AN: We own nothing enjoy...
Julie had agreed it was probably best that she ride over to Gemma and Clay's with her parents and Jax would meet them there. He swore he'd be there before her, to manage any awkwardness, but some dark part of her intuition suspected that he'd manage to be late.
So she was pleasantly surprised when she spotted his bike parked in the driveway, and even more happy when he was the one who answered the door. He greeted her parents and then led them into the kitchen where he introduced Tami and Eric to his mother and step-father.
Gemma handed Coach a beer while Clay picked up a platter of steaks. "Eric, you want to help us grill outside?"
Coach shrugged and followed him out. Jax leaned into Julie and whispered in her ear. "I'm going to go outside, run any interference that might be needed. You okay in here?"
Julie bit her lip and nodded, then smiled when Jax kissed her cheek before he left. When she looked up, she saw both Gemma and Tami staring at her with similar expressions that Julie took to be strained incredulity.
She fought back a blush and smiled brightly at Gemma. "How can I help?"
Gemma lit a cigarette and waved her hand. "Are you kidding, darlin'? All the hard work is done - green salad, potato salad. All that's left now is the grilling. Would you ladies like some wine?"
Tami accepted graciously and shot Julie a sharp look that reminded her she wasn't yet 21. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Julie told Gemma she'd get herself a glass of water.
Wineglasses in hand, the women went out at sat down at the already set dining room table.
"Wow, this is the biggest table I've ever seen," said Tami. "Y'all must have a huge family."
"You could say that," replied Gemma with a sly grin.
"How many children do you have?"
Gemma looked down. "Just Jax, now."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," said Tami, her words coming out gentle and understated. Julie had always been impressed with the way her mother could handle awkward situations.
Gemma took a deep drag off the cigarette and let the smoke out slowly. "Jax had a little brother, Thomas, but he had a heart defect and died when he was young."
"That must be tough."
"It is... but you get through it, somehow."
Tami nodded in understanding and Julie began to relax.
Outside, Jax listened as Eric and Clay talked about football in general and the Forty-Niners and the Dallas Cowboys in particular. He watched as Eric's keen eyes took everything in, and he tried to figure out who Julie was more like, her mom or her dad.
She certainly had her mother's good manners and way of carrying herself. But Jax suspected that Julie was also very much her father's daughter. The way Eric listened intently and seemed to notice everything was very much the way Julie approached the world.
Jax thought things were going pretty well. Clay was an easy guy to get along with, mostly, as long as you didn't cross him. But still, Jax had the sense that all things being equal, Eric would still prefer that Julie date someone else.
"Damn it, I forgot the seasoning," grumbled Clay.
"You want me to go get it?" asked Jax, putting down his beer.
"Nah, I'm gonna have to mix up a batch. Here, I've turned the heat way down, you just keep an eye on things, make sure they don't cook too fast."
"Sure thing - and you can grab Julie's veggie burger too."
"Yeah, right," said Clay with a smirk.
When Clay was gone, Jax looked over at Eric, who was gazing out over the yard.
"This where you grew up?" asked Eric.
Jax shook his head. "Nah. My mom moved in here when I was in high school, after she married Clay."
"Right. I see."
"We lived in a smaller house, other side of town, but it had a bigger yard. And a swimming pool."
Eric nodded slowly, like that all somehow made perfect sense and was entirely relevant to the conversation. Jax wasn't even sure why he'd provided the extra information. It wasn't really in his nature to be forthcoming.
"We're just a regular family, just like anybody else," said Jax, trying to keep the defensiveness out of his voice.
"Oh yeah, I get that," said Eric, his jaw clenched and his eyes squinty. He ran a hand through his hair restlessly.
"Good, you know, I really appreciate you coming and giving me a chance. It means a lot to Julie."
"She's my daughter," said Eric, the words hanging there, heavy, feeling equal parts statement and threat.
"Yeah, I get that," said Jax, somehow managing to repeat Eric's earlier line without sounding like a total smart ass.
Eric let out a small chuckle. "Look, the thing about Julie is that you gotta let her do what she's going to do. She's hard-headed and she needs to figure things out for herself."
Jax nodded. He'd certainly already learned that about Julie. Jax could tell that Eric was hoping that their relationship was just a phase, just some moment of insanity on Julie's part. And there was part of Jax that suspected it was true, that Eric would get his wish, possibly sooner rather than later. But then there was another part of Jax that just wanted desperately to prove everyone wrong.
