A/N: A chapter in four parts. Alternating POV from Tara and Jax.
When he and Red got close to Charming, Jax pulled off into the parking lot of a gas station. Taking off his helmet, he looked over to the Satan's Sons VP. "Want somethin' to drink and need to get smokes."
Red shrugged and followed him inside. He figured he should also maybe give Red a little background on Abel, and Tara since she was more than likely going to be at the hospital when they arrived.
Grabbing a Gatorade, he went up and paid for it and his smokes. He waited at the door while Red bought a pack of smokes of his own. When they made it back out to their bikes, he opened his Gatorade and took a long drink trying to figure out what the hell to say.
"So, your kid is in the NICU?" Red decided to jump right in.
"Yeah." He smiled. "But he's gettin' stronger every day and should be able to come home soon."
"That's good." Red leveled an even look at him. "Where's his Mom?"
"Rehab." He sighed. "Wendy and I married, got divorced, and then lost our minds and tried it again for a minute. It didn't work, but she got knocked up." He drank the rest if the Gatorade, tossing the empty bottle in the trash can, not far from where they were parked. "I was so not into it that I didn't notice she was using again." He gritted his teeth as he remembered the day Abel was born. "Mom went over and found her passed out and bleeding in the kitchen, the house a fuckin' disaster area."
"So now she's in rehab." Red sounded like he got it. Most didn't.
"Yeah." He shook his head. "I don't know that I'll ever trust her to be alone with Abel again, but she is his mother."
"And that means something." Red finished for him. The taller man nodded. "Hey man, I get it." Red grinned. "I have three siblings, not one of us has the same biological mother." Then the man got serious. "And while there was no way in hell Pop was ever gonna let any of us boys live with our mothers, he won't have any one disrespect them."
Yeah, Red got it. He took a deep breath because this was the part that was really going to possibly suck. "Yeah, well the doctor that saved my kid's life is actually my ex."
An eyebrow went up. "Ex what?"
"Me and Tara were together from the time we were sixteen right up until she left my ass when we were nineteen." He took another breath. "But she's got a crow on her, and we were heading towards…" He ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck if I know what." Then looked at Jules's brother straight in the eye. "And we're not headed there anymore."
Eyebrow was still up. "Is she aware of that fact?"
Cringing internally. "No." He rolled his eyes at the other man, who started to smirk at him. "Fuck you, dude." He shook his head. "I had no idea any of this was gonna happen." He leaned back on his bike. "Your sister and niece…"
Red smiled, leaning on his own bike smoking a cigarette. "Trust me, Jules is as dumbfounded by all of this as much as you are." The man shrugged. "Sometimes things happen and your world changes immediately." The smirk was back. "Those things usually don't give you enough prep time to warn the other people in your life. She'll deal or she won't." Eric took a last drag and threw the smoke to the ground, stepping on it. "Is this the doctor that stitched Soph last night?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
Red pulled his phone out of his pocket and touched the screen, looking at something for a moment and then shoved the thing back in his pocket. "Yeah, Lu knows her. Says she's a great doctor. She likes her." Then leveled a harder look at him. "Lu also mentioned she had a Fed stalker. Lu was gettin' ready to talk to Pop about it when Dr. Knowles left Chicago."
He sighed. "Yeah. Kohn."
Red nodded. "ATF, right?"
"Yeah." He sighed again. He really didn't want to tell the other VP about Stahl, but he had to. It seemed like the Lyons' men were preparing themselves for Jules and Sophie stayin' here, so he felt like they deserved to know what was goin' on. To a degree. "Also have another…"
Red nodded. "Yeah. We know." Red shook his head with a smirk. "Dude, Dennis found most of this within ten minutes of Pop sayin' Dougie was bringing the girls to Charming." Gray-blue eyes met his. "You do know she's trying to turn your club against Opie, right?" Red's face was serious.
He nodded sadly. He'd been trying to talk to Clay about it, but things were not looking good. "Ope would never sell the club out, never."
Red nodded. "I know." He looked at the man in surprise, he didn't know Ope. Red shook his head at him like he was stupid. "Born into an MC. Fuck, Butch would sell out the oaths he took as a SEAL before he'd sell out the club, and he isn't even patched." Red lit another smoke. "You should talk to Pop. Have him talk to Clay about it."
"Talk to Jake about it?" He was confused.
