True Love Never Dies, Part 3

The cottage -- the next morning

Jake is lying in bed, tossing and turning.  For days, he has tried to sleep,
but every time he finally gets to sleep, he has the same dream.  He is
dreaming now.

Dream:  The song "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion plays.  Jake dreams
of some times he's had with Vicky:
-J&V dancing in Lassiter on their day trip and Jake's proposal.
-J&V hug and Vicky kisses Jake on the nose after she agrees to give him
money for the loan shark
-J&V lying in bed together in New Orleans
-J&V kiss in their last AW scene
-Jake giving Vicky a rose at her bridal shower
-Jake putting a bandaid on Vicky's arm
-J&V snuggling in her hospital bed after being rescued from Marley
-J&V dancing when he recreated their prom
-Vicky "blessing" Jake in her nun's costume
-J&V kissing at the cottage after they got engaged
-J&V making love on her day pass when they thought she killed Grant
-J&V dancing at their engagement party
-J&V making love under the Christmas tree
-J&V looking at each other when Vicky washed off Jake's ear after he was
"mugged"
-raincoat scene
-Jake surprising Vicky at Gary and Josie's wedding
-J&V dancing at Harbor Club before Grant's big (and final) speech
-J&V's bath on their wedding night
-J&V's almost kiss on their first date
-Vicky surprising Jake at his hotel room after he moved out because of
Marley
-Vicky pushing Jake on the swing after they talked about parenthood

V's voice:  (echoing) "Jake.  Jake.  Jake."

Jake, startled, shoots up out of bed.

J:  "Vicky?"

He looks around the room and closes his eyes and sighs when he realizes she
isn't there. He lays back down, looking at the ceiling, then turns his head
and looks at the empty other half of the bed.

*****

J&V making love the night of their engagement party
J&V making love on their wedding night
J&V making love the night of their reunion

(fades to...)

Vicky sitting up in bed with a thermometer in her mouth.  She looks at the
clock and takes the thermometer out of her mouth.

V:  "Showtime."

She snuggles up to a sleeping Jake and kisses his cheek.

V:  "Rise and shine, baby."

J:  (groans, still half asleep) "No, I don't want to go to school today."

V:  "No, it's not a school day.  There's something else you have to take
care of and you have to do it right now."

Jake wakes, rather abruptly.

V:  "Come here."

J:  "Do you have any idea what it's like to be... to have somebody wake you
up and demand sex?  It makes a man feel cheap and used."

V:  "Oh, okay, if you don't want to--"

Vicky starts to move away, but Jake pulls her back.

J:  "No, no.  I like feeling cheap and used."

They kiss

V:  "I feel good about this."

J:  (smiles devishly) "Mmm.  So do I."

V:  "No, no, no, no, no.  I mean about the baby.  Now that we finally have
all that stress out of our lives and the timing is right."

They kiss

*****

Jake closes his eyes and shakes his head out of the daydream.  He puts on
his robe and goes downstairs.  He hears voices in the kitchen and he looks
in and sees Etta Mae helping Steven and Kirkland make omelets.  The trio
laughs when Kirkland takes a bite of his omelet and makes a face.  Jake
smiles too, but his smile quickly fades.
*****
Jake, Steven, and Kirkland sit around the kitchen table as Vicky places a
casserole dish of food in the middle of the table.  The three men look
warily at the dish.

S:  "Smells... interesting."

V:  "Yes." (Vicky begins piling the food on their plates)  "Well, this is
one of Bridget's favorites, and you know how she always liked a lot of
herbs, so it's got, I don't know, a pinch of rosemary and a cup of oregano."

J:  "A whole cup, huh?  So, what's it called?"

V:  "It's called 'Noodle Surprise'."

S:  "It's a surprise all right."

V:  "Yeah."

Steven and Jake take a small bite.

K:  "Don't feel bad, Mom."

V:  "Oh, no."

Kirkland starts to take a bite.

J:  (whispers) "Kirkland, don't eat it.  Don't eat it."

V:  (smacks Jake's shoulder)  "Oh, stop it.  You're just jerkin' my chain."

She tries a bite and promptly spits it back out.

