"Jax, you have to talk to him," Tara pleaded as Jax's phone vibrated on his bedside table.
Jax shook his head and sighed. "I said everything I had to say to him at Kerrianne's party." Almost as if on cue, his phone went silent. It had been nearly a week since the ill-fated celebration of Chibs' daughter's eighteenth birthday, where insults were hurled and punches were thrown. If anything, Tara expected a little friction between Jax and Chibs at the party. But it seemed that no one anticipated the implosion of the Teller brothers' relationship, and so they all just stood by and watched it happen.
Jax flew into a rage when he saw Thomas wearing a Prospect kutte. He ordered him to take it off. Thomas refused, and quite honestly seemed shocked by Jax's reaction. Clay got in Jax's face for disrespecting the club. Jax got in Gemma's face for manipulating Thomas. The girls cried. Kerrianne's friends left. It was utter chaos. But at the heart of it all was just a frightened big brother, trying to protect his little brother from the fate he thought they'd both already escaped.
When talking didn't work, Jax tried to physically remove the kutte from Thomas' body. And that's when things got ugly. All Tara could do was shield the girls from the SAMCRO brawl taking place in her living room, which quickly spilled out onto the front lawn. Despite the fact that Gemma was likely behind the unfolding drama, she was quick to step in and separate Jax from the club. Along with Opie, she wrangled Jax back up to the house. Opie shoved him inside and Tara slammed the door shut before he could race back out. His temper had hold of him, and he wasn't thinking clearly.
"Move, Tara," he growled, his face beat red and sweaty. She stood between him and the door. Even though the odds were stacked against him, he didn't care. She crossed her arms in defiance, refusing to budge. Through the front window, she could see the hoard slowly retreating as Opie, Gemma, and even Chibs tried to talk everyone down. And in the middle of the fray was Thomas- Jax's sweet little brother, who used to pick dandelions for Tara every spring, and whose miraculous resurrection was the balm to an open wound Jax had been nursing since he was a young boy. Thomas was one of them now. He'd become the thing his father went to great lengths to save him from. Tara doubted he'd actually taken a swing at Jax, she couldn't fathom it, but he was still out there with the rest of the club, shouting threats and hurling insults. He had the same Teller temper that had always been one of Jax's only flaws.
"Jax, stop," she said calmly. "I know you're upset, but nothing good can come from this. Look at the example you're setting for the girls." Jax steeled his jaw and turned away from the door. Kerrianne and Sophie were standing in the kitchen, holding one another as they sobbed. His face softened instantly.
"Oh, girls, I'm sorry," he gasped. With tears in his eyes, he pulled Tara into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her neck. Just like that, her Jax was back. She held onto him tightly, wishing she could undo all the damage his family was constantly inflicting on him. She wished their little family could just be enough for him. For a while, it almost was. If they'd left Charming when he wanted to, before Thomas came back, it would have been enough. But everything was different now. Jax had always been his brother's keeper, and twenty years without him hadn't lessened that instinct. He could let Gemma go. He'd done it before. He could let the club and everyone associated with it go. But he would never give up on Thomas.
And, as it turned out, Thomas wouldn't give up on him either. He'd called Jax no less than five times a day, every day, since their fight. Jax refused to speak to him. Tara suspected it was because he had no idea what to say. He loved his brother, but he would never accept him joining the club. So where would that leave them? How could they move on from that?
Jax was so distraught as it was, Tara didn't dare tell him about her suspicions involving Thomas and Kerrianne, but they were growing by the day. Whispered phone calls, vague answers when Tara asked her where she was going or what she was doing. It wasn't like Tara could ground her, she was eighteen. After what had happened the last time Kerrianne was caught messing around with a prospect, there was no way Tara was going to Chibs. The last thing any of them needed was more drama.
Tara pushed back the blankets and struggled to sit up in bed. The most routine things were becoming increasingly difficult as her pregnancy progressed.
"Where you goin'?" Jax asked sleepily, reaching for her. For a moment, she considered canceling her plans and staying in bed with him all day. But Donna would probably kill her. She'd been begging Tara to let her take her baby shopping for weeks. Now that they knew the gender of the babies, Tara couldn't keep putting her off.
"Shopping," she reminded him, rolling her eyes. "Donna will be here in like an hour."
