CHAPTER NINETY

Website where all photos of all outfits mentioned is on my profile.

Donna ends up joining me on my trip to the markets, with the uncertainty about who burnt down my shop at the front of everyone's minds we end up with Kip and Miles trailing us while we do the shopping. On our way towards Stockton we stop by the remains of what had been one of my stores, like Unser said it's a void between two stores that looks strange, there are scorch marks on the front of the stores either side and one of the windows has shattered from the heat. The fire inspector asks me a few routine questions before taking my phone number and letting me know they'll be in touch.

With both mine and Donna's cupboards to refill it takes the two of us an entire day to get everything brought and packed away, when I turn around the following day and go back out to buy baking supplies for the stuff I've been commanded to make for the Taste of Charming fundraiser that's approaching quicker than I thought.

It's Al that joins me for that trip, Juice trailing with Kip on babysitting duty while Miles is stuck at TM doing stocktake. Al makes a side trip to the body mod store she found where she buys some things that I'm not surprised at, sterile needles and some black gloves and some things that do surprise me, an entire collection of ear stretchers being one of them, from the smallest size up to 22mm. When I question her about them she just shrugs and tells me that "You never know."

Shaking my head and letting her continue with her browsing I end up in the store next door where Al finds me almost 20 minutes later, a variety of cookie cutters in the basket hanging from my elbow. Picking up the one that appears to look like a doghouse I shrug "You never know."

She simply shakes her head and drops a couple of other ones I couldn't reach into the basket, snickering about my lack of height meaning I should carry a stepladder with me at all times.

Gemma comes over later the following day and casts a critical eye over everything I've got on the benches "So when are you doing the actual baking?"

I roll my eyes and cut another Twinkie in half for the Minion cupcakes I'd decided to make. "I'm doing the baking tomorrow. Today is pre-decorating stage. All the stuff I can premake I've done, apart from this lot."

Gemma nods, sitting down and pulling one of the decorated 'heads' towards her to look at it "What's this to do with?"

I shrug "Kenny and Ellie spent a lot of the time in the cars going on about some movie with minions so I looked them up and found this. I figure, kids know it, kids ask parents to buy cupcake with minion on it, school makes money. I've got some flowers I've done and some princess dresses as well and I thought I'd do some plain ones as well for the adults."

Gemma nods and smiles "So I'll take Abel off your hands tomorrow then so you can do this in peace. I've set you up in a booth between where we're doing the chilli and where the German is setting up for the hotdogs. You're the first 'sweet' booth in the whole place for those coming in from Main. Come any time after 8 to set up. Gates are opening at 9; the guys are going down tonight to set up the tables and some gazebos for us. Are you going to be done in time?"

I roll my eyes and look over at her through my eyelashes "Gem I've done events where I had to bake and decorate anything up to 2000 cupcakes in one day, I think a few dozen and a couple of cakes in one day is nothing compared to that."

Gemma shrugs and smiles "I don't know baby. You know me; my idea of baking is going to the bakery. Though, now it's ringing you and then coming by a couple of hours later."

I chuckle and add the eye and smile to one last half Twinkie then push the tray away with a sigh "All done. That's enough for four dozen Minion cupcakes."

"And you'll do the same amount of other ones?"

I shake my head, getting up and retrieving two cups of coffee "I'll do two dozen 'girly' ones with a mixture of the flowers and princess dresses, I've got enough of them to do a dozen each then I'll do at least 6 dozen plain ones and the cake you wanted for the raffle."

Gemma smiles at me as I pass her the cup "Just one cake for the raffle?"

"Yes. I'll do two identically decorated ones for the stall and one for the raffle. Any particular requests for flavours?"

"Vanilla or chocolate. Best stick with plain."

I sigh but nod "I'll do some less than boring flavours in the cupcakes then."

After Gemma leaves I spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning the kitchen and pulling everything out that I'll need for the baking the following day, leaving it all set in the corner of the kitchen. Jax finds me standing over the stove when he gets home, stirring a huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.

"Smells good in here babe."

Looking over to where he's standing in the laundry I nod "It should, I've been playing with food all day. And your mom came over earlier."

Jax sheds his shoes and leaves them by the door "She said that she was coming to check on you."

