The smell of coffee woke Jess and she had a smile on her face before her eyes opened. She stretched her body, reaching a hand to Jax's now empty side of the bed as images of their night together flashed through her mind. The tension between them, months of being unable to touch each other, had erupted in what could only be described as carnal. It had not been a tender night of lovemaking; they had been desperate for each other.
Jess's smile widened at the memory as she climbed out of bed, grabbing Jax's white t-shirt that was still lying precariously on the dresser where he had tossed it the night before. She threw it on and walked into the living room. Jax was on the phone when she walked in and his eyes darkened as he took in the sight of her in his t-shirt. He grinned lazily, motioning to the coffee as he finished up the call. Jess poured a mug as Jax hung up the phone.
"We found Georgie's stash," Jax said. Jess's intense happiness of moments before vanished and she frowned, remembering her plan, remembering what she had to do. Remembering Luann. She wanted to forget it all and just be happy with Jax, but she knew that wouldn't be possible until Georgie was behind her.
"That's good news," she said. Jax studied her, tapping his fingers on the counter pensively.
"We can take it from here for you, Jess," Jax said, putting it on the table one more time. "We can get it over with, put it all behind you."
"He murdered Luann, Jax," she said. "For what, competition? For fucking Cara Cara? I will never be able to get past that if I don't do this."
Jax took several moments to respond, taking her and her words in. When he finally spoke, his voice was full of worry.
"You might not be able to get past it if you do," he said. Jess took a deep breath, nodding.
"I know," she said. "But he can't get away with what he did. And he has to know that it's because of Luann. At the very least, I have to be there at the end."
"Okay," Jax relented.
"Okay," Jess repeated. "So what do we do about the drugs?"
Jax grinned. "So we have a couple of options. Option 1 - we steal it. Option 2 – we call it in, let Georgie get arrested. Option 3 - We blow it up."
Jess grinned. "Option 3 sounds like the most fun."
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
That day at work felt like Jess had been transplanted to a year earlier, the days when she couldn't wait to leave work to meet Jax at the clubhouse. But mixed in with the anticipation was a fear in the back of her mind that Georgie would show up to Cara Cara, angry that Jess had drugged him and flipped his house upside down, but so far he hadn't shown his face. He would know by now that Jess had destroyed the recordings, and he'd probably been able to figure out that the Sons were backing her now. He may have also even realized she'd found the charm.
She'd need to act fast in case he got any ideas of skipping town. What a pain in the ass it would be to have to track him down. But she knew he'd stick around long enough for the meet with the Nords the next day. She wanted to let him sit there as she took everything from him before the deed was finally done. But now she just wanted to get it over with and move on with her life with Jax.
"How's things?" Nero asked, passing Jess on his way up the stairs to Diosa. Jess smiled
"It's handled," she said. Nero nodded.
"Good job," he said, and her smile widened. As much as she hated to admit it, she really liked pleasing Nero. She looked up to him, and wanted to prove herself to him.
"How are things with Diosa?" she asked. Nero shrugged.
"Going good," he said. "Got to deal with some lady drama, but business is booming."
"I hear that," Jess said. "Hey, family dinner is on Sunday. You should come." Nero thought about it and finally nodded.
"Yeah, okay. Send me the details," he said. She nodded as he turned to go up the stairs.
Jess left the club early, leaving Rob the bartender to close up for her. She couldn't wait until the middle of the night to see Jax.
As she walked into the clubhouse, it felt different than the few times she'd been there the past few months. It felt like hers, like once again she belonged there. Jax spotted her as soon as she walked in, and she heard Lux's cat calls from across the room as he walked over to her, rested his arms on her shoulders, and kissed her. She smiled into the kiss, eventually breaking it to look up at him.
"Hi," she said. He leaned his forehead against hers.
"Hi," he whispered, kissing her lightly again. He turned his head to Half-Sack, the newest prospect. "Hey prospect! Get the lady a beer." Half-Sack nodded, rushing to the bar as Jax lead Jess to the table he'd been sitting at, surrounded by Opie, Lux, Tig, and Juice.
It could've been in her mind, but Jess felt like the guys were looking at her differently as she took her seat, like she was more than just Jax's old lady or Otto's daughter. Half-Sack set her beer in front of her and she took a sip as Lux launched into the story of Tig attending birthing classes with her.
"You should have seen his face when the teacher put on the video!" she said laughing, leaning against Tig as he rolled his eyes.
"Look, been there done that. I'm fine," Tig said.
"You should've told your face!" Lux said, still laughing. Jess smiled, shaking her head.
"How much longer?" she asked.
"9 weeks, 3 days," Tig said. Lux raised her eyebrows at him and he shrugged. "Approximately."
"But who's counting?" Lux teased. Jax put her arm around Jess just as Gemma walked into the clubhouse. She started to the bar, but stopped when she saw Jess with Jax.
"Jess!" she said, surprise flashing across her face.
"Hey Gemma," Jess said.
"Well isn't this a nice surprise," Gemma said, taking in Jax's arm around Jess. "I'm so glad you two seemed to have worked out all those many issues you were having." Jax narrowed his eyes at his mother, recognizing trouble when he saw it.
