A home is built on traditions. They were what held a family together... pulled them back from the brink of disaster even in the craziest of times. Someone must have taught that lesson to their daughter well, because Kristina was all about traditions. Every Christmas, daddy had to put the star on top of the tree, they always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and mama always opened hers first. Every New Year's Eve, she would go to bed early, pretend to be asleep, then race downstairs at midnight, arms open, yelling "Happy New Year!" Valentine's Day, fresh flowers were expected on the bedside tables in the morning. Pink roses for her, white ones for mama. Easter was the egg hunt at General Hospital. Fourth of July meant fireworks in the park, cuddled up on a blanket with her mother and father. And each year for Halloween, she would choose a character from the literally hundreds of books that lined her shelves and that's what she would be.

They understood that Kristina had realized early on that on these special days, no matter what tensions were in the house or who was too busy working, that her parents always stopped to make sure these events happened. She had now come to rely on them as her markers... signposts that told her that as long as this happened on this day, then her family was okay. And no day of traditions was more important to her parents than November 19th.

It was the same every year. Sometimes Alexis laughed and asked Sonny, "You aren't tired of this movie yet?" when their celebration began promptly at midnight, and he would chuckle and assure her he'd let her know when it got old. She knew it never would, not to him.

No sooner would the hands of the clock make it officially Kristina's birthday than the DVD player would be turned on and, snuggled together on the sofa, Alexis and Sonny would watch the footage Alexis had shot on Kristina's first birthday. Any little pang of guilt over the fact that he'd missed that day had long since disappeared under his reassurances that, given what he'd been going through at the time, he'd have been in no shape to make the day a special one for their daughter. Still, Alexis knew when she snuck a glance at her husband's face that she'd find his usual wonder and delight at the video clips, but also a hint of sadness that this memory was forever borrowed and not truly his.

It had been a simple enough day, really, but special because of the momentousness of the occasion. A year earlier, Alexis had been begging God for her daughter's life. Now Kristina was one... happy, healthy and finally home. For Alexis, that was really all the gift that was necessary. The video started that first birthday morning, with Alexis walking into her daughter's nursery to find the baby wide-awake and waiting for her.

[I]"Hello, my girl. Happy birthday."

Kristina giggled and held on to the railing tightly as her little legs ran in place in excitement. Alexis moved closer, the digital video camera small enough to rest in one hand while she reached out her other one to gently ruffle Kristina's hair.

"Are you ready for our day? We're going to have the ultimate girl's day. You want to know what we're doing?"

Alexis sat the camera down on the dresser... she'd tested this out several times to make sure the angle was just right. She wanted to someday watch this with her little girl and share their first birthday memories. Once the camera was in just the right spot, Alexis moved back to the crib and picked her daughter up.

"First, we're going to take one of those bubble baths that you love so much, complete with our baby-safe vanilla bubble bath. Then we're going to get dressed in our new birthday outfits, and we're going to have breakfast at Kelly's, and then we're going shopping, and then the park, and then mommy's favorite--naptime, and then we'll have... cake!"

Alexis let her voice go a little high and squeaky on the last word and it made Kristina burst out in laughter. She rarely used baby talk with Kristina, so when she did, it always got that reaction, and it was one Alexis adored because she had heard far too little of her daughter's laughter this first year. But she wasn't dwelling on that, not today.

"Okay, what's say we head to our bath?"[/I]

The video footage ended there for awhile, and as the clip faded out, Sonny would look down to where Alexis lay against his shoulder and wait for her to begin narrating the events that were not there for him to see.

"Well, after our bath..."

"How come I never get details about the bath?" he asked, a teasing and lascivious tone in his voice. Alexis slapped gently at his chest and rolled her eyes.

"You're such a letch."

"Yeah, but you love it."

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

His soft chuckle echoed through her body for a moment, then he settled down, the arm he had wrapped around her shoulder squeezing her still closer to him. "Please?"

"Okay," Alexis said, her voice going all soft and dreamy, the way Sonny noticed it always did when she told him this story. "We finished our bath, then we got dressed and went to Kelly's for breakfast."

