OMG loves! Sorry for the delay in update, I planned to update this the next day and ended up sick and unable to do anything until today. So enjoy this.

"Holy shit." Melody looked down at Gemma's body. "I can't fucking believe that shit happened…" She looked back at Kozik and shook her head. "You saw that I had to do it right? I had to shoot her because she fired first."

Kozik nodded his head slowly, moving towards Gemma and dropping to her side as he checked her pulse. "She's still here but I don't know for how much longer."

The brunette shrugged and dropped to her knees beside her boyfriend, putting pressure on the gunshot wound. "Well, call an ambulance babe… I don't think it's intended for her to die here."

He shook his head, pulling his burner out as the garage door opened and Jax and Opie rushed inside. "Gemma pulled a gun, she fired first and Melo shot her and now Gemma is bleeding out on the floor… I'm calling the ambulance."

Jax moved towards Melody, gently pulling her up to her feet. "Let her go…" He looked down at his mom and shook his head. "She's not worth saving."

Melody frowned, looking at her blood covered hands. "I guess…" She looked down at Gemma and back at Jax. "I didn't mean to hit something deadly."

He shrugged. "It's not like she didn't have this coming… Where'd you get the gun anyway?" He dropped down to his mom's side, watching her eyes scan the room, the sound of her beginning to choke on her own blood permeated the quiet space. "Ambulance on it's way? We need it to look like she attacked Melody and Melody fired in self defense."

She sighed and dropped down to her knees putting more pressure on Gemma's neck. "I liked you at one point then I started to hate you… I hate you so much right now Gemma for putting me in this situation but I couldn't allow you to threaten my sister and her family… Noelle gave me the gun before she left, the holster too." She gestured to her leg. "It came in handy just like she said it would."

Jax smirked at the brunette as the doors opened and the EMTs came rushing in, pushing him and Melody away from Gemma. "That stupid thigh holster." He moved outside towards the water hose, eager to rid himself of the blood on his hands as Melody did the same. "You did what you had to do… Don't ever feel guilty about it."

Melody shrugged as she let him rinse her off the best he could. "I don't feel guilty about it at all… I was doing what I needed to make sure she couldn't threaten my sister and her family. I do however wish my aim was better and it would have been a clean kill shot… She's in there dying in like the worst way possible."

He nodded, moving in front of her as an officer started towards them. "Can I help you officer?"

"I need to know what happened?" The officer looked between Jax and Melody, his eyes taking in the blood washing down the drain on the ground. "How it ended with Mrs. Morrow fighting for her life."

Jax looked back at Melody. "My mom shot at Melody first and Melody returned fire… It's all on tape, I'll have Juice get you the footage."

"She shot twice." Melody mumbled to the officer, rolling her eyes in irritation. "It was either kill or be killed and I just shot because I do not want to die in a mechanic's garage." She shook her head and blinked at the officer.

"Twice?" Jax looked at the brunette and rubbed his cheek.

"One was an accident and it just went careening around the room and the second time she was aiming at me but missed obviously." She sighed and looked at both men. "Do I need to come down to the station and talk to you or can I get home and get washed and changed?"

The officer shook his head. "You can go home but stay in town."

Melody nodded slowly. "I won't leave town, I have nothing to hide. I didn't do anything wrong, so I no reason to leave." She wiped her hands on her shirt and sighed. "Can you tell Koz that I'll be waiting by the car?"

Jax nodded. "Yeah, I'll tell him." He watched the brunette walk towards the black BMW and smirked, his plan had turned out better than expected.

SOA

Jax sighed and dragged his feet as he walked into St. Thomas, he had spent the afternoon avoiding the hospital. Hoping that his mother would go peacefully but of course nothing ever came easy with Gemma. Instead of getting news of her death, he got news that she was still hanging on. Fighting to come back to a family who didn't want her around. "Hey." He saw Unser sitting outside the room, sipping coffee.

"She's holding on." Unser looked at Jax and smiled softly. "Strong woman."

The young man shrugged. "Unfortunately…" He looked through the small window in the door and shook his head. "I don't get why she wants to stick around, she's burned every fucking bridge. She has no more family here besides you. Not even the guys are here, apart from Tig."

Unser shook her head. "Still your mom, you're here."

Jax nodded. "I'm here with hopes that my mom will feel my presence and decide to die." He took a seat and ran his hands over his face. "She's been out to ruin my life, ever since Noelle popped into the picture. I refuse to have her in my life, working against the positives I have going on. Noelle, Abel, Janelle and any other kids we may have. That's what I need to protect from that woman laying in that bed on the other side of the door. If she makes it, so be it. She'll be either in jail or in a mental hospital."

The older man sighed and nodded. "I get it, she doesn't like the fact that she can no longer control you or what you do but she is your mother."

