Jax
"Don't tell me you're canceling my appointment. At this point I'm coming to check on you." I heard the voice say on the other end of the phone. I took in a deep calming breath and looked over at the bedroom door. I had taken Charlie's phone while she got the boys ready for the day and made breakfast. I told myself that if she started cooking this morning that today would be the day she was up to it.
"Charlie, is everything alright?" He asked.
"Yeah she's fine." I said.
"Jax, I'm assuming." He said dryly.
"Yeah." I responded.
"What can I do for you?" He asked me.
"Are you going to threaten me and mark your territory?" He asked me and I gave him a scoff.
"I know my girl. I'm not worried. That's not why I'm calling." I told him. I waited for him to say something back but he gave me silence.
"I want to propose to Charlie tonight." I told him.
"Are you asking me for my blessing?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.
"No. I just want to make sure she's really happy. You know a side of her that I didn't even know existed." I told him.
"She killed someone, didn't she?" He asked me. The question alone made me sit down on our bed. My gut was right. She did learn that from him.
"Yeah...She did. That wasn't her first time was it?" I said slowly.
"No. I'm sure she told you about my life?" He asked. I nodded as if he could see me.
"Yeah." I told him.
"When we first started dating she killed a couple of people. A situation I should have never put her in. I was ready to leave her after that but- " He said with a sigh.
"She asked you to teach her." I finished for him.
"Yeah and so I did. She's always been good with a gun but she knew nothing about how to protect herself in a close combat fight so I taught her that. I didn't think she would get into so many fights but there are a lot of bastards in my world. I'm sure you can relate. Charlie's a beautiful woman- you know where I'm going with this." He said and once again I nodded as if he could see me. Something clicked inside of my mind knowing the true skeletons that she had in her closet. I saw her with new eyes the day I saved her but I just now actually could see the woman that was in my life. She was the Charlie I needed and then some. She had blood on her hands just like I did.
"I was shocked that she hadn't killed in the past. She told me that she was different back then- weaker is how she described it. I'm assuming this is the side of her you're talking about." He asked me.
"It is... She's feral when she does it. I've seen her fight some of my guys in some friendly sparring but this was different." I told him.
"Yeah... She's a different breed. That's for sure." He responded.
"What is it you need?" He asked me.
"I don't want to push marriage on her. If she isn't ready for this then I won't do it." I told him. I knew the other side of her that he apparently didn't and I knew that side of her would say yes to me in a heartbeat.
"I can tell you that she's been shutting me out lately. I haven't truly heard from her since she's been back with you. I'll figure that out and I'll let you know." He told me.
"I would appreciate that. Charlie doesn't know about this. I would like to keep it that way." I told him and he chuckled at my words.
"You would think we would have learned to not keep secrets from her by now." He told me and I joined with my own chuckle.
"If she seems happy, I'll leave her with my business card for you. Charlie is family to me. If she's truly fine then that means you are also family and up here we do business with family." He told me. I nodded at his words before hanging up the phone. There was still a part of me that was worried that Alonzo would press her too hard and she would want to go back to him. But the better part of me knew that if I hadn't broken her heart that she would have never left. It was my fault that she walked out of my life. All I could do was carry on with my day hoping that she wouldn't notice. It was going to be hard enough to keep my motives hidden from her. It was going to be even harder asking the club to do so as well but to pull this off I needed everyone's help.
"I talked to Alonzo... he said that he would give Charlie a card if he felt like she was in the right headspace. If he does send me a text. Regardless if he does bring her back to the club house. I'll leave a journal in the chapel for you to give her." I whispered to him.
"Of course brother." He said with a smile. I watched as he left with Charlie and I nodded to myself knowing that the count down started now. I called Gemma letting her know the plan while I watched Abel was brush his teeth. Everyone knew their part for today, I just prayed that it came together. Walking into the garage with Thomas in my arms I looked at Charlie's car.
"Shit." I said noticing the broken window on the drivers door. I had completely forgotten about the damage her car took the night she was taken. I was going to have to add it to the list of things I had to get done today.
"What happened to Momma's car?" Abel asked me.
