This is probably my favorite chapter out of any chapter I have written thus far, and believe me, your gonna be letting loose a couple of 'awws' by the time you finish reading this. if you don't, your not human! :)
Enjoy!
For the first time in her life, Velvet checked herself out in the mirror of the bathroom. She observed her pregnancy bump, the smooth skin that gently rounded over the child of Jax's that grew within her womb. Then, the for the one millionth time that day, she observed the ring on her finger, marveling at the fact that she was engaged. But not just to anyone . . . she was engaged to Jax, the Vice President of SAMCRO and the father of her child.
Jax came up behind her after cutting off the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist, and embraced her from behind, where he grinned at her in the mirror. "Being narcissistic again, Mrs. Teller?" He asked her, and Velvet grinned and rolled her eyes in the mirror.
"No . . . I'm just amazed at how I got rewarded for beating the shit out of Tara today!" She remarked, and Jax grinned as he let go of her and stood to the side, where he watched her put on her make-up for a moment.
"Yeah, speaking of Tara, you did some pretty heavy damage from what I hear. Broken nose in three places, a swollen shut black eye, a skull fracture and a mild-to-medium concussion," He laughed then. "Remind me not to piss you off, babe!" Velvet grinned and laughed a little as she leaned closer to the mirror in order to apply her eyeliner.
"Bitch deserved it." Jax laughed.
"Yeah, you tell me that every five seconds!" He paused then and stayed silent for a few minutes before he spoke. "You want to announce it tonight or wait until later?" He asked her, gesturing to the ring on her finger, and Velvet bit her bottom lip as she observed it for a few seconds.
"I dunno . . ."
"Half-Sack's gonna be there."
"Like that's gonna make a difference?" Jax shrugged.
"I don't know . . . I'm still kinda sore at him for breaking my fingers . . . I do kinda wanna get him back some more." Velvet grinned.
"You know what they say about an eye for an eye . . ."
"Yeah, I know, makes the whole world blind, but come on Vel! You can't tell me that this won't be sweet! Besides, Chibs will be there!" Velvet shrugged.
"Yeah, I suppose . . . we can." She grinned at him, and he grinned back as he clapped his hands together in happiness. He pushed away from the counter he was leaning on and kissed her neck before he walked back into their bedroom, where he got dressed.
Velvet finished getting her make-up on and got dressed before they left for Gemma and Clay's, Abel in Jax's arms, who strapped him into his carseat before getting into the passenger side.
They walked in together, where Jax immediately headed straight through the kitchen to the back yard with the rest of the guys after greeting Gemma and taking a beer from one of the women in the livingroom. He needed to go over some boundaries with the guys while they were away from the women for a minute, and when he said boundaries, he meant Tara and Alexandre.
Velvet stepped into the kitchen, a pie she had baked earlier that afternoon still warm in her hands, and smiled. Gemma and Lyla both was standing by the sink looking out the back window and puffing away on something that didn't smell at all like a cigarette, before they turned to greet her. A grin was on their faces as Gemma stamped out their joint and hugged Velvet. They broke apart and Velvet hugged Lyla before Gemma lay her hand gently on her stomach.
"How's my grandson?" Gemma asked her, grinning, and Velvet nodded.
"Fine. I don't think he noticed what kind of exercise his mommy was participating in this afternoon, although he did wake me up by kicking my rib when I was taking a nap this afternoon!" She joked, and Gemma and Lyla grinned.
"Probably slept through it all, knowing Jax!" Lyla spoke, and Velvet laughed as she gestured to the pie in her hands.
"Where should I put this, Gem?"
"I guess leave it on the counter to your left and come gimme and Lyla a hand with the table." Gemma told her before she turned around and grabbed a handful of plates from the cabinet behind her. She turned around and held them out to her and Lyla. Velvet nodded as she set down her pie next to a really tasty looking chocolate cake and took a pile of plates alongside Lyla. All three of them then proceeded to set the table in a companionable silence, the three of them humming along to oldies on the radio as they circled the table with glasses, utensils, and finally, the actual meal.
The guys all started filling in as soon as they smelled the roast and potatoes that had came out of the oven, and the volume in the house went up exponentially. Velvet grinned, her head tilting to the side, and Gemma's did almost the same thing as they watched the men start to fill their plates. Lyla immediately left them to go help Opie get Piper, Kenny and Ellie's food. Gemma soon snapped out of it fast and smiled, nudging her future daughter-in-law with her hip when she saw her still staring.
"What, you act like you've never seen a room full a men eat like that before!" She teased, and Velvet stared and smiled a moment longer before turning towards her, shaking her head.
"I've almost forgotten about how anything can look so much . . . like a family." She replied and Gemma's heart immediately went out to the Velvet. Gemma found herself constantly underestimating how living with a controlling man like Alexandre and a control-freak woman like her mother, could do to a girl. But then she gazed at Velvet's pregnancy, how happy and glowing she looked despite everything that had happened to her and Jax these past eight months, and smiled thankfully, knowing that soon, Velvet's longing for a family would be filled with the birth of her and Jax's baby. She would finally know what a family was like, with just her, Jax, their son and Abel. Gemma couldn't ask for anything else for Velvet and Jax. They both needed this stability.
Gemma smiled a small smile and gave Velvet a one armed hug before going into the dining room and setting the final dish down. She then took her seat next to Clay at the head of the table, where she began filling her plate with food. Velvet followed her out, and was going to sit next to Lyla, when Jax stood, Abel in his arms, and arched an amused eyebrow at her. He had saved her a seat, putting her between him and Chibs. Velvet couldn't help but laugh at his artistically placed seating.
