Jax knew he was going to be late for the meet with the Irish as soon as Abel had woke up demanding where Cheyenne was. Apparently the brief phone call that happened before bedtime wasn't enough to appease his son especially after Abel had informed all of them that they didn't scrub his ears like his mommy, read him stories in funny voices like mommy, and basically every other thing that Cheyenne had done to form a routine with their boys. It didn't even help that Isla had been there because all his son wanted was his mom.

Jax is buckling his belt after a quick shower as he heads into the kitchen. Thomas is making a mess with his banana while Abel looks despondently at his cheerios. Cheryl is busying making coffee.

Jax checks the time. "Where's Neeta?"

"Grocery shopping." Cheryl tells him as she pours coffee in a mug.

Jax hears Lip's bike pull up outside. He sighs as he bends down and presses a kiss to Thomas' head and goes to Abel. However, as he bends, Abel tilts his head up and Jax looks into the mirror of his eyes. "Daddy, when's Mommy coming home?"

Jax's hand comes up and rubs his oldest head. "Soon." Abel frowns and turns back to his cereal. Jax looks at Cheryl, who gives him a close lipped smile. "Thanks for helping out."

"I'll be here for however long you need me." She tells him.

The front door opens and Isla comes through followed by Lip.

Jax eyes his niece, who seems to have just rolled out of bed, she doesn't even bother greeting him as she seems to walk towards the guest room and closes the door.

"Everything okay?" Jax asks.

"I think it's the pre-teen phase," Lip says exhausted. Jax doesn't question it anymore.

. . .

Cheyenne woke up alone in the hospital room. As much as she has come to love working at St. Thomas, she doesn't like it so much in being a patient. After another examination of her wrist and an exit interview with the psychiatrist, it's looking optimistic that she will be released by the end of the day.

Cheyenne is watching the news when the door to her room opens. Gemma walks in wearing a hat and sunglasses that does very little to conceal the bruises marring her skin.

Cheyenne thinks this is why she hadn't seen her mother in law all day yesterday. "What happened to you?"

Gemma doesn't bother with hiding her face as she removes the sunglasses. "Fell down some stairs." Gemma quips.

Cheyenne shakes her head. She doesn't know if it's disgust or what. "Christ, Gemma."

"How you feeling?" Gemma asks.

"Like I want more morphine." Cheyenne mutters.

"Yeah, speaking of junkies…"

"Tell me you didn't…"

Gemma puts her hands on her hips. "Depends are we talking about your sister in law or mother?"

Cheyenne takes a deep breath. "Nina is Lip's business."

"And your mother?"

"She's the boys' grandmother."

"That junkie bitch left you and your brother –"

"And whose fault is that Gemma? Honestly." Cheyenne interrupts as she looks Gemma in the eyes. "Cheryl just wants to know her grandchildren. You need to get right with that."

Gemma softens. "I just don't want you to get hurt. You got enough on your plate right now, sweetheart. I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, of course you are. Look what it's done to you." Cheyenne observes.

"Jax – your family - doesn't need another problem. You keep him clear of it." Gemma orders.

"Why? You afraid it'll give us another reason to run from Charming?" Cheyenne challenges. However, she is pretty sure Nina doesn't even bother Jax and at the end of the day anything regarding Cheryl lies with her.

"I'm afraid it's another thing that will break his heart."

"I can take care of his heart," Cheyenne emphasizes.

. . .

It seems its only minutes after Gemma leaves that Jax walks through the door. They haven't really spoken since the day of her admission. When they did it was stunted or just updates on the boys. He takes a seat at the left side of her bed nodding to her injured arm, "Any word on when you're getting out?"

Cheyenne looks down at the cast and slightly flexes her fingers, the stitches straining on her wrist a little reminding her of when she cut it when she trashed Abel's room, "I have an exit interview with the shrink. If he thinks I'm stable, they'll release me this afternoon."

Jax nods his head as he leans back in his chair, "I'm sorry this happened."

Cheyenne picks at the blanket. "I know, Jax."

"But we'll get through this."

