"…Well, it's nice to know that AT LEAST ONE OF YOU is concerned about me!" Both Jax and Brenda jumped up and turned toward the doorway. "Did you miss me?" Thomas asked, with his usual smirk. "To answer your question, Brenda, nothing is wrong. In fact, I think I may have a solution to your problem!"

Thomas came over to where Jax and Brenda were now standing. Brenda eagerly wrapped her arms around him in a very tight hug. As if on cue, the baby decided to make its presence known. A very startled Thomas pulled back from Brenda. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened when Jax saw the expression on Thomas's face. He looked at Brenda, who just smiled and nodded her head slightly. "Well, I see you've met the newest member of the Jacks family!" Jax said with a chuckle, as he slapped Thomas on the shoulder.

Thomas looked first at Brenda and then at Jax. "Was that what I thought it was?" he asked.

Both Brenda and Jax began to laugh. "That, Thomas, was our child letting you know they are glad Uncle Thomas is home, too!" Brenda said. She reached for Thomas's hand, placed it on her abdomen, and held it there. As if the baby knew what Brenda wanted, a minute or so later it moved again.

Without realizing it, Thomas kept his hand on Brenda's abdomen even after the baby stopped moving, stunned by what he had just felt. Finally, he slowly removed it and looked down at Brenda. "That was amazing! Is it like that all the time?"

Brenda chuckled, "No, sometimes it's worse! I swear there have been a couple of times when I have been sure that he's practicing his soccer kicks in there!" She smiled lovingly up at Jax before looking back to Thomas. "Dr. Meadows says it's only going to get worse before he's born, too!"

Thomas suddenly realized that Brenda kept saying he. "So you know it's going to be a boy, huh?" he asked.

It was Jax's turn to laugh this time. "No, we won't find that out until next month. Brenda and I have this discussion going about whether it's going to be a boy or a girl. I keep referring to it as ‘her,’ and Brenda keeps saying ‘he.’ Actually though, we haven't even decided yet if we want to know before she's born. We're still 'discussing' it!" He smiled lovingly at Brenda, as the three friends stood talking about the baby and Brenda for a while. Finally Jax, realizing it was getting late, brought them back to the subject at hand. "Okay, enough chit chat! When you first came out here, you said something about having a solution to our problem. What exactly is it?"

Before Thomas could answer, they heard the breakfast room door open. When they turned, they were surprised to see Benton walking out to the terrace, carrying a tray with a fresh pitcher of iced tea and three glasses. "I thought you might need a refill,” he said, as he set the tray down and moved the old one to the side. Will there be anything else? Mr. Abenela, can I get you something to eat?"

Jax and Brenda shook their heads ‘no.’ Thomas shook his head as well. "No thanks, Benton. I ate before I came over. The tea will be fine."

After setting down the tray, Benton went over to light the torches that surrounded the patio. When he finished, he went back, picked up the used tea things, and went into the house and closed the door. Brenda, Jax and Thomas sat down around the table, and Brenda poured them each a fresh glass of tea. Once they were all comfortable, Jax and Brenda looked at Thomas. "Okay, mate. What's this solution of yours?" Jax asked.

Thomas sat forward in his chair and leaned his forearms on the table. "Before I get into that, I have a question for you: Have either of you actually ever seen Everett in the house?" Thomas looked from Jax to Brenda and then back to Jax, as he waited for their answer.

"I know I've never seen him. Actually, I've never actually seen any evidence he's even here except for that horrible night that Jax fell," Brenda shuddered slightly as she remembered that night. Jax reached over and gently stroked the top of her hand with his and smiled slightly at her.

"I've never actually seen him, but I've known he's watching me at times in the library. I've seen kind of non-descript movement in the shadows, if I happen to look up unexpectedly. Why?" Jax asked.

Thomas sat back in his chair and lightly stroked his chin. "Well, then the first thing we have to do is get him to show himself – preferably to you, Jax."

Brenda and Jax looked at each other. Brenda felt a sudden surge of panic go through her, as she reached over and tightly grasped Jax's hand in both of her. "NO!!" Both Thomas and Jax were startled by Brenda's reaction. Jax moved his chair closer to her and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders. He could feel her trembling.

"What is it, Brenda? Why are you so upset?" Jax tried to speak calmly to her, but seeing her increasing fear made it very difficult. "Talk to me, Brenda! Why does this bother you so much?" Jax truly did not understand the feeling of panic that he was getting from Brenda.

