The beach, up on shore.
Ned: (taking a bite of his chocolate mousse) �This is so good.�
Alexis: (taking a bite of hers) �Sinful.� She grins. �I don�t know how you managed to find chocolate mousse in Indonesia, let alone get it as takeout.�
Ned: �What can I say? I�m gifted.�
Alexis: (kissing him) �You sure are.�
Ned: �You look amazing tonight, Mrs. Ashton.�
Alexis is wearing a long black satin dress with spaghetti straps and slits up the sides. Her hair is up in a loose bun. Ned is wearing a black suit.
Ned: �Are you sure about drinking champagne?�
Alexis: �Well, after this trip, I am done breastfeeding, so I can drink it. Besides, it�s our wedding anniversary. We always have the champagne we had at our wedding.�
Ned: �And wasn�t it nice of me to bring a bottle?�
Alexis: �What? Were you going to drink it alone?�
Ned: �Of course not. I thought you might decide to have a sip.�
Alexis: �A sip? Try a glass or two.�
Ned pours them both a glass.
Ned: �To you, Alexis Brinna.�
Alexis: �To you, Edward Lawrence.�
They chink the glasses together and intertwining their arms, take a sip.
Alexis: �That tastes so good.�
Ned: �I have something for you.� He pulls an envelope out of his jacket pocket and hands it to her.
Alexis opens the envelope and pulls out a deed. She looks totally shocked.
Alexis: �You�re kidding, right? How did you know...?�
Ned: �You told me once that your dream when you were little was to have a sailboat and escape from Greece and sail around the world.�
Alexis: (her eyes tearing up) �So you bought me a sailboat?�
Ned: �Yep.� He smiles. �I hope you like it.�
Alexis: �Where... when... how?�
Ned: (smiling at her shock) �It�s parked at the Port Charles Marina. It�s named The Brinna.�
Alexis starts crying as she puts her arms around Ned.
Ned: �I didn�t mean to make you cry.�
Alexis: �I�m not upset... I am so touched... Ned, thank you... I can�t wait to go sailing.�
Ned: �Do you know how to sail?�
Alexis: (smiling sheepishly) �Don�t you think that if I knew how, I would have been out of Greece a whole lot sooner?�
Ned: (laughing) �I know how. I�ll teach you.� He grins. �By the way, the name of the boat is written in ice blue script.�
Alexis: �I love you.� She laughs. �Man, my present is really lame compared to yours.�
Ned: �What is it?�
Alexis: �Maybe I�m a little selfish, because I bought you this thing with an ulterior motive.�
Ned: �What is it?�
Alexis: �I�m not going to tell you. You�ll see when we get home.�
Meanwhile, in Port Charles.
Ten o�clock a.m. at the Ashtons� house.
Julia and Mackenzie are watching a movie as the kids sleep.
The doorbell rings and Mackenzie runs to get the door.
Deliveryman: �I have a delivery here for Alexis Davis-Ashton.�
Mackenzie: �I�ll sign for it. I�m her... sister.� She signs the order form and the deliverymen wheel in a black baby grand piano.
Deliveryman: �Where do you want it?�
Julia: �What the hell is that?�
Deliveryman: �It�s a piano. Look, Lady, I don�t have all day, so make up your mind.�
Mackenzie: �Uh, I need to call my sister. Can you hang on?�
The man grunts as Mackenzie races to the phone and dials Alexis� cell phone.
Back in Bali.
Ned and Alexis are kissing when her cell phone rings. Alexis reaches for it.
Alexis: �Yeah? I mean, Alexis Davis-Ashton.�
Mackenzie: �It�s Mackenzie. I�m at your house. Sorry to interrupt you, but there is a man standing here with a piano.�
Alexis: (laughing) �Yeah, that�s Ned�s anniversary present.�
Mackenzie: �They want to know where you want it.�
Alexis: �Uh, I was thinking in the living room. Can you and Julia do a little rearranging?�
Mackenzie: �Okay. By the way, Lex, that�s an awesome present.�
Alexis: �Thank you. I do try. How are the kids?�
Mackenzie: �Sleeping. Julia let Avery stay up all night watching Spice World.�
Julia: (in the background) �I did not! It was Jax�s idea!�
Alexis: (laughing) �Kiss the girls for us, and we�ll call tomorrow.�
Ned: (in the background) �If we�re out of bed.�
Mackenzie: (laughing) �I heard that. Have a great anniversary. Bye.�
As soon as Alexis turns off her phone, Ned knocks her on her back into the sand.
