Tom eased the car into the driveway and shut off the engine, sighing as the fatigue he'd been battling for hours finally hit him full force.

"You looked exhausted," Angel said, gently touching his arm.

Those were the first words Tom had heard her utter since they had left the clinic, nearly a half-hour before. She had spent the entire drive back from Carlisle touching the ultrasound image of her baby and looking out the window, absorbed in her thoughts about all of this, Tom imagined. "Yeah, I am a little tired," he smiled at her as they got out of the car and headed to the cabin.

"I guess I forgot to shut the door last night," Tom laughed as he saw the open front door and Charlie running out to greet them. "Did you keep the place safe from intruders, Charlie?" Tom asked, as the golden retriever jumped up to kiss him. Then he saw Angel bending down to pick up something off the front porch.

"Someone delivered a package while we were gone," she called over her shoulder as Tom came up from behind.

"Yeah, I've been expecting this," he said sharply as he took the package containing his laptop from her hands, suddenly feeling embarrassed - as if what he was about to do was wrong and she had caught him at it. But he knew he was just trying to find out all that he could so he could help her when the time was right. He planned to tell her everything he found out. After all, he always did the right thing - always... eventually.

Angel looked at him, curious as to his sudden curtness, but she assumed it was due to his fatigue and merely walked into the cabin, leaving Tom on the porch turning the package over and over in his hands, almost as if he were not totally sure what to do with it.

Tom walked in behind her just in time to see her lay the ultrasound picture on the arm of the couch and then begin clearing the table of the remnants of last night's meal. "I'll get that. You need to rest," Tom said, trying to take the wine and flowers from her hands, and guiding her over to the couch.

Angel refused to move. "Tom, I rested most of the time I was at the clinic. You, on the other hand, are dead on your feet! I suggest you lie down while I clean this place up."

"But you need to take it easy..." Tom began, but Angel cut him off.

"Tom, I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I'm well rested now, and I feel stronger now than I have in days. I'm not one of your mother's porcelain angels. I won't break if I'm touched, or if I try to do anything." She put her hands to his face. "You've taken such good care of me. Let me take care of you for a change. Please."

Tom closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her skin against his, and sighed. God, how he wished he could just turn the clock back twenty-four hours, and have her touch him like this - when he still knew her as his Angel; now she was Jax's Brenda, and Tom knew that nothing would change that. He forced a smile. "When you're right, you're right!" He headed toward the couch, but Angel stopped him.

"That's my bed, remember?" she smiled, arching an eyebrow at him, her eyes twinkling.

He loved her eyes, and he had thought he was going to spend the rest of his life gazing into those eyes - getting lost in those eyes. Suddenly, he just wanted to kiss her, but instead, he averted his eyes from hers, and said, "I think that we should change sleeping arrangements now. I had meant to say something last evening, but then...well, with the unexpected trip and all...I put clean sheets on the bed yesterday, before I left for Port Charles. I had expected you to sleep in the bed from now on..." With me, he added silently to himself.

"We'll talk about sleeping arrangements later," she said. "For now, I want you to use the bedroom, so I don't disturb you while I'm cleaning up the kitchen." Tom started to protest again, but again she stopped him. "This is not up for debate. I'm going to run in and change into some jeans now, so I don't get anything on this beautiful dress you got me." She looked down at the dress and then back up at Tom. "You really are so sweet," she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek and then disappearing into the bedroom.

Tom sighed heavily, as he watched the door to his bedroom close, thinking about what could have been with Angel. His heart was having a hard time accepting what his head knew was right - she belonged to another man, and he had no right feeling the way he did about her, but it was just so hard turning off these intense feelings he had for her. He had never felt like this before - not even with Emma. He had only known Angel a couple of weeks, but still he loved her more than he had ever loved Emma, and he knew he would love Angel the rest of his life - no matter what.

The door opened and Angel came back out. "I'm all done. Now you get in there and get some sleep. I don't want to see your face for hours! Charlie and I will be fine out here on our own, and I'll take care of feeding Charlie and myself if we get hungry. You just need to rest!" she said, shooing him toward the bedroom with her hands.

