Part 1:
This Christmas

Port Charles, NY,
December 24th, 1999

The cold night air is still and sharp. Snow covers the landscape as far as one can see. It's Christmas Eve in Port Charles.

The Christmas story, true to tradition, was read by Alan Quartermaine to a group of joyful children and a wistful staff, who feel like they've seen the end of an era. Sad things are made sadder by Christmas, and one week before, Audrey Hardy had died of a massive heart attack. The entire hospital, and much of Port Charles, was still grieving for her and everything she stood for. Steve and Audrey Hardy had been a major part of the core of the hospital for as long as most could remember, and now they were both gone.

Bobbie Spencer had sadly accepted the duties of head nurse, and things had, for the most part, continued as normal. Despite the loss, much of Port Charles was still spirited by the happiness of the season.

It's Christmas Eve in Port Charles. Starlight glimmers off of snowflakes. Children roll over restlessly in their beds, unable to sleep. Trees are lit with lights and adorned with ornaments. Carols can be heard in the distance, as the bundled-up group of carolers finishes up their last few songs...


"Children carry through the streets,
A brightly painted star,
Angels gather round the hearth,
Strumming on guitars.
Men of great renown and faith,
Say prayers on boulevards.
It's the night before Christmas"

"But you don't have to be an angel,
To sing harmony,
You don't have to be a child,
To love the mystery,
And you don't have to be a wise man
On bended knee,
The heart of this Christmas is in you and me"

"The night before Christmas...
The night before Christmas"

"If your heart's been longing.
You've been afraid to try.
Sorrow's kept you company,
And the dance has passed you by,
I'll lift you up and blaze with you,
Across the moonlit sky,
On the night before Christmas..."

"Cause you don't have to be an angel,
To sing harmony,
You don't have to be a child,
To love the mystery,
And you don't have to be a wise man,
On bended knee."

"The heart of this Christmas is in you and me,
The heart of this Christmas is in you and me..."

"The night before Christmas.
The night before Christmas..."

Hardy-Webber
House: Roof

Elizabeth Webber shudders with cold as she slides down the roof and onto the ground where she meets up with Emily.

"I cannot believe my parents are being so awful," She sighs quietly as she shakes dirt off her black platforms. "They want me to go back to Bulgaria with them, or to London with Sarah. They won't even let me go to a party."

"What did they ground you for, anyway?"

"Arguing about leaving Port Charles." She said, rolling her eyes. "But I'm going to this party, and I'm not going to Bulgaria or London or anywhere else. I'll be eighteen in less than a year. I just have to stall until then."

"When do they want to leave?" Emily asked.

"Next week," Elizabeth said with a sigh. "They want us to leave right after the funeral. They wanted to take the body with us and have one there. My father hates this town."

"It's a good thing they didn't." Emily said with a sigh. "Audrey loved Port Charles. She wouldn't want to be buried anywhere else."

"They've already sold the house," Elizabeth added, sighing. This house felt more like home to her than anywhere else. It had been bad enough losing her grandmother, who'd been more of a parent to her in the last few years than either of her real parents ever had, but now she was losing the only place that had ever felt like home too. "They're trying to make it seem like we have no ties here anymore, just because Gram is dead. Like all of her friends and colleagues don't matter, like all of my friends don't matter. She had a life here, and I have one here."

"Did you tell them that?"

"About three-hundred times."

Emily sighed. "Let's forget about this for now, okay? We've got a party to get to, remember?" She said, trying to sound cheerful, but she was upset too. It was bad enough that Juan had been forced to go back to Puerto Rico; she didn't want her best friend to move away too.

Alexis' Bedroom,
Jacks Penthouse

The room is dimly lit by starlight flowing in through one open window, with one single lamp on a dressing table near the door that adjoins to the bathroom. There's a freestanding, full-length mirror, with a pretty, but slightly rumpled dark green dress tossed over it. Other articles of clothes are scattered along the floor. The dark blue covers, on the large, four-poster bed, tumble down a bit to reveal Alexis Davis and Ned Ashton.

"Mmm... I love Christmas," Alexis murmured to Ned with a smile. "And I love you, too." She added, laying her head down on his chest and curling up beside him.

"It's Christmas Eve, not Christmas," he corrected softly. "You know, three years ago, I found a spectacular woman in a bar."

"Anyone I know?" She teased.

It was a perfect, idyllic moment, and though moments like this seemed too few at times, what with Chloe and Jax always fluttering about, it was a good life.

