Chapter Text
"There is freedom within. There is freedom without. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup. There's a battle ahead. Many battles are lost. But you'll never ysee the end of the road while you're traveling with me.”
"Hooooly shit. I can’t believe they want $280 for a Burberry jumpsuit. That’s about half of one shift of pay. Opie would die if I spent that much money on a baby suit.” Donna brought takeout and she and Tara were shopping online for luxury baby clothes. Tara agreed, “Yeah, they outgrow about a week later too” as she took another bite of the Happy Family Chinese takeout.
“So how’s Jax doing with the whole ‘boundaries’ thing?” Donna knew that when it came to Tara, Jax had no sense of physical or emotional space. When they were teenagers, Jax was glued to Tara’s side once they finally came together.
“Well, it’s basically an episode of ‘National Geographic presents Jax Teller marking his territory.’ There’s a prospect with me 24/7. He stops by nightly to check on me and always looks impossibly handsome. I have to keep at least 10 feet of space between us because he’s pouring on that pheromone sex in a bottle aftershave he’s had since he was 16.” Tara let out an exhausted laugh. “I swear he wasn’t wearing it regularly when we were together just a few months ago. He knows that shit gets me naked in less than three seconds.”
Tara’s hormones have wreaked havoc on her judgement lately, but she did buy some sex toys which have helped. However, a substitute is one thing, actually being in close proximity to him on a daily basis for the first time since the incident at the clubhouse is really testing her resolve.
“Well, I wouldn’t fault you if you gave into temptation but that’s a Pandora’s Box, so tread lightly” Donna warned.
Everyone in Charming now knows that Tara is pregnant with Jax’s baby after the Jerry Springer drama that went down in her front yard earlier that day. Old Mother Hubbard two doors down was on the party line with the rosary prayer circle in 2.5 seconds flat. They’d been praying for Tara since she was 14 and started dating, “that bad news Teller boy.” Now they really have some praying to do when the old biddy heard Gemma Teller-Morrow yelling in Tara’s front yard about her having that Teller boy’s baby.
Tara closes the drapes after seeing the prayer police talking down the block and looking towards her house. Jax has stopped by for the evening check-in and she’s trying to maintain that distance and lit some candles to try and distract her from Jax’s cloud of cologne.
They are talking about her day and she brings up that she misses Abel. She has made it a point to make him part of their discussions, hoping to work back into some kind of relationship with him. She doesn’t doubt that Gemma will be even more possessive of Abel now that she has been ordered by Jax stay away from Tara, so she is treading lightly there too.
“Please bring him by one of these nights. I miss him so much.” She gets emotional with this and Jax steps towards her, “I am so sorry for not stopping by to let you know he was safe and back home.” In just that split second she gives in to a weak bitch moment and lets him hold her.
Unser gets an administrative reprimand and docked pay for a week and Gemma is going to do community service for the front yard debacle. Tara has to laugh at the reigning Queen of the Taste of Charming doing community service. She is all about sending a message from this point on though. Tara Knowles is staying in Charming and will not be manipulated by the MC royal family or their sycophants.
Once the dust settled after the confrontation with Gemma, Tara called Jax to invite him to her next OB/GYN appointment. She knew it was going to be a crapshoot on him actually being able to go due to the nature of his “job” with the MC. They don’t exactly work 9-5 hours so she just goes with the flow. Que sera, sera.
The conversation with Jax goes surprisingly well. He says he will try and make as many appointments as possible. Jax also insists that he drive her. He tells her that this is his chance to do it better. She knows that he is also keenly aware of their history in cars usually ending up with them in a backseat.
She wouldn’t put it past him to try and use it to his advantage. With how horny she is, she might just pounce. Hell? everyone in town is getting some of his dick, she might as well too. Maybe she should buy some condoms.
NO. Cold showers and sex toys have to win the day.…Christ these hormones are off the chain.
Opie tells Jax about how the pregnancy hormones made Donna a wild animal. Tiny Beast wore him out. Jax loves this scenario playing out with him and Tara. He’s nothing if not an opportunist and is not above using the same charms that won Tara over when he was 16 to win her back now.
December 1994
As Jax left the pep rally, he looked around for Tara. He saw her with the cheerleaders and dance team in the main atrium. He tried to keep a calm demeanor, but the thoughts of their kiss kept invading his mind. It took all of his self-control not to walk up to her and just run his hands through her long, silky black hair and kiss her again.
Tara clocked him approaching and the predatory look on his face triggered that same sense of desire and fear she’s gotten around him since the smoking area incident. David was coming at the same time and she knew this was going to not end well unless she ran interference with a quickness.
She called out to David, “Hey, David! How did you like the dance?!” David watched as Teller rolled up on Tara along with him. He could sense and see that predatory glint in his eye. “Tara, it was amazing! You guys killed it out there.” He went to hug her and that’s when Jax moved in.
“Knowles, that was the hottest thing since you and Donna danced at the clubhouse.” The innuendo dropped in that was not lost on David since he wasn’t there to know it was a dance/cheer routine; not them swinging from the stripper pole clad only in titty tassels and the rest of what his imagination could think of.
Tara was not oblivious to what Jax was implying too and knew she had to clarify that scenario real quick.
“Yes, Teller, you got front row seats to the cheer dance that helped us win the regional cheer competition. I’m glad you enjoyed this one too.”
They all stared in silence for a minute and David started to ask Tara if she needed a lift home. Jax interrupted and said, “I’m giving you a lift home tonight, Knowles, come with me when you are ready.”
Tara could not believe the arrogance in that statement. He’s not just going to order her around because he liked their dance after being nothing but a thorn in her side for weeks. Now he’s crowding in on her trying to make nice? This Prince of Charming bullshit stops right here and now.
“Thanks, but I’ll have to take a rain check for both of you since I’m catching a ride with Donna and her mom. I’ll see you later at the library, David.” She turned and walked away at that moment and left both guys in a stunned silence.