One year later

Cleo took the keys that had just been handed to her by a building agent and smiled from ear to ear. Dawn stood next to her and squealed softly when the keys to the empty building finally belonged to them. Now nothing stood in their way and the two could start designing their own diner the way they wanted it.

Dawn quickly realized that the job she had been doing for the past year wasn't the job she wanted to do for the rest of her life and Cleo missed working, but still wanted to have enough time to spend with the kids. Which is why she had the idea of opening her own diner with Dawn. She had the cooking experience and Dawn was great at serving and dealing with people. So the perfect combo. And the kids could always stay with them while they were working.

Abel was now at school anyway and Thomas at kindergarten. The two boys came home in the afternoon and until then Cleo planned to use the morning to prepare enough food for a certain number of guests. Dawn had suggested a good concept that was hard to refuse. During the week they would only be open from morning to afternoon and on weekends only in the evening. Thus, both women still had enough time for their families.

After thinking  about it for a while and a few long talks with Jax, who had always encouraged her to open the diner with Dawn, she finally agreed. Since they still had some money left from her father's safe, which incidentally had contained more than expected, she didn't have to ask Jax for money either⸺ which would have made her really uncomfortable, even though they were married.

For Cleo buying the building and half the interior, Dawn had insisted on paying for the rest. And now that they finally had the keys, they could start with everything.

“It's amazing, we really did it”,  Cleo exclaimed enthusiastically as she walked through the rooms with her best friend and sister in law and took a closer look at everything.

“The good thing is that the previous tenant left the kitchen here. It saves us a lot of money”, Dawn threw in with a grin, running her fingertips over the clean kitchen surfaces.

“I can't wait to show Jax and Enrico the finished result.” Part of her just hoped to make Jax proud by doing this. The last year he had worked really hard so that his family had everything they needed even though they had enough savings on the side.

All the money he had earned together with Enrico was obtained legally and clean money, not through criminal business. Not that she's ever had a problem with it before, but it just felt safer living a normal life. Others might find it boring, but she was glad to finally be able to feel normal.

“The two will be proud as hell! Hey, we definitely have to invite your mom to the opening.. after all, it was her idea to do this in the first place”, Dawn smiled and stroked her friend's arm before taking Mari's hand, who was also holding Cleo's hand.

The one and a half year old looked up at her mom and aunt with a beaming smile as they both held hands and a belly laugh filled the almost empty space as the women swung Mari into the air.

Cleo looked down at her daughter with nothing but admiration. It was still a mystery to her how the last year could go by so quickly. Mari could now walk and was already beginning to put words together, her hair was still dark brown, just like Cleo's was once again. She looked absolutely adorable with her little pigtails and wrapped everyone around her little finger.

Abel and Thomas also made rapid progress. Abel could read and Thomas could write his own name. All these things she would never have experienced if she had listened to the rumors that had been told about Jax Teller.

“Hey, Earth to Cleo!” Dawn snapped her fingers in front of Cleo's face and chuckled as her friend flinched. “Where were you, honey?”

“Sorry, somehow I got lost in my thoughts”, the brunette laughed softly and let out a satisfied sigh. “Of course we invite my mom. It's time she and Chibs come back for a visit.”

After a bit of back and forth, Katelynn and Chibs finally found each other and Cleo, just like Enrico, were just happy that their mother had found happiness after all these years of being a single mom.

The two women discussed a few more things and what they would do in the next few days before they went home and prepared dinner together.

⸺

Jax snaked his arms around his wife from behind and buried his face in the side of her neck, whereupon he began to press gentle kisses against it while the smell of Chili con Carne filled his nostrils. In his eyes there was no one who could cook better than his wife and he looked forward to her meal every day when he came home from work.

“Dinner will be ready soon. Enrico came with you?”, Cleo asked humming and leaned into Jax's arms while she stirred the food. Dawn kept the kids busy in the living room so she could cook for everyone in peace. It was important to her that the whole family, including Dawn and Enrico, ate dinner together at least two or three times a week.