When Brenda finally looked up into his eyes, Jax was startled to see tears streaming down her face. "I have a REALLY bad feeling that in order for you to get Everett to show himself, you are going to have to do something to provoke him, and we ALL know what happened the last time Everett was provoked!" Again Brenda shuddered at the memory of watching Jax tumble down the stairs and seeing him lying unconscious at the bottom.

This time Thomas spoke up, "I really don't think that it will be necessary to provoke him Brenda - REALLY!" He was trying to reassure her so that she would calm down. He didn't know a lot about pregnancy, but he was sure that fear like Brenda was obviously experiencing couldn't be good for her or the baby. "It could probably be something as simple as giving Everett the impression that Jax needs his advice on how to proceed with a business problem. Wasn't that how you met Madeline? When you were trying to decide what to do now that you have retired from modeling?" Thomas was relieved that Brenda was obviously starting to calm down as she thought about what he had said.

Jax could feel her relaxing as well. He reached over and wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned her face up to his. He gently kissed her and pulled her head down to his shoulder. The longer she sat like that – close to him – the calmer she became. Jax looked at Thomas over the top of Brenda's head. When the two friends saw that she was calming down, they both rolled their eyes at each other and smiled. Jax finally lifted Brenda’s head from his shoulder so he could look at her while he spoke. "Are you okay now?" he asked with a reassuring smile, even though his deep concern was clearly obvious in his voice.

Brenda returned his smile and nodded her head. "Yes, I'm fine now," she said, as she gave his arm a gentle squeeze. She looked over at Thomas and could still see his concern for her wellbeing in his eyes. "I'm sorry I overreacted like that, Thomas. I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't shake the memory of Jax falling down the stairs the last time Everett made his presence known."

Jax tightened his arm around her shoulders again to reassure her but was surprised to realize how calm she now was.

“No need to apologize; I understand completely, Brenda. I probably should have put that differently,” Thomas chuckled at some unsaid thought that came into his mind. “I’m a little out of practice at this type of thing.”

Jax looked at Brenda one last time to make sure she had completely calmed down. “Why is it so important that Everett make his presence known anyway? We all know he’s here! Besides, Madeline has seen him several times.”

Thomas quickly answered Jax. “That’s exactly the reason! Madeline has seen him, but only from a distance! She can’t go in the same room with him while he’s out!” Thomas was getting excited about the information he wanted to give to his friends. “According to the elders, we can’t take any action against Everett until he makes his presence known to us!”

Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook. He flipped through several pages before he stopped and read over some notes. “Apparently as long as he keeps his presence non-visible, we are unable to take any action to stop any plans he may have. My grandfather also feels this is the reason that Madeline hasn’t been able to enter the library when he’s there. Right now, if they are correct in their reasoning, they say that Madeline can see him and hear him, but she cannot communicate with him. He, on the other hand, does not realize that Madeline is the other presence he probably feels in the house. At least that is their theory!” Thomas paused for a minute to look at Jax and Brenda. “Has she ever said anything about trying to talk to him or come into the library when he is there?”

Jax slowly shook his head. “Not to me, she hasn’t. What about you, luv? Has she ever said anything?”

Brenda thought for a minute before answering, “I think she did, once. One day, right after your fall, she came to see me in the sitting room. I asked her what had happened – why you had fallen like that – and she said something that didn’t make any sense to me at first. She said she knew it would happen, but that she hadn’t been able to prevent it because she couldn’t talk to him.”

Thomas was intrigued by what Brenda was telling him. It was exactly what his grandfather had asked him to find out. Thomas began taking notes as Brenda was talking. “Did she ever say anything about actually seeing him or hearing him speak?”

Brenda thought again before answering. “Yes. She said she heard him planning to push me down the stairs, but when she tried to talk to him, he didn’t seem to hear her. She said that since she couldn’t stop him, she had intended to place Jax between Everett and me that night. She didn’t realize that Jax had already lifted his foot to start down the stairs just before Everett pushed. That was why he fell! He was off-balance when Everett shoved him! She also said she tried to go into the library one night when he was there to try to reason with him, but for some reason she couldn’t go through the doorway. As soon as she saw him fade away, she was able to freely enter into the room. She said she never figured out why.” Brenda could see how excited Thomas had become at what she told him. “Why? Is this important?” she asked.

