In Love On Christmas

Brenda is staying with her best-friend Lois Cerullo

during Christmas. Lois is having a special family

gathering. Lois made friends with Brenda, who

used to go to boarding school with Ned, Lois’s

boyfriend, while she was in Port Charles. Lois invited

Brenda to spend Christmas with her and her family.

Sonny is considered one of the Cerullo family. He’s

known them all his life. He moved away after his

mother died and when he got involved with the mob.

He was running it from Puerto Rico the last year,

but he too used to live in Brooklyn and Port Charles.

He never had the pleasure of meeting Brenda, as she

has only been in town for the last six months.

When Sonny and Brenda meet there is an instant

magical connection between them. With the twelve

days of Christmas approaching will they have the

chance to become friends or even more than that??

Chapter 1

December 14th

It was an early Friday morning when a yellow taxi

pulled up out front the Cerullo house in Brooklyn, NY.

Brenda Barrett stepped out of the taxi and paid the

driver. He then stepped out and open the trunk

revealing her suitcases. He graciously walks them to

the door for her, not forgetting to ask for her

autograph for his daughter. She smiles and gladly

obliges. He walks back to the taxi and a minute

later it pulls away.

Brenda smiles as she looks from the snow on the

ground to the decorations on the yard to the lights

on the house. She rings the doorbell and waits for

one of the Cerullo’s to answer. Not even a minute

later Lois appears smiling at the door. She pulls

Brenda in for a hug, then takes her coat yelling at

Louie to grab the suitcases.

“Bren, you’ll be in the room across from mine and

Ned’s when he gets here. I hope you don’t mind.”

She motions for Brenda to have a seat next to her

on the sofa.

“Are you kidding, I don’t mind at all. I’m so happy

to be with all of you. The decorations are wonderful.”

“Yeah, that’s Pops for ya. Every year he has to try

to outdo the neighbors. One of these years he’s

gonna blow a circuit and I won’t be surprised if the

electricity of the whole block goes out.”

“So when does everyone else get here?”

“Well Frannie’ll be here on Sunday, Noreen and

Mark should be here on Monday or Tuesday at

the latest and Sonny will be here tonight.”

“Who’s Sonny? I know you don’t have I brother

or sister that I haven’t met.”

“Oh, I never told you about Corinthos?” Brenda

shakes her head no. “Well he used to live next-door

to us. He’s practically like one of the family. Now

he lives in Puerto Rico or Port Charles or whatever.

He’s the same age as Markie.”

“Oh that’s cool. So any plans for today?”

“Well Ma and Pop are out food shopping and I

still haven’t gotten them anything, so I guess a trip

to the mall is in order.” Lois laughs at Louie who

comes walking down the stairs carrying a whole

bunch of decorations.

“Hey, what are you laughing at? These happen to

be good decorations. I don’t know why Pop didn’t

put them up, oh well, I’ll just have to do it.” Louie

throws his coat on and goes outside.

“Sometimes I think he’s a little kid who never grew

up. He’s never gonna change. Ma is gonna be so

upset when she’s sees that he brought out the junk

she hid from Pop.” Lois continues to laugh when

she sees the look on Brenda’s face.

“Lo, I love your family. Okay, Louie’s a little crazy,

but still you guys are so.. so, I don’t even know the

right word for it, but I love it. Now let me go grab

my purse and we can head off to the mall.”

“Okay, great and I’ll get our coats.”

Brenda goes into the room across from Lois, the

guest bedroom. She sees her suitcase placed neatly

in front of the bureau and a note from Gloria on the

nightstand.

Dear Brenda,

I’m hoping that Louis brought your suitcases up for

you. God knows I told him to. Carmine and I had to

run to the store but we should be home shortly. We

can’t wait to see you and hope that you are doing fine.

Don’t let Louie talk you into standing under the mistletoe,

he’s been trying with every woman that walks in here.

Poor boy, maybe you know a nice girl that wouldn’t

mind looking after him. A parent can only hope.