Kelly's had been quiet that day. Alexis had chosen to go there because she knew there was little danger of running into anyone she didn't want to see. Ned was out of town. Carly was still in the hospital and Bobbie would be there taking care of her daughter. Chances were Skye wouldn't be caught dead here now that she and Ned were history. It was a place where they should be safe and able to just enjoy a peaceful morning.

Alexis had chosen a table to the extreme right of the restaurant near the window. Kristina loved to look out the window from her high chair, frequently waving to the people who walked past them. Today was no different, and the strangers, charmed as most were, waved back enthusiastically, wide smiles on their faces.

[I]"Well, we know who you got your charm from, little one," Alexis said, winking at her daughter. Deep dimples appeared in Kristina's cheeks, reminding the mother just who, in fact, Kristina had inherited that stunning personality from.

"Alexis, hi."

The familiar voice pulled Alexis' eyes away from her daughter and up to Elizabeth, who was standing next to their table.

"Hi, Liz. How are you?"

"I'm good. Alexis, she is so beautiful."

The proud mother beamed at the compliment. Kristina did look particularly adorable today. She had on denim overalls with a red thermal shirt underneath and her red mary jane's completed the outfit.

"Hello, Kristina," the younger woman said as she extended a hand toward the little girl. "How are you?"

A muffled version of "hi" was Kristina's response, and she wrapped her tiny fingers around two of Liz's, holding tight to this new potential playmate.

"Uh-oh, looks like she's zoned in on you as someone she likes," Alexis said.

"Well, that's just fine with me," Liz answered. "A girl can never have enough friends, can she, Kristina?"

As Kristina inspected the grown-up hand she was now enthralled with, especially the sparkly diamond that still rested on Liz's left ring finger, the two adults chatted easily. Finally, though, hunger won out, and Alexis placed their order and Liz went to round up their food. Ten minutes later, she returned with Alexis' plate of eggs and potatoes, but disappeared again quickly. Kristina leveled a quizzical look at her mother, noting that mama now had breakfast, but she did not. Alexis thought she was going to face a crying bout from her daughter, but suddenly Liz appeared again, and instead of tears, Kristina's face broke out into a blazingly happy smile. Liz had set up a small tray with balloons attached to the corners, and there in the middle sat the birthday's girl's breakfast.

"Happy Birthday, Kristina," Liz whispered, then she delivered a quick kiss to the top of the baby's head.

"Liz..." Alexis' voice faltered, she was so truly touched. "How did you even know that?"

"Zander and I went shopping yesterday for Kristina's birthday present."

"Zander knows it's her birthday?"

Liz laughed. "Are you kidding? He was so cute trying to decide what to get her. It's all he talked about all day, that and how glad he was she was home with you where she belonged."[/I]

Alexis had stood and hugged Elizabeth warmly. It was a slow day at Kelly's, and she'd joined them at the table off and on, Kristina jumping back and forth from playing with her food to trying to pull the balloons off of the tray. It had been a lovely morning.

Soon enough, the Davis women packed up their things and headed to Wyndham's to buy Kristina a new winter coat. They had then headed to Right Start, where the nice clerk helped them pick some developmentally appropriate toys for Kristina that were also tons of fun. They were on their way back to the car when Alexis heard her cell phone ring.

[I]"Hello?"

"Hey, Alexis, it's Zander. How's the birthday girl?"

Alexis grinned. "She's wonderful and very touched that you remembered. So am I. Are we going to see you today?"

"I was hoping I could come by."

"Tell you what," Alexis said, "we're going to the park now, but after her nap, we're having cake. Why don't you join us? About 3:00?"

"I'll see you then," Zander promised, and the call ended.

"All right you," Alexis ticked Kristina as she belted the baby into the car seat. "Let's go play, shall we?"[/I]

It was at this point in the story that the DVD player was turned on again in a living room years past that historic first birthday. Sonny's eyes twinkled as he watched Kristina on all fours, a large blanket spread out underneath her on the ground. Her mouth was curled into a devilish grin, her dimples in full effect as she stubbornly refused to move at her mother's direction.