"Daddy lost his temper." I told him as I put Thomas in his car seat.
"Momma's gonna be mad." Abel said as he climbed into his booster seat.
"I know she is." I said with a chuckle.
"We should fix it for her. She'll like that." Abel said and I gave him a grin. It amazed me how much they loved her. Especially Abel. He remembered Tara and that she was his mother. But he did love Charlie. It was sweet to see him embrace her and take on characterics from her. Once we got to the shop I saw Chuckie wearing an apron holding cleaning supplies.
"Clean the clubhouse is!" Chuckie said to me. I looked up at Gemma as she walked over to me, opening the door for Abel.
"The hell is that? Star Wars?" I asked her and she rolled her eyes.
"He's been doing it all day." She said to me,
"I called the florist. They should be ready by four, that early enough?" She asked me and I nodded.
"Should be fine. Did Nero get the liquor ordered from Marcus?" I asked her.
"Yeah he said everything is all set. Bobby's handling the food. Happy said he called all the other charters yesterday. Just gotta set everything up without her noticing." She told me, taking Thomas out of my arms. I let out a deep breath as the nerves finally started to get to me.
"She'll say yes. Charlie would have said yes when you two were still in high school." She told me. I smiled at her words and nodded. Deep down I knew she would say yes but I wanted it to be perfect for her. I owed her a one hell of a proposal to make up for the shitting proposal that she thought she was getting when I was actually breaking up with her instead. I needed to replace that memory for her. If I could go back in time, I would have had our apartment covered in roses for her instead of a girl in our bed.
"For this to work Charlie has to be pointed in different directions or she'll know somethings up. Just try to get her in the clubhouse so me and the boys have enough time to get out of the office and onto the roof. When you get her to go in the apartment then you can pull out the flowers. Chibs will give her the journal, she'll read it and hopefully she'll come outside to find us up on the roof." I told the guys in the garage.
"Lying to Charlie is going to be hard." Sammy said and I nodded.
"Trust me, I know. I've been doing it all day." I told him. Tig let out a puff of air.
"She's a smart cookie but it should be okay." He told me. I looked over at the clock in the garage noticing that it was almost four now. Chibs had sent me a text an hour before letting me know that Charlie was already done with Alonzo. She was too damn good at her job. I needed her to be a little slower. I thought she would have been given that her ribs were still tender. Happy and Gemma weren't here with the flowers yet. I knew that if Chibs kept her there too much longer that she would catch on and start asking questions.
"Don't put the window in yet. Leave it for Charlie to see." I said to Quinn right as he was about to place the window in the driver's door. I watched as they all gave me wide eyes. I let out a chuckle seeing their expression.
"You boys scared of my girl or something?" I asked them, letting a humorous expression come to my face watching them act as if they weren't. She was a force when she was upset. I had no doubt that she would be mad when she saw someone else working on her car. I needed the extra time it would allow for Happy and Gemma to get here. Pulling out my phone I called Chibs pressing the phone into my ear.
"Act like this is the first time I've called." I told Chibs over the phone.
"Yeah she's done. He left almost two hours ago." Chibs answered.
"How does she seem?" I asked him.
"Aye it went fine. He gave me his card." He said. Instantly a sigh of relief came out of me. That meant that Alonzo thought she was grounded enough for this. That she was really all in on this life again. I knew she was but it was still relieving to know that she didn't have any regrets or wished for something else- someone else.
"Happy isn't back with the flowers yet. Take the long way to get here." I told him then hung up the phone when he acknowledged what I said.
"When's momma coming?" Abel asked me as he spun in a chair in the garage.
"Real soon." I said to him as I carried Thomas over to the office and closed all the blinds.
"Jax, Gemma and Nero just got here. They're both around back." Tig told me. I let out a sigh and shook my head as I heard the sound of a motorcycle.
