As Jules was getting out of the shower, still trying to come down from the sex high that she was currently on. Jax hadn't been exaggerating when he said he had skills. But, if she doesn't get this look off her face, Dennis will be giving her shit for days, and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with that.
After getting dressed and putting on make-up, she stepped out of the bathroom to see Jax, still stark naked, lying in bed, smoking a joint.
She grinned at him. "It's all yours." Waving off the offer of the joint. "I try to hold off on weed 'til after noon, at least." Then laughed. "And some days, I'm even successful." As she snagged the joint and took a small hit. "And apparently, today is not one of those days."
Jax laughed as he climbed out of the bed. "Maybe tomorrow, babe." Giving her a kiss as he walked past. "You staying in here until I'm done, or are you heading to the clubhouse now?"
She looked over to the clock. It was a little after seven. "Clubhouse. I think I need at least a cup of coffee before Pop and Gemma get here with Miss Thing." If not more than one.
Jax grinned. "I feel you there." The grin faded to a soft smile. "I asked Gemma to get a rental for you and Sophie until Tig gets that Beemer dealt with."
She was more than a little surprised. She had figured that her and Soph would be ferried around by whoever had time to do so. But this made things so much easier. "Thank you." She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "You'll let me know how much I owe Gemma?"
Jax shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I've got it covered." Noticing her shaking her head, he reached out and pulled her closer to him. "I want to do this for you and Sophie. Don't worry about it. At all."
She knew when to capitulate gracefully. "Thank you." Giving him another kiss. "Now, I need coffee..." And giving him a grin with a little sniff. "And you need a shower." Looking at her phone. "And considering that they'll be here in less than thirty minutes, you should probably get moving."
"Yeah, yeah." Jax grumbled at her. "Go get your coffee." Closing the bathroom door behind him.
As she headed to the main clubhouse, she weeded through the texts on her phone. She was going to have to see if someone could wrangle Sophie for an hour or so after breakfast so she could return some calls that just couldn't be put off any longer.
Plus, she needed to sit with Dennis and Eric for a few minutes. Morgan had sent a text saying he had emailed Dennis with all the details of Ray's estate.
In the short amount of time it had taken her to get to the main clubhouse, she was already dreading her day. There was so much she needed to take care of and she really wasn't sure if she was emotionally equipped to deal with it yet.
Stepping into the main clubhouse, she wasn't surprised to see everyone but her and Jax already up and about. Looking at her bio dad, she grinned. "Bobby here yet?"
Tig grinned at her. "You already figure out Bobby is the only one who makes decent coffee around here?" The others laughing along with Tig as Bobby came out from the kitchen.
She grinned at Bobby, then looked back to Tig. "Yes. And that's because I know what his secret is." Laughing at the dirty look Bobby shot her. "Relax, Bobby. I just said I knew what your secret was, not that I would tell them."
"Thank you, darlin'." Bobby grinned as the others all groaned.
"You bet." She walked into the kitchen to grab a mug, Bobby following.
As she was pouring the coffee, without turning to look at him, she smiled a little. "Crisco."
"Goddamn, you really have figured it out." Bobby chuckled.
She laughed as she turned back to him. "Yeah, found it when I was hiding Sophie's Oreos from Dennis. Went to move the can and it was way too light to actually be shortening. Looked in and found your stash."
He shrugged. "Good coffee is like good weed. Expensive and you don't waste it on people who don't appreciate it or know what to do with it."
"Amen to that, my friend." She saluted him with her mug of gourmet coffee. "I should have Lu send you some from the place down the street from me in Chicago. They have some great roasts."
Bobby nodded. "I wouldn't say no." Then the rotund man smiled. "We have a pretty good little shop here in town. They also do all their own baking, all organic." He topped off his own coffee mug. "We may not be as big as Chicago, but Charming has some cool little places I think you and Sophie would like." Trying to be as casual as he could be.
She laughed. "You don't have to sell me, or Sophie on Charming at this point, Bobby." She was interrupted by her phone. She looked down, just a text from Mercy about needing to figure out what she wanted to come out to California and what she wanted to be stored in Chicago. Good, something she could put off. She sent back a quick text saying she wasn't sure yet and that she would let her aunt know.
Glancing up, she could see the curious look on Bobby's face. She shrugged. "My Aunt Mercy." Then decided to elaborate. "Jake's younger sister." She sighed. "Just trying to help figure out what gets moved and what gets stored."
"So, you two are staying, then?" Bobby leaned on the counter at her nod. "If you need any help with anything, you be sure to let us know." Patting her arm before he wandered away.
"Yep." She followed him out of the kitchen and sat down by Den. Looking at his laptop screen, she could see he was already in the email that Morgan had said he'd sent Dennis.
Den glanced over to her. "You want me to explain it all, or just the basic details?"
"Let's go with basic details for now, and then move up to a more involved explanation later, when I'm more caffeinated." Grabbing a cigarette from the pack that Den had sitting by the computer. Seeing her and Den with their heads together brought big brother to the table.
"Morning." Eric sat on the other side of Den, so that each of them had a view of the screen.
As Dennis hit a few keystrokes, Jax came out of the dorms and headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Coming out, he sat by her as Dennis started.
"Okay, see these two lists?" Both her and Eric nodded. "Okay, the one on the left is liquid assets, that as soon as everything is all legal can go straight into the trust that Ma set up for you when we were kids. We'll get one set up for Soph that'll be just like the ones we had with Ma."
Both her and Eric nodded again. She also noticed Tig drifting closer to their table.
