Everett had been pacing the library for what seemed like hours, waiting for Jax to get to work. When Jax never came in to work, he went looking for him and finally found him upstairs. He could not believe what he had seen. There was Jax working -- with his wife sleeping on the sofa next to him, no less! This was not acceptable! No longer could he just sit by and watch this man fail to devote full attention to his work.

There had to be a way to convince him that his priorities were out of line. Maybe this rift between him and his family, that Everett had heard about earlier, might be the way. As he paced the library, Everett decided that what he had heard was correct, this family had to be reunited! From what he had heard about them, it sounded like the father and brother were his kind of people, and the sooner he got them into this house and back in control, the sooner this young man would learn what was truly important. If he continued on this path of putting his wife before business, Everett decided, it might be necessary to teach him a lesson. Yes… the more he thought about it, that might be the better way to go. If he got the wife out of the way, at least for a while, then he would be able to convince the husband where he had gone off track. Yes, this was definitely the way to go. Now all he had to do was find a way to remove the wife…

Madeline stood in the hallway outside the library. She could not believe what she had just heard her beloved Everett planning. How could he have changed so much? This was not the man she had known and loved. She did not know this man! She had to find a way to communicate with him. When she had tried earlier, she found she could not enter the same room as him. Why? This was her house! She had always had free access to any room she chose! Why not now? What power did Everett have that prevented her from talking to him? Did he even know she was there?

Madeline could feel her tears spilling down her cheeks as she walked the foyer. There was only one possible thing to do right now. She vowed that no harm would come to Brenda ANYWHERE in this house. She would shadow her whenever she was here. If Everett tried to do her any harm, she would be there to stop it. As Madeline slowly headed up the stairs, she began to fade away. By the time she reached the room where Jax and Brenda peacefully slept, she had become nothing more than a spirit, visible to no one. When she passed the mirror in the sitting room of the suite, she glanced up at herself, and for the first time since her death, saw the reflection of tears on her face. This was not going to happen!! This she vowed to herself and to the sleeping lovers in front of her!

6:45 a.m.

Brenda stirred in her sleep, causing Jax to softly rub his hand up and down her back, encouraging her to go back to sleep. He had been lying there, holding Brenda for about an hour; ever since the strangest dream had awakened him with a start. He could not remember any details of the dream; just a warning that kept repeating itself over and over in his head, "Keep Brenda Safe! Keep Brenda Safe! …" He had been trying ever since to figure out what the dream meant, but could come up with nothing.

Once Brenda seemed to have drifted back into a deep sleep, Jax gently extricated himself from her embrace and got out of bed. Putting on his robe, he walked quietly over to the window and soon found himself lost in thought. After several minutes of starring out the window, he turned back to look at his beautiful wife, sleeping soundly in their bed. He loved to watch her sleep like this. She looked like a little girl, with her hair spread across the pillow and her arms wrapped snuggly around his pillow, almost as though she had felt his absence and gravitated to his pillow for comfort. Once again the memory of that haunting phrase from his dream came back to him: "Keep Brenda Safe!" What did that mean?

Suddenly Jax realized how to find out. He headed for the door, planning to go into the sitting room to make a call. He turned back to look at Brenda again and saw her start to stir again, making him realize that she was starting to wake up. He quickly went out to the sitting room to call downstairs. A few minutes later, there was a soft rap on the hallway door. When Jax opened it, Benton was there with a tray containing Brenda's morning tea and dry toast, along with coffee for Jax. Jax had decided to go into the office late this morning so that he could have time to figure out what that dream meant. Jax had surprised Brenda last night when he told her that he was planning to go into the office today. Normally he did not work on Saturday, but since the deals he was finalizing had a time limitation on them this was going to be an exception.

Jax walked quickly back into the bedroom and set the tray on Brenda's bedside table just before she opened her eyes. "Hey, you, what are you doing up so early?"

