The Way Things Should Be

Author: Lori

Email: lori@ncweb.com (Lori Hasselbach)

~CHAPTER ONE~

Brenda is sitting on the couch reading a book while she waits for Jax to get home from work. Jax opens the penthouse door and walks in. Brenda puts her book down and walks over to Jax. Brenda says, "Hi, you look tired. Did you have a hard day?" Jax takes off his coat and hangs it on the back of the desk chair. Then he says,"Hi, Brenda." And he kisses her on the cheek. He says,"Today has been a long day. Have you eaten dinner yet?" Brenda responds, "No, I was waiting for you to come home." Looking surprised Jax says, "Okay then, lets have a late dinner." Brenda says, "Can we talk first? I have some things that I would like to ask you." Looking interested Jax says, "Sure we can talk, just let me change my cloths first."

Brenda and Jax go into their bedroom. Brenda sits down on the bed to wait for jax to finish changing. Jax goes to his closet and pulls out a pair of jeans and a white shirt. Then he moves some cloths around until he finds his action-Jax vest and then he pulls that out too. Jax changes into those cloths while Brenda sits quietly on the bed and watches. After jax is done changing he sits down on the bed next to brenda.

> Jax says, "Okay Brenda what is it that you wanted to ask me?"

> Brenda then asks Jax, "Why did you deside to give Miranda that book of poetry as a divorce present?" Jax responds to Brenda's question by saying, " That wasn't just a book of poetry. I put a picture of Miranda the way that she looked before she got blown up in that book. I was hoping that it would help trigger her memory. I'm trying to get her to tell me what really happened to her." Brenda interupts, " What do you mean by what really happened to her? I thought that you already know what happened to her. Didn't she get blown up by a bomb in a mine in Australia?"

Jax responds, "I don't think that Miranda was ever in that mine in Australia. I have asked her questions and she claims that she was some how able to escape from the mine. She has hinted that my father played some part in her getting out of that mine. She still hasn't told me exactly how big of a part that my father played in here escape though. And you know how my father is he won't tell me anything he just pretends that he doesn't know anything at all about Miranda being alive all this time." Jax shifts a little and looks a Brenda to see if she wants him to continue to tell her about what happened. Brenda asks him, "Will you please go on I really do wanna here what happened."

Brenda looks into his eyes and can see that these memories are causing Jax pain. She puts her hand on his leg to reasure him that she's there for him. Jax continues to tell Brenda about what happened at the mine all those years ago. "My father called me and told me that Miranda was in the mine. It was right before the bomb was suposed to go off and I knew that Mac was going to bomb the mine. I wasn't suposed to know, but Jerry had found out from Mac and told me. So I rushed out to my pickup truck and jumped in. I drove to the mine as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough. I got there just as the bomb blew up. Apparently Mac knew that Miranda was in there too because he arrived just after I did and asked me if it was too late."

"Miranda claims that she managed to get out of the mine alive. I was there and there was no way that anybody could have lived through that explosion. When it was safe to go into the mine Mac and I along with some guys who worked for me made an opening and went into the mine. We searched everywhere and there was no sign of Miranda. She was blackmailing my family and she had my father tell me that she was in that mine so that I wouldn't find out. She thought that it would be easier if I thought that she was dead. She didn't want to hurt me." Brenda interupts and asks, "How did you find all this out?" Jax responds, "Jerry told me."

