Brenda’s face grew pale. "What …..truth?"

"The truth. About who you really are. And about what really happened the day that Master Jon was born."

Brenda rose and walked over to the window, praying that Thomas couldn’t see her hands shaking. {How could he know? He’s always seemed to be on my side ….. as if he knew the truth. But then why doesn’t he think I deserve to be in a mental ward?}

"I’m afraid I still don’t understand what you’re talking about, Thomas. Miguel already knows about how sh……how I died during Jon’s delivery, if that’s what you mean. I told him about it at Jon’s christening, and it didn’t seem to make a difference to him."

Thomas rose and walked towards Brenda, turning her towards him and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You are a smart woman, Mrs. Brenda," he said in a fatherly tone. "But not smart enough to fool Thomas. You are NOT Mrs. Jacks."

"But I……"

Thomas held up a hand, silencing Brenda. "You are Mrs. Brenda. A different person entirely from Mrs. Jacks, down to your soul. I told you that the day you arrived here. Something happened when you died, and you came back a different person."

Brenda’s laugh was shaky. "Well, that’s true. They say that a death experience can cause a person to turn over a new leaf……."

Thomas took Brenda’s chin between his fingers to prevent her from looking away. "We both know that’s NOT what happened, Mrs. Brenda. Mrs. Jacks died during the delivery, and Mrs. Brenda was born with a new soul and a new love for her husband and son."

Tears gathered in Brenda’s eyes at the depth of Thomas’s belief in her. "But even if you believe that, don’t you find it kind of ……preposterous? I mean, don’t you wonder how something like that could have possibly happened?"

Thomas finally let go of Brenda’s chin and shrugged his shoulders with a warm smile. "My people learned long ago that there are many things in this world that cannot be logically explained. We know that Our Father in His wisdom works wonders. Our place is but to appreciate them. The "how" of what happened is not important. What is important is the wonderful life you have made with Mr. Jax and your son."

Brenda walked away from Thomas towards Jax’s desk but then stopped. "But it’s the "how" that’s important, Thomas," she murmured sarcastically. She turned back to him, desperation clearly written on her face. "Let’s say I do go to Miguel and try to tell him what happened." She shook her head, her mouth a thin, grim line. "Do you know what Jax said when I tried to tell him the truth, right after Jon was born?"

"I don’t imagine Mr. Jax took it well. He is a man who places much value on logic and facts."

Brenda snorted. "That’s putting it mildly." She leaned towards Thomas. "He threatened to have me committed…..to send me away to a funny farm for the rest of my life." She came back to Thomas, taking his hands in hers. "What if that happens with Miguel? What if I can’t make him believe that I’m really not the Brenda he loves?"

Thomas squeezed Brenda’s hands in return. "Then you simply must find some way to persuade him that his Brenda died back in Los Angeles the day Master Jon was born. Some proof……"

Brenda’s eyes widened as she dropped Thomas’s hands. "Oh, sure…..easy enough for you to say!" She walked towards the glass doors, putting her hands to her head and rubbing her hair briskly. "But there must be some way……" She stopped, still facing the ocean. "I *have* to find a way, or I’ll never have any peace for the rest of my life."

Thomas came up quietly behind her and lay his hands on her shoulders. "I will come with you, if it will help. Perhaps I can be of some assistance in the persuasion."

Brenda patted Thomas’s hand, tears again stinging her eyes. If she had to lose Harlan Barrett, somehow it comforted her to have this man, showing so much fatherly support and concern. "I think I would love to have you come with me, Thomas." A shudder went through her petite frame. "That guy still gives me the creeps, anyway. I’d rather not be alone with him."

Thomas squeezed her shoulders again and then pulled away. "We have several hours before we need to pick Mr. Jax up from the hospital. I’ll make the arrangements to have Mrs. Lois watch Master Jon while we’re gone." He walked towards the door, but stopped before leaving the room. "Why don’t you talk to the One who made this all happen? Perhaps He can give you some idea as to how to convince Miguel of your identity."