Tom, now too tired and too confused by his conflicted emotions to protest, simply nodded and smiled, as he walked into his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Angel immediately set about the task of cleaning up from last night. She washed the dishes and cleaned the table, and then as she was cleaning the remaining salad off the floor, she noticed a small, white package on the floor near the table. She went over and picked it up. It was partially open, and she could see that it was a toy of some sort. She unwrapped the paper a bit further to see that it was a small, white bear that looked like an angel. She smiled as she touched its fur. "Tom must have picked this up for the baby when he ran into the drugstore in Carlisle to fill my prescriptions. How sweet!" She held the bear to her heart with one hand and put her other hand over her abdomen. Just then a face flashed briefly through her head - it was "his" face, the face of her baby's father and the man she loved - she knew it. But the image was gone as quickly as it had appeared, leaving her unable to remember it once again. She sat down at the table, and hugged the bear to her. "Soon, sweet baby... Soon, I'll remember everything, and then we'll all be together - you and me and your daddy...I know it."

Jax made it back to Port Charles in less than two hours, and had to fight his way through the horde of media that swarmed around the building that housed the J&J Jacks offices, before finally making it into his office. Addie and several of the secretaries were watching helplessly as FBI agents filled boxes with files, folders, and computer disks. Other agents were taking the CPUs from the various offices as well.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jax barked.

A tall, gray-haired man turned at Jax's voice. "Jasper Jacks?" Jax nodded. "I'm Special Agent Darryl Fry, FBI," he showed his ID to Jax as he spoke, "and we have received information that J&J Jacks has been involved in money-laundering for various mob factions. All records of any J&J Jacks business transactions are being seized for evidence, and J&J Jacks is now effectively closed down. You and your brother and your father are being charged with racketeering."

"What?! This can't be happening!" Jax exploded. "We have never accepted mob money!" Jax looked past the agent to see Jerry sitting in Jax's office watching as three agents cleared out Jax's desk and the shelves in there as well. Jax burst into his office.

"Jerry, what the hell are they talking about?!"

Jerry just looked at Jax, his eyes steady, but said nothing, and in that instant Jax knew the truth. "Why, you - !!!" He lunged for Jerry, but Agent Fry restrained him. "How could you, Jerry? Does Dad know about any of this?" Jerry looked past Jax and out the window, and once again Jax saw the cold, hard light of reality dawn upon him. He felt like he was drowning, and he suddenly needed Brenda more than he ever had in his life. But he had lost her and now he had effectively lost his family as well, and he was alone - truly alone - and for the first time in his life, he felt hopeless and helpless.

Tom had slept for several hours, though not peacefully. His dreams at first were wonderful - he had dreamed that he and Angel were married and the child she was carrying was his. She told him that she could never imagine being so happy with anyone else, and she loved him and their child so much that she never wanted to know who she was "before." He was enough for her now and for always. But then things changed suddenly, and she told him she hated him for keeping her past from her, and imprisoning her with him when she should have been free to return to Jax. He had awakened from the last dream in a cold sweat, and was unable to get that out of his mind, when he finally ventured into the main room of the cabin, where Angel was curled up on the couch, drinking a glass of milk.

She smiled when she saw that he was up. "Did you get some rest?" she asked, as she got up off the couch.

"Some," Tom replied, walking slowly over to the table where the package containing his laptop sat. He rubbed his hands over the still unopened package, debating whether to investigate Jax or just to tell Angel the truth as he now knew it and leave it at that.

"Are you hungry?" Angel asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Huh? I'm sorry, what did you say? I guess I am still a little groggy," Tom looked at her blankly.

"I asked if you were hungry," Angel replied, then she noticed the beads of perspiration on Tom's face. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, putting her hand to his forehead. "You feel a little warm, and your face is clammy. I hope you aren't getting sick."

"Sick? No, just low blood sugar, that's all," Tom forced a laugh. "I could really go for a ham sandwich and a beer right about now."

Angel smiled, relieved that Tom was okay. "One ham sandwich and beer coming up. Why don't you sit down, and I'll get it for you."

She brushed past him, and Tom felt a tingle as their hands touched briefly. He sat down at the table and watched as she made the sandwich and then poured the beer for him. Tom was transfixed by the domesticity of the entire scene, and he wanted to capture this in a bottle to keep forever. He wanted this so much for him and Angel - to be like this always - here away from the rest of the world. Why the hell did the rest of the world have to intrude in on them? But it did - it had to. One way or another, someone would eventually discover who Angel really was, and then she'd never forgive him for not telling her. He took a deep breath, and decided that tonight - after he had read what he could off the internet and what John had sent him on Jax - he would tell Angel who she was and let her decide what to do with the information.

Angel set the sandwich and the beer in front of him, and then kissed him on the cheek. He looked up at her, surprised by the kiss. "What was that for?" he smiled, thrilled that she felt close enough to him to kiss him so easily.

