Jax awoke with a start when he realized that he was alone in the bed. He reached over and grabbed the clock off the bedside table to check the time. He wasn't really surprised when he saw that it was almost 10:30. He set the clock back on the table as his mind drifted back to the amazing night he and Brenda had shared. It was almost dawn when they had finally fallen asleep, wrapped tightly around each other.

He leaned up on his elbows and looked around the still darkened room. "Brenda?" he called out as he sat up. "Brenda?" He was about to get out of bed when he saw the bathroom door open. "Brenda?"

"Good morning," Brenda said brightly, as she finished running the brush through her hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. She set the brush on the edge of the bathroom vanity before walking into the bedroom. "What are you doing up? I kind of hoped that you'd sleep a while longer. After all, we were up pretty late last night," she said with a wink, as she walked over and sat next to him on the edge of the bed. She leaned over to give him what was supposed to be a quick kiss on the lips but quickly turned passionate.

"Wow," she said softly, as she leaned back a little. She reached up to brush a lock of hair off of his forehead. When she saw the trace of fear still in his eyes, she cupped the side of his face in her hand. "Jax? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, now," Jax said with a sigh, as he rested his hand on hers. "I guess I just got a little spooked when I woke up and you weren't in the bed with me." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A smile spread slowly across his face. "What are you doing up so early anyway?"

Brenda couldn't resist smiling at him. "I thought I'd get an early start. I want to go into town for a few hours to do some Christmas shopping."

"You should have woke me when you got up," Jax said as he started to get out of bed. "I'll just be a few minutes, and then we can go."

"Actually, I was planning to go alone," Brenda said, as she held the covers in place so he couldn't get up. "I don't think you're quite ready for a trip to Rodeo Drive yet, especially not with me," she said with a chuckle.

Jax leaned back against the pillows and smiled at her. "No argument," he said with a chuckle of his own. He reached for her hand and linked his fingers with hers, the smile slowly fading from his face. "I do need to talk to you about your shopping trip though."

Seeing his now serious expression and his reluctance to say what was on his mind, Brenda had a feeling she knew what he was about to say AND that she was not going to like it. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" she asked softly. When he didn't say anything right away, she took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "Okay, I'm ready. What is it?"

"It's not that bad, luv," Jax said as he squeezed her hand. "It's just that with everything that has happened, I didn't think it was a very good idea for you to go roaming the shops of Rodeo Drive alone or with one of the servants." He could see by the look on her face that Brenda had already figured out what he was going to say next. In an attempt to make her more willing to agree, he reached up and lifted her chin so she was looking directly at him. He tilted his head and arched his eyebrow at her.

Brenda couldn't help chuckling at his expression. Reluctantly, she nodded her agreement and got up from the bed to let him get up. She reached down to pick up his robe from the floor where they had dropped it last night. "Here, you may need this," she said, as she held the robe out to him. She couldn't help watching as Jax got out of bed, not the least bit self-conscious about standing in front of her completely naked.

Jax reached for the robe she held out to him. "Thanks," he said, as he wrapped it around himself. He chuckled softly when Brenda took the belt from him to tie it. "Thanks again," he said with a smile, before leaning down to give her a quick kiss and wrap his arms around her. "Come on, let's go into the living room. It's too easy to get distracted in here," he said, as he leaned down to give her a quick, but passionate kiss.

"Okay," Brenda said with a sigh after the kiss ended. She leaned up on her toes to give him another quick kiss, before letting him go and wrapping her arm around his waist.

As they walked into the living room, the two men sitting on the couch both stood up. Brenda recognized them immediately. She ran down the steps and over to them, wrapping her arms around one of them for a moment before letting him go and taking a step back to look at him. "Oh, my God! Clay! It's so good to see you! Are you okay?" she asked as she rested her hand on his forearm.

"I'm fine Mrs. J," Clay said, slightly embarrassed at Brenda's attentions. "How about you? Erik told me that you and Mr. J had it pretty rough for a while there."

Brenda looked over her shoulder at Jax, who was still standing at the foot of the stairs, leaning against the railing. "We're getting there," she said, as she smiled lovingly at Jax for a moment before looking back at Clay and Erik. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

Erik and Clay looked past Brenda to Jax. When Brenda turned to look at him as well, Jax walked the rest of the way into the room and stood in front of the fireplace, facing all three of them.

"I asked Ben to send them out," Jax said, as he put his hands in the pockets of his robe. "I knew I wasn't up to another trip to Rodeo Drive just yet and there was no way I was going to convince you to shop online. I also knew that if I suggested that you take a protection team with you, you would have fought me on it. Right?" Jax looked directly at Brenda and waited until she nodded her agreement. "I was hoping you would be a little more receptive about protection if it was a team you knew."

Brenda looked at Jax for several moments before looking back to Erik and Clay. "Are you guys sure you want to do this?" she asked with an almost stern tone in her voice. "I mean, think about it: you were both with me when I went shopping in New York." She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at them. She couldn't hide the smile as she watched both of their faces as they remembered the day she was talking about.

Erik and Clay both swallowed hard and took a deep breath before looking back at Brenda. Finally, Clay looked at Jax for a second before looking at Brenda. "I look at it this way, Mrs. J," he said with a straight face, "if we could survive getting beaten to a pulp by Corinthos' goons, we can survive another shopping excursion with you. After all, we DID survive Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, AND New York City. How bad can Rodeo Drive be after that?" Both Clay and Erik couldn't keep from chuckling when they glanced at Jax and saw the expression on his face as he tried not to laugh.

Brenda didn't know what to say. She glanced at Jax for a second before looking back at Erik and Clay. "Oh, you guys are soooo going to pay for that remark," she said with a smirk. When she looked over at Jax and saw the grin on his face, she gave his arm a hard punch. "You, too!" she said as she glared at him.

Jax couldn't help laughing as he rubbed his hand on his arm where she had punched him. "OW! That hurt!" he said in his best little boy voice, even though he couldn't keep from laughing at the same time. He looked at Brenda until she started to smile, then he held his hand out to her. "Why don't we go have some breakfast? Then you guys can head into town and buy out Rodeo Drive."

Brenda gave him an exasperated look as she stared at him for a moment. Slowly, as she reached for his hand, the look was replaced with a smile. Once he had her hand in his, Jax slowly pulled her to him. After wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he looked over at Erik and Clay. "Why don't you guys sit down and get comfortable? It's the last rest either of you are going to get for the rest of the day!" Out the corner of his eye he saw Brenda look up at him and start to swing her hand at his chest. He quickly reached up to link his fingers with hers. "Take my word for it, I've shopped Rodeo Drive with her. You're going to need all the strength you've got to keep up with her!" He tightened his hold on her hand when he felt Brenda try to pull it away. He leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "Come on, luv, let's go have breakfast so you can get going."

Without waiting for a response, he started toward the dining room, making sure not to release his hold on her hand as they walked.

It had only taken a minute for Brenda to get over being angry at Jax for his comment about her shopping. By the time they reached the table, she was already talking about the things she needed to buy. As they ate, she asked him for suggestions for gifts for Jerry, John and Jane. When they finished eating and Jax had taken his medication, they both went back to their bedroom. Before going into the bathroom to shower and shave, Jax had Brenda remove the bandage from his side. After he finished, she applied a fresh one.

When she finished with the bandage, Brenda picked up her purse from the dresser. She pulled out her list to add the things that Jax had suggested and slipped it back in. She hooked the strap on her shoulder before turning back to Jax. "Well, I'm off," she said, as she walked over to him and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Wait a second," Jax said seriously, as he put his hand on her arm. "I need you to promise me that you will stay with Clay and Erik and that you'll do what they tell you, when they tell you to do it for safety's sake." He brought his other hand up to hold both of her upper arms and waited for Brenda's answer.

