Charming Ever After

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jax and I made it back to the house shortly before dinner. Both of us getting showers, we meet in the kitchen as Kari is finishing up dinner. We each take our plates and sit down to eat. I listen to Jax and Kari talk but I don't say much. My mind still won't shut off. After dinner, I help Kari clean up the kitchen. "How you holding up?" she asked me. "I'll be okay." I tell her. "I know you say you will but will you?" she asked softly. "I don't know. I really don't." I tell her before drying off my hands and grabbing a beer and heading to the gazebo.

I was sitting in the gazebo for a little bit when I heard someone come outside. Looking up, it was Jax. Handing me another beer, I say "Thanks." and take the bottle from him. We sit in silence for a few before he speaks. "You know, when I lost my wife, I was angry for a long time. Did some shit I shouldn't have." I look over at him and ask "What do you mean?" He sighs and says, "If I'm going to be here, you need to know the truth." he says. "Okay." I say. "In California, I was in an MC. I was the president actually. Let a bunch of mixed truths cloud my better judgement. Listened to the wrong people. My wife was murdered...by my mother." he tells me and I look at him shocked. "I listened to her tell me that it was some other club that we had a beef with. Killed some people that she told me were responsible. They weren't innocent but they didn't kill her. When the truth finally came out, I killed her. Not because I wanted to but because that was how I grew up. My Old Man founded the club with some of his friends back in their hippie days but that was how shit worked. You punished blood with blood. When I realized that I had spiralled too far out of control, I faked my death. The friend that's got my boys? He helped me fake my death but I had to find somewhere that there wasn't a charter so that no one would recognize me. Our charter was the founding charter so they all knew who I was." he tells me. I look him over for a minute when he looks back at me. "If you want me to leave, I'll go but..." he says before I cut him off. "Are you going to kill me or my sister?" I ask. He looks at me shocked and says "No. I won't." I stop for a minute and look back at him and say "Then it's the past. It's not who you are now. As long as you don't steal from us or try to kill us, you have a home." I tell him. After mulling it over for a few I say "Jax?" He looks at me again and I say "Your boys have a home too." before getting up and heading inside. Jax grabs my hand and says "Thank you." I nod before heading inside.

Walking into the house, I see my sister sitting there at the table. "You okay?" I ask. "Yeah. Just worried about you." she says. "I'll be fine. You should get some sleep." I tell her. She hugs me before heading to bed. Jax walks in behind me. I turn to look at him and smile softly before heading to bed.

The next month goes by and I am feeling better about myself. I am not letting what Carter and Dana did get to me anymore. I have been riding Rayne more and Jax has been taking Thunder out with me. He's been a good friend so far. We are sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast and Kari says she needs to talk to me. "What's up?" I asked. "Jacob asked me to marry him." she tells me. "That's great." I tell her. I'm happy for her but I know that means she's leaving the house. "Have you set a date?" I asked. "We want to get married this time next year but we were talking." she says and before she can finish I tell her "I get it. You need to be with your husband. It's okay." I tell her. "Yeah, but Jacob and I were talking and he loves working here and Dad left the land to both of us. I was wondering what you thought about us building a house on the other side of the property and sharing the farm?" she asked. "That what you want?" I asked. "It is." she says. "Well, it would give Jax and I more help on the farm and you would still be close. I think it's a great idea. Tell him to come over for dinner and we can get the plans together. We need to start building the house soon in order to have everything done by the time you get married." I tell her. She jumps up and hugs me. "Thank you." she says. "Like you said, it was left to both of us and Dad would want us to stay close." I tell her. After breakfast, I take my coffee out to the gazebo, deciding that I need a few minutes.

I hear someone walk out and I know it's Jax. He always stays close. "Hey." he says. "Hey." I say as he sits down next to me. Pulling my leg over his lap, rubbing my calf, he asks, "You okay?" I look at him and say "Yeah. I'm so happy for her but it makes me wonder if I'll ever have that, you know? Will I find someone that doesn't mind damaged goods?" He looks at me sincerely and says "You ain't damaged goods, Echo." I smile softly and say "Yeah, Jax. I am. I know I am. It's part of my charm." I try and joke but he doesn't smile. "You ain't damaged." he tells me softly but seriously. "Yeah." I say before looking out over the field. Jax looks out at what I'm looking at. "See that spot out there? Where the land flattens out?" I ask. "Yeah." he says. "That's where I think she should build her house. Her kids will all of this land to play on and can come fill my house when they start getting on her nerves." I laugh. "Abel and Thomas will love it here." he says. "Did you talk to your friend?" I asked, looking at him. "Yeah. He told me to let him know when we have their room ready." he says. "Okay. Uh, after we get the stables done, Kari's going to handle the eggs for me today, we can head out and get what they need." I tell him. "Okay. Thanks again for this." he says. "Jax, this is the closest I'm gonna get to having kids in the house. Trust me, this is for me too." I tell him. We sit out there for a few more minutes and finish our coffee before getting our day started.

After getting most of the chores done, we head to town. We get out of the truck, laughing when I stop in my tracks. Carter is walking towards us. "Echo, good to see you." he says. "Hi Carter." I say. He looks at Jax and I say "You remember Jax?" I asked. "Yeah. Good to see you." Carter says being polite. I try to move past Carter but he speaks again. "I'm sorry Echo." I turn to look at him and he walks back over. Jax stays right behind me with his hand on the small of my back. "What?" I asked. "The way I treated you. I'm sorry. I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner sometime?" he asked. I looked at him shocked. "Ain't you married?" Jax asked. "I left Dana. Baby wasn't mine." he says. I laugh. "Are you serious? You left me to have a family with my best friend and because the baby isn't yours you all of a sudden I'm good enough? You have got to be kidding me." I say. "Echo, you have to understand..." he starts and Jax cuts him off. "She don't have to understand shit." Carter looks at him, "This don't concern you." Stepping in front of me, Jax says "If it concerns her, it concerns me. You had your chance. Now walk away while that's still an option." Carter huffs and says "I'll see you Echo." before walking away. Turning to me, Jax asks "You okay?" I nod and the tears start. Pulling me to him I cry into his chest. "I got you Sweetheart." I get myself together and take a deep breath. "You good?" he asked. "Yeah. Thanks for that." He kisses the top of my head and I say "Let's go get the things for your boys."

After picking out new beds and dressers, we start picking out bedding and decor. I'm looking at some clothes for the boys when pick up one of the shirts, I just stare at it for a minute, thinking. I'll never do this for my own kids. Jax sees me and walks over. Putting his arm around my waist he whispers, "Thomas will love that." I look at him and smile sadly. "I was just thinking I won't be able to do this for my own. Something as simple as buying clothes." I say. Jax kisses the top of my head and says "They are going to love you." I look up at him and smile. We finish getting the things we need to get the boys set up and head home to get things ready for Abel and Thomas.