It had been five months since Clay, Jax, Tig, Bobby, Juice, and Happy started their 14 month prison sentences. In that time Opie had stepped up to take on the responsibility of running the club.

Clay was still calling the shots from prison, but it was Opie that was responsible for the day to day business of the club and also the garage.

Gemma was still serving her house arrest sentence so the garage's office was in shambles without someone there to take care of the paperwork.

Tara tried to help when she could and Chuckie helped out as well, but still Opie felt like he was the captain of a sinking ship.

Opie was trading water at home as well. He had been heartbroken when Lyla told him about the abortion she had while he was in Ireland. For awhile he struggled to make their relationship work, but ultimately could not.

So, he was single again and struggled to take care of his kids, keep the club solvent, and the garage afloat in the meantime.

As was becoming his routine Opie arrived at the garage at 7:00 in the morning to get ready to open up for the day. He walked into the office that looked like a landfill full of papers and trash.

He sighed to himself and sat down behind the desk searching for the list of repo jobs that had been completed the previous day. He pulled a folder from a large stack of papers and they chose that moment to upend themselves and land of the floor.

"Motherfucker..." muttered Opie, he looked at the paper scattered all over the floor.

Opie heaved a sigh and got down on the floor to pick everything up. Suddenly, he heard a female voice giggle at him.

Jasmine Bennett stood in the doorway of the office wearing a multicolored halter dress. She smirked at him with a hand resting on her hip.

Opie looked up from his position on the floor and stared at the woman in front of him.

Jasmine laughed more and then flashed a smile. "You never were good at being organized. How the hell are you?" she asked.

Opie clamored to his feet his jaw falling slack for a moment. He hadn't seen Jasmine since they were teenagers.

Opie walked over to Jasmine and hugged her. He lifted her off of her feet as they hugged

"I'm good. What are you doing here? I thought you were living in Nevada now," asked Opie surprised.

Jasmine laughed and returned Opie's fierce hug. He'd always been a bear of a man even as a teenager.

"Well, I was living in Nevada but I've decided to move back home where I belong. I think I've been away long enough. Besides, I have some business to take care of here. I have an inheritance to claim," Jasmine explained.

"Claim an inheritance? I thought your folks lived out in Nevada, too," Opie said in a confused voice.

He smiled at Jasmine and finally set her back down on her feet. "I am glad you came to visit. It is good to see you, Jasmine. I am sorry for your loss. Whatever loss that might be."

"Yeah, they do live in Nevada. Mama and Pop are doing just fine. The old man just turned 60 a couple of months ago," said Jasmine.

Opie quirked an eyebrow and asked, "So, who died?"

"Actually, Davy Hale left me something in his will. And his brother, Jacob, took his sweet time notifying me about it. The family's lawyer ended up getting in touch with me first. So, I hauled my cookies all the way out here. I hate that I missed his funeral. Davy was a really good man and an even better friend," said Jasmine. There was a sadness in her voice as she spoke about David.

"And he was your first love..." said Opie with a small smile.

Jasmine smiled a little. "He was my first boyfriend. But you were my first love, Opie. And he knew it. It used to drive him crazy. I just can't believe that I missed his funeral."

"I am sorry that you missed it. I hate to say that I wasn't able to attend it either. I know he would have wanted you there. Hale was always fond of you. He hated me when I started dating you in high school. He couldn't understand what you'd want with a guy like me. I have to say I use to wonder the same thing. Hale and I were like polar opposites," said Opie.

She shook her head a little and let out a soft chuckle. "You two always thought you were so different but in my estimation you were both good guys with big hearts. And you were both crazy about me."

Opie chuckled and said, "You always saw the best in people, Jasmine."

He gave her a concerned look. "Are you handling his death okay?"

Jasmine sighed and said, "I am okay as I can be. It is still hard to think about how he died. He didn't deserve to die that way...not Davy. I knew something was wrong when I hadn't heard from him in two weeks. You could always count on Davy to be like clockwork. He called me every day at 9:00 at night unless something serious came up. And we'd talk for hours. The first week I didn't hear from him...I assumed it was because of your prospect getting murdered and Jax's boy getting kidnapped. But by the second week...I had a sick feeling to my core so I called the CPD to talk to Chief Unser...and he told me about David getting killed. The funeral had already happened. I was heartbroken."

Opie put a comforting arm around Jasmine and gently caressed her back.

"I didn't always get along with David. Opposite sides of the law and all. But you are right. He didn't deserve to go like that. I didn't know that the two of you kept in touch like that."

He wondered why Hale had never mentioned it.

Jasmine shook her head and said, "Davy was a stand up guy. Even though he didn't like the lives you and Jax were living he still cared about the both of you. He was real broken up when your wife died. He's the one that told me about it. I sent you a condolence card. I know that wasn't exactly comforting but I wanted to do something for an old friend in pain."