Brenda took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She rested her hands on Jax's forearms as she looked into his eyes. As soon as she saw how concerned he was for her, she gave him a reassuring smile and gently squeezed his forearms. "I promise," she said with a slight smile.

Jax smiled back at her and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "Thank you," he said softly. "Oh, one more thing," he said, as he let her go and walked over to the dresser. He pulled a small leather folder out of the top drawer. He walked back over to Brenda and handed it to her. "I want you to use these instead of your regular ones."

Brenda opened the folder. She was surprised to see several credit cards with the name of Jane Barrett on them. There was also a California driver's license in the same name, complete with her picture and whatever she would have sworn was her signature. "Where did these come from?" she asked in a confused voice as she looked at him.

"We both know that Sonny is looking for you. Since we didn't use commercial transportation and this house cannot be traced to me, the only way he could find you is to monitor your credit cards. If you use these," he said as he tapped the folder, "you can shop to your heart's content, and he still won't know where you are."

"Don't you think that new credit cards in the name of Barrett will catch the eye of whoever he has looking for me?" Brenda asked.

"That's the beauty of these accounts," Jax said with a chuckle. "These are NOT new accounts. They have a good credit record that goes back almost three years - even though they were just opened yesterday."

Brenda smiled at him and shook her head. "I don't know why this surprises me," she said with a chuckle.

"Does that mean that you'll use them and the ID?" Jax asked.

"You know I will," Brenda said as she closed the folder and opened her purse. She pulled out her own wallet, took the cash out of it, and set the wallet on the dresser. She put the cash in the new folder Jax had given her, put it in her purse and closed it before looking back at Jax. "Now, I'm all set. What are you going to do while I'm gone?" she asked, as she rested her hands on his forearms.

"Not much, actually," Jax said reassuringly. "I thought I'd give Addie a call to check on things at the office." He saw Brenda ready to say something about his working, so he quickly decided to change the subject. "I also thought I'd call Jerry to make sure he picked up your stuff from Lois and got it on the plane today."

Brenda leaned up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. "You're the best," she said with a loving smile, as she reached up to cup the side of his face for a moment. When she let go of his face and turned to leave, Jax reached for her hand, making her turn back to look at him.

"Before you go," he said softly, as he looked her in the eyes and held her hand in both of his, "I need you to promise me one more time that you will stay close to Erik and Clay. You do what they say, when they say it, without argument." He looked at her expectantly.

Brenda smiled at him reassuringly. "I already told you that I would." Seeing that he wasn't convinced, she reached up to cup the side of his face. "I promise you that I won't go anywhere without them, and I also promise to do whatever they tell me as soon as they tell me to do it." She looked down for a moment, then looked back up at Jax with a concerned expression. "I just happened to think of something: what happens if I go to one of the shops you and I went to last time and someone recognizes me? They're going to know that I'm not Jane Barrett."

"No one on Rodeo Drive is going to say anything, luv. They're used to things like this. If someone does recognize you, they'll also notice Erik and Clay and know that they are a security escort. They'll just wait to see the name on your ID before addressing you by name, and then they'll act like Jane Barrett is the name they've known you by all along."

Brenda smiled and slowly shook her head. "How did I miss all of this growing up? I mean, I grew up around very wealthy and powerful people. I never knew people used bodyguards or security precautions until I got involved with Sonny. Even then, I figured it was because of his 'business'." Brenda didn't even realize that she had shuddered when she had said Sonny's name, but Jax had.

"Are you serious?" Jax asked. "Didn't you father take precautions for you and Julia, especially when he was away?"

"Not that I can remember, he didn't. Julia always had a driver - even when Daddy was home, but I just came and went as I pleased - especially when I was at boarding school."

Jax could feel an angry knot forming in his stomach again. He could not believe a father, especially one as wealthy and ruthless as Harlan Barrett, would leave one of his children unprotected - especially a young girl as free-spirited as Brenda must have been. Not wanting Brenda to see how angry he was, he cleared his throat and rested his arms on her shoulders. "In that case, I appreciate the fact that you're willing to go along with this." He leaned down to give her a quick kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "You better get going," he said, as he leaned back to look at her.

Brenda smiled up at Jax and rested her hands on his forearms. "As soon as you promise me that you're not going to overdo it because I'm not here to watch you."

"I promise," Jax said with a smile. "I'm just going to give Jerry a call to make sure he got your things on the plane and check in with Addie, like I told you. After that, I'm going to plop down on the couch and relax until you get home."

After silently looking into his eyes for several moments to be sure, Brenda finally gave his forearms another quick squeeze, before leaning up on her toes to give Jax a quick kiss. "I'm going to hold you to that promise," she said softly, before reluctantly letting go and walking out the door.

Jax followed her back to the living room, where Clay and Erik were waiting. When they saw Jax and Brenda at the top of the stairs, they both stood up. "Ready, Mrs. J?" Clay asked.

"I think I should be asking you guys that question," Brenda said with a soft chuckle, as she came down the last step. When she saw them both smile at her and nod, she looked back at Jax. "YOU take it easy," she said softly but firmly, as she pointed her finger at him.

"You too," Jax said with a nod toward Clay and Erik, "on them!"

Brenda exhaled loudly, as she gave Jax an exasperated look. "Very funny!" When Jax kept staring at her, she held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! I promise!" When he gave her a satisfied smile, she reached up to cup the side of his face. "You are so going to pay for that when I get back," she said softly so only he could hear her.

Jax couldn't resist smiling as he leaned down to rest his forehead against her. "Is that a promise?" he whispered with a smile.

Brenda stepped back and swatted his arm, her cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment that Erik and Clay may have heard him. "You are so bad," she said softly with a chuckle. "I'll see you later," she said in a normal tone of voice, before turning toward Erik and Clay. "Okay, you guys, let's go," she said, as she slipped on her sunglasses and walked toward the front door. Erik and Clay glanced at each other for a second before walking across the living room to follow Brenda to the door. They gave Jax a quick nod, as they walked past him and out the door with Brenda.

After following them to the door and watching them drive away, Jax went back to the bedroom to finish dressing. When he was finished, he went to the kitchen to get a fresh cup of coffee. He took his cup and walked into the den, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the desk, set down his coffee, and sat down. As soon as he was comfortable, he reached for the phone and quickly punched in Jerry's number. "About time," he said when Jerry answered, even though it had only rung three times.

"Hello to you, too, little brother," Jerry said with a chuckle. "How's my beautiful sister-in-law?"

Jax couldn't help smiling at Jerry's description of Brenda. "She's great. She just left for a Christmas shopping trip to Rodeo Drive. Tell me something, just how did Mum talk you into coming to Alaska for Christmas? You HATE the cold and snow!"

"That's true," Jerry said slowly. "But when Mum said you guys were coming up, there was no way I was going to miss Brenda's first Christmas as a Jacks." Jerry paused for a second before finishing his thought: "Besides, after what you told me about her childhood, I thought she deserved a real family Christmas - snow and all!"

Unable to say anything right away, Jax took a deep breath before finally answering: "Thanks, Jerry, this really means a lot to Brenda - and me!" He paused for another second. "Speaking of Christmas, did you stop by the Quartermaine gatehouse and pick up Brenda's things from Lois?"

Jerry couldn't keep from laughing loudly. "Are you really sure you want me to send ALL of this stuff out there?" he asked, when he finally stopped laughing. "Wouldn't it be easier to just have a cargo plane take it right to Alaska?"

"What are you talking about?" Jax asked, totally confused.

"Do you have any idea how much stuff she has here? I'm probably going to have to use one of the 'big jets' to get it all out to you in one trip!" Jerry said as he laughed again.

