Jess looked into the mirror and adjusted her graduation gown, she couldn't believe that this day was finally here. "Mommy" Gabby smiled, wrapping her small arms around Jess' right leg.
"Yes baby?" she asked, looking down at her. Her daughter was a spitting image of Opie, but had her hair and skin tone. Every time she looked into those green eyes, her heart would melt.
"I love you"
"I love you more" she said, picking her up and kissing her cheek.
Gabby put her tiny hands on Jess' cheeks "I want Daddy" the now eighteen month old said, almost unleashing tears from those eyes her father and her shared.
"Daddy's coming home in two days munchkin'. And he's gonna give you soooo many kisses!"
"Hugs?!"
"And hugs baby. Lots and LOTS of hugs." she smiled, sitting on the bed with her "You know he loves youverymuch, right?" Gabby nodded and wrapped her arms around Jess' neck. "C'mon baby. Grandma Mary and Grandma Gemma are waiting. Let's go."
After the men had arrived at the warehouse, it became all a blur. The girls, while in one piece, were far from unharmed. Kris had fought so hard, that she dislocated her shoulder. Jess fractured her wrist from trying to pry herself from the deviant's grip and both Kerrianne and Julie had broken knuckles. Putting bullets in the heads of the men that were there, while well deserved from their standpoint, didn't negate the fact that the boys' probation still stood and it wasn't long before the cops were called by Gino and Giaccomo who had left the scene as the men arrived. Chibs, Happy, Jax, Opie, and Tig were arrested for violating their probation from their arrest the year prior, and were automatically put back into county. While the dead bodies on their hands weren't held against them, and both Romeo and Luis fought tooth and nail, they were able to slide on those charges due to the situation at hand. Violation of probation for carrying weapons wasn't up for discussion though, and the five were sentenced to one year. Jax and the rest of the men sanctioned both prospects to be patched in and Bobby, Juice, Rat, and Jimmy managed to hold down the weekly runs over the next year. Tacoma charter was more than willing to lend support when needed for what SAMCRO had risked. While not being able to fly out to New York broke her heart, Kris wanted the kids to be able to see Jax on Christmas- even if it meant driving to Stockton. Julie had stayed in Charming with Kristina to help care for the kids. While she was her father and uncles' accountant, she could do that work from anywhere, and she was needed in California more than she was needed at home. Joe, Nico, Giuliana and Maria flew out two days after the men had been arrested to stay for as long as they were needed- but after two weeks, Kris was begging her dad by phone to call them back. One queen bee was more than enough, and having three women tell her what to do was too much to bare.
The first few months without them, the girls assumed that those would be the hardest. However, as Spring turned into Summer, and Summer into Fall, Jessica, Kerrianne, and Kristina were crawling out of their skin. Fiona and Gemma tried to rationalize with them, tried to get them to see the positive side of it all. But the weekly visits were always ended with them crying and not wanting to let go. The reminder of seeing her boys daily- each an identical replica of their father made it all the more harder. It wasn't until Abel's goal chart begun to fill up that she didn't know how much longer she would make it without him being there. She decided to keep adding to Jax's stars daily with every phone call, or every text that he sent when he managed to get a prepaid snuck in for him. She was determined to not lose her shit as that's exactly what she felt like was happening, for lack of a better term. It was now almost exactly one year to the day that the men were arrested, and the girls were getting ready for their graduation- they had managed to finish their classes and requirements just in time for the December graduation. Jess gathered up Gabby and her belongings before heading next door with Ellie and Kenny. Kris was sitting at the dining room table with Gemma and Fiona as they were waving magazines in front of her face to keep her from crying, and Gemma's new squeeze- a man named Nero who was a godsend helping take care of the boys. "I ain't helping you remove and reapply your makeup again, Kristina." Gemma growled, "Keep it together."
"It's alright mommy" Abel said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Daddy is coming home in two days."
Kris tried to smile and nodded "I know baby. I just miss him."
"But daddy said you can't cry anymore. He said that I need to take care of you." and with that, she lost her control, face buried in her hands and sobbing like an infant.
"Aw shit." Kerrianne grumbled "Kris, two days. Two!" she smiled "You know he wanted to be here. Get yourself together."