Red rolled his eyes. "Pop was raised in the Satan's too." Taking a drag of his cigarette, he could see Red thinking as he exhaled. "See most of the guys in both of our clubs, they had lives before the club. Doesn't matter if Clay is wearin' that 'First 9' patch; he wasn't raised club. He doesn't understand what that's like. Pop can get him to see it." Red smirked. "We're their actual kids, sometimes they forget to treat us as VP's and treat us like the sons we are. All Clay hears is his kid stickin' up for his best friend."
"That makes actual sense." He blinked at the taller man with a smirk of his own. He grabbed his helmet. "We should get goin'."
"I've been known to every once in a while." As Red flipped him off. "Yeah, Den texted a few minutes ago that they were leaving Lodi to come back. Said the girls were heading to the hospital." Before he could ask. "Said all the dudes in the Cutlass did was follow Jules around. Were gone before they were done checking out." Red put his helmet on.
"Good. Hopefully they'll stay gone." As he started his bike. He was looking forward to seeing his son. He also could admit, at least to himself, he was looking forward to seeing Jules with his son. "Let's go."
/
It was almost noon when Tara got out of surgery. After getting back into her clothes, she checked her phone. She was a little surprised not to see a call or text from Jax. He usually checked in with her to at least get a progress report on Abel.
Although with the unexpected visitors at the clubhouse last night, he'd probably been busy trying to figure out what the hell was up with Tig's daughter and granddaughter. For some reason the little girl looked familiar, but then again so did her mother. Had to be the connection to Tig.
Glancing at her phone, she saw that she had about an hour and a half before her next consult. That would give her time to check on Abel. She just hoped Gemma wasn't around. She knew even though Gemma was grateful that she had helped to save Abel, the woman didn't like her and did not trust her in the least. That was fine, she didn't like Gemma either. Actually, she wasn't even sure how much she liked Jax anymore. He was so different from the young man she had left a decade ago.
And to be honest with herself, if Josh hadn't decided to stalk her, she probably wouldn't have come back to Charming when her father died except to deal with the burial. She'd made enough money in Chicago to keep up on the house here until she could have dealt with it on a vacation or something. There was a reason she couldn't get out fast enough when she was younger. But since she couldn't get Josh to leave her alone, she was stuck here where Jax would protect her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. It was bringing her closer to getting back with him, which meant back with the club. And that she did not want. She wasn't even sure if she really wanted Jax or just his protection. And that really wasn't fair to either one of them.
Sighing, she left the locker room and made her way to the NICU that at the moment only housed Abel Teller. When she got there, she could see that Jax had made it up to see his son, but he wasn't alone.
The biker with him had a patch from another club; Satan's Sons, and great; he was from Chicago. Just what she needed, a reminder of the place she had loved and been forced out of. The guy was taller than Jax. Probably as tall as Opie, but not as husky.
When Jax spotted her, she didn't get his usual smile. But then again, he was with a biker from outside of SAMCRO so he had to be the VP right now and not just a new dad with a sick son. Jax elbowed the other man.
Holy hell, the other guy was good-looking. Possibly even better looking than Jax. She walked over to the two of them. Jax gave her a quick, impersonal kiss on the cheek. "Hey. Dr. Tara Knowles this is Eric Lyons." He motioned between her and the new guy. "He's Jules and Sophie's adopted brother and uncle."
She shook the man's hand. "Good to meet you." Then looked at Jax. "So Tig's daughter who didn't know she was his daughter has a brother who's a biker?" She raised an eyebrow. Talk about symmetry.
Eric shook his head with a laugh. "Not just me. Pop and Dennis, our other brother are patched too. Butch is still in the NAVY, but when he retires, he'll patch also." No wonder neither Jules or Sophie seemed too uncomfortable last night. They were used to bikers.
"Okay." She really wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she decided not to. "How is your niece's cheek today?"
She was confused when Red looked at Jax. Jax gave the other man an eye roll, so slight, that if she hadn't been staring Jax in the face she wouldn't have noticed. Jax looked back to her. "She woke up about two, two-thirty with it hurting. Jules gave her a baby aspirin and she seemed okay after that. Slept 'til seven." She wondered how Jax knew all of that.
The other guy took over. "Pop said Jules changed the bandage when you guys were meeting us in Lodi. She didn't mention anything, and she knows what to look for." The guy glanced over at Jax. "She's been cut into plenty." Then back to her. "They're on their way here, so you can check for yourself if it makes you feel better." Implying that was fine by him.
