This sequel opens approximately 4 years after "Torn" ended, and there have obviously been some changes in those 4 years.

To review briefly, as "Torn" ended, Brenda had given birth to Josephine Ellen, who was named after Jax’s paternal grandmother, Josie. Julia is married to Bill Eckert and living in California. Brenda’s father, Harlan, lives with but isn’t married to Katherine Bell. Robin Scorpio got engaged to Nicholas Cassadine. Ned is married to Lois, and they have a daughter, Brooke Lynn, who was born slightly before Jo Ellen. In "Torn," Jason Quartermaine hadn’t had his "accident," but that has now changed in the sequel. Sonny Corinthos was put in jail for racketeering and kidnapping at the end of "Torn."

Ned Ashton watched as the Port Charles scenery passed him by. The leaves on the trees were brilliant shades of gold, red, and orange. He loved the feel of the crisp air on his cheek. He turned to the man sitting next to him.

"I can’t thank you enough for giving me a lift home, Jax. Lois is at the doctor with Glori today for her 6-month check-up, and with my car in the shop…."

"Will you stop thanking me, Ashton?" Jax laughed. "It’s no problem at all. Especially now that we’re almost next-door neighbors." He looked over at Ned and smiled broadly, getting the same response from Ned.

"You realize that Grandfather almost had a stroke when he found out that you were the one who bought the old Hammerschmidt estate. He thought you and Brenda would stay at that old house of yours for years."

Jax sighed. "Yeah, Ned. We did, too. But then when we found out Brenda was expecting again, and Jerry and Bobby found that mansion down the street from the Quartermaines, I couldn’t resist putting another "Jacks" name on a mailbox near him." He laughed softly. "I’m almost tempted to get Mum and Dad to move, but they’re quite attached to the old house, and Brenda’s happy that it’s so close to her dad’s place."

Ned nodded. "How’s Harlan doing?"

"He’s a happy man, Ned. He finally has the family I think he always wanted. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why he and Katherine don’t make it legal. And now that Julia and Bill have William, Jr. and we have the two kids, he’s become the "grandfather-from-hell." He’s the scourge of the Port Charles Athletic Club with his pictures of the grandchildren!"

Ned watched as they maneuvered closer to the Jacks estate. "This really worked out well, Ned," Jax added. "I understand that Lois dropped Brooke Lynn off for a playdate with Jo before she went to the doctor."

Ned looked puzzled. "I realize that Brenda is superwoman, but how can she watch the two girls AND the baby?"

"Brenda’s not watching the girls, Ned," Jax chuckled. "Grandma Josie is. You know how she loves entertaining them. I’ll bet she probably has a tea party set up for them with Mum’s old dishes when we get there."

Jax glanced over at Ned seriously. "Does Lois miss working at L&B Records as much as Brenda does?"

Ned nodded. "Definitely. But I think she realized when she got pregnant again that she needed to take it easy. And she was pleased with that management company you found to run it until the two of them feel comfortable with taking it back over."

Jax looked around cautiously as Ned was about to ask him another question. "Sorry, mate, but I have to check in with home base since we’re getting close." Ned nodded his understanding, and Jax reached up to his forehead to pull down the microphone part of his earphones. "This is Jax in falcon 1. I’m approaching home base. Clear to land?"

Ned watched as Jax gripped the control stick of the helicopter tightly and turned it in the air as it approached the heli-pad on the roof of the renovated mansion. He reached up overhead and flipped some switches above him on the copter’s control panel. While waiting for an answer to his radio message, he looked over at Ned and smiled. "That’s another reason why I didn’t mind taking you home, Ned. You haven’t seen this new toy of mine."

"Impressive," Ned smiled in return. "I’m surprised, though, that Grandfather hasn’t tried to get you thrown out of the neighborhood on the noise ordinance. He’ll use anything for an excuse."

Jax laughed. "He did, until he and Jerry got talking once and Jerry offered to teach him to fly one of these babies." Jax flipped a few more switches and the noise of the rotors was cut appreciably. "Once Jerry got the noise abatement feature fixed on mine, Edward lost his reason to complain. Now, he just keeps asking Jerry when he can start his flying lessons!"

