MIRACLES

CHAPTER 9

Brooke nervously waited in bed as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She knew it had to be Aunt Brenda coming up to tell her a story but what she didn’t know was how far behind Uncle Jax was going to be. Maybe she shouldn’t have tricked them but she just knew this would work; it just had to. She thought back on how her Mommy had once told her that adults can act silly sometimes when it comes to love but all they really need is just a little push. Uncle Jax and Aunt Brenda needed more than a little push and Brooke knew it. She was just a kid but even she saw how much they wanted to love each other; how much they really needed to love each other. Brooke was going to make it happen; even if it was the last thing she did.

“Brooke? Sweetie is something wrong?”
“Nope, I’m just tired” she said as she glanced at the empty door.
“Are you feeling ok? I could go get your mom.”
“I’m fine, really”
“Well ok then. So my young princess…. What story would you like to hear tonight?”
“Umm… How about one that I’ve never heard before.”
“Ok. I’ll tell you the story about how your dad became rock star!”
“No, I want a story about true love”
“Love? How is it that someone so young is already obsessed with love?”
“Mommy said that it’s the most important thing in life. If you have it then you can do anything” she said looking away suddenly.

But Brenda had seen the fear and sadness in her eyes and she understood why. It was so easy to forget what circumstances had brought Brenda back to Port Charles in the first place. It wasn’t because of Jax or the plan of winning him back; it was Brooke and the fact that she had leukemia. Looking at her now you could hardly tell that her young god daughter was fighting war inside herself and she was losing.

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Jax looked at his watch impatiently as he hurried up the stairs to Brooke’s room. A part of him wished he had turned her down when she asked him to tuck her in but he was never really good at ever telling her no. Maybe if it had been any other night he wouldn’t have minded but Brenda’s presence had already begun to change everything. Their confrontation before dinner had been especially hard because he knew how much his words had hurt her. He recognized the look of pain and desperation in her eyes; it had been burned into his memory from the day they almost got married. It was the day he decided to walk away from her and the pain and disappointment that would one day come when she’d leave him for Sonny. So he made the only choice he thought he could and to this very day; this very moment he was still trying to come to grips with it.

For the past two years he’d lived his life the best he could without her, wrapping himself in his work and in his young god daughter Brooke. In a way she had become the only light; the only magic is drab life, but even that was now in danger. Every moment counted and he understood that more now than ever. No matter how difficult things were about to get, Brooke and what she needed and wanted would always come first.

When Jax reached the top of the stairs he noticed a faint light creeping from the Brookes’ door and the light murmur of voices coming from inside. Then quietly he peered thru the doorway and was surprised to find that Brenda was already tucking Brooke into bed. Relieved that he had avoided another uncomfortable confrontation, he turned to leave but paused when he heard Brenda begin to tell a story he knew all too well.

“Once upon a time in a far away land there lived a young princess and those who looked upon her thought her the luckiest girl in the whole world. She had beauty, wealth, and many friends, but the young princess was still very sad because she had yet to find true love. Many told her to be patient; that one day love would eventually find her and make her happy but she began to lose hope and with every passing year she grew more lonely and bitter. Then one day the princess gave up on love and her heart broke and shattered into a million pieces; never to love again. But then some amazing happened she met a young prince who was able to see her as she truly was inside. He was handsome, smart and brave because he saw past the princess’ tricks and lies and he loved her anyway. Love had finally found her but her heart still laid in jagged pieces, too damaged to love him the way she wanted to. But the prince refused to give up on her and he vowed to fix her broken heart one day. For months he tried; he bought her extravagant gifts, wisked her across the globe and even bought her a magic lamp but nothing seemed to work and the princess grew weary. Then one day the prince came to her and proclaimed that he had found the solution. Taking the princess’ hand he placed it over his own heart so she could feel it as it beat wildly in his chest. He told the princess that from that day forward they would share one heart; beating together always; never sad or alone; never broken and never apart for as long as they both lived. And the princess looked into his eyes and believed him and on that day love found her and she was finally happy.”

As the last of story passed thru Brenda’s lips she felt the tears as they ran down her cheeks. She was thankful that Brooke had fallen asleep only minutes before her breakdown; she never would have understood her tears. Quietly she rose from the bed, so not to wake her young princess and was practically to the door when she noticed Jax standing in the doorway with what looked like tears in his eyes.

“So is that how the story ends?”