"I probably will if her mother will let me." Looking at Jax trying to gauge a reaction. But he was busy looking in Abel's room.
Eric Lyons just smiled. "Yeah, she's not gonna argue with that." The tone in the man's voice clear that if she did, he would be changing her mind immediately.
"Good." She gave Eric a small smile. "Your niece was very brave. She didn't cry at all when I was giving her the stitches."
Eric beamed at her. Looked like complimenting his niece was a sure way to bring a smile to the man's face. "She's a good girl." Then looked over to the NICU. "How's the little dude?"
Jax turned his attention to her. But he still wasn't looking at her the way he usually did; a weird mix of want and guilt. He was looking at her like… like she was someone he had once loved and while still cared for her, was moving on. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"He's getting better every day." She smiled at Jax. "I'm hoping he'll be going home sometime in the next week."
Now she got a smile. "Really?" He looked back into Abel's room. "That's great." Jax looked over to Eric Lyons. "Hey, you wanna come in and meet him?"
Before the other biker could answer, they all turned when they heard the squeal of "Jax! Unca Red!" Seeing Sophie trying to squirm out of Tig's arms. She had a pink and purple princess-like dress with corresponding pink wings on over her clothing.
And now seeing her mother all put together and not the disheveled mess she had been the night before, she knew why she looked familiar and it wasn't just Tig. She's seen Jules, or at least her picture, in a number of places around Chicago, she was a local model.
Tig set his grand-daughter down and the little girl made a beeline to Jax, who didn't look surprised in the least. He caught her easily and swung her up. "That's quite the princess dress, sweetheart." Being careful not to crush the wings as the little girl settled in his arms.
"I a faiwy pwincess!" The little girl looked like she couldn't be happier.
Her mother reached over and put a finger on the little girl's mouth. "What did we talk about before coming in?" Jules's tone was firm but kind.
The little girl lowered her eyes, then looked back to her mother. "I sowwy." Her voice quieter. "No loud 'cause of people twying to get better." Sophie looked at Jax. "Can I see da baby now?"
She felt like dirt doing it, but it had to be done. "I'm sorry…"
Jules took back over, looking at her daughter with sympathy. "I told you honey; you might not be allowed to see the baby." Jules smiled at her daughter. "Little ones like you have all sorts of bad germs that could make the baby sick, you don't want to make Abel sick, do you?" Sophie shook her head.
Jax looked at the her, eyes nearly begging her to change her mind. But she didn't want to risk either child. Sophie was as prone to infection right now as Abel with the wound on her cheek. She gave him a slight head shake.
Jax nodded and looked at Sophie. "Hey honey, why don't I hold you and you can watch Mommy and Gemma go in and see Abel." Jax gave the little girl a kiss on her temple. "He'll be comin' home soon and you can spend all the time you want to with him."
That seemed to pacify the little girl. She looked at her mother and Gemma. "Me and Jax be wight here watchin." She could have sworn she heard a little bit of a threat in the little girl's tone. Like if the two women did something that she didn't like, they'd hear about it. That made her smile a little.
Eric Lyons must have noticed because he leaned down to her. "She's a bossy Miss Thing."
She glanced over to where Sophie seemed to be talking Jax's ear off. "Apparently." Still looking at Jax and Sophie, who she had to admit, looked thick as thieves. She glanced at the tall biker. "Maybe now would be a good time to look at her cheek."
Eric shrugged. "You're welcome to try. She may be hard to pry away right now." Eric glanced towards the NICU.
Jax would talk Sophie into letting her look at the stitches she put in last night, she was sure of it. Walking over she put a hand on the little girl's arm. "Hi Sophie, do you remember me?"
Sophie looked away from the room where Jules was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Abel and saying something to Gemma. Whatever the younger woman said made Gemma smile. The Queen of SAMCRO looked up and spied her, giving her a smug look. Sophie studied her for a second. "You fixed my owie."
"That's right." Reaching for the gauze that had been put over the stitches. The little girl pulled away. "I just want to check that I did a good job, it won't hurt at all." The little girl shook her head.
She looked at Jax, who did not look thrilled with her. "Why don't you wait until her mother is out here."
