Sorry for the delay everyone! I've been crazy busy with life. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter :) I hope to update again as early as tomorrow :) Thanks for everyone that has supported me so far with follows, favorites and reviews! It means a lot.
Opie and Phil headed out a short time later, leaving Jax and Mackenzie alone for the night. Mackenzie grabbed Jax by the hand and led him to the bathroom door. She turned to him and smiled
"Close your eyes." She said playfully. He laughed and shook his head. "Aw, come on!" She begged. He let out a fake sigh and slapped his hand over his eyes. Mackenzie waved her hand in front of his face to make sure he wasn't peeking before she opened the door. When she turned back he was already looking at her work.
"So, this is what you were planning? I thought I might have come home to a new wardrobe." He laughed and pulled her to him, giving her a kiss on the top of the head. "It looks great, Mack." She moved in closer to him as they stood in the doorway for a few minutes, just being together.
"Jax, I'm super tired from today. I may have over done it with painting. Let's go to bed, okay?" Mackenzie said with a little yawn. Jax grinned down at her and nodded, leading her into the bedroom. She stripped down to her underwear, as she so often did, and crawled into bed. He wasn't far behind her, turning on the television as she rested her head on his chest.
It wasn't long before her breathing evened out and Jax was certain she was asleep. He was flipping through channels when he caught a glimpse of a short story about the disturbance at the hardware store on the news. He watched it for a couple minutes and rolled his eyes when the reporter mentioned the witnesses may have seen a member of the "local motorcycle gang" around at the time the gun went off. Jax scoffed as he turned the television off.
"Yeah, bring up SAMCRO but not the fucking crank dealer neo-Nazi." He murmured to himself. Mackenzie stirred at his voice and rolled over to her pillow. Jax stayed still for a minute to keep from disturbing her awake. She whimpered a little in her sleep and he frowned.
"It's okay, darlin'. Nothing is going to hurt you again." He rolled to his side and draped an arm over her protectively. The noises of the house settling and the wind blowing kept him up like they did most nights since Mackenzie came to live with him. Just as the sky outside was lightening, he fell into a light sleep, until Mackenzie jumping out of bed jolted him awake.
Mackenzie made her way straight to their bathroom and closed the door behind her. She made it to the toilet just before she started throwing up uncontrollably. She felt clammy and lightheaded as Jax opened the door. She looked up at him with a frown, just before getting sick again. He frowned and got her a cold washcloth before walking back out to the bedroom. He lit a cigarette and highly considered getting a beer from the refrigerator.
Luckily, Abel had stayed with Gemma the night before, because Jax really didn't want him to see Mackenzie like this. Ever since Mackenzie had moved in with them, Abel was attached to her hip most hours of the day. They had a bond that he hadn't known Abel was missing until Mackenzie showed up. Jax had a feeling in his gut that it may not be just the three of them much longer.
"Hey." Mackenzie said weakly, sitting beside him on the bed. Jax returned an equally weak smile and put out his cigarette. "I'm sorry, I guess I have a stomach bug, not just food poisoning. I feel like shit." Mackenzie said, wrapping her arms around Jax's waist. Jax laughed a little, causing her to lean away and stare at him.
"Sorry, babe, I'm not laughing at you feeling bad. I just have a feeling you don't have some bug." He said, glancing over at her. Her face paled as she shook her head. Jax grinned a little and pulled her to him.
"Jax, I can't." Mackenzie said softly as tears formed in her eyes. Jax rubbed her arm as he listened to her denial. "No, you don't understand. I can't be pregnant."
"Babe, I know it's not something we planned or anything, but we fuck a lot so, I'm pretty sure you can." Jax said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Mackenzie pushed away from him and stormed over to the window.
"You're not listening to me, Jackson. I can't get pregnant. A doctor in Texas can confirm since you think I'm fucking kidding." She shot at him. Jax's eyes dropped to the ground, but he didn't say anything. "I had a miscarriage last year when Bryan shoved me down some stairs. We didn't know I was pregnant until I started bleeding really bad. Doctor said it wasn't possible for me to have kids, after the trauma." Mackenzie said in a detached tone. Jax sighed and walked over to her, running his hands down her arms. She turned slowly, revealing the tears flowing down her face.
"I'm sorry, Mackenzie. I didn't know." Jax said softly. Mackenzie sighed and nodded her head.
"It isn't your fault, Jax. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I probably should have told you before." Mackenzie said as she wiped tears away from her eyes. Jax furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"Stop making excuses for being mad at me or telling me when I'm wrong, Mack. I'm not going to hit you for saying the wrong thing. I wish you'd stop treating me like I'm a fucking monster." Jax said, dropping his hands from her and going over to the closet. Mackenzie frowned and folded her arms over her chest.
"I don't act like that, Jax. If I thought you were going to hurt me I wouldn't be here." She said simply. Jax shook his head as he zipped his jeans and grabbed a t-shirt. Mackenzie sighed, not sure of what to say. "Jax, I'm sorry."