He only smiled and reached for his suit coat, which was on the floor next to the bed. He slid his hand in the pocked and pulled out a rectangular velvet box with a red and green ribbon tied around it, which he presented to her. "Merry Christmas."

"You're early." She commented gathering the sheets around her as she sat up.

"Oh, right," he said with a smile. "Merry Christmas Eve then." He said as she took it from him.

"You want me to open it now?"

"No, I was just teasing you with it," he quipped, somewhat sarcastically, but good-natured. "Yes, open it already."

"But I thought we were all spending the day together tomorrow. I put your presents under the tree, and--"

"We are all spending the day together tomorrow, exactly as we planned." Ned agreed with a nod. "I have other gifts. This is a special one, though, and I wanted you to open it tonight, while we were alone." He put his hand over the box for a moment. "It's kind of...a present for the anniversary of the day we first met, more than a Christmas present."

"Oh? Let me guess... It's a miniature, gold-dipped martini glass?" She asked, smiling.

He laughed a little, thinking back three years, and shook his head. "No, though I wish I'd thought of that." He said lightly. "Open it."

"Okay." She said simply, smiling a little. She slid the ribbon off the box and opened it. "Oh, my..." She murmured, looking down at the exquisite pearl necklace. The pearls themselves looked absolutely flawless, and the design of the piece was spectacular yet simple. "I've never seen pearls like these..." She said, looking awed.

"You like it?" He asked, looking hopeful.

"I love it." She corrected, kissing him. "Will you put it on me?" She asked, turning her back to him.

"Uh, huh," he said, sounding pleased at her reaction. He kissed her shoulder lightly before lifting her hair off to put the necklace on.

Jacks' Penthouse,
Living room

"Perfect."

Chloe and Jax were chatting, laughing, and sipping eggnog as they finished up the tree alone. He'd lifted her up to put the angel on top of the huge tree, and now she slid down into his arms easily as he let her down gently.

"I don't know," she said, looking at it critically. "It looks kind of crooked, doesn't it?"

"That's even more perfect." Jax said simply. "I mean, look at the tree. Look at the ornaments. All of them are silver and gold balls. And I swear Alexis did that garland at a precise angle and distance, with measuring tapes and protractors. Even the tinsel looks precise. So, if the angel is crooked, it adds some desperately needed character."

"Oh, well, in that case, boost me back up," she requested, and he did so. She tilted the angel to an even more crooked angle before jumping down. "Now it's really perfect." She said with a grin.

"It's spectacular."

"What is?" Alexis asked, coming down the stairs, wrapped in a robe, with the pearls still around her neck. "Where's the eggnog?"

"Champagne, wine, now eggnog... I'm starting to think you have to be drunk to have a tryst with Ashton," Jax teased. "It's over there," he pointed to the pitcher, which was on his desk.

"How was I supposed to know you added rum to it? Besides, I came down for food, thank you very much," she quipped, lifting Christmas cookies off the tray. She bit into one. "But what are Christmas cookies without eggnog?" She asked him, pouring two glasses, and setting them on the tray with a pile of the cookies.

"What indeed?" Chloe said with a smile.

"Like a tree without an angel," Jax mumbled.

Chloe spotted the pearls on Alexis. "Are those new?"

"Hm?" Alexis looked up from the tray she'd been busy preparing. "Oh, you mean the pearls?" She realized. "Ned gave them to me, for Christmas...Eve." She said, smiling.

"They're stunning." Chloe said.

"How do you like the tree?" Jax asked Alexis. "We finished it."

Alexis turned to look at it and frowned. "The angel's crooked...she's very crooked, in fact."

"We did it on purpose," Jax explained. "It adds character." He said proudly, and Chloe burst out laughing.

"Uh, huh," she said, distracted, as she ascended the stairs.

Jax looked after her with a sigh before looking back over at a smiling Chloe. Suddenly feeling less than festive, he forces the smile he sends Chloe as he glances back at the crooked angel. He felt like pushing her straight.

"Do you like It's a Wonderful Life?" He asked, turning back to Chloe after a moment, remembering that it was on soon.

"I love it. I cry every time."

"It should be coming on in," he glanced at the clock, "about fifteen minutes." He said with a smile. "I'll get some popcorn ready, okay?"

"That sounds great," she said with a smile. "I'm just going to check my messages while you do that."

"On Christmas Eve?"

"I've been neglecting them for almost two weeks," she admitted, sheepishly. "There could be something important there, and I don't want to be worrying about it tomorrow," she explained, and he nodded.

When he came back in with the popcorn a few moments later, she was just finishing up.

