Afternoon, Christmas Eve, Corinthos Household-
The passage of time was something that couldn't be stopped, not by anyone. With each passing day, Christmas came ever closer, ending with the eve of the day in question. Shopping had been done by all the parties involved, gifts had been purchased, wrapped or bagged, and placed under trees, or kept hidden for the just right moment. The yearly grind of battling the mall demons was over, and victory had been won by the forces of good.
Jason had not yet gotten sick of the Christmas tree that protruded in his home. Although the rest of the house remained the same as it had always been, the tree stayed, complete with the ornaments that Jason had purchased. Every time one would look at Jason, Courtney or Dillon looking at the tree it was easy to see that they had something in their eye, that little bit of Christmas spirit that only the tree could give. It was all because of a boy's desire to have a holiday like he had given up that they could have such things.
Sonny kept his word, returning the evening that he left. He remained tightlipped about where he had gone and why, but he constantly said that it was something that he just needed to do. Nobody was going to pry further into Sonny's business than he allowed, nobody would try. There were theories, of course. Everyone had their theories about what Sonny did whenever he needed to go away alone. Some thought he was going to secure a business deal in another part of the country, or that he just went to check up on one of his many assets. What was odd was that even Jason didn't know, and Sonny tended to tell Jason everything that happened in his life, they were best friends, they were confidants.
As with most small children, each day that inched closer towards the day of festive present opening became more nerve wracking than the last. Michael was one of those children. He loved Christmas. Not just because of the presents, but because of the way that his family came together, something that it rarely ever did except around this time of year. Michael was a boy who loved his family and who wanted them all to be happy, but it seemed to be something that was rare, if it ever happened. They would act happy around him most of the time, but he knew that there was something that they were hiding from him. He was still too young to know exactly what that was, but deep down, he had an idea.
Now that it was Christmas Eve, though, Michael's anticipation went up the wall. All of the gifts were under the tree, which had still yet to be decorated, but it had been brought into the house during the morning. When Michael woke up, he knew that it was there. He could smell the pine. He loved the tree, it was gorgeous, although he did wonder if it was a boy or a girl. That question had long since been shelved as he looked at each of the presents, trying to find the ones that were his and hopefully get some guesses as to what was beneath the wrapping paper.
"You know that shaking the gifts only makes the waiting longer, kid," Damian came in from his room, laughing silently to himself as he watched the antics of his little brother. Michael was so innocent and pure, something that would be stripped away from him against his will, as it had been done to everyone before him. Michael still had his youth, and Damian hoped that his brother enjoyed it while it lasted. It never did last long enough.
"I can't wait to open them!" Michael stopped looking at the presents and focused on the boy that was speaking to him. "Look at all these boxes! Some of them are for you. Do you want to see what they look like?"
"I'll pass, thanks," Damian walked over and sat down on the bottom stair. He could see the many presents that were in front of his face. The multi-colored wrapping paper that shined under the light of the house. Maxie had wrapped all his gifts. She had watched him try to wrap the book that he had gotten Morgan, but when she saw what the end product was she decided that it would be best to put her boyfriend out of his misery. Boys just didn't have the gift wrapping gene.
"Are you happy?" Michael took a seat right next to his big brother. There was something about Damian that made Michael always wonder about if he was happy or not. There were times that he knew his big brother was in fact happy, but there were many other times when he thought Damian wasn't, or he just couldn't tell.
"What do you mean? I'm here with you and Morgan and the rest of our family, of course I'm happy…"
"It's just… everyone else is smiling and laughing and having fun, but I haven't seen you do that a lot. Even when we were decorating Uncle Jason's tree, there was something about you that made you look sad."
"Thanks for looking out for me, Michael, but I'll be fine," Damian did appreciate the care that he received from his little brother, and it touched him to know that Michael was always trying to do something to make his life easier, but Michael didn't have the power to erase the past. "I just don't get into the holiday spirit like other people. I did enjoy myself when I was decorating the tree, and I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun with you and everyone else tonight… after the party at the hospital."
"You're not going to be here all day?" Michael's attitude shifted to slight disappointment. It was Christmas Eve, family needed to be around each other. He knew about the party at the hospital, but he wasn't going to go, his parents weren't, either. They seemed to never go.
"I'm only going to be gone a few hours, Michael," Damian couldn't feel guilty about leaving Michael alone. He loved the boy dearly, but he couldn't and wouldn't live his life around someone else. "I'll be back before you start decorating the Christmas tree and I'll be here for the dinner, but I need to be at the hospital for a little while."
"Why?"
"Because Maxie's going to be there, and she's going to be doing something that means a lot to her and to a lot of other people as well. Michael, when you love someone and they're doing something that's important to them you have to support them as much as you can, even when it's something that you don't necessarily agree with or like. Everyone has the right to be their own person and to make their own choices. Besides, she's my girlfriend, I want to spend Christmas Eve with her as much as I want to spend Christmas Eve with my family. I have to give her the present that I bought."
"What'd you get her?"
"Something special, two things, actually."
"Do you think that she'll like what you got her?"
