****Thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! I made a mental goal for myself to post the new chapter once I hit 10 reviews on the last one. Of course it came so quick that I wasn't ready! But I hope this was still quick enough for you all and not too many errors because of my lack of editing!****

"Shit," Seeing him standing in front of her was like a sucker punch to the gut, catching her off guard and pushing the air right out of her lungs. She blinked but it didn't make any difference, he was really there. A rush of different emotions began to spark up inside her, threatening to ignite into something more, but none of them having the ability to settle in any place for too long.

"Do you always talk like that in front of my daughter?" Jax asked her. Did he just say my daughter? Shit. And with what? Was that a shadow of something resembling a smirk? Whatever it was had vanished, and from the serious look on his face, Ashley was assuming it had not been a smirk at all. She stood there speechless and unable to move, her legs cemented to the floor. It was all playing out like a bad dream. He just said my daughter, how the hell did he know she was his daughter? Her grip began to tighten around Violet and her body involuntarily spun her away from his gaze.

She knew she looked like an idiot, but she had no idea what to say. Anything that she could think of that was at all important to mention was just buzzing about aimlessly around in her head, competing for the attention that she couldn't even remotely provide. How did Jax know that Violet was his daughter? Was it because she looks exactly like him? How could he have betrayed her and left her in this position to begin with? How could he be married? How did he know she would be in here? Why was he even here anyway? Was it because he going to kill her, thinking she was a traitor?

But the most disturbing thought was the one she tried her best to slap away. The most disturbing thought crept up inside her like a warm stream of water gushing through her body. He was standing there, tall. The kind of tall that made you feel comfortable and safe when you stood smaller next to him. His shoulders were wider than she remembered, his arms stronger. Staring at his face, she could see that he had aged in the past year. He looked more mature, his young looks replaced by that of a man who had seen too much. It suited him better than she wanted to admit to herself. What had it been, a year? Since she really looked at him, maybe even more. His blue eyes were still as intense as ever, piercing hers and trying to read what she was thinking. She saw the side of his face twitch as he clenched his jaw and her thoughts flew right back to the idea that he might be here to kill her.

She hugged Violet close with one arm, grabbing the stroller with her other hand and started towards him. It was not the best idea, that was for sure, but it appeared it was her only way out and the quickest one at that.

"Excuse me," she said to him as if he was any other stranger, needing him to move out of her way so that she could leave the store. She fully intended on running his foot over with the stroller if needed. He turned to the side and let her pass, shocking her for a moment until she saw his hand reach from behind her to prop the door open for her, helping her to leave.

"No, you don't get to do this," He informed her as soon as the door closed behind them and they were out in the open in the center of town. Ashley struggled to keep up a decent pace down the sidewalk as far ahead of him as she could manage, which was proving quite difficult with only one hand to steer the bulky stroller. Of course, it would be so much easier to put the baby in it, but there was no way in hell she was letting her out of her arms.

"Ashley!"

Maybe if she ignored him this wasn't really happening right now.

"Ashley." His voice was becoming more stern. "You don't get to do this Ashley. I deserve to see my daughter." He reached out and halted the stroller with one simple movement of his arm. And in that moment all of Ashley's angry thoughts barged themselves forward, ready to blast him for all the pain he had ever caused her.

"You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do!" She yelled at him as quietly as she could, through slightly clenched teeth, turning the baby away as if to shield her from what she was saying. "And you have no right talking to me about what you deserve."

Jax stood there and raised an eyebrow, his hands hanging loosely on his hips, looking both amused and surprised by her words. She knew he deserved to see his daughter, but she was so hurt by him that there was no way she could ever think of making it easy. His eyebrow lowered and he leaned forward to grab the stroller from her.

"I'll push it for you." He informed her again, waiting for her to continue walking. So what? So he could know where she lived? That wasn't happening. It didn't take long for him to figure out that she wasn't budging.

"You need to leave, Mark will be here any minute," All she wanted was to avoid him, to avoid this whole thing, she wanted him to go home and everything to go back to what it had been, and she was going to try every tactic until she found one that worked.

"No he won't," He answered as he started pushing the stroller forward, forcing her to follow.

"Yes he will, he's right in that coffee shop over there."

Jax stopped and turned, looking her straight in the eye.

"I don't believe you."

"It's true, and for your own safety you should really leave."

She wanted to slap him, choke him actually, when she saw the enormous grin spread over his face. The audacity for him to find her anger funny. Violet started to squirm, it was getting close to her nap time, so she turned her in to face her, letting her lay her head on her chest and bounced her a little to keep her content. She looked back at Jax and found that the expression on his face had softened.

"Ashley, you're not safe."

"I know that, don't you think I know that?" She asked him, almost wanting to cry. But she wouldn't. "The funny thing is though, I actually did feel safe here, until you showed up!"

"Mark keeps you safe?"

She didn't answer him. She was trying her best not to give in to those games, but she knew what little resolve she had would be short lived.