Jax stopped and put his finger to his earphone. "We’re clear. We should be on the ground in a few minutes."

The helicopter gently drifted downward to a large black circle on the roof of the old house. Ned watched as Jax put the helicopter down smack in the middle of the circle, setting the landing gear down in the center of the logo.

Once Jax cut the engines and Ned unfastened his seatbelt, he got out and looked down at the logo beneath the copter. "Isn’t this a little pretentious, though, Jax?" He pointed to the logo, which consisted of a large capital J, crossed through by the letter X. The lower half of the X had a hash mark through the middle, forming the one missing letter in Jax’s name, the A.

"And just what did you expect us to have as our logo, Ned? A big letter Q?" Jax reached in the helicopter and got his briefcase as did Ned, and both men ducked under the twin co-axial rotors of the large helicopter. Jax extended his hand toward a door on the roof of the mansion. The men walked amicably toward the door as two maintenance men approached the helicopter to do the post-flight check-up. Jax shouted to them as he and Ned were about to go through the door, "Thanks for the great work, guys. She flew like a dream this afternoon."

They made their way down the stairs and as they came through another door into a wide hallway, they could hear the delighted squeals of their daughters. Jax saw a matronly-looking woman coming down the hall toward him and when she got close enough, handed her his briefcase.

"Good afternoon, Louise. I take it that’s Miss Jo and Miss Brooke Lynn we hear?"

She smiled. "Yes, sir. They’re in the game room with your grandmother having some cookies and milk. Mrs. Jacks said it was early enough before supper for the snack."

"That’s fine, Louise. Mr. Ashton will be taking Miss Brooke home now so will you get her jacket if she had one?"

Louise nodded and Jax and Ned followed the sound of the laughter down a large, sweeping staircase. "I’ll bet Grandma is letting them use Mum’s dishes for the cookies," Jax said. "I think she’s having more fun with them than Mum ever did!" As they got closer to the sounds of the laughter, Jax motioned for Ned to be quiet. "Let’s listen at the door for a minute," he said in a whisper.

They finally came to a large doorway where the noise was coming from and stood at the edge listening. A small high-pitched voice carried out into the hallway. "I’m gonna land on Queen Frothtine thith time, I know it!"

Another child’s voice answered. "No you’re not. I’M gonna be Queen Frostine this time and I’m gonna send you to the Molasses Swamp!"

Ned looked at Jax in curiosity, and Jax smiled and leaned over to whisper, "Sounds like a rousing game of Candy Land. Jo got it for her fourth birthday and everybody in the house knows all the spaces by heart already!"

Suddenly, an older woman’s voice was heard. "No – you’re both wrong. Never count Grandma Nutt out until the last piece of candy is eaten!" Loud giggling followed that comment, and the two men still stood at the doorway in enchantment. The voice continued. "Go ahead, Jo. It’s your turn now."

There was a scuffling of feet, and as the two men listened for further activity, they were a little surprised to hear the Jo’s angelic voice echo, "Come on, double praple!"

"Praple?" Ned said in confusion to Jax.

Jax nodded. "That’s as close as we get these days to saying the word "purple". See, in Candy Land, they don’t count spaces, they just match up colors. A double praple …I mean, purple….means the player can move to two purple squares in a row." Ned nodded his understanding.

"I guess Lois and I should get Brooke one of these from Santa."

Jax shook his head. "Don’t worry about it. Brenda already bought one for her to find under our tree when you all come over."

Then both men were taken aback as Brooke was heard to squeal, "Come on, blue! Barbie needth a new pair of shooth!" They looked at each other in astonishment, with Ned’s mouth hanging open. The next thing they heard was Brooke again. "YETH!! I WIN!"

Jax shook his head. "Takes after her great-grandfather already, I see." But both men stopped short when they heard Brooke’s angelic voice say, "OK, Grandma J, can I have my dime for winning now?"

