As Jason walked the remaining distance to the main house on the estate, he saw his father come out on the porch. Jax put his hands on his hips briefly, but then ran both hands through his hair in obvious frustration. He had shed the jacket of his business suit and although he still wore his tie, the knot was loosened and the tie was slightly off-center.

Jason immediately knew that his father and Brenda had probably been fighting right before she took off for her "walk," and Jax was worried about her. He still had the towel around his neck from his swim and he held both ends as he walked up to the porch slowly. "Something wrong, dad?"

"No, Jason, not at all," Jax answered absently. "Have you seen Brenda this afternoon?"

"Actually, I did," Jason said as he brushed past Jax to go inside the house. Jax followed him.

"Where? Was she OK?"

Jason had his back to Jax and he smiled at his father’s concern. He turned back to face him. "Yeah. She was fine. We met on the path near the pool and took a walk for a while."

Jax’s face was still a storm cloud. "But where is she now?"

"She’s fine, dad." Jason looked around. "Say, would you mind if I go grab something to put on? It’s a little chilly in here in these wet trunks. I’d like to talk to you about something."

Jax nodded. "Sure. Go ahead. I’ll be in the den whenever you’re changed." As Jason walked away, he looked over his shoulder and saw Jax peering out the window at the gravel driveway. {Adults. They are *so* lame. Why can’t they just come out and say what they’re feeling?}

About 10 minutes later, Jason appeared in the doorway of the den. Jax had removed his tie and was sitting in a large stuffed chair, sipping delicately at a glass of amber fluid. "Isn’t it a little early for that stuff?" Jason asked, entering the room.

"Probably. But it’s been a rough day," Jax replied, and then looked at Jason with a smile. "But just remember to always do as I say and not as I do, OK? This stuff’ll kill ‘ya."

Jason nodded. "Rough day at work?"

"Sort of." Jax stared into space out a window as Jason moved to the chair next to him.

"Or.....rough day because you and Brenda had a fight again?" The words were no sooner out of Jason’s mouth than Jax gave him an anxious look.

"She told you?"

"She didn’t have to." Jason looked down at his lap and then back up into his father’s eyes. "I could see that she had been crying and I guessed the reason."

"I’m sorry about that, Jase. You’ve heard more fights between your parents than most young people your age."

"Dad -- I need to say some stuff and I would really appreciate it if you would just shut up for a few minutes and let me get it out, OK?"

Jax rose his eyebrows, but then nodded. "Go ahead."

Jason took a deep breath. "Gee -- are you sure that I can’t have a glass of that, too?" He pointed to the liquor Jax was nursing, but got a vehement shake of the head in response. "I thought so."

Jason rose and went to the mantle of the fireplace. "Dad, when I first met Brenda on that island, I thought she was a real babe, ‘ya know? But then when I looked at you and how you looked at her, I started to wonder what kind of person she really was." Jax’s face clouded over, and Jason rushed on. "I mean, there are some women out there who might pretend to be interested in you just because you’ve got a lot of money and you’re successful and stuff." Jason’s look pierced Jax’s heart. "Like mom."

"Jason....."

Jason held up a hand. "Please dad, you promised." Jax nodded reluctantly. "But then that day when Brenda gave me the tour of L&B Records, I got to know her better." He shook his head. "She’s funny, and sensitive, and smart.... not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. And then I noticed something funny. Every time I mentioned your name to her, or I mentioned her name around you, you both got that same look in your eyes. The kind of look you never had when mom was around." Jax’s eyes were beginning to mist. "I think that must be what love looks like."

Jason cleared his throat at the sight of his father’s bare emotion. "So, anyway, after you brought Brenda here and everyone found out about the baby, I guess you could tell I was kind of excited and happy about it." Jax laughed and looked down into his drink. "And all I kept thinking," Jason continued, "was "Why isn’t dad pushing mom for the divorce so he can marry Brenda? What’s stopping him?" I was pretty sure that the whole love thing was still goin’ on between you. All I had to do was look at the two of you together." He took a deep breath. "Until finally I figured it out. It’s because of me. I’m the reason why you’re not divorcing mom."

