While waiting for Jules to get the things she wanted from her room, Jax was trying to pick up his as best he could in the few minutes he had. Damn, he knew he wasn't the neatest guy, but fuck, he was nearly turning into a slob. Finally finding an old duffel bag, he started to stuff all his dirty laundry into it. When the last dirty sock had made it into the bag, he shoved the bag into the corner with a mental reminder to have a croweater come grab it.
As he was straightening his already made bed, there was a soft knock at his door. "Yeah, come on in." Trying to sound as casual as he could, considering he could hear his heartbeat roaring in his ears.
Jules slipped in, closing the door behind her. The two of them just kind of stood there staring at each other awkwardly, like kids on a first date. To his eye, Jules look exhausted; the way her shoulders slumped just the slightest, the dark circles under her eyes that make-up was no longer hiding. She looked ready to collapse.
Taking the initiative, he reached over and grabbed her bag and her elbow and directed her towards the bathroom. "Get ready for bed, babe. You look like you're going to fall down." Trying to keep his tone light.
He must have succeeded, because Jules chuckled softly. "You really know how to romance a girl, don't you?" She even sounded tired.
Gently shoving her into the bathroom and setting the bag in with her, he smiled. "I'll try for romance once you're not about ready to fall asleep standing up. Sound like a deal?"
"I'm going to hold you to that, Teller." Jules replied with a smile of her own as she closed the door behind her.
Once he heard the water running, he scrambled out of his jeans and into a pair of basketball shorts. If he didn't want Jules to be asleep by the time he was done in the bathroom, he felt like he should get a head start.
He walked around the room as he waited, trying to figure out why he felt like his heart was going to hammer right out of his chest.
'That's what happens when you fall in love, moron. I know it's been a minute, but surely you remember.' Snarky making his opinion heard. But, once again, his inner voice wasn't wrong. It had been nearly decades since he's felt this way.
As he was trying to wrap his head around that, the bathroom door opened, and Jules stepped out. Her face clean of makeup and looking so tired it was making him want to yawn. She was wearing an old Bulls t-shirt that had to have been her oldest brother's at one point considering it went past the middle of her thighs. Moving to set her bag by the desk, she smiled at him. "It's all yours, if you need it." Nodding back towards the bathroom.
He nodded. "Yeah, gotta brush my teeth." As he slid past her.
"You think you're gonna get lucky?" Jules laughed at him.
Shaking his head, he chuckled just a little. "Remember, we're trying not to bruise my ego with you passing out from exhaustion while I'm trying to 'romance' you." Then laughed as she flipped him off with a tired grin. "Nah, I just do everything I can to avoid the dentist. Once a year for that sadist to tell me everything is all right is more than enough for me."
Jules outright laughed at him. "You're scared of the dentist?!" Falling back onto the bed.
He stood in the doorway of the bathroom as he watched he laugh herself silly, nearly curling in on herself while lying on his bed. Normally, his ego would be rearing its head about now and he would not just be standing here with an amused smile.
She finally stopped laughing, and sat up, wiping her face. "Sorry, but the idea of the big, bad biker being scared of the dentist is too funny. Just like Tig being scared of dolls."
That made him laugh like it did every time it came up. Because Tig's thing about dolls was, in fact, hilarious. "Not scared of them babe, just don't like 'em." He grinned. "They're a necessary evil."
She nodded. "Like gynecologists."
The two of them looked at each other for a brief moment and then both of them started to cackle. When the laughter died down, he wiped a hand over his face where tears had started to fall because he'd been laughing so hard.
Looking over at the clock on the nightstand, he could see it was after midnight. He knew that his Mom would be at the clubhouse with Sophie by seven-thirty. He looked at the bed where Jules had stayed curled up and knew that she was only minutes away from hard sleep. Time to get his ass in gear and finish getting ready for bed.
"Go brush your teeth and save yourself from the evil dentist." Jules voice demanded from the bed. "I'm about ready to pass out and I want a minty fresh goodnight kiss."
"Yes, ma'am." Giving her a one-finger salute as he closed the bathroom door.
