Tribulation | Jax Teller

Homecoming

5 years later

Jax soaks up the sun as he walks out of Stockton State Prison a free man. He is no longer a visitor of the State. He is fucking free. He opens his arms like he is the second coming as he smiles brightly ignoring the jibs from his brother before he embraces his best friend Opie in a tight hard hug.

These five years were hard and long.

There were days he was ready to crawl out of his fucking skin or murder his entire cell block. But he remembered who importantly were waiting for him back home. So he kept his head down and got through the day by burying his head in a book or taking refuge in writing. Either it by pouring his soul out to his wife or those deepest thoughts in his small pocketbook journal he was to scared to share with his other half.

But he got through it. He also knows that he wasn't too keen on being a repeat offender. Five years was way to fucking long especially when he had his family at home.

"Whoa, bro, save all this for Noelle," Opie teases as they pull away from each other.

Jax smiles even brighter at the mention of his wife.

"I'm glad to be fucking out!" Jax exclaims and even more to see his family and not be restricted by prison rules.

Jax wasn't blind to how despite the weekly visitation how Noelle had grown without him. He thought Noelle was fucking hot when he was young. Now she was fucking beautiful with her long blonde hair and signature red lips that was the envy of most women in Charming. And he reveled in the fact that she carried his name and she had carried his children.

His children.

His children that had grown used to a five year absence and he plans to make up for that. Rectify it.

Opie hands him his kutte and Jax shrugs it on over his shoulders.

He's ready to go home.

__________________________________________

Noelle is standing outside in a simple summer dress and strappy heels trying not to burn a whole in the ground. After five years of 10 second hugs max and only holding hands, her husband is finally coming home to his family – to her. Despite the elation she feels, she's nervous.

Five years was a long time without him. Even with weekly visits that were manageable once he was approved for a transfer to Stockton, she knows his transition back home won't be easy. Things have changed in their family. The kids are older. She's older and she's changed from that angry 25 year old wife he had left to raise their babies.

"Walking in a circle isn't going to make Dad come home any faster." She hears from behind her.

Noelle turns her attention to her middle child. Of course her head is buried in a book.

Noelle sighs as she walks over to her daughter and runs her hands through her short curly pixie cut. She fights a smile as it clearly irritates Addie as it messes up her curls she had styled to perfection. "You could at least show some happiness for your dad coming home."

"For how long?" Addie counters as she turns a page in her book.

Noelle bites her bottom lip as this pessimistic attitude her daughter holds for her father has been becoming more known in the past six months. Noelle isn't sure what exactly happened, but Addie had started pulling back from Jax and even her in some ways.

And Noelle didn't want to coddle her daughter and she felt her daughter was entitled to some of her anger. Noelle had that same anger. She was just worried her little girl might actually hate her father. And today was his coming home party and she could at least smile and let him get settled in before they dealt with the emotional ramifications his absence had on all of them.