Chapter 12
"Gem?" Gemma Teller jumped at the sound of her name being called and turned to find Isla standing only a few feet away from her, concern etched into her face.
"Oh hey baby, I didn't hear you come in" Isla cocked her head to one side and stared at the matriarch for a moment before shrugging and picking up Abel out of his high chair. She was so absorbed in the little boy who had already wrapped his tiny little fist around the necklace from Jax that hung at her throat; she didn't notice the sigh of relief from the older woman. When the two women were taken to hospital after the attack, Tara had managed to get a few minutes alone with Isla to talk to her; she was told they had been attacked, she had been knocked out whilst Gemma was badly beaten.
Tara admitted to Isla it was a warning the club had done and was surprised when Isla didn't ask any questions or say anything to Jax but Gemma didn't complain although she still felt a lot of pain from her attack and sometimes it was hard to hide that from all her family.
"Hiya Isles!" Jax smiled as he walked through the door carrying a box in his hands "What're you doing here?" Wrapping an arm round her shoulders he pulled her in for a quick hug and kissed her forehead, before giving his son a kiss too.
"Came to see my favourite boy!" Isla smiled at Abel and then smirked when Jax covered his heart, feigning injury.
"Well you should know he gets all his good looks from his father!" Gemma watched their exchange and couldn't help her delight at how comfortable the two were around each other.
"Isles you take a box of clothes from the garage the other day when we were putting Christmas decorations away?" He asked leaning against the door frame ad Isla shook her head
"Haven't done anything out there" She shrugged and went back to cooing over the baby who by know had his tiny little fist wrapped tightly around the necklace Jax had given her for Christmas.
"I'm missing a box" Jax licked his lips
"Uhh I cleaned some shit out there before the baby came home, there was a box of laundry that her a serious stink to it." Gemma looked up at her son from her seat at the table.
"Well where is it?" Isla was surprised by the sharpness of Jax' tone, his mother just shrugged
"Tossed it," Gemma answered flippantly "just a bunch of old t-shirts, funky underwear." she put her coffee cup down with a clink and looked up with a strange look on her face, meeting her son's annoyed expression.
"Why? What're you looking for?" Isla couldn't help but watch the curious exchange.
"An old Harley manual, hard to find" Jax answered his eyes flashing as he looked back with a slight smirk on his face.
"Sorry" Her apology was anything but sincere; the room was still for a moment until Chibs walked through the door.
"Morning children!" In Jax' opinion the Scotsman sounded far too cheerful for 10am
"I thought the prospect was with you?"
A silly grin appeared on Chibs' face as he answered back "oh no no, wee man is under the knife today, he's getting his sack filled" Chibs took off his glasses and smiled sweetly at Gemma as she looked up from her coffee
"Excuse me?" She asked as if she couldn't believe what she'd just heard
"He's complete himself" Chibs answered softly and chuckled as Gemma looked back to Isla and Jax "Supposed to meet Clay at the shop" Jax nodded
"I'm ready, dump these in my truck?" He bent over to pick up the earlier discarded box just as Chibs came up behind him and took hold of his hips. Isla couldn't help but laugh as Jax jumped away in shock making a strange noise.
"Oh sweet boy, pleasure!" Chibs smirked and took the box
"Remembering breakfast with daddy?"
"Oh yeah, cuppas and oatcakes, delicious." Isla shook her head as Chibs left the room with a spring in his step. Jax sighed and put on his holster before leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to Isla's lips, which surprised her and made Gemma raise her eyebrows at the two of them
"See ya later" Jax' stared directly at his mom for a moment.
"Bye babe" she smiled sweetly and watched him leave. Isla watched the two of them and decided not to say anything, they were acting weird but after a moment of thought Isla wasn't even sure if she wanted to know why.
"You mind waiting here for Neeta? I need to get to the office" Gemma finished off her coffee and put the mug in the sink.