"Hey, yourself. I guess it was because I realized you weren't in bed with me anymore. There is only so much comfort in hugging your pillow, you know." Brenda slowly sat up, waiting for the onrush of morning sickness - luckily, so far, so good. As soon as she was comfortable, Jax offered her a bite of the dry toast and handed her the cup of tea. "Thanks. I thought you'd be dressed by now. Aren't you going into the office this morning?"

"I am. I just wanted to make sure you were okay first. Besides, I wanted to talk to Thomas about something before I went in. I was just going to call him, when I realized you were waking up, so I decided to spend some time with you first." Jax offered her another bite of toast as he spoke. "Do you mind if I ask him to come over for breakfast? I know Saturday is usually your day to lounge around…"

"Sure, I'd love to see him. I don't think Thomas has been here since that night…" Brenda never finished her sentence as she remembered their last meal with Thomas -- the night Jax had gotten trapped in the library -- causing the smile to fade from her face.

"Brenda? Are you okay?" the concern obvious on Jax's face.

Brenda shook her head to chase away the memory. "I'm fine. Anyway, I'd love for you to ask Thomas to come over. I want to find out how he likes his job. Go ahead and call him." Brenda indicated that Jax should use the bedside phone.

By the time Brenda finished her shower, dressed, and came downstairs, there was a knock on the front door. Benton came to open the door just as Brenda reached the last step. "I'll get it, Brenda. You go on in to breakfast. Jax is waiting for you." Brenda nodded to Benton and headed into the breakfast room. Benton had been right. Jax was already sitting at the table, reading the morning papers.

Just as Brenda sat down, Thomas came through the doorway, "Hello, you two." Thomas came up behind Jax and squeezed his shoulders and then went over to Brenda and kissed her softly on the cheek. "To what do I owe the pleasure of an invitation to breakfast with the most beautiful mother-to-be?"

"Do we have to have a reason to want your company? Can't we just do it because we missed you?" Brenda asked, with a smile that had Thomas completely mesmerized.

"Brenda, you never need a reason for my company. Jax, on the other hand, better have a good excuse for getting me up this early on a Saturday." Thomas looked over at Jax, trying to look cross, but failing miserably. He ended up looking nearly cross-eyed.

"What do you mean, so early? In all the years I've known you, I can count on one hand the number of times you were still asleep at sunrise, let alone by this time of the morning, so don't try that injured party act! I might just decide not to feed you!" Jax couldn't resist laughing at the expression of mock indignation on Thomas's face.

Brenda decided to put an end to this. "Okay, you two, go to your neutral corners! Thomas, sit down and enjoy your breakfast! Jax, let him eat in peace. You can bother him later!" With that said, Brenda looked at both men as if they were little boys, causing Thomas to quietly sit down and Jax to look down at his plate. Suddenly, all three of them burst out laughing. The rest of the meal was spent enjoying each other's company and joking about Thomas's job responsibilities and his early years in Australia with Jax.

Once they finished eating, Brenda excused herself to go call Lois. She had promised to call every Saturday morning and had no intention of breaking that promise. Actually, she could tell that Jax needed to talk to Thomas in private, but didn't want to say anything to her that might worry her. When Brenda stood to leave, both Jax and Thomas got up with her. She went over and kissed Thomas on the cheek, reminding him to make sure to say goodbye before he left. She went over to Jax and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him full on the mouth, not saying anything, but letting him know that she was aware that something was bothering him and she was ready to listen whenever he was ready to talk about it. She gently ran her fingers down his cheek before breaking the embrace and heading out the door.

It wasn't until after Brenda had completely closed the doors behind her that either Thomas or Jax spoke. They both sat back down at the table and poured another cup of coffee before either said a word. Thomas was the first to speak, "Okay, mate, what gives? You've looked about ready to burst ever since I walked in here. Spill it!"

Jax quickly looked around to make sure that Brenda was not still in hearing range. "I need your help with something. What do you remember about what your grandfather used to tell us about interpreting dreams?"

