Chapter 13
"Tara… Tara baby, wake up."
Tara opened her eyes and blinked rapidly a few times until she focused on Jax. "Hey." She whispered hoarsely, sitting up in bed. "Did you sleep in here? What time is it?"
Jax laughed, "I slept on the couch and it's already 1030."
"What? Really?"
"You must have been exhausted. It was good that you slept so long." He said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"You could have slept in here." She said softly.
Jax smiled, "its ok." He bent down to kiss her forehead. "I got some things to do before Gemma's party. The kids ate breakfast and they're watching cartoons in the living room."
"Ok, thanks. You do know that Gemma's going to be worse than the Spanish Inquisition right?"
"Just tell her we're working things out."
"Easy for you to say. You're her little prince."
Jax smiled. "Don't worry about her. I'll deal with her later."
"Good luck." She laughed, and then her face turned serious. "We need to talk about yesterday at some point Jax."
Jax hated talking. What guy did? But if talking meant keeping Tara and his kids in Charming, he'd talk to her for as long as she wanted. "I know, we will. I'll see you tonight ok?"
"Ok."
SOASOASOASOA
Twelve Years Ago.
Jax rode into Teller-Morrow Automotive and was surprised to see Tara waiting for him at one of the picnic tables. It was a school day and while Jax had given up with school, Tara had never missed a class.
He parked his bike and walked over to her. "Hey babe. Is everything ok?" He asked. Tara was looking nervous, which was not a good sign.
"Ummm, yes. No… I think so." Tara answered with uncertainty
Jax moved to sit next to her on the table top. "What's going on?"
She didn't say anything but handed him a piece of paper. Jax opened it.
'Dear Ms. Tara Knowles.
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted with a full academic scholarship to the University of California San Diego's advanced placement Medical School Program for the fall semester.'
Jax stopped reading and turned to Tara. "You got in?"
"Yeah." Tara whispered.
Jax got up from the table and held his hand out to Tara. "Babe, that's amazing! I am so proud of you!" He pulled Tara up so he could pull her into a hug. He noticed she wasn't returning his hug with very much enthusiasm. "Hey, are you not happy about this?"
"I was… I am. I really never thought I'd get in, let along get a full scholarship."
"Of course you'd get in. Baby, this is your dream. Be happy."
"My dreams also include you Jax." She said quietly into his kutte. Jax always knew that Tara wanted to be a doctor but they had never really talked about schools Tara would go to. Obviously there were no Medical Schools in Charming. They barely had a high school.
"I can't leave Charming…" Jax said.
"I know that Jax. It would be selfish of me to ask you to come with me."
"And it would be selfish of me to ask you to say."
"I love you Jax." She assured him, tears welling up in her eyes.
He quickly pulled her to him tighter. "Oh baby, I know." He soothed. "San Diego isn't that far..."
"It's seven hours away and I could be there for at least four years and there's no guarantee that I will get a Residency at St. Thomas. It's not a very big hospital and-"
"Tara, calm down ok?" She nodded, taking a deep breath. "We'll figure it out." He kissed her. "You're still tense baby." He noted.
"Jax... It's a long time... and I'd understand if you needed to see other girls."
"Tara, I would never cheat on you. You make me sound like some kind of horn dog."
"Well... If the shoe fits." She teased. She knew Jax would never cheat on her, but a small part of her subconscious just wanted to be sure.
"Well... If I'm such a horn dog, we better get in all the sex we can before you leave in six months." He said, grabbing her by the hand and leading her to his room in the club house.
SOASOASOA
"Tara, glad you're here." Gemma greeted.
Tara looked at her oddly. She was being nice. Too nice. "Uhh, thanks Gemma. Here's the pasta salad."
Gemma took it from her. "Great. I'll go put it in the fridge. Everyone is out back kids. Tara, would you help me in the kitchen?"
Tara rolled her eyes. "Of course." She followed Gemma. "Is Jax here yet?" She really didn't want to have this talk with Gemma without his support.
"No, said he'd be a little late. Had a few things to take care of." Gemma started cutting up some vegetables. "So, did the kids and I interrupt something between you and Jax yesterday?"
"No Gemma. We were just... working things out." Tara tested out the line Jax had given her.
"I'll say."
"Mom, Mom!" Thank god for her kid's bad manners.
"Yes Emily. What is it baby?"
"Grandpa Clay set up this really cool slip and slides outside. Can we get our bathing suits from the car?"
"Sure. I'll go and get them." She answered eager to get away from Gemma.
A couple of hours went by and the party was in full swing. Tara avoided Gemma by sticking close to Donna. Jax still hadn't shown up and she was getting increasingly worried. She knew what he was doing wasn't club business because everyone from SAMCRO was here. Did he go after Kohn? Did Kohn go after him?
"Jackie Boy! Finally!"
Tara looked up to see Jax coming into the back yard. He ignored everyone and walked straight to her. "Can we talk for a minute?"
"Sure." She let Jax lead her inside the house. "Jax, where have you been?"
"Kohn is gone."
"What? Jax, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything ok? I called Hale last night and had him do a little digging. Kohn wasn't here on an investigation. That was totally bogus. He's in a lot of trouble and he's getting a police escort to the airport. I followed the car myself to make sure."
Tara took a moment to take all of this information in. Jax had actually done something by the book. Got the police involved. She looked up at him. "He's really gone?"
"Yeah baby. He's gone and I am never going to let him hurt you ever again."
Tara stood on her tiptoes to give Jax a kiss. "I love you Jackson Teller."
"I love you too. Now let's really enjoy this party." He grabbed her hand and moved to lead her back outside. Tara let go of his hand. "Something wrong?"
"No... I just... Don't want people to know we're trying to work things out just yet. I want it to be just us for a while."
Jax smiled, "Of course. Whatever you want."
"I just don't want to confuse the kids. I want to be sure this is what we want before getting them involved."
Jax had to admit her words were a little bit of a letdown. He was sure that he and Tara were meant to be and it hurt that maybe she didn't see that yet. "So... How do I get you sure?
Tara smiled. "You tell me."
"How about I take you out on a date tomorrow night?"
"A date? I don't even think we went on a date when we were... dating." She laughed.
"I'm sure I took you out on a date at least once."
"I don't think so."
"Then I better make sure this one is the best."
"I have no frame of reference Teller."
"Alright, alright. I get it. But tomorrow night. You and me. Figuring it out. Ok?"
Tara smiled, "Ok."
END CHAPTER
A/N: Have we seen the last of Kohn?
Also... The flashback really had nothing to do with anything but I liked it so I threw it into this chapter.
