August 13, 1999

It was nearly 10:00 by the time Jax got into the office, and Thomas was already waiting for him there. "It must be nice to be the boss! You get to come to work whenever you feel like it!" Thomas's humor quickly disappeared when he looked up at his friend as he entered the office. It was obvious that Jax had had little - if any - sleep the night before. Whatever had caused Jax's late night phone call had obviously been a lot more serious than he had let on during their conversation last night. Thomas immediately came over to his friend, as Jax slowly closed the door and walked over to his desk. He dropped his briefcase on the desk and basically fell back into his chair, closing his eyes; his exhaustion obvious, not only on his face, but also in his actions.

Thomas went over to the coffeepot and poured Jax a large mug of hot coffee. He took it over and held it in front of Jax. "Here! You look like you can use this!" Jax opened his eyes and looked up at Thomas for the first time. He reached for the coffee and took a sip, before closing his eyes again and leaning back in his chair. "Rough night?" Thomas asked.

Jax leaned forward and put the cup down on his desk. He rested his elbows on the desk and slowly ran his fingers through his hair. When he looked up at Thomas again the only way to describe the look on his face was total frustration. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Thomas!" Jax leaned his face in his hands again.

Thomas sat on the edge of the desk next to Jax. He reached over and put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "Try me! I take it this has to do with Brenda's nightmare?" He waited for Jax to look up at him before saying anything more. "More nightmares?"

Jax slowly shook his head. "No, that I think I could have handled. She was having bad dreams most of the night; I'm sure of it. She kept moaning in her sleep and calling my name. Every time I'd get her to the point that she'd calm down, it wasn't long before the dreams were back again! I was afraid to leave the house this morning until she woke up because I didn't want her to be scared waking up alone!" Jax ran his hand through his hair again. "Thomas, she can't take any more nights like that! She's too close to her delivery date to be getting that upset! We've got to do something to ease her mind! NOW!"

The expression on Jax's face told Thomas much more than his words. He was scared, not for himself, but for his family. Thomas gently squeezed Jax's shoulder. "We will, Jax. We will!" He smiled slightly, trying to reassure Jax. "I talked to my grandfather last night after you called, and we came up with a plan that should work to at least draw Everett out." Thomas chuckled briefly. "Actually, it shouldn't be all that difficult. I don't know why we didn't think of doing this a long time ago!"

Jax looked up at his friend "Tell me! Whatever it is has got to be better than doing nothing!" When Jax remembered his promise to Brenda last night, he looked up at Thomas. "Only thing is, Thomas, I promised Brenda that I would not provoke Everett! Since I'm keeping the fact that we are even doing this a secret from her already, I don't want to break that promise!"

Thomas smiled. "You won't, mate! What we have in mind could not be considered as provocation by anyone - even Everett! Actually, it's just the opposite!" When he saw that Jax was now totally confused, he continued. "What you are going to do is basically ask for his help!" The smug expression on Thomas's face caused Jax to smile for the first time.

Brenda could not believe how tired she was. It had been after 8:00 when she woke up this morning. She had been surprised to find Jax still holding her in bed at that hour. He normally would have been off to the office by 7:30, and she should have been in the shower. When she woke up and realized the time, she had gotten scared. When she had pressed Jax for an explanation of why he was not only still home, but still in bed, he had tried to brush off her concerns by saying that he had not wanted to get up that morning. It wasn't until she remembered her nightmare that she had been able to get him to tell her the truth. When he told her about the bad dreams he thought she had been having the night before, it all came back to her.

It had taken most of the energy she had left to convince Jax that she was okay and that he should go to the office. It was only after she promised to stay in bed and rest rather than go to the office that he had even gotten out of bed to dress. Before going into shower, he had called Benton to bring their breakfast up to the bedroom so that Brenda would not have to go down the stairs and back up again. By the time he had finished showering and dressing, Benton had arrived with breakfast. Neither of them had said much as they ate, and Jax had never once taken his eyes off of her, as if trying to make sure that she was okay.