"Fuck off, dude. You know you love my bossy, demanding side." Jules' tired voice muffled even further by the door between them.
He wasted no time in washing his face and brushing his teeth. By the time he made it into the bed and turned off the lamp, Jules was already half-asleep.
Jules rolled over, and he wrapped his arms around her as she placed a sleepy kiss on his lips. "Mmm… mint and fluoride."
"Mm-hmm." He kissed her again, like he had all the time in the world and this was the only possible way he could even dream of spending it. It had been so long since he had just kissed someone for the sake of kissing them. It was, at this point in his life, just foreplay. Kiss someone long enough to get their panties off. Not that his dick wasn't interested in all this, but his soul was just fine with only this for now. Pulling her closer, for the first time in his life he could feel someone else's heart beating against his chest. He noticed being nearly the same height, the two of them slotted together nearly seamlessly, as if by design.
He had been raised in SAMCRO, by a father who had taught him the philosophies of anarchism, and that God is a social construct, created to control the masses; that HE simply does not exist. But right now, in this moment, kissing Jules like there was no tomorrow, he wasn't sure that there wasn't some weird divine force that set all of this in motion.
Breaking the kiss, he pulled her in tighter and kissed her temple. "Go to sleep, babe. We'll have all the time we want later for the rest. You need sleep now."
For once, instead of some smart-assed comment or vague threat, she only nodded. The silence stretched, and at first he thought she had fallen asleep, but then a very soft, very tired voice started to speak.
"Dougie is an asshole who deserves to die slowly and painfully. I really wish Ray hadn't been killed, especially the way he was, and I would give everything I would ever have for Sophie to have never gone through any of this; but I really can't think of anywhere I would rather be than here right now." She burrowed into him until she found the spot she wanted, tangling her legs with his until it was hard to tell where one of them stopped and the other began. "The universe is funny that way." Mumbled out of a nearly slack mouth.
Kissing her temple again, he smiled into her hair. "Yeah, it is, babe."
/
Gemma woke suddenly, like she was subconsciously aware that something wasn't quite right in her house. Looking over, she could see Clay was still sleeping peacefully so it apparently was just her.
Then she heard it; a small whimper coming from down the hall. Sophie. She flung the covers off and reached over for her robe, not knowing if Jake was already in with Sophie or not.
Clay woke as she was putting her robe on. "What's goin' on at..." He looked over to the alarm clock. "Three-forty in the morning."
"Sophie." She explained as she was heading out of the room. Not bothering for a response.
Getting closer to Jax's old room, she could hear Jake. "Shhh...sweetheart, you're okay, Grandpa's gotcha."
She stopped at the doorway, catching Jake's eye. The man looked sleep rumpled but alert. Sophie, who was still crying some, hadn't noticed her at all.
The little girl sniffled. "Bad man hurted my Daddy." And the tears started in earnest again. "And Daddy wouldn't get up, and then he fell asleep and wouldn't get up. I tried to help Daddy, but the bad man..." Sophie was back to sobbing into Jake's chest.
"Shhh...I know, Baby Princess." Jake rubbing her little back through the pajamas that Donna had sent the night before. "The bad man can't hurt you again. That's why Uncle Mike was here, to take the bad man home to jail, where he will stay for a very long time for hurting your Daddy."
Sophie's tears slowed again as the little girl looked up at her Grandpa. She felt Clay come behind her and wrap an arm around her waist. "She okay?" His voice low enough not to startle the little girl.
She shrugged because she had no goddamned idea if Sophie was fine or not. Jake didn't seem overly concerned, but she wouldn't say the man was calm.
Sophie had barely even noticed her and Clay, still focused on her Grandpa and the comfort she was familiar with. Her tears were finally stopping, as the little girl looked up at her Grandpa. "I don' have a Daddy anymore." Her little voice forlorn.
She could feel Clay tense behind her, as Jake's eyes started to take on a watery sheen. She could feel the tears in her eyes. The three of them cut off at the knees by a simple statement from a child.
Sophie went on, not noticing that she had shredded the hearts of the three adults with her. Sophie looked back to Jake. "Do you fink Jax would be my new Daddy?"
