Everything I Do-Chapter 2
"How long has it been since you’ve been here?" the young blonde woman asked her brunette companion.
"Why," she asked laughing, "you want to get rid of me already?" She returned to the pasta meal in front of her.
"You know that we would never want to get rid of you. We have loved having you here," she said reaching across the table to pat her hand. "You have been like a sister to me, and we all love you. But, I can’t help but wonder if you feel that you should go home again?"
She put her fork down. She thought about going home, to Port Charles many times. But, she knew that if she went back there, she would have to face so much. She was scared of going home. She felt that she needed this time away to get her thoughts together and reevaluate her life and her decisions and choices. She could not go back there in the beginning; she knew that.
But, what about now, she thought. She could return now. She had realized what she wanted and whom she wanted. She wanted Jax; she knew that all the time, why didn’t she just realize that sooner. She would always have feelings Sonny that was just the way it was going to be. Just like Jax would probably always have some feelings for Miranda. It was just something she was going to have to come to terms with. She could and she would. She smiled at her friend sitting across from her. She knew that she knew what was best.
"Whitney, you’re right. I do think about going home again. I even dream about it."
"Do you dream about home, or a certain gentleman?" she teased her.
She smiled and her eyes brightened, "He is home to me. Wherever he is, is home. I love him so much, and he loves me twice as much. We have been through so much together, and I know that we can make it through this as well. Whitney, I’ve made a decision, I’m going home," Brenda declared picking up her fork again.
*****
Keesha awoke and found a warm body very close to her own. At first she was a little disoriented, but she soon realized who it was. She smiled as she thought over last night. She couldn’t believe what happened; she and Jax made love for the first time. She had never felt so close to any one as she did with him. She moved her hand outside of the covers and examined her ring. She couldn’t believe that she actually engaged.
She wanted him to wake up. She needed to talk to him. Slowly, she stretched and pushed back gently against him as she did. She could feel him awaken. "Good morning," she said turning over to face him.
He opened his eyes slowly and smiled, "Good morning to you as well."
"Did you sleep well?" she asked gently giving him a kiss.
"That’s funny," he said smiling, "I don’t remember sleeping that much." He gave her a kiss this time, and she parted her lips under his giving him permission to deepen the kiss. It was broken by the ringing phone, however. He reluctantly pulled back to answer the phone. "Yeah," he answered a little edgy.
Keesha sat back and smoothed her hair. She usually left the room when he had a phone call, but she didn’t feel like doing that today. She put her mind on other things. She was glad that she had gotten her hair straightened out and cut into a shorter bobbed style. It made her look a little older, but that was okay.
"That was Lady Jane and John," he said hanging up the phone. "It seems that they are coming to town today. John wants to review some of the accounts. So, that means I have to go in soon to get things ready for him. I really wanted to spend the day with you."
"Don’t worry about it; we will have so much time to spend together soon, that you’re going to get tired of me," she joked.
"Oh, I don’t think that will ever happen. Believe me," he said kissing her again. After some time, she pushed him away and said, "Don’t you have someplace to be."
"Yeah, I do," he said getting up from the bed. "Will you still be here when I get out?" he asked before heading into the bathroom for a shower.
"Where else would I be?" she asked leaning back with a smile. She was sure he would probably be in there a long time. She was quite aware that he loved long showers. Getting ready before him was possible. She went to the guestroom to shower.
After completely showering and dressing, she walked back into his room at the same moment he was coming out of the bathroom drying his hair with a towel. "Wow, you’re already dressed. How long was I in there." He remarked noticing her already in a black pantsuit with a gray turtleneck.
"A long time. I’ve already showered. I told you I would be here when I get back; did you think that I would stay in bed and wait for you all day," she said plugging in her curling iron in his bathroom. She placed her make-up case on the counter, and then began her work. "What, you know that it takes me a little longer to get ready."
He smiled as we walked over to his closet to find something to wear. "You know, I’ve been thinking, maybe you should come with me."
"Why?" she asked. She was just putting the finishing touches on her hair. She brushed it behind her ears with her hands.
"Why, she asks," he said putting on his shirt. He walked over to her and held up her left hand for her to see. "Perhaps this. I don’t know about you, but I think I may want to tell my parents that I’m getting married."
She looked at her hand and then back at him. She really hadn’t thought about telling anyone about the engagement just yet. She wanted to keep it between them, as a secret that only they shared. She understood how close he was with his family, and how much he wanted to tell them. Nodding, she said, "Okay, I will come," she said smiling. "I think that it would be good to tell them now."
He watched as she left the bathroom to get her jacket, and then the room to get her shoes. It had amazed him when she first started to stay over that she brought so much stuff. He laughed now as he did his hair, when he thought about that. He had even joked about her not having any clothes at her apartment. But, he knew she could rival him in the volume of clothing any day. She had a weakness for shoes, too, and he had a field day on that. He knew so much about her; they had so much history together. This was definitely right.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked coming back in. "You know," she said as he joined her, "I’m a little nervous about this. I mean I know your parents and Jerry like me well enough, but only as a friend. How are they going to feel about me marrying you?"
