Noelle looked at her mom and smiled. "So, do you think it could work?" She fiddled with the loose thread of her distressed jeans as her mom took a slow deliberate sip of her sweet tea. "Mom!"
Blair shrugged. "I don't know, I could talk it over with my colleagues, we each usually take a pro bono case on at least once a year but nothing ever to this extent, we're talking about known criminals here Noelle… I don't know if we can successfully defend them when there are so many agencies with shit on them."
"I've watched you get a murderer off the hook after he basically admitted to killing someone…" The brunette let out an exasperated sigh. "I know you can at least get Happy and Jax off, they're not as in bad shape as the others are."
The blonde smirked. "That's beside the point right now Noelle… What am I supposed to do? Walk into the clubhouse with a group of lawyers and persuade the men to let us represent them? I don't think you've thought this plan out logically sweetheart."
Noelle pinched the bridge of her nose. "I have… You and your partners each take on one of the men in SAMCRO, get his history, find out what they've done lately and you argue the shit out of their case and get them off the hook… I can't have Jax getting arrested and hauled off to jail when I am having his daughter."
"Fine, I'll contact them. I don't make any promises but if we do take this on, you need to make sure the men are okay with public exposure… If we can get a supposed criminal enterprise off the hook for serious charges, it'll go down in history." Blair tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled at the brunette. "I'll need your help, you can be my assistant for it, that way if you ever decide to be a lawyer after all, you'll have a really good case in your back pocket."
"I'll help you if it means getting the men off the hook but I'll be slowed down if we're still working on this when Janelle is here." She rubbed her belly and closed her eyes. "I just haven't decided, if it's worst for her to know him and have him leave or not know him until he comes back…"
The older woman shook her head. "Stop stressing yourself and my granddaughter out… You just need to keep faith that all this shit will work out…"
Noelle frowned, looking at her phone as it started to vibrate. "It's the blue eyed devil himself." She laughed as she quickly read the text and responded. "Wanted to know when I'll be home."
Blair nodded. "I'll go with you if you need me to."
"Did you like his mom?" She blinked back at her mom. "She's a character…"
The blonde shrugged. "I didn't mind her, she seems like she's a bit of a snob and will stab anyone in the back to get what she wants…"
Noelle smirked. "Pretty much…" She stood from the sofa. "I have to get going, if you hear from my dad can you tell him to actually text or call me back…"
"I haven't heard from Chris in a while." Blair walked her daughter to her car and hugged her. "Drive safe, if anything you should start staying put, you never know when you'll need to be close to your doctor… You're getting closer and closer to your due date."
"I know, I love you." She smiled as she got into her car. "I'll see you later mom."
SOA
Noelle sighed and wrapped her arms around Jax as he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. "Baby…"
"Yeah" Jax turned around slowly and looked at the short brunette. "What's wrong darlin'?"
She shrugged. "I talked to my mom about that idea I had at the party, she said she's thinking seriously about it and will talk to her colleagues…"
"But?" He frowned at her as he sipped his beer.
"She says it may be high profile, newspaper, television, all that type of shit. She wants you guys to be comfortable with that before you agree to anything." She looked down at her nails and frowned. "So, I don't know take it to the table and all that Jax."
Jax pulled her into a tight side hug. "I need you to stop stressing out about this Noelle… I feel so bad about you already knowing more than you should know. My mom doesn't even know half of what you do."
Noelle nodded her head slowly, her demeanor changing instantly. "Alright… I wish everyone would stop telling to not stress it just makes me stress out more." She moved out of his embrace and walked into the living room, carefully lowering herself onto the leather sofa as she reached for the remote.
The man stood and watched brunette. "Don't be upset with me babe… I'm just trying my best to protect you like old times."
"That's the problem Jax! This isn't anything like our past! The past wasn't this dangerous or had this much risk attached to it! The past was easy, we could hole up in my bedroom for a whole weekend and just fuck." She shook her head and looked at him. "You can't do what you did in the past, it won't work for the present."
He slowly moved and sat down on the sofa next to her, his head resting on her shoulder. "I would kill for shit to be as simple as it was back then Noe, believe me when I say that but I know what cards we're playing with now and I'm going to do what I can to keep you happy and sane… I need you to be happy and sane for Janelle."
The young woman pinched the bridge of her nose, hundreds of scenarios floating around her head as she tried to pick out the right words to speak. "I need to pack a hospital bag…"
Jax shook his head as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Please, don't shut down on me right now Noelle, that's the last thing we need right now is for you to withdraw and disregard your feelings…"
"I'm not withdrawing, I'm putting all my energy into something else." She shook her head at the handsome man. "Let's pack a hospital bag and I'll let you pick out the outfit she gets to wear home from the hospital."
He stood up, extending a hand to her. "Deal, she's totally wearing all black, no pink!"
SOA
Jax looked at his brothers around the table and nodded his head, after a hour of discussion and debate they had come to a decision on whether or not they'd let Blair and her colleagues represent them. "So, this is over…" He banged the gavel and watched the men stand, only to see Happy and Kozik hanging back. "What's up?"
"I just want to see how Noelle is, I hit her up before church but she didn't reply." Happy rasped at he looked at the younger man.
He shrugged and dragged a hand over his face. "She's in a mood… Constantly worrying about everything… I kind of feel bad for exposing her to this part of my life but I couldn't have kept her out of it forever."