Jax couldn't keep from laughing as well. "That sounds about right for Brenda," he said, as he tried to stop laughing.

Jerry was surprised by Jax's reaction. "Are you telling me that she always shops like this?"

"Jerry, Brenda had the childhood from hell. Her one escape has always been shopping. Apparently Harlan Barrett would rather pay credit card bills than spend time with his daughter. After he died, Julia did the same thing, until, that is, Brenda defied her and refused to go to college. Then, she cut off Brenda's trust fund and cancelled her credit cards, telling her that she'd reinstate both when Brenda 'came to her senses' and did what was expected of her."

There was silence on the phone as Jerry tried to understand a family treating one of their own like that. Finally, after taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Jerry cleared his throat. "I'll have the things at LAX this afternoon. Can you have someone there to meet the plane?"

"Already arranged," Jax said. He leaned back in his chair, wincing slightly as he did. He drew in a quick breath to try to cover. "How are things going with our project?" he asked, as he exhaled loudly.

By the sound of the sudden deep breath and the tone of his voice, Jerry was pretty sure that Jax had probably just done something that had hurt like hell. He also knew better than to ask. He decided the best thing to do was act like he hadn't heard anything. "Actually, we're way ahead of schedule," he said proudly. "The holding company is up and running, staffed by people totally loyal to Brenda - and to you."

Jax couldn't keep a satisfied smile from creeping across his face. "Good," he said, as he leaned forward and pulled a legal pad out of the left hand desk drawer. He grabbed a pen from the set on the desk. "Who's running the holding company?"

"Dad asked Phillip Ashcroft to come out of retirement to help us out. When Dad explained who we were going after, he was more than willing to help. He did have one condition though," Jerry said, as he walked over to the window. "He wants to meet Brenda when all of this is over," Jerry said with a slight chuckle. "He said any woman who could catch you is a woman he has to meet."

"I think that can definitely be arranged," Jax said with a proud smile. "How are the Barrett acquisitions coming?"

Jerry walked back to his desk and pulled a file out of the locked drawer. He sat down at the desk before opening the file. "We're doing pretty well," he said, as he scanned the file. "So far we've got the entire Far Eastern Division of Barrett Industries."

"Do you think it's wise to move that fast, Jerry? Julia's no fool. If we move too quickly, she's going to be able to trace this back to us." Jax ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "I don't want her to have any idea what's happening or that I'm behind it until it's too late for her to do anything about it."

"That's exactly why we started with the Far Eastern Division, Jax," Jerry said calmly. "It's the smallest division of Barrett Industries AND the only one in financial difficulty. We approached each of the subsidiaries as an individual purchase. Each purchase was by a separate company, untraceable to the holding company." Jerry stopped for a moment to read a couple of pages in the file. "Apparently, Julia is quite pleased with the far eastern management team for arranging the purchases. In fact, she's moved several of them back to the London office to work directly on her staff. What she doesn't know is that three of them are now on our payroll, as well. They have already begun feeding us information on the rest of the corporation."

Jax couldn't help a slight chuckle. He had seen Jerry use this strategy before. As far as he could remember, it had never failed. The target initially sees the purchase of their subsidiaries or even an entire division as a good thing because of the large influx of new operating capital into the company. Then, before the target realizes what is happening, other more profitable assets start disappearing. "Good," Jax said with a sigh. He thought for a moment. "You know, maybe I should give my new sister-in-law a call and see if she'd be interested in doing some business," he said, as he tapped his pen against his chin.

Jerry didn't say anything for a moment as he thought about Jax's suggestion. "That may not be a bad idea. It certainly would throw her off the track." Jerry closed the file and leaned back in his chair. "Let me talk to Dad and see what he can come up with. We don't want her to think that you're doing this because of Brenda. We want her to think it's a deal that you or I would have brought to Barrett Industries anyway."

"That makes sense," Jax said, after thinking about Jerry's suggestion. "Okay, I'll wait to hear from you before calling her - just don't take too long. I don't want her to use all that nice new capital we just gave her shoring up the rest of Barrett Industries before we can get our hands on it."

"I'll get back to you later today," Jerry said, as he made some notes on the cover of the file. "Talk to you later, little brother," Jerry said, before hanging up the phone. He leaned back in his chair for several minutes, thinking about Jax's suggestion. Finally, he leaned forward again and reached for the phone. He pressed a speed dial number and waited for an answer. "Dad? Just talked to Jax and he had a very good suggestion about the Barrett Industries takeover. Have you got some time right now to discuss it?"

"My schedule is packed until late this afternoon. Can we meet about 4:00?" John asked, as he looked over his appointment list to see if there was anything he could cancel or move.

"That won't work, Dad. I'm flying out to the coast at 12:00. I promised to take some things out to Brenda and Jax, before heading to a meeting in Sacramento tomorrow," Jerry said with a smile, as he thought about all the packages he had waiting on his plane.

John looked at his schedule again and drew a line through his next two appointments. "Okay, be here in fifteen minutes," John said, and hung up the phone without waiting for Jerry to respond. He then reached for the intercom. "Holly, cancel my next two appointments. See if you can reschedule them for later this afternoon - around 4:00, if possible." He didn't wait for a response before turning off the intercom.

After talking to Jerry, Jax called his office on the secure phone line to find out how things were going. He gave Addie some instructions on what he wanted done on a couple of projects and told her he would call again in a couple of days. He also reminded her that if anything urgent came up, she should contact Jerry. When he was finished, he picked up the paper and stretched out on the couch as he had promised Brenda.

Since he didn't expect Brenda back until late afternoon, Jax asked Charles to have his lunch set up out on the terrace so he could enjoy the warm, sunny weather. After lunch, he stretched out on the chaise and was soon sound asleep. He woke with a start when he heard a familiar voice above him. He blinked several times to focus his eyes as he looked up at the shadow looming over him.

"Damn! This is the life!" Jerry said with a chuckle as he looked down at Jax.

"What are YOU doing here?" Jax asked as he looked up at Jerry. "Is something wrong?"

"Relax, Jax," Jerry said, as he held his hands up. "Nothing's wrong. I had to come out for a meeting in Sacramento tomorrow, so I just decided to come out a day early and bring Brenda's stuff myself to make sure it got here. I also figured I could let you in on what Dad and I came up with for Barrett Industries."

His interest piqued, Jax immediately sat up. "Are you sure Corinthos can't trace you here?" Jax asked, as he got up and walked over to Jerry.

"I'm sure," Jerry said with a nod. "I sent my jet directly to Sacramento airport and flew here on a regularly scheduled company cargo flight. Other than the flight crews on both planes, no one knew I was not on my own plane."

"Good," Jax said as he exhaled. "So, what have you and Dad come up with?" he asked, as he sat down at the table.

Jerry sat across from him and pulled several papers out of his jacket pocket. He handed the papers to Jax, who opened them immediately and started reading.

"Where are they?" Sonny demanded, as he threw his glass against the wall. "It's been days since the Pretty Boy got out of that hospital! They never got to the penthouse. WHERE ARE THEY?"

"There's no trace of them anywhere, Sonny," Jason said calmly. "Jax's limo is in the hotel garage, as well as Brenda's Porsche and Jax's Lexus. That chauffeur, Edward, went back to the J&J Jacks corporate office in New York. Jax's personal jet is in the hanger at the PC airport. In fact, until today, the only Jacks International planes in the air since Jax was released from the hospital have been the regularly scheduled cargo flights of their transport company - which our people have been monitoring."

Sonny slowly looked at Jason. "What about today?"

"Jerry Jacks filed a flight plan directly to Sacramento. He took off about 5 hours ago." Jason waited a moment before finishing. "He landed about 15 minutes ago and went straight to an apartment building where Jacks International owns a penthouse."

