Chapter 248

Rowan's Point of View

Dinner was quiet. Too quiet. Once we all sat down to eat, all that could be heard was forks against plates. Abel and Rae were playing in the sandbox off to the side of the patio, giggling breaking up the deafening silence against my ears. I knew when Avery told Deacon the truth it was going to be awkward. I mean how could it not be? Hey, you have great grilling skills, by the way I'm your long lost son… Undeniably awkward. A recipe for disaster in fact. I don't know how I thought this night would go, but I didn't think it would go like this.

I was really wishing I wasn't pregnant just for the simple fact that a bottle of beer or a glass of wine would be so nice right about now.

My knee bounced under the table as I speared Avery with a look. My eyes went wide as I silently said, Say something. Keep the conversation going. Don't give up. Avery looked down at his plate and sawed his knife through his steak so hard I thought the table was going to break in half. Deacon, bless his heart was oblvious to the tension floating around the table.

Jax slid his hand onto my bare knee under the table. I glanced at him, smiling, instantly feeling some tension leave my body. I felt a tiny minuscule twinge of guilt for jumping to conclusions in my brain earlier when I came across the business card that hoe Collette had given Jax for Diosa. In my heart I knew Jax would never go to a place like that, but the illogical part of my brain screamed, react. Okay, she wasn't a hoe, she was just promoting her business, but whatever.

Jax slid his hand higher up my thigh, his palm warm against my cool skin. The callouses on his hand scratched the soft skin on my inner thigh as it rose higher edging under the bottom of my dress. My heart caught in my chest as I looked over at him again. He was completely cool calm and collected, spearing a bite of steak with his fork and raising it to his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye he looked at me and I swear to god he smirked.

God, even the way he chewed was sexy. The muscles in his jaw clenching and flexing. His hand around the bottle of beer he picked up weren't bad either. Especially knowing what those hands we're capable of. Heat pooled in my lower stomach, my thighs involuntarily clenching.

He wanted to play. Oh, we were gonna play. Our chairs were close together so it didn't look like anything was amiss when I reached over and rested my hand on Jax's thigh. I let it rest there, taunting him, slowly moving my fingers in a small circle.

I cleared my throat unable to withstand the silence anymore. "Dad, you know, Avery was actually in the Army."

Deacon looked up from his plate, wiping his mouth, interested and always ready to talk about the Army, the government, politics. "Is that so? When was your last tour?"

"Been a bit."" Avery answered, an earnest look etched on his face. It was obvious he was proud of having served his country. I hardy knew him and I was proud of him. It couldn't have been an easy thing to go through. He leaned his elbows on the table and watched every movement Deacon made. He studied his face, wondering most likely which features they shared. They had the same eyes. The same nose. Hell, the same damn ears. "I did one tour and at the end of that tour I was hit with an IED. Medically discharged. But I was ready for a change towards the end. Needed something more, I guess."

Deacon nodded, knowing all too well. I'm sure it changed Avery too.

"You leave a war and come home and start a fucking motorcycle club." Jax smirked, "Just couldn't retire like a normal bastard could you?"

"Ain't nothing normal about me." Deacon chuckled.

This was good, progress. I glanced at Jax, smiling brightly, thankful he was sitting beside me tonight. I let my teeth sink into my bottom lip as my eyes grazed down Jax's body. He looked incredibly sexy in the white button up he was wearing. He even sat in his chair sexily, all leaned back and relaxed, legs manspread apart. Casually, I slid my hand up his thigh, moving closer towards the danger zone. His hand was still on my thigh resting in the same place. We were both treading that fine line, keeping each other on our toes. I knew Jax wouldn't pull anything too unexpected with Deacon and Avery across from us, but did he really expect me to play by those rules too?

I leaned forward and rested my elbow on the table, reaching further up Jax's leg, gripping him in my hand. He was already half hard against my palm. Heat and want flooded straight to my core. My cheeks felt warm as I flushed. He sighed loudly, the only indication I was getting to him. I moved my hand slowly back and forth creating friction.

Jax must have been enjoying it maybe a little too much because he quickly pulled his hand away from my thigh and leaned forward to grab his beer. Downing the rest of it in one swig.

Our eyes met as he brought the bottle back down to the table. His eyes drifted to my lips. I slid my tongue across my bottom lip just to screw with him. My hand found its way back down his thigh to a safer zone. Smirking, I glanced at the kids to make sure they were okay. My heart was pounding in my chest and it felt good to know that I could get him so ruffled, but I think I needed the breather as much as Jax did.

Avery cleared his throat making me look up at him across the table. There's no way he could've seen what was going on between us. He glanced at Jax making me relax a little. "You know, I was actually hoping I could talk to you joining SAMCRO? Prospecting, you know?"