Brenda smiled weakly as Thomas left the room. Trouble came scampering in and immediately headed for Brenda’s ankles, trailing one of Jax’s old socks in his mouth. She crouched down to rub the puppy’s neck. "Oh, Trouble……for once, I actually think *I* may be living up to your name more than you are." Trouble looked up at her with wide eyes for a moment, then immediately dropped the sock and backed away from it in penitence.

Brenda sat back on her heels and laughed while applauding. "Very good, Trouble! I guess you learned your lesson that day, didn’t you? Even though I technically didn’t find you and make you give up that……" She never finished the sentence. Brenda’s eyes widened and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh, my God……"

Trouble followed his mistress when she took off running from the study towards the master bedroom. Brenda flew towards the closet, running towards the evening coat in the back. She reached in the pocket, took out some folded papers, and then turned towards Trouble, raising her eyes towards Heaven. "Thank you," she whispered, tears running down her cheeks, "for reminding me that I had the proof all along." She took a shaky breath. "Now, if You could just help me persuade Miguel that this IS the truth……."

*************

Brenda tightly clutched Thomas’s arm as they were shown to a small visiting area in the back of the Malibu detention facility. It was a windowless, gray closet-like room, the only furniture being a modest steel table and two uncomfortable-looking chairs.

"Do you think it’s safe for us to be here?" Brenda whispered, noticing the lack of guards. "Shouldn’t there be like some kind of protective screen or bulletproof glass between us and him?"

Before Thomas could answer, the door opened. There was a shuffling noise and then Miguel was pushed into the room, his hands cuffed behind his back. A burly guard followed him and after pushing him again towards the table, he forced Miguel to sit down in the chair with a growl. The guard leaned down and opened Miguel’s handcuffs, only to re-fasten them to some kind of ring bolt in the center of the table. His eyes conveyed his lack of interest as he spoke to Brenda and Thomas. "Ten minutes. I’ll be right outside if you need me."

Thomas and Brenda both nodded their thanks and after one last meaningful glare at the suspect, the guard left the room. Thomas extended his hand towards the chair, indicating Brenda should have a seat. She moved awkwardly towards the table, jumping visibly when Miguel gave her a smile full of pure malice.

"Ahhh, mi amada." He winced as he chafed at the handcuffs. "We meet again – although under less than desirable conditions."

Brenda held her head high and tried not to look intimidated as she took her seat. "This isn’t a social call, Miguel."

"Awwww, and here I was expecting you to tell me that you’ve suddenly had a change of heart," he drawled sarcastically. Then, his eyes brightened and he sat up straighter. "Or wait – I know! You’ve changed your mind again and taken the Martinique back! It’s just too bad that you won’t be able to share it with me!" His biting tone made Brenda wince.

"Miguel, please," she pleaded softly. "I’ve got something important to tell you, and it’s not going to be easy for you to hear it."

Miguel ignored her entreaty. He turned hate-filled eyes towards Thomas. "What’s *he* doing here?"

Thomas put his hand on Brenda’s shoulder. "I’m here for moral support – and to make sure you don’t try anything stupid with Mrs. Brenda."

Miguel rattled the chain connecting his handcuffs to the ring in the table loudly. "Oh, yeah……that’s just what I intended to do. Right after I call Superman and have him snap these cuffs off my wrists." He slumped down in his chair, staring at some point in the corner to avoid looking at Brenda. She sighed in exasperation and Miguel turned pained eyes back to look at her. "How could you do it to me, amada?" He held up his hands, emphasizing his helplessness. "After all we meant to each other, how could you turn against me like this?"

Brenda leaned forward, folding her hands on the table but not getting too close to Miguel’s. "Because it wasn’t ME that did that to you, Miguel." He snorted in disbelief and shook his head, but froze when Brenda reached out towards him. "The ME that had you arrested and wants to be with Jax isn’t the Brenda that you fell in love with. It’s a different person."

Miguel sat back in the chair again and laughed out loud. "This is crazy!" He looked up at Thomas. "She is saying she’s two different people?" Then he rattled the handcuffs again. "YOU are the one who should be locked up, Brenda Jacks. YOU are the dangerous one."