See you soon dear,

Gloria

Brenda smiles as she folds the note up and places it

inside the drawer. She turns on the light and looks in

the mirror while brushing her hair. She grabs her purse

and heads back downstairs to find Lois waiting on the

foyer with their coats. They walk outside and look up

to see Louie on the roof trying to get the Santa to stand

up.

“Louie, Brenda and I are going to go to the mall. Let

Sonny in if he gets here before we get back. You better

get down from there before Ma and Pop get home and

you better not fall off the roof. The last thing I need is

to visit your sorry ass in the hospital because you were

stupid enough to try to put all that junk up.” Lois gets

in the car.

Brenda walks around to the other side of the car and

waves to up to Louie. “Bye Louie.”

Louie looks down at Brenda and waves causing

himself to almost fall. “I’m alright, I’m alright. No

need to worry.”

Awhile later, tired from shopping, they stop at the

food court to refuel. They head to the “Salad Works”

and each grab a salad designed for their liking. They

find a nice place to sit and put their bags down and

take out their food.

“So, Bren, what happened with you and Ricky? You

guys made a pretty cute couple.”

“Well, we decided that our friendship was better than

a relationship. Besides it was hard with him always

touring with his music career and me being all over the

place with my modeling. But we still talk to each

other a lot and I’m happy about that.”

“So that means you’re free now right?” Lois gets a

certain glint in her eyes.

“Lois Marie Ashton, don’t look at me like that. I don’t

need you to be hooking me up with anybody. I’m

perfectly fine finding my own guys, thank you very much.”

“Hey, hey. It never hurts to get a little push in the right

direction now and then. You never know when the guy

of your dreams could be right under your nose.” Lois

smiles at the thought of hooking Brenda up with Sonny.

“Who Louie? I know he’s your brother and all, but I

don’t think so.” Brenda can’t help but laugh at the

thought.

“Oh no, not Louie. I was just saying. It could be any

decent attractive guy.”

“Enough talk about me, what about you and Ned.

When is he coming down?”

“Ned should be here by Wednesday. He had a meeting

with some company for ELQ that he couldn’t get out of.

I swear, if he would listen to me and pursue his singing

none of this would be a problem, but his family has him

chained at the ankles.”

“Well the Quatermaine’s are no ordinary family, I’ll

give them that. But you can’t tell me the thought of

him in a hot looking suit don’t drive you wild.” Brenda

closes the lid on her salad and finishes up her drink.

“Well the suits aren’t so bad, but the leather pants,

good god. I’ll never know how I talked him into

them but thank god I did.” Lois laughs and stands up,

collecting her trash to throw it away. “So you ready

to hit some more stores before we head back?”

Brenda, too, grabs her trash, throws it away, and

picks up her shopping bags. “Are you kidding me?

I was born to shop.”

An hour-and-a-half later they pull up in front of the

Cerullo home. They both get out of the car and grab

their bags from the back. Brenda notices that there

are two more cars also parked there. One she

recognizes as the Cerullo’s but the other she doesn’t.

Once at the front door Lois juggles her bags and

finally opens it.

They walk in and find the living room empty but can

hear talking coming from the kitchen. “Bren, let’s go

put our bags upstairs and then we can see what

they’re up to.”

They quickly make their way upstairs. Lois goes to

her room and Brenda to hers. Brenda sets all her bags

down on the bed. She opens one and pulls out a long

black dress. She grabs a hanger out of the closet then

walks to hang it up. She leaves her room and looks into

Lois’s. Not finding her there she goes back down and

into the kitchen. Opening the door, the first person she

sees is Gloria, who runs up to hug her.

Brenda relaxes into the warm hug. Soon pulling away

smiling, “Hi Gloria, great to see you again. Loved the

note.” They both start laughing then Carmine makes

his way over to her. “Hey Carmine, looking dashing

as usual.” He too hugs her, tightly, practically lifting

her off the ground.

Lois comes over and grabs Brenda’s arm dragging

her into the living room, where Louie and the most

attractive man Brenda has ever seen were sitting.

The man quickly stands up as Lois and Brenda

enter the room.