Gemma's phone rang, and she stepped away to take the call "You got this mama. We'll drive the kids, c'mon" Nero said, patting her shoulder.
Sniffling and nodding, Kris stood up and walked into the kitchen, grabbing her bag from the chair. She saw the destruction of a box of Cheerios that was sprawled across the kitchen floor- there were only two culprits in this mess. "Jackson Nathaniel! John Thomas!" she growled, seeing the mess before her. The little pitter patter of their feet were racing down the hallway- she swore they started running before they were walking, and had been giving her hell ever since they did. "Loro causarono questo pasticcio?!" she asked with narrowed eyes. She had been speaking to the boys in Italian- the one thing her father had asked of her. He swore he'd be out for Christmas this year- his probation officer agreed to it and he demanded his grandsons knew the language.
Her sons looked up at her with those deep blue and green eyes and the smirk that she's pretty sure either Jax taught them, or that was inevitable and just came as part of the Teller package. "No" they said, shaking their heads.
"Stanno mentendo?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip. She knew they were lying, and my God they were already good at it.
Jackson smiled again and shook his head "Ti amo mama."
Jess rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter "Like father like son. Jesus Christ."
Nero laughed and scooped the boy up "You causin' problems for your mama? Didn't Daddy tell you to be good?"
He nodded and wrapped his arms around Nero's neck "Get goin'." Gemma called out, putting her phone back into her bag.
"We still have a good ninety minutes before we could leave though" Kris argued
"You take Kerri with you, go get some coffee. We'll lock up here. Go." she said, pushing the three out the door.
"You know…" Kris sighed, getting into her car and closing the door "I wish I could take a certain amount of nyquil and sleep for the next two days."
"You could" Kerrianne chuckled "But I don't recommend it."
Jess sighed and leaned her arm against the door, propping her head up "Mary is gonna need to take the kids for like… At least a weekend. He comes home Friday…" Jess chuckled "He'll get a few hours with the kids. And then bye bye children… mama is gonna lose her shit if she has to wait too much longer."
"Juice said the reason why Jax and Opie stay so calm and collected is because they're too busy blowing one another"
Kris and Jess busted into laughter "Ah, that's okay." Kris winked "At least I know where Opie's been. I'm not too concerned."
"Abel!" Gemma shouted, holding JT on her hip "Come here baby" He causally walked down the hallway, dressed in his flannel shirt and jeans, he had worn his hair slicked back every single day since Jax had gone inside- if he had to be the man of the house, even at five years old, he knew he'd have to dress the part. Gemma was standing against the front door, holding it open and pointing outside. "Can you hear it?" she asked, looking down at him. She's pretty sure at that moment, the second the growl of the motorcycles hit his ear, he shouted Holy Shit on the inside- because that was the exact look he had on his face. Seeing Jax pull up with the rest of the men, Abel couldn't get across the grass fast enough to get to him. He clearly had competition now seeing as though his brothers- although only nineteen months old- were giving him a run for his money in the speed department.
"How you doin' buddy?!" Jax asked, kissing Abel's forehead
"Mommy was cryin'" he said as Jax picked up the twins
He sighed and nodded "I know buddy, I know. We're gonna go surprise her, okay? I just gotta shower." Walking into the house, he saw the Cheerio mess that was still all over the kitchen floor as Gemma went for a broom. Jackson and John laughing and giggling in his arms- already showing no remorse for their misbehavior, and actually found it funny. "You make this mess?" Jax smiled, poking the boys' stomachs.
"They sure as shit denied it when Kris asked them" Nero laughed "And he then told her he loved her."
Jax laughed and kissed his sons' heads before putting them down. He looked at the kitchen wall "Abel, you doin' awesome with these points dude! How did I get all these stars?"
"Mommy kept giving you stars whenever you called her. You almost have three thousand stars. Not fair!"
Jax laughed and nodded "It is fair. A deal's a deal too. I'll be out in a few." he said as his number one fan came racing down the hallway onto his legs "Hey Slash!" he yelled, picking up the dog who was about to have a heart attack from excitement "I know buddy!" he cooed, as Slash licked his face "I missed you more!"
