Lois was up early Wednesday morning. She had decided during the night that if Brenda was too stubborn and blind to tell Jax about the baby, she would have to do it herself. Ned had pitched a fit when she said she wanted to go downtown, since storm watches were already flying as the tropical storm was moving up the coast. He finally relented when she agreed he could drive her, and then stop in at ELQ to check on things while she took care of her business.

As she rode up in the elevator to the J&J Jacks offices, she wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to break it to another man that he was going to be a father. She got off the elevator, and with a little help from some other secretaries, found herself in front of Jax’s office facing his capable assistant.

"May I help you?" V asked.

{Be assertive, Lois Marie.} "Lois Cerullo Ashton to see Jasper Jacks, please."

V looked surprised. "Did you have an appointment with Mr. Jacks this morning?"

"No, but I think if you tell him it’s me and that it’s urgent, he’ll see me."

V was starting to get really upset. She recognized the name Ashton from the minutes of the Quartermaine board meetings. "Mrs. Ashton, I’m afraid we have a problem."

Now it was Lois’ turn to look upset. "Don’t tell me he’s tied up all day in meetings and can’t be disturbed?"

"No, ma’am, I’m afraid he’s not in the office at all. He’s been gone for several weeks, in fact."

{Stay calm, Lois. Don’t panic yet.} "Well, is he out of town on some meetings or something? Can’t you just contact him?"

"I’m sorry, Mrs. Ashton. Mr. Jacks left the city several weeks ago and isn’t available to anyone. He had some important thinking to do and didn’t want to be disturbed."

{Don’t panic.} "Well, who’s minding the store? Can’t you just call him?"

"Mr. Jerry and Mr. John Jacks have been handling things in his absence. I’m afraid I couldn’t contact him even if I wanted to. I wasn’t even told of his destination. Apparently, wherever he is, there’s not even a telephone."

"When is he due back?"

V looked almost apoplectic. "Whenever he’s ready to come back."

{PANIC!! YES, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO PANIC!!!} Lois began to pace in circles and fan her face with her hands. V was apologetic, but not very helpful. Suddenly, Lois heard a familiar voice as she was gripped from behind.

"Good Lord, girlie, you’ll make my pacemaker burn out at the rate you’re going! What’s wrong?"

Lois looked into a pair of blue eyes that were an exact replica of Jax’s. She remembered Josie from the Jacks family picnic. Josie also made the connection.

"Ohhh, I remember you. You’re Brenda’s friend, the one married to Mr. Leather Pants. You don’t look so good."

V tried to explain. "I’m sorry, Mrs. Jacks, but Mrs. Ashton here came to see Mr. Jacks and when I told her he was out indefinitely, she had a very strong reaction."

"I can see that, young lady! But why?" Josie looked her in the eye, and saw that Lois obviously didn’t want to discuss things here in the waiting room. "Come on, honey, let’s go into Jasper’s office and I’ll find out what’s going on."

Josie led her into Jax’s office and sat her down on the couch. She poured her a glass of ice water, and then insisted she drink some before talking.

"Now, Mrs. Leather Pants …"

"Call me Lois, please."

"OK, Lois. Tell me what’s got you so upset about Jasper being out of town."

Lois hesitated for a moment, but then remembered how Josie took care of Brenda after the break-up when she had been in Europe. "It’s about Brenda."

"Go on."

"Well, I guess you know that she’s been miserable since she and Jax broke up. She hasn’t been eating and she’s been burying herself in her work and I don’t think she’s exactly making rational decisions." Josie looked alarmed, but Lois understood her fears. "Oh, no, she hasn’t decided to do anything life-threatening, although in a way…"

"Spit it out, girlie!"

Lois looked her dead in the eye. "Brenda has decided to marry Sonny Corinthos."

"The dirt-bag her father wants her to marry? Why in heaven’s name would she do that?"

Lois decided to go all the way. "Because she’s pregnant."

Josie inhaled a little, but didn’t look that shocked. "Jasper’s child?"

Lois nodded. "Apparently he came to see her after Jerry and Bobbie’s wedding and one thing led to another…"

Josie looked a little triumphant. "I knew it! When I saw them dancing at the reception, I was going to stick a fork in Jasper because I could see his goose was cooked!"

