Chapter 2: Seeds
Jax POV
It seemed like the hits just keep coming. When I got to the clubhouse that morning, I found out Tig had been banging the two Mexican women that had been found in the bunker at the warehouse. So now of course we were figuring out how to deal with that. Fortunately, we had Unser on our side. Didn't exactly help that we found out that Hale was pushing for a forensic team to go out to Bluebird. Hale was always trying to pin something on us but he never got close enough. I was riding through town when I stopped at a red light. Hale pulled up in his Jeep next to me. "How you doing Jax? Heard about Wendy and the baby. I'm sorry." Hale said.
"Thanks." I said. This should be interesting.
"You know, I took a ride out to the streams today. Saw that warehouse that burned down." He said.
"Outside your jurisdiction, ain't it?" I asked.
"Did you ever hear of a Bluebird Supply Company? Apparently, they hold the title on that parcel."
"Never heard of them." I said. You're grasping at straws.
"Whole area was littered with casings and gun parts. That warehouse was being used as a weapons depot." He said.
"No kidding?" I said sarcastically.
"Chief Unser's retiring at the end of this month. I'll be stepping into those shoes. Unser's always had a 'look the other way' policy with the Sons of Anarchy."
"Unser's a lazy drunk." I said.
"I will not look the other way, Jax. Just a friendly heads-up." Hale really needed to shut up.
"We're all free men protected by the Constitution. You look any way you want, Chief." I said before speeding off.
I made my way over to St. Thomas to check in on Abel. When I walked into his room there was a nurse there. "He's moving around a lot more." I said to her.
"Yeah. All his vitals are up." She said.
"Any permanent damage? Cause of the drugs? Brain or anything?" I asked.
"Can't know for sure. But everything so far points to full recovery." She said. I nodded.
"How long is he gonna be in that thing?" I asked.
"Could be weeks. But he'll be in the NICU for at least two or three months." She said writing something down on his chart.
That afternoon we were all sitting in Church. Clay was telling us that the Italians wanted to put in an order. With the warehouse burning down there was no way that we could do it. Then we found out that a forensic team from Lodi would be in Charming tomorrow morning. The only way to stop them was if there was another murder in Lodi. But how were we gonna make that happen without actually murdering anyone? Everyone was spitting out ideas but then it hit me. That's when I mentioned Skeeter's gambling debt. He was always looking to make some extra cash. Once I told everyone my idea, they were all for it.
Bella POV
It was midafternoon when Charlie and I passed the 'Welcome to Charming' sign. I couldn't believe it. We'd finally made it to Charming. Charlie and I headed to a motel to get settled for the night. We'd decided that we were going to go looking for my bio dad first thing in the morning. After we checked into the motel, Charlie and I headed over to a diner to get something to eat. When we walked in, it reminded me of the diner back in Forks that Charlie and I would go to daily. The waitress behind the counter told us that we could sit anywhere. Charlie nodded his thanks and led me to a booth. We sat down and a few minutes later, a waitress came over and handed us a couple of menus. "You folks don't look like you're from around here." She said.
I looked up at her and smiled. "No, we're not. We're just visiting." I said.
"Well, Welcome to Charming." She said. We gave her our drink orders and went to get our drinks. Charlie and I sat there and looked at the menus for a few minutes. When she came back with our drinks, we ordered our food. She took the menus and went to put our order in. While we waited for our food I sat there and looked out the window. From what I'd noticed on our drive in, Charming was a small town much like Forks. The main difference that I'd seen was that there weren't nearly as many trees in Charming as Forks.
"You okay?" I heard Charlie asked me.
I turned my head away from the window and gave him a half smile. I nodded. "Yeah. I think that I'm more nervous than anything. What if he decides that he wants nothing to do with me?" I said.
Charlie sighed. "Bells, I'm not gonna lie. It's a possibility. But one thing that I do know, is that you're an amazing kid. He'd be a fool not to want to get to know you. But, if that does happen. Then we'll go home and continue like we have for the past 10 years." Charlie said.
I nodded. About ten minutes later, Charlie and I were sitting there waiting for our food when we heard a bunch of motorcycles pull in. I quickly turned my head, looking back out the window. I watched them. There were four of them. I watched them park their bikes and climb off taking their helmets off. When they made their way to the door, I turned back to Charlie. I gave him a curious look. "Do you think that's them?" I asked him.
"Maybe." He said. Just then, the waitress brought our food. She sat our plates down and walked off.
"Hey Clay, Tig. How you boys this evening?" We heard the waitress ask them.
I didn't turn and look, trying not to draw attention to myself but I listened. "We're good Rosie. Gem said that she ordered a couple of pies." I heard.