"Jason, that’s not true," Jax said, moving forward to sit on the edge of his chair. "It’s a very complex situation with your mother, but I think things are going to work out very soon now."

"You mean the divorce will finally go through and you can marry Brenda?"

Jax took a shaky breath. "I think so, yes."

Jason looked him straight in the eye. "That’s good. Because I thought maybe the reason you guys were fighting about the divorce was because you didn’t want everyone to know I wasn’t your son."

Jax set his drink down deliberately on the end table. "What did you just say?"

Jason walked slowly towards his father. "I said that I know, dad. You don’t have to protect me or pretend anymore. I *know* that you’re not my biological father." Jason was standing so close to Jax that he could see Jax’s hand trembling on his knee.

"How .....when....." Jax stumbled for words, and wiped at his eyes briskly with the back of his hand. "Did your mother tell you?"

"No. I’ve known since I was pretty little, but I didn’t realize what it meant until I got old enough to understand the biology of it." Jason crouched down in front of Jax. "But see, I always understood the truth about it. Biology doesn’t make you a father. Blood type doesn’t make you a father. Love does." Jason’s eyes were clouding with tears now. "You’re the only father I’ll ever need or love. And I think that the new baby Brenda is carrying is d*mn lucky to have such a great guy for a dad."

Jax rose slowly to his feet as did Jason, and they suddenly moved into each other’s arms with a quiet sob. Jax patted Jason on the back, and then began to laugh softly. "I’m not so sure about the great dad part if I haven’t taught you not to swear like that before now!"

Jason pulled back and looked seriously at Jax. "I mean it, dad. If it means that you have to go to court and tell everyone about me not being yours, I don’t care. If you have to disown me, fine." He glanced down and laughed. "Although I *am* rather fond of the name Jacks!"

Jax cupped his son’s face in his hands. "You know that I would never do anything to hurt you, Jason. I love you so much."

"I know that, dad. But I’ve got a pretty safe hunch that you love Brenda, too, and that new baby that’s growing inside of her. That baby deserves the name Jacks, too." He pulled Jax back to the couch and sat down next to him. "Tell me what’s been holding things up with mom. The truth."

Jax inhaled a long, shaky breath. "OK, I’ll try. But I’m not sure of all the legal terms." Suddenly panic was etched on his face. "Where’s Brenda?" Jason looked suspiciously happy. "Did you tell her, too?"

"I had to, dad. I figured you hadn’t and that had been the reason for all the fights between you two."

"So what did she say?"

Jason shrugged. "She was pretty surprised. But then she got all weepy, but more of a happy kind of weepy than an upset kind of weepy, you know what I mean? And then when we were walking back up here, all of a sudden she just says, "I need to go see someone," and I pointed her towards the garage.

Jax frowned, but then he smiled and hugged his son again. Jason glanced over at Jax’s glass. "Well, if you’re absolutely sure that I can’t have any of that, I guess you’ll have to drink enough for both of us."

Jax got up to get his glass and then returned to sit next to Jason on the couch. "It this means we’re going to be talking about your mother, I just might have to."

Brenda stood in front of the door for a few minutes, gathering her thoughts and her courage. When she finally rang the bell, she didn’t have to wait long for Miranda to answer the door.

The color quickly drained from Miranda’s immaculately made-up face. "Miss Barrett. You’re certainly one of the last people I would ever expect to see at my door."

Brenda smiled grimly. "And as of two hours ago, Miranda, this was one of the last places I would have expected to find myself." She looked around. "May I come in?"

Miranda stepped aside dramatically and ushered Brenda into the entryway. Miranda’s high heels clicked on the expensive Italian marble floor as she preceded Brenda into the sunken living room. She walked to an off-white brocade couch and arranged herself on it before speaking. "I would offer you a seat, but I really don’t expect you’ll be staying long." She sighed and looked Brenda from head to toe. "Although I suppose it would be the appropriate thing to do, considering your delicate condition."

"I’m not that delicate, Miranda," Brenda returned, "and I prefer to stand if it’s just the same to you."

