Part Seventeen
"Michael! Stop peaking under the tree." Sonny commanded. "You just got to wait until tomorrow morning!"
"I know." Michael groaned. "But I want to see!"
Carly laughed coming out the kitchen in a red dress. She had a Santa Claus hat on. Leave it to Carly to get into the Christmas spirit. She noticed the look on Sonny's face. "What?"
"Who are you supposed to be?" Sonny asked, pulling her close. "Mrs. Claus?"
She nodded. "And what would Mrs. Claus be without Mr. Claus." She said pulling out another hat and sliding it on over his black hair.
"Oh no!" Sonny cried, reaching up to remove the hat. She grabbed his wrists before he could get there and pulled him for a kiss.
"I think it looks cute." She laughed as he finally got it off.
"Maybe later." He promised putting it on his desk. A knock came on the door and he ran to open it. Jason was standing there and right behind him was Gia. She was beaming, just starting to show a little. "Come in you guys!"
Gia smiled when she saw Michael. "Merry Christmas, guy."
"GIA!" He cried. He ran over and stopped short of crashing into her. "How's my little cousin?"
"He or she is just waiting to meet you." She said smiling. She reached in her purse and pulled out a little wrapped box. "I got you a present Michael. But you have to put it under the tree and wait for tomorrow morning to open it." She eyed him closely as he looked at the box. "Promise?"
"Promise." He echoed. He accepted the box and ran to place it next to all the other presents he was going to get.
"You shouldn't have." Carly said. With all that 'Santa' had left to put under the tree, Michael was really going to get spoiled this year.
"I wanted to." Gia said putting her bag onto Sonny's desk. She looked around the room. "Wow, Carly this looks great!" She said taking in the festive decorations. Her eyes fell on the floor to ceiling tree. "That is amazing!" Gia commented.
"You like it?" Carly asked. "I had to work overtime to convince Sonny to get it."
"I just kept picturing how much trouble it will to take down." Sonny said.
"That's not my problem." Carly shrugged.
"I should check on my food." Sonny said leaving Carly to tell Gia how much trouble it was to get the tall tree in the door.
Gia reached into her bag again. "Carly, I got you something." She said producing a little box. "You were hard to shop for, you know." She handed the box to her friend.
Carly was beaming. "I really appreciate this."
"Well, I appreciate everything you've done for me. Besides helping me paint my house, you've helped me get over some of my fears about the pregnancy." Gia reached out to hug Carly. "Thanks."
Carly sniffed a little. "Please don't make me cry."
"Sorry." Gia said watching her friend examine the box. "I think I saw Michael go upstairs. Hurry up and open it!"
Carly ripped the paper off the box. She opened it up and gasped. "Really?" She said looking up at Gia and Jason.
Gia nodded. "I talked to Jason about it and he agreed."
Carly held up a locket that had the word 'Godmother' engraved on it. "Wow! I've never been a godmother before."
"I'm giving Lucky a watch with the word godfather engraved on it." Gia said. She was about say something else but Carly pulled her into another hug.
"Thank you." She pulled back and kissed Jason's cheek. "Thank you!"
"It opens up so when the baby is born, you can put his or her picture in it." Gia explained.
"Don't you get tired of saying his or her?" Carly asked. "You're sonogram is in two weeks right? You can always find out if I am going to have a goddaughter or godson."
"We talked about that too. We're going to wait until the baby is born." Jason explained. "So I am sorry, you're going to have to wait."
Carly just groaned. She was about to say more but a knock came to the door. She opened it and smile. "Hey cousin…I know what you're getting for Christmas!"
Lucky looked puzzled.
Gia already had the slender box ready. "Here you go!"
"Wow, I just walked in the door and already I am getting presents." He commented to Sarah. He opened it and looked at the watch. "Gia, that's really thoughtful of you."
"Turn it over." She instructed.
He did as she said and his smile got wider. "Gia, I guess all I can say is that I'm honored."
"As you damn well should be." Gia teased.
Carly linked her arm with Lucky's. "We're going to be godparents together."