"Come on, Kristina," Alexis coaxed over the audio track. "Crawl to mama. Come on."

A giggle and a refusal to move were Kristina's only replies. Sonny could imagine the way Alexis must have looked... all flustered that things weren't going exactly as she wanted, yet unwilling to get angry or upset by it because her main goal that day had been to make Kristina happy... and being difficult was clearly making her happy.

"Okay, fine. I guess you don't want to crawl for me. Okay."

Every year, this made Sonny laugh... Alexis using reverse psychology on a one-year-old. But to his utter amazement the first time she'd shown him the video, it had worked. Kristina's expression suddenly changed to one of concern, and she eagerly crawled over to her mother, who still had the camera at the ready.

"Oh, you do want to crawl for me. Thank you, baby."

The clips were a hodgepodge after that. Alexis had periodically grabbed the camera to capture a moment, then set it back down to give her full attention to Kristina. The quality or haphazard way they were put together didn't matter to Sonny. He loved seeing how much joy they had given to one another on that day when he had been unable to be a part of their lives.

His favorite part was just before they left for the day. Kristina was clearly getting sleepy, but she was still having a good time. Alexis had been packing up when the little girl suddenly bolted off the blanket, crawling at her fastest clip. A frantic mother came chasing after her, the camera still sitting on the diaper bag where Alexis had set it down before giving chase. Somehow the angle had worked perfectly to reveal where they ended up... a large pile of leaves that Kristina crawled right into the middle of.

Sonny loved the pure look of joyous discovery on his daughter's face as she tried to figure out why the leaves were making crunching sounds. She grabbed handfuls of them, crumpled them unknowingly, then watched as the smaller pieces fell to the ground around her. It was a perfect moment of childhood--a baby safe and protected, finding out something new about the world.

Alexis had gone back to retrieve the camera once she was sure Kristina wasn't going anywhere, and for several minutes, she stood by silently, recording every wide-eyed look of amusement and every giggle that the leafy exploration brought out of the baby girl. It was a moment they had held onto forever, not just in the form of the recording, but in a shadowbox frame upstairs in Kristina's room that held a pile of the leaves Alexis had somehow gotten home unbroken.

The girls had left the park and gone home for their nap, and the final piece of video on the disc was Kristina's cake presentation. An opened gift sat on the table nearby... a baby doll that looked almost like a younger Kristina laying inside. Zander was in charge of the camera at that point, his voice booming as he called out, "Okay, ready." Kristina was looking around, trying to figure out where her mother had gone off to when Alexis appeared from the kitchen, a one-tier round cake covered in light pink frosting and peppered with white flowers in her hands.

"Zander, you have to help me sing, okay, please. She doesn't deserve to suffer me alone."

The young man's easy laugh shook the camera slightly. "Okay, on three. One, Two..."

The two sang as Kristina stared in delight at the intricate treat before her. Alexis didn't give her sweets often, but she knew a dessert when she saw it, and the single candle in the center that burned brightly had her full attention.

"Happy Birthday, dear Kristina, happy birthday to you."

Alexis leaned close to the baby then, and whispered "Make a wish, angel." Then she "helped" Kristina blow out the candle." The video clip faded out on Alexis and Zander applauding and cheering as Kristina dug her fingers into the edge of the cake.

"God, she was adorable," Sonny said as he switched the DVD player off.

"And what is she now?" Alexis asked. Sonny stood and turned to face her, both his hands extending toward her.

"She's as beautiful as her mother and just as much of a challenge."

"Oh, really?"

Sonny laughed as Alexis took his hands and he slowly helped her off the couch.

"Yeah, I told her that, you know, if she felt like she was getting a little old for the whole breakfast thing, we could do it downstairs this year."

"And what did she say?" Alexis asked as Sonny wrapped his arms around her and led her toward the stairs of the lakeside cottage they had called home for 10 years.

