ANOTHER WEEK IN Charming had passed and Jade was finally starting to feel at home again. She hadn't forgotten the great time in Arizona, but she still wouldn't want to go backᅳ which is why Alison had actually given up everything and was moving to Charming today with nothing but her few suitcases.

Since the blonde had grown up quite wealthy and had a great job she could also do at home, which meant she would still work for the same company, she had simply rented the first apartment she could find, the high the rent not a problem for her. And Jade had inspected the apartment for her friend five days ago to make sure that it was really as nice as the landlord had described it.

Just one day later Alison got the okay for the apartment and could pick up the keys tomorrow. The woman would spend the one night at Jade's, after all the house was big enough.

Alison also could've moved in directly with the Cooper woman, but Jade had a different plan for Thomas and herself; which she finally wanted to talk to Jax about today. Besides, even if Alison was really important to her, it wouldn't be a good idea to be together 24/7.

But before she went to see Jax, she had to get some groceries for dinner and the rest of the week. So she headed to the nearest supermarket with Abel and Thomas, both boys behaving like angels.

Like the last few days, Abel stayed with her when Jax had club business to handle and needed someone to look after Abel, and since he had constantly helped her around the house and even painted her bedroom by himself, she wanted to give something back and help him too.

It also gave the two brothers a chance to spend time together and form a bondᅳ an even closer one.

"Sweetie, you'll always stay with me, okay? No running around alone", Jade said softly as she looked down at Abel, who was walking next to her heart while Thomas sat in the shopping cart. It was just more practical and that way Abel would stay with her too. "You wanna pick something for you? If you want, we can do that when we're done."

Abel's blue eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly and stayed with Jade as promised, even holding her hand the whole time. "Can I have chocolate?"

"Chocolate, huh?" Jade asked with a grin, nodding her head. "You can, and I'll have one too", she winked, eliciting a giggle from the boy.

Jade leisurely checked off her shopping list after piling everything into the cart, smiling as Thomas had the time of his life examining everything his mom had chosen.

"Okay, we're done. Now we can get some chocolate", she said to Abel, the boy squealing excitedly, which in turn made her laugh. "I see you love chocolate as much as I do."

"Yes, I love chocolate", Abel chirped, his tiny feet keeping up with Jade's large steps. "Mommy always said I couldn't."

Jade bit her lip, sighing softly. "Well, you can't eat too much, that's trueᅳ but a little sweets now and then can't hurt."

"I like that", the three-year-old answered with a smile. Of course he liked that.

When they reached the shelf, Jade froze for a moment, stopping abruptly in her tracks. A shiver ran down her spine as Gemma's brown eyes immediately bored into her skull, remorse but also caution reflecting in her gaze.

"Grandma!" Abel ran towards the woman, wrapping his small arms around her leg. "I missed you!"

The matriarch didn't miss the opportunity, knowing that Jade couldn't be so cold-hearted as to just rip Abel away from her, she wasn't like Taraᅳ another reason why she regretted having betrayed Jade instead of trying to have a reasonable conversation.

"Hi baby, Grandma missed you too", she cooed, running a hand over his head once Abel sat on her hip. "I've been busy, you know? Were you good to daddy?"

"I was", he nodded eagerly, pointing at his brother. "I'm always at Thommy's house!"

"That's nice, I'm sure you guys are having a lot of fun", Gemma replied wistfully, her voice tinged with sadness as she looked at the two-year-old who was looking back at her with curiosity, not saying a word but quite attentive. "Hey sweetie, you good too?"

Jade gripped the handle of the shopping cart tightly, her jaw clenched. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying anything rude; she didn't want to start a fight in front of the kids.

It still hurt her that Gemma of all people had treated her like thatᅳ she couldn't just forgive and forget. However, Jade also noticed that Gemma was really suffering, the dark circles under her eyes giving away that she didn't get much sleep at night. But Jade's sympathy was limited. She wasn't a cold-hearted bitch, no, and Abel was happy to see his grandma, but she'd still be careful.

"He's fine. They're both fine", she said curtly to give the matriarch at least some information.

"That's good", Gemma hummed, gratitude flashing in her brown orbs as she let Abel back down to the floor.

While the three-year-old picked out his chocolate, Gemma stepped a little closer, sighing as Jade instinctively backed away. "I don't wanna hurt you, Jade, I just want to talkᅳ please."

