Brenda stood on the grounds of the Jacks estate staring in amazement. Booths had been set up with a central area for eating and socializing. There were balloons everywhere, pony rides off to one side, and a large tent where, in the evening, Eddie Maine and the Idle Rich would be playing for everyone’s entertainment. The tent included a large parquet dance floor, per Josie’s request.

Jax walked up behind Brenda and put his arms around her. "Mum’s been having fun again, I see."

He felt her smile. "Your mother is an amazing woman."

Jax chuckled. "Of course she is, my dear. She gave birth to me, didn’t she?"

He tipped her chin back to receive his kiss, and she did anxiously. She felt his hand begin to stroke her shoulder and she turned into his embrace.

Suddenly … "Ahem."

Jax pulled back from kissing her, but still held her in his arms. "Grandma, need something?" he asked innocently, gazing seductively into Brenda’s eyes.

"No, young man, but obviously you do! A cold shower!"

Brenda blushed, but Grandma Josie just punched Jax in the shoulder. "Actually, Jasper, I need you to show me where your mother put the tickets we’re using in the booths this afternoon." She looked at Brenda. "I don’t see how I can run a successful dunking booth without them!"

Jax looked at Brenda once, then kissed her hard but quick. "Hold that thought!" he said, and was off with Josie to look for the tickets. Brenda watched him leave with her, and loved to watch them together, two such different generations, but still with so much love.

By that afternoon, the fair was in full swing. Jane and John took charge greeting the citizens of Port Charles, and guiding them to the various attractions at the fair. Jane had hired some clowns and jugglers to keep the children amused while waiting in line, and the children’s laughter could be heard all over the grounds.

Jerry had pulled duty in the water balloon booth, and he had long ago given up hopes of staying dry for the afternoon. Somehow, V kept hitting the balloons closest to him with strategically aimed darts, popping the balloons and drenching him further.

Brenda watched the proceedings from the fish pond booth, where she was kept busy handing out toys to children who pulled numbered fish from a large tank. She glanced over at the ring toss, where Jax was working. She noticed that a large female population had gathered at the booth, including Ashley Brent and her friend, Miranda Jameson.

Lois came to relieve Brenda at the fish pond just as her blood was beginning to boil. "What’s the matter, Bren? Some fish take a nibble on your finger?"

"No, but I’m about to tell one certain Vampire Queen to bite my …"

"BRENDA!!!" Lois interrupted. "There are children present!"

"Then somebody tell Ms. Brent that she shouldn’t spend so much money at just one booth!"

Lois followed Brenda’s glance across the midway to where Ashley had just pulled out another twenty-dollar bill and placed it lovingly in Jax’s outstretched hand.

"Well, Brenda, you know, it all does go to charity," Lois offered.

"Um-hmm, just watch how charitable Ms. Brent is this afternoon," Brenda replied, nodding her head in Ashley’s direction. Jax had handed Ashley a large number of wooden rings, and she was attempting to throw them over some wooden boxes to win the prize in the box. Ashley had other ideas, though, and often missed the boxes by a mile. The rings landed on the ground in front of them, requiring Jax to stoop to pick them up.

Lois watched the proceedings, and still didn’t get the point. Brenda nodded for her to continue to watch. As Jax bent over to pick them up in his tight jeans, Ashley and Miranda were presented with a front-row view of his backside. They both were giggling like teenagers at a towel-snapping contest.

"Aw, Geez," Lois muttered. "How old are they? 14?"

As Brenda and Lois watched, the drop-and-pick-up routine continued for some time. Finally Lois leaned in and said to Brenda, "Well, just remember honey, it’s you that gets to give him a massage when he’s hurting from all the bending and stooping tonight!"

Brenda laughed and hugged Lois tightly. "What am I ever gonna do without you, Lo?" Lois had told Brenda that she and Ned were planning on another second honeymoon shortly after the Carnival since Ned had some business to attend to in Rome.

"It’ll only be for a couple of weeks, Brenda. And I *do* think that they figured out how to send those phone call things over the ocean now."

Just then, Ned came over to the booth. "Brenda, can you mind the store for just a couple more minutes until Lois Marie takes over?"

"I guess so, why?"

He grabbed Lois by the hand. "Come on. Grandma Josie just talked Edward into sitting in the dunking booth!"

"Where’s your checkbook, Nedly? I want to buy a whole lot of baseballs!" Lois shouted with glee.

Brenda watched them race away. Some people had all the luck in love.

*~*~*~*

That night, most of Port Charles gathered under the large tent to listen to Eddie Maine and the Idle Rich. Brenda had gotten to spend some time during the afternoon with Jax, and they had played like children at most of the booths. He fed her cotton candy and took her on the ferris wheel. He even tipped the operator to stop the wheel with them at the top so he could give her a sizzling kiss.

That night, though, Brenda had to switch into her L&B mode to help make sure things ran smoothly for the music portion of the evening. She was about to cue Lois to introduce the band when Grandma Josie came up to her and asked her for the microphone. The petite dynamo came to front and center stage, and the crowd quieted as the spotlight shone on her.

