28
Jax Is Really Alive
"
Chapter 56 Reunited with a Threatening Future
"
The next morning, Jax was in charge of watching Thomas. Opie called and needed to meet with Tara. He sounded mysterious. Jax didn't know what that was all about, but Tara would tell him when she knew. Later, he was meeting with Tara's mother.
"Hey little man, tell me what you want to play with," Jax said.
Thomas looked at his father.
"I don't understand."
Jax looked at his son and tried to clear his mind of everything. He got it. He showed him a picture of a sippy cup.
"I can't believe you and that sippy cup. If you are a good boy for daddy, I'll ask mommy if I can get you a sippy cup."
Jax realized what he'd just said. He would ask Tara for permission to get his son a sippy cup. He was turning into a pussy. What the hell was wrong with him? He would tell Tara they needed to get Thomas a sippy cup today. That was more like it.
Thomas gave Jax a thoughtful look before putting his bunny's long ear into his mouth.
Tara returned looking grave.
"Opie wants me to tell you something. He doesn't want you to try to talk him out of it," Tara said.
She poured herself a cup of coffee and topped off Jax's cup before sitting down across from him at the kitchen table. Thomas was sitting in his high chair trying to put Cheerios into his mouth, but his fingers were having problems picking up the little O's.
"When Opie saw the counselor, he realized that he never really wanted his kids. He did it because he thought it would help with a rocky patch in his marriage. That's also why they had a second child."
"Opie told me that he wanted to have a kid with Lyla for the same reason," Jax said.
"He could go through a lot of therapy with varying chances of success. It could take a long time to get results. His counselor suggested this approach the Paralorns use. They do it rarely and it requires two doctor's medical approval and a detailed explanation of the procedure.
"It's kind of like being brainwashed into loving his kids. He will go in tonight to the health unit and they will put him into this suspended state where he is highly suggestible. He will be shown pictures of his kids and Donna and be given drugs that will make him feel euphoric. That is done for twelve or so hours until he associates Donna and his kids with happiness."
"They can really do that?"
"Ryland's seen it work. Over time the effects wear off, but by that time, he should have built real feelings of love for his kids. They can do it over and over many times if necessary."
"Mind control?"
"Yeah, that's why it requires two doctors and a full explanation. It isn't something that they just do all the time. He wants to fix his marriage and his family relationships. There's really no added value to using a longer more time consuming process."
"Will it change him?"
"Just with Donna and his kids. He's going to enjoy being around his family. What is wrong with that?"
"Why did Opie think I would try to talk him out of it?"
"Because of the mind control aspects. In my new medical position, I will be working with Opie."
"What does Donna think about this?"
"She loves Opie and believes this is the best chance they have of having a happy family. I think it will work and I'm proud of Opie for being open to doing this to save his family."
"I just can't imagine going through mind control like that."
Tara shrugged. "When you fall in love, you see that person and you feel happy. That's what this does. He is doing it fully informed. Ryland and I signed off."
"I'm going to tell him that I think he's doing the right thing to save his family."
"Good. He needs support from friends."
"Thomas wants a sippy cup," Jax said.
Thomas stopped trying to pick up Cheerios and looked at his parents.
"Telepathy?"
"Yeah," Jax said.
Tara sighed.
"I'm not sure how I feel about this telepathy thing."
Thomas looked at his parents.
"Sippy cup picture," Jax said.
"Sippy cup picture," Tara said. "Just because you can tell us what you want, it doesn't mean you are going to get it, young man. You can have a sippy cup. We'll all go to the store tomorrow—one night sleepy time—and you can pick out a sippy cup."
Thomas smiled a big baby drool smile and laughed.
"I'd forgotten about the drool monster stage with Abel," Jax said.
"Abel may be coming out of his coma sooner than expected. We'll know in a couple of days," Tara said.
"When did you find this out?"
"Today when I met with Ry and Opie in the medical unit."
"That's really good news. Everything seems to be going well."
"It scares me," Tara confessed. "I feel like there's something out there that will try to take our happiness away from us again."
"There hasn't been a news story about Jax Teller in days. Even that's dying down. I'm telling you, I think we have a great future here."
Jax's phone alarm went off.
"I have to get to my appointment with the Queen."
"
********************Queen Meeting*******************
"
Jax's meeting was at the Queen's home that was conveniently next door. He walked over to the house and knocked on the door. He was taken aback because she answered the door herself.
