Chapter 9

As the sun flowed in through the curtains Jax could feel his eyes starting to open slightly while his nostril were invaded by a very similar smell that brought a smile to his face. He reached over to pull Annie closer to him but his arm was met with an empty bed. He could feel that the sheets were still warm so he knew she must have woken up recently. Jax decided now was the time to get up and deal with the revelation the previous night brought to light. He first swung both of his legs to the side of the bed and placed his feet on the soft carpet and he stood with his arms stretched above his head. He looked around the room and couldn't help but smile, Annie had folded every article of clothing for him and set out a new set of clothes for him from the ones he must have left. He could hear his prepay going off while he was pulling his plaid shirt on "Yeah?... Alright I'll be there soon." Jax through on his kutte and exited the bedroom, he could hear Annie in the kitchen and made his way there. When he turned the corner he stopped to watch her for a minute. She had the radio on low and was washing out a coffee mug while she moved her hips ever so slightly, Jax couldn't help that his pants felt a little tighter but now he didn't have to think of disgusting images in order to not draw attention. She loved him… she said it last night.

"Hey darlin..." He watched as she spun around as he let out a little squeal and placed a hand on her chest and he almost dropped dead right then and there at the sight of her. She was wearing an open red plaid button down shirt that he had left here with a black bra that had a gem stone between her breasts and a pair of black boy short panties, her hair was done in large curls that hung to her lower back, her makeup was soft and perfect. "Jesus Jackson, make a noise next time." She said with a small laugh. He made his way over to her and backed her up against the counter before he picked her up and placed her bottom on top of it so she was eye level with him. "We have a lot to talk about." Annie nodded her head and bit her lip "I know...I..I know." She cupped his cheek and he leaned onto her touch. "I gotta go to the clubhouse. We gotta discuss what's goin on with the Nords and see if we can get them out of town." "What are they doing? Cooking again?" "Yeah but I'll handle it. Meet me at the hospital later?" Annie nodded her head and Jax turned to gather his things. He slipped on his kutte and put his pre pay in his pocket, Annie jumped off the counter and started making her way out of the kitchen when she felt a hand on hers and pulled her back. She was flush against him and couldn't help the heat that flooded her core as he gripped the back of her head and gave her a bruising kiss. "Have a good day Annie." He smirked and gave her a playful slap on her ass and was out the door. He hoped it was going to be a good day.

As he pulled up to the clubhouse he saw some of his brother standing around so he went to join them. "What the hell's got you so happy assface?" Tig shouted while he approached them. "Just a good day boys." He shrugged his shoulders and brought a cigarette to his lips, lighting it, and allowing the nicotine to enter his veins. "Jackie boy! I saw yer bike at lassies house did mornin. Hows she doin since yesterday?" Jax was nervous… Did they know? No, he cant say anything he needs to talk to Annie first. Play it cool man. "She's good man." Just as Chibs was about to make a remark Jax knew he wasn't ready for Clay's voice boomed across the lot "Church!" The all started to file in when Jax felt Opie come up beside him "Dude you got marks all over you… I'm guessing Annie don't look any better?" Opie slapped Jax on the shoulder and Jax couldn't help but run his hand across his neck with a smirk.

As soon as she heard his bike rip down the street Annie decided to get dressed for the day. She chose a pair of nude pumps with a strap over her foot that were extremely comfortable and mint green dress that had ¾ sleeves and came a couple inches above her knee. It was cute, sexy, and professional all wrapped in one. She made her way out to her SUV and headed to her mother's house to pick up her boys. The entire drive there her mind kept going back to the previous night… He loves me. He's loved me this entire time? I shouldn't feel this way about my first loves brother! Should I? It doesn't matter. I love him and I need to see what happens after we talk.

