CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

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Following Jax out of the ward and to the elevator my eyes dance over the two women in the nurses station, their eyes slide right past Jax as he strides past. A small smile crosses my lips as I hurry to catch him just before the doors to the neo-natal unit.

I slide my arm through his and lace our fingers together; leaving our hands hanging between us he raises an eyebrow, my eyes dart to my right where the two nurses are trying to not be obvious in their watching of us. Jax's mouth twists in a smile, one side lifting slightly higher than the other as he pulls me to him by my hand and wraps his arm around my waist, holding me to him and trapping my arm between us, his fingers wrapped around my hand.

"What would I do without you Darlin'?" He says as he kisses me softly.

I grin when he pulls away, the gap between our lips fractions of an inch "You'd be a single daddy." I reply with a smirk.

Jax shakes his head rapidly and squeezes me tighter, whatever air that was between us being pushed out with the grip he has on me "Don't even joke about that. I love you Sarah. Don't you dare mention me raising our son by myself. It's not funny."

I widen my eyes at the look of pure fear that's flickered across Jax's face, whatever humour I was attempting to put into the situation vanishing in a second. "Okay baby, I'm not going anywhere, I promise." I whisper, leaning into his arms and feeling his body relax against me slowly, the death grip he'd formed around my fingers easing.

"Good." Jax says sharply into my hair.

We stand there for a few seconds before Jax pulls back and looks down at me "Time to go, Ope and Happy won't wait forever. Sack will, but that's only cause he hasn't realised he doesn't have to any more."

I giggle as we push through the doors and into the main hallway "Well, lead on then."

Jax keeps his fingers linked through mine as he pulls me to the elevator, the ride down is quick and relatively silent, the older couple in the small metal box with us preventing any major conversations.

Stepping out into the bright sunlight I squint for a second as we head to Jax's bike in the corner, 3 other bikes around it with riders straddling them. I glance over them quickly and nudge Jax "Thought D was coming?"

"She is, we've gotta go get her, and our gear. Is it packed?"

"Fuck." I mutter "I forgot. It'll only take a couple of minutes though."

Jax nods as we reach the bikes "Ope, you go get Don and meet us at our place. Sarah forgot to pack."

Happy shakes his head "Gee, not even inked and already letting the duties slide."

I poke my tongue out at him "No baking for Happy!" I say in a sing-song voice as Jax swings his leg over his bike and waits as I settle on the back before handing me my helmet.

Happy leans over and lifts his sunglasses up so I can see his dark eyes "You wouldn't deny me my one pleasure would you?"

I explode into laughter as Opie leaves the car park, Kip on his tail. "Hap, if cupcakes are your only pleasure you've got problems."

Jax chuckles as he starts his bike but Happy's grin and head shaking make me giggle even more. "But, no. I wouldn't deny you any baking." I finish, poking a finger into Jax's side as he starts his bike.

True to my word it only takes me 5 minutes to jam clean clothes into a backpack for the night away. Locking the door behind me 7 minutes after we pulled into the driveway I grin and settle my sunglasses back on my face as Opie and Kip coast to a stop, Donna now behind Ope with a pack similar to mine on her back.

She waves at me as I head back to the bikes in the driveway and slide back on behind Jax. He looks at me over his shoulder "All set?"

I nod and wrap my arms tightly around his waist and lean against his back as he starts the bike again.

The four bikes make a quite departure from Charming, well quite in comparison to what the noise could have been if more Redwood Sons were making the 2 hour journey to Fresno, but I'm aware that the more Sons there are, the higher the likelihood of being pulled over is. I didn't miss the bedrolls strapped to the back of each bike, even though they won't be used, my mind is aware of what it is that we're carting.

Once we hit the main road throttles are twisted and the average speed creeps up till we're cruising not much above the speed limit. The wind whips around us, stray strands of my hair being pulled from my braid which was tucked into my jacket.

The ride to Fresno is peaceful, there's nothing but the sound of the Harley's and the road around us. We pass numerous trucks and the occasional car but even the road seems fairly empty for a Friday afternoon.

About 45 minutes out of Fresno Happy spots a couple of bikes parked on the side of the road and nods his head in their direction. The road positions are subtly adjusted as we travel the distance between us and the pair. Jax and I end up right in the centre with Happy on our left, Kip in front of us and Opie to our right. I feel my brow furrow with confusion but when I meet Donna's eyes she grins and shakes her head.

Each of the Sons is tense as the final bit of road is eaten up by the wheels, until the shadowed forms on the bikes get clearer and the reaper on their backs is evident. The tension with the Mayans has obviously got them all on high alert, something I wasn't aware of until the four of us became 6. The extra bikes slotting in behind us have Jax's shoulders relaxing, the tenseness of his muscles vanishing under my hands. I rest my head against his back, inhaling the smell that's so comforting to me.

The presence of the additional Sons seems to be the cue that the guys were waiting for and the bikes drift into another of the seemingly endless formations they have. One of the Fresno members takes point and Jax and Opie fall in behind them, the next row back is Happy and Kip and then the other Fresno rider becomes the tail end of the odd extended diamond shape they've formed as we travel over the last few dozen miles.

Finally pulling into the Fresno clubhouse there's an almost collective sigh of relief, from all the Sons, almost as soon as we're all off the bikes the bedrolls are snapped off and whipped away to some hidden corner somewhere. Minutes later they've appeared on other bikes belonging to the Fresno members and are quickly out of the lot again.

I notice all of this out of the corner of my eye, my attention split between stretching my back and the hug/handshake greetings that are going on around us. I spot Vince and Blade in the group of Sons, none of the other's look even the slightest familiar and the names rattled off don't help.

Jax wraps an arm around my shoulder as the interest of at least two of the men is sparked by presence is squashed as he introduces me as his Old Lady first, then by my name. I smile at the new faces and shrug "You all have me at a distinct advantage. You only have one name to remember, I have five."

Jax chuckles as one of them steps forward "I'm Tank." The easy smile that spreads across his face is a welcome view. The fact he's nicknamed tank is not at all hard to tell why, he's built like a Buick and looks like he could easily work as a battering ram if needed.

I smile politely but am secretly grateful when Jax walks towards Blade with me tucked under his arm, they have a quick conversation about room's and we're directed to the one that we've been 'assigned' for the night.

Dropping the backpack on the bed Jax grips my upper arms and looks down at me "You okay?"

I nod "Doing alright at the moment. The familiar faces are helping."

Jax nods and hands me the key "You keep that, any issues just come back here and lock yourself in, bring D if you have to."

I smile and wrap my arms around his waist, snaking them under his kutte "And leave you out there defenceless against the pussy parade that will start in a few hours. I don't think so baby."

Jax grins and kisses my forehead lightly "None of them will hold a candle to you Darlin'."

"Oh, I know that." I say relaxing into his arms "But I'm not going to give any of them the chance to make you even consider them against me."

Jax grins again; the corners of his mouth twitching at the amount his lips are stretched "Glad to hear it. We have a few hours anyway so what shall we do."

I giggle and work my way further into his embrace "I can think of a few things."

Jax raises an eyebrow "Oh really?"

I nod and nuzzle into his neck, running my tongue over his Adam's apple. "Want me to show you?"

"Fuck yes." Jax mutters dropping his head and fastening his lips to mine.