"Try to stall her. I don't care what you tell her." I told him. He gave me a nod then closed the door. I stood hidden in the office hearing Charlie get loud with the guys about her car. I knew she wasn't going to like that. I hushed Thomas who started mumbling for Charlie when he heard her talking. Just from the way she was talking I could tell that she was already catching on that something wasn't quite right. It didn't help that the guys were being so damn obvious. They cracked under her when she applied pressure just like they did with me. They respected her just as much as they did me. They may have even loved her more. I felt selfish for robbing her of a life where she could have been loved by more people for a longer amount of time than she had been. I held my breath knowing that she was standing on the other side of the door to the office and then I let out once I heard that she was walking away. Tig opened the office door and I stepped out handing him Thomas before I picked up Abel.
"You all lie to the cops better than you lied to Charlie." I told them.
"It's her face, man. She sees right through you." Tig said while he followed me to the fire escape.
"You want everyone out here?" Gemma asked me.
"Yeah that'll be good." I told her as I climbed up with one hand. Once we were on the roof, I sat down on the usual spot that I normally sat at. We weren't the same kids anymore. Our love was older, more real and stronger than it ever was before. I had waited almost two decades to ask her to marry me. I would have done it the night she came back if she would have allowed it. Hearing the door open, I stood up taking Abel's hand in mine and looked down at the ground to see my savior, my light, my beautiful Charlie.
"You found us!" I called out to her with a grin on my face. I looked at how happy she seemed.
"Of course I did! I'm the moth!" She told me and I smiled, shaking my head at her.
"No Darlin', you're the light. You have always been the light." I told her, hoping she could hear the seriousness in my words. I took a deep breath in and asked the question I felt like I had been waiting my whole life to ask.
"Charlotte Rose Monroe, Twenty years ago today, you stood in that exact spot and I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you." I said to her,
"Will you do me the honor and..." I trailed off looking down at Abel, giving his hand a little shake.
"Marry Us!" Abel yelled to her. I bounced Thomas in my arms gently giving him his que to speak
"Momma!" Thomas yelled. I looked back down at Charlie. Praying that she would say yes.
"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!"She called out to us. I let out a sigh as if I had been holding my breath the whole time.
"Now come down here so I can kiss you!" She told me. I gave her a smirk and bit down on my bottom lip at her words.
"Yes ma'am" I told her. She was going to get it tonight... Once I was down on the ground I opened up my cut to pull out a black ring box. I showed it to her as I walked up to her, bent down on one knee, opened the box and looked up at her beautiful face. I could tell that she let a few tears fall from her eyes and I hoped that they were tears of joy. I took her left hand in mine and then I slid the ring on her finger. The ring looked like it was meant to be there. I knew the second I saw it in New Mexico that it was supposed to be hers. I didn't even get it sized because I knew it was made for her. Turns out I was right. I stood up, placed my hands on her hips then pulled her closer to me. I captured her lips in a usual liplock that I soon turned into something more. I needed to feel her, kiss her. Show her just how much I worshiped her. My arms wrapped around her waist closing any space that we could have had between us as she kissed me back.
"Gross." I heard Abel said, causing her to pull away then she gave me a peck. She was lucky that we were around everyone or I would have had my way with her. Maybe I would steal her and sneak away into the garage like we used to when we were young. Fuck who was I kidding. I would gladly take her in the apartment of the clubhouse while everyone celebrated us. It was my club and our party. I shook my head out of disbelief watching her as she hugged my sons- our sons. I couldn't express how much I loved her with talking but I had hoped she would now understand after she read my words.
"It took you long enough." Gemma told me and kissed my cheek after she got done hugging Charlie .
"I've always been bad at timing things out." I told her, smiling.
"Always knew you would end up with her." She said and I nodded.
"Me too."I said looking at Charlie holding Abel's hand while she talked to Tig and Sam.
"Congrats Mano." Nero said coming up to me. I gave him a smile before he hugged me. I packed his back. He gave me a squeeze and I returned it. It was a fatherly hug and I welcomed it.
"Thanks man."I said.
"She's a real good girl." He said to me and I nodded. My cheeks were starting to hurt from how much smiling I was doing.
"Yeah she is." I responded. When I heard the unmistaken roar of motorcycles coming down the street I grinned looking over at Charlie.
