CHAPTER FOUR — WELCOME BACK, WELCOME BACK

A DEEP SIGH FELL FROM NAOMI'S LIPS AS MIGUEL DROVE passed 'the welcome to Charming' sign. She didn't want to be here at all; back in this toxic fucking town where her mother and Clay were too close, but she was doing this for Luann.

At least that's what she had to keep telling herself.

Naomi felt Miguel's hand squeeze her knee reassuringly, staying there as he kept his dark eyes on the road in front of him. The blonde knew her husband was just as thrilled as she was to be here, neither of them wanted to deal with the drama that was inevitably coming their way.

"Jax is going to meet us at the house." She told Miguel, placing her hand on top of his.

Jax had taken it upon himself to rent a house for the week for Naomi and Miguel. Her older brother made sure it was just outside of Charming so that their mother didn't know just yet that her disappointment of a daughter was back.

"He didn't have to. He does know I can afford to rent a house for a week right? He knows you can afford it by yourself too." A smirked formed on his handsome face as took a quick look at his wife.

Miguel loved how independent Naomi was. When he had first met her back in college she was so determined to make her own money and pay her own way that she refused to let him pay for anything.  Naomi wasn't like any woman he had dated before back then and that's why he knew right away she would be his wife.

A small laugh left her lips. "Of course he knows, but he's doing the whole big brother thing. I think he also feels guilty about everything." The blonde trailed off as her blue eyes looked down at her phone. "Mommy dearest is calling again." Naomi's tone was tense as she ignored the phone vibrating in her hand.

If Naomi was in the right headspace she would have just picked it up and tried to have a conversation with Gemma, but her mind had been all over the place since learning of Luann's murder. It also didn't help that Gemma and Clay weren't the only people she was dreading to see.

Juice was still a member of the club and Naomi knew without a doubt she'd have to come face to face with him during her stay in Charming. It had been years since she last set her blue eyes on him; never telling anyone in the club what had happened that night. It was an embarrassing heartbreak that she promised to only tell Emily and Miguel about.

Though maybe if she had opened her mouth and told at least Jax maybe things would have gone differently. Naomi didn't like to dwell on that thought though.

"Mi amor." Miguel's soft voice pulled Naomi from her thoughts. "We're here." He nodded towards a two story house where Jax's bike was parked in the driveway along with another bike she didn't recognize, but she knew Jax wouldn't have brought someone she didn't want to see along.

A deep sigh left her lips yet again as her blue eyes stared at the house. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be back in Santo Padre with their children. Her three children was another topic that was sure to start problems. Gemma knew of her grandchildren, but had yet to meet them. It always started an argument whenever Gemma brought up the topic of not being allowed to meet her grand babies.

The guilt trip would start and Gemma's narcissism showed its ugly face. Why wasn't she allowed to visit or why couldn't they move to Charming to be closer to her family. Was Miguel's mother really so much better than her that she was allowed to see Naomi's children whenever she wanted too, but not Gemma. Those phone calls always ended in manipulative tears on Gemma's side and frustration on Naomi's.

"I love you, Miguel." Naomi turned towards him, placing a kiss on his lips.

She needed him to know that no matter what happened in this crazy and chaotic week in Charming that he was the love of her life.

"I love you too, Naomi." He pressed his lips against hers. He knew this week was going to be a rough one but he had his wife's back no matter what. Miguel Galindo would kill for his wife.

She nodded, a small smile forming on her face. "Let's get this over with."

The Galindo couple exited their sleek black Mercedes, making their way towards what would be their home for the new week or so. Naomi reached the front door, extending out her hand to open the front door but Jax's smiling face standing in the doorway startled her a back as she dropped her hand back down to her side.

"What a lovely greeting, big brother." Naomi rolled her eyes as sarcasm dripped from her voice. "You're lucky I don't have a gun on me." She stated matter of factly with a smile forming on her face.

Jax placed his infamous Teller smirk on his face before pulling Naomi into a bone crushing hug. "everyone knows you're a hell of a shot, sis." Jax teased, releasing her as they stared at each other.

Naomi and Jax Teller always looked so much a like that if people didn't know them they had thought the two were twins. They acted like twins too; always knowing what the other was thinking or feeling. It drove other people crazy sometimes — especially Clay.

"I missed you." Naomi smiled sadly as she took in her older brother's tired eyes and more mature face. To be honest he looked like hell, but what did she expect? Being in the club made everyone look more worn than they were. It was the club life.

"I missed you too." Jax smiled taking in his sister's tired and nervous appearance. He knew being back in Charming wasn't good for her, but he also knew how much Luann meant to her.

"It's good to see you again, Miguel." Jax turned his tired gaze onto his brother in law.

The SAMCRO VP liked Miguel. Sure, it took him sometime to get used to the Galindo man once Naomi told him about him and he finally met him face to face years ago, but Miguel was so in love with his sister and treated his nieces and nephew amazing. It didn't matter to Jax that his brother in law was the head of the Galindo cartel. He couldn't judge someone when the club wasn't exactly doing clean business either.

"It's good to see you too, Jax." Miguel nodded as he placed a hand on the small of Naomi's back, leading her into the house. "Thank you for renting this home for us. It wasn't necessary but I do appreciate it." Miguel spoke sincerely as he wrapped an arm around Naomi's shoulder, his wife smiling up at hm.

"Don't worry about it." Jax waved off. "I wanted you both to be comfortable. I know this is the last place you want to be."

Naomi nodded as she leaned into Miguel's comforting touch. "She called me again just before we got here. Does she know I'm here?"

A frown formed on Jax's face. "I don't know. I haven't told her, but she has a feeling you're coming back for Luann's funeral."

Naomi nodded at Jax's words as Miguel held her closer to his body. Was it possible this was all a dream? Maybe she had drunk too much wine and was currently in a really bad wine induced dream? If that was even a thing.

The sound of a door opening somewhere else in the house pulled Naomi from her thoughts. She raised an eyebrow towards Jax as a wide smile formed on his face.

"Welcome back, lass."

A smile formed on Naomi's sun kissed face at the sound of a heavily Scottish accented voice. Chibs. The blonde practically run towards the older man, wrapping her arms tightly around him, a chuckle leaving his lips.

Naomi had always thought of Chibs like a father. He was better than Clay ever was to both her and Jax. Chibs cared if something was wrong with her or something was bothering her. He didn't pretend to care like Clay had.

"I've missed you." She could feel tears forming in her blue eyes as she held tightly onto the older Scottish man.

"I've missed you too, lass." He said, placing a kiss on top of her head.

When Naomi left she didn't just leave behind Gemma and Clay, but everyone else. While there were the times Jax visited, it was very rare for one of the other guys to tag along with him. Naomi missed the guys so much and she hadn't meant to cut them all out of her life when she left, but it happened.

Maybe this week would finally give her the chance to clear the air with everybody. No matter how much it hurt.

________

an —
wow, an actual update. I hate how this chapter turned out. I'm still trying to get back into writing so I apologize if my writing sucks for a few more chapters . I hope everyone had a good Christmas!