Jax frowned at Ned, and motioned for him to follow him into the room. As they rounded the corner, they saw the two toddlers, sitting at a low table in front of a wall of windows. Grandma Josie, a gray-haired woman with bright blue eyes and an infectious smile, was leaning over to hand something to Brooke. But as soon as Jax entered the room, Jo sensed his presence and looked toward the door.

"DADDY!" she cried, and jumped from the table and ran to her father’s open arms. The little girl had black hair that was pulled up into a ponytail high at the back of her head and curled gently down onto her shoulders. Her powder blue denim overalls accentuated the cornflower blue of her eyes. As she barreled into his shins, he scooped her up and swung her high in the air.

"Hey, Munchkin! How’s my favorite girl this afternoon?" Jax held her close to him in his right arm while he straightened her frilly blouse with his left and tickled her rib cage.

While Jax and Jo were having their afternoon tickle, Brook ran over from the table to give her father a similar hug. She had the same dark hair and eyes as Lois, and as Ned watched her approach him, he couldn’t believe how much alike they looked. He squatted down to her level and had to do some serious balancing so that she didn’t bowl him over in her enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Josie sat grinning at the table. "Well, if it isn’t the two handsomest men in Port Charles. How did it go in the business wars today, Jasper?"

"Fine, Grandma, but I wouldn’t let Jerry hear you say that about Ned and I being the handsomest men in Port Charles. He might take offense, you know," Jax answered, still tickling Jo and enjoying her high-pitched giggles.

Josie snorted. "He won’t do anything to get into an argument with me right now, Jasper. He’s too close to the expiration of his five-year agreement to wax my Bentley." She chuckled to herself. "He’s probably afraid that if he even looks at me cross-eyed, I’ll extend the length of the punishment!"

Ned gave Brooke a gentle pat on the behind. "Well, Brooke, I think maybe you’d better help Jo clean up your game and then we need to get home. Mommy will be home with the baby soon and then we’ll all have dinner together."

Jax followed the two raven-haired girls over to the table where Josie was still sitting. "Say, Grandma," Jax said with mock curiosity in his voice, "right before we walked in here we heard Brooke say something about winning the game and deserving her DIME, didn’t we Ned?"

Josie’s face fell. "Ohhh…" she looked cautiously at Jax, "…Hoover!"

Jo looked puzzled. "What’s Hoover, Greaty-Grandma?"

Josie smiled benignly at the sweet expression on her face. "It’s a really big dam, sweetheart," and gave Jax a pointed look.

Jax got an accusing look on his face. "Grandma….what have you been doing with the girls?"

"Nothing, Jax. Just a little incentive to make the winning more interesting, that’s all," Josie said, trying to distract Jax by bending over to pick up playing cards and movers that had fallen on the floor.

Jax bent down next to Josie and forced her to look up at him again. "Grandma, were you teaching the girls to play Candy Land for money? Gambling with 4-year-olds?"

"Now, Jax…" Josie began, but Jo interrupted her, tugging on Jax’s pants leg for attention.

"Daddy, don’t get mad at Greaty-Grandma," Jo pleaded. "It’s fun when we win and we get a dime from her, but it’s more fun when she wins."

Jax’s eyes widened in astonishment, and before he could say a word, Brooke chimed in. "Yeah, Mr. Jackth, I like it better when Grandma J winth, too."

Now it was Ned’s turn to look surprised. He stooped down next to Brooke. "Let me get this straight, Brooke. You like it better when Grandma J wins the game and you have to give her a dime than when you win and she gives you one?" Brooke nodded strongly, and Ned shook his head. "Oh, my darling child. Don’t EVER let your great-grandfather hear you say that!"

But as Jax and Ned chuckled at Edward’s imagined reaction, Brooke pulled on her father’s sleeve. "But, daddy, we DON’T give Grandma J a dime when she winth. We give her kitheth."

"What?" Jax said, looking back and forth from the small child to his grandmother, who was now smiling like a cat with the cream.

"I thaid, Mr. Jackth, that we give her kitheth, and thumtime a hug, too….like thith." She went over to Josie and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek, and then a large hug around the neck.

