Chapter Five:

Gemma's name flashed up on my Caller ID as I was sketching and I held it up on my shoulder. "Hey, Gem, what's up?"

"I need a favour." She got straight to the point without bothering to greet me. "And I need you to say yes, otherwise I'm fucked."

I chuckled and put my sketch pad down. "What do you need?"

"Can you watch Abel for a few hours?" If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that she almost sounded like she was pleading. "Neeta just called, she's got a stomach bug and I'm out of town and won't be able to get back for at least a while. Jax is dealing with shit at the clubhouse and I don't-"

"It's fine, Gem. I don't have any more clients today, anyway, I was just goin' to fix things up around the shop." I cut her off and stashed away my pad. "I'll leave now and be there in half an hour, don't stress, just get back when you can."

She sighed in relief and thanked me on repeat before the line went dead.

Maggie watched me with confused eyes when I walked over to her and explained that I had to leave early, but agreed that she would take care of everything and lock up after her last client. Jess was a little more inquisitive when I asked her to call my clients for the day and reschedule at their earliest convenience, but I shut her down quickly.

I'd told Gemma that I didn't have anybody else, but it wasn't true and it was going to be a pain in the ass to make up for the days work that I was going to miss. But I'd heard the desperation in her voice and it had been the first time that she'd let her guard truly down enough for me to realise that she was depending on me, so I couldn't let her down even if I'd wanted to. Not when Abel was concerned, at least.

I stopped by my house on the way and loaded up my backseat with Tupperware containers full of meals that I'd spent my day off cooking. I'd planned to give them to Gemma to take over and hide in their freezer for when Jax was too tired to cook since she'd commented that, when she wasn't cooking, the pair tended to live off takeout and frozen meals, which just made my Georgia heart hurt. Besides, I couldn't leave Larry behind, and I patted his leg as he sat on the passenger's side, head out the window as he enjoyed the sun whipping past his ears.

When we got to their house I knocked on the front door and greeted Neeta, an older woman who looked slightly green around the gills and apologised before she almost ran from the home. Gemma had called to inform her that I was on my way so she didn't stick around to grill me or confirm that I knew what I was doing, just made a run for it as soon as I'd arrived.

"Ellie!" Abel shocked me by wrapping his arms around my mid section and grinning as soon as I stepped into the living room and joined him. "You came back!"

I ran my hand through his hair comfortingly at the same time that my heart ached. The little boy had been worried that I wouldn't return to their home after knowing me for a total of less than a day, and that put a wound in my soul I didn't know it could create.

"Of course I came back, silly." My fingers were still playing on his hair. "I also hope it's okay, but I brought Larry to play."

He perked up that I'd brought my baby and tilted his head around my stomach to look at the pitbull in the front yard, who was laying on the grass with his stomach pointed towards the sky. "Larry!"

Larry's head flicked towards us and he scampered to his feet before he ran up the porch steps and joined us in the room, instantly going to the person who'd called him for attention and kisses.

Abel dropped his hands from around me in order to pat the large dog who's tongue was stuck out and instantly swiped across his face, causing a beautiful little giggle to escape from Abel's mouth. I decided, right than and there, that Larry would have to be a staple in his life if it meant taking some of his worries away.

I left them running around the house and did trips back and forth between my car and the kitchen, loading up the counter with the filled Tupperware containers of food. I flicked the lock on the front door out of habit and spun around to look at Abel, who was sitting on the couch with Larry's head in his lap as he went between scrolling through the channels and rubbing his stomach. I knew in that moment that I would never be forgiven when I dragged my chubby dog home that night and away from the endless love that only a child can provide, it had been bad enough when I'd dragged him away the week prior.

"Alrighty, y'all." I bent so that I was the same height as Abel and smiled. "I'm gonna make the house nice for your daddy, could you do me a favour and go tidy up your room? Grab your sheets and blankets off so I can wash 'em."

