After blowing up the house on Water Road, Jax and the rest of the guys went back over to the clubhouse before the wrap party at Cara Cara. Gemma was the only one left at the clubhouse and walked right over to her son, noticing that he didn't seem too happy. She's noticed that lately the club continued to put him in this type of mood.

"You alright, baby?" She asked, concern laced in her tone as she gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm good, ma." He answered, lighting up a cigarette and looking at her, seeing an angry, almost empty look on her face. He wondered what he did this time.

"So, when were you gonna tell me she got your crow?" Gemma started, causing Jax to sigh.

"Ma, I don't want to hear it. If you don't like it, keep it to yourself, aight?"

"I was gonna say that I'm happy for you, baby. She's a good girl. Takes good care of you and Abel. A stubborn little bitch sometimes, but that's something we can work on." They both laughed lightly, knowing that it was the truth. She was definitely stubborn. "I think she has the potential to be a real good old lady, just gotta teach her a few things."

"Old Lady 101. It's probably more difficult than most of the classes she had to take in college." Jax laughed. "Thanks, ma. You gonna head over to the wrap party?"

"At the porn palace? No thanks." Gemma smoked her cigarette. "Gonna head over to the house, relieve your old lady from kid duty." Jax nodded, kissing his mother on the cheek before going back into the clubhouse to shower before he had to head over to Cara Cara and see his beautiful old lady.


Vanessa was just slipping on her heels when she heard Gemma walking inside of her home. She walked out of the room, throwing her big golden curls over one shoulder as she went over to greet Gemma.

"Wow." Gemma looked stunned, looking the woman over. Vanessa was wearing a pair of black leather leggings that enhanced all of her already very prominent curves, along with a cropped zipped up beige leather jacket that was tight on her chest and gave her just a tad more cleavage. The black heels completed the outfit making her look at least 3 inches taller than her usual 5'6" frame.

"Do I look old lady enough? Or do I look too porn star-y?" Vanessa asked, worried about how she might be viewed, her insecurities always poking through even though everyone else saw how absolutely stunning she was.

"Jax is definitely gonna love this little get up." Gemma waved her hand at the outfit, even with the very little skin Vanessa was showing, she still managed to look sexy.

"Well, these are all I could wear at the moment. Jeans would irritate my new ink." She said with a smile, causing Gemma to nod. "I better get going. The baby is asleep, just ate about an hour ago. I already changed him and bathed him. I won't be home too late."

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Don't forget about what I said." Gemma spoke with an air of confidence, but Vanessa looked at her with a bit of confusion. "You're his old lady now, show those bitches that. Hit, kick, scratch. Doesn't matter. Don't let those stupid cum-guzzling whores get their claws in your man."


Vanessa pulled up to Cara Cara and took in a deep breath, her mind going back to what Gemma has been telling her about the girls. She looked over herself one more time in the mirror. Her makeup was plain as usual, aside from the red lipstick she was usually wearing on a night out. Just a little bit of eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara. She ran a hand through her hair and jumped out of the truck, making her way inside.

She looked around, only being inside of here for the first time this afternoon, she wasn't exactly sure where anything was. She looked around for her old man but had yet to see him.

"This is a closed party." The nagging voice said with an attitude, and Vanessa knew immediately who it was.

"I don't want to fight with you, alright?" Vanessa tried to convince her.

"I said this is an invite only party, skank."

"I was invited." Vanessa looked over Ima, who was wearing a tight light blue dress and her hair up in a curly ponytail.

"Oh yeah, and by who?"

"Your new boss. Also known as my old man."

"Jax is not your old man, sweetie." Ima stood up and laughed, walking over to Vanessa and looking her up and down like she was sizing up her opponent.

"Alright." Vanessa rolled her eyes, trying to walk past her.

"How does it feel to have my sloppy seconds? You know, since I was sucking Jax's cock way before you even came around here." Ima spoke with such conviction, like she was trying to rile Vanessa up, which she was succeeding at.

"You act like that's some sort of accomplishment." Vanessa scoffed, getting more pissed off. "Jax has probably had every single chick in this building suck him off at least once. The only difference is that when I'm done, I'm still allowed to stay in his bed. I get to hear him telling me how much loves me, how much he wants a future with me. How much he's loved me since we were teenagers. What did he do when he was finished using you up? My money's on kickin' you out, darling."

"Why don't you just go back to watching his kid, like the glorified nanny that you are, and let the big girls have some fun? You better leave." Ima moved in closer to Vanessa, her voice filled with hatred.

"You're still so hellbent on trying to get with my man even though I've been taking care of his son, living with him, fucking his brains out every night of the goddamn week. He doesn't need your used-up snatch anymore. Get a fucking grip Ima, you just look desperate." Vanessa laughed bitterly and tried to walk past her, but Ima stopped her, getting further into her face with a few other girls that joined in, standing behind her like some sort of high school clique.

"I said get out, bitch." Ima yelled in her face.

