*-*Flashback, June 5th 1999*-*
"I can't believe you actually planned a party," Alexis told him as they ate their cake at the Port Charles Grill
"Well, what was I suppose to do, ignore our first anniversary? My mother would've killed me!"
Alexis laughed and fed him cake, before she kissed the chocolate that was left on his lips. "You were a perfect husband this past year," She teased. "Closing your eyes when you needed to, not killing my lover when you found him in our bed...."
"Alexis," Jax said warningly, looking around to make sure no one was within earshot. "I don't think we should talk about these things here," he reminded her. "We aren't divorced yet remember?"
"I know, I know. And I'm gonna miss you," she said and held him close. That's when Jax realized that she was drunk and he would have to make sure she didn't blow their cover. They hadn't made it this far for her to mess it up because she was alcohol intolerant or something. "Come on, let's dance" He said and dragged her to the dance floor before she had a chance to protest.
Jax wrapped his arms around his wife and she put her cheek on his, making sure she was rubbing her lower body against him, smiling at the reaction she was getting out of him. "Well, well, well" she whispered playfully "you don't see a lot of Chloe these days do you?"
"My heart says we've got something real
Can I trust the way I feel
Cause my heart's been fooled before
Am I just seeing what I want to see
Or is it true, could you really be"
Jax laughed and whispered through clenched teeth "Alexis, you better behave or I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson you won't forget."
Alexis didn't answer, she just continued to rub against him, getting him to curse her silently, until he realized the lyrics of the song that was playing. They expressed exactly how he felt.
"Someone to have, and hold With all my heart and soul I need to know Before I fall in love Someone who'll stay around Through all my ups and downs Please tell me now before I fall in love"
"You know, there was a time when I thought that we would never get divorced" Alexis whispered in his ear. "I mean, our marriage was made in heaven wasn't it?"
"Yeah it was," Jax replied quietly, and thought ‘Except that the bride isn't in love with the groom'
"I'm at the point of no return So afraid of getting burned But I want to take a chance So please give me a reason to believe Say you're the one That you'll always be"
"I mean, you are my best friend now. I couldn't imagine my life without you in it anymore Jax. I never want to have to find out what it would be like" Alexis' voice became serious and she backed away a little to look in his eyes. "I wish I didn't have to divorce you" She admitted quietly. "But I won't raise this child as yours when it's Ned's. I won't do to this child what's been done to me. I hope you understand"
"I do" Jax said softly. "We all knew it would have to end sometime. It's been a great year Alexis. I'll miss you too"
"It's been so hard for me To give my heart away But I would give my everything Just to hear you say"
Jax reached and slowly wiped a tear from his soon-to-be-ex-wife's eye before it actually fell down her cheek. He held her close to him again and felt her sigh. It looked like her state of mind was the same as his. While everyone else were celebrating and wishing them a lot more wonderful years together, Jax and Alexis were actually saying their good-byes. It couldn't wait. The more they waited, the harder it would be. Now, while everyone thought they were the perfect happy couple, Alexis and Jax were reminded that this would soon have to end. And it was breaking both of their hearts.
"Someone to have, and hold With all my heart and soul I need to know Before I fall in love Someone who'll stay around Through all my ups and downs Please tell me now before I fall in love"
*-*End Flashback*-*
"Dad?" Asked Jerry the next morning. "Dad?" He asked again, shaking a sleeping Jax. "What?" Jax asked, his blue eyes finally opening. "What time is it?"
"Time to get up" The boy replied, helping him sit up. "You fell asleep watching movies again."
Jax looked around and saw the VCR blinking. That meant the tape inside had been to the end and back again. "I guess so Tyke" he replied and finally made it on his feet. "I need a shower. Desperately" Jax added before walking to the bathroom.
‘Dad?" Jerry asked and Jax turned around. "Want me to order room service for your breakfast?"
"Why? There are enough leftovers from yesterday to last us a week"
Jerry was still laughing when his father closed the bathroom door and the boy pressed play on the VCR. He slowly sat down when he saw what his father had been watching all night. Images of his mother filled the screen, and her laughter echoed in the living room. "Happy New Year Mum," Jerry said, slowly tracing his mother's figure on the screen. "We miss you here. So much"
As if on cue, Alexis laughed and turned her head around, before she blew a kiss at the person holding the camera. "I love you, Jerry" she smiled and walked to the camera before pretending to kiss the lens. "I love you too, mum" the little boy whispered and he wiped his tears just as his uncle turned the camera to his face and whispered "Jax, you truly are a lucky dog"
Jerry walked to the VCR and took the tape out, before slowly changing the channels until he found some cartoons. He was still watching the looney tunes when his father came out, wearing his sweat pants. "Are we going to the Gym dad?" Jerry inquired, sitting up.