At first, Thomas thought Jax was kidding. Jax had never put any faith in his grandfather's stories of dreamings. Just as he was about to make a joke, he looked up, saw the fear in Jax's eyes, and realized that he was serious. "Quite a bit actually. Why? Did you have a dream?" Thomas could see Jax tense up even more, right in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know! That's the problem! I had a dream last night that woke me with a start about 5:00 this morning. The problem is that the only thing I remember about it is one phrase that keeps repeating itself over and over in my brain ever since!"

Thomas wasn't sure now if he should be scared or just curious. He had never seen Jax spooked like this. "What is the phrase?"

"All I keep hearing is a woman's voice telling me, 'Keep Brenda Safe!' over and over! It's almost like she's warning me about something, but I don't know what!" Jax's fear was evident in his voice. Jax looked at Thomas with eyes that he had not seen since Jax had been a small boy.

"You don't remember ANYTHING else? Not even a vision or a location or anything?" The wheels were already turning in Thomas's brain, as he tried to interpret the dream for his friend. Unfortunately, every interpretation he came up with was not good! They all lead to the same conclusion: trouble for Brenda. He was hoping that if Jax could remember any detail, it would lead him to another conclusion.

Jax slowly shook his head, "Nothing! All I keep hearing is that phrase in my head! What does it mean, Thomas? Is it what I think it is? How would I know something like that?"

"It might not be *you* who knows something is wrong, Jax. It could be someone is using your dream as a way of warning you that someone intends harm to Brenda. Have you had any contact with any member of your family lately?" Thomas thought that his family would be the most likely source of Jax's warning. He couldn't think of anyone else who could have that kind of connection to him, with the possible exception of Brenda herself.

Jax answered quickly, "Absolutely not! Neither of us has seen any of them since the day Jane came to the penthouse after Jerry's arrest!" Jax thought back to what had been said that day, trying to see if he had missed some kind of threat to Brenda, but there was nothing. "What does all this mean, Thomas? Is someone trying to hurt her?"

"I don't know right now, Jax. Probably not, but I think you better tell her about your dream." He could see Jax start to object. "Come on, mate, she already knows something is bothering you. Why do you think she excused herself so quickly this morning? She knew you needed to talk to me about something. Talk to her about this, but don't scare her. Maybe she can think of someone who might have done this. In the meantime, I think I'll get in touch with my grandfather and see what he can come up with. Maybe we're reading this all wrong. If you think of any more details about the dream that went along with the warning let me know… Are you planning on staying home today?" Thomas saw the look of panic on Jax's face.

"I'm supposed to go down to the office for a few hours to finish up a couple of deals, but I can cancel that. I'd rather be here with Brenda until we figure this out." Jax reached in his pocket for his cell phone to call the office. Thomas reached over and closed the phone.

"Don't do that. Why don't you go talk to Brenda about all of this and see if she has any ideas? While you're upstairs, I'll get in touch with my grandfather and tell him what we know. When you come back down, I'll let you know what he said. Then you go in to the office, and I'll stay here and wait for you to get back. That way you can do what you have to do and Brenda will be safe."

"Thomas, I can't do that!" Jax was adamant. "I can't put work before Brenda's safety!"

"You aren't. What good would you do Brenda if you stayed here? We don't even know if there is a problem. We do know that if you don't finish your work, you are going to lose a lot of money, right?" The confident expression on Thomas's face put Jax a little more at ease.

"I guess you're right. Brenda would be more upset if I stayed here to babysit her than if I went to the office. Okay, you win. I'll go talk to her right now. Why don't you finish your coffee? Thomas… Thanks" Jax said the last word so quietly that Thomas almost didn't hear it.

"Any time, mate" Thomas knew that was all that needed to be said. He watched as Jax walked slowly out of the room, obviously trying to figure out how to explain his dream to Brenda, when he didn't know what it meant himself. Thomas sat staring at the doorway for several minutes after Jax was gone. He eventually shook his head to bring himself back to reality. He got up from the table and headed into the library to call his grandfather. He was hoping his grandfather would tell him that his interpretation of Jax's dream was all wrong, but he didn't think so.

