Whispers of what we were.

Chapter 5

It had been about a month since Tara had moved back to Charming with Emily and Abel. The small town had not changed at all. It seemed that The Sons of Anarchy still owned every part of the town. Tara was used to it. When she was a teenager she used to like it. When she and Jax were dating, they could get away with almost anything, including going to bars and getting served drinks when they were only seventeen. It was amazing how her views had changed.

Tara and Jax had worked out a very loose custody arrangement to fit around Tara's unpredictable hospital schedule at the hospital. Jax had left the kids room intact at the house he used to share with Tara so they would stay there overnight if Tara was on-call. If Jax became unavailable, Gemma, who had immensely enjoyed reconnecting with her grandkids, was more than happy to watch them; although she still held quite the grudge against Tara.

Gemma had always hated someone with a passion or loved someone unconditionally. With Tara, Gemma flopped between the two whenever the mood had seemed to strike her. When Jax had first brought Tara home, Gemma had hated her. She saw the way Jax looked at Tara and instantly knew their relationship would bring trouble. After a while, Gemma warmed up to Tara, treating her like a daughter and teaching her a lot about SAMCRO. Once Gemma found out that Tara had gotten into UCSD for medical school and Jax was planning on moving there with her she was back to hating Tara again. She went back to loving her when her and Jax decided that keeping Emily and Abel in Charming while Tara went to school was for the best and finally, fiercely hating her again when she packed up Emily and Abel and took them across the country to Chicago.

Now, back in Charming, it was still taking a while for Gemma to come back around to the loving again. Tara smiled to herself and she drove from the hospital to Gemma's house where she was currently watching Emily and Abel. She thought back to all those times when she and Jax had just started dating and Gemma was doing everything in her power to keep them apart. It was funny to think that someone who hated her so much, unconditionally loved her kids.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Fourteen years ago

"Happy Birthday baby."

"Thanks Mom."

Jax leaned in to hug his mother but made a point to keep holding his girlfriends hand. "Tara, I'm surprised you made it tonight. Jax said you had a lot of studying to do this week." Gemma spat out. This girl just would not go away.

"Jesus Christ Mom." Jax warned.

"I wouldn't have missed Jax's sixteenth birthday party for anything Gemma." Tara smiled as she felt Jax squeeze her hand. His girl was getting good and shooting down Gemma.

Tara knew what Gemma was trying to do. She wouldn't let Gemma try to keep Jax away from her.

"Come on Tara, let's go and get a drink."

On their way into the clubhouse, Jax and Tara were stopped by Clay. "There he is! The man of the hour!" He said loud enough to get everyone's attention. "I'm proud of you son. Your old man would be proud of you today."

Tara felt Jax tense a little at the mention of his father. In a bold move to sooth Jax, she leaned upwards to give Jax a quick kiss on the cheek, breaking him from his dark thoughts.

Jax looked at Tara and smiled. She knew exactly what he needed. How could his mother not see that?

For the rest of the night, Jax kept Tara close to him. He knew how she felt about the crow eaters that hung around the club so keeping her close to him made her feel more relaxed. Besides, Tara was looking good in her tight jeans and sparkly halter top, he wouldn't dare let her go.

At one point in the night, after Tara had gone to the washroom, she was walking back to Jax and noticed a young girl in an extremely short skirt, with a top that was at least three sizes too small for her breasts, trying to get Jax's attention. Jax was having none of it.

Tara smiled. Surprising Jax, she walked over to him and sat in his lap. "Hey babe. You miss me?" She smirked, and then gave him a commanding kiss on the lips.

"Hell yeah I did." Jax answered, attacking her lips again, his hand running down her back. By the time they had finished making out, the crow eater was nowhere to be found.

"Alright, alright!" Everyone looked up, "Can I get everyone's attention before this party gets a little too out of hand and you all start passing out?" Clay's authoritative voice boomed over the rowdy crowd. "Jax, as you well know, we don't let anyone prospect until they are at least eighteen but we gave Opie his Prospect kutte last month and the guys and I have agreed that now that you are sixteen, you'd make an excellent Prospect." Jax's face lit up. "But, you're not getting a Prospect kutte." Jax's face fell and everyone was silent. Clay reached behind him and produced a SAMCRO full member kutte. "Welcome to the club son."

Everyone cheered and Tara got off Jax's lap just in time because he would have thrown her off to her at that kutte.

Jax took his kutte from Clay, hugging him and his mother fiercely. Tara, although feeling a little abandoned, smiled for Jax. This was what he had always wanted. His dreams of being a Son were now a reality.

"Now, as a SAMCRO member, you're still missing one thing." Clay reached into his back pocket and pulled out a set of keys with a Harley Davidson keychain attached.

Jax beamed and ran outside, the rest of the club following behind him.

Tara followed slowly outside and stood behind the crowd, watching as Jax admired his brand new bike. Tara scanned the crowd and noticed Gemma smirking at her. She may have found the one thing that could pull her and Jax apart.

Lost in her thoughts, Tara couldn't hear Jax calling her name until he was right in front of her, handing her a helmet. "Take my first ride with me baby?"

Tara smiled and nodded, sending a smirk of her own Gemma's way. Maybe there would be room for Tara in Jax's new life.

SOASOASOASOA

"Sorry I'm late Gemma. I had a complication with one of my patients." Tara said, walking into Gemma's house.

Gemma was sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying a cup of tea; her parrot sitting on a perch across from her. "That's ok. Hope everything is alright?"

"Uhhh, yeah. The kid should make a full recovery." Tara answered a little confused. Usually she didn't make small talk with Tara anymore.

"That's great."

"Yeah... So, where are the kids?"

"Oh, they are out in the backyard. It's so hot out today I said they could run through the sprinkler."

"They'll never want to come home." Tara smiled.

"I'm glad you're back Tara."

"Thanks Gemma. That means a lot."

"Now... I was concerned about something Emily told me today."

"I knew there was a reason you were being nice to me Gemma. What did Emily say?"

"She mentioned someone from Chicago." Tara's face fell. "I think she let it slip. Like you told her not to tell anyone."

"It's in the past."

"You were always a bad liar. I always knew when you and Jax stole my pot." Gemma smirked, "now, tell me... Who's Joshua?"

END CHAPTER