"I hope you feel up to a party. The guys insisted." I told her. I watched as her eyes lit up. There was one thing my girl enjoyed and that was a good biker party.
"The boys?" She asked and Gemma gave her a smirk.
"Don't worry. We're taking the boys back to my place around bedtime." Gemma told her. Charlie gave me another kiss before she looked into my eyes.
"You planned all of this... Since last night didn't you? This was why you were gone so long yesterday."She said to me and I grinned at her words giving her a nod.
"Yeah, I did." I told her. She kissed me again and everyone started cheering and whistling again.
I wrapped my arm around her waist keeping her close to me while we followed everyone as they started to move back into the party inside the clubhouse. Chuckie and Lyla had set up the food all over the club and stocked the bar just like I wanted.
"Hm... Let me get a look at the future Charlie Teller!" I started to raise my voice louder throughout my sentence until I got to her name and then I yelled the words. More cheers and whistles were given by all the members and friends that filled the clubhouse. I grinned as she smiled wide showing off her ring and then turned around to show off her tattoo. This was what she deserved.
"I've waited so long for that to be my name."She said back to me, her hand started to caress my chest. I had to admit I never felt happier as I did at this moment. Nothing else mattered, just the woman that was in front of me.
I felt a pat on my back. I turned to see Chibs handing both me and Charlie shots. Tig hushed everyone up so Chibs could talk.
"Jackie boy." Chibs said to me and then faced Charlie
"My dear lovey"He said to Charlie and she smiled at him.
"I want you two to know how happy I am for both of you. I've seen Jackie at a- uh pretty low time in his life. I love him- we all do and we hated seeing him like that. I thought I'd never see him like how he was before. Then you came around and brought him back to us in one day." He said.
"Chibs." I said. and he went on. I could feel a tingle sensation in my nose as a lump started to form in my throat.
"I love you so goddamn much Charlie."Chibs started and then stopped. I could hear the emotion in his voice.
"You are the daughter that I always wanted. You're good for this family. Not just an Old Lady but as a mother." He said. I looked over at Charlie and she was nodding her head at his words, agreeing with him.
"Just know and I speak for all the men of SAMCRO,"His voice became louder when he said SAMCRO
" We all have love for yah Charlie. And we'll do anything for yah." He said and I could see Bobby and Tig nodding at his statement.
"You've been a part of this family since the moment your sassy ass stepped on this lot." He finished with a laugh and we joined in.
"Cheers to you both!" He said, taking his shot and we did the same. Everyone started clapping and Charlie hugged him. I watched as he squeezed her and kissed the top of her head before he let her go.
"Thank you Brother. That means a lot." I told him while we hugged each other. I kissed his cheek and he kissed mine.
Almost all of the guys gave a speech in honor of me and Charlie and I took a shot for every one of them. Charlie traded her shot glass for a beer, something that I should have done too. I hadn't eaten since this morning and the liquor quickly started to affect me. I looked over at Charlie and she was chewing on her lip. She only did that when she was lost in thought. I leaned down and kissed the top of her shoulder.
"What did I do?" I asked her, giving her a smile. She looked up at me. Those beautiful green eyes staring into my soul.
"Did you talk to Alonzo?" She asked me. I gave her a chuckle.
"I was hoping you wouldn't have caught on to that." I told her. She was too damn smart. It was so fucking sexy.
"You both are so terrible at hiding things from me." She said,
"What about?" She asked me and I gave her a shrug.
"I just wanted him to feel you out. I didn't want to rush you. Shit's been crazy lately... I just wanted to make sure you would be okay with this." I told her. She shook her head at me with a smile still on her face.
"I would have said yes the day I came back to you." She told me only causing my drunken grin to grow even wider.
"Maybe I should have just asked you that day." I told her before I gave her another kiss. I couldn't keep my hands off of her. I knew that was going to be a problem the moment I asked her to put this shirt on. She was my kryptonite.