Miranda looked down at her fingernails. "You’ll have to excuse me, but I suppose I’m still in shock from finding out about your ….. condition….today at lunch." She shot daggers at Brenda. "I mean, I AM still Jax’s wife, and I have every intention of remaining his wife. Which means the best your child will ever hope to be will be Jax’s bastard." She rose from the couch and went to stand by some glass doors. "Assuming that it’s Jax’s child, of course."

"It is," Brenda shot back, "not that I need to defend myself to you, above all people." She let the remark sink in, but Brenda was determined not to sink to Miranda’s level and drag Jason’s parentage into the fight. He was too fine a human being to be caught any more in the middle than he already was.

Miranda looked rattled but tried to regain her composure. "Well, although I certainly can understand how your….condition…might force you to come begging to me on Jax’s behalf, I have no intention of changing my mind."

"I’m not begging, Miranda. And I don’t speak for Jax. He can do that just fine on his own." Brenda walked to stand face to face with the woman she had hated from afar for so long. "I’ve come to let you know that as much as you intend to fight for Jax…….so do I."

Miranda’s eyes widened ever so slightly. "Excuse me?"

Brenda could sense an advantage and she jumped on it. "I don’t care anymore, Miranda. You can fight divorcing Jax for as long as you want. You can drag this out through every court in the land. I don’t even care if my name is splashed across every tabloid paper in the grocery store." Miranda grew pale and tried to brush past Brenda, but she grabbed her arm and stopped her. "It won’t work, Miranda. You can’t scare me off anymore."

"I’m sure I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about," Miranda said shakily, heading for a chair, but Brenda followed her to sit in the chair next to her.

"Well, then, let me spell it out for you in words you can understand, Randy," Brenda drawled sarcastically. "I love Jax. I intend to fight for him. If it means that I have to stay with him and not be married to him, then so be it." She cradled her stomach lovingly. "If it means that this child will have to be born without the last name "Jacks", then so be it. I know that the most important thing is that this child will have a father and a mother who both love it, and that’s a h*ll of a lot more than you could ever say for Jason."

Miranda inhaled sharply, but Brenda went on, smelling her enemy’s fear.

"See," Brenda went on, "I understand a lot of things now that I didn’t before." She gave Miranda a look that froze the woman’s soul. "I understand that Jax loves me in a way that I’ve never been loved before, and I hope that I can just love him back that much in return. Lord knows he finally deserves it. I understand that he’ll never get tired of me, or lose interest in me." She finally rose from the chair and looked down on the pale woman. "What I DON’T understand is why you insist on trying to keep Jax tied to you by marriage vows that ceased to have any meaning long ago."

Brenda turned to leave and Miranda quickly rose and caught her by the arm. "No, Brenda, there’s one thing you DON’T understand. It’s how Jax and I felt about each other in the beginning. It’s how I still feel about him now." Brenda almost vomited when she saw tears begin to gather in Miranda’s eyes. "I love him, Brenda. I still love him, I swear it."

Brenda shook her head and laughed softly. "You know, Miranda, I almost believe you. And I think that maybe Jax did love you a little bit, just in the beginning." She drew close to Miranda’s face. "But I don’t think you’ve ever loved anyone or anything as much as you love yourself."

Brenda turned and walked away from the trembling woman, but she turned back at the doorway. "You know about Jason, don’t you?" Miranda said softly. "Did Jax tell you?"

"No, Randy," Brenda said quietly. "Jason did." Miranda’s lower lip began to quiver. "He’s known for a long time. The game’s over. Jason is telling Jax right now that he knows. He doesn’t care anymore either. He just wants you out of his father’s life for good."

Brenda took a deep breath and let herself out the door of the condo. As she stood in the hallway, trying to get a grip on her heaving emotions, she heard the loud sobs coming from the other side of the door.

Jax sat on the couch in his study with Jason, polishing off his fourth glass of Scotch as the young man shook his head and smiled. "What?" Jax said, trying to blink both of his eyes in unison.

"I’m just trying to figure out how I’m going to break it to her," Jason giggled.