Ned: (hovering above her) �What did you buy me that Julia and Mackenzie have to rearrange our living room?�
Alexis: �I�m not telling you.�
Ned: �Why not?� he�s begging. �Alexis, please?�
Alexis: �Nope. You always have the upper hand with me and now it�s my turn.� She�s clearly enjoying this.
Ned leans down and begins to tickle her.
Alexis: (laughing hysterically) �Ned, stop! Ned!�
Ned: �I can�t hear you!� he continues to tickle her.
Alexis manages to wiggle out of his grasp and jumps on top of him. She sits up so that she is straddling him as he lies down.
Ned: �I like where this is leading.�
Alexis: �It�s not leading anywhere. I just want to keep you from attacking me again.�
Ned: �You truly think I can�t attack you from this position?�
Alexis throws a handful of sand at him.
Ned: �You little...�
Alexis stands up and races off across the sand. Ned is right behind her.
Alexis: �Leave me alone, you mean man!�
Ned: �I�m going to get you, Alexis!�
He catches up to her, grabs hold of her hand, and pulls her to him.
Ned: �Now you�re my prisoner.� He kisses her.
Alexis: �You�ll hear no complaints from me.� She kisses him back, and then pulls away. �You know what I feel like doing right now?�
Ned: �What?�
Alexis: �I want to go for a midnight swim.�
Ned: �Doable.�
Alexis: �Naked.�
Ned: �Even more doable.�
Alexis: �And then I want you to carry me back to the condo, take me to bed and make love to me all night long.�
Ned: �What are we waiting for?�
They strip off their clothes and race into the water. Alexis screams as the cold water hits her. Ned laughs and takes off swimming. Alexis follows him.
They stop swimming about two hundred feet out. Treading water, they face each other.
Ned can see Alexis� huge brown eyes in the moonlight. Her hair is wet and around her face. She looks adorable.
Ned: �I love you.�
Alexis: �I love you too. Happy anniversary.�
That night in Port Charles.
Wyndemere.
Christabel stands outside Stefan�s study, listening to him and Mackenzie argue.
Stefan: �Don�t lie to me!�
Mackenzie: �I�m not lying, Stefan! I didn�t do anything!�
Inside the study, Mackenzie and Stefan are facing off.
Stefan: �So you�re saying that you had nothing to do with ELQ trying to buy some of Cassadine Industries� stocks?�
Mackenzie: �Why would I do that?�
Stefan: (furious) �Because Ned is your brother!�
Mackenzie: �Stefan, you can believe what you want, but I didn�t do it.� She smiles sadly. �There are some things I just won�t do. Like steal secrets from my job, even for my family. Ned would never ask me to either.�
Stefan: �How do you know that?�
Mackenzie: �Don�t you dare question my relationship with my brother!�
Stefan: �Well, someone should.�
Mackenzie: �You�re hardly one to talk about sibling relations! You and Alexis just started speaking to each other again!�
Stefan: �And?�
Mackenzie: (suddenly it hits her) �Stefan, were you sleeping with me to keep me from telling company secrets to my brother? Did you figure it would keep me quiet?�
Stefan: �NO! I would never do that!�
Mackenzie: �How do I know that?�
Stefan: �This attempted buy is just Ned�s style.�
Mackenzie: �He is in BALI for God�s sake! He and Alexis are on vacation!�
Stefan: �He still could have...�
Mackenzie: (opening the door) �I refuse to listen to this. I�m leaving.�
Stefan: �Where are you going? You live here!�
Mackenzie: �I am going to Alexis� house. Julia is there. Don�t follow me.�
Stefan: �If you walk out that door, you will live to regret it!�
Mackenzie: �Are you threatening me?�
Stefan: �If you leave, I will know that you are guilty.�
Mackenzie: �Take your opinions and go to hell.� She storms into the hall and sees Christabel, who is crying quietly.
