Amanda didn't have family. Not really. A sister in prison and a mother who had abandoned her when she was eight months pregnant did not a family make.

At least, not a family like Sonny's.

Big, loud, happy, and Italian. That was Sonny's family. Warm and inviting, and yes, nosy. Amanda wasn't sure which of those three was their motivation for inviting her to spend Christmas with them.

Nevertheless, here she was, just outside Sonny's parents' door with him. Snow was softly falling around them and onto the blanket she had used to cover sleeping Jessie in her car seat. They had rung the doorbell not seconds ago.

Amanda was quiet, shifting the snow around with her feet.

"Come on, they're gonna love you," Sonny said, resting his hand on her shoulder.

She smiled at him. "It's just that . . . I don't know, I don't want to intrude," she said.

"Hey, it's Christmas Eve. You're not intruding on anything."

The door swung open. The same shining, lively blue eyes that Sonny had stood out against an old man's wrinkled face.

"Well, hello there!" He said. "You must be Amanda. Come in, come in, it's freezing out there."

He ushered them inside and took Amanda's coat, subsequently handing it to Sonny to put away. Amanda lifted the blanket from Jessie's car seat to check on her and then put it back in hopes that she would remain asleep.

Sonny returned quickly. It was overwhelming. The house was full to the brim, bursting with family members of Sonny's. It was the kind of family that would take a lifetime to know the ins and outs of, to memorize all the names, to learn all the life stories. Amanda had one night.

Within five minutes, Amanda had met thirty new people—at least. Try as she might, she couldn't get Jessie to sleep through the noise. She lifted her little girl from her car seat, and held her so she had a full view of the festivities. Sonny didn't once leave their side, guiding Amanda through the extensive family and making silly faces at the wide-eyed baby.

Sonny's mother came out of the kitchen with more food than Amanda had ever seen in her life.

"Eat, eat," she said. Sonny's sisters were close behind. Bella, his youngest sister, the one with then six month old baby girl, approached Amanda.

"Hey! I think we've met once before," she started. "I'm Sonny's sister, Bella; this is Grace," she said, motioning with her right hand to the brunette baby she held in her left.

"Right, yeah, we have! I'm Amanda; this is Jessie," she responded, smiling. It was nice, the two of them with their baby girls.

Grace's eyes grew wide with curiosity at the sight of another baby.

"Sonny, I think Uncle Tony was looking for you," Bella said. It was a polite way to say: "Hey, let us have some time to chat."

He didn't get the message. "I'll go find him later," he said. He placed his hands over Amanda's shoulders.

Bella's eyes flickered to her brother's hands on Amanda's shoulders, but she was making eye contact again within seconds, not missing a beat.

The night moved quickly. Sonny's mother and aunts fed everyone more than enough food, and there were enough leftovers to last a week.

It was late. The extended family had left, and all that remained were Sonny's sisters and their husbands, Sonny, Amanda, and Jessie, and, being that it was their house, Sonny's parents.

Amanda was sitting on the couch in the family room, Jessie sound asleep in her arms. To her left was Sonny's mother, giving her loving and helpful advice. Even more soundly asleep was Sonny's father in the leather chair just outside the kitchen door. Sonny was at Amanda's right, dividing his attention equally between smiling at the baby, grinning at Amanda, and looking at his mother when she spoke. His brothers-in-law were outside on the porch despite the cold, smoking cigars and drinking brandy.

His sisters; however, were gathered in the kitchen. Bella, who had put Grace down upstairs in her parents' room, was leading a whispered conversation amongst the three women.

"Gina, tell me you don't think it's true," she said.

"Theresa, I think Bella's right," Gina responded. "I think that baby is his."

"Don't you think he'd tell us? I mean, really," Theresa said, never one to be roped into conspiracy.

"Hey," Sonny popped into the kitchen. He was met with sudden silence. "What?" He asked, knowing immediately that they were hiding something.

"Amanda's baby is real cute," Gina said tentatively.

"Yeah, she is," he said, a smile fanning across his face.

At the same time in the family room, left alone with Amanda—well, basically alone, the baby and her sleeping husband weren't really up for eavesdropping, Sonny's mother spoke frankly.

"You make my son very happy, you know," She said to Amanda.

Amanda looked to her, unsure of what to say.

"He loves you very much," she said. "Both of you." Amanda nodded at the older woman, not saying anything.

Back in the kitchen, Gina, Theresa, and Bella were still trying to solicit some details about the baby from Sonny.

"So Amanda's still on maternity leave then?" Theresa said.

"Yeah, she's almost up with the leave, and then she's going to use her vacation time," he responded.

"You spend a lot of time with her and the baby, huh?" Gina said.

"I—uh, yeah, why?" Sonny was a detective. He was a law student. He recognized an interrogation when he saw one.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Sonny, is that your baby?" Gina said. The three sisters had thought that asking Sonny that particular question could go one of two directions. Option A, Sonny sheepishly admitted that yes, he was Jessie's father. Maybe he would be proud, maybe he would laugh and then confirm, but the basic element of the first direction would be the affirmation of their suspicions. Option B, on the other hand, was that he would say that was not his baby, maybe angrily.

What they didn't expect was his silence. Sonny was never, ever silent—he always had something to say. But not now. He tilted his head downward, looking at his shoes.

"No," he said, staring at the floor. "No, she's not."

Gina, Theresa, and Bella exchanged glances. They knew he wasn't lying, but they weren't sure why he seemed so upset that they had asked. So he wasn't the father? Did he wish he was? He at least had a thing going on with Amanda, right?

"I see," Theresa said. Although, being the oldest, she was usually all about showing her younger siblings how wrong they were, she remained quiet.

"What's going on with you and Amanda, Sonny?" Bella asked softly.

He scoffed and looked around the room. "I—look, I don't know. I don't know," he said. "It's getting late, we should leave."

"Sonny," Bella said, reaching out her hand.

"Let him go," Theresa said, stopping her little sister. "Let him be."

"Hey, Amanda, it's getting pretty late, maybe we should head out," he said upon reentering the family room. He was good at masking his emotions.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she said, slowly standing as to not wake the baby. She turned to Sonny's mother and thanked her for having her, and then went with Sonny to his parents' guest room, where they had left their jackets, to place Jessie in the car seat.

"We should say goodbye to your sisters before we leave," she said as she helped Sonny put on his jacket.

"Nah, I already took care of that; we're good," he said, avoiding her gaze. She looked so beautiful illuminated in the yellow light cast by the decades-old lamp in his parents' guest room.

"Are you sure?" She asked as she pulled on her own jacket.

"Yeah, yeah." He looked over at Jessie, sleeping peacefully, and draped the blanket back over her.

Sonny drove Amanda back to her apartment in silence. When they got there, he walked her and Jessie upstairs, his hand on Amanda's back the entire time.

"Thanks for inviting me tonight. I had a great time," she said. God, she looked so beautiful.

He smiled. It must have been one, two in the morning.

"Merry Christmas, Amanda." She nodded, and then leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas."

A/N: As far as chronological vs one shots, you guys gave mixed answers. However, most of you leaned towards one shots, so I'm going to write one shots that are, for the most part, chronological. That being said, this chapter is out of order- chronologically, it would have occurred before chapter two but after chapter one. As far as baby Jessie, you guys, for the most part, were adamant that you wanted her to be a part of the story, so that's what you'll get. For the few of you who wanted just Amanda and Carisi, you'll get some of that too, don't worry.

TL;DR: Be prepared for chronological one shots (send me your requests) and lots of baby Jessie.

-Of Jumbled Thoughts