She looked back to Eric who looked like he agreed with Jax. But she had a reason. She looked at both men. "If there's no sign of infection, I don't see why she can't go in for just a minute to take a look at Abel." She looked at Sophie. "But you wouldn't be able to touch him. Just look."
Eric looked at his niece. "Baby Princess, let Dr. Tara look at your cheek so you can go see Abel."
Sophie looked at Eric and then Jax who nodded. The little girl then looked over to Tig, who grinned at her. "I bet Jax would hold ya while Dr. Tara…" The man rolled his eyes a little. "…takes a look at your owie."
Sophie looked back to her and this time didn't pull away as she pulled the gauze off. The four stitches she had put in last night were doing fine. There was a little bruising around the area, but that was to be expected. It looked good. She touched the area lightly feeling for any excess warmth that could signal an infection was brewing, but there was none.
She smiled at the little girl as she put the gauze back over it. "I think you could go in for a few minutes to say hi to Abel." She looked at Jax who she had the feeling would be taking her in. "She can't get right up into his face." She didn't want to sound like a total bitch. "With the wound on her cheek, she's as prone to infection as Abel."
Jax nodded with a smile. "Yeah, okay." He looked at Sophie. "You ready to go meet Abel?" The little girl bounced in his arms. Jax chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes." Putting his hand on the doorknob to the NICU. As they were going in, he turned back for a second. "Thanks, Tara."
In that moment, she knew. Knew that wherever her and Jax had been heading to was over. He may still care about her, but he wasn't pining away for her any longer. Whatever happened last night, Jax had decided that she was no longer what he felt he needed in his life. In Abel's life.
She swallowed hard, wondering where that would leave her with Josh. She knew she should be more upset about Jax not being in love with her anymore, but she had been ambivalent about that to begin with, so it was hard to be really upset about it.
She turned to Tig and Eric, not needing to see the scene in the NICU. She may not be completely heartbroken over what just seemed to happen, but there was no reason to punish herself.
Tig looked at her as kindly as he had ever looked at her in all the years she'd been around the club. "Thanks, Doc." He smiled at her. "For everything."
She nodded. "You're welcome." Taking a breath. "I should maybe prescribe an antibiotic cream for Sophie." Reaching for her pad.
"Don't worry about it." Jules voice was behind her. "Already have one I need to go pick up." She turned to see Jules stepping out of the NICU. Jules smiled at her. "Thanks though." The young woman looked at her for a minute. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" Nodding her head away from her adopted brother and biological father.
"Sure." Jules seemed friendly enough. She followed Jules around the corner. "What did you want to talk about?" Thinking if the girl wanted to talk about Jax, she was out of luck.
The girl reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a small envelope. "It's not much, but I just wanted to thank you for helping Sophie last night. Because I know I was in no shape to sink stitches in her face." The girl looked serious.
She frowned. "You know how to give stitches?"
Jules nodded with a smile. "You know my step-mom. Lu Collins." The girl was still smiling. "Lu has nothing but good things to say about you."
That explained why Sophie looked mildly familiar. She had seen a picture of the girl when she was about eighteen months old. Both she and Lu had been called in on a trauma surgery involving a ten-year old. After the surgery she had suggested getting coffee to the older woman, who declined stating that she and her 'husband' were watching their grand-daughter, and she should probably get home before her husband totally spoiled the girl.
"She's a great surgical nurse." And thought about everything she had told the woman over the years they had worked together. "A pretty great lady." Then shook her head. "I had no idea she was a biker's old lady."
Jules shrugged. "She doesn't hide it, but she doesn't advertise it either." Then looked around. "And that's a hell of a lot easier to do in a place like Chicago than here."
She laughed, dammit, she kind of liked Jules. "Yeah." Then looked down at the envelope in her hands. She opened it and pulled out a hundred-dollar gift card. "You didn't have to do this." She thought for a moment. "Jax is my friend. I was happy to help."
Jules raised an eyebrow. "No, he isn't." And then a sarcastic laugh. "And no, you weren't." Before she could defend herself, the girl put a placating hand on her arm. "Hey, I'm not trying to be a bitch. You and Jax aren't really friends. You are two people who care for each other deeply, but I wouldn't necessarily call you friends." Okay, she had a point. "And even as not with it as I was last night; you were not thrilled to be called to the SAMCRO clubhouse until you saw it was actually a kid." Another good point. The girl went on. "And that's cool, I get it. Kind of. But we have different experiences with MC's, so it's understandable." The girl leaned back against the wall. Damn, she was a freakin' amazon. "So yeah, I did have to do that. You went out of your way and comfort zone to help someone you didn't know." The girl gave her a nod. "That deserves a thank-you." Then gave her a grin. "So, thanks."
