CHAPTER 3

I woke up from the sun burning into my eyes. I rolled over in the bed that I was in before looking the clock that I saw on the nightstand. It was almost nine in the morning. I knew that it was probably time for me to get to bed. I pulled the covers back and slowly got out of bed, stretching my arms above my head.

It was a weird room that I was in. It was a guest room, but still looked as though there was someone living in it. The desk and drawers were empty, but it felt like I was intruding on something. If my dad was in a biker gang however then there was probably a lot of people who would stay over some time or another.

I looked at the nightstand before I picked up my hearing aid and I began to walk out of the room. I was in my extra pair of paints and sweater that I went to bed in since my other clothes I was sure were still soaked. Once I opened the door, I was hit with the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. I knew that she at least made pancakes, but there were other things in the making.

I walked down the hallway into the kitchen, putting on my hearing aid as I looked up at Gemma. The woman was standing at the stove, making something. She looked up at me when she heard me walking down the hallway. I saw her say something, but I didn't have my aid on completely. It was only a whisper that I could barely make out. After setting the aid on, I could hear the louder hiss of something cooking and frying. I looked at Gemma and asked her, "say again? Sorry I didn't have my aid completely on."

She gave me a weird look and I pulled back my hair so that she could see my hearing aids. She took a look before saying, "I didn't know you were deaf."

"I'm not, I just have bad hearing. I can kinda hear without them. I could hear if someone was yelling at me, but it would sound like a normal conversation. When you were talking before I could make out what you said like it was a whisper, but I just wanted to make sure that I heard what you said," I answered her before putting my hair back. I looked over at what she was making. I saw some eggs, pancakes, and sausage.

"How did that happen?" Gemma asked as she flipped an egg.

"I got sick with something when I was five. A high fever or something. It damaged my hearing," I answered before I asked Gemma, "what's all this?"

Gemma nodded, "well, it's all for you. A special breakfast. I just found out that I have a granddaughter, I have to try and make up for the past years. Plus, it seems as though you could do with a big breakfast like this…you better eat breakfast I hope."

I chuckled and moved to sit down at the table before I answered her, "I do when I can. Sometimes I wake to late and have to get to school. Or if I'm not hungry."

"Well, are you hungry?" Gemma asked.

I nodded a bit too quickly and she chuckled and began to get out a plate. I quickly told her, "umm…no eggs? Sorry they make me nauseous."

Gemma smiled and gave me a couple of pancakes and sausages before placing the plate on the table in front of me. She went over to the fridge and asked, "do you like maple syrup with your pancakes? And what do you usually drink?"

"I prefer rum myself." I told her.

She grinned and looked up and me and I chuckled back. She shook her head and said, "oh you are my granddaughter. No doubt about that."

I giggled a bit. I don't know how I got to be so comfortable with Gemma so fast. It was…weird. Maybe unexpected. I thought that I would be pretty quiet and shy around my family, but I had this weird feeling in my body when I was around Gemma. I didn't wear a mask and it seems like I forgot to put it on.

"I usually have water. We don't get too fancy where I am from," I answered her.

She nodded, "yeah, that's what Jax told me this morning. He should be here in a couple of minutes." Gemma turned again before asking me, "do you like apple juice?"

I nodded and told her, "apple juice sounds good."

She placed a jug on the table and I took it and poured myself a glass before she got another plate of food for another spot to sit at before getting herself a plate. She looked at me and told her, "oh, I have to tell you, my husband, your grandfather but not by blood will be coming with your Dad."

I nodded. It was his house, I should have suspected it. I knew that it was highly likely that I had more family than just my dad when I came over here.

I began to eat my pancakes before hearing a couple of bikes come up the road. I knew that it was probably them and I began to get a bit nervous. This is only the second time that I have met my dad. And I would be meeting another person today.

A couple of minutes after the sound of the bikes stopped, I looked at the door, hearing it open. Gemma put down her fork and I looked over to see my dad and a slightly taller blonde man that was a little bit on the heavier side. They took off their sunglasses and looked at me. A bit nervous and embarrassed, I looked down at my plate before I heard them walk over to us. I looked up a bit and saw the other man come over to Gemma and kiss her forehead before sitting down beside her. I saw my dad sit beside me and the other guy looked at me and smiled, "you're right, Gemma. She does look like him."

I looked up and he gave me a smile. It was meant to be friendly, but I could see that there was something else behind it, a sort of danger and evil.

He told me, "I'm Clay, Gemma's husband. It's nice to meet you after what Jax and Gemma have told me."

I gave him a smile and Gemma turned to Jax and asked him, "do you want anything to eat, baby? I made lots."

Jax shook his head, "I ate before talking to Clay. I talked to Tara first before heading to TM to talk with Opie and Clay about how to go about..." He turned to me and looked back at him, "how to go about finding your foster records and seeing what rights I have."

I nodded, going to eat pancakes again.

Gemma chuckled and turned to Jax and asked him before she ate a piece of egg, "how did the talk with Tara go?"

He shrugged, "she was surprised, not happy, but it seems like it will process quick. And she agreed that Sidney can live with us."

Gemma nodded, "I still plan on taking you out today Sidney. You can't just wear two pairs of clothes. Maybe Tara could come with us, Jax. It might help her to get comfortable with Sidney faster."

Jax nodded, "if she agrees then I'm fine with it. It would give me time to talk with Unser, get some pointers about what to do first, actually contact the family."

"They shouldn't be home until around noon today so you have a bit of time," I informed him.

"How many other kids are there?" Clay asked.

"There is Cora, she's fifteen. And then there are the little kids Trevor and Felicity. I think they were trying to foster another kid, but she won't be coming in until next month at least," I answered.

"Jesus." Gemma muttered before she looked at me and then said, "oh, you should probably tell your dad about your hearing condition. It might help out with the law and might give him another advantage."

Jax looked at me, giving me a weird look before I held my hair back and showed him the aids.

"You're deaf?" he asked.

I shook my head, "no I just need help hearing. My hearing is bad without it, like talking right now would be like whispering and if you were whispering I might be able to hear you."

He nodded and Clay asked, "did that happen while you were in foster care?"

I nodded, "with another family, but yes. I got meningitis and it damaged my hearing a bit."

Clay looked at my dad, "it might be good to tell Unser, you could argue that fostering has not given her a very good history." Clay turned back to me, "can you sign?"

I smiled and signed to him as I talked, "I can. I learned because the doctors warned me that my hearing is getting very very slowly progressively worse but if I were to get really sick it could damage my hearing again. I learned in case something happened and I went deaf."

The others were watching me with interest as I signed. Clay turned to Jax, "if we were to learn this, it could give you an even more advantage. Why should she go with a foster family that won't know a language that she might someday have when if her own family has it?"

Jax nodded, "that's a good idea."

He turned to me and asked, "is it hard to learn?"

I shrugged and still signed to him, "not the basics. And even if you aren't a master, if they see that you are at least giving a good effort to learn and making progress, it should still give you a good advantage."

Jax nodded and Gemma looked at the clock, "well, I'll call Tara at ten thirty and invite her to come. You talk to Unser, get as much information as we can."

My dad and I nodded before she looked at me and said to me, "be ready at ten forty-five, okay?"

I nodded and began to eat some sausage.