"Seriously?" Jax said, yanking his shirt over his head and grabbing his kutte. "Do you even know what you're fucking sorry for or are you just throwing it out there?" Jax asked coldly. Mackenzie looked down at the ground.
"I don't know Jax. You were fine until I told you I couldn't get pregnant and now you're just storming off." Mackenzie said, her frustration coming through her voice. Jax shook his head and dropped his shoulders.
"That has nothing to do with this. I already told you and you just keep doing the same thing, Mackenzie. Stop walking on eggshells around me. Have I ever hurt you?" Jax said, hearing himself getting louder despite his efforts to act like he was fine. Mackenzie narrowed her eyes at him.
She didn't get a chance to give her rebuttal, because he was already down the hall. She wanted to follow him and fix the stupid fight, but her stomach lurched, sending her back to the bathroom, sick again. She heard Jax's Harley roar out of the driveway as she splashed water on her face. Today was one of those days she should have just stayed in bed; she damned her weak stomach as she got back into the empty bed.
Jax pulled into Teller Morrow and parked his bike angrily. He was still reeling from his fight with Mackenzie. Before he could make it into the clubhouse, Gemma caught sight of him and called him into the office. He cursed under his breath, but walked into the office nonetheless.
"What?" Jax said, leaning against the doorframe. Gemma glared at him and put a hand on her hip as she turned round to face him.
"You going to tell me what that attitude's for?" Gemma said, looking into her son's eyes. She could tell it wasn't just the lack of sleep this morning. He had some type of pain behind those bright blue eyes.
"Shit with Mackenzie, don't worry about it. Where's Abel?" Jax said, looking at the wall behind his mom. She wasn't buying it.
"He's playing on the swings with Jessie. What'd you do?" Gemma said, keeping her gaze steady. Jax rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Blamed her for shit she can't help. I wasn't even mad, but that's how it came out." Jax said hollowly. Gemma frowned and dropped her perched hand to her side. She knew Jax well enough to know he wasn't going to go any further with the details.
"I'll go see her, baby. We'll have a girls day. Abel was asking about her anyways. Sweetie, you know he calls her momma sometimes, don't you?" Gemma said with a sweet smile. Jax sighed and hung his head. He felt like even more of an ass for some reason.
"Thanks, Mom. No, I haven't heard him say it before. She's a good mom to him." Jax said with a noticeable downward turn to his forced smile. He kissed Gemma on the cheek and headed across the lot to the clubhouse.
Mackenzie heard someone pull into the driveway and two car doors close. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt and some sweatpants just as she heard the front door open. The sound of little feet running on the hardwood made her smile.
"Mackenzie? You awake?" She heard Gemma call from the living room. Just as she stepped out into the hallway, Abel threw himself at her legs and squeezed. She laughed and picked him up. He was beaming as he wrapped his arms around her neck.
Gemma smiled as Mackenzie walked into the living room holding Abel. She smiled over at Gemma as she sat Abel back down. Abel scurried off into the corner, pulling out his toy motorcycles and legos.
"Hey, sweetheart, you don't look so good." Gemma said as she gave Mackenzie a hug. Dark, puffy circles surrounded her eyes and she was paler than normal. Mackenzie brushed her hair out of her face and hitched a shoulder.
"Just a stomach bug or something. Thanks for bringing Abel home. You could have called me, I would have picked him up if you were busy at the shop." Mackenzie said, sitting down on the couch. Gemma shook her head and sat her purse on the coffee table as she joined Mackenzie on the couch.
"Not that much going on at the shop. Everyone already picked their repairs up from the weekend. I'm glad to get out for a bit." Gemma said with a shrug. Gemma and Mackenzie talked about the shop and Jessie's new boyfriend a little as Abel drew with crayons.
A few minutes later, Abel walked over and handed Mackenzie a piece of paper with a big smile. Mackenzie took it and turned it around and grinned as she saw what he'd drawn. It pulled at her heart, bringing happy tears to her eyes.
"Don't cry, Momma. It's you, me and Daddy. See? We's smiling!" He said, pointing as he climbed into Mackenzie's lap. Mackenzie hugged him to her and kissed the top of his little, blonde head.
"I love it, little man. Go put it on the fridge so your Daddy can see it when he gets home." Mackenzie said with a smile. She felt lucky to know such a wonderful little boy. Gemma looked on as Abel hopped down and hurried into the kitchen, picture in hand.
"He's crazy about you, you know? They both are." She told Mackenzie with a smile. Mackenzie nodded and looked on as Abel stepped back and looked at his picture with pride. She recognized the similarity in how he and his dad stood. She stood to go get Abel a snack, but got dizzy as she rose from the couch. She reached a hand out and caught herself on the back of the couch, aware that Gemma was giving her a look.
"I'm fine, just stood up too fast. I haven't really felt like eating since lunch yesterday." Mackenzie said breathily. Gemma shook her head and grabbed her bag from the table.
"Abel, come on sweetie, we're going on a ride to the doctor with Mommy." Gemma called as she slid a hand under Mackenzie's arm, steadying and leading her towards the door. Mackenzie would have fought it, but she wasn't feeling well enough to fight a losing battle.