LEXI'S P.O.V. (1 DAY LATER)
"Please Jax. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I want to be at home with you and Abel. I'm not spending Thanksgiving in the hospital." I pleaded with Jax. I was going crazy and hated the fact that I hadn't seen Abel since we brought him home on Monday morning. "Lexi you need to rest and recover. It's been less than forty-eight hours since you were brought in. There will be plenty of Thanksgivings down the road for the rest of our lives." Jax told me as Gemma and my Dad walked into my hospital room.
"If you don't convince the Doctor to release me today, Jackson, then I will sign myself out of the hospital. I am spending Thanksgiving with our Son and you bet your ass it won't be here at St. Thomas. Plus, someone needs to make sure Opie feeds his kids some turkey tomorrow." I snapped back at him.
"Maybe we should come back later." my Dad said. "No. It's fine. I have to get to TM anyway. I'll be back in a few hours to see you. I love you Lexi but you're staying here in the hospital." Jax replied, giving me a quick kiss before leaving.
Gemma and my Dad stayed for an hour avoiding the subject of the shooting and talked about Abel, Un-Southern and the renovations to Sophie's house. I hit my limit and told them I was tired and needed to nap. As soon as they left I texted Sophie. After she responded, I had the nurse page Dr. Bentley.
Two hours later, with the assistance of a nurse, I had showered, dried my hair and lightly applied my make-up. I was dressed in the clothes that Sophie brought with her. "Jax is going to kill you and then me when he finds out that I sprang you from St. Thomas. How are you going to get past Miles? He's posted outside your door." she said, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. I knew she loved this shit.
"You're going to send him to get the Doctor. Tell him the call button isn't working." I said, grimacing as I bent over to slip a pair of gray suede boots on over my leggings. "Fuck. Dr. Bentley wasn't kidding when he said this would hurt. He said I couldn't do anything to pull my stitches or I'd be back here and he wouldn't let me sign myself out the next time." I said as I slowly stood up. I put on a black leather jacket over my gray scoop neck sweater and told Sophie to send Miles for the Doctor.
"Coast is clear. Let's go." Sophie told me. We walked as quickly as I could and took the stairs down to the side entrance. I needed some time before I faced the wrath of my Old Man. "Where am I taking you?" she asked as I slid into the passenger seat of her black Mercedes G550 SUV. "Drive towards Un-Southern. I need you to park a block away. You can go back to work but I'll need to borrow your car for a bit. Just try to buy me a little time when Jax or someone from SAMCRO comes looking for me." I told her.
"Lex, I hope you know what you're doing." she replied when she got out of the car. "I do Soph. Promise. I'll see you at home tonight. Love you." I told her before pulling out of the parking spot and heading towards my destination.
I pulled into the driveway at Opie's and noticed Piney's bike in the driveway along with a blue sedan that I didn't recognize. I walked to the front door and rang the bell. "Can I help you?" an older woman asked when she answered the door. "I'm looking for Opie." I replied, wondering who she was. "Goddamn croweaters are already circling and Donna's not even in the ground yet. Listen you little whore, you stay the fuck away from..." she started but was cut off by Piney. "Mary! That's Lexi Morrow, Clay's Daughter and Jax's Old Lady!" he yelled. "Oh, so you're the one who got my daughter-in-law killed." she replied, causing me to gasp as tears filled my eyes.
She turned and walked away leaving me and Piney in the entryway. "Ignore Mary. She's just an old bitter bitch. She never gave two shits about Donna. Never cared much about Opie and his kids either. What are you doing here Lexi? Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" Piney said and that's when I noticed the bottle of tequila in his hand.
"Piney, I need to see Opie. Where is he?" I asked. "Out back with the kids." he replied. "Piney, Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I hope you'll be with us but if you need to go to the cabin until the funeral on Saturday then go. Everyone will understand. I can handle things here." I said, casting a glance in Mary's direction. "A mini-Gemma in the making, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised." Mary said. "Mary, unless you plan on joining us tomorrow for Thanksgiving then why don't you head home until Saturday." I suggested before walking thru the house and out to the backyard.
I stood there for quite a while watching Kenny and Ellie playing in the backyard and wondered if they even understood at such a young age that Donna was gone and not coming back...that she was dead. I then looked to my right and saw Opie sitting in a chair on the patio. Oh God...all the sudden I didn't know what to say.
My eyes filled with tears as I walked over to him. "Opie..." I said softly as I felt the tears begin to stream down my face.
JAX'S P.O.V.
I'm going to kill her I thought to myself as I drove down Opie's street. She ignored my instructions to stay in the hospital and then she disappears without the protection of the club.
