CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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The house smells like a winters night when I open the door, the slow cooker I'd left going all day with the casserole in it is bubbling away slowly in the kitchen gets a quick stir to make sure it's all cooked. Jax walks in the door not long after me, after stirring dinner I'd taken Abel down the hall to give him a quick bath and get him ready for bed. The water is running into the plastic bath insert that I'd left in the bathroom from the changing table, Jax lifts Abel out of my arms and watches while I add some baby bubbles and test the water.

It's cute watching Jax struggle to bath his son, he can't keep a good grip on Abel's slippery limbs and each time Abel moves a small wave of water sweeps across the side of the bath and lands on Jax's shirt or jeans. By the time Abel is clean Jax is soaked from the middle of his chest to the top of his knees, stripping his jeans off he drops them with a wet splat "Okay so it makes more sense now why you give him a bath in a bathrobe."

I nod, giggling as he struggles to lift the wet shirt over his head "I'll take him and get him dried and dressed if you want to shower now. Dinner will wait."

Jax nods turning the shower on as I leave with the towel wrapped wiggling bundle. "Can you empty the bath too please?" I call over my shoulder walking through into Abel's room.

Drying him off and dressing in one of the many SAMCRO suits that Gemma brought when he was born I carry him down the hall, heating another bottle and tucking the teat into his mouth as I walk back into the living room. By the time Jax comes back through dressed in clean jeans and a shirt Abel's fed and sound asleep, his weight heavy in my arms.

"I'll get dinner sorted if you want to take him to bed?" Jax nods, crossing to where I was curled in the armchair, lifting Abel from my arms and taking him down the hall.

Spooning some of the beef, carrots, garlic, onions and potatoes into two bowls I set them on the table as Jax comes back down the hall "He's out for the count."

I nod "He'll probably be up about 3 I'd say. I'll make up some more bottles when we're done with dinner."

Jax nods, dipping his spoon into his bowl "You ready for tomorrow? Ma hasn't told me anything about what's happening other than she'll be here early to start setting up and she wants everyone here by 8."

I roll my eyes, nodding "I'm not sure the logic of having people arrive when he's already in bed, but I'll try and get him to have a longer than normal nap during the day."

"Is there anything I can do around here?"

I shake my head, finishing my mouthful "No, we're all set for the final move on Saturday. Tomorrow I'm going to go to the new house while Gem sets up here so I can get all the dishes washed and put away, I didn't have time today. Then all we have to do is move Abel's stuff, the last of our clothes and the other table and chairs for the kitchen, then there's moving D and Ope in here with the kids."

"And the stuff in the barn to sort through." Jax reminds me.

I sigh and nod "Yeah, but I don't think that there really is that much in there. Maybe a truck full of boxes, I'll ask Uncle Jacob about it."

After finishing dinner Jax goes into the living room and sits down in front of the TV. "Hey babe come here a second."

Sticking my head through the door "What's up?"

"Well I sat down here and remembered something." Jax says with a grimace.

"We haven't brought a TV or stereo for the living room at the new house." I say, resting on the arm of the chair.

Jax nods "Yeah that's it."

"You and Ope have to go pick all the stuff for here and them when they move, don't know if you want to include Juice or not, cause they'll need stuff too."

Jax sighs as he starts pulling plugs from the back of the DVD player "Where's this stuff going in the new house?"

I slide down onto the chair properly "Well it can go in the games room or into the living room. I don't know if you want a TV in the bedroom as well or not?"

Jax looks over at me at lifts his eyebrows "I'll see what I can find. I'll go Saturday and look for stuff." I'm shaking my head before he can finish his sentence "What?"

"You can't go on Saturday, that's when we're doing the final move. Unless you want to do the shopping on Saturday and the move on Sunday."

Jax looks up "I think we'll do that way. Sunday morning we'll get up early and move the last of our stuff then help Ope and D move themselves here."

"I'll ask D tomorrow if she's setting up the kids beds here or waiting till the new house is built."

Jax nods piling all the cables beside him as he unplugs them. Retrieving a box from the kitchen I drop it beside him. Leaving him to his spaghetti junction of cables I return to the kitchen, the line-up of bottles along the bench waiting for formula and water. In between making up the bottles I box up everything else from the pantry that's not going to be used over the next couple of days. By the time I'm finished the only things left in the pantry is a box of cereal, half a box of pasta, a can of tomatoes an onion, half a dozen eggs and a stick of butter.

Sliding the box onto the table I look around the room, if not for the pile of empty boxes sitting in the corner waiting for any last minute stuff it wouldn't be noticeable that someone is moving, until cupboard doors are opened and the lack of contents becomes obvious.

Pouring the water into the baby bottles I shake them before setting them back on the bench to cool, hoisting myself onto the bench beside them I run through my mental list of everything to do. I still haven't rung about changing my name but it's easily enough done with a single phone call to Patrick to get him to do it all, now that he's back from his week long holiday in the middle of nowhere. Jax appears in the doorway as I shake the final bottle and set it down on the bench.

"All done?" I ask, leaning my head against the cupboard door.

"Yep." He pulls one of the last bottles of beer from the fridge, his double take is almost funny when he realises there's nothing in there bar 4 bottles of beer, 3 now, half a bottle of milk a bottle of juice and about an inch of cheese. "You need to go shopping?"