"I know."

"Christ Cheyenne," Jax snaps. "Will you get angry at me or something?"

Cheyenne's grey eyes snap up to his face. "Why would that make you feel better?"

"It would at least let me know what you're feeling."

"This injury could've been worse, but it wasn't. I'm alive. There is no use in being angry and bitter. No use in assigning blame." She tells him. After all, it wouldn't really fix anything and she doesn't know if she has it in her to try and assuage his guilt. She can't pin it on something or someone so he can handle it with his fist or a gun. But she can't deny that it could've been worse. "Where do we go from here?"

"Nothing has changed. I'm getting you and the boys out of Charming." Jax tells her, but he can she's not convinced. It burns him more than he can admit.

"I believe you." She tells him.

"Do you?" He challenges.

Cheyenne isn't able to reply as Phil interrupts as he tells him Rat is coming to relieve him.

. . .

"How come you don't live in Charming?"

Cheryl takes her gaze off Thomas, who has managed to wear his ice cream than eat it, as she turns to her oldest grandchild. She can see pieces of Lip in her, but with her brief encounter with her mother, she can see that Isla resembles her mother the most.

Cheryl flickers over to Abel, who is being pushed in the swing by Neeta, before turning her attention back to Isla. Cheryl had thought it would be nice for the kids to be out of the house and in the fresh sunlight. Ice cream and the promise of the park was a way to distract the boys from missing their mother, but she should've known that the trick wouldn't have worked on Isla.

"I had a problem with drugs –"

"Like my mom."

"Yes, like your mom. Your grandfather died and I didn't handle it healthily. I didn't want your dad and aunt to get put in the system and Charming was their home…so I thought it would have been better to leave. Let Gemma and Clay raise them since I couldn't."

"And you never thought of coming back? Even after I was born?"

Cheryl chews on her bottom lip. "I wasn't the best mother and I convinced myself it would have been better off with me not being around."

"But now you are?"

"As long as you want me around. I'm not going to insert myself in your life. I understand that I've lost a lot of privileges from my distance."

Isla doesn't say anything as she stabs her red plastic spoon into her melting sundae.

"How are you doing after what happened to your aunt?"

The ice cream is completely abandoned as her granddaughter nibbles on her bottom lip. "I don't understand why anyone would want to do that to Aunt Chey."

"I know."

. . .

Lip finds himself outside of a recovery center and doesn't know where to laugh or be happy that Nina seems to have gotten her shit together. Maybe it's a little bit of both, but either way, he isn't exactly sure how he feels about seeing his ex-wife when everything is so chaotic.

He is on the tail end of his cigarette when he hears Nina's voice and the cigarette almost drops from his lips at the new version of her. She looks as she did when she was a teen except her hair is cut very short as she has it slicked back behind her ears. There's color to her skin and clothes that fit and the slacks with a blazer is a far cry from the baggy jeans and stained shirts.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Nina greets as she catches sight of him. She seems generally excited to see him.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Lip counters.

Her smiles dims and she immediately goes on the defensive. "I don't want any trouble, Lip. I just want to start over with my daughter. I approached Cheyenne out of respect."

"You have no idea what you cause when you show up." Lip tells her truthfully. "And you moved back here? How about picking up a fucking phone. You've have no idea what we've been through."

"No. I don't." Nina agrees.

"You have no right to come back now." Lip tells her.

"And that should be up to Isla."

"I'm her father until she is a legal adult I get to decide what's best for her."

"And when were you able to do this? During your two year stint in Stockton?"

Lip's eyes narrow dangerously. "Stay away. From Isla. From Cheyenne and her boys."

"Or what? What... what, are you going to break my arm, punch my face in?"

Lip looks at her in disgust for even the thought that he would put his hands on any woman. Besides, it wasn't as if she had any room to talk about domestic violence. "I had nothing to do with that."

"Oh, really? Nothing?" She asks incredulous. "You are a felon on release. And as frightening as this notion may be, I'm probably the most stable adult in lsla's life. Block me out, and I will pursue custody."

