The past two weeks had gone very quickly for both Jax and Brenda. When Jax returned to the office, it was obvious that they had all seen the item in the society column of the Port Charles Herald. Everyone he passed in the halls congratulated him and asked to have their best wishes passed on to Brenda. When he got to his office, there was a large stack of congratulatory phone messages sitting on his desk.

About two hours after he had gotten in, his secretary had gently rapped on his door. When he acknowledged her, she brought in a small silver vase containing a single pink tulip that had just been delivered. When Jax opened the card, he couldn't help but smile when he read it. It simply said, "I love you daddy" and was signed "? Jacks". Jax immediately called Brenda to thank her for the flower and spent nearly an hour on the phone with her, talking about everything and nothing. Eventually though, they both had to get back to work. Every day since then, a single pink tulip arrived for Jax at the same time, always with the same message.

Brenda had not escaped the deluge of good wishes either. After her long phone conversation with Lois the day after she and Jax found out about the baby, she was treated to numerous calls, not only from Lois, but also from her mother, Gloria. The house was inundated with gifts and flowers from people Brenda knew from her modeling days, as well as some of Jax's business associates, and, of course, their friends from around the world. For the life of her though, she could not figure out how they had heard, unless one of the wire services had picked up the item from the local paper. When Thao's gift arrived, both she and Jax had laughed. Thao had sent a miniature deck of cards and a special children's instruction book on playing "shimmy." Obviously he expected the child of Jax and Brenda Jacks to be a whiz at cards, like its parents.

She had even received a very terse note from Robin, congratulating her on her pregnancy, but also wishing things had turned out differently. As Brenda sat in her office and looked at the card in silence, she couldn't figure out if Robin was sorry about the end of their friendship, or if she was sorry about who the baby's father was. Either way, Brenda would not allow Robin or her regrets to upset her now or ever again.

Soon after Brenda finished reading the note from Robin for the hundredth time, there was a soft knock at the door. After one last look, Brenda sadly threw Robin's note into the wastebasket, putting memories of their friendship where they rightly belonged -- in the past. Once the note was gone, Brenda answered the knock. "Come in," she called. The door slowly opened, and Matthew stuck his head in.

"Hello there, mom, ready to do some work?" Matthew came all the way into the room, closing the door behind him and walked over to the desk where Brenda was sitting. "How are the two of you doing today?"

Brenda could not resist laughing at the silly grin on Matthew's face. It seemed to have been there every time she had seen him for the past two weeks. She was glad that she and Jax had decided to call him before the evening paper had come out that day. As Brenda looked into Matthew's smiling face, she thought back to what Jax had said that day about their child having a family. As she looked at Matthew, she couldn't imagine a better grandfather for her child. "We're doing pretty well today, although if you'd asked me that yesterday, you'd have gotten a VERY different answer!" Brenda slowly shook her head as the memory of yesterday's bout of morning sickness came back to her. "How are you doing, 'grandpa'?" Brenda had repeatedly teased Matthew over the past two weeks about being the baby's surrogate grandfather, and as time went on, he was becoming more comfortable with the idea. She was sure that by the time the baby was born he'd be acting like a doting grandfather.

Before they had a chance to start work on their new firm's first project, there was another knock on the door. "Come in," Brenda called.

Benton walked in carrying a small vase of flowers and looked around, trying to find a place to put it. Every day since he had gone back to work, Jax had sent Brenda some kind of floral arrangement. Even with the old ones having been removed when they started to droop, the room was still full of flowers. "Where do you want these, Brenda?" Benton asked, as he continued to look for a space to put the newest arrangement.

Brenda's smile was bright enough to light a room; a fact not wasted on either Benton or Matthew -- not that she tried to hide it from them either. "Just put them on the corner of the desk, I guess. I think it's about the only free space in the room. Would you take a couple of the larger arrangements and put them down in the parlor? I think it's getting awfully crowded in here."