"Do you want to sit down?" asked Opie. Opie finished picking up the papers from the floor.

"Sure," said Jasmine. She had a seat in a chair on the other side of the desk and set her purse down.

"I really appreciated the card you sent. It was filled with a lot of heartfelt words," said Opie.

"Thanks. David was really shook up after your wife's death. He felt a lot of regret and guilt for working with the ATF. David was a good cop and a good man. Setting you up to look like a rat was something he wanted no part of…sometimes he'd call me at night because he woke up with nightmares. That manipulative bitch broke his spirit and made him question being a police officer. Before he died David was just getting back to loving his job. He was finally getting closer to being happy. We were getting closer to being happy."

Opie's heart was heavy thinking about Donna. Killing Stahl had not brought him as much satisfaction as he had hoped. There was still no peace for Opie Winston. He could see how much David's death was affecting Jasmine months later. It was a pain he knew all too well. There were still nights when he woke up thinking about Donna.

"I know this isn't really my place to ask but were you and Hale dating one another?"

"We were trying the long distance thing for almost a year. He wanted me to move back to Charming. I was in the process of packing everything up when I found out he died. I didn't know what to do for awhile so I just didn't do anything. He was always trying to look out for me. Davy was definitely sexist. He felt like he needed to protect me because he was the man and I was the woman. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that he left his house to me. So, I am going to move back home…for Davy," said Jasmine hastily wiping away her tears.

Opie searched the desk for a box of Kleenex but couldn't find it under the mass of paperwork. He handed her a rag from the garage. "Don't worry…it is clean."

"Thanks."

Jasmine took the red rag and dabbed at her tears.

Opie wondered just how committed they were to one another. He knew for a fact that Hale was screwing June Stahl when she first hit Charming.

"Did he see you often? I mean with you living out in Nevada it had to be hard for you two to meet up."

"We made do. I had a life there and he had a life here. I keep thinking about the last time I saw him. It was a month before he died. He came to visit me. You think you have time you know...but you don't. You never know when time is running out. He had been after me for years to move back home. But the last time he came to visit I agreed and we were thinking about getting married."

"I know all about regrets and lost time. Those five years I spent in prison were five years I lost with Donna. Five years I thought I would have the opportunity to make up. And then one day all of that was taken away from me. My future…my life…I lost so much that day. I lost things I am still realizing I lost," said Opie.

"I miss hearing David's voice most of all. Davy wanted me to move home because I was pregnant. I agreed because I wanted us to finally be a family."

Opie finally found a box of tissues and offered her a Kleenex. "Pregnant? With his baby?" asked Opie shocked.

Jasmine nodded and chuckled softly. She accepted the Kleenex. "Thanks. We got a little carried away with the drinks one night and whoops. We have a four month old son, Daniel David Hale. Now I am a single mother of three children. Davy is the father of two of my children."

"You have three children?" asked Opie chuckling.

She nodded. "Three really amazing children."

"That is...amazing. Congratulations. Do you have any pictures?" asked Opie. "I have two of my own. Kenny and Ellie. Ellie is 13 and Kenny is 11." Opie took out his wallet showing her the pictures of the two of them.

"Of course," said Jasmine laughing softly. She opened her purse and pulled out her wallet.

"This is my baby boy, Danny. And this is my little girl, Lily, she just turned 11. Davy is her daddy too. And this is my son, Henry."

Jasmine looked at the pictures of Kenny and Ellie. "They look just like you Opie. You must be so proud of them."

Opie stared at the picture of Henry with a shocked expression. "You have a teenage son?" asked Opie.

She nodded and said, "Henry just turned 16."

"16?" asked Opie.

He did the math in his head. "You got pregnant at 16?" asked Opie.

He stared at the picture closely before looking back at Jasmine suspiciously. Maybe Opie was seeing things but Henry looked a great deal like Opie did at that age. At 16 Jasmine and Opie were hot and heavy.

She nodded. "I did. Opie, that is sort of why I wanted to talk to you. It's the reason why I came here this morning to see you. Henry is your son."

Those words sort of hung in the air. Opie didn't know what to think or to say. "Why...why didn't you tell me?" asked Opie trying to contain his anger.

"I didn't know that Henry was your son until recently. You have to believe that I wouldn't have kept something so important a secret from you for all of these years. I haven't exactly had an easy time raising Henry on my own. You've always been a stand up guy. If I would have known the truth I would have told you," said Jasmine.

"You didn't know if he was my kid? But I was your first...or at least I thought I was. What is going on, Jasmine?" asked Opie.

