Jax woke with a start when he realized he was in bed alone. Sitting up quickly, he looked around the darkened bedroom but saw no trace of her. It was then that he heard the water turn off in the shower and he realized that, not only had Brenda awakened before him, but she had also been up long enough to finish her shower. Since he could smell fresh brewed coffee he looked around again and saw the small table by the bedroom fireplace set for breakfast with a pot of steaming coffee and two silver, covered plates. Just then the bathroom door opened, and Brenda came out wearing his white terrycloth robe and drying her hair with a towel.

"Hey, sleepyhead, it's about time you woke up! Don't you know what today is?" she leaned down to kiss him lightly on the nose. He reached for her but before he got his hands on her, she pulled away the covers on the bed and grabbed him by the hand, trying to pull him up out of bed.

"Wait a minute!!! What's the big hurry? And what, may I ask, are you doing awake -- not to mention showered and having already ordered breakfast at this hour?" The blank look on his face made Brenda more frustrated than ever.

"Jax! Today is January 4th. We're meeting the realtor at 10:00 to get the keys to our new home. Don't tell me you forgot already! That was all we talked about last night."

"No, sweetie, that was all YOU talked about last night. As I remember it, I had other things on my mind...

"To answer your question, though, of course I didn't forget about today. I just didn't expect you to be up so early. We still have almost three hours till we meet the realtor."

"I don't understand why we have to get the keys from him anyway. The key you gave me Christmas Eve worked just fine!" Brenda mumbled as she poured their coffee, giving Jax a look that told him to get up and eat his breakfast NOW!

"That key was specially made for you for the occasion. It's solid gold so I don't think we want to use it again. The key from the realtor is a plain ordinary key. Besides we have to sign the letter of intent in order for us to have legal access for decorating purposes." While talking, Jax had gotten up and come over to the table. When he lifted the lid on his plate he burst out laughing, "Granola and yogurt? Is this a bribe about something, my love???"

Brenda couldn't help smiling at him, "Well, not exactly. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate all the support you've shown me. I know I've been running around like a mad woman the last week or so, but wait until you see the pieces Matthew found for us. They are exactly what I wanted, and they are going to look just perfect in the house!!!

"To show you how much your support means and also how much I love you look..." Just then she lifted the lid of the plate in front of her to show a second bowl of yogurt and granola along with a bowl containing sliced bananas. "I intend to eat this entire bowl, bananas and all, just to show you I mean what I say." With that she took her spoon and put half the bananas in Jax's bowl and the other half in her own. Making a big show of her sincerity, she took a large spoonful of yogurt and granola and ate it, without making so much as a whimper.

Jax was speechless. He had not been able to get her to eat yogurt and granola since the first time he had taken her to Malibu after she had been injured by that hit-and-run driver, and then she had only done it because he told her they would go shopping on Rodeo Drive if she ate it. This time she actually was eating it voluntarily. He knew he was in trouble.

When they finished breakfast, Jax went to shower and change while Brenda cleaned up the breakfast dishes. As she entered the walk in closet to get out her clothes Jax came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. "Hurry up, Jax. We don't want to be late to the realtor's. Matthew has arranged for some of the furniture to be delivered this afternoon, and I don't want anything to delay it."

Jax reached for her, pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms around her waist, "Slow down, honey, we've got plenty of time. We don't have to be at the realtor's for another two hours." He bent down and placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, intending to carry things a lot further, but Brenda had other ideas.

"Jax, we don't have time for this now! I still have to dry my hair, get dressed, do my makeup, and you -- you're not even close to being ready! Honey, I promise, we'll celebrate getting the house tonight and you can have all the time you want, I promise."

Once Jax realized there was no reasoning with her, he kissed her again and went to get his clothes, wondering to himself what had he gotten himself into this time. Brenda was so excited about decorating the house that it made him wonder if she had given any thought to who was going to maintain it for them. He couldn't picture her running a vacuum or dusting floors. He'd have to remember to bring that up to her tonight, BEFORE they began their celebration.

The meeting at the realtor's office went off without any problems. Jax and Brenda signed the letter of intent, it was notarized, and they were given two sets of keys, with the stipulation that they would not actually move into the house until transfer of title at the end of the month. The keys were strictly for use by the decorators and workmen. When both Jax and Brenda agreed, the realtor shook hands with both of them, telling them he would see them again at the end of the month when they would need to come in to sign the title transfer and all necessary documents of sale.

Brenda and Jax walked out of the office with their arms around each other. "Well, it's almost ours, Brenda. Are you okay about this? Do you want me to drop you back at the penthouse before I go to the office? Brenda? Brenda?"

