*I know this may seem like a chapter out of nowhere but it actually moves some of the Sonny and Jason plot (and thus moves the story overall in the direction of a Jarly resolution, albeit on a more extended timeline than I originally envisioned). If you want more information about characters that are not familiar just ask in a review.*
October 12, 1997
Manhattan, NY
Showering in the neurology call room at New York Presbyterian was anything but luxurious. Frankly, it was more than a bit sketchy but Dr. Lois Cerullo really didn't have a choice if she wanted to make it to 8:30 mass at St. Matthews. Fortunately, she had remembered to bring flip flops for the shower and her own body wash and shampoo. She would survive!
When she stepped out of the shower five minutes later, Lois decided surviving was a good theme for the day. The patient she had infused TPA at two AM, had been awake, talking, and moving everything when she made post call rounds right before seven AM. Continuing the theme, since changeover had gone smoothly, she was going to make it to mass where her goddaughter Gianna Rose Solieto would be christened. Gianna herself was certainly a survivor; she had been born septic at thirty-six weeks after her mother developed invasive listeriosis. She had fought for life for months in the NICU but she was finally home, alive, and beautiful.
As she finished dressing and started to brush out her hair Lois realized she never would have expected to be Gianna's godmother nine months earlier. Although her father was close friends with Gino Solieto and she and Carla had attended Sacred Heart Academy together they hadn't been close. Carla was a spoiled princess, and Lois had finished high school three years early so they really hadn't been an opportunity for shared experiences, at least not as children.
But six months earlier when Carla collapsed at Gino Solieto's funeral mass Lois was almost transported back in time. She had been pregnant with Brooke Lynn when her father had been dying of Pancreatic Cancer. She had gone into pre-term labor at her father's funeral. It was hard to accept that the baby growing inside of you would never meet the first man who had loved you unconditionally, who would have loved them unconditionally. That Lois could understand.
March 29, 1997
Dr. Lois Cerullo stepped off the elevator on 8 South. She figured it would be rude if she was at the hospital and didn't at least stop in to see Carla. Or at least her mother would think that.
When she slowly pulled the door to Carla's room open, Carla glanced over and then averted her eyes. "Tony went down to the chapel," she said.
Lois decided that was probably fair. In spite of their parents' friendship, she and Carla had never really been friends. Tony had graduated in the same class as Lois's older brother Antonio and they had been much closer. "I actually came to see you," she said.
"Ok, Tony said you helped me yesterday at the funeral. Thank you. It's all kind of a blur but my OB said you were completely right about the lying on my left side," Carla said.
"Unloading the uterus helps improve blood return," Lois said uneasily.
"I guess you would know," Carla said.
Lois wasn't sure how to take that whether it was intended as a compliment and a reference to her profession or what. "Yeah, I didn't have the easiest pregnancy with Brooklyn. I may not be able to relate to much of your life but I know how difficult it is to be pregnant and grieving. I know you and your father were close and it must be very difficult to lose him now. I really am sorry for your loss."
"But you're Team Ally and you also think I should give Tony his freedom?"
Lois had never met the infamous Ally Rescott Alden Bowman and really didn't have an opinion. "I never said that. I don't think I can really fault anyone for fighting for their marriage," she said.
Lois winced after those words were out. She had kind of faulted Ned for trying to fight for their marriage. She wasn't about to admit that to Carla.
"Really?" Carla seemed genuinely surprised.
If she looked back on the conversation with any cynicism, Lois could convince herself that Carla had befriended her hoping that she could convince Lois to become Team Carla. Perhaps she had. Or perhaps her father's death really destroyed her. Lois could relate to that.
June 2, 1994
Lois Cerullo Ashton winced as new pain seared across her abdomen. Once again, it was way too early for her to be having actual contractions. She leaned back in the chair in her office in Luke's and offered a silent prayer for her uterus to settle down. It didn't work but she was still clinging to her last shred of protective denial when Sonny came in five minutes later.
"Did you get everything straightened out for next…Hey! Are you alright?" Sonny asked.
Lois raised a hand as she felt bile rise up in her throat.
Sonny must have interpreted the nonverbal cue because he pretty quickly helped her up and into the bathroom where she emptied anything that remained in her stomach after the last time.
Lois took a few shallow breaths and reached around and flushed the toilet. She had never understood people who claimed to feel better after they threw up. Seriously, unless they had a brain tumor so vomiting somehow lowered their intracranial pressure that made absolutely no sense.
Sonny laid a hand on her shoulder and then passed her a glass of water and wet cloth. "Do you want some water or something?"
