Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you see in this story other than obvious original characters such as Adrienne Hale and any other OC's you may meet, as well as any original plots and story arcs.
Thanks for reading let me know what you think!
Reminding himself for the sixth time that morning to be patient with his son, Jax held onto the small white t-shirt in his hand while staring down at Abel. Who, was sitting on his bed with jeans that were on backwards and no shirt on.
"Abel, you need to get dressed." Jax held out the shirt again, an expectant look on his face. "We need to get going. Grandma's waiting for us."
A petulant look came over Abel's face and he frowned up at his father, his shaggy blonde hair getting into his eyes. "No," he responded grumpily.
Jax raised a brow at his son's tone. "This isn't up for debate, Abel," Jax started. "You need to get dressed."
Abel uncrossed his arms and stood up on the bed, only coming up to his father's shoulders, and he glared up at him. "You're not doing it right."
"Doing what right?" Jax asked exasperated. "I'm just tryin' to get you dressed so we can go."
Throwing himself onto the bed, Abel laid on his back with a frown on his little face. "Getting me dressed. That's not how Mommy does it."
So that's why Abel was acting like he was possessed by fucking Lucifer. Jax never had any real problems with Abel, the only time he ever had to lay down the law with his son was when he was overtired. "Buddy," Jax started, much calmer than before. "I'm tryin' here. Can't you work with your old man?"
Abel looked up at him for a long while, his blue eyes twinkling with obvious sadness and confusion. Eventually, he nodded and stood up letting his father fix his jeans. "Where is Mommy?" Abel asked after Jax had finished turning around his pants.
Jax sighed and reminded himself not to curse the woman who had left his son emotionally distraught out loud. "She's working," he answered after a few minutes and settled the shirt over Abel's head.
Abel maneuvered his arms through the shirt holes and frowned. "When is she comin' back?"
Jax was at a loss for words and just when he opened his mouth to attempt to answer his son, the doorbell rang. "Thank fuckin' God," he muttered and held out a hand for Abel to use to jump off the bed. "That's Uncle Opie. We should get going, little man."
/
God, I'm so pathetic, Adrienne thought to herself while sitting on her couch early Saturday morning. It was a perfectly nice day out and here she was. Inside of her house, still in her sweatpants and reading a stupid romance book that would surely make her feel horrible about her love life.
That it was non-existent.
Closing the paperback, Adrienne threw it on the spot next to her and picked up her laptop from the coffee table. She needed to finish creating her lesson plans for the upcoming school year, which started in less than two weeks. Instead of being nervous, however, Adrienne was excited. She'd been waiting ever since she was sixteen to do this and she was more than ready to start teaching.
When her cell phone started ringing, Adrienne excitedly put her laptop down in front of her and ran over to where her phone was charging in the corner of the living room. A deep frown settled on her face, however, when she reminded herself she only had two real friends here, who were both out of town, and the frown deepened when she saw her older brother Jacob calling her.
"What do you want?" she asked in an expectant tone. 'Cause when did Jacob not need something from her?
Loud voices and music were in the background and she had to strain to hear what he was saying. "I'm at the the Taste of Charming School Fundraiser," he answered her. "Dad's leaving soon and I need you to come down here and take his spot."
A scowl came over Adrienne's face and she leaned against her wall sullenly. "Why do I need to go?" It's not as if he ever helped her when she needed it.
"Because David's at the station and because there's lots of… children here," he answered slowly. It was no secret in the Hale family that Jacob Hale Jr. hated kids, despised them actually."I'll finish cooking and you can talk to them."
The way he spoke was as if she was already leaving. "Why are you even there to begin with?" she asked with a frown. "You hate attending anything that has to do with SAMCRO." Knowing that Gemma Teller-Morrow ran the fundraiser, it was like Jacob was glutton for punishment.
"Re-election," Jacob responded shortly. "I need to mingle with the common folk if I wanna win this year."
And nothing's worse than talking to the middle class, she thought dryly. "Well, I can't help you," she said after a minute. "I'm still working on my lesson plans for school."
"Perfect reason to come," Jacob told her condescendingly, as if he spoke any other way. "Half of the kids here are probably gonna wind up being your students." He paused. "Maybe."
He wouldn't stop until she gave in or he'd run and tell Daddy and her father would make her feel horrible for not helping him out. "Fine," she responded with a roll of her eyes. "I'll be there soon."
"Make it real soon."