"Yeah, sure thing Clay." She said. "Let me get them."
I scooted around in the booth, trying to get a look without being obvious. Of the four bikers that had pulled in, there were only two that had walked in. Both we kinda tall. One had grey hair and the other had curly black hair. "Clay, why are we picking up Gem's pies?" I saw the curly haired one ask.
I saw the gray haired one turn and look at him. "Do you really wanna tell Gemma that we're not gonna pick up the pies?" Clay asked laughing.
The waitress came back and sat the pies on the counter. "Here you go Clay. Gemma already paid for them." She said.
"Appreciate it, Rosie." Clay said.
"Heard about Jax's baby. Hope he gets better." Rosie said.
"Thanks. We'll be sure to tell him." The curly haired one, I assumed was Tig said.
I watched as Clay picked up the pies and they turned and walked out. I just sat there and watched them. That was when it hit me. The curly haired man, was my father. I sat there and watched them until they'd pulled back out of the parking lot. I turned to Charlie. "That was him. That was my father wasn't it?" I asked him.
Charlie was a good cop. I knew that he wasn't going to go on this adventure with me without doing some research about this guy. Charlie may not be my bio dad but he'd raised me for the last 17 years, ten of which he'd done by himself. I knew that it wasn't easy for him but he did it anyway. "Yeah it was." Charlie said before he continued to eat.
Jax POV
The guys and I headed over to the cemetery to talk to Skeeter. Hopefully, he had a couple of bodies that we could buy from him to set up our murder down in Lodi. When we walked in, he looked up at us. "Hey guys. What's - What's going on?" Skeeter asked nervously.
"We need a favor Skeeter." I said.
"Christ man." Skeeter said. "Now isn't a good time. I got a new supervisor crawling up my ass."
"Relax. Not here to make a deposit. Actually it's a withdrawal. We need two bodies, fresh." I said.
"You serious? For what?" He asked.
"Well, I could tell you but then I'd have to stuff you in the furnace."
"Two dead ones. That's - That's crazy shit, man." Skeeter said.
"I'm sure you took a beating at Golden Gate this weekend." I said.
"No. I stopped the ponies man. I stopped it all. Gamblers Anonymous. Three months now." Skeeter said.
"Your kidding. You don't want the money?" I asked.
Skeeter shook his head. "I'm working a program, you know."
"Jesus Christ." Chibs mumbled behind me.
"Something you might be able to get for me." Skeeter said.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Emily Duncan." Skeeter said.
I looked at Chibs who was standing next to me. He was thinking. "Emily Duncan. She's one of our Friday night whores. She loves a good punch up her knickers." He said.
"Yeah no kidding."
"I've been trying to push up on that for a long time." Skeeter said.
"You want to hook up with a Crow-eater, I'll make that happen." I said.
This guy was a freak but I would talk to Emily and see what I could work out. "Really? Shit. Well, you got a deal." Skeeter said. He walked over and looked at his book. "I'm not cremating anything until the end of the week." He said.
"We need two by tonight." I said.
"Well I'm prepping a closed coffin." Skeeter said looking up from the book. "Some guy took a header off the top of the pole."
"White guy?" I asked. He nodded. "I'll take it. Need a mexican guy too."
"Buried one this morning. Cheap seats, should still be fresh." He said.
"You mean we gotta dig it up?" Half-sack asked.
"Who said anything about 'we'?"
I was sitting in my dorm waiting for Emily to come over so that I could talk to her about Skeeter, when I heard a knock on my dorm room door. I walked over and answered it. "Hey Jax." The girl said.
"Hey." I said. Who was this girl?
"Uh Chibs said you were looking for me. I'm Emily." She said.
Shit. "Right. Sorry come in." I said. She walked in and I closed the door behind her. "Sit down."
"Nice room." She said.
"So I need you to do a favor for the club, Emily." I said.
"Really? Sure. I mean, what do you need? What can I do?" She asked.
"You know Skeeter, right?" I asked and she nodded.
"That guy's been trying to get in my pants since high school." She said.
"I need you to let him." I said.
She rolled her eyes. "Are you serious? Dude, that guy burns dead bodies. He creeps that shit out of me." Emily said.
"I know, but see we need Skeeter to do us a good deed." I said. "And the only thing he wants in return… is the hand of the beautiful… Emily Duncan." I said.
"I'm not some whore." She said.
"Come on. It'll be our secret." I said.
She sat there thinking for a minute. "You do me, I do him." She said finally.
I laughed a little. "Fair enough."