"Any special reason for him to go to California right now?" Sonny asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, he's got a 10:00 meeting tomorrow morning with some computer software company there. Our people checked and found out that the meeting was scheduled more than a month ago." Jason cleared his throat as he saw the expression on Sonny's face. "Has Benny had any luck tracking their credit cards?"

Sonny gave him a look that made even Jason uncomfortable. "NOTHING! There hasn't been a single charge, cash advance or ATM withdrawal by either one of them!" He looked toward the window for a second and then looked back at Jason. "What about the Candy Boy's boat? They wouldn't need cash if they were out in the middle of the ocean. Any chance they snuck out of the country on that thing?"

Jason slowly shook his head. "Nope, the boat is still docked at its regular slip. It hasn't put to sea since the wedding cruise." He immediately regretted saying anything about Brenda and Jax's wedding. His mind scrambled to think of something to change the subject. "We've got people watching the airports and the harbors in Greece and Italy that Jax normally uses. If they show up at either one, we'll know about it immediately."

Sonny glared at Jason for several minutes before saying anything. Finally, he walked back to the bar and poured himself another drink. "How about Jax's business activity? Has he called in to check on things there?"

"Nothing," Jason said with a loud exhale. "We got our guy at the phone company to put a tap on his secretary's phone and there's been nothing from Jax - only his brother Jerry calling in, just about every day since all this started, to check on stuff Jax must have had pending." Jason stopped again and took another breath to work up the courage. "Look, Sonny, I think we're going to have to face the fact that they've totally dropped out of sight and just wait for them to resurface." He looked away for a second. "You know, I'll do whatever you want, but you got to realize our resources are stretched pretty thin and you're using up an awful lot of favors trying to find them. Don't you think it's about time we get back to business?"

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" Sonny demanded. "If you hadn't let them get away in the first place, we wouldn't have to be looking for them now! That Candy Boy would be out of the picture and Brenda would finally understand that she's mine until I say differently! That reminds me, did you take care of those idiots who screwed up the contract on Jax? I presume our people at the PCPD made it clear to them what will happen if they talk."

"They know, Sonny," Jason said, as he watched Sonny closely, trying to gauge his temper before he continued. "What about Lily? Is she staying in Port Charles or is she going back to her father's in Puerto Rico?"

Sonny looked directly at Jason with a stunned expression. "What do you mean BACK to Puerto Rico? She never left there! She's at her father's place outside of San Juan."

Jason felt a knot tighten in his stomach. He did NOT want to be the one telling Sonny that his wife was here in town and had not contacted him - especially now! "Oh, okay. I guess Rick must have been mistaken. He said he saw Lily and her bodyguard, Miguel, at the PC airport the day before Jax and Brenda disappeared."

"WHAT? Why am I just hearing about this?" Sonny demanded. "Where is she?"

"I thought she was here with you," Jason said nervously. "She hasn't been seen since that day. Rick saw them walking through the terminal at the PC airport. I guess, since she was with Miguel, he assumed she had just come in and was headed here. Didn't she ever get here?"

"Does it look like she's here?" Sonny screamed. "Rick must have been wrong about seeing her." He stormed over to his desk and picked up the phone. "There's a simple way of proving she's not here," he said as he dialed a number and waited for an answer. "Senor Rivera, please. Tell him it's his son-in-law."

"My God! You've got a lot of nerve calling here, Corinthos - after what you did to my daughter!" Hernando Rivera spat out through clenched teeth. "What the hell do you want?"

"I want to talk to my wife," Sonny demanded, equally as angry as Rivera.

"What's the matter, Sonny boy? You in trouble again and you need me to get you out, so you're trying to make nice with your wife?" Rivera asked snidely. "Sorry to disappoint you, but playing up to Lily is NOT going to get me to help you anymore!"

"Damn it, Rivera! I want to talk to my wife!" Sonny screamed into the phone.

"What do you want to say to me, Sonny?" Lily asked coldly from the doorway of the penthouse.

Sonny froze. Without saying another word he slowly hung up the phone. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning around to face Lily. When he did, he was surprised to see the coldness in her eyes. He had been counting on using her unquestioning love for him to get the answers he wanted. Now, he wasn't too sure he'd get any answers at all - let alone the ones he needed. He took a deep breath and let it out quickly, pasting a big smile on his face as he did. "Hey, baby, why didn't you tell me you were coming home? I would have met you at the airport." He walked quickly across the room to where Lily was standing. As he leaned in to kiss her, he was surprised when she turned her head to the side so that his kiss landed on her cheek.

"I'm so glad you're home," he said in a soft, sweet voice. "You have no idea how much I missed you. So many crazy things have been going on around here that I really needed your help with." Sonny couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by the coldness in his wife's eyes.

"Really?" Lily asked coolly. "What kind of things?"

Before Sonny could answer, his attention was distracted by the small figure that came barreling through the still open door. "Damn you, Sonny! I'm not taking the rap for this! You brought me here to get your little whore back, and now you're letting me twist in the wind with Jax AND the police!" It wasn't until she had finished and planted her feet that Miranda realized that they were not alone. She slowly looked from Sonny's furious face to Jason's and then to the woman standing next to him. "Oh, God," she whispered so softly that only Jason heard her.

Lily looked at Miranda for a moment before looking back at Sonny. "My, my, Sonny," she said with a cold glint in her eye. "You really have been busy while I was gone, haven't you?" She looked over at Miguel, her bodyguard. "We're out of here! I'll have Graciella pack up my things and ship them to my father."

Without saying a word to Sonny, she turned and walked to the door. She stood for a moment before turning back to look at Sonny. She slowly slipped her wedding rings off and held them out to him. "Here, you may want to use these again if you can find a woman foolish enough to marry you." When he made no move to take the rings, Lily shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the door. She set the rings on the cabinet next to the door as she walked out, leaving Sonny and everyone else staring in stunned silence.

Sonny finally broke the silence by loudly exhaling the breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding. "Damn!" he said softly as he rubbed his hand across his face. He looked over at Jason and just shook his head. He finally looked over at Miranda. He couldn't help a slight sense of satisfaction when he saw the fear in her eyes as she waited for him to say something.

Brenda was surprised to hear voices when she walked into the living room. She had expected to find Jax relaxing on the couch as he had promised. As she walked toward the open terrace doors she couldn't help thinking that she knew the other voice coming in from the terrace. When she got to the door, she smiled at what she saw. She had been right, it was Jerry's voice that she had heard. She stood silently watching Jax and Jerry relaxing in their chairs, a beer in their hands, laughing about something one of them had just said.

"Boy, oh boy," Brenda said, as she walked out onto the terrace shaking her head slowly. "I go out for a few hours and look what happens," she said as she stopped in front of them. She looked directly at Jax and pointed her finger at him. "You didn't get any rest this afternoon, did you?" She crossed her arms across her chest and planted her feet.

Jax and Jerry looked at each other for a second before they both turned to look at Brenda. Jerry stood up and stepped closer to her. "Actually, he did, he was sound asleep when I got here."

Brenda couldn't keep her serious expression when she saw the guilty look on both Jax and Jerry's faces. She laughed loudly, as she jumped up to wrap her arms around Jerry's neck. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a big smile, as she released her hold on him and took a step back to look at him.

Relieved but slightly confused, Jerry looked down at her. "Ah, I have a meeting in Sacramento tomorrow, so I thought I'd come out a day early to see how you guys were doing out here." He glanced over at Jax, who was still sitting at the table. He couldn't help smiling, as he watched Brenda step behind Jax's chair, wrap her arms around him and lean down to kiss his cheek. "Besides, I had to bring that mountain of stuff you wanted from Port Charles!"

