Wanted to tell you a little about where this is going, this storyline will follow the show and then will go out on its own during the period after season 7 and through the Mayans, I wanted to give more background to Charlotte before branching out different from the original storyline. Even with this following the show there will be new plots added.

Chapter 6

Charlotte had just sat down in the cafeteria to have lunch even though it was two o'clock in the morning she hadn't had time to get away to eat. She was ravenous, she used to be able to work through her shift with only a granola bar but with the baby she was constantly hungry. She saw Tara enter the cafeteria but tried to stay focused on her food and not draw attention to herself hoping Tara wouldn't see her. Her plan failed when she looked up and saw Tara standing across from her at the same table. Charlotte was in mid bite but motioned to Tara to sit. Charlotte had devoured the food in front of her and was eating her last slice of orange when Tara cleared her throat going to hand Charlotte her orange.

"Here I won't eat it, it's good for the baby." Charlotte swallowed audibly as Tara gave a brief explanation. "I talked to Jax he told me about you two and the baby."

"Did he?" Charlotte asked, grabbing the orange from Tara.

"Listen Charlotte, I have no intention of breaking up a family. I didn't know you and Jax were together. Jax and I are in the past that's all."

"Tara, Jax and I aren't together."

"Oh, I just assumed when he said you were having a baby together that you two were in a relationship." Tara said confusion in her face.

"We do have a relationship but it's not what you think. We're friends and we had sex and I got pregnant but that's where that ends. I think the sex part for both of us was to get back at Wendy. Tara, I love Jax but I'm not in love with him." Charlotte rambled trying to explain the casual but complex thing with her and Jax. "He's free to do whatever he wants as long as that doesn't come between him and this baby. He wants a partner in life, and I can't give him that.

"Regardless I'm not interested in opening up old wounds with Jax. And I'm not sure I can give him what he wants either. I couldn't do it back then and I can't do it now."

"I get it, his life is really messy right now I guess it always has been. But Tara he's never loved anyone the way he loved you, still does. I can see it when you're together. He never looked at Wendy that way or me. Whatever love he has for me it's not that. It's like Wendy and I or any of the other girls over the years filled a gap he had while he waited for you to come back."

"I'm sorry Charlotte, me coming back wasn't about him and I didn't mean to stir anything up in his life."

Charlotte reached across the table placing her hand on top of Tara's "Don't be sorry, at least not to me, I'm fine with the way things are between me and Jax. But you should really tell him all this not me."

"It's just complicated between us." Tara said, starting to pick up her trash as Charlotte stuffed the last of the orange in her mouth doing the same.

They left the cafeteria together and came to the split in the hospital where Charlotte would go back to the ER and Tara would take the elevator back up to her office. Charlotte paused "Tara, Jax's life is complicated it always will be with the club and his family but loving him isn't."

Charlotte spent her next break with Abel rocking him to sleep after feeding him. She was putting him down when Tara walked in. "You're still here?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, pulled a double, it'll be a late one for me."

"He's doing great." Tara commented motioning to Abel.

Charlotte smiled staring down at the sleeping content baby. "Tara, can I ask you something?"

"If it's about earlier you're right I need to talk with Jax."

"No," Charlotte said stopping Tara before she continued. "I know Abel's heart condition was genetic, I know all about Gemma and Thomas, but how much of what Abel has gone through was Wendy's drug use."

"I see you're worried about your baby?" Tara asked, motioning for Charlotte to sit as she took a seat across from her.

"Yeah, I know I won't know anything for sure until the anatomy scan but it's in the back of my mind."

"Well, some of what Abel has can be attributed to Wendy's lack of prenatal care and drug use. As you know Jax was born healthy, no sign of a heart defect while his brother Thomas suffered from it. Medicine has come leaps and bounds in the terms of prenatal and infant care since Thomas was born." Tara said putting on her calming doctor voice. "And you're right you won't really know anything for sure for a while but in the meantime there's things you can do to help, like eating healthy, getting plenty of rest, not working doubles here or at the prison. Charlotte, you need to take care of yourself and not overdo it."

"I know, I know, I'll cut out the doubles I'm either here for one shift or at the prison for one shift."

"Good, Charlotte, I can tell you not to worry and that there's a good chance your baby won't have a heart defect, but I know you're going to worry. Right now, you do what is needed for your baby and work with your obstetrician and if it comes to it and your baby has a heart defect the neo natal team at St Thomas is one of the best. I'll be with you every step of the way if it comes to that." She said reaching out placing her hand over Charlotte's.

