Chapter Thirty-Six:

Four Months Later:

Spinelli woke up in a red bedroom and was happy to note that it had been one of the ever-more-frequent nightmareless nights. It took him a minute to remember where he was. Then it hit him. He was in his father's house. He had spent the night there along with Morgan and Kristina, they had wanted a "sleepover" for the night before Thanksgiving since all of them would be eating Thanksgiving dinner somewhere else later. That reminded him. Mac. Sonny wasn't a criminal anymore but Mac still wasn't to thrilled that the man was the father of his daughters boyfriend. Over the last four months he had gotten better about it though. Spinelli hoped Mac wouldn't lose it over what he had planned for that day.

As he got out of bed he was extreamly greatful to not feel at all weak. It had taken him a while to get back to normal after the transplant. A lot his early dates with Maxie had consisted of watching movies on Jason's couch and eating microwave popcorn. He was slowly begining to settle into his new normal now and loving every minute of it. He loved the fact that his new normal was a whole lot more ... well, normal then ever before. He went out on dates with his girlfriends, he spent time with his friends, he baby-sat his siblings and sometimes even his cousins. He even had a normal job now, he was designing video games. Yes, normal was better then he ever thought it could be.

As he pondered this he quickly got ready before heading downstairs. Kristina almost knocked him over in her rush to beat Morgan to the dinning room. He couldn't help but laugh, little brother and sister's could be quite amusing at times. Before he even reached the bottom of the stairs he could smell the food. He smiled, it seemed that since they couldn't have Thanksgiving dinner with him, his father was making up for it with breakfast. By the time he got downstairs Kristina and Morgan were sitting at the table happily awaiting the chocolate chip pancakes.

It didn't take long before they were all eating. The seven and eight year old were happily chatting away as they ate and Spinelli couldn't help but smile. A quick glace at his father's face when the children weren't looking made it obvious that on today of all days, the other little one that should be talking a mile a minute was painfully missed. Spinelli's smile faded at the thought that it looked like he would never get to spend a holiday with his red-haired brother. He quickly calmed himself. "Little Dude would not want me upset today." he thought.

Spinelli began his goodbyes, which took longer then usual as the kids where on a bit of a sugar high and very excited. After several hugs and kisses each he finally managed to leave. He swung by the penthouse to pick up the food he had made in advance for the Dinner at Maxie's house. He couldn't help but smile because Jason wasn't there. After several months and much pushing from Spinelli, Jason had decided that since they had left the mob and everything seemed to have worked perfectly, it would be safe enough to claim his son. Jason would be eating with Elizabeth today.

As Spinelli knocked on the door he sent up another silent prayer that all would go well today. Patrick answered the door and as soon as he set the food down Maxie spotted him and headed over for a kiss. Spinelli glanced at Mac out of the corner of his eye and was releived, the stern man seemed to be in a fairly good mood today. Spinelli felt another pang of sadness as he remembered spending last Thanksgiving there with Georgie, but he quickly pushed that away as well with a thought similar to his earlier one. No, today had to be perfect.

He quickly headed over to Robin to "steal" Michaela for a minute. He had quickly fallen in love with the adorable little girl he'd named. She reminded him so much of her namesakes already. The child was a way he could remember those he had lost and not feel quite as sad. As he held the tiny baby a secretive and hopeful smile crossed his face. If all went well today, he would be relateted to her - in a way - soon.

He knew everyone was thing of exactly what he had been earlier but they were all trying to be happy for the holiday, because, as he had thought - that's what Georgie would want. As the rest of the food finished cooking they passed the baby around and talked of happy times. They began talking about the things they were thankful for. Maxie made Spinelli blush be not even blinking before saying she was thankful for him and the fact that he was alive. Robin and Patrick were of course thankful for their baby. Spinelli paused for a moment before he spoke, there was so much to remember. "I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful for Maximista and my family, for my friends and the Little Angel. I'm thankful for what my life is now." he finally said. There was a moment on silence before Mac stepped in. "And I'm thankful that we can all be happy. Now let's eat." he said.

As they ate Spinelli thought about what Mac had said. It was true that they had lost people that could never be replaced, and they couldn't forget but they had to move on. They had to remember to still be happy, because that's what the one's they had lost would have wanted. Spinelli thought it applied to other things too. He still had issues with his past and he was learning that even though it was painful he couldn't forget about it but he did have to move on. And he was working on that. Maxie was a big help with it. He looked over at her, even doing something as normal as eating Thanksgiving dinner, she still looked so beautiful.

After everyone was finished, Spinelli led Maxie out to the back porch. As they sat down on the swing he quick felt his pocket. "Good" he thought. As they sat silently swinging, he turned to her. "I love you Maximista." he said softly. She smiled, "I love you too.". Spinelli gently stopped the swing and got off. He kneeled in front of her on the porch. "Mariah Maximilliana Jones, will you marry me?" he asked her. Maxie's hand flew over her mouth. "Yes!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around him.

Author's Note: Almost nobody's read the last one, but here's the new chapter. This is NOT the end, it's a time jump and I was just trying to tie up some old little storylines, I was clearing the way for new things that are coming.