Black Water | Jax Teller

Chapter 2

Vanessa mentally prepared herself a round of 20 passive aggressive questions as she pulled into the parking lot of the clubhouse. Since Neeta had come down with the flu, Gemma was watching Thomas until she got off work. The lot was seemingly vacant. The only flurry of activity was in the auto shop where power tools were buzzing. As she looked towards the clubhouse, more specifically, the spaces reserved for the club's bikes, she noticed Jax's resting in its spot, shining brightly under the morning sun. It had been a year and the man still lived in his dorm room. She learned after 4 months of their separation to not question him on his living arrangements. She knew on his weekends with the boys, he took them to Gemma's, but she thought it would have helped the transition for the boys if he rented a place for himself. However, the pit in her stomach, she knew he lived in the clubhouse because he still had hope for them. The man still wore his wedding band.

She unbuckled both Abel and Thomas from their car seats and they head into the office where Gemma was busy reading paperwork. Gemma glanced at her through her reading glasses and raised an eyebrow at her. Vanessa already knew the questions were coming.

"Good morning, grandma," Abel greeted his grandmother giving her a kiss.

"Good morning, baby," Gemma greeted back, her face softening at her grandson. Thomas immediately detached his hand from hers and found his home on his grandmother's lap.

Vanessa smiled at the scene. Even if Gemma made her want to pull her hair out, she was a doting and slightly overbearing grandmother. She knew half the reason Gemma liked her was because she gave her some grandchildren and had managed to get Jax to settle down. "Thank you for watching him, Gem."

"No problem, sweetheart," Gemma told her as she smoothed down Thomas' dark hair, "but the boys and I missed you yesterday."

Gemma sure didn't waste with any preamble, Vanessa thought. "Gem –"

Gemma didn't give her a chance to speak. "No matter what you and Jax are going through you're family." Gemma's voice was soft as she said it, like she was trying to soothe a baby, "but the haircut is nice, looks good on you."

Vanessa shook her head at Gemma, "Thanks. It was a spur of the moment thing."

Gemma only nodded her head before she pursed her lips. "Did Jax tell you what happened at breakfast on Saturday?"

Vanessa furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "No, what happened?"

"Hey, baby," Gemma's eyes went to Abel, "why don't you go mess with Tig in the garage, your mom and I need to talk."

Vanessa encouraged her son out to the garage where she looked at Gemma waiting for her to explain what exactly happened.

Vanessa found herself walking across the lot into the clubhouse, fury in her veins. As she pushed the door open, she realized she had not been in the clubhouse since the incident. It still smelt like leather, booze, and pussy and it caused her to scrunch her nose. She really didn't miss the smell of the place. Her 3 inch heels clicked as she walked straight towards the chapel where she saw Jax looking over some papers. She knew it wasn't serious as the door was open and he had a smile on his face as he talked to Bobby, who was standing up behind a chair laughing. She almost felt guilty she was about to sour his mood. Something she felt she did a lot more than she intended.

Bobby was the first to notice her as his eyes flicked to her form. Surprise quickly took over his features that had Jax looking at her in surprise as well. Bobby seemed to get she needed to talk to Jax alone as he left the chapel giving her a quick greeting and a kiss on the cheek and he made way to take a seat at the bar.

When she reached the chapel, Jax was standing up. Entering the scared space of the clubhouse, he closed the door so they could have some privacy.

"You alright," he asked gently as he stood in front of her. His hands went up to most likely caress her cheeks or shoulders, but she noticed he stopped himself. At least he still wasn't angry from their conversation last night.