Record of Wrongs

Chapter 10.

Arielle

My heart was beating outside of my chest as the doctor looked over Olivia. This was her first doctor's appointment and thankfully everything checked out okay. She was in good health and I was happy to learn that her weight and reflexes were good. However, as happy as I was about one child, I was nervous about the other.

Gemma was supposed to bring Abel to meet me today, and I had been up all night anticipating our reunion. I was so nervous about seeing him again, that I could hardly keep anything down, let alone sleep through the night.

I was so worried that he wouldn't remember me, or that he'd be scared to approach me because of my injuries The scars on my face hadn't completely changed my appearance, but it was a drastic change that Abel wasn't used to, and I didn't want him to be afraid of me because of it.

I also worried about how he'd receive Olivia since she was a new baby. He'd been an only child for so long that I worried that he wouldn't accept her as his sister, or that he'd feel that she was responsible for my absence. My brain was filled with scenarios of how this day could go, but none of those scenarios brought me comfort.

Wendy kept trying to convince me all day that everything would be fine, but I wasn't completely convinced. Despite her giving birth to Abel, I was the one who raised him. I know my son inside and out, and it takes him a while to warm up to new people and ideas. He's a lot like Jax that way and will bottle up his emotions until he eventually explodes like his father.

"Okay, she's all good to go," the doctor said while handing a crying Olivia back to me. She was fine up until the stethoscope, and that's when all hell broke loose. She didn't cry often but when she did the sound reminded me of a squeaky dog toy. It was a cute sound that made anyone who was around her bend to her every whim. Like Wendy who decided the doctor was now her mortal enemy for making Olivia cry.

I smirked at Wendy and then proceeded to grab my daughter to leave the office. Wendy followed closely behind me with the car seat while I went to the front desk to schedule the next appointment. However, to my surprise, Gemma was in the lobby with Abel sitting on her lap. Which was odd since our original plan was to meet up a the park, but I quickly got over it and handed Olivia back to Wendy.

Abel didn't notice me at first and all my anxiety came back as I approached him slowly. "Abel?" He lifted his head up to look at me, and for a while his face was blank. "Abel, it's me, Mommy."

My heart was pounding in my chest as I kneeled down to his level and held my arms open for him. Abel let out a little gasp after a few seconds and practically jumped into my arms. Relief washed over me as I held his little body close to mine and cherished everything about him that had changed.

I planted kisses all over his face and swept him up off the ground. His little arms were wrapped tightly around my neck begging me not to let him go, and I felt his body lightly shake with his sobs. To be honest, I don't think I knew who was crying more, or if Abel was just picking up on my emotions, but it felt so good to hold my son again.

"Mommy," he pulled himself back to take a good look at me and put his hand to my cheek. I know he noticed the scar, but he didn't seem frightened by it. "Mommy, you're hurt!" he sounded shocked as he continued to examine my face, but I couldn't help but laugh at his observation.

"I'm okay honey," I wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled warmly at him. "Did you miss me?"

He nodded his head, "Yeah! The bad man took you away!" I hated that the last memory he had of me was being manhandled by people he didn't know. And I couldn't imagine what that memory did to my baby boy.

"Well, it's okay because I'm here now, okay? I'm not ever going to leave you again."

Abel went in for another hug and I mouthed a "thank you" to Gemma while he wasn't looking. It was true that I wouldn't have been able to do this without her, and I was internally grateful that she managed to make this happen for me.

I honestly didn't think she'd be able to keep something like this from Jax, but somehow she'd managed to see things from my perspective. For years, my relationship with her had been rocky, but somehow the events leading up to this had brought us closer. My only wish now is that we would be able to keep this relationship even after Jax finds out.

"I think someone is getting a little jealous of all the love," I looked up to see Wendy standing behind us with Olivia who was wide awake in her car seat. I smiled at her before standing Abel up at my side to introduce him to his little sister.

"Baby," Abel reached down to touch her, and I stared back in awe at how gentle he was with her. He probably gained experience from being around Donna's son, Noah.

"Yeah, this is Olivia, you're little sister."

Abel's eyebrows rose as he continued to inspect her. "Olivia?" he repeated her name and giggled when she began to squirm.

"Mmhmm," I took Olivia out of her car seat and held her in my hands. She curled up into a little ball instantly, and I brought her close to Abel so that he could see her better. He attempted to hold her, but I kept my arms around the both of them so that they could bond safely.

"You're doing such a good job, Abel!" Gemma said and Abel smiled big at the compliment. It felt so good to see everything going according to plan, and seeing my two kids together made me so happy. Nothing would top this moment for me and nothing could ever take it away.

However, after we had finally left the doctor's office to go to lunch Gemma pulled me aside to talk. She explained to me that she felt like Jax was on to her, and given everything she did today, I did feel bad about putting her in such a weird place with her son.

"Don't even worry about Ari, I can handle my son. I'm just letting you know that I made Unser distract the prospect so that I would lose him, but I'm sure he'll be reappearing soon."

I nodded my head, fully accepting the fate of my actions. "That's fine, I get what you're saying, but I don't want to ruin everything we planned today, Gemma. I haven't seen him in so long, and I don't want to end this day before it even started. If Jax appears, we'll deal with him, but for now, let's just focus on the kids."

Gemma nodded her head in agreement and for the rest of the day, we went along with the schedule. Donna told us that she'd come home around six with the kids, so we did everything Abel enjoyed until then.

I knew it'd be hard for me to separate from him again, so I made sure that he'd relinquished all of his energy at the park. I wanted him to be asleep when Gemma took him back home because I knew that I wouldn't be able to withstand his cries for me.

Unfortunately though, when the day started to come to a close, it wasn't Abel who needed support. He was sleeping peacefully in his car seat next to his sister, and I had to step away and allow Wendy to grab Olivia because I couldn't bear to.

I cried as soon as I saw Gemma's car drive away and Wendy pulled over to comfort me. For the days leading up to this reunion, I always thought that Abel would be the most unstable. I hadn't even considered how hard this would be for me until now, and seeing him drive off felt like my heart was breaking into a million pieces again.

"You're a good mom, Ari. You are doing everything you can," Wendy rubbed my back as I did my best to pull myself together. I nodded my head to reassure her that I heard what she was saying, but how could I be a good mom when I let my son go back there without me?

I wanted so much to just take him with me and leave this town, but I knew that wouldn't be possible. The Feds and The CIA weren't going to leave Charming until I talked, and they would raise all kinds of hell to get what they were after.

It was just a matter of time before they threatened what I loved, and I needed to be prepared for when that happened. Because one thing was for certain, I wasn't the same person that was taken away eight months ago, that woman was gone. In her place was a woman who'd been through hell, and a mother who'd never let the same happen to her kids.