Jax scowled, looking confused. "You're not excited to go buy baby stuff? I thought women loved that shit."
Most women did, maybe, but pregnancy and tradition were two things that never fit where Tara was concerned. Her first pregnancy was a complete accident, and she was so worried about having a baby with Chibs, she never had a chance to enjoy it. And while the circumstances were different this time around, her pregnancy was once again unplanned, and there were once again complications that prevented her from fully embracing it. She let out a long sigh, resting her hands atop her belly, her head hung in shame. Her little boys weren't even born yet, and she was already failing them. Jax seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. He sat up beside her and took her face in his hands. "I'm so sorry about all this shit goin' on, babe. I hate that it's taking away from what should be the happiest time in our lives. We're getting married and having twin boys! That's fucking amazing. But this shit with Thomas and the club…I'd like to say it'll all be over soon, but the truth is, I don't know when this all ends, or how. And even once we get through this, who knows what's comin' down the pipes. It's always something in this town, and I don't know what to do about it anymore."
"We could leave." Tara said the words quietly, unassumingly, with a little bit of hope and a touch of "you were right, I was wrong" in her voice.
Jax raised his eyebrows, sitting up straight. "What?"
Tara sighed, somehow feeling defeated even though she and Jax were on the same team. "Let's leave Charming, Jax. I don't want to raise our boys here. Especially not after seeing how easily Gemma was able to lure Thomas into the club. Let's go to San Diego. If you still want to, that is."
A slow smile spread across Jax's face. "Of course I still want to. I just stopped bringing it up because I could see that it was stressing you out. Tara, I don't want to raise our family here either."
"Really?" Tara felt a great weight lift from her chest.
Jax nodded. "Really."
She grinned and squeezed his hands. Her eyes filled with tears and she once again hated her pregnancy hormones. "So," she said, trying to lighten the mood, "maybe I won't pick up paint for the nursery while I'm out today?"
"Whoa," Jax chuckled. "You really want to do this, huh? Like, soon?"
"Yes," Tara confirmed. "I want to leave Charming before the babies are born."
He kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger just long enough to get her blood rising. "Then that's what we'll do," he murmured. Tara closed her eyes and once again found herself wishing that she hadn't made plans. Kerrianne and Sophie were out on a "secret mission" for the day, and she didn't get many opportunities for alone time with Jax anymore. Jax inhaled sharply and pulled away, before he, too, got caught up in the moment. "You better get a move on, Donna's gonna be here soon. And you know how impatient she can be." Tara laughed as she thought of all the times Donna had marched into the clubhouse, furious with Opie for not being home when he was supposed to. She definitely didn't like to be kept waiting.
"Talk about it tonight?" she asked.
Jax smiled. "Tonight."
"You know we could just go to Target, right?" Tara complained as she and Donna walked through the doors of Babies Galore. She was instantly overwhelmed. The store was more of a warehouse than a store, lined from floor to ceiling with cribs, high chairs, strollers, swings, car seats, bouncers, baby baths, and more clothes than any baby could feasibly wear in their lifetime. And Tara needed two of everything. As it was, she had nothing. And Donna was set on changing that.
"Get outta here," Donna groaned, nudging Tara lightly with her shoulder. "We moms are only special when we're incubating babies, you know that. It's the only time anybody spoils us. And you're growing two of them. So you're just gonna have to get over whatever your aversion is to being the center of attention and let us spoil you."
"Us, who?" Tara asked suspiciously. Before Donna could respond, Tara had her answer.
"Surprise!" Sophie, Kerrianne, and Gemma shouted in unison as they stepped out from behind a gigantic diaper display. Gemma was pushing a cart that was already half full, with Sophie seated in the seat part. Kerrianne was holding a folder with the Babies Galore logo on it, and Gemma had what looked like a pricing gun in her hand. Tara backed up instinctively, toward the exit. Donna stood behind her to block her.
"Oh, no," Donna said. "We're doing this. You're going to register for baby shit, and we're going to plan your shower. All five of us. Today. Whether you like it or not."
"I'm not having a shower," Tara protested.
"Mommy, you have to have a baby party!" Sophie fired back, jutting out her bottom lip.
"Yeah, Mommy," Gemma said, holding up the scanner gun and pointing it at Tara. "Get with the program. Don't make me shoot you." There was something about the darkness in her soon-to-be-mother-in-law's eyes that unsettled Tara, but she shrugged it off.