She grinned at his look of surprise.
"Expecting some sort of servant to answer the door?"
"Yeah. You're the Queen."
"I'm not that formal with family. In private, you don't need to call me Lorna or Queen. Maybe what Tara calls me—Meg. My Paralorn name is difficult to pronounce."
"Meg it is," Jax said.
"Let's go into the family room," she said leading the way to the family room. She curled up putting her legs under her and holding a pillow.
"That's the exact same way Tara sits," Jax said.
"It's funny the little things that link us to our parents."
"It's strange to think that you're Tara's mother when you only look a few years older."
"It's normal for us, but I can imagine it does look strange until you get used to it. I am really sorry about all that you have gone through especially the death of your mother and everything that happened to her. How are you doing?"
Jax could feel Tara's mother's compassion. When she asked him how he was doing, she actually cared about his answer.
"I just avoid thinking about it," Jax confessed. "I told Tara that I thought I hated Gemma and then I saw how she'd been tortured. I do have good loving memories of her."
"I think it's just too complex for you to love or hate her. Focus on the loving memories. There's no point in remembering the bad. There's nothing you can do about it. It just hurts you and fills you full of anger because she betrayed you."
"She betrayed me and then Unser betrayed her. He punished her for not loving him. I worry that so many aliens have turned bad that the same might happen to me," Jax said. He hadn't planned on telling her that. The admission slipped out unexpectedly.
"You have your family to keep that from happening to you. And your friends."
"I screwed up so many things."
"You now have the advantage of being able to learn from your mistakes. I can't be your mother or even Tara's because you both grew up without me. I hope I can provide love, support and counsel to you and Tara. There's so much I need to tell you. Did Tara get a chance to talk to you about remaining in Charming?"
"Yeah, she told me that she needs to learn hybrid medicine and how to be queen. Makes sense. Thomas will need to learn to be king."
"How do you feel about that?"
"I'm learning to embrace the whole alien thing. I wouldn't be here and my family wouldn't either without all the alien help we've received."
"Good. We can build you a house or you can keep the one you're in. You don't have to live in this gated area if you would prefer to live in the non-alien part of the city."
"I kind of like the sense of community here. My friends are here. I don't see any reason to move. It will be nice having grandma next door for Thomas."
"And for Abel. I am both boys' grandmother. I don't want Abel to ever feel not equal. He can't be king, but that is the only difference."
"Thank you for that," Jax said.
He was beginning to see Meg as possible a mother figure who could help guide him and Tara in this new phase of his life. She was much more calm and serene than Gemma. He did feel drawn to her like she was family. It would be good for Tara to have a mother figure and the boys to have a grandmother.
"I know about your Sliven genetics. Ryland told me. I don't have a problem with it, but not everyone is open minded. That's something we need to keep quiet about until there's a time when our people are more open to the idea. I think the Paralorns have gotten soft. Some of the Sliven toughness will be good for us. It will help Thomas be a better king. I've been agonizing over this bioweapon. I'm glad it was my husband's decision whether or not to use the weapon. I'm not sure I would have been able to order the weapon used killing all the Sliven."
"I've experienced Thomas' telepathic powers," Jax said smiling as he remembered Thomas showing him a picture of a sippy cup. "That's an adjustment."
Meg laughed. "I can imagine. Paralorn children do not have telepathic powers, so it's a first for me. My husband and I share a telepathic link though."
"Does it work with all the time and distance between you?"
"That doesn't matter. It's the person. We are closer now than we have ever been. He's always with me even now. We talk to each other inside our heads like you carry on a conversation with me. Our love has only grown despite the years and physical separation. Our link goes beyond that."
"That's pretty amazing."
"I know you're skeptical. I don't blame you. It does sound crazy. We've tested it. I will think of something and talk to him about it and he'll write down the conversation and send it to me and it will match the conversation I'd had with him."
"It's not that much stranger than the whole aliens coming back from the dead thing."
"You have a point. This next part may be even more amazing than coming back from the dead. Every society has some kind of religion. On Rackle, we Paralorns follow the religion of prophesy. Our bible doesn't tell the past. It does provide some guidance. There's the belief that the original king was sent by our Creator to establish our world. That's why we don't have voting. The royal bloodline whether we're lead by a king or a queen makes the decisions with input from others, but most of the input from others is for show. My husband just knows what to do."
"Royal infallibility?"
