A firm knock was created on the Roosevelt's front door.
The continuous sound danced throughout the home, waking Rita and Eli from their deep slumber.
Eli sat up slightly, taking a peek at the alarm clock on his side of the bed through squinted eyes.
12:39 AM.
In reaction to the time displayed a few feet from him, he released a frustrated sigh, peeling the blankets from his body, being careful not to rid Rita of any of them.
"Stay here, Ri," Eli requested, bringing out his gun from the nightstand's draw.
Rita nodded, anxiously waiting until Eli was out of sight to get up out of bed and arm herself with her own registered weapon.
As an armed Eli made it to the front door, an equally armed Rita and Cheryl stood behind them with their weapon of choice.
He brought his eye to the door's peephole, discovering it was Eglee standing on the opposite side.
Eli lowered his gun, stepping back from the door only to bump into both his wife and mother.
"Would the dynamic duo please lower your weapons? It's just one of my sheriffs."
Rita and Cheryl exchanged looks before doing what was asked of them.
Eli set his gun onto the nearby table, unlocking the secured door.
"Hey boss, I apologize for the impulsive late-night visit, and I know you've taken some time off, but I didn't want you to hear about what happened through town during your leave," Eglee explained.
"It's okay, Candy. What's going on?"
"It's Evie. She was attacked about an hour ago."
"Jesus Christ," Rita gasped as her left hand released her gun to cover her mouth.
"Is.. is she..", Cheryl stuttered as her aged hands gripped the cross that hung from her gold necklace, placing her own gun next to Eli's on the nearby table.
"She's going to be okay. She's at St. Thomas as we speak."
The three of them released a relieved breath from their burning lungs.
"Oh God... the baby.. what about the baby?", Rita asked.
"Baby? Baby.. Evie's pregnant?", Eli turned his head to look at his wide-eyed wife.
"Rita...Evie's pregnant?", he asked again.
"Yes," Cheryl answered for her seeing as each and every one of Rita's motor skills temporarily suspended themselves.
Rita gathered enough strength to slowly nod her head to Eli's repeated question.
His jaw visibly clenched while he turned his head back to Eglee.
"Do you have her statement?"
"Yes sir, it's in the car."
"Good, I want to see it."
Evie was discharged from St. Thomas close to three in the morning.
The long-awaited test results confirmed Evie's truth.
She in fact put an end to Gogo before he could further engage in the heinous act that is categorized as rape.
She signed the final piece of paper attached to the wooden clipboard, handing the nurse the confidential documents and loaned blue pen.
"Okay honey, that's the last of it. Oh, here."
She pulled out a pamphlet from the desk's bottom draw and slid it across the beige countertop.
"We here at St. Thomas offer therapy services if needed. From the looks of it, your insurance can cover the visits," she stated, flipping to the middle page located on the clipboard which was a scanned copy of Evie's insurance card.
"Thank you," Evie answered, folding up the pamphlet and placing it into the front right pocket of the black sweatshirt Jax lent her due to her top being ruined by that animal who assaulted her.
Jax rested his hand against the small of Evie's back as they walked side by side to his two wheeled vehicle that stood just outside the two large doors which lay ahead of them.
"You ready to go home, darlin'?", Jax asked as he retrieved her helmet from his left side bag.
"You have no idea," she answered, taking her helmet from his outstretched hand.
Once the both of them mounted Jax's bike, Evie coiled her arms around Jax's powerfully built torso, holding him tighter than ever before while he slipped on his riding glasses which he wears whenever night falls.
He started up his bike, allowing it to run for a moment to place a gentle kiss on her nearest temple.
A weak smile formed on Evie's face and in reaction to the sudden display of affection, she rested her chin onto his right shoulder.
Jax pulled into the driveway, parking the bike behind Evie's car.
He cut the power to his motorcycle, letting Evie dismount his prized possession first.
When Jax returned her helmet to the original side bag it resided in, he looked up to find Evie already making her way up the stoned pathway.
Quickly, he removed his own helmet, sliding its straps onto the steel handle closest to him.
As Jax jogged up the pathway to his hurting woman, Evie unlocked the front door only to be greeted by a very worried Alita.
"Evie..Oh my God.. Are you okay?", she asked, immediately closing the distance between herself and Evie to engage in a warm embrace.
The swift movement made by Alita caused Evie to jump back slightly.
Alita automatically recoiled, taking Evie's hands in her own.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have.."
"No, no, it's fine. I guess I'm just a little jumpy."
"Are you okay?", Alita repeated.
"Yeah."
"And the baby?"
"Yes. We are both okay," Evie replied, setting her hand onto her stomach.
"Oh, thank God."
"Yeah, we got lucky. Were the boys any trouble?"