"And you really think Isla wants to go live with you? You think a judge is going to hand her over to a junkie."

"Ex-junkie, who turned her life around. Judges love a good comeback story. I ain't going anywhere."

Lip raises and eyebrow, but doesn't respond. He simply walks away.

. . .

Cheyenne is glossing over paperwork that Margaret has left in her office about the hospital in Providence. Her excitement of leaving has dimmed considerably. Or more so, she thinks that leaving Charming means leaving without Jax. She believes Jax wants to go, but other factors won't let him. Gemma and the club won't let him and most of all, John's letters and his manuscript haunt her. Piney's words of how Jax and John are cut from the same cloth are true. Jax won't be able to leave unless he somehow fixes the club.

She's reading about the housing the hospital provides to make the transition smoother when a knock interrupts her. "Come in."

Of all the visitors Cheyenne expected she didn't expect Opie. He doesn't say anything but comes into the room and takes the seat that Jax resided in earlier.

She notices he looks rigid – tense. She knows that this isn't going to be a friendly social call.

"So I guess I should start by saying I am glad you are okay."

"Thanks Opie." Cheyenne tells him as she puts her papers aside. The movement catches the attention of Opie.

"Do you really think Jax and you are going to get out of this Life – Charming?"

Cheyenne notices his tone is almost patronizing and mixed with hurt, "Well from the tone of your voice…I take it you don't think so?"

"You and your kids would only get hurt." He points out.

Cheyenne holds up her cast and points at the road burn on her arms and face. "I think it is a little too late to say that, Ope."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Jax believes we can…"

"But you don't?"

"No…the sad thing is I do," Cheyenne told him her eyes becoming watery, "I believe him when he says we're leaving because he honestly thinks we can do it."

"Where do you think Donna and I would have been?"

Cheyenne shakes her head. Opie really needed to let her go. He is slowly killing himself with his grieving.

"Opie…you need to let her die," Cheyenne tells him regretfully.

Opie whips his head in Cheyenne's direction. Almost hurt that she would suggest something like that to him, "How can you say that? How can you say that to me!" Opie seethes.

"It's the truth Opie," Cheyenne says wiping her eyes. "You need to come to terms with it."

"Yeah…because you seem to have moved on from her death perfectly fine."

"What is wrong with you? Did you forget I took care of her funeral arrangements, the tombstone, and I took care of your kids while you ran away from the problem…" Cheyenne snaps. "Why are you even here? To compare who has been more wounded by the club, because if you want to know you win, but don't take your anger out on me because you didn't leave like Donna wanted you to."

"I don't want my best friend to lose his wife like I did."

"I'm not dying Opie."

"Are you sure?"

"Where is this even coming from?" Cheyenne questions.

Opie doesn't answer her as he stands up from his chair. He looks at her sadly. "I can't be there for Jax anymore."

"What's going on Opie?"

He bends down and places a kiss on her forehead. "I love you, sis."

"Opie…" Cheyenne says worried as he walks away. "Opie!" She shouts as he opens the door and leaves her alone with her thoughts.

. . .

"Where in the hell have you been?" Jax asks as Lip approaches the suburban home that fronts as a black market baby ring.

"What's it to you?" Lip replies.

Jax raises an unimpressed eyebrow as his nostrils flare.

"What in the hell has you so pissy?" Lip questions.

Jax motions back to the house where Lip sees Galen and Clay talking amongst themselves.

"What he pissed we used the RPGs?"

"Yeah, but apparently the lovely Catholics are still selling babies for cash."

"Oh shit." Lip says.

"Yeah. So where were you?"

"Nina's back." Lip tells him as he grabs his cigarettes and hands one to Jax.

"Fuck man. For what?"

"Same pitch. I want to get to know my daughter. I have the right too."

"You good with that?"

Lip shrugs his shoulders. "Isla's going to be 13 this year. If this is what she wants I can't get in the way of that."

"Still…that history ain't exactly pretty."

"Seems my mom is coming into the fold okay."

Jax snorts. "As long as her and Gemma ain't in the same room."