When they finished eating, Brenda had to threaten to go into work to get Jax to finally leave. After he had tucked her back into bed, kissed her goodbye for about the hundredth time, and extracted yet another promise to stay in bed all day, he had finally left for the office. Soon after Jax left, Benton came upstairs to pick up the breakfast dishes. He let her know that the ringers on the phones in the suite were turned off so that she would not be disturbed. She promised him that she would try to get some sleep. He told her he or Mrs. Kelly would come up later to see if she needed anything. Once she was alone, Brenda had to admit to herself that she was exhausted. It wasn't long before she had fallen back to sleep. This time she slept soundly - no bad dreams!

It was nearly noon when Brenda finally woke up. She was glad that she no longer felt exhausted, but she had to admit she was still tired. Even though she would never admit it to him, Jax had been right about her staying home to rest today. As she adjusted the covers around her, she shook her head slowly and could not resist the urge to smile. How did he always manage to do that? How did he always seem to know exactly what she needed even when she didn't?

"I have to tell you, Brenda, you look a lot better than you did last night!" Brenda was startled by the sound of Madeline's voice. "I'm sorry! I didn't meet to startle you! Are you okay?" She came over and sat gently on the side of the bed next to Brenda.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I gave Jax a rough time last night though. The poor thing looked absolutely exhausted when he left here!" Brenda leaned back against the headboard and quickly ran her hands through her hair, trying to smooth it out. "I don't know what got into me last night! Madeline, I had such horrible dreams!" As the tears started to come to Brenda's eyes, Madeline reached over and took Brenda's hand in both of her.

"It's okay now, Brenda. It's all over, and they were just dreams. You know that dreams can't hurt you, don't you? Unless you let them, that is!" She looked very sternly at Brenda before continuing, "You know that I promised both you and Jax that no harm would come to either one of you because of Everett. I have no intention of going back on that promise - now or ever!" She smiled reassuringly at Brenda. "Why don't you tell me about the dreams? Maybe I can help."

Brenda spent the next twenty minutes telling Madeline about her dreams, unable to bring herself to look at her as she spoke. When she finished, she finally looked at Madeline. "What does it all mean, Madeline? Why am I so sure that Everett will hurt Jax? We've never even seen him! Why am I having these dreams?"

Brenda was no longer able to hold back her tears. When she started to sob, Madeline moved closer and wrapped her arms around Brenda to comfort her. After a few minutes Brenda's tears began to slow down. Madeline pushed her back against the headboard so that she could see Brenda's face when she talked to her. She gently wiped the tears from Brenda's cheeks. "There, there, Brenda. It's going to be okay." She smiled reassuringly at Brenda as she continued, "I think you were just overtired last night, and you let your imagination run away with you. Nothing has happened to give you any reason to worry about Jax, has it?" Brenda slowly shook her head. "And I promised you that I wouldn't let it, didn't I?" This time Brenda slowly nodded. "Okay then, put these fears of yours out of your mind. I'm sure that Jax and Thomas will find a way to make Everett show himself without provoking him. That way I'll be able to convince him to leave you and Jax alone so that you can relax and enjoy this time getting ready for the baby."

For the first time all morning Brenda could feel herself relax. There was something very comforting about Madeline's promise. "You're probably right! Jax was perfectly fine when he left here this morning, and there is no reason to think that he won't stay that way. Thanks, Madeline. I guess all I really needed was to hear you tell me again that nothing will happen to him." Brenda quickly put her hand up to cover the yawn she felt starting. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what's come over me today. I feel so sleepy..."

Madeline smiled at her and gently patted her hand. "There's nothing to apologize for, dear. It's perfectly normal for you to be so tired. After all, you had a very restless night last night and the couple of hours sleep you got this morning can't have been enough to help you catch up. Tell you what: why don't you close your eyes and see if you can get some sleep? Before you know it, Jax will be home from work, and the two of you can put what happened last night behind you." She smiled very protectively at Brenda as she rose from the bed. She smoothed the covers around Brenda and leaned over to place a light kiss on her forehead. "Try to get some rest, okay? I promise I'll keep an eye on Jax from now on whenever he's in this house."