"She crossed her arms in front of her and looked at me like I'd said something very stupid, and then she said, 'I get my breakfast the way I always get it, Dad. Nothing changes.'"

"Sounds like her," Alexis said laughing.

The two of them headed for their bedroom, and there, they enjoyed their own little part of the Nov. 19th "traditions" that made up the day. Sonny had a new, silly line for her every year, but the end result was the same. After watching their daughter's first birthday unfold through the magic of technology, they would move to their room, their hands undressing each other not long after the door closed.

"So how did we make that little girl again?" Sonny asked.

"Oh, well," Alexis said, an exaggerated sigh following her words. "If you don't remember, I guess I'll have to show you."

They sank onto the bed giggling like teenagers, and show him she did.

Sonny had missed Kristina's first birthday, but he had never missed another. When Carly had left him and the kids to go "find herself," after the fiasco with Lorenzo, Alexis had seen the level of love and concern Sonny was able to bring out of himself for his sons. He truly left his old life behind, and she realized there was no longer a reason to hide the truth from him that wasn't pure selfishness. She hated the idea of him hating her... but that had become her only reason, and so she had gone to him one late summer morning in 2004 and told him the truth.

There had been the expected screaming and yelling and hurt feelings, but by Kristina's second birthday that November, things were calm enough for them to host her party together. They agreed to have Christmas together with all three children at Alexis' newly purchased home by the lake. It was on that day that Alexis began to fall in love with his sons, and that both she and Sonny realized half the anger they felt at each other wasn't about what they'd done, but about the feelings they'd buried rather than acknowledge two and a half years earlier.

By Kristina's third birthday, Sonny and the boys had moved in with them. That was also the year that Carly resurfaced, wanting to rebuild a relationship with her children. Sonny hated the idea, but Alexis had persuaded him based on their own past experiences. Carly was their mother... and they had a right to know her, just as Kristina'd had a right to know Sonny. He acquiesced. The boys would miss Kristina's birthday this year because they were on vacation with Carly in California, but they had both left gifts for their sister behind.

Two weeks before Kristina's sixth birthday, Sonny had asked her what she wanted as a gift that year. The little girl with chestnut brown hair and dark eyes had looked up at her father very seriously and said, "I want you to marry mommy."

Alexis gave him grief for the full eight weeks leading up to their wedding that he'd only proposed to make "his baby" happy, but they both knew they'd been thinking independently about the idea of marriage for months, and Kristina had just been the one to make them talk about it. The wedding had been a simple affair on the dock out back.

This year, their precious little girl was turning 12. The alarm clock went off promptly at 7:30, and Sonny kissed his wife, who would sleep until the new setting woke her at 8:30, and then he went downstairs to the kitchen. He tooled around, making the same practiced moves he had made there time and time again over the years. Coffee brewed, juice was squeezed, strawberries were washed, blueberry pancakes were assembled--just as "tradition" dictated.

At 8:45, Alexis strolled in, her face bright from the simple joy they always felt on this day. She stole him away from his preparations for a kiss, and then sipped at a cup of coffee until everything was ready. Once Sonny was finished, Alexis followed him up the stairs and opened the door of Kristina's bedroom, where they found their 12-year-old princess looking about 5 instead because she was so giddy with excitement.

"Happy birthday, Baby," Sonny said as he walked in and placed the large breakfast tray on the foot of the bed. He moved to his daughter's waiting arms and kissed her cheek as she hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart," Alexis offered, and the same strong, loving hug from her daughter awaited her.

The parents took their usual places, one on either side of Kristina, filling the queen-sized bed, and Sonny eased the tray up over Kristina's legs so it was in the middle of them. And there, as they had each year for the past nine years, mother, father and daughter shared Kristina's birthday morning together, spinning plans for the day, telling silly stories and just being together.

She didn't know if she would ever tell them, but it was Kristina's very favorite tradition of all. And when the day was through, she would open her journal and as she had every year that she could write, and she would tell the pages all about the special day her parents had given her. And then she would write at the end... "I wonder sometimes if everyone loves their parents this much. Thank you, God, for making me theirs."

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