Brenda sighed and closed her eyes, looking away from Miguel. {Did you expect this to be easy? Did you expect him to understand everything as soon as the words came out of your mouth?}

She took a deep breath and began again, speaking calmly. "OK, Miguel, now just humor me for a minute." He gave her an insolent smirk, but then when Thomas cleared his throat loudly and glared at Miguel, he sat back in his chair and nodded once. Brenda exhaled slowly. "OK, now do you remember what I told you about the day that Jon was born? What happened to me in the delivery room?"

Miguel shrugged. "You said that your heart had stopped. That for a few seconds, you ……"

"……died." Brenda finished the sentence for him, spitting the word. "The word is DIED Miguel, and it wasn’t just for a few seconds. The monitors showed a flat line for almost half a minute."

"Yes, you told me. And because of that, you had the amnesia that you claimed wiped out your memories of Jax."

Brenda nodded and took another breath, leaning towards him again. "That’s right. But it wasn’t really amnesia, Miguel." She looked down at the table and then back into Miguel’s confused eyes. "When Brenda Jacks died on the delivery table that day, she really…….died."

Miguel frowned. "What do you mean, when "Brenda Jacks" died?" He looked up at Thomas for help in understanding. "You ARE Brenda Jacks!"

Brenda covered his hand with her own. "No, Miguel, I’m not. My real name……or I guess you’d say who my soul really is……is Brenda Barrett. I was born in Port Charles, New York."

Miguel pulled his hand as far away from hers as possible, shaking his head "no." "This is crazy……." He frowned and sat up straighter, his voice growing louder. "YOU’RE crazy!!"

"I’m NOT crazy, Miguel," Brenda replied calmly. "A few seconds before Brenda Jacks died on the delivery table, *I* was in a car accident in Port Charles. I died, too, but when I went to heaven, I asked God to give me another chance. I thought there had been some mistake and it wasn’t my time yet. And God gave me that chance."

Miguel kept shaking his head "no", looking desperately at Thomas. "This can’t be true!! This is insane!! Do you believe her?"

Before Thomas could answer, Brenda took Miguel’s hands again. "I know this sounds crazy, Miguel, but it’s the truth. YOUR Brenda died on the delivery table that day, and God sent *my* soul into *her* body for my second chance." She clutched her hands to her heart. "That’s why I didn’t know anything about Jax, or didn’t feel anything for you. On the inside, I’m Brenda Barrett – not Brenda Jacks."

Miguel sat motionless for a few minutes, but then started shaking his head and laughing demonically. "Whew……I’ve heard some crazy stories in my day, lady, but this one tops them all!!"

Brenda chewed on her lower lip, but then brightened and reached into her purse. "Look," she said, pulling out the copies of the articles from the Port Charles newspaper she had printed. "I got these from the computer – they’re news articles about my…….about Brenda Barrett’s car accident and funeral." She shoved them over to Miguel’s side of the table, pointing to a line she had outlined in red pen. "If you’ll notice, I’ve got the date circled at the top of the paper. It says the accident took place the same day that Jon was born."

Miguel read the article for a minute but then pushed it away, shaking his head. "You could have picked this out of any newspaper. All you had to do was find the name of some other lady who died on the same day that your son was born……"

Brenda shoved them back at him just as roughly. "My father’s name is …….was…..Harlan Barrett. I’ve got one older sister, Julia. She’s not married. I was working part-time as a model back in Port Charles when the accident happened."

Miguel’s face started to grow pale as Brenda rattled off the facts, but she could see that he still had doubts. "Look," she hissed, grabbing his hand tightly, "I know you’re a powerful man, Miguel. Carly’s told me some things that scare me silly about you." Miguel frowned and looked away at her words, but she just squeezed his hand tighter, forcing him to look back. "Have your people check it out. Ask me some questions about this Brenda Barrett – right here, right now. Some things that aren’t in the newspaper. Some things that only Brenda Barrett herself would know. When she got her first skinned knee – what boy kissed her for the first time and where…..Then have your people check them out. They’ll tell you that I’m right."