"Alright," she agreed. "Just a small baby party."
Gemma kept control of the scanner throughout the store, picking up items at random and adding them to Tara's registry faster than Kerrianne could cross them off the checklist. Sophie had grown bored already, and was reading a book about princesses she'd found in one of the nursery displays, sitting on a dresser. Donna had her arms full of tiny shoes and socks and sleepers, and kept reminiscing about when her kids were that little. All Tara wanted to do was get word to Jax that she'd essentially been kidnapped and was being forced to pick out nursery themes against her will, but her phone had been confiscated.
"So Ker," Donna said nonchalantly as she compared different brands of baby shampoo by sniffing them. "You and Tom still coming over for dinner tonight?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to Donna, who realized immediately that she'd said something she couldn't. Kerrianne's caramel cheeks turned bright red, and Gemma rolled her eyes in anticipation of the drama that was sure to follow. Tara looked from Kerrianne to Donna and back again.
"Who's Tom?" Sophie asked, not looking up from her book. And then she giggled. "Ohhhh, Uncle Tom? Sissy, why are you going to dinner with Uncle Tom?"
"Yeah, Ker, why are you going to dinner with Jax's brother?" Tara pressed, her temper rising. Kerrianne's gaze shifted to the ground as she pressed her lips together, trying not to cry.
"I'm sorry," Donna stammered. "I didn't know, I…"
"No, it's okay, Donna," Tara said, not taking her eyes off of Kerrianne. "We don't keep secrets in our house, right girls?"
"Right!" Sophie agreed, completely oblivious to what was going on.
"Alright," Gemma intervened, probably for her own selfish reasons. Tommy was her golden boy now, and if he and Kerrianne were dating, that meant she was under Gemma's protection. "I think we've done enough shopping for today. Tara can finish up her registry online." Kerrianne dutifully followed behind Gemma as she headed toward the checkout with the impromptu purchases she'd insisted on making. She didn't dare look up at Tara. Tara's heart was racing, and she knew she couldn't hide this from Jax any longer. It was no longer just a suspicion, it was happening. And apparently, the entire club knew about it. But Chibs? How could he be okay with this? Thomas was older and more intertwined with the club than the last prospect Kerrianne hooked up with, and Chibs had lost his shit over that. Thomas was a Teller, which meant the entire SAMCRO empire would be his someday. Was that really the life Chibs wanted for his daughter? Tara refused to believe it.
The ride home was quiet. Tara was thankful Donna kept a booster seat in her car, as she'd insisted on taking Sophie home with her. Kerrianne left with Gemma. Tara could practically see Gemma's claws digging into the young girl, further and further, and there was nothing she could do about it. As much as it hurt her, Kerrianne wasn't hers to save. But Sophie and the babies were. She would get them out of Charming if it was the last thing she did. She had to.
Jax was in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled suspiciously like stir fry, when Tara walked through the front door. Her arms were full of bags of things she no longer really even wanted, as it was all attached to Gemma and Charming and the club. Sophie stood beside her, still enthralled by her book.
"What's going on here?" Jax asked, an amused smile on his face.
"I got ambushed," Tara lamented, dropping the bags to the ground. "Your mother was there with the girls. They made me register and pick a date for my baby shower. I'm having a baby shower now, Jax."
Jax chuckled as he sauntered toward her, a dish towel tossed over his shoulder. He'd never looked sexier. "Oh, shit," he laughed. "They got you, huh?"
Tara frowned as Jax wrapped his arms around her. "Did you know about this?" she accused him.
"Me?" He sounded just a little too innocent. "I didn't know about anything. Soph, did you know about this?" Sophie shook her head.
"Mmmhmm," Tara muttered. "Sweetie, why don't you go read in your room while we finish getting dinner ready out here?" Without looking up, Sophie disappeared down the hall, fascinated by whatever it was she thought she was reading. "Smells good," Tara said, walking into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator, and then forgot what she was looking for. Her thoughts were all over the place. Jax approached her from behind and placed his hands on her widening hips.
"You alright, babe?" he asked.
She wasn't. She turned to him, fighting back angry, confused, frustrated tears. "No," she admitted. "But I think I'm definitely ready to have that talk now."