“DEFINITELY! This is exactly what the elders suspected!” Thomas was hardly able to contain his excitement. Jax was surprised to see Thomas’s reaction to Brenda’s information. Suddenly Thomas became serious again. “I think they may have also figured out how he was able to leave the library the night of the accident.” Thomas turned his full attention to Brenda before he continued, “When you and Matthew were furnishing this house, did he get some kind of a history of each piece of furniture – you know, when it was manufactured, where it originally came from, who purchased it?”

Brenda nodded her head. “Yes, he thoroughly researched each piece. That’s how we found out about the library furniture being Everett’s. Why?”

Thomas again leaned forward on the table. “Do you have those records here at the house? Can I take a look at them?”

Brenda thought for a minute. “Sure, they’re upstairs in my office. I’ll go get them.” As Brenda started to get up, Thomas put his hand on her arm.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t we all go up there? That way you don’t have to make an extra trip up and down the stairs.” Thomas looked at Brenda as he spoke and then turned his gaze to Jax. “Okay Jax?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Jax said, as he got up and extended a hand to Brenda. “We can just leave the tray on the table in the breakfast room. I’m sure Benton is still up. He’ll come out and extinguish the torches. Brenda? Are you coming?” Jax was standing, still holding out his hand to Brenda, who seemed to be deep in thought. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

Brenda didn’t answer immediately. Jax soon noticed a strange expression come across her face. “I just thought of something! I think I know exactly what Thomas is looking for in the furniture records! Come on, let’s go!” Brenda quickly got up from her chair and headed toward the door. Thomas picked up the tray and set it down on the breakfast table, as Jax closed and locked the terrace door. By the time the two men finished, Brenda was halfway to the stairs. “Come on, you two! What’s taking so long?” Thomas and Jax looked at each other and just shook their heads, as they quickly headed toward Brenda.

When they got to Brenda’s office, she went directly to the small filing cabinet next to her desk and pulled out a very thick pocket folder. She started quickly leafing through the papers until she found what she was looking for. “I knew it!” she exclaimed. “Is this what you were looking for, Thomas?” she asked as she handed two stapled sheets of paper to Thomas. As soon as he read over what was written on the pages and looked at the attached picture, a huge smile came across his face and he tightly hugged Brenda.

Jax was left totally confused by what was going on in front of him. “Would one of you mind explaining what’s happening to me?” he asked.

Thomas laughed out loud before answering, “It’s very simple, mate. Your beautiful wife just figured out how Everett was able to come out of the library that night to cause his little ‘accident’!”

Jax had been looking at Thomas as he spoke and now shifted his gaze to Brenda. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she looked like the cat that ate the canary. “Okay, sweetheart, want to explain it to me?” Jax was more than a little confused at this point.

Brenda reached for the papers that Thomas had just finished reading. “Sure, I’ll be glad to.” Brenda took a deep breath before starting her explanation. “You know that little bookshelf in the hallway next to the stairs? The one with our Ned Kelly and Nancy Drew books in it?” She waited for Jax to indicate he knew what shelf she was talking about before she continued, “Well, according to the research that Matthew did, that shelf unit was originally purchased by Everett Stanhope for his home office!”

Jax had to laugh when he saw the childlike expression of pride on Brenda’s face. He also had to admit that things were starting to fall into place now. “So since it was originally part of the library furnishings, Everett was able to leave the library and appear in the hallway because the bookshelf was his link! Very clever, Thomas!”

Brenda’s face immediately turned from obvious glee to a serious childlike pout. “HEY! What about me? I’m the one who found the proof!”

Jax put down the papers he was holding and wrapped both arms around her waist. “You, my love, are brilliant! How did you figure out what Thomas was looking for when he asked if you had the research on the furniture?” Jax leaned back slightly from Brenda so he could see her face when she answered him.

Brenda couldn’t resist the urge to smile. “That was easy. I remembered something he had said a while ago that whatever the reason was that Everett had returned, he was tied somehow to the furniture we brought back into the library. As soon as he asked for the furniture research, I remembered that bookshelf. It had been in one of the original pictures of the library, but when you and Matthew designed the library, there was no need for it, and I had this empty space in the upstairs hallway, so I put it there and liked it.” The smile suddenly left Brenda’s face. “If I’d known Everett would have used it to hurt you, I would have never bought it!” She shuddered slightly.