She stood there for a minute, looking down at the card. A part of her wanted to be a petty bitch and throw it back in her face and walk the hell away. But that was just a small voice in the back of her head. The louder one was telling her to take it in the spirit it was offered and make nice. For a couple of reasons; one, she kind of liked Jules already; and two, she still needed SAMCRO protection from Josh. She looked back up at Jules and smiled. "Well, you're welcome."
Jules laughed. "C'mon, I should get back there to make sure Gemma and Jax haven't let Miss Thing talk them into letting her hold Abel." She shook her head ruefully. "They're already as bad as Den and Eric." Rolling her eyes. "Like they forgot no is a word in the English language."
She chuckled a little as she followed the young woman back to the NICU area. While she knew she should feel a hell of a lot worse about what had seemed to transpire between Jax and Jules, she really didn't. While a part of her would always love Jax, she wasn't in love with him any longer.
As they reached the NICU, she could see that Eric and Tig had been joined by a third guy. He was smaller and slighter than Eric, but wearing the same cut.
Jules looked over to her. "Our brother Dennis." Then a little louder. "Hey Den, this is Tara Knowles, the doctor that fixed up Soph's cheek."
Dennis Lyons smiled at her. "Hey Doc, nice to meet ya." Then grinned. "Lu says to tell you hello."
"Uh…thanks." She was a little bowled over by how friendly these people were. But, she supposed since she had stitched Sophie up, she was considered okay.
Jules looked over to the NICU. "Yeah, I gotta get in there." She shook her head at her brothers. "Were either of ya paying attention to what was goin' on it there?" She shook her head again as she opened the door. "I thought it was clear she was NOT to be touching the baby." Her voice a little amused and a lot exasperated.
Tara looked in the room where Sophie was sitting in the chair with Jax and Abel. She looked over to the three bikers left in the hallway. "I'd say something, but I'm pretty sure your sister, and daughter will have that covered." She gave them all a wide smile. "As nice as it was to meet you, I think I'm going to go." She was trying hard not to laugh at the scene in the NICU. "I have a consult I need to get to."
Eric Lyons looked at her like he knew she was just going to find the closest room and possibly die of laughter. She had never seen Gemma look so caught out before and quite frankly, it made her day. "Well, then you should get to that." He held out a hand. "It was good to meet you." She shook his hand, which made hers look like a child's. "Thanks for helping Jules and Soph."
"You're welcome." She let go. "Tell your sister if she notices anything, just to give me a call." Then nodded to the other two as she walked away.
Ducking into an empty exam room, she locked the door. Once it was locked; she started to laugh until she cried.
/
After thanking Tara, Jax closed the door to the NICU. Even though Sophie was wiggling to get down, he held her tighter. "Remember what Dr. Tara said. You can look, but you can't touch."
He looked at Jules who was holding his son like a gift. She looked up at him and Sophie with a smile. "Tara said it was okay?" She glanced through the window at Tara's back. "I saw her look at Soph's cheek."
He nodded. "Yeah, said she can look, but can't touch him." He smiled at Jules. "I think once she saw Sophie had no sign of infection and the fact that Abel should be coming home within the week…"
His mom interrupted. "Tara said that?" She looked immensely pleased.
"Yeah." He knew he had the same damn look on his face. It felt like it was a day that was never gonna come.
"And den I can hold him?" Sophie was staring at Abel. "I pwomise to be caweful. I won't dwop him."
Jules grinned at her daughter as she stood with Abel in her arms. Abel looked to be pretty at home, looking up at Jules. He smiled. His son already had good taste in women. "You'll have help holding him honey, just like with Rosie." Jules looked at him and his mom. "One of the guys in the club; his old lady had a little girl about six months ago."
"I wuv Wosie." Sophie was all smiles. "I give her kisses, but she too wittle for hugs." Looking to Jules for confirmation.
Jules leaned over and kissed Sophie on the nose. "That's right." Abel squawked a little. Jules looked down at him. "You want Daddy, huh?" Jules smiled wide at him and then down at Abel. "Can't say I blame ya, buddy." Then looked at her daughter. "Honey, why don't you let Gemma hold you and let Jax hold Abel for a little bit."