"Stop defending her!" Jax growled at the man. "This isn't some situation you can dissolve into some petty reasoning as to why she's doing what she's doing. That woman is sick in the head and doesn't seem to grasp the concept that if she would stop trying to change things, or control things, or fucking manipulate everyone then she would still have a family that loves and cares about her. All this shit, her laying there fighting for her life, that was her own damn fault! She brought this upon herself and if it hadn't been Melody who shot her, it would have been me."

"Jax." Tara spoke meekly, her eyes on the ground as she stayed back away from the pair of men. "I have an update on your mom."

He tuned, looking at the brunette before gritting his teeth. "Tell it to someone who cares." He brushed past her, moving towards the elevators, ignoring Tara calling his name.

/

"Happy." Noelle dropped onto the sofa, resting her legs on the man's lap as she tried to tell if he was asleep or just had his eyes closed. "Did you hear?"

Happy nodded his head, not bothering to open his eyes. "I heard that Melody is a terrible shot and that I should have been teaching her to shoot and not you." He smirked and crossed her arms behind his head. "How do ya feel about it?"

"I feel relieved but bad for my sister for her being in that position." She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "I also don't feel too good about not being with her right now."

He groaned. "You remember when you were pregnant and her parents tried to kill you?" He eyed the brunette and shrugged. "Consider that a debt repaid. You didn't ask her to do it, she offered to do it. This is her problem to deal with and all you can do is be there for her, don't feel bad about her being in the situation because she was protecting her family, you would have shot Gemma too."

"Head shot." Noelle smiled. "Right about the left eye."

Happy knocked her legs off his lap and smirked. "You still think this house if your new home? I think it has potential with a little projects here and there."

"Yeah." She nodded, her eyes lighting up. "I want to plant a garden out back, a huge one, no roses though… I can see the kids having a jungle gym back there and even a damn dog for baby girl, it's just a whole new canvas for a new chapter in life. This is going to be home."

He smiled and nodded. "Now, you need to tell Jax that." He stood up and pulled her into a hug. "You're doing the right thing for your family."

Noelle smiled. "Yeah, I know… It feels right but it also feels weird, like it's going a little to good. I'm on edge waiting for some new bomb to drop. I know I should relax and enjoy myself now that Gemma is pretty much out of the picture and not a threat anymore but I can't help but think that something else is gonna go wrong."

Happy shook his head. "I don't see what bomb could drop now… You piss off any more women close to the club?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "No, I've only ever butted heads with Gemma, Wendy, and Tara. I think if it weren't for Gemma, I'd actually get along with both women."

"You really think you'd get along with Wendy?" He scoffed and shook his head. "You need to get some sleep." He pushed her towards the stairs. "Go to sleep, you need it… We'll be meeting up with everyone tomorrow."

SOA

"Jax!" Noelle wrapped her arms around him as soon as she got out of her car. "I missed you babe." She kissed him as he continued to hug her back and sway back and forth. "I missed you so much babe."

Jax smiled and kissed her back before pulling back and licking his lips. "I missed you too, how was it? Did you like the house you stayed at? What'd the sellers say?"

The brunette nodded and smiled. "Jackson, it was amazing! It was big but not too big. It had a spacious backyard and was a short drive over to the most gorgeous lake front. It was picturesque, I took a lot of pictures. I also need to tell you that Nelly has a pet dog named Doggy… Happy stole the dog from the neighbors…" She looked back at Happy who just smirked.

He shook his head. "So, it's a yes on that place?" He looked towards the car and smiled as he saw his kids asleep. "The ride knocked them out nicely." He grabbed her hands and kissed her forehead. "You still have time to run if you don't wanna get married…"

"Not gonna run." Noelle smiled up at him. "Didn't stick it out this long to tuck tail and run off… I'm doing this… You still have time if you wanna run babe."

"Nope." Jax smirked. "I'm looking forward to the wedding night and seeing exactly what you have planned for us. Something tells me that it's going to be a night I will never forget."

"It'll be very unforgettable, I promise you that much." She hugged him again. "Help me get the kids out of the car and into the cottage… Did your guests start flowing into town yet?"

He nodded as he picked up Abel from the backseat. "A few, all mumbling about what happened with Gemma… I hope that doesn't dampen the mood of our day." He started walking towards the cottage they were staying in for the duration of the wedding and a few days after. "Did the kids love the house?"

Noelle set Janelle on the sofa and turned to Jax. "They loved it, they both didn't wanna leave. Happy even tried to show the two of them how to fish and Nelly took to calling him Grandpa. So, that was freaking adorable, I almost died of cuteness overload… I took a lot of pictures of that bonding moment as well. I know my mom is going to love looking at them all."

"Grandpa." Jax chuckled and looked at his sleeping children. "Wendy signed the papers… Or so she said she did. We're just waiting for confirmation from your mom as soon as she gets word." He pulled the brunette to him and ran his fingers through her hair. "Your sister is here already, I think her and Kozik went out to walk through the vineyard."