It surprised me how readily he agreed and almost ran back to his room, Larry trailing behind Abel who he'd grown attached to like an extra limb.

By the time he was done sorting out his bedroom - child squeals coming every few seconds to indicate that there was more playing going on than cleaning - and had brought me the fittings off his bed, I'd gotten through the living room and had all of the furniture wiped over and cleaned.

The bookshelf in the corner was filled with magazines about Harleys, a few hardcovers that were instruction manuals on things I knew nothing about, and children's books that looked as though they'd hardly been touched. I ached to put a few classics in there for Abel to read, even if he was too young to understand them.

After I'd wiped open the blinds and windows, I opened them to let some fresh air in and hummed at the progress that had already been made by just going over things with a spray bottle of Windex and a quick tidy-up.

Abel looked at me from the couch where he'd dropped after I'd put on the load of washing, and I grinned at Larry who sat on he couch beside him with his eyes trained on his face, waiting for him to pat his head or show him any sort of attention. It looked as though I had lost my baby to the young man.

"Alright, honey. Can you do me one more favour?" When he nodded I pointed towards the back yard. "If you can take Larry out the back and wait for him while he goes to the bathroom, I'd be super-dooper grateful."

He walked out the back door with a grin and I stole the opportunity to look over his bedroom, a small sliver of pride in my chest as I saw what a good job he'd done. He'd even packed away the toys that had been scattered all over his carpet so they were stored in the toy box at the end of his bed.

Once I'd cleaned inside the bathroom and was happy with the fresh lemon scent that was emitting from the aroma diffuser I'd had stored away in a cupboard at my house, I looked at the door to my left and hesitated.

I'd explored the rest of the house, so it was obviously Jax's bedroom, and I didn't know if cleaning it up would be taking one step too far over the line. I opened the door slowly and looked inside like I was waiting for a panther to pounce, then grimaced at the clothes thrown haphazardly around the room and the smell of too much cologne and musk that invaded my senses.

Without a second thought, I walked into the room and opened the window behind the large king-sized bed, then stripped the sheets and doona and dumped them out into the hallway.

My next move was to pick up all of the clothes that were strewn around the floor, and I dropped them on top of the pile of bedding. I eyed the dressing table that had a random number of objects and photographs scattered, but decided that it would be invading his personal space a step too far, so I left it untouched and pulled the door shut behind me with the promise that I had done enough in the room to leave it be.

After I'd gotten through all of the laundry and had it dried, I folded them into seperate baskets and fixed Abel's room for him, then made my way back into Jax's bedroom and made his bed. I didn't want to touch anything more than I'd needed to, so I left his laundry in the basket on the end of his bed.

By the time that I'd finished and the sun had set, Abel and I sat at the table and ate one of the meals that I'd stored in their freezer. I pretended not to notice that he kept 'accidentally' feeding Larry under the table and would giggle every time he thought he'd gotten away with it.

Gemma had called an hour previously to let me know that she was running a bit further behind than she'd planned, but I'd assured her that we were fine and she could just go straight home, that I was more than happy to wait for Jax to arrive home before I departed for the evening.

"What do you want to watch?" I grinned when Abel, Larry and I huddled onto the couch and turned on the television.

"Spider Man." He yawned, then settled into my side like it was a regular occurrence and something that we did daily. And, even though I knew it was wrong, I basked in the feeling of having him next to me, so I just wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

"What the fuck?" Jax stepped into the cleaned up living room and looked around, eyes taking in every crevice of the space before they rested on the couch where I was sitting.

Abel was asleep on my lap, snoring softly in my ear with his hand reached out so that it wrapped around Larry's stomach who was leaning on him heavily.

I put my finger to my lips to signal for him to keep quiet and then nodded towards Abel, silently asking for him to carry him to bed. Jax followed my lead and eyed Larry warily, but ended up picking up his son and placing him in bed. I watched as he smiled in amusement when Larry plodded behind him and then jumped on the bed and returned to his previous position of being curled up against Abel's side, head rested on his freshly-washed pillow and went straight back to sleep.