Annie shut her mind off of all things from last night when she saw the two little blonde boys running towards her. "Mommy!" They both exclaimed as they jumped up into her arms and gave her a kiss on each of her cheeks. "Hello babies. I missed you last night. Did you miss me?" They both nodded their heads quickly "So much that it hurt to breathe?" They giggled and nodded their heads again. "That's what I figured. You two ready for school?" Ryder wiggled out of her arms "Let's go mommy!" Both he and Aiden climbed into the backseat and into their boosters. "Hey baby girl." "Hello motha how were they?" Hazel hugged her daughter tight and the two stayed that way for a few moments. "My granbabies were wonderful as always… when am I getting another?" Annie shook her head "Couldn't tell ya mom" Hazel gave her a quizzical look "What?" Annie asked hating the way her mother seemed to think she knew everything. "What about Abel? It's not like Wendy can be his mother." Annie ran her fingers through her hair "Mom… Jackson and I haven't even talked about what's going on with Abel. Im not his mother and Jax and I aren't together so…." Hazel slapped her daughter playfully on the arm "You're neck says otherwise." Annie pailed and looked at her mother but recovered quickly. When she was about to say something Hazel raised her hand up and shook her head "Baby please don't feed me the bullshit. That has been a long time comin and I'm just surprised it took this long." She gave Annie a kiss and patted her cheek "Bye boys!" she waved toward the twins currently in the car and started walking back to her house "Don't fight it baby." Annie watched as her mother closed the door "I won't." She said out loud to herself as she got into the driver's seat.

"Mommy can we go see Abel later?" Aiden asked once they arrived at the school. "Of course we can baby I think he would really like that." The three finally made their way inside and the boys went off to their classrooms while Annie made her way to her office. She was almost finished with the paperwork for the incoming students next fall. She sat her purse down on the small table by her desk and logged onto her computer to start the day. She was so engrossed with work that she was startled when Aiden and Ryder busted through the door and realizing it was the end of the day.

"Let's go mommy! We wanna see Abel!" Annie picked Aiden up and plopped him in her lap "Just give me a second baby… okay?...I have to shut down the computer and lock up." Annie finished the file she was working on and started to gather up her things. She pulled out her phone and saw that she had missed calls from Donna, Jax, and Gemma. None of them left a message which meant it wasn't very important. She started to call Jax when she was making her way out of the school. No answer. She couldn't help that she always felt disappointed when he didn't answer, it always made her worry. She got the boys settled and the two of them started talking about something that happened in class that day. She decided to call Donna. "Hello?" Donna's sing song voice came through the phone. "Well hello darling and how are you today?" Annie spoke in a British accent (her and Donna thought it was hilarious) "Oh you know just the usual, I have been polishing my silver and getting fit for a tiara." Annie laughed out loud "What's up D?" She heard Donna turn off the sink and knew she was drying off her hands. "I just wanted to make plans for this weekend. We need to go out! You're turning 21!" Annie knew it was meant to be a milestone birthday but she just didn't see the point. She had drank before and was always allowed to drink at the clubhouse if she wanted to. Plus, she was a mom and her main focus was on the two boys in the back. She wasn't a normal 21 year old and she was okay with that. "I don't know D… what did you have in mind?" She heard Donna squeal with excitement. "Okay don't worry about anything I will plan everything! You just focus on looking hot as fuuuck next Friday!" Annie smiled at her friend through the phone "Alright D, I love ya." "Love you more babe!" The line went dead and Annie continued toward St. Thomas.

She saw Gemma's caddy in the parking lot and parked next to her. The boys jumped out of the car and they made their way into the hospital holding Annie's hands. "Mommy I can't wait to see him! Do you think he's gonna like us?" Annie looked at her eldest son "Aiden I know that Abel is going to love you guys." Aiden smiled up at her. The elevator doors opened and Annie lead them down the hall to the room where Abel was being kept. She could see Gemma through the window reading to him while she sat in the rocking chair next to him. Aiden and Ryder slowly made their way into the room. Both boys hid behind their mothers legs and held onto her with a strong grip.

Gemma rose her head from the book she was currently reading to Abel and saw her grandsons coming in with their mother. "Hey babies. You wanna meet Abel?" Both boys nodded their heads and went to stand with their grandmother. Gemma picked up Ryder while Annie picked up Aiden. "He so little mommy!" They both said at the same time. "I know he is, he has to get better and then he will get bigger." Both boys were fully engrossed in watching the little baby sleep. Gemma turned her head to Annie and smiled. "They fixed his heart." Annie was shocked and Gemma nodded her head happily. "Doc said he as stable enough and they were confident he'd make it. Jax had told them to do what they thought was best last night and so today I came in… and… Annie he's gonna be okay." Gemma had happy tears falling from her eyes that she very quickly wiped away. The biker bitch was a happy grandma. Annie stared at Abel and felt a sense of relief was over her, he was gonna be okay.