"She can handle it… She's knocked up, everything is going to be amplified right now because of her hormones." Kozik smiled at Jax. "She'll have the kid and be able to handle it better."
"Yeah I know but still… I keep fucking up with her, I shouldn't have gotten her to be the intelligence officer but I was thinking of the club and not her until it was too late." Jax ran a ringed hand over his head and sighed. "Now this whole lawyer talk and how it went, it's bound to be stressful too."
"This is why you only tell old ladies certain shit… Noelle is a tough woman but she's no Gemma…" Happy shook his head. "You just have to keep her in the dark about most of the shit unless she absolutely needs to know about it… Doesn't need to know the decision we made at this table until it is put into motion."
"Yeah, I know." Jax nodded and stared at the two men.
Melody climbed into the big bed, her head resting on Noelle's shoulder. "So, you gonna tell me why you're not returning my calls or texts?"
"Too pregnant, too tired, too annoyed to text or talk." Noelle shrugged her shoulders slightly. "How'd you even get in here anyways?"
The brunette smiled. "You gave me a key a few months back… Don't tell me you have pregnancy brain still babe." She sat up and sat cross legged, her eyes trained on her sister's big belly. "You ever regret getting knocked up by Jax?"
"It's not a regret Melody, it's more of I should have waited a little bit longer to get knocked up…" Noelle rolled her eyes. "I don't know, it seems like shit timing to be having his kid if he ends up going to prison."
"It'll work out." She rubbed her belly. "This is so weird Noe… You're going to be a mom and I'm going to be an Auntie."
"An eight months ago I thought I was going to be a lawyer." Noelle shook her head and let out a loud sigh. "Shit happens…"
"Your mood is so bummer right now Noelle… Where's my goofy Noelle!?" Melody started poking her sisters boobs. "They're so huge and squishy! I could use them as pillows." She rested her head on them and yawned. "Definitely pillows."
"If you press too hard, I may just leak milk in your hair." The older brunette laughed. "I have no clue why but I'm producing milk already, the doctor had told me I probably wouldn't have it until Janelle was born but he was wrong, it's so annoying… I felt something wet on my chest on time and looked down my shirt was wet and then I took it off and there they were, two leaky tits…"
Melody howled with laughter. "Oh man! That's no fun… I decided I want to go back to school, merchandising, I want to maybe have my own boutique!"
"I'll bankroll that endeavor." Noelle ran her fingers through her sister's hair and smiled. "Call is Noelle's Closet or some cute shit… You can sell new and preloved clothes… I have so many damn clothes that I was going to keep selling but I gave up because of Janelle and the lack of people who buy designer clothes in this damn town."
The young brunette went wide eyed. "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW NOELLE!?"
"Yeah, not like I'll be wearing any of it especially after the baby, I'll be more young mom and less Jax's slut." She laughed and looked at her sister. "I don't think you need a whole lot of classes to run a store, you can look into a boutique and maybe take online business courses."
"I fucking love you." Melody hugged Noelle as she felt herself start to cry. "They're tears of happiness! I cannot believe this Noe…"
"I love you too… Just make me proud and shit. Chase your dream and don't stop until it comes true… That's what my parents taught me, they also said dreams change a lot." She shrugged. "Just let me know how I can help, I have some agents who deal in retail spaces… No matter what city you end up being based in."
Melody nodded. "I'm gonna research all this stuff, do a business plan and everything… I'm so excited about this Noelle!" She clapped her hands before being interrupted by the doorbell. "Do you want me to get it?"
"Sure." Noelle smiled at her sister. "If it's for me, tell them I'm not home unless it looks serious enough to disturb me from my bed."
"Got it." The brunette skipped out of the room, her hand landing on the door knob before looking through the peephole. "Can I help you?" She eyed the suits standing before her.
"I'm Agent Kevin Chance, I'm looking for Noelle Montague… It's serious, it's about her dad." The man slipped his sunglasses into his pocket and walked into the house. "I know she's here, her car is outside."
"Yeah, yeah… Follow me…" Melody led the man the short way down the hall and into the master suite.
"Kevin?" Noelle cocked her head at the familiar man. "What're you doing here?" She sat up in bed and stared at him straight on. "What happened to my dad?"
"I'm so sorry Noelle but Chris died on duty." Kevin frowned at the young woman. "It was instant, there was nothing we could do to save him… I'm so sorry Noelle."
The brunette moved from the bed, her hand over her mouth as she rushed into the bathroom. "He's dead?" She looked into the sink at the running water as she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. "But, we were finally good again Kevin." She turned around and buried her face in the man's chest. "He hadn't even met his granddaughter yet…" She shook her head as she moved to sit on the edge of the tub as she started to feel dizzy and nauseous. "I have to go to the hospital, I don't feel so well…"
Melody watched in shock as Noelle fainted, falling backwards into the tub. "Shit!" She moved forward before a large arm blocked her.
"I can handle this, make sure the front door is unlocked for the EMT." Kevin glanced back at Melody before looking back at the pale faced Noelle. "Do it now!"
The brunette turned and rushed out of the bathroom and to the living room, opening the door as she pulled out her phone. "Jax, come quick… It's Noelle, something happened…" She ended the call before the man had a chance to reply, she moved to the sofa and sank down on it. "Something bad always happens with the good." She recited to herself over and over as she sent up a silent prayer for her sister and niece to be okay.
I hope to have this story wrapped up in the next week or so. So I really hope you readers will enjoy the last chapters of this story.