Chapter 22

6:59 AM

Jack slept peacefully as visions of Ally gliding toward him in a white dress filled his head. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he enjoyed the wonderful image.

~*~ I am amazed
When I look at you
I see you smiling back at me
It's like all my dreams come true
I am afraid
If I lost you girl
I'd fall through the cracks and lose my track
In this crazy lonely world

Sometimes it's so hard to believe
When the nights can be so long
And faith gave me the strength
And kept me holding on

You are the love of my life
And I'm so glad you found me
You are the love of my life
Baby put your arms around me
I guess this is how it feels
When you finally find something real
My angel in the night
You are my love
The love of my life. ~*~

Jack realized the song he thought was part of his dream was actually coming from the clock radio when he opened his eyes to greet the day. He was used to the vibrant tunes of local rock station waking him, but with Ally on his mind he changed the station to easy listening the night before. As this song played on, it made him think of her even more. The love of his life? He sighed. She was that, that and more. Today he would promise himself to her forever and now he was counting the minutes until he said ‘I do". He ached to pick up the phone and call, just to hear her voice, but they had agreed, no contact until after the graduation ceremony. He had gone 13 hours without seeing or talking to her, somehow he find a way to go 3 ½ more, and soon thereafter, she’d be his forever. When the last string of the song played, Jack grabbed a shower, and after changing into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt went into the kitchen for some breakfast.

Chris was at the table having a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper when Jack entered the kitchen.

The sound of the love song Jack was humming came to a sudden end when his uncle’s inquisitive gaze met his.

"Good morning, Jack," Chris greeted as he folded the paper and placed it on the table. "What’s got you in such a good mood, or do I even need to ask?"

The cheery tone of Chris’ greeting lost its edge towards the end, but Jack wouldn’t let the dour tone dampen his spirits. Today was his wedding day and nothing could bring him down from the emotional high he was feeling, not even his uncle’s negative attitude. "Is there something wrong with being happy?" Jack questioned as he poured some Frosted Flakes into a bowl.

"No, but I just have to wonder…"

Removing a spoon from the nearby drawer, Jack approached the refrigerator for some milk. "Wonder about what, Uncle Chris?"

"Well, a couple of weeks ago you came to me and said that you couldn’t give up going to Columbia because your relationship with Allison Harmon was going to change."

"I remember that," Jack said, coming to the table and taking a seat after pouring milk over his dry cereal. "I also remember telling you I was going to keep seeing her."

"Yes, until things changed," Chris reminded him. "Except I don’t see anything changing. If anything you seem to be getting closer to her."

"Does it seem that way? Hmm," Jack shrugged, getting a perverse kick out of the game of ambiguity he was playing on his uncle. "It’s funny you should mention that change because today I plan to make it clear to Allison exactly where she stands where I’m concerned. I really think now is the perfect time."

"Really?" Chris said, a pleased smile forming on his lips. "Doesn’t she graduate from high school today?"

"Yes, she does, but I think that makes what I have planned for her even sweeter. What do you think?" he asked, knowing full well that Chris thought this upcoming change was a breakup and not a marriage.

"I like it," Chris grinned. "Harmon is going to lose his mind when his little girl tells him what you did."

"No question," Jack agreed as he ate a spoonful of cereal. Matt was going to lose it big time when he heard about his and Ally’s marriage, there was no doubt about that.

Chris checked his watch and rose from the table. "I have to be going to the hospital now, but I expect full details from you later, huh?" he said, giving Jack’s shoulder three successive pats, as a huge smile of pride brightened his face.

"No need to worry about that, I’m sure you’ll hear all about it," Jack assured him as he watched Chris leave. "All about it."

~*~

The sound of her alarm blaring woke Ally from the restful sleep she managed to find after leaving her parents’ room. Seven o’clock. The morning had arrived and with it came a day that would change her life forever. In less than four hours she would be addressing her fellow classmates for the last time and later that same day she would be pledging her love and life to the man of her dreams…to Jack. Her heart fluttered wildly in anticipation. Leaping from the bed, she dashed over to the closet and gazed upon the dress she would be wearing that day. It was so beautiful. She smiled as her fingers splayed against the silk and lace creation as she held it against her pajama clad body. A twinge of disappointment colored her happiness as she remembered her parents wouldn’t be sharing in that wonderful moment. Placing the dress back in the closet, she shrugged it off and remembered that their not knowing wasn’t without reason. They would be told, but only after it was done, it was the only way.