"There is that belief. I'm queen by marriage, so I can be wrong. I'm not so sure about my husband always being right, but he's guided by our bible and I can't think of a mistake he's made with our country."
"Does that mean you have to obey him in all things?"
"As far as government is concerned, yes. I do have to follow him. He's the head of all the Paralorns and now all of Rackle. I make the decisions here, but we communicate telepathically. In our relationship, it's a normal give and take."
"How did you decide to get married?"
"I didn't. It was written. We have a book some of the pages have writing and others do not. Each day the king or lorne looks at the book to see if anything is written."
"Magically written?" Jax asked.
"Yes. They have tried over the years to see if someone could be writing it, but no it just appears when we need to know. The choosing of a mate hadn't been important. It was a free choice until my husband. One day it was written that the prince now my husband must find a wife who could read the sentence and there was a sentence. Only royals by blood can read the book."
"Know how or allowed?"
"Know how. It's baked in the genetics. Until then, only royals could read the book. It was a little Cinderella as all females of marriageable age were shown one word in the sentence. No one could read it. I could read the word, but it scared me. Marrying a man I didn't know and becoming queen was never in my life's plan. I was a shy awkward girl. I wanted to spend my life designing gardens."
"Can Tara read the book?"
"Yes. Shortly after she returned to life, Ryland tested her. We weren't sure if that ability would continue since she was a hybrid, but she can read it."
"What happened to the shy awkward girl?"
"Still here. Just better at hiding it. Another thing Tara and I have in common. The next year, same thing only a different word. This time the lorner—the prince—was in the room. I still couldn't admit I could read the word. I looked at the word, shook my head and left the room barely glancing at the prince. That night, he showed up on my doorstep. He knew I could read the word and was lying. When I opened the door and he came in, I turned and looked at him, he looked at me and that was it. I'd met my husband."
"Did you love him?"
She nodded smiling at the memory of that long ago night.
"It was magical."
"It was written," Jax suggested.
"Yes. I don't know how. I proved I could read the sentence and we spent time together getting to know each other, but we were ready to get married that night. Most wives or husbands of the monarch do not have much of a role. It was different for me. It was written about my large role in helping my country, my people and my king."
"That's why it needed to be a specific person," Jax said. "It would take a special person to do all that you have done."
"I didn't know about what the future had in store for me, but over time I grew into my role. When we got in our ships to leave, it was written about another book. We found it and it was written that I was to take it with me. That has continued to provide direction and writings including that you and Tara would get together."
"Names?"
"No. Descriptions. Tara will be a good queen, but it is Thomas who will be a spectacular king. He's an extraordinary child."
"As long as we get him a sippy cup he'll be happy for awhile."
Meg laughed.
"You are the one with the bright future on this planet now. Have you given any thought to your future?"
Jax shook his head.
"I haven't given it much thought. I have to find something to do."
"You need to think beyond having a job. We have enormous wealth and can easily make more with our technology. You can use our money to make a difference in the world. Think of that. How would you make this world better?"
"Is it written in the book how I'm supposed to do that?" Jax asked.
"There are some hints, but I think you can figure it out for yourself. Give yourself some time. I know that you want to repair the damage SAMCRO has caused. Use that to try to figure things out. Maybe your friend Opie can work with you if he and his wife decide to stay in Charming."
"I do know one thing—I want to marry Tara in a Paralorn ceremony. Ryland has told me a little about it and it sounds interesting."
"Oh, no," Meg laughed. "I'm going to go all mother of the bride now. I'd like an earth ceremony maybe first and then the next day a Paralorn ceremony. We can record it and send it back home for our people to see both ceremonies. We can introduce the next generation of royalty. This is such a happy time for them emerging from the tunnels and getting the planet back. This would make such a great part of the celebration."
"I'll talk to Tara."
"Oh no, you don't," she scolded. "You need to propose and I have an idea for the perfect proposal."
After she told Jax, he admitted that the proposal idea sounded pretty good to him. He left feeling optimistic about the future. That long dark hell he'd been in when he found Tara dead on his kitchen floor was over. It was going to be happiness and family from here on out, but like Tara, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. Something was going to happen to take their happiness away.
"
"******************Jax & Opie*********************"
Jax called Opie and suggested they get together a couple of hours before they had to go to SAMCRO. He drove them to Pie Shoppe a little place in Charming that was known for its pies. It also served burgers and chicken sandwiches including a killer spicy chicken sandwich.