Gabby was latched on to Opie's neck so tight, it took Mary and Fiona to get her off so Opie could shower and get changed. As if she was never going to see him again, the wailing and screaming that came from the little toddler were something out of this world. "Christ almighty!" Mary grumbled, trying to hold on to her granddaughter who fought tooth and nail to get out of her grip, as she followed Opie into the house. "Look baby, look, he's just going right in there." she pointed as Opie walked into the bathroom.
"Daddyyyyyyyy!" Gabby wailed, throwing her head back against Mary's chest.
"Hey" Kenny said, holding his arms out for her- besides Opie, Kenny was the one other person that could do no wrong in that little girl's eyes "He'll be right out." he smiled, bouncing her up and down. "Don't cry, you don't want daddy to see you sad, right?"
Gabby shook her head, and stared at the bathroom door, waiting for it to open again. By the time Opie had reemerged, beard and hair trimmed, he couldn't even get his shirt on before his daughter was practically scaling his jeans to climb up him. "I know baby" he said, quickly buttoning the flannel before tossing on his leather jacket and kutte. He picked her back up and she reestablished the grip around his neck, making him laugh "Gabby, baby, I'm not going anywhere. Too tight." she had her face buried in his neck as he tried to pack his pockets with everything. "How the hell am I gonna get over there?"
Mary shrugged "I dunno. Welcome home dad, figure it out" she chuckled
Opie smiled and shook his head "Baby, you gotta go in the car with Grandma Gemma and Grandma Mary okay?" he said, rubbing her back "We're gonna go see mommy" Gabby shook her head in protest, keeping the lock on his neck "As soon as we get there I'll pick you back up, okay? You gotta go in the car, daddy needs to drive the bike." he said softly, trying to pry her tiny hands from him. Walking outside, Jax was buckling the boys into their car seats.
"Daddy, can I please go on the bike?" Abel asked. Jax nodded and handed him a helmet, Kenny was already sitting on Opie's bike as if he was ready to take off on his own. "She's gonna start crying again, isn't she?" Abel sighed, shaking his head.
Jax laughed and secured his own helmet "Maybe for a little while dude. She's been crying a lot?"
"Only when she doesn't think we can hear her." Abel replied, wrapping his arms around Jax's waist
"Don't worry, she won't be crying anymore. I promise. But we gotta surprise her, alright? So we can't tell her that I'm home yet."
Pulling up to the school, they quickly took their seats as the graduation had already begun. Looking into the crowd, the girls couldn't see where everyone was sitting, but couldn't wait to get out of there. As much as they were thrilled for this day to finally be here, they wanted it to be over just as quick as it had started. Kris' phone started ringing and she quickly dug through her bag to find it "Where you guys waiting?" she asked Kerrianne who was on the other line. Looking around, she nudged Jess and pointed towards the exit "Alright, we'll be right there." Pulling off the itchy graduation regalia, Abel came running up to her and wrapped his arms around her hips "You ready to go home, monster?" she asked, careful not to mess up his hair. Looking up at Gemma and everyone standing in front of her, her heart sunk "Where's JT?" she asked in a near panic "Gem?!"
"Relaxxxxx" Jax drawled standing behind her, with the boy standing next to him "He's right here."
She wasn't too sure how quickly she actually turned around, or if she knocked Abel over in the process, but she flung herself at him and her right foot was six inches from making contact with JT's forehead as she wrapped her legs around his waist, jumping into his arms. "Ew" Abel groaned along with Kenny who were trying to look away from the graphic reunion between their fathers and step-moms.
"C'mon, let's go." Gemma laughed, pulling her grandson away from what appeared to be two seconds from another arrest for public indecency. "You two just got out of prison, let's not get arrested again. Save that shit for later."
Smiling, Jax pulled away and dropped her to her feet "You got a party to attend Doctor Teller."
"I don't need a party" she chuckled "I need Grandma Gemma to take the boys back to her house. That's what I need."