Brenda looked up at Madeline's very maternal face. She found herself drifting off to sleep to the soothing sound of Madeline's voice. She had Madeline's promise to protect Jax, and she knew that Madeline would never break her promise! It wasn't long before Brenda was sleeping soundly. Once she was sure that Brenda was asleep, Madeline faded back into the shadows to wait for Jax to return home so she could talk to him.

Jax found himself totally disorganized at the office. He snapped at Allison for everything and nothing. Finally around 3:30 there was a vigorous knock on his door. "What?" Jax growled as the door flew open. When he looked up, Thomas was standing in his doorway, his arms crossed in front of him, looking at the mess Jax had made of the office.

"What on earth happened in here?" Thomas could not believe what he saw. As long as he had known Jax, he had never seen him so surrounded by clutter. It looked like he had dumped the contents of every file he had, either on his desk or on the floor around the desk.

Jax looked up at Thomas as he approached his desk. "Don't start! This has not been one of my better days - trust me!" Just then the phone on Jax's desk rang. "Damn! What now?" He ran his fingers through his hair before reaching for the phone. He wasn't fast enough though, Thomas grabbed it before he got a chance.

"Allison, no calls, okay?" Thomas glanced over at Jax. "On second thought, would you please take messages. Mr. Jacks is going to be leaving for the day!" As Jax started to protest, Thomas held up his hand to silence him. A large smile crossed his face as he continued to listen to what Allison was saying. "I'll be sure to tell him that, thanks." Thomas slowly put the phone back in place. "Allison said to tell you that it's a good idea for you to go home. In fact, you should have thought of it a couple of hours ago!" Thomas was surprised when he looked over at his friend. He had expected at least a chuckle from him, but all he saw was total exhaustion on Jax's face. He reached over and put his hand on Jax's shoulder. "Come on, mate, let's get you home."

Jax looked up at his friend, obviously too exhausted to argue. He slowly nodded his head and stood up. Looking around, he got his first full view of the damage he had done to his office. "Good Grief! How on earth did I manage to do all of this and not accomplish a damn thing!"

Thomas smiled as he took hold of Jax's arm. "Don't worry about it, mate. Just go home and get some rest. I'm sure Allison and I can put this mess back together. When you come in tomorrow morning, everything will be in its place and YOU will be your old self - RIGHT?"

Jax slowly let out a breath. "Right!" He reached for his briefcase, but Thomas slapped his hand away. "What are you doing? How can we draw Everett out, if I don't take my work home?" Jax wasn't sure if it was because he was so tired or what, but Thomas's actions didn't make any sense. He had promised to help Jax put an end to Brenda's nightmares by drawing Everett out, yet here he was trying to stop him from taking work home.

Thomas understood Jax's confusion. "We're not going to do anything about Everett for a day or so." When he saw Jax wanting to protest, he held up his hand to silence him. "Listen to me, Jax: you're in no shape to take on Everett, and neither is Brenda from what you told me. Give it a day or two. I'm sure things will be okay for that long. That'll give you and Brenda both a chance to get some rest, and it'll give us a chance to flesh out our plan of attack against him. If Brenda's nightmares come back tonight, we'll rethink this idea; if not, we'll wait a few days. Okay?"

Jax reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. "You win, Thomas. I'm just too damn tired to argue with you." He leaned down against the desk on both of his hands and sighed deeply. "Okay, I'll go along with your plans PROVIDED Brenda is okay when I get home! If she was able to get some sleep without any bad dreams, I'll wait a few days - if not, we do this TONIGHT! Agreed?" Jax's determination was evident, not only in his voice, but on his face as well.

"Agreed!" Thomas placed his hand on Jax's forearm. "Come on, Jax, I'll drive you home. You're too tired to drive yourself."