As the night got later Gemma and Nero had taken the boys back to their house. Not even thirty minutes later did Gemma call for Charlie to sing the boys to sleep. She was gone for a little while longer than I thought she would have been. I sat up straight in my chair and looked around the room. A smile came to my lips when I saw her appear and then take her place on my lap, draping one arm around my shoulders. My hand rested on her thigh, mindlessly drawing patterns on her black ripped jeans. It was mostly just the Redwood members that were left and a few of the crow eaters. We sat around drinking, passing a joint around listening to everyone talk.
"We gonna talk about how you boys were afraid of Charlie this afternoon." I said to them, allowing a smug smile to come to my face.
"You boys scared of me?" She asked them.
"No, of course not." Tig lied.
"Extremely." Happy said with a straight face.
"Between Jax threatening us if anything happens to you. To you looking like you could freeze hell over with a glance, why wouldn't we be?" Sammy said, everyone joining him in on the laugh.
"She wouldn't do anything." Bobby said walking up from the bar as he grinned at Charlie teasing her.
"Never know. I do have a temper. I've calmed down a lot as I've gotten older" She said to them.
"You have?" I teased her and she grabbed my chin before giving me a soft kiss.
"Charlie's scary, man, She uh fucked up those Irish guys pretty bad." Tig said, sitting next to Happy who nodded his head.
"I couldn't have done it better myself," He said, causing us all to laugh. Tig was right she really did fuck them up. They deserved worse than what she did to them but it still made me see her in a different light. She wasn't my innocent Charlie that I used to know. She was fully my equal now.
"My girls a fucking badass." I said and kissed her left hand.
"You can't be raised by a General and then date a man in a MC then another one in the mafia and not learn a thing or two." She said,
"Your dad's in the military?" The new prospect asked.
"He was." Charlie answered him, bringing her beer to her lips..
"What all he teach you? Bet I could beat you in a fight"He asked and Charlie's eyes narrowed at him. Everyone started to become silent.
"See there's that look." Tig said.
"You dumb bastard. I hope she knocks you into next week" Chibs said.
"No he died from cancer but I could still show you a thing or two." She told him. Her voice was deadly and everyone knew what was going to come next. I patted her thigh trying to distract her. After talking to Alonzo this morning. I knew just how deadly she could be when she wanted to get into a fight.
"I'm not afraid of her." He said. Obviously he had some liquid courage in him. Before I could say anything Sam did.
"Duke, why don't you just give me another beer. What kind of name is that anyway? Fucking Dukie." He said and that shut the Prospect up. Charlie removed herself from my lap after she told me she was going to the bathroom. I nodded at Sammy and raised my beer and he did the same.
Charlie made her way back over to me after sneaking off to the bathroom. I grinned seeing her. Everytime she got close to me it was like a breath of fresh air.
"Hey Baby." I said.
"Hey..." She said before she wrapped her arms around my neck to whisper in my ear.
"I'm going to head home before you to get ready for tonight..." She trailed off and a smirk came to my lips. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were dilated. I slid my hand down to her ass pulling her back onto my lap.
"I like you in green." I told her and she smiled.
"I know, baby." She told me and I kissed her cheek.
"How long you want me to wait to come home?" I asked her.
"Maybe an hour." She told me before she grabbed my chin and gave me a kiss. She pulled away too soon leaving me wanting more of her.
"Make sure to take-" I started but she cut me off.
"I'm going to take Chibs and Happy to be on the safe side." She told me and I grinned.
"That's my girl. I'll meet you at the house." I told her and kissed her once more before she left walking towards Chibs. He wrapped his around her shoulder her as they walked.
"Happy."I said from my seat, pulling out a cigarette when walked past me to them. He stopped and came back over to me.
"I'm gonna tell you like I told Chibs. I want you on her ass. I don't care even if she asks you to back up. If someone even looks like they are gonna touch her or hurt her. Kill them. I don't give a fuck who it is." I told him, my voice firm and he nodded.
"You got it Boss." He said taking off to follow them. I lit my cigarette, taking a drag leaving my seat on the couch and made my way over to the bar where the rest of the guys were.
"You happy Pres?" Bobby asked me and I smiled at him.
"Can't even tell you how much." I told him as I let out the smoke.