Deacon zoned in on Avery now, clearing his throat. If Avery wasn't on his radar before he sure as shit was now.

Jax pushed his plate forward then picked up his beer and drained the last remaining drops of amber liquid. He glanced at me and then at Abel and Rae as they toddler over to the table. "We don't like to talk about certain shit in front of the kids."

I put my hand on Jax's shoulder. "I'm gonna get them ready for bed. You talk shop with the guys, okay?" He nodded, watching as I stood up. I leaned down and pressed my lips against his sweetly, feeling his hand graze the back of my thigh under my dress. When I pulled back his eyes were raking down over my face and chest. He cleared his throat pulling himself out of whatever spell I'd had him under and smiled adorably at Abel and Rae. "Alright, troublemakers, time for bed. Say goodnight to everyone!"

Abel and Rae hugged Deacon at the same time. "G'night!" They singsonged one at a time. Rowan picked up Rae and propped her on her hip. She took Abel by the hand. They waved at Avery and he waved back. They weren't at the hugging stage with him yet, understandably so.

Jax stood up and kissed their heads, sliding his hand onto the small of my back. "Goodnight, I love you. I'll see you in the morning, troublemakers." Rae smiled and touched Jax's cheek then snuggled her face into my shoulder already tired from the long day. Abel squirmed beside me before hugging Jax.

"I'll be back soon!" I called over my shoulder heading inside with the kids.

Jax's Point of View

Rowan let the back door close behind her leaving us alone on the patio. After grabbing another beer for myself and Avery and a coffee for Deacon, we all moved over to the fire pit in the backyard, taking a seat on the wicker chairs Rowan must have bought when I was in lockup.

I relaxed back into my seat, beer resting on my thigh. I yanked a cigarette out of the pack resting on my other thigh and lit up, sighing. "What do you know about SAMCRO?" I asked, Avery, trying to gauge if he was bullshitting me about joining us or not.

Avery leveled me with a steel stare. "I know enough to know what I'm asking."

Deacon nodded, blowing on the coffee mug he had up to his lips, trying to cool the steaming liquid inside. "What qualities make you worthy of wearing the reaper?" He challenged Avery, sizing him up.

Avery stayed calm and took his time answering the question. "Being in the Army means I have a certain skill set." He chuckled, rubbing his jaw. "I can do whatever needs to be done. No questions asked. You got problems with another club, I can take those problems on as my own without thinking about it twice. I'm loyal. I can get shit done. Army is all I know. I perfected those skills in there and they aren't useful in civilian life."

Deacon scoffed, nodding in agreement. "They turn you into machines and when you're done or too broken to do the job they spit you back out. Trust me I know all about having a skill set and not knowing what the fuck to do with it."

I heard the backdoor open and glanced over my shoulder to see Rowan walking towards me. Moments later she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and neck. I turned my head into her. "They go down alright for you?"

"I didn't even make it through one round of Goodnight Moon and they were both out." She giggled, kissing my ear, turning me on. "Is everything okay?" I sat my beer and smokes down on the ground and twisted so I could pull her on my lap. She laughed and wrapped her arms around me, shivering at the chill in the air.

I grabbed a throw blanket off the back of the chair I was in and draped it over her legs, sliding my hand onto her thigh under her dress. "Just talking shop, babe."

Avery watched us with a fondness in his eyes.

"Sorry, she's the queen of interrupting me." I teased, pinching Rowan's thigh. She rolled her eyes and glanced across the fire at her father and half brother. "Please don't let my girly ears disrupt bro time."

Everyone chuckled. I kissed Rowan on the cheek, sliding my hand up between her thighs under the blanket. It hadn't dawned on me until now but I still had her panties in my back pocket. After the stunt she pulled at the table with grabbing me I was in the perfect place for payback. Rowan shifted too, raising one leg higher then the other propping her foot on the nearby ottoman giving me full access. Without warning I brushed my fingers over her mound. Rowan tensed and gripped my neck, dogging her nails into my flesh. This was great.

I suppressed a chuckle and looked at Avery. He and Deacon had been talking about something. I finally tuned back into the conversation, sliding my fingers down Rowan's already wet folds. She squirmed on top of me, making my cock go hard. Slowly, I rubbed circles against her clit with the pad of my thumb. Her eyes fluttered closed and open quickly, while she sighed.

"Jackson." She mumbled under her breath.

I continued rubbing her clit, feeling her thighs tightening around my wrist. "Jax, I won't be able to hide it." She mumbled against the hand covering her mouth.