Too tired to argue about anything else, Jax reluctantly let Thomas lead him toward the door. When they got to Allison's desk, Jax stopped and looked down at his assistant. "I'm sorry about today, Allison. I promise that tomorrow will be business as usual." When she looked up at him, he made a valiant attempt to smile.

Allison returned his smile. "It's okay, Mr. Jacks. I'll make sure your office is in order before I leave." She was surprised to see her boss cringe at the mention of his office. She was even more confused when she saw the smirk on Mr. Abenela's face as he came back after pressing the elevator button.

Jax and Thomas started toward the elevator when Thomas suddenly stopped and came back to Allison's desk. "I'll be back in a little while, Allison. I'm going to drive Jax home." As Allison nodded her understanding, Thomas continued, "Don't worry about the office until I get back. I'll help you get the kid's office in order." Allison was surprised by his remark. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there alone!" Even though she saw the smirk on Thomas's face, she understood from the tone of his voice that things had not gone well in Mr. Jacks's office. She simply nodded her understanding, as Thomas turned to join Jax in the waiting elevator.

Even though the trip to the house had only taken a few minutes, Jax had finally managed to relax for the first time all day. Somehow having Thomas take charge of things gave him the reassurance that he needed to get through the rest of the day. He watched as Thomas pulled the car into the driveway. He was suddenly hit with a question that was bothering him more and more lately, probably since the baby's due date was quickly approaching. Why was it that whenever he needed anything, Thomas was always there, anticipating his needs, helping him and Brenda? Where was his 'brother'? For that matter, where was his 'father'? He knew the answer to that question without having to ask it. They were doing what they always did - taking care of themselves!

Jax slowly reached to open his door. He looked over at Thomas before getting out of the car. "Thanks!" was all he said - it was all he needed to say.

"Forget it, little brother! You'd do the same for me if I needed it. Now go kiss that beautiful wife of yours for me and GET SOME REST - BOTH OF YOU!" Thomas chuckled as Jax got out of the car and saluted him before heading up the front stairs. Thomas waited until Jax closed the door, before pulling out of the driveway and heading back to the office to help Allison try to put the mess that Jax called an office back together.

After checking in with Benton to find out how Brenda had been while he was gone, Jax headed upstairs to see for himself. He quietly opened the hallway door to the suite and closed it behind him after he was inside. When he turned back, he was startled to see Madeline standing in front of the sofa.

"My goodness, Jax, you look awful!" Madeline stepped aside so that Jax could come over and sit down. "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

Jax sat down and rested his head in his hands. "Not really - no. Brenda had a rough night last night, and I..." Jax didn't get a chance to finish, since Madeline reached over and placed her hand on his arm.

"I know, Jax. I talked to Brenda earlier." For some reason she couldn't explain, Madeline wanted Jax to know that she was there for him. When he looked up at her, she smiled softly at him. "She's doing fine, dear. I checked on her a little while ago, and she was sleeping peacefully. We had a really good talk this morning, and I think she's been able to relax quite a bit."

"What did you say to her that could get her to relax? I didn't seem to be able to say anything this morning." Jax's frustration came out in his voice.

Madeline heard it immediately. "I simply reminded her of my promise to keep both you and Brenda safe in this house no matter what. I also told her that I was sure that you and your friend Thomas would find a safe way to contact Everett so that I could convince him to leave you alone. Once she accepted that I would keep an eye on you, she seemed to relax right in front of me. She drifted off to sleep right after our talk." Seeing how tired Jax looked, Madeline stood up. "Why don't you go see for yourself? She's in bed, as she promised." Madeline smiled at him as she walked over and opened the bedroom door for him.

Jax walked over to the door and walked quietly into the bedroom. As he turned to thank Madeline, he saw that she was gone. He just smiled to himself and quietly closed the door. He stood next to the bed for several minutes just watching Brenda sleep. She looked so peaceful, not like last night. Silently, as he watched her sleep, Jax took off his clothes and gently crawled into bed next to her. As soon as she felt his presence, she rolled over to him and wrapped herself as snuggly around him as was possible, considering her new figure, never once even coming close to waking. Not long after he closed his arms around his sleeping wife, Jax drifted off to sleep himself.

