This chapter is total garbage, but I wanted something involving some of the brothers that's a bit fluffy before we dive head first into a pit of angst. I'm coming to the end soon, and though there's still a few more chapters to go, I have everything planned out - except the name of the baby - I just need to find the time to write it. I'm already writing a few other Jax/Tara stories which I will start to post when this is finished, and for those that are interested, I have just uploaded the a new story about Tara, Nero and Jax.

As ever, thank you for all of the wonderful comments and your never ending patience 3

"Wow. You're huge," Tig declares loudly for the entire fucking clubhouse as soon as she walks through the doors.

Tara glares at him, and though she has so much love for the man, she silently wishes him a very painful death with her eyes. Bobby doesn't bother to look up from the accounts he's working on as he snorts and mutters, "What a dumbass."

Tig shoots him a dirty look. "What? It's a compliment!"

"You don't tell a woman she looks huge," Bobby says in exasperation.

"But she's pregnant! Being huge is a good thing!"

"No, it really isn't," Tara mutters as she sits down on the plush couch Jax had bought for the clubhouse. It's much nicer than the old chairs they had back in the old clubhouse, back when she was too afraid to sit down incase she was sitting on Happy's jizz stain. Though, judging by the wince that Tig is struggling to hide, she's pretty sure that the sofa has already seen some fucked up action. If she had the energy she would stand, but sitting in the spot where Tig's bare ass had probably been last night was just tough luck.

Silently she curses Jax for not being here on time. She's tired and her back aches and she wants nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep until the baby decides to come out, but she hadn't had the heart to crush Jax's hopeful expression when he said that he had a surprise for her but she had to get out of the house all day. He'd looked so proud of himself, so Tara had faked a smile and swallowed back the urge to tell him that she's not ten and to fuck off and let her sleep.

The boys were with Neeta for the day as her Jax's strict instructions, so at a loss for something to do, Tara headed to work and promptly fell asleep in her office chair for hours.

"You're supposed to say she looks radiant. Say she's glowing or some shit." Bobby smiles softly at Tara. "Which you are, sweetheart."

Tara sends him a tired smile.

The thing is, she's big. Really fucking big. God help her, but she swears she wasn't this big with Thomas. The novelty of creating a child and nurturing her in her womb has grown old. She's ready for the kid to come out and to finally have her body back for herself. The constant limbs poking at her belly and the constant ache in her back are a hinderance she isn't sure that she can endure for another month.

She catches Juice staring at her stomach and forces herself to smile gently. "Hey Juice. How are you doing?"

Juice's bloodshot eyes jump to her face, and though she knows how Jax feels about the man, she feels a pang of sympathy for the man. A few years ago he had been a careless man with an easy smile for her, now she see's a broken man beaten down by the organisation that he pledged his loyalty to. She knows that his current position within the club is his own doing, but she feels for him nonetheless.

"All's good," Juice mumbles, his eyes shifting to the floor. A cold shiver goes through her as he stalks towards the dorms, and she notices Tig's frosty eyes following him the entire way.

Swallowing down the urge to ask what was going on, Tara reaches for bag and sighs angrily when she can't reach it. Tig rushes to help her, and though she has to bite back the urge to tell him to back off, she thanks him and pulls out her phone. She's sick and tired of people fussing over her, though at the same time she's grateful for the help. During her first pregnancy, she'd had to figure shit on her own. Though she had Gemma's help towards the end of her pregnancy due to her six months house arrest, she'd powered through in a state of exhaustion but she'd done it and was proud of herself.

Now she barely lifts a finger. Eager to make up for his absence during her first pregnancy, Jax barely lets her lift a finger at home, and when he isn't with her, there always seems to be a helpful brother lurking just around the corner. She hates the attention, but she loves him too much to tell him to stop fussing over her.

"Would you like a drink, Dr. Knowles?" Chucky asks from behind the bar.

"Sure," Tara says, raising an amused eyebrow as he reaches for the whiskey.

"Jesus Christ you moron!" Tig exclaims. "Where've you been the past 8 months? She's knocked up dumb fuck she can't drink that shit! Get her some juice or something." Chucky pauses and looks at Tara, his eyes flicking down to her belly. She can see the blush staining his cheeks from here and she has to stifle a laugh.

Tig rolls his eyes at her and sends her a rare sweet smile. He sits down next to her a little too close, but she doesn't mind the proximity. Once she would have been discreetly sliding away him at the first opportunity. Now she relaxes into the couch and smiles at him tiredly as he squeezes her knee affectionately. "How you doin' sweetheart?"

"Good," she replies softly. He nods awkwardly at her bump and Tara's smile widens. "She's good too. Won't stop bloody moving though."

Tig hums, his face uncharacteristically thoughtful. "That girl of yours is going to be safe and sound. You know that right?"

Tara's smile vanishes. She thinks back to Donna's brutal death, Abel and Thomas being kidnapped, and lastly she thinks of Dawn. Tig had barely seen his daughter in years, and yet just one careless lie told by Clay Morrow had ended with her burning alive before her father's eyes. She sees the haunted look in his eyes, and though she aches to make things better for him, she doesn't know how.

