Tig playfully pushed Juice out of the way so he was standing right in front of Jax who just walked into his house with the baby on his arm, Cleo right by his side with a wide smile on her face as she saw all the decoration and cupcakes and a cake spread out on the small couch table in the living room.

"I'm gonna hold her first", Tig flashed Juice a wicked smile before he bend forward a little and cooed at the baby. "Thank God she looks like her mom."

"Well actually, she looks a lot like Jax too", Cleo teased with a smirk, yet it was the truth.

"If you drop her I'm gonna kill you, bro", Jax warned jokingly but there was some seriousness in his tone making all the others in the room let out a laugh. It was Tig after all.

"I have two kids myself, I know how to hold a baby, man", Tig stated, pretending to be offended by the blonde's words.

"I mean, something is definitely wrong with me sometimes. How many times have you dropped me, dad?" Dawn gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek before she threw her arms around her best friend's neck. "Welcome home, honey! I hope you don't mind a little surprise party."

Cleo shook her head quickly and wrapped her arms around Dawn. She was still a little sore and wanted nothing but to sit down, but the surprise party didn't bother her at all. As long as she didn't have to walk around the whole time to serve the guests she would be fine.

"No, not at all. I love what you guys did", she said with a sincere smile and slowly pulled away from her friend to hug Lyla next.

"I so can't wait to spoil that little bundle of joy", the blonde let out a squeal after she pulled away from Cleo. Eyeing the brunette, she noticed how tired she looked. "You just sit down and do nothing, okay? We'll take care of everyone and you and Jax can relax."

Cleo squeezed Lyla's arms that she was still holding onto, giving her a grateful smile. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

All the guys gave her a hug first and told her how glad they were that everything went well and that she and the baby were fine and back home, then they congratulated Jax. The last one to hug her was Enrico, who didn't let go of her for a few minutes.

The brunette loved that they saw each other more often now that he lived closer to Charming. When she was little and he already older they were already inseparable but that was nothing compared to now. Enrico was not only her brother and best friend, he had somehow taken on the father role in her life as Katelynn had never had a new man by her side after their father, so neither Enrico nor Cleo ever had a stepfather or a male role model in their lives. So Enrico took over.

"I hope you know how proud I am", he said, smiling down at his sister while his arm was still draped over her shoulder. "And thank you for making me an uncle."

"Stop, you're gonna make me cry", she smiled sheepishly, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist. "Is there a chance you're gonna make me an auntie? Because I really want a niece or a nephew."

"If Dawn wants one of those little things, then yes", he smirked, earning an eye roll and a chuckle from her.

"You better give me one of those cute things", Tig said to Enrico after walking over to them, kissing the top of Cleo's head while rocking the baby in his arms. Mari peacefully sucked on her pacifier and looked around with big eyes.

The nurses told her and Jax that it could take a few days before she would fully open her eyes but apparently Mari was a curious one. Since this morning the newborn hadn't closed her eyes once.

"Come on, let me hold her now", Lyla almost begged Tig who reluctantly handed her the baby. The blondes' eyes lit up, her smile is so wide that wrinkles formed at the corners of her eyes. "This sweetheart is giving me baby fever."

"No, forget it. There are already three kids running around in our house", Happy grunted with a slight smirk as he appeared next to his Old Lady, his arm around her waist as he looked down at a curious looking Marie.

Lyla rolled her eyes in amusement. "Fine! But I'm gonna steal this one here a few times."

"Well, if Jax and I ever need some quality parent time I can be sure we have enough people willing to babysit the boys and her", Cleo smirked before looking around. "Where are the boys? I don't see them."

Jax overheard his Old Lady's words and stroded over to her, his arm finding it's way around her waist. "They're in the garden with Kenny, Piper and Elli. Want me to get them, darlin'?"

"That would be great. I want them to meet their sister. They had to wait two days already", she said, sinking her teeth into her lower lip after she leaned into his touch. "And then I definitely want a piece of that delicious looking cake!"

"As you wish", Jax grinned, giving her ass a squeeze making her eyes grow wide for a brief second and everyone else chuckle.

"Give her a break, she just pushed your child out", Juice teased, earning himself a slap on the back of the head as Jax walked past him.

"Maybe I wanna work on the next one?", he said jokingly before disappearing through the big glass door into the garden to fetch his sons so they could meet their sister.

"I'm starting to think he wants to kill me", Cleo muttered under her breath and shook her head smirking. She then tugged a few strands of her brown hair behind her ear and took a seat next to Chibs who gave her a smile.

"Exhausted, lass?", he asked.

"Mhhm", the brunette hummed, allowing her eyes to rest for a moment as she closed them, her head leaning against Chibs' shoulder. "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed later. But first I'm gonna enjoy this party."

"If it gets too much and you guys want your peace, just kick us out, ya' hear me?" Chibs always acted more like a father instead of a friend and Cleo didn't mind.

The Scot became quite an important part of her life simply because he was a role model for Jax. And the kids loved it when Chibs came by more often. Also, Katelynn and the Scot have been spending a suspicious amount of time together for the past few weeks. Cleo would love for her mom to find a partner again that would burn the world down for her and treat her like no one else mattered.

"Nah, I love having you guys around. Where's mom?", she asked curiously since she hasn't spotted the blonde yet.

"She still has some work t' do, lass. But she should be here soon", Chibs let her know what Katelynn had told him over the phone a few hours ago.

"And you know that from...?" A knowing smirk appeared on her face at her question, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Are we nosey t'day, huh?", he asked, his scars clearly visible as he gave her a smirk.

"Oh come on, I know there's something going on between you guys", she whispered, a curious glint in her eyes. "You two would make a lovely couple!"