Mackenzie: �What�s wrong, Sweetie?�
Christabel: �Don�t go! Please!� she cries harder as Stefan comes out.
Stefan: �Christabel, why are you crying?�
Christabel: �She can�t go! She�s �posed to be my new mommy!�
Stefan and Mackenzie look at each other guiltily.
Mackenzie: �I�m not going forever, Christabel. I just need to be away from your daddy for a little while.�
Christabel: �Where are you going?�
Mackenzie: �I am going to stay with Julia, Jax, Hannah and Avery at Aunt Alexis� house.�
Christabel: �Can I come?�
Stefan: �It�s may I, and you most certainly may not.�
Christabel: (pleading) �Please! I wanna go with you!� she starts to cry again.
Mackenzie looks at Stefan.
Stefan: �No.�
Mackenzie: �Let me take her.�
Stefan: �She is not your daughter.�
Mackenzie: �I know that. But I am the closest thing she has to a mother.�
Stefan: �I don�t want you dragging my child into this.�
Mackenzie: �Just let me take her to Alexis�.� she smiles sarcastically. �You can use the time alone to find out who is actually after Cassadine Industries.�
Stefan: (glaring at her) �Fine. Take her with you, but nothing better happen to her.�
Mackenzie: �Christabel, go get Adrienne.�
Christabel, happy she won, runs off to get her doll.
Stefan: �Mackenzie, you know that I love you.�
Mackenzie: �I don�t know what I think.�
When Christabel returns, she picks her up and they leave.
Five minutes later. Julia answers the door to find them on the porch with their bags.
Julia: �Mackenzie, Christabel, what are you doing here?�
Mackenzie: (her voice drained of emotion) �Can we stay here tonight?�
Christabel: �It�s may we.�
Julia: �Sure.� She ushers them inside. �What�s wrong?�
Mackenzie: (looking at Christabel) �Where�s Avery?�
Julia: �Upstairs with Jax. They�re playing Nintendo 64. Christabel, you can join them if you want.�
Christabel: �Okay.� She runs up the stairs as Mackenzie throws herself onto the couch.
Julia: (joining her) �Okay, little sister, what is going on here?�
Mackenzie: �Someone made a move on some Cassadine Industries� stocks today and Stefan thinks that I slipped Ned information to get them.�
Julia: �You�re kidding.�
Jax: (upstairs) �Avery, you won again! Aw, man!�
Mackenzie: (smiling dispite herself) �I was such a bitch to him! I asked him if he was sleeping with me to keep me from telling Ned stuff.�
Julia: �Ouch.�
Mackenzie: �But I couldn�t help it! I�ve been attacked so many times that I automatically get defensive.� Her eyes fill with tears. �But I really do love him.�
Julia: �I know.� She hugs her. �Stefan Cassadine is a very complex man.�
Mackenzie: �What am I going to do? He doesn�t trust me.�
Julia: �You know, every couple goes through something like this.�
Mackenzie: �I don�t believe that. Look at Ned and Alexis. I can�t see them going at it like we were.�
Julia: �Believe me, they have. They got into a huge fight a while back about Alexis� old boyfriend.�
Mackenzie: �I think that Kimberly said something about that.�
Julia: �My point is that these things happen. You just need a little time alone.�
Mackenzie: �Do you think that Alexis is going to mind us staying here tonight?�
Julia: �Not at all. By the way, why is Christabel with you? Last time I checked, she was Stefan�s daughter.�
Mackenzie: �She completely lost it when she found out I was leaving. She begged me to take her with me, and Stefan finally agreed.�
Julia: �Why would she want to leave her father and go with you? She used to be so clingy to Stefan.�
Mackenzie: �She said something about how I�m supposed to be her new mommy.� She gulps. �What if this doesn�t work out with Stefan? Christabel is going to be crushed.�
Julia: (reassuringly) �It will. Trust me.�
Meanwhile, in Bali.