"YOU brought it?" Brenda asked, as she stood up, resting her hands on Jax's shoulders. "Won't Sonny be able to figure out where we are just by following you?"

Jax reached up to rest his hand on Brenda's. "Actually, Sonny thinks Jerry is already in Sacramento. His people followed Jerry to the PC Airport this morning, watched him board his plane and take off. They also saw him land in Sacramento a little while ago and then followed him to the apartment house where he is currently relaxing in the company penthouse."

Totally confused, Brenda looked at Jerry. "If that's true, how did you get here?"

"I flew out as the copilot on a regularly scheduled Jacks Air cargo flight. Your things were boxed as cargo and flown out here with a previously scheduled shipment. When we landed at LAX, they were taken to the normal distribution center with the rest of the cargo where I was waiting to uncrate them and bring them here."

Brenda could feel herself relaxing as Jerry explained. "I just have one more question," she said, as she gently brushed her fingers across Jax's hair: "If Sonny's men were watching your plane and saw you board, how did you get off the plane and onto the cargo flight to LAX?"

Jerry chuckled. "It wasn't very hard actually," he said proudly. "I boarded my plane with what looked like one of the ground crew but was actually my security double. Once we were on the plane, I put on his coveralls and cap and got off again. Then I finished his regular preflight and waited with the rest of the ground crew until the plane taxied away. When it was gone, I walked back to the hanger, took off the coveralls, put on the co-pilot's uniform and boarded the cargo plane before it rolled out of the hanger. When we got to LAX, I stayed on the plane until it taxied into the hanger to be unloaded. I then walked over to the cargo distribution center, where a SUV was waiting to be loaded with your stuff. When the crew was loading the car, I changed clothes and drove over here. End of story."

"Sounds like you do this kind of thing all the time," Brenda said suspiciously, as she rested her hands on Jax's shoulders again. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you - it's just that you seem so comfortable with it, not to mention good at it - that I can't help wondering what else I don't know about you."

Jax turned his head to look up at Brenda, as he reached up to gently squeeze her hand on his shoulder. "I told you Jerry lived life on the edge, luv," Jax said reassuringly. "I just didn't tell you how close to the edge." He looked up at Brenda for several moments, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

Without waiting, Brenda smiled at him and leaned down to kiss him. "In that case, I'm glad I met you first," she said in a whisper, as she rested her forehead against his. "You KNOW how I am about living on the edge." She squealed as Jax pulled her around to sit in his lap.

Jax cupped the side of her face in his hand and looked deeply into Brenda's eyes. "I thank God every day that I met you first." He leaned in to give her a passionate kiss. As their kiss continued, Brenda slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.

When he realized that they had forgotten he was there, Jerry loudly cleared his throat. He had to do it two more times before Jax and Brenda finally ended their kiss. "Thank you," he said in an exasperated tone, when they finally turned to look at him. He couldn't help smiling when he saw the deep pink color rush to Brenda's face. "I guess that's my cue to leave you guys to your evening," he said, as he pushed his chair back to the table.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brenda asked, as she jumped out of Jax's lap and stood in front of Jerry. "You're having dinner with us - and I WON'T take no for an answer!"

Jerry stared at Brenda for a moment, as he fought to keep from laughing out loud. He glanced over at Jax, who just shrugged and smiled at him. "Okay, okay, Little Bit! I'll stay!" he said with a chuckle, as he held his hand up in surrender.

"Good!" Brenda said with a satisfied smile. "I'll just go tell Charles you'll be staying." She started to leave but stopped and turned back to look at Jerry. "While I'm at it, I'll have him make up the guest room as well, since you'll be spending the night with us." She didn't give Jerry a chance to refuse before turning and walking quickly into the house to find Charles.

Jerry just stood and watched Brenda walk away. Once she was gone, he turned and looked at Jax. "Is she always like that?" he asked, as he slowly shook his head in disbelief.

"Not really," Jax said with a chuckle. "You seem to be the only person who brings it out in her." Jax couldn't help laughing out loud at Jerry's expression before standing up. "Come on, I'll help you get all that stuff you brought from Port Charles out of the car."

It eventually took Jax, Jerry AND Charles to get all of the packages out of Jerry's car. They put them with the things Brenda had just bought in the second guest room. When they finished, Jerry moved his car around to the garage, before coming back to join Jax in the living room. He was a little surprised to see Jax sitting alone. "Where's the hurricane?" he asked, as he looked around the room.

Jax couldn't help chuckling at Jerry's description of Brenda. "She went to take a shower before dinner." He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his legs. "Thanks for staying," he said, as he watched Jerry plop down on the couch across from him. "I don't want Brenda getting suspicious about what we're doing."

"No problem," Jerry said, as he leaned back and crossed his legs. "I was planning to stay in LA tonight anyway. I've arranged for a chopper to pick me up and fly me to Sacramento early in the morning." When he saw Jax's worried expression, he uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "Don't worry, Jax, Corinthos won't find you through me. The chopper is not registered to us and is going to land me on the roof of a parking structure near the apartment. I have a car waiting there that will take me straight to the underground garage of the apartment building. As far as Corinthos' goons will know, I spent the night in the penthouse."

"Are you sure they can't get up to the penthouse and find out that you're not there?" Jax asked.

"Positive. Imperial Trading Ltd. owns the building, so all the employees are loyal Jacks employees. Added to that, we have security cameras in the stairwells and elevators, which, by the way, require card access to get to the penthouse floor. Trust me, the first time Sonny's men will see any trace of me again is tomorrow morning when I get off the elevator and walk across the lobby to my waiting car." Jerry gave Jax a long reassuring look until he saw him start to finally relax. "Relax, will you? You and Little Bit are safe here."

"I hope you're right, Jerry," Brenda said softly, as she walked into the room and sat on the arm of the couch next to Jax. "I don't think I could survive another month like we've just had."

Jax reached up and rested his hand on her thigh. "I swear to you, no one will EVER hurt you like that again," he said softly, as he gave her thigh a slight squeeze. They looked at each other for several moments before Brenda leaned down to give him a quick kiss. When the kiss ended, they both turned to look at Jerry. "What?" Jax asked when he saw the expression on Jerry's face.

"Oh, nothing," Jerry said softly, as he slowly shook his head. "I just can't get over the change in you, that's all." He glanced over at Brenda for a second and then looked back at Jax. "Truth be told, I think I'm a little jealous."

"Of what?" Jax asked incredulously.

Jerry waved his hand around the room. "Of this," he said softly. "Of the peace you've found, in spite of what the family put you through." He slowly shook his head again. "What's the secret?"

Jax looked up at Brenda, as he reached for her hand to link his fingers with hers. "She is," he said softly, without looking away from her. When he finally turned to look at Jerry, he had a very serious expression on his face. "Ever since I got out of college, the only things in my life were business and fun - not always in that order." Jax chuckled, as he shook his head at the memories that flooded into his mind. "I liked my life the way it was - no strings, no commitments - and I didn't plan to change a thing. Then one day this beautiful, little tornado blew through the door of my hotel suite and everything changed." He looked lovingly at Brenda for a moment, then back at Jerry again. "It's not something you can plan, Jerry. It just happens, and when it does, you'll know it."

Before anyone could say anything else, Charles came in to let them know dinner was ready. Jerry and Jax followed Brenda into the dining room. Once they were seated, Charles began serving. With all of the talking, teasing and laughing, it took them almost two hours to finish their meal. When they finished, they went into the living room for their coffee. Since the evening had turned very cool and windy, Charles had closed the terrace doors and pulled the curtains closed. He had also built a fire in the fireplace for them.

