"Just one hint!" Jax begged.

"No," Chloe said firmly.

"Oh come on!" Jax persisted.

"No!" Chloe repeated.

"Please?" Jax said with puppy dog eyes.

"NO!" Chloe said for the final time.

"Oh, Chloe, why can't you just give me some teeny tiny hint at what is in that box behind your back? What did you get me for my birthday?"

"I got you…a birthday present."

"You are such a tease," Jax stated.

"But you still love me," Chloe teased back.

The two started to lean forward for a kiss, but were interrupted when the door opened.

"Jax!" Lady Jane exclaimed. "Why are you standing outside on the porch? This is your home too, and it's your party! No need to wait until someone comes to the door."

"Jax was just badgering me about what I got him for his birthday. I won't tell him and it's driving him mad," Chloe explained as the two walked into the house.

"You know, Mom," Jax said, "I'm thirty years old now. I think I'm well beyond the point of having 'birthday parties'."

"Oh, well if that's how you feel, I don't have to serve the cake…"

"No, no, you can serve the cake!" Jax quickly said.

"Honestly, Jax, this is just a family dinner. What did you think I was going to make you do, wear a cone-shaped birthday hat?" Jane laughed as she headed back into the kitchen.

Chloe took the box she was carrying and started to go into the other room. Jax caught her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Where are you going?"

Chloe turned around and grinned. "I'm taking this present into the other room so you will stay out of it!"

"I won't touch it. I promise. Scouts honor."

"You were never a Scout, Jasper Jacks."

"Well, I know, but I could have been." Jax grinned. "Come on, I won't mess with it. Stay out here with me."

"Why?"

"This is why." Jax pulled Chloe close to him and kissed her on the lips. Chloe laughed gently, and then put the box down as she followed Jax to the couch. They sat down and resumed their kissing.

"Jane, that cake smells delicious!" John walked into the kitchen and stuck his finger into the frosting and then licked it.

"John Jacks, you stop that right now!" Jane scolded. "This is not for you. It's for you son. Speaking of which, Jax and Chloe just got here about ten minutes ago. They're out in the living room. Why don't you go say hello to them and get out of the kitchen so I can finish this, hmm?"

John laughed. "Alright, dear."

John walked out of the kitchen, but when he got to the doorway, he stopped in his tracks. He almost didn't believe what he was seeing. Jax and Chloe were kissing? They were kissing! John smiled widely and scurried back into the kitchen.

"Jane," John whispered to his wife. "Come here, you have to see this."

"John, I'm busy right now. Can't you see I'm frosting this cake?"

"Jane, just come here!" John begged.

Jane rolled her eyes. "This better be important." Jane stopped her frosting and followed her husband to the doorway.

"Look," John whispered and pointed to Jax and Chloe.

Jane looked, and she was completely speechless. She looked at her husband and smiled.

"Isn't your party supposed to start soon?" Chloe whispered to Jax.

"I told you, I'm not calling this a party. It's more like a family get together." Jax silenced Chloe with another kiss.

"I think someone is not wanting to be thirty," Chloe teased. Jax silenced her again with more kissing.

As they kissed, oblivious to just about anything else, Jerry walked in. Jax and Chloe had been so engrossed in each other that they didn't even hear the door.

"It's about time you two got together," Jerry said casually and walked out of the room.

Jax and Chloe looked at each other and laughed.

Jax nodded his head toward the window. "Why don't we step outside to the porch for a little more…privacy?"

Chloe nodded and took Jax's hand as he led her outside.

"Okay, who's ready for some cake?" Jane said and brought the chocolate cake to the table. "And we need candles."

"We are not having candles. I forbid it!" Jax said firmly. "And please don't sing 'Happy Birthday' to me. I'm not five."

Chloe smiled and whispered into Jax's ear. "I can still sing 'Happy Birthday' to you can't I?" A big smile came across Jax's face and Chloe couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, can I finally find out what you have been tormenting me with all day long now?" Jax asked.

"Yes!" Chloe said and handed him the present from her.

Jax ripped the wrapping paper off, just like he always did, and practically went crazy when he saw the digital camera that he had been wanting for months underneath.

Chloe lingered in the kitchen with Jane afterwards while Jax and his father and brother crowded around his new camera.

Jane smiled at Chloe. "I told you Jax would come around, didn't I?" Jane winked, and with that, she left the kitchen with a grinning Chloe sitting at the table.

Chloe slipped into a new negligee that she had bought from Wyndham's the day before. Then she walked into Jax's bedroom to find him in bed, his shirt off of course.

"Ooo," Jax said when he saw Chloe.

Chloe laughed and climbed up on the bed, sitting on top of him. She leaned down and kissed him. "So, did you have fun at your birthday party?"

"Chloe, how many times do I have to tell you? It wasn't a party. I'm too old for birthday parties."

"Oh, Jax, you're as young as you feel."

"In fact, if I just never have a birthday ever again, I think I will be happy."

"Jax! What happened? You used to love birthdays!"

"Well yeah, that's because they use to be fun. At thirteen, you're officially a teenager, sixteen, you get to drive, eighteen, you're an adult, twenty-one…"

"Who says your thirtieth birthday can't be fun?" Chloe interrupted and silenced him with a kiss.

"Well…that's fun," Jax said.

"Does this mean I can sing 'Happy Birthday' to you?"

Chloe didn't wait for Jax to answer. She started to sing softly in his ear. And when she finished, Jax looked her up and down, said, "Ooo, happy birthday to me," then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately.

Jax and Chloe sat side by side on the couch, each involved in their own work. Jax was on his laptop looking up stocks and trades and such. Chloe was working on a new idea for an evening gown.

Jax watched Chloe out of the corner of his eye and smiled. He suddenly came upon a realization. In the span of a few weeks, the two of them had become, yes, he would admit it, just like his parents. Jax could think of times when he was a child, and his parents would be doing exactly this sort of thing. His father would be reading the paper, his mother working on some sort of sewing project. They would always sit beside each other on the couch, completely content.

Suddenly, Chloe yawned. Her eyes watered so she wiped them with her finger, then continued with her sketch.

"You tired?" Jax asked, looking at her.

Chloe shook her head. "Yeah, I am all of a sudden. I'm fighting to keep my eyes open but I think I'm losing the battle. I'm going to bed," she announced and got up from the couch, setting her sketchpad on the coffee table.

"You're staying the night, aren't you?" Jax asked hopefully.

Chloe smiled. "Only if you let me borrow one of your shirts."

"My closet is completely at your disposal."

Chloe smiled and leaned forward, kissing Jax goodnight. "Night."

"Night. I'll be about a half hour more."

"Okay." Chloe yawned once more and headed to the bedroom.

When Jax finally began to get sleepy too, he turned off his computer and got ready for bed. Walking into the bedroom, he saw Chloe's sleeping face in the candlelight. She looked so peaceful and angelic.

It was in that moment that Jax realized something that he had really known all along. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He didn't want to waste a single precious moment that they had together. They had already wasted years, just being friends, too scared to admit their true feelings. But now, they were together, and they were more in love than they had ever been with each other.

Jax smiled as he got under the covers and blew out the candle on the nightstand. Chloe, in her sleep, instinctively wrapped her arms around his body, and he pulled her closer. Jax kissed Chloe on her forehead.

He knew exactly what he was going to do in the morning.

To be continued…