Hi everyone, so this chapter is all Tara, but there is a Jax cameo. So let me know what you think. Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy!

And Then What

Chapter 12

Tara

Tara woke to her cell phone ringing. She rolled, groaning as her sore muscles protested after moving and unpacking all day yesterday. She yawned as the phone rang again and she collided with Abel's little body snuggled up next to her. She smiled, remembering putting him to bed in his new room last night.

Looked like this was going to be a hard habit to break. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, inhaling his scent that was ingrained in her.

Tara climbed out of bed, throwing on her robe before making her way to the kitchen where her phone was plugged in.

She reached it just in time for it to stop ringing and go to voicemail. As she waited to hear the telltale beep of the message on her phone, she started a pot of coffee and made a list of stuff she needed to complete.

Tara had taken very little time off to complete this move. She had taken off only two weeks to get everything done. Last week had been packing everything up and this week was moving and unpacking everything. Her list was daunting.

The beep came right as she was taking her first sip of coffee and she lifted it to her ear as it dialed her voicemail. From the caller ID, it looked like the hospital was calling, but she had no idea why. She had taken the time off and told her colleagues she wouldn't be available for consults.

The message was from Lisa, their office manager.

Hi Dr. Knowles, sorry to bother you when you took the time off, but I have a strange situation. There is a woman here that says she needs to see you urgently. That you are family. If you could give me a call back…."

Family? The only family Tara had been dead. Except her aunt, but she hadn't seen or spoken to her dad's sister in years. She would have no way of finding

Her stomach dropped as she realized who it must be. Gemma.

Tara quickly called Lisa back and asked for a description of her 'family' member and it could only match one Gemma Teller.

"Dr. Knowles?" Lisa asked, jarring Tara back to reality. She had come for him. For her Abel.

Realistically, Tara always knew she would. Gemma was defined by her role as mother and grandmother. With Jax inside, Abel was the only thing she had to cling to until Jax returned. And even then, Gemma would fiercely fight for her grandson.

"Dr. Knowles, should I tell her you are on the line?" Lisa asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"She is there with you now?" Tara asked.

"She is waiting in the waiting area," Lisa said, "She seems agitated."

I bet she did, Tara thought.

"Lisa, tell her I haven't called back yet if she asks. I need to check on a few things and then I will call you back. Okay?" Tara asked.

Lisa agreed and hung up the phone with Tara.

Tara quickly scrolled through her phone looking for a number she hadn't called in months.

"Hanely," a gruff voice answered.

"Officer Hanely, my name is Dr. Tara Knowles," Tara said, her voice shaking.

"Yes, Jax Teller's...contact," he settled, not really sure what Tara was to him.

"Yes," Tara said, running her hands through her hair nervously as her eyes trained on her sleeping son next to her, "I know this is probably a strange request, but I need to talk to Jax as soon as possible. It is an emergency. Can you ask him to call me at this number?"

Silence fell over the line and then Officer Hanley asked, "Are you in danger, Dr. Knowles?"

Yes, Tara thought immediately. If Abel was taken from her again, she wouldn't survive. , "I...I am not sure. Maybe. Which is why I need to talk to Jax."

"Do you need the police?" Hanley said, as if she were slow.

"Not...not yet," Tara stammered out.

"I will get the message to him now. Make sure he calls you," Hanley said quickly.

Tara sighed in relief and he said, "I will do this if you promise to call 911 if your situation becomes more tenuous, Doctor."

Tara nodded and then said, "I promise. And...thank you Officer."

The line clicked and Tara quickly picked up Abel and headed to Thomas' nursery where Thomas was awake, standing in his bed with a big smile, waiting for her and his breakfast.

"Morning baby," she said, settling Abel down on the twin bed in Thomas' room.

She picked Thomas up and changed him as quickly as possible. Today, Tara knew she would need to get both boys up and ready for every eventuality. Ever since Jax had dropped off Abel, she knew she needed to be prepared for every eventuality. And she was.

Tara had emergency bags packed for all of them in case she needed to get up and go. She wasn't at that level of panic yet, but she was getting closer and closer the longer her phone remained silent.