After finishing her coffee, Brenda snuggled up close to Jax. She wrapped both of her arms around his left arm as she listened to Jax and Jerry tell stories about their childhood in both Australia and Alaska. She was amazed at the closeness between them. She couldn't imagine having that kind of closeness with Julia. They were about the same number of years apart in age. There was a ten-year difference between Jax and Jerry, while there were twelve years between herself and Julia. As she though about it, that was the only possible comparison between them. By the stories she was hearing, it was obvious that Jerry was very protective of his younger brother when they were growing up - always watching out for him, regardless of the personal consequences.

She sighed sadly as she thought back to her own childhood with her sister. As she watched Jax and Jerry poke fun at each other, she finally realized what she had missed growing up. Not wanting to spoil the good mood in the room, she took a deep breath and pushed her memories out of her mind, tightening her hold on Jax's arm as she did.

When he felt Brenda's grip tighten on his arm, Jax looked down at her. He could feel something was bothering her, so he gently rested his hand on her thigh. When she looked up at him he smiled lovingly at her. "You okay?" he whispered.

Brenda smiled up at him as she nodded. "I'm fine, just a little tired," she said, as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

When he saw Brenda put her head on Jax's shoulder, Jerry glanced over at the clock on the mantle. "No wonder you're tired," he said with a nod toward the clock. "It's almost 1:00. I have to be out of here by 7:00, so if you two will excuse me, I'm going to call it a night," he said, as he stood up.

"Maybe we should call it a night ourselves," Jax said, as he looked down at Brenda. When she nodded her agreement, he slowly stood up, glad that his back was turned to Brenda when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his side. He could feel himself grimace as he straightened up. By the time he turned and extended his hand to her though, he was confident that there was no trace of his discomfort left on his face for Brenda to see.

Brenda had noticed Jax tense up as he stood up, but she didn't say anything. She reached for his hand as she stood up and wrapped her arm around his waist. "We'll see you in the morning, Jerry," she said, as she let go of Jax and leaned up to give Jerry a kiss on the cheek.

"You don't have to do that, Little Bit," Jerry said, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him for a big hug. "You guys sleep in. I'll get myself out of here on time." He chuckled when he glanced at Jax and saw the expression on his face. "Okay, okay, so Charles will get me out of here on time!" They all laughed at his admission. "Anyway, goodnight you two," he said, as he gave Brenda a quick kiss on top of her head and let go of her. He gave Jax a pat on his shoulder as he walked past.

When they got to their bedroom, Brenda walked over to the bedside table and picked up the glass of water and the small cup with Jax's pain pills. "Here, you need these," she said firmly, as she held the pills out to him.

Even though he didn't want to admit to her that she was right, Jax took the pills and the glass of water. He popped the pills into his mouth and took several sips of water to wash them down. "Thanks," he said, as he handed the glass back to her.

Surprised that he had not given her an argument, Brenda reached up to put the back of her free hand on his forehead. "Are you okay? Did you overdo it this afternoon? I KNEW I shouldn't have left you alone."

Jax pulled Brenda up close to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm fine, just tired," he said, as he rested his forehead against hers. "I did NOT overdo it while you were gone! I did exactly what I said I was going to do. I talked to Jerry right after you left. I called Addie to check on things at the office, and then I stretched out on the chaise on the terrace. I had some lunch and dozed off again on the chaise outside, until Jerry woke me up about an hour before you got home."

"Then why are you in so much pain?" Brenda asked, as she reached up to stroke her fingertips across his cheek.

"Because I haven't taken any pain pills all day," Jax said, as he exhaled. "I felt really good this morning, so I didn't need them. I pretty much didn't move for the rest of the day, so I didn't feel anything until I tried to stand up before. I guess I wasn't quite as ready to stop taking them completely as I thought." When he saw the concern in Brenda's eyes, he smiled and cupped her face in his hands. "Don't worry about me, luv, I'm fine. Dr. Felton told us that I'd start to need less and less medication as I started to heal. I learned today that less does not mean stop. Will it make you feel better if I promise to pay more attention from now on?"

Brenda looked at Jax for several moments, as she figured out her answer. Finally, she smiled at him. "Sounds fair to me - just as long as you are willing to admit when you are uncomfortable."

Jax smiled back at her. "I can do that," he said softly, as he leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "What do you say we call it a night?" he asked, as he leaned back from her so that he could see her face. He could see in her eyes how tired she really was.

"I like the sound of that," Brenda said softly. "I am pretty tired." She leaned up to give him a quick kiss, before heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When she came out, she found Jax already in bed waiting for her. He lifted the covers so she could get in. As she snuggled close to him, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled the covers up around her. "Good night, luv," he said softly, as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"Good night sweetheart," Brenda said with a sigh, as she snuggled closer.

It wasn't long before Jax felt her slow, steady breathing on his chest, letting him know that she had fallen asleep. He leaned down to rest his cheek on top of her head for a moment before closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep himself.

Jax woke up when he heard the loud clap of thunder. Normally, one of these storms blowing in off the ocean would not bother him, but ever since Brenda had told him about what her father had done to her, he had found himself waking up at the slightest sound of rain. Until now, though, only that one storm had been severe enough to affect Brenda. As he heard the storm quickly intensify as it came ashore, he felt Brenda start to stir next to him. He tried to reassure her that she was safe by gently stroking his fingers on her back as he whispered reassurances to her. This seemed to help until a series of very quick, very loud thunderclaps hit, followed by the rain pounding full force against the terrace doors.

Just as a sudden, very strong gust of wind blew the terrace doors open, Brenda started thrashing around screaming, as her nightmare took control of her sleep. Jax pulled her close to him, as he sat up to try to reassure her as he gently woke her from her nightmare. Suddenly the bedroom door burst open and Jerry came rushing in wearing only his boxer shorts.

"What happened?" he demanded. He looked at Jax trying desperately to comfort Brenda and then over that the curtains blowing in the wind from the open terrace doors. He walked quickly over to close and securely lock the terrace doors. After pulling the curtains tightly shut, he looked back at the bed to see that Jax had finally managed to calm Brenda down enough that she had laid back down and seemed to be sleeping soundly again. "What the hell just happened?" Jerry whispered, as he stood by the doors.

Jax held his finger to his lips to quiet Jerry and pointed to the open hallway door. As Jerry walked over to the door, Jax gently slid out of bed, careful to pull the covers tightly around Brenda. When she started to stir slightly as she felt his absence, he stopped and waited for her to settle down again. When she did, he slowly walked over to the doorway where Jerry was waiting.

"What the hell was that all about?" Jerry whispered again. "Is she okay?"

Jax looked back at the bed to make sure that Brenda was okay before answering. "I think so. She only has these nightmares when we have storms like tonight. Most of the time she doesn't even wake up, but when one of these blow in off the ocean, they seem to trigger memories of her abuse." Jax took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as he looked at Jerry with a growing anger in his eyes. "NOW do you understand why I want to destroy Julia Barrett? She helped that old bastard do this to Brenda, and now she's going to pay for it!"

Jerry glanced past Jax to watch Brenda sleep for a moment. "I know you told me what that old goat did to her and that you wanted Julia to pay for helping him, but until I saw this, I don't think I really understood." He looked back at Jax, almost as angry as he could see that Jax was. "Damn it, Jax! She's the older sister! It was her job to protect Brenda from that kind of thing - not help him!" He looked back at Brenda and continued to watch her sleep as he continued: "Julia has no idea what is about to come down on her. She is going to get a lesson in older sibling protection techniques. This big brother is about to protect his 'little sister' - and God help the target of my wrath!" When he saw Brenda stirring, he nodded toward the bed. "You better get back to bed. Your wife is starting to miss you," he said with a slight smile.

As Jerry started to leave, Jax put his hand on his arm. "Thanks, Jerry, I owe you big for this."

