September 28th 3pm
Jax sat next to Tara's hospital bed. Holding her delicate hand in both of his, he whispered words of love, encouragement, devotion, and promise softly against her knuckles. He could hear the beeps of dual heart monitors and oxygen machines as they echoed in the room. Opie and Lyla had just left with Thomas and Abel. He didn't let them stay long, pulling out the privacy curtain around Tara's medically coma induced form. He wanted his children to see their sister, but not let them see mommy like this. Abel already had too much trauma and drama in his life, and he didn't want Thomas to start seeing it.
Before Opie left, he informed Jax that everything was set up when he was ready. His nose and lip flaring with rage, Jax was almost tempted to take care of this now, get it the fuck over with. But he needed to be here when his wife, Tara, woke up. She would be scared, worried and alone. He had left her that way too many times in the past, and he wasn't about to do that to her again. Especially after something this traumatic.
The whimpering and beginnings of a newborn crying made him raise his head and look in the direction of the incubator bassinet that he was able to talk the nursing staff into keeping in the room. Pressing the 'call' button on the side of Tara's bed, he leaned into Tara, kissed her on the forehead whispering 'I love you babe,' before standing and making his way over to the clear 'toaster'.
He smiled his crocked smile down at his daughter placing his large veiny hand on the top of the incubator, "Hey angel. You hungry?" His daughter graced him with a flash of her blue eyes and another hearty wail. He chuckled, "That's my girl…."
Behind him heard the door being opened. He turned to see Kathleen, one the specialty nurses in the neonatal unit, come in with one of the pre-made Similac bottles, "Here you go Mr. Teller," she smiled at him.
"I've told you to call me Jax, Kathleen," he smiled kindly at her. "We are about the same age, you know. Mr. Teller makes me feel like an old man," he spoke as he removed his kutte, zip up hoodie, and pulled his t-shirt over his head.
Trying to remain as professional as possible, which was hard because most women's natural reaction to seeing a man like Jackson Teller disrobe in front of them is usually to drool all over themselves, "It's just a common courtesy, Jax."
Kathleen popped the latches on the incubator looking up as Jax found the pink fleece blanket that he covered his daughter in every time they did this. Opening the lid carefully, Kathleen watched as Jax swaddled his whimpering daughter in the blanket. She was aware of how intimate this was, how much of a soft, gentle man Jackson Teller could be, contrary to popular belief.
"Hey beautiful girl," he cooed as he cradled her in his arms, walking carefully to the recliner in the corner. Settling in the chair, he moved the blanket enough so that they could have skin to skin contact, as he fed her the bottle. Tara had always told him that skin to skin contact was very important to newborns, especially babies who were born before the full 9 month mark. It helped make them feel calm, protected and loved.
"Mommy should be up soon, princess," he whispered as his daughter suckled greedily on the nipple. Her tiny arms worked their way free from the blanket and her exploring fingers found her father's beard and began gripping and pulling on the new texture. Jax smiled whispering, "Silly girl," and gentle kissed the fingers near his mouth. He wished he had felt this way when Able was born, this need to connect with his newly born child. He wished he could have done this when Thomas was born, but he was locked up in Stockton. He chuckled darkly to himself at the thought that even this time, they didn't get it right. He wasn't in the delivery room encouraging his love that she could do it. He hadn't been called every name in the book for 'doing this' to her.
Looking over at Tara, the tube hanging from her mouth, the cords, tubing and wires connected to her. He watched the nurse as she had pulled the hospital gown that Tara wore up to reveal the bandages that covered her abdomen. Kathleen gently removed the bandages and cleaned the stitches with a sanitized cleaning solution. The evidence of the emergency cesarean section she had to have 2 days prior.
AN: Hows that for a cliffy? :)