After an hour the boys decided they wanted to make some pictures to put on Abel's walls so the room wasn't so plain. Annie and Gemma talked about everything under the sun except for the elephant in the room. "So you and Jax finally did something about those feelings huh?" Annie looked at her and gave up on trying to deny anything. "Gemma… does it make me a bad person?" Gemma looked at her shocked and speechless which was extremely rare for the Queen. "A bad person?" Gemma whispered.

Annie nodded her head and wiped angrily at the few tears that had fallen. "Gemma I just… I don't know… I loved Thomas…I…I still love Thomas but…I think…. I think I always loved Jax too. "Annie shook her head as silent tears still fell from her eyes "Thomas was… he was good and he made me feel safe in the way that…I knew… I knew he would never… hurt me. But Jackson…Jackson just… he snuck up on me and…no matter what I did… I couldn't stop… Jackson has always scared me because… I always knew that… that he could rip my heart out…" Gemma hugged the young girl that she considered a daughter close to her and let her gather her thoughts. "Listen to me Annie. You are not a bad person for feeling the way you do…" Gemma took a deep breath "Thomas knew how you felt about Jax and he knew how Jax felt about you. Before Thomas died he and I had some long talks. He was worried about you for a while. I think that's why he fought as long as he did but he was okay with everything because he knew that Jackson would take care of you. My son loved you until the moment his heart stopped and he would never fault you for loving Jax." Annie looked into Gemma's eyes and saw that she was telling the truth. "Thank you Gemma."

A while later Gemma stood and decided that it was time for her to head home. She gave Annie a kiss on the cheek and then gave her grandsons massive hugs before heading out the door. Annie sat in the chair and watched her boys intently… all three of them. She heard the door open and smiled when she saw Jax enter the room. Yeah… she definitely loved him. "Uncle Jax!" Both boys barreled toward him and he went down in a crouch to gather them up in his arms. "There's my big guys… and how is my little guy?" Aiden brought Jax's face to his "He is perfect. He looks like us." Jax barked a laugh "Us Teller men are pretty good to look at." All three of them turned their heads to Annie with identical smirks on their faces. Annie smirked right back "I guess you guys are pretty gorgeous." Jax and Annie shared a wink and a smile. After a few minutes Annie decided that she needed a coffee and headed down to the café leaving the four Teller men alone.

"Uncle Jax?" Aiden asked while placing his tiny hand into Jax's large one. Jax looked down at the older twin, "Yeah little man?" Aiden bent down to retrieve a paper from the pile of drawings he and Ryder had been working on for the past two days. Aiden held up the picture to him and Ryder joined them standing on Jax's other side. Jax kneeled on the ground so he was the same height as his nephews.

The picture was of a large house with a red door, similar to Annie's home with her SUV parked in the driveway. A motorcycle was parked next to it. In the front yard were five figures holding hands. "See that's mommy, and you, and me, Aiden, and baby Abel." Brynn spoke proudly while pointing them out to Jax. "And that's daddy Thomas in heaven. Mommy said he sits on the clouds when we wake up and on the stars when we go to sleep." Aiden smiled brightly at Jax. "This is awesome guys, I love it."

The boys were quiet and both of them were biting their lip the exact same way their mother did when she was over thinking about something. "Hey, what's goin on with you two?" They were both quiet while glancing back and forth at each other. "You're Abel's daddy right?" Ryder asked him in a whisper. "Yeah buddy I'm Abel's daddy." Ryder shuffled on each of his feet while continuing to bite his lip. Jax looked back and forth between the two little boys. "Well… why can't you be our daddy too?" Aiden finally asked while looking at his feet. Jax looked at the boys and thought about what and how to say what he needed. He scooped both boys up and sat them each on one of his legs while he sat in the rocking chair. "You know I love you guys right?" Both boys nodded their heads. "You both know that I would do anything to protect you right?" They nodded their heads again. "That's what daddy's do." Ryder turned his head toward Jax "So can we call you daddy?" Jax nodded his head and brought the boys closer to him "I would love to call you my sons…so yeah I would like that." Both boys smiled brighter than he had ever seen them.

Annie was making her way back to Abel's room from the cafe when she passed Wendy's hospital room. Wendy was lying in the bed staring blankly at whatever was playing on the TV. Annie couldn't help but feel bad for her, she knew that everyone turned their backs toward her because of what she did. Annie knew it was easier for them to turn their noses up rather than deal with the fact that they fucked up too. Annie loved her family but she knew Gemma was the one person you never wanted working against you and she also knew that the wrath of Jackson Teller was far worse. Annie ran her finger around the rim of her cup and bit her lip.