"For this!" Angel said, as she pulled the angel bear from behind her back. "I can't believe that you got this when you had my prescriptions filled. It was so sweet of you to get this for the baby. And an 'angel,' no less." She hugged him and kissed him again.

Both the bear and her display of affection startled Tom. "Yeah, sure...It was really nothing..." he stammered, wondering where the hell the bear had come from...

Soon after Tom had finished his sandwich and beer, Angel had announced she was tired and was off to take a warm bath and then would take up his offer to sleep in the bed tonight. Tom was grateful because he needed to use the phone jack here in the main room to connect to his laptop to do his research on Jax. John had sent a disk of information also with a note for Tom to read the files on the disk as soon as possible. Tom stuck the disk into the computer as soon as he had turned it on, and was shocked at the information that John had sent him. It was information alleging that J&J Jacks was involved in money laundering for the mob. A sick feeling bubbled up in his gut as he read the list of evidence against the Jacks family, although none of it seemed to directly incriminate Jax. It also seemed that the bureau had planned simultaneous raids on J&J Jacks offices in Juneau, Los Angeles, New York, and Port Charles just today. Well, Angel would certainly be going back to a hornet's nest when she returned! he thought.

Tom checked to make sure that Angel was indeed sleeping, and then he got into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the picture of Angel/Brenda and Jax that he had torn from the "People" magazine in the Carlisle clinic the previous night. He smoothed out the wrinkles and set it down next to his computer as he logged onto the internet and began surfing for any and all information about Jasper Jacks and Brenda Barrett.

He spent the next several hours scanning through articles from "Forbes," "US News and Business Reports," Time," "Newsweek," and "The Financial Times" about Jax's uncanny business acumen. According to all of these reports the man was nothing short of a boy genius, and Tom was trying to reconcile why this man would need to launder money for the mob when everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. He also read information gleaned from several different gossip and society columns about the jet-setting playboy Jax had been up until 2-1/2 years ago, when he had met Brenda Barrett, model and then girlfriend of small-time hood, Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr.

Tom was only marginally familiar with Corinthos and his operation, since Tom dealt with the major crime families of the East Coast, and Corinthos was bush league in comparison to them - although he was every bit as repulsive in Tom's book. Tom wondered what about Corinthos had attracted his Angel to him. Was it the danger - the excitement of his lifestyle? He shook his head. He couldn't imagine the woman he knew now having anything to do with a lowlife like Corinthos.

Tom went on to read about Jax and Brenda's elopement a few months after they had met, which was nullified when his supposedly dead wife turned up at their second wedding. Interestingly enough, Corinthos had been the one to "dig up" Jax's dead wife to ruin Brenda's happiness. Jax and Brenda eventually parted company, and then Corinthos and she had planned to be married just a year ago, but Corinthos had literally left her at the altar, and she had suffered a breakdown and required hospitalization. Scum! Tom thought. But through everything Jax had been there to support her, and they had finally made their way completely back to each other and planned to be married November 5, 1998. Tom sighed. Jax really did love Brenda, he realized. And he knew what he had to do first thing in the morning.

Suddenly, he needed some air. He looked over at Charlie, who was sleeping outside the closed door to Angels' room. "Come on, boy!" he whispered. "Let's go for a run." And he opened the front door and the two of them ran out into the night.

Angel awoke feeling slightly nauseous. She tried taking several deep breaths, and then decided to go to the kitchen to get some dry crackers - a trick Dr. Mooney had suggested. She opened the door to find the lights on, but Tom and Charlie were nowhere around. Tom must have taken Charlie for a run, she thought, as she walked through to the kitchen. But as the glanced at the clock on the wall, which read 2:15 a.m., she wondered why Tom was taking Charlie out at that hour. She grabbed a couple of saltines and headed back toward her room, when the flickering light of Tom's laptop computer screen drew her attention. And that's when she saw the slightly wrinkled picture that lay beside the computer, and she recognized her face and the face of the man who'd been haunting her dreams...

Tom stopped short at the sight that greeted him on his return from his soul-searching run with Charlie. Angel was standing at the table looking alternately between the screen of his laptop and the picture he had torn from the "People" magazine that was in her hand.

She gazed up as soon as she heard him come in, and the look on her face scared him. She stared at Tom, a mixture of anger and betrayal in her tear-filled eyes. She held the picture up to him, her voice choked with emotion, "How long have you known?!"