Jax woke up earlier than he would have liked to, but he knew that he had to make it down to the Charming Police Station to try to get his old lady out of the shit she got herself into last night. But he was fine with doing it. He loved her, and he would do anything he had to do to keep her safe.

That's why he was sitting outside of the station on his bike, smoking a cigarette and staring at the door. Ima had a smirk on her face when she saw him waiting there for her. She fixed her hair a little bit and smiled at him like she had just won. Jax couldn't help but notice how messy she looked, especially with the number of bruises that covered her face, but a fight against his old lady and a night spent in the drunk tank usually did that.

"Hey Jax, you been waiting long for me?" Ima asked, a flirty tone to her voice.

"Nah." He threw his cigarette on the ground. He examined the scrape on her nose, along with the purple surrounding her eyes, realizing that Vanessa did a real number on her. Truthfully, he felt a little proud that his girl could hold her own. Hell, she could do more than hold her own. "I'm here to set some shit straight with you."

Ima swallowed harshly at the tone that lingered in his voice before looking at him. She saw that he had a very serious look on his face, so she just nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"You pressing charges on Vanessa?"

"I was thinking about it. Look at what that crazy bitch did to my fucking face!" She yelled, her head spinning when Jax took a hold of her arm roughly.

"You ain't gonna press charges on her, got it?"

"What's in it for me?" He could hear the flirty tone in her voice again as she trailed her fingers down his kutte. He pushed her hand away from him.

"That's not a fuckin' request, Ima."

"You're really taking that skanks side after what she did to me?" Ima screeched; surprise evident in her tone. "I won't be able to work for weeks because of that fucking bitch!"

"Who the hell do you think you're talking about? That's my old lady!" Jax barked back at her and saw her jump back a little. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before he continued. "Listen, you wanna keep your job and you wanna stay in the club's good graces? Then you forget that fight ever fuckin' happened. And you stay the hell away from Vanessa, got it?"

"Fine." Jax could see her wanting to stomp her feet like a child, but she didn't. "Can you at least give me a ride home?"

"Take a cab." Jax threw a twenty-dollar bill at her as he got back on his Dyna and headed back to his house to see his old lady and his kid.


Vanessa had the radio playing as Abel was sitting in his high chair after eating his rice cereal. She looked over to him as he laughed at the mess he was making with the cereal; his hands and face were covered in it. She smiled at how absolutely adorable the baby was as she walked over to him.

"You are one giggly little boy, aren't you?" She kissed his forehead before taking the bowl and spoon, going to the sink to clean off the dirty dishes. She walked over to the radio to turn it up a little louder when she heard that Led Zeppelin was on. Vanessa started singing to the lyrics to Whole Lotta Love as she continued moving around the kitchen, cleaning up the mess.

She looked over at Abel who began babbling and clapping to himself as if he was trying to sing along to the song too.

"You're so silly, Abel baby." She tapped his nose gently and blew a raspberry on his cheek as he squealed in delight. Vanessa went back to singing and cleaning up the kitchen, feeling a semblance of happiness after all of the shit she had been through lately.

Jax had a small smirk on his face, thinking about how beautiful she was and how good she was with Abel, as he watched her practically dance around the kitchen in just one of his SAMCRO t-shirts that barely covered her ass. Jax slowly inched his way over to her so she wouldn't know that he was back already.

"I'm gonna give you every inch of my love." He said along to the song as he wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her to jump and turn around to face him. She was clutching at her heart.

"You scared the shit out of me!" She smacked him on the chest lightly and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. After she felt a little more relaxed, she kissed him gently. They both swayed to the music for a moment.

"Shake for me, girl." He pulled his lips away and sang to her again, a smirk on his face as he squeezed her ass, then lightly smacked it.

"You're ridiculous!" She laughed, his hands still gripping her ass. "Your son is right over there."

"At least he'll know that his daddy loves his mommy." Jax joked, causing her to scoff and push him away gently. Then realizing what he said, she looked back to him but noticed that he must not have realized what he said, so she tried to ignore it. She bit her lip, watching as Jax picked up his son out of his high chair and brought him out of the kitchen and into his nursery.

Vanessa looked over to the high chair where Abel was just sitting, a gummy grin on his face. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to make sense of everything going on in her head. She smiled when she came to the realization that Jax had clearly already come to.

I'm a mom. I'm Abel's mom.


