Chapter 8.

Erin

"So, run me through what's going on?" Wendy asked as she bounced Henry on her lap. I was packing a day bag for Abel so that he could spend the day with his father. Jax had finally decided to take me up on my offer and I thought that doing small day trips was the best thing for Abel. I didn't want to overwhelm him with sleepovers just yet and it also allowed me to build some trust with Jax. I didn't trust him, his mother, or his fiancé yet and I needed that trust in order to allow Abel to spend extended time with the Tellers.

However, his little brother, Henry, wasn't taking the news so well. In his mind, Abel was going to go have fun and he wasn't allowed to go. I promised him a day fueled with fun 'Henry' centered things to do so that he would stop trying to fill his own backpack with his toys.

"He's just going to go spend the day with his dad so that they can reconnect, and if all goes well from here then we can keep building on that."

Wendy rolled her eyes, "spend the day with his dad or Gemma?" I gave Wendy a look before letting out a sigh, "look, we're just going to take baby steps. If he decides that something else is more important than spending time with his son, then that will reflect in the way that Abel treats him. He will just make it easier for me to just pack up my things and leave."

Wendy looked at me for a moment and didn't bother saying anything else. She just got up from the bed and walked in front of me and Abel as we went to my car. I knew that this little arrangement was bothering her and her relationship with Jax wasn't helping how she felt. Wendy wasn't a fan of change when it came to her family, she doesn't do well alone. I'm sure she thinks that with Jax in the picture we'll somehow forget about her, but I will do my best to ensure that doesn't happen.

Wendy buckled the boys in their car seats and closed the backdoor when she was finished. "We'll be back in time for dinner," I said trying to reassure her. She gave me a small smile before crossing her arms over her chest, "don't be late."

"Boys, say bye to Wendy!" Their little voices sang in unison as they frantically waved goodbye. As I pulled out of the parking lot of Wendy's apartment complex, there was a sudden feeling of heaviness in the pit of my stomach. I didn't want to show Wendy that I was worried about this day trip too, but I was indeed worried. So, worried that I hid a tracker in Abel's Dinosaur necklace. The necklace was big and chunky, but I knew that Abel would have a fit if anyone tried to remove his favorite accessory. I knew it came off a bit crazy but until I could trust Jax and his family, I would keep a tracker on my kid.

When I pulled into Teller-Morrow, Jax, his mother, and his fiancé were standing outside. "Oh, look the welcome committee," I mumbled, "Abel look! There's daddy," I tried to sound excited so that some of it might rub off on him.

When I parked the car, I took a deep therapeutic breath. Abel was nervous, that much was evident, so I knew that I had to pull it together for him.

"Hey little man, you ready for today?" Jax said opening Abel's door. Abel looked at me for reassurance, "it's okay honey, you can go with daddy." Jax assisted Abel in unbuckling himself and Abel stood up to plant a kiss on my face. "Aww, I'll pick you up later okay, I love you," he nodded his head and mumbled the same back to me with a smile. He then planted a kiss on his brother and that's when Henry tried to break free from his car seat. He was doing so well until he saw Abel leaving.

"You gonna be okay?" Jax asked me gesturing over to a sobbing Henry. He looked over at Henry sympathetically and I could tell that he felt bad. "Yeah, he'll be okay," I reassured Jax, "the first day is always the worst, right?"

Jax nodded his head and gave me a small smile before closing the door. I watched as he scooped Abel off the ground and swung him around causing him to laugh. I knew he was just trying to distract him from having the same reaction as Henry. But as soon as Abel heard the start-up of my engine it all sunk in for him. The mommy in me wanted to stop the car as soon as I saw him crying but he needed to get used to being with his dad.

Henry had started to calm down and that's when I decided that I would take him downtown. I didn't plan on doing much since his nap was in a couple of hours, and I knew that the walking would wear him out. So, I put him in his stroller and decided to shop a little in the small boutiques and things. Charming was a small enough town to the point where it didn't have a mall, but I didn't mind, it was kind of cute that way.

I saw a cute pair of matching outfits in the window of a small shop and I couldn't resist going in. There were a few women and children already in the store who stopped and stared at me and my baby. The women shared a look with each other and started to whisper amongst themselves. The great thing about small towns was that gossip traveled faster than the speed of light. It was one of the reasons why so many people liked to live there, said no one ever.

I'm sure the whole town was itching to talk about what went down at the park, but I didn't care enough to entertain them. Instead, I just grabbed the matching outfits in Abel and Henry's sizes and went up to the counter to pay for them.

The old woman at the counter was small and frail with thick glasses on her face. She seemed sweet enough as she rang up my items without hesitation. "What a sweet little face," she said leaning over to look at Henry.

I gave her a warm smile because I felt like she was being genuinely nice, but when I saw the 'Karen' from the park step out from the back, my smile quickly fell. She was holding a stack of boxes in her hand and immediately drop them when she saw me. "Julie be careful!" the old woman shouted at her. "Sorry ma," she said scrambling to pick up the boxes.

I was prepared to ignore her but then she attempted to talk to me as I was leaving. "Uh, excuse me," she stepped from behind the counter, "sorry about the misunderstanding at the park yesterday." I fought the urge to correct her use of the word 'misunderstanding' because I didn't feel like the word was being correctly used for what went down.

"Right," I said with a dull expression.

She must've been blind or ignorant because she kept on trying to talk to me. "It's just not every day you see two white babies with a woman...like yourself." I couldn't tell if she wanted to use the term 'you people' or straight up call me the n-word with a hard -er.

"I'm sure you haven't," I continued to try to get around her but she kept fidgeting like she had more to say. "Is that it?" I said biting my lip to keep from cussing her out.

She got closer to me and lowered her voice while looking around to see if anyone was close. "Do their real parents know that you're...black?" the emphasis she put on the word just about made me choke.

I got close to her as well and lowered my voice the same way she did, "no, I met their dad in a bar and told him I wanted to ride on his Harley," I could hear her audibly gasp, "he just handed them to me after that." I smiled at her before I walked around her frozen state. The look on her face put a smile on mine as I decided to treat Henry to some shaved ice. Cause for celebration: embarrassing racists one shocking comment at a time.