"I ate lunch, but those chicken sandwiches are so damned good," Opie said.
"They have sliders now," Jax exclaimed looking at the menu. "We could share a basket of sliders and still have room for pie."
The waitress came and took their order for a basket of sliders to be followed by a slice of coconut cream pie for Opie and a slice of French silk chocolate pie for Jax.
"Tara talk to you?" Opie asked.
"About the therapy? Yeah. Ope, I think you should do what you think best to get your family back together."
"I really hope it works. I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why I can't love my kids."
"You went to prison and lost that attachment. It happens a lot in the MC life. Of all the MC guys who had kids, not one of them is a decent father."
"Too busy being all about the brotherhood," Opie said bitterly. "How could our fathers not see that real fatherhood was more important than pretend brotherhood?"
"By the time I realized it, my only solution to the screwed up mess I'd made of my life was to drive head on into a truck. My father realized it too late too."
"I don't think Piney ever realized it."
"You ever think the reason we call our parents by their first names is the first clue our parents fucked up raising us?" Jax asked as the waitress put a basket of spicy chicken sliders and iced teas on their table.
Opie laughed.
"Damn, I never thought of it like that, but hell you could be right," Opie said. "Why didn't our parents make us call them mom and dad?"
"I think they wanted to be cool, young parents and so they encouraged us to call them by their first names. I don't they were really comfortable with their roles as parents."
"Could be why our fathers preferred playing brothers to being fathers. As brothers maybe they thought they could stay young forever. My counselor said I didn't grow up with good parent role models so I don't know how to be a parent. I relied on Donna to teach me how to be a parent. When I lost her, I had no idea what to do, so I thought Lyla could fill in. Piper is with Lyla's mother now. Lyla's a drugged up mess now. I'm afraid she's either going to kill herself or keep going downhill. If she doesn't get clean, she won't regain custody. Ryland said they'll rehab her but only if she quits working in the porn industry."
Jax downed a couple of sliders thinking hard and fast. He'd failed Lyla too. He'd been such a big man telling her that all she had to do was ask for help and the club and its friends would help her. He'd shown her all the people at Opie's wake. He'd told her puffing out his chest if someone didn't help her, that person would have to answer to him. And then he'd done absolutely nothing to help Lyla until Ima brought in an injured Lyla and told them about a porn job that had gone wrong.
"Some of what's happened to Lyla is my fault," Jax said. "I didn't help her after you died. After she got beaten doing a porn job, I helped her after that, but I don't know how much was about me helping her and more about me using her."
"It's more my fault. You know right before my head got caved in, I felt this soaring crazy happiness. I was going to be free. I wasn't worried about how my kids were going to grow up or about Lyla. It was all about me and how I was done and free."
"I felt the same way too," Jax confessed. "Freedom and getting back with Tara. I didn't think about how Wendy was going to raise my little guys."
"What a harsh surprise when we got dragged back to life," Opie said shaking his head at the bitter reality that had greeted him when he returned to life. He snagged the last of the chicken sliders.
"I was talking to Tara's mother about my future. She's offered to bankroll me in anything I want to do. I want to help people and Lyla is a good start."
"What do you have in mind?" Opie asked.
"What if we could get Lyla clean and then trained to do a job that would help her make a decent living outside the porn industry? I can get access to money to help her. We should also move her to another area so she isn't tempted to go back to her past. Give her a real fresh clean start. Do something that if she stays clean, finishes training we help her find a job and maybe give her a house after a few years as a bonus. We could call it a grant," Jax suggested.
"That would be great. Lyla's a sweetheart. Not a mean bone in her body. She's just messed up and uses coke to hide from life."
"We were part of exploiting her," Jax said. "I thought if she worked behind the camera, it would be OK, but in that industry there's a lot of drug use. They use it to keep going. I think Ryland's right to condition rehab on her leaving the porn industry."
"It would be better for her kid too. If we could help her, we could save Piper and her mother too. We could save a family."
"Hey look at you thinking like a father," Jax said with a wide grin.
"Maybe there's hope for me after all."
"Ope, you're going to get through this and you'll find the love you need for your kids and Donna."
"I like this improved version of you. It's taken me a while to be grateful for having a new life, but the idea of fixing someone feels good. It's going to be a little tricky with Donna, but I think it will be OK once we get the kids back."
"They're with JC's parents?"
