With excitement coursing through her veins, Linda quickly made her way to her daughter's hospital room.
When she reached the room, the door was closed with Phil and V-Lin, Samcro's newest prospect, standing guard.
"Hi Mrs. Torres," Phil greeted.
"Hi sweetheart. Is she still awake?"
"Yeah, she should be."
Linda smiled in response, opening the closed door.
Melanie in fact was still awake, flipping through the channels that were available fast enough to short circuit the television that was mounted to the corner of the room.
She closed the door behind her, powerwalking to her daughter, giving her a firm embrace the moment she reached her.
After twenty minutes of channel surfing, I finally settled on a food network.
As I was about to put the remote down next to me, my mom wrapped her arms around me, bringing me flush against her, causing the remote to fly out of my hand and onto the floor.
When the hell did she come into the room and how did I not hear her?
"I'm so happy you're awake Mel bear," she stated, squeezing me even harder.
Being aware to not yank out the multiple ivs that were buried under my skin, I carefully lifted my arms and moved them around her back, returning the warm embrace.
"Me too, mom. But, I don't know how much longer I will be with you cutting off my air supply," I choked out with her immediately releasing me.
"I'm so sorry, Mel. I didn't mean to be so rough with you."
"No need to apologize, Mom," I replied with a smile.
She nodded, taking a seat on the bed.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm sore, but it's not as bad as you think. Really."
She scoffed, knowing that was total bullshit.
" You can lie or hell, actually be straight and tell me the truth. Whichever direction you decide to move toward, you should know my level of concern for you will still stay the same."
"I know, but you have to admit that a lie here and there gives you a bit more peace of mind."
"You keep tellin' yourself that, honey."
"I will," I quipped, shifting my attention back to the television.
"Where's your two favorite human beings at?", Linda asked, changing the subject all together.
"Jax and Abel went to Ritchie's diner off of Lambert to get me something to eat. These medical fluids are great and all, but nowhere near satisfying my craving for a double bacon cheeseburger."
"Yeah, I can imagine which is why I brought you something as well."
I slowly sat up in bed, adverting my eyes back to my mom.
She opened up the white bag she brought with her, pulling out a medium sized styrofoam container filled with moose tracks ice cream.
"Mom, I didn't think I could love you more until this very moment," I stated, popping off the clear lid and setting it down on my blanketed lap.
Linda got up from the bed, wheeling the mobile table over to her daughter, picking up the lid and placing it onto the table.
Once she had me situated, she handed me the wrapped spoon.
"I figured you could use something sweet."
"You figured right," I smiled as I removed the spoon from its wrapper.
The moment I had my first taste of the sinfully delicious ice cream, Jax and Abel entered the room.
"Hi grandma," Abel greeted, running over to my mother and wrapping his arms around her legs.
"Hey handsome," she smiled as she bent down and picked him up in her arms.
"Hey Lin."
Jax touched the top of my mom's back, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey sweetheart."
He gave her back a small circular rub before walking away from her and over to me.
He set the large brown paper bag down onto the table a few feet away from me and my ice cream.
"One double bacon cheeseburger medium rare with the buns toasted and extra mayo, lettuce and tomato on the side."
"Thanks baby," I smiled as he leaned down and gave me a kiss on the lips.
"You're welcome."
"Mommy, we also got you your shakes," Abel chimed in.
"Shakes?", I asked.
"You said to surprise you, so I told daddy he should get you both vanilla and chocolate."
"Good lookin' out, buddy. But, I don't know if I could finish all this food, especially the ice cream. I might need someone to help me out."
Abel's blue eyes lit up in response and my mother put him down.
He closed the distance between the both of us and climbed up onto the bed, taking a seat next to me.
I handed him the spoon, sliding the moose tracks ice cream in front of him.
"Now that you got your grub darlin', I gotta be heading out."
"What, why?"
"Club business has been on a hiatus since you ended up in here. I have to help get shi..stuff back on track," he pointed out as he tripped over his words, almost forgetting our son was still in the room.
Though I was most definitely not going to admit it aloud, he was right.
My family and the club have placed their lives on pause and was willing to keep it that way until I was officially out of the woods.