Jax wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Brenda. There was no way to know that the furniture came with 'accessories,'" Jax smiled lovingly down at Brenda and was relieved when he could feel her relax. She smiled back weakly. “That’s better.” He then turned his attention back to Thomas. “Do you think we should move the shelf back into the library?”

Thomas thought for a minute. “It might not be a bad idea. That way, we can be certain that there is no way for Everett to leave the library.” Thomas turned to Brenda. “Do you know if any other pieces of furniture in the house are original?”

Brenda picked up the folder again and quickly thumbed through it. “I don’t think so. Just to make sure, we should ask Madeline. If there were anything else in the house, she would know. After all, she bought all of the furnishings the first time.” Jax and Thomas nodded in agreement.

“In that case you’ll be happy to know that none of the current furnishings outside of the library are original to the house.” The three friends were startled by the sound of Madeline’s voice. They looked up to see her coming toward them from the shadows by the window. “As you all know, I’ve got free reign about this house, and I can assure you that the only furniture currently in this house that I bought is what is in the library and that shelf in the hallway.” While she had been talking, Madeline had walked up to join them by Brenda’s desk. “I think Thomas is right though. You should move that shelf into the library; at least until we can figure out a way for me to talk to Everett.”

Brenda and Jax looked at each other. “Do you really think that will do any good, Madeline? Considering his actions lately, I’m not too sure how much, if any, good that would do.” Brenda could see the sadness on Madeline’s face as she spoke, but it was how she felt. “I know you love him and want to think the best of him, but…”

“But what, Brenda?” Madeline asked. “Go ahead; you can say whatever you’re thinking.”

Brenda glanced quickly at Jax before answering. She wanted him to know that she was about to say something that she hoped would not upset him. Jax seemed to know what she was going to say and gave her a slight smile and a reassuring squeeze to let her know it was okay to continue.

“I know what it’s like to love a man that way. Before I met Jax, I was involved with someone, who I later found out was very troubled. I kept making excuses for his behavior to our friends because I truly believed that deep down he was a good man, whose actions were simply being misunderstood.” Brenda took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing, “I was wrong, Madeline. He was as twisted as everyone tried to tell me. It wasn’t until I was on the receiving end of his cruelty that I realized that they had been right all along, and I had only been seeing what I wanted to see.”

Madeline was surprised to see tears forming in Brenda’s eyes. She looked over at Jax to see what his reaction was. She was amazed to see what she could only interpret as hatred come quickly across his face. Obviously what this man had done had been directed at him and had caught Brenda up in it. “What did he do, Brenda?”

Jax picked up the story, “When we got married the first time, we had eloped. I had promised Brenda on our honeymoon that we would have a big splashy wedding when we got home, but circumstances prevented it at the time. About six months after we were married, we decided to have the big wedding with all the trimmings. On the night of the wedding, this man showed up uninvited at the door with someone I had been led to believe had died six years earlier. She had been my wife.” Jax paused to gather his thoughts. He hated having to bring all this up for Brenda, but he also agreed with Brenda that it was something that Madeline needed to know. “I thought she had been killed in an accident, and my family had kept her survival a secret from me. Since I was totally in love with Brenda and had put this other woman out of my mind, I had never told Brenda about her existence, let alone how she had died. When she walked through the door with this man, I was destroyed, as was Brenda.” Jax pulled Brenda closer to him and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. She ran her hand gently across his chest to let him know that she would continue the story.

“What happened is that this man I had been involved with had decided he wanted to make Jax pay for making me happier than I had ever been in my life. He purposely set out to destroy Jax at any cost. He said he was doing it for my own good, but the truth was that he was doing it to get back at Jax. He didn’t care how badly I was hurt, just so he could split us up and prove himself right!”

Madeline was stunned. She didn’t know what to say. Eventually she regained her composure. “What happened? Obviously he didn’t succeed, since you are both here and hopelessly in love.” She smiled at both of them.

“We had some pretty rough times for a while after that. He almost succeeded in breaking my trust in Jax, but eventually I realized that what he had done – bringing Jax’s ‘dead,’ first wife to the wedding – had been done for his own gain, not to protect me. I also realized that Jax would never do something so cruel to someone he loved. From that point on, there was no looking back. Jax was my present and my future!” She snuggled close to Jax before continuing, “The reason I brought this up is to try to convince you that you may not be able to reason with Everett. You need to be prepared for that. From everything we’ve uncovered and everything you’ve told us about him, he sounds a lot like the man in my past. You need to realize that you may not have the influence over him that you think you do!” Brenda looked at Madeline. She did not intend to hurt her, but it was obvious by the look on her face that she had been hurt.