"No, not at all. They went down at their usual time."
"Good. I'm gonna go see them and then, I'm going to take a much-needed shower. I need to try to wash this day off me."
"That sounds like a plan. Do you need me to stay?", Alita asked, adverting her attention between Evie and Jax.
"Thanks for the offer, Alita but we got it from here," Jax answered first as he pulled out his wallet to pay Alita for her last-minute services.
The two of them watched Evie slowly retreat down the hallway to the boys' bedroom.
"Just let me know any days your other sitter is not available, and I can make sure I will be."
"I truly appreciate it, Alita. It's gonna be an all-hands-on deck situation for the next couple of weeks since the doctor ordered her to be on bed rest until her next appointment."
"You do realize the majority of this battle will consist of actually keeping her on bedrest, right?"
"Don't I know it."
Evie entered the boys' room which was dimly lit by the small moon shaped night lights placed in each available wall socket.
She carefully squatted down to the bottom bunk, finding Abel asleep at the top of the bed while Andre was asleep on the opposite end.
The sight before her brought her back to when her and Jax first started seeing each other.
Evie placed a gentle kiss on each of her children's heads before departing the shared bedroom.
Her long legs dragged her to the master bedroom for her much-needed shower.
Not seeing Jax in there waiting for her, she turned on her heels, seeing him sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs, indulging in a smoke break.
Evie switched on the bathroom light, immediately bringing herself in front of the three-way mirror.
Her cut bottom lip was now swollen, and finger shaped bruises have begun to appear on her neck.
She reached for her open makeup bag that sat on the corner of the counter, digging around for her foundation and concealer.
Once the two beauty products were in her possession, she opened each one to confirm where her inventory stood.
She never thought she would see this day.
The day where she would need makeup to conceal traces of an assault.
That heartbreaking reality caused Evie to become overwhelmed with emotion and tears started to fall rapidly from her tired eyes.
She put the products back into the bag and stripped herself of all her clothing.
Evie was in that god damn shower for over an hour, however she still felt just as dirty as when she originally entered the glass shower.
Her right hand turned the metal nozzle, shutting off the water.
She stepped out of the shower, grabbing the closest white towel hanging from the wooden rack.
Her hands wrapped the towel tightly around her slick body, tucking the ends toward her chest.
She pulled the far-left mirror's door, grabbing her body oil.
When she closed the door, Jax came up behind her with his hands on her hips.
The unexpected touch from him caused her to entire body to tense up and unknowingly move away from his gentle touch.
"I'm.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he breathed against her bare shoulder before placing a kiss onto her skin.
"It's okay," Evie replied as she began to apply the oil to her body.
"Evie."
"Yeah?", she asked, looking up at him in the mirrors before her.
His hands gradually turned her waist until she was facing him.
He collapsed to his knees, coiling his arms around her waist.
"I'm so sorry," he sobbed into her towel.
Evie placed the body oil onto the counter behind her.
Her now free hands stroked his slicked back locks to comfort him.
"It's okay. We're okay. That's what matters."
Jax did not sleep a wink that night, well, morning.
The same fortunately could not be said for Evie.
The moment the two of them went to bed, Evie laid her head on her man's bare chest and drifted off into a heavy slumber.
As Jax continued to lightly stroke the skin on Evie's hand, his cellphone began to ring from atop his nightstand.
His hand shifted away from Evie's, picking up the mobile device.
Jax's thumb flipped open the phone and he brought the device to his ear.
"Yeah," he whispered, causing Evie to slightly stir before falling back to sleep.
"Hey brother, sorry to wake you this early, but I just got a call from Leo Parelli. We officially got a lead on Frankie," Bobby stated.
"Okay. I want everyone at church in an hour."
"You got it," Bobby answered ending the call.
"Duty calls?", Evie mumbled with her eyes remaining closed.
"Yeah," Jax replied, placing an audible kiss on her forehead.
"I'm gonna call my mom to have her come over early to help out with the boys. Rat Boy and V-Lin will be posted here after I leave."
Shit.
Evie almost forgot she was on mandatory bedrest.
"Okay."
"As soon as I wrap shit up, I'm coming home."
Evie opened her eyes, meeting Jax's blue ones.
"Sounds like a plan."
Jax grinned, giving her a kiss on the lips this time.
Their lip lock was short lived when a hard pounding was made on the front door.
Jax immediately sat up and grabbed a hold of his gun.
"Stay here, darlin'."
Evie nodded, displaying visible worry all over her face before retrieving her gun from her purse which sat atop of her own nightstand.
Before the pounding could continue, Jax briefly looked through the peephole before unlocking and yanking the door away from its frame.
