Joy- Rest assured, my good lady, that there is, at this very point in time, no plans to do anything in the least that would disrupt the tenderness of our beloved Journey. I just wanted to give them a moment to themselves, because they didn't get one yet and, dammit, they deserved one! The ornament falling was symbolism for the frailty of their relationship, but it wasn't foreshadowing. At least it wasn't yet.

Port Charles Mall-

Damian, by definition, tended to avoid malls whenever possible. He didn't like being around such large masses of people, pushing their way around the crowd, not being respectful for the other people in the least. Malls, as far as he was concerned, were the downfall of modern society. His backing for the fact? Carly loved malls. It spoke volumes for the corruption of materialism. The 80s had a lot to answer for.

However, he didn't really have a choice. He needed to do some Christmas shopping for his family. His father had given him money, lots of money, including the credit card that had next to no limit and told him to buy whatever he thought would work for everyone. It would be rude to have the money, which was more given than received, and not do anything with it. It would be even worse still to have nothing for his family during their first Christmas. It wasn't that he wanted to impress them, but he did want to give them each something that he thought they would enjoy. And then there was Maxie. How could he not get his girlfriend something for Christmas? He'd be lynched by the spirits of togetherness. Granted, buying Maxie a Christmas present was going to be neigh impossible with her two feet away, but he could at least look, notice if something took her attention away and save that idea for later.

"This is so cute!" She squealed as Damian was looking away.

Turning his head to see what the commotion was all about, he could only laugh when he saw that she was holding up a child's shirt, a boy's shirt. "I don't think you should be trying to wear that, Maxie. You're a little too old for it, don't you think?"

"I thought Michael might like it, actually. Don't you think he would look adorable in it?"

"I think that he would hate the idea of me thinking about him looking adorable in anything," Damian responded nonchalantly. Michael would indeed lament the idea of looking 'cute' in front of his big brother. He wanted to be one of the boys when he was around Damian, putting him in a little… sailor's outfit… was only going to cause problems, and there was always the chance that Michael would be bigger than him eventually. Not to mention the fact that he was over a decade older than his younger brother, by the time Michael was old enough to vote, Damian would be closing in on middle age. That wasn't a pleasant thought. "Besides, I didn't want to get Michael any clothes…"

"Why not?" Maxie grumbled as she put the outfit away. Perhaps when she had a son… she didn't have a little brother. Hell, she didn't even have a young cousin that she could give it to.

"Because Michael's a kid. You don't get kids clothes for presents, it's a law."

"I loved getting clothes when I was a little girl." Maxie would covet opening the box that would have a nice jacket or dress.

"But you loved getting toys more than clothes, didn't you?"

Silenced, Maxie thought about it. It didn't take long for her to give him a response, "Yeah, toys were always better than clothes."

"See?" Damian grinned. "Plus, little girls tend to like getting clothes more than little boys, considering that teenage girls enjoy shopping for clothes more than teenage boys… and in every other age group…"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being gender biased."

"Call them like I see them." Damian continued to shuttle through the varied goods that were in the store, people were rushing past him and kids were screaming about how they wanted to open their presents right away. It was enough to drive someone mad. "Nobody ever said that this was going to be easy… but nobody ever said it was going to be so god damned hard!"

"Why are we even here if you're not going to get something for Michael?" Maxie asked, smiling at all the people as the pushed by. Unlike her boyfriend, the hectic state of the people while they were shopping for that last Christmas item was something that she enjoyed. Some would say that she enjoyed it too much, Damian was one of those people. "For Morgan?"

"I don't know what to get my baby brother," Damian admitted. "It's not like he can talk to me and tell me he wants something, and he's not old enough to have developed some truly unique interests. He'll spend more time playing with the box and the wrapping paper… maybe I should just get him a couple of those."

"If you do that I will never let you live it down," Maxie could just see Damian come in with a bunch of boxes and let Morgan have the time of his life. It was a nice gesture, but it wasn't a Christmas present. "You could get him a stuffed animal…"

"He has dozens of them," Damian had seen the nursery. The problem with a rich family? They provided everything that a baby could ever want or need… and more. Even the things that would be considered niche by some were acquired by Sonny and Carly. Morgan would want for nothing, which made shopping highly problematic. "He has everything, Maxie. Pacifiers, toys, clothes, those activity center things… everything…"

"He didn't have you in his life until a few months ago…"

"That's not a Christmas present."

"No, but it's a fact," Maxie took him by the hand, pulling at him. "Come on, let's get out of here. We're not going to find anything for your brothers, and I don't have to worry about shopping for any children in the foreseeable future."

"Thankfully this is only a yearly thing… if I had to put up with trying to find a decent present for people on a monthly basis I'd go crazy."

"You're already going a little crazy."

"Thanks for pointing that out," Damian took a breath as they finally exited the building. The halls were still crowded, but much less so. "So far the score is in the mall's favor, Maxie. I don't think I can do this."