Lois swished some water in her mouth, wiped her face, and choked back a few tears. "Uh, can you help me get up off this floor?" she asked.
Sonny wrapped an arm around her and let her lean against his shoulder. "I guess you're not feeling better. What do you need me to do?" he asked.
Lois was trying to figure out the answer to that question when Sonny helped her into Luke's office.
"Why don't you lie down in here while you're figuring that out. Don't worry I had the couch steam cleaned after the last time Laura kicked Luke out."
Lois forced a smile as she lowered herself down to the couch and laid down on her left side. "I think maybe I just need a minute to see if the baby wants to settle down," she said.
"Are you having more contractions?" Sonny asked.
Lois bit her lip and nodded. "Maybe these are just Braxton-Hicks," she said.
"Or maybe I should take you to the hospital. You seem to forget, Lois Marie, that I've known you a lot longer than Ned and I can tell when you're in pain. I also know that you must know what a real contraction is."
"Sonny, please, can we not go there right now?"
XXXXXXX
Lois watched Sonny pace about her hospital room and listened to her daughter's heart tones oscillate between 130 and 150. That was basically perfect so somehow in spite of everything Brookie was hanging in there. Or she seemed to be.
Dr. Anita Gellar stepped into the room. "So, the fetal tracing looks good. Maybe we'll just see how you feel after a liter of fluids but I suspect Dr. Newman will want to keep you at least overnight again," she said.
Lois nodded. She knew that as a third-year resident the ultimate decision would not be Dr. Gellar's. She also doubted that Dr. Newman was going to take any chances with Edward Quartermaine's great grandchild so she had basically resigned herself to spending the night. Maybe it really was what was best for the baby. "Thank you," she said.
"Of course, just let the nurses know if you're having more pain or if you need anything else," Dr. Gellar said before she turned to leave the room.
Sonny stopped pacing and returned to sit in the chair by her bed. "That sounds good. It is good, right?" he asked. He squeezed his chin, something Lois knew he did when he was scared.
"Yeah the heart rate is fine and there is good variability without decelerations. Like Dr. Gellar said the tracing looks good. I probably just got a little dehydrated. I'm really ok, now," Lois said.
"Maybe you need to take it easier. If you need to take some time off, we'll manage. This has been a difficult time for all of us but you're kind of living for two and we all just want you and the baby to be ok," Sonny said.
"I'll be ok," Lois said. Staying home all day with her thoughts hardly seemed like a good option.
She and Brooke Lynn had both survived the pregnancy. In fact, after so many pre-term labor scares, Lois ended up being induced after her due date.
XXXXXXXX
Sonny Corinthos pulled into the patient drop off area in front of New York Presbyterian. He turned his head toward his goddaughter strapped into her car seat in the back seat. "Wake up sleepy head we're about to see your Mommy!"
Brooke Lynn stirred slightly but then settled more comfortably into her car seat and continued to sleep.
Lois came striding out of the front entry to the hospital with a white coat draped over one arm and a duffle bag in the other hand. She opened the door to the back seat, deposited her stuff, and then kissed her daughter. "Good morning Brookie! Mommy missed you," she said.
"Mommy!" Brooke Lynn squealed.
She was awake. Sonny decided not to take offense at that. "So how was your night?" he asked once Lois had climbed into the front passenger seat.
"It wasn't bad. I actually got some sleep between eight and midnight and then things got interesting. I'm sure you plan on spoiling your niece and nephews at Falconeri's Bakery after church so I'll get a nap in then and be fine," Lois said.
Sonny looked at her carefully before he pulled away from the curb. She looked tired, but she also looked content in a way he hadn't seen when she had been married to Ned. He had always blamed Ned, because that was easy but maybe it wasn't being Ned's wife that was so stifling but just not practicing medicine at all. Perhaps he was meant to recognize that he was meant to encourage her to persevere in her original career rather than support her career 180 just because that was one way to ensure she would never have to see her sociopathic ex-fiancé. He hadn't realized that at the time of course. So, he had let her do that career 180 and he found her the job as the entertainment director at Luke's Place.
"I guess I didn't realize this before but you were really meant to do this weren't you?" Sonny asked.
Lois smiled. "Yeah, I see that now. I'm not sure I made a mistake by taking a break when I did. I needed that time after Jeremy and I was such a mess when Pops was dying so it's kind of scary to think about being a resident then. Also, I wouldn't trade essentially being with Brookie all the time the first two years and that clearly wouldn't have happened if I was trying to finish my neurology residency. Sometimes things happen for a reason."