Benton had to agree, as he looked around the room. He had never worked for a couple quite like Jax and Brenda. Between Brenda sending flowers to Jax at the office every day and Jax sending them here to her office, the florists of Port Charles were going to have a banner year. Benton picked up two of the largest arrangements and headed for the door. Matthew jumped to his feet to open the door for him. "Do you need any help with those Benton?" he asked.

"No thanks, Matthew, I've got them." Benton lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned over to speak to Matthew, "Don't let her work too hard today. I think she overdid it yesterday. She could barely stay awake long enough to finish her dinner last night, and Jax had to carry her up to bed at 9:00."

"Don't worry, we don't have too much to do today. We should be finished by lunch time." Matthew patted Benton lightly on the shoulder and waited to close the door after he left. "Okay, what do you say we get started?" he said as he turned and walked back to Brenda.

"What were you two whispering about?" Brenda tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Matthew to answer. "Come on, Matthew, you know you're going to tell me eventually, so why not save yourself the sound of my whining and just tell me now?" Brenda looked up at Matthew with her little girl face, knowing he could not resist her when she did that. "Well???"

"It was nothing earth shattering, Brenda. Benton just asked me to make sure you didn't work too hard today. He said you were so exhausted yesterday you could barely stay awake to eat your dinner and Jax ended up carrying you to bed."

Brenda blushed slightly as she remembered last night. Benton was right. She probably had done too much, especially after that horrible case of morning sickness. She really had been exhausted by the time Jax had gotten home. She couldn't really remember what she had eaten for dinner last night, nor any specific thing they had talked about. She did remember Jax carrying her up to bed, though. He had wanted to come to bed with her, but she insisted that he not do that since he obviously was not tired. They had finally compromised on Jax holding her until she fell asleep, and then he would go out to the sitting room to finish reading the evening papers and go through the mail, while listening to some music.

When she had awakened this morning, Jax was already up and in the shower. When she had rolled over and opened her eyes she saw, on her bedside table, her cup of tea and dry toast, waiting for her, as it was every day. She had smiled when she thought about Jax's promise to help her along with every step of this pregnancy. He had brought home a file folder 2 inches thick with information he had obtained off the Internet about pregnancy and diet. She could not remember ever feeling so loved or so happy.

When Matthew noticed the smile creeping across her face, he knew she was no longer thinking about bed linens. "A penny for your thoughts" he said, knowing even before she answered that she must have been thinking about Jax.

"What? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about earlier this morning, that's all. Matthew, can I ask you something?" The expression on Brenda's face had slowly changed from her soft smile to one of sadness. Seeing the change told Matthew that something was definitely bothering her.

"Of course, what is it?" Matthew was beginning to worry. It was obvious that she was having a hard time trying to figure out how to ask her question, which meant that it was probably something totally unrelated to work.

"Well, I was just wondering if you had ever been in a situation where you wanted to help someone with something, but didn't know how to help? I mean, what if you were responsible for part of the problem…?" Brenda decided this was not a good idea. She didn't want to put Matthew in this position. "Oh, never mind… I'm just being silly! Let's get back to work on these orders."

Brenda had again totally shifted gears back into full business mode, giving Matthew the feeling that she no longer wanted to discuss whatever it was that was bothering her. Reluctantly, Matthew let go of his concerns and got back to work on the linen selections.

As Matthew had predicted, they finished today's business just before lunch. Although Brenda invited him to stay Matthew declined, feeling Brenda could use the time to relax and hopefully figure out what was troubling her.

Shortly after Matthew left, Brenda heard a light tap on her office door. "Come in." She was not surprised to see Benton standing in the doorway. What did surprise her was the tray he brought into the room and set up on the table in front of the couch. "What's all this?" she asked as she walked over to see what he had brought.

"I figured you must be pretty hungry by now, and I didn't think you'd want a repeat of yesterday's 'illness,' so I asked Mrs. Kelly to make you an early lunch. Do you mind?" Benton could tell that Brenda had been surprised by the suggestion. She had seemed preoccupied when he had come into the room.

