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"What?" Sonny asked, turning to
see what made her do it. He kept an arm
tight around her even as Jane Jacks
angrily stormed up to Brenda.
"Mrs. Jacks, hello-" Brenda was
silenced by a piercing slap across her
cheek. Brenda gasped again
and stepped back.
Sonny placed his body in front of
hers, saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what
the hell is going on here?"
A crowd started to gather as Jane
peeked over Sonny's shoulder,
shouting, "Where's my granddaughter,
Brenda?!!!"
Brenda couldn't believe this was
happening. Not now. Not after she had
finally gotten Sonny back. "Wh-Jane,
I don't know what the hell you are
talking about."
Joe came fumbling through the crowd.
"Hey, look, what the hell is going
on here?"
"Where is she?!" Jane screamed. "WHERE THE HELL IS SHE!?!"
Brenda licked her lips, looking
tearfully from Sonny's face into Jane's,
and then around to all of her friends.
Brenda looked angrily into
Jane's face, not going to let her
get the best of her. "You think I'm
going to tell you that, Jane? You
think I'm going to do that!?"
"YES, I DO!" Jane snapped. "I want
you to tell me where Alexandra is,
Brenda, or I swear to you, not
even God will be able prevent the things
that I will do to you!"
"Don't talk to her that way," Sonny stepped in.
Jane's eyes narrowed when
she saw Sonny. "You." She said, disapproval
etched in every syllable of her
words. "The man she left my son for.
You're just as bad as she is! All
of you are!" Jane looked back at
Brenda. "You listen to me, you
ungrateful, disrespectful, conceited
little WENCH!" Brenda blinked back
sudden tears, and Sonny grasped her
gently by the arms. "And you listen
good," Jane continued. "I will find
out where Alexandra is. And I will
take her from you, and YOU will never
hear or see her ever again, and
then you can send me a postcard and let
me know how it feels, not knowing
where one of your children is! I'll
get you! You can count on that!"
Brenda watched, tears now rolling
freely down her face, as Jane Jacks
rushed through the crowd of people
and out the door. Sonny felt her
shudders and began to steer her
away when Joe slowly walked up to them.
"Bren, maybe you should go. You
look..." Joe frowned slightly as Brenda
let out a sob and rushed off.
Sonny sighed and looked into Joe's
face apologetically, "I'm sorry."
Then he rushed after her.
******************************
Sonny found her leaning against
her car, sobbing so hard it shook her
body. "Baby?" Sonny whispered
softly. She didn't reply, and Sonny
wrapped his arms around her from
behind. He rocked her back and forth,
holding her tightly. "Baby, don't
cry. Sweetie, I love you, okay?" She
nodded, but continued to cry. "Jesus,
I love you so much. I hate seeing
you cry. Come here." Brenda turned
and rushed into his arms again,
sobbing into his strong chest.
"Don't let go of me, Sonny," She begged. "Please."
He shook his head. "Never. Ever,
ever, in a lifetime." After a few
moments, Sonny sighed and gently
took her hand. "Come here, sweetie."
"Where are we going?" Brenda asked, walking closely behind him.
"You'll see." Brenda heard him say.
After a few moments, Brenda gasped
through her tears. "Sonny. . ." He
had taken her to the docks, and
was leading her down to their bench.
Brenda gazed lovingly into his
face. "You're unbelievable," She
whispered.
"Naah. I just wanted to see that
beautiful smile of yours again. And I
think I have the answer."
"What?"
"Sit." She did so, and turned to
face him. Sonny took her face in his
hands and kissed her cheek. Then,
slowly, he reached behind his neck to
unclasp the chain he had worn for
several years. Brenda leaned in to
kiss him, deeply and passionately,
trying to block out the humiliation
of that evening. She felt Sonny
take one of her hands off of her face,
and then felt something cool sliding
along her finger. She broke free
and looked down at her hands. She
gasped. "Sonny!" Resting on her finger
was his mother's engagement ring,
the same one she hadn't seen in years.
She brought her hand up to examine
it, the chain dangling from the band,
and was pleased to see it was in
mint condition.
