Jax placed his kutte on the arm of the couch, confusion clear on his face as he looked at the two women sitting on the floor with Abel, playing a board game.

At first he was worried when he saw his mother's SUV parked outside on the street and parked his bike as fast as possible to check if everything was okay. He knew Gemma, how pushy and manipulative she could beᅳ how unpleasant she could become if she didn't get her way.

But his worries had apparently been completely unfounded. Laughing, the two exchanged a few words and amused looks while Abel was about to win the game with a big grin on his face.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?", he asked as he crouched down. First he ruffled Abel's hair, earning a giggle from the three-year-old. Then he leaned in to give Caitlin a gentle kiss.

The redhead sighed contentedly into the kiss, then he placed a hand against the back of her head and leaned his forehead against hers, his lips still close to hers. "Is everything okay here?", he asked in a lowered voice, a hint of concern evident in his tone.

"Yeah, everything's fine here", she assured him in a whisper, smiling. "We had a great day. Are you okay?"

Jax didn't get to answer as Abel interrupted him. "Are you playing with us, daddy?"

"Of course I'll play with you", he winked at the blonde, little boy. "I'll join in the next round, okay?"

"Okay", Abel replied, wiggling happily back and forth. "I was in town today with Erin and your really tall friend!"

"The big friend has a name, baby." Amused, Caitlin ran her hand over her son's head.

Jax chuckled. It would probably take Abel a while until he could remember all the names, which was fine. "You mean Ope, huh? I hope you had fun, buddy."

"We did, I had some ice cream", he said, giggling sheepishly, then he slapped his hands over his mouth. "Oops."

With a fake shocked expression, Caitlin placed a hand on her chest. "Oh, so you had ice cream that early in the morning? Without telling me anything?"

"Auntie Erin said this is our secret", the little boy whispered after lowering his hands, but now he covered his eyes with them, peeking through his fingers. "Sorry mommy."

"You're sneaky!" Without further ado, she pulled Abel onto her lap and tickled his stomach, his loud laughter echoed throughout the room. Then she cradled him against her, pressing a kiss on top of his head. "It's all good. As long as you don't have ice cream for breakfast every day, it's okay."

"Are Erin and Ope angry with me now because I told you?", he asked uncertainly, but Jax immediately took away his uncertainty.

"No buddy, we won't tell them that you told us the secret", he winked with a smile.

"Thank you daddy. Thank you mommy!" The glow was back on his little face, which had so many similarities to Jax'.

Gemma happily watched the little family and how they interacted with each other. The scene reminded her a bit of the old days with John. Sometimes she really missed him, even though she ultimately gave Clay the go-ahead to let JT's accident happen and have his bike manipulated.

Not that she regretted her decision, John had betrayed her and left her alone while she had to watch her younger son die. And Clay was still her big loveᅳ but every now and then she liked to think back to the early days with John. Especially the moments shortly after Jax was born.

"Ope and Erin?" Gemma raised an eyebrow as a grin slowly crept onto her lips. "Is there something going on?"

"I don't know, but my sister likes him", the redhead said with a chuckle. "I think we'll just have to wait and see. But love at first sight still seems to exist", she gave the blonde a quick, loving look.

"It does", he agreed with a nod, his infamous Teller grin on his lips. If Caitlin wasn't sitting already, her knees would probably go weak and give in.

"So, are you guys together now, or what are you?", the matriarch asked, curious as always.

"Well", Caitlin looked at Jax, not wanting to say anything wrong. After all, she wanted to let him decide when and who he wanted to tell about them.

"We are." Jax' tone was more convincing than ever, his blue eyes still on Caitlin, whose lips curled into a smile. "We know it's early, and unexpectedᅳ but we wanna give it a try. That okay with you?", he asked Gemma.

It wouldn't change his decision if Gemma wasn't okay with it. From now on, Caitlin was the woman at his side who his mother had to acceptᅳ and hopefully would treat with respect. Still, he wanted to make sure that Gemma wouldn't cause any problems.

"Of course that's okay with me", the older one replied, almost offended. She had her reasons for not trusting Tara back then, Caitlin was different, much more trustableᅳ talking to the Irish woman earlier was enough for Gemma to see through the redhead and find out if she was serious about Jax. "I hope everything works out the way you guys want."

"I'm sure it will", Jax replied with a serious expression and a curt nod.

"Can we play now, please?" Abel's impatient gaze swept around the group, who all let out a laugh at the three year old impatience.

"Sure, we don't want you to get bored", Caitlin winked before letting Abel climb back onto the floor.

Jax eventually sat down too and placed an arm behind Caitlin so she could lean against it, which she did immediately, seeking his closeness. Resting the side of her head on his shoulder, he placed a kiss to her copper-colored hair before they started the next round.

He could really get used to evenings like this, even with Gemma around.

ᚔ

After Gemma said goodbye to Caitlin giving her tight hug before she put Abel to bed, she went back into the hallway where Jax was waiting for her to escort her out. However, she then remembered Caitlin's words.

"Can we talk, Jackson?" She looked up at her son pleadingly, waiting.

She didn't miss the hesitation, and she understood why he didn't want to have a conversation with her right away. Eventually, he nodded and motioned for her to follow him with a slight tilt of his head. Once in the kitchen, she sat down with him.

