All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter.

Ashleigh Carter is my own small piece of warped imagination.

Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice.

Thanks for all the follows and favourites peeps. Hang on in there. I'm writing Chapter 28 at the moment.

CHAPTER 14:

Happy pulled up at the Teller-Morrow house wondering what sort of reception he'd get. He stepped off his bike and walked up the steps, knowing it was useless to sit around since everyone in the house had probably heard the engine of his Harley.

He checked he had his knife before he knocked. Gemma would kill him if he spilt blood in her house, but he wasn't sure what mood Tig would be in. Damn he hoped Tig would take this well. Happy was tired of splitting himself between two states. He just wanted his Old Lady and his kid around more. It wasn't like they'd known what a mess they were getting into, and given the choice he'd do it all again without hesitating.

Gemma opened the door. "I thought so." She smiled at him. "Come on in."

He followed Gemma through the house. Tig and Jax were sat on one of the sofas. They both looked up with slightly worried expressions when they spotted him. Jax spoke first. "What're ya doin' here brother? We got trouble?"

"No trouble. I'm Ash's ride back to her motel."

Both Jax and Tig turned to look at her where she sat in the opposite sofa, trying to look innocent. How had Happy known she needed a ride or that she was staying in a motel? Or, more to the point, what the hell her name was?

Tig grabbed the photo of Rose where Ashleigh had left it on the coffee table. He looked at it, looked at Ashleigh then looked at Happy and the back to the photo. He paused for a second before he looked back up at Happy.

"Brother, you knocked up my little girl?!" Tig asked, somewhere between hurt and angry.

Happy shrugged. "We didn't know."

Jax seemed to have gotten over this new revelation more quickly. "You never mentioned a kid man?"

"I didn't figure it was anyone's business." Jax nodded to himself. It was typical of Happy to tell people as little as possible.

Tig was still looking between the photo, Ashleigh and Happy.

"But you knocked up my little girl."

"Tiggy, you said that already." Gemma handed Tig another drink.

"Yeah…but….shit! Man, everything we've done, all those nights at the Jellybean and you never said." Tig looked at Ashleigh and said quietly. "Never said 'bout either of them."

Happy kept his face blank, knowing he was going to get asked about the Jellybean later even though Ashleigh did a better job than most of not being the jealous kind.

Gemma decided to get the conversation onto safer ground. "So kids, how did you two meet?" She asked with a broad grin.

Happy answered before Ashleigh could. "Whilst I was nomad, I rode through Texas a couple of times."

Tig snorted a laugh.

Happy ignored him. "I stayed with the Lone Star. I helped out on a job or two, all with Clay's approval." He added for Jax's benefit.

Gemma lifted an eyebrow and looked at Ashleigh. "And were you involved in these jobs honey?"

"One. They didn't need my kind of talent for the others." Ashleigh smiled back.

Jax shrugged and smiled. "Hell I always knew a little sister would be trouble."

"Older sister." Ashleigh said. "By about 5 years."

"Damn." Jax shook his head standing up. "Still trouble though. I better be gettin' home. Tara's gonna to think I've run out on her. Will you two be OK?" He asked looking at Tig and Happy.

Gemma stepped forward. "Yes they will. Happy's goin' to make sure Ashleigh gets back to her motel safely and I'm goin' to get Tigger here good and drunk."

Tig was still staring at Happy. "She said it was her little girl's daddy asked her to move to Charming."

"That's right."

"You plannin' on makin' her your Old Lady.?"

"Tig." Gemma said gently, nodding at Ashley's wrist as Ashleigh removed the cuff and showed her tattoo. "She already is."

Tig looked up at Gemma feeling lost and confused. His world had been turned on its head several times in one day. "So what do we do tomorrow?"

"Honey, you'll need to start with plenty of orange juice, a good breakfast and lots of aspirin."

"You know what I mean Gem?!"

"We go on just like before Tiggy." Gemma leant forward and put her hand on Tig's shoulder. "There's only the people in this room know about this, and we're the only ones that need to. As far as anyone else knows Ashleigh is Hap's Old Lady, that he's been hiding from us in Texas."

She gave Happy an arch sideways look, but it would take more than that to make him squirm. "He's decided to bring her and their little girl to Charming and that's the end of it. No one needs to know that she's ours."

"You think we're goin' to get away with that? Look at her! Put the three of us in the same room and a blind man'd be suspicious."

"If anyone's dumb enough to actually say anything it'll be their bad luck."

"Ma that sounds like a great plan." Jax gave Gemma a kiss on her cheek. "Sis, I'll see you soon." Jax gave her a smile. "Hap." He shook his head. "You are one quiet dude." He clapped Happy on his arm.

"Here." Ashleigh got up from the sofa and walked over to Jax holding out a folded piece of paper. "This is my parent's number. They won't be surprised if you call to check my story." Jax nodded, took the paper and put it in his pocket before leaving.

"Come on Tiggy. Tequila!" Gemma went over to the drinks cabinet and began to fill glasses.

Ashleigh stood next to Happy but decided that a visible display of affection like putting her arm around his waist might set Tig off. "Thank you Gemma. I appreciate you agreeing to accept this at all. You've made it real easy."

"What else could I do baby?" Gemma turned with the full glasses and headed towards Tig and the sofa.

Ashleigh returned Gemma's rueful half-smile. She went over to Tig and crouched down in front of him. Two pairs of blue eyes met. "If you hadn't come here, I'd have never known anything about you." He almost whispered. She put her hand on his stubbled cheek and pressed her forehead against his. "It'll be alright." She murmured. Tig leaned up and kissed her on the forehead. "G'night baby." Ashleigh smiled. Considering how guarded she usually was she felt amazingly at ease with Gemma and Tig.

She looked up at Happy and decided they were probably pushing their luck staying any longer. She followed him out of the house, taking the photo of Gemma but leaving the photo of Rosie.

Outside the house, he handed her the spare helmet. "You hate riding bitch."

"I'm surprised you didn't argue, since you know what a shit passenger I am." She slung the strap of her bag over her head, across her body and put the helmet on. She waited until he was settled on his bike before getting on, holding onto him tight and shutting her eyes. She loved holding him like this, being pressed against his solid back, feeling the way his muscles moved as he controlled the machine; but she hated not being in control. Not being anywhere near the steering, brake or throttle made her twitchy.

Happy shook his head. "An MC princess that can't ride bitch."

"I prefer to be the one in control. Sue me." She muttered into the back of his cut.

He was laughing as he revved the engine and rode into the night.