Dennis took a drink of his coffee before he went on. "The list on the right is all of the non-liquid assets. Businesses and properties that have to be sold." Ticking off a number of items on that list, Dennis continued. "These are already in the process of being bought out by existing partners." He then highlighted five items, including the townhouse where her and Ray's apartments were. "These he owned outright with no partners. Technically, you and Sophie own them. You can either sell, or keep them as rentals, which is what Ray was using them as with the exception of your place, obviously."
She shrugged. "I say with the exception of the townhouse, keep 'em. It's monthly income."
Eric nodded. "And we can just keep the contract with the property management firm that Ray used. Keep it as simple as possible, if you're going to be out here."
Jax was leaning over her shoulder looking at the email that Dennis was referring to. "Did he have an account set up that diverted funds to take care of all of the taxes and upkeep, so she won't have to worry about making sure she's got enough scratch to cover that every quarter?"
"Probably." Dennis shrugged. "I just got this email like an hour ago, and this is only the first page of the attachment." Dennis looked at Jax. "So, I haven't quite pieced out everything." Dennis shook his head. "Ray had a lot going on, and it's gonna take a minute to get through it all." Dennis shrugged again. "I'll get into it after church this morning."
Jax and Eric nodded. She really didn't care. It would all get worked out one way or another.
The sounds of two Harley's coming into the lot stopped Dennis from saying anything else. She looked at her brother. "Whenever, Den. Me and Soph are leaving for yoga at about ten. No idea when we'll be back."
She rolled her eyes as Eric looked over the top of Dennis's head at Jax. "You have someone on them?"
Jax ignored the dirty look she shot at him. "Yeah. Prospect will be with them." Then Jax looked at her, all humor gone. "And you two don't leave Charming without coming back here and letting us know, so someone else can go with you guys and Sack."
Before she could really get her back up and start being mad about being ordered around like a five-year-old, the door opened and Sophie ran through it, making a beeline for Jax.
As slyly as she could, she eased her phone out of her jeans pocket. Her daughter and Jax were too freaking cute together and she wanted all the pictures she could get. She knew she was as bad as Ma and Pop had been with her and the boys when they were young.
Sophie barely acknowledged her or hell, anyone else in the clubhouse. At the moment, her daughter only had eyes for Jax. This couldn't be good.
"Morning, sweetheart." Jax smiled as her daughter climbed up him. "Did you have a good night at Gemma's?"
Sophie nodded as she settled on his lap. "Jax, can I ax you somethin'?" More demand than ask in her voice. She heard others in the room chuckle.
She set the camera on her phone to video. This had to be good if her kid was asking permission to ask.
Jax looked over to her and she just shrugged. After the 'you don't leave Charming' crap, he was on his fucking own. Payback could be small, but still a bitch.
Jax looked back at Sophie with a game smile. "Sure, sweetheart. Ask away."
Sophie looked back towards Pop and Gemma, who were standing by Bobby. Both gave her nods of encouragement. So, whatever she was wanting to ask had been vetted and approved by the two of them. She wasn't sure how she felt about Pop and Gemma being in cahoots. She would know soon enough, she supposed.
Sophie turned back to Jax. "Jax, will you be my new Daddy since I don' have a Daddy no more?"
She dropped her phone, which Dennis was quick to pick up and was probably still recording everything.
Jax looked at her, eyes wide and full of 'I have no fucking idea what to do'. Join the motherfucking club, babe. Neither did she.
Sophie, who was oblivious to the absolute shock she had sent both of them into, went on. "Me n' Mommy could stay here wif you and da baby, and I could be his sister and help Mommy take care of him, and you could be my Daddy like Libby's Daddy who lives with her and gives her goodnight kisses every night, and..."
She found her wits, and after nailing Pop and Gemma with a look that told both of them explicitly that she would be having words with them both later, reached over and covered Sophie's mouth with a gentle hand.
"I think this is a conversation…"
"Yes." Jax spoke over the top of her, and rendered her speechless. He just said yes. Like he was agreeing to a walk in the fucking park.
"Tell me you're still recording." She heard Eric whisper to Dennis, who nodded. She couldn't even muster enough brain power to flip them off. She could also hear the murmurs of the others in the room.
Sophie looked at Jax with amazement. "Really?!" Her daughter was nearly vibrating with anticipation. "You will?!"
Jax smiled at Sophie and looked over to her, his eyes deadly serious. "Yes, sweetheart, really." He laid a tender kiss on Sophie's forehead. "If your Mommy wants me to be, too."
She felt the entire clubhouse's eyes on her. She felt more than a little shaken and had no idea how to even react, what to say.
Even though she'd had her epiphany last night and knew that her and Jax were hurdling that direction, she was still gobsmacked and a little addled in the moment.
She glanced up and happened to catch Pop's eye. He touched his chest, where under the shirt he wore was a necklace with a locket. That locket held two things. A picture of her mother and a locket of her hair. He gave her a slight nod.
She looked back to Jax and her daughter, who were watching her intently. She smiled with all of the love she possessed for the little girl she birthed into the world. "What do I always tell you, honey?" She leaned over and kissed her daughter and then Jax. "You always have the best ideas."
She barely heard all the cacophony that erupted in the clubhouse, too caught up in the hug that her, Soph, and Jax were in.
Glancing up, she caught Pop's eye again. He looked up briefly and then back to her and smiled. She felt her throat go tight. She knew what he meant.
Ma would approve.
A/N: Just a little chapter of fluff for your Easter basket, for those that observe. If not, then just a sweet little chapter appropriate for a lazy Sunday.
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