Part II

Lindsay sighed, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the paneled walls of the elevator. What a day it had been. After working a full shift at the hospital and dealing with the Lucky, Liz and Jax situation, Lindsay was looking forward to a quiet evening at home playing with Sophie and then relaxing in a hot bubble bath. The emotional drama that surrounded this whole custody battle was getting to be much more complex than anyone had anticipated.

"Here we are, Ms. Donovan. Eleventh floor." Lindsay's eyes flew open and she looked past the elevator attendant into the hallway where her apartment was located. With a tired smile, she thanked Max and stepped out of the elevator. "Have a good evening, ma'am."

"Thanks, Max. I plan to." She replied before the doors shut between them. Searching her purse for her keys, Lindsay didn't see Jax coming towards her until she literally ran right into him.

Looking up startled, Lindsay could not hide her surprise at seeing him standing there outside her door. "Jax, hey. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, if that is alright." He looked as tired as she felt, and even though she didn't want to deal anymore with the surrogacy situation, she imagined his day had been lousier than hers. She couldn't bring herself to send him away.

"Sure, come on in." Locating the keys at the bottom of her purse, Lindsay let the two of them into her apartment.

"Mommy!" A beautiful, blond whirlwind came running toward them as Sophie threw herself into her mother's arms. This is what life is all about, Lindsay thought, burying her face in the fresh scented softness of Sophie's curls.

"Hey, ladybug! How's my girl?"

Jax stood back silently and watched the scene unfold between mother and daughter. Despite the turmoil of the day, a slow smile came to his face as he watched Lindsay and her daughter chatter away about Sophie's day at pre-school and her playdate with her cousin Cameron. They were lost in their own little world for a few moments and then Lindsay suddenly seemed to remember that Jax was there. When she turned and smiled at him, her little girl in her arms, Jax could feel his breath catch in his throat. It was perhaps the most beautiful sight he had seen in a long time.

"Sophie, do you remember Mr. Jacks? He's a friend of mommy's." Lindsay asked Sophie, finally putting her down and shrugging off her suit jacket. She offered to take Jax's jacket, and then hung them in the entryway closet.

"Hi, Jax." chirped the adorable little blond, grinning up at him with her big, blue eyes sparkling.

"Hi, Sophie. How are you?" Jax replied, longing to pick her up in his arms.

"You talk funny." Sophie's complete honesty caused Jax to laugh out loud. Lindsay, on the other hand, seemed to be mortified.

"Sophie!" Lindsay cried, but seeing Jax's laughter caused her to begin laughing too. "That must be her grandfather coming out of her."

"Which one?" Jax joked, relieved to finally be in an atmosphere that wasn't brimming with tension and anger.

"Both, I guess. Neither Luke or Scotty have ever known when to keep their mouths shut." Lindsay laughed at Jax's playful teasing about her "fathers" and thought for a minute. "I'm passing on great genes, aren't I?"

"They seemed to have served you well, so far. I'm sure they will do the same for her." Jax's unexpected compliment brought forth the reaction he had desired...another sweet smile from Lindsay.

Gloria, Sophie's nanny, appeared from the back of the apartment and fixed a disapproving look upon the little girl. "I was running a bath for her and when I turned around, she was gone. You scared me to death, little one."

Turning to her daughter, who was now seeking shelter behind one of Jax's legs, Lindsay said, "Anything to get out of taking a bath." She shook her head, and continued, "OK, kiddo, off you go. Mommy has to talk to Mr. Jacks and you need to get ready for bed. I'll come see you in a few minutes." Lindsay kissed the top of Sophie's head and sent her off with Gloria.

"Good night, Sophie." Jax called after her, as Sophie and Gloria headed down the hall.

Sophie stopped, turned around, and flashed him a smile that matched her mother's. "G'night, Jax!"

Jax and Lindsay both watched Sophie skip down the hall to catch up with Gloria before disappearing around the corner into the bathroom. "She's a great, kid."