"Yeah. His parents call us everyday and give us an update. The kids are a little traumatized from Lyla part from seeing her fall apart and part from being torn away from Piper and Lyla. They were the only two people left in their lives. I know they are in great arms until Donna and I have a stable home to bring them back to."
"Opie, you are thinking like a father. I think this treatment sounds good. If Ryland and Tara say it's a good idea, I'd trust them."
"Ryland's so damned flawless," Opie said.
"Damn him," Jax said laughing. "I'm just glad he's on our side."
"
*****************So Long SAMCRO***********************
"
Louise briefed them before they set off to finish things with SAMCRO. Kozik, Opie and Jax were in the back seat. The Tacoma chapter had returned and were no longer patrolling the roof of SAMCRO. There were no locks on the gates just the blood splattered patio area remained to show the violence of a few days ago.
Despite the appearance that the MC was going to leave quietly, they still all carried weapons and security entered the clubhouse first.
Chibs seemed to have aged ten years since they had visited the clubhouse yesterday. Happy looked defeated. The light in his eyes had dimmed. He would probably go out and kill a couple of people tonight. Quinn and Rat were sitting in the shadows.
"I can't give you the cuts," Chibs said.
"Fine," Jax said. "We'll do it the hard way." He really thought that he'd convinced Chibs it was better to take the money and leave.
"No, that's not what I meant," Chibs explained in his Scots brogue. "We still belong to the Sons. SAMCRO is gone. That's what you wanted," he said pointing to a pile of the SAMCRO insignia that had been removed from the cut of every member. "The chapter is disbanded. We'll leave town as Sons."
Jax was glad to see Chibs still had a little fight left in him. It was fair. If the guys wanted to still be Sons they could do whatever the hell they wanted as long as SAMCRO was dead.
"Fine by me," Jax said. "Guys?" Jax turned to look at Opie and Kozik.
"I'm good," Kozik said
"Me too," Opie said.
All the other stuff that had SAMCRO on it from glasses to T-shirts were stacked in a pile.
Jax reached into the pocket of his jacket and handed the envelope stuffed with cash to Chibs.
"We found a couple of bottles of whiskey. You guys want to toast to the end of SAMCRO?" Chibs asked.
Happy's lips tightened into a thin line. He wasn't at all feeling happy and he didn't mind showing his feelings.
Jax raised an eyebrow and looked at Opie and Kozik.
"Sure."
Chibs went behind the bar and took a bottle of Scotch off the top shelf. It was still sealed.
"What's left of the charter's coming by in an hour or so to drink to the end, I'll divide the money and it will be done. In the morning, when we've sobered up, we'll leave."
"What's going on with the guys? Where are they going?" Kozik asked.
"I'm going to Ireland for awhile. We're thinking about starting another charter somewhere no where near here," Chibs said. "None of the other charters want to take TO."
"Some of us are going to Tacoma or Rogue River," Quinn said.
"Just make sure that's true and don't ride through Charming," Jax said frost in his voice. He wasn't at all happy about them starting another charter. He was also unhappy that none of the charters would accept TO.
Everyone gathered at the bar. Chibs put out glasses and filled each with the Scotch and they all had one last drink together. Kozik and Opie gathered up the SAMCRO stuff and they left. Just like that and it was all over.
In a few hours, SAMCRO would just be an unpleasant memory for Charming. The town was free of the thugs who used to run it. SAMCRO protected the town, but no one protected the town from SAMCRO. SAMCRO's protection services weren't free. Businesses paid the Sons for protection. Clay had turned it into a big money maker. This wasn't part of the Sons that got much attention, but it had provided the Sons with some income.
Some of the small businesses could barely afford to pay their workers, but they had damned well better pay the MC or there wouldn't be a business at all. He'd tried to get Clay to see what they were doing was wrong. They weren't any better than the criminals they claimed to be protecting the business from. It was just about money and never about doing good or helping the community. It had all just been a scam. SAMCRO was never the noble white knights.
After the drinks were finished, they got into the vans and left. Jax turned his head to take one last look at the clubhouse where SAMCRO used to call home. It was over now. It hit him then, all the wasted time, all the killing and all the damned mistakes he'd made. Well, it was done. SAMCRO was gone. He could at least some comfort in the fact that he'd removed the poisonous MC from town.