"There's not much to talk about", the brunette muttered, her breath trembling slightly as a lump formed in her throat.

Don't you dare cry, she mentally warned herself, but somehow the actions from last week still sat in her bones.

"I didn't want it to come to this, you have to believe me", Gemma hissed plaintively under her breath, guilt gnawing at her as she studied Jade's almost healed face. "I just didn't know what to do, which side to choose."

As Jade was about to answer, a man appeared next to her. Tall, Latino, friendly auraᅳ a pretty decent guy who put his hand supportively against Gemma's back.

Oh, that had to be Nero. Jax had told her about him, that he was Gemma's new partner and his business partner.

"Hey, you must be Jade", with a genuinely friendly smile, he held out his hand, which Jade shook hesitantly. "Jax already told me about you."

Of course, Nero also knew what Gemma did and what had caused all the trouble between them. But she was important to Jax, which meant that Gemma had to get her shit together; even he knew that.

When they had a business meeting with Colette two days ago, Nero had caught an unwanted glance at Jax' phone screen and recognized the brunette with the two boysᅳ apparently there was definitely something more going on between the two of them already.

"Jax has also told me about you too. Nero, right?", Jade asked cautiously, but politely.

"Yeah, that's me", he confirmed with a nod and then looked back and forth between the women, clearly feeling the thick tension in the air. "Hey, if you want, you can come over with the boys and Jax and we'll have dinner together."

"That would be great", Gemma added immediately, a spark of hope rising in her. "Jade, please.."

"Thanks for the offer", her words were directed at Nero, the tight-lipped smile back on her lips. "But I don't think that's a good idea at the moment."

"It's a shame, but I understand." Nero squeezed Gemma's hip slightly as the older woman was about to start talking again, trying to convince Jade to come over; he could see it in her look. "Let it go, Gem. Give it time", he told her in a low whisper, something about him causing Gemma to listen.

Jade lifted an eyebrow, not used to the fact that there was actually someone who could ground Gemmaᅳ and a part of her wondered if she should forgive the matriarch at some point. Maybe Gemma really was sincerely sorry; at least it seemed so.

But it was just too early for forgiveness and big feelings, the anger and disappointment still too great.

"How's Abel doing without Tara around?", Gemma asked cautiously, having a hard time not to pull her grandson in another hug. "Can you at least tell me that?"

Tara was still in prison, no one really sure when the doctor would be back outside. If Tara was going to listen to Jax and do as told, she wouldn't be back in a while.

Jade sighed, but nodded. "He's doing okay. He's quieter than usual, asks about her sometimes; but Jax does everything to distract himᅳ and I do my best to help him with that", the brunette explained, keeping her sentences short. "Alright, we gotta go. My best friend is coming back today and I still have to stop by at the clubhouse."

"Tell my boys I miss them, okay?" Gemma stepped forward a little, carefully reaching for Jade's arm and giving it a motherly squeeze, almost making Jade sob right there in the grocery store.

If there was one thing that could really hurt Jade deeply, it was any kind of motherly affectionᅳ no matter who it came from. Her own mother had never been part of her life, or at least only for the first three years that Jade couldn't remember. And she hated the woman for that, for leaving her and her father, which is exactly why the Cooper woman wanted to make things better, be a better mom, and was all the more cautious about who she let into Thomas' life.

"I'm really sorry, Jade. Please just give me the chance to explain myself sometime, that would mean a lot", Gemma pleaded, her heart clearly aching as she had to say goodbye to her grandkids again. "Can I at least hold him for a moment?"

"Gem, that's enough." Nero gently grabbed Gemma's arm to pull her back as he saw the conflict in Jade's eyes, the young woman close to tears. "Let's go."

Gemma swallowed softly, shaking her head slightly. "Butᅳ"

"Come on, let's go home." Nero told her more firmly, gently shoving her forward while sending the younger brunette a friendly smile. "It was nice to meet you."

"Yeah..was nice to meet you too", Jade muttered, barely able to hold herself together any longer. "Say bye to grandma, buddy", she quickly told Abel, running her hand over his blonde hair as the three-year-old came back with his chosen chocolate.

"Bye Grandma", Abel chirped, not realizing how sad and hurt both women were as they both did everything to put on a brave face for the boy.