Brenda’s bravado and Thomas’s confident glare soon had Miguel trembling in his chair, his face pale as a ghost. "Oh, my God……." he whispered. "You’re not…….Mi amada really is……" Tears started rolling down his cheeks.

Her grip on Miguel’s hand softened to a comforting touch. "I’m so sorry, Miguel……"

He shook his head abruptly, sniffing and wiping his eyes on his shoulder. "It just……it explains so much, you know?" The raw pain in Miguel’s eyes touched something in Brenda’s heart when he looked at her. "Until now, I just couldn’t understand how you……how your feelings had changed. How you could suddenly have forgotten all that we meant to each other. How you could love Jax so much……"

"I don’t really know much about…..her," Brenda said gently. "But I think that in her own way, she probably loved you very much, Miguel."

There was just the hint of another nod as he tried to compose himself. "Does Jax know?"

Brenda lowered her head. "I tried to tell him right after Jon was born, but he wouldn’t believe me." She smiled weakly. "His response was just about the same as yours – he wanted to have me committed immediately." Then suddenly icy fear wrapped its fingers around her. "But I’m going to tell him, Miguel. And the way we feel about each other now……it won’t make a difference."

She was surprised when Miguel tried to maneuver his hands to take hers. "I know that, Brenda. I won’t try to destroy what you have with Jax." He returned a weak smile of his own. "I can see how much you love him every time I look into your eyes. That’s why it hurt so much, I think."

"I’m sorry I had to hurt you like this, Miguel, but I had to protect Jax and Jon." He frowned at her and her cheeks turned pale pink again. "Carly told me some things……about your power and how far it extends……" He lowered his eyes. "……and how you didn’t want to let go of her……I mean, me." She sat up straighter and Miguel could hear the determination in her voice. "I decided that the only way to protect Jax and Jon and our future as a family was to come and tell you the entire truth about who I really am."

Miguel nodded slowly. "You need not worry, Brenda. I won’t bother you or your family ever again." He took a deep, shaky breath. "I suppose that it really doesn’t matter that the Brenda I loved is dead. Not now anymore……"

It was Brenda’s turn to frown in confusion. "What do you mean?" Her face paled slightly. "You’re not going to do anything……rash…..are you, Miguel?"

He snorted sarcastically. "I will not need to do anything ……rash, as you put it. It will probably be done for me very shortly."

"You mean……someone will try to kill you?" Brenda whispered.

"Someone WILL kill me, Brenda." Miguel’s voice held no emotion. "An unfortunate consequence of failure in the business world in which I operate."

"Failure? What are you talking about?"

Miguel sighed, looked around him suspiciously, and then leaned forward to speak in a whisper. "When we ……" He closed his eyes, shook his head, and then began again. "……when *my* Brenda and I stole the Martinique, we were not going to keep *all* of the proceeds from its sale." He tipped his head to the side. "Our cut still would have been substantial enough to fund our escape to South America. But my superiors were counting on a large infusion of capital from the sale of such a rare gem."

Realization began to dawn. "But then when I returned it to its rightful owner….."

"My superiors were….. shall we say….. less than pleased."

Brenda frowned again. "But what about the night you tried to kidnap me? You said we would go away and have a future together after all. You must have had some kind of plan to disappear……so that your superiors couldn’t find you….."

"I *did* Brenda," Miguel murmured. "I had a few contacts who were still loyal enough to me that they would hide us until we could vanish." He sighed and looked around at the gray room. "But now," he continued, rattling his handcuffs again, "all of those plans do me no good."

"Oh, Miguel……" After all they had been through – the harassment, the kidnapping, Jax almost dying to rescue her – Brenda couldn’t help but feel sorry for Miguel. A man was going to die now, and she – Brenda Barrett – not Brenda Jacks – was directly responsible. If she just had had enough courage to tell Miguel the truth from the beginning, none of this would have happened. Miguel probably would have been angry that she returned the Martinique, but he wouldn’t have tried to take her away from Jax to the life that he and "his Brenda" had dreamed of. And now he wouldn’t be in a jail cell, awaiting a sentencing that would send him to prison, where he would probably die.