Jax slowly opened the door to the sitting room so as not to interrupt Brenda's call to Lois, but was surprised to find Brenda reading the paper instead. "What's up? Couldn't you get in touch with Lois?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I did. We didn't talk long though because she had to take Brooke Lynn for a checkup. Did you finish with Thomas?" Brenda could see by Jax's face that he had something on his mind. "What's wrong, honey?"

"I have something I need to talk to you about, and I'm not really sure how to do it without upsetting you." Jax came over and sat on the table in front of the couch. He took her hand in his and looked into her eyes to try to reassure her as he spoke. "Here goes… I asked Thomas to come over to talk to him about a dream I had last night. The problem is that I can't remember the dream, just one phrase that keeps repeating itself in my brain."

"What is the phrase, Jax?" Brenda asked, tightening her grip on his hand.

"I keep hearing a woman's voice saying 'Keep Brenda Safe!' over and over again. I have no idea what it means so, I was hoping Thomas could remember some of his grandfather's teachings on dreams. He couldn't figure it out, but said he'd call his grandfather to find out what he thought." Jax looked deeply into Brenda's eyes, trying to determine if he had upset her, but was surprised to see nothing but love.

"Jax, whatever Thomas figures out, I know everything will be all right." She took his hand and placed it on her abdomen, " I know you won't let anything happen to either one of us. Just promise me that you'll keep yourself safe as well. Promise!"

Jax smiled at her words. He was amazed at her calmness about the situation and her acceptance of his ability to protect her. All he could think about was how much she had grown as a person and how much more he loved her now than ever before. "I promise. Now for the part I'm not sure you're going to like. I still need to go into the office this morning to finish up those two deals. If you want me to stay here, just say the word, and I will!" Jax leaned back a little so he could get a better look at her entire face.

"Of course not, Jax. There is no reason why you shouldn't go to work! I'll be perfectly safe in my own home. Besides, Benton and Mrs. Kelly are here if I need anything." She leaned over and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

"You amaze me sometimes, you know that? I can't believe how much you've grown in the past year. You are so self-confident now that I actually believe you will be okay. Just to play it safe though, Thomas is going to stay here until I get back." Brenda started to protest, but Jax just held up his hand to stop her. "I know you can take care of yourself, but just humor me, will you? I'll feel better if I know he's here -- at least until we figure this out!"

"Okay, I'll enjoy his company -- at least until you get back. Don't worry, Jax. I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for your dream." Brenda gently rubbed her fingertips across Jax's cheek to reassure him she was okay.

"I promise I won't be any longer than I have to. I should be back in a couple of hours; no later than 1:00, I promise!" Jax got up and kissed her on the tip of her nose. "I love you, Brenda Jacks."

"I know you do, Jax. Is Thomas downstairs?" Brenda took Jax's outstretched hand to help her off the couch.

"Yes, he's calling his grandfather to see if he can help interpret the dream. Are you going downstairs?" Jax didn't know why he had asked that question. Brenda would be perfectly safe in her own home. After all, most likely there was nothing more to his dream than his being an overprotective, expectant father.

1:15 P.M.

True to his word, Jax had gotten home about 10 minutes ago, all of his business completed. The three of them were sitting in the breakfast room, enjoying lunch, when Benton came in. "Excuse me, Jax. There is a call for you from the office. They said it was urgent." Benton handed Jax the cordless phone and quietly left the room.

Brenda and Thomas continued their conversation as Jax took his call. When Brenda glanced over at him, she could see that Jax was not at all happy about what the caller was saying. She looked over at Thomas and signaled that they should probably leave the room to give Jax some privacy, but as they started to get up Jax held up his hand and shook his head to indicate that they should stay.