"Bye baby", Gemma said with a heavy heart, caressing Abel's cheek, Thomas' cheek. "Grandma loves you."

"Okay, come on", Nero urged, finally pushing the woman in front of him away from the small family. He knew how hard this was for Gemma, but he also knew that she had to live with the consequences of her actions.

Jade let out an audibly loud breath that almost sounded like a strangled sob but wasn't one, covering her face with her hand until she had composed herself again, hating this feeling of uncertainty and helplessness.

"Ball!"

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide as she stared at Thomas, they boy was sitting in the shopping cart with a big smile after he had casually just spoken his first word.

The anger just vanished as she threw a hand over her mouth. "Did you really just talk?"

Abel jumped up and down excitedly, assuring Jade that she hadn't imagined it by reacting this way. "He said something!"

"Ball", Thomas exclaimed excitedly, pointing his tiny finger at a shelf of soccer balls. "Pway!"

"Oh my God." This time Jade actually let out a strangled sob, immediately pulling Thomas out of the shopping cart and into her arms. This was the moment she had been waiting for so long, the worry that he might never start talking finally fading. "You want one of these? Yes?"

"Ball", Thomas squealed happily, bouncing up and down on his mom's hip.

"Did you hear that, buddy?", she asked Abel, the three-year-old still just as excited.

"Yes! We have to tell daddy", the boy exclaimed, clinging to Jade's leg. "Let's go!"

"We will, baby", she assured Jax' son happily, finding it absolutely sweet how happy the boy was about his brother's' first words. "But first he can pick a ball. And you can too if you want."

Jade still couldn't believe it. She finally knew what Thomas' voice really sounded like, what he sounded like when he spoke. Wasn't that all a mother waited for, to hear her babies voice?

As promised, the boys could pick out a ball before Jade hastily packed up the groceries and made her way to the club as quickly as possible so she could tell Jax the news about their son's first words.

ᅳ

JADE WALKED AROUND the car to get Thomas out of his car seat while Abel was already running towards Chibs, the Scotsman just getting up from one of the picnic tables.

It was quiet, only Jax', Chibs' and two other bikes were parked in their usual placesᅳ probably the others just had something else to do or were at their own place.

"Hey little man." With a warm laugh Chibs caught the three-year-old and threw him in the air before catching him again the next moment. "Lookin' for ye' da?"

"Yes! We need to tell him something", Abel said excitedly, running his finger along one of Chibs' scars. "Thommy finally said something", he whispered as if he was telling the biggest secret.

"Hey! You weren't supposed to tell anyone yet", Jade scolded the boy playfully, ruffling Abel's hair as the three-year-old giggled and buried his face in Chibs' shoulder. The brunette snickered, greeting the Scotsman with a hug. "Hey Chibs."

"Hey lass, good t' see ye'." A grin formed on his face as he tickled Thomas stomach, making the boy. "I heard yer' talkin' now, is that right?"

"Ball!" As if on command, Thomas threw his arms in the air, the ball clutched tightly between his tiny hands. "Pway!"

"Holy shit." Jax, stopping in his tracks as he stepped out of the clubhouse in the right moment, stared at his girlfriend and their son, the corners of his mouth twisting into a smile. "Since when has he been talkin'?"

"Since today, apparently", Chibs noted with a chuckle, slapping the blonde on the shoulder. "Good luck, brother; they never stop talking once they start."

"I'm ready for that", Jax countered in amusement before closing the remaining distance between Jade and him, scooping his youngest into his arms. "Hey buddy, you wanna say that again for Daddy? What do you have there, huh?", he asked while tapping the ball.

"Ball!" Thomas giggled, having found his first and new favorite word that he couldn't say often enough. "Pway", he mumbled, throwing the ball in Abel's direction, which still looked a bit clumsy.

"Got it!" The three-year-old laughed heartily as he grabbed the rolling ball. "Can Thommy and I play?"

"Of course you can, I have to talk to your daddy for a minute anyway, okay?" Jade smiled at Abel, running the back of her fingers over his cheek. "And if Thomas says anything else, you call for us immediately, yeah?"

"Okay", the three-year-old promised with a nod and waited impatiently for his Daddy to put Thomas down, looking up at Chibs. "You wanna play with us?"

"Aye, but ye'll have t' play good, I'm great at soccer", he winked playfully, nudging the little boy's shoulder. "Come on, let's play."