Sonny needed to believe that.
XXXXXXXX
Ten-year-old Dante Cerullo slipped into his acolyte robe in the basement of St. Matthew's Cathedral as his friend Joey Solieto came into the room with his mother Francesca right on his heels. "I swear, Joey, if you do anything to mess up this christening, I will donate your play station to the Children's Society."
Dante stifled a laugh. Joey's mother had threatened to donate basically every toy he had ever owned at least a few times. As far as he knew she had never followed through. Joey knew that too.
"You don't even like Aunt Carla and you're the one who told Uncle Tony to make sure he got a paternity test," Joey said as he took off his coat.
"Joseph Michael Solieto, I said no such thing. I'm going to let your grandmother wash your mouth out with soap if you continue."
Joey shrugged his shoulders and reached for his acolyte robe without saying another word.
Dante was quite certain that Carmella Solieto did follow through on her threats so it was probably wise that his friend was taking at least a momentary vow of silence.
"I'm counting on you to keep him in line, Dante. You've always been such a good boy," Francesca Solieto said before she turned and headed back to the stairs which led to the narthex.
Joey scowled at his friend.
"Hey! It's not my fault that moms love me, my mother has high standards!" Dante protested.
XXXXXXXX
Carla Solieto smoothed out her daughter's christening gown as she removed her from her car seat carrier and then gently kissed the baby's cheek. Her eyes misted as she thought of her late parents, Gino and Rose Solieto. Her daughter's name, Gianna Rose, was a tribute to them. She had half expected Tony to fight her on that, but he hadn't. He hadn't fought her on much since that day in April when his sidepiece Ally Rescott Alden Bowman had showed up at her OB appointment. After that he had promised that things were really over between him and Ally. They would raise their child together and be a real family. Carla wanted to believe that but she was seriously still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Oh, she looks so precious!" Lois Cerullo exclaimed as she joined them.
"Thank you, and thanks to your mom for hanging onto this dress for my mother. When my mother was dying marriage and babies were the furthest things from my mind but I'm so glad that I'm able to have Gianna christened in the dress that my mother made for my own christening," Carla said.
"Can I hold her?" Brooke Lynn Ashton asked as she reached over and patted the baby's head.
"She is still really little, Brookie, maybe when she is a bit older," Lois said.
"Actually, we got the all clear to officially treat her like a normal baby. Dr. Johnson even said she is ahead in terms of hitting all her milestones. So, if you sit down with your mom, you can hold her, Brooke Lynn," Carla said.
XXXXXXXX
Jason Morgan made his way down the far aisle to the pew Sonny Corinthos sat in with Joe Scully and Leonardo Pozzulo. Joe Scully headed the Detroit Partnership but was still a bit of an unofficial consigliere to the Camorese and Pozzulo Family, two of the New York Five Families along with the D'Angelo, Zacchara, and Solieto Families.
Sonny stood to shake Jason's hand and then pulled him into a hug. When they separated, he stood back and seemed to give him a once over. "You look good. Is that a new suit?" he asked.
"Of course," Jason said. He still didn't completely understand the inner workings of the mafia but he knew it wouldn't do to show up to Gino Solieto's grandchild's christening without a new suit. It was a respect thing.
"Manzo's?" Sonny inquired.
"Is there anywhere else?" Jason asked.
Sonny and Joe Scully both chuckled.
XXXXXXXX
Ally Bowman pulled the door open to Falconeri's Bakery. She and Tony had come for coffee and pastries after iceskating on their first date-February 26, 1996. Later, after Tony had been all but forced into a marriage of convenience with his cousin, who conveniently was adopted and shared no common genes, Carla Solieto; the self-righteous niece of the owners, Olivia Falconeri Cerullo had informed Ally that she wasn't going to turn a blind eye to Tony's affair. Apparently, Carla had been her friend when they had both attended Sacred Heart Academy.
Fortunately, the Falconeri Family religiously attended Sunday Morning Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral and Ally enjoyed stopping at Falconeri's to pick up pastries to enjoy after her Sunday morning sexcapades with Tony. The pastries were great and she loved thumbing her nose at people who presumed they had any authority over her. The only problem was that it had been four months since Tony had been in her bed. He had sworn that they were through in April, but Ally had worn him down and he had come back to her. Then he received a panicked call from Carla that she was calling an ambulance because she thought she was in labor.