It took a minute for it to sink in. They were actually taking possession of the house. Matthew was going to be able to start moving furniture in this afternoon. Before they knew it, this would be their home. Brenda was so wrapped up in her thoughts and plans that she had not heard Jax call her name. "What, what did you say, honey? I'm sorry. I was just thinking about the house. We're actually going to be living there in just a few weeks! Can you come there with me this afternoon Jax? I want you to see the furniture that Matthew was able to find so far." She looked up at him with an expression that just about melted his heart.

"I guess that can be arranged. What time?"

"Can you make it around 2:30? That way we can look at the pieces before they are placed in position. If we don't like any of them then Matthew can have the workmen take them back before they leave."

Jax pulled out his dayplanner before he answered, "Can we do it at 3:00? I have a 1:30 meeting with Ned that I can't cancel. I don't think, even if I rush, I can get out before 2:30."

"Three will be perfect. Can you drop me off at the penthouse on your way to the office. I'll call Matthew and have him arrange the deliveries for this afternoon. What are you laughing at? What did I say?"

When Jax finally stopped laughing, he touched the side of her face, "Oh nothing, I just asked you that very same question about 5 minutes ago, that's all." With that he put his arm around her shoulders and walked her to the car. He dropped her off in front of the Port Charles Hotel where their penthouse was. He had offered to walk up to the penthouse with her, but she insisted that he go on to work. She had a lot to do before he picked her up to go to the house this afternoon.

Jax was on time, as usual. He walked in the door of the penthouse at exactly 3:00. "Brenda, are you..." Before he could finish his sentence, Brenda was standing in front of him, coat on, purse on her shoulder, and legal pad in her hands.

"No time for small talk, let's go!" Before Jax had a chance to even say anything, she was out the door and pushing the button for the elevator.

The whole time they were driving to the house Brenda kept fidgeting in her seat. Jax couldn't help but notice how cute she looked. Without even looking over at her he knew she was worried about how the first purchases would look in the house, and he was determined to make sure she had nothing to worry about.

When they pulled in the driveway, there was no one else there. Matthew's car was not in the drive nor was there a delivery van in the street. Jax got out and went around to open Brenda's door for her. Before he got around the car she was already out. "I wonder where Matthew is? It's not like him to be late." Brenda sounded concerned for her new friend.

As they were walking up the front steps, Jax noticed a note taped to the front door. It was from Matthew. "Here's your explanation, Matthew had to go to the importers. There was a problem with some of the paperwork for the dining room sideboard. He says he'll be here as soon as he can, and that we should go ahead and remove the covers on any or all of the pieces that are in the parlor. He had the delivery men put them all in there so we could look at them before they were placed in position in the rooms. If he doesn't get here by the time we look over all the furniture, he says we should mark any that we don't want. He'll call us later this evening to discuss any problems."

Brenda was a little disappointed that Matthew wasn't going to be there to show them the pieces, but she suddenly realized that it was better this way. She and Jax could explore their furniture, in their house, by themselves. This was actually going to be a good day after all.

Jax unlocked the front door and looked over at Brenda, "Ready, luv?"

"You bet I am. Let's go check out our future." With that said, Jax opened the door for her to walk in. The foyer was as she remembered it. The pocket doors to the parlor were closed this time though when they came in. "That's strange. I wonder why Matthew closed the parlor doors? All that's in there are a pieces of wrapped furniture."

When Jax opened the doors they were both speechless. Matthew had managed to find all of the major pieces of furniture for the parlor, and he had even had the workmen position them according to the floor plan he and Brenda had prepared. The two large, dark burgundy velvet couches were facing each other in front of the fireplace. There were two large wing-back chairs on each side of the front window, with a dark mahogany pedestal table between them. There was also a small pedal table at each end of the two couches and what was called a butler's table in front of the fireplace. There was a couch-back table behind each couch and a small sideboard on the back wall. All of the tables were the same dark mahogany as the table by the window. They were all apparently from the same manufacturer or possibly even the same set since they matched each other perfectly.

As Jax and Brenda walked around the room, running their hands lightly over the surface of each piece of furniture, neither of them said a word. Matthew had been a miracle worker. He had found exactly what they had both wanted. Even the color of the couches was a perfect match to the color in the wallpaper. The only things missing were the rugs on the floor and the velvet draperies. These had been ordered but were not expected to arrive for at least another 2 weeks.

Once they got over their shock at the parlor furnishing, they decided to head upstairs since Matthew had told Brenda he had been able to obtain the bed they had discussed for the primary guest room, along with the matching dresser and chest of drawers. He had also told her he had found the chair and fireside table for the guest room as well. Since none of that furniture was in the parlor, they assumed he had arranged it as beautifully as he had the parlor.