As it sank in, though, Josie’s face dropped and she sat in thought. "But she’s marrying Corinthos because he’ll give the child a name. She knows Jasper would do the right thing by her, but she feels she would be trapping him into marriage." She paused for a moment. "And, she’s probably still hurting from the nitwit dumping her, and deep down, she wants to hurt him back." Lois was amazed at the little woman’s perceptiveness.

Josie shook her head, as though any fool could see what needed to be done. "Well, Jasper has to know. Once he finds out, he’ll MAKE her marry him."

"That’s what I thought, too. I felt a little guilty, since Brenda didn’t want Jax to know, but…"

"Obviously she’s not thinking clearly, honey." Josie sighed. "I remember when I was pregnant with John. The first three months I was a basket case. Either I was telling my Jasper I never wanted to see him again, or I was trying to jump his bones! WE just have to do her thinking for her."

Lois couldn’t believe how blessed she was in running into Josie this morning. This woman was Brenda’s guardian angel.

"Yes, but now the problem is that Jax’s assistant tells me he can’t be reached. She doesn’t even know where he is."

Josie nodded. "Oh, I know where he is, but even that won’t do you any good. He’s at a cabin on the outer banks of North Carolina. Doesn’t even have a telephone."

Lois started to breathe deeply again. "Yeah, well that’s the big problem. The wedding is Friday!"

Josie now looked like she was going to lose her breakfast. "Friday? This Friday? Well, hell’s bells, why didn’t you say so?" She ran over to Jax’s desk, pulling Lois with her.

She began to punch every intercom button on Jax’s phone. "V? V? Come in, V. This is J. Come in, come in, good buddy. We need you in Jasper’s office right now! 10-4, good buddy. Over and out." Josie then ran around the front of the desk, headed for the doors of the office. She looked back at Lois in disgust.

"You know, I HATE these new-fangled technology thingies! My dear departed Jasper could have every secretary in the building on the run in 10 seconds flat with one good bellow out the front door!" Just as she was about to pull the door open, V stumbled in.

"J! I got your message. What do you need?" V looked winded.

Lois now was laughing out loud. "J? J? What happened to Josie?"

"Well, I figure if she’s good enough to go by one initial, so am I." Josie eyes sparkled for a moment. "You want to be L? We don’t have one of those yet!" Lois gave Josie a dirty look, and she settled down to the crisis at hand.

"Miss V, we need to contact Jasper right away."

V still looked confused. "Mrs. Jacks, you know as well as I do that there’s no phone where he is." She thought for a moment. "What about his car phone?"

Josie paced. "Nope. Jane told me when he left that he was going to un-plug it and leave it in the car once he reached Holden Beach."

"Is that where he is? At the cabin?" V asked. Josie nodded. "Well, if this is so urgent, couldn’t somebody just go down there and find him themselves? In person?"

"We’re up against a deadline, V. He has to be back in town by Friday afternoon. Preferably before that."

"Wait! What if somebody flies down there?" Lois interrupted. "Then they could fly back together!"

V held up her hand. "Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I was just upstairs in the communication center when you paged me. That intense tropical storm is moving up the coast, and all flights are grounded from Georgia north." They all looked outside at the gloomy skies, which didn’t do much for their mood.

Suddenly, Lois gave a little shriek. "I know! I know! What about his computer? The little one he takes everywhere?"

V snapped her fingers. "His laptop! I know he took it with him, because it’s not here. He’s an Internet junkie and he checks his e-mail at least once a day." Then her face fell. "Of course, if there’s no phone…"

Lois grabbed her arm. "But he doesn’t need it if he’s got his cell phone. When we were all in Boston, he used it all the time to go on-line! So you CAN send him an e-mail!!"

Josie sighed in exasperation. "Again with the initials! Well, let’s have E send him some mail telling him to get his carcass back to Port Charles pronto!"

V and Lois were moving around to his desk-top computer. Josie watched in amazement as V logged on and the e-mail form popped into view. Lois looked confused as she typed in the address.

"Gecko? He’s named after a lizard?"

V chuckled. "No. Do you remember that movie, "Wall Street," that came out some time ago? The main character was a hot-shot corporate raider, and his name was Gordon Gecko. Jax took the screen name right after he saw the movie." When she came to the message section, she stopped.

