Part I
Courtney Matthews was engaged to the most wonderful man in the entire world. Her days were busy with plans for their upcoming nuptials and running her foundation now that she no longer had to worry about going to jail for a murder she did not commit. There were lots of decisions to be made—church, reception, flowers, and she still had not decided on a dress—but what weighed most heavily on her mind was the guest list. Jax wanted to have the grandest wedding to hit Port Charles in decades…he want to show everyone in the world how happy he was and how much he loved her and Courtney wanted to give him that. But the person who meant the most in the world to Jax refused to come to the wedding.
Courtney had to admit to herself that it hurt her deeply that Lady Jane did not think she was good enough to marry her son, but it hurt her worse because of the pain their estrangement caused Jax. He tried to hide it for her sake but Courtney knew how deeply connected he and Lady Jane had been, and she hated that there was such a big rift between the two of them, partly because of her. She wanted more than anything to fix this for Jax the way he had fixed so many things in her life. Jax had lovingly supported her as she sifted through her emotional baggage, so she wanted to shoulder some of his. That is why she booked a flight to leave for Alaska the next morning.
Jax could not wait to return home, especially since he knew that Courtney would be there. Once they had set a date for their wedding, there had been no reason for Courtney not to move in with him. Now her things were all over the place. No room had gone untouched by her feminine decorating sensibilities. Especially the bedroom, which is where he found her with her clothes scattered about on the bed packing a large suitcase.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jax asked Courtney eyeing her suitcase.
Startled by his sudden appearance, Courtney dropped the shirt she was holding and turned around to greet him. "You're home early!" She smiled and pulled him into a kiss.
"And not a moment to soon, either. What's with the suitcase?" he questioned.
"I have some business to take care of. It came up suddenly." Courtney turned away to hide her blush. She hated lying to Jax even if it was for him. She continued packing her bag.
"How long will you be gone?"
Courtney really had no idea. She was stubborn enough not to leave until Lady Jane agreed to come to the wedding, but she did not know how stubborn Lady Jane could be. Jax told her that she and Lady Jane had a lot in common, so it could take a while. "Just a few days. I could get it wrapped up in a day, or it could take me longer."
"Just as long as you're back in time for the wedding."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"You'd better not considering I'd have to marry the maid if you didn't show up."
"Which is why I hope to get this wrapped up quickly."
"I'm going to miss you when you're gone," Jax said seriously, snuggling up behind her and nuzzling her neck.
Relaxing in his embrace, Courtney responded, "I'm going to miss you, too. I hate leaving you. I won't be able to sleep without you."
Jax sighed exaggeratedly. "And I'll finally get a decent night of sleep without having to listen to you snore!"
Courtney swatted him. "That's not what Geraldo said last night…"
"The doorman! You cheated on me with that guy? I thought you had better taste than that!"
"I have a wide variety of tastes! Sometimes it's the doorman, sometimes the kid who takes Rosie for walks sometimes, the masseur…he's got great hands you know—"
"Why you little liar!" Jax interrupted her, turning her around and kissing her soundly. She really couldn't get enough of him kissing her, and he knew it as he slowly pushed her onto the bed, knocking the clothes onto the floor. He then proceeded to remind her with his mouth, hands, and hard body that no one else could ever make her feel the way he does.
Courtney had booked a commercial flight even though she knew that Jax would gladly have given her the use of his private jet. In fact, even though they were not married yet, he still considered everything that was his as being hers now too. But in her efforts at secrecy she had even had him drop her off at the wrong airline ticket counter, since he insisted that he drive her to the airport even though she had protested. Little did she know that Jax had a secret trip planned himself.
Alaska was really beautiful. The closest airport she could get to commercially was several hours drive away from Lady Jane's home. Not wanting to alert any of the staff who might inadvertently alert Jax and undoubtedly Lady Jane by chartering a private plane to the estate, she had rented a car. It gifted her with scenic views of majestic mountains, monumental glaciers, and some of the most beautiful wildflowers she had ever seen. Sometimes her breath would catch from the beauty around her. She was sad that Jax was not there to share this experience with her, and she knew he would be disappointed that he had not been able to share it with her either once she told him what she had done. But she hoped that bringing Lady Jane to the wedding would be worth it.
Because Alaska was so far north she knew that she would have plenty of sunlight and had no problem finding the place. There was basically one road in and one road out. When she finally laid eyes on the house that Jax had spent a good deal of his life in, she was once again struck by how important it was that she could convince his mother to come to their wedding. Seeing his home she wondered what his life was like and if he had changed that much. She wanted to know everything about him when he was younger, but she was not hopeful that Lady Jane would fill her in. But she was determined to do her best.
The house was like a log cabin—picturesque and perfect. Courtney tried to imagine a younger Jax living in that house. Then she was stepping outside her sports utility vehicle, walking up to the door and knocking on it.
"What in the hell are you doing here?"