Looking down at her phone with a glare realizing he hung up on her, she angrily stomped her way upstairs and into her bedroom. Changing out of the sweatpants she'd wanted to spend all day in, she put on jeans and a white tank top.
Going down stairs she shut everything off and grabbed her house keys and cell phone before putting on her sneakers. 'Cause she'd be walking a few blocks to get to Main Street before haling a cab to get to the fundraiser. These were times Adrienne wished she had a car.
Walking outside, she loved the feeling of the summer sun on her skin. Living in Arizona for over five years, she'd grown used to the blistering sun and dry heat, even managing to maintain a nice and steady tan over the years, but nothing could compare to California. While it was beautiful almost every day, you weren't sweating buckets while walking.
People were walking and mingling about on Main Street that morning, which wasn't a surprise. What was a delightful surprise, was that nobody had recognized her and stopped her to talk about her brother who was the Mayor or her father who was a proud and recognized Judge or her other brother who was set to be the new Chief of Charming PD in the upcoming months. Wearing large black sunglasses, she successfully managed to hail a cab and told him where she needed to go before sitting back in the seat.
Looking out the window, she watched as familiar sights met her eyes and she ran a hand through her long curls with a grin. She was so happy to be back in Charming. Nothing like home sweet home, right?
/
Gemma was in the zone as she greeted person after person and handed out dozens of chili dogs. The Annual Taste of Charming School Fundraiser was in full swing and going perfectly. Her eyes were drawn to the now full tent of little Elvis' and Bobby with narrowed eyes.
Almost perfectly. It would have been even better if Bobby hadn't been an hour late.
"How's my Queen?" Clay asked coming up to her booth wearing a broad smile. "You got up so goddamn early, I didn't even see you today."
"Well, now you know how I feel almost every day," Gemma shot back with a grin. Leaning over the booth, she gave her husband a quick kiss and narrowed her eyes at him. "I also don't appreciate Bobby being late."
Clay rolled his eyes and waved his hand before reaching for a hot dog bun over the long table. "Yeah, yeah."
Slapping his hand away, Gemma told him, "Hey, hey, no reach arounds."
Raising his eyebrows at her, he pointed at her with a smirk. "That's not what you said last night."
"Not what my son needs to hear," Jax said walking up with Abel's hand in his. "Ya know, not good for his development."
A big smile came over Gemma's face and she walked around the booth and picked up Abel who grinned. "Finally," she said after she planted about a hundred kisses on her favorite grandson. "I've been waiting on you two."
Clay walked around the booth and began making himself his own chili dog. "Yeah, she's gonna put you to work."
"C'mon, Ma," Jax cajoled with a grin. "I just wanted to play with my little man today."
"Well then you should've came earlier," Gemma said with a raised brow. "I need you and Opie to start grilling some more dogs." Putting Abel up higher on her hip, she added, "But I need you to go around back and fill up the two buckets over there and bring 'em over to Lyla, first."
Looking down the long park, Jax squinted before seeing Lyla running around with a bunch of the kids with water guns. "Anything else?"
Raising a brow at her son's tone, Gemma replied, "No, not right now." Turning around with Abel, Gemma scowled at her husband who was now eating his second chili dog. "Jesus, Clay. This isn't all for you."
Clay shrugged unapologetically and laid a quick kiss on his wife. "I didn't get a good breakfast this morning. This is your fault."
/
"About damn time," Jacob Hale Jr. said, standing behind the grill. The most domestic she had ever seen her oldest brother and she pursed her lips together to keep from laughing.
Coming around the long table, Adrienne laid her keys and sunglasses down onto the white table in front of her. "Yeah, yeah," she mumbled before turning around with her arms crossed. "What do you want me to do first?"
"Did Dad leave already?" he asked, turning his head away from the grill to look at her. "He said he was going to the bathroom and I haven't seen him since."
"I ran into him when I got here and he was getting in his car," she answered and looked at him with an impish smile. "He also wasn't happy I came here in a cab."
"If he doesn't want you taking a cab he should get you a car," Jacob responded dryly. "Not my responsibility to set you up with a driver whenever you need something."
Narrowing her eyes, she opened her mouth to tell him that he was the one that needed her here but sighed when she saw all of the families around. She'd learned early on that the Hale's needed to have a picture-perfect family image in the public's eyes, especially after her mother's suicide eighteen years ago.
"Whatever," she said after a moment. "What do you need me to do?"