"
*********Sippy Cups and Overnight with Grandma*******************
"
Thomas slept with them again. Tara was actually getting a little teary-eyed that Thomas was going to be using a sippy cup. She'd loved feeding him with a bottle. That night when Thomas went to bed, he showed them both pictures of a sippy cup before he fell asleep. Jax wondered what he'd want next. Maybe it would be good if this telepathy thing was just a phase.
They headed out of town to shop at a store that would have everything they needed in one stop. Tara had a list of things they needed in their house. Jax suspected Tara was deliberately waiting to the end to get Thomas his sippy cup. Finally, she led him pushing Thomas in the grocery cart to the baby products aisle. Thomas' eyes brightened and he kicked his feet with excitement. He was showing them sippy cup pictures.
Jax lifted him out of the cart and held him so he could get a closer look at the sippy cups. Thomas sucked hard on his pacifier showing his excitement.
He pointed to a bright purple sippy cup with drawings of all different kinds of puppies on it.
"You know I was thinking that we should get two sippy cups," Jax said. "He's going to be visiting grandma a lot and she'll need a sippy cup for him."
Thomas looked at his parents and showed them the image of two sippy cups.
"Pick out another sippy cup," Tara said to her son.
Thomas laughed spitting out his pacifier in his happiness. His second sippy cup selection was a more conventional SpongeBob Squarepants sippy cup.
Unexpectedly he showed them pictures of Abel. He and Abel used to watch cartoons together. SpongeBob was Abel's favorite.
"Abel is sick and he is getting well. He will be back with us soon and we'll all watch cartoons together. Even daddy."
Thomas nodded his head. He gathered up his sippy cups in his chubby arms and held them until they got to the checkout line. He watched his sippy cups to make sure they didn't get lost on their journey through the line and into a bag.
Jax grabbed the bag with the sippy cups and held it out to Thomas.
"Here you go little man."
Thomas looked inside the bag to make sure his sippy cups were still in the bag. Tara and Jax just shook their heads. Thomas was amazingly advanced in his thinking.
"You know I have a surprise for Thomas, but I don't know if he'll like it," Jax said.
Thomas looked at his father giving him his full attention.
"What is this?" Tara asked.
"His grandma has asked if he wanted to spend the night, but I wasn't sure what to say. Do you think he would want to be a big boy and stay over with grandma?" he asked Tara.
"Hmmm . . . If only there was some way to know the answer," Tara said.
Thomas showed them pictures of his new grandmother.
"I can't figure out how to know if he wants to stay tonight with grandma."
Thomas slapped Jax on the arm and showed the picture of his grandmother again.
"You can stay tonight with grandma and bring your new sippy cup. You have to pick which one to bring to grandma's. You think about that on the way home," Jax said.
The sippy cup excitement had worn Thomas out. He fell asleep before Jax got him strapped into his car seat.
"That kid," Tara said shaking her head.
"I know. He's so damned smart."
"He follows our conversations like a much older child. We're going to have to start spelling things."
A few hours later, Thomas was bundled up and taken to his grandmother's house with his purple puppy sippy cup. Jax was happy that Thomas had so quickly formed a bond with his grandmother. Meg would be a good influence on his son.
"I have a surprise of my own," Jax said. "I'm going to make dinner."
"Really," Tara said looking at Jax skeptically.
"OK, I'm going to use Meg's robot system. She's going to get us one of our own at whatever house we choose to live in."
"
*******************Starry Sky Proposal*************************
"
In the time they had been together since Tara's return to Charming, they had never been able to have a romantic dinner with candles and wine. It was also so hectic with the MC, Abel and Tara's job that they never were able to set aside some time for themselves. Another mistake they had both made with their relationship.
Tonight was a new beginning. Jax had made a huge effort. He'd gotten little white votive candles, a couple of bottles of red wine and a bottle of Champagne. He told Tara they were celebrating SAMCRO leaving town.
Jax had tried to incorporate Tara's favorite foods in this dinner beginning with a crab Caesar salad, a surf and turf entrée entrée—a ribeye steak with a garlic compound butter and New Orleans style fried shrimp with seafood cocktail sauce and for dessert a cheesecake with a chocolate crust and a cherry topping. The robots had even made chocolate heart outlines that garnished the cheesecake.
Tara looked at the perfectly tossed Caesar salad with crabmeat arranged on the top of the salad.
"I never want to cook again. The robots are just so good at it," Tara said.
"How would you feel about staying in this house next to your mother and in this community?" Jax asked.