I shake my head as I laugh "She did indeed. I think she wanted to surprise me with the Taste of Charming but I was making decorations when she got here. I'll bake tomorrow, cause otherwise you'll eat it all before the festival."

Jax's pout melts into a grin as he nods "So what's for dinner and how was the little man?"

"He was okay today. I think that tooth is about to come through. He took great joy in chomping on my finger when I gave him some of that numbing gel for his gums. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, nothing flash just soup and toast tonight."

Jax kisses my forehead quickly and heads towards the door "I'll go jump in the shower then."

I nod, watching as he walks towards the stairs, even though he's said barely 2 dozen words to me I can tell there's something up that he doesn't want to tell me. Knowing he'll tell me if I need to know, or when he decides he needs to I go back to the pot of soup, stirring it again and setting the lid back on it.

Jax returns 25 minutes later, his hair wet and plastered to his head, Abel curled in his arms and by the sleepy look on Abel's face, and the lack of noise, I know instantly that Abel was not awake when Jax lifted him out of his crib.

Jax sits down at the table in the corner, his nose brushing Abel's head with each inhale. Turning the stove off I collect a beer for Jax, pop the top off it and sit beside him at the table "Okay, I was willing to let whatever is on your mind go, but for you to wake up Abel and bring him down it's gotta be bad."

Jax looks up and it's then I notice the faint redness around his eyes "Fuck Sarah, it's worse that bad. It's horrible, awful, diabolical."

My eyes widen with each word that he says until I feel like they're saucers in my face "What's wrong?"

"Chibs' daughter is coming with O'Phalen."

I frown slightly "That's good isn't it? Chibs hasn't seen her in years."

Jax sighs and rubs his hand over his face "Normally it would be, but O'Phalen has demanded that Chibs not contact her at all."

"Can he do that?"

Jax shrugs "I don't know. Clay went to the Kings but it's nothing that they can step into. It's a decade's long feud between O'Phalen and Chibs and unfortunately it's not Chibs with the pawns that can be manipulated."

Sighing hugely he drinks half his beer in several long swallows "What's worse is that Chibs was so happy when he found out that Kerri was coming too. He hasn't seen her since she was a baby. They talk on the phone every now and then, but their relationship has always been a bit stressed cause of the distance, and the distaste between Chibs and O'Phalen."

I wrap my arms around him and Abel and squeeze his shoulder "Its okay baby. We'll sort it out."

Jax exhales a gust of air that almost sounds like a snort "I'm not sure there's much we can do to sort it out. O'Phalen can make things difficult for us if he doesn't get his way."

I snicker and pull back, rolling my eyes "So we have an egotistical, megalomaniac IRA contact coming to Charming with a members wife and daughter and he's tried to put a ban on them seeing each other? I'm sure that we'll make him see everything in a way that benefits SAMCRO and Charming."

Jax chuckles "He hasn't said anything about Chibs and Fiona seeing each other, but I should warn you Fiona is not a nice woman."

I shrug and kiss his mouth lightly "Duly noted. Chibs' wife who has been having an affair with an IRA member for the past 15 years is not a nice woman."

Jax bursts into laughter and shakes his head "Don't say that too loud around anyone else babe. I love you breathing."

Poking my tongue out at him I return to the stove and ladle soup into two bowls, bringing them both to the table I set one in front of him and smile politely "I'll be on my best behaviour when I'm around her, but I have little respect for people who A) cheat and B) stand in the way of their kids seeing their parents."

Jax examines my eyes for a few minutes and then poses a question I'd spent a lot of time thinking about "Would you have let Wendy have contact with Abel had she lived?"

Sitting my spoon down I lean back in my seat and nod "I would have, provided that she went through detox, rehab and stayed clean." I pause in my thoughts for a second "On the whole telling Abel that she's his mom thing, I would have stuck with what we already agreed on, that he gets told when he's old enough to understand, and that would have been a condition of her seeing him too."

"You know that would have made the adoption harder aye? And this is really good."

I smile my thanks at being told something I made is good "I know it would have made the adoption harder. In reality it's all a moot point cause Wendy is dead and isn't going to suddenly rise from the dead, but I did spend some time thinking about it. And what would have happened had Wendy actually had family."

Jax shrugs "If she'd had siblings I don't know if she would have been in contact with them. She ran away from home when she was 13 so I don't know about her parents."