Closing the grill, Jacob walked over to where she stood and reached for a paper towel to wipe his hands on. "Gemma has a freezer set up over there," Jacob told her, pointing over to it behind the Lumpy's Boxing Tent. "I need more beef for the rest of the burgers."
"Fine." Walking away, Adrienne grinned as she quickly jogged past a torrent water gun fight and the kids shot at her before she made it to her destination.
When she opened up the small freezer, her dark eyes widened when she saw how large one box of ground beef was. Adrienne was all for equal rights and shit, but she knew she was tiny. She knew she'd never be that girl who could lift a hundred pound weights and she didn't know how she'd manage to carry the large box over.
/
Now carrying two large pales of water by the handles, Jax passed by Bobby's tent. Hearing the heavy-set man teach ten-year-old's how to be Elvis would make anybody laugh, watching Juice try to paint kids' faces was even better.
Abel sat in front of Juice with a big grin on his face as Juice tried to draw something that resembled a shark on his face. "Daddy, look at me!" Abel ran out of the face-painting tent and sprinted over to where his dad was walking by.
Looking away from where he was going, Jax looked over at his running son with a grin. "You look good, buddy."
Carrying too much momentum from running so fast, Abel bumped right into his fathers' leg. "Shit," Jax swore as he quickly lifted the buckets so Abel wouldn't his head and fell forward.
A sharp gasp made Jax look away from his son and look up quickly at the woman in front of him. Whose tank top, white tank top, was now soaked. "Fuck."
The woman's mouth was open in shock, the box of meat she had been holding now on the floor, and the wet ends of her black hair now clinging to her breasts over her shirt.
Throwing the now empty bucket on the floor, Jax reached into his back pocket and handed her a blue rag. "Sorry," Jax apologized, his eyes never leaving her chest. A chest that showed she wore a lacy white bra underneath. It was painfully sheer and Jax was contemplating covering Abel's eyes.
Wordlessly taking the rag, the woman looked down at the meet before up at him. "Sorry," Abel's little voice piped up as he leaned around his father's leg.
Awkwardly patting her neck and chest, she arranged her wet hair over the front of her as if she knew that's where Jax's eyes were glued too. "It's okay, sweetie," she answered in a smooth voice. "Accidents happen." Looking down at the now soggy box of meat, she frowned. "I just don't know how I'm going to manage to lift another one of those when the first time was a struggle."
Putting down the other bucket, Jax flashed her a guilty smile. "Let us help you out," he told her putting a hand on the back of his son's head. "Least we can do after we, ya know…"
Grinning at him, she showed off her white straight teeth. "Oh my God, I'd really appreciate that," she answered gratefully. "The freezer's over here." She turned around and led him over to where the freezer sat a tent over behind over.
Jax's eyes were riveted to her ass in her tight jeans and he scowled at his line of sight before looking down at his son, whose gaze was glued to where the other kids were playing with the water guns. "Wanna go over there, buddy?"
Abel nodded before shaking his head a moment later. "No, we hafta help the lady."
"I'll help her," Jax told him and ruffled his hair. "Go ahead and go play." Yeah, teaching his son responsibility was something he should do, but he also wanted Abel to have fun today.
Abel grinned at his father before taking off to where the kids were playing and Jax took a few large steps before he stood next to the girl he'd gotten wet, and not in a good way. Looking down at her, he watched as she pressed his rag to the top of each breast, trying to discreetly soak up some of the water there.
"Jax Teller," he told her and stuck out his hand.
Her head jerked up and she grinned at him funnily. "I know." Holding the rag with both hands she told him. "I'm Adrienne. Adrienne Hale."
"No shit?" he asked before he could stop himself. Captain America's sister had left Charming the minute she became legal and he sure as hell didn't remember her being this good looking.
Adrienne laughed and nodded. "No shit," she told him and opened up the freezer. "I need to bring this over to Jacob."
Why the fuck did I offer to help out? He asked himself with a scowl when the name 'Jacob' came out of her mouth. Because you weren't lookin' much higher than her tits, asshole.
Easily picking up the large box of meat, Jax waited for her to shut the door before beginning the walk across the quad. "So when'd you get back?"
"A few weeks ago," she answered with a shrug. "I was able to get a better job out here, ya know."