Jax smiled as he was beginning to realize his grandmother’s craftiness. "Oh, kisses! I get it! If Brooke or Jo wins, they get a dime from Grandma. But if GRANDMA wins, she gets a kiss from the loser?"

Jo nodded seriously. "From BOTH of the losers, daddy."

Josie looked at him and smiled. "See, Jasper, I figure when I’m the winner, I want to win BIG. And how could I win bigger than by getting hugs and kisses from my two favorite girls?"

Ned shook his head. "I should have known. Only a Jacks would figure out the way to out-play another Jacks AND a Quartermaine." He bowed to Jax. "I yield to your grandmother’s expertise, my friend. It’s a good thing she’s not in the boardroom anymore or she would have both of us for breakfast."

Josie smiled and then looked at the two girls. "OK, ladies, I think we’re cleaned up now. And since I’m not in trouble with your daddies, I think maybe us girls should take our dishes out to Louise in the kitchen to help her." As she took her plate and went past Jax, Josie snickered. "Had ‘ya goin’ there for a while, didn’t I, Jasper? You are WAY too serious for your own britches! You need to chill out, as the kids say!"

As Jo picked up her plate and followed Josie, she looked up at her father. "Greaty-Grandma’s right, daddy. Chill OUT!" she echoed.

Brooke couldn’t resist the urge to follow the parade. "Yeah, daddy. Hellth bellth, chill out!"

Ned and Jax watched the three of them leave the room, and both of them had their mouths open. "Hell’s bells?" Ned said softly. "Where is my sweet, innocent daughter?"

Jax pretended anger, but had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. "GRANDMA!" They could hear Josie and the two girls giggling as they made their way down the hall toward the kitchen.

#######

Later, after Josie had been properly advised to watch her language in front of the girls, Jax stood watching Ned and Brooke walk back to the Quartermaine estate, swinging hands and singing at the top of their lungs. He smiled to himself, thinking of a time when all of them couldn’t even imagine being this happy. As he went back inside the house, it occurred to him that he hadn’t seen his wife since his arrival at home.

Jax roamed the first floor of the mansion, and as he was coming out of the music room, he heard noises in the hall and hung back in the shadows.

"That’s it, my boy. Now just remember – hand, knee, hand, knee. Now follow me!" Jax chuckled to himself as he heard his father calling off cadence and couldn’t imagine what was going on. He opened the double doors of the music room to the center hallway and then slipped back into the darkness of the quiet room to watch the panorama before him.

John Jacks was first in the parade. He was on all fours, crawling for all he was worth, turning back around every few minutes to check the progress behind him. "That’s it, Jaz! You’ve got it now, boy!" John looked straight ahead again. "Let’s go for the front door!" He put his head down and aimed for the front door like a charging bull elephant.

Next in the parade was an 8-month-old terror known as Jasper Jacks, Jr. Affectionately called "Jaz" by his family, he had his father’s sparkling blue eyes and deep dimples. To Jax’s dismay, the blonde hair that was Brenda’s delight hadn’t appeared on Jaz’s head yet, and he looked to all the world as though he were bald.

Jax chuckled to himself as Jaz crawled behind his grandpa, sometimes stopping on all fours and just lurching forward, but not moving his hands or knees. It was amazing that the toddler had never really crawled but was already starting to "cruise" around the furniture in the house. Brenda said that he was obviously a future tycoon since crawling was too tame for him and he insisted on going straight to walking.

Jaz followed his grandpa toward the front door of the house, but Jax knew that there was still someone in the parade who had not yet appeared in the doorway. He waited, but there was still emptiness, so he crept slowly out into the hallway.

Coming full barrel down toward him on all fours was his beautiful wife. Brenda had regained her figure after Jo’s birth, and again after Jaz’s, and Jax constantly told her that he thought childbirth made her even more beautiful than she was before he married her. Jax smiled and squatted down directly in her path.