"You better get the fuck out of my face." Vanessa snapped, almost in an angry whisper-like tone.

"All of us here know that you're just trying to use his son to get under his skin and try to make Jax want you. It's not gonna work, skank."

"You know, it's a real nice dream you got going, sweetheart. Thinking that Jax will someday come to his senses, save you from this business, and make you his old lady. I'm going to put this as nice as possible; it is never gonna happen, Ima. You will never be an old lady." Vanessa finally got past Ima just in time to hear her yell on the top of her lungs.

"And you think you will? You really think that Jax would ever make you his old lady?" She screamed with contempt and pure disgust. Vanessa looked around, noticing that all eyes were on her and Ima, and the girls standing behind Ima like they were her backup.

"I already am, sweetheart." Vanessa pulled down the one side of her high waisted leather leggings slightly to show off the plastic wrap-covered, yet still visible tattoo. "I even got the ink to prove it. You may think of me as competition, but I already won. It's time to move on."

"Yeah, well in a few months, I bet that old man of yours will have his cock inside of me."

"Like every other guy in here?" Vanessa recoiled, feeling hot with anger at the thought of Jax ever even looking at Ima again. "You're just a dirty, worn out hole for all of these guys to put their dicks in for a few minutes." Vanessa barely got the last word out before Ima had thrown the champagne glass filled with the alcohol at her, finishing it with a slap to her face. Vanessa hadn't been expecting either, feeling a few pieces of broken glass fall onto her feet as the absolute rage pooled through her veins. Vanessa saw red.

"Chick fight!" She heard a few guys yelling and running over to the two women, making a circle around them.

"Shit, Vanessa!" She heard Jax's voice calling out for her, but she didn't pay it any mind.

Quickly, Vanessa lunged for the fake blonde, pulling at the woman's hair and ripping out her extensions as she was being forced to the ground. Vanessa could feel the cut forming on her lip, but that didn't stop her from straddling Ima, punching her in the face multiple times. She could feel the glass digging into her knees through her leggings, but she didn't care. She was only on top of Ima for less than fifteen seconds, but it felt like hours, especially when Ima used a piece of glass to slice open the outer part of her uncovered wrist, right over the tattoo of the lily. Her Lily.

"You stupid cum-guzzling whore!" Vanessa screamed, thinking of Gemma's exact words to her less than an hour before. She felt fire pooling in her veins, absolute rage towards Ima for tarnishing one of the lilies on her body that were dedicated to her baby girl. She got one more punch in to Ima's face before she was being dragged off of the fake blonde.

"Nes! Nes, come on!" Jax screamed at her, needing Opie's assistance in pulling her off of Ima. "Vanessa! Chill the fuck out!"

Vanessa finally stood up, seeing everyone watching around her, some laughing and cheering, while others looked genuinely worried. She looked down and saw Ima's nose bleeding, bruises already starting to form on her nose and around her eyes.

"You broke my nose, you psycho bitch!" Ima yelled, her hands covering her nose.

"Shut the fuck up, Ima!" Jax yelled as loud as he could, causing a few of the women, and even some men, surrounding them to jump back. Vanessa looked around again, before rushing away from the group, Jax following after her, along with Opie and a few of the other Sons. Jax pulled the bandana out of his pocket and wrapped it around her wrist. He helped her clean some of the glass off of her, while she refused to make eye contact with him. Just a few seconds later as he passed her his cigarette so she could take a hit, he heard the sirens.

"Jesus Christ." He muttered, knowing that this may not end well for his old lady. "Are you alright? You need stitches?"

"I'm fine." She muttered; the adrenaline still pumped through her veins as she took a hit of the cigarette.

"What the hell was that, Vanessa?" She didn't get a chance to answer when she saw her brother, Unser, and one other officer looking over to her before heading inside of Cara Cara. Just a few minutes later, David and Unser came back out.

"What happened?" David asked, sounding exasperated and completely annoyed at seeing his little sister in a fight like this, especially at Cara Cara of all places.

"Had to teach a bitch a lesson." Vanessa looked at Unser, her brother, and Jax, who were all staring at her, their jaws a little slack. She realized just how much she sounded like Gemma and it made her feel uneasy and disgusted with herself. As much as she admired Gemma's strength, she never wanted to be like her.

Shaming Ima for her profession or for the amount of sex she had was never something Vanessa meant to do, especially since there were times that she had danced half-naked to make ends meet, but it just happened. She never even wanted to fight with anyone, she had even told Ima that. Clearly, that hadn't gone to plan.

She was starting to think that maybe it was Gemma that had gotten in her head. Manipulated her into thinking that she couldn't trust Jax around these women and that she couldn't prove her worth as an old lady without fighting or throwing shitty words around. But she couldn't blame Gemma either, only herself.

"Wanna try that again, sweetheart? In a way that doesn't get you arrested for assault and battery tonight?" Unser practically pleaded with her.