“Brenda Barrett, I would like you to meet my best-

friend Sonny Corinthos. Sonny Corinthos, I would

like you to meet my best-friend Brenda Barrett.”

Sonny reaches out his hand, to Brenda, as his eyes

wonder her body. “Pleasure to meet you, Brenda.”

Brenda smiles warmly back at him and gladly puts

her hand in his. “Nice to meet you, too, Sonny.”

They instantly feel the electricity that flows between

them. They stand looking deeply into each others

eyes, neither one wanting to break the connection.

But Lois grabs Sonny’s hand and pulls him down

on to the couch.

“Great now that we are all acquainted, Louie put

on the Christmas music, then Pop wants you in the

basement. I’m gonna go check with Ma in the kitchen,

be right back.” Lois heads into the kitchen while

Louie heads downstairs.

Brenda sits down on the couch and Sonny smiles

at her. She smiles back at him. There is an awkward

silence before they both turn to each other and start

talking at the same time. Sonny starts laughing, “Go

ahead, you first.”

Brenda laughs slightly, “So Lois tells me that you

grew up with her.”

“Yeah, I used to live next door. So, umm, have I met

you before? I can’t help but think that I’ve seen you

somewhere before.”

“No, I think I would have remember if we met before.

It’s really a habit of my job. I’m a model, you might

have seen me on a billboard or in a magazine.”

“Ah, that must be it.”

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Lois is helping Gloria set

the table. “Ma, I told you have Sonny sit next to Brenda.”

Gloria moves Brenda’s drink across the table next to

Louie’s. “Lois, I told you to stop playing matchmaker

and leave Brenda alone.”

When Gloria turns around to check on the stove Lois

quickly moves Brenda’s drink back next to Sonny’s.

She smiles happily with herself before going back in

to check on them. She goes in and sits on the loveseat.

“So what’s up guys?”

Sonny and Brenda look at Lois and can’t help but start

to laugh. They both know that she’s trying to set them

up with each other. Not that they would mind really,

but they don’t know very much about each other.

Gloria comes out and tells everyone that it’s time for

dinner. They all go into the dinning room and sit down

where their drinks are placed. Brenda winds up sitting

next to Sonny and when Gloria realizes this she looks

disapprovingly at Lois who can’t help but smile at her.

Carmine passes around the pasta and they all watch as

Louie almost spills it on himself. Louie blushes and passes

it Sonny who serves himself then offers to and does

serve Brenda, then he passes it on to Lois.

After dinner is finished Carmine, Sonny and Louie start

up a game of poker. Gloria sits in the rocking chair

knitting while the Christmas music plays throughout the

house. Lois and Brenda are in Lois’s room and Lois is

doing Brenda’s nails.

“So what do you think of him?” Lois asks while blowing

on Brenda’s fingernails helping them to dry.

“Well, from what I know of him, I think he’s a real

gentleman. The way he treats your parents, with such

respect, is something you don’t see all the time anymore.

Plus, he’s gone out of his way to be nice to me, which

is nice.”

“Is that it?”

“Well, aside from the fact that he’s drop-dead

gorgeous, yeah.” Lois and Brenda laugh and continue

talking late into the night about anything and everything.

Chapter 2

Saturday December 15th

The next morning Lois goes down into the kitchen

while Brenda goes to take a shower. Lois walks in

to find Louie sitting, drinking a cup of chocolate milk

and eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. “Don’t you ever

eat anything besides that?”

“Fruity Pebbles happen to be very good. Besides I

love the Flintstones. Don’t make fun, until you’ve had

some.” Louie sticks his tongue out at her and she

shakes her head.

“No thanks. I’m gonna make pancakes or

something edible. Hey, where’s Sonny?”

Before Louie can answer they hear and loud scream

and Sonny comes running down the steps with his hand

over his mouth.

Lois sits down and looks at Sonny questionably. “Well

what the hell happened up there?”

Sonny runs his hands through his hair and closes his

eyes picturing what he saw. “I um.. well, I didn’t mean to.

I just...