"Jaz, wait for mommy! Don’t you go in the hallway without grandpa and mom…" She was crawling on all fours with her head down, but came to an abrupt halt when she came up against shins clad in a dark blue Armani suit that she recognized from that morning. "Uh-oh….." She slowly raised her head, and her brown eyes darkened in desire at the sight of her husband.

"Jax!" she cried, and as he rose to his feet, she wound her arms around his neck and kept hold so that he lifted her as well. After a proper welcome-home kiss, he kept his arms around her and she nuzzled his chest. "You’re home early!"

He put his chin on top of her head. "Um-hmm. Ned asked me for a lift home in the chopper because Lois had the car at the doctor’s appointment with the baby. He and Brooke just left." Jax looked around behind him and then back at Brenda. "Have you lost the bouncing billiard ball again?"

Brenda slapped his chest playfully. "No, silly. John’s got him. He brought Josie over to watch the girls, and thought it was time Jaz had another crawling lesson." She laughed softly. "He is SO upset that he won’t crawl yet – even though he’s almost ready to try walking on his own, Grandpa insists that he crawl first!"

"You know," Jax said, gently rocking Brenda from side to side in his arms, "sometimes I wonder what our son is thinking of all of us insane grown-ups when he looks at us."

A deep voice came from behind them. "He’s probably thinking how lucky he was to be born into a family of such loving parents." John Jacks appeared, holding his grandson. He brought him over to Jax, who took the boy in his arms and held him high over his head.

"Hey, Jaz-man! How’s my boy this afternoon?"

"Careful, Jax, he’s teething and today he’s really been…." Brenda tried to warn Jax but it was too late. As the baby grinned at his daddy and gravity took hold, a large drop of drool dribbled out of his mouth and directly into Jax’s eye. "…..drooling," Brenda finished with a smile.

Jax took his handkerchief out and wiped his eye. "No kidding." He gently caressed the top of the baby’s head. "Too bad he can’t grow hair as quickly as he’s growing teeth."

John Jacks slapped Jax on the back. "He will, son. Just remember that you were bald until you were a year old." He walked down the hallway. "Now, where’s that mother of mine and what trouble did she get into today?"

Jax lowered Jaz to the floor and held his fingers as the toddler anxiously tried his legs at walking behind his grandpa. "Oh, nothing, dad, except teaching the girls to gamble and swear," Jax said, and they all laughed. Brenda followed the men in her life, marveling at how lucky she was to be so blessed.

#######

After John and Josie left, the entire family gathered in the dining room for an animated dinner. Afterwards, Jax played one more game of Candy Land with Jo while Brenda gave Jaz his bath, and then Jax retired to their bedroom while Brenda supervised Jo’s bath.

Jax was already in bed, reading a file, the covers thrown back to show his navy blue silk pajama bottoms, when Brenda entered the room. He glanced up briefly and admired her deep mauve velvet robe, but he had to remind himself to breathe when she took off the full-length robe and revealed a nightgown that could have probably doubled as a cocktail dress. It was the same dark mauve color, but had spaghetti straps and was made of velvet burn-out fabric. Sheer strips of organza alternated with narrow strips of velvet on a diagonal around her body.

"New nightgown?" he inquired in a strangled voice, and as Brenda glanced down, she could already see how much he liked it by his physical reaction.

"Well, you know, it IS getting cooler outside and I couldn’t just keep wearing those old thin silk things to bed at night, so I thought I would get out my winter nightgowns." She seductively climbed into the bed, posing on the edge for his appreciative stare. "This is MUCH warmer than the others because it’s made out of velvet, you know."

He nodded, smiling and knowing that she didn’t wear the gown for its warmth. "All the little ones asleep, Mrs. Jacks?"

She sighed and climbed into bed and into his arms. "Finally. That daughter of yours loves to talk, and it appears your son is taking after her. I checked on him a little while ago and he was still having an animated conversation with his crib mobile."

Jax looked surprised. "They talk a lot? And you think they get that from ME?"

Brenda stroked his bare chest lovingly. "Ohh, that’s right, honey. I guess they must get it from me, because if they got it from you, they would just talk FUNNY." She began to giggle, and then dissolved into quiet laughter as Jax took his revenge.