"Will you be my wife?" Sonny whispered
against her cheek. "Will you
trust me when I tell you that nothing--not
even my fears of losing
you--will stop me from making you
my bride?"
Brenda nodded as fresh, new tears
fell. "I love you so much!" She
whispered, throwing her arms around
his neck and kissing him.
"I don't ever want to lose you,
ever again," Sonny whispered into her
ear.
Brenda smiled, and shook her head.
"You won't! You never, ever will, I
promise. I'm not letting you go."
"Bren?" Brenda looked up from
where she and Sonny were sitting to see
Joe, Karen, Frank, and Mary standing
at the top of the stairs.
"Sweetheart are you alright?" Mary
asked as she walked down the stairs.
Brenda stood and walked to meet
her. Mary hugged her.
"I'm fine Ma."
"You sure Bren?" Joe asked
as he, Karen, and Frank came down the
stairs.
"Yeah Joey."
"Who was that woman?" Frank asked.
"Lady Jane." Brenda said dryly.
"What?"
"That was Jane Jacks. Jax's mother. Alex's grandmother."
"That woman dared to show her face here?" Mary was outraged.
"Ma calm down."
"I will not. That woman and
her family are nothing but a bunch of dirty
bums."
"You said it Mary." Sonny said.
"What's with this Mary business?
I was married to your father. You
call me Ma."
"I'd listen to her if I were you honey."
"Me too Sonny."
"Listen you guys before we go back inside I want to tell you something."
"What is it Bren?" Karen asked.
"We're getting married." Brenda said indicating herself and Sonny.
"Aaaah!" Karen shrieked as she threw
her arms around Brenda, hugging
her. Mary hugged Sonny. Then
they switched. Then Frank and Joe took
turns hugging Brenda and shaking
Sonny's hand.
"Are you guys gonna get married
soon?" Karen asked once they all calmed
down.
"I don't know." Brenda looked at
Sonny and an idea started to form in
her head. "Why don't you
guys head back to the party? We'll be there
soon."
"Okay. Don't be too long.
We wanna announce the engagement." Mary
said as they left.
"Sonny?"
"Yeah baby?"
"How long do you wanna wait to get married?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"I was just think that maybe we
shouldn't wait. Maybe we should go in
there announce our engagement,
make a graceful exit, go home, pack, get
the kids, borrow Jason's plane,
go to the Grand Cayman, and get
married."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. I don't wanna wait.
So what do you think?"
"Baby?" Sonny whispered, taking her hands in his.
"Hmm?"
"I love the idea, but. . .if I'm
going to marry you tonight, I just want
it to be you and I. No kids."
"But-" Sonny placed a finger along her lips.
"After we get married, we'll still
be stuck with them and what kind of
honeymoon will that be? You know
I love our children, but I want this
night to be for you and me."
Brenda smiled. "Well. . .It would be nice..."
"But we can always wait-"
"No!" Brenda whispered fiercely.
"I want to be your wife tonight, Sonny.
I don't want to wait another second
to marry you."
Sonny gazed into her face seriously.
"But how can you just...trust me
like that again? After everything
that I've done to you, after
everything that's happened-"
"Because." Brenda placed his hand
over her heart. "I know you, right
here, sweetheart. I just have this
overwhelming feeling that we're going
to make it this time. I can't wait.
I love you so very much, baby. So,
so much. Even after everything."
Sonny sighed and pulled her into
a hug. "Good. What do you say we blow
this joint?"
Brenda giggled excitedly. "Ahh! We're going to do this?"
"You bet, sweetheart. Right now.
This time tomorrow, we'll be husband
and wife."
Brenda shrieked and threw her arms
around his neck. "I love you! I love
you!" She shouted it happily as
Sonny threw her over his shoulder and
carried her up the stairs.
************
An hour later, they were lounging
comfortably on Jason's private plane,
after having announced their engagement,
rushed to the cottage to say
goodbye to their children, pack,
and then get to the airport. Jason had
woken his pilot up and begged him
to take his friends to the Cayman
Islands.