"Thank you, thank you all very much for coming. In case you’ve been in cold storage somewhere over the last few weeks, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Josephine Jacks, and my dear departed husband Jasper and I are responsible for the Jacks clan that have been your hosts today." She stopped momentarily. "Not a word out of you, Edward!" she said pointedly, as the crowd chuckled.

"Seriously," she continued, "I want to thank you for coming out here today to help us support such a great cause. The charity we’ve chosen this year is the Juvenile Diabetes Association. Now, some of you may wonder why we’ve chosen this one in particular, when there are so many other needy causes these days. AIDS. Yep, need a cure for that for sure. Cancer. Yep, I’ve lost many friends to that killer, too. But diabetes? Many of you may think, Oh, they’ve got that one taken care of. You take insulin and you’re OK."

She crouched down and wiggled her index finger at Lucas. "Come here, will you sweetie?" He approached the stage, and she pulled him into her embrace. "Now, this sweet child here is my soon-to-be-great-grandson, Lucas Jones. He has diabetes. He takes insulin every day, don’t you?" Big nod from Lucas. "And you have to take it as a shot, right?" Another nod. "That’s because it’s a protein, and if he took it as a pill, his stomach would process it before it could work. Thanks, babe, you can go sit with your mom again."

Josie watched him walk back to Bobbie with love in her eyes. "Now, I’m gonna tell you folks the straight skinny on this thing. If Lucas had been born prior to 1921, he would have died before he was six months old, because insulin has only been around that long. And even though he takes his shots every day and watches his diet, there’s still sugar in his bloodstream, and that takes a toll on his body. It ruins his circulatory system, leading to blindness and stroke and heart disease and lots of other nasty things we don’t want to think about a beautiful child like that growing up to have."

"Now, I don’t want to think about it at all. I want them to find a cure, not just something to help try to keep things normal. And they’re working on it. And the money you good folks spent today will go a long way in helping. And I thank you for it, as does my entire family."

"Now you just have to listen to my rambling about one more thing, and then I’ll turn over the microphone to that handsome dude in the leather pants, Eddie." She looked over and ogled Ned, before whispering into the microphone. "You know, Edward, you can be glad my Jasper never wore pants like that, or my son John would have had a lot more brothers and sisters to make your life miserable!" Everyone burst into laughter, as Josie took another look at Ned’s backside and let out a long sigh.

"Where was I? Oh, yes. One more thing. Now, young people like Lucas here with diabetes often have a lot of adjusting to do, and sometimes have trouble feeling they lead a normal life. So, in addition to the money that we’ll be donating from today’s benefit to the JDF, the Jacks family is proud to announce that we’ll be establishing the Lucas Jacks Summer Camp for Diabetic Children in upstate New York. It will provide a summer camp experience for children with diabetes, and teach them how to do things like watch their diets and give their own shots, as well as making them feel like they can go to camp just like other kids."

There was a round of applause at her announcement, and Bobbie had tears in her eyes as she came forward and hugged Josie on-stage. Josie was about to hand over the microphone to Lois to introduce Ned, when she had another thought. "Oh, and Jerry," she said ominously, "if you screw up somehow and don’t get this young lady to the altar and we have to change the name of the camp, I’ll kill you myself!!"

Josie left the stage to thunderous applause. Lois took the microphone and introduced Ned and the Idle Rich, and the driving sound of rock and roll began to fill the night air.

When Brenda was finally able to leave the backstage area with the music underway, she looked for Jax. She and Lois had been hugging each other in tears during Josie’s speech, and she hadn’t seen him since before the evening’s festivities started.

Brenda had changed from the denim short she had worn this afternoon to a short denim skirt, but kept on the same frilly halter top she had worn all day. It was similar to the backless frilled blouse she wore to the aborted trip to see "Phantom," but the neckline in the front of this one went to a deep V in the front, almost exposing her full cleavage.

She kept looking for Jax, and finally spotted him across the dance floor. She made her way over to him. He had switched to blue jeans and a blue chambray shirt that made his eyes as blue as the calm water in the Gulf.

Suddenly, Brenda’s eyes began to spark as she noticed a tall brunette across the room. It was Ashley again, and she had changed her outfit, too. She now had on a skin-tight dress, or really just a long T-shirt. It outlined her figure sharply, and she obviously jiggled each time she walked.

"Looks like Ashley has an agenda tonight," Jax whispered in her ear.

"Yes," Brenda muttered, "and guess who’s at the top of her "To-Do" list!"

He looked at Brenda with surprise. "Brenda, are you jealous? Green really isn’t your color, love!" he said with a giggle.

"Don’t be ridiculous," Brenda said through gritted teeth, but then, to Brenda’s horror, Ashley made a beeline for the two of them.

"Jax! After all that hard work in the booth this afternoon, I thought you might pass on the festivities this evening," she oozed. She glanced at Brenda, and almost as an afterthought, mumbled, "Brenda, dear, so good to see you again."

The neckline of Ashley’s dress was scooped dangerously low, and as she was speaking to Jax, she dropped her purse. Ever the gentleman, he stooped over to pick it up, and she moved closer to him so that as he straightened, he was presented with a close-up view of the jiggle. Brenda thought she might be sick, but when she looked up at Jax, his eyes were twinkling in merriment, obviously enjoying the possibility of a cat fight between the two women.

