CHAPTER THREE

This is the last chapter of DIGMHE; it really was just a short interlude between the first and the third of the stories in this series.

Trailing behind Clay I don't say a word as we walk down the stairs and onto the grass, he eventually stops leaning against the side of one of the trees that runs along the edge of the boundary.

I stay silent while he lights his cigar and takes several puffs, the aromatic smoke drifting past me before dissipating into the air. He eventually takes several breaths and raises his head.

"You should know that Jax wasn't going to give up on you as easy as I hoped and that in the last few hours I've had him, Gem, Donna and the rest of the club on my ass about what I said."

I stare blankly at him, waiting, I'm not sure if there is anything I have to say to him that won't insult him or his parentage.

I watch as he inhales deeply, the leather across his shoulders moving with the rise and fall of his chest. "I was wrong. I know that nothing I can say will make it seem any better, and that I can't apologise for the complete lack of tack that I showed."

I mentally roll my eyes; he's parroted words that I know Gemma has probably been shouting at him both in person and over the phone for at least the last 3 hours.

He rubs his hand over his face before fixing his eyes on mine again and something in them tells me I'm going to get his real feelings about the issue and why he's so dead set against it. Hopefully it'll be a reason that will make his negative reaction start to make sense.

"I know you're thinking I'm telling you what Gem said, well shouted, at me. You'd be right. But Sarah, you have to listen to me."

"I am." I interrupt.

"Good. I know you're not my daughter, I know that you have none of my blood in your body, none of my DNA but you've been my niece since the day you came into the world screaming and yelling and disturbing everyone's peace. When your folks died I never expected you to end up here, I was sure you'd end up with your mother's family in Florida but for some reason you ended up in our tiny little town with your father's brother instead, a brother you didn't know existed." Clay glances down and puffs a couple of times on his cigar before looking at me again.

"The day you came barrelling into me in Stockton was within the best 5 days of my life, I decided then that I'd be as close to a father as I could be, without trying to replace Charles. Thought I was doing a pretty good job of it, then you ran away to New York without a word to anyone, but you came back and I decided it was my second second chance to help you be who you wanted to be." He sighs deeply, "Then today I fucked all of that up."

A tiny part of me is shouting to tell Clay that he hasn't fucked it up, but the majority of me is sitting back nodding furiously and sharpening as many pointy things as they can imagine.

"It's not my choice who you're friends with, who you live with, who you love. Jax and I actually managed to talk for a while after Gemma stopped screaming at me and he made me realise that I was being an overbearing, overprotective asshole."

I chuckle a little at the image of Gemma and Jax taking turns to put Clay in his place.

Clays face twists into a small smile and he shakes his head slowly. "I can't make your choices for you; I can't try and save you from the mistakes I think you're making but I can tell you that I'm sorry for being overprotective, overbearing and an asshole. I can tell you that I know if Charles and Nicki had still been here when that happened this morning there wouldn't be enough pieces of me to fill a matchbox. It's still debateable whether Gem will leave enough of me to fill a thimble if I don't fix this."

The part of me that was sharpening tools lessens a little as a section of my brain tries to work out what to say. As I start opening my mouth Clay holds up his hand.

"Not quiet done yet. And trust me, admitting how much I fucked up is hard for me. But what I really need to say is this. Sarah, I'm sorry for trying to make your life harder, I'm sorry for trying to control you, even if it wasn't intentional. I always knew that you'd end up with a Son from the minute you jumped on the back of my bike with no fear at 12 years old. I knew from the time you were 14 that it would be Jax. I just tried to fool myself into thinking I could change your mind. When you left I was upset you'd gone, but happy that it meant you wouldn't end up as an Old Lady to someone who wouldn't respect you."

Clay pauses but I can tell by the set of his shoulders that he's not finished yet. "I was wrong. Jax loves you, he's only just realised how long he's loved you for and I tried to make you both ignore it because it made me uncomfortable."

"So?" I ask the majority of me is stunned that Clay has said he was sorry and admitted he was wrong, the minor part of me is waiting for the other boot to fall.

"I want you to be happy. I want you to stay here. If that means you're with Jax then so be it, your happiness is more important to me then me feeling a little uncomfortable." Clay says his entire body relaxing.

I'm slightly stunned for a second and the time it takes for the words he's said to sink in is used as he finishes his cigar and put it out.

"Clay, what are you trying to say?" I ask, needing him to put it very clearly before I can accept that it sounds like he's giving me his approval.

"If Jax is what makes you happy then you have my blessing. However, if he hurts you he has to answer to me." Clay says his gaze fixed firmly on me.

A smile breaks across my face, so wide that it feels like my cheeks are going to split open. "Thank you." I whisper stepping closer to him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

He hugs me to his chest and rests his chin on the top of my head and doesn't say anything.

Eventually he pulls back and rests his arm across my shoulders, "Come on, there's someone more important than me you need to see."

The smile on my face gets bigger as we turn towards the house, "So best 5 days?" I ask as we step back into the sunlight.

"Yep, the day Gem agreed to marry me and your birthday are another 2. The day I became president was one, and the day I met JT is the last." Clay says as we walk across the grass.

Going back through my open front door Clay pushes me in front of him into the living room where Jax is standing leaning against the wall. My eyes meet his and I rush across the room to him, pretty much throwing myself into his arms. My hands bury themselves in his hair and I tug his head backwards and crash my lips to his, kissing him and completely forgetting everyone else in the room is there.

I feel his arms wrap around me, one under my ass supporting my weight and the other around my waist. His hand is clenched tightly on my hip as time ceases to exist, when we eventually pull away from each other it's to a completely silent room and the faint echo of bikes leaving my driveway.

Meeting his gaze I giggle, "Guess we scared everyone off?"

Jax growls and releases me, setting my feet on the ground, "Don't you ever pull shit like that again, do you hear me?" Running his hands up my arms he cups my face in his palms and holds my head still. "I thought you'd left town again."

I shake my head, "I couldn't leave. I'd pretty much worked out that even if I had to torment myself by seeing you every day I still would not be able to leave."

Jax wraps his arms around my shoulders and tugs me closer, my arms coming between us, my hands fisting in his shirt as he lowers his head again and kisses me, this meeting of our lips is gentle, almost an apology about the almost violent meeting they'd had previously.

When he eventually detangles himself from me it's his hands that are in my hair, both of our breaths are uneven and I know my face is flushed and my eyes are glazed, looking up at him I can see his eyes have darkened and are almost glowing.

"You have a simple choice here Sarah." He says, wetting his lower lip and moving so a fraction of an inch of clear space is visible between us.

"What?" I ask, my body instantly cooling several degrees from the separation.

"I can take you upstairs and we can start christening the rooms of this house now or we can go to my house and start there." Jax says, carefully pulling his hand from my hair.

"Your house." I answer; even with my house hidden behind trees I have no curtains, and only hard wooden floors.

*I deliberately made this very short to keep people interested, however the sequel to this (titled 'Third Times A Charm') is proving to be another long one like HC was.