"Your timing was perfect -- thanks, Benton. I am starting to get hungry." Brenda looked over the lunch he had brought. As usual, Mrs. Kelly had made her a meal that was appetizing to look at, yet was extremely healthy for both her and the baby. Brenda was very grateful to have Mrs. Kelly here. Had she been left on her own, she probably would have found herself frequently eating fast food. Brenda sat down on the couch in front of the tray. "Thanks for this," Brenda said as she started eating. "I think I'll take a nap after I finish, so you don't have to rush back up to clear the dishes. Would you make sure that I'm not disturbed this afternoon, unless it's Jax?"

Benton could see by the expression on Brenda's face that she not only was tired but also had something on her mind. "Of course, Brenda. I'll stop in your suite to turn off the ringers on the phones on my way back downstairs. If Jax calls one of those lines, it will ring at the main phone board downstairs, and I'll come wake you. If I may ask, are you okay?"

Brenda saw the concern on Benton's face. Right now she appreciated it more than she could tell him. "Yes, I'm fine. I just have some things on my mind, that's all. Please make sure I'm awake by 4:00. I want to be ready when Jax gets home."

"Of course. Have a good nap." Benton left the office quickly, stopping as promised in the master suite to turn off the ringers on the phones there.

Once she started eating, Brenda quickly realized how hungry she actually was and finished her lunch before she knew it. She leaned back on the couch for a moment, laughing softly as she looked at the now empty plates on the tray. She had cleaned up everything on her plate, even her "surprise" dessert from Mrs. Kelly. After a few minutes lost in thought, Brenda headed out the door and down the hall to her suite. Once she was inside and had closed the door, she found herself wide-awake, so instead of heading for the bedroom to rest, she sat down in one of the chairs by the window to stare out into the yard.

"What's wrong?" came a voice from behind her.

Brenda was startled by the sound of the woman's voice. She turned back from the window to see Madeline standing in front of her. "How did you know something was wrong?" Brenda asked.

"I told you the last time we talked that I can tell when something is wrong in the house. Right now I could tell as soon as you came in that something was bothering you. Can I help?" Madeline reached over and took Brenda's hand in hers, as she sat in the chair opposite her.

"Maybe you can. I presume you know about the baby?" Brenda felt sure she did. "Well, ever since I found out about it, I've been thinking about everything that has happened over the past year. Maybe I should start at the beginning so you can get a better idea of what the problem is." Brenda took a deep breath before she started telling the story.

Madeline sat quietly waiting for Brenda to begin. She had indeed known about the child that Brenda was carrying. She had, in fact, known about it before Brenda had. She could tell Brenda was with child at the time of their last conversation but was not able to tell Brenda. She was concerned to see the distress on Brenda's face as she tried to gather her thoughts to tell her story. "Yes, I do know. I'm sure you and Jax are going to make wonderful parents. Won't you tell me what's bothering you right now, though?"

Brenda took a deep breath and began her story. "Okay, here goes. Jax and I have been together for quite a long time. In fact, we were married once before, but something happened that made that marriage invalid. Anyway, we were apart for a while after that. I did some things that made it difficult for him to trust me then. I even got engaged to another man, which was a mistake. Eventually the guy literally left me standing at the altar in front of a church full of people. As a result of what he did -- not only that day, but over our entire relationship -- I had a breakdown. Jax stood by me the entire time, even when I was horrible to him. After I started getting better, I was told that his plane was missing and I suddenly realized how much he meant to me and how much I loved him. Luckily he was safe, but I had learned a valuable lesson. I proposed to him shortly after he returned, but he turned me down, because he couldn't trust my love for him. I made it my mission, from that point on, to convince him to trust me again. We redid all kinds of things from our past together, and I could feel him weakening, but he still couldn't let me completely back into his heart. Anyway, I was in a plane crash in the wilderness, and the man I was with was convinced that we probably weren't going to make it out, but I knew differently. I knew Jax would find us, and he did." Brenda smiled at the memory of Jax running to her in the woods, as Jerry and Jason had watched. She could feel his arms around her even now.