The tone of Jax's end of the call became decidedly more hostile as the call dragged on. "Why wasn't that taken into consideration when the deal was finalized? I don't care about that! It was your responsibility to plan on that! No, I cannot come back down today! I know that we're under the gun on this; it's up to you to make this right! It's your job to expect these kinds of things, and I expect you to resolve this before the time frame expires! I told you I cannot come back to the office! No, you cannot come here either!" Jax looked over at Brenda and just rolled his eyes. This was getting way out of control.

"Jax, maybe you should go back down to the office. It will make it a lot easier." Brenda could see Jax shaking his head no as she spoke. As she tried to continue he held up his hand to stop her.

"Look, you have two hours to figure out how you're going to fix this. I'll tell you right now, if we lose this deal because of this, you can start looking for a new job!" With that, Jax pressed the end button on the phone. When he looked over at Brenda and Thomas, he was surprised to see the expressions on both of their faces. "What?" he asked.

Brenda was the first to answer. "Why did you do that, Jax? There was no reason why you couldn't go back to the office this afternoon. Why did you take such a hard stand on the issue?" Brenda was very confused by Jax's actions. It was not like him to snap at the people who worked for him. He had always had the reputation of being a fair employer.

"That really wasn't the point, honey. It was his responsibility to anticipate this and he didn't. It's as simple as that. It really has nothing to do with me staying home or not. The problem is that he didn't do his job, and I'm not in the habit of fixing other people's mistakes. Now, can we just drop it and get back to more pleasant subjects? It's bad enough that we're going to be interrupted in two hours when he calls back to tell me he's solved the problem." With that said, Jax made it clear to both Brenda and Thomas that the subject of this business crisis was closed.

Shortly after lunch, Thomas left to go back to his apartment to wait for his grandfather's call. He had reached him earlier this morning and explained what he knew about Jax's dream. His grandfather had wanted to check with some of the elders before giving an opinion and promised to call him back later at his apartment. His grandfather's initial reaction had not been one of impending doom, so Thomas was not worried as he said his good-byes.

Brenda had gone upstairs to nap for a while after lunch, and Jax had gone into the library to check his e-mail and faxes. As Jax was reading his mail, he didn't notice the figure hidden in the shadows. Had he been able to see him, the anger on Everett's face would have disturbed the even unshakeable Jax. Everett could not believe he had AGAIN put his personal life ahead of his business responsibilities. Although, even Everett had to admit that from what he had heard, it sounded like the actions of an incompetent employee, and a part of him could understand his desire for the man to accept responsibility for his failure. What Everett could NOT accept was Jax's unwillingness to go into the office to supervise the salvaging of the deal. It was, after all, his company and ultimately his responsibility to make sure that the deal was completed. Obviously he was still thinking of his wife first, and THAT was not acceptable! Everett looked over at the young man sitting at his desk and realized that he was no longer concentrating on his work. He was lost in thought and NOT about business. It was obvious by the expression on his face that Jax was thinking about his wife again. It was time to remove the distraction -- at least for a while! But how?

Suddenly it came to him: the perfect solution to all the problems. If Brenda should have an accident -- nothing major of course -- just something to force a family reconciliation. That way Jax would have the time to devote to business while working under the guiding hand of his father and brother, and Brenda would have the support of her loving family to keep her company while she recovered. Yes, this was the perfect solution to both problems. Now, what kind of accident should it be? Everett paced back and forth in the growing shadows of the library. All at once he had the perfect plan. Smiling to himself, he faded back into the shadows to await his chance. Tonight he was sure would be the solution to his problems. Tonight Jax would learn the lesson that he had learned the hard way with the death of his beloved Madeline. You cannot allow family to come before business!

Before Jax realized the time, there was a light tap at the door. "Come in," Jax called. Quietly the door opened, and Benton came in. "What's up, Benton?"

"I was just wondering where you and Brenda would like to have dinner tonight? Should I bring it up to the suite, or will she be coming down?"