"Thank you, Tara."

"You're welcome" Tara said patting Charlotte's hand and standing up. "Now you rest when you can, no lifting patients. Have you told anyone your pregnant like administration to change you to light duty?"

"No not yet, I hate people all up in my shit, but I can't hide it for much longer. I will and I promise light duty until this one is born."

The sun had just started to rise when Charlotte walked out of St. Thomas, her hair still wet from her shower and clean clothes, she felt renewed feeling the chill of the Charming air. She started towards her car, seeing Gemma standing by her car smoking a cigarette tapping her foot. "You don't answer your phone now?" Gemma shouted, throwing her cigarette to the ground.

"Jesus Gemma I just got done working a double it was off."

"Need you at the clubhouse, you got your emergency bag in your car?"

"Yeah, what happened?"

"I'll explain on the way," she grabbed Charlotte's keys from her and tossed them to Tig. "You ride with me, Tig get the bag."

Charlotte robotically started following Gemma to her Escalade "Is Jax okay?" she asked, struggling with the words.

"I'm sure he's fine baby. Trying to find him thought he might be here."

Once they were on the road Gemma explained the attempted hit on Clay and bullet the Irish took. "I'm sure he's with Tara."

"Where are we going?" Charlotte asked when they missed the turn off to the clubhouse. Her question was answered when they pulled up, in front of Tara's house and Jax was in the driveway.

"I told you she comes around and he gets his priorities all screwed up."

"Gemma at some point you're going to have to let go of that hatred for Tara, everything Jax does that displeases you isn't her fault."

"I'll let that shit go when I'm dead."

"I'm sure you'll still hold a grudge even after that." Charlotte sighed as Gemma got out of the car. Charlotte stepped out of the car, keeping her distance, standing by Tig watching the mother and son argue.

Jax shouted at Gemma as he headed towards his bike "And why the hell is Charlotte here!" Jax shouted over his shoulder.

"I went and got her when you never showed back up dead Irish aren't good for business."

"It's not your decision to involve her." Jax yelled back getting on his bike nodding to Charlotte "Get on Charlotte." His helmet was already in his hand passing it to her.

Charlotte got on the back of his bike, remaining quiet and missing most of his argument with Tig as she put on the helmet and Jax started his bike. She put one arm around his waist as he took off out of the driveway.

When they got to the club house Charlotte got off the bike handing the helmet back to Jax then walked with him towards the doors of the clubhouse. "You don't have to do this." Jax said.

"It's fine Jax I want to help." Charlotte said, following him into the clubhouse.

When they walked in, Chibs stood up from where he was sitting "Mother Mary of Christ I'm happy to see you two!" He came to Charlotte grabbing her face in his hands, giving her a kiss on her cheek.

She followed Jax and Chibs into the sacred church seeing a man on the table passed out blood everywhere. "Took two, I got one slug out and he started bleeding like a stuck pig." Chibs explained "Juicy, here is stopping the blood for now."

"I can see that." Charlotte said going behind Juice trying to get a good look at the wound. "When you say bleeding like a stuck pig like oozing blood or squirting?"

"Squirting like Niagara Falls." Chibs exclaimed. Charlotte walked out of ear shot of Juice and the Irish man.

She looked to Jax and Chibs "This is bad, the bullet must have nicked an artery it's clearly infected. He's lost a lot of blood and there's still one bullet in him." Jax sighed as he walked away from her and Chibs. "Where are you going?"

"To get a doctor." He said over his shoulder.

"Jax I can handle this." Charlotte shouted on deaf ears as Jax left. She turned to Chibs and asked. "What happens if that guy dies."

"A whole lot of trouble." Chibs responded with his brow furrowed.

"I don't have what I need in my kit or Tara's to fix this."

"Follow me" Chibs said leading her to the garage, when they went in, he pointed to the ambulance. "Maybe this will help."

"Jesus where'd you guys get an ambulance?" she asked, stepping up into it and started to go through cupboards and drawers grabbing things.

"Don't ask it's stupidity at its finest." Chibs said.

When Charlotte stepped back out of the ambulance, her hands full, she passed some of it on to Chibs to carry. "I'm not a surgeon Chibs this guy needs a surgeon. I don't have what I need, I have no clamps to stop the bleeding, using fucking mechanic pliers trying to get a bullet out is going to just do more damage." Charlotte said, starting to panic her voice a few octaves above normal.

"Well, your all he's got right now and you sure as shit have more training than me."