Slipping on her robe, Ally decided to prepare breakfast. When she got to the kitchen she was surprised to find MJ there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, joining him at the stove.

"What does it look like?" he returned as he tended to the pancakes he just poured on the griddle. "I’m cooking breakfast. Being valedictorian, I would think you could figure that out."

"Ha-ha," Ally retorted. "I meant why are you doing it here? The last I checked you had an apartment with a fully functional kitchen."

MJ gave his sister a playful scowl. "I’m cooking a delicious breakfast for you and our folks and you want to question my intentions?"

"I’m not questioning your intentions, but I know more than just the urge to cook us breakfast brought you over here at 7 in the morning. Want to tell me what it is?"

"It’s no big deal, I had a little trouble sleeping so I came over to work out. When I was done, I decided to cook breakfast."

"How long were you here?" Ally asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the table.

"I got here about 3:30."

"Three-thirty?!" she exclaimed. "What’s on your mind that could prevent you from sleeping and get you here at 3:30 in the morning?"

What was on his mind, he thought? Well, there was Jensyn, Sal, the mobsters being released, Jensyn, Jensyn, Jensyn. "Just stuff," he answered. "Look, I don’t want to talk about me. How are things with you?"

A smile covered her face. "I’m great, everything is wonderful."

"Looks like it. If your smile were any brighter I’d have to wear shades to look at you. Would my assumption in that graduation isn’t the sole reason for that smile be correct?"

"Yes," Ally nodded. She had wanted to tell her brother about her plans with Jack for a while, but she never found the right time. Maybe it had just presented itself. "MJ, Jack and I have gotten very close and..."

"Whoa, whoa," he said, interrupting her flow of words. "We have a wonderful brother/sister relationship, and I’m happy you’re so happy, but this is something I think you should talk about with Mom, Grandma or Kelsey, not me."

Ally frowned. "You don’t even know what I was going to say."

Removing the cooked pancakes from the griddle, MJ poured on more batter and placed a frying pan on the left front burner. "I have a pretty good idea," he said as he cracked half a dozen eggs in a clear glass bowl.
"When someone smiles as brightly as you were just now and begins a sentence discussing how close he or she has gotten to someone of the opposite sex it’s usually about just that…sex. I like Jack, but I don’t want to entertain the thought of my little sister in flagrante delicto with anyone, thank you very much. I’m sure Mom will be more than happy to hear you out and I’m certain it would be a lot more comfortable for you and more importantly for me."

"I can’t tell Mom about this," she grumbled as she walked back over to the stove.

Adding salt and a dollop of milk to the eggs, MJ stirred the mixture. "Sure you can. You and Mom have had the talk; it’s the same thing."

"No, it’s not, it’s something totally different. Besides, if I told Mom, she’d tell Daddy and all the pleading in the world wouldn’t keep her from telling him."

MJ gives Ally a long stare. "I swear if you say you’re pregnant you won’t have to worry about Dad, I’ll kill Jack for him."

"Pregnant?!" she yelped. "For goodness sake, MJ, no, I’m not pregnant. I haven’t slept with Jack, yet."

"Yet, which means you want to, right?"

"Of course I want to, I love him very much. Are you going to let me tell you what’s on my mind?"

"I don’t know. Is it something you think I want to hear? Or better yet, if it’s something you don’t want to tell Mom because you know she would tell Dad, what makes you think I wouldn’t tell both of them?"

"Because I know you wouldn’t, especially if I asked you not to, and I would ask you not to."

"Why does it feel like you’re about to put me in the middle of something I want no part of? Ally, come with me," he said, taking her hand and leading her back to the table where he also took a seat. "You’re a very smart young woman, and you have good judgment. Whatever this is you want to tell me, I know it’s something I wouldn’t be able to talk you out of, right?"

"Right," she answered.

"Then what’s the point in telling me, especially if it’s something you’ll have to swear me to secrecy before you do?"

"Because I want you to know."

She wanted to tell him she going to have sex, he just knew it, and he was not ready to hear that. "Ally, I don’t want to know and in this case I’m begging you not to tell me, please," he shuddered, going back to the stove and pouring the eggs into the frying pan before he flipped the pancakes on the griddle.