Sonny was kissing her neck, whispering
sweet love words into her ear.
Brenda sighed and reached for his
lips. They kissed slowly, hungrily,
before Brenda pulled back.
"Hold on." She smiled. "There's something that we need to discuss."
"What, sweetie?" He ran his fingers through her hair.
"Now that we're married--or about
to be--I want to make sure something
is absolutely clear."
"What?"
"Your business."
Sonny groaned. "It's not my business, it's Jason's."
"Sonny, you and I both know that
you can never fully be out of that
business! It's not possible!"
"Of course it isn't, but-"
"Sonny-"
"Please, can we talk about this
later? I just want to hold you, baby,
let's forget this for now."
Brenda sighed, but ended up smiling.
"If you weren't so damn cute, I'd
say no." They kissed, and Brenda
leaned back against his chest,
anxiously awaiting her new life.
************
Brenda stared at herself excitedly
in the mirror of their honeymoon
suite. The dress was perfect, fell
just beneath her knees -her new
favorite style- in lace and satin.
The dress had a surplice top, and
revealed quite a lot of cleavage.
Sonny smiled as he came out behind
her, in another simple black tux, but
with a vest underneath. He smiled
and kissed her neck. "You're almost as
tall as me with those stupid heels
on."
Brenda laughed. "Are you ready to
marry me, honey?" She nuzzled his
neck.
"Damn straight." He held out his hand and she took it.
"Here we go!" Brenda said excitedly.
Sonny looked anxiously at Brenda
as she stood next to him at the altar.
Since there were no guests she
didn't want to walk down the aisle. She
and Sonny stood before the minister
in a small chapel overlooking the
beach.
"Are we ready to start?" he asked.
"Yes." Brenda and Sonny whispered together.
"Alright then." He opened
the bible and started to speak. "Dearly
beloved we gathered here today
to join Michael and Brenda in holy
matrimony. Do you Michael take
Brenda to be your lawfully wedded wife to
have and to hold, for richer, for
poorer, as long as you both shall
live?"
"I do." Sonny smiled.
"Do you Brenda take Michael to be
your lawfully wedded husband to have
and to hold, for richer, for poorer,
as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." Brenda whispered.
"The rings please?"
"Oh God. Sonny we forgot the rings."
"No we didn't." Sonny took the rings out of his breast pocket.
"When did you...?"
"While you were picking out your
dress." He turned to the minister.
"Here you are."
"Thank you. Michael take the ring
for Brenda and repeat after me."
Sonny listened to him. "I
give you this ring as a symbol of my love and
fidelity."
"I give you this ring as a symbol
of my love and fidelity." Sonny said
sliding the ring on to Brenda's
finger.
"Now Brenda take the ring for Michael
and repeat after me." Brenda
complied. "I give you this
ring as a symbol of my love and fidelity."
"I give you this ring as a symbol
of my love and fidelity." Brenda said
tearfully.
"Now since I trust there are no
objections. I now pronounce you man and
wife. You may kiss the bride."
Sonny grabbed Brenda and pulled her
close and kissed her.
"I love you." he whispered when they pulled apart.
"I love you, too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sonny I can't believe you did this."
Brenda exclaimed. Sonny had
rented a private room and ordered
dinner for the two of them after the
ceremony.
"I wanted tonight to be special."
"I think the wedding took care of
that." Brenda giggled. "God do you
know how happy I am right this
second?"
"I think I have an idea. I love you."
"I love you too. Do you know
if this is a dream I never want to wake
up?"
"It's no dream. We're married and
as a newly married couple it's
tradition to dance."
"That's right it is. But to what?"
"This." Sonny made a motion and music filled the air.
(When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched
me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're
still the one I love.)
Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday
They said, "I bet they'll never
make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going
strong
(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for
life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good
night
Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'
They said, "I bet they'll never
make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going
strong
(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for
life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good
night
(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for
life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good
night
"Sonny?"
"Hmm?"
"Let's go upstairs."
"Right behind you baby."
Sonny and Brenda hurried upstairs to celebrate their union.