His mom took Sophie from him and looked at Jules. "You going to go talk to Tara?" He could hear the victory in his mother's voice. He knew she didn't really hate Tara, she just hated the pull she felt Tara had on him. He didn't know how to get it through his mother's head; if Tara hadn't been able to pull him away from SAMCRO a decade ago, she certainly wasn't going to be able to do it now; he was in too deep, and wouldn't walk away even if he could.
Jules nodded. "Yeah. I wanna give her that gift card and thank her for helpin' Sophie last night." Putting Abel in his arms. "There ya go, little dude." She smiled at him and like with Sophie at breakfast, it was a smile he was pretty sure he'd be happy to see the rest of his life. "Right where ya belong."
In the moment, he had no words. Not a single damn one for what he was feeling. He'd never felt it before, this level of contentment. There may have been other times in his life he was as happy, but never this content.
Jules looked over to Sophie, who was in his mother's arms. "Be good while I go talk to Dr. Tara. You listen to Jax and Gemma." Then looked at the two of them. "And you two remember what Tara said and do not let this benevolent dictator tell you otherwise."
Both he and his mom nodded, but he could already see Sophie planning. She seemed to know that Jules was pretty much the only obstacle to getting what she wanted. The Lyons' men seemed to have capitulated long ago and it wasn't taking SAMCRO long to fall in line. He supposed with what was happening with him and Jules he should probably start being a little more disciplined with her. He didn't need a bald spot from Jules continually hitting him upside the back of the head.
Jules rolled her eyes and left the NICU. The second she and Tara were out of sight, his mother put Sophie down. "Okay baby, you can go look at Abel, but remember, no touching."
He sat down in the rocker so Sophie could get a better look. The little girl inched closer and closer until she was only a few inches away from Abel's face. Sophie smiled at Abel. "Hi baby, I'm Sophie." She was standing on her tip-toes, her little voice soft. Abel gurgled at her.
She let out a surprised giggle and nearly fell on her butt, catching herself on his knee. "He wikes me!"
His mother leaned down to help steady Sophie. "Of course, he does honey." His mom looked at him. "He already knows that you're part of his family." He wanted to tell his mom not to put ideas into a little girls' head. His mom gave him a wink. "Because Other Papa is like his uncle, so you're kinda like his cousin." Whew.
"Wike wif Wosie?" Sophie looked to him. He wanted to really say no, not like Rosie; like your Mom and your Uncles; brother and sister.
Instead he nodded with a smile. "Yeah, darlin'." Sophie at least seemed thrilled with his answer.
His mother looked at him. "You know if you moved Abel a little, Sophie could get up on your lap and they still wouldn't be touching." Knowing full well that now that she had put the idea in Sophie's head, the little girl wasn't gonna let it go. He shot his mother a dirty look that she blew off like she normally did when she was getting ready to have him do something he'd regret in one way or another.
But like most times, he went with her crazy and would live with the consequences. He moved Abel, cradling him in his left arm. Once Abel was settled, his mother helped Sophie settle into his right side. His mom stood back with a smile. "See, no touching."
Sophie smiled at him and then Abel and he couldn't help it, even though he knew she shouldn't be up there, he smiled back. It felt good and right to be holding his son and well, yeah; it felt good.
Sophie was making silly faces at Abel trying to get him to smile. Abel seemed content to make noise at her attempts. Sophie looked at Abel's little SAMCRO beanie. "His hat says da same fing as da Sam bear shirt." Looking proud she had made the connection.
His mother certainly was. Gemma was fucking beaming. And even though he was supposed to be a bad-ass biker, seeing his mom this happy meant more than he'd ever admit to anyone other than himself.
So of course, that would be the moment he looked down to see Sophie holding Abel's hand just as Jules was coming in. "I thought it was clear she was NOT to be touching the baby." The exasperation outweighing any amusement.
Jules closed the door behind her and levelled his mother with a look. "I know for a fact that Jax would pay the fuck attention to what Tara said." Jules voice was calm but stern. He looked down to see Sophie let go of Abel's hand. But the girl did stay firmly planted in his lap. Jules was still focused on his mother. "You, not so much." Jules took a deep breath.
