You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 27 - The Fall

"She didn't need to be saved; she just needed to feel loved." - R. M. Drake

--

Gliding around the kitchen with Alice in his arms, Jax proved to be much more capable than his mother or his fiancée ever imagined. He poured himself some coffee, bopping Alice along and talking to her in soft, sweet tones, and then continued on to make her a bottle, all without even the slightest fumble, it seemed he was a natural.

"Let's eat, Ally girl." He took his spot at the unusually empty table and fed Alice while balancing the bottle against his chest and sipping his coffee. "See, Mommy thinks I can't handle it. I got this," he kissed her forehead just as there was a knock at the door.

"I bet this is Gramma," he sighed and stood, baby and bottle still in hand, and answered the door. "Tara, what are you doing here?"

"Morning, Jax," she smiled. "I'm on my way to see Hale."

"Okay." He stood planted in his spot as she turned her attention to Alice.

"She's beautiful," Tara ran her index finger along the child's cheek.

Jax nodded. "She looks like her mother."

"We both know that's a lie." Messing the little tuft of red hair on the child's hair Tara shrugged. "Except for the hair, of course. It does look like she's healed perfectly though, that's great."

"She's a Teller." He said matter-of-factly. "So what are you doing here?"

"I know Amelia is away so I just wanted to talk, clear the air."

"I got twenty minutes before I have to go drop Alice off at Gemma's." Stepping aside, Jax allowed Tara into the house.

"Thank you," she let him lead into the kitchen where he took his spot again and Tara stood awkwardly. "I should probably apologize, first of all, for this shit with Kohn and everything else."

"Fucking with my life and my relationship?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," she looked away, "That."

"Is that what you wanted to say?"

"I guess," she shrugged. "I just, I missed the past. You and me hanging out, we were so young, it feels like forever ago."

Jax laughed and nodded. "Yeah, we had fun."

"I remember when you and Ope caught the guys that robbed Hanna's." Her smile was wide and dreamy as she thought back on that day and how very special she felt to be involved with the hero even in the simplest of ways.

"That was right before I patched," his face lit up. "Shit, that was awesome."

"It was!" She agreed excitedly. "You were amazing, racing after them down Main, tackling the one guy, it was," she shook her head and sighed. "It was incredible."

"Shit," he laughed and nodded. "I felt like a goddamn superhero," he admitted secretly.

"You were," she assured him. "It feels like so long ago."

"Before all this shit piled up."

"What do you mean?" She took the seat across from him and leaned in interested in what exactly he meant.