Chibs just shook his head and chuckled, not surprised by the young woman's curiosity. He indeed had spent a lot of time with her mother and if there would happen anything between them, she'd be the first one to know.

"You have t' ask your mother, lass", he told her eventually and ran a hand through his beard. "Ah, before I forget, I got somethin' for you and Jax."

"Huh, what is it?" Surprised, Cleo sat up straight after Chibs did that too and watched him as he fished something out of his Kutte. A simple envelope, a thick one.

The brunette gasped at the amount of money that was in there with a small congratulations card. She looked at him with parted lips, not sure what to say while asking herself why on earth he would give them so much money. There were easily five thousand dollars inside.

"Chibs..what..", she stuttered.

"Yer' gonna need every dollar with another wee baby around, sweetheart", he told her, smiling.

It was important to Chibs that Jax, Cleo and the kids had everything they needed, especially after the talk he had with Jax. He still thought about talking to Cleo about Jax' plan, yet that would somehow make him a rat. Maybe not fully, but still. The Scot's mind wasn't able to find peace since he knew what Jax wanted to do and he was secretly searching for another solution.

His plan for the next few weeks after he would try to find Gemma so he could kill her himself before Jax could and then make it look like an accident. But the matriarch was already nowhere to be found. It was almost like she vanished into thin air. Fact was, he had to find her before it was too late.

"But that's a lot of money, Chibs. We can't accept that", Cleo quarreled with herself and thoughtfully rubbed the back of her neck.

Chibs waved it off and patted her hand. "Oh, that's no' up for discussion. If ya' don' want t' use it, save it for the kids later."

"Thank you so much", she said, her voice genuinely grateful and relieved. Of course the money helped them, but it was still difficult for her to accept so much of it. The brunette gave him the tightest hug, thanking him another three times for the money.

"Mommy!" Abel climbed on her lap before she was even able to pull away from Chibs. She let out a happy squeal and snaked her arms around Abel's small body.

"Hi baby, I've missed you and your brother", she whispered, running her hand soothingly up and down his back. Oh how she had missed him and Thomas the last two days while she was in the hospital.

Abel was too excited and jittery, which is why he couldn't keep still for long and broke away from the hug after a short time. He put his small hands on Cleo's cheeks and beamed at the woman. "Where's my baby sister?"

"Baby sister!", Thomas squealed happily and bounced up and down on Jax' arm, shoving his fingers into his mouth.

"They're already great big brothers", Jax said proudly and plopped down on the couch next to his Old Lady and held Thomas while the boy stood on his lap and kept bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Let me get her for you", Chibs stood up after he squeezed Cleo's shoulder and ruffled Abel's hair making the little boy giggle. He then went to look for the person who had the baby at the moment. Turns out Juice finally had the chance to hold Mari after Tig and Lyla finally decided to let the others get some time with the baby, too.

It took a while until he came back with a fussing baby that he managed to rock to sleep in his arms, a nostalgic smile plastered on his face. In moments like these he realized once again how much he missed his own daughter, Kerianne, who was still in Ireland.

"Wow, that was quick", Cleo raised her brows in surprise, secretly hoping she'd be able to get her daughter to sleep this fast, too. She then gently nudged Abel's arm. "Look, that's your sister."

Abel's eyes grew wide when Chibs crouched down so the boy could study his sister. As if he knew exactly how to handle babies, he stroked his sister's head before gently taking her hand in his, the finger of his other hand halfway in his mouth.

"Her hands are so tiny! She's so tiny!", the boy stated with a gasp, giving Cleo and Jax a big, toothy smile.

"She is, buddy. That's why you and Thomas have to be careful with her as long as she's this tiny, alright?", Jax asked his son, running a hand over the little boy's head before kissing the top of it. "You promise me to always take care of her, yeah?"

"Yeah, always! I'm her big brother", Abel pointed at his shirt that said 'I'm a big brother' that Dawn got him and Thomas already months ago, and had waited patiently until she could finally dress them in these shirts.

"Big brother!" Thomas clapped his hands and let out a loud, happy laugh that startled the sleeping baby. But after opening her eyes for a brief moment, Mari closed them again and kept sleeping in Chibs' arms.

"Thommy almost woke her up." Abel slapped his hands over his mouth and smiled sheepishly. "Can we play with her later?"

"She's a little too small for that, buddy", Jax chuckled. "But before you and Thommy have to go to bed you can cuddle with her, does that sound good?"

"Oh", the boy pouted but he his smile was back quickly. Abel gave Jax his best puppy eyes. "Yes! Can we all sleep in your bed tonight, daddy?"

"Oh, it's hard to say no to that", Cleo just smirked. She knew the boys since almost two years now and it was still hard to say no to them most of the time, but she got better with it. Still, she wouldn't turn Abel's wish down. She had missed them too and the thought of sharing the bed together with the whole family for one night was pretty nice.

"I think we can do that, right?", he winked at Cleo and pecked her lips, still having a hard time to take his eyes off her. Even without make up and her hair thrown into a messy bun, she was the most beautiful woman ever.

"Of course. Family night it is", Cleo agreed with a soft smile and cuddled with the almost five year old, who was still sitting on her lap and was even happier now that he could sleep with his siblings in his parents' bed tonight.

The rest of the afternoon and evening consisted of nice, warm-hearted conversations. Food was eaten, everyone had time to get to know the baby and Jax and Cleo now had five extra boxes of diapers and lots of new clothes. Cleo was sitting on the sofa at the end of the evening, leaning against Jax while Mari fell asleep in her arms. The boys continued to play with the other children while the adults continued to talk.