Jasmine bristled at the accusation. She thought about how to formulate her next statement. "Someone...took advantage of me and I didn't want anyone to know. So, my parents decided that we'd move to Nevada. They didn't want me to have to see the man every day. But as Henry has gotten older...he looked more and more like you. And I wondered if I'd made a mistake. I asked Davy to help me investigate," said Jasmine.

"Took advantage of you? Who?" asked Opie standing up.

He walked over so that he was sitting on the edge of the desk in front of her. Opie reached out taking her hand.

"And how could Hale help you investigate something that happened 16 years ago? Jasmine, just tell me the truth. What you say to me doesn't go any further than this office. I am just trying to understand what is going on here."

Jasmine took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "The last time that Davy came to Las Vegas he took a DNA test for me. When I got the results back...I found out that Henry wasn't related to him at all."

Opie stood up looking at her. "You and Hale...no...you said man. Not David Hale...his sociopath brother, Jacob. Jacob Hale took advantage of you?"

Jasmine rubbed her arms slightly but nodded. "I never got a DNA test because I just assumed that he was the father. But Henry started to look so much like you. He's as tall as a redwood. His eyes even look like yours. And it made me wonder if...maybe you and I weren't as careful as we thought we were."

"That son of a bitch," Opie muttered angrily.

Silence filled the room as Opie processed this new information.

"How did this happen? Why didn't you tell me? I was your boyfriend I would have handled to situation. That sick fuck was 26 years old when you were 16."

"I don't want to talk about it, Opie. It is in the past and I want to leave it there. I just...I wanted you to know about Henry since we'd be here in town. I thought you would want to get to know him. He's a great boy. Hard-headed and has a knack for getting into trouble. But he is a good boy," said Jasmine.

"I don't want to just let this go. I want to know how this son of a bitch took advantage of you," said Opie making it obvious that he was not about to relent.

"This is why I didn't tell you back then. You never knew how to leave well enough alone. You always wanted to save the day. Some people you just can't save, Ope. Jacob's family was loaded. His daddy was a judge and his grandfather was a judge. I was just some 16 year old girl that came from a working class family. I was a girl that hung out with Opie Winston and got myself arrested for disturbing the peace, drunk and disorderly, vandalism, assault, petty theft. I was a fucking train wreck...a slut. Who would have believed that Jacob Hale...raped me? And even if they believed it...would they have cared?" asked Jasmine quietly.

Opie gently pulled Jasmine to her feet and looked down into her eyes. "Hey! I don't want to hear you talk about yourself that way. You were not a slut. The guy you were with was me. We made a lot of mistakes as teenagers but you were always a good girl. You didn't deserve to have Jacob Hale's filthy fucking hands on you. You could have told me. I would have believed you. I would have cared."

"I know you would have, Opie. And you would have gotten yourself in a world of trouble. Jacob was untouchable then. You would have kicked the shit out of him and you would have gone to jail. Jacob's daddy would have made damn sure of that. I wasn't about to let you throw your life away. And at the time I was so ashamed. I felt like it was my fault. I could barely manage to tell my parents. Especially my dad. I was so scared he'd think I was a slut. That was all Jacob kept reminding me of...was that I was a slut. That I wanted him to do those things to me. That I liked it...seeing him made me sick. I was so scared of telling anyone because he was in my head. I thought people saw me the way he did."

Opie pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight against his chest. "You could have told me the truth. I wouldn't have looked at you any differently because I love you. You were a good girl Jasmine...I knew that. Hell I had to convince you to have sex with me. You wanted to save yourself for marriage." Opie walked away for a moment punching a wall.

He regained his composure and said, "He is a disgusting bastard and this should have never happened to you. And I am sorry that it did."

Opie held her for awhile not saying anything. He tried to think back to around the time Jasmine and her family moved away from Charming. She started acting differently towards him but he always assumed that was because she was moving.

"I can't believe your Pops went for that. He was a cagey old son of a bitch like my Pops. I can't believe he didn't put a bullet in Hale's head in the middle of town."

"My dad wanted to kill him. Trust me. It took my mama and a miracle from the good Lord to convince him to give up that thought. I told him that I was pregnant, and he realized he needed to stick around for his grandchild. He knew I was too damn stubborn to give my kid up for adoption," said Jasmine.

She sighed a little and brushed away her tears. "I told you I didn't want to talk about it and look now you've made me ruin my damn make up."

"You look better without make-up. Always did," whispered Opie with a smile.

Jasmine cut her eyes at him but then smiled.

"I'm sorry for dragging you down memory lane. I just wanted to know...I needed to know why I lost 16 years with my son. My flesh and blood. I'd like to meet him sometime soon. Does he know about me?"

