Charming's Queen

21. Visit

"You're decorating for Christmas? Already?"

Lynne jumps at the voice. She quickly turns around, "Oh! Mom! I didn't know you were coming!" She smiles and looks up at Gemma, who stood in front of her. "Christmas is next month! I usually decorate two months in advance — be happy it's only a month in advance!" She teases, passing Abel the frosty the snowman stuffed animal that he places on the TV stand.

"Grandma!" Abel cheers, once noticing it's her and runs over to her.

"Abel!" Gemma cheers back, leaning down for a hug. "Is Thomas sleeping?" She asks.

"Yes." Lynne nods and continues to dance around to the Christmas music that was playing on her phone and decorating.

"What will I ever do with you?" Gemma laughs and watches as Abel copies her.

"Are you going to help us set up the tree?" Lynne changes the subject, looking over at Gemma. "We're getting it.. I think tomorrow.. after Jax gets home."

"Of course I will! If you'd let me!" Gemma smiles at Lynne, picking up a few decorations and helping. "Jax and I planned on taking Abel shopping — if that's okay."

"Of course," Lynne smiled, "For mwaaah?" She giggled as she asks, making Gemma and Abel laugh.

"How'd you know?" Abel asked, with a wide smile. "We were going to get you Christmas presents!"

"Well, I guess I'll take Thomas shopping another day for your presents!" Lynne smiled and kissed Abel's head.

"Will you take me with you to get grandma's and grandpa's presents?" Abel asks, looking up at Lynne, who nods.

"We'll go next week, okay?" She said softly, "Now go have fun with grandma! Make sure you're home in time for dinner, okay? I'm making your favorite!"

"You're making Mac and cheese?!" Abel gasps, his eyes brightening.

"No... your other favorite!" Lynne laughs softly, "Gem, you're more than welcome over for dinner!"

"I might just take you up on your offer." She says with a wink, before taking Abel's hand. "Let's go get your shoes on!"

Lynne smiled and waved to Abel, "Don't cause any trouble, mister!" She spoke sternly, wagging her finger.

"I won't!" Abel laughed and grinned, pulling his shoes on before darting out of the house with Gemma. "Bye, momma!"

"See you later, love. Be good!" Lynne reminds Abel and then hears the door click shut. She smiles and finishes decorating, then picks up the house while waiting for Thomas to wake up.

Lynne walks into the bathroom, quickly wiping it down and sweeping up any dirt on the floor, then hears Thomas start to cry.

She smiles and walks into his room after washing her hands, then leans down over the crib. "Hi, bud." She says softly and picks up the now three month old. "How did you sleep? You slept good, huh?" She talks to him, bouncing him slightly. "You just missed Grandma, she would've loved to see you!"

Thomas gurgled in response and Lynne smiled, pressing a kiss to his head. "Are you ready for some milk?" She asked and watched as a smile formed on his face and he kicked. "I'll take that as a yes!" She smiled and giggled as he hummed and gurgled. Since she already had made his bottle, she quickly stuck it in the microwave upon making it into the kitchen.

...

"Hey," She heard a voice and she slowly opened her eyes. "There you are."

Lynne rubbed her eyes and sat up, noticing Juice standing in front of her. "Oh, shit, Juice. Hey." She said softly and ran a hand through her hair. She adjusted Thomas in her arms, "How'd you get in?"

"I picked the lock." She looked up and noticed the sheepish look on his face, making her laugh. "I came over to check on you, because you're friend... Megan? Is it? Said she hasn't heard from you in a while."

"Oh shit!" Lynne exclaimed, "God, I've been so busy... I've forgotten to text her!"

Juice chuckled and sat down on the couch next to her, "Yeah, we were all worried. We haven't seen you at the clubhouse in a few weeks."

"That's my bad." Lynne said softly and looked over at Juice. "I've been prepping for Thomas' first Christmas and Abel's first Christmas with me. It's just been busy." She laughed softly, "I haven't really had a minute to stop and relax." Lynne set Thomas down next to her and pulled her hair up into a messy bun, "I'm sorry I worried you guys. I didn't mean to."

"I see." Juice nodded, "I get that, life can be pretty crazy. Anyway, yeah, I just stopped by to check on you."

"You're such a good bestie," Lynne grinned and pulls Juice into a hug, who immediately hugged her back, "Well, I guess I might as well come stop by the club before I have to start dinner." She shrugged after pulling back.

"I'll be waiting your arrival, sleeping beauty." Juice teased and stood up, pulling his motorcycle keys out of his pocket.

"Well, first I'll get ready and of course call Megan... god, I feel so bad." She said and rubbed the back of her neck, "Anyway, I'll see you in probably a half an hour!"

"Sounds good. Drive safe." Juice called out as he walked towards the door.

"Always." Lynne winked and laughed softly, then heard the door click shut, followed by his motorcycle starting and taking off down the road.

Lynne put a pillow on the opposite side of Thomas and walked towards the bedroom, grabbing her phone from the charger as she entered. Quickly, she dialed Megan's number and sorted through the closet, trying to find some presentable clothes to wear - instead of the old ratty sweatpants she had had on for days.

As the line connected, she heard the screech of Megan.

"Girl! I thought you were dead!"

"Meg! Hey," Lynne quickly started off and took a breath, "I'm so sorry. I just haven't had a chance to breathe." She explained, "I've been so busy with the kids and—"

"Girl! What kids?"

"Jax's." Lynne cleared her throat and pulled out a brown and black plaid skirt with a black tank top. She set those on the made bed, then quickly grabbed a bra and a new pair of underwear, as well as socks and quickly changed out of her sweats and into the new outfit.

"Jax has kids?"

"Yeah," Lynne smiled and put the phone on speaker, setting it down. "He has two boys - Abel and Thomas." She cleared her throat again and took her hair down, quickly brushing through it before picking up her phone and heading into the bathroom.

She put the brush away in the top drawer, then quickly applied a little bit of makeup.

"Oh— I didn't know!" Megan spoke up, "The kiddos asked for Auntie Ly a lot this week."

"Awe, they did?" Lynne smiled and looked in the mirror as she applied a nude lipstick. "I miss them!"

"Of course they did," Megan laughed, "And now that I know you have kids we should hook up.. maybe go out to the park one of these days."

"Of course!" Lynne smiled and put her makeup
back in the drawer and heard Thomas start to whine from the living room. "Well, I'll definitely get better at texting you."

"Sounds good to me— ooh, I hear crying. I'll let you go."

"Alright, talk soon." Lynne smiled and made her way to the living room and over to the couch. Once the line disconnected, she gently picked up Thomas. "Hi, sleepy head. You ready to go see your uncles?"