Jerry smiled and put his hand on Jax's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "There is nothing for you to thank me for, Jax. Brenda is my little sister now, and, unlike Julia Barrett, I WILL look after her." He smiled and nodded toward Brenda. "Go on, go back to your beautiful wife. Let me take care of Julia Barrett." He gave Jax's hand another quick squeeze and headed back to his own room.

Jax stood for a second and watched Jerry walk away before closing the door and quietly walking back to the bed. He gently slid in next to Brenda, who immediately wrapped herself around him. Just as he thought he had succeeded in not waking her, Brenda lifted her head slightly to look up at him through partially open eyes.

"Where did you go?" she asked in a very sleepy voice, obviously not fully awake.

Before saying anything, Jax gently pressed her head back against his chest. "I just had to close the terrace doors. The wind blew them open," he said in a very soft, soothing voice. He really hoped mentioning the wind would not remind her about her dream.

"Oh, okay," she said softly, as she quickly fell back to sleep, now that Jax was back where he belonged, next to her.

It wasn't until he felt her slow, steady breathing on his chest again that Jax finally began to relax enough to fall asleep himself. Somehow, Jerry's promise to teach Julia the responsibilities of an older sibling and what happened if that sibling failed, gave him a great deal of peace.

The next morning, Jerry was surprised as he was finishing his coffee to see Jax walk into the den. "What are you doing up? After that storm last night, I figured you and Brenda would sleep in."

"And let you leave without a proper goodbye?" Brenda asked, as she wrapped her arms around Jax in the doorway. When she saw the surprised look on Jax's face as she looked up at him, she moved her hand up to rest on his chest. "What?"

"You were sound asleep when I got out of bed, not 5 minutes ago," Jax said, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"That's exactly why I'm here. I don't like waking up and not having you next to me. When I looked at the clock and saw the time, I figured you got up to say goodbye to Jerry." She leaned her head against Jax's chest for a moment, then lifted it again to look at Jerry. "What storm were you talking about when I came in? Did it storm last night?"

Jax and Jerry looked at each other for a second. It was easy for Jerry to see the warning in Jax's eyes that he didn't want Brenda to know about last night. He did not want her reminded of her nightmare. "Nothing major," Jerry said. "I just forgot how fast they come in off the ocean and then disappear again just as fast."

Brenda nodded her head. "I know, we had one the first night we were here," she said with a slight shudder. "I'm just glad they don't happen very often. If they did, Jax would never get any sleep. I think I kept him up most of that night."

Jax pulled her around in front of him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He looked at Jerry over the top of her head. "You didn't hear me complaining that night, did you? I can't think of anything better than holding you and watching you sleep." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head without looking away from Jerry.

"Well, that's more than this big brother needed to know," Jerry said, as he cleared his throat nervously. He glanced down to look at his watch. "Damn, I've got to get moving. I'm going to be late for my grand exit to satisfy Corinthos that I don't know where you two are." He picked up his briefcase and started to leave, but stopped when he saw the strange expression on Brenda's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Brenda said, as she slowly shook her head a couple of times. "I've just never seen this side of you. You look just like a real businessman."

Jax couldn't help laughing, especially when he saw the shocked expression on Jerry's face. "Better be careful, Jerry, you might give Brenda the wrong impression of you," he said with another chuckle.

Jerry drew back his arm, as if to take a swing at Jax. "Very funny!" He turned to look at Brenda. "For your information, Little Bit, I AM a real businessman! Where do you think Jax learned everything he knows about the art of making a deal?"

Brenda and Jax looked at each other for a moment before they both turned to look at Jerry. "Harvard Business School," they said in unison, before bursting out laughing.

"Very funny!" Jerry said. "I think I better get out of here before you two can come up with any more insults for me!" He walked up to Brenda and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you at home for Christmas," he said softly, as he gave her arm a slight squeeze. He looked up at Jax. "You, too - if you behave, that is," he said, as pointed his finger at Jax.

"Yes, Dad," Jax said with a chuckle.

After giving Brenda another quick kiss, Jerry walked out of the den toward the front door, where Charles was waiting for him. As Jerry approached him, Charles reached for the briefcase and opened the door to take it out to Jerry's car, allowing Jerry a chance to say another goodbye. "I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I'm making for you, Little Bit," he said sternly, as he looked down at Brenda. "In case your husband neglected to tell you - I HATE cold and snow!"

Brenda couldn't keep from smiling. "I think he did mention something about that," she said with a wink at Jax. "Seriously though, Jerry, thank you for doing this for me. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to Christmas this year. I think it's the first time that I can honestly say that."

Jerry leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "No problem. I'll see you two at home, then," he said with a loving smile. He gave her arm a gentle squeeze before giving Jax a swat on the arm and walking out the door to his car without looking back.

As they stood and watched Jerry drive away, Brenda wrapped her arm around Jax's waist. Once Jerry was gone, they closed the door and walked back into the living room. "You're awfully quiet," Jax said, as he took both of Brenda's hands in his. "Is something wrong?"

Brenda looked up at Jax for a second before answering. "It was actually something Jerry said - twice," she said softly, as she looked away from him. She let go of his hands and walked over to look out the terrace doors.

"What was that?" Jax asked softly without moving, suddenly afraid to even turn and look at Brenda.

"He said he'd see us at home for Christmas." Brenda's voice quivered slightly as she spoke.

Jax turned and walked slowly over to stand behind her, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back against his chest. "Why would that bother you?" he asked softly, as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"Because when he said that I realized that I've never really had a home before," she said with a sigh, as she closed her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Jax asked without moving his head.

"I realized in that instant that, until I married you and became a member of the Jacks family, I never had a home. I grew up 'visiting' my father's house, when I wasn't stuck in some boarding school somewhere in Europe. Then, when I was older, I lived in Julia's house - which she frequently reminded me of - until I ran away." Brenda took a deep breath and shuddered as she slowly let it out. "But when you married me, I knew that I had a real home, right here in your arms."

Jax didn't know what to say. Somehow, though, he knew that Brenda needed to finish what she had started to say, so he just tightened his arm around her shoulders and waited for her to continue.

"When Jerry referred to your parents' house in Alaska as home, it suddenly hit me: thanks to you, I now have a family AND a home!" She slowly turned, being careful not to break Jax's hold on her.

Jax looked down at her with tears in his eyes. "Forget the past, Brenda; you have all the family you need now." He leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. "Just don't blame me when one of these days they drive you absolutely crackers," he said with a chuckle.

Brenda chuckled and leaned back enough to look up at him. "I'll remember that, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. If what we've already been through with Miranda didn't tear us apart, I don't think there is anything that could."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Jax said with a loving smile. "Come on, let's get some breakfast."

"Sounds good; I'm starving," Brenda said, as she leaned up to give Jax a passionate kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked, when she finally ended the kiss.

Brenda reached up to cup the side of his face. "For giving me everything - even the things I didn't know were missing from my life," she said, as she stood up on her toes to give him another quick kiss. When she ended the kiss, she reached for his hand as she stepped back from him. "Come on, let's get some breakfast. I have some more shopping to do."

Jax couldn't help smiling as he watched Brenda's eyes light up at the idea of shopping. "Can't keep you from that shopping trip now, can we?" he asked with a chuckle, before leaning down to give her a kiss. When he ended the kiss, he leaned back to look into her face. "Just remember to stick close to Erik and Clay, okay?"

"I will," Brenda said with a reassuring smile. "I'm not about to do anything to mess up our Christmas plans."

"Good," Jax said, as he smiled down at her. "I'm sure Charles has breakfast waiting for us. I have a feeling he's getting to know you well enough to know you'll want to get an early start." He gave Brenda another quick kiss, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and heading toward the dining room.