"Oh, my God..." Chloe murmured, clicking off her cell phone. She looked utterly shell-shocked as she sat down on the couch silently.

"What? What happened?" Jax asked, narrowing his eyes on her.

"It's..." She started stunned. "Gertrude..."

"What did she do now?"

"She died."

Quartermaine
Mansion

Michael sits by the trains, watching them go around the tree. The lights on the tree are blinking and playing music of "Joy to the World," merrily. Carly sits directly behind her son with her arms loosely around him, and AJ is on the couch, watching them.

"He likes the trains," Carly commented softly.

"Twain!" Michael pipes up, hearing the word.

"Yeah," she ruffles his thick, red hair. "You like them, don't you, honey?" She asks with a smile. She turns and sees Leticia in the doorway. "But I think it may be time for bed, sweetheart." She said, standing.

"Why don't we put out some cookies for Santa first," Leticia suggests with a smile, even though Michael looks blank. "Remember the story I read you, how he has reindeer and they fly and--"

"Bwings pwesents," Michael said, happily.

"That's right." Leticia said, and Carly smiled. "Cook set a tray up already. You want to help me bring the cookies and milk in here, Michael?" She asked, and the little boy nodded.

Carly smiled a little as she watched them go towards the kitchen. "He's going to have a good Christmas." She said softly.

"We all are," AJ said simply, standing up and touching her face gently. "It's going to be the best Christmas in a long time."

Carly smiled a little more and nodded. "Yeah." She said, looking and sounding a little wistful.

Baldwin
Firehouse

"Our very first Christmas with Christina, as a family." Lucy said with a smile, watching Scott set the last of the presents under the tree. "By this time next month, she'll really be ours."

"And no one's ever going to take her away from us if I have anything to do with it," Scott said, rubbing Lucy's shoulder. "Or you." He paused. "What do you say, fiancée? How about tying the knot next month?"

"Yeah, let's do that." She said, nodding. "It's taken too long already."

"We'll set a date after Christmas and you can plan, plan, plan, and I'm sure you'll come up with something insane, completely original, and perfect." He said, kissing her.

"And then we'll all live happily ever after." She said with a smile, hoping it would come true, just before the phone rang. "I'll get that," she said, standing up to get the phone. "Baldwin residence, Lucy speaking, Merry Christmas!" She said in one breath. Her face sunk immediately and outrage followed quickly behind. "What do you mean? I thought you were done believing David Bordeso!"

"What happened?" Scott asked concerned.

"Who is she?"

Cassadine
Retreat

Two figures sit on a table, jovial after wrapping presents, stuffing stockings, drinking eggnog, eating cookies, and chatting for hours.

"No, no, I'm sure Lulu will love the gift," Laura insisted, "and the other ten too," she added with a grin, her blond hair out of her eyes as she stifles a yawn, her eyes drifting shut.

"You're getting tired, aren't you?" Stefan inquired, noting her yawn. She started to shake her head, but he insisted. "You should go get some rest then. It's cold anyway. Let's get inside."

"Who sleeps on Christmas Eve?"

"People who don't want to be half-asleep on Christmas Day," Stefan suggested ushering her inside.

She smiled as the heating in the building rushed through her. "God, I feel like I'm frozen, and I didn't even realize it." She paused. "What time is Nikolas coming in the morning?" She asked him after a moment.

"He said around seven or eight," Stefan said. "He hopes to get here before Leslie Lu is done with her presents."

"I don't think seven or eight is early enough for that! She'll be up by four, probably." Laura said with a grin. She stifled another yawn. "You know, I think I will go catch a few hours of sleep," Laura said softly. "Thank you, Stefan, for a great Christmas Eve."

Luke's
Office

Luke stares at the paper before him. So, he thinks wryly, for the fiftieth time that night, it's official and legal now. She's not his any longer. She's not his wife; she's not Laura Spencer. Laura Webber. How could she be Laura Webber again? It had been so long. And how was he supposed to be without her again? Shouldn't he have figured it out by now?

He sighed as he poured himself another shot of tequila. "Merry Christmas, Luke," he mumbled.

Scorpio
House

A tall tree decorated with ornaments, some store-bought and some handmade, strings of popcorn, and a star atop it stands by the far wall. Felicia sits by the tree, finishing setting the presents under it. Mac sighs as he hangs up the phone and turns to his wife with a sad smile. "Lucy didn't take the news well. I wish I could do something about this, but Julie Devlin--excuse me, Julie Ramsey might end up with Christina." He told Felicia, who patted his shoulder with a sigh.

"She loves Christina, like her own child," Felicia said softly, sighing. "I cannot believe any judge would award custody to Julie and Chris, over Lucy and Scott."