"You did great, buddy", Jax whispered against Thomas' head, his chest puffed out with pride as he passed the two-year-old to Chibs. "Here you go."

"Love you, baby", Jade cooed, waving after Thomas, who kept saying his newly learned word. "I still can't believe itᅳ he sounds so sweet, doesn't he?"

"Absolutely, I bet in a few days, he's talking like a waterfall", Jax said with a grin as he pulled the brunette flush against him, cupped her face in his hands and greeted her with a kiss. "What is it you wanna talk about, babe? Did something happen?"

"I met your mom, with her boyfriend. It was awkward, I tell you." Jade just laughed dryly, waving her hand before nodding Jax with her to one of the picnic tables. "But I didn't want to talk to you about that."

"Did she do something? Try to talk you into something? Threaten you?" Jax stopped for a moment, grabbing Jade's hand to pull her towards him again. "Why didn't you call me, babe?"

"Jax, I can handle my shit. Well, most of the timeᅳ plus Nero kept her in line. Apparently there's something about him that makes her all soft", she said, shrugging her shoulders. "She misses the kids. And I think she's really sorry", Jade murmured thoughtfully. "By the way, Nero invited us to dinner but I turned him down, I hope that's okay."

"Nero has his ways of getting to her", Jax had to admit with a sigh as he sat down opposite her after Jade had slipped onto one of the benches. "Hey, don't let her play with you, Jade. You know how she is. Even if she's sorry, things have already happened", Jax snorted angrily, fed up with having to forgive Gemma over and over again. "Yeah, sure, I don't wanna sit at a table with my mom right now."

"Yeah, I thought so", Jade said sheepishly, scratching the side of her neck a little nervously. "But like I said, I wanted to talk to you about something else; or rather, ask you something."

"Ah shit, I think it's too early to propose, babe", Jax joked to lighten the mood a bit.

"Oh shut up!" With a small laugh, Jade kicked his leg under the table, of course without seriously hurting him, earning a laugh from him in return. "It's about our current situation. You told me that you don't feel comfortable anymore after all the shit that happened in your house..and that you want to start over at some point", Jade trailed, nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek as Jax' attentive gaze was on her, waiting to see what she had to say. "And that's why I wanted to ask if you want to move in with Thomas and me."

"You really want that?" Jax asked calmly after a moment of silence, smiling at his girlfriend as he took her hands in his, squeezing them. "That would be a pretty big step, darlin'."

And yet Jax was convinced that it would work. Secretly he had already imagined what it could be like to live in Lenny's old house with his sons and Jade. It could be their forever home.

Jade was also completely right about him no longer feeling comfortable in his house. Sure, there were many good memories attached to it, he had spent many hours there with Abel. He had watched his son taking his first steps, listening to him saying his first words, celebrating the three-year-old's first three birthdays there.

On the other hand, it was also the bad memories that made it easier for Jax to move on. Wendy's overdose that almost killed his son, Abel's getting kidnapped, the countless arguments with Tara. He wanted a fresh startᅳ with Jade.

"I really want that, Jax", she assured him, her voice gentle but full of conviction, her blue eyes meeting his. "I mean, we've known each other long enough now and you and Abel are there every day with anyway, even every other night too", she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Basically, not much would change. Besides, we have a son together and Abel is just as welcomeᅳ he can have the room right across from Thomas."

"You've really thought this through, huh?" A small, sincere smile crossed Jax' face. Tara had never put that much effort into anything when it came to their relationship.

"If you're really sure", he began again, huffing out a laugh as Jade nodded her head overeagerly. "Then let's do this, why waste any more time? I finally wanna live my life the way I always wanted, have a real family."

"We will be, even if we're still at the beginning", Jade mumbled, smiling wistfully as Jax' thumbs glided over the back of her hands. "I just have a good feeling about it."

If everything really worked out the way she imagined it would, she would soon be living exactly the life she had always wantedᅳthe life she had dreamed of since she was a little girl. And maybe that would at least help her deal with the grief of losing her father.

word count; 3504

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authors note; hey guys! It would mean a lot if you could check out my SOA Halloween & Christmas One Shots (Happy and Jax only) and maybe even leave a request! Also, if you're a Happy fan, it would be great if you could check out my story WEST COAST, it starts a bit slow but gets better, I promise. 🤎🍂