The next few days went by smoothly. Ima was officially not pressing charges and Vanessa and Jax were even closer than before all of that shit went down. Things seemed to be going better, though there was still tension between Jax and his step-father. The tension between Gemma and Clay was palpable too.

"What's the run?" She sipped her coffee as Jax was pulling up his pants and buckling his belt.

"Blood drive." Jax smiled, putting his dad's bullet necklace on. "Children's Hospital in Eureka."

"My community servant."

"That's what we're all about, baby." He gently grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss, he smiled into the kiss when Abel started crying from his nursery. "My boy, the master of timing." Vanessa began to walk away to go get the baby when Jax grabbed her hand and pulled her closer into him again, giving her another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She whispered softly. He gently kissed and then nipped at her lips, causing them both to smile.

"I got him." Jax whispered. Vanessa quickly threw on a light sweater and fixed her hair in the mirror when Jax came back into the room, Abel sitting happily in Jax's arms. "You look outside yet?"

"No, why would I?" Vanessa asked, a little confused. Jax took her hand and pulled her over to the window overlooking the driveway. She saw the brand new all black Audi Q7 sitting in the driveway. "Holy shit! You got it!"

"Told you I would, didn't I?" He smiled at how excited she looked. Jax started walking towards the door, Abel still in his arms. "You comin'?"

They both walked outside together and she bounced around excitedly while inspecting the new car. She had a huge smile on her face when she saw Abel's car seat already in the back. She couldn't help but think how much she absolutely loved everything about Jax and Abel, and the little family they had together.

"When'd you have time to do this?"

"I had the prospect go pick it up last night. Dropped it off here this morning." She kissed him on the lips and ran her hand through his hair. "It's a real nice cage. You got a good eye."

"Clearly." She looked Jax up and down, a small smirk on her face. Seeing him being domestic like this and taking care of Abel got her a little hot. "If you didn't have to get to the clubhouse in like five minutes, you would totally be getting laid right now."

"Shit, darlin'. Tryin' to make me late for this run?" He wrapped his arm around her waist. "You and the kid gonna come see me off?"

"We'll be right behind you." Vanessa took Abel from him and walked quickly into the house to get the baby ready for the day.


Vanessa and Abel pulled onto the lot in their new car. She smiled the whole way there, feeling how smooth the car rode. She got out of the SUV and took Abel out of his car seat as he was shaking a ring of plastic and colorful keys.

"C'mon, Abel baby. Let's go see daddy before he has to leave." Vanessa sang, holding Abel in her arms. She walked over to Jax who was sitting on his bike. They all greeted her and Abel before continuing on with their conversation while Jax got up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Vanessa heard a loud engine on the lot, causing her to cover Abel's ear when the same engine backfired. She looked at Bobby who was riding his motorcycle over to the rest of the guys.

"Hey, it's an old fat boy on an old fat boy." Half Sack whistled, causing Bobby to look at him with a sneer on his face. "Sorry."

"Thought you put that beast to sleep?" Jax asked Bobby as he guided Vanessa to walk with him.

"This fat boy ain't even reached its prime." Bobby remarked.

"Barely looks like it can reach the end of the lot." Opie spoke, causing everyone to laugh out, including Vanessa. She looked down at Abel and saw him staring at her with his big beautiful eyes. She kissed him on the nose.

"Best bike for a long ride. And I put it up against any of your pretty Dynas." Bobby pointed to all of the bikes.

"You hittin' the gay rodeo on the way?" Jax lit up his cigarette, everyone laughed again as Vanessa shook her head as she heard the group saying things like 'Yee-haw' and 'Captain Chaps'.

"Cowhide protects the man hide." Bobby sat on the bike and went to start it again, causing Vanessa to cover the baby's ears again. She saw the engine backfire and the smoke that was coming out of it and her eyes went wide, not trusting that bike to get Bobby all the way to Eureka.

"Oh, goddamn man. Come on, I gotta ride behind that thing?" Half Sack yelled; his hands raised in the air.

"Shut up." Chibs spoke. "You should be used to gettin' sprayed in the face, prospect."

"Usually by Bobby." Jax said to Vanessa, causing her to wrinkle her nose and him to kiss her gently.

"Eat me, Chibbys." Half Sack joked.

"See the thing is, I like a full scrote when I snack on someone." Vanessa shook her head again, looking down at Abel who was looking around at all of the guys and taking everything in.

"Oh, is that right?" Half Sack questioned. "Yeah, okay, well, pretty soon you can have that."