"You meant well, I know." His mom went to talk and Jules cut her off with a look. "But Tara said that for a reason." Jules shook her head. "Like Lu always says. 'You wanna get sick, go to a hospital.' Tara said that to protect both kids." She rolled her eyes. "You know, doing her job?!" Jules took another deep breath. "I'm really too tired for this." But looked at both him and his mother. "Even Den and Eric know when I put my foot down, it's down." Her tone softened, as did her look. "For the moment, I'm her only parent." She looked at him. "Until that changes, I'm the final authority." Then to his mother. "Got it?"
They both nodded. His mother looked at Jules. "She had just taken his hand. Jax hadn't noticed yet."
Jules chuckled. "That was so not my point, but okay." She was still laughing. "C'mon honey." Lifting Sophie out of his lap and standing her by the chair. "This is as close as you are to get to Abel until he comes home." She knelt down by Sophie. "You hear me?"
Sophie looked at Abel and then back at her mother. "Yes Mommy."
Giving her daughter a kiss on the head, Jules stood up. "Thank you." Then looked to Gemma. "I have to go to the pharmacy here before we go, Lu had one of the doctors at her hospital call in an antibiotic cream for her and prescription ibuprofen for me."
His mother nodded. It probably wasn't the worst idea to get Sophie out of here before she got in trouble again.
Jules looked at Sophie. "Tell Abel bye honey. If you can remember the rules on your own tomorrow, you can come see him again." He went to open his mouth when Jules looked at him before looking back to Sophie. "We'll go over them again before we leave to come here and you'll have to tell me them again when we get here. Just like at home."
Sophie nodded. "'Cause we gonna wive here now." She looked at her mother to tell her she was right.
Jules gave her daughter the most neutral look he thought he'd ever seen. He looked over to his mother who was looking rather surprised. His mom shook her head, telling him to not say a word. This was between the two girls and no one else.
"We live in Chicago, honey. Where Grandpa and Grandma are, where your uncles are." Jules tone was as neutral as her look. If someone asked him to lay a bet on which way Jules was leaning, he would decline. Because he had no fucking idea.
Sophie shook her head. "No more." A stubborn set to her jaw. "Don' wike it dere no more." Her lower lip started to tremble and he could see the tears starting. "It a b-b-bad pwace." Sophie started to cry. "Don' wanna go, wanna stay here."
Jules had already picked Sophie up and was hugging her tightly but letting her cry while moving her to a corner of the room that was not as easily seen from the outside. He understood. She didn't want to have her brothers rush in. He went and set Abel in the hospital crib and gave him a small kiss.
His mom leaned over the both of them, gently rubbing Abel's cheek with a finger. "I'll go get their prescriptions, honey. And tell the others to give you guys a few, okay?" Her voice low and reassuring. Like she just knew that he knew how to fucking handle this. Glad one of them did.
"Yeah." His mother turned and left. He took a deep breath and looked down at his son who was already falling asleep.
When he turned to look at them, Sophie was still sobbing into her mother's hair. As he got closer, he could hear what she was saying between the sobs. "Wanna stay. Wanna stay wif Jax and Other Papa."
He had no real idea what to do. He could see every sob shatter Jules's heart a little more. It almost made him wish that no one had made any fucking promises to anyone about that Nazi fuck so he could go end him right the fuck now.
Instead he went and put an arm around Jules and rubbed Sophie's back with the other hand. Jules leaned into him just a little as she spoke into Sophie's hair. "We're not going anywhere for a while honey. Your grandpa and your uncles brought enough stuff so we could stay with Jax and Other Papa for a while."
As Jules kept repeating it, the sobbing slowly stopped. When it seemed like she was done, a tear-stained face looked at them both. "Weawy? I don' haf to go?"
He kissed her head as he looked at her Mommy. "No sweetheart, you don't have to go." Jules nodded that he was doing fine. "You have to stay so you can hold Abel, don't you?"
Sophie nodded. "Yes." She looked to her mother for confirmation again, this time getting it.
"Yeah honey, we're gonna stay so you can hold Abel." Jules let out a sigh of relief that the situation seemed easily handled. If that was easy; he'd hate to see hard. Because that wasn't easy at all.
Jules hugged her daughter a little tighter. "Abel needs his nap, and I think you need some lunch." Jules chuckled a little. "And a nap wouldn't hurt either of us."
"Hurt me." Sophie grumbled a little. He could tell she wasn't one who liked to be put to bed, but once there went down easy.