"Break it to who? Brenda?" Jax reached out to put his glass back on the end table and as he was about to miss by several inches, Jason grabbed it.

"No, Grandma." He rose from the couch and went to put the glass back in the bar and closed the shutters. Leaning against the built-in mini-bar, he smiled at his father. "I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to tell her that you’re too snockered to come to dinner."

"I am NOT snockered, young man," Jax said in righteous indignation. "I have just been discussing delicate legal maneuvers with you regarding your mother and I needed some liquid fortification."

Jason shook his head and laughed again. "Liquid fortification! That’s a good one! I’ll have to remember that!"

Jax rose to his feet and swayed a little before pointing his finger at his son. "Now, listen here, young man. Don’t get me off the subject." Jason raised his eyebrows.

"And the subject is?"

"The subject is…." Jax stopped for just a second but then regained his composure. "The subject is where the h*ll Brenda went."

"She didn’t GO anywhere. She’s right here." A voice from the doorway startled both of them, and Jax turned around to see Brenda walking towards him.

"Brenda! Where were you? I’ve been….."

Brenda stood in front of Jax, but then waved her hand in front of her face. "…..drinking. That’s what you’ve been doing!" She took him by the shoulders. "Why, Jasper Jacks!" she said softly. "You’re wasted!"

Jason strolled over to where they were standing. "Well, it’s been quite an afternoon, as you already know." He smiled at Brenda. "Did your appointment go well?"

"About as well as I expected it to go," she sighed, but then looked back at Jax just as Jerry came into the room. She saw Jerry over Jax’s shoulder. "Aha….just what I need. Reinforcements."

"Reinforcements for what, beautiful?" He glanced from Brenda to Jax and his face fell. "Bloody h*ll! What happened to you, little brother?"

Jax blinked both eyes rapidly. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

Jerry smirked. "Because you’re blitzed, that’s why."

"Precisely my point," Brenda said sharply and began issuing orders. "Jason, you help me get your father upstairs where I can sober him up." Jason nodded.

"I do NOT need to be sobered up," Jax insisted, but Jason just laughed and caught him under the arm, pulling him towards the door.

"And what do I get to do, beautiful?" Jerry asked as Brenda took hold of Jax’s other arm. At the doorway, she let go and turned back to Jerry.

"You, dear future brother-in-law, get the easy job. Figure out how to tell your mother that dinner will be delayed because her youngest is as drunk as a skunk." Brenda turned and left the room, never hearing Jerry’s expletive.

After swearing under his breath, Jerry went into the hallway to watch them get Jax up the stairs and into his room. "Couldn’t I just settle for that trip to the OB-GYN’s office instead?" he called after them, but he only got the slamming of Jax’s bedroom door for his answer.

Jax was still protesting his sobriety when Jason and Brenda brought him into the bathroom. "Are you going to take his clothes off?" Jason asked, but Brenda shook her head.

"Nope. Just push him in, clothes and all. They’ll dry eventually." After Jason and Brenda put him the shower stall, Brenda dismissed Jason with a wave and a kiss blown in his direction, and she reached in to turn the faucets to cold. She looked at Jax, who was giving her a goofy smile. "You’ll thank me for this someday, honey," she said quietly, and then turned the shower on full blast.

Jax’s yelp was almost louder than the rush of the water. Brenda closed the door to the shower as soon as she saw that he was aware of his surroundings and went back into the bedroom with a feline smile of delight gracing her face.

About 15 minutes later, Jax emerged from the shower, wearing a white terrycloth bathrobe and rubbing at his hair briskly with a towel. He found Brenda reclining on his bed, wearing a matching robe and terry scuffs. She was reading a book and looking very pleased with herself.

Jax’s hand fell to his side, still holding the towel. "Finally got even, didn’t you?"

Brenda raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Jax walked slowly towards the bed. "For that day in the ocean, when I gave you the forced bath. You always swore that there would be a payback. I assume that was it."

He sat on the bed next to her and she reached up and smoothed his wet hair back off his forehead. "Something like that."

"Are you going to tell me where you went today?" Jax took her hand and kissed the back of it.

Brenda took a deep breath. "I went to see Miranda."

