Summary: She was an angel, returning to him the son he had lost. He was a cowboy Casanova, riding off into the sunset with her heart in his hand.
Fate and the luck of the Irish would bring them together, love would keep them there.

Disclaimer: Kurt Sutter is the creator of SOA, not me. I just have fun playing in his proverbial sandbox.

CHAPTER SIX
"As a father, you want the best for your son, quite obviously. You want to create the best memories for your son."
-Bill Goldberg

|CHARMING, CA|
|ELI|
"What if you could? Stay longer, that is?"
Jackson Teller broke the uneasy silence that had fallen between the three adults, and Eli's eyes went from Abel's sleeping face to his.
"What if you didn't have to say goodbye?"

Eli's heart jumped in her chest, seeming to skip a beat before resuming its rhythm twice as fast, and her breath caught in her throat.
Was there a chance, a real chance, that she could see Abel again? That she could continue to be his mother?
She stared hard at Jackson Teller, hardly daring to believe him, hardly daring to hope.

"I took Abel to a pediatrician a few weeks ago and she told me about something," Jax began slowly, "called joint custody. If we had joint custody of Abel, we would both legally share parental rights. Due to the circumstances, of course, things might be different. But, if you're willing, I'd agree to share custody of Abel. I'm his father, but he sees you as his mother."

Eli was in shock.
Why would Jackson Teller want to share custody with her, a virtual stranger?

"Why?" It was Max who said what Eli was thinking, "Why would you, Abel's biological father, want to share custody with my sister when she is -for all intents and purposes- a stranger?"
Jackson took a moment to pause and gather his thoughts before slowly replying, "Because every child should have a mother, and your sister is the only mother he knows. Because Abel loves her, and she loves him. Because I know that she would do anything to keep him safe. And he needs that."

Eli looked at Jackson Teller, really looked at him.
She looked past the rugged looks, past the leather cut. She looked at him. And saw a man who wanted his son to be safe and loved, and for some reason, he thought she could be that safety and that love.

"Beth," Eli's head turned and she locked eyes with Max, "You should do it."
She frowned, "Max, I can't. You said it yourself, I have a job and a parlor to take care of. I can't just drop everything and move, not to mention that even if I did I wouldn't have anywhere to move to."
"But you can," retorted Max, "You can drop everything and move, Beth. It's your parlor, and you can set it up somewhere here in Charming. The employees will understand, most of them are just temps anyways. And we can figure something out housing-wise. A house shouldn't be too much, and you've still got your inheritance, right?"
Eli sighed, "No, not really; most of my inheritance went into a bank account I opened for Abel's future college fund."
"Well, we can still-"

Jackson broke in before the conversation could further transition into an argument, "You could stay with us."
He waited until both siblings had turned their attention to him before continuing, "With Abel and I, I mean. I have plenty of room, and I'm sure Abel would definitely appreciate it. And then, when you find a place, we can work something else out."
Eli gaped. To offer her a place in Abel's life period was one thing. To offer her a place to stay for an undetermined amount of time when he didn't even know her? Either Jackson Teller truly loved his son, or he was far too trusting. Personally, she'd be betting on the former.

One swift look at Abel's peaceful face and Eli's mind was made up. She knew her answer, with a startling certainty.
Max went to speak, probably to try and convince her to take Jackson's offer, but Eli was quicker.

"Yes. Yes, I'll stay."

|JAX|

"What if you could? Stay longer, that is? What if you didn't have to say goodbye?"
Jax watched as something in Elizabeth Grey came to life with his words, watched as a light entered her eyes; as hope entered them.
And seeing that hope, gave him hope in return and before he knew it his unspoken ideas and secretly plotted plans were no longer unspoken and no longer secrets, "I took Abel to the pediatrician a few weeks ago and she told me about something called joint we had joint custody of Abel, we would both legally share parental rights. Due to the circumstances, of course, things might be different. But, if you're willing, I'd agree to share custody of Abel. I'm his father, but he sees you as his mother."