"Actually Neeta isn't coming today. I'm going to meet Luann for some Lunch so I figured I'd just take Abel with me" Gemma stopped and looked back at Isla and shrugged, she trusted her with him.
"Okay... you're a real good mom to him you know" she mumbled with a small smile and picked up her car keys. Isla froze for a moment but Gemma didn't say anything else as she kissed the two of the goodbye and made her way out to her own car, passing Isla's SUV on her way.
SOASOASOASOA
"He's a little cutie huh?" The waitress smiled and nodded to Abel who sat happily in Isla's lap bashing his teddy bear against the table.
"Thanks" Isla smiled as she walked away to make their drinks. Luann watched with a smile forming on her lips.
"What?" Isla laughed and shifted Abel to her other knee.
"You're taking up the role of mommy very well and it suits you" Luann smiled at her niece
"But Lu I'm not trying to—"Her aunt laughed softly and cut her off before she could finish the sentence.
"Isla you might not be trying to be Abel's mother but you are, you look after him more or less every day, you're the one who is there to sooth him when he wakes up in the middle of the night, you're the one who feeds him, hell I'm pretty sure you've even started giving Jax money to cover the rent"
Luann smirked at Isla's sheepish smile, knowing she was right.
"Well I have been spending basically all my time there" she muttered and then straightened up a little bit.
"Rosen called me the other day; I sent away all the evidence needed to get all of mom's stuff released to me. My birth certificate, my ID, her birth and death certificate everything and now it's all been sorted I was thinking about buying a loft or something, maybe open mom's coffee shop again, I'm not really sure" she mumbled and fiddled with a corner of Abel's baby grow, only looking up to meet Luann's gaze when her aunt said nothing in response. She was met with the widest smile and a small and of encouragement
"I think that sounds like a great idea baby, I don't think Em would want that little coffee shop to stay closed, she was so proud of it!" Luann watched as her niece chewed anxiously on her lip and cocked her head to one side "Isla? What is it? What aren't you telling me?" Isla took a deep breath and met her aunt's concerned gaze once more.
"I actually already found a loft that I really like" The anxious look on her face was soon replaced by confusion when her aunt threw back her head and laughed loudly
"Isla baby, why you get yourself so worried? That's good news, I'm glad you've found somewhere so soon, it took me ages to find my dream house." Isla nodded
"But Lu, what about Jax? And Gemma?" Luann frowned and shook her head.
"Baby, you're basically living at Jax' house right now and I can see why." She paused and smiled at Abel who was sat quite happily in Isla's lap not fussing at all. "But it's good for you to have your own escape, somewhere you can go and have a bit of Isla time. I love having you around and I know Gemma does too but baby this is a part of growing up that you missed out on. Everyone needs their own little corner to go and chill out, even though I doubt you'll be spending a lot of time there, it's good to have some kind of retreat." Luann told her firmly and Isla nodded smiling at how much Luann reminded her of Emily.
"Thanks Lu, anyway enough about me how're you?" Isla smiled at the waitress as she came and set their food down in front of the two women. "Jax mentioned you've been having some trouble at the studio?"
Luann sighed softly cursing Jackson Teller under her breath, recognising the worried expression on her niece's face all too well.
"It's nothing baby; the guys are taking care of it. Just some business troubles. Some guy has been giving my girls shit. Georgie Caruso. Thinks he can scare my girls into going to work for him!" Luann grinned at her niece "Let me tell ya Caracara girls do not scare that easily!" Luann smiled uneasily not wanting to tell her niece the full truth knowing it would only worry her.
"Anyway enough, otherwise this food is going to be cold!" the porn queen picked up her fork and dug in.
SOASOASOASOA
"Jesus Christ Jackson, I've been trying to call you all day! Have you heard anything from Isla?"
Gemma stood staring out the office window at Tm, her arms folded across her chest, tapping her pointed boot on the cold floor impatiently.
"What?—Tar hold on a minute okay!" The matriarch heard a familiar voice in the background and felt her irritation building.
