5

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

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Chapter 358 Who's My Daddy?

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The waiting was driving Scarlett crazy. She was glad her father was coming and they were getting the van. Maybe the distraction would give her something else to think about. She tried the website again, but her password still wouldn't work. Damned computer glitches.

She didn't bother going to her store. Once she got the results of the paternity test, she would buckle down and focus on getting her store up and running so she could start laundering money through it.

With her back injury, she could get nothing done physically. She had to hire people to do everything for her even the painting of the store that she would have enjoyed doing herself. It couldn't be helped. Her body was physically unable to do much of anything. Jax had been so kind to her. He was never impatient or expressed frustration over her physical limitations. Maybe it was good that she was limited physically. Maybe if she'd been physically OK, she and Jax's relationship would have progressed more and that might turn out to be a bad thing if she found out he was her brother.

Every thought that crossed her mind tied back to Jax. The closer she got to getting the results of the paternity test, the more worried and impatient she got. Patience had never been one of her virtues. Her mother had been the same way. Her father had done his best to help her learn patience, but he had little success.

When her father got to the condo, they left immediately to pick up the van her father had bought for Scarlett at a used car dealership. She was looking forward to having a car that wouldn't be such a struggle getting in and out. The Corvette was just too low to the ground with a rough stiff ride.

The van would be a great improvement. It was a passenger van, but the seats could be put down and if she needed larger items moved, she'd find someone to help her. Maybe Jax would know of someone provided she was still going to live in Charming and not have to run away from her brother. She just needed to get her mind off those damned test results.

Her father drove her Corvette back to Charming while she drove the van. It was so much easier to get into and she liked sitting up higher. Once they got back to her condo, she parked the van inside her double car garage and she and her father went inside.

"How did you like the van?"

"I love it. I still have trouble driving. It's moving my leg from the accelerator to the brake. In traffic, it's worst because it's hard for me to hold my foot on the brake."

"How's physio going?"

"It's going OK. When Jax got hurt and I had to cancel my appointments, I lost what little progress I'd made. Soft tissue injuries just take a long time to heal. That's why you always hear it's better to break a bone than tear tendons or ligaments or whatever I tore."

They were sitting in the living room sipping glasses of iced tea.

"I'm going to tell you something. It's going to be OK," her father said.

"Oh, my God. You've got the results to the tests and you gave me the wrong password," Scarlett said. She knew her father well. Of course, he would give her the wrong password. How the hell could she have fallen for the computer glitch excuse?

"I wanted to tell you if the results . . ."

The color drained from Scarlett's face.

"I can't believe this. Clay is Jax's father, isn't he?"

"Yes, but Clay isn't your father."

Scarlett closed her eyes and let her breath out in a whoosh.

"Jax isn't my half brother?"

"Not your half brother, not your full brother. No relation to you."

She covered her eyes with the heels of her hands. She was OK with Clay not being her father. She was OK with Clay being Jax's father. She was willing to accept anything as long as she and Jax weren't related. She took a couple of deep breaths and felt the tension in her body ease.

"How did you know? Did my mother change her story?"

"She admitted early in our relationship that she'd been with another member of the MC. It was a one night and done thing. The guys from SAMCRO were visiting and Clay stayed to help them build their membership. He was there a couple of months. She assumed that he was the father because they had been together the most. You mother told you what she believed was true.

"When you gave me the DNA samples, I went by Clay and Gemma's and took a pair of Clay's underwear. This also served as a double check on the lab."

"So my bio dad didn't kill my mother. That's good news. It doesn't matter who my bio dad is, you're my father."

"It's better if Jax doesn't learn the truth."

"I agree. I don't want him to start feeling daddy love for Clay especially since we plan to get him kicked out of SAMCRO and put in jail. I'll need Jax's help with that. I am just so damned happy he isn't my half brother."

"You're not mad at me for the way I handled it?"

Scarlett shook her head.

"No, I get it. If the news had been bad, it would have been hell for me, but it would have been better if you broke the news to me. You were just protecting me," Scarlett smiled. "I am so happy."

Her father laughed.

"You have fallen hard for Jax."

"I tried hard to resist, but he's just so . . ."

"Dreamy?" Decker suggested

"I'm not a high schooler. I just don't have the vocabulary to adequately describe just how great Jax is. And he's not my brother. That's the best part."

"I haven't heard anything about how you were right about suspecting that Clay was Jax's father."

"It was less about being right and more about being afraid that Clay was Jax's father."

That evening, Scarlett and her father ate dinner at a small BBQ restaurant. Her father was going to get an early start the next morning. Scarlett had a physio appointment that afternoon. Jax would be by to take her. She could hardly wait to see him.

It was later before she fell asleep that she wondered if the Son that was her bio father was from the sex trafficking Laredo chapter or from SAMCRO. If her father belonged to SAMCRO, she wondered if he were still a member. Could she have met him when she'd done her money laundering presentation?

As for the truth about Jax's paternity, she would take that secret to her grave.

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Author's Note: In a future chapter, Jax will find his father's manuscript. Now, you'll have Jax who is biologically Clay's, raised as JT's son and now JT will speak to him from beyond the grave via the manuscript. Does is really matter who your bio dad is or who you think your bio dad is? With genealogy, they say you can trace the maternal line, but you can never be sure about the paternal line.

I would have greatly preferred if S6 and S7 had been about Jax finding out Clay was his bio dad and playing out how that changes Jax. Kind of like could he rise above his genetics and be guided by JT's more philosophical view or would he even want to since JT has no blood tie to him.

Also now, Scarlett will be able to get her romantic feelings for Jax back on track.