All went quiet and after a moment Jax felt a swell of panic begin to form deep within him, had he said something wrong? If he had, and she left, what would happen to Abel?
Then, the youngest of the three adults broke the silence.
"Why?"

Jax's head turned and he locked gazes with the narrowed eyes of Max, who's tense posture and outright glare betrayed him in his suspicions.
"Why would you," he continued, "Abel's biological father, want to share custody with my sister when she is -for all intents and purposes- a stranger?"

Jax only had to think for a few seconds, "Because every child should have a mother, and your sister is the only mother he knows. Because Abel loves her, and she loves him. Because I know that she would do anything to keep him safe. And he needs that."
At some point during his explanation, Jax had caught Elizabeth's gaze and held it. Because of that, he saw the very moment she saw the one thing he wanted most for his son; safety and love.

"Beth," Max, yet again, broke the still air and Jax turned alongside Elizabeth to look at him.
Max only had eyes for his sister, however, as he firmly told her, "You should do it."
Elizabeth's brow furrowed, and Jax's attention shifted to her as she said, "Max, I can't. You said it yourself, I have a job and a parlor to take care of. I can't just drop everything and move, not to mention that even if I did I wouldn't have anywhere to move to."

Jax's mind began to race and he blocked out whatever Max chose to reply with.
Elizabeth had a point, it was a tad unreasonable to ask her -a stranger, as Max had so easily pointed out- to drop everything, no matter how much she loved Abel. After all, hadn't Tara loved Abel? Hadn't she loved him? He thought she had, and yet she'd still left.
But, Jax's fears of an unknown future, Abel's future, kept him determined, even when some of his worst memories -memories of Tara- reared their ugly heads like dragons and demons.

He turned back to the ongoing discussion right as some sort of inheritance was mentioned.
Max's frustration was palpable as he scowled down at the picnic table. Then, a metaphorical lightbulb seemed to go off above his head, as he turned to Elizabeth and said, "Well, we can still-"
Jax interrupted before the conversation could go on further and evolve into an argument, "You could stay with us."
Elizabeth turned to him, and Jax paused before continuing cautiously," With Abel and I, I mean. I have plenty of room, and I'm sure Abel would definitely appreciate it. And then, when you find a place, we can work something else out."

There was a tension in the air as Elizabeth deliberated and Jax could feel the many muscles and tendons in his body tense in anticipation.
He didn't know what would happen next if she said no.
He watched her face, watched the surprise flick across it and the deep thought wrinkle her brow, and saw the moment she made her mind up.
She looked at Abel, and he saw a brief glimpse of what he thought might as well have been a mirror-image of his own face when he looked at his son.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jax saw Max go to speak, only for Elizabeth to beat him to the punch.
"Yes. Yes, I'll stay."

|MAX|

A wave of relief washed over him the moment Beth agreed to stay in Charming with Abel and Jax Teller.
He hadn't been one-hundred-percent certain that Eli would agree, and for a moment he had seen his sister waste away in the blink of an eye.
Now, however, a much brighter future could be envisioned. A bright future without gravestones.

He turned to Beth with a smile, "I've got another bag for you in my car, it's clothes and things. There should be enough for a day or two, and then we can head back to the house in Ohio and pack things up. Get your affairs settled then, and all that."
His big sister stared at him for a moment, emerald eyes narrowing, "Was this planned?"
Max's eyes widened and he tried to project himself as the picture of innocence, which wasn't very easy when Eli had grown up with him and knew all his tells, "No."
She stared at him for a moment before humming, the noise easily conveying that she didn't honestly believe him in the slightest, and turned away.

Max relaxed, watching her for a moment before he glanced up and caught the blue-steel gaze of Jax Teller.
He didn't look very convinced either.

|ELI|

Everything seemed to move faster than Eli could quite grasp as one minute she was sitting in a park discussing the near future, and the next she was sitting in the passenger seat of her brother's car heading towards the next chapter in her life.
In the back, one of her biggest reason for breathing was sleeping peacefully.