"I need to see her!" She smiled and pulled out of Jax's arms. "I wanna hug her and thank her and buy her a bottle of wine…" She turned towards the door. "I'll be back babe, watch the kids." She walked out the door, her white Converse kicking up dust as she moved towards the vineyard, her eyes scanning the seemingly unending rows of grapes. "Melody!" She called out, listening closely for any answer. "Melo!"

"Noe!" Melody sprinted to her sister. "My love!" She jumped on her sister, wrapping her limbs tightly around her as they fell to the ground. "I missed you!" She laughed, unwrapping herself from the brunette underneath her before moving back to sit on her stomach.

Noelle laughed and looked up at her sister. "You can get off of me now Melody… I came to thank you for everything. I heard." She pushed off from the ground and dusted herself off. "I love you for it."

The younger brunette shrugged her shoulders. "We protect our own." She smiled and shrugged again. "So! I'm excited to finally be in the wedding and wearing my dress, it's been torture not to put it on and go out in it. Thank God you have fashion sense and didn't choose awful bridesmaids dresses."

"I'm nervous! I just want everything to be perfect." Noelle picked the twigs from the end of her unruly curly hair. "I'm thinking that I want to straighten my hair and make it wavy for the big day. Bohemian, mother nature, woodsy goddess, wood nymph… You see where I'm going with the whole look?"

Melody nodded. "You hire the whole makeup and hair team? Or are you just doing it yourself? I can help you with both."

"I didn't hire a team because I wanted to do it myself." She shrugged. "I'd love your help, we can go over my checklist in the house and make sure we have everything. If not, we need to find a store or at least a Walmart."

"As long as you have your dress, you should be fine." Melody wrapped an arm around her sister's waist. "Deep breaths."

"I have the dress." Noelle smiled. "Did you lose Kozik in the field?"

"No! I don't think so… He wandered off when he saw Tig and a few others drinking." Melody smiled as they moved closer to the house. "I need to see you in your dress! I've only seen glimpses of it in those stupid pictures."

Noelle smiled as she lead Melody into the house. "I found her." She smiled at Jax who was holding Janelle and her new dog. "I'm taking her upstairs to see my dress."

Jax nodded. "I wanna see it too."

"Stand in line." Melody stuck her tongue out at the man. "I get to see it first because I'm her sister and maid of honor."

Noelle pulled her younger sister into the bedroom and closed and locked the door behind her. "So, are you ready? It's not a traditional dress and it's custom for me… Mom helped me a lot with it." She unzipped the dress bag and pulled the dress out, laying across the bed for Melody to examine. "It's gorgeous yeah?"

Melody looked at the dress and nodded. "It's so you." She ran her fingers over the lace top and smiled brightly. "It's fun and whimsical, Jax is going to go insane when he sees you in this Noe. It's gorgeous."

The brunette smiled and nodded. "You see why I need some just plain and fun hair? I want the dress to be the focus and the hair needs to complete it… Wavy with a headpiece, like the floral crowns I always put Janelle in even though she rips them off her head a minute later."

"It's perfect and I have the perfect hair style and make up in mind for you… You're going to look amazing on your wedding day." Melody squeezed her older sister and squealed. "Now, show me what the princess is wearing!"

Noelle grinned and grabbed a smaller dress bag off the closet door. "It's the same type of style but for a two year old… Janelle loves a cute maxi skirt and cami." She laughed as she held up the dress. "Pretty damn cute for Miss Nelly if I do say so myself… Mom almost cracked her face from smiling so big."

"Why do you just call her mom? Why no my in front of it?" Melody held up the miniature wedding dress and examined it before smiling.

"I don't know, I just see her as both of our moms now… Sorry." Noelle frowned as she zipped her dress back into the black bag.

"It's alright, I was just wondering." The brunette smiled. "It used to be my mom or Blair."

Noelle chuckled. "Times have changed, she sees you as her daughter… You should talk to her sometime, hang out with her. She's not trying to replace your mom or anything, unless you want that." She laid on the bed and hugged a pillow to herself. "She's not as bitchy as she looks."

Melody nodded. "I'll talk to her about it." She laid on the bed with her sister. "Let's just nap, then we can wake up and go on a hunt for floral crown supplies." She smiled at Noe. "I'm glad you're here with me, maybe I'll actually get some sleep, instead of tossing and turning all night because of nightmares."

"I'll keep you safe." Noelle pulled her sister closer and kissed her forehead. "Sleep as long as you need to babygirl… I won't leave your side." She brushed Melody's hair out of her face and smiled as she closed her eyes. "Love you."

Yeah, so let me know what you thought about this... The wedding starts next chapter, I'm excited for that and hope you are too!