Abel was now wide awake, asking if he could watch cartoons.

"We can watch cartoons as we eat breakfast," Tara said absentmindedly as she changed Thomas, "Abel, go and pick out an outfit you want to wear today and I will be in shortly to help you get dressed."

Abel nodded and walked to his new room. Tara carried Thomas to the kitchen even though he tried to wriggle out of her grasp. Her youngest was itching to crawl everywhere and soon he would be running. Usually she gave into him and let him get where he was going, but not today.

She set him in his high chair. She cut up a banana and set it in front of him.

Tara walked back to Abel's room, checking her phone to make sure it had reception.

"Abel," Tara scolded, seeing that instead of picking an outfit to wear, he had decided to play with his toys.

"I told you to pick an outfit," she said, going to his dresser and grabbing the first things that would work.

"Mommy, I don't want to wear that!" he said indignantly.

"I told you to pick out an outfit and you didn't," Tara said impatiently.

"I want to wear my Spiderman shirt," he said, standing next to Tara and rifling through the folded laundry.

"Baby, it's in the dirty laundry," Tara tried to explain patiently, "How about your X-Men shirt?" Abel could full on tantrum and she couldn't deal with it today.

Abel pouted but nodded as Tara helped him change quickly and then took him to the kitchen.

"Which cereal do you want?" she asked, reaching for a bowl and spoon.

"Cheerios," Abel said, pointing to the Honey Nut Cheerios.

Tara nodded, grabbing the box and a banana. She set the cereal in front of him and cut up the banana like she had for Thomas. Thomas reached for Abel's cereal, who said, "Mine, Tommy."

Tara poured a little pile of Cheerios on Thomas' tray and he immediately stuck a handful in his mouth.

With the boys eating, she said, "Abel, I am going to go change. Keep an eye on Tommy."

She raced to her room and took a five second shower and brushed her teeth as she walked back out to find the boys in the same position, eye trained on the TV with cartoons on it.

She smiled and walked back to her room and quickly got dressed, brushing her wet hair out and letting it air dry. As she finished combing it, the phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked. "Hello and inmate from Stockton Correctional Facility is trying to reach you would you-"

"YES!" she hollered into the phone.

"Tara?" Jax asked, his voice terrified, "What's wrong? What's the emergency?"

"Gemma," Tara said, "She is here."

Silence on the other end and Tara could swear she could hear his mind working furiously over the phone.

"She is there? At the new house?" Jax asked, his voice tense.

Tara answered, "No, I got a call from the hospital saying she was there looking for me. Did you know she was coming? I thought she was on house arrest."

"She was, she was released this week," Jax said, "She is still on probation though. So if she causes trouble or tries anything...anything Tara, call the police and tell them she is violating her probation."

Tara nodded, glad to have that little tidbit in her back pocket.

"She doesn't know where you live either," Jax said, as if to reassure himself.

"Should I be worried?" Tara asked nervously.

"No," Jax said after a minute of silence, "I don't think so. Are the boys okay?"

"They are fine," Tara said, sighing as she slowly felt her body relax, "They miss you. Are you okay?"

"As good as I can be considering the circumstances," he said, a hint of a smile on his voice, "I miss you, Tara."

Tara smiled and closed her eyes. She missed him too.

"I miss you," she said quietly, "Do you want to say hi to the boys?"

"Yeah," he said after a minute.

Tara nodded and headed towards the kitchen where Thomas was throwing Cheerios at Abel, who was trying to stop him.

"Mommy, Tommy is throwing Cheerios," Abel whined.

"Abel," Tara said, handing him the phone, "Daddy is on the phone."

"Daddy?" Abel asked, snatching the phone from Tara and pressing his ear to the phone.

"Daddy?" he said excitedly into the phone. Tara watched in amusement as she watched Abel's eyes flick back and forth as he listened to what Jax was saying.

"Yes," Abel answered. Silence that followed a little more, and then, "My room has motorcycles."

Tara chuckled deciding to let them talk as she got her cup of coffee.

As she made her coffee, she thought of how she was going to deal with Gemma. She was pretty sure she had a plan in mind.

"Okay, Daddy," Abel said, extending the phone to Tara. Tara took it from him and placed it back to her ear.