Beaming with pride, Lindsay replied, "Thank you. She is pretty terrific, if I do say so myself. Simon and I did alright on that one." Gesturing for Jax to sit down next to her, Lindsay folded her legs beneath her and sunk into the softness of the sofa cushions. "So, Jax, what can I do for you?"

Jax settled in next to her, leaned back against the sofa and said quietly, "I just wanted to thank you for what you did today."

"What did I do?" she asked.

"Well, you seemed to be the only person in that group who would even admit that I have a side in all of this. A group of people that included both of your brothers and a close friend of yours. And Courtney." The last two words practically dripped out of his mouth, his contempt for his wife written all over his face.

"I have the luxury of being a little more objective in this situation. My baby is safely in the other room getting a bath and I know exactly what her custody situation is." Jax nodded and she continued. "And Nikolaus really had no business being involved in this thing at all."

"Do you blame him? For what's happened?" Jax wanted to know.

"I don't know. I know that he and Emily have been through hell. Nothing has ever seemed to come easily for those two. But when she was raped, it really just sent things over the edge. But I never, not in a million years, thought he would give up on her. He just..." Lindsay let her voice trail off, not wanting to air out her family's dirty laundry in front of him. Gathering her thoughts, she continued, "He and Courtney both should have shown a little more self control."

"So you blame her?"

"Don't you?" Lindsay shot back. Seeing the pain come into Jax's eyes, Lindsay wish she could take the words back. In all of this mess, it seemed that Jax's pain had taken a back seat to Nikolaus and Courtney's selfishness and the baby drama. "I'm sorry," she said, laying a hand on his leg. "I had no right to say that. She's your wife..."

"Not for long." Jaz recovered well, not ever letting Lindsay see what was really going on inside his head. "I served her with divorce papers today."

"Well this has been just a fabulous day for you, then." Lindsay remarked, prompting a wry smile to come to Jax's face. "I'm sorry." was all she could say.

"Don't be. She didn't sign them."

"Why?" Lindsay didn't understand that one. Courtney had been the one to leave their marriage to be with Nikolaus. Did she want more money?

"Who knows? I have no idea why she does any of the things she does any more." He looked away quietly and Lindsay gave him the moment he needed to compose himself. "Anyway," he continued, "I just wanted to thank you for being on my side."

"Like I told Lucky earlier, I'm not taking sides. I don't see a bad guy in this situation. Except of course for Nikolaus and Courtney, but I'll deal with that on my own." Lindsay still thought the blame for most of this lay with Nik and Courtney, but that wasn't the time for that discussion. "All I see is three people who want what is best for this unborn baby and have very different ideas of what the best thing is."

"Well, that is very level headed of you." Jax remarked with a smile. "I just sort of figured that I would be the bad guy in your mind, because Lucky is your brother and I know how close the two of you are."

"I love Lucky more than life itself. We've been through the wars together and I know I can always depend on him. But," she said, "that doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he says or does. This whole surrogacy thing has twisted everything around for everyone." Lindsay smiled at him. "Don't worry about my brother. I know him. He's a smart guy and he'll come around before this whole thing gets even uglier than it already is."

"I hope you are right." Jax seemed to be assured, but not entirely.

"I am. But that being said," Lindsay continued, meeting Jax's stare head on, "Lucky is my family. So are Nikolaus and Elizabeth. They are where I go when the world starts caving in around me." Her voice got quiet and wistful as she talks about those she loves most. "With them, I feel safe and loved. Especially Lucky. And I will never take sides against them." Her voice suddenly strengthened and her tone turned serious, " If you try to destroy my brother, you and I will become enemies. And as loyal I am an ally, I can be a nightmare as an enemy."

"I believe you." Jax said, seeing the look of pure defiance that came over her. She was, after all, Luke and Laura Spencer's child and just as strong willed as they were.

"Good." Lindsay grinned at him again. "Well, now that we have that out of the way, would you care to have a tea party with the most adorable little hostess in the world? I believe the tea is brewed with water flown in from fairy land."

Jax returned her smile. "I can't think of a better way to end my day." he said, as they headed back to Sophie's bedroom for their evening tea party.