"Sounds horrible! Were you injured?" Madeline was fascinated by Brenda's story. She could also see her relaxing as she told the story.

"Yes, but not seriously. A day or so after he rescued me, Jax took me to a house he owned in California to recuperate. We had gone there once before earlier in our relationship so I could recover from another accident. The house seemed to have a magical quality for me. I always felt better as soon as I walked in the door. Anyway, we went out to the beach to watch the sunset the first night we were there, and suddenly Jax accepted my marriage proposal from months before. At the time I didn't think things could get any better. When we got back to Port Charles we didn't tell anyone about our plans. Shortly after we got back, I found out that the man I had been involved with had come back into town. I went to see him, not realizing how it would hurt Jax for me to do it, but I needed to do it in order to close that chapter of my life. I went to see Jax immediately after I talked to him, but Jax already knew I had been there. He listened to my explanation and understood why I had to do it. Everything seemed to be going our way…"

Brenda's voice trailed off at this point causing Madeline to realize that what she was about to tell her would be very painful. "Do you want to stop?" Madeline asked.

"No, I need to finish this." Brenda said, realizing that telling Madeline the story of their life was very comforting. "Shortly after we made a public announcement of our engagement, I suspected I might be pregnant but it was a false alarm. Right about that time I also discovered that I might be carrying a terrible genetic disease that could lead to insanity for me and any child I might have. I wanted to end our relationship, but Jax wouldn't hear of it. Again he stood by me until we got the test results back, indicating I was free of the gene. At that point we didn't think anything else could happen to us -- boy were we wrong!" Brenda just shook her head as she thought back to those times.

"What happened?" Madeline asked.

Brenda took a deep breath before continuing. "About six weeks before our wedding, Jax and I had just come home from a restaurant, and, as we were looking over some last minute wedding plans, there was a loud knock at the door. When Jax answered it, two men pushed their way in and arrested Jax! They said they were federal agents, and he was being arrested for laundering money for organized crime!" Brenda realized that some of this might be things Madeline knew nothing about. "Do you know what money laundering is?"

"Yes, I do. Brenda, just because I lived in the last century doesn't mean I haven't kept aware of what has been happening in the world around my beautiful house. Please continue." Madeline was beginning to wonder if she had possibly misjudged this couple, and that they might not be the people she thought that they were.

"Okay. Well, we were both shocked! We couldn't believe what they were saying. It had to be a mistake. We were sure of it. They handcuffed Jax and started to drag him out of the apartment. I'm afraid I got a little hysterical at all of this and started to hit one of the agents. Jax convinced the agents to let him speak to me, to calm me down, before they took him away, and he succeeded, as he always did. He explained that it was all a mistake and that he'd be back home soon. He told me to call a lawyer for him and then wait for him to come home.

"I did as he said, but when he didn't come home that night I went to the police station the next morning. When I got there, I found out that, not only had Jax been arrested, but so had his father and older brother -- all on the same charges. At first, they refused to let me see him, but I finally convinced the police commissioner to let me have a few minutes with him.

"It was horrible. They brought him handcuffed into this little room. He was wearing these awful prison clothes, and I wasn't allowed to touch him. He looked so lost. I don't think I'd ever seen him like that." Brenda's heart ached at the memory. She shook her head to clear the painful memory and continued.

"When I saw him, he told me that his father and brother and been using organized crime money from the beginning of their business but had never told Jax, wanting him to be 'clean' if anyone checked the company out with the authorities. He was the contact person for the family business and had a reputation for honesty, which they used to their advantage. What Jax hadn't known until that day was that the reason many of his deals had been so successful was because his father and brother had used their associates to put pressure on people who didn't want to do business with Jax." Brenda stopped to wipe away a single tear that had started to fall down her cheek.

