"A baby." Jax stared at Tara's bare stomach and rubbed it gently. "You shouldn't have attacked Gemma; the baby could have been hurt. You could have been hurt." His tone was stern but he didn't sound mad.
"I know." Tara placed her hand on top of his, "I didn't mean to. I just reacted. Her acting like she had nothing to do with any of it rubbed me the wrong way, I guess. It was stupid."
"It was kind of hot though." He smirked up at her, pulling her mouth down to his. "Just don't put yourself or our baby at risk again."
"Round 4?" Tara wags her eyebrows at him with a grin.
"Baby, I can go all night." He winks.
They spent the weekend completely absorbed in each other, the clubhouse was still on lock down until the club could decide what to do about Clay and Gemma. Jax wanted him dead but the news of being a father was more important to him than revenge at that moment. He would get his revenge, all in good time.
…
Tara woke up early and went outside to watch the sunrise. The images of Tig Trager being murdered in front of her haunted her dreams. It had to be done. She knew it did, he could have killed her-killed her baby.
Things were definitely going to be a lot harder. She's married now, how long before the paparazzi come back around? Hell they're probably out there right now.
She knew what she had to do. She texted Amanda that she needed publically announce her marriage and that she's taking a break from music for a while to focus on her new family.
She snuggled back in bed with Jax. He was her happy place. Everything else didn't matter. As long as she had him by her side they could get through anything. He was her home-her happily ever after.
…
"Brother, you're going to want to see this." Opie pounded on their dorm-room door.
"What?" Jax questioned throwing his jeans and shoes on.
"Gemma." Opie answered. Tara jumped out of bed and interlocked her fingers with Jax's. They would deal with this-whatever it was-together.
Tara had prepared for a lot of things but to see Gemma sitting there hunched over battered and bloody wasn't one of them.
"Mom?" Jax shouted dropping to his knees to examine her. "What the hell happened?"
Sobs tore through Gemma's body, "Clay." She answered quietly with her eyes focused on the floor.
Tara watched Jax clench his fist at his sides. He was angry. No matter what Gemma did, someone physically hurting his mother would not slide. "Where is he?" Jax growled.
"At the house." She answered, peeking up at him. Tara narrowed her eyes in response.
"Babe," Jax turned to Tara, "can you help her get cleaned up? I've got to go deal with this."
Tara nodded, "be careful." She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right with this whole situation.
"Always. Love you. I'll be back as soon as I can." Jax leaned in and kissed her softly and turned back to his mom, "we'll talk about this more when I get back."
Jax left leaving some of the prospects there to help Tara with Gemma.
…
"So what happened?" Tara asked Gemma, cleaning the cuts on her face trying to not feel the least bit satisfied that the matriarch got what she deserved. Karma. Even as angry and as hurt as she was with Gemma's actions toward her, she still felt bad about these feelings. No woman should have to go through this; not even the biggest bitch on the planet.
Gemma just stared ahead, not speaking, flinching slightly when Tara rubbed alcohol on the deeper cuts.
"Okay, fine, I'll talk. I don't know what happened-since you won't tell me-but if this is some sort of ruse to get Jax to let you back in…" she trailed off shaking her head, "surely you're not that stupid."
Gemma's eyes snapped up to hers angrily, "I don't need a ruse to make things right between us sweetheart. My son will never push me out permanently." Her tone was harsh but confident.
Tara kneeled down to her eye level, "that will be exactly what happens if you don't stop this shit between us-if he even decides to give you another chance after trying to have me killed."
Gemma stood up, "I didn't try to have you killed. If I wanted you dead, trust me when I say this, you wouldn't be standing here right now. I wouldn't have sent Tig to do it, everyone knows he had a soft spot for you. I would have done it myself…if I wanted it done, that is.
Tara felt a chill run down her spine at Gemma's brutal honesty. "I guess we will just have to wait and see how this plays out with Jax. Know this-I do not trust you. I know what you're capable of. I'm not like Jax, you can't manipulate me. You know this-it's the main reason why you dislike me so much, right? You don't scare me anymore, Gem, so this thing between us," Tara gestured between the two of them, "is about to get very interesting."