"Where is she?" I asked Piney when I met him on the front walk. "She's out back with Ope and the twins. She gave me the okay to leave and basically gave Mary the boot, which we've been trying to figure out how to do for the past twenty-four hours. She did it all within two minutes of showing up on the doorstep. Must have been Mary referring to her as a croweater that got her blood boiling. She has a good heart Jackson. Don't be too rough on her. She's carrying a lot of unnecessary guilt right now. You know JT would have loved her. He'd want you to make an honest woman out of her." the old man told me as he walked past me and got on his Harley Davidson Electra Tri-Glide.
I walked out back just as Lexi made her presence known to Opie. As I looked at my Old Lady and my Brother my heart broke for the both of them.
"Opie..." Lexi said as I watched tears fall down her face.
"Lexi! What are you doing here? You should be in the hospital." Opie said, surprised being the understatement of the year, as my Old Lady threw herself in his arms and sobbed.
"I'm sorry." Lexi said a few minutes later. "I came here to tell you how sorry I am about Donna and here I am crying all over you. Opie, I know you must hate me and I understand. I know it's my fault and I'll never forgive myself. God, Ope I'm so sorry." Lexi said as she started crying again.
"Lexi...it's not your fault. It's Kohn's fault...well Kohn's and Wendy's. You did so much for Donna over these past six months and for that I'll always be grateful. She loved you and considered you to be one of her closest friends. Now tell me something, where is Miles and how did you get here?" Opie replied as he caught a glimpse of me.
"She checked herself out of the hospital against Doctor's orders, had Sophie send Miles on a fake errand looking for the Doctor and then took Sophie's car here." I said walking forward. Where most women would be nervous because of my demeanor Lexi held her own.
"I did what I needed to do Jackson. Since you wouldn't help me I decided to help myself. And I helped Opie. I sent Mary home and gave Piney the okay to go get drunk at the cabin. He needs to grieve away from Ope and the kids." she told me before turning to Opie and once again doing something that would end up changing our lives.
"Opie, tomorrow is Thanksgiving." she started gently. "Why don't we pack a couple of bags for you and the twins? Come stay with us for a few days. We'll get thru the holiday and the funeral. The three of you shouldn't be alone right now. Actually, while Jax entertains Kenny and Ellie, let's go grab some luggage and start packing." she finished with such determination that Ope and I both knew there was no use in arguing with her. He looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders before walking over to the twins. I heard him sigh as he turned to follow the most frustratingly amazing woman I have ever met back into his house.
Hours later Lexi and I laid in bed. "Jesus, please tell me Abel isn't going to be that much work when he's three." I said causing my Old Lady to giggle. "Bath time with the twins was a little rough for you, huh?" she teased. I had been given the duty of supervising the twins bath since Lexi was still limited with her movements due to the stitches.
"Lexi, we need to talk about earlier today. You can't go pulling that sort of shit. It's too dangerous for you right now until we find Kohn and Wendy. Clay called in for reinforcements. Since Donna's funeral is on Saturday we have patches from the other charters coming down. As of right now it looks like Donut, Bowie and Lorca are going to hang out in Charming for a while. No more going anywhere without a patch. Abel and I need you with us babe. We'd be lost if anything ever happened to you, so please Lexi don't fight me on stuff like this." I said, knowing if I pulled Abel into it then she was bound to listen.
GEMMA'S P.O.V.
It was going to be a different type of Thanksgiving this year, I thought to myself as I set a table in the clubhouse. Thanksgiving was usually held at my house but with the reinforcements Clay called in early there were too many people. Besides Clay and I, we had Jax, Lexi, Abel, Opie, the twins, Sophie, Bobby and his ten year old son Tiki, Chibs, Juice, Tig, Kozik, Happy, Half-Sack and Cherry, Luann Delaney, Quinn, Rat, Miles, Filthy Phil, Donut, Bowie and Lorca. Jesus, twenty-six people right now. Thankfully Sophie was helping with all the sides. She said she had plenty from all the Thanksgiving meals she prepped and sold from the café this year.
"Hey baby. Table looks great." Clay said as he came up behind me.
"Piney should be here Clay. Lexi had no right giving him the okay to go on a bender up to the cabin." I replied. "He needed to go grieve in his own way Gem. Lexi saw that. The old man will be back by tomorrow night and ready to support Open and the twins on Saturday." he responded. I knew deep down he was right but I was frustrated.
"Happy Thanksgiving." Lexi called out. I turned to see Lexi, carrying Abel, with Jax and Opie following behind with a baby swing, pack-n-play, toys for the twins and a variety of pies. "Where are the twins?" I asked as I took Abel from Lexi and kissed my Grandson. "They wanted to ride with Sophie. She should be pulling in shortly with Rat following her. She's got all the sides and the wine Gemma. I'm going to go wait outside and help her bring everything in." Lexi replied.
"No!" multiple voices yelled at once. "Lexi! What did we discuss this morning? If I think you're overdoing it, which you did all morning, then I'm taking you back to St. Thomas." my son growled at his Old Lady. Knowing Lexi as well as I do I was a little more than surprised when she didn't yell back at Jax, instead she turned, walked over to the TV, turned the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on and sat on the couch.