Madeline squeezed Brenda's hand to reassure her of her support, sure now that she had not misjudged this couple.

"Well, anyway, Jax told me that after they had been arrested, his father had finally admitted what they had been doing all those years. He kept telling Jax that he was special and they never wanted him involved in the illegal part of the business. He said that everything Jax had earned over the years -- his fortune and his reputation -- were untouched by their actions. Unfortunately, the authorities didn't see it that way. They charged Jax as a co-conspirator in the crimes, and he was facing fifteen years in prison. I couldn't believe it when he told me that. He also told me that the authorities had gotten their information about his family from what they originally said was an anonymous source, that actually turned out to be an associate of the man I had been involved with. I guess that was his final strike against the two of us for being happy.

"Just about that time the attorney I had hired for him came in. I had to leave while she talked to him, but when she came out, she told me not to worry because she and Jax had come up with a solution to the situation that, if the government accepted it, would put a quick end to the situation. She arranged for me to wait with Jax while she talked to the authorities. Eventually an agreement was reached whereby Jax gave up everything he had, with the exception of his personal property, in exchange for a plea of no contest to a reduced charge. The family business would be dissolved and both his father's and his brother's personal assets would be confiscated. They would retain the house his parents lived in, along with his mother's trust income from her family. Everything else went to the government.

"Jax signed the deal and was released. We went straight back to the penthouse, neither one of us saying anything in the car. We just held onto each other. When I opened the door, Jax just looked around the room for a minute before he went in. He told me he was glad the rent was paid up for the balance of the year because otherwise he'd have been out on the street.

"I put my arms around him and told him that would never happen since we could simply move into my cottage after the wedding. That was when he dropped the biggest bombshell on me. He told me he didn't think it would be a very good idea for us to get married since he was not exactly in a position to support a wife. Besides, he said, he didn't think it would do my modeling career much good to be married to someone accused of money laundering, who was now living off of me."

Madeline could see how painful these memories were for Brenda, but she could also see that talking about them was what she needed to do. "Can you continue, Brenda?"

"Yes. Anyway, I finally convinced him that it was time for me to help him since he had been the one helping me throughout most of our relationship. The first thing we needed to do was get his money back. I convinced him to let me bankroll him with my savings. Would you believe we took my money to a gambling tournament in Monte Carlo? Much to my surprise -- but not Jax's -- we won. In fact, Jax broke the bank at the casino!

"That gave him the money to start his own business. It was really hard for him at first because of the bad publicity from what had happened. But eventually he was able to rebuild his reputation, partly because of the integrity of the people he was able to hire to work with him, and partly because of his very public break with his family." Brenda again stopped to wipe a tear from her cheek.

Madeline thought back to that day before Brenda and Jax had moved into the house when she had found the strange man trying to get into their bedroom. She now knew that this had been Jax's brother. She had known immediately that he did not belong in this house, and she remembered wanting to let him know that his presence would not be tolerated and telling him exactly that. What Brenda had just told her reinforced her resolve to protect these two from outside forces.

Madeline could see that this estrangement with Jax's family was the problem. She couldn't imagine any other reason for Brenda's unhappiness at this time in her life. "Go on, Brenda, you've come this far -- please finish."

"One day we were having dinner in a restaurant when his parents came up to our table and created quite a scene, accusing me of causing the family's disgrace because of my association with the man who had turned them in. Even his mother, whom I had come to think of as my own, was viscious in her accusations. Jax wouldn't hear any of it. He stood up and told his family that he no longer wanted anything to do with them. As far as he was concerned, he no longer had a family -- except for me. It was very ugly and ended up splashed across the front page of the newspapers the next day."

Madeline could understand exactly what Brenda meant about the press. She remembered when she and Everett had first been married, there had been a crisis in his business, and everything they did or said was considered newsworthy. "What happened after that?"