Jax looked at his watch when he realized that the shadows had grown long across the library floor. "Six o'clock already! Oh God, I completely lost tract of time! Why don't you set up dinner on the fireside table in the dining room? I'll go wake Brenda, and we'll change for dinner. We should be back down in about an hour. Will that give Mrs. Kelly enough time?" Jax had already closed his files and was starting toward the door, where Benton was standing.

"That should be fine. I'll have everything ready when you come back down."

Jax ran up the stairs, two at a time. He quietly opened the door to the suite, expecting to find Brenda working on some of the sketches for the house she and Matthew were working on, but she was nowhere to be seen. He quietly headed into the bedroom, where he found her sound asleep on the bed. He walked over to the bed and looked down at her sleeping form. He wondered if their child would be as beautiful when she slept as her mother was. After standing there, watching Brenda sleep for several minutes, he knelt down beside the bed and gently brushed the loose strand of hair from across her face. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. Brenda woke immediately.

"Jax! What time is it? Oh, my goodness, I slept the entire afternoon. I'm so sorry. Why didn't you wake me?" She sat up quickly and tried to get up, but he stopped her.

"You needed the rest. Besides, I had plenty to keep myself busy. Do you have any idea how beautiful you look when you sleep?" Jax gently stroked her cheek before leaning over to kiss her full on the lips.

Brenda loved the feel of his lips on hers, and just as she wrapped her arms around his neck to encourage him to continue, there came a soft rumble from her stomach. They both pulled back from each other, staring first at each other and then both looking down at Brenda's abdomen. "I guess someone is hungry. Can I have a rain check until after dinner, Mr. Jacks?" Brenda teasingly kissed him on the tip of his chin.

"I think that can be arranged, Mrs. Jacks. Come on; let's get changed. Benton said he'd have dinner ready in about an hour." Jax slowly stood up from his kneeling position next to the bed and held out his hands to Brenda to help her up.

It took them about 45 minutes to get showered and changed into fresh clothes for dinner. Jax was waiting in the sitting area for Brenda to finish her makeup before they went downstairs. When he heard the bedroom doors open, he looked up to see Brenda coming through the door. He could swear that she became more beautiful each time he saw her, more so than usual tonight. He walked over to her and gently kissed her hand. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, Brenda," he said, before kissing her on the lips.

Brenda slowly wrapped her arms around his waist as she reached up to kiss him again. "You say that now, but wait a few months when I look like a blimp! We'll see if you still feel that way then!" she said with a laugh.

Jax pulled her closer to him before he answered, "Brenda, you'll be even more beautiful to me then! Don't you know that? You are carrying our child, Brenda -- the result of our love for each other. How could you not be beautiful?" Jax kissed her again; this time more passionately than before.

Brenda was the one to end the kiss. She leaned back in his arms and looked into his eyes, "You always know the right thing to say, Jax. I think that's one of the reasons I love you so much!" Just then there was another rumble from her stomach, causing them both to laugh. "I think someone else is making their presence known here. Shall we go down to dinner?" With that she reached for his arm.

As they left the suite they were so wrapped up in each other that neither noticed the figure of a woman in the shadows. She watched them wrap their arms around each other as they went out into the hallway, and she could not help but smile. Suddenly Madeline felt a stab of panic. Something was about to happen! Something she had to stop! She raced after them into the hallway, desperate to stop Everett!

As they reached the head of the stairs, Jax and Brenda stopped to kiss one more time. Everett realized that this was the perfect opportunity for Brenda's accident! A slight misstep that would result in a sprained ankle -- nothing more -- but the scare would be enough to force everyone involved to find a way to make peace, and things would fall into place the way he planned. Just as Everett reached for Brenda to give her a slight push, Jax heard the voice from his dream again repeat the phrase, "Keep Brenda Safe!" Jax stopped with his foot extended above the first step. Without bringing his foot back he looked around to see where the voice had come from, and accidentally placed himself between Brenda and Everett's gentle push. Because of his off-balance position, he lost his footing at the push and suddenly found himself rolling down the stairs. The last sound he heard before he lost consciousness was Brenda screaming his name. Then everything went black…