"Assault? Attempted rape?!," Eli growled as he pushed past Jax to enter their household.
"Eli.."
"Your time is up, Teller. I need that final nomad today."
"And you'll get him. I finally got a lead less than twenty minutes ago."
"If you don't follow through on this, I swear.."
Eli.. bring your voice down a couple octaves. Your consistent pounding on the front door may not have woken our boys, but your raised voice certainly will," Evie stated as she tied the front of her white silk robe while she entered the kitchen with both men following her.
Evie opened the refrigerator door, grabbing herself a sealed bottle of water.
As the fridge's door closed, Eli came up to Evie, gently touching her face before his curled pointer finger made its way under her chin, spotting the bruises on her neck.
"Jesus Christ, Eve."
"It looks worse than it feels."
"And the baby?"
Jax and Evie immediately glanced at one another.
Fuck.
Either her mother or Rita slipped up.
"I guess I'm no longer privy that type of information," Eli continued.
"Why, so you can offer to drive me to the nearest abortion clinic?", Evie quipped, taking a sip from her bottle of water.
"Evie.."
"I don't hear an outright objection to my theory. Probably cuz my theory is actually a fact."
"How's the baby?", he asked, skimming right over her previous words.
"The baby's okay."
"That's good."
Evie could see and feel the utter frustration behind his response.
He and his wife have been trying for months on end to get pregnant.
Now, here stood his sister, knocked up by a felon she only knew for a few months.
"Evie, you need to get back to bed. You're on mandatory bedrest," Jax pointed out.
"I'm going now. I'm sorry for keeping this from you Eli, but I'm not gonna apologize for something I wanted."
She gave her brother a small peck on the cheek before she brought herself in front of Jax.
Evie rested her hands on his bare chest, standing on the tips of her toes, giving him a kiss on the lips.
"Okay sweetheart, I made you a short stack with some bacon and a side of orange juice," Gemma chirped as she entered Jax and Evie's bedroom with a plate of grub and a full glass of O.J.
Evie set down her kindle, carefully taking the plate and glass from Gemma's hands.
She held up the plate, counting the number of pancakes that made up the tall tower of flapjacks.
"That's a short stack?", Evie teased.
"That is a short stack when you're eating for two," Gemma's answer releasing a brief laugh from both women.
"Thanks Gem. And thank you for coming by early," Evie said as she put down her plate and glass onto the nearby nightstand without knocking her heavy purse onto the carpeted floor.
"Of course. Where else would I be?"
"Do you need me to give you the short rundown of what needs to be done today?"
"Jax already did, but I can give you a verbal recap. Andre has an appointment at 10:00 to finally get his cast off from the car accident and after that, bring the boys to see Rita. How'd I do?"
Even though Gemma has been steering clear from pot and drinking, Evie needed to have assurances in place.
So, she is sending V-Lin to escort her and the boys to their multiple locations.
"Perfect."
A quick and quiet knock was made on the front door while Gemma was unloading the clean dishes from the steam filled dishwasher.
"I'll see who it is," Rat Boy announced to Gemma as he peeked around the corner of the kitchen's entrance way.
After Rat Boy got a look at the unexpected visitor through the peephole, he reentered the kitchen.
"It's some older woman with a gift basket in tow."
"Okay, I got it sweetheart. You can head back into the living room," Gemma nodded, wiping her damp hands on her fitted black jeans.
Gemma opened the door, giving the older woman a smile.
"Can I help you?"
"Hi, I'm Cheryl Roosevelt. I'm Evie's mother."
"Oh hi, I'm Gemma Teller. I'm Jax's," Gemma greeted, stepping aside to allow Cheryl to enter the home.
"Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand, but my hands are a bit full," Cheryl chuckled, readjusting her grip on the basket.
"Likewise. I'm not sure if you ate anything today, but I have some leftover pancakes. I can heat them up if you like," Gemma offered as she closed the front door.
"Yeah sure, that would be great, thank you. Where's Evie?"
"Back bedroom," Gemma pointed before setting her hands on her hips.
Cheryl gave her a warm smile before she headed down the hallway with her purchased gift basket.
"Knock, Knock."
Evie quickly closed and hid her laptop underneath Jax's pillow.
"Evelyn Renee Roosevelt, you better not be doing what I think you're doing," Cheryl scolded, putting the gift basket on top of the organized dresser.
"I was just replying to a few work emails."
"You're on bedrest."
"To which I have complied. I'm in bed and resting."
"Evie, hand me your laptop."
"Mom.."
"Hand it here."
Evie sighed, passing her laptop to her mother.
"My boss is currently wearing my work hat so to speak, and he has no idea what the hell he is doing. Because of this, some of my co-workers are spiraling and I was just trying to help."