"Do you love him?" He asked. If she didn't know any better she would swear she saw pain in his eyes, right before she looked away from him because she couldn't bear to look a minute longer. But she did know better. Of course he didn't care. He was married, he had cheated, he had stared her in the eyes and flat out told her that he didn't love her.

"That's none of your business."

"Can I walk you home?"

"No thanks, I'm going to wait for Mark."

Jax sighed, more than likely growing tired of her back and forth, "Ashley, we both know Mark's not coming."

"He is."

"He's not."

Ashley panicked inside, wondering if maybe Jax really did know where he was at, since of course he hadn't been home in over two days. She bit down on her lower lip, thinking about what could have happened, what most likely happened, and began to feel a new sense of anger that wasn't there before.

"What are you saying Jax?"

"He's not coming, so let me walk you home."

"Why do you say that? Did you do something? Did you hurt him?"

But he just turned and started to walk again. Ashley picked up her pace to try and keep up with his long strides.

"What did you do Jax? Is that why you're here? You think I'm a traitor right? You're here to hurt me? Did you hurt him too?" Her mouth betrayed her more and more with every word, so much for keeping it together.

Jax stopped abruptly and walked over to her, gently grabbing her arms to reassure her, but she flinched at his touch, quickly stepping away from him.

"I'm sorry," He said in an attempt to explain his actions, "I just -"

"Don't."

He stood up tall, peering down at her and the emptiness was back. "I'm not going to hurt you. But you're right, they think you're a traitor and you're not safe. Let me walk you back and then we can talk."

Ashley stared back up at him. As much as she didn't want to, part of her believed him and told her to do it. But he had some nerve if he thought she was going to show him any kindness whatsoever. "Fine."

"You can put her in the stroller you know."

By this point Ashley's arms were aching so she unhappily conceded, strapping Violet into the stroller for the silent walk back to her house. As they walked along she couldn't help but think how fucked up everything was. Here they were, walking down the main road, appearing as if they were a normal loving couple with their baby, while in fact she hated him, was scared of him and had intentionally deprived him of knowing the daughter he was pushing so normally in her stroller.

The daughter whose name he still didn't know.

Seeing her in the card store was not what he had imagined at all. She still looked the same, but different at the same time. Mostly different in the places that mattered, and the v-neck shirt and short shorts she was wearing sure didn't help that fact. He had tried his best not to smile at the image before him. Motherhood had definitely agreed with her.

Sure, he was pissed, angry even at the fact that she hid her pregnancy and his child from him. If that had been Wendy, he would have stormed over and taken his child back. But this was Ashley, he knew that he had hurt her, he knew that he had purposely pushed her away, and he knew that more than likely Mark was orchestrating this more that he cared to imagine. But there would be time for questions and answers later, he needed to make sure they would be safe and he couldn't help feeling happier than he had in over a year knowing that he would be able to see them again.

He kept pushing the stroller, knowing that Ashley would have to follow him. He would sneak a glance at the baby every few minutes, watching her sleeping so peacefully and tried his best not to reveal his happiness.

After a few minutes Ashley walked ahead of him to show him how to get there. He followed quietly, wishing that all of this was real, the three of them going for a walk as a family, but knowing it was far from what it appeared to be. The reality of Clay and the club, coupled with the damage that had been done to their relationship, he had a feeling that it would never be "real".

She finally stopped in front of a modest looking house near the dead end of a quiet street. Mark had picked it well in his efforts to keep them hidden.

"This is our house," She told him, staring blankly, but not really looking at him.

"We should talk," He started, hoping for a little more time.

"Is Mark coming back?" She asked him, the anger obvious in her eyes.

"No," He answered her with a quick thought to what Mark's fate would be in a few short hours.

He watched her as she looked away from him, bending over to get the baby out of the stroller. As she stood back up with her he could see the tears that had escaped her eyes. His anger started to blindside him. Anger, betrayal.

"I have to go," She told him as she started walking up her driveway.

"Wait," He jogged up behind her, remembering what he needed to give her, "Here take this," He said, placing an envelope into her one free hand.

She just glared down at the bulky thing and he could tell that her emotions were spent.

"It's a prepaid, it has my number in it. I will call you if I think you're in danger. And we will need to talk Ashley." He stared at her, waiting for a response, anything, but all she did was turn to go inside.

She paused and turned back to face him, shifting enough so the baby was out of his vision. Something was happening inside her, thoughts, memories, nothing good. He could see fire in her eyes as she looked at him in a way she had never before. It was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, making him feel like a stranger before her, and he didn't like it at all.

"That day I went to see you at the clubhouse, that was the day I found out that I was pregnant."

His heart dropped inside of him before lurching back up into his throat, rendering him speechless.

"That should have been the last time you saw me."

She stared at him hard, so hard he could feel her trying to convince him. Of what, he wasn't sure. But before she shut the door in his face, her words ripped whatever happiness he had harnessed, completely free of him.

"I don't ever want to see you again."

****I am so happy to hear from you all! If you are new please let me know too, I love to hear what you guys want and what you think is coming! I aim to please by the way!****