"You gonna spontaneously sprout a nut?" Tig's eyebrows furrowed. "Boing."

"No. Getting a neuticle." Half Sack looked unsure if he should tell everyone.

"Getting a what?" Jax pulled Vanessa in tighter, trying not to laugh.

"You're getting a musical? A musical?" Someone in the crowd asked causing everyone to cackle.

"A fake ball. A neuticle." Sack shrugged. "It's an implant. Give me a sense of symmetry. Balance."

"Jesus Christ, I gotta get my baby boy away from this shit." Vanessa laughed, moving Abel onto her hip so she can start walking. She grabbed onto Jax's kutte, making him face her before giving him a long and passionate kiss, causing a few of the guys to cheer and whistle. "Be safe, baby. I love you."

"Always." He kissed Abel on the head before kissing her once more. "Love you."


Gemma was trying to find the keys to the Sebring, while Vanessa was doing paperwork, Abel was sitting in his car seat right next to her playing with one of his toys.

"Shit." Gemma muttered when she couldn't find the keys and the phone started ringing. "Can you get that sweetheart?"

"Teller-Morrow Automotive." Vanessa answered the phone, making funny faces at Abel who looked like he was about to cry at the loud noises in the garage and office. "We're open until 5pm tonight. Okay, sounds good." Vanessa hung up the phone and picked up Abel, who had his bottom lip jutting out and a small pout on his face like he was about to have a fit.

"Mail." Piney said, holding the envelope out to Gemma.

"Just drop it there."

"Anything I can do?" He asked.

"Hunt down the keys to the gold Sebring."

"Sure, darling." Piney began walking away with the owner. "Right this way, sweet cheeks." Vanessa bounced Abel on her knee, still making funny faces at him as he began to laugh, causing her to smile too.

Gemma opened up the big envelope with her name on it, her face dropping as she looked at the contents of the envelope. She quickly got up and shut the door to the office and the door leading to the garage, causing Vanessa to look at her a little worried.

"You okay?" Vanessa asked gently, as Gemma looked back at the mask in Sherman's bag. "Didn't Sherman's close down a few months ago?"

"Yeah…"

"The new cigar shop is there now." Vanessa spoke, seeing Gemma's face light up with a realization. "What is it, Gem?" Gemma threw the bag down, pulling the mask out of the bag and showing it to Vanessa.

"This is what they were wearing… that night." Vanessa took the mask from her hand and inspected it.

"That Zobelle guy." Vanessa whispered. "You don't think it was him, do you?"

"Comes to the lot waving his dick around our men, then later that same night this shit happens to me. That don't sound like a coincidence to me."

"Jesus Christ, Gemma. We gotta tell Jax."

"No." She shouted, causing Abel to begin crying. Vanessa held him close to her chest and rubbed his back, whispering comforting words in his ear. "You promised you wouldn't."

"O-okay. But what do we do?"

"You keep this shit to yourself. You don't do anything except keep yourself and my grandson safe, okay?" Vanessa just nodded but wanted to plead with Gemma to let her help, to let her tell someone or do something, but she knew she couldn't. "Good, now you get out of here. Go do whatever you were supposed to do today."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure, sweetheart." Gemma hugged her and then kissed Abel on his head. "You make sure you're carrying, got it?"


Vanessa knew that she had to go grocery shopping today, but instead of going straight to the store, she decided to go home and make herself and her baby some lunch. As Abel was playing with the rest of his food in the bowl, Vanessa looked over to the pile of mail that was sitting on the table.

She searched through it, seeing the envelope from University of California-Davis campus. Her heart raced at the prospect of her career being determined from one single envelope. When she opened it, she let out a sigh of relief at the first word she saw.

"Congratulations!" It read. "You have been accepted into University of California-Davis' Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing for an M.S.N in the accelerated Family Nurse Practitioner Program."

"I got in." She spoke quietly, a small smile on her face. Abel looked at her as she started laughing. She picked him up out of his high-chair and kissed him on the head. "Your mommy is gonna be a nurse practitioner."

Abel cooed and squealed in delight, as if he knew exactly what she was talking about. He kicked his feet out excitedly and clapped his hands as she held him in her arms. The smile on her face not faltering.


Vanessa was pushing her shopping cart throughout Murphy's Grocery Store picking up all the food that her little family would need for the week. She smiled at Abel who was playing with his plastic keys still, chewing on them and shaking them so they would make noise that never failed to make him giggle. She was radiating a positive and happy mood because of the new car and the news of her acceptance. Abel felt her good mood too, leading him to be extremely happy and silly.

