Brenda Returns – Chapter 4
After her lunch with Robin, Brenda takes a walk on the docks to clear her head. She sits down on one of the benches.
Elizabeth is pushing Jake in an umbrella stroller. She slows down when she sees Brenda.
"Hi Brenda," she says cautiously.
She stops the stroller right in front of Brenda.
Brenda looks up. "Oh hi. She looks down and smiles at Jake. "Hey there big guy."
"Can you say hi to Brenda, Jake?" Elizabeth asks, looking down at Jake.
Jake babbles a little bit and both women smile and laugh.
"Close enough," Brenda says chuckling.
"Do you mind if I sit here for a few minutes?" Elizabeth asks.
Brenda scoots over a little. "No, not at all."
Elizabeth sits down and pulls Jake's stroller around so they can both see him.
"Jake had his one-year check up today and I decided to take him to Kelly's for some ice cream," Elizabeth explains.
"One year, huh?"
Elizabeth nods. "Yeah, time flies."
"Yeah, it does," Brenda agrees. "I can't believe I've been away from Port Charles for as long as I have."
"How long has it been?"
"Five years."
Elizabeth shakes her head. "Wow. A lot has happened in those five years."
"Yes it has. Hey, I hope its okay that Jason is helping me. I don't want to cause any problems or anything. I just needed a favor…."
Elizabeth stops her. "Brenda, its okay. I trust Jason. I know you guys are friends and I, for one, know how loyal Jason is to his friends."
Brenda smiles and nods. "Yeah, no matter what, I could always count on him. Even when we really couldn't stand to be in the same room with each other."
Elizabeth laughs.
"You guys started off as good friends, didn't you?" Brenda asks.
Elizabeth nods and smiles over at Jake. "Yeah, we did. And one night, I turned to Jason when I didn't think I had anywhere else to go and…."
"….and 9 months later?" Brenda finishes.
Elizabeth nods. "Yeah."
"Children do change everything…." Brenda says as she stares out at the water.
Elizabeth looks at her curiously. "Yes, they do."
Brenda snaps out of her trance.
"Robin mentioned that you guys kept Jake's paternity a secret for awhile. To protect Jake."
Elizabeth slowly nods. "Yeah. We both thought it was safer that way."
Brenda turns her head to look at Elizabeth. "Did you keep it from Jason, too?"
Elizabeth shrugs and nods slowly. "At first."
"Because you thought it was for the best, for your baby…."
She nods. "Right. It killed me to keep it from him, but I thought it was safer for my unborn child and at first I thought…"
"You thought what?" Brenda asks curiously.
"I thought that it would be better for Jason if he didn't know." She shrugs. "A couple of people made me think it would be better that way. That it would be better if the child I was carrying wasn't his because of his lifestyle."
Brenda nods and stares out at the water again.
Elizabeth shakes her head. "But it wasn't….not for Jason."
They're quiet for a few moments.
Brenda makes the first move. "Well….it was good to talk to you and to see this little guy," she says, wiggling Jake's hand, "but I really should get going."
"Oh okay. I hope everything works out okay."
Brenda gives her a worried look as she stands up.
"With whatever Jason is helping you out with," Elizabeth says quickly.
"Right…yeah, thanks. Bye. Bye Jake."
Elizabeth watches her as she walks away. "Bye."
A few hours later Brenda is standing on the dock, talking on her cell phone.
"Yes, this is Brenda Barrett. Hi Dr. McNeal, yes, Jason Morgan gave me your number…said you might be able to help me?"
She listens intently to the other person on the
"Right. I gave the doctor in Italy permission to share the medical records with you…. Oh good, you did already?" she nods. "But do you think you can help?"
Her eyes begin to tear up. Jax walks onto the upper part of the docks and stops and stares down at her.
"But, I was really hoping you could come to Italy with me. I'll pay your way, money isn't an issue."
She bows her head and bites her lower lip.
"Oh….okay, I understand. So, you can come to the East Coast? I'm in Port Charles, New York right now. Okay, good. I'll have to make travel arrangements. Is early next week okay?"
She wipes a tear away.
"Okay, good. I'll be in touch. Thank you."
She closes her phone and stares out over the lake as Jax descends the stairs.
"Hi," he says.
Brenda turns quickly to look at him.
"Oh, hi," she says.
He slowly walks over to her. "Carly mentioned you were in town. I was wondering if I was going to see you."
"Yeah….well, it's a small town. How are you Jax?"
He nods. "I'm good. You?"
She puts her phone away and nods. "I'm good, too."
He nods again. "Good. You still living in Italy?"
"Yeah. I love it there."
"Good….good. It's beautiful there."
Brenda nods.
"So…you and Carly, huh? I never would have guessed that one," she smiles at him.
He chuckles. "Yeah. I think it took me by surprise, as well."
Brenda looks up at him with a serious look on her face and then slowly smiles when she sees the twinkle in his eye.
"I'm sure it did. I uh, saw Sonny. He said that you guys are actually getting along now? Considering you married his ex-wife, I find that hard to believe."
He shrugs. "I don't know if I'd call it getting along but we do what we have to…..for the boys' sake, of course."
She nods. "That's good. I'm sure Michael and Morgan are so big by now."
"Yeah, they're great."
Brenda watches Jax closely. "Well, good. I'm glad that things seemed to work out. You have Carly and her sons…you and Sonny don't want to kill each other every time you see each other…."
He smiles and bows his head. When he looks up, he takes a step closer. "Brenda….I…."
Brenda holds her hand up to stop him from speaking. "Don't…"
"I just wanted to say that I was sorry for hurting you. I….." He stops and shakes his head, not sure what else to say.
She shakes her head. "That's in the past now. I've moved on and obviously you have as well. And I'm happy for you, I really am," she nods.
Jax takes her hand and looks at it. "Thank you….and you're happy?"
Brenda stares at their hands, slowly looks up at him and smiles as tears start to brim her eyes.
"Yes, I'm very happy," she whispers.
He squeezes her hand and lets it go.
"Good," he nods. "I uh….I really need to get to a meeting, but it was good to see you."
"Yeah, it was good to see you, too."
Jax turns to leave and looks back at her one more time.
"Bye Brenda."
"Bye Jax," she says with a wave.
She watches as he walks away, takes a deep breath and tries not to cry. She picks up her phone and checks the time, does a quick calculation in her head and starts to dial.
When the person on the other end picks up she says, "Hi Maria….I need you to do me a huge favor…I need you to come to Port Charles."