Ned and Alexis� condo. They are asleep in bed.
Ned opens his eyes and focuses on Alexis, who is still sleeping. He pulls her closer to him and kisses the top of her head.
Alexis opens her eyes slowly and smiles.
Alexis: �Good morning, Mr. Ashton.�
Ned: �I am not speaking to you unless you tell me what you bought me.�
Alexis: �Not this again! We�re going home in two days! Can�t you wait?�
Ned: �No. I could have given you your present at home too, but unlike you, I�m a nice person.�
Alexis: (laughing) �This is killing you, isn�t it? Ned Ashton not getting his way.�
Ned: �You�re lucky that you�re my wife or I�d have to beat you up for this.�
Alexis: �Nah. You�re a nice person, remember?� she snickers. �Besides, I haven�t actually seen my sailboat yet.�
Ned: �But I told you about it.� He glares at her. �Can I at least have a hint?�
Alexis: �Fine.� She thinks about it for a minute. �It�s not green.�
Ned: �What kind of hint is that?�
Alexis: (smirking) �The Alexis Davis-Ashton kind of hint.� She jumps out of bed and runs into the bathroom before Ned can grab her.
Ned can hear her laughing as she turns on the shower and gets in.
Alexis: (singing from the bathroom) �I know something you don�t know!�
Ned gets out of bed and goes into the bathroom.
Alexis is in the shower with her head under the water. She doesn�t see him.
In one quick movement, Ned sticks his hand into the shower and turns the temperature knob all of the way over to cold.
Alexis screams at the top of her lungs as the cold water hits her.
Alexis: �NED! YOU ARE NOT FUNNY!� She turns the water back to hot and then sticks her head out of the shower and glares at Ned, who is innocently brushing his teeth.
Ned: �What did I do?�
Alexis: �You are going down for this!�
Ned: �Right. I�m so scared. Are you going to tell me now?�
Alexis: �No. But I am going to invite you to join me in here.�
Ned grins, and shedding his boxers, climbs into the shower with her.
Ned: (wrapping his arms around her waist as she stands with her back to him.) �I hope you don�t have frostbite now.�
Alexis: (turning around) �I will get you back for this.�
Ned: �I�ll look forward to it.�
Alexis rolls her eyes and splashes water in his face.
Late that night.
Alexis rolls over in bed to make sure that Ned is still sleeping. She then crawls out of bed and takes her cell phone into the bathroom, dialing her home number.
Julia: �Hello, Ashton residence.�
Alexis: (whispering) �Ooh, eloquent. I like it.�
Julia: �Alexis, hey!�
Jax: (in the background) �It�s Alexis? I want to talk to her.� He goes and picks up the extension. �Hey there, Bali girl!�
Alexis: �Hey. How is it going?�
Jax: �Why are you whispering?� she looks at her watch. �And isn�t it like four am there?�
Alexis: �Yeah, it is, and Ned is sleeping. I don�t want him to wake up and hear me talking. I was wondering, when we get home, could you and the kids not be there?�
Julia: �I�m assuming that you want to show him his gift in private?�
Alexis: �Yeah. Is that going to be a problem?�
Jax: �None at all. We�ll go to my place.� He grins at Julia. �I mean, our place. You can pick the girls up in the morning. We�re having fun with them.�
Julia: �So, did you tell Ned about the piano?�
Alexis: �Nope, and he is going absolutely ballistic about it. He even turned the water to cold when I was in the shower this morning to get me back for not telling him. He�s like a little kid who can�t wait for Christmas.�
Julia: �I hope you�re planning on getting him back for this.�
Alexis: �Tenfold.� She grins. �Any ideas on how?�
Jax: �You could tie him to your bed and leave.�
Julia: �Or, that could turn into an advantage for both of you.�
Jax: �But you have to torture him a little first.�
Alexis: (laughing) �I am so there! I wonder where I can find string.�
Julia: �You don�t need string, do you have nylons?�
Alexis: �Julia, I owe you for this! You two are geniuses!�
Jax: �We know. You don�t have to tell us.�
Julia: �Just be sure to tell us about what happened when he woke up.� She pauses. �By the way, Mackenzie and Christabel are staying here. Mackenzie had a huge fight with Stefan.�
Alexis: �About what?�
Julia: �Someone tried to sabotage Cassadine Industries� stocks, and Stefan accused Mackenzie of giving company secrets to her dear old brother so he could do it.�
Alexis: �Oh please. Have her ask Stefan how Ned could steal stocks when he is in Indonesia. I�d really like to hear his reasoning on that one.�
Jax: �She�s pretty upset. Christabel threw a fit when she found out that Mackenzie was leaving, and begged Mackenzie to take her with her. Stefan agreed. I think he wanted to spare himself the major tantrum that was going to happen when Mackenzie left.�
Alexis: �So, how many people are staying at my house now?�
Julia: �Do you think that Mackenzie and Christabel can stay with you for a couple more days when you get home? Mackenzie wants to see Ned. Also, she doesn�t want to go home and face Stefan.�
Jax: �But none of us will be around when you get home tomorrow night. And, we�ll do a little mood decorating for you.�
Alexis: �Aw, you guys are so sweet!�
Jax: �The bill will be in the mail next week.�
Julia: �Ignore him. It�s out pleasure.�
Alexis: (yawning) �I�m going back to sleep now, so I�ll see you later.�
Julia: �Bye.�
Alexis turns her cell phone off and goes back into the bedroom. Pulling two pairs of nylons out of a the dresser, she ties both of Ned�s arms to the bedpost and then gets into bed and goes to sleep.
Bali. Eight a.m.
Ned wakes up to find that he is tied to the bed.
Ned: �ALEXIS!�
Alexis opens her eyes and looks at him, stifling a laugh.
Alexis: �Good morning, darling.�
Ned: �Untie me RIGHT NOW!�
Alexis: �Nope.�
Ned: �Whose idea was this?�
Alexis: (to herself) �Remind me to send Julia and Jax a thank you card.�
Ned: �Julia and Jax told you to tie me to the bed? You little brat!�
Alexis: (laughing) �Room service should be here soon.�
Ned: �How am I supposed to eat?�
Alexis: �I never said the room service was for you.� She grins. �Besides, you are in no position to eat breakfast.�
Ned: �This is grounds for a major lawsuit.�
Alexis: �It�s too bad it�s your lawyer who tied you to the bed, huh?� she leans over and kisses him. �I don�t react too well to cold water hitting me in the shower.�
Ned: �Apparently not.� He smiles. �Please untie me?�
Alexis: �Later.� She laughs. �Much later.�
Just then, there is a knock at the door, and Alexis goes to get the room service.
She returns holding a bowl of strawberries and a can of whipped cream.
Ned: �THAT is your breakfast?�
Alexis: �No comment.� She goes over to the bed and slowly squirts the whipped cream all over Ned�s chest and lips, and slowly begins to lick it off.
Ned: �Oh god... that feels... oh Alexis...�
Alexis: (laughing) �I take it you like what I�m doing? How about when I do this?� she slips her nightgown off and removes his boxer shorts.
Climbing on top of him, Alexis begins to make love to Ned.
Ned: (panting) �You really won�t untie me?�
Alexis: �No way. It�s more fun this way!� She continues to make love to him, as he moans in ecstasy.
Night in Port Charles. The Ashtons� house.
Julia: (lying in bed, looking at Jax) �I wonder how Alexis� bondage idea is going.�
Jax: �Knowing those two, they�re enjoying it.�
Julia: (pondering) �Maybe we should try it.�
Jax: �Here? Now?�
Julia: �I meant when Alexis and Ned get back, and we get home.�
Jax: �I�ll call the hotel in the morning to make sure that they have whipped cream in the Grill�s kitchen.�
Julia: (grinning) �I�ll take that as a yes.�
Jax: �That is such a yes!� he leans over and kisses her. �I love you, Julia.�
Julia: �I love you too.