I guess I'm feeling selfish today and want to keep my family at arms reach for a bit longer.
"Okay."
"I'll be back soon, I promise. If you need me, just call."
"Okay," I repeated, trying even harder to conceal my disappointment.
Of course, I failed miserably at doing so.
Jax leaned over me, giving a kiss on the lips.
"Before I leave, I should let you know a new rule is going to be enforced within our house."
"I'm listening."
"From the moment I leave every day , I'm gonna have a couple of the guys keep an eye on you and Abel."
"Around the clock supervison."
"That's right. Twenty- four seven, darlin'."
"But Jax, there's gonna be times when you will need all of your brothers to stand with you. What will happen then? I don't want you to have little to no man power because you have them with Abel and me. We want, no we need you to stay whole as well."
"I'll make a call out to Indian Hills. If not Indian Hills, then Tacoma will help me out and so on. Don't worry, I'll always make sure protection is in place for the both of you with the promise that I'll never be without."
"Do you really mean that?"
"I swear to you."
"Then, I'll embrace the new rule with no problem."
"So will I," Abel added with ice cream now painted all over his face.
Jax sped into the Teller-Morrow parking lot, parking his motorcycle into its usual parking space.
The club was sitting outside the clubhouse with their asses planted on the tops of the picnic tables.
The only absentee was his stepfather and he knew why.
Not only the entire ordeal with the letters that reveals the disturbing truth about what really happened to his father, but something inside Jax was screaming at him that Clay was also responsible for Mel getting gunned down in front of Cara Cara.
He didn't know for sure, and because of the uncertainty, he needed solid proof.
"Hey Jackie, how's our girl," Chibs asked as Jax slid his black Samcro baseball cap onto his head.
"She's good. The doc is saying she should be able to come home within a day or two."
"That's great man," Happy added as he took another swig of his beer.
"Yeah. Where's Clay?"
"Not sure. He said he had some shit to take of. He didn't specify," Tig answered.
"Alright. I'm gonna give him a call and let him know that I'm back and ready for church."
Jax headed inside with Juice following right behind him.
"Hey, were you able to salvage any footage of Cara Cara's security tapes before the pieces of shit destroyed it," Jax asked as they reached his old room.
"Yes and no. I only got about twenty seconds of it, but the good news is I was able to get a clear view of the license plate."
"Did you trace the plate?"
"Already ahead of you, brother."
Juice reached inside of his kutte, pulling out rolled up paperwork.
"The van belongs to Fernando Parada. Romeo's oldest son."
Why the fuck would Romeo hire his son to take out his wife?
"Jesus Christ. Were you able to pull an address?"
"Yup. It's on the second page."
Jax flipped to the second page, immediately memorizing the address.
"Thanks for this, Juicy," he stated as he put the paperwork in his kutte.
"Now we have a lead on who did this to Mel, we can bring this to the table."
"No, not yet."
"What? Why not?"
"I can't say. You just have to trust me, brother."
"Yeah, okay."
Jax pat him on the back, heading down the hall and back outside.
"Where are you going, Jax," Bobby asked as he made his way back to his bike.
"I'll be back."
That was all Bobby got out of the young vice president before he started his bike and left the Teller-Morrow parking lot.
Without Bobby realizing, Opie was already on his own motorcycle to follow his best friend.
Something was up and he was going to find out what.
Jax brought his bike to a stop at an intersection and looked in his right rearview mirror, discovering his best friend weaving his way in and out of traffic in hopes to catch up with him.
Jax ignored the red light and drove in attempt to shake the unwanted tail.
It was no use and he knew it from the moment he first spotted him.
He pulled into the next parking lot on his right with Opie pulling up along side of him.
They both removed the keys from their vehicles, eliminating all life from their bikes.
"Where are you going without protection?"
"I'm just driving to clear my head, bro."
"That's bullshit. You know who put Mel in the hospital, don't you?"
"I do."
"Who was it?"
" Parada's son."
"Jesus Christ. The fucking cartel is behind this? And you think you can take them all on by yourself?"
"Not all of them. Just his son."
"Jax, I doubt his son is unprotected. Romeo probably has an army built around him and his family. You won't make it two feet without your fucking head getting blown off. Look, I get you want to hurt the assholes who did this to Mel, but you can't do it on impulse. We need a plan. We need the club."