"Heaven help the kid." Sonny teased coming back in the room with a tray of glasses. He handed them around, saving the last one for Gia. "Warm apple cider for you."
"Of course." Gia took the glass.
"I think we should start with a toast." Carly said glancing around at the other five adults. "Hmm, to new friendships, and a healthy baby."
"Here here." Everyone said at once and clinked glasses.
Carly sat her glass down. She clapped her hands together. "As usual, Sonny cooked way too much. So dig in and prepared to take some home!"
Gia patted her tummy. "I'll make a good dent in it." She announced as she walked over to the table and eyed all the food. Sarah came up beside her.
"Thank you so much." She whispered. "It means a lot to Lucky that he gets to be the godfather."
"I couldn't think of anyone else. Since my breakup with Nikolas, he has been there for me on everything and I owe him a lot." Gia said filling her plate full of little finger foods. She went to sit on the couch, and looked back over at her friends. Jason was helping Carly put her locket on while Sonny refilled the glasses. Michael had reappeared and was talking to Lucky. Gia smiled to herself. One year ago she would have never guessed she would be spending Christmas Eve in the penthouse of Sonny and Carly Corinthos. She certainly wouldn't have imagined herself pregnant. But now that she was here…she wouldn't want it any other way.
She looked down at her stomach where her baby lay. "We sure got a strange extended family, honey. I can't wait until you meet them all. Especially your father…"
She was suddenly aware of someone looking at her. She looked up and saw Jason smiling down at her. "Just me talking to my belly again…Don't think I'm crazy."
"I read in a book that talking to the baby is a good idea. I'm sure it hears every word." Jason said sitting down next to her.
"Do you, um, want to say something to the baby?" Gia asked a little embarrassed. It was one thing to talk to her stomach; it was another to let someone else do it.
Jason noticed her discomfort. "Maybe some other time." He said.
Carly squeezed herself down next to Gia. "What are you doing?" She demanded. "This is a party…mingle with the guests!"
****
"Oh Merry Christmas." Gia said squeezing Lucky once more. "I hope Santa finds you."
Lucky laughed and pulled away. He and Sarah said goodnight to the rest of the penthouse occupants and then left. It was close to midnight and Carly's get together had been a success.
Gia looked at her watch and groaned, realizing how late it was. She had promised her mother that she would call when she got home. She wondered if it was too late. She put on her coat over the velvet dress she had chosen to wear that night and looked back at Sonny and Carly. "Thanks so much for everything." She said hugging Carly again. She had lost track of how many times the blonde woman had pulled her into a hug that night. Gia then impulsively hugged Sonny, the first time she had ever done that. "Great food. We really enjoyed it." She said jokingly as she touched her belly.
"I'm glad." Sonny said, as he turned around to get a paper bag. "Because you're getting most of the leftovers."
Gia laughed and accepted the bag. She put her bag over her one shoulder and looked at Jason. "Will I see you tomorrow?"
Jason nodded. "Are you sure that you can drive yourself? It's starting to snow a little."
"I'll be fine." Gia promised. She had driven in worse weather. "Would you like me to call you when I get home?" He nodded and smiled. She was glad that Jason respected her wishes to be as independent as she could for a woman in her position. She was about to leave when she heard Carly's voice calling her. Turning back, she was about to ask what she wanted but her voice trailed off. Sitting in the middle of the room was a rocking chair. Gia stepped closer to look at the wooden chair. She discovered that it had intricate carvings of things like teddy bears and ribbons up and down the arms and legs.
"Merry Christmas!" Carly cried, noticing the look on her face. "It's a little early for things like rocking chairs but I couldn't resist. I figured you would need something to sit and nurse your baby in."
"It's beautiful." Gia said running her hand across the polished wood of the arm. This was the first thing she had ever received for the baby. She felt a little overwhelmed, as she pictured herself sitting in the nursery holding the baby. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome." Sonny said. "I'll have someone deliver it to your house tomorrow."
Gia looked around the room and smiled. "Merry Christmas!"