Thomas gently put his hand on Brenda’s shoulder. "It’s almost time, Mrs. Brenda. We need to be going if we’re going to pick Mr. Jax up and bring him home from the hospital."

Brenda nodded, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill out of her eyes. She took the papers from the table, willing her hands not to tremble, and shoved them into her jacket pocket in her distraught state. Just as she was rising from her seat, Miguel reached out his manacled hands. "Brenda, wait – just one more question….."

She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and smiled. "Sure. That seems to be the least I can do."

Miguel looked down at his hands and then back up into Brenda’s face. She caught her breath at the naked hope in his eyes. "When you went to heaven that day…..and you got your second chance……did you see my Brenda?"

She sank slowly back into the chair. "Actually, Miguel, I did." She looked off into a far corner of the room and then back at him. "It was beautiful there, you know……all flowers and peaceful and calm……and we were in this garden with this crystal bridge…….Just as I was about to cross it towards this amazing light, she walked past me." Brenda took his hand and squeezed it. "She looked happy, Miguel."

Miguel looked around him once, making sure that nobody else had come into the room, and then leaned forward to speak in a whisper. "Do you think…..perhaps is it possible that my Brenda got another chance, too? That she is somewhere……alive……in somebody else’s body?"

Brenda’s breath caught in her chest again at the sadness in his eyes. He had loved the other Brenda so much. She shook her head quickly. "I don’t think so, Miguel." Seeing his crestfallen face, she tried to sound brighter. "But then again, until this happened to me, I never dreamed that God could work wonders like this." She leaned forward to take Miguel’s hands and squeeze them tightly. "If she *is* out there, Miguel, I’m sure she’s trying just as hard as she can to get back to you. And when she does, she’ll have to be the one to let you know it’s her."

A genuine smile teased at Miguel’s lips just as the guard came back into the room. "Thank you," he whispered, tears shining in his eyes. The guard unfastened his wrists from the table restraint and was about to re-cuff Miguel when he looked down at Brenda. "I think that Jax is a very lucky man to have you, Brenda Barrett Jacks. Buena suerte."

The guard led Miguel away as she turned to look at Thomas. "It means good luck," he whispered before Brenda could ask. He put his hand to her elbow to help her rise from the chair and walked next to her as they left the visiting room. "Well," he sighed, once they were outside, "it looks like he believed you, Mrs. Brenda. You should be proud of yourself. I think you really did it!"

Brenda glanced back over her shoulder at the prison’s windows before getting into the car. "Yep, Thomas," she murmured, trying to hide her pain from the man who knew her so well. "I SURE did."

**********

"Jax, are you sure you should be doing this much walking? The doctor said to take it easy, you know….."

Brenda had Jax’s arm around her shoulder and was escorting him down the narrow hallway towards their bedroom. Thomas had taken Jax’s overnight bag and was making sure everything had gone smoothly during his absence that morning with Brenda. Jax chuckled and placed a kiss on top of Brenda’s head as she kicked open the door to their bedroom. "The doctor just told me to take it easy, Brenda. He didn’t say I had to spend the next six weeks in bed……"

They made their way to the bed and Brenda when she helped Jax sit down, he pulled her down on the bed next to him. With unexpected agility, he flipped Brenda beneath him and she found herself staring into his sparkling blue/green eyes. "Welllll," she drawled, tracing the cleft in his chin with her finger, "you know maybe six weeks in bed wouldn’t be *that* bad……if I provided you with the right kinds of distraction!"

Jax muttered a comment that made Brenda blush and just as he seized her lips in a blistering kiss, Jon made his presence known from the front hallway. His parents had just broken the kiss and were still sitting on the bed when Lois and Jerry appeared in the doorway. "Uh-huh," Lois said in an accusatory voice, "didn’t I tell ‘ya, Jerry? They were foolin’ around in the middle of the day again!"

He shook his head in mock disapproval and clucked his tongue. "Worse than bloody bunny rabbits they are." Jerry smiled and then walked over to give Jax a bear hug. "How ‘ya feelin’, little brother? I flew back as soon as Lois called me with the news…."