"I'm good with it. We can make the house the way we want it and then the alien section can really be personalized. It's strange having a mother again after all these years who doesn't look much older than me. I really like her. I don't think it will be long before I feel like she's really my mother."
"I wasn't sure what to expect, but she's just very calm and warm. She's definitely got the regal part. She has offered to let me make my own job. I want to help people," Jax said. He explained what he wanted to do for Lyla.
"I have always hated the way the MC treats women. Getting Lyla out of the sex industry would give her the best chance at a good life. How does Opie feel about it?"
"He wants to help Lyla. I want to find people hurt by MCs, men, women, kids and help them find another life. I don't want it to be just me. I want to involve Opie and Donna if they stay."
"I want to be involved too," Tara said.
"Good," Jax said.
"It's nice seeing you excited for the first time in your life about something that isn't the MC."
"I feel new. Like the clouds are gone from the sky. Meg is encouraging me to do big things with my life."
"Jax, she's always believed in you. When I saw you destroying your life after my death, I lost hope. Meg told me that everything would work out—I just needed to have faith."
"It was written," Jax said.
"Yes," Tara agreed. "I thought it was far-fetched about the magical books, but there seems like there's really something to it."
They finished their dinner and decided to wait for dessert until later in the evening.
"I've got a surprise for you."
"Wow, first dinner, wine and Thomas having an overnight with grandma. Could this night getting any better?"
"Well, Thomas isn't sharing out bed tonight, so you tell me?" Jax said.
Jax put his arm around Tara.
"Come outside with me."
They went outside to the backyard. The yard was perfectly landscaped with flowers and manicured green grass.
Jax reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag that was as large as Jax's hand.
"Reach into it."
Tara reached into it and pulled out some nickel sized round black balls.
"What are these?"
"Let me help you," Jax said. "Hold out both your hands and I'll pour them into your hands."
Tara put her hands together and Jax poured the bags contents in her hands.
"Now lower your hands and then raise them and fling the contents of your hands into the air."
Tara followed Jax's directions. For a few seconds nothing happened and then the sky lit up with star shaped lights that spelled out "Tara, will you marry me?" The stars stayed in place shimmering and sparkling in the dark like diamonds in the sky.
Tara looked up at the sky, her mouth open in surprise and amazement.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Of course."
The shimmering lights shot up higher in the sky and exploded into fireworks in every color of the rainbow.
"That was so beautiful. How did you . . . ?"
"Meg. It was her idea. Some kind of tech in the balls."
"How about carrying me off to bed and making love to me?"
"I can be persuaded," Jax said with a grin. He threw Tara over his shoulders and carried her laughing to bed.
"
*****************Abel Returns*************************
"
Jax and Tara were sitting in Ryland's office. He had news about Abel he wanted to share.
"Abel is out of his healing coma. He's in perfect shape physically."
"Physically?" Tara asked with concern in her voice.
"Mentally, he knows how to do everything that he knew before, but the part of his brain that knows people and stores memories of them is gone. They wiped it out. There's no way of knowing if they intended to delete just the last few days or if they meant to wipe it all out. That means he doesn't know you are his parents, anything about Wendy or that his grandmother killed Tara."
"He's got a fresh slate with people," Tara said.
"That's a good way of putting it. He seems to have adjusted to that. We can give him a treatment similar to the one we gave Opie that will show him his parents and his brother. It's a simple procedure if you want us to do it. You need to decide if you want to do that and what you want to do about Wendy and Gemma."
"Maybe this is a good thing," Jax said. "He was really messed up when he found out Gemma killed Tara. I added to that confusion by telling him that Wendy was his birth mother. He thought that was why Gemma killed you," Jax said to Tara.
"He doesn't ever have to know about Gemma. We can tell him the truth about Wendy when he's had some time to recover from everything he's been through," Tara said.
"I can't see any advantage to Abel if we tell him about Gemma. I don't know about telling him about Wendy. It would just confuse him more and it's not important anymore with her dead," Jax said.
"You can decide that at some point in the future. Right now, before they send him back, I need to know if you want him to undergo the procedure that will show him that you and Thomas are his family. It will be like Opie. When he sees your pictures, he'll be told who you are and he'll be happy. We'll put together pictures of you as a family and that will also reinforce the bond. I think it will be less traumatic for him if he knows he's got parents and a brother. The memory lapse can just be explained by his illness. Do you need some time to decide?"
Jax and Tara looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Go ahead and do it," Jax said.
