Thank you so much for the reviews for the last chapter! And a special thank you to the guests I couldn't send a message out to.

Reviews let me now you appreciate the work I put into my writing, they really mean a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I do not have the rights to SOA and make no profit from my writing. Anything you don't recognize from the show I have created.

Content Warning: This fanfiction is rated M. Please respect that warning and do not read this if you do not want to read M rated material.

I no longer have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

2022

Age 30

Set 3 weeks after last chapter

"I was thinking…" Becky started as she dried the big fry pan. "Maybe when my lease is up I should move in here."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Just to be a help." Becky shrugged.

Gabby took the dry pan and set it on the cooled burner. "Has Tom Tom not asked you to move in with him?"

"Well, sort of. I mean, I started looking at other apartments, and he said, and I quote, 'I've got room for you here' romantic, right?"

Gabby hmmmd as she put the lids on the Tupperware she had filled.

"But no, I just thought, Suzie and Kristen could bunk together. I could take the den. There's a full bathroom down here for me to use. Maybe just for the rest of the summer. Till…you know…Casper comes home."

Gabby shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She had finally gotten to see both Casper and her father, separately, and talk truthfully, without any kids begging to talk on the phone to them. Happy had been pretty blunt. He was still convinced he could take all the blame, get Casper off. Sieben said otherwise. And Casper had gotten less and less optimistic as the weeks in prison had gone on.

"Becky, move in with Tom Tom. I have the kids in daycare, and Trisha on nights and weekends if I need her, plus you on occasion, and Shark, and Tig if I get desperate. Vin told the prospects to bow to my every word. Lance has picked up groceries, picked up pull ups, taken care of the lawn. Mitch picked my car up from work Monday and got the tires rotated and the oil changed. I didn't even have to ask. He just saw Casper's note on the calendar and knew it needed to be done. There's a lot of single mom's out there with a lot less help than I have. You know that, you've been one."

"I've been one sure, but my hours at the restaurant are flexible and I have people who can trade shifts with no notice when I have an emergency. I'm just saying…"

"Becky…" Gabby warned. "Tell you what, mention to Tom Tom that you're thinking about renting a house with another woman from the restaurant to save money. He would much rather be your room mate than have to work around some other woman. He'll break down and ask you outright. You know it's why he got the house in the first place. I mean hell, he went ahead and bought an extra bed for Suzie already."

Becky laughed. "I believe he said 'for…you know…visitors…or emergencies…an extra bed is a good thing to have…' and then he shuffled his feet in that cute way that he does."

Gabby smiled at her friend. "You've got it bad, girl."

"Things have been nice. He has a house; we can come over and visit. He's not stuck taking the initiative to come to my place after work. Since he became an officer, he's really…grown up a lot. Matured, I guess. He's really taking things seriously now."

"Yeah, I noticed…he'll ask you. Just plow forward, pretend or not, on looking for a new place. He won't let you rent one."

2 days later

Shark felt his phone vibrate and stepped away from the noisy backhoe. He only had 10 minutes left till he was off. He wondered what couldn't wait that 10 minutes.

''Gabby?" He answered, having looked at the caller ID

"Shark…I need a favor."

"Yeah, of course, what can I do for you?"

"I had to leave work this afternoon, can you pick up the kids before the daycare closes at 6? I don't know when I can get home."

"Sure, sure. What's wrong?"

"Just…I gotta go, the pantry's full, soup and grilled cheese would be easy for dinner."

"Okay-" He got cut off by the click of her phone. It wasn't like her to not tell him what was going on. And she left work early? Usually emergencies these days included late arrivals to check in at the clinic. Maybe she had gotten called to the prison? Technically she was the first to be informed of any goings on in the prison with her father and Casper, but he found it hard to believe Sieben wouldn't have told the club about a change in status.

Hammer sat at the bar eating takeout and drinking whisky. It may still be a dorm, but his back was thankful he hadn't been making any long-distance rides lately. Fresno was really an okay place. Latest events excluded; it was a pretty safe one too. SAMFRES didn't haul any illegal material, they just kept the dealers in line. Protected dealers from rivals if they paid their fines and followed the club's rules, showed some muscle to the ones who didn't follow the rules. It wasn't as much extra money as running guns, but it was a steadier income.