Jax nodded. "Right." Even though he had no idea since he'd only ever had two jobs his entire life. Mechanic and outlaw biker. Without his consent, his eyes drifted down to her exposed chest again, his rag firmly planted in the center of her chest while she pressed down. "Sorry 'bout the shirt, darlin'."
Adrienne looked up at him with a small smile and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it," she told him and rolled her eyes. "It's my own fault. I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Not from where I'm standing. I might as well have dumped the bucket over your head," he responded with a grin. "Do you have another shirt to change into?"
Biting her lip, she slowly shook her head. "I didn't really think I'd need it. Besides, I'll just throw on one of the aprons until I dry off."
Coming over to the tent, Jax was relieved to see Jacob Hale was, in fact, not there. "Where do you want these, darlin'?" he asked her walking around the table.
Adrienne scowled as she followed him around and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I have no idea. He was supposed to stay here until I got back. I thought he was just gonna start laying them on the grill."
Settling the box on the table, Jax turned to her and glanced down at her chest again before looking at her face. Just when he was going to figure out how to tell her she should probably cover up, the fuckin' Mayor decided to waltz in.
"Well, if it isn't Jax Teller," Jacob greeted walking back into the tent. "What can I do for you?"
Jax shook his head at Hale's tone and flashed a grin to Adrienne. "Nothin'. Just a little mishap. Figured I'd help the lady out." He grinned when he saw Adrienne's face turn red and she re-crossed her arms over her chest.
Interest, apparently, lost in him, Jacob turned toward Adrienne with an inquisitive expression. "What happened? His eyes narrowed when he noticed her wet shirt.
"What the hell did you do?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, really. It was just a little accident and Jax was just nice enough to help me carry over this heavy meat, since you couldn't."
Jax smirked at Adrienne's tone to the oldest Hale and Hale's irritated expression. "I gotta get goin, darlin'," he said, looking at Adrienne who's gaze left her brother's to meet Jax's. "If you need anything, just come and find me." Winking at her, he left the tent and grinned when he could feel good ole Mayor Hale glaring lasers into his back.
Walking away, Jax's smirk turned into a full-fledged smile and he shook his head to himself. He got to see a great set a tits and piss of the good Mayor.
/
Later
Gemma sat Abel on top of the table and grinned as he ate another chili dog. "Is that good, baby?" she asked standing in front of him.
"It must be," Luann said as she stood next to Gemma later that afternoon. "That's his fourth one."
Looking down at her grandson amused, Gemma shook her head at him. "Is your daddy even feeding you?" she asked him teasingly and tickled his belly, prompting Abel to let out a laugh. "Huh? Or do I need to make you a tray of food?"
"I'm feedin' him just fine." Jax waltzed into the tent. "He's a garbage gut though. You keep food in front of 'im and he'll keep on eating."
"Sounds familiar," Gemma snarked, looking pointedly at her son. "You could eat me out of house and home."
Walking over to his son, Jax used a paper towel to wipe his messy face. "We should get goin'," Jax said looked over to his mother. "Abel needs a bath before he gets ready for bed."
"I'm not dirty," Abel said rubbing his eye. "Or tired," he added sullenly.
"Of course not," Gemma told him and kissed the top of his head. "But you gotta go do what Daddy says." Looking up from Abel, she fixed her stare on Jax. "Did you at least get the fireworks ready for Opie?"
Abel gasped and his entire face lit up. "Fireworks?" he asked and looked at his dad with big blue eyes. "Can we stay, Daddy? Please?" he drew out the last word with a small pout.
Giving his mother a dry look, Jax waved his hand at Abel. "See what you do?"
Gemma planted her hands on her hips and cocked her head at him. "Hey, it was an accident."
"Accident, my ass," Jax responded and shoved his hands into his jean pockets.
"Well, since you're staying," Gemma started with a slick smile. "Can you go and wrangle up some prospects and have them start picking up? I don't wanna have to stay until midnight cleaning this mess up."
Jax nodded and made to walk away but stopped when Gemma put a hand on his arm. "Saw you earlier with Adrienne," Gemma started casually.
Rolling his eyes, a smirk came over Jax's face. "Leave it to you to remember every single face to ever show itself in Charming," Jax told her dryly. "But yeah, I did. Spilled the bucket of water all over and I helper her bring some beef over to her tent."
"Of course, I remember her," Gemma responded as if he were stupid. "She's a Hale and I make sure I know what goes on in our town."
Feeling as if he were being warned by his mother for something that was nothing, Jax found himself frowning. "What are you tryin' to say?"