When they got to the guest room the door was again closed. Jax found it odd that the only door on the second floor that was closed was the room that they were going to. He attributed it to Matthew's desire to surprise them. When he opened the door they truly were surprised. The furniture was indeed arranged in the room, but not according to the plan the they had discussed. When Brenda finished looking around the room she had to agree, Matthew's decision had been correct. She preferred this arrangement to the one they had discussed.

"Jax, can you believe all of this? Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" She couldn't stop walking around the room, running her hands lightly over every piece of furniture, stopping finally to sit in the chair next to the fireplace.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. That term is reserved for you. I do have to agree though, these pieces Matthew has found and the way he has arranged them just seem to fit the house perfectly. They give it a feeling of having been lived in by a happy family. Does that make any sense to you?" He had walked over behind her chair and reached down to touch her shoulder.

She looked up at him with a slight smile, "I was just thinking the same thing. There is such a peaceful feeling about the house now that there is furniture in it."

She reached up to put her hand on his, "We're going to be happy here, Jax -- I can feel it."

Just then they heard a car in the drive. "That must be Matthew. Let's go down and meet him." Jax took Brenda's hand and led her back downstairs. Just as they got to the foot of the staircase, there was a knock at the door.

Jax let Matthew in while Brenda headed back into the parlor. When Jax and Matthew entered the parlor Matthew stopped in his tracks. "How did you guys do all of this? Some of these pieces must weigh a ton! Where are the packing materials and invoices?"

Jax looked at Matthew, totally confused, "What are you talking about? This is how we found the room when we walked in. The invoices are in a pile on the table by the window. We figured you had the workmen position all of this before you left, just like they did the guest room upstairs."

"Jax, I don't know who did this, but it wasn't me. When I left here, all of the furniture was wrapped in heavy canvas covers or packed in boxes. Everything was stacked in this room. Nothing was assembled or unwrapped. And what do you mean about the guest room? I didn't take anything up there."

The three of them looked at each other, and then as a group headed up the stairs to the guest room. Once inside, Matthew was amazed. He did the same thing that Jax and Brenda had done. He walked from piece to piece, gently running his hand over them, admiring the positioning of the pieces, and agreeing with Jax and Brenda that this arrangement was much better than the one they had planned to use.

"Matthew, are you sure you didn't do this? I mean, come on -- no one else has access to this house but the three of us, and since Jax and I just got here about 30 minutes ago, it had to have been you."

"Brenda, I swear to you, when I left this house earlier, all of the furniture was piled up in the parlor, still wrapped in it's packing material and the invoices were attached to each piece. Let's go back downstairs. I want to take a look at that stack of invoices. Jax, did you say they were on the table by the front window?"

"Yes, I noticed them when we were walking around in there."

As they made their way downstairs Jax could see the fear creeping into Brenda's face. He reached out and took her hand in his, "There is a logical explanation for this and we're going to find it Brenda." He gave her a smile that greatly eased her fears.

When they got back to the parlor, Matthew went straight to the window table. As Jax had said, the invoices were all stacked there, as were the packing slips and delivery tags. Each invoice had the accompanying tags and slips on top of it, accounting for each piece of furniture delivered. Matthew looked perplexed.

"Jax, I don't know what to tell you. I swear to you I had nothing to do with unpacking and positioning this furniture, but I promise you I will find out who got into this house and how. I swear this will never happen again!

"With all the excitement about the mysterious unpacking, I forgot to ask you two what you thought of the pieces. Are there any you don't like? I can have the crew back tomorrow to remove them."

"Absolutely not!!" they both answered in unison. "Please don't change anything. We both love everything in both rooms and leave everything exactly where it's at, right, Jax?"

"Definitely. Matthew, please let me know as soon as you find out who was in here. We may have to get the realtor to change the locks if someone else still has a key. Keep me posted." With that they all walked out the front door. Jax checked to make sure it was locked securely. He made a mental note to inquire with the Restoration Society tomorrow to see if there was any restriction on having a security system installed. He was not going to take any chances with Brenda's safety.

As Brenda and Jax drove back to the penthouse, neither said anything. Finally Brenda broke the silence, "Jax, I don't think anyone meant any harm when they arranged that furniture. I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for it."

"I hope you're right. I have to admit I didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable about anything in the house. Let's just hope Matthew can get to the bottom of this very quickly." That said, they drove the rest of the way in silence, each lost in their own thoughts about everything they had seen and what Matthew had said, leaving them both to come to their own conclusions.