Lois looked at her seriously. "Just type this…"

In North Carolina, Jax looked out at the gathering storm clouds. He had checked with the local authorities and they weren’t evacuating the island yet, but he was told to keep alert.

He really wasn’t ready to go back to Port Charles yet. He had spent time drawing, and thinking, and swimming, and his head was still spinning, even after all this time. He could only think about Brenda, and the look in her eyes when she told him only to come back if it was for good.

Brenda was the only one he really wanted to be with, but how could he not be in love with Julia anymore? Was Grandma really right, that he wouldn’t know what love was if it was right in front of him? Was he only in love with the idea of being in love?

He walked through the cabin, and got himself another soda. Maybe he needed a break. Maybe if he spent a little while chatting on the Internet he’d be able to concentrate better later. He got the cell phone and hooked it up to his laptop. When he booted up the machine, he saw his mailbox blinking as soon as it loaded. He clicked on it, and his heart stopped at the simple message.

JAX. CALL ME. URGENT. LOIS ASHTON. 555-3435.

There was only one reason that Lois needed to speak with him urgently. Brenda. Something must have happened to her for Lois to be trying to reach him. His hand was shaking as he ran his fingers through his hair.

His mind boggled at the possibilities. What if something serious had happened to her and he would never see her again? What if she thought he didn’t care about her and he never got to explain things to her? He could barely get the cell phone disconnected from the computer to use it. Surely fate couldn’t be that cruel to him – just when he was realizing the depth of his feelings for her, to take her away from him, without her ever knowing.

He punched the buttons hastily on the cell phone. D*mn! The battery was dead. He must have blown it using the laptop. He jumped up and ran to put shoes on. There was an adapter in the car. Rain was beginning to fall outside and thunder rumbled ominously in the distance as he ran to the Jag.

.He dropped the keys once getting the adapter out of the glove compartment. He finally found it and plugged the phone into the cigarette lighter, sighing with relief when it hummed to life. As he dialed the number and waited for it to start ringing, rain started hitting the windshield of the Jag in sheets.

He didn’t have to wait long. Lois answered it on the first ring.

"Lois. This is Jax. Has something happened to Brenda?"

"Calm down, Jax. She hasn’t been in an accident." He began to breathe a little easier. "But there’s something you should know, and since she didn’t want to tell you herself, Josie and I thought we should tell you." Lois paused. Now that the moment of truth was here, how could she tell him? Best to just blurt. As she heard his breathing becoming ragged again on the other end, she stated calmly, "Brenda’s pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Jax’s hand had a death-grip on the cell phone, and the other hand was clenching and un-clenching the steering wheel of the expensive car. "But…" Jax stammered, realizing that he really didn’t know what he intended to say next.

"I think Brenda mentioned the night of Jerry and Bobbie’s wedding…" Lois supplied tactfully.

Suddenly everything came into crystal clarity. "Yes, I’m aware of the night it happened." He shook his head to clear the confusion. "But why are you telling me? Why didn’t Brenda want to tell me? Does she think I would be some kind of monster and deny it’s mine?"

"No, Jax. She says she didn’t want to tie you down. She knows you would insist on doing the right thing and marrying her, and she doesn’t want your pity or contempt."

"Contempt!!" He was about to say that he would never feel contempt for her when he loved her so much, but a crack of thunder brought him back to the realities at hand. "Listen, thanks Lois. I’ll get my stuff together and get out of here as soon as the weather breaks. A nasty storm is moving in."

"Yeah, well that’s nothing compared to the storm brewing here. You can’t wait that long."

Jax caught his breath again. "Why? She hasn’t decided to have an abortion, has she?"

"No, but she’s doing something equally stupid." Lois took a deep breath. "She’s agreed to marry Sonny Corinthos, and they’ve scheduled the ceremony for Friday afternoon."

Jax was in shock. "Friday? Like, day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, but it’s late in the afternoon, 3:30 I think. Something about Sonny being tied up on business until then. Can you make it back before Friday afternoon?"

"I’ll move heaven and earth if I have to, Lois." Jax’s mind began to form a plan. "And Lois – I’ll never forget this. I’ll be in your debt for the rest of my life."