Before he could say anything else, Clay returned with a bowl of seasoning and questions for Eric about the wisdom of using the wildcat offense.
The women were already sitting at the set table with all of the salads and side dishes when the men came in with the steak. Eric shot Tami a brief wide-eyed look that she took to mean that he was still not entirely comfortable with the whole situation. To be honest, she wasn't either.
Jax certainly seemed like he had his good points, but frankly, his mother seemed like a hard, scary woman and Clay was, as far as Tami was concerned, virtually unknowable. This was not the family that Tami would select for her little girl, not a million years. And judging from the tired smile on Eric's face, he wouldn't either.
Tami smiled and nodded her way through dinner, asking unobtrusive questions and trying to avoid accidentally offending anyone. She was relieved when the evening was finally over and they were able to say good-night and make their escape.
Tami waited until she could hear Gracie's snuffling little snores coming from the backseat before she said a word.
"Well, hon, what do you think?"
"What do I think?" asked Eric. "Babe, I don't know what to think. If I could make Julie change her mind, I'd do it in a cold second, no matter what it cost, but we both know she's going to do whatever she wants."
"Yeah, I know, I can't help but feel, though, like we're just standing around waiting for her to get hurt."
Eric reached out and put a hand on her cheek. "Isn't that what parenting is all about?"
Clay shut the door behind Jax and Julie while Gemma sunk into her favorite chair. She lit a joint and inhaled deeply, holding the smoke in her lungs for as long as possible before exhaling slowly.
"What d'you think?" asked Clay from around his cigar.
Gemma shrugged. "I don't know what to think anymore."
"How's that?"
"They're too.....normal. They probably go to church every Sunday and never swear and the most exciting thing they ever do is go to football potluck dinners or some shit like that."
"It's a whole different world, ain't it?" said Clay.
"It sure is, babe. And I'm just not real sure how good she's going to fit with our world, no matter how much Jax might care about her."
"It's a phase. Don't go getting all bent out of shape about it."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Definitely. One of them will come to their senses."
Gemma looked over at Clay. "I sure hope you're right. And I hope it happens sooner rather than later."
The next day, the Taylor women headed out for a girls' day out. Julie and Tami were getting pedicures while Gracie sat nearby, letting her nails dry under a heat lap.
"Mom?"
"Yeah Jules?"
"Can you just listen and not judge? Because I need someone to just listen and maybe layout my options for me and you're usually good at that," said Julie, biting her lip.
"Sure, Baby. No judgements."
"And no sharing with Dad because this…Jax and me… Tim and me… it's all just too private, okay?"
"Alright hon."
"It started out with Tim and it was great… I mean I love Tim. I do. I know that now. For all my denying it, I do love him. But I think I'm starting to love Jax and no, not just because it pisses you guys off, but because… he's different than you'd think. He's deep and quiet and funny in that every now and then, he makes a really good joke kinda like Dad is, ya know?"
"Um. Hmm…"
"And he's smart, Mom and wants to make a different life for Abel. He wants to do better and if he does it, I don't wanna miss out on that. But I can't be Gemma, Mom I can't do that
"… and I don't think I'd love him anymore if he turned into clay. Clay's ruthless and single-minded. He scares me and I won't be with the second coming of Clay Morrow…
"And then there's Tim …. And he's Tim, you know what I mean? Like all of these feelings about him are tied to many things and I can't sort it all out. I'm so confused and that scares me because I've always known what I want." Julie took a deep breath and looked at her mother expectantly.
"Ok, here's what I'd do… Wait and see with Jax and if you think its going nowhere cut your losses…Tim…. Start with the easiest piece of string to get at and just unravel the ball… Start off as friends again… you might fall back in love with him, you might not, but either way you have a friend for life in Tim," said Tami, giving Julie her best reassuring smile.
"Thanks, Mom. I feel better."
"Good anytime Jules, I love you!"
"I love you too…"
"So French pedicure huh? Glad to see your out of the black phase made your toes look like you had a fungi problem!"
"Mom!"
"It's true!"
"Yeah well looks like a bag of skittles exploded on Gracie Belle's nails."
"What you say about me?" asked Gracie.
"Just that your nails are pretty."
"She has the hearing of a bat." Julie whispered.
"Kinda like someone else I know," Tami teased