Bella POV
After Charlie and I ate, I told him that I was gonna walk around for a little bit. I wanted to take a look at the town. He seemed unsure at first, but then he agreed. He said that he was gonna head back to the motel. I nodded.
As I walked around town, I could see the similarities between Charming and Forks. Charming had a lot of small shops like Forks did. I could see myself being happy here. That is if dear 'ol dad wants me to stick around. There was an ice cream shop right next to a small park. I decided to grab a milkshake and go sit at the park.
After getting my milkshake, I walked over to the park and sat down on a bench. I guess I had zoned out thinking about everything, because I didn't hear these two kids run past me and their dad sit down beside me. I guess I jumped a little. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He said looking at me.
I turned my head and looked at him. "It's okay. I guess it was so peaceful that I zoned out in my thoughts." I said.
He laughed a little and smiled. "I've done that. I'm Opie." He said. Then he pointed to the two kids that had ran past me. "That's Kenny and Ellie." He said.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Bella." I said. "I'm new around here." I said. That's when I noticed that he was wearing a vest like I'd seen Clay and my dad wearing earlier.
"What brings you to Charming?" Opie asked me.
I let out a sigh. Here we go. "I recently found out that my father who has raised me, my entire life is actually my step-father. When my mother left us, she gave him a couple of clues about my father and after a recent break up, I decided to come find him." I said, not really sure why I felt nervous to tell him this. Maybe it was because I had just met him. Maybe it was because he more than likely knew my dad.
"Wow. That's some story." He said. I nodded. "My ex-wife recently left me and the kids. I'm not sure how I'm gonna handle raising those two on my own, but something I've learned over the last couple of years is that blood isn't what makes you family. It's the people that care enough to stick around." Opie said.
I nodded and gave him a half-smile. "I'm sorry about your wife." I said.
"I'm sorry your mom lied to you and left." He said.
I wasn't sure what it was but there was something about this guy. "Thanks." I said, as I finished my milkshake. "I should get back. Charlie's probably wondering where I am."
Opie nodded. "Maybe I'll see you around?" He asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure that if I decide to stick around that you'll be seeing me." I said before walking off.
The motel wasn't far from Main Street so I walked back to the motel. When I got to the motel, there was a bike parked next to Charlie's truck. What did you do Charlie? I thought to myself.
Charlie POV
I was hesitant to leave Bella walking around town by herself, but then I thought that if I did then I could go over to the Sons of Anarchy address that I had and try and track her dad down. I wasn't sure how that conversation was going to go. When I pulled in, the clubhouse was on one side of the parking lot and there was a line of motorcycles parked out front. To the back side of the lot, there was a garage. Above it there was a sign, Teller-Morrow Auto Repair.
Wait a minute… Renee had sister with the last name Teller-Morrow. Gemma I think it was.
I parked my truck and made my way over to the office. I wondered if Gemma would even remember me. I hadn't seen her since Bella was born. I walked into the office there she was sitting at the desk. "Can I help you?" She said, not even looking up from her computer.
"Gemma." I said.
My voice must have been all that she needed. She turned and looked at me. "Charlie?" She asked and I nodded. "What are you doing in Charming? Is it Renee? Bella?" She asked me with a little bit of panic in her voice.
I let out a sigh. "We need to talk." I said and she nodded. I sat down on the couch that was in her office and told her the whole story.
"Fuck Renee." She said finally. "Where's Bella?" She asked me.
"She wanted to walk around town and clear her head. We were in the diner earlier when your husband and I'm guessing Tig had come in." I said, "I think that she's trying to process."
Gemma nodded understanding. "I'm not sure how Tig is gonna react to this." Gemma said.
"Imagine how I felt when Renee left me and left Bella with me. I mean don't get me wrong, I love that girl as if she were my own, I just don't understand Renee." I said. Gemma just sat there and shook her head.
A few minutes later, the two guys that Bella and I had seen earlier walked in. "Hey Gem." They both said.
"Shut the door." Gem snapped. "The four of us need to talk." She said. The one that I believed was Bella's dad shut the door then turned back to the rest of us. "Clay, Tig, this is Charlie… my brother in law."
Clay offered me a handshake. "Nice to meet you Charlie, Clay. This is Tig." Clay said.
"Nice to meet you too." I said.
"There's more." Gem said. "Remember my sister?" She asked and they both nodded. "Apparently, when she left Charming, she took a present with her." Tig looked a little confused but Clay rubbed his hand over his face.
"What are we talking about?" Tig asked.
"Renee was pregnant when she left Charming." Gemma said.
That's when the realization hit Tig. "I have another kid." Tig said. Me and Gem both nodded.