“He walked into the bathroom when I was coming

out of the shower. That’s what he did. Doesn’t anybody

ever think of knocking when the door is shut?” Brenda

walks past him and sits down next to Lois.

“Hey I said I was sorry, didn’t I?” Sonny sits across

from Brenda next to Louie.

Louie gets up and puts his bowel in the sink then grabs

Sonny’s arm pulling him into the living room. “So when

you walked in was she totally naked? Did ya get a

good look? Is she has hot as she looks with clothes on?

C’mon man spill.”

Unknown jealousy flows through Sonny’s body.

“Louie c’mere.” Louie gets real close to Sonny and

Sonny begins to whisper. “Shh, do me a favor (louder)

and SHUT THE HELL UP! You’re sick, man.” Louie

walks away from Sonny holding his hand over his ear.

Sonny walks back through the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Oh my god, Lo I was so embarrassed. I didn’t even

have the towel around me. I was just stepping out and

then the door busts open and there’s Sonny. All he did

was stand there staring at me. He didn’t leave until I

screamed. He totally scared the hell out of me.”

“Well, at least it was Sonny and not Louie.” Lois and

Brenda start laughing. “Yeah, Lo, you’re right it could

have been worse. I’m gonna go apologize to Sonny for

snapping at him. Then we can plan what we’re doing today.”

“Okay girl, just don’t walk in on him naked. I’ve done

that before. Whoa Baby!” Brenda’s eyes practically

pop out her head. “That much huh?” Lois starts laughing

uncontrollably. “Bigger.” “Oh man, Lo, now every time

I see him that’s what I’m gonna be thinkin’ about.” Brenda

shakes her head and goes upstairs.

Brenda quietly walks down the hallway. Once she gets

to his room she knocks lightly on the door.

Sonny is lying on his bed trying to get Brenda off his

mind. Ever since he first laid eyes on her, it was all he

could do not to walk over to her and never let her go.

This was all strange to him because he’s never felt this

way about a woman before. Now sure he’s had sex,

but there was never such a powerful connection as the

one he felt when he was around her. He hears a

knock on the door and figures it was Louie coming

to bother him again. “What do ya want?”

Brenda couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s Brenda, can I

come in?” Sonny jumps of the bed and gets up to

open the door. “Sorry, I thought you were Louie. Sure

come in, come in.”

She walks in and sits down on the bed. She looks up

at him and he sits down next to her. “I just wanted to

apologize for the way I sort snapped at you downstairs.

I didn’t mean to make you feel worse.”

“Hey, it was nothing. I am really sorry about walkin’

in on you though, I promise I’ll knock from now on.”

Brenda smiles at him. “So you forgive me?” Sonny

decides to lay on the charm and flashes her his million

dollar dimples. “Only if you forgive me?” Just when

Brenda thought he couldn’t get any sexier she sees him

smile. “Yeah, I do.” “Okay, well than I forgive you too.”

Brenda giggles slightly and reaches out to touch his

dimples. Sonny takes his chance to touch her cheek

and her eyes close. He leans down and kisses her gently.

It takes Brenda a second to realize what’s going on, but

then she can’t help but like it, then he pulls away. She

opens her eyes to look at him.

Sonny looks back at her afraid that he’s screwed

things up with her again. “I’m real sorry, I didn’t

mean to...” But that’s all he could say before she

interrupts him. “Shh.” She puts her hands on his face

and kisses him harder than before. Sonny’s tongue

roams her bottom lip seeking entry. Brenda moans

as his tongue begins making love with her own.

Her fingers get lost in his hair as they lay down next

to each other. Their kissing growing more intense, more

passionate. Sonny moves closer to her so now he’s

almost completely on top of her. Brenda moans when

she feels his hardness up against her. Her hands move

down his back to the end of his shirt, she bunches it

up and starts to pull it up his back. He moves up and

helps her to pull it the rest of the way off then he

throws it on the floor.

Sonny’s lips move from her mouth to her neck. Brenda

moans as Sonny kisses her weak spot. Suddenly, the

door busts open and they both jump up. “Sonny, you

almost ready?” Louie walks further in to the room and

sees Sonny with his shirt off and Brenda’s almost off

and his eyes widen. “HOLY SHIT!”