Instead she takes his hand and squeezes it with both of hers. "I know that the club would do anything to protect my children-"

"It was a different time then," Tig interrupts, his eyes faraway. "It won't happen again. We're different now." Not knowing what to say, Tara just tightens her hold on his hand and sits with him in silence.

"You know, I knew back when you and Jax were kids you'd end up here," Tig says thoughtfully.

Tara rolls her eyes. "No you didn't."

"Seriously. The way that boy chased after you, we all knew he would never settle for less. Sure, it took you guys a little longer than what I thought it would to get your shit together, but you made it. Look at you guys, the happy little family. Jax is the only one who's managed to make it work. He's lucky."

Tara eyes him, her face completely blank. Chucky ventures back and awkwardly holds out a glass of orange juice with with both of his hands and a timid smile, unknowingly saving her from responding. "There you go Dr. Knowles." Tara thanks him and promptly drains the glass. She tries to get up to take the glass to the kitchen, but it's no use.

"Do you need a hand?" Chucky asks hesitantly.

"Fuck off," Tara snaps, glaring at him as he flinches away nervously. Tig's booming laugh echoes around the room.

Tara promptly bursts into tears.

Tig jumps up and away from her. "What the fuck?" he breathes, eyeing Tara as though she was the grim reaper himself. He shoots Chucky a furious look and punches him in the arm. "Look at what you fucking did!"

Chucky stumbles but catches himself. "I just got her some juice like you told me to! You were the one that-"

The roar of numerous bikes pulling up cuts him off. "Oh shit," Tig breathes, shooting Tara a terrified look. Chucky pales and turns to Bobby, but the older man had already made his escape.

"Erm.. Tig? What do we tell Jax?"

He's exhausted and he has pink fucking paint in his hair. After an entire day painting his daughter's bedroom and assembling furniture with Chibs, Happy, Quinn, Rat and the prospects, he wants to fall face first into bed and sleep for a week. The thing is, he honestly doesn't understand how Tara does all of the shit she does with the house and the kids and holds down a full time job.

Where the fuck does she get the energy from?

After they had finished though, the headache he now has is worth it. With pink walls and black furniture, his kid is already a SAMCRO Princess. He doesn't know shit about decorating, as Tara had told him quite harshly that he didn't have a say in how they decorated the new place, but even he has to admit the nursery looks good. He knows without a doubt that Tara will love it.

After thanking his brothers for their help, they head to the clubhouse. As soon as his eyes land on his sobbing wife though, his good mood instantly vanishes and he's out for blood. "Oh shit," Chibs murmurs behind him.

"Babe?"

"J-Jax!" Tara sobs.

"What's wrong?" he asks softly, rushing to his wife's side and pulling her gently into his arms. He glares at his brothers, daring them to make a comment on how whipped he is, but they all remain mercifully silent.

"What did you do?" Jax snaps angrily at Tig when Tara makes no move to answer.

"Me?! I didn't do shit man!"

Bobby pokes his head around the corner, and calls out, "He called Tara huge."

"It was a compliment!" Tig repeats, gripping at his hair in frustration.

"Jesus what is wrong with you?" Jax rolls his eyes to the heavens and wills for some fucking patience. This is not how shit was supposed to go.

"Babe tell me what's-"

"I can't get up!" Tara whispers tearfully.

There's a long pause. Jax sends Chibs a confused look, but the older man just raises his hands and gives him an amused smile.

"What?" Jax asks nervously.

"I can't get up!" Tara snaps. "I can't get up off of this stupid couch because I'm so big!"

"No you're not," Jax soothes, running a hand through her hair. "You're beautiful and radiant-"

"And fat," Tara snaps. "I'm so tired of being pregnant! And Tig was being so sweet-"

"Tig?" he asks dumbly.

"Yes Tig! And Chucky got me a drink - since when do you guys have orange juice in the clubhouse? And it just made me a bit teary."

"A bit?"

Tara sniffles, her tears slowly coming to a stop as she attempts to wipe them away. "I'm sorry. I'm a fucking nightmare."

He doesn't disagree. The past couple of weeks Tara's moods have been...irregular. One minute she would be all over him, telling him how much she loved him and how much she wanted him, and then the next she'd be screaming bloody murder at him, threatening to cut off his balls if he so much as looked at her funny. One minute she can be laughing, and the next be sobbing.

It's fucking exhausting.

Sensing her embarrassment, Jax presses a kiss to her cheek. "You terrorizing my brothers?" Jax breathes against her ear.

"Only the ones who can't handle me." Tara blushes. "Jesus. I'm a fucking nutjob!"

Jax stifles a laugh, though by the murderous look in Tara's eye he doesn't manage to hide his smile. She hits him in the shoulder but otherwise doesn't remark upon it.

"This kid is making me crazy," she says. "I wasn't like this with Thomas. I was totally sane-"

"Not to doubt you babe, but you married an outlaw. I don't think you were ever sane." Jax laughs as she hits him twice as hard and rubs the tender spot knowing that it's going to leave a bruise. He wraps his arms around her as best as he can and holds her to his chest, much to the amusement of his brothers. But he doesn't give a fuck. He loves her way too fucking much.

"Jax?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Why's your hair pink?"