I poke my tongue out at him and shake my head "Nope. That's all we'll need for the next couple of days. Everything else is at the new house. I was thinking though, do you want to pick up a fridge for the games room, there's a space by the bar to put one in and that saves my fridge from being overloaded with booze."

Jax laughs and crosses the room "I'll have a look Saturday and see. Is there anything important to do tonight?"

I shake my head again "Nope. Gem's gonna be here early while you're at work. Like I said before I'm going to the new house to wash all the kitchen stuff. I'll take the rest of the food and anything else that's good to go. What do you want to wear Saturday and Sunday?"

Jax sets his beer down and shrugs "I don't know. Whatever. Why?"

"Cause I'll take all the other clothes over tomorrow as well. I might move the change table and most of Abel's clothes as well that way all there is left are the crib, dressing table and day bed to move on Sunday. And the stuff on the walls."

Jax reaches over and clamps his hand over my mouth "You're doing it again. Slow the fuck down before I handcuff you to the bed for an entire day."

My eyes widen and I shake my head furiously a small wave of panic flooding my blood stream. Jax notices the way my skin has lost all colour and lifts his hand "Sorry Sarah. I didn't think."

I inhale a few deep breaths, my racing pulse slowing to normal while Jax stands there and watches me, his arms hanging by his sides. It takes a few minutes that feel like hours for my body to completely relax. Sliding off the bench I step up to Jax and wrap my arms around his waist "I'm sorry baby. I know you would never hurt me." Jax looks down, his eyes searching my face slowly. Keeping my gaze locked on him he eventually nods and hugs me tightly.

"I just have to remember sometimes, remind me if I fuck up, K?" Jax's voice is muffled where he's pressing his lips to my hair.

I tighten my grip around him, my fingers digging into his back "I'll try. I guess it's just I'm a little sensitive today. That shit with the lawyer, reading the letters from Mom and Dad and the date tomorrow have all added to make me a little jumpy."

Jax pulls his head back and frowns "What about tomorrow?"

I squeeze closer to him, my arms locked around his waist "Tomorrow is a year since I was...locked up." All the other ways to word it don't seem right in my brain.

Jax's arms tighten around me, my entire body pressed to him "Are you sure about having the party tomorrow then?"

I nod, my chin brushing his shirt "Yeah I'll be fine. Keep it quiet please?"

Jax grunts in disapproval but agrees with a small movement against my head. "I will, as long as you head to bed now, you've done enough today."

"I just need to put these bottles into the fridge and I'm all done." Jax picks up the bottles lined across the bench and takes them to the fridge. Closing the door he turns around and grins at me.

"All done." Jax crosses back to me, bending over he wraps his arms around my thighs and lifts me up, my body falling over his shoulder.

Jax doesn't set me back on my feet till we're at the foot of the bed. Lifting his hands to the sides of my face he leans down and presses a kiss to my lips "I'm going to go make sure the doors are all locked and check on Abel. I'll be back."

I can hear Jax walking around as I get changed, pulling on one of the SONS shirts I've hijacked to sleep in, the soft dark blue material falling to my mid-thighs. The smell of Jax clinging to the material.

By the time Jax comes back into the room I'm curled under the blankets with my head buried in the pillows "All good out there baby?"

Jax nods "Yeah, you'd left the back door wide open."

"Oops." I watch as he walks around the room. "Before you dump those clothes on the floor, the box by the dressing table is the dirty washing. Drop them there please?"

Jax flicks his eyes to the roof but let's go of his t-shirt into the box, his jeans following that with his socks dropped on the top. "Happy?"

I nod "Yes thank you Jax."

Jax laughs, lifting the blankets and sliding under them waiting while I shuffle over and rest my head on his shoulder. Jax tugs my hair lightly till I look up at him "You okay babe?"

I nod, my cheek sticking slightly to his skin "Yeah, excited for the move though. I doubt I'll sleep the next couple of nights."

Jax grins "I'll help you sleep whenever you need, you just have to ask babe."

I giggle burrowing my nose into his neck "As long as you're beside me and you don't object to me sniffing you we're all good."

Jax shakes his head "What is it with you and smelling me?"

I shrug as much as I can "You smell good. And do I need a reason other than that?"

Jax kisses the top of my head "Of course not."

Tilting my head up I kiss his lips lightly, but a shuffling noise from the baby monitor beside me makes me stop mid movement. The soft squeak I'd heard turns into a sniffily cry then a louder one till Abel's crying proves he's not going back to sleep.

"Your son is a cock blocker at less than 3 months old." I grumble getting out of the bed "I'll be back."

It's over an hour later when I finally get Abel settled back into his crib, feeding him and changing his diaper he still hadn't been happy when I set him down to go back to sleep, no amount of soft music playing and the lights of the mobile around the room had made him sleepy. It'd taken reading him 2 of the books still unpacked and rocking him for almost 30 minutes before he'd fallen asleep.

I'm not surprised, only slightly disappointed when I find Jax sound asleep, climbing into the bed behind him I wrap my arm over his side and wiggle into the warmth of his back. Closing my eyes I press a kiss to the centre of his back right over the first A in the Anarchy tattoo that covers his entire back. He barely stirs with the fingers of my hand pressed to his stomach, the ridges of his muscles under my fingertips.