CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

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After an hour I give up watching the phone and go back into the kitchen to assemble dinner. Pulling out two smaller dishes I make up two lasagne's, one for us now and one for the guys when they come back later. They are assembled with the first in the oven 20 minutes later and there's still no word from anybody. Gemma has given up trying to sit patiently and is pacing around, absently picking up ornaments and dusting under them. Donna has retrieved the pile of laundry to fold and is trying to keep herself busy, but each of us can't help our eyes darting to the phones every few minutes.

The lasagne is barely in the oven when Gemma's phone starts ringing on the table. She picks it up and answers before the second ring has faded from sound "Hello?"

There's a slight pause before she sighs, sitting down on a chair and listens. Her eyes dart up to meet mine and Donna's and the relief is evident. "Okay, see you in half an hour. Love you baby."

She flicks the phone closed and sets it back on the table while I put the other lasagne in the oven beside the first.

Stepping back into the dining room Gemma pushes out the chair beside her and motions me to sit down. "So what happened?" I ask as I sit on the edge of the chair.

"Well we knew that the Mayan's tried to do something to the warehouse. Clay said they tried to torch it. Thank god that Tig and Bobby were inside they got the fire out, and managed to catch the fucker that tried to light the place. But that's all I was told." Gemma sounds disgusted that she wasn't told more but grateful that everyone is okay.

I nod and go back to the kitchen, the person who tried to light up part of the Sons business will no longer be among the breathing. I close my eyes and quietly pray that there's no more retaliation for a dead Mayan.

The next 30 minutes pass quickly, after 20 minutes I take out the lasagne and put the garlic bread Gemma made into the oven to heat up, pull out the salad and get plates and cutlery out. 5 minutes before the guys are due back Gemma and Donna come and collect the stuff and set the table, the rumble of bikes can be heard turning onto the street when they come back into the kitchen and collect water, wine and juice which is set on the table. The noise from the bikes stops as they make the final trip, collecting beer from the fridge and the salt and pepper.

Bottles are set on the table as I carry the first lasagne through, returning to the kitchen for the second I'm just reaching for the hot dish when Jax's voice from behind me startles me "Don't touch it."

I spin around and barely catch myself as Jax wraps his arms around me and lifts me off my feet. His mouth is hard and demanding on mine, I can easily smell smoke and gunpowder under the normal smells I'm used to.

I run my hands over his shoulders, around his neck and tangle them into his hair while his tongue probes every part of my mouth. Pulling back with a gasp I take several seconds to catch my breath "What was that for?"

"Cause I fucken love you." Jax almost snarls, pulling me back and kissing me again, he's pulled back the aggression but there's a definite hint of 'I need to fuck you to prove that we're alive' in his kiss which worries me.

I wrench my head sideways, breaking the kiss again "Jax, food."

The growl that comes out of his throat makes me giggle as I push him backwards as far as I can move him, which is only barely enough for me to turn around and pick up the hot dish again. Walking past him I jump a little when he smacks me on the ass and cocks an eyebrow at me.

I shake my head and carry the other tray to the table and set it down. Opie and Donna are on one side while Gemma's chair has been pulled as close to Clays as possible. Jax and I take seats beside Gemma. Her gaze is locked on Clay and she doesn't move till he sighs loudly.

"Obviously Gem's already told you what I told her. I did leave a bit out. The Mayan, singular, was a prospect. As soon as Hap got hold of him he started acting like a canary singing his wee heart out. This was his prove his worth job or some shit like that. Everything was fine, but then he decided that he'd be able to get away from us, he tried to run and one of the boys got slightly injured." Clay says with as little fuss as possible.

Gemma fixes her gaze on her husband and raises an eyebrow "Who got hurt and how badly?"

"It was nothing Gem." Clay says, holding both her hands "The guys are fine, we're all whole and that's all that matters."

"Who and how badly?" Gemma repeats, my eyes have locked on Clays and I'm not the only one that notices his gaze flick to Jax which makes me twist in my seat and do a proper check on Jax. It only takes seconds to notice that he's favouring one arm; he's tenses when I hear Gemma start to slide out of her seat. I'm not sure what does it but she stops before she gets to her feet.

"Jax, what happened?" I reach over for the arm that's resting carefully on the table but he pulls it just out of my reach.

"I'm fine." He growls out, glaring at Clay before fixing his eyes back on mine. "Really, I'm fine."

"Then let me see." I say, getting to my feet and stepping around his chair.

"Fine." Jax sighs and pulls his sleeve up to his elbow. "See, it's not that bad. Chibs already cleaned it for me."

I purse my lips and shake my head examining the slice that goes from the middle of his forearm to just below his elbow. "And what about the fact it could need stitches?"

"It doesn't. It barely got me. Just looks bad cause it's so long." Jax reaches his hand up and grasps my chin, forcing me to look up instead of at the angry red line on his arm. "Darlin' its fine. I'm fine. Now get in your chair and eat some dinner. I wanna go home. If you're still worried when we're at the hospital tomorrow I'll get Anne to take a look. Happy?"

I shake my head "No, I'm not happy but I know that's the best I'll get from you." I get up and go back to my own seat on the other side of Jax and start cutting the lasagne into portions while Gemma opens the foil around the garlic bread.

There are a few minutes of movement passing salad, bread and condiments before everyone finally settle down to eat. Gemma leans over and quietly says "You did good baby girl."

I deliberately misunderstand what she means and smile brightly "Thanks, but I could make lasagne in my sleep."

Jax chuckles beside me which earns him a raised eyebrow from both Gemma and I and a quick turn back to his food with a half-grin.

Gemma shakes her head at me "You know exactly what I mean." Gemma turns her head to look at Clay "And I know what you were doing, smart ass."

Clay tries to look innocent, but the grin he aims towards me completely gives him away and earns him another shake of the head from Gemma.

The rest of dinner is fairly normal, the subject of Bluebird is shoved off the table completely while Donna chats about how the kids are enjoying playgroup. Jax grins widely when he tells everyone that we have a semi-solid date for Abel's homecoming and the second the date passes his lips I see Gemma putting on her party organisation hat.

Smiling over at Jax I smile slowly and say "We're not sure where we'll have the homecoming, we still haven't worked out which house we're going to live in."

Gemma looks stunned and Clay stifles his chuckle. Opie rolls his eyes towards Jax "Like he's gonna make you live in his place when yours is almost done."

Jax nods "Yeah, you're right about that. We'll be moving to her place, but we've gotta get the work finished, figure out what we're doing with my house and more shit then I realised." He trails off.

I finish the mental list, I've still got to sort out the barn full of my parents stuff that's been in storage for 10 years, Jax has to decide what he's doing with his house, I've got to convince him it's our house, not mine and that I feel somehow that that will be the biggest battle of all of them.