"Abel should be back here tomorrow afternoon. A nurse will travel with him."
"Space flight?" Jax asked.
"No commercial," Ryland said. "The whole alien thing is going to be another thing to explain. We don't want to give him secrets he needs to keep until he's adjusted to his new life. There's no reason to knock him out with drugs and put him on a space flight."
"We'll go to the airport to pick him up," Jax said.
"I'll make sure you're notified when his flight is booked."
"Thanks a lot Ryland," Jax said.
"When's the wedding?"
"Now that Abel is coming back to us, I think we should do it in the next couple of weeks," Tara said.
"Your mother is going to go full mother of the bride on you. When the two of you got married in a brothel, she was very unhappy over that. She's dreamed of the day when the two of you would get married properly. What kind of ceremony?"
"Both," Jax said promptly. "You told me enough about the Paralorn ceremony to make me really want to do that."
"My mother wants us to do an Earth ceremony as part of a video of our wedding."
"I'm not going to be here tomorrow. I'm taking a few days off."
"Finally," Tara said.
"Lorna gave me no choice," Ryland said ruefully. "Now that everything on Rackle has been taken care of and you and your kids are safe, I will be able to work less."
"Maybe get a decent night's sleep," Jax said.
"That too," Ryland said drily.
"I didn't get Tara's permission, but I think she will be OK with it. You have done so much for us, will you perform our Paralorn ceremony?"
"That's perfect," Tara said. "We owe you so much and it would be a great honor if you would do this for us."
"Absolutely. It's been gratifying to see the two of you settle into Paralorn life. Marrying the future queen in front of a future king in front of the queen is a great honor for me."
Ryland looked really pleased to be asked to perform the ceremony. In Paralorn culture, the person performing the ceremony assumes a role of honor in the ceremony and is held in great esteem by the couple.
That night Jax, Tara and Thomas went to Opie and Donna's for a BBQ. Opie seemed happier and more carefree. This was the Opie before he got locked up in Chino. Donna also seemed happier too. They were talking about getting their kids back. They were going to have to trust them with the truth about the aliens and coming back to life. That was the only tricky part.
Jax was optimistic about the medical treatment for Abel. He trusted Ryland and Tara's medical judgement, but seeing the change in Opie made him hopeful that Abel would be the happy kid he deserved to be.
The next afternoon, they drove to San Francisco International Airport to pick up Abel. Tara and Jax decided not to tell Thomas they were picking Abel up from the airport to surprise him.
A young woman with red hair was holding Abel by the hand. Jax was holding Thomas. His eyes got wide when he saw his brother and he smiled a big drooling grin.
"Tommy!" Abel yelled. The nurse let go of his hand so he could run to his family.
Jax bent down and put Thomas on the ground holding on to him to make sure he didn't lose his balance and fall. Tara bent down to hug Abel when he finished hugging his brother. They all hugged with Thomas in the middle held up by everyone.
"I missed you so much," Abel said.
He seemed to accept them as his parents despite having no memory of them. Through the treatment he received he felt an emotional bond. There would be plenty of time to make new memories.
"My name's Diane. I took care of Abel a lot. Do you mind giving me a ride into Charming? There's so much going on that I'm going to work in the Charming medical unit."
"The least we could do for someone who helped get our son well and back to us," Tara said.
Jax looked at Tara and knew that she was sizing this woman up and wondering if she would make a good match for Ryland. She looked at him startled. They were forming that telepathic bond that Meg had told him about. All this alien stuff was such an adjustment, but he was learning to embrace it because he felt like he was evolving into a better person.
That night, Tara cooked without using the services of her mother's robot helpers making a little kids' favorite meal—chicken strips, macaroni and cheese and corn on the cob. After they ate, she let Abel feed Thomas some mashed potatoes she'd made for him. Jax fed him a jar of chicken baby food.
It was just an ordinary night, but for Jax and Tara, it was a night that they were afraid they would never have again. They had all been through so much. Death, kidnappings, explosions and that was just in the last week or so.
Life was going to finally settle down for the couple, but someone was determined to snatch it away and kill them all.
"
Author's Note: Surprise! There's another chapter that's left. I made a choice to wrap this story the long way and it keeps getting longer.
I've put myself under enormous pressure to finish this story in the next week, but the chapter was getting too long and I still have several plot points I need to cover. This was a good place to break the chapter.
I will post the final final final chapter by Valentine's Day.