That's when I spoke up. "You might wanna sit." I said. Tig came and sat beside me. I handed him the folder that I had in my hand. "Renee left me about ten years ago, I made the decision to wait to tell Bella about you because I was sure if she would have understood. However, yesterday, her jackass of a boyfriend broke up with her and she said she wanted to get away. That's when I knew that I had to tell her. For the last 17 years, I've raised Bella as my own. As much as I know that she loves me, she was excited to come find you." I told Tig.
He opened the folder. I had put Bella's birth certificate in there, and some pictures of her growing up including her graduation picture. "She looks like me." Tig said, handing the picture to Gemma.
"No denying that." Gemma said.
Tig turned and faced me. "Where is she?" He asked.
"She was curious about the town so she was walking around she's probably headed back to the motel by now." I said.
Tig nodded. "I'll follow you over. I wanna meet her." Tig said.
Tig and I stood up and headed for the door. "Family dinner tonight. Bring Bella and Charlie." Gemma said to Tig as we made our way outside.
I climbed in my truck while Tig walked over and got on his bike. I guess so far things had gone better than I thought they had gone. I guess it was a good thing that I'd run into Gemma. It seemed to have helped in explaining to Tig about Bella… and apparently he had other kids.
We made our way over to the motel. I unlocked the door and we made our inside and sat on the little couch that was in there. There was an awkward silence. "I know that I haven't actually met Bella, but I want to thank you for not abandoning her after Renee left." Tig finally said.
I nodded. "There's nothing that I wouldn't do for her. Like I said, I love her and have raised her as my own. Which is why I have to ask… if she decides that she wants to stick around and get to know you, is that something that your okay with?" I asked him, trying to gauge his reaction.
He nodded. "Absolutely. My ex-wife, much like Renee took off right before I met Renee taking my two daughters with her." He said.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"It's okay. I just don't want to be a disappointment for Bella." Tig said.
I was about to say something when the door opened and Bella walked in. She glared at me. "Thought we were gonna find him together." She said.
"Bells, you were nervous. I was helping." I said.
I watched her face relax. "Yeah okay." She said. She looked at the man sitting beside me. "I guess your my dad." She said.
Bella POV
"I guess I am." He said.
I looked at Charlie and he nodded. "I'll be outside." Charlie said, standing up and walking outside.
I walked over and sat on the couch beside him. "So, Charlie told about your mom and the secrets that she kept from both of us." My dad said.
I nodded. "Yeah, but in his defense, I think he's done a good job raising me and taking care of me." I said. There was definitely some awkwardness in the air. The next thing I knew he was pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his back. This felt right.
When we broke from the hug, we sat there and talked. He asked me about my life and I asked about his. He told me that Clay was my Uncle and that Gemma was my mom's sister. He said that they'd invited me and Charlie to dinner that night. I nodded and realized that not only had I found my father but I'd also found some more of my family.
That evening, Dad, Charlie and I were pulling into a driveway of a big house. I climbed out of Charlie's truck. "Wow." I said staring at the house.
"Yeah, it can be a little intimidating." Dad said, as he put an arm around my shoulders. "Come on, kid. Lots of people to meet." He said leading me to the door.
When we walked inside, I noticed that we were standing in a large kitchen. I was met with a tall women. "There she is." The woman said.
"Bells, this is your Aunt Gemma or Gem." Dad said.
I smiled at her and she pulled me into a hug. "We met many years ago sweetheart and I'm sorry about that moronic sister of mine but thank god you had Charlie and now your home." She said. Aunt Gemma apparently like to ramble.
"Thanks Aunt Gem." I said.
"Tigger, the boys are out back why don't you take Charlie. Bella and I will be out in a few." She said.
Charlie and Dad nodded. They walked through the kitchen making their way to the backyard. When Aunt Gem thought that they were out of earshot, she turned to me. "Why didn't you call me?" She asked me.
Charlie didn't know that I'd kept in contact with my Aunt Gem after my mom left. We would write letters to each other and I'd always make sure that I was the one that checked the mail. "I don't Aunt Gem. Part of me thought that she'd come back, ya know." I said. She nodded.
She walked over to the fridge and grabbed me a coke, handing it to me. "Did you know that he was my dad?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "No. I knew that they'd been together, but I had no idea when she left that she was pregnant." She said.
I was about to say something when the door opened. A guy with blonde hair walked in. "Hey Ma. Sorry I'm late." He said. He saw me standing with Aunt Gem. "Who's this?" He asked.
"Jax, this is your cousin Bella. Aunt Renee's daughter." She said.
"Call me Bells." I said, giving him a half smile. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and I knew that it was only gonna get worse.