V:  "Don't eat it, honey.  Don't eat it.  Don't eat it.  I must have made a
little mistake here with the recipe."

S:  "Good guess, Julia Child."

Steven looks at the recipe.

S:  "Uh, 1/4 cup, Mom.  You used four times too much oregano."

The men laugh and Vicky hits Jake with a towel.

V:  "All right, all right.  So, I'm a kitchen clutz, my son's a
mathematician."

Jake pulls Vicky into his lap.

J:  "Yeah, but you're an awful cute clutz."

*****

Jake rubs his eyes and, without alerting Etta Mae and the boys of his
presence, goes upstairs.  He goes into the bathroom, shuts the door, and
leans against it.  His eyes focus on the bathroom sink.

*****

Jake watches Vicky go upstairs.

J:  "Okay, fine.  I'm going home, Vicky."

Jake starts to walk out.

V:  "Jake!"

Jake quickly rushes upstairs.  Vicky is under the sink trying to stop the
water from flying.

V:  "Jake.  Jake!"

Jake enters the bathroom.

J:  "Oh."

Jake closes the door behind him.

V:  "Hurry.  Help me fix the faucet.  It's got a leak in it."

Jake gets under the sink.

J:  "Get me a wrench, would you?"

Vicky rushes towards the door and tries to open it, but the knob comes off
in her hand. She hands Jake the knob.

V:  "Here.  Um--"

J:  "Oh, that's great, Vicky.  That's just great."

V:  "Don't yell at me.  Just fix it."

J:  "What do you mean 'fix it'?  The thing's stuck."

Vicky gets under the sink with Jake.

V:  "Let me help.  Tighten that up."

J:  "Would you stop for a second."

Jake pushes Vicky away by her forehead.  Vicky promptly gets back under the
sink with Jake.

V:  "Tighten this part up, right here, Jake.  Hurry up.  Shut it off, Jake.
Shut if off."

J:  "Would you just back off for a second."

The water stops.

Jake and Vicky throw up their arms in triumph.

J&V:  "Yes!"

J:  "Finished."

Jake splashes Vicky with water from the sink basin. 

J:  "Oh, no, it's on."

V:  "Ah!  Stop it.  It'll leak downstairs."

They both laugh.

V:  "Thanks a lot.  Give me that."

Vicky grabs a towel and dries off Jake's face.  They hug, laughing.  As they
pull away, they kiss softly.
*****
Jake closes his eyes and walks over to the tub and sits on the edge and
buries his face in his hands.


The warehouse

Vicky is pacing around the room, talking to herself.

V:  "Okay, so Alec kidnapped me to stop Jake from exposing him as the creep
he is.  But, just to make Jake suffer, he pretends that I'm dead, except
now, the jerk himself is dead." Vicky sits on the bed and puts her face in
her hands, frustrated.

V:  "This can't be happening."

M:  "Well, you and Jake always did manage to get yourselves in all sorts of
predicaments."

Vicky looks up and sees Michael's ghost looking down at her.

V:  "Dad?"

M:  "But, you two always managed to find a way out of them unscathed."

V:  "I don't know about this one." (she pauses) "Dad, does Jake really think
I'm dead?"

M:  (smiles)  "We've thought you were dead before, Victoria."

V:  (smiles)  "More than once.  But Jake refused to believe it."

M:  "He doesn't want to believe it now, honey."

V:  "He blames himself, doesn't he?"

M:  "You know him better than anyone.  Of course he does.  You're his whole
life, Victoria.  You, Steven, Kirkland, and the twins.  You're all that
matters to him."

Vicky stands up and begins pacing again.

V:  "That's why there's got to be a way for me to get out of here." 

She looks around the room.

V:  "God, this feels like such deja vu.  I mean, last year I was basically
at the same place when Marley locked me up."

M:  "What are you going to do about it?"

Vicky notices her father's smile and gets an idea.  Michael sees his
daughter's determination.

M:  "What have you got to lose?"

V:  "Absolutely nothing." (tears form in her eyes) "I miss you so much,
Daddy."

M:  "I know, honey.  Always remember what I told you, Victoria.   Nothing is
more important than family."

Michael disappears.

V:  "I'll never forget, Dad."