"I'll go grab my kids and give Sophie a hand when she gets here." Opie said, grabbing a beer from the bar and walking outside.
I looked at Jax. "It's been a rough twenty-four hours Ma. There's just a lot of people in my house right now." Jax said as he took Abel, put him in Lexi's lap and walked outside after Opie.
I walked over to the couch and sat next to Sophie. "Want to talk about it baby girl?" I asked. "Not today Gemma. Let's just get thru today." she replied with tears in her eyes. She looked pale and looked like she hadn't slept since she woke up in the hospital.
Before another word was said Sophie entered with the twins following her. "Baby!" Ellie called when she spotted Abel. She went running for Lexi and within minutes was enamored with the giant parade floats on TV. Lexi left Ellie sitting on the couch and walked over to where Kenny sat by himself at a table. I watched as she said a few words, which made him laugh and took him by the hand leading him back over to the couch. "I love you Auntie Lex." he said shyly, bringing tears to Lexi's, Opie's and my eyes.
JAX'S P.O.V.
Saturday morning, the day of Donna's funeral, arrived bright and sunny. Neeta had volunteered to watch Abel and the twins while we were at the service and then at the wake back at the clubhouse. Opie and I requested that Miles, Rat and Filthy Phil watch over Neeta and the kids.
Opie and I joined our Brothers from SAMCRO, SAMTAZ, SAMTAC, SAMBERN, Rogue River, Indian Hills and Reno on our Harleys. As the wife of a Brother and the Daughter-In-Law of an Original Nine, the Sons had shown up in full force out of love and respect for not only Donna, since most of them had never met her, but for Opie and Piney.
Lexi, Sophie, my Mom, Luann Delaney and Mary Winston would be riding in a limo behind the hearse carrying the casket. The limo would be followed by Opie and Pine with the rest of us behind them. When we reached the cemetery I watched Lexi get out of the limo and hated what I saw. The guilt and pain was eating her alive. She looked beautiful in a knee-length black wool dress with pearl buttons up the back. Her hair had been pulled back into a bun with a few loos tendrils around her face. She wore pearls in her ears and a triple strand of pearls around her neck. Her face was ghost white and her eyes red and puffy as we took our places next to Opie at the gravesite. She looked vulnerable and I knew as I caught Clay's eye that we would do whatever was needed to keep her safe.
We were three hours into the wake at the clubhouse when Charming PD showed up on the lot. "Lexi, David Hale is outside looking for you." I heard Bobby say, walking over to the bar where Lexi and Sophie were refilling their wine glasses. My Old Lady looked at me and I held my hand out to her. Together we went outside to see what the good Deputy wanted.
"Lexi, I want to offer my condolences. I've already spoken with Opie but I know you and Donna were close. Please know we are doing everything we can to find the persons responsible for this. If you need anything please let me know." he said looking at her with a look of adoration on his face. "Thank you, David." Lexi replied. She didn't say another word, she just walked back inside the clubhouse.
"You know this is your fault Teller, right? You couldn't protect her...you didn't protect her and this was the outcome. She deserves more...she deserves better than this life. It's not right for her. You're not right for her." Hale told me before he handed me a manila envelope. "I don't like you. You're a criminal and one of these days I will lock you up for good. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Lexi. I'm doing it to keep her safe. Do with this what you want. Just don't let it be traced back to me." he said. He turned, got in his jeep and drove off the lot without a second glance.
Later that night I sat down in my mancave not fully believing what I was reading. I picked up my prepay and called Clay. "Yeah." he said when he answered. I had obviously woken him up. "Clay, I know it's late but I need to talk to you in private. I would normally just go see you but I don't want to leave Lexi right. Can you come over to the house now? It can't wait." I told him as I looked at the file that was on my desk.
CLAY'S P.O.V.
"What is it baby?" Gemma asked as I got out of bed and got dressed. "I need to go see Jax. Go back to sleep." I replied as I put my boots on. "Now? It's 2:30am." Gemma said. "Go back to sleep. I'll be home as soon as I can." I told her as I walked out of our bedroom.
Twenty-five minutes later I sat in Jax's mancave looking at the file in disbelief. "Jesus, Jax. She was feeding information to the Feds the entire time? That's why she got pregnant? Because she was busted and wanted to avoid jail time? The only option was to infiltrate SAMCRO and get information on us. She couldn't even do that right. Her crank habit was too important. SAMCRO doesn't hurt women and kids. We're going to have to bring it to the table. It gets a little more complicated with the other one though. Stahl basically lead Kohn and Wendy directly to Lexi and Donna. It could get messy because of Hale. It could make him an accomplice to killing not one but two Feds and Wendy depending on how the vote goes. Can he handle it?" I asked my VP.