Lip smiles before a frown takes over. "What you going to do about that?" Lip asks in reference to the state of Gemma's face because of Clay.

"I would kill him," Jax says simply. "Mom doesn't want me to do anything."

"Honestly, I don't think this is something you should take her word on."

. . .

Cheyenne had dozed off after Opie left. She feels as if she has only been asleep for a good thirty minutes when she feels something off. Her eyes snap open and she barely hides her jump at Clay staring her down. "Where's Jax?"

"He's finishing up some things. Wanted me to come by. Check up on you." Clay tells her.

"Thanks." Cheyenne replies about uneasy.

"Sure," Clay states as he takes a seat in the extra hospital chair, "We gotta get you better. Ready to go. You and Jax got yourself a plan. Put all this violence behind. It's a smart move. I'd hate to see something get in the way of that."

"Really?" Cheyenne asks cynical.

"You know, I could make sure this plan happens. Push some doors wide open. See that nobody gets in your way." Clay promises.

"Even Gemma?"

"I'll stop her. She won't run at you."

"Yeah, I saw how you slowed her down." Cheyenne remarks at his callousness. She shouldn't be surprised this man did kill Jax's father and her own. She wonders how she never saw the signs. Maybe she is too close to really see how manipulative he and Gemma were.

"There's only one thing that could get in the way of that escape dream… those letters."

Cheyenne's eyes widen with the fact Clay has knowledge about the letters, "How do you know about them?" But as soon as she asks, she already knows. "Gemma?"

"She thought you were going to show them to Jax. Create a shit-storm. But you're a smart girl, Cheyenne. You know what happens if Jax reads those letters. It's the reason why he doesn't have them already. Complicates your departure. You need to give me the letters, Cheyenne." Clay presses.

"If you're so sure I'm not going to give them to Jax, why do you need them?" Cheyenne counters.

"Peace of mind. I want to be able to sleep at night. You can understand that. You give me the letters; I destroy them you and Jax leave with the kids. Hey, if Lip wants to leave too, he can patch out clean. Everybody's happy. And safe."

Cheyenne keeps her glare under control at the thin threat of Lip. "And if I don't give them to you?"

"I'm not sure you and Jax ever make it out of Charming." Clay threatens.

"So you think threatening me is going to make me give you those letters?"

Clay gets up from his chair and shrugs his shoulder, "We wouldn't want you to get another busted wrist now would we?"

"Your hands won't last long enough to keep burying the secrets you want kept hidden, Clay."

Clay looks at her startled as if he is being hit with some type of deja-vu. "Funny, your father said the same thing to me before I killed him."

. . .

Cheyenne comes out of the bathroom wearing a loose summer dress as Gemma packs up her paperwork. It seemed dresses were going to be a mainstay of her wardrobe as she didn't think she wanted to hassle with jeans or rely on someone else to help her dress. She places the hospital gown on the bed and runs her hands through her damp blonde hair contemplating on just going back to brown when Gemma interrupts her thoughts.

"What did Clay want?"

Cheyenne clenches her jaw thinking about Clay's visit and the fact Gemma possibly started all this mess, "He wants the letters. You didn't tell me he knew." Cheyenne remarks with a little edge in her voice. Cheyenne points to Gemma's face, "Is that why this happened?"

Cheyenne thinks Gemma has the decency to look guilty, "Found that cover note. I panicked. Had to tell someone." Gemma tells her before Jax interrupts them coming into the room.

"Why didn't you just come to me?"

"I did. But you were acting so evasive."

"Why do you think?" Cheyenne snaps. "A woman I loved more than my own mother knew about my dad being murdered. Knew about John. And I stumbled on the truth…who's to say what would have happened to me."

"If you could believe that I would –"

"What am I supposed to believe Gemma? I don't know the truth about anything."

"Is that what you want, sweetheart? Truth? 'Cause I got buckets of it. I can drown you in truth." Gemma spits.

Cheyenne shakes her head. "It's not my fault Gemma you have buckets in the first place…your and Clay's lies are why we are here."