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> ~CHAPTER TWO~

Brenda asks Jax, "When did you talk to Jerry? Why was Miranda blackmailing your family?" Jax responds, "When I went back to Alaska with my parents after my father's heart attack Jerry was there. Since I knew that Jerry played a part in this mess I asked him to tell me everything that he knew and he did. It turned out that Jerry knew everything." Brenda sadly says, "Now I really wish that you would have let me come with you to Alaska. I really want to meet Jerry." Jax hugs Brenda and says,

"Don't worry you'll get to meet Jerry. He's a busy man that's why you haven't met him yet. One day he's gonna show up in Port Charles ot of the blue and you'll get to meet him then or we can even go up to Alaska next time he's there so you can meet him." Jax lets go of Brenda and continues to tell her the story. "Miranda and I met on a beach in Australia and I always thought that it was fait. It turns out that we actually met because of careful planning by Miranda and her family. Miranda knew that I was going to be there on that day. She also knew who I was and that I'm a member of the very wealthy Jacks family. She wanted to get her hands on my family's money. She wanted to destroy my family. It turns out that Miranda is a member of a family that is feuding with my family. Miranda is a Cassidine. Her real name isn't Miranda Jameson it's something else. I just don't know what yet. Brenda says, "Wow wait a minute. Miranda is a Cassadine? Why don't your family's like eachother?"

Jax responds, "Okay Brenda the reason that the Cassadines don't like the Jacks family is because they think that we stole their land from them. The thing is we bought the land from them fair and square. The land that they are mad about is the land that the mine that was blown up is on. What made them think that we stole the land from them is the fact that we bought it out from under them the way we buy everything else. After all we are corporate raiders."

Jax continues, "Well anyways the Cassadines decided that they would seek revenge on my family by having me fall in love with Miranda and then losing her. Since having that happen would only cause me pain and not my whole family they also blackmailed my father. He knew that the whole thing about Miranda was a total lie but if he told me the truth the Cassadines would kill him."

"Brenda you are probably wondering why Miranda has a different face if she didn't blow up. Well it turns out that she had been forced by her family to do this and so she decided that she didn't want anything to do with her family anymore. She claims that she really does love me. So she got plastic surgery so that she would have a different face and her family wouldn't recognize her anymore. Also Miranda had never told her family what name she had been using so she has kept the name Miranda ever since.

Everytime she thought that he family was getting close to finding her she would move to another country. Somehow Sonny managed to find her and get her to come here."

Brenda asks, "If Miranda did all of these terrible things to you and your family then why are you being so protective of her?" Jax answers,

"I want her to stay in Port Charles because I'm trying to get her to tell me all this herself in her own words. I want to hear this from her point of view. Brenda you don't have to worry about losing me. There is no way in this world thatI would ever leave you for Miranda. I love you Brenda. I don't love Miranda. Miranda is a complication in our life. Please leave Miranda alone I don't want her to get scared away before she tells me the truth."

Jax looks at Brenda questioningly, "The one thing that I need to be sure of is that you're not going to leave me for Sonny." Brenda is surprised by Jax's statement. She responds, "Jax I keep telling you that I love you. I can't live without you. I want not Sonny. I keep telling Sonny that it's over. That I love you, that you are my husband. I have told Sonny many times that it's over, that I'm not going back to him, but he doesn't believe me. He keeps trying to get me to go back to him, but I won't. I'm completely and totally committed to you Jax. You have made me feel things that I never thought I'd feel. You have made me feel things that I never thought I'd feel. You have made me feel like I am actually safe. When I was with Sonny I never felt safe. Then that whole thing happened where I got shot at in the shower. I could have been killed and it wouldn't have been worth it."

Jax asks, "Brenda what else do I make you feel that you never thought that you'd feel?" Brenda answers, "Jax you make me happy. I was always sad and depressed before I met you. Now I'm happy or at least I was until Miranda came along and ruined everything. I'm sorry for the way that I've been acting lately, but I end up acting that way whenever I feel threatened. Miranda made me feel threatened. I couldn't just sit back and not do anything. I felt that I had to fight for the man that I love. Pretty dumb, huh?"

Jax looks surprised by Brenda's question, "NO Brenda it's not dumb. I'm glad that you love me enough to fight for me even though it wasn't nessisary. I know that you thought it was nessisary though. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth about Miranda sooner." Brenda says,

"It's okay I'm glad that you told me now."

They kiss and end up making love.