"I am, you don't have to come if you don't want to. You could always call Toby to know if you can go over there and I'll drop you off on my way to the gym" Jax answered while putting his things in his bag.
"Sure, I'll call Toby" Jerry said as he rushed to the phone and dialed the Corinthos'. After talking to his friend, he hung up and turned to his dad. "Carly says she can drop me off later so you don't have to worry about picking me up. Let me go get dressed and I'll ready"
Making sure Jerry was still in his room, Jax took a gun from his locked drawer and put it in his bag. His son had to believe he was going to the gym. No one had to know he was truly about to pay Helena Cassadine a visit. She was coming too close to his son, Alexis' son, the woman Helena tried to kill on more than one occasion, and it had to stop. Surely Helena had disappeared like she said she would when she visited the Cassadines on Christmas eve, but now she was back, and Jax had watched Alexis' tapes to find the courage to stand up to the woman and maybe, just maybe, find the courage to end her threats on everybody's life, once and for all.
"I'm ready dad!" Jerry came running from his room.
"I'm ready too" Jax couldn't help but kneel in front of the boy and take him in a fierce embrace. "I love you Jerry, you know that right?"
"Of course I do, I love you too" Jerry answered, hugging his father just as close. This wasn't unusual for them. Jax had told Jerry how he only kissed his mother's cheek before she left that fatal day, thinking he would have plenty of time to hug and kiss her more later, and she had never come back. He explained to his embarrassed 5-year-old son the value of one last hug, one last kiss on the cheek, one last ‘I love you'.
"Come on, let's go" Jax took the boy's hand with his right hand, and the bag with his left and walked out. He knew he would come back, the fact that Helena could kill him didn't once pass through his mind, but it was the information he would bring back with him that made him turn around and give the penthouse one last look. Jax had three choices. He could come back as a frustrated man, come back as a broken man, or come back as a criminal. What scared him the most was that he didn't know which man he wanted to come back as.
"Hey Sonny, hey Carly, hey Michael" Jerry greeted as he walked into the penthouse. "What are you guys doing?"
The boy leaned against the table and looked at the cards laid on it. "We are trying to teach Mrs. Perfect over there" Sonny pointed at Carly with the biggest smile on his face "the cribbage"
"I'm not good at cards" Carly laughed and Michael rolled his eyes. "Even I can play a game of cribbage mom!" Michael whined and walked away with Jerry to go find his little brother.
"That kid looks so much like his mother, it freaks me out every time" Carly said while picking up the cards on the table.
"I know" Sonny agreed. "If Alexis was alive today, I don't think there would be a mother prouder of her son. He is the perfect little replica of her. Even the witty comments come from her. I wonder how Jax is able to deal with it"
"What do you mean?" Carly asked, sitting on the table, her feet on the chair and Sonny walked to her, opened her legs and rested himself in front of her.
"Well, you know how you always say Toby is truly my son right? Same dimples, same eyes, same manners, you always say he was born an aristocrat with a tan to die for" Sonny smiled at his wife and leaned back when she tried to kiss him and grew serious. "What if I had died. Without a warning, not a shootout, a stupid accident, I was taken away from you. What would be going through your mind every time you would look at Toby?"
Carly didn't answer. She was looking at Sonny with tears in her eyes and she took him in her arms fiercely. "Don't talk like that" She whispered. "It must be horrible for Jax"
Sonny answered her embrace with just as much desperation. They knew it could happen to them. How many times in the last 7 years, since they were married, had Sonny nearly died in a so-called accident but someone was always there to take the bullet in his place? That didn't make it right, these people had families, too. Wives, or kids, or even just a mother, or a sister. And Sonny had tried to walk away from the business, again. But the streets became unsafe for his son and step-son to walk home to and from school. So he resumed his place as mob boss, to save both his boys from being hurt. But now, they were still living in a fortress, and anything could happen. The only other option they had was move away, but neither of them wanted to uproot their kids. Their families and friends were here, and the boys had so many people who loved them, that it wouldn't have been fair.
"What do you say we take the troops to the movies?" Sonny asked and Carly smiled.
"Ooooh making out in a theater, we haven't done that in a while have we?"
"Not really. BOYS COME ON, WE'RE GOING TO SEE A MOVIE!"
They smiled and joked on the way to the theater, they hadn't even chosen what movie they wanted to see yet. They would choose when they got there. Sonny sat next to his wife in the back row, while the boys went further near the screen, and Sonny put his arm around Carly's shoulders. "You know, Mrs. Corinthos, if I didn't know better, I would think you are happy with your life" Sonny teased
"Me? Happy?" She smiled. "I'm miserable. Wants some popcorn?"
"So you can throw it at me? I don't think so"
They were laughing and teasing but Sonny kept an eye on the boys at all time. In a dark theater like that, when it was dark, who was to tell that the people walking out would come back and that one of the boys wouldn't be with them.
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