Holly walked into the kitchen with Tommy, sitting down and looking at Jax, smiling as he colored with Abel. Although Abel was more interested in whatever was on the TV than coloring at the moment.
"So, your mom usually watches the boys until lunch and then either Neeta or Malory's daughter Jessica comes to watch them while I'm at work. But today's my last day before my maternity leave."
"I have to get to the clubhouse, but I don't want mom here."
"And what am I supposed to say to her when she gets here?"
"I'll deal with my mother. You can head to work now if you want. I'll wait for Jessica to get here."
"I thought you said you need to get to the clubhouse?"
"I don't want Gemma or Clay around the boys until I get to the bottom of this shit."
"Dada look. They're sleeping."
She looked over at the TV, seeing the dead bodies of the Russians, watching for a minute before turning on some cartoons for Abel, looking at Jax, holding onto Tommy, who had fallen asleep in her arms.
"You couldn't have waited until after Ope's wedding?"
"It was retaliation for what happened to me in prison."
"I get that. Maybe next time, wait until Ope leaves for his honeymoon?"
"Speaking of which, what did you say to Putlova last night?"
She smirked at him, getting up and kissing him before going to put Tommy in Abel's old bouncer before going to get ready for work.
Holly typed in some info into the computer while on the phone with one of Rosen's clients, not noticing Gemma come in.
"Like I said, Jason's in court at the moment. But I can see here that you accidentally sent us the wrong form. You filled out the form to give up parental rights. Not a change in custody form. If you want to come in and fix that, we'd be more than happy to help you out and fix things. Unless you really wanna give up your parental rights."
"No, I don't. Does he have something available tomorrow?"
"He does. Tomorrow morning at 8 or tomorrow afternoon at 2:35. Which appointment would you like?"
"Let's do tomorrow afternoon, I guess. Unless there's another day?"
"Not until next week. He'll be in and out of court and trials until Monday."
"Tomorrow's fine. I'll make it work."
"Ok, great. When you come in, ask for Melissa or Tyler."
"Why can't I ask for you or Rosen?"
"I'm on maternity leave after today, and you won't talk to Jason until after you fill out the right form."
"Congratulations. And thank you for your help then."
"Thank you. And you're welcome. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, that was it. Thanks."
"No problem. Have a great day."
She hung up and looked up when she heard her name being called.
"Hey, Gemma. What're you doing here?"
"Why is my son telling me that I can't see my grandkids? What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, Gemma. All I'm gonna say is that whatever's going on between you and Jax is between you and Jax."
"Bullshit. What did you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything to him and you need to keep your voice down. This is an office building and there are people working and meeting with clients. So calm yourself."
"Don't tell me to calm down! My son is telling me that I can't see my family and I know you had something to do with it."
She sighed softly and stood up, leading Gemma out into the hall, looking at her.
"Maureen Ashby put letters in Jax's bag before we left Belfast and I told Jax that they were there. I don't know exactly what was in them because I didn't read them. You wanna know what they said? Ask Jax. I have nothing to do with it. Now you seriously need to leave. I still have work that I have to do before I can go home to the boys."
"You little bitch. Why would you let that Irish gash poison Jax's relationship with me?"
"I didn't do shit, Gemma. I didn't have any good reason to keep those letters from him! Maureen wanted him to read them and I didn't know what was in them. I'm his old lady. Not yours. I'm not gonna keep shit from him just because it'll fuck things up for you or Clay. Now get the hell out of here before I call security."
She didn't get to say anything else as Gemma smacked her across the face, hard enough to have the sound echoing down the hall. Holly gasped loudly, holding onto her cheek as she looked at Gemma, taking a second before smacking her back and going back into the office, calling security. She watched them escort Gemma to the elevator before going back to work, taking a few minutes to collect herself.
Holly walked into the precinct, going into Eli's office and slammed the door behind her, glaring at him.
"I get your hatred for SAMCRO. They're organized crime and you're a goddamned lieutenant. You care about the people you work with just like my guys do. The ONLY thing that differs the two groups is what you do with the resources you have. You did what you accomplished. They know how big your dick is. You made the wrong damn move Eli, and you made a huge mistake telling me that secret. The next time you whip your dick out when it's unsolicited, I'll go to agent Potter and tell him what you told me. I can't imagine he'll go easy on you knowing that you're the reason his agent is fucking dead. That clubhouse may not mean anything to you, but to us it's a home. You come into our home again, we will defend ourselves. And it'll be uglier than what you just did. Am I crystal fucking clear, Eli Roosevelt?"
He looked at her and nodded, obviously freaked out and trying to hide it.
"I mean it, Eli. I like your wife, but I will not protect her from the fallout of your mistakes. I have my own family to think of."
She walked out of his office, going out to her car and driving home, ready to spend time with her boys and relax. Of course, she got the call from Clay that they needed her help.
"With what, Clay?"
"I wanted to keep this from you, but Jax and Opie have been taken by the Russians. They're pissed that we stole their guns. You speak Russian. We don't. We need you to translate."
"Goddamnit. You're determined to send me into early labor, aren't you?"
"Of course not. But we need this."
Pulling up to the house with the guys, she was relieved to see that Jax and Opie were ok, going over and kissing him softly.
"Babe, what're you doing here?"
"Clay said he wanted me to translate. Are you ok?"
"I will be."
"You let your old lady join you on this shit?"
She looked over at the guy, wondering who he was as Jax answered him.
"Sometimes. She's been a huge asset to the club and the guys."
"Nunca pensé que vería el día en que una anciana estaba tan metida en el negocio del club."
