Grace was waiting for Tara at the house when Jax dropped her off, "baby I'm sorry I didn't tell you but you have to believe that I was only looking out for your wellbeing."
Tara was torn, she knew her mom loved her more than anything and probably believed what she was doing was her only option, "Why did you make me hate him so much? Despite everything you did, he still loved me. He wanted me there with him in his final days and I couldn't get past the fact that he abandoned me. Then I find out after it's too late, and I can't take any of it back, that he was never obligated to do anything. He never had to love me, but here he was still loving me, still wanting me to be with him one last time. Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"
Silent tears rolled down Grace's cheeks. "I don't know. I should have once you were old enough to understand. I guess I still thought I needed to protect you from the MC lifestyle."
Tara rolled her eyes, "if you were so worried about me getting wrapped up in that life, why did you insist I come here? IF that's the real reason you did everything then you failed, mom, you pushed me here right into the arms of the Prince of SAMCRO himself."
"I see that." Grace dropped her head. "Things will get better when we get back home. I'll make this better, somehow. I promise."
"Mom, I love you. You've been my best friend my whole life. None of that has changed but I'm not sure I can just leave. Not right now."
"What are you saying?" Grace questioned.
"I'm saying that I think I may want to stay for a little while." Tara replied, biting her lip nervously.
Grace dropped her head, "I understand. You don't want to leave him. You have the same look in your eyes that I had with Alexander."
"It's not just that," Tara sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, "I want to get to know him."
"Alexander?" Grace was surprised by Tara's admission. She assumed Tara wouldn't want anything to do with him. She was already prepared to fight for her to give him a chance but Tara was ready to do that on her own. Her baby girl's not a baby anymore. She's growing up.
Tara nodded, "I know you guys have a lot of history, but I feel like I should give him a chance, ya know?"
"I think you are doing the right thing. You should stay here and get to know him. You both deserve that opportunity."
"I want you to stay too." Tara stated.
"I don't think that's a good idea honey. It's unsafe for me here, given the circumstances." Grace replied, walking to repack her bag.
"What do you mean by that?" Tara asked but Grace shut the door. "Go see Jax at the clubhouse baby. Talk to Alexander. I'm going to get some rest."
Tara walked to the clubhouse, thinking about what her mom had said. Did she believe someone from the club would hurt her because of what she did?
"Jax," she tapped him on the shoulder when she walked into TM, "I need to talk to the members. Is that possible? It's important."
"Everything okay?" He asked.
"I think so. Can you get them all together for me? Your mom too, please?" Her brow furrowed. He could see she was worried about something so he did as she asked.
…UntilNow….
"What's going on, son?" Clay asked once everyone settled into the room.
"Tara needs to talk to everyone." He answered stepping back letting her step forward.
Tara took a breath, "I'm really sorry to drag you all away from what you were doing. I promise I won't take up much of your time." Her hands trembled nervously, she had never been much of a public speaker, "I know a lot of you are upset, pissed off, hurt or whatever about the secret my mom kept for all of these years. Believe me, I feel all of those things too. I believe she did the only thing she thought she could to protect me. I'm her whole life and I have been since she found out she was pregnant with me."
"Where are you going with this sweetheart?" Gemma asked kindly when Tara paused again collecting her thoughts.
"She said something at home when I asked her to stay here with me while I got to know you," Tara looked at Tig, "I mean if you want me to stay…" The thought occurring to her that he may not want anything to do with her.
"Of course I do, Tig answered, "what did she say?"
"She told me to stay here but she had to leave because she wouldn't be safe here given the circumstances. What did she mean by that? Why wouldn't she be safe."
"She thinks because of this lie, Samcro will hurt her." Piney answered.
"That WON'T happen." Tig looked around the room at every member making sure they heard the warning in his tone. "She will be safe here for as long as she wants to stay."
Everyone spoke their agreement, no one had planned on hurting her.
Tara let out the breath she was holding and Jax placed his hand on her back, "you and your mom will always be kept safe here. You're family."
Everyone agreed with his statement.
"Thank you, I just needed to guarantee her safety before I try to talk her into staying. You all can get back to whatever you were doing. Sorry to bother you."
"You're never a bother sweetheart." Gemma kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go talk to your mom."
"So you're staying after all?" Jax smiled.
"If I can talk my mom into it. I still think I should be with her but if I can't then maybe I can split my time between here and there."
"Can we talk?" Tig questioned.
In all of the years that Jax had known Tig he never heard him use that voice before. A quiet, kind of sweet, uncertain tone.
"Sure." Tara nodded and followed Tig to a room in the back.
"I don't even know where to begin," Tig spoke, "there's so much I want to say but I'm still processing."
"I'm probably the one person who understands what you mean right now." Tara agreed. "Did you love my mom?"
"More than anything." He admitted without hesitation.
"Will you be able to get past what she did?" Tara paused, "I mean can you be around her without making her feel like shit for it any time you see her. I really want her to stay. I need her to stay. I've heard you can be an asshole so I guess what I'm saying is don't keep making her feel like shit or I'll kick your ass." She was surprised by her own words as they came out. She didn't even really know this man; she knew he had a bad reputation but she just threatened him nonetheless.
He smirked at the boldness and authority in her tone. "Since you put it that way, I'll be on my best behavior." He winked.
"Thank you." She grinned. "I know we have a lot to discuss. 21-years' worth of stuff to catch up on, but I'm not really feeling that right now. I think we should take some time, process, and then when we're up to it, maybe spend a day together and see how it goes."
"Sounds good." He agreed.
She nodded and walked back to find Jax.
Tig smiled to himself. He may have just found out about her but the love he felt for his daughter already was overwhelming. She's beautiful-looks just like her mother. He always thought Grace looked like a porcelain skinned angel. She does have his sea-green eyes though with a hint of Grace's brown mixed in.
He never dreamed a girl would have him wanting to change his erratic behavior that he'd become so accustomed to after Grace left, his girl has done that already. He needed to be someone she could be proud to call her dad. It would take a lot of work to change but he was determined for her to want to have a relationship with him. He had a lot of time to make up for.