"I hope no judge will, for Christina's sake," Mac said, sighing softly. "But let's not talk about this any more tonight, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. "Oh, guess what? I spoke with an editor."

"About the memoirs or the other book?"

"Both. She looked at the first few chapters if the memoirs, which she thought was a good start, and the copy of the book. She loved the book, Mac. They're going to work with me on it, and it may be on the shelves by this time next year."

"That's great," he said with a smile. "That's great news for Christmas," he said, kissing her.

"Well, it's just icing on the cake." She said with a smile. "This," she gestured around ending on him, "is the real greatness of my life: you, the girls... Anything else is just...extra." She said and they kissed again, not noticing as a shadowy figure stared at them through the window.

QE2: Atlantic Ocean,
Near Great Britain

"Glad you decided to come?" Simon asked V, holding her from behind on the deck as they stared up at the twinkling stars. It's a bit foggy, and they're both wearing coats because it's very chilly outside.

"Very," V said with a smile. "I can't imagine a better way to spend Christmas Eve... Heck, after the last few months, I can't imagine a better way to live."

"I can," He said softly, sounding thoughtful. "There's one thing that would make everything better."

She turned around to face him with a look of understanding. "What's that?" She asked quietly.

"I think you know," he countered just as quietly.

"Maybe I need to hear it from you," she said, and when they exchanged a look, she added, "again."

"Will you marry me, Venus Ardanowski?" He asked very simply. It didn't sound as stunning and outrageous anymore. There was no sweeping gesture; he didn't even get down on one knee or hand her a ring. They were just six simple words.

She nodded very slowly. "Yes," she said thoughtfully, musing silently at the way things happen. "Yes, I will."

Jacks Penthouse,
Living room

"According to my attorneys, who were furious with me for not calling them back for weeks," Chloe said softly, hanging up the phone again. "Since I'm Gertrude's only living relative, and Uncle Herbert's closest relative, everything will revert to me." She sighed softly, tapping her fingernails on the top of the phone.

Alexis's eyes widened. "In other words, even if Chloe Morgan Designs reverted back to the estate, the estate would revert back to you, thus canceling out the iron-clad will."

"Exactly."

"So, Uncle Herbert's will had a loop-hole after all," Ned commented, raising an eyebrow. "Why didn't we think of that?" Alexis shook her head and tapped at him, lightly. "In that case, I propose a double-date down to the Dominican Republic for two quickie divorces."

"Hold on," Jax put in. "We should make sure this is completely legal and fool-proof first. We should have Alexis dot some 'i's and cross some 't's."

"My lawyers already went to a judge, two of them actually, and they're going to fax me a copy of the papers." Chloe said simply.

"What about the boyfriend, the one who designs turbans?" Alexis asked. "Isn't he going to go after whatever money Gertrude had?"

"He doesn't have a case. They weren't married, or even engaged, or even living together." Chloe said. "They already determined that he wouldn't get a dime." They had won before they'd expected to, yet there was still a somewhat somber air over the room.

"How did she die?" Alexis asked softly.

"She fell down the stairs and hit her head. It was the maid's weekend off. They didn't find her for two days."

"Oh, my," Alexis said to herself, biting her lip, and looking over at Chloe. It was certainly an unexpected turn of events.

Jason's
Penthouse

Jason enters the empty room with a deep sigh. All the furniture was gone, per his request. He was just going to hire someone to decorate it again, not in the interest of a child, not with any personal input.

He went to the stairs and sat down on the steps, feeling very low. So this was Christmas without Michael. He'd forgotten this.

There was a knock on the door and he looked up suddenly. He sat there, waiting for it to go away, but it didn't.

He opened the door to see Carly, who was crying a little. "Hi." She said softly. She was holding the little key chain that said, "Caroline."

"Hi."

"I just...I came to give you this. I can't keep it. It hurts too much," she said softly. "And I thought you might like these." She handed him an envelope. "They're pictures of Michael. I take one everyday, and I order doubles. You said you wanted to always watch over him. I thought, maybe this way, you really could. I'm going to send you them twice a year, if you want me to. On Christmas Eve, and on Father's Day."

Jason smiled a little as he took them, unable to say no. "Thank you," he said, wanting the pictures. He didn't know if it was healthy, but he didn't want to refuse.

"I'm going to go now, Jase," she said in a strangled voice, handing him the key chain as well. "Goodbye."

(Song Credit: "The Night Before Christmas," sung by Amy Grant, off of I'll Be Home For Christmas.)