Jax had been to Atlantic City many times. Usually to gamble or engage in other acts of debauchery. But this time he was on a mission. Jax knew that Courtney and her mother were not on speaking terms. From the way Courtney told it, Janine had no interest in her daughter's life once she had realized that Courtney's marriage to Jason the millionaire was not going to happen due to Carly's kidnapping. He also knew that although Courtney had forgiven her mother for the aborted wedding, she was still hurt that Janine had accepted money from AJ in a last minute effort to sabotage her wedding. But even with all the hurt she had caused, Jax knew that Courtney still loved and missed her mother. She had told him once that in the depths of her depression over her miscarriage when she felt like there was no one she could turn to, she had wished that her mother was there to hold her in her arms as she cried the way she used to when she was a little girl. But Jax knew that she was too proud and stubborn to make the first move at reconciliation. So he determined to make the move for her and invite Janine to the wedding himself.
Finding Janine had taking a little investigation and a little sneaking on his part. The address he had gotten surreptitiously from Courtney's address book had been old. But all h needed was a starting place. He had found out that Janine was now living in a decent apartment complex nearby her job where she worked as a hotel manager. He had also found out that she usually worked evening shifts so he figured she would be home in the middle of the day, although possibly asleep.
He realized he was right on both counts when she opened the door in her robe, with traces of sleep still in her eyes. Noticing him in his immaculately tailored suit, she abruptly closed the door. Jax rapped his knuckles against the door again, but got no response, so he decided to wait and see what would happen.
A few minutes later, the door opened with a flourish to reveal Janine decked out to the nines with diamonds in her ears and around her throat and stiletto heels. "What can I do you for, Mr.…" she asked leaning on the door provocatively and reaching out her hand in a gesture of greeting.
Jax struggled to cover his laughter at her antics, but debonairly introduced himself. Extending his hand to grasp hers and kiss it, he said, "Jasper, Jasper Jacks. I do believe we've had the pleasure of meeting once before, but so long ago I could see how you've forgotten me."
"Now that you say it, you do seem familiar," she responded, leading him inside to sit down in her living room. "I'm embarrassed to have forgotten a man as tall and handsome as you are. Now what can I do for you?"
"I'm here in regards to your daughter—"
"Courtney? Is she all right? You're not one of her mobster brother's associates?" she asked suddenly eyeing his suit with disdain. "You're not trying to ransom her are you? You know I'd do anything for my baby girl, but I don't have any money. These earrings," she said pulling off the clip ons, "they're not real—"
"No, no! Courtney, she's fine. She's fantastic even. I like to credit myself with making her happier than she's ever been."
"What do you mean?"
"Your daughter and I are engaged to be married!"
"Married? Wait…You're Jasper Jacks from Port Charles?" She got up and picked up a magazine from a stack on her coffee table. Rifling through it she finally saw the article she was looking for. "Jasper Jacks, one of the world's most eligible bachelors." She began to read the article out loud: "'Australian born billionaire Jasper "Jax" Jacks…' Wait a second…did that say billionaire?" Looking up from the accompanying picture, there was no denying that the man sitting on her couch was the Jasper Jacks of J and J Jacks, Inc. With that Janine let out a howl of laughter. "My baby girl's done hit the Jack's pot! 'Jack's pot!' Get it? As in 'jackpot!'"
Unable to control his laughter any more, he joined her in her mirth. "This calls for champagne! Too bad I don't have any. How about whiskey? I think I might have a little vodka, or how about a beer? How's my baby girl treating you?"
"I certainly couldn't allow a lady to drink alone, how about a beer?"
"Beer it is!" Janine exclaimed, getting up to get their drinks.
"Courtney has made me fabulously happy," Jax told her as she returned. They clinked their bottles together and Janine took a deep swill.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"But more importantly I want you to know that I will do my best to make all of your daughter's dreams come true."
"Be still my heart! There aren't more of you are there?"
Jax laughed. "I do have an older brother—"
"Ooh! Goodie!"
"But he's currently a fugitive from the government for money laundering."
"Fooey," she complained settling back more comfortably in her seat. "No matter. As long as Courtney's happy, I'm happy." After studying him for a moment, she asked, "Surely you didn't come all this way just tell me my daughter is getting married."
"How astute of you. I flew her in my private jet to personally invite you to the wedding and upon your acceptance, bring you back with me."
"Does Courtney know about this?"
" Once again your intuition astounds me. No, Courtney has no idea that I've flown all this way to invite you."
"Are you sure she even wants me there?" Janine got up and walked towards the window gazing out forlornly. "You know, she and I haven't spoken in almost two years. I only know about her life from what I read in the newspapers. And that is so little. The last thing I'd read about her was that she'd been in a fire and somehow had gotten ten million, which she used to start a foundation for needy kids. I thought about calling her up a million times to tell her how proud of her I was, but I was so afraid that she'd hang up on me. She has every reason to, you know." Janine wiped away a tear.
Jax got up and handed his future mother-in-law a handkerchief.
"Thanks," she sniffled into the handkerchief and then indelicately blew her nose.
"Ms. Matthews—"
"Please call me Janine."
"Janine, I can understand your fear. My father and my brother lied to me about their business dealings. They did it to protect me, but I ended up getting arrested anyway. I was so mad at them I never thought I would be able to forgive them. But I did. And your daughter has one of the most open hearts with a limitless capacity for forgiveness and compassion. It's one of the things I love most about her. And I know that she loves you. So please come to our wedding. I know it would please Courtney."
"Oh, thank you, Jax!" Janine exclaimed throwing her arms around him to hug him. "Nothing could keep me away! Did you say you'd fly me there in your own private jet…"