"Thanks for saving me a seat baby . . ." She whispered in a teasingly loving way, and pecked him on the lips when he glared at her for it. Chibs grinned at her as he handed her a plate of macaroni salad she just sent right along to Jax, who had Abel sitting on his lap.
"I hate macaroni salad . . ." She whispered to Abel, who grinned a baby grin and laughed a little. Jax grinned too as Abel held his arms out to Velvet, who laughed and picked him up, setting her on his lap. Gemma nodded and smiled again, nudging Clay in the ribs, where she pointed at the family sitting across from them. Chibs had leaned over to his daughter and Abel, and was avidly listening to Abel's baby talk, which consisted mainly of gibberish and the few words he actually knew. Clay grinned too, both of them in relief. By the way Velvet acted around Abel, it was like Abel was her own, and both knew that she loved the little baby like he was her own.
Velvet kissed Abel on the cheek before she turned to tell her father thank you for everything he had done for her and Jax, when she noticed the scathing glare that Half-Sack kept shooting at what little space there was wedged between her and Jax, who was currently in a conversation with Happy. She furrowed her brow, and though she had to lean on her father to do it, and as someone was trying to pass her a platter of corn, she growled.
"What's up Kip?" She asked and gasped when he ignored her and Chibs, and handed the salt to Tig with a smile. She shared a look with her father, who shrugged and made a face that said quite plainly, what can ya do? Velvet rolled her eyes as she handed Abel backed to Jax, who took him from her without a word, and Velvet immediately scooted her chair as close to her father as she could and kicked out under the table. Finally! She thought as Half-Sack jumped a little before finally meeting her gaze.
"What!" He snapped, his voice even, though she could tell he was still pretty angry at her for everything she and Jax had done. Velvet rolled her eyes and decided to ignore his attitude, and really just ignore him.
"How was your day, da?" She asked her father as she dug into the slices of pot roast someone had piled onto her plate; probably Jax while she and Chibs were talking to Abel. Chibs beamed at his daughter, and had to wipe at his chin to stop the sip of beer he had just swallowed from dribbling down his chin. Velvet laughed at him and shook her head when he started telling her about how his day went, riding around with the guys, visiting some guy that worked at the cemetery, rear ending a cop car.
All of these things had been done in the last eighteen hours or so, and all of these things had been done with Half-Sack. Every time, Chibs smiled and waved a hand in his direction for an elaboration, in which Half-Sack glared at him.
"Thanks da, for everything." She finally told him, and Chibs smiled smugly as he nodded.
"Don't think nothin' of it darlin'. Your me daughter, I'd do anythin' for you!" Velvet grinned as she felt Jax take her hand underneath the table and squeeze. She turned to Jax, who raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
"You ready?" He asked her quietly, and it took Velvet a few minutes to realize that he meant about them announcing their engagement. Velvet smiled and nodded in excitement. Jax grinned and handed Abel over to Velvet to hold as he stood, his beer bottle in hand. Everyone immediately stopped talking and turned their attention onto Jax, who spoke:
"No doubt everyone's heard of Velvet's little exercise today at the clubhouse . . ." There was a light splattering of laughter here and there, and Jax grinned. "But that's not what I'm going to toast about, even though she would dearly love me to. No. I'm here, instead, to announce that I have asked Velvet to marry me this afternoon, and she has said yes." The light splattering of laughter immediately turned into loud applause and cheers. Gemma shot a look of silent appraisal at Velvet, who stood, Abel in her arms, grinning. Lyla beamed as she stood and edged around Opie, who hugged Velvet tightly, a broad grin on her face.
"Congratulations honey!" She squealed and Velvet thanked her as Happy stood as well and thumped Jax on the back. It seemed now, that everyone was standing, clapping them on the back, hugging them, and giving them their exited congratulations. Gemma almost had a heart-attack trying to get to Velvet to hug her and her son. Even Clay was grinning. Everyone was offering them their congratulations except Half-Sack, who was sitting there, stunned beyond belief, not knowing whether he should be insulted or angry.
It was maybe a half an hour later, when people started to slow down. Plates were being cleared from the table, people had long since stopped telling them their congratulations and fawning over Velvet's ring, and most of the men went back out to the backyard to smoke, drink and talk. The little kids were falling asleep at the table and their mothers were smiling adoringly down at them as they cleared plates and gathered their children in their arms to get going.
Velvet was watching them from the living room couch, Abel passed out cold in her arms, his head on her shoulder, and her hand gently patting him on his small back. Her eyes were a little distant, a little heavy, and her head was leaning on Jax's shoulder, her feet pulled up under her. Somehow, they had been lumped together with little kids and women, and though they weren't little kids, they stayed behind anyways, because they didn't mind.
Velvet gently took the sleeping Abel off of her shoulder and laid him across their laps. He let out a whimper as he shifted into a more comfortable position on his stomach across them. Jax smiled weakly as he wrapped an arm around Velvet's shoulders and planted a loving kiss on her forehead.
"You are amazing, Velvet." He told her quietly, and Velvet grinned as she placed her hand on his chest and shuffled a yawn.
"No I'm not . . ." Jax nodded.
"Yes you are, Vel. I couldn't ask for a better woman, and Abel couldn't ask for a better mom." Velvet grinned and laughed a little as she turned her face up to gaze at him.
"Well someone has to do it." Jax nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment before he smoothed a lock of her dark hair out of her face.
"Yeah . . . your right . . . but I wouldn't want anyone else to be his mom but you."