"FUNNY, is it?" He started a tickle attack and soon had her pinned beneath him, the file lost somewhere in the covers. Once her writhing body, clad in the soft velvet, was beneath him, though, all thoughts of a tickle attack left him. They both stopped, silently gazing into each other’s eyes. "Have I told you how much I REALLY like the cooler weather and your warm nightgown?" He began to trace the stripes of velvet with his finger, and when he got to the fullest part of her breast, his finger began to draw lazy circles around the center, bringing a low moan to her lips.

"Jax," she sighed, staring into his deep blue eyes, "I think I wore the wrong nightgown. I’m much too warm. I think I need to take this one off."

"Let me be of assistance, my dear," he said in a throaty growl, and as his hands moved down to the hem of the short gown, he leaned down to make love to her mouth. His tongue met her open mouth and as he traced her teeth, she pressed her body to his. As he slipped the gown over her head and she reached for the drawstring of his pajama bottoms, they were both startled when the bedside phone rang softly.

"Ignore it," Brenda growled, not removing her mouth from his.

"I can’t, love," he answered, still taking bites from the corners of her mouth. "It’s probably the office and they know not to disturb me unless it’s an emergency." He reached to answer the phone, but still didn’t move his mouth from hers. "Jax, here," he answered in a distracted voice.

"OK, Jax, put your clothes back on and take your hand off Brenda’s boobs for a minute. This is important."

Jax gave a half-smile, half-grimace as Brenda began to trail her fingers down his chest. "Angie! Don’t you EVER go home? Are you still working on the Wightman deal for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but that’s not why I called," she answered smartly. "I’ve finished the booklets, graphics, and slides, and was about to leave when I saw your private line blinking on your phone. I hope you don’t mind that I answered it."

"Go ahead," Jax said seriously.

"It was the governor’s secretary. He says the governor is going to be in Port Charles tomorrow and wants to meet with you. He says it’s urgent."

Jax looked surprised. "Governor Moyer wants to meet with me? I wonder why?"

"The secretary didn’t say. He just kept insisting on an hour of your time tomorrow." She hesitated. "I saw your calendar and it looked clear for tomorrow afternoon so I told him to pencil the governor in at 2 and I would confirm with you. Would that be OK?"

"Sure, Angie. Call the governor’s office back and tell them 2 o’clock is fine. In fact, tell them that if the governor wants to stick around that long, a dinner invitation is open for tomorrow night."

"Will do, Jax." Her smile came through the telephone. "OK, you can go back to kissing your wife now."

"Have I ever told you that impertinence doesn’t suit you, Ang?"

"Constantly, Jax. But your wife enjoys it when I treat you like dirt, so since I know who’s the boss in the house, I just keep it up."

"You’re also a very smart woman, Angie, which is why I hired you as my right-hand…person," he said, hesitating only slightly.

"You are doing SO well at this "sucking up to women" stuff, sir," Angie said sarcastically.

Jax looked at Brenda with mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Yes, Angie, well that WAS my original intent before you called, so if that’s all…"

"Good night, Jax. Tell Brenda she’s a lucky woman."

Jax looked at Brenda, whose eyes were still glazed with passion. "I think she already knows. Good night, Angie."

Jax ended the phone call and rolled back over to take a suddenly thoughtful Brenda back into his arms. "You haven’t seen the governor since you both went to Penn State, have you?" she asked.

Jax shook his head. "Nope. I wonder what needs such immediate attention?"

Brenda’s eyes darkened to the shade rich brown velvet. "I don’t know about the governor, but I know what needs immediate attention in this room!"

Jax returned her passionate gaze. "Really, Mrs. Jacks? And what would that be?"

Brenda gave him a cat-like smile and pulled his lips down to hers with one hand. As her other delicate hand slipped under the waistband of his pajama bottoms, causing him to inhale deeply, she looked up at him. "Now, what was that you were telling Angie a minute ago about your original intent?"

Jax used what little conscious movement he had left to reach up and turn out the bed lamp. And then he showed her exactly what he meant.

To be continued….