Jules must have read his mind because she grinned over to him. "Says the girl who's asleep five minutes after her head hits a pillow."
Not really thinking about where they were, he leaned over and kissed her. "I'll meet you guys at the clubhouse. I need to find Tara and talk to her for a couple of minutes."
When they parted, he looked through the glass of the NICU to see Tara looking in at them.
Jules looked at him. "Yeah. That sounds like a really good idea." She didn't look very happy. "Do you feel as kind of crappy about this as I do?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "I do. She deserves better than having it shoved in her face."
"I agree." She looked at Sophie with a wry smile. "You ready to do the walk of shame?" Chuckling just a little. "Family style?" Sophie nodded, not knowing what she was agreeing with. Just agreeing. It was kinda cute.
She looked over to him. "Oh, after you." With a grin. "While you distract her with truth, me and Soph are gonna make a break for it."
He rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. She was funny, sue him. "Whatever." He shook his head. Then opened the door.
/
After she got done laughing until she cried herself out, Tara looked at her phone. There was a text saying that her consult had been moved to later in the day. Wiping her face and getting herself back together, she decided to check on Abel again. Jax and the rest should have already left.
As she rounded the corner to the NICU, she saw Tig and Jules's brothers heading out. Looked like she was right, they had all gone.
Then she got the NICU and through the window saw Jax with Jules and Sophie, arms around the two of them giving Jules a kiss. She stood rooted to the spot. While she knew that nothing was going to come of her and Jax and that there was obviously something between Jax and the newcomer, it was still like a slap in the face.
When the two of them spotted her, neither looked thrilled. Oh, they didn't look like they were upset at being caught, it was more they were upset that they'd been inconsiderate.
She could see a short conversation take place between the two of them, the little girl nodding along. After a moment, the three of them left the NICU. Jules rushed past her with an apologetic look, throwing a 'see you in a bit' to Jax.
She wanted to make this difficult for him but found she just didn't have it in her. She gave her first love a wan smile. "My guess is that you would like to talk?"
Jax nodded his head. "Yeah, I think we should."
She led him back to the exam room she had just been in. Closing the door, she looked at Jax. "You wanted to talk, talk." She crossed her arms and leaned back against the exam table.
He stood there for a minute, then sighed. "I think we both know that the two of us trying again would be an epic failure."
As much as she didn't really want to admit he was right, he was. "Yes, it probably would be." But there was the Josh situation she had to worry about. "But do you think jumping right in with someone else is the answer?"
He shook his head. "That kiss was like maybe the third kiss. I'm not jumpin' into anything and neither is she." Then gave her a little bit of a hard look. "And in the end, not really your business." He sighed again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You have a right to your opinion."
Shaking her head, she gave him a sad smile. "No, you're right, it's not my business." She stopped leaning against the exam table and stood straight. "And you're right that we wouldn't work a second time around, we've moved too far apart." Now she was a little sad, a chapter of her life was ending. "But I just want to say that I'll always care about you, and if you need anything…"
He shook his head as he wrapped her in a hug. "You were the first girl I was ever in love with." Then with a wondrous look on his face. "And I was pretty sure that you were gonna be the only woman I was ever going to really be in love with." He looked a little sad too. "But I was wrong."
He let go of her and gave her a smile. "And as much as I know you'd like it; don't think you're rid of SAMCRO yet." His smile was gone, replaced by a hard look. "Kohn is still here and until he's dealt with, you call if you need to. Hear me?"
She nodded, a lump in her throat. Even if he wasn't in love with her, she was important enough to still matter to him. That would do. "I hear you." She cleared her throat and gave him a smile. It was shaky, but it was still a smile. "I hope maybe someday we can be friends."
He smiled back and for the first time she had seen him after Abel's traumatic birth, it wasn't awkward or laced with some sort of expectation on either of their parts. "Me too."
Heading to the door, she nodded towards the NICU. "I'll leave orders that as long as Sophie is with Jules, she can see Abel." She shot him a mild grin. "I don't think you and Gemma can adhere to the rules."
He gave her a thankful look as he chuckled. "What can I say?" He hugged her a last time. "I'm a rebel."
Letting go, she gave him a slight shove with a chuckle of her own. "Yes, I know. Now, get out of here." They walked out of the exam room and they parted ways, as Jax made his way down the hallway, she realized she really was okay with all of this and in the end, it would be better for them both.