𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 - 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮

Twenty-Two

a/n: 3rd chapter published today... all 4 hours apart. you're welcome lol. i'm on a roll.

Jax and Tara wake up next to each other in bed.

"Morning."

"Morning."

"I love you." Tara grins.

"I love you." Jax replies, before kissing her   growing stomach, "I love you too, son."

"You don't know that." Tara laughs.

"I have a feeling," Jax runs his fingers through her hair, kissing her again, "Whatever happens today I'm right here."

"I know."

Meanwhile, down the hall in her bedroom, Ellie lays awake in bed. She's still mentally struggling after being home for two days now. She stares up at the ceiling, closing her eyes, hoping to get some sleep, but her mind just won't stop. She groans and sits up, throwing her blankets off of her. She decides to go to Abel's room. She stops in the doorway, stares down at the new carpet the new prospects put in, and remembers the blood stained walls and Kip's body hitting the floor. He died trying to save them. She feels bad for his family, and just wishes she could get the image of his death out of her head.

"Hey bubba." Ellie approaches Abel in his crib, picking him up, "Wanna sleep with sissy, huh?"

She carries him to her bedroom and lays in bed with him. She protectively wraps her arm around him, making sure her back was facing the bed's edge, so there was no chance of him falling off the bed. He lays in between her and the wall. Ellie watches Abel yawn with a smile. Comforted by the presence of her brother, Ellie finally falls asleep.

~ SOA ~ ~ SOA ~

Later that day, at the clubhouse, all of the members are throwing a big party. Everyone, and even Unser, is attending. Bobby is holding Abel and Clay tells Abel that he has something for him. 

"I got something for you. It may be a wee bit small by now. All right." Clay takes out Abel's light blue SOA beanie and puts it on his head as everyone cheers.

Jax and Clay hug. Everyone seems to be in a party mood except one person, Ellie. She looks bored as she sits at a table all by herself.

"Hey, Lyla's got something she wants to say."

"We're getting married!"

Everyone cheers at the marriage reveal. Everyone's very happy for the two and toasts to Opie and Lyla's happiness together.

Tara smiles and waves her daughter over. Ellie sits on a stool between her mom and dad. Tara kisses her cheek, moving stray hairs out of her face, softly laughing, "Bored?"

"Yeah." Ellie hums. Jax kisses her cheek, "Guess you, me and mom will have to do something fun later then." Jax suggests and Tara agrees, "Yeah. We'll go out."

~ SOA ~ ~ SOA ~

At the cemetery, Stahl meets up with Jax. 

"Doesn't matter. She's been cleared of all the murder charges."

"How?"

"Well, Tyler confessed before she died. Told me everything that Gemma said in her statement was true."

"Jesus Christ." Jax says, leaning in closer to her, putting emphasis on his next words, "Good your bosses don't know our deal. I gotta think killing one of your own might be a bad career move."

"I didn't kill her. Mexican bikers did." Stahl says, "Your mother seems to, uh, believe that you and I shouldn't trust each other. She know something I don't?"

"She thinks you're gonna get me killed." Jax answers honestly.

"Ah."

"Are you?"

"You boys are running out of time. Bail hearing's set for tomorrow morning."

"Clay's sitting down with Otto right now. Hook him up with Lenny the Pimp, we'll get some info. The meeting's been arranged."

"Good. You owe me something, now, don't you?"

"We met with Dooley, Brogan and Roarke. I never saw any of the others. Put it in the document along with my statement about Jimmy and I'll sign off on all of them."

"Good, good."

Stahl leaves and Jax stays back at the cemetery. He goes to his father's grave. As he stares at it, he sees the SO ring that he left still there. Jax shakes his head and looks down at his hand. He takes off the NS ring and sits it next to the SO ring. Jax looks down at his father's grave again and then walks away.

~ SOA ~ ~ SOA ~

Jax and Tara take Ellie to the lake after going out to a restaraunt for dinner. Gemma's watching Abel at her house. Jax is glad to be spending some quality time with his oldest. He tells himself he needs to do it more before she gets too old, rebels and wants nothing to do with him. Tara walks alongside her daughter, holding her hand, staring down at the lake as she shares memories of bringing a baby Ellie here. Ellie has a small smile on her face at the story, but Tara can see she's clearly still struggling.

"You have another meeting with the therapist this week." She reminds her.

At that, Ellie's mood sours, she drops her mom's hand, "I don't wanna go anymore."

"Ellie-"

"No, mom, it's useless," Ellie explains as she stares out at the water, "Not exactly like I can be 100% honest. What would they ask me, 'How have you been?' I can't exactly say, 'Oh, you know, fine, except that one day some crazy guy broke into our house, killed someone in front of me, took me and my little brother to a whole other country by gunpoint. Yeah, we went missing but we're back now.'"

Ellie's tone is sarcastic, but she has a bit of anger and sadness behind it. Jax rubs Tara's back, seeing her grow upset, "If you don't wanna go then you shouldn't have to."

"Jax," Tara sighs.

"No, Tara. She's right. I thought it could work out, but now it can't. It's not gonna do her any good when she's still hiding shit from them. How could they truly help her?"

Tara sits down on a bench and Jax joins her. They watch Ellie kick rocks out of the sand in boredom.

"Since we're being honest here," Tara starts, gaining her daughter's attention, "How do you really feel about this pregnancy?"

"Mom," Ellie walks over, "I was never upset when you said you were pregnant. It's a new brother or sister. I'm not gonna be mad about that. It's good that Abel's gonna have another sibling that's closer to his age."

"Yeah." Tara stands up and kisses her, squeezing her in her arms, "You'll always be my little girl though."

"I love you, mom." Ellie closes her eyes, feeling so safe and content around her mother.

"I love you too, El."

Jax watches his girls with nothing, but warmth and love in his heart. He wishes they could be this stress free and happy everyday.

The need to safely get his family out of this type of life, and let his children grow and have a normal childhood, becomes stronger. He promised Tara... when the time was right.