Adore You

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It's been a week since we ran into Kim and she and I have met up for lunch and I have Tommy with me. We have him in the high chair and he's eating some french fries while we talk. "So, you have to tell me about you and Jax." she says and I start laughing. "When I lived in California, I started working for his family's garage. He was married. She was raising Abel and they had Tommy but when she died, we got close. I legally adopted the boys and we got married." I tell her. "Well, honey, he is a hot one." she tells me and we both laugh. "So, tell me how you and Jace happened." I say. "After you left, we started hanging out. Neither of us thought you were coming back." she tells me, looking at her plate. "Hey. I'm happy for you two. Me and him were never meant to be together. I'm glad you two are together." I tell her and she smiles up at me.

As we are leaving the diner, I hear my name being called. "Dana?" I turn and see Mark, a guy that I knew in high school, who bullied me. "I didn't know you were still living here. Heard you moved to California." he says and I hold Tommy closer to me. "I just moved back." I say and I start to walk away. "Fuck. And knocked up. Do you even know who the daddy is? Can't believe anyone would want a kid with you." he tells me. "Go away Mark. No one cares what you think." Kim says as she leads me and Tommy to my car. "Don't listen to him. He's just an ass that still thinks he's in high school." she tells me and I just nod. "I'll...um..I'll call you soon." I tell her before putting Tommy in his carseat and getting in.

I drive home and fight off the tears and when I get Tommy home, he's asleep so I put him in his crib and take the baby monitor to the kitchen and I start cleaning. When that's done, I start cleaning the living room and then the bedrooms before I hear the front door open and hear Abel come running to find me. "Mama. Where are you?" he asks. I walk into the hall and he sees me and stops in his tracks. "Mama?" he asks as he sees me wiping my eyes. I kneel down and hug him and say "Your brother's awake. Why don't you show him what you learned today?" I ask and he kisses my cheek and says "Okay mama." before heading to Tommy's room.

Jax walks up to me and I back away. "I'm okay Jackson. Just need a minute." I tell him before heading out to the back deck to get my emotions under control. He follows me out and asks "What happened?" I shake my head and say "Nothing for you to worry about." He reaches his hand out to me and I take it and let him pull me close. "What happened?" he asks again. Without looking at him, I say "When Kim and I were leaving the diner, we ran into someone we went to school with. A guy that used to bully me. Part of the reason I left and went to California." I tell him. "What did he say?" he asks. "Just that he heard I moved to California and couldn't believe I found someone to knock me up and asked if I even knew who the father was." I say and feel him pull me close. Tilting my chin up, he says "I am so glad I knocked you up and I'll keep knocking you up as many times as you'll let me." He kisses me softly and says "I love you." and I don't respond.

A little later, we are in bed and I finally drifted off to sleep. Jax slips out of bed and sneaks my phone. He goes through my contacts until he finds Kim's number and hits call. "Hey Dana. You feeling better?" she asks as she answers. "Hey Kim. It's Jax." he says. "Hey. Is Dana okay?" she asks. "No. She's not and from the sound of it, you're just as worried as I am. What can you tell me about this guy?" he asks. "Shit. Okay. When we were in school, he used to bully her. Bad. Since we've all been out of school, he still thinks he rules everything like he did then and when we saw him today, he started spouting out shit that he couldn't believe someone knocked her up and asked if she even knew who the father was." she says. "She told me that." Jax says. "Did she also tell you why he gets to her so bad?" she asks. "No." he tells her. "She's going to hate me for telling you this but you need to know." she tells him. "I'll make sure she doesn't blame you." he tells her. "When we were in school, like I said, he bullied her. Our senior year, right before she moved to California, she was home alone and he showed up. When she opened the door and saw it was him, she tried to close it but he pushed his way in. Started telling her that he heard she had fucked half the senior class and he wanted his chance. He raped her." she tells him. "Shit. Did she report it?" he asks. "Couldn't. His dad was the chief. He died a couple of years ago." she tells him. "Can you get me his info?" he asks. "You gonna make it hurt?" she asks. "Oh yeah." he says. "Meet Jace for coffee tomorrow. He wants in on this too." she says. "Diner at ten?" he asks. "He'll be there." she says. "Thanks Kim." he says. "Just take care of our girl." she says before they end the call.

Jax checks on the boys and puts my phone back on the charger and slips back into bed with me. "Jax?" I ask. "Shh. Go back to sleep babe. I'm right here." he tells me and I slip back to sleep while he falls asleep waiting on tomorrow to meet Jace and handle Mark.