Jessie James had never been a good girl. She lived her life on the edge, riding the fine line between what was good and what was bad. The law had never been a very good friend to Jessie, nor had law-abiding citizens. She preferred the life of a biker, and now she was returning to the town where she'd been born, and where the biker life was chief.

The 'Welcome to Charming' sign greeted her as she rode into the small town, and she headed to the one place she'd decided she would need to visit. It had been five years since she'd left Charming, since she'd left behind the life she knew. Finally she arrived at the house where her first order of business would take place, and with a smirk she noted that all the important ones were here. Jessie parked her bike in the driveway, stepping off of it and heading for the front door. She stopped on the porch, taking a deep breath before tapping her fist on the wooden door twice. After what seemed like an eternity, the door swung open and there he stood. Jessie had to remember how to breathe. Five years, five fucking years, and he still looks the same. Finally they both snapped out of it, and Jessie smiled.

"Hey Jax."

Saying his name sounded foreign, and she wasn't even sure if they were still on good enough terms for her to call him Jax.

"Jessie?"

Her smile turned genuine as he stepped out onto the porch. The first thing her eyes noticed was the 'President' patch on the front of his jacket. "So you're President of the Sons now?" Jax nodded.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Jess." His expression hadn't changed from one of cool surprise, and it put Jessie on edge. This was a different Jax than she remembered. Finally she recovered her bearing, she crossed her arms, leaning on the railing of the porch.

"I was messed up, Jax, I just needed to get away from everything here."

"Including me?" His voice was accusatory as his eyes stared into hers. Jessie could hear the hurt in his voice.

Jessie's head dropped down, the tears beginning to slip down her face. "Jax, it's not like that. I never wanted to leave you, but I had to get away. There was too much here that I needed to get away from, but none of those things were ever you. I hated to leave you, Jax, but it was the best thing for both of us."

"Ma told me you left town because you got pregnant by that deadbeat boyfriend you had. Is that true, Jessie?" Jax's blue eyes were staring into her own accusingly, and Jessie bit down on her lip.

"No."

"So you weren't pregnant?"

"I was pregnant, just not by Chris."

Jax looked confused for a moment, his eyebrow raised. "Then who the fuck were you pregnant by?"

Jessie didn't answer, her eyes dropping to look at the floor. A tear began sliding down her face, and realization hit Jax like a ton of bricks. Jessie watched the color drain from his face, his emotions playing across his features as he stared at her.

"Jessie, was that baby mine?" The hurt and anger in that question made Jessie's chest hurt, distraught at the thought that she'd caused Jax pain.

"You were happy with Tara, Jax. I couldn't take that away from you. I wasn't going to be the reason you weren't happy. You had so much going for you, and I wasn't going to take anything else from you. My dad was pushing so hard for me to leave the club and leave Charming. And then, I found out I was pregnant... I had no choice, Jax. I had to leave. I knew you'd eventually become president of SAMCRO, and I felt like a baby would only hold you back. I'm so sorry, Jax. I'm so damn sorry."

Jax felt like his legs were about to give out from under him, and he sat down heavily in the porch swing. Putting his head in his hands, he stared at the ground until he could think of something to say.

"Jessie, where's the baby now?" Jax finally looked up at Jessie, and was shocked to see her crying heavily. Standing up again, he stepped closer to her, repeating his question. "Where's the baby, Jessie?"

Jessie could barely breathe. She couldn't tell him the truth, but then again she couldn't keep lying to him. "There is no baby, Jax."

Jax felt the anger surge through him, and he was immediately inches from Jessie's face. It was one of the few times he could ever remember yelling at Jessie, but all the emotions roiling in him were too much to handle. "Stop fucking lying, Jessica! Where the fuck is my baby?!"

Jessie was stunned beyond belief. She and Jax had been best friends since they were toddlers, and in all that time she only remembered Jax yelling at her less than five times, and he inever/i called her Jessica. He was one of the few people who knew that was her real name, and he'd never called her that before. It hurt beyond words. The tears began falling faster, and the ache in her chest intensified. Before she could answer him, Gemma stormed through the front door, staring hard at her son and halting when she saw Jessie.