Lois smiled. She had done the right thing. "Just make her happy, Jax. That’s all I ask." She heard his smile over the phone wires, and then the line went dead. Now she had to call her mother and get her busy saying novenas that the weather would clear so he could make it back in time.

Brenda looked at the food on her plate and was amazed she had managed to take even one bite. Katherine had insisted that she and Sonny have dinner with Harlan and her the night before the wedding. She had never been officially introduced to Brenda, although Brenda knew she was her father’s latest "playmate."

Brenda glanced at Katherine, who was sitting primly at the end of the table opposite Harlan. She was obviously happy with Harlan, although Brenda couldn’t understand why. Harlan didn’t include her in any of his business discussions, and he often indicated she should be quiet if she dared voice an opinion on a topic they were discussing. In a way, Brenda felt sorry for her. She then turned her attention to Sonny. Would living with him be like this? For the rest of her life?

"Lost your appetite, dear?" Katherine suddenly interrupted Brenda’s musings. She still was queasy in the early stages of her pregnancy and the upcoming wedding and the company hadn’t helped.

Brenda put her fork down. "Oh, pre-wedding jitters, I guess." She managed to send a smile in Sonny’s direction. He was still glowing, but it was from the excitement at seeing his corporate plans coming together so well.

Katherine suggested they adjourn to the library for coffee and dessert, and Brenda was happy to see the evening winding down. Harlan and Sonny had spent most of the evening discussing details for the merger. Katherine had been busy trying to figure out what made Brenda tick. As she offered Brenda a piece of cheesecake for dessert, Brenda felt guilty accepting. Once she did, though, she found it actually tasted pretty good. {Oh, well, at least it’s a dairy product, and that’s good for the baby.}

Brenda and Katherine discussed the latest fashion shipment at Windom’s for a few minutes, and then mercifully Katherine won her way into Brenda’s heart. "Harlan, dear, can’t you see that poor Brenda is exhausted? We should let them go. I’m sure they still have a million things to do before tomorrow afternoon."

Harlan blustered and shook Sonny’s hand as he rose. "Of course, you’re right, Katherine." He looked at Brenda and patted her on the head. "I’m sorry to burden your husband-to-be with all of these business details, dear. But with the merger being moved up and his trip next week, well… maybe you two can get in a honeymoon in a few months."

{Maybe we will -- when donkeys fly.} "Oh, don’t worry about it, daddy. We’ll manage."

The ride back to Brenda’s cottage was mostly spent in silence. Harlan had given Sonny a stack of files on his corporate holdings, and Brenda knew he was itching to go through them to get more details on his new wealth and power. She could see the gleam in his eye, and when he brought her to the door, it gave her just the excuse he needed.

"Well, I can see you’re tired, and probably still need to pack a few more of your things to move to my condo. I suppose you probably want to be by yourself on your last night as a carefree, single woman."

"Yes, you’re right," she sighed in relief. She certainly didn’t want him around any sooner than necessary.

"Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon at City Hall."

She nodded. "Good night." She closed the door, and leaned against it for a few minutes. One suitcase was standing near the door, packed and ready to go.

She went upstairs to her bedroom, and saw her wedding dress hanging on the door. She began to carefully fold it and place in the suitcase remaining on her bed. It was an eggshell-colored lace dress and matching coat. The dress had pearls sprinkled in the lace, and an occasional iridescent sequin. It was a simple A-line dress, without the drama of the dress she wore to Jerry and Bobbie’s wedding.

As she carried the suitcase downstairs, she thought back to that day. How happy Bobbie had been. Little did Brenda know then that her own wedding would follow so soon. She began to take short, shallow breaths as panic rose in her throat. Did she do the right thing not telling Jax about the baby? What if Lois was right?

As the grandfather clock in her living room struck 9, Brenda heard the gravel crunch in her driveway. It was already drizzling and storms were predicted for overnight, so when she tried to look outside, she couldn’t see what kind of car had made the noise. Maybe it was Lois, come to keep her company on her last night as a free woman!

The doorbell rang, and Brenda flew to answer it. However, when she opened the door, she certainly wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted her.

It was Jax, dripping wet, in a soaked rain-poncho and jeans. His hair was plastered to his face, and his eyes were blazing. "What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?"

To be continued….