Gemma remained quiet much to Tara's surprise, the matriarch just stared at her with an expression Tara couldn't read.
…
It was hours before Jax made his way back into their room at the clubhouse. "So what happened?" Tara sat up and flipped the lamp on. The clock read 2:25.
"I'm tired babe. I just want to go to sleep." Jax replied quietly. He slid into bed beside her after discarding his clothes onto the floor. He kissed her quickly and turned his back to her. She wrapped her arm around him, feeling his slight tremble beneath her.
She lay there quietly wondering what's going on in that head of his, wishing he would talk to her but not wanting to push him. She knew him well enough to know, if he was shaking, it was bad. It had to be.
…
Tara woke up to Jax sitting up in bed staring at her. "I'm sorry." He muttered, kissing her softly.
"For what?" She asked with a yawn.
"I should have talked to you instead of just shutting down. I promised I would be one hundred percent straight up with you. I just…" His words trailed off and the tremble was back in his hands.
"Hey," she forced him to look at her, "whatever it is, I'm here."
"I beat him to death." He answered in a daze. "He tried to lie and say he didn't hurt mom, he said she must have had someone else hurt her just like she lied and tried to put everything on him about you." He shook his head, "I hit him. Once I started, I couldn't stop. All the years of pent up frustration came out all at once."
Tara kissed his shoulder and held him tightly. "It's okay." She soothed staring straight ahead at the wall. 'Could Gemma have had someone else hurt her? Would someone be stupid enough to hurt the matriarch of the Sons of Anarchy? I have a feeling Clay may have been telling the truth, he wouldn't hurt Gemma. Not like she was hurt tonight anyways. He may have slapped her once or twice in a moment of anger but she was bloodied and bruised-he would never do that.' She thought to herself. "Do you think he may have been telling the truth?" She asked aloud, hoping the question didn't start an argument between them.
Jax stiffened, squinted his eyes in confusion and stared at her, "what do you mean?" He asked.
She instantly wished she hadn't said anything but it was too late,"I mean you pretty much cut her out of your life. Do you think maybe someone else did it to her and she blamed him?" She took a breath, "to make you forget about banning her and get you to deal with Clay at the same time?"
"You're unbelievable." Jax shook his head. "This man hurt my mother and here you are making it sound like she asked for it."
'If the shoe fits' Tara thought to herself, "I'm sorry but it makes sense. You said he was adamant he didn't hurt her and honestly, I have a hard time believing that he did. He loved her more than anything-probably even more than this club if you got down past it all."
Jax angrily stood up and threw his jeans on, "I don't know what you're getting at, surely you don't think she told someone to do this to her. You and my mother need to work this shit out and figure out how to get along. Both of you need to grow the fuck up." He growled and stomped out of the room leaving Tara sitting alone on the bed.
Tara threw herself against the pillows, 'I guess the bitch got what she wanted. Him and me to fight. Don't let her win. Jax may be blinded by his love for her but you have to keep control here. Don't let her win.' The thoughts were rushing through Tara's head. She knew she had to make this right, she would never trust Gemma-not even a little-but she would have to play her game. She would have to become better at it than the 'Queen' herself.
…
Tara spotted Jax sitting at the bar drinking a beer with Opie. His tense pose told her he's still very much upset. She wrapped her arms around him, "I'm sorry." She whispered in his ear. She felt him relax a little and continued, "I was wrong. I guess I was just upset about the Tig thing and blamed it all on her. I'm sorry." It was driving her crazy that even after everything she had done, Gemma was still controlling their relationship.
"I just need you guys to get along until we can figure this shit out." He gives me a small smile with one hand placed on mine.
"Got it." I answer stiffly. I catch a glimpse of Gemma sitting in one of the lounge chairs with an ice pack to her face milking the sympathy for all it's worth. 'Stupid lying bitch.' Tara thinks to herself. She was never one to jump to conclusions about people, but Gemma Teller-Morrow-Tara knew just how manipulative she could be especially when it comes to losing her control on Jax and the club.
Author's note: Thank you all for being patient. I had wanted to finish the story up with this update but had a hard time focusing on getting this chapter out with everything going on in my personal life, so it'll take a bit longer to wrap it up. I'll work on it again as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and all reviews are appreciated!