"MJ?" she groaned, trailing behind him.

"Nope," he said shaking his head, "I don’t want to hear it."

"Fine, then I won’t tell you," she said in a tone she hoped would make him beg to know what was going on. It didn’t work.

Scrambling the eggs in the pan, MJ looked over his shoulder, "Good," he grinned as Ally tossed a dishtowel at him in mock disgust.

Twenty minutes later, when breakfast was all cooked, Matt and Ellen entered the kitchen.

"MJ, why are you here?" Matt wondered.

"You know, you all certainly know how to make a person feel welcome," he sarcastically remarked. "My parents and sister live here, I thought they would appreciate my coming over and cooking a nice pancake breakfast, especially on such a special occasion. Next time I’ll call first."

Ellen came over and gave MJ a hug. "Son, this is your home, we’re always happy to see you, and breakfast smells delicious, thank you."

"You’re welcome, Mom. I think I know where I get my graciousness from," he said as his eyes cut to Matt.

"I’m gracious," Matt replied as everyone got settled at the table. "I just figured you’d be sleeping in after your late night."

"My late night?" MJ repeated as he stacked three pancakes on his plate. Could Jensyn have talked to them, no, could she?

"Yes, we caught your broadcast last night. To say it was a surprise to hear those mob bosses were released would be an understatement."

"What mob bosses being released?" Ally asked as she poured butter maple syrup over her short pancake stack.

MJ turned to his sister, a look of shock on his face. "You didn’t watch me on the news last night?"

"The thrill is gone, MJ," she explained of watching him on the news. "What’s this about mobsters?"

"Three of the biggest mob bosses on the Eastern Seaboard were released from prison last night. They were sentenced to over a hundred years with no parole so that’s what makes this release such big news."

"Wow, that is big."

"I can only imagine what Mac and Dara are feeling right now," Ellen added.

"They worked the case that sent them away, right?" MJ remarked.

"Yes," Matt nodded. "Mac was police commissioner and Dara was the prosecutor. It was the last case they worked before leaving Port Charles. It took them years, but they had finally cleared up the mob scene. Over twenty years later, less than 3 weeks after they return to town these same mobsters are released from prison. Talk about timing?"

"You think the Scorpios knew this was going to happen?"

After swallowing a forkful of pancake, Matt took a drink of his coffee. "I doubt it," he explained. "From what I gathered in conversations with Mac and Dara, they came back to town to be close to Jensyn."

What was that flutter in his stomach at just hearing her name, MJ wondered?

"That’s my take, too," Ellen agreed. "I remembered how hard Mac and Dara worked on that case and if they had the slightest clue that Corinthos, Sorel and Moreno were going to be released, they would have done everything they could to stop it. No, I believe they are more shocked than any of us about that and since their daughter is on the police force, they are probably grilling her for any information she can give them."

MJ silently wished the Scorpios good luck in that quest. They would have better luck counting the number of sand grains on the beach than getting an ounce of information on this case from their daughter. Which in his mind equaled the chances it appeared he had of getting her to take him seriously…zero.

~*~

"You did what?!" Jensyn screeched, her eyes blazing in angry disbelief at her father.

"I asked Taggert to put you on desk duty until this Mafia business is cleared up," Mac repeated.

"You can’t do that," she insisted.

"Jenny, I already did it, and it’s done."

"Dad, I’m a police officer, it is my duty to police. I can’t do that from a desk."

"You’ll have to learn how, because that’s where you’ll be."

"You act as though I’m some green cop, fresh out of the academy. I’ve been on the force for almost two years."

"In Australia, Jen. You didn’t have to deal with mobsters there, here it’s different," Dara explained.

"Mobsters are everywhere and crime is crime, Mum, and it’s my job to fight it. I refuse to be chained to a desk, and I won’t be. That’s the end of that. Now, for the reason I’m here, why are you two in Port Charles? And please, let me have the truth this time."

Mac scratched his head and sighed. "We told you the real reason, Jenny. Your mother and I were worried about you being alone."

"I believe that’s part of it, what’s the other part?"

"What other part?" Dara asked, as her gaze locked with Mac’s who sat next to her on the loveseat.

"The part you’re leaving out. What is it? Would you stop sharing the looks and just tell me what’s going on?"

Taking Dara’s hand in his, Mac released another drawn out sigh. "Okay, there is something."