Motioning for Luann to take Abel, Gemma continued after Luann stood Abel on a crate to help stir the large pot of chili. "I'm saying, that I saw your eyes and they didn't travel much higher than her tits." Giving her son a knowing look, she shook her head at him. "The last thing you need right now is to-"
"Jesus," Jax swore and took a step back from his mother. "Do you hear yourself?"
"Yeah, I do," Gemma responded with a raised brow. "And I know you."
Jax had to remind himself that Abel was right there and people were surrounding the tent while he spoke to his mother. The last thing on his mind was getting into another relationship. If a chick wasn't a porn star or a croweater, he wasn't sleeping with anyone. He'd learned his lesson and learned it the hard way. Relationships and Jax Teller obviously didn't go together.
Giving his mother a solemn look, Jax said, "Clearly not well enough. That shit's not even a blip on my radar right now. My main priorities are my son and my club. That's it."
/
Getting Abel into bed later that night was easy, not surprising since they didn't leave the park until almost ten. After he put on the air conditioner for his son, Jax sat on the edge of Abel's bed now wearing sweats.
"You had a good day?" Jax asked leaning on his arms that were on either side of his son.
A deep yawn escaped Abel's mouth and the little boy nodded and rubbed his eyes. "I had fun. Me and Ellie kicked Kenny and Piper's butt in our shoot-out."
Grinning at his son's terminology, Jax kissed the top of his head. "That's my boy, show no mercy."
Abel didn't say anything for a few minutes before sighing and he began playing with his comforter. "Mommy's not coming back is she?"
Blowing out a breath, Jax looked at his son and shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, buddy."
Abel's bottom lip quivered slightly and the look he gave Jax just about broke his heart. "She didn't want me?"
"Aw, Abel," Jax said and picked his son up from where he laid down and brought the little boy on his lap. "It's not your fault. I promise."
Abel played with the 'SONS' rings on his father's hands. "So why'd she leave?"
If Tara were in front of him, he'd forget about his morals of not hitting another woman. Reigning in his temper in front of his son, Jax leaned his cheek on Abel's head. "She just... she needed to go Abel but it had nothing to do with you."
Abel looked up from the rings he was playing with and turned around, looking at Jax with sincere and worried eyes. "You're not gonna leave, right?"
"I promise I will never leave you, Abel."
/
Helping clean up the mess from their tent late that night, Adrienne was throwing profanities out left and right since Jacob ditched her the minute the party seemed to be over. Nothing but the tent was theirs and, even though he said it wasn't his problem earlier, he had told one of his drivers to stay until she was ready to leave. Although that was probably for the tent and she was the carry-on.
"Looks like you could use some help," her father's voice said and her head jerked up.
Putting down the large black garbage bag some guy handed out to everyone, Adrienne frowned up at her father. "Yeah, I do. Jacob didn't stick around long enough to help out." Blowing out a breath, she crossed her arms and sent an accusatory look at her father. "And since you had to leave, I had to come."
"I had important business to deal with," Jacob Hale Sr. told her, ignoring most of what she said. "I couldn't postpone and I told him to call David. Lord knows he needs a few hours out of the station."
Overlooking the crack about David, Adrienne tilted her head at her father inquiringly. "What kind of business?"
He gave her a contemplating look, as if trying to figure out if he should tell her and how much. Finally he said, "We have new friends coming to Charming. I needed to meet with them."
A look of disbelief crossed Adrienne's face. "And that's why you ditched?" she asked him scowling. "To be the welcoming committee?"
"To make sure they know their limitations here," Her father responded in a hard voice, the age lines on his face turning harsh. "They needed to know what was acceptable and what wasn't acceptable."
"So who are they?" she asked confusedly. People moved in and out of Charming all the time, she really didn't see the point in warning select groups of people. Wasn't that discrimination or something? "And why did you need to meet with them today?"
Jacob Hale Sr. looked at her with a closed off expression, his blue eyes guarded before relaxing slightly. "Like I said, they're friends," he started. "Friends who need to know their boundaries."
It didn't make a lick of sense to Adrienne, but she didn't like the way her father spoke about these new 'friends' When she opened her mouth to tell him as much, he added, "Now, I came here to help you clean up. So let's do it, alright?"
Well, that was clearly the end of the discussion.
A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! I love getting the little notifications on my phone throughout the day so PLEASE keep them coming. They inspire me more than you know!