"What's it about?", the blonde asked as neutrally as possible, but he still tensed up. "I hope you're not going to tell me that this is all happening too fast."

"No, no", Gemma shook her head and brushed some strands of her dark hair with blonde highlights out of her eyes. "I wanted to talk about us. You and me."

Jax shifted in his seat and cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest after leaning back. "Then start talking."

He didn't think he could've prepared for a conversation like that, especially since he never knew what was going to happen next in Gemma's head. But he sincerely hoped that at some point they could put the tension between them behind them. At least for Abel.

"I know that I treated you wrong, Caitlin made me aware of that again today", she began, her throat suddenly dry. "Instead of pushing you away, judging you, I should've been there for you."

"The realization comes a little late", he stated simply, his face twisted bitterly. "You're saying all this now because Abel is back, because Caitlin talked to you. Would you ever have forgiven me if I hadn't gone looking for Abel?", he asked, his eyes narrowed. "And please just be honest, ma."

She had thought several times in the last few days about how a conversation like that would probably go, how Jax would react to her apology. And she really had to think first about how to answer next. Would she have come to him if he didn't bring Abel back home?

"I don't know", she answered honestly, just as he wanted. It didn't happen often, but right now Gemma's expression reflected regret. "I just never understood how you could let go of your son so easily. It didn't get into my headᅳ I didn't want to believe that you didn't care about Abel that much."

"I always cared about Abel. I never cared about anyone as much as I cared about my son", he emphasized, his look dead serious and his tone sharp. "You never tried to understand me, mom. I left him behind because I wanted a better life for him."

Gemma's gaze flickered to the window, then back to her son, her arms now crossed as well. "Then why did you look for him? Then why are you bringing him back if you think this life isn't good enough?"

"Because I would've lost my way completely if I wouldn't have looked for my son", Jax said lowly, his gaze fixed on his mother. "I know he would be safer with Caitlin in Ireland than here, that hasn't changed, but I can't let him go againᅳ and I can't let Caitlin go."

"He's safe here, with youᅳ with his father! He always was! You let a priest brainwash you into thinking that Abel was better off without you!" Gemma stood up with force, causing the chair to glide back a little, which made a short, deafening sound. "I hope you can forgive me someday, I'm sorry for my behavior back thenᅳ I really am. But what you did was still wrong, Jackson."

"No one said it wasn't wrong. But would some support and encouragement have been so difficult?", he asked, his voice raised.

He would keep to himself how much it hurt him that Gemma didn't speak to him for three years. But his look spoke volumes, the disappointment in his eyes. Nevertheless, at some point he had to be able to forgive her for that, and she had to forgive him for making that one mistake back then.

"At that moment, yes, I'm sorry", she admitted with a sigh, putting her hands on her hips. "We both made a mistake, two big mistakes. You left your son alone, and I left mine alone", she added, swallowing.

Silence. It was so quiet that it would've been possible to hear a pin drop. The two of them were staring at each other, neither willing to look away from the other. The anger they had towards each other slowly faded away on both sides. Gemma's words had hit the nail on the head.

He had left his son alone, whereupon she had made the same mistake, which she only just seemed to realize now.

"Jesus Christ." Exhausted, she sunk back into the chair and rubbed her index finger and thumb along her forehead. "It can't go on like this. I don't want to waste any more time. I want to be a part of your life again, and Abel's."

Jax relaxed his shoulders, looking at his mother. "If you promise me to stay out of my business and the relationship between Caitlin and me, I see no problem in letting you be a part of our life again."

Gemma's gaze slowly landed on Jax, studying him through her brown, soft eyes, as if she wanted to see through him. But he seemed to mean his words, which she hadn't expected.

"I wouldn't have gotten between Tara and you if Tara had been the right one", she said firmly, still not a fan of the doctor. "She wasn't good for you, you two were too different and she would have made your life difficult. A woman who wants to change you is not the right one and I won't apologize for trying to spare you a miserable future."

"Nobody said you had to apologize", Jax said before uncrossing his arms and placing his elbows on the table, running his hand through his beard. "You were right about Tara, and I was too blind to see it. But Caitlin is differentᅳ she's pure, innocent and has a big heart. I respect you, mom, but one wrong word about her or to her, then you can forget playing grandma."

As she leaned back and listened to Jax' words, her breathing became shallower. Her muscles tensed again, so intense was Jax's gaze, whose blue eyes held something threatening. She could tell that he already cared more about Caitlin than she had expected. In any case, he was serious about this and his tone even made her shiver for a moment.

"I understand." Her tone was relatively calm for the fact that she didn't like it when others told her what to doᅳ but Jax had every right to do so. "I like Caitlin, otherwise I wouldn't have been here all afternoon and evening. She's one of the good ones and seems to accept you as who you are, that's everything I've ever wanted for you. A woman who loves you, your life and can accept the club and stand behind you."

"She will." His answer was confident and convincing, no doubt that Caitlin could be anything like Tara. "She likes you too, otherwise she wouldn't have let you in at all."

"That's good to know." A smirk was back on Gemma's face, then she stood up and lightly tapped the table. "I think I better go, Clay's probably waiting."

"I'm sure he does." Jax also got up and accompanied Gemma to the door. He allowed the kiss she placed on his cheek, but he couldn't completely let himself go in her presence yet.

Everything needed some time to heal, and it was more important for him to be there for his son before he would worry about the relationship with his mom.