"Nice to meet you." Jax said. He walked past us and headed for the backyard.
Aunt Gem turned and smiled at me. "Come on sweetheart, more people to meet." She said and led me to the backyard.
When we stepped into the backyard, there was a lot of people. She introduced me to everyone. There was Uncle Clay, Bobby, Juice, Chibs (who was scottish apparently) and then I found a face that I'd seen earlier. Opie. Aunt Gem was about to introduce me when he spoke. "Bella hi." Opie said.
I blushed. "Hi Opie." I said.
"You two know each other." She said.
"We met earlier at the park Aunt Gem." I said. She nodded and walked over to talk to Charlie. "Told I'd see you around." I said to Opie.
He smiled at me. "I guess you did. So did you find your dad?" He asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah. My dad is Tig." I said.
He started laughing. "Seriously?" He asked.
I laughed with him. "Yeah."
Apparently, our laughter caught some attention cause my dad walked over. "Everything okay over here?" He asked, giving me and Opie a questionable look.
"Everything's great dad." I said, realizing that it was the first time that I called him Dad since we'd met. He had a look of happiness on his face.
"We're ready to eat." He said.
Everyone gathered around the large table in the backyard. Uncle Clay sat down at one end of the table and Aunt Gem was at the other end. Everyone grabbed a seat and sat down. I ended up sitting next to Aunt Gem and Opie sat on the other side of me. While everyone was fixing their plates, Aunt Gem leaned close to me. "It's good to see him smile." She said. I raised my eyebrow at her. "Opie." She whispered. "Ever since his wife left, he's seemed lost. It's the first time that I've really seen him smiled in months."
"He's nice." I said.
Everyone was in various conversations during dinner. After dinner, I was sitting on a swing on Aunt Gem's back porch when Jax walked over and sat beside me. "Hi." He said.
"Hi cuz." I said back.
"So mom said that your gonna be staying for a while." He said.
I nodded. "Yeah, found out that my mom lied about some stuff. I mean if she hadn't we might have actually grown up together." I said.
"Well, if you want, tomorrow I can take you to meet your little cousin." He said.
That's when I realized that Jax had a kid. "Sounds good. I'd love to meet him." I said. Jax hugged me before getting up and walking over to Opie.
Opie POV
I was sitting at the table watching Kenny and Ellie play in the yard. I'd noticed that they seemed happier when we were around everyone. I guess that I'd zoned out that I didn't notice Tig walk over and sit beside me. I looked over at him. "What?" I asked.
"What were you and Bells laughing at earlier?" He asked me.
"We'd met earlier when I'd taken Kenny and Ellie to the park. We sat there talking. She told me about how her mom had left when she was a kid keeping the secret that Charlie wasn't her dad. She told me that she was in town to find him. I just didn't realize that I'd see her here." I said.
He nodded. "She just got out of a relationship." He said.
"Tig, I wasn't even thinking that. I just met the girl. She's here for a relationship with you and Gem. I'm the furthest thing from her radar. Not to mention that I have Kenny and Ellie to think about." I said. And it was true. From the short time that I'd spent with Bella, I could tell that she was innocent and pure. There wasn't a chance in hell that she'd ever be interested in a guy like me. And besides I did have Kenny and Ellie to think about. After Donna leaving, I needed to make sure that if I did bring another women around that she wasn't going to get them or me to fall in love with her and then abandon us.
Tig nodded. "Let's keep it that way. For now at least." He said.
Gemma POV
That night after everyone had left, Clay and I were sitting in bed. "I just can't believe my sister." I said to him.
"Gem, you know that Renee has always been a free spirit. Did you really expect her to settle down somewhere." Clay said.
I shook my head. "I guess not. I just never expected that she'd abandon her own daughter." I said.
"I know baby. Tig seems mesmerized by her. As did everyone else. Do you think that we can trust her?" Clay asked me.
"Don't make me slap you. Of course we can trust her. She's family. I mean I know that Charlie wouldn't have any problems taking her back to Washington with him but baby, she wants to be here with us and Tig… her actual family. Can you blame her?" I said.
Clay shook his head. "No I guess not. You know your gonna have to teach her right?" He said.
"I know baby and I will."
A/N: Okay so that's chapter 2. Bella made it to Charming and the first person she actually met was Opie. I can see the sparks now. Yep Gemma and Renee are sisters. I hope that you guys liked this chapter. I'm writing this story as close to the episodes as possible. However, Tara's entrance is gonna be a little bit different. She's gonna make her appearance soon enough. The next chapter will pick up a week later. Thanks for reading don't forget to read review and favorite.