"Finally," Jensyn breathed as she leaned forward on the couch. "Tell me."

"The reason your mother and I didn’t return to Port Charles when we went to Australia on our honeymoon is because we were warned of potential death threats."

"Death threats?"

"Yes," Dara answered with a nod. "We’re going to try and explain this to you…"

When her parents were done, Jensyn was at a complete loss.

Mac studied his daughter’s expression for several moments. "Aren’t you going to say something, Jenny?"

"Why are you here if your lives are in danger?" Jensyn asked them when she was able to find her voice.

Dara went to the couch where her daughter was sitting and placed her arm around her shoulder. "Because you’re here. Jen, when Tanganeva told us what he did, I thought he was crazy, but he was right about everything. When he knew I was pregnant with twins before I even knew I was pregnant, I wasn’t willing to question him about anything. Mac and I decided that if staying in Australia meant we would all be safe, we were willing to do it."

"But you’re here, and you think these mobsters are going to come after you now, don’t you? I mean you just spent the better part of an hour saying as much."

"We think these mobsters are going to come after all of us," Mac clarified. "That’s why we’re here. I want to deal with this once and for all. I won’t have Corinthos and his kind dictating our lives anymore. I’m going to take care of this situation, but in order to do that I have to insure your safety. Dara and I were never keen on the idea of you coming here and joining the force in the first place, but you have and now that those goons are free to run around keeping you out of harms way is my first priority."

"Now it makes sense that you took your time telling me about this. I appreciate your concern, Daddy, but believe me when I say, it’s not necessary. I can take care of myself. Besides, you don’t know for sure that these mobsters are going to make a move on us."

"Jen, you don’t know these men, nothing is beneath them," Dara told her.

"Absolutely nothing," Mac reinforced. "I can say with certainty, the one thing Corinthos hates more than cops is being confined in a small space. He was locked up for over twenty years, courtesy of your mother and me. He’s free now and I have no doubt that he’s going to do all he can to thank us for what we’ve done for him. I plan to be ready for him when he does it."

The implications in Mac’s voice didn’t go unnoticed by Jensyn. "I think you should take the advice you’re giving me and stay out of this. I’m the one with the badge now, not you. You and Mum are private citizens, there’s nothing you can do."

Mac scoffed. "Oh no, there’s plenty I can do," he said with absolute confidence.

"I wouldn’t talk like that if I were you. I am an officer of the law."

"You going to arrest me? Jenny, this is not a joke and it’s more than you can handle. You wanted to know what was going on, now you know. Stay out of this and let me deal with it."

"I can’t do that."

Mac emits a chuckle that was devoid of humor. "I must have said that wrong," he remarked to Dara before turning to their daughter. "It wasn’t a request, Jensyn, you’re staying out of this."

The sound of her pager beeping prevented Jensyn from responding. "I have to go," she said on her way to the door after reading the message.

"We’re not done yet," Mac replied as he and Dara followed her into the foyer.

Pulling the door open, "Yes we—" Jensyn gasped and stopped in her tracks.

Mac rushed over to his daughter with Dara close behind. "Jenny, what’s…damn!" he roared, pounding his fist against the doorframe.

"Oh my god!" Dara shrieked as her gaze fell upon the remains of three freshly killed pigs.

Slamming the door closed, Mac gathered his wife and daughter in his arms. Jensyn quickly composed
herself. "I’m okay," she told them. "I need to get a crime scene unit over here."

When Jensyn left the room, Dara buried her face in Mac’s chest as he held her close to him. "It’s going to be okay," he murmured as gently stroked her back. "I knew this was going to happen, Dara, and now I have to deal with it. This is Corinthos. He’s sent a message, and I’m going to answer it."

Lifting her head, she looked up into his eyes. "Mac, what--"

He brushed a kiss against her lips and nestled her head against his chest. "Don’t ask specifics, sweetheart. Just know this will be taken care of, once and for all."

The rapid pace in which Mac’s heart pounded told Dara that whatever he had in mind would be very bad.

Though he spoke in hushed tones, Jensyn heard everything Mac said. If contending with MJ and his need to get familiar with the Mancusis wasn’t enough, she now had to deal with her father and his desire for retribution against Sonny Corinthos. The big case of hers was starting to get bigger with every passing day.

Song Credits: "Love of My Life" Michael W. Smith with Jim Brickman