It was nearly 6:30 when Brenda finally woke up. She was a little disoriented, especially when she felt Jax's arms around her. She slowly lifted her head from its resting-place on Jax's shoulder and looked around the room. Sure enough, Jax really was there, holding her in his arms, sound asleep! She looked over his shoulder at the bedside clock, wondering when he had gotten home.

When he felt her move, Jax slowly woke up. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his wife's beautiful face. "Hello, beautiful. Did you sleep well?" He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.

Brenda smiled at him and returned his kiss. "Like a baby." Just as she said that the baby kicked. Because of how they were wrapped around each other, they both felt the kick, which made them both burst out laughing. "I guess that means the whole family is awake now." Brenda put her head back down on Jax's shoulder and gently rubbed her hand across his chest. "When did you get home?"

Jax slowly ran his hand around her back in circles. He glanced over at the clock before answering her question. "Wow! I didn't realize it was this late. I got home a little after 3:30 and saw you sleeping so peacefully that I decided to join you. I didn't expect to even fall asleep, let alone sleep this long." He pulled himself up a little and leaned back against the headboard without releasing his hold on Brenda. "Are you getting hungry?"

Brenda pulled back and sat up facing him. "Jax, by this time you should know that we're ALWAYS hungry!" The lightheartedness in Brenda's voice was like a huge load being lifted from Jax's heart. Obviously Madeline had been right earlier when she said that Brenda had accepted her promise to protect them. He also realized that Thomas was right as well. They should wait a few days before putting their plan to draw out Everett into motion, just in case things didn't go as planned and it got nasty. Brenda was not ready for any more upset.

Brenda reached over Jax to pick up the phone. She asked Benton to bring their dinner up to the sitting room for them. When she was finished, she settled back next to Jax. "You don't mind, do you? I was hoping we could just spend the evening together up here." Suddenly remembering he had come home early from the office, Brenda started to pull away again to face him, but he wouldn't let her move. "Jax, if you have work to finish, I'll understand. I know you left the office awfully early today..."

Jax wrapped his arms more tightly around her before he spoke, "Don't worry about work, Brenda. I left everything on my desk when I left." He cringed at the memory of his office. "I guess it's just you and me tonight, luv." The baby chose that moment to make its presence known once again. "Oh, sorry about that, little one! I guess it's just the THREE of us tonight!" Jax reached down and gently caressed her abdomen, as both of them laughed softly.

After finishing the dinner that Benton brought up to them, they spent the rest of the evening cuddled together on the sofa in the sitting room, listening to some of their favorite music. Around 11:00 they both found the urge to sleep catching up with them again, and they headed back to bed. Once there though it seemed they had a renewed sense of energy, and, as usual, one thing led to another and it was close to 1:00 by the time they finally went to sleep - happy, satisfied, and at peace with the world.

As they were sleeping, Madeline came out and looked down at them. She smiled as she saw the look of peace on both of their faces. As she faded away again she renewed her promise to herself to make sure they stayed this way.

When Jax returned to work the next day, his office was in perfect order. As soon as he saw it, he called Allison to thank her and apologize again for his behavior the day before. She was very understanding about everything, and they got back to work as though that day had never happened. When Thomas came in, he was surprised to see the dramatic change in his friend. Obviously things had gone well at home. When Jax looked up and saw him standing there, Thomas smiled. "Well, I guess everything was okay at home yesterday," Thomas guessed.

Jax returned his smile and indicated he should take a seat in front of the desk. "You were so right about that, Thomas. When I got home, Brenda was sleeping peacefully, thanks to Madeline, I think." He saw the surprised look on Thomas's face. "It seems that she and Brenda had a long talk after I left, and Madeline promised her that she would protect me from Everett, and that apparently gave Brenda the peace of mind she needed to relax and get some sleep. By the time I got home, she really seemed to be herself again." As memories of their lovemaking from last night crept into his mind, Jax couldn't resist the urge to smile. Thomas knew immediately what had put that smile on Jax's face and chuckled slightly, which brought Jax back to the present. "Anyway, we spent the evening together, and when I left for work this morning, she seemed to be fine. In fact, she was planning to go over to the show house for a couple of hours today."