He shrugged, "They will love you because I do, but if they for some reason go out of their minds and don’t, it really doesn’t matter. We are going to be married and happy, if we like or not," he joked packing his briefcase as she handed him his laptop.
She rolled her eyes, "That sounds really promising."
"Well, it will be. Don’t worry, they’re going to love you as a part of the family. Don’t worry about that."
*****
"Jasper is usually on time, isn’t he?" John asked looking at his watch again.
Jerry looked up from the file in his hands. "Don’t worry about Jax. He’ll be here. He usually isn’t late, if he is, chances are he wasn’t planning on coming anyway. You said you did call him."
"Yes," John answered as Jax opened the door. "Oh, there you are. I was about to think you weren’t going to come."
Noticing Keesha behind him, Jerry said, "Did you make Jax late?" he joked. He always believed there was more to their relationship than they said. He was a staunch believer that men and women could not just be friends.
She only smiled at him. "Good morning, John," she said giving him a small hug. "And good morning to you too, Jerry."
"Where’s Mum?" Jax asked his father as he placed his briefcase on the desk.
"She will be here soon. Jerry informs me that you weren’t planning to come into work today."
He looked up from his task of unloading his briefcase. Glancing over at Keesha, he said, "Well, actually, he was right. I wasn’t planning to come in today. It is my first full day back in town, and I have other things that I would rather be doing today. But, I am here, and hopefully I will be able to leave here soon."
Jerry smiled and patted Jax on the back, "Is that why you brought your lovely friend with you? Do you two have plans?"
"Jerry, you are very suspicious," Keesha observed. "I’ve come here before without peaking your curiosity." She walked over to stand near Jax and linked her arm through his. "I have missed him, that’s all. And we planned to spend most of the day together that’s all."
"Good morning, Jax and Keesha," Lady Jane said coming in. "We were beginning to think that you wouldn’t come."
"That seems to be the consensus," Jax noted. "Here is the latest information about the company. Everything is there. I had a lot of free time in Switzerland."
"I’ll bet you did, especially since the lovely Ms. Ward did not accompany you," Jerry teased.
"Jerry, stop that," Jane admonished him. "Did you enjoy your trip?" she said coming over to stand on the other side of Jax. She glanced down at Keesha’s hand resting on Jax’s arm. "My goodness," she exclaimed taking a closer look, "that ring is gorgeous. I saw that on display in France a couple of months ago."
Keesha looked down at her hand as well. She had totally forgotten about the ring; she was not used to being engaged at all. She looked up at Jax for help, but he only smiled at her. "Well, this is the ring you saw. Um, Jax gave it to me just last night."
"Really, that seems to be a very expensive gift," Jerry said taking her hand from Jax’s arm so that he could closer examine the ring. "And on the left hand, too."
Jax took her hand from Jerry, "Let go of my fiancee." He smiled as he saw the shock on his families’ faces.
"Your fiancee," John said smiling. Keesha did not have to worry about them not liking her. They already loved her. "Well, congratulations," he said patting Jax on the back and kissing Keesha on the cheek.
"Well, I never thought you would do it, little brother. But, it is nice to know you finally came to your senses and asked her to marry you," Jerry said with his trademark smile.
Jane hugged and kissed both of them. "I am so happy for both of you. Maybe we will have more than one grandchild soon," she said coaxingly.
Jax laughed, "Well, we’re sure going to work on it." Keesha threw him a warning glance, but he continued. "Is tonight too soon for you, Mother?"
Jane laughed at her son, "No, tonight would not be too soon. I can’t wait until I have some more babies in my life. Have you two set a date?"
"Soon," Jax said quickly.
Keesha looked at him. She had not really given any thought to when she wanted the wedding to take place. She knew that she wanted to be his wife as soon as possible, but a part of her wanted the huge wedding of her childhood dreams and that would take some time. "Jax, I want a big wedding. This is my first and, hopefully my last," she smiled, "and I want to have the wedding I’ve always dreamed of. That will take some time."
He looked a little let down, but said, "It can be done in a short amount of time. I have a deal for you," he said. "You plan what you want, and I’ll make it happen. When I do, then we get married, no matter the length of time, be it six months or six days."
"Jax, you’re terrible," Jerry said. "You are even making a deal with you future wife."
"Okay," she said simply. "I will take your deal. I tell you what I want, you ‘make it so’, and I become you wife." She stood on her toes and gave him a deep, lingering kiss, totally oblivious to those in the room.
"Should we leave?" Jerry asked jokingly.
Keesha pulled back still looking at Jax and smiled. "Sorry," she shrugged. "But what can I say. When in the presence of the man you love, you forget about the world."
She smiled, "Quite true, my dear. But, I think that the gentlemen have some business to discuss. While I am deeply interested in J&J Jacks, I think that I would be more interested in speaking with you, Keesha. Shall we leave them to their discussions and have some of our own. Welcome to the family, Keesha," she said giving her another hug.


