A/N: Updated: 8/21/20

Chapter 21

Jax POV

After Ma and I left the hospital with Abel we headed to her house since Eliza and Lexi were getting my house ready for the homecoming party tonight. Ma had turned my old room into a room for Abel. At first, I wasn't too sure about the idea but then it kinda made sense especially if I was gone on a run. I knew that Eliza, Ope and Lexi would help if I needed them too, but I really didn't want to put that on any of them. I appreciated all of the help that everyone had been offering but at some point I needed to start doing everything on my own.

Once Ma and I had gotten Abel situated in his crib, I told her that I was going to head over to TM and talk to Ope. I know that at first I thought that he and Eliza were rushing things but I had an idea that I wanted to run past him (and if I was being honest it was Clay that had given me the idea). When I got to TM, Ope was in the garage working on a car. I parked my bike in my usual spot and walked over to the garage. "Hey man." I said, as I approached him.

"Hey man. Did you spring the kid?" He asked me.

"Yeah, he's sleeping in his crib at Ma's." I told him.

"That's cool. Eliza called a bit ago, wondering if I'd heard from you."

I nodded. "Yeah, Ma figured that this way he'd get some peace and quiet and they could finish setting up." I told him.

He nodded. "You look like you got something on your mind." Ope asked.

I leaned back against the tool bench. "I've been doing some thinking over the last couple of days. Some serious thinking." I say, causing Ope to stop what he was doing and stare at me. "Have you and Eliza thought about getting your own place?" I asked him.

Ope ran his hand over his face. "I've thought about it, but I haven't mentioned it to Eliza. Hell, the other night the two of us were talking and we both agreed that we wanted to get married and have a family." Ope said.

"But…"

"But she doesn't feel the time is right, right now. She feels that we need to hold off because we need to be there for you."

I nodded. So that's what Eliza was up to. She was putting her life on hold because of me and Abel. I needed to talk to her but first I had to talk to Lexi. If I could get Lexi to agree to stay at the house with me, then Eliza and Opie could move out and start moving forward with their lives. I owed my sister that. "Alright, thanks man. I gotta go." I said, and I headed towards my bike.

I headed back to Ma's because she would be itching to get over to my house to make sure that Eliza had everything done for the party tonight. I would have to find a moment some time tonight to get Lexi alone so that I could talk to her. If I could get her on board with my idea, then maybe she could help me convince Eliza that it was time for her and Opie to move forward with their lives.

After Ma and I loaded Abel up in her Escalade, we headed over to my house. People would be showing up for the homecoming party within the hour. When I walked in the front door to my house, I couldn't believe what I saw. The whole living room had been decorated. Balloons, streamers, even a welcome home sign hung over the back door. Eliza was the first person to greet us at the door. "Hi, Abel… Come to Aunt Eliza." She said, taking Abel out of my arms. She walked down the hall to the nursery that she and Ma had set up. Ma followed her to the nursery.

I walked into the kitchen to get a beer and saw Lexi standing at the sink washing what few dishes were in the sink. "Hey." I said.

"Oh, hey Jax." Lexi said.

"So, I need to talk to you." I said, opening my beer.

She turned the water off and dried her hands before turning around to face me. "What's on your mind?"

"So, I realized today that it's not fair to me for me to keep asking my sister and Opie to stay here and keep putting their lives on hold. And I also know that you're not ready to just throw yourself into a whole new life here in Charming… so I had this thought. If I can convince them to move out so that they can work on their life together… would you consider staying here and maybe helping out with Abel, if I needed help?" I said.

"I wouldn't mind. I actually need help finding a vehicle. You think that you could help me find one?" She asked me, throwing me a slight smirk.

I gave her my trademark smile. "Sure. I think I can do that." I said.

Eliza POV

When I walked into the nursery so that I could change Abel and put him in his Redwood Gear, I heard Ma behind me. "Do you ever think about having one?" Ma asked me.

"Of course, I do Ma, but right now Jax needs me here. Opie and I talked about it. When things settle down with Jax then we'll talk about it again." I said.

I walked over to the changing table and started to change him. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that Ma had walked over to the rocking chair in the corner and sat down. "Eliza, Jax is a big boy. He can take care of himself and Abel. Clay actually has something for you. It's your graduation gift. He just wanted to wait until things had settled down a bit." Ma said, catching my attention.

After I changed Abel's clothes, I picked him up and turned to face Ma. "A graduation gift?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. He wants to give it to you himself." She said. She pulled a piece of paper out of her back pocket and handed it to me. "It's an address. He wants you to go meet him there now." She said, taking Abel from me. "Go…"

I walked out of the room and down the hall back towards the living room. I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door. When I got in my car, I opened the piece of paper at looked at the address on it. It wasn't far from here. I started my car and I drove over to the address that Ma had given me.

When I pulled into the driveway, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The house was as big as Ma's. There was a small waterfall that was sitting in front of a huge house. I cut the engine to my car and climbed out. As I made my way over to the waterfall, I heard a bike come around the corner and pull into the driveway. The engine cut off. I turned around to face my stepdad as he climbed off his bike. "Do you like it?" He asked me.

I nodded. "It's beautiful." I said.

Clay walked closer to me and handed me the keys to the house. "It's yours. Well yours and Ope's. Eliza, it's time for you and Ope to start your lives together. You keep putting your life on hold for this family and its time that this family did something for you." Clay said to me.

It wasn't a secret that Clay and I didn't get along but every once in a while we did… and when we did it was like this. Sometimes it was almost as if I was his daughter. I leaned up and hugged him. "Thanks." I said.

When we got back to Jax's house, Ope cornered me. "Where've you been?" He asked.

"Mom and Clay had a graduation gift for me. They bought us a house." I said. Ope looked shocked.