Clay started to choke on laughter behind her and wandered back to their room, as Jake gave her a wry smile. She noticed a very Dennis-like gleam in Jake's eyes as the man answered his granddaughter.
"Oh, I think that's a question for Jax and Mommy in the morning, in the clubhouse."
Sophie looked up at her Grandpa and then over to her. "Like at breakfast?"
With her own wry smile in place, she looked down at Sophie. "I think breakfast would be a great time to ask Jax and Mommy if Jax can be your new Daddy." Then looked at Jake over Sophie's head. "And you wonder where your kid gets his 'special-ness' from?" Jake just shrugged.
Reaching down, she plucked Sophie off Jake's lap. "C'mon sweetheart, let's go wipe your face before you go back to sleep." She looked over to Jake. "You sleepin' in here with her, or do you want me to bring her to the guest room?"
Jake stood up from the twin bed. "Guest room." Jake walked past the two of them. "Gemma is gonna get you cleaned up and then you're gonna come sleep with Grandpa in his room." Giving Sophie a kiss on the head as he went back to the guest room.
Taking Sophie into the hall bathroom, she wet a washcloth and got the remnants of tears cleaned off. She waited for Sophie to go potty and then took her to the guest room, where Jake was fiddling with his cell phone.
"Lotta calls at four in the morning?" She laid Sophie down on the bed.
Jake grinned. "It's six at home and my old lady has already been up for an hour."
"Gramma?" Sophie's tired voice piped up, sounding very interested.
"Would you like to tell Grandma Lu good morning for her and good night for you?" Jake already dialing as Sophie nodded emphatically.
"I'll leave you two to it. Get some rest, sweetheart." She kissed Sophie on the head. "I'll see you in the morning so I can take you to Mommy and Jax." She waved a hand at Jake as she left the room.
Getting back into her own bed, Clay turned over and gave her a kiss. "Everyone settled again?"
"Yeah. They were gonna call Grandma. Jake seemed to think that would help." She stifled a yawn. "And this Grandma needs her beauty sleep." She shook her head. "Just a couple of hours before the alarms go off."
"Yeah." Clay was already half-asleep.
It took her a little longer to drop off, she was thinking about the look on her son's face when Sophie asked him and Jules if Jax could be her new Daddy.
She fell asleep with a smile on hers.
/
Tig woke up, covered in sweat and breathing hard. Taking a breath, he looked around his newly cleaned dormroom. Damn, Annie did a really good job. He'd have to upgrade to the Respado tequila for the job that girl did in here.
Lighting a joint, he took a deep hit to dispell the rest of the not pleasant dream. He wouldn't call it a nightmare, but it certainly hadn't been good.
He had been dreaming of the day of Marina's funeral. It had been bad enough that Marina was dead, but walking into the church and seeing Jules and knowing that Marina had lied to him, well, that had shattered his heart to the point where he wasn't sure if he could ever fully love a woman again. Granted, his marriage to the twins Mom was already rocky by the time Marina died, but his reaction to her death and the revelation of Jules' paternity, pretty much guaranteed his completely checking out of his marriage.
Snuffing the joint out, he looked at his alarm. It was nearly six. Fuck it, might as well be up. Throwing back the blanket, he hopped out of bed and into the shower. Hopefully, by the time he was done and dressed, Bobby would be here and have coffee going. He wasn't sure what the fuck Bobby did to the coffee to make it taste the way it did, but none of them could replicate it.
Going down to the clubhouse, he was a little surprised to see Dennis Lyons at a table, coffee cup by him, completely engrossed by something on his computer. Dennis looked up. "Mornin'. There's coffee in there."
"Bobby here already?" He lit a cigarette.
Dennis shook his head. "I am capable of making coffee, you know."
"Barely." Eric's voice behind him. "Have you even slept?"
Dennis shrugged. "Some." Then went back to his computer.
Eric looked like he wanted to say something else, but just shook his head and wandered off towards the kitchen. He decided to follow. Even bad coffee had the caffeine he was looking for.