"You're giving up?" Maxie didn't buy it. Damian wouldn't give up, no matter what. If it was something important like saving the life of someone that he cared or even didn't know about or if it was something completely trivial like shopping for a Christmas present, she knew that he would find a way to make it work.

"Actually… I'm not," Damian saw a store that caught his interest. There was no way that they could have every book that had ever been published in Morgan's nursery. Children needed to be read to, to have something that would feed their imagination, it was better for them. He would be entertaining Morgan and helping ensure that his little brother had a profitable future.

"A bookstore?" Maxie stopped outside the bookstore. She hadn't really ever gone in. Whenever Georgie got that glint in her eye, Maxie knew that her sister would be away for a few hours, looking at the various books that were in stock, the new ones, the old ones, and especially the ones on sale. "You're going to get him a book? He can't read."

"But we can read to him. It's perfect, Maxie. He loves stories… I think. They put him to sleep."

"Reading puts me to sleep, too, doesn't mean that I like it."

"Michael loves to read… hopefully it's a trait that Morgan acquired." Unless it was a Quatermaine trait, which it could have well been. They were all doctors and educated people, except for the younger generations. Still, it was the best idea that Damian had. "Are you going to come in?"

"I'll… stay out here, thanks," Maxie was uneasy. The phobia of bookstores was not one that died easily. It was a longstanding fear. Books were mean to her. They made her head hurt.

Some time later, the young man made his way out of the bookstore, a bag in hand. It wasn't a very big bag, but the book had a few hundred pages of different stories in it. Hopefully it would be enough to interest the boy, well into his more formidable years. Maxie was sitting on a bench, her eyes slowly closing.

Sitting down next to her, he patted her on the leg, "I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?"

"No, I'm just tired right now. I guess all the walking we did finally caught up to me when I sat down. It might not be a good idea for you to plant yourself on the bench. Maybe it's possessed."

"Maxie, are you hungry? I know you didn't eat breakfast, and it's a little after lunch. We could get something to eat at the food court, get you your energy back."

"That's a good idea," Maxie nodded. Her stomach was starting to grumble. Hopefully it was so low that only she could hear. "I could use some caffeine."

"Come on, we'll look around while we get over there, hopefully we'll find some gift ideas along the way."

Food Court-

As if it were a surprise to anyone, the food court was just as crowded, if not more so, as the stores in the mall. There were multiple stores, some of which had similar products, but there was only one food court.

They had to fight in order to get themselves a table, but they did get one, and they sat down. Damian laughed slightly. "You know… it's funny."

"What is?"

"I was just thinking about the time that you helped me out when Michael was in the hospital. It was the first time that I met Georgie… remember?"

"My sister was intent on making it so I wished her dead!" Maxie laughed as she doused her salad in ranch dressing. "But, she knew something before I did."

"What was that?"

"That I was in love with you before I knew it. Georgie's really good at figuring those things out, I guess. She wasn't so good at it when Dillon wanted her, but she's better at dealing with other people's problems than her own."

"Georgie's a great person, Maxie. You're lucky to have her as a sister, I'm lucky to have her as a friend, and Dillon's lucky to have her as a girlfriend."

"You two seem to be the type of people that I would picture being together," Maxie admitted. "You're both really smart, like to read, help people out with their problems before doing anything for yourselves. You're both selfless people… as opposed to people like me."

"Do you think you're selfish, Maxie?" Damian's stare was strong and filled with concern.

"How could I not think I am?" She had done too many things in her life that had been selfish. She knew that she was a selfish individual, and she hated herself for it, but it just came to her so easily.

"I don't think you are."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not," Damian repeated himself, showing the sincerity in his words. "Maxie, you might do things, might have done things, that were for your own gain and only your own again alone, but who hasn't? I've done it a few times myself. People can't get away from wanting what's best for them, it's what makes us human. We want to be happy. But that doesn't make you selfish. You've helped so many people before, you've done things to help them out before you helped yourself. You're not selfish, you're just you."

"Do you ever get tired of me telling you how much I love you?"

"No," Damian put his hand over hers, "and I will never get tired of hearing you tell me that you love me, because it makes me feel like I'm doing something right in the world. How about you, do you ever get tired of me telling you how much I love you?"

"Of course not…"

"Thank you, for coming with me today. I couldn't have even begun to try and shop for my family and friends without you."

"You're not shopping for me?"

"Not with you right here, Maxie. Trust me, I'll get you something good."

"You'd better… I know where you live."

"I'll inform Max that you're on the rampage for my blood… he'll protect me."

"Max doesn't scare easily, but I have a feeling that if I were really mad, I would scare him." Maxie laughed and winked at her boyfriend. She knew that he would pick something good for her, but that didn't mean that she would pick something good for him. She still had no idea what she was going to get.