Chapter 4
Hot water pelted his head as Jax stood in the shower with his hands resting on the wall in front of him. With his head ducked, he watched as the water ran down the drain and steam rose through the air.
After waking up at 7 a.m. with a pounding headache, he finally managed to get off the roof that he had passed out on the night before. He had high hopes that the shower would help cure him of the hangover that he was experiencing.
So far, he hasn't had any luck.
He shut the water off and reached out to grab the white towel off the rack next to the shower. He dried his face before wrapping the towel around his waist and stepping out onto the cold tiled floor. He reached across the bathroom counter to wipe the condensation and fog off of the mirror.
His reflection looked back at him as he took in the purple bruises underneath his eyes. His eyes traveled to the tattoo on the left side of his chest, her name was there in old english above his heart. He had gotten it done when they were eighteen and he had wanted Nora to get his crow tattooed on her. She had refused to get his crow until he had agreed to put her name on him as well. At that point in their lives, she had been planning to go out of state for college. He would never admit that getting her name on him was just one of the things that he had done to keep her in Charming.
His kids' names could be found on his left forearm, Claire on the inside and Charlie on the back. Getting Nora pregnant had been his last desperate attempt to keep her with him in Charming, and to his satisfaction it worked. That was something else he would never admit to, especially seeing as in a roundabout way it had been his mother that planted that idea into his head.
Welcoming a set of twins at the age of nineteen had definitely been rough. It wasn't something that they were necessarily ready for but the way he saw it, they were doing a pretty damn good job of raising them. So did he regret it? No.
After brushing his teeth, he reached down into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol. He took two pills out and dry swallowed them as he made his way out of the bathroom.
His room at the Clubhouse was one of the bigger ones, yet it was still a hell of a lot smaller than the one at his house. The double sized bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the king sized one he left, but he figured it would do until Nora finally allowed him to come back home.
Whenever that would be.
Truth be told, this wasn't the first time that she had kicked him out. Two weeks was the longest that he had been out of the house before… until now. That woman was a real sweetheart most of the time, until something pissed her off at which point that fiery ass temper of hers would rear its ugly head.
'Fuckin' redheads'. He thought to himself as he rummaged through his dresser for some clean clothes.
A big part of him understood, he had hurt her after all. She needed time to heal from it. He got that. But damn it, there was also a part of him that was pissed off as well. Enough was enough. He deserved to be in that house just as much as she did. It wasn't right that he was limited to spending time with his children on the weekends. The fact that she had the audacity to meet with a divorce attorney made his blood boil. She had known exactly what she was getting into when she married him so why was it a problem all of a sudden?
That was something that he would have to deal with later, but for now he needed to go see his kids.
He quickly dressed into a pair of jeans and a gray 'SAMCRO' t-shirt. Sitting on the bed, he slipped his white Nikes onto his feet. Walking up to his desk, he hooked the chain of his wallet onto a belt loop before slipping the wallet itself into his left back pocket. On the right side of his waistband, he attached his USMC KA-BAR fighting knife. Shrugging into his kutte, he turned the light off and locked the door on his way out.
Walking down the hallway, he brushed his fingers along the sea foam, blue colored 1946 E Harley-Davidson Knucklehead that had belonged to his late father, John. After John's death, the Club put his bike on display and that's where it remained since 1993.
The Clubhouse looked the same as it always did after a Friday night party. The whole place was littered with beer bottles and trash. In the midst of it all was the prospect named Juice working hard to clean the shit up. Jax acknowledged Juice with a tilt of his head, a motion that Juice reciprocated. Jax sure as hell didn't envy the guy - being a prospect could be a pretty shitty ass job.
Jax shoved open the door and squinted as his eyes were assaulted by the brightness of the sun. It was a nice day, the sky was the perfect shade of blue with not a single cloud in sight. It was a little on the warmer side, temperature probably somewhere in the 80's if he had to guess.
Perfect time to get Charlie out into the garage, He thought to himself as he made his way over to his '03 Harley Davidson Dyna Super Glide Sport. Besides his kids, he could honestly say his bike was one of his Pride and Joys. Jax was itching for the moment that he would get to help Charlie pick out a bike of his own. He just knew that his son would be a natural.
After settling on the bike, he quickly clipped his helmet on and put on his sunglasses. Turning on the engine, he felt at peace for a moment as the bike rumbled and purred.
God, he loved that bike.
Pulling out of Teller-Morrow, he took a left heading the ten miles it would take to get him to Anderson Avenue. It didn't matter that he didn't currently reside in his family home. Jax made sure to drive by the white bricked home twice a day, every day. It was the only way he could really keep an eye on the place and if for some reason he wasn't able to he always sent Juice in his place.
I really need to cut the grass, Jax thought to himself as he noticed just how wild the lawn was looking by the house. It was official, they owned the jungle in the neighborhood. He almost slammed on breaks as he noticed an additional car in the driveway behind Nora's. Who the fuck, he thought to himself before recognizing the little white Honda. Letting out a relieved sigh, he shook his head with a smirk on his face. He should have known that Muffy would be there.
He made a mental note to catch up with his cousin. Nora respected and valued Muffy's opinion. After a few rounds of Jack and Coke, he was sure that he could convince Muffy to sing his praises to his wife. She would be able to help him convince Nora that their family belonged together.
Feeling confident that Nora was fine, despite the wild ass lawn, he continued on his way to his mother's house. Conveniently, his mother and Clay, his step-father and the President of his Club, lived a couple of blocks away. A fact that could sometimes prove to be a nuisance, but had its perks as well.