"Thomas?" she asked, knowing he would just get an earful of babble and munching on Cheerios.

"Just hold it up to his ear for a second, will you?" Jax asked, surprising her.

Tara held up the phone to Thomas' ear and Jax was talking because Thomas looked to her for an explanation for what he was hearing.

When she heard Jax's end of the line silence, she pulled the phone back to her ear.

"So you going to be okay?" he asked, worried, "With Gemma?"

"I have a plan," she said confidently, reviewing it in her head.

"Good," Jax said, "Be careful, Tara."

"I will," she promised.

"How is the house?" Jax asked.

"Good. Move went good too. Last night was our first night and our Sean bought us pizza," she told him, running her hands through her damp hair.

The line was silent and Tara wondered if she had been disconnected.

"Hello? Jax?" she said.

"Your neighbor's name is Sean?" he asked, his voice stiff.

"Yeah, he came over last night and introduced himself and then paid for the pizza," Tara said, wondering if the line got fuzzy when she told him the first time.

"Sounds like a nice guy," Jax said tentatively. What was wrong with him? Tara wondered. He was acting so weird.

"Yeah, he was nice," Tara said in an equally tentative tone.

"I get out in two months," he reminded her after a minute of silence, "I am getting out and then I am getting out of Samcro."

It was a promise. Tara wondered what had brought this topic on, but she was happy he was bringing it for once instead of her.

"I know," Tara said in a soft voice, "I know you are. I can't wait and neither can the boys."

Jax was silent for a few minutes, but Tara could hear him breathing and faint noises in the background, letting her know he was still there.

"I love you Tara," he murmured.

"I love you, Jax," Tara said, hoping she was as reassuring and convincing as possible. He sounded...off. Like he needed to hear her and believe her. She hoped she was able to make him see that she did love him and she had faith in what he told her.

"I will see you when I get out," Jax said, "Call Hanley if you have any more problems or emergencies. He can be trusted."

Tara sighed and nodded, even though he couldn't see her, "Okay. Jax?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I really do love you," she said softly.

"I love you too," Jax said, before hanging up.

Tara put the phone in her pocket and then finished her coffee. She cleaned up the breakfast mess and said, "Boys, we are going into the hospital for a bit."

Tara ran through the plan in her head and packed the boys up. They were excited because they thought they were going somewhere fun.

As Tara drove to the hospital, she realized she didn't know if Jax had told anyone about Thomas...if he had, Tara would think Gemma would have reached out to her by now, house arrest or not.

Tara kept an eye out for Gemma as she walked Thomas to the daycare. The daycare attendant looked at her in confusion since they knew she was on leave for another week.

After that, she walked towards the surgical floor and spotted Gemma on the phone, flipping through a magazine. Lisa spotted her and relief crossed over her face. Obviously she had gotten harangued by Gemma.

Gemma looked up, spotted Tara but her eyes immediately went to Abel. She stood and Tara walked over to her.

"Gemma," Tara said, "What an unexpected surprise."

"Save it," Gemma snapped, "I am here for my grandson."

"He is my son," Tara said, "But we aren't going to discuss that here."

Abel clung to her leg, looking at Gemma in question. He had been so little since he had last seen Gemma…

"Hi Abel, can you give Grandma a hug?" Gemma asked, kneeling down.

Abel looked up at Tara for permission, and she smiled and nodded. For all her faults, Gemma did love Abel and she would never hurt him.

Abel hugged Gemma, then pulled away, immediately latching onto Tara again. Gemma looked wounded and Tara reached down and grabbed Abel's hand.

"Let's go to the diner down the street for some coffee," Tara suggested.

Gemma nodded and followed Tara as she led them out of the hospital. Once they reached the diner and were seated, Tara immediately sat forward and said, "I know you are violating probation."

Gemma stiffened and Tara said, "I am not going to call the cops on you, even though Jax said I could."

Gemma flinched at that and asked, "You are in contact with Jax?"

Tara didn't answer her question, but pushed forward. If Gemma thought Tara was giving her anything, she was dead wrong.