“No, he wanted to take a quick shower first”, he informed her and took a spoonful to taste the chilli. And as always, he had nothing to complain about. And even if Cleo couldn't cook, he would keep his mouth shut because she was perfect at everything else.

“Maybe you should too”, she teased with a grin, turning in his arms so she could face him, her hands resting on his chest.

Something turned her on every day when she saw him in work clothes and with motor oil and whatever on his hands. Maybe it was the fact that he worked hard for his family. That akways made a man look even more attractive.

“How about you join me?”, he asked, grinning, his lips close to hers after picking her up and setting her down on the counter next to the stove. “I wouldn't mind some quality time with my wife.”

“As much as I'd love to..I have to get dinner ready”, she whispered, letting her lips dance over his. As he kissed her, she let her tongue slip between his lips. A pleasant moan from both sides filled the large kitchen and when he determinedly squeezed her hips he elicited another soft moan from her.

“You'll be all mine later, darlin'”, he groaned into the kiss as she pressed her warm core against his crotch, where a distinct bulge was already showing in his pants. No matter how long he had been with her, he was just as interested in her as he was on the first day.

“You better keep that promise, handsome”, she whispered seductively and then, grinning, pushed him away to jump off the counter so she could continue cooking.

“You bet”, he winked happily and slapped her ass one more time before starting to leave, but he stopped in his tracks before turning  back around and grabbed her wrist gently to get her attention.

“Hm?” She looked at him questioningly and stopped stirring the food for a moment.

“Are you happy, babe?”, he asked sensitively, his gaze intense yet gentle as he met her green eyes. All he needed to be happy was knowing that his wife and kids were happy, too.

In the last year he hadn't once regretted his decision to leave Charming and the club life behind. Of course he missed a lot of things, especially his brothers. But he still saw them regularly. Also, the Teller and Hernandez family were always welcome. In addition, the guys visited often enough and then combined this with a longer tour. Also Angel came by a few times to visit Enrico and Dawn but also his old best friend, Cleo and her family.

“I couldn't be happier”, she answered sincerely, getting  on her tip toes to steal a kiss from his lips. “And I am so damn grateful for everything you do for me and our kids.”

“You know you don't have to thank me for that”, he pointed out honestly, putting his hand on the back of her head to kiss her forehead. “I love you, darlin'.”

“I love you too, baby”, she murmured, touched by his words, briefly closing her eyes as he kissed her forehead before she watched him disappearing down the hallway, probably to take a quick shower before dinner.

⸺

“Enrico! You can't just get them a cat!” Cleo stared at her brother, who in turn gave her an innocent smile.

The Latino raised his hands in defence, a mischievous grin on his lips. Great, Cleo couldn't even stay mad for long. “You know I can't say no when those little Rugrats want something, plus Jax gave the okay.”

“Hey, you promised to keep me out of this”, Jax called out as he walked into the large dining room, freshly showered and changed into clean clothes, watching in amusement as the children sat in a circle with a baby cat in the middle.

Abel and Thomas were totally excited and couldn't stop being with the giggling, the smiles on their faces soothed Cleo even more. Mari didn't really get what was going on, but she found the new family member more than interesting and was surprisingly gentle with the cat, as if she knew exactly how to treat an animal.

“Mommy, Daddy, can we keep it please? She is sooo cute!” Abel gave his parents his best puppy eyes, cradling the orange white spotted cat in his arms.

Thomas heaved himself up and jumped up and down excitedly. “Yes, please! We take good care of her!”

“Kitty!” Marie giggled and put her finger in her mouth before standing up too and holding her arms up when Jax came to a stop in front of her, who picked his daughter up in his arms and planted a kiss on her head, smirking at his wife.

“Come on, you've talked about getting a cat before”, he reasoned, causing her to roll her eyes and let out a laugh.

“Fine! But we'll all take care of it”, she said firmly, ruffling her boys hair. “And you two promise to help and show Mari how to take care of an animal, okay?”

Of course she would do that too and keep an eye on it, but she wanted to get the boys involved. Her sons were always happy when they could help, especially when it came to their little sister, whom they already treated like a princess.