"Jax, you simply must listen to the idea I’ve had for the summer camp," Ashley went on.

Brenda was just about to suggest she go to a camp on Mars, when someone came up with a question about the sound levels for the Idle Rich.

She answered him, but kept watching Jax and Ashley out of the corner of her eye. More and more people were making their way onto the dance floor, and it was rapidly filling with gyrating bodies. Suddenly, the Idle Rich switched gears to a slow song, and Brenda relaxed, knowing that Jax would probably end her misery and ask her to dance.

"Oooh, Jax, a slow song! Will you dance with me?" Ashley chirped.

Brenda’s insecurities got the better of her. Jax would probably buy into her antics and dance with her, and then try to send Brenda home with Jerry and Bobbie so he could take Ashley back home and charm her himself! Her blood boiling, Brenda shoved the clipboard back into the technician’s hands and ran from the tent. The tears were burning her eyes as she stood among the empty booths, now quiet and deserted.

What Brenda hadn’t seen was that as soon as she took off, Jax made hasty excuses to Ashley and tried to follow her. He couldn’t imagine what had gotten her in such a dither. He finally found her standing off a ways from the tent, arms wrapped around herself in a defensive position.

"Brenda!" he said, breathless as he came up to her. She didn’t respond to him, so he turned her around. "Brenda, why did you leave when the music was just starting?"

She glared at him, tears still glistening in her eyes. "Maybe because I even if I know there’s a trainwreck coming, I don’t want to stay and watch!" At his puzzled expression, she exploded. "Don’t play dumb with me, Jax! I know you were going to ask Ashley to dance!"

Jax was speechless. "Ashley!" Then he traced the path of the tears down her cheeks. "Oh, Brenda, you really WERE jealous! Oh, sweetie!" He tried to act as it if was nothing, but then he realized that Brenda really doubted him.

He turned her around to face him, and grasped her face with his hands, sliding his fingers under her hair to the base of her skull. He brought her lips up to within an inch of his, and then proceeded to barely kiss her, teasing her lips with his tongue. All the while, he was caressing the nape of her neck with his fingertips. Finally, he kissed her intensely, not so much demanding as begging.

At first, he felt the stiffness of her body as she tried to keep herself from wanting him. Then, as the kiss grew deeper and his fingers kept caressing, he felt her responding, until finally she was soft and breathless in his arms again.

He pulled his lips away from hers momentarily. "The way you look, how can you believe I’d ever want to look at anybody else? If you had stuck around, you would have heard me tell Ashley that all my dances were already promised to you."

Brenda looked sheepish. "I’m sorry for doubting you. You must think I’m a basket case."

He kissed her again, and she responded with the passion he had come to look forward to. "No, I just think you are sensuous and inviting." He looked deeply into her eyes. "I want you, Brenda."

She looked around them at the open field, and the tent with hundreds of Port Charles’ citizens just yards away. Reading her mind, he took her by the hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they ran across the field.

"How do you feel about a swim in the Jacks family pool?" he asked her wickedly.

Her high-pitched giggles could be heard as they floated across the field, drowned out by the rock music of the night.

*~*~*~*

Much later that night, Jax sat in the living room of Brenda’s cottage, staring at the flames in the fireplace. He was shirtless, wearing only the jeans he had worn to the concert tonight.

After their midnight swim, he had brought her back to the cottage, and he had carried her up to her bedroom. She had been exhausted from his attentions in the pool, and Brenda’s eyes were already half closed on the way home. She immediately fell into a dreamless sleep, but Jax couldn’t seem to close his eyes.

He kept replaying Jerry’s words from yesterday about Brenda loving him. He hadn’t thought it was true until tonight, when he saw the way her eyes lit up when she saw him across the tent, and at the pained look in them when she thought he was going to dance with Ashley. Did she really love him? His heart kept saying she couldn’t possibly, but his mind told him otherwise. He also knew that Jerry was right – it was cruel to keep her in limbo, loving him and never returning her love. He knew he would have to give her up.

"Jax?"

Her soft voice startled him out of the painful thought. He looked up at the staircase and saw her in a soft pink negligee, her hair down around her shoulders, floating like a dark cloud. Looking into her eyes at that moment, he knew that it was true – she loved him.

"Is something wrong?"

He rose out of the chair. "No, I just couldn’t sleep."

She walked over to him seductively. "Can I help you relax?" She threaded her petite hands up to his shoulders. She loved to feel the way his muscles rippled under her hands. Loved to feel his strong, bare chest against her body.

He gathered her soft, warm body to him and kissed her deeply. Pulling back suddenly, he gathered her up into his arms and went to the staircase.

"Jax, put me down! I can walk!"

He kissed her briefly. "I know. I’ve just always wanted to be a romantic hero in a movie. Indulge me."

She smiled coyly. "I’ll indulge you in anything."

He looked into her eyes again, and took the stairs to her bedroom two at a time. If he was going to be damned tomorrow, he wanted to see heaven at least one more time tonight.

To be continued….