"Here is the deal Gemma," Tara said, "You can come to Portland if you want to see Abel under my supervision, but if you try to take him from me or try and start shit when I have worked so hard to start over, I will call the police and they will put you in jail for parole violation. No doubt you know I have legal guardianship over him so I will protect him. He is my son."

Gemma looked like she was seething, but there was also something else in her eyes. Admiration.

"You are such a clever little bitch," Gemma murmured, reaching for her coffee and taking a sip.

Tara smirked and said, "Takes one to know one."

Gemma's smiled and nodded, conceding Tara's point.

"Why'd you run?" Gemma asked, leaning forward.

"You know why," Tara said, brushing her hair back as she looked down at the table. She had been so hurt. So betrayed.

"Because Jax slept with that slut?" Gemma asked skeptically, "I don't buy that."

"No," Tara said, "I was hurt that Jax fucked Ima, but it wasn't the only reason. I wanted a family, and I knew if I wanted them to be safe, it couldn't be in Charming."

"The Club would protect you," Gemma said confused.

"Who would protect me from the Club?" Tara asked, holding Gemma's gaze.

Gemma leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Jax has a right to his son," Gemma said, "Do you think he is going to let Abel stay here with you when he gets out in two months."

Yes, Tara thought to herself, He just told me so on the phone.

"That isn't something you have to worry about," Tara said, crossing her arms too, "Jax and I will worry about that when he gets out. I am not letting Abel raised in the Club if I can help it."

Or Thomas, she thought to herself. Over her dead body. From what Jax was telling her, he felt the same way.

Gemma lifted a shoulder, knowing that Tara and Gemma would never see eye to eye on this.

"I agree to your terms until Jax gets out," Gemma said, "But if my son wants Abel back in Charming, there isn't a force in this world that will stop me from getting him back."

Tara nodded and said, "I get that, I guess."

"You guess?" Gemma asked.

"I just don't understand why you would ever want that life for someone you love? How many people does it have to hurt for you to see?" Tara asked.

"Bitch, don't judge me. You were never all in when it came to the Club so you can't understand," Gemma said.

"I don't plan to either," Tara said.

"What happened to you?" Gemma asked, raking her eyes over Tara, "When did you turn so against me and the Club?"

"For the record, I have never been for the Club. And since you are its biggest supporter and are trying to get Jax and my son cemented into it, I am not a big fan of you," Tara said.

Gemma scoffed and said, "Do you really think if Jax didn't want to be there, he would?"

Tara didn't have a response...she knew he loved the Club. But…

But nothing...her head said. Since when was her brain weighing in again.

Yeah, but he promised...her heart retorted. Oh great, they were warring again inside her.

"You think he can just walk away?" Gemma asked, amused, "Well, he can...he always could have walked. But he hasn't. And hate to break it to you sweetheart, but he won't."

Tara flinched and looked down at the table as Gemma poked big holes in her hope filled balloon.

"And you know that," Gemma said, smiling smugly as Tara was torn apart by her words, "Because he already chose the Club over you once before. And history always repeats itself."

Tara felt the truth of her words hit home and as much as she tried to keep her feelings inside, her eyes watered.

Tara and Gemma finished their coffee and after an hour of hanging out with her at a nearby park, Tara told Gemma it was time for her to go.

"Margaret is expecting you to check in with her once you are back in town, "So if you don't check in around the time I text her, she will call me."

Gemma nodded, pissed but still smug over Tara's earlier evisceration.

"See you next week," Gemma said, slipping her sunglasses on and climbing in her luxury SUV.

Gemma pulled away and Tara glanced at her watch and texted Margaret. She would spend the next hour with Abel and Thomas in her office until she was sure Gemma was out of town. She just wanted to make sure Gemma didn't follow her to their new house.

When she was sure Gemma had to be on the road, long gone, she took the boys home, both sleeping soundly in the back of the car after a long day.

After the day she had, Tara was ready to pass out too. Gemma had really done a number on her in more ways than one. She should have just called the police. Maybe her heart and her spirit wouldn't be so broken. And her head and her heart wouldn't be at war again.

Thank you so much for reading everyone! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please leave me a review or a message. This story is wrapping up soon!