"What do you think I said?" Jax asked with a sigh as he moved behind Alexis and began rubbing her shoulders.
"Are you trying to butter me up by rubbing my shoulders?" Alexis felt some of the tension begin to drain from her body. She hated admitting how incredibly good it felt.
"Is it working?" Jax was willing to do almost anything to get his wife to agree with his plan. Not only did he know that the back rub was cheating, he was proud of it.
Alexis sighed. It had been one of those weeks. Everything that could have gone wrong did. After spending countless hours working on Jerry's case she was no further than she had been when she started. The work she was neglecting on other cases had formed an almost insurmountable pile on her desk; and now that the holiday season was in full swing it was impossible to get anything done. Nobody stayed in their office this close to Christmas. At seven that evening Alexis called it quits for the week. All she intended to do was finish her Christmas shopping, sneak off with Ned, and sleep. However, when she walked into the penthouse, she knew that would be impossible.
As soon as she got home she kicked off her heals, dropped her briefcase, and headed for the couch. By the time she sat down Jax was standing next to her with a glass of wine. As if that wasn't enough of a clue that he wanted something, she could smell her favorite dessert baking in the kitchen. "What do you have up your sleeve?" She asked as she took the wine.
Two hours later, after a gourmet dinner and another glass of wine, he told her. "You want to us to visit your parents?" She asked again. She hoped he would tell her she heard wrong.
He came around to the front of the couch and sat next to her. "Would you at least consider it?" He looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
Alexis smiled. She always melted at that look. "Why would we want to go see your parents in Alaska?" After spending many winters in Greece she was weary of anything that promised to be any colder than New York.
"It is Christmas, Alexis. Spending the holiday with family is tradition." Jax poured his wife another glass of wine.
"You want to see your family? Go. Visit them. I will do my best not to burn the place down in your absence. Cross my heart." Alexis doubted Jax would give in that easily. It was worth a shot, though.
"Alexis you have to come too. This is our first Christmas together. It will look awkward if we aren't spending it together." Jax wondered what else he could say to bring her around.
"What about Ned?" She hadn't spent any real time with Ned since Jerry's arrest. She had been looking forward to sneaking away to visit him all day. "And Chloe?" She added hoping that Jax' infatuation with the woman had grown to the point where he couldn't bare to be away from her for any special occasion.
Jax sighed. "They will both be here when we get back." He wasn't looking forward to the trip either. However, his reluctance to go was completely different from Alexis'. "Mum and Dad need us."
"Jax, we discussed this at Thanksgiving. We agreed that we would spend this holiday in Port Charles. We even told your parents of our plans. We told them that we wanted to spend this holiday alone together, remember?"
"Of course I remember. You are older than me remember, you will reach senility first." Jax forced a smile. "Everything was different then."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Alexis rubbed her temples. This whole situation was giving her a headache.
"We agreed that we would spend Christmas here. However, Bobbie and Jerry planned to go to Alaska. That isn't possible anymore." Jax tone softened. He didn't want to remind Alexis of Jerry's predicament. She felt guilty enough about it already.
"And you don't want your parents to be alone for Christmas? You couldn't just invite them here? We would still spend the holidays with them but it would be on our grounds."
"Is being able to see Ned that important to you?" He couldn't imagine that she would pick Ned over helping his family get through a rough time. However, if that were the case, he could always call Lois and arrange for Ned to spend the holiday with Brooke. Then Alexis would be free to go with him.
Alexis laughed. "I haven't spent any time with him lately. So, I would like to see him; but that isn't the main reason I am reluctant to go."
"Well, I can't help you unless you tell me what is that reason is." Jax took her hand and looked into her eyes. "You can talk to me." He wasn't about to give up.
"Family holidays give me the heebie jeebies. Honestly, I would rather have a root canal than spend time with family over Christmas. In fact, when I was in college I had my wisdom teeth pulled so that I wouldn't have to go back to the island." She admitted softly. The time she spent with the Cassadines was not easy for her to talk about. Sometimes things weren't bad, but tensions were always highest at Christmas.
"But you have never experienced a Jacks family Christmas." The tone of Jax voice lightened considerably. He did not envy Alexis anything about her formative years. However, he felt that spending time with his family might actually help erase some of the bad connotations the word family had for her.
Alexis wanted to believe that other people had better holiday experiences. It gave her hope that maybe one-day, in the future, she would be able to enjoy them as well. Maybe the trip wouldn't be so bad. "And how will your family be different?' She tired to sound more optimistic than she felt.
"We aren't judgmental, we like you, we are loads of fun to be around, and we promise that there will be no fruit cake." He hoped the last one would make her smile.
Alexis laughed. "What if I find some and it ruins my holiday spirit?" She teased.
"You can sue for pain and suffering." He joked back. "You might even have a case. What is the worse think that could happen?"
"Are you flying? We could fall out of the sky and face survival in the middle of the frozen tundra." Although she knew the accident in the Sahara was not his fault, she never tired of teasing him.
"Not funny." He answered. However, the sparkle in his eyes let Alexis know that he was amused. "Just think of it this way. It can't be as bad as the Christmases you remember from childhood. It may be your last chance for a nice friendly family holiday. Can you imagine Christmas with the Q's? I can picture it now, Ned, AJ and Edward sparing over who should put the angel on the tree, carve the bird, or open the first present. It isn't a pretty thought. Besides the Jacks family Christmas is a onetime deal. This whole thing will be over by next year, even if you hate us, you won't ever have to come back."
What if I like it? Alexis wondered sadly. Jax' family was the best part about being married. She never felt comfortable around the Quartermaines. She knew they didn't like her, not that she liked them. However, John and Lady Jane always went to so much trouble making sure that she felt like she belonged. She liked that. "I guess it couldn't be too bad."
Jax smiled. "Does that mean you will come?"
"Did you have any doubt? Are there any bizarre Jacks family traditions I should know about?"
"A few. I will tell you about them on the plane." Jacks got up and pulled four suitcases out of the closet. "We should hurry. We are scheduled for takeoff in less than an hour. I took the liberty of packing for you."
Alexis eyes opened wide. "What? We are leaving now? When am I supposed to finish shopping?"
"Don't worry? Mum would love to take you to all of her favorite places. You know how much she enjoys shopping with you.
"Is it too late to reconsider?" Alexis asked as Jax threw a heavy coat at her.
"Yes, as a matter of fact it is." He came over and helped Alexis off of the couch. "Mum says she needs us there bright and early in the morning. She has some big surprise planned."
"What surprise?" Alexis asked suddenly worried about what her mother in law considered good holiday fun.
"I don't know. It is a surprise. How bad can it be?"