Getting back to the clubhouse, the men sat around the table in the Chapel. Gabby was the first toddler to sleep on a VP's chest with her arms secure around his neck, while her father discussed business. There was no way they were getting her to let go again, Opie wasn't even going to fight it. While many alliances were made at Stockton, enemies were made too. The next few months were going to be vengeful and dangerous. There were still Panellis that owed their debt to SAMCRO, and the men were going to do whatever it took to get their revenge, by any means necessary.
"I guess you got yourself a sleeping buddy for tonight, huh?" Jess winked looking over at Opie "No fun for mama."
Opie laughed and shook his head "Oh, if I gotta use the jaws of life to get her off, she's goin' to sleep in her own bed."
"She's been sleeping with me a few nights a week. Right in your spot. Whether its holding onto one of your shirts, or spraying your pillow with your cologne, anything to keep her from crying."
Opie smiled and kissed Gabby's cheek "You not behavin' for mama?" he asked, looking at the content little girl that now had everything she wanted.
"No" she smiled, kissing her dad's cheek. "I love you"
Jess laughed and shook her head "I love you too baby. You wanna go home? We can get ice cream!"
Gabby smiled and hugged her dad tighter. Those two little words rang into the ears of Jackson and JT like the bells on Santa's sleigh "ICE CREAM!" Jackson squealed, squeezing Jax's face.
Jess sighed and shook her head "Christ Ope. No. She can't have ice cream."
"Thanks Opie" Kris growled
He chuckled and rubbed Gabby's back "Why not?"
"Because she doesn't stop fuckin' runnin' and shoutin'" Piney growled "Hyper ass kid. And these two?!" He said, pointing to Jackson and JT "They need medication"
Kris nearly doubled over from laugher "Piney, they're not that bad."
"Not that bad?!" Juice scoffed "Not THAT BAD?! They KEYED MY BIKE!"
"Aw shit" Jax laughed looking at his sons "What did you do to Uncle Juice's bike?"
"Grabbed my keys and scratched the paint right off" Kris chuckled "It was bad. Hey, did I not pay to have it fixed?! C'mon, they're not even two. Give them a break."
"Did they at least get punished for it?" Opie asked
Gemma and Nero chuckled "You got yourself one mean little lady, Jax" Nero laughed "Snatched them two right up and had them wailing like they were never gonna see the light of day again."
Happy laughed and shook his head, taking JT from Kris' arms "I'm scared of mama too buddy" he said, fixing the boy's faux-hawk.
"Mama's mean." JT pouted, pointing to his mother.
Kris pointed back, narrowing her eyes "Questo non è gentile. Dire che ti dispiace."
The boy already had his father's eye roll down to a science "dispiace." he groaned
"Uh oh" Jax laughed "You're in trouble."
"I still don't see how that has anything to do with ice cream" Opie shrugged
"Because that shit happened right after they were given just a little bit." Jess replied
"It's still early" Opie argued "It's only four."
Jess rolled her eyes "Alright VP, but you're chasing after her then. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Isn't she going home with my mom and pop?"
Piney scoffed and shook his head "I don't think so shithead. I don't have anymore benadryl at home."
"Thanks Pop" Opie chuckled "Drugging my kid. Real good."
"We've got benadryl at home" Jess whispered "You tell her it's candy."
"Really?" he laughed
"It's only a little" she shrugged "Only when she doesn't sleep." Opie raised his eyebrow in uncertainty "Hey, her aunts put whiskey into their bottles last year when they wanted them to sleep." she said defensively
"Really?!" Jax asked
"Look. This one went along with it." she said pointing to Gemma
"Woah!" Gemma laughed "What did I do to you?"
Kris laughed "I'm sorry mama."
"Can we go home?" Abel asked, pulling on Jax's kutte
"What's wrong buddy?"
"I'm hungry. And I wanna play xbox with you."
"We bringin' the party back?" Jax asked
Everyone nodded and grabbed their things "You gotta go in the car with Grandma" Opie said to Gabby, as Jess tried to take her from him
"Noooooooo!" She wailed, not a cry, but an outright tantrum
"Gabriella!" Jessica hissed "You cut that out right now! Absolutely NOT!" she snatched her from Opie and carried her out of the clubhouse.
There was still a lot the men had to be filled in on, and their homecoming would be far from quiet and relaxing.