He parked behind his mother's black SUV and took off his helmet and sunglasses. After placing his helmet on his bike, he made his way into his mother's house.
The smell of bacon assaulted his nose and immediately he felt his stomach growl. 'Perfect timing,' he thought to himself as a smirk tugged at his lips. He shut the door and made his way into the kitchen where he saw Gemma cooking breakfast. He made his way over to his mother and placed a kick kiss to her cheek. "Morning, Ma."
"Good Morning, Baby." Gemma smiled as she looked at her son, "The kids are in the living room. Claire's been asking about you."
Jax gave her a smile before he made his way into the living room where he found his kids on the couch still clad in their pajamas watching the Disney Channel. Standing behind the couch, he reached down and placed a kiss on the top of their heads.
Claire turned her body sideways so that she could face him, "Hey Daddy."
Charlie gave him a swift glance before turning his attention back to the tv and crossing his arms over his chest. For the past four months, his son had given him the proverbial cold shoulder. His treatment of Jax wasn't disrespectful but had just enough attitude that let his father know that he was pissed at him.
"Hey baby." Jax smiled at Claire as he ran a hand through her tangled strawberry-blonde hair. Turning his attention to Charlie, he used his other hand to rustle his son's blonde hair, "Do you want to help me in the garage after breakfast?"
Charlie shrugged his shoulders indifferently as his gaze never left the tv, "I guess."
Jax gave his son a small smile, ignoring the heavy feeling in his chest. He was used to Charlie idolizing him, and the fact that his son seemed to care less whether he spent time with him or not really stung. "Okay."
"Dad, will you take me for a ride?" Claire put on her infamous puppy dog face causing his heart to warm.
"Yeah, we'll go for a ride later." Jax would give his daughter the world if she asked him for it. He would take down anyone that stood in his way, too.
Charlie Teller grudgingly sat on a crate in the garage as he handed his father tools as he needed them. They had been working on an old dirt bike for a few hours now. Charlie had done his best to make the silence as uncomfortable as possible. He'd give Jax one worded responses whenever possible and if he could get away with it, he would merely shrug his shoulders.
He was mad at his dad, but more than anything he was disappointed.
His parent's had always instilled in him and his sister that family comes first - always and without any exceptions. Above all, his dad had taught him that it was their job as the men of the family to take care of the women in their lives.
So, imagine Charlie's surprise when he answered the door four months ago and there stood a strange woman asking for his dad. A woman that was scantily clad and made her way into their home with her large green suitcase in tow.
In some ways, Charlie felt guilty. Perhaps in some way, the disintegration of their family was his fault. His mother had been in the shower at the time that there was a knock on the door. The rule of the house was that he and Claire weren't allowed to open the door unless an adult specifically gave them the okay to do so. Granted, he normally broke that rule on a normal basis… he just wished that he hadn't broken it that day.
Jax used his forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow as he eyed his seething son from over the top of the bike. "I really can't fix the problem if you don't talk to me, son."
Charlie slowly raised his eyes to meet the eyes of his father. Taking a deep breath for courage he finally decided to just let it all out. "I'm pissed at you," he started, his eyes trailing to the ground before looking back at Jax with fire in them. "I'm pissed that you hurt mom. I'm pissed that you aren't home." Hot angry tears streamed down his face as he stood and threw the wrench that was in his hands causing a loud 'bang' to fill the air as it hit against a toolbox. His voice was raw as he shouted, "And I hate that this is my fault, too."
Jax pulled Charlie into a crushing embrace, his cheek resting on his son's head, "I'm sorry, Charlie." He kissed the top of Charlie's head, "I'm so sorry. None of this is your fault." Jax held his son's head in his hands as he got eye level with him. "Charlie, none of this is your fault. All of this is on me."
"Then why don't you fix it?" Charlie cried, throwing his arms out in frustration. "Why are you getting divorced? Don't you love mom?"
"Of course I love your mom." Jax tried to soothe his son.
"Then why would you do that to her?" Charlie shoved his father back so that he could pin him with an accusing glare.
Jax ran a hand through his hair as he looked at his red faced son. Heaviness settled in his chest, the weight of all of his mistakes felt like it was constricting his lungs and his heart. What was he supposed to say? Never did he ever think that he would be having to explain his fuck ups to his ten year old son. "I never meant to hurt her. It's really complicated, Charlie."
Charlie ran his hands over his face doing his best to wipe the tears away. He let out a huff of annoyance, "That's what adults say when they screw up and don't even have a reason for it."
"I'm going to fix this, son." Jax promised, as he reached for Charlie to pull him into a hug, "No one is going to get divorced."
"Whatever you say, Dad." Charlie dodged his father's arms and made his way out of the garage.
Jax kicked the crate that his son had been sitting on, he seriously doubted that there was anyone on the planet that felt as shitty as he did in that moment.
Thank you everyone for the favorites, follows, and reviews. They are all very much appreciated. I've been working specifically on this chapter for a while now. I'm honestly not too sure how I feel about it, but at the same time it has been so long since I've last posted that I decided to just go with it. Any and all reviews, advice, etc. are welcome!
Special thank you to Emmettluver2010, LunaEvanna Longbottom, katannc, RebornRose1992, janshanr, Wikked, jamielynn25, Shantigal, and all of my guest reviewers. Your reviews always manage to put a smile on my face, especially when it comes to trying to write a good story.