"Look at my silly little baby." She laughed as he continued to shake the keys. She tickled him gently and he giggled. "I love you, Abel baby." She whispered to him and he gave her a big gummy smile.

Vanessa continued her shopping for about fifteen minutes, finally reaching the baby aisle for a new food that she thought Abel might like. She looked over seeing two men at one end of the aisle, both covered in tattoos that she couldn't make out from afar, but the feeling of goosebumps on her arms caused her to quickly grab a few jars of baby food and formula before moving towards the other end.

Like he could now feel her anxiety, Abel began to pout as if he was about to cry. She gently trailed her hand over his head and through his blonde wisps, trying to calm him as she walked further away from the men. She turned her head and no longer saw them standing there, a heavy feeling of relief came over her.

When she turned back around to face in front of her, she saw that there were two other men, both with Nazi symbols and hateful ink covering their bodies less than ten feet in front of her. All she thought about was getting Abel away from this situation.

"Ms. Hale." One of the men said, and she recognized him from Clay's party a few weeks back. Vanessa refused to make eye contact with them as she continued pushing the cart so they would move out of her way. "Beautiful baby."

Vanessa continued walking as the two men parted so she could walk through them. She forgot about the other groceries that she needed to buy, moving quickly towards the cash register so she could check out.

The thoughts of her acceptance were now gone from her mind. The only thing she could think about was what happened to Gemma and the delivery of the mask that she received today. She was on edge now, as was Abel who's crying had gotten louder, causing other shoppers to stare at her. Vanessa picked him up and rubbed his back gently again.

"You're okay." She whispered quietly into his ear. "We're okay." Vanessa paid the young cashier and headed over to her new SUV, first putting a fussy Abel in his car seat and then starting to place the bags of groceries on the floor of the back seat. She continuously looked over her shoulder, fearing that those men in the store were the same men who had attacked Gemma.

She was just shutting the driver side door when she saw a black Mercedes pull up right behind her spot, blocking her in. She realized that there was no other way out when three men got out and started walking over to her car. She quickly reached for her gun and jumped out of the car, not letting them get close enough to touch or even see her son.

"What the hell do you want?" She asked, pointing her .38 at the man in the suit, the one who she recognized as the self-proclaimed 'cigar king'.

"Ms. Hale, put down the weapon." He said with fervor.

"What the hell do you want?" She repeated with rage lacing her tone, still refusing to put the gun down.

"That is Jackson Teller's son, is it not?" The man pointed to her baby, staring at him as the baby now slept in the back seat.

"Don't you look at him." She snapped.

"So, I can only assume that you are Jackson Teller's old lady." He looked her up and down. "How do your father and your brothers feel about that?" She refused to answer.

"It seems that your old man and his club haven't gotten our message." Another man started speaking with a raspy voice. She looked at the hateful tattoos that were inked into his skin and immediately felt repulsed. "Tell your old man to stop selling guns to color or…"

"Or what?" She spat back, knowing exactly what these men would do. "You gonna beat me? Gang rape me?"

"We don't know what you're talking about, Ms. Hale. We're just here to give you some friendly advice." The man in the suit said.

"Is that what you do? You go after women like a bunch of scared little bitches?" Her voice didn't even shake, these men were ambushing her and her baby boy. She couldn't help the mama bear that forced its way out, wanting nothing more than to hurt whoever was putting her son at risk. One of the men started moving closer to her causing her to click the safety of her gun off. "You Nazi pricks take one more step and I will put a bullet in each one of your goddamn brains."

"Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Do you want to find out?" She spat back.

"Are you gonna shoot one of us in broad daylight on Main Street, Ms. Hale?" The man in the suit tried to reason with her. "We are not here to hurt you; we just came to reason with you so you can relay a message to your old man."

"You like to use women and babies to get your point across?"

"If it deems fit." The cigar king leered.

"Now about that message, you tell your old man to stop selling guns to color. This is the last warning we're giving. Next time we won't be so polite about it." Vanessa watched as the men walked away and got back into their cars, the gun still raised in her hands. Her chest rising and falling with worry and paranoia. She looked at Abel through the back window and realized that what could have happened could have been much worse. She quickly put the safety back on and buried the gun in her bag. She took a deep breath trying to keep the unshed tears at bay.