"I don't think I'm ever goin' to get my dog back." I chuckled quietly when I followed him down the hallway and out into the kitchen. "He's decided that Abel is his new best friend, I think I'm gonna have to drag him back to my car and let him cry the whole way home."

Jax smiled at me, but his shoulders were tense when he looked around the house.

I gave him time to process the changes and nodded towards the cabinets. "The freezer is packed with meals I made for y'all. I do want my Tupperware containers back, though. Besides Larry and my parents, they're my longest relationship and I'd like to stay in it."

Jax spun around to face me and put his hands on the table so that he was crouched slightly and down to my height, looking me square in the eyes. "What's your game plan here, Ellie?"

"Game plan?" I asked in confusion, eyebrows pulled down when my head tuned to the side. "What do you mean, Jax?"

"I mean what do you want?" He asked.

I laughed until I realised that he wasn't joking and then frowned. "Dang, what the hell has happened in your life that you're worried I want somethin' cause I'm showin' you kindness?"

"In my experience, people aren't nice for nothing. So, I'll ask you again, what do you want?" He growled.

Much calmer than him, I put my hands down on the table in front of him so that I mirrored him and glared. "Well, a thank you wouldn't go astray. I did just cancel all of my clients because Neeta got sick so that I could spend my day takin' care of your son and cleanin' your house."

Jax raised his eyebrows at my snappy tone, but then his face went blank. "Yes, but why, why did you do it? Why did you cook and clean my house? Why did you bring your dog over?"

"Because Abel is sad, Jax." I let the words pour out of my mouth before I had time to properly process what I'd said and what it would sound like to him. "I cooked because y'all need to eat, and I cleaned because you're too busy with managin' everythin' to do it all by yourself. And I brought Larry over because when he's here, Abel is happy, and I want Abel to be happy."

When he didn't say anything, just kept watching me with a blank face, I tried to explain better. "I understand that you're busy dealin' with everythin'. I don't know much about your club, but I know that Happy and Kozik are always busy with it, and you're the one that's in charge of everythin' ... I just thought that I'd try and help."

His face hadn't changed and I sighed before I ran my hand through my hair and shook my head. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be mad about it, I really was just tryin' to help. Let me just get Larry and I'll get out of your hair."

I'd made it two steps out of the room before his hand clasped around my arm near my shoulder and I glanced up at him with sad eyes, hurt that my gesture had been taken the wrong way.

His fingertips had created tingles on my arm, a sensation that I'd never had before, and I knew that he was experiencing somewhat of the same feeling because he frowned down at where our skin was touching before he looked back at my face and met my gaze. "No, I'm sorry, I'm being an asshole. I really am grateful for what you've done, Ellie. I just don't- I haven't had anybody but mom do this kind of stuff for me, and I'm not used to it."

Jax's explanation made a lot of sense, and I used the arm that he didn't have a hold of to cup his face. "It's okay, Jax, I get it. I mean, I don't, but I get that you're weary."

He nodded his head slowly and leant further into my palm. "Forgive me?"

"Nothin' to forgive." I shrugged with a timid smile. "Just say thank you for slavin' away for me and then offer me a beer and we'll pretend that your asshole episode never even happened."

He grinned, showing off his pearly-whites and shook his head, dimples on full display. "Darlin', you are insane."

When I perked an eyebrow, he put on his best country-twang to mock my own and his lips pulled up further. "Thank you for slavin' away for me, Miss. Ellie. Now won't you please join me for a beer so that you forget about me bein' a prick?"

"A beer?" I pretended to think about it for a second before I grinned back. "I would love a beer, thank you, Jackson."

Jax stepped out of my hold and made his way to the fridge to retrieve the six-pack of beer. "But we need to work on your accent, that was down right insultin'."