She squinted out the car window at the darkened scenery as they drove through the town once more, lucid enough this time around to take in as much of the night-tinged town as she could.
To her disappointment, twilight obscured most everything there was to see.

"Are you sure about this?"
Max's voice startled her, despite his quite volume.
She turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Aren't you the one who told me I should stay?"
He scowled, "Yeah, but I want to be sure that this is what you want and you're not just doing what I said you should do."

It occurred to Eli then exactly what her brother was doing. He was trying to protect her, as he always was.
She smiled at him softly, waiting until he glanced in her direction to retort, "When have I ever listened to you?"
She saw his form relax in the shadow of twilight and could hear the small upturn of his lips when he replied, "Touche, Beth. Touche."

A beat passed between them before Eli spoke up once again.
"Really Max," she said, "I'm sure about this. If it lets me keep Abel in my life..."
Max nodded in the darkness, "You'd do anything, I know. I'm just saying, you don't know him, Eli. You don't have to do this, we can find another way for you to see Abel. Maybe get full custody of him, if we have to."
Eli shot him a look full of surprise and disappointment, though she knew he couldn't see it she hoped he could feel it, "You sound like Alex, Maximilian. And you're right, I don't know Jackson Teller. But I know Abel. And I have to have some hope that whatever good belongs to Abel, belongs to his father too. Because I refuse to be the reason he loses his son. Permanently or not. I won't have it, Max."

There was true remorse in her brother's voice when he replied, "You're right, Beth. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have even suggested it. I'm sorry."
Eli sighed, "I know."

A silence fell between them, before Eli broke it, "You know, I meant what I said, Max. I'm not doing this because you told me I should. I'm doing it because I want to. Abel deserves the world, and I would give it to him if I could."
Max nodded, "I know."

They stood outside a moderately-sized house a little while later, leaning carefully against Max's car.
Jackson Teller had pulled in a few minutes before them and then disappeared into his house. The Grey siblings were waiting for his inevitable return, Abel sleeping peacefully in his car seat just behind them.

Eli looked forward at the house that she would be staying in for an unknown amount of time, the house that Abel had called home for the few short months he'd had with his father. Somehow, she knew that her future existed in that house.

Max startled her yet again when he spoke out of the dark suddenly, "Are you sure about this?"
Eli turned to him with a glare, her eyes glinting sharply in the yellow-orange lamplight; she was not having this conversation again.
Max's own eyes widened and he held up both hands in the universal sign of surrender, "Just double checking!"

Both of them turned to the house when the door opened and out stepped Jackson Teller.
He made his way across his lawn to them, and the three stood there in the quiet of the night for a few moments.
Then, Jackson spoke.
His eyes were on Eli asked he asked, "Ready to come in?"
For some reason, it felt like that question was much bigger than a simple invitation made up of four little words.
Eli smiled, "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

She gathered Abel in her arms, Jax grabbed her bag.
And Eli stepped over the threshold of this new house, into her new life.

Author's Note:
Wow, guys. Just... wow.
I have never smiled more than I have the past couple of days with all the story alerts blowing up my email.
Reading all of your reviews makes my day, and knowing that so many of you are just as invested in Cowboys & Angels as I am... there's truly nothing like it.
I am so incredibly grateful to all of you; thank you so very much.
On the subject of this chapter - I feel like the ending was a bit rushed, but there's only so many times I can rewrite it before deciding to leave well enough alone. But, overall I'm relatively pleased with how everything turned out.
Jax took the plunge -or one of them at least- and offered Eli his home, and she accepted.
Fluff should be expected at some point, but beware! The story's only just beginning, and in the world of SAMCRO nothing is ever simple and nothing is ever simple.
And with that, I bid you all adieu!
Questions? Comments? Review! I love 'em!
-E.S.