Jax’s eyes widened. "By yourself?" He started to rise from the bed. "What did she say? I swear I’ll kill her if she hurt you….."

"Jax, wait!" Brenda said, catching him by the wrist. "Everything’s fine."

"Fine? With Miranda?" Jax sat back down. "I still must not be sober enough yet. What exactly did you say to her to make things fine?"

Brenda just shrugged. "I just told her that I wasn’t going to stand for any of her games anymore. I told her that I love you and that I intended to stay by you no matter how long this divorce takes and that nothing will ever change that and ……"

Jax stopped her with a finger against her lips. "What did you just say?"

Brenda knew what he meant, but she felt playful for the first time since the island. "That nothing will ever change?"

Jax moved more fully onto the bed to sit facing her. "No, minx." He smiled and his blue eyes sparkled like brilliant topaz in the light of the setting sun. "The part about loving me."

"I do, you know," Brenda said softly, her hand cupping the side of his face. "I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you walk through that plane last January." She saw his eyes begin to mist over. "What’s the matter?"

"That’s the first time you’ve ever said it," Jax replied in a hoarse whisper. "I keep telling you all the time that I love you, but you’ve never said it back until today." He looked down at her lap and then back into her eyes. "I assume Jason had something to do with all of this."

"He told me everything, Jax." She took his hand into hers. "Why didn’t you just tell me sooner? So many things would have made sense!"

"But don’t you see, Brenda – I couldn’t tell you! I didn’t want to take the chance that Jason might somehow overhear and find out that we had been lying to him for all of these years." Jax looked wistful. "He’s such a special young man, and I love him just as much as if he was my own flesh and blood. Every time I looked into his trusting eyes, I just couldn’t risk it."

"So who all knows the truth?"

Jax took a deep breath. "Only Jerry, Miranda and I. Or at least, I thought that we were the only ones until today." He moved onto the bed to lay next to Brenda and let her lean against his chest. "Jason came to me today and told me he knew everything."

"So what do you do now?" Brenda tipped her face up to look at Jax.

Jax shrugged. "Well, Jason says I should do whatever I need to to be free of his mother. So, I guess we follow Alexis’ original plan and file for an annulment. Miranda won’t get a dime, but I’ll have to testify in court that she deceived me when we got married and that I’m not Jason’s biological father. Basically, I’ll have to disown him."

Brenda turned around quickly. "NO! Jax, you can’t do that to him! Not after all he’s been through!"

Jax laughed ironically. "Now you understand what I’ve been going through for all of these months. But Jason says he doesn’t care."

Brenda pulled herself upright and turned to face Jax on the bed. "Don’t go for the annulment, Jax." She grimaced. "Although I would love to see that witch come out of this without a monetary settlement, I don’t want Jason hurt either. I don’t care how long a divorce takes in the courts. I’m in this one for the long haul." She snuggled into his arms. "You can’t get rid of me this time, Ace."

"Ahhh, princess, you don’t know how long I’ve dreamed of you saying those words." He held her close for a few minutes, but then cocked his head to the side. "So, did you really mean it when you said you fell in love with me when you saw me the first time on the plane?"

"Well….." Brenda drawled, rolling to her stomach and gazing into his eyes, "maybe it was more like falling in LUST." She reached beneath him and grabbed for the object of her desire. "Do you know that you have one AWESOME butt, Ace?"

"You noticed?" Jax was blushing, but Brenda also noticed that he was reaching between them to untie the belt of her robe. As it fell open, Jax inhaled sharply when her bare breasts met his searching hands. "Why, Ms. Barrett, I do believe you had an ulterior motive for me taking that cold shower to sober up!"

"Mmmm….let me show you something about ulterior motives," Brenda purred, pushing the robe off Jax’s chest and sliding up his body to place a burning kiss on his lips. As she wound her arms around his neck and he rolled over in the bed with her, he broke the kiss suddenly.

"Is Jerry telling mum to delay dinner?" Brenda nodded, and Jax smiled wickedly. "Good, because I have a feeling that you and I are going to be VERY late!"

To be continued…….