Eric raised the coffee pot as he walked into the kitchen. Grabbing a mug, he nodded. After Eric poured cups for them both, he accepted his with a thanks. "You guys are up early."
"It's almost eight in Chicago. And some of us will be heading back soon. Better to stay on that schedule." Then looked out to where Dennis was sitting, chuckling at something on the computer. "Of course, some of us don't have schedules." Rolling his eyes at his younger brother.
"What exactly does he even do on that thing?" He grinned. "Other than porn."
Eric shrugged. "Who the fuck even knows? He could be hacking NASA for all I know."
"Why the fuck would someone hack NASA? Make sure the moon landing was real?!" He chuckled.
"Just because he can." Eric shrugged. "I love my brother, but not once have I ever claimed to understand him." A grin lit his face. "But I have to admit, I do love getting movies before they're released into the theaters." The grin died, replaced by a more serious look. "And if it wasn't for Dennis, you'd be tasked with killing a brother." Eric turned and looked at him, all humor gone. "He may be flaky as all fuck, but he is a fucking genius and knows how to get the information he wants and we need." The humor was back. "It also helps that he helped design half the computer security used now."
Tig blew out a deep breath. Yeah, Dennis had certainly come through for Ope. "I guess it would at that." He sighed. "I'm glad he got that info on Ope." He shook his head. "I was having a hard time getting on board with believing Ope would sell us out." He took a drink of his coffee. "I tried to tell Clay, if Ope was gonna sell us out, he'd have done it before he served five fuckin' years in Stockton."
Eric shrugged. "You guys got a lot of heat on you right now." Taking a drink of his own coffee, making a face. "God, how can he drink this crap?!" Eric dumped the mug and opened the fridge, pulling out a Gatorade that Jules bought the day before. "As I was saying; you guys have a lot of heat on you and when that happens, fingers start pointing and Opie is an easy target; for them and you."
He thought about that. Eric wasn't wrong. If he were the Feds, he'd go after Ope, too. "Fucking Feds."
Eric chuckled and clapped him on the back. "Yeah. But now that you know what they're up to, you can always have Ope feed them whatever intel you want. Have them chasin' their own tails for as long as you need."
He shrugged. It wasn't his call to make. "Above my paygrade, man." He grabbed more coffee; while it wasn't as good as Bobby's, it wasn't as bad as when Piney made it, so he was good. "Bobby should be here soon, he'll make another pot of coffee that will be, well, better than this."
Eric laughed and followed him out of the kitchen.
/
Loud music pulled Jax out of a deep sleep. As he was waking, he could feel Jules get out of the bed. "Where the fuck did I put that?"
He opened an eye to see her digging through the bag she had brought from her room. Sitting up, he realized the music was coming from her bag. "What the hell?" Seemed like the appropriate question.
"Alarm on my phone. Set for six." Jules was digging through the bag, setting things on the floor. "Ah, here it is." A moment later the phone stopped making noise. She looked up at him, a little sheepish. "Sorry."
He chuckled as he waved her back to the bed. When she crawled in he grabbed her and rolled them to where he was on top. "It's okay, babe. My alarm is going to go off in about half an hour."
She grinned. "You seem pretty awake to me." Doing a little shimmy under him; his morning wood pressing into her pelvic bone. Her grin grew more lewd. "Pretty sure I won't bruise your ego now." She pulled him down into a deep kiss, neither one of them caring about the morning fuzz in their mouths.
By the time the two of them came up for air, they'd managed to shed themselves of clothing, not that there was a ton of that to begin with. Jules was a fuckin' furnace and both of them had shed their shirts at different points in the night.
Straddling her hips, he let his eyes track down her body. It was lean and toned. He reverently touched the tattoo she had under her left breast. Sophie's birthdate. Leaning down, he placed a kiss on it.
Jules pulled him back up and gave him a fierce kiss and then looked into his eyes. "She loves you already, you know." Her voice soft and maybe a little awed.
