𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 - 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮

Thirty-Five

Tara holds Abel's hand while Ellie holds Thomas in her arms. They're standing in the garage at the clubhouse waiting for Jax's return. When they see the familiar bikes roll up, Tara smiles. Jax gets off his bike and greets them.

"Hey, little man." He picks up Abel and kisses Tara. Even Ellie can see how much he's forcing himself to look happy for Abel.

Tara takes Thomas from Ellie and Jax kisses his youngest son. Abel runs after Chibs, laughing, the only thing bringing some type of life to the depressed and dull clubhouse this morning.

"I'm sorry." Tara tells Jax. She still can't believe Opie is dead.

"Yeah." Jax holds her for a second," I'm gonna need you to check in on Lyla. The county made the call this morning."

"Okay. I'll drop the boys off at day care and push a few appointments."

"Thanks."

"Let her know about tonight. She needs anything at all-"

"Does Gemma know?"

"No. I'll tell her."

"I love you."

"I love you, Jax." Tara says her goodbyes as she picks up Abel.

Jax turns to his teenage daughter, giving her a small smile, "You mad at me?"

He's suprised when she forcefully launches into his arms, hugging him tightly, making him step back a bit. He feels his chest tighten up and his throat burn as he fights back tears.

"I'm sorry, daddy." She whispers, "I love you."

"I love you more." He tells her, kissing the top of her head. He goes to step back, but she refuses to let go of him. He gets down on his knees in front of her, placing a hand against her cheek, "You okay, sweetheart?"

"I missed you," Ellie places her hands on his shoulders, "Didn't know how long you'd be gone."

"I'm never going back," Jax tells her, "I'll do everything I can to stay out. I'm sorry, I keep abandoning you. I never wanted this. I wanna be there for you, whenever you need me."

"I know," Ellie nods, "I'm here for you too, dad."

"I don't deserve you." Jax stands up and hugs her tight, "You gonna look after Kenny and Ellie for me?"

"Yeah."

~ SOA ~ ~ SOA ~

Around the table, Jax tells the guys, "I think Opie's been looking for a way out since Donna died. He's never been right since. He went out a warrior."

"We... we wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for him." Chibs says.

"No doubt, Ope made his own choice. It's Pope forcing that choice concerns me." Clays says.

"Jax did all he could all he could to push back the threat." Tig backs his prez.

"Agreeing to a 50 G payout?"

"Short term, Frankie." Jax tells him.

"How short?" GoGo asks.

"We never rubbed up against a guy like Pope. An OG sitting at a table with judges, senators, CEOs." Jax says.

"He can kill us with a phone call as easily as a bullet. We're just white smoke to this dude." Bobby says.