“We promise”, the two boys said at the same time and nodded eagerly before they carefully put the cat in the cat basket that Enrico had also brought with him and then sat down in their places.

“Exactly, you take care of the cat just like Mommy and I do”, Jax emphasized again and kissed them on the head before he put Mari in her high chair and sat down himself, his look always aimed at Cleo. Everyone could still see the love in his eyes when he looked at her.

“Well, I didn't know anything about it”, Dawn said with a grin and put some of the Chilli on everyone's plates. The kids got something from the smaller pot that wasn't quite as strongly seasoned.

“That's a lie”, Cleo stated with amusement, without even having to look at her best friend. She filled each glass with lemonade and eventually sat down too. “But I think it's good when the kids grow up with an animal. The idea was good.”

“Okay, it was a lie”, Dawn chuckled after she had also sat down next to Enrico and put a hand on top of his.

“My ideas are always good”, Enrico grinned and sighed softly as he took the first spoon of the Chilli. He thought the girls' diner was going to be great, especially with that food. He squeezed Dawn's hand gently. “By the way, I'm really proud of you both. The diner is going to be a huge hit in town.”

“Me too”, Jax said with a nod, looking back and forth between the two women. “You guys earned this and I know you'll outperform any competition”, he smirked.

“Who says we want that?”, Cleo asked, laughing, but then her features turned serious, yet her gaze softened. “We could never have done this without your support and encouragement, so we have to thank you two for that, too.”

“Cleo's right about that. We were really scared, but you gave us the courage to do it”, Dawn said gratefully and lifted a corner of her mouth. She never would have thought that she would one day be married and have such a great family.

⸺

Since it was Friday night, the children were allowed to sleep in their parents bed. While it got pretty tight with three kids and two adults, Cleo and Jax just cherished those moments as a family. When the children would be all grown up, they would still have enough time to sleep alone in their bed.

Abel had just been the last to fall asleep after Cleo had finished reading a chapter of his favorite book, which she quietly put to the side before rolling onto her side and resting her head on Jax's arm, which was stretched out over the bed.

“I don't even know how to thank you for all of this.” He looked at her with a satisfied smile, his voice lowered so he wouldn't wake the kids he had put his other arm over.

Cleo's lips curled into a smile and her gaze  landed on the three most important people in her life, besides Jax of course. Mari lay between her brothers, snuggled up to Abel with her thumb in her mouth, which Cleo carefully took out of her mouth. Abel's arm was wrapped around both of his siblings as if he wanted to protect them. And Thomas was cuddled up to Mari and snored softly.

“You don't have to, Jax. Thank you for giving me all of this and getting me out of my shitty lifestyle. Above all, thanks to you, I finally got my joy back”, she murmured softly and took a deep breath.

Every day she was grateful that Jax had come into her life. Without him she would probably still be lost in her dark thoughts and still addicted to pills and cocaine. Or who knows, maybe she would be dead by now because one of her street races went wrong. Jax literally gave her a new life.

“We didn't have an easy start and after all that shit that happened with Tara and Gemma I was really scared you were going to leave me”, Jax said thoughtfully, his brows furrowed. “Thank you for staying with me. I promise I won't put you through that kind of life again.”

“Stop. I would never have left you, Jax. It's not your fault your ex and your mom were two psychos. Besides, my dad wasn't any better. It's important that we stick together”, she said with firmly and put her arm around the kids too and pressed a soft kiss on Jax' arm where her head was resting on. “I know, baby. Coming here was the only right decision and I will always be grateful to you for getting us out of Charming.”

Her words made him smile and there was nothing he could say other than that he loved her. Fate had brought the two together and even if it wasn't always easy for them and he wished that some things had never happened, he wouldn't undo any of it. And neither does Cleo. They loved how their life turned out, that's all that mattered.

⸺

authors note; it's kinda sad to end this story but I think this is the perfect happy ending for them! I really hope you enjoyed this story. This won't be my last Jax story, I already plan to start a new one soon. So if you don't wanna miss it, maybe give me a follow for story update notifications! If you're a Happy Lowman fan, feel free to check out my Stories! 🖤