"She was pregnant, Jax." I tell my best-friend as we sit in my truck, driving to the clubhouse. Jax sighs, shaking his head.
"Shit. How far along?" He asks me as he lights a smoke.
"Just over a month." I continue to drive and Jax lets out a cloud of smoke as he stares out the window. "She got an abortion because she didn't want to raise the baby alone, and because it hurt her too much. She said it was like a constant reminder of me cheating on her with Donna." I continue to debrief and Jax shakes his head.
"Jesus Christ." He inhales more nicotine before looking over to me. "Have you talked to her since?" He asks me, and I nod.
"Yeah, I went there last night and had dinner with her and Pat."
Jax nods, "How's she doing? She alright?"
I shrug, "It's hard to say. You know her, she won't say shit until she's ready to blow and then it's all downhill from there." I tell him about our childhood friend. "I just hope she took what I said seriously, ya' know? I told her everything; how much it ruined me, how angry I've been at myself. I just want her to know that I'm serious when I apologize, and that it's fully genuine."
"I'm sure she did, man. If she didn't, you would know. I doubt Pat would let ya' around if he didn't think that somewhere deep down you felt sorry for what happened." Jax reassures me once more. I nod, he's right. Pat sure as hell wouldn't allow me around his grieving daughter if he didn't think that I was serious when I say I regret my affair. "Try not to stress, man. It's going to work out, I'm sure of it."
I nod, "Yeah, I guess so." I tell my best-friend before pulling into the clubhouse lot and parking. Here's to hoping.
---
"Hey dad, where should I put this box of stuff?" I ask him as I rummage through the random belongings of photos, tapes and frames. My dad walks over and digs through it, looking at what's in there to see where it can go.
Dad stops digging and a smile creeps onto his face as he pulls out a photo. It's a photo from their wedding day; my mom dressed in a form fitting white lace dress with a long train. Her auburn hair up in curls as the veil follows the length of her train. I notice Gemma and JT standing there watching my parents as they dance together. I can pick out Piney and a few other familiars including Wayne Unser. I smile at the photo as my dad and I focus on the image. "She looked so beautiful that day. I didn't think she was actually going to walk down that aisle, I was so damn scared." My dad admits, and I look up at him with a chuckle.
"A bad ass cop? Why wouldn't she fall for you?" I tease him. He chuckles, pulling me into his side. "You guys look so young in this photo, so does Gemma and JT."
He nods, smiling at the memories of his wife and close friends on the day of their wedding. "JT and I got so smashed it was unbelievable." He admits, "I remember puking on Piney and he slapped me." I shake my head, laughing at the thought of Piney backhanding my dad. "Your mom drank a lot of wine that night, and her and Gemma kept whispering to each-other, dancing and doing their girly shit as usual." Gemma was one of my mom's good friends, ever since high-school. It's funny, Gemma would always call my mom Sandra-Dee after Sandy in Grease because she was such a goody and Gemma was the complete opposite.
Suddenly a familiar song comes on the radio, Bring It Home To Me by Sam Cooke begins blasting through the garage. My dad looks down at me and grins, "She's here." He tells me as he takes my hand and pulls me to the cleared-out space in the garage. We begin slow dancing and I realize it's their wedding song playing on the radio. "She loved this song. I let her pick our first dance song."