It had taken Brenda three more trips over the next two weeks to finally finish her shopping. On the last trip, she had also bought warm clothes for both her and Jax to wear in Alaska. Once the shopping was finished, she would disappear into the bedroom for hours at a time to wrap the presents she had bought. By the time she was finished, she had created a small mountain in the corner of the guest room.

Jax had made one short trip into town to do his shopping for Brenda. To make sure she didn't see her presents, he had Charles pack them up and ship them to Alaska as soon as he finished wrapping them.

By the time they were ready to leave themselves, Jax was just about completely recovered from his gunshot wound. He was no longer taking any medication and as long as he didn't overdo the physical activity, he didn't have any pain either. He had started taking short runs on the beach the past couple of days without any problem - except for Brenda fussing over him when he got back.

Because of Brenda's excitement, they decided to fly up to Anchorage on December 23rd. Jax and Ben had made the travel arrangements. Ben had arranged for a plane belonging to a blind subsidiary of J&J Jacks to pick them up at LAX. Erik and Clay would make the trip with them. Getting Brenda to agree to that part of the plans had been a major battle in itself, but she finally agreed.

Early the morning of the 23rd Charles supervised as the staff carefully packed the shipping boxes filled with wrapped presents into a van for the trip to the airport. The boxes were loaded onto a regular cargo flight to Anchorage, where they would be transferred to a private plane for the flight to the Jacks family compound.

Jax and Brenda would be flying directly to the compound in the corporate jet Ben had arranged. There would be a car waiting for them at the airstrip. One of the compound security guards would drive them to the main house. At Ben's insistence, they would all be staying at the main house, instead of individual guest cottages. He had insisted that the whole family stay together for security reasons. Not surprisingly, Brenda had no objection to this request.

When it was time for them to leave, Jax noticed that Brenda had gotten very quiet as she finished packing their clothes for the trip. He sat down on the bed next to the open suitcase and reached to link his fingers with hers. "What's wrong?" he asked softly when she looked over at him. "I thought you were excited about spending the holidays with the family?"

Brenda let Jax pull her down into his lap before answering. She wrapped her arm around his neck and let out a small sigh as she looked off into the distance. "I am excited," she said softly, as she looked back at him and started to play with the hair on the back of his neck.

"Then what is it?" Jax asked.

"I just feel sad about leaving here. I feel so relaxed here - so at peace," Brenda said, as she looked around the room. "I'm going to miss that feeling."

Jax reached up to cup the side of her face and turn it toward him. "Why would you think you have to lose that feeling? We'll still be together when we leave for home. That's not going to change," Jax said, as he stroked his thumb across her cheekbone.

Brenda put her hand on top of his. "Of course, things will change, Jax," she said sadly. "We're going back to Port Charles after the holidays. That means we have to go back to the real world with Sonny, Miranda and whoever it was that tried to kill you."

"Hey, hey," Jax said softly. "Stop worrying about that. Who knows, maybe by the time we get back to Port Charles all that will be over. Besides, Mac already has the men who shot me in custody. Don't give them another thought."

"Do you really think so, Jax? You know how Sonny is? And Miranda is just as bad!" Brenda said with a sigh.

"You know I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was possible," he said calmly. He gave her a loving smile and pulled her face to his for a quick kiss. "Do you need any help with that?" he asked, as he nodded toward the open suitcase.

"No, I'm just about finished," Brenda said, as she got up from his lap. She put a few more things into the bag, before closing the lid and pulling the zipper around. "There, all finished," she said, as she rested her hands on her hips. "I'm ready if you are."

"I'm ready," Jax said, as he got up and reached for the bag. When Brenda gave him a stern look, he smiled and reached for the bag with his other hand, knowing she was concerned about him lifting what she thought was a heavy bag. "It's not a big bag, Brenda. I can carry it as far as the front door," he said with a sigh, as he slowly shook his head, slightly frustrated with her overprotectiveness.

Brenda looked at him unsurely for a moment before finally smiling. "I know," she said, as she rested her hands flat on his chest. "Can't blame me for worrying about you, though," she said softly, as she looked up into his eyes.

He looked at her for a moment before returning her smile. "Guess not, as long as you promise not to stop anytime soon."

"You can count on that," Brenda said softly.

With that, Jax and Brenda wrapped an arm around each other and headed toward the door. When they got about halfway down the hall, Charles met them and took the bag from Jax. "I'll take that, sir," he said politely, as he reached for the bag. "The rest of your things are already in the car. Your warm coats are stored in the boot with the luggage, and I took the liberty of selecting a warm outfit, for each of you to change into before you arrive, that is in the small bag in the front seat."

Brenda and Jax looked at each other, amazed at how well organized Charles was. He had anticipated all of their needs and requests.

When they got to the front door, Brenda stepped up to give Charles a big hug before he had a chance to open the door. "Thank you for everything," she said softly, as she continued to hug him. "I don't think I could have handled this without you."

Startled by his employer's affectionate gesture, Charles slowly wrapped his arms loosely around her for a moment. "Thank you, Miss Brenda. It's been my pleasure to take care of both of you while you were here."

When Brenda finally released him, Jax held his hand out to Charles. "Those thanks come from me, as well, Charles - to all of the staff."

Charles looked over at Jax, unsure what to say. He had never worked for anyone like Jax and Brenda. He suddenly realized that it was going to take several more trips by them out to the house before he would be comfortable with their style of running a house, but he also knew that he had found the one place he would work for the rest of his career. Finally, he cleared his throat and reached for Jax's outstretched hand. "Thank you, sir. I will pass that on to the staff." He glanced down at his watch. "If your plane is going to leave on time, you and Miss Brenda had better get moving."

Brenda gave Charles one more quick hug before reaching for Jax's hand. As she did, Charles opened the door for them. They walked out to the waiting car and got in. Erik got behind the wheel and Clay sat next to him. As soon as they did, they started off. When they got to the end of the drive, Brenda turned and looked at the house through the back window, sorry to be leaving, but excited about the holiday coming up. As soon as the car pulled into the street, an unmarked security car pulled in behind them and followed them all the way to LAX.

When they got to LAX, there was a traffic accident blocking the road to the corporate terminal. Airport security directed them to exit the car at the main terminal and there would be a security car waiting there to take them to their plane. Erik and Clay were concerned about being in such a public place, but Jax reassured them that they would be fine since no one knew they would be there. Besides, they would be well protected by both Jacks security and airport security. Reluctantly, Erik drove to the main terminal where the car was immediately met by a skycap with a large cart for their luggage. He helped Erik unload the car and then waited politely as Clay first looked around the area and then signaled for Jax and Brenda to exit the car.

As soon as the extra airport security guards arrived at the door, Jax got out of the car and walked around to help Brenda out. They wrapped their arms around each other and walked into the terminal behind the airport guards and in front of Erik and Clay, with the skycap following close behind with their luggage. The guards paid close attention to everything and everyone they passed, while Jax and Brenda seemed interested only in each other.

However, none of them noticed the two men standing near the Starbucks in the middle of the terminal. As soon as Jax and Brenda passed and headed out the door, one of the men pulled out a cell phone. He quickly dialed a number and waited for an answer. When he heard someone pick up, he couldn't keep from smiling. "We've got 'em," he said proudly. "They just got into LAX."

He was silent for a moment as he listened. "I understand. We'll call you back as soon as we find out where they're staying out here." With that, he closed the phone and looked at his partner. "Mr. Morgan said to tell you that Mr. Corinthos is very pleased with this news." The two men smiled at each other before heading toward the door that they had just watched Jax and Brenda go through, expecting to see their limo just pulling away. They both couldn't resist feeling that this assignment was turning out to be a lot easier than they had expected it to be.