Jax nodded as Brenda rose to take her fretting son from Lois. "Much better, now that I’m home," he replied, slapping Jerry on the back. "But you really didn’t have to come all the way back from the coast, just for this…."

Jerry shrugged. "It wasn’t a problem. Things are running pretty smoothly now that we’re dealing with that local guy Eddie Quartermaine introduced me to."

"Ohhhhhh, no!" Brenda cried, swaying with Jon in her arms. "No business talk! The doctor told Jax to rest, and although I’m probably being too strict with him about some things, I’m *sure* he wouldn’t want you talking business already!"

As Jerry helped Jax get into the bed, Lois turned to Brenda. "I think Jon probably needs a fresh diaper and a nap. He was kinda fussy on the way over here and he had a big morning playing with his Uncle Jerry on the beach."

Brenda laughed. "I was just going to say that I thought he felt a little slushy to me!" She went towards the area in the master suite where Jon’s changing table and crib were. "If you’ll just excuse me for a few minutes, I’ll go change him and put him down."

Jon was drowsy even before Brenda finished changing his diaper. By the time she lay him in his crib, he was well on his way to dreamland. She had casually tossed her jacket on the rocking chair when she went to change his diaper, but when Brenda picked it up, the proof of her real identity fell out of the pocket. She looked guiltily around to make sure nobody had seen, but then just as she was about to go into her closet to hide the papers in the evening coat again, Lois called to her. "I’ll be right there," Brenda sang back, trying not to panic. Without a chance to go all the way deep into the closet, she crouched down and shoved the papers into a shoe box that was stacked on top of some other storage boxes.

Brenda stopped at the door of the closet before turning out the light and took a deep breath. {OK. Everything’s fine. Jax is home, the proof is hidden again, and nobody is the wiser. Except Miguel……} At the thought of his tears for "his Brenda," she felt a tightness in her chest. But then when she heard Jax’s voice calling her to join them, all thoughts of Miguel disappeared.

***********

"Are you sure we can’t? After all just because I got a bump on the head, it doesn’t mean that certain *other* parts of me aren’t in fine working order, you know….."

Jax was being his most persuasive self as he lay in bed with Brenda that night. But she stood firm – or lay firm, as was the case. "Jax, one night without sex won’t kill you." She could feel his chuckle rumbling in his chest. "Although it may kill me," she added with a smile. She stroked her fingers lovingly across his broad chest from one shoulder to the other. "Isn’t it enough for you to just lie here with me and snuggle – just for one night?"

Jax sighed theatrically. "I suppose it’ll have to do." He pulled Brenda into the circle of his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I missed you last night, you know." He sat up straighter, lifting his chin. "And I think Jon has grown at least an inch since I saw him last."

Brenda turned towards him and slapped his chest playfully. "He has *not* grown that much in just one day!" Then she snuggled against him. "But I know what you mean – I missed you last night, too."

Jax glanced over towards the patio door. The glass was replaced by large sheets of plywood, a reminder of Miguel’s break-in. "I’m just glad that we won’t have to worry about that maniac bothering us anymore." He buried his chin in her hair again. "I hope they lock him up somewhere and throw away the bloody key.….."

Brenda chewed on her lower lip. "Actually, Jax, I’ve been doing some thinking…….about Miguel."

Jax pulled away from her, reaching for the light on the nightstand. "What? Have you started remembering things about him?" His face slightly paled.

"No!" Brenda lay her hand flat against his chest. "No, it’s nothing like that." She silently took a deep breath and prayed for help in saying what she wanted to the right way. "It’s just that……well……"

Jax frowned. "If you’re trying to say something, Brenda, spit it out."

{PLEASE let him understand. Things went so well this morning, thanks to Your help. Don’t desert me now.}

"Well," Brenda began, fiddling with the hem of her nightshirt, "I was just thinking ……." She turned large brown eyes to meet Jax’s. "I think we should consider dropping the charges against Miguel."

To be continued…….