“I understand what you are both saying, but I have to try. I love him, Brenda. I have to think I can at least talk to him!” Madeline shuddered as she tried to prevent herself from crying.

Brenda reached over and placed her hand on Madeline’s arm. “I understand that – truly I do. I just hate the thought of you being hurt the way I was. You don’t deserve that.”

Madeline sniffled a couple of times and stood perfectly straight. “Thank you both for telling me about what happened to you. You’ve given me something to think about, and I promise I will think long and hard on what you have both said.” She smiled as she looked at Jax and Brenda. It was obvious that Brenda was exhausted. She was clinging tightly to Jax, and it had very little to do with wanting the comfort of his closeness.

“Jax, why don’t you and Thomas take that shelf down to the library. I think it’s about time that the little mother here got some rest!” Madeline smiled affectionately at Brenda as she spoke and gently placed her hand on the side of Brenda’s face. “Thank you for telling me what happened. I promise I will take your words to heart. Now, you go get some rest. We can discuss this again.” She leaned over and gently kissed Brenda’s cheek, before walking slowly back into the shadows and disappearing.

When Madeline was gone, Jax looked down at Brenda. “She’s right, luv. You look exhausted. Why don’t you head on to bed, while Thomas and I take the shelf down to the library?” Jax kissed the top of Brenda’s head and hugged her tightly for a moment. When he released her, he kept his hands on her shoulders and looked into her face.

Brenda didn’t even try to deny how tired she was. She looked up at Jax and slowly nodded her head. “You aren’t going to get any argument from me this time. I’m exhausted!” She hugged Jax again quickly and released him. She walked over to Thomas and kissed him on the cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck for a brief hug. “Good night, Thomas. I’m glad you’re back safely,” she said softly, and headed out the door that Thomas was holding open. Turning back to Jax she said, “Don’t take too long, luv. I hate sleeping alone.” She winked seductively at Jax before leaving.

Thomas and Jax looked at each other. Smiling, Jax slowly shook his head. “Sometimes I don’t understand that woman!”

“What’s to understand, Jax? She loves you! She loves you more than life itself! You should count yourself blessed!” Thomas said softly with just a trace of sadness in his voice, as his mind went back to his brief time with Lea. Thomas quickly came back to reality. He cleared his throat before speaking, “Let’s get that shelf down to the library, so I can get out of here.” With that said, the two men quickly went down the hall, picked up the shelf, and carried it down to the library.

They set the shelf in a corner near the doorway and closed the door behind them when they left. Once they were gone, Everett came out of the shadows and walked over to the shelf. Damn! he thought. Why had they done this? This had been his lifeline out of this room! Now that all of his furniture was in this room again, he was stuck here! Everett decided to try to leave. When he reached the door, he could not get through. No matter which doorway he tried, he couldn’t leave. He even tried to go through the secret passageways, but nothing worked. As he paced angrily around the room, he tried desperately to figure out why they had brought the bookshelf in here, especially this late at night. Maybe the other presence that Everett could sense in the house had convinced them to do it. That didn’t make any sense though! How would they know to bring it here? How would they know it was his only link out of this room? He slowly faded back into the shadows, as he tried to figure out yet another puzzle concerning these young people living in his house.

After showing Thomas out, Jax had headed up to bed. By the time he entered the bedroom, Brenda had started to doze off. He quickly went into the bathroom to change. He came out a few minutes later and saw that Brenda had fallen asleep. He gently got into bed next to her. As soon as she felt him there, she rolled over and wrapped herself around him, without ever waking. Jax gently wrapped his arms around her and softly stroked her back with his hand. Before he realized it, he, too, fell soundly asleep.

Madeline stood silently at the foot of their bed, watching them sleep. They had obviously endured a great deal to get where they were today. She fully intended to think about their warnings to her about Everett, but she could not shake the feeling that she could get through to him. She had to at least try. As she faded back into the shadows, she thought back to her promise to Jax and Brenda. If talking to Everett failed, she would have to think of a different way to stop him. He was not going to do anything to upset their happiness in her house – whatever she had to do! Madeline slowly disappeared, leaving the lovers sleeping peacefully, probably dreaming of their child and the future they would all share in this house.