Sonny sits up, “Louie get the HELL OUT!” Louie

busts out laughing as he leaves the room. Sonny turns

back to Brenda who smiles at him. “Hey Bren, I’m

sorry about Louie, he’s an idiot.” Brenda stands up

close to him and runs her hands up his chest until her

fingers find the ends of his hair. “Hey, don’t worry

about him.” His hands rest on her lower back as they

kiss, both full of pent up desire. “Now, you get

changed cause we’re all gonna go out and have some

fun today.” She kisses him quickly before leaving the

room. Sonny smiles and shakes his head then walks

over to the dresser and pulls out his clothes.

Brenda goes in her room only to find Lois sitting on

her bed. Brenda laughs and walks over and grabs her

sneakers. Lois waits for Brenda to say something until

she can’t take it anymore. “So, is it true or is Louie

full of shit?” Brenda laughs, “Both.” Now Lois is even

more confused, “What?” “Both, yeah Sonny and I

were makin’ out and Louie is full of shit.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it.” Now Brenda is confused,

“Why? Weren’t you the one trying to get me and

Sonny together?” Lois smiles and laughs. “Yeah, but

I didn’t think it would happen so fast. (full of

excitement) HaHa! I knew you two would hit it off.

(thinking) Now, if I could only find someone for Louie.”

“Good luck with that one. So what are we doing today?”

“Well, I really miss Nedly, so I was thinking we could

go and pick him up.” Brenda looks at her and sighs.

“Great, I’m all excited for a car ride? (pauses) Hey,

I though you said he had a meeting in New York City?”

“Yeah, I did. We’re gonna go and kidnap him.” Brenda‘s

eyes light up. “So we’re going to NYC?” “Yup!” “Ah,

this is great.”

Sonny is walking down the hallway when he hears

Brenda and Lois talking. He knocks on the door

and yells, “Everybody decent?”, causing Brenda and

Lois to start laughing. “Come on in Corinthos.” Sonny

walks in the room and sits down next to Brenda. “So

what’s all the commotion about?” He kisses her hair.

Brenda smiles at him, “We’re going to New York City.”

Sonny looks at Lois surprised. “What, or should I say,

Who, is in New York City?”

“Well, ya see, Ned has this meeting, to which he

won’t make it to, because I’m gonna kidnap him

first.” “Whoa pretty drastic measure, Lo. You must

be hung up on him pretty bad.” Lois smiles brightly,

“Yeah, ain’t it great. So c’mon let’s get moving before

Louie wonders where we are.” Brenda grabs Sonny’s

hands and pulls him off the bed. “Oh, Lo, you’re horrible.”

“Yeah, I know, too bad. Now, c’mon.”

Hours later they entered the city of New York. Lois

pulls up and parks her car in the ELQ parking lot.

They all get out. “Okay, here’s the plan. I’m gonna

kidnap Nedly and you two go out and have your fun.

We’ll meet back up at the.. how about Gonzalez

Gonzalez. I’ve heard mad things about it. So that cool?”

Sonny looks over at Brenda who nods and smiles back

at him. He was going to make this a day they would never

forget. “It sounds perfect. We’ll meet you there about 6, k?

That gives us plenty of time to get back home.” “Great,

now I’m gonna go get my man.” Brenda and Sonny

laugh. “Good luck Lo. See ya later.”

Sonny puts his arm around Brenda’s waist holding

her right hand. They walk out to a busy street where

they would be able to catch a cab. “So, Sonny, what

should we do (looks at her watch to see it’s only 11am)

to fill up all this time?” Sonny smiles slyly at her. “I

have some ideas.” “Well would ya like to fill me in?”

“Nope, you’ll just have to be surprised.” Brenda shrugs

realizing she should just take this time to get to know

him better. “Okay, I’m not big on surprises but I

can make an exception this one time.”

