Finding Abel

Chapter 13.

Jax

I bounced Thomas on my lap as he fought the urge to take his bottle. I had taken the liberty of getting him ready before Tara woke up. "That's enough?" I questioned the babbling infant who only smiled in response. I looked across the table and imagined Abel having breakfast with us too. Erin hadn't called or messaged me since last night and I was growing worried. I don't know how Opie convinced her to stay, but it would make me feel a whole lot better if she would at least talk to me about Abel. Whether she liked it or not, I was his father and I had rights to him just like her.

Tara came in from behind me and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Hey, any word from her?" Tara asked as she poured herself some coffee. I shook my head softly and I could hear her grumble in frustration. "We're doing Piney's thing today," I said switching the subject. "I know," she said looking down.

I sighed, "you don't have to come."

"I can't, I'm training my new replacement. Starting my new duties," her tone was bitter, and I instantly regretted starting the conversation. Tara's hand has taken a huge toll on her mood, understandably, her hands were important to her career. Her career was the only thing that she quite possibly loved more than anything, and now it had been taken from her.

"I'm sorry," I said sympathetically.

She let out a dry laugh, "yeah, me too."

"I don't know how we do this Tara," I said walking over to her, "I don't know where it all goes."

"I know."

"But we do it as a family, I can promise you that," she smiled at my sentiment. Thomas began to fuss and I smiled, "sooner or later we're going to have both of them here." I handed the baby to her carefully as she balanced him with one arm. "I can't wait," she said smiling at Thomas, "he'll be so happy when his older brother is home."

I grinned at the sight of them and landed a sweet kiss on Tara's lips, "I love you guys," I said while grabbing my cut. "Hey, what time is Gemma coming?"

"She's not, I'm taking Thomas with me; I got him into the daycare center at the hospital." I paused and looked at my fiancé skeptically, "I thought we were gonna wait?"

"Till there was an opening, I found out yesterday. It lets me be close to Thomas to give him his regular feedings."

"Gemma know?" a smile crept on my lips as her silence confirmed my suspicions. There was no way my mom would ever be cool with this. She was highly against strangers 'trespassing' on family territory. I knew that Tara and my mom's relationship was struggling ever since Tara's accident. There was an obvious power grab going on, but I wanted to support Tara's decisions.

"Whatever you think's best," I landed another kiss on her lips and I could feel her lips vibrate from her soft laughter. "See you later," I said before walking out of the house. Upon leaving her my mind instantly thought of Erin and how she would have gone about handling my mother. I didn't know much about her beyond her adopting Abel but she didn't strike me as someone who would allow my mom to control her. Nevertheless, it would have been an interesting sight to see them interact.

Surprisingly, when I pulled up to Piney's service, Opie was standing next to Erin and Lyla. Lyla was talking to Erin while Henry and Abel were sitting in a double stroller. I hadn't expected to see Erin here because she didn't know Piney, they never met, but it was even more shocking to know that Opie invited her. Her attire let me know that she didn't plan on coming today because she was dressed in a brightly colored playsuit. While Lyla was dressed down out of respect for the occasion.

When Erin laid her eyes on me I could see her start to fidget. She was clearly nervous to see me as she let Abel out of the stroller. Abel ran over to me and I threw him up in the air as I spun him around. His laughter lightened up my mood and I nodded my head at her as a greeting.

"I'm glad you decided to do this," I said to Opie as I held Abel in my arms. "It's not for me, it's for my kids," he said plainly. I could tell that he was still upset with me for holding the truth from him. But for whatever reason, he had convinced Erin to come today despite what's been going on.

"This is good for everyone Ope. Let's them say goodbye," I gestured over to the group of bikers who stood across from us.

"And lets us bury the lie that Piney Winston was killed by the Mexican cartel."

"The truth will come out man, it just can't be now. Too many people will get hurt." Opie rolled his eyes and looked over at Erin who was having an intense conversation with Lyla, "good thing I already know the truth, right? Or I'd be just as in the dark as they are."

"Look, whatever she told you-"

"She told me a whole lot more than you would. All I needed from you was the truth and you couldn't give me that."

"Ope, it's not that simple."

"You're right, being a pawn for the CIA or facing a RICO charge isn't simple but telling your best friend the truth is." I swallowed the lump in my throat as Opie grilled me more and more about my decisions.

"They were going to threaten everyone if I told you guys the truth, I couldn't allow that to happen," I said simply. Opie chuckled dryly and looked at me for a moment, "did you tell Tara?" he waited for my reply and I could tell that he already knew the truth. "So, what? Are you trying to tell me that you'd risk Tara's life and not ours?" he rolled his eyes, "or do you just trust her more?"

"It isn't like that Opie," I said trying to keep my voice down, but then Erin walked over and we had to pause our conversation. Her eyes bounced between us and I could tell she that was analyzing our body language. She didn't say anything though as she pushed the stroller back and forth with only Henry inside.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"What's up?"

The silence between us was thick but I could tell she was trying to break through it. "Um, if you have any time this week, I was thinking about finding an apartment and I would really appreciate it if you'd watch Abel for me. It'd give you some time to be with him."

I was surprised she was asking me this because, before this, her plan only consisted of me having Abel for a few hours. "Yeah, that's fine, what about Henry?" I looked down at the smaller child who could easily pass for Abel's sibling. His blond hair was getting so long that he could barely see.

"Lyla said she'd watch him for me," she said brushing it off.

"No, I'll watch him, it's fine and he could be around Abel."

"Really?" her tone was questioning.

"Yeah, Lyla has her hands full, I don't have an issue watching him." She still seemed nervous and I could tell she was contemplating the idea. She gave Opie a look before she answered, "Okay, thank you, that's nice of you to offer."

I nodded my head before placing Abel back in his chair and strapping him in. When I put my head back up I noticed that she and Opie were looking at each other intensely. When she noticed me staring she inhaled deeply, "look, I made some calls and the only way you get out of this deal is if you can get the CIA to control Galen O'Shay's business. Pope's crew is already connected but not like Galindo's, there's a RICO case already touching him with Potter running it. Once you make the transfer with O'Shay, they can hold him on the same charges and present the same contractual agreement that they did for Galindo. Once this is over, they'll clip you, but it has to be clean."

I looked over at Opie who was watching me as Erin gave us the inside information. It was remarkable that she even decided to stay, let alone become an insider for us. I don't know how Opie convinced her but something told me that I would be paying for it later.