Jasmine shook her head and stepped back. She grabbed some Kleenex and attempted to clean her face. "I'd like for Henry to meet you too. I told him about you when we got ready to move here. I wanted him to know the truth. For a long time Henry thought that Davy was his father. I got pregnant with Lily when Henry was 5 years old. Davy was her daddy and around that time Henry started asking about his daddy. Davy offered and I accepted."

Opie wasn't pleased knowing that Hale had been acting as father to his kid. "How long did Hale know about what happened to you?" asked Opie.

"Davy had his suspicions all along but I would never confirm or deny any of his theories. He finally realized that if he kept pushing the issue that I would push him out of my life. It wasn't until I asked him to take the DNA test that I finally came clean and told him that it was Jacob. He told me that he had always thought it might have been Jacob. But because it was his brother he had hoped that he was wrong," said Jasmine.

Opie shook his head slightly. "Let's talk about Henry, because if I keep thinking about Hale I am going to kill him." Opie had a seat behind the desk.

Jasmine said, "Henry turned 16 a couple of months ago. I taught him how to drive. He is actually pretty anxious to get his license out here. He has his Nevada license, but I told him I didn't want him driving here until he gets his California state license. He is an A and B student. He played football at his last high school. He was a defensive tackle. And in the spring he plays baseball. I've already got him and Lily registered for school. That is what I spent most of my time doing yesterday."

Opie smiled listening to Jasmine tell him about Henry. "I can't believe I have a son that is old enough to drive. I guess I should have asked this to begin with...does he want to meet me?" asked Opie.

"It is sometimes hard for me to believe and I raised him. Seems like the years go by so quickly. And now he is almost a grown man. He is already taller than I am. I have to wear heels to be his height. He's 6 feet tall already. He definitely wants to meet you," said Jasmine laughing softly.

Opie laughed and said, "I was about that height at his age. He'll probably be as tall as I am. Kenny is starting to sprout up too. He loves playing baseball too maybe Henry and Kenny will have that to bond over."

It was at that point that Opie realized that he would have to tell Kenny and Ellie about Henry.

Jasmine said, "Henry is mostly a really good kid. He rebels sometimes. I think mostly it is because he's getting to that age where he feels like he is a man and his mother is telling him what to do. He's gotten into a little trouble here and there but I've tried to keep him out of trouble. Sports have been a big help."

Opie said, "Well, it can't be easy trying to raise a boy on your own. In Nevada did you live close to your parents? I am sure your Pops helped you keep him in line. I have to say my dad and mom have been lifesavers with Kenny and Ellie lately."

"Yeah, we lived close. But you know me. I do my own thing and no one is telling me how to raise my kid. So I give Henry hell when he steps out of line. I don't care that he is 3 inches taller than me. I am his mother," said Jasmine chuckling.

He chuckled and said, "My mother had that same problem with me. I towered over her by several inches by the time I was in my early teens. But she made sure I never forgot who was in charge. You mentioned that he's gotten into some trouble?"

Jasmine nodded and said, "Mostly fights. Henry has a pretty short temper at times. And he isn't afraid to fight. Which on the one hand is good. I don't want my kid being afraid. But on the other hand it made for uncomfortable vibes in the neighborhood. Parents get offended when your kid kicks their kid's ass. But Henry wasn't a bully he just wasn't going to take crap from the kids that picked on him. I think the worst thing he did was steal my dad's car when he was 14. That was bad...really bad."

Opie was proud that his son knew how to take care of himself. "He stole your Pops' car? Was he okay? I mean he didn't get hurt or anything?"

Jasmine said, "He was fine. He took the damn thing on a joyride and brought it back to the house. He was a good driver. Of course I made his life hell for two months after that. I wanted him to know how dangerous that was. He could have been hurt. He could have died. I was so upset I called Davy. He asked if I wanted him to drive out. But I said no...just talk to him. I put Henry on the phone and Davy gave him this like hour long lecture. I never knew exactly what Davy said to him but when Henry got off of the phone he walked over to me and hugged me and he told me that he was sorry and that it would never happen again."

"I am glad that you had David's help, Jas."

Jasmine looked at her watch and frowned. "I've got to get back to the hotel. I left Henry there to watch Lily and Danny. We will be staying there until our things arrive from Nevada. They should be here in a couple of days. Maybe then I could have you and your kids over for dinner?"

"Sure, I would like that a lot, Jasmine. Maybe I could stop by the hotel today and see Henry?" asked Opie.

Jasmine stood up and nodded. "Sure, you can just come over whenever." Jasmine picked up a pen and scribbled down the information. "Here this is my cell number and the room's phone number. And the room number at the hotel."

Opie smiled. "Okay, I'll call before I show up." Opie walked Jasmine out to her car and watched her pull off.