He smiled. He couldn't help it. That information made him feel ten-feet tall. Someone once told him that kids are pretty great judges of character and they don't hide it well if they don't like you. Until Abel, he'd been okay with kids, they were kinda cute and he had always wanted them, but more as an abstract idea than a concrete one. Maybe having Abel had turned him into a sap, but knowing that a little girl who can't do a damn thing for herself or anyone else other than love them, thinks enough of him to love him? Then call him a sap, because he thought it was pretty fuckin' cool. "I'm becoming pretty attached to her, too." Then leaned back down and kissed her again. "And her Mama."
Jules smiled, her eyes bright like sapphires. "Good." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into another kiss, that turned filthy quick. "Now prove it." Then whispered in his ear. "You made a boast about having skills? Now would be the time to show me."
Giving her as lewd of a grin as he could manage, he leaned back down and breathed in her ear. "Get ready for the ride of your life then, darlin'."
By the time the two of them were done, his alarm had been going off long enough for Chibs to come pound on the door. "Wake yer ass up, Jax! None of us want to hear that fuckin' alarm!"
The two of them started to laugh. "Yeah, Chibs, I got it." Reaching over to hit the alarm button on the clock, sitting up and leaning against his pillows.
"Thank ye. Bobby said breakfast is in about an hour. Said he was waitin' for Clay and the others to get here." They could hear Chibs walk away from the door.
Jules rolled over and snuggled up to him, as he lit a cigarette. After taking a drag, he offered it to Jules, who took her own drag and after exhaling, gave him a quick kiss. "You want to shower together or separate?"
He looked over to her, enjoying seeing the sex-mussed hair and the few hickeys he had managed to leave in spots only he would know they existed. He could feel his dick take an interest in the shower scenario, but feared if they took a shower together, they'd have someone come looking for the two of them.
"As much as I would love to do that, babe, we're probably better off taking separate showers." He took another drag of his smoke. "You go ahead, babe. I'll rinse off real quick after you're out."
"Probably for the best." Jules grinned at him. "We'd probably end up with someone coming to look for us..." She mock-shuddered. "With my luck, it would be my Dad."
He snorted. "Trust me. Tig..." Then he stopped and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, lost the plot for a second." He chuckled. "Yeah, I think I'd rather not have Jake the one coming to look for us."
"You and me both, honey. Just be grateful Lu isn't here. She would have walked in and shut the alarm off herself." And with that, she grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom.
Once the shower started, he pulled his cell phone out and dialed.
His mother answered on the first ring. "Everything okay, Jax?"
"Yeah, Mom, everything is fine. Just need a favor."
"Sure, darlin' anything you need. You know that."
"Jules and Sophie have something they want to go do mid-morning. Can you get a rental to the lot by like nine? That way Jules doesn't have to borrow a car from anyone, and she won't be reliant on having someone chauffeur them around." He thought Jules might like a little freedom of movement. Granted, someone would be tailing the two of them in light of the current situation, but it would be better than having someone have to drive the two of them wherever they wanted to go.
"Sure, sweetheart, but you know, she can always use my car. I'm in the office all morning; wasn't planning on going to see Abel until after lunch." He could hear his mother's birds in the background, so the entire house must have been up.
"Yeah, but I hate to leave you without a car in case an emergency comes up. Just rent the car and let me know how much I owe you. It should only be for a few days. I know Tig already put out some calls for getting that Beemer traded in for something else."
"Okay, Jax. I can do that." His mom seemed distracted. "I gotta go, sweetheart. I have a small person who looks to be thinking about climbing up so she can see the birds. See you in a bit."
He laughed. "Yeah, see you soon, Mom." Closing his phone, he laid back on the pillows. He felt great this morning, and it wasn't just the awesome morning sex. For hell, maybe the first time ever, he felt like an actual functioning adult; a man taking care of his family.
'Feels pretty good, doesn't it, sport?' Snarky throwing his two cents in.
"Yeah." He whispered into the room as the shower still ran.
Smiling, he got out of bed to get his shit together for the day.
A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying it! Thanks to all who have favorited, followed and reviewed! You make a girl feel special.
This chapter marks the last of the pre-written chapters. So from here on out I should be posting a chapter approximately once a week. -Kat