"That's just it, Op. I can't bring this to the club yet."
"Why?"
"Because I think someone at that table hired Romeo to kill my wife."
Opie fell silent, running his ringed left hand down his growing beard.
"Has that someone been M.I.A all day?"
Jax nodded.
"Holy Shit."
Once I had the doctor's stamp of approval, I was finally able to go home the very next day.
Of course, stubborn me did not go home like I was instructed to.
I had Phil and V-Lin escort me and Abel to Teller-Morrow.
Phil rounded the truck, helping me out of the passenger's side of the vehicle.
"Thanks Phil."
"You're welcome."
Abel sprinted toward the main office, giving Unser a high five as he was exiting the small building.
"Uncle T!", Abel yelled.
"Hey buddy."
"Come play with me," he demanded as he consistently pulled on Unser's hands.
"Okay, I will."
I approached Unser with a warm smile.
"Aren't you supposed to be on bed rest?"
"Yeah. The thing is bed rest isn't ideal unless your significant other is joining you."
"Yeah, I get that. I'm happy you're okay, sweetheart," he stated, giving me a gentle hug.
"Thanks uncle touchy."
He sighed, praying that nickname would diminish already.
"Uncle T, come on," Abel pleaded.
Wayne looked down at him, giving him a nod.
"Okay, let's go."
"Yay!," Abel exclaimed, sprinting toward the swings.
"Abel, be easy on Uncle T," I yelled before entering the office.
"Okay."
Gemma looked away from the paperwork on her desk, giving her attention to Mel.
"You're supposed to be at home resting," she scolded as she removed her reading glasses.
" I know. Resting is not my forte, you know that," I replied, carefully taking a seat onto the couch.
"I know it's not. What brings you here?"
"You didn't come to visit me when I woke up. But now that I see your face, I can see why," I answered as I took in her face that was covered in fresh bruises.
"I fell down some stairs. It's no big deal."
"Gem, I might have been born at night, but not last night. Was this Clay?"
"Mel.."
"It was, wasn't it?"
"It was, but I pushed him to that point."
"That's what you said the last time he beat the shit out of you. I remember because I was there when he did."
"And then you stabbed him with one of the knives from the wooden block in the kitchen," she remembered.
"I didn't stab him, per say. It was more like a flesh wound. Though you will never admit it, you and I both know he deserved what came to him. I told him if he did this again, I'd make sure I'll hit a major artery next time. Looks like I'm gonna have to actually follow through on that promise."
"This is why I didn't tell you. You need to worry about healing, not about Clay."
"I beg to differ. Clay is apart of our family which means he's our problem."
The moment I unlocked the front door to our home, my cellphone began to ring from within my purse.
I stepped aside as Abel, Phil, and V-Lin went ahead of me.
After a good five minutes of rummaging through my cluttered purse,(the clutter comes from the bevy of medications I have to choke down every day), I retrieved my phone and glanced at the screen.
A number that was not programmed into my cell was trying to reach me.
Curious as to who it was, I answered the phone, bringing it to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Melanie Teller?", the upbeat female voice asked.
"Yes, this is she."
"I'm Nancy, calling from the Heartsent Adoption agency in regards of the application and file you gave us a couple of months back."
A huge smile formed on my face as I went inside to continue the conversation.
"Yes, I remember. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's more than fine. I actually have a young expectant mother who is looking to put her son up for adoption. She went through the potiental parents that she would like to meet with, and she would really like to meet you and your husband."
"Really? That's great! When is it a good time for her?"
"Is next Friday at noon okay?"
"Next Friday at noon is perfect."
"Great, we'll see you then."
"Before you go, I do have one question."
"Sure, what is it?"
"What made her pick us?"
"She said you and your husband seemed the most ginuwine. Plus, the letter from Harry Winston was quite beautiful and heartfelt. Claire allowed me to read it once she was finished with it so I can get an idea of what kind of family she wants her unborn child to end up with, and I couldn't agree more with her choice."
How could Op not tell me about the letter?
Who knew he could write so well?
I have so many questions, they're truly endless.
"Yeah, Harry's got a way with words. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Have a great day."