"Jessie? Is that you?"

"Yep, it's me, Gemma. It's nice to see you."

Gemma hugged the woman who had always been her pick as a wife for Jax. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Jax cut in, his voice cold as he looked at Jessie. "Jessie just told me she left town because she was pregnant with my baby. I asked her where it was, and now she says there's no baby."

Gemma still had her arm around Jessie, and she felt as the younger woman began shaking as she sobbed. The older woman's voice was sharp as she reprimanded her son. "Jackson Teller, stop all that damn yelling! Maybe if you calmed down, Jessie could explain herself."

Jax finally settled down a little, and Gemma encouraged Jessie to talk. The distraught woman managed to look Jax in the eyes. "The baby died at two months old. She looked just like you, Jax." She sagged into Gemma as she spoke, seeming very close to collapsing. "The doctors told me that there was nothing I could do, that it was SIDS or something. But after she died, I couldn't make myself come back to Charming. I couldn't face you again knowing I'd never given you a chance to be a father. I'm sorry, Jax, if I could go back and do it again, I'd never have left."

Jax was frozen, the biker dropping down onto the swing in shock. So Jessie ihad/i had his child, but the baby had died. His baby girl, a little daughter, was dead, and he'd never had a chance to know her. Jessie was sobbing heavily, crying into Gemma's shirt. All Jax's anger evaporated as he looked at her, no longer furious at her but instead feeling a bond between two grieving parents. Slowly he got up and approached her, Gemma carefully warning him with her eyes to keep his temper in check before she stepped back. Jax wrapped his arms around Jessie, who buried her face in his leather jacket and cried. "It's okay, Jessie. Don't cry, honey." Finally Jessie's tears stopped, but she remained in Jax's arms, her face in his jacket.

"Jax, do you hate me?"

"Jessie, I can't hate you for something that wasn't your fault." He kissed her head, Jessie tensing up after a moment and stepping out of Jax's embrace.

"What about Tara, Jax? Are you still with her?"

"We're married, Jess. We have a son named Thomas."

Jessie's face went white, and her expression told the whole story. She'd been hoping for a reunion with Jax by coming back to Charming. She looked extremely disappointed, but she brushed it aside and she turned to Gemma instead, abruptly changing the subject. "Hey Gemma, do you think I could crash here for the night?"

Gemma nodded, opening the front door and escorting her inside. Jessie stopped briefly, looking at Jax with those smoldering blue eyes of hers. "Her name was Marlowe. Marlowe Skye Teller." And then she turned and entered the house, leaving Jax standing there dumbfounded.

As Gemma showed Jessie to the guest room, Jessie reached in her back pocket and pulled out a folded and worn photograph. Placing it in Gemma's hand, she smiled softly. "Give this to Jax, will you? I'll be leaving in the morning and I won't have a chance to give it to him."

Jessie then shut the door of the guest room, leaving Gemma standing in the hall with the picture. The older woman slowly unfolded it, her breath catching as she saw the angelic face of a tiny baby. The photo was of Jessie, sitting in a hospital bed, holding the baby in her arms. It was a closeup, and Jessie was smiling widely as she looked down at her baby. Gemma looked closer at the photo, then rushed to her living room and snatched a baby picture of Jax off the mantle. Holding it side by side, she felt her eyes burn with tears as she saw the baby looked identical to Jax. Then she saw that in the background of the photo, a framed picture of Jax sat beside Jessie's hospital bed. Gemma felt a tear roll down her face, understanding Jessie's pain at losing a child. She only wished that Jessie had never left Charming.

Sitting the photo of her son back on the mantle, Gemma took the photo of Jessie and Marlowe and stuck it in the frame, forming a makeshift family photo. It was the most heartbreaking thing Gemma had ever seen.

iI found your picture today,
I swear I'll change my ways,
I just called to say, I want you to come back home
I just called to say, I love you, come back home./i