"We were having an argument. She got in my face aggressively and I didn't back down. We both said some pretty rude things, then she threw her glass cup filled with champagne at me." She pointed to her tan jacket that was slightly wet. "She smacked me, so I hit her back and she fell to the ground. She must've picked up a piece of glass and cut me with it, so I hit her again."

"Jesus Christ." David ran his hands over his face. "Can I talk to you, alone?" She just nodded and they walked off. "What the hell were you thinking? This could hurt your career, you could spend time in jail if she decides to press charges."

"Charges? It was self-defense! She threw a glass at me and then hit me first, then tried to fucking stab me with a piece of glass, David. What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"That's not what some of the witnesses are saying in there."

"They're her friends and her coworkers in there, of course they're gonna side with her! Do your job and find a video or some other fucking evidence because I'm telling you the truth."

"You shouldn't have been here in the first place, Vanessa. You know that dad is not gonna make this shit go away like he did when you were a kid."

"I was just trying to protect myself." She whispered; he could hear the vulnerability in her voice.

"Jesus." He scoffed. "The house that blew up on Water Road, did you know about that shit? I'm assuming it was Sam Crow behind the blast."

"What? No…"

"I'm sure you didn't. Isn't that the whole reason you came to me this afternoon? Because you were convinced that it was one of Darby's cookhouse?"

"I don't know shit about it. Do you know anything about Darby's cookhouses? Since you clearly didn't do shit about it after Jax gave you that info." Vanessa fired back. David was about to start yelling at her but took a deep breath instead, a look fell over his face that expressed his disappointment in her.

"I don't even know if it's worth trying to protect you anymore."

"Then don't! I have never asked you to fucking protect me." Vanessa yelled, tears filling her eyes in anger and disappointment in herself. David walked off so he could try to contain his own anger while Vanessa wiped her eyes before walking back over to Jax. She grabbed a hold of his arm while he talked to Unser.

"So, what's gonna happen?" Jax asked, needing to know what he had to do to make this go away.

"You wanna press charges?" Unser looked over to Vanessa, who shook her head no. "Ima's very drunk, so we're gonna take her in for disorderly conduct. You can go home. She'll spend the night in the drunk tank, but she may decide to press charges on you, sweetheart."

"Even though it was self-defense?" Jax wondered.

"She busted her up pretty bad. Looks like you shattered her nose."

"She won't be making videos for a while, huh?" Vanessa tried to make light of the situation, even though her eyes were watering again at the thought of being charged for this. Her mind went to losing her job, Abel, Jax, everything.

"Can you sound like you have a little remorse, at least since I'm standing right here?" Unser pointed to his badge, indicating that he was still a cop and that the way she was acting could get her in even more trouble.

"I'm sorry. So, what should we do?"

"I suggest getting a lawyer. Or talking her out of trying to press charges. I ain't charging you with anything and this will all be forgotten, unless she presses charges. Do you see where I'm getting at here, Vanessa?"

She just nodded as Unser began to walk away to talk to her brother.

"I gotta talk to her, make sure she doesn't press charges on you." Jax ran a hand through his hair.

"What? Why you?"

"Because this shit could hurt you if I don't talk her out of this. I'd rather you didn't lose your job or go to jail over some bullshit fucking fight, Vanessa." She could hear the anger coursing through Jax's voice.

"I'm sorry." The tears that were forming in her eyes finally fell. She didn't want any of this to happen, and she didn't want Jax to be pissed at her because of it, especially since she felt as if she was fighting for his honor. Truly though, she felt disgusted in herself. "I'm sorry, Jax."

Jax sighed, pulling her in for a hug tightly. She put her head on his chest as he ran his fingers through the ends of her hair.

"I-I didn't want to fight her. But seeing her all over you this afternoon and hearing the things Ima was saying to me, then remembering what your mom was telling me, I just lost it."

"My mom?" Jax pulled away. "Jesus Christ, what the hell did she do now?"

"N-nothing." Vanessa shook her head. "Nothing. She just said that if I wanted to be your old lady, I should make sure everyone else knew too."

"And you thought beating the shit out of Ima was the way to let everyone else know?"

"Too dramatic?" She asked causing her to force out a laugh that was accompanied with tears. "I'm sorry. I know you got a lot of shit going on and then here I am just adding on to that."

"I love you, babe. I gotta get you out of this shit, aight?" Vanessa nodded as Jax kissed her on the forehead and pulled her in for a tight hug again. "I'll get her to drop the charges."

"Yeah…" But how?


AN: Hope you guys liked these two chapters! I think this was one of my favorites to write, just because I think it shows how flawed Vanessa is. She's still trying to figure out how to navigate the outlaw MC world while trying to bee a decent human being. Anyway, thank you to Foreverkee, hateme101, and UnderElectricCandlelight for leaving reviews. Also I appreciate all of the favorites and follows. It means a lot. Don't forget to review and let me know what you guys think!