"You too."
I hung up the phone, smiling so damn hard my cheeks felt like they were about to split open.
"Is everything okay, Mel," Phil asked.
"Yeah, it's more than okay. That was one of the adoption agencies I applied to. They want to meet with Jax and me next week."
Jax made it home right before my alarm clock struck midnight.
I was already in bed, dressed in nothing but a grey g-string and one of his toasty flannel shirts.
He strolled into our dark bedroom and quickly got undressed down to his boxers and climbed into bed next to me, wrapping his strong arms around me.
He placed a gentle kiss on my temple, causing me to turn and face him.
"I didn't wake you, did I?"
I shook my head as I leaned in, giving him a kiss on the lips.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better than I was yesterday."
"Good."
"How was your day?"
"Quiet," he lied.
"It couldn't have been that quiet especially since you didn't answer your phone when I tried calling you."
"You tried calling me? I'm sorry babe, I had no idea. I probably had absolutely no cell reception where I was at because you know I would've answered the phone if I did."
"I wasn't the only one that was trying to reach you, ya know. The club said you've been distant these past couple of days and uncomfortably vague about where you are. Did you already forget about that promise you made me?"
"Of course not. It's just what I've came across.. It's not something I can share with the club yet because if I reveal what I can prove now, it will barely settle the score."
"What did you come across?"
Jax grew quiet.
"You're doing all of this for me, baby. I have a right to know who you're planning to go head to head with."
"I believe Clay hired those guys to kill you because you didn't give the letters to Gemma, Mel."
My eyes widened as I tried to wrap my head around that unsettling theory.
"That's why he beat the shit out of Gem, Jax. She must've confronted him about it. That domestic beating was to keep her quiet about what she knew," I blurted out as I began to piece the fragments of information that I knew of together with his own.
"He's becomed unchained. If I just bring the letters to the table, it will only be enough to strip Clay of his patch. But, if I can also prove that he hired men to have you killed, then that can solidify a unanimous mayhem vote."
"Jesus Christ, Jax."
"That's where I've been these past couple of days. With the help of Juice, I was able to find where one of the shooters lived. I've been staking out the place to get a feel of what I'm gonna be walking into."
"Once you get that feel, what then?", I asked, already knowing the answer.
"I'll let the club in on what I know. We'll bring the asshole to his knees and have him confess that it was Clay that hired him before I kill him."
Jax wasn't going to share with her that one of the shooters was related to one of the cartel leaders.
She would then insist on him letting it go because the blow back will be far worse than the damage already done.
There was no way in hell that he could or would do that.
What's to stop Clay from having them go after her again since they failed to get the job done the first time?
What if their son is with her if they do reappear in their lives?
He didn't want to nor did he want to have to live with this rising level of concern in the back of his mind.
Killing the men Clay hired will help bring some peace of mind and keep his family whole.
He was ready for what was going to unfold, and he would make sure his club will be as well.
" I just don't want him to know you're onto him while you're in the process of exposing who he really is. Because you know the moment he does, he'll go and strike first, and I refuse to let that happen. Especially with the chance of you becoming a daddy for the second time."
"What? Are you.."
"No, I'm not pregnant. But, I got a call from one of the adoption agencies I applied to, and the mother wants to meet us next Friday."
"She knows about my record?"
"She does. I was open and honest. It's pointless to even try to lie because they dig into your background anyway. She was able to look past the charges and my former line of work. What she saw is two kickass parents eager to have another. Plus, Opie's letter was a huge help as well."
"Oh yeah, he told me about that."
"You knew?"
"I know everything. Babe, I'm all for meeting with her, but what about you? Are you sure you're up for it? You just got out of the hospital."
"I'll be fine. I'm not gonna let healing bullet wounds stop me from adopting a baby. I'll just keep 'em covered and try not to make any fast movements that can trigger the look of pain on my face."
Jax chuckled, coiling his arms around me before giving me a passionate kiss on the lips.
"You're something else, Melanie Teller."
"I know. I'm that something else that's gonna be with you every step of the way to help you get in front of this shit with Clay. He's just an unfortunate hurdle in our lives. Once that hurdle is behind us, all we have to do is look ahead to our future."