"Gemma," he said warningly. She raised her hands.
"What, I'm just saying. I'm not sure I could've been such a big person to forgive a betrayal like that. I'm so glad you could rise above it," Gemma said.
"Mom!" Lux said in annoyance. "Stop."
"So I take it Jess told you her little secret then?" Gemma asked. Jax looked at Jess, whose eyes widened. Could she know about the safety deposit box? But no. If she knew, she certainly wouldn't bring it up. But then what?
"I don't need to know all her secrets," Jax said as Jess's heart pounded like a drum in her ears. Gemma shrugged.
"You're right. You don't. I mean, as long as you're not serious. But you just got back together, how serious could it be?" Gemma asked. Jax shoved his chair back, standing up and walking to Gemma. When he spoke, his voice was low and Jess strained to hear what he was saying.
"I know what you're doing, Gem," he said. "And it needs to stop. We're together. Figure your own shit out and leave Jess out of it." Gemma crossed her arms in front of her chest, glancing at Jess and then back at Jax. Jess debated getting up to stand beside him, but hesitated.
"You can't trust her, Jax," she said. "She proved that." Jax shook his head.
"If you can't trust her, that's your own shit to deal with. I'm fine." Jess finally stood, walking over to stand next to Jax. United. Gemma smiled at Jess, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Fine, if you're fine, I'm fine. At least I have Abel. I suppose one grandchild will be enough," Gemma said. Jess's heart sank as she realized what Gemma had been alluding to. Gemma knew about her injuries from the shooting. And she'd decided she should be the one to tell Jax. Jess should have told him sooner, but they'd just gotten back together. It hadn't seemed like the right time. It was never the right time. If only Gemma knew what Jess had on her…
Jax narrowed his eyes at Gemma, glancing at Jess who looked pleadingly at him.
"Oh you didn't know?" Gemma asked innocently. "Jess, you didn't tell him? Don't you think that's something he should know?"
And suddenly, Jess was pissed. Her eyes narrowed at Gemma. "I don't think it's any of your business, Gemma."
"I think anything to do with my family is my business," Gemma said.
"Yeah, you've made that abundantly clear," Jess said, trying to keep her voice even when all she wanted to do was scream at her. "But the things you do, things like sneaking into my personal fucking medical files, you say you do it out of love, but you do it for the control. You want to control Jax and anyone else around you. And you can keep doing all this petty fucking bullshit, but you're going to lose. You're going to lose Jax. You're going to lose everyone in the end if you don't stop."
"Is that a threat?" Gemma asked, all pretense of niceties gone.
"No, Gemma, it's the future. It's me reading your fucking tea leaves. Jax sees through your bullshit. You're not going to be able to come between us," Jess said. Jax grinned, standing beside Jess. He shrugged at his mom.
"You heard the lady," he said, throwing his arm around Jess and they walked off. He steered her towards the side door and they walked outside, sitting on the picnic table. They sat in silence for several moments until Jax spoke.
"You want to tell me what she was talking about?" Jax asked. Jess sighed, looking over at Jax.
"I'm worried you'll be angry," she said honestly, turning her eyes to her hands.
"I'm not going to be angry," he said. She took a deep breath, returning her eyes to his.
"I've been keeping this from you," she said, "for a long time. It's about the drive-by last year."
"What about it?" Jax asked, his eyes narrowed in concern.
"I wasn't totally honest about the extent of my injuries," Jess said.
"Are you okay?" Jax asked, worried. Jess nodded.
"Yeah, yes. I'm fine," she said quickly. She looked back at her hands. "But… because of where the bullet was lodged, I can't… I can't have kids. Well, it's very unlikely." She chanced a glance up at Jax, worried she'd see anger behind his eyes. Anger that she lied, that she'd kept something like this from him for so long. But all she saw was concern.
"Did you… did you want kids?" he asked.
"I would have with you," she whispered. She could feel the tears welling behind her eyes and Jax pulled her close to him, running his hand down her back.
"You didn't need to keep that from me," he said. "You could've told me. I could've been there for you." Jess felt the tears flowing more freely as she buried her face into his chest.
"I didn't want you to feel more guilty than you already did about the shooting," she said, looking up at him. He cupped her face in his hands, wiping her tears with his thumbs.
"You don't ever need to protect me," he said. "You can tell me anything." Jess nodded and Jax leaned in to kiss her.
"You really let Gemma have it," he said when they'd broken apart. Jess laughed, nodding.
"Yeah, I can deal with Gemma," she said. Jax nodded.
"Not many can," he said. "But I'm not worried." She grinned as a thought occurred to her.
"What would you say about hosting family dinner with me at my house this week?" she asked. Jax chuckled, nodding.
"I'll back you up," he said. "But I'm not cooking." Jess laughed, nodding.
"Fair enough," she said. It would be a good start in reminding Gemma of her place around there now, if she didn't get in line.
Author's Note: THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed/favorited, etc! I hope you all are enjoying the chapters, and it would mean so much if you could let us know!