time she was cold. Jason noticed and shrugged off his leather jacket. He placed it over her shoulders. She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you…not for this but for coming here. I needed someone else on my side. I'm glad it's you."
He walked her to Carrie's door. She gave him back the jacket and inserted her key. Quietly she opened the door and slipped in. She didn't want to wake Lance. She put her keys on the table and heard Carrie's voice.
"Okay, Aunt Florence, I'll mention it to her. Adoption is a big step. I thought about it with Lance and decided against it. I don't see why Gia can't think about it. It's not like she has to commit or anything."
Gia froze. Her own mother wanted to her to give up her baby. For a moment, Gia was tempted to run out the door down the hall and find Jason. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Angry, she opened the door and shut it loudly. "I'm home Carrie!"
"She just walked into the door." Carrie said, glad that Gia hadn't heard what she and Florence were talking about. She watched her cousin come into the room. "Gia, your mother is on the phone. Do you want to talk to her?"
Gia shook her head. She was afraid of exploding on her mother. "I'm really tired. I'm just going to sleep." She was pull out couch. "Do you mind?"
Carrie got off the couch and bid Florence farewell. "You could have least said hello."
"Can we just drop this?" Gia asked as she got her makeshift bed ready. She already knew that it was not going to be as comfortable as her bed in the Brownstone.
"I was thinking about our conversation we started before Maria showed up…"
Gia looked at her cousin with anger in her eyes. "What part of 'I'm tired' do you not understand?" Gia asked brushing past her cousin and going into the bathroom to get ready for bed. She heard her cousin groan and then the bedroom door shut. Gia smiled into the mirror. Avoided one more lecture…
She knew one thing for sure…she couldn't wait to see Jason the next day.
****
Jason lay back on the bed. He had chosen a motel closest to Carrie's apartment. He just wanted to be as close to Gia as possible. Even though he was getting know Gia his instincts as a father were kicking in. He was going to protect his child no matter what…and that included making sure no one hurt the baby's mother, not even her own family.
He felt anger wash over him as he thought of the way Taggert and Florence had treated Gia. Didn't they understand that Gia needed the support of her family? Couldn't they put aside their feelings and think of the baby growing inside of her? He knew that it was only going to get worse when he was revealed to be the father.
His cell phone rang and Jason reached to the bedside table to answer it. "Yeah?"
"I figured it would be okay to call now. I knew you would still be awake." Carly said. "I wanted to see how it went."
"Good…Gia's family is suffocating her though. Her family sends her to be with a cousin. I think they wanted the cousin to teach her about being a mother but instead she is spying on Gia. She wants Gia to tell her that I am the father." Jason explained. "I barely know her but I can see how much her family bothers her. It tears her up inside that she doesn't have her family's support. It makes me angry."
Carly felt for Gia. Her adoptive mom Virginia had high goals for her but she never met them. She could understand where Gia was coming from. "Did you make any decisions about the baby?"
"Everything is still new to us." Jason admitted. "I know one thing is for sure…in the end we will raise this baby no matter what people think."
"I'm proud of you Jason." Carly told him. "I watched you with Michael when he was a baby. You were so careful…so full of love. I can't wait to see you hold your son or daughter."
"Me neither." Jason suddenly had a vision of holding his baby in his arms. He didn't know if the child was a boy or a girl…all he knew was that he was full of love. He then shifted back to reality. "But we have a long road ahead of us. There are so many decisions Gia and I will have to make."
"Just remember that Sonny and I will stand by you and help you in any way possible." Carly said. "I'll let you go. It's late and you must be tired. Sweet dreams, Jase."
"You too." Jason said hanging up the phone. He shifted his weight to a more comfortable position and closed his eyes. The vision of him and his child drifted back into his mind…
****
Gia cleaned up the dishes from the breakfast and her lunch. She might not like what Carrie was trying to do but she knew that Carrie would be too tired to clean up when she got home.
The cousins had talked over breakfast. Carrie had chosen more neutral topics, explaining to Gia about some of things she might expect from the pregnancy. More morning sickness, backaches, fatigue, and weird cravings…all this made Gia a little nervous and afraid. Carrie had also told her about the fact that newborns never slept through the night and that she would have to get up and feed the baby often.
Gia put away the last saucer just as someone rang the doorbell. She immediately knew it was Jason. She opened the door and gave him a small smile. "You're still here, huh?" Gia joked.
"I meant what I said. I'm going to be there for you and this baby." Jason said.
"I know." Gia invited him into the apartment. Both of them took a seat at the kitchen table. "I wanted to come with you last night…" She admitted. "I walked in here and overheard my cousin talking to my mother. They were talking about adoption."
Jason felt a stab of fear go through them. "Adoption?"
"Mom claims it is one of my options that I should think through." Gia said. She noticed the look on Jason's face. "But I am not even going to consider it…I know you'll help me. I can't just give the baby up because it isn't in my mother's perfect plan for me. I may have not planned for this to happen but I can't pretend like it never happened."
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, if she had went for adoption he would have made sure that the baby ended up with him. But he felt better knowing that she wanted to be a part of the baby's life.
"I am so glad that you came here to talk to me. I am so glad that you support this." Gia told him. "If not, who knows…My mother may have eventually wore me down and I would have given the baby up. Then I would have went through everyday wondering…knowing there was a part of me somewhere that might grow up thinking I didn't want it."
Jason could see the pain in her eyes. "You'll never have to worry about that."
Gia nodded and looked around the apartment. "I can't take it anymore."
"What?"
"This." She indicated the apartment. "I feel like Big Brother is watching me."
"Big Brother?" Jason asked.
"It's from the book 1984 by George Orwell. It's about how the government watches and controls your every move…your every thought. There are spies everywhere." Gia said. "Not exactly what you would expect a model to read, huh?"
"There is so much more to you then your pretty face."
Gia was beginning to realize that Jason spoke what he thought no matter the consequences. She had to admire that about him. "Anyway, that's what this place feels like. I feel like people are spying on me…and I feel like Mom is trying to control my actions through Carrie." She looked back at Jason. "Will you do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"Take me back to Port Charles…now."