"I really hope so," he chuckled uneasily. The thought had crossed his mind that she would hate what he picked out, but it wasn't until someone else said the same thing that h thought about it actually happening. When he saw what he bought for her at the store he knew that it was something that he wanted to get her, but it wasn't the only thing. The material present was what he feared, the present that came from his heart was decidedly not. She would love that second gift regardless. "I hope everyone likes what I got them. Be thankful, Michael, you've still got a few years ahead of you before you have to start thinking about what you're going to get other people for Christmas."
"Did you want a present from me?" Michael hadn't bought gifts for anyone, he didn't think that he needed to. Maybe he did.
"No, not at all," Damian stood and leaned against the back of the stairs. "Truthfully, Michael, I wouldn't mind if I didn't get any gifts at all, from anyone."
"But it's Christmas…"
"Yeah, I know that, but Christmas means more than just presents…"
"It's about people coming together and being extra nice to each other, isn't it?" Michael had learned about the 'spirit' of Christmas, he'd watched the cartoon specials a few times before.
"Something like that, yeah," Damian grinned. Kids. They were something else. "I got what I wanted, Michael. I have a father and a family that I wouldn't have known about if I would have never have come here. That's really the only present I need."
"So you won't open any gifts then?"
"No, I will, because it would be rude to not accept the gifts that people got for me, but I wouldn't mind not having gifts, everything I need is around me, or at least in Port Charles… well, almost everything."
"Michael," Carly came down from her room. She was actually listening in on some of their conversation. She liked the way that Damian gave Michael his full attention. Sometimes it was easy to just brush the boy off with some pathetic excuse for an answer and chalk it up to the fact that Michael was young and that he wouldn't understand. Damian wasn't like that. He would try to break it down for Michael into the smallest pieces so that Michael could somehow try and digest the information. The only other person who did it as much as Damian did was Jason. "Why don't you go and see if you can catch a nap?"
"But I'm not tired!" Michael protested. A nap? On Christmas Eve? Was his mother insane? There were many who would claim that she was, but he didn't know that.
"You might be tired later on tonight, sweetie. You know we like to stay up as late as we can on Christmas Eve while we decorate the tree and open presents and just be family together. If you take a nap now, then you'll be able to hang out with everyone even longer."
"Your mom has a point, Michael. When you go to sleep tonight we're not going to wake you up, we're just going to let you get some sleep. The longer you stay up by yourself, the better it is for you." Damian glanced over at his step-mother, showing that he supported her idea wholeheartedly.
"Will you still be here when I wake up?" Michael asked. "Or will you be gone?"
"I don't really know. Michael, you know that if you ever need to speak with me I have my cell phone… if you find anyone of the adults, even Leticia and Max, they'll gladly call me for you and then you can talk to me, and if you need me I'm going to come back as soon as I can."
Michael stood from his place on the stairs and wrapped his hands around his brother's waist. "If I don't see you when I wake up, have fun at the hospital party."
"Thanks, kid. Now go enjoy your nap."
"Sleep well, Mister Man," Carly ruffled his hair as he walked past her, leaving her alone with her step-son. There was always going to be that uncomfortable silence that existed when the two of them were forced to be alone. They started out with so much animosity towards one another that it wasn't something that was going to be forgotten overnight. She didn't hate him anymore, and she was certain that he never truly hated her, but they were hardly friends. Still, Carly knew when it was the time to suck up her pride and speak to the boy that had become a part of her life as much as he had anyone else's. "I want to thank you…"
"For what?" Damian didn't know why Carly would even think about thanking him. He never said anything to her, never did anything to get thanks from her, at least not from where he was standing.
"For being a good big brother to my sons. Even when I didn't want you around my husband… around me… I knew that you cared about Michael and Morgan and that they could depend on you. It was something that I didn't want to admit to anyone, especially myself, but now that I've gotten used to you being around I know that I can trust you with them."
"You can trust me with a lot more than just your children, Carly," Damian walked down the stairs. "I don't like the distance that we have between us. I know why it's there, I know that asking for everyone to just start over would be asking for too much, but I didn't ask to be born into this family, Carly. I didn't ask to have Sonny Corinthos as my father. I'm truly thankful that I do, that I have the chance to be a member of this family, but we're all just victims of circumstance here."
"Give me some time, please," Carly walked behind her step-son. "It takes me awhile to get used to new people in my life. Ask Bobbie. Even after all the hate and anger faded, it still took me a long time before I thought that I could truly trust her."
"I'll give you all the time that you need, Carly, but I want to do something to make it easier."
"There's nothing that you can do, Damian," Carly knew that the problem was entirely inside of her, or at least she thought she did. "This is something that I need to deal with by myself."
"Why don't I give you your Christmas present early, Carly?"
"What?"
"You heard me. Close your eyes." He waited until she listened to his instruction and he took her hand. "Now, follow me."
"Where are we going?" Carly was blind, trusting a boy that she didn't really get along with. He could push her over the terrace if he wanted.
"You'll see…" Damian led her to his room and shut the door softly. Nobody could hear or see anything. This was a moment between the two of them. "Open your eyes, Carly."
As her vision returned, Carly looked around and saw that she was in his room. "You're not my son, Damian, I don't think of a clean room as a present."
"That's not the present, Carly," Damian sat her down on his bed, taking a seat on the computer chair and staring directly at her. "I know…"