"Isla and Abel went out for lunch with Luann, they're fine!"
"And you're just messing around with that little skank, whilst she takes care of your baby?" Gemma shot back venomously
"Ma, not now okay? I've got some stuff to do; I'll speak to you later."
"Sort your fucking priorities out Jackson!" Gemma snarled and flipped her burner shut. For someone who was supposed to be pretty smart her son could sure be stupid. Throwing her phone back on the desk Gemma sat back down at her desk and started to go throw the list of repos trying to take her mind of things.
"Gemma, I think Isla's just pulled up!" Chibs called into the older woman who looked jumped up to go and meet the two of them. Her work wasn't providing a distraction so maybe her grandson would.
"Hello baby! Grandma's missed you!" she laughed and took Abel out of his seat in the back of Isla's SUV.
"He's been fussing in the car the whole way back since lunch. Could probably do with a nap." Isla gave Gemma a quick kiss as she locked the car up behind them.
"Okay sweetheart, I'll give him a cuddle and then put him down in Jax' dorm for a bit. You want a coffee?" Isla nodded appreciatively and chewed her lip as she watched Gemma walk away towards the club house.
"Penny for your thoughts lass?" Chibs smirked over the top of his shades as he took another drag from his cigarette, watching Isla closely.
"Hey beaky." Isla smiled at Chibs and tapped his nose, her own way of telling him he was being nosey. The Scotsman just laughed.
"Come on girl, what's got you in a whir? And don't say nothing!" he grinned as she opened her mouth only to close it again after a few seconds of silence Isla started again.
"Chibs I've been looking at buying a loft or something in town, a studio, just something small."
"Okay? Why's that got you so fidgety?" The look he got from Isla obviously suggested he was crazy.
"What am I supposed to tell Gemma? I know she loves having me around the house when I'm not staying at Jax' and it's not because I don't like being there that I was thinking about it, I just—" Isla wasn't really sure what to say next "I guess I just want somewhere to call my own."
"Then tell her that Isla! Gemma will understand that, hell she left home when she was like 18 and never looked back." Chibs laughed flicking his cigarette he headed towards a minivan that had just been towed into the lot, Isla walking behind him. Neither of them noticing as Tara and Jax pulled into the TM parking lot.
"Don't get yourself in such a tizzy lass! Nothing to worry about!" he grinned as he got in the driver's side, slipping the keys in the ignition he twisted and frowned when nothing happened, trying again the Scot felt his stomach drop when he heard an all too familiar clicking sound.
"SHIT ISLA RUN!" In a panic he pushed the girl away from him with as much force as he could muster and tried to run himself before the force of the exploding car knocked them both off their feet. Isla fell to her knees covering her head with her arms, her ears still ringing with the noise. After a moment she looked up to see every nearby member of the club running towards them. She looked behind her to see Chibs lying on his back, with his eyes closed.
"Chibs?" It seemed to come out in a whisper, she couldn't focus on anything properly the screeching noise in her ears was still so loud.
"CHIBS?!" the blood was pooling faster and faster around is head. Isla literally felt herself go cold, her heart dropped in her chest, he looked so pale and lifeless.
"ISLA? Isla are you okay?" a strong pair of hands were shaking her shoulders and she turned round to meet a pair of bright blue eyes.
"Isla look at me! Are you hurt?" Jax all but screamed at her.
"Jax, I-...no I'm fine. Chibs." He pulled her to his chest in a crushing hug for a moment and kissed her head, not even noticing as Tara watched them.
"I've called an ambulance!" Someone nearby shouted but Isla couldn't pinpoint who, all she could focus on was the blood. There was so much blood.
SOASOASOASOA
"Isla baby? Are you sure you're okay?" Isla watched the ambulance leave the lot before turning round to meet Gemma Teller's dark gaze.
"I'm fine Gem honest." The older woman nodded and gave her a quick hug.
"Gemma?" Isla looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby before focusing her full attention back to the biker queen's curious gaze.