"Well, it actually helped. Jax started getting calls from people wanting to do business with him once they read the articles in the paper, and his company began to prosper. We ended up getting married in a much smaller but much nicer ceremony than we had originally planned and have been blissfully happy and completely in love with each other ever since."

The expression on Brenda's face told Madeline that she had left something out of this happy ending. "What haven't you told me, Brenda?" she asked.

"There has been bad blood between Jax and his family ever since that day. He suspects that they are trying to undermine his business, which is probably true, so he has kept them away from both of us. Now with the baby coming, I know it hurts him that he can't share this time with his family. I can't help feeling that I'm at least partly to blame for this rift in his family, but I don't know how to fix it. I want the baby to know its family, but Jax insists that they no longer are a part of our lives or our child's. He says that we have a better family without them in our true friends. I can't disagree with him about that, but I still wish there were a way to mend the rift. That's what I was thinking about when you came in. I can't come up with any way that will bring at least his mom back into his life. I'm a little afraid to bring it up to him because he refuses to talk about them. He keeps insisting that he's doing fine without them, but I know that's not true!"

Madeline could see how much this meant to Brenda. The problem was, she didn't have any answers for her. "Why don't you forget about this for a while and give me some time to think on it. I'm sure I can come up with some way for you to at least get a conversation started between Jax and his mother. For now, though, I suggest you lie down for a while before Jax gets home. You don't want to fall asleep during dinner again, do you?" Madeline had to laugh at the expression on Brenda's face. "Why are you surprised, Brenda? I told you I know everything going on in this house. I just don't make my presence known, that's all. I have to tell you, though, that you are the first person who's lived in this house that I've actually talked to. Take my advice: get some rest and forget about this for a while." With that, Madeline got up and gently brushed her hand across Brenda's cheek and extended her hand to her to encourage her to get up and go rest.

Brenda found that she was actually very tired, probably because telling the story had been such an emotional strain. She did not need any further convincing. She was headed toward the bedroom when she realized that she had not thanked Madeline for listening. When Brenda turned around, she was gone, as silently as she had come.

7:15 P.M.

Jax could not believe how late he was. He had promised Brenda that he would always be home by 6:00 so they would have time for a leisurely dinner, but things had gotten totally out of hand at the office today. Jax looked at his watch for the tenth time as he waited at the traffic light. On top of a bad day at the office was the fact that when he had called home on the private line to let Brenda know he was running late, he had been surprised to hear Benton answer the phone. When Benton told him that Brenda had turned off the phones in their suite in order to get some rest, Jax could not help but feel a sudden panic. Brenda was not the type to take a nap in the middle of the day. When Benton offered to go wake her so that Jax could talk to her, he had told him not to disturb her. Instead, he asked Benton to tell her when she woke up that he was going to be a little late for dinner tonight and that she should go ahead and eat if she and the baby got hungry. When he had left that message he had not intended to be this late.

Even though Benton had assured him that Brenda was fine, just a little tired, Jax could not shake his concern for her. That concern was probably the reason that he had not been able to concentrate very well the balance of the afternoon. Now on top of being late for dinner, he had broken a promise to her as well. Ever since that night when he had gotten stuck in the library, Brenda had made him promise not to bring work home. He had managed to do as she asked until today. He had several major deals all closing at the same time, and, as a result of his distraction this afternoon, he had not been able to review the closing reports and final contracts for a couple of them. Since the paperwork had to be in place tomorrow, he had been faced with two choices: stay at the office most of the night, trying to concentrate on the papers, while worrying about Brenda; or bring the work home -- breaking his promise to her -- and work on them after she went to sleep. The decision had not been a difficult one, attested to by the bulging condition of his briefcase on the seat beside him.

It was almost 7:30 by the time Jax turned into the driveway. As he pulled in, he noticed Brenda looking out the parlor window. He could see the concern in her face disappear immediately when she saw him wave as he drove past. By the time he got out of the car and headed for the door, she was there waiting for him. ""Brenda, I'm sorry I'm so late! I had hoped to be home much sooner, but time just seemed to get away from me all day today. Do you forgive me?" He looked at Brenda with the cutest little boy face, trying to make her laugh.