Sonny dimples, “Thank you, sweetheart.” He leans

down and kisses the side of her head before hailing

a cab. He holds the door for her and then whispers

to the driver. They drive for little bit and then the cab

stops at a street corner. Sonny reaches forward and

pays the driver. Brenda looks over at him. “What’re

we doing in Times Square?”

“Well, ya see I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the

city in the winter for a while. It don’t snow in Puerto

Rico. So I figured we’d take in the sights together.”

“I’m glad to be here with you.” “Me too with you.”

He kisses her quickly but hungrily, before pulling away

and taking her hand in his.

A few hours later Sonny and Brenda arrive at Rockefeller

Center to go ice skating. Brenda was having the time

of her life. Sure she’s been to New York City but it

was usually for work, this is the first time she’s really

enjoyed the wonders of it.

So far, they had had hotdogs for lunch and purchased

a disposable camera. They took turns snapping pictures

of each other and asking people to take pictures of them

together so they would always have the memories.

They get their ice skates and sit down on a bench. “So

have you ever been ice skating before Bren?”, Sonny

says, watching her tie up her skates. “Well yeah but

that was a long time ago. I know the basics but I’m

really out of practice. What about you?” Sonny laughs,

“Are you kidding, I was born to ice skate. Ponds, lakes,

any frozen water. We were all over it.” Brenda stands

up trying to get her balance on the skates. Sonny

reaches for her hand and they move out on to the ice

when Brenda smiles wickedly. “Okay show me what

you got tough boy.” Sonny’s eyebrow raise at the

challenge, “Tough boy? Okay you’re on. Watch and

prepare to be amazed.”

Sonny skates slowly away from her. He begins going

faster when he turns around to look at her and falls

flat on his ass. Brenda’s hands quickly cover her mouth

to try to hide her laughter. By the time she skates over

to where he was he is standing again. She looks at him

desperately trying not to laugh when he breaks out into

a smile. “Okay, so I’m a little out of practice?” He pulls

her into his arms and she brushes off his butt.

Soon their lips melt onto each others. Not ready to

break their connection he slowly starts skating

backward while continuing to kiss her. There was

hardly anyone else on the ice but to them they were

the only two people in the world.

Time passes quickly and soon it was almost six. They

take a cab and head for Gonzalez Gonzalez, where

they were supposedly to meet Lois and Ned. Sonny

recognizes a guy he used to go to school with working

there and he sits them at a table quickly. They order

and are brought drinks by the time Lois and Ned

arrive. Once they do the waiter escorts them to their

table.

“So Lo, how was the kidnapping?” Sonny laughs as

Lois smiles brightly. “It was easier than expected. At

the last minute Ned’s meeting was canceled so all I

had to do was drag him out.” Lois and Brenda high-five.

“Well done Lo, so were you surprised Ned?” “Yeah,

I was planning on coming tonight to surprise her but

she always manages to outdo me.” Ned leans over

and kisses Lois sweetly.

“So what did you two do today?” Sonny shrugs,

“Nothing much, what fun is there to do in New York

City anyways?” Brenda hits him playfully. “Oh Sonny

stop. He’s kidding. We took a walk around Time

Square and then we went skating at Rockefeller Center.

It was wonderful. The most fun I’ve ever had. (pulling

out the camera) We even got pictures.”

They chat all through dinner and then drive back to

Brooklyn. When they walk in the Cerullo house Louie

is sitting on the couch waiting for them. They all take

one look at him and start laughing, completely forgetting

that they left him there. “So you all finally decided to

come home. Just thought it would be so funny to leave

Louie home, did ya? Well, you’ll all be sorry, just

you wait and see.” Lois gives him the hand. “Yeah

whatever, c’mon, hot chocolate in the kitchen.”

Lois pours them all a glass of hot chocolate and they

go to sit on the back porch looking up at the stars.

“Don’t forget to make a wish.” Sonny starts laughing.

“Lois Marie Cerullo. For as long as I’ve known

you, you always say that when we come out here

at night.” “Well cause its true, now just shut up

and do it.” They all look up and pick the first star

they happen to see. They all make their wish silently

to themselves, then waiting to see if by some miracle

their wish would come true.