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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 56 Rocked

Now Jax was mad at Tara. It was typical Tara to surprise him by revealing he wasn't the baby's father and then asking if he knew who the father was. He had hoped that with all the education she'd had that she had learned to think a little more before speaking. A doctor was supposed to have some tact for God's sake.

"I just thought Wendy might have mentioned something to you," Tara said.

"She didn't."

"Jax, I really am sorry for everything."

"Is that apology for the past or the present?" Jax asked, studying Tara's face.

"A bit for the past, but mostly about now."

"Why the hell did you come back to Charming?"

Jax returned to his chair next to Tara. That last punch into the wall had calmed him. He had put all his anger at Wendy into that punch. His knuckles were the worst for it, but the anger was almost all gone.

"I discovered that I missed the town. I never thought I would say those words, but I just hit a place in my life when I wanted to live in a smaller town."

"So you move back to a town you said you hated?"

Tara shrugged.

"I'm different. I can appreciate Charming now."

Jax didn't believe her. Her father died a couple of months ago and Tara didn't have any friends in Charming. She had come back hoping for a relationship with him.

He didn't really expect her to tell him the truth. When he and Tara were at the beginning stages of their relationship back in high school, she had tried to play it cool with him, but he'd known almost from the minute they met that she liked him.

If the timing had been better, Jax might have tried to explain to Tara that he had moved ahead with his life. It wasn't the right time and he pretty much never wanted to get into a relationship discussion with any girl. It was easy to put it off.

"Good luck with that," Jax said drily.

"Thanks. It really is up to you as to what you want to do about the paternity issue."

"You think I should keep it a secret?"

"It's up to you. I wasn't sure if I should tell you the truth about the baby, but I just felt you were owed the truth. Knowing the truth doesn't really change things. The baby is still dead."

"Bela is still dead," Jax corrected her.

"Bela is still dead."

"It does matter to me that you told me the truth. I'm sorry that Bela died, but I know that she wasn't mine. I don't have to grieve that loss. When I have a kid, it will be the first and there won't be a dead kid for me to remember."

Tara nodded her head.

"That's true. I didn't think of it that way. Does that mean you're going to get your name taken off the birth certificate?"

"I don't know about that part. I'll talk to Rosen and see what the process is. I don't care as much about the legal part. It was just important for me to know that my kid isn't dead. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Time to go break the good news to everyone," Jax said. There wasn't any happiness in his words. He was conscious of the fact that whether or not she was his kid, Bela was dead. That wasn't a cause for celebration.

Jax left the little room of death and bad news with Tara following behind him. Clay, Tig, Chibs, Bobby and Half-Sack were gathered a few yards away from the door in the hallway.

"I need to tell you all something," Jax said. He looked around. "Where's Gemma?"

"She wanted to say good-bye to the baby," Clay said.

Tara's eyes widened and all the color drained from her face.

"Oh, fuck," Tara said.

She quickly covered her mouth with her hands as if she were trying to keep other words from escaping her mouth.