Annie knocked twice on the door entering the room even though it was open. "Hi Wendy." Wendy turned her attention toward Annie "What do you want? Did you come to tell me how I'm a horrible mother and that I will never see my son again? Just go. I got enough of that already." Annie shook her head and walked slowly further into the room. "I'm not here to tell you that you're a bad mom." Annie sat in the seat next to Wendy's bed. "I'm sorry Wendy." Wendy's looked at her confused "You're sorry? For what?" Annie gathered her thoughts while staring at the cup that was in her hand before raising her eyes to meet Wendy's. "I'm sorry that no one helped you… that I didn't help you. I knew you were an addict. I knew that… I knew that you were going through so much... but… I just… I didn't do enough. Maybe if you had had support you wouldn't have had to start using again… I don't know. I know how Gemma and Jax are and no one needs their wrath in your position… so I just want to let you know that… you aren't alone anymore.. I can be your friend.. I mean.. only if you want."

Wendy looked at the young woman that sat beside her. How the hell can a person be that GOOD? I mean come on! I can't even hate her. I don't even know what to say to her?

"Jesus Christ... I can see why he loves you so God damn much." Wendy rose her eye brows at Annie's expression. "You know what I'm talking about." She saw Annie fiddle with her fingers. "Wendy… I'm sorry... I never wanted to cause problem between the two of you. That's why I distanced myself..." Wendy placed her hand on top of Annie's "Annie, I knew the moment we came into Charming and you walked into that clubhouse. I mean I had only known him for a couple weeks but… I saw the way he looked at you… I knew I was just a time out for him… but…" "But you loved him." Wendy nodded and Annie truly did feel for her. "I appreciate this. I really do. You know I'm gonna have to check myself in…Get clean…But Annie... I really wanna see him sometime..." Wendy started to cry as the realization hit her that she may never get another chance to know her son. "I hope that you love him the way you love your boys... I see you with them and…I want that for Abel. I really do!"

Annie understood where Wendy was coming from, even if no one else did. Wendy was a mother who fucked up. But Annie knew she couldn't be punished forever. "Listen to me Wendy. And listen good. Gemma and Jax will never forget what you did, and Gemma will definitely never forgive you. But, when you get cleaned up and when YOU are ready to see Abel and know that you can be what he deserves. I promise that I will do everything in my power to make that happen. But as a mother I can also promise you, that if you come back in his life… and you hurt him again…I will make it my mission to destroy you." With that Annie stood and left the room.

"You're already an incredible mother to him." Wendy said out loud when Annie was out of ear shot.

Annie could hear their voices coming from the hospital room and decided not to barge in right away. "Daddy?" She heard Ryder's voice say. Daddy? Who is he calling daddy? "Yeah little man?" She heard Jax respond. Annie felt like the air had left her lungs and she couldn't help but lean in closer to hear them better. "Do you… do you love mommy?...Other kids have a mommy and a daddy and they love each other." Annie started biting her lip… she wasn't ready for this. She heard Jax laugh. "Jesus boys… I have loved your mommy for a very long time. When I was like I don't know… ten maybe… your mom was over the house… at that time she was like four. I was up in my treehouse and I didn't wanna play with her.." "Why not?" Aiden demanded. Jax laughed again "Cause! She was a girl and I was busy playing with my motorcycles. Anyway… Your mommy came climbing up and scared the hell out of me! I mean she didn't make a single noise climbing up there. When she finally said my name I jumped so high I hit my head on the ceiling." Her boys started belly laughing "When I turned around your mommy was there.. she was wearing this blue dress with matching ribbon in her hair and she was holding a handful of gummy bears out to me… ever since then… I loved her." She could tell that they had all stood now and heard there feet shuffling. "Well.. I love mommy more!" She heard Ryder yell. "No way! I love mommy mostest!" Aiden screamed back. She knew that was her que. As she walked into the room she figured that this was how it was supposed to be. She just hoped that her heart was safe with Jax and that her biggest fears wouldn't become a reality.

"We still gotta talk." Jax said while taking her hand in his and threading their fingers together while staring down at Abel.

"Of course." Annie leaned her head on his shoulder and let all of her fears fall away.