Jax leaned forward and rested his arms on the edge of his desk before he continued, "You were also right about holding off on our plans with Everett. If things had gone even slightly wrong, I don't think Brenda could have handled it." He looked into Thomas's eyes as he continued, "Thank you, 'big brother,' for knowing the right thing, even if I didn't!"

Thomas smiled as he got up from his chair. "You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to get back to. I only came in here to make sure that Hurricane Jax had not returned!" Both Thomas and Jax laughed at that remark.

August 23, 1999

Things at Jacks International had really gotten quiet. Jax had managed to get home every day by 5:00. With no work to bring home, he had purposely avoided going anywhere near the library. He wanted to wait to go in there until they were ready to put their plan into motion. He had instead spent his evenings with Brenda, working on the baby's nursery.

Just about everything was in place for the newest member of the Jacks family. Since neither one of them was very skilled at painting and paper hanging, they had professionals come in to do that, but they had hung the curtains and all of the decorations themselves. As far as Jax could tell, everything was ready for the baby's arrival. They had even arranged all of the baby's clothes in the dresser drawers and purchased all of the necessary diapers and changing supplies they could think of. Everything was ready and waiting for their child to put in its appearance.

Since Brenda seemed to be completely recovered from her nightmares, Jax and Thomas decided it was time to put their plan to draw Everett out into action. They spent most of the day fine-tuning their plan, down to the smallest detail. They left nothing to chance. Jax was adamant that they not do anything to provoke Everett, since he had promised Brenda he wouldn't. He was beginning to have second thoughts about not telling her about what he and Thomas had planned. Eventually though, he realized that it was best for her and the baby that she not know - hopefully, until after Everett was gone from the house or at least willing to leave them alone.

Jax got home from work about 6:15. After having dinner with Brenda, he explained that he had some work to finish in the library. He suggested that she go up to their sitting room and relax while he finished up. He told her he had a few phone calls to make and some paperwork to finish, but that he shouldn't be too long. Reluctantly, Brenda agreed to leave him alone to finish his work. Jax waited in the foyer until he was sure she was in their suite. He picked up his briefcase and headed toward the library, making a quick detour when he saw Benton clearing the dishes in the dining room.

Jax stopped in the doorway of the dining room. "Benton, I'm going to be working in the library for a while. Would you keep an eye out in case Brenda needs anything? I shouldn't be too long."

When he heard Jax's voice, Benton stopped clearing the table and looked up. "Certainly, Jax, I'll let her know to give me a call if she needs anything. Would you like me to bring you some coffee before you get started?"

"No, thanks. Hopefully, I won't be too long." Jax turned and headed toward the library. Once inside, he turned and closed the doors tightly, before heading over to his desk. He set his briefcase down and pulled out the files that he and Thomas had prepared. He sat down and started reading the contents of each file and then started looking from one file to the other, giving the impression of a man unable to solve a problem. When he caught sight of a slight movement near the fireplace, he set down the file he was reading and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He ran his fingers through his hair before picking up the phone to make a call.

For the next twenty minutes, Jax was involved in an animated discussion with the person on the phone, trying to resolve a dispute in the figures in the files he was looking at. It was actually very difficult for him to do since it was Thomas on the other end of the phone, and he was telling a series of increasingly dirty jokes as he listened to Jax expound on the miscalculations in the files.

Finally, when Jax was sure Everett had taken the bait, he ended the call, relieved to be away from the jokes. Jax tossed the file he had been reading down on the desk and got up to look out the window. He was startled by the sound of a voice behind him, and turned toward it.

"What seems to be the problem, Jax? Maybe I can help." There standing in front of him was Everett Stanhope!