"I'm a nurse I'm trained to keep them alive until someone else can fix them."

Chibs set the stuff down that was in his arms and took her shoulders in his hands gently looking her in the eyes "Love give yourself some credit you're smarter and more skilled than you think. You can do this, I'm here with you. If he dies that's not on you but that's not going to happen."

Charlotte took a deep breath "Okay, I've got this."

"Of course, you do." Chibs said to reassure her and himself, giving her a small kiss on the cheek.

Charlotte stood next to Juice with Chibs on the other side, holding mechanic pliers in her gloved hands. "Okay Juice when I say go, you're going to pull your finger out and I'm going to clamp down the artery, Chibs you shove the gauze in. Juice you go wash your hands and come back you're going to hold onto these pliers to keep it clamped shut while me and Chibs get the other slug out. I need constant steady pressure not too tight not to lose got it?"

Charlotte was about to say go when the doors opened, and Tara walked in "Oh thank god." Charlotte said putting the pliers down along with the rest of her makeshift surgical supplies. Charlotte stepped away and went to Tara "It's bad the bullet nicked an artery, I started him on IV fluids and antibiotics. BP and pulse are stable, but he can't afford to lose much more blood without a transfusion."

"That's great Charlotte thank you. Can you stay and help me?"

Charlotte nodded, relief setting in knowing she was no longer solely responsible for the man lying in front of her. She watched as Tara went to work listening to her and handing her things when she needed them or needed Charlotte to do something. While Charlotte had attended a few surgeries at school, she wasn't a surgical nurse, the few she had attended in school she mostly felt in the way. With Tara it was different. Tara explained everything she was doing, showing Charlotte every step, she took. Tara was patient and kind in her bedside manner letting Charlotte help repair the artery.

When it was over Charlotte washed up leaving Jax and Tara to talk. When she made her way outside of the clubhouse, she saw Jax sitting on top of a table. She stretched and yawned, starting to rub the tension in her shoulders that had set in. Jax motioned for her to come over and take a seat. She positioned herself sitting on the bench in front of him between his legs, her back to him. His strong hands taking hold of her shoulders releasing the pressure. Charlotte spoke first after they sat in silence for a while "I could have handled it, Jax."

"I never said you couldn't, I know you could've. I didn't want that pressure on you that's all."

"So, you slept with Tara?" When he didn't respond "You, disappeared and at Tara's house this morning with recently washed hair. Process of elimination."

"You okay with it?"

"Yeah, it was going to happen eventually. But what I don't get is you disappearing when the club clearly needed you. That's not like you, you've left my bed hundreds of times when the club called. And I don't think Tara has a magic pussy to keep you from what your priorities are. Gemma thinks that but I don't."

Jax stood up stepping off the bench and reached for her hand and pulled her away from the clubhouse doors to the side of the building.

"You know that guy who was bothering Tara?"

Charlotte nodded, leaning closer to hear the almost whisper voice from him. Keeping her mouth shut, knowing she was receiving very privileged information.

"Well, he broke into her house last night and attacked her and she shot him."

"Jesus. Is she okay?" Charlotte asked in her own whispered voice.

"Yeah, she called me after, didn't call the police, and didn't know what to do."

"Well, that's going to look suspicious."

"It is but clearly self-defense she wouldn't have been charged. But things got heated he started calling her names and I lost it and shot him in the head. Burned him and buried him this morning in chigger woods."

"Oh my god Jax. What are you going to do now?"

"Nothing, nothing will lead back to me, or Tara. No one will be able to ID him, there's nothing left but bones and I pulled his teeth. Club doesn't know about it and no one is going to know this is Tara's business to tell not mine, got it?"

"Of course, I'd never say anything but if it's Tara's story to tell, why are you telling me?"

"No lies, no drama, simpler life."

"I'm pretty sure you murdering someone is a little bit drama and certainly not simple. But thank you for the no lies."

"Thank you for today, for dealing with this and my Mom."

"Speaking of your mother she still has it out for Tara."

"I know, I gotta deal with that sooner than later?"

"Is it something you need to deal with, like you and Tara are serious, or was this just emotions boiling over in a tough situation?"

"I don't know what Tara wants. I know I want it to be more than just us being together because of the situation."

"Whatever you decide, or Tara decides I'm here Jax."

"Thank you, Charlotte, I don't know what I did to deserve you in my corner. I'm sure it's not karma I have banked I don't really make many deposits in it these days. Pretty sure I'm overdrawn."