The fire was cracking loudly blocking out our quiet conversation. I smirked, backing off a little though. She was right, she couldn't hide it when she came. The moans and whimpers fell out of her without her control. Her face was already flushed and I knew I'd been pushing it. I wanted to bury my face between her thighs as soon as this night was over. It was taking everything in me not to lick the fingers I'd just had against the very heart of her.

"So Avery, you good with PTSD and loud noises and shit. SAMCRO needs to know that you can hold your own and not lose your shit." I hopped back into the conversation, leaving Rowan aching in my arms.

"I'm good. Night terrors, but they come and go. Never have affected my everyday life though." He answered honestly.

I nodded holding Rowan tightly. I shared a knowing look with Deacon and caught his subtle nod. "I think you could be a good asset for SAMCRO, but we'd have to bring you in, get you set up. Clubs got to vote on it. Prospecting is a year minimum before you can even think about getting the patch. That goes for everyone. No special treatments."

Deacon stood up to stretch his legs, draining the rest off coffee from his mug. "Why would you even say that? That's a given. Why would he get special treatment?"

Avery, Rowan and myself all shared a look with one another.

"I guess that's a good enough lead into what needs to be said here tonight. I should probably start talking." Avery said. He stood up, pulling out a letter and photograph from his back pocket. He handed it to Deacon waiting patiently for him to accept it when all he did was stare at it. "That's a letter from my birth mother. When I turned eighteen I received it. She told me to find you. To come home."

Deacon glanced at the letter and photo in his hands, then back up at Avery. He was putting the pieces together. Slowly, but putting them together nonetheless.

"The name Tree mean anything to you?" Avery questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rowan stood up making me stand up with her. I put my arm around her waist to keep her at my side. She wanted to go to Deacon but they needed to do this.

"I knew a woman named Theresa who went by Tree." Deacon muttered, reading the letter in his hand. He flipped the photograph over and ran his finger over the writing on the back. D-Day. "She put you up for adoption?"

Avery looked at the fire, studying the way the flames lifted and coiled and danced around each other. "Yeah, she did. I aged out of the system. And I'm pretty sure you're my father."

Deacon looked up and then sat down abruptly, startling Rowan so much she shot over to his side. "Dad, are you okay?"

He held his hand up stopping her from latching onto his arm. "Did you know about this? Is that what this was tonight?"

"I found out a little while back. I did a DNA test at the hospital. It's true." Rowan answered, her voice shaky and scared. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my side.

That's when deacons eyes fell to me. He pointed at me. "You know about this and didn't say a word to me?"

Rowan busted out laughing. But not in that this is hilarious way, more like are you for real way. "I'm sorry, you told him to lie to me for how long about your cancer? He just found out a few days ago. So let's nip that in the butt right there."

I couldn't help but smirk. "She's got you there. We thought it would be better if we introduced you guys in our home. We're a family. A family of delinquents, but a family all the same."

Avery grinned at that, taking this a bit better then I thought he was when he first got here. Deacon looked shocked but somehow not as surprised as I thought he would have been. He rubbed his jaw and studied Avery before standing up. He put his hands on his hips and studied Avery like he'd never seen another man before. It was almost comical. Finally after a moment, I watched a tear escape his eye. He used his knuckle to shove it away. "Yeah," he swallowed the lump in his throat. "You're Trees kid alright. You've got her damn eyes. Jesus Christ. I didn't know, kid. I should've known. We were together so long ago, but it was great. Then all of a sudden she stopped coming around and I thought she was done with me. I didn't go looking for her or asked any questions. And now here you are…"

"Here I am." Avery held his hands out at his sides.

"I'm not good at this shit. The emotional stuff. If I had known, I would've been apart of your life as much as I could've been. Rowan's mother she chose to stay away with Rowan. Had that been what you wanted as well I would have done it, but this wasn't fair to either of us. Did you try looking for Tree? Have you heard from her?"

Rowan wrapped her arms around my waist. I held her close to my side. I kissed her head knowing this was hard on her too.

Avery walked over and picked up my cigarettes, asking if he could have one. I nodded and tossed him my lighter. "She apparently lived in Nevada for awhile because that's the state she gave me up in. But I went to her last known address here in town, but it was her parents place. I couldn't face them. After reading how they had a hand in giving me up, I just couldn't do it. I stuck around after I initially looked for Tree when I heard you were still in town. That's why I applied at Navy Street. Then I found out about Rowan…"

Rowan snuggled into me, sniffling, making me rub her back.

Deacon walked towards Avery and Avery looked at the ground. It was like suddenly he was a little kid. "I'm not good with emotions at first, but I'd really like to hug you?"

Avery chuckled and swiped his hand over his eyes and walked into Deacons arms. They hugged for a long time. They had a lot of time to make up for.