"You deserve that." He said. He patted my shoulder. I stayed long enough to drink one more disgusting mixed drink made by Chuckie and to take a couple more puff off a joint Bobby was smoking. I missed my girl and I wanted to be home with her.
"Is Charlie's car finished?" I asked.
"Yeah boss, it's good to go." Sammy said to me. With that I walked out of the club and into the garage to Charlie's car. I inspected the window before I got in it. It looked good, thankfully. My night would have been ruined if it wasn't. I started the car, backed out of the T.M. and then drove home. I couldn't help but wonder when Charlie would want to get married. I wanted to be married to her soon. We weren't getting any younger and I wanted to make her mine in all ways possible. I was almost positive that she would be okay with that. I knew she felt the same way as I did. Pulling up to the house Happy was sitting outside on his bike. Gun in his hand. I laughed inside the car before parking in the garage next to my bike. Walking out the front yard I looked at Happy.
"Thanks Brother." I said and he nodded.
"Anytime."He said but he didn't move. I knew Happy took it seriously when I gave him a task but this was different. I started to wonder if something happened. There was a tension in my chest and I walked up the few steps before the door in a hurry. Knocking on the front door Chibs opened it for me and he smiled.
"Something happen?" I asked worriedly.
"No, everything went fine Jackie." He said and I nodded.
"Congrats again Jackie Boy. Give that girl of yours a squeeze."Chibs said, giving me a hug before he walked out and closed the door. Walking through the long hallway. I didn't hear Chibs' bike fire up. The buzz that I did have was killed as panic started to creep in.
"Darlin?" I called out as I took my cut off and hung it by the door. I waited for Charlie to answer but she didn't. I walked down the hall into the living room to see Charlie sitting on the couch. She was still in her clothes from the party and she had a smile on her face.
"Charlie? Everything good?" I asked her and she patted the seat next to her. I gave her a questioned look as I made my way over to her.
"Charlie...You gotta tell me what's wrong." I told her.
"Nothing is wrong, just sit," She said. I did as I was told. Meeting her green eyes I studied her face trying to see for myself if nothing was really wrong.
"I felt weird at the party." She told me.
"That's why I left." She told me and I raised a brow at her. Did someone make her feel uncomfortable?
"I'll kill whoever it was." I told her and smiled at me.
"Alonzo said something to me at the studio that I hadn't even realized." She told me. That just made me even more confused.
"Charlie what-" I started to say but she cut me off.
"We're catching some air." She told me and I shut up to listen to her.
"He told me that he was glad that Angel and I aren't synced up anymore. That got me thinking that I'm not on the same cycle as another woman here." She told me. I gave her a concerning look because I didn't know where she was going with this. The only woman she had really been around enough would be Gemma. I wondered if Gemma was the person who made her feel uncomfortable. It wouldn't have surprised me if it was.
"I had the guys take me to the hospital just to make sure everything was okay." She stopped when she saw the expression on my face.
"Again, nothing is wrong. I'm fine and completely healthy." She told me. I didn't know if we both had too much to drink and smoke or if she really wasn't making any sense. Her hands went to either side of my face looking into my eyes. She gave me a peck to my lips and I returned it.
"I hope you'll be alright with this." She said before she let go of my face. I watched as she grabbed her purse pulling out a yellow envelope. Immediately I thought it was either a marriage license or a prenup but the envelope was too small for either of those.
"I haven't had a cycle since I've been here..." She whispered out to me. My eyes instantly shot up to her face, finally understanding what she was saying.
"Open it." She said to me, I took a deep breath and tore it open. Pulling out the picture that was inside of it. I stared at the image in disbelief. I felt out of breath and my heart felt like it had skipped a beat. The same feeling I had when I saw Charlie for the first time I was having it all over again. I could barely feel Charlie's hands on my arm. She squeezed my bicep and I looked over at her and she had a perfect smile on her face. I couldn't help but to match it. I looked back at the picture that I was holding. I turned to face her, grabbing the back of her neck with my free hand.
"This for real?" I asked her. She looked into my eyes, her water lines filling with tears as she nodded at me then whispered.
"I'm Pregnant."