He succeeded. Brenda chuckled as she walked over to help him to take off his coat. "I guess I can forgive you this one time. Did you get everything done that you needed to?" When she looked up into his face, she didn't like what she saw there. "Jax, please tell me you didn't bring your work home with you!" Brenda realized that had come out more as a plea than a question. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she went to speak again, "Jax?"

Seeing Brenda's fear, Jax was slow to answer her. "I had to honey! Otherwise I'd still be there, getting nothing done because I was worrying about you. I figured I'd wait until you went to bed and then just read my reports. It's no big deal -- honestly!" Jax wrapped his arms around Brenda, trying to assure her that his bringing work home this one time was not going to be a problem. By the tension he could feel in her body he realized he was failing miserably. "What's wrong, Brenda?" He lifted her chin up so he could look into her eyes.

"Nothing," she whispered. Jax could see the concern in her eyes.

"Brenda…"

"It's just that I can't help thinking about what happened the last time you brought work home. Jax, I got so scared when you couldn't get out of the library! I know it's probably silly to worry about something like that, especially since this is an old house and there is probably a perfectly logical explanation for what happened that night, but you have to admit that nothing like that has happened since you stopped bringing work home. I just don't want to take any chances, that's all." Brenda wrapped her arms tightly around Jax's ribs and snuggled her face to his chest, finding this position a source of peace.

"It's not silly at all! I love the fact that you are so concerned for my welfare. How about if we compromise on this? What if I don't work in the library? There's no reason I can't read these things in our suite. Would that be okay? After you go to sleep, I'll just go back out to the sitting room and do my reading. Deal?" He pushed her back slightly from him so that he could look into her face, hoping to see her relax at least a little.

"I've got a better idea: I'll sit up with you! I can work on some sketches for the house Matthew and I are working on, while you do your reading. You won't even know I'm there!" Brenda thought this a much better plan, since she would be sure that he wasn't going to go down to the library after she went to sleep.

Jax could tell by the smile on her face that Brenda really wanted him to agree to her plan, but he could not. "Brenda, you can't do that and you know it. You need your rest. Remember, the little one is taking a lot out of you." Jax couldn't resist the urge to place his hand on her abdomen and rub it gently across it. "You know that Dr. Meadows said you BOTH need at least 8 hours of sleep every night. How are you planning to do that if you sit up with me?" He could see the disappointment in her face. "Why do you want to sit up with me anyway? I promised I would work in the sitting area."

Brenda pulled out of his embrace and walked a short distance away from him. "I know you did, Jax. But you also promised not to bring work home anymore. You broke that promise, so how do I know you won't break this one?" She saw by the look on his face that he had not expected that statement.

Jax was startled by what she had just said. He hadn't realized that she would be so upset by this. He knew he had told her he would never break a promise, but he had not thought this was that type of promise -- obviously Brenda did. "This really upset you, didn't it, Brenda?"

"I'm sorry, Jax. I know I'm being silly about this. Forget I said anything. I'm sure it'll be fine for you to do your work at home. We'll just chalk it up to my pregnancy." She smiled a very unconvincing smile. "Come on, let's have dinner -- I'm starving!" Brenda reached out her hand to Jax.

Jax took her hand and pulled her close to him, "Wait! I'm sorry, Brenda. I've been taking this whole situation as no big deal, when it really is a very big deal. This is not just about me bringing work home, is it? I just realized that there is a bigger issue involved. I broke a promise to you after I said I never would! Can you forgive me for that?" He waited for her to answer. He could tell by the expression on her face that he was right.

"Oh, Jax! There's nothing to forgive! I love you so much for that, but it really isn't necessary!" Brenda stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, letting him know that he was forgiven. "Come on -- let's eat!" She kissed him again and gently stroked his cheek. He reached up for her hand and kissed it lightly.

