CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
There is a time jump here, we're now at the end of November. The first part of this chapter covers what has happened between the last chapter and now. Jimmy/Fiona and the girls are gone. And this one is very short leading up to the last chapter.
By the end of November SAMCRO has pretty much settled back down to a normal, well as normal as it gets, routine. The gun hand over had gone smoother than everyone expected with Jimmy almost happy with the new process put in place, his praise at splitting the storage, assembly and distribution between three charters had been passed to Jax in the form of a box of Cuban Cigars which he had promptly passed to Clay.
After a heated discussion between Fiona, Gemma and myself it had been decided that Trinity needed to have a chance to know her father and a heavily sanitised truth was told to the shocked girl. Learning that her mother and father didn't have the romance she'd been told about had stunned her, but being surrounded by SAMBEL all the time even at 12 had hardened her and opened her eyes to a side of the world pre-pubecent girls shouldn't know to the point where she didn't see it as anything strange that she was the result of a single night.
Fiona had washed her hands of the whole situation leaving Gemma and I to explain to her that her father was a member of SAMCRO, and was currently incarcertated at Stockton. She'd started begging everyone who would listen to take her to meet her father, but the decision was made that the concept of Otto having an almost teenage daughter would be told to him from a Son. Clay and Chibs had made the trip out to Stockton and come back with the news that while Otto was stunned beyond words he wanted a chance to get to know his daughter. Their communication had started tentatively via letter.
Kerianne and Trinity had both protested loudly to Fiona at every opportunity about having to leave, both of them completely in love with Abel and Charming and Trinity wanting to be closer to the father she'd only just found out existed. Fiona had given in to their tantrums and agreed that they could come back after the beginning of February in the following year, provided she could get Jimmy to agree to it. The girls had screamed so loud they'd woken Abel up and then had to spend 10 minutes calming him down, which they'd both done alternating giggling with each other and grinning stupidly at Fiona. Fi and I had come to an agreement on that issue, the girls would stay with me, I would not control who they saw as long as they were fed three times a day, helped with chores and were both in bed by 10 each night they were free to do whatever I felt was best for them, which would include contact with both of their fathers.
The day before they'd left to check on the other charters Keri had come to me while I was dressing Abel, quietly handing me an outfit for him and then a calendar embossed with how many days it was till they'd be back.
Donna was enjoying every second of her pregnancy, at close to four months with her petite frame she'd already become unable to fit most of her clothes and took to stealing Opie's Sons hoodie whenever she feels like it, wearing it over track pants and the baggiest shirts of hers she could find.
I'd dragged all my girls into helping me clear out Uncle Jacob's barn of all my stuff, most of it happily being donated to the local thrift store, the dinner ware had gone to Al and Juice for their house, the photos had been moved to the back of my storage room for when I had the energy to go through them all and pick the ones I wanted to hang, all four boxes of them.
The art work had been distributed between the new Winston house, the house that Juice and Al were due to take possession of in a few days, both stores, the office in the garage with only four pieces being moved to the house. Two paintings that had hung in my parents room had been hung at the top of the stairs, one of the prints from my bedroom had been moved to the games room, the stark photo of a skeletal tree growing in black sand had always fascinated me. The only photo that was moved and hung on the same day was one from my first birthday with me in my highchair, chocolate cake covering me from head to foot.
Jax had surprised me in the beginning of the month and told me that the contractors to put in the BBQ area and pool were starting work by the time that Donna and Opie would be moving, with their move date only a few days away the contractors had turned up and proceeded to rip my backyard to pieces again, it had only taken a short while for me to realise how big the job was, when almost a third of the backyard was marked with spray paint, little lines and huge x marks confusing me but Jax had just grinned and told me to go with it so I'd let them bring their digger in and the dump truck to take away the huge scoops of dirt. The BBQ area had been completed within the first week of the project, but the pool was set to be finished in mid-January.
Lyla had picked up more of the responsibility of the upstairs of my store when the food side had become so busy in the first two weeks that Cherry and I couldn't keep up alone. Cam had agreed to come in for three afternoons a week and Al was coming in three mornings. Donna had snickered at me when I said it had gotten bigger than I expected and at the rate it was going I could open another store within a year. Jax had overheard me, slapped his hand over my mouth and pulled my chair backwards so I was looking up at him "You're not opening any more stores. Two is enough. Okay?" My silent nodding at him made him grin and set me back on my chair legs before turning back to the game of poker he and Chibs had been playing.
The almost constant moving I'd been doing between working at both stores, helping Gemma in the office at TM when she got swamped and both Al and Cam proved unable to understand her archaic filing system, keeping track of Jax and Abel had be so tired that when I was in the house all I wanted to do was climb in my giant bath and soak or go to bed and sleep, unfortunately with Abel being a lot more active than he had been the time at home had been instead filled with activities for his developing brain that Gemma kept buying and bringing over, or having sent to the house by FedEx.
I'd still been having issues with my health and after so long Jax had put his foot down and demanded that I go to the doctor, with an appointment scheduled for the next week along with Abel at a hospital check up he'd been placated long enough to go shopping for the BBQ area stuff, including the 'mother of all outdoor kitchens' which had taken Jax, Opie, Chibs and Happy six hours and two cases of beer to assemble.
Jax's sentencing for his assault charge is looming closer every day and each morning I find it harder to let go of him to get out of bed, each afternoon it's harder to not visit him at work and each evening I fall asleep clinging to his shoulders trying to absorb enough of the emotions I feel from him to last me how ever long he ends up behind bars.
Two days before my appointment with the doctor I come home from my as normal busy day feeling absolutely horrible. Picking Abel up from his car seat it takes me a few mintues to walk from the garage to the kitchen where I sit him in his highchair to start dinner.
As I open the cupboards in the kitchen I hear the click of Doj's claws behind me, clancing over my shoulder I chuckle at him standing looking straight at the fridge "I'll get to you in a second buddy."
Pulling a couple of potatoes out of the pantry I roll my eyes as I drop them in the sink and then pull the dog food out of the fridge but the smell of it hits my nose and makes my stomach clench painfully.
Holding my breath as I feed him I pick up the phone and press a speed dial "Hey Cam, can you come look after Abel for me for a second, I need to run to the store."
"Sure think S. I'll be there in 10."
Cam pulls into the driveway 11 minutes later and grins as I pull out the Viper "Sure, need to run to the store. Are you going to Stockton?"
I shrug "I hadn't thought about it, but maybe."
Cam grins and hands me a couple of notes "Can you pick up some steaks for dinner? Hap wants steak like he had at Keens."
I chuckle and nod "I'll be back in about an hour or so then. Jax is still at least two hours away. He and Ope were finishing that Panhead they've been rebuilding."
Cam rolls her eyes "I'll be fine S. And if I'm not then you're at the end of the phone, so's D, Al, Lyla, Cherry, Gemma, Jax, Clay, Happy. Shall I go on." She finishes with a smirk.
I shake my head and tap the gas pedal lightly, the car shuddering slightly with the pressure.
Cam laughs as I slowly move away "And don't come back with any speeding tickets."
Flicking a hand out the window at her I'm still laughing when I reach the highway and plant my foot. The whole car lurches forward and the suspicions I'd had fly out of my head.