Carla hadn't actually been in labor. But it was actually worse because apparently, she had something called listeriosis and she had nearly died. She had given birth to their daughter a few days later and Tony had apparently promised God that, if Carla and the baby survived, he would take a vow of fidelity. Initially, Ally hadn't been too threatened by that because Tony had given her the same story in April. But then Tony changed his cellular number and had his bodyguards get rid of her. So now she just came to Falconeri's on Sunday mornings to eat, reminisce, and plot her next move. After all, in another four months, Carla wouldn't be the only woman holding Anthony Solieto's baby.
XXXXXXXX
Jason Morgan sat silently as Lois Cerullo and Joseph Solieto Jr. joined Anthony and Carla at the altar. They would serve as baby Gianna's godparents. His mind wandered to the day he had known with certainty that he was going to be a father.
July 7, 1997
Jason Morgan hated hospitals! It was the combination of too many people, far too many of whom seemed to want him to be the way they remembered him, and too many annoying noises. He sensed that someone else had entered the room and turned his head to glare.
His glare softened when he heard Carly's voice float across the room. He heard the uncertainty in her voice. "Jase?" she asked.
Carly smiled when she reached his bed. "I'm so glad you're alright! Tony and I went away for the holiday weekend and I didn't know until I saw the paper this morning. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't made it, Jase"
"I'm fine," Jason said.
"So, what happened?" Carly asked.
"Not important," Jason said.
Carly shook her head. She reached down for Jason's hand. He let her take it.
"There is something I need to tell you, Jase, I'm not carrying Tony's child. This is your baby, your son."
Jason blinked several times in rapid succession but he didn't speak. He couldn't.
"Jase?"
"I heard what you said."
"Ok, so are you going to say anything?" Carly asked.
"I'll keep your secret if what you want is to raise the baby with Dr. Jones."
You would do that?" she asked. It almost sounded like that wasn't really what she wanted.
"My life is dangerous and it isn't really suited for a child," Jason said.
"Is that why you're with Robin, because she won't ever be able to have kids because of the HIV?" Carly asked.
Jason didn't answer that question. What was the point?
"What if I wanted to raise the baby with you?" she asked.
"I thought you said you loved Dr. Jones."
"I guess I can't force you to be a part of your son's life," Carly said.
"It isn't that I don't want. I'm just saying that maybe the best thing I can do for my baby is to just get out of the way. You know if you ever need anything, I'll be there for you, for the baby," Jason promised.
He had kept his promise by getting Ned to agree to step in. He had seen Ned with Brooke Lynn; he knew he was a good father.
September 24, 1997
Jason Quartermaine killed his bike's engine as he pulled into 188 Cypress Avenue. When Ned had called, he hadn't sounded like he should really be driving anywhere and Jason was pretty much always ready to take his bike out so he had agreed to come to him.
Ned pulled open his own front door dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt and looking exhausted. "If this is still what you want, I'll do it," he said once he had closed the door.
"You will?" Jason asked. He wasn't sure what had changed. He decided maybe he didn't want to know.
"Don't worry Jase, the irony is not lost on me either. But, yes, I'll marry Carly and raise your child as a Quartermaine," Ned said.
Jason was even more confused. "Irony?" he finally asked.
"Lois doesn't think I should even be able to see my own child. You support her in that view but then ask me to raise your child?"
"I never said you weren't a good father, Ned!" Jason protested. He hadn't. He didn't think that!.
"So, you were just doing Sonny's bidding?" Ned asked
Jason wasn't sure what he was doing. Truly he hadn't given it much thought. He had helped Lois get settled in the city because Lois had always been kind to him. She had found him the job with Sonny after all. The rest of it he really hadn't thought much about. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he finally said.
Ned's face softened. "I'm sorry, that probably isn't fair. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you."
"For what it's worth, Ned, I do think you're a good dad. I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I didn't," Jason said.
Ned seemed to consider that for a moment. He took and released a deep breath. "If you really believe that, Jase, then maybe you can do something for me," he said.
"What?" Jason asked warily.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to sneak Brooke away from Lois. Lois is a good mom and Brooke probably is better off with her and all of her Cerullo family. Just promise me that if Brooke ever really needs me and Lois is uncomfortable calling me that you will."
"I can do that," Jason said.
Jason glanced across the church to where Brooke Lynn sat with her grandmother, Gloria Cerullo. For a moment he reflected on the reality that he, not Ned, had helped Lois set up the new playset for her third birthday; and Ned would hold Carly's hand when she brought their son into the world. Ned had called it ironic and perhaps it was. But as he sat in St. Matthew's Cathedral Jason felt a bit more emotional than that.