"Solo hay dos maneras en que las ancianas lo hacen en esta vida. Les dices todo o no les dices nada. No me gusta no saber cosas. No es como me criaron. Thanks for saving my guys. I really appreciate it."
She looked at Jax as the two Mexican men looked at her, impressed.
"Jax? Who are those guys?"
He sighed deeply, looking at her before leading her away.
"They're cartel."
"Cartel? As in drugs?"
"...Yes."
She took a deep steadying breath, stepping away from him.
"There's no way in hell any one of you voted for that shit."
She looked at him when she didn't get an answer, noticing the sheepish guilty look on his face.
"Right?"
"We vote tonight. But I'm pretty sure we're all gonna say yes."
She gasped softly, looking at him in angry shock.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me! Are you stupid or just that fucking greedy?"
"We'll talk about this later, babe."
"No we won't. This is the stupidest thing that the club has ever done! I'm glad they came to your rescue, but you guys have always been adamant about not having drugs in Charming and you're gonna be dealing for the fucking cartel? For what? A few more bucks? If you're really that desperate for money, you can come to me or ask anyone else. But the cartel? This is dumb and dangerous and you put our family at risk with this shit!"
"This wasn't my idea, Holly."
"You don't say no to a cartel when you get into bed with them. It's no different than getting into bed with the mob or the Bratva. You say no, or renege in any way, they usually force your cooperation by going after your family. That means me or Abel or Tommy or Valentina."
"You're an old lady. You don't get a say in club shit, Holly."
She looked at him in angry shock, closing her hands into fists at her side. She took a deep breath before giving him an angry smile.
"Fine. You want me to be your old lady? Fine. I'll be your old lady. I'll let you do whatever you want. I'll stay home and be barefoot and pregnant. All for you, my love."
She went to walk away, heading towards her car before Jax stopped her, holding her arm.
"I didn't mean it like that, Holly."
"Of course you did. You're mad because I told you the truth and you couldn't handle it. I've never been just your old lady, Jax. I went halfway around the world to help get our son back, I delivered our other son in Stockton, I helped keep things going while you were inside and juggled two kids and being pregnant. I kept up with Abel's appointments while you were inside and I risked just as much as you did by helping you and the club out…."
"You didn't risk shit, Holly."
She slapped him as hard as she could, watching him stumble backwards, not caring that all the guys were watching them now, angry tears filling her eyes.
"I lost one baby because I was raped because of this club! You asked me to be Abel's mom and then he got taken from me. Actually taken from my arms. I've been attacked by your enemies, I've lost my friends and family because I've dedicated my life to you and this damn club, I quit my job so I could help your dumbass do illegal shit. I aborted a pregnancy to protect your mental state, I nearly killed myself more than once because of your fucking mother and you're going to stand there and tell me that I didn't risk shit? Que te jodan, Jackson Teller. ¿Quieres irte a la cama con el cártel? Multa. Espero que haya valido la pena porque solo le costó a su familia."
Holly laid in her hospital bed, Lyla standing on one side as her OB checked her to see how far along she was. As she was packing her bags, her water broke. Instead of calling Jax, she'd called Lyla, not wanting to do this alone but not wanting to even look at Jax. Things progressed quickly after that and Lyla drove her to the hospital. She had reached the point where if she delivered this early it wouldn't be the end of the world, but the OB would rather her carry the baby a little longer.
"So you're actually in labor and we can't stop it. You can still get an epidural if you want, but you've got a while to go before this baby's born."
"I don't want an epidural. I don't like needles."
"Ok. I'll come back in a couple hours to check on you. If you need anything, hit your call button."
She nodded, laying back in bed as the doctor left. She looked over at Lyla.
"Will you do me a favor and call to check on the boys? I wanna know that they're ok."
"Yeah. Do you want anything else?"
"Could you call Gemma?"
"Yeah. I'll be back in a little bit."
She nodded, turning on the TV as Lyla left the room, taking a deep breath and trying to relax, trying to let the day escape her mind, but all it did was make her break down, holding onto her belly with one hand, the other hand covering her eyes as she cried. No matter where they were in their lives, Jax had never been that cruel to her. Even when they weren't together. He'd always been the one to make her feel better. To dry her tears. Not cause them. She heard the door open and she didn't need to look to know it was Jax.
"Get out, Jax. I don't want you here."
"Please let me in, Holly. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it."
"Yes, you did. You showed your true colors today and told me what you wanted from me."
"That's not what I want from you."
"Don't try to cover your tracks, Jackson. Just own up to your shit and accept the consequences. You royally fucked up and there's nothing you can say or do that can make this better. I've given up so much for you and you don't appreciate it."
"I do appreciate it. It was a bad day and I took it out on you."
"And I'm done being your scapegoat. I won't do it. We've been through too much shit for you to treat me like that. You. The guy that has always come to my rescue when I needed it. You killed my ex when he put me in a coma. You kicked guys' asses in high school when they hurt me. You used to walk me home from school or give me rides to and from work. You got me my first real apartment. You turned me into the other woman. Only to throw that shit in my face like I meant nothing to you. You can't just walk in here and bat your eyes and apologize and think that things are gonna be ok. I'm about to have your baby and I'm emotional and I'm tired and I can't even turn to the one person that I really want to. That I normally would in situations like this. And that hurts more than the contraction I'm having."
She moaned in pain, gripping the railing as she breathed through the contraction, glad he was staying quiet through it.
"I'm so sorry, Holly. I love you and I know how much you've given up and risked for me and the club. I shouldn't have said that shit. Please give me another chance? Don't run away from me. Not after everything we've been through."