"It will work itself out," Cheryl answered, setting Evie's laptop next to her gift basket.
"Rita and I tried calling you after we heard what happened," Cheryl stated, taking a seat on the bed next to Evie.
"Have you? Shit, I must have left my cell back at the office. I'm so sorry, I'll have it picked up before the end of the day."
"No need to apologize."
Cheryl's right hand gently gripped her daughter's chin, keeping her head in place to study her covered up injuries.
She was able to cover the bruises quite well, but the amount of swelling on her neck and lip...no amount of makeup could hide that.
"How are you and my grandbaby feeling?"
"Okay. The doc wants me on bedrest until my next OBGYN appointment which I see now as a blessing in disguise since I have a shit load of books just waiting to be devoured by me since my laptop has been repossessed."
"Where's Jax?"
"Working," Evie answered as she sat up further in bed.
Cheryl stood up and closed the bedroom door, the sudden sound in the quiet home gaining Gemma's full attention.
"While we are on the subject of Jax, I want to talk to you about what happens now."
"I just told you, mom. Required bedrest until.."
"That's not what I meant, and I think you know that."
"I let my big brother and his band of badges find and arrest the person behind these local attacks which so happened to hit our family more than once," Evie replied, keeping steady eye contact with her mother.
"Evie, I was thinking after your required bedrest comes to an end, maybe you and the boys come back home with me for a bit."
"Why would I do that? This is our home."
"Baby, since you and Jax jumped into this relationship headfirst, you have had an irremovable target on your back."
"Jesus Christ, Eli has flipped you."
"Eli does not control my opinion in this matter or any other matter. I like Jax, I truly do. I see that he is a good man, and he loves you and Dre, but he obviously can't protect you the way he says. These threats are far bigger than him. Just think about it, please?"
Cheryl made her way out of the bedroom, finding Gemma "cleaning" up the kitchen from breakfast.
"Let me help you," Cheryl offered, picking up a couple dirty dishes from the kitchen table.
Gemma yanked the plates out of her hands, dropping them into the sink.
"I got it."
"Okay.. Did I do something to upset you, Gemma?"
"I don't know, it could have something to do with you trying to convince Evie to leave my son."
Cheryl bit her bottom lip with anger behind the action.
"I see a closed bedroom door means absolutely nothing to you."
"I have a right to know what is being said especially when it has to do with my son."
"If you were truly listening, you would know I wasn't suggesting a permanent leave of absence."
"Don't try to bullshit me, Cheryl."
Cheryl stepped closer to Gemma, standing only inches from her.
"You know what, fine. I'mma serve this to you straight with no chaser. My daughter's love and devotion for your son is severely clouding the bigger picture here. She has been in the hospital consistently since they started seeing each other. That is not normal. How many close calls do you think she has left before she is gone for good? The last thing I'm trying to do is bury my daughter when it is far beyond her time to actually leave this world. Parents are supposed to go first, not children."
"What has happened to Evie is not on Jax."
"Not by his own hands, but his associations'. I would have thought you would back my offer since you are a mother as well."
"Creating distance would not solve anything. It would just hurt our family."
"If Evie and the kids stay here right now, that decision will hurt our family."
"They aren't going anywhere."
"We'll see."
10:12 PM:
Jax was finally home.
After he sent the prospects and Gemma away for the evening, he quietly strolled into his and Evie's moonlit bedroom, discovering her sound asleep along with their two boys.
A sweet smile reached his mouth as he got closer to the bed.
He reached Evie's side, placing a kiss onto her temple.
The sweet sensation caused Evie to awake from her slumber.
"Hey."
"Hey darlin'. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he whispered.
"It's okay. I can't even tell you when I crashed."
"You both needed the rest," he replied, kissing Evie's stomach.
Evie smiled as her hands slicked back the blonde locks that fell forward.
"Did you find Frankie?"
Jax nodded as she quietly and carefully slid over to make room for him to sit.
"Yeah, and not the way I preferred," he sighed, taking a seat next to her.
"Damn, I'm sorry baby. How did Eli take it?"
"As expected."
Evie rubbed the center of her forehead, knowing what that vague answer meant.
"My mom told me Cheryl stopped by," he rapidly changed the subject.
"Wow, Gemma certainly doesn't waste time to beat me to the punch."
"I need to know.. Are you considering your mother's offer?"
Evie set her hands on each side of herself to sit upright, resting her head onto Jax's chest.
"The only way I would consider leaving Charming is if you are coming with me. We're a family, Jackson. You hear me?"
He nodded, giving Evie a passionate kiss on her lips.
"I love you."
"I love you too. Now, go get changed and join me and our knights in adorable armor."