"Was that bomb set by the same people who attacked you?" she whispered and cringed a little bit when the older woman's mouth fell open in shock.
"Isla—I "she paused, her mouth going dry "you remember?" Isla nodded softly "Yeah I remember, I heard what Tara and Unser said, I know what they did to you." She whispered her own icy blue eyes never wavering.
"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Gemma asked suddenly finding her voice again and when Isla replied it took every ounce of her composure not to let out the sob she was desperately trying to keep under wraps.
"Wasn't my place to say anything?" She mumbled and was surprised when Gemma pulled her close and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you baby, that means a lot. I don't know who did this, but whoever I was we'll find them!" she promised, wiping the stray tear from her own cheek and for the first time in a while felt herself believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.
The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind for Isla, she followed Gemma and Tig to the hospital where she was again checked over for any concussion or further injuries, gave her statement to Deputy Hale about the explosion and spoke to a frantic Luann on the phone for a good hour before her aunt calmed down. By the time she pulled into Jax' drive way that night she felt exhausted and couldn't wait for the moment her head would hit the pillow.
As she closed the front door ever so quietly behind her, she felt herself being spun round to by Jax, his face only inches away from her.
"I was so scared you were a goner today" he whispered and pulled her into one of his bone crushing hugs.
"Jesus Christ! Jax Can't breathe!" She sighed when he let go of her and smiled softly.
"I promise you, I'm fine. And Chibs should be okay; he's stable now, might have lost a few more brain cells but shouldn't make a massive difference." She giggled softly and with that Jax found his lips crashing into hers. Claiming another stolen kiss from the girl he just couldn't get enough of. When he pulled back he looked down at Isla with a small smirk.
"Good to hear." Leading her back through to the kitchen Jax picked up a thick brown envelope from the kitchen counter. "Listen I gotta run, we got some club business to deal with tonight." Isla searched his face for some kind of answer but finally just nodded with understanding.
"Okay" she whispered "I'll be right here, so come back safe" She smiled and Jax couldn't help but be thankful for her knowing that if he had said those same words to Tara, all hell would have broken loose. It was then he knew that Tara would never ever be able to just accept the club the way Isla did he also knew that if he didn't leave soon then Clay would have his guts for garters.
"Here; I came across these recently, some manuscripts my dad wrote about the club, I think you should see it. Some light bed time reading" he handed Isla the envelope and smirked as she flicked through the thick wad of paper.
"Light reading huh Teller?" rolling her eyes she smacked his chest with the envelope. "Go on get out of here" with one last quick kiss to her forehead Jax grabbed his helmet off the kitchen table and headed out the door.
Isla made herself a cup of chamomile tea and tip toed into Abel's nursery to check on the sleeping boy. She smiled softly at him and couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how blissfully unaware this beautiful baby was at the chaos he was surrounded by. With a small sigh Isla sat down in the rocking chair beside his crib and pulled a thick knitted blanket up around her shoulders, she took a sip of her tea and gently pulled the manuscripts from the envelope before she began to read.
Hours later, the small blonde girl was still sat in the exact same spot, completely lost in what she was reading her tea long forgotten beside her. A small frown etched into her pretty face. She looked up when the sound of her phone buzzing pulled her out of her trance and tiptoed out of the nursery to get it before it woke Abel.
"Gem? Hi! What's up?"
"Oh Isla!" Gemma Teller did not sound her usual calm self. "Baby I'm so sorry to tell you like this, bit Jax and the others have been arrested!"
A/N: Hey guys! Thank you again for sticking by me through this chapter, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as interesting as the previous but I promise the next one will be better! Did everyone have a good Christmas/NYE? I certainly did. Just to let you know I have recently started working another Fic which is a Happy/OC fic y'all can thank Eowyn628 and if you haven't already you seriously NEED to head over and read The devil took her breath away it's my all time favourite Happy/OC story.
As always please read and review, I look forward to your comments.
L xo