****
Gia awoke in her house alone on Christmas morning. It was the first time in her life that she had ever been alone on Christmas morning. She felt a twinge of loneliness in her stomach as she crawled out of her warm bed and slid into her fluffy slippers. She wouldn't spend the whole day alone. Bobbie had invited her to join her family at the Brownstone for a Christmas dinner and Jason was supposed to show up that morning. Still, with no one in her house she couldn't help but notice that her Christmas spirit was dwindling.
She made herself some hot chocolate and drank while staring at her tree. She dumped the rest of the warm drink into a thermos, grabbed a little package she had on the cupboard and made her way to the front door. Opening it up she shook her head. As she expected, Rex was standing there, sheltered from some of the cold by the porch wall. He looked at her dressed in her housecoat and slippers.
"I hope Sonny's paying you real good to be working on Christmas." Gia commented.
Rex nodded.
"Don't you want to spend Christmas with your family?" Gia asked thinking she would send him away. There really couldn't be any danger lurking out there on Christmas.
"Don't have any." Rex mumbled.
Gia was used to his short mumbles by now. "I really got to set you up on a date or something." She held out the thermos of hot chocolate and the wrapped package.
"What's this?" He asked.
"Merry Christmas, Rex." She said, indicating he should take both.
The huge bodyguard finally accepted it. He carefully opened the present and smiled a little. He pulled out a stocking leg hat and matching mittens. He looked at Gia with amusement.
"Well, if you won't come in out of the cold, I figured I should do something to protect you from pneumonia." She sighed. "Now put it on…and I don't want to catch you standing out here without them on again. You may act all tough but all men are babies when they are sick."
He pulled the cap on over his huge head and resumed his post. "Thank you."
Gia shut the door and went back to relax on her couch. She had a little while before she had to get ready for dinner. She was about to go back and crawl into her warm bed and read when the front door opened. She looked up to see her mother and brother standing there.
"Hey!" She said a hug smile on her face. She stood up and hugged them both. "I never expected to see you here."
"And leave you alone on Christmas morning?" Florence said. "Never!"
"And we come baring gifts, so I know you don't want to kick us out." Marcus joked setting down a huge bag stuffed full of things.
"Mostly baby things." Florence admitted. "But there are few things in there for you. Did you eat breakfast yet?"
Gia shook her head.
"You shouldn't skip any meals." Florence warned. "You sit down and open your gifts and I'll make you something." She disappeared through the door just as Gia settled down on the couch with her brother.
She wasn't long going through the bag, ripping the paper off like she was an excited child. When it was all said and done, she was surrounding by new things for her baby. She leaned over and kissed Marcus' bald head. "Thanks!"
Marcus grinned. "I'm just glad you're happy."
The door opened again and the siblings looked up to see Jason standing in the doorway. Gia felt Marcus tense up and she leaned over and squeezed his hand in a warning that she would put up with no fighting in her house…especially on Christmas Day. Looking back at Jason, she knew that he already understood.
"I'm going to help Mom." Marcus announced, giving Jason a little nod in acknowledgement.
Gia had a feeling that two would never get along. At least her mother was trying. "Hey Jason…and see what the baby got." She said he sat down on the chair. She began to show him the baby monitor and the tiny clothing.
The door opened again and Gia's chair was brought in. She stood up with a smile and told them to take it the nursery. She noticed a wrapped box sitting on the seat and looked over at Jason, who just nodded.
Carefully opening it, she gasped.
Jason came to stand beside her. "I know a lot of people gave you gifts for your baby."
"I don't mind." Gia said.
"I just thought that you should have something of your own."
Gia pulled out the porcelain figurine and admired it. It was of a mother protectively holding her child in her arms. She looked back at Jason. "You picked this out yourself."
He nodded, noticing the tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying?"
"I love it." Gia said. "And it's the hormones." She said walking across the room and putting the figurine on the little bookshelf. She stepped back and smiled, before realizing something. "Jason…I didn't get you anything!"
"It's okay!" Jason said stepping closer.
"No it's not." Gia declared.
"It's really okay." Jason assured her. "I told you once that I don't have much stuff. I don't need it."
Gia reached up and hugged him. "You are one of a kind Jason Morgan."