"Okay, lets go." He kissed her on the tip of the nose, and then they headed off to dinner. As they finished their dessert, the conversation at the table had slowed to nearly nothing. Finally Jax broke the silence. "I've got a great idea. Why don't you go get ready for bed?"

Brenda was startled by his suggestion. "Jax, it's only 8:30! Why would I want to get ready for bed?"

"You didn't let me finish my idea. I was going to suggest that you go get ready for bed, and then, instead of getting into bed, you can lay down on the sofa in the sitting room and keep me company while I read my reports. What do you think?" He looked at her, enjoying the look of delight cross her face.

"Are you serious? I'd love that! Let's go!" Brenda jumped up from the table, grabbed for his hand and tugged on it.

"Hold on! You go on up and get changed. I want to talk to Benton for a minute and grab my briefcase. I'll meet you up there in a couple minutes." Jax had gotten up from the table while he was talking. He leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose before swatting her gently on the bottom. "Go!" He couldn't resist the urge to laugh when she squealed when he swatted her.

"Don't be long, Jax!" she called over her shoulder as she left the room. After Brenda was gone Jax headed into the kitchen to talk to Benton and pick up his messages from him. About 15 minutes later, he was finally able to head upstairs to work. When he walked into the suite, carrying his briefcase, he was surprised to see Brenda already settled on the sofa. She had changed into her satin pajamas and was propped up against an extra bed pillow on the couch, covered with the throw from the back of the sofa. She was sitting facing the hearth, where Benton had obviously laid the fire for them.

"It's about time you got up here! I was about to go looking for you. Before you get started working, would you light the fire, Jax?"

"Of course." Jax set his briefcase on the table and went to light the fire. Once he was happy with the fire, he went over to the chair near the couch, opened up his briefcase, took out the first of the reports, and started reading. He occasionally looked over at Brenda to make sure she was okay. As he had expected, it had not taken her long to drift off to sleep. He quietly got up and took the book she had been reading from its resting-place on her chest. For several minutes he looked down at her sleeping peacefully before he pulled the cover up more snuggly around her and kissed her softly on the top of her head, causing Brenda to stir slightly but not wake up. Jax went back to his chair to finish his reading.

When he finished the last of his reports, he looked at his watch: 11:45 p.m. He had done better than he had expected. Maybe Brenda had been right about them spending the evening together. He had finished his reading much quicker than he would have if he had been worried about her while trying to concentrate. He looked over at his beautiful wife as she slept on the sofa. He got up quietly and went over to her. He gently removed the throw that covered her and picked her up. Brenda stirred slightly and almost woke up, but quickly snuggled her head into the side of his neck, wrapping her arms tightly around it. Jax carried her into the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed.

As soon as she was on the bed, her arms released his neck, causing her to awaken. "Jax? What's wrong?" He quickly realized that she was not really awake.

"Nothing, honey. Go back to sleep." He quickly removed his clothes and gently got into bed next to her. As soon as she felt his body next to hers, she rolled over onto her side and wrapped herself around him, sleeping soundly again. Jax smiled as he looked down at her sleeping form. This was how life was supposed to be. As he lay there holding his wife in his arms, his mind drifted back to the past, when his world had not revolved around just one person, but had been filled with a family that he loved and trusted. He felt a sharp pain in his heart at these memories and quickly pushed them away and wrapped his arms more tightly around Brenda. This was his life now: the beautiful woman lying in his arms, the child she was carrying. This was more than most men had in a lifetime, and they were just beginning.

As Jax drifted off to sleep, she came out from the shadows to look over them. Madeline was more convinced than ever that this was the right couple for her home. Now she had to figure out how to help Brenda bring peace back to Jax and his family. It was obvious by what she had just seen that the loss of his family was still greatly affecting Jax, even if he denied it to Brenda. She faded back into the shadows to try to figure out an answer to this problem. As she faded away, she promised the two of them that she would help them end this pain.