Tig sat down next to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you don't mind the dorms, but I sure as hell miss my house."

"Better mattress?" Hammer laughed.

"Better mattress, better water pressure, full kitchen, no people milling around when I want to go to bed." Tig listed off.

"You getting homesick Tig?"

"No…actually I was wondering if I could talk you into renting something with me. Prospect moved out of the dorms into my house for the time being, paying me decent rent. Enough I could help cover something decent here."

"Sorry Tig, I'm not ready for that yet, don't get me wrong, I like it here, but I'm not, 'move in' settled, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I got you."

"Frankie was talking about Hap still having time on his apartment lease. He offered it to me as a matter of fact. But maybe you should take it. It's already got a room set up for your kids."

Tig shrugged. "He offered it to me too actually, but I thought it might be…I don't know…over stepping my bounds, I guess. I don't want Gabby thinking I can just step in here and replace Happy. She already offered me the use of his cage while I'm down here."

"Ask her. Can't hurt."

Tig chuckled. "You don't know Gabby. Sometimes she's easy as pie, sometimes she's…well, you ever spend time around Gemma up in Charming?"

"Ahh yeah, I get you." Hammer nodded and finished off his drink.

Shark was passing the hallway with a beer in his hand. His fourth of the evening. He was worried. Gabby wasn't answering her phone, calls or texts. He had fed the kids, played with them outside, watched a movie with them to calm down, and had just finished reading Kristen her bedtime story. Gabby had said she didn't know when she would be home, but he didn't think she had meant this late.

He opened the garage door to toss his empty bottle in the recycling and the garage door started to open. Shark quickly closed the man door so he didn't look like he was ready to ambush her. He rubbed his sweaty palms down his jeans and sat down in the middle of the stair case.

Gabby came in quietly, shutting the door silently. She spun around and grabbed her chest, letting out a quick gasp when she saw Shark on the stairs.

"You scared me." She chastised.

"You know how I feel then…kids are down for the night…you gonna tell me what the big emergency was?"

Gabby hung her purse on a hook and shook her head. "I will, just not tonight. I'm sorry, I'm exhausted. I just want to take a shower and go to bed. I appreciate the help though. I guess I need to get someone else a pass to the daycare for days like this…I took a chance you were free."

"Gabby," Shark stood and came down the stairs. "I would drop everything to help you and the kids, you know that. I didn't mind being here. I'm just worried about you. Talk to me."

Gabby sighed and closed her eyes. "I can't Shark. Not tonight, I'm sorry. Can you just…lock up behind you, please."

Shark nodded his head and stepped out of Gabby's way so she could go up the stairs. He locked the front door behind him and walked to his car. He leaned his head against the top of the door. This was classic Gabby. Something was wrong, and she wasn't gonna talk about it. Wasn't gonna ask for help. She was just gonna stew and stew in it until it all boils over and she explodes on someone.

Not on his watch. He walked back to the house and let himself in. He knocked on her bedroom door and came in at the silence. He sat down on the bed facing the bathroom door and waited for her to come out.

"Jesus!" Gabby gasped when she came out the door. She clutched her towel closed and stood staring at Shark. "Shark…"

"Here." He swooped her pajamas off the bed and handed them to her. She spun around back to the bathroom and closed the door. She stood staring at herself in the mirror after she changed. She was pale and there were bags under her eyes. There always seemed to be bags under her eyes these days, but today was different. She took a deep breath and came back out of the bathroom. She closed the door behind her for something to lean on.

"I really, really, really just want to sleep Shark."

"Tell me." He challenged her. "Tell me and I'll go."

Gabby closed her eyes and rested her head against the door. She had to tell him, she knew she did. She wouldn't be able to hide it for very long, and he was sure to find out after she talked to Casper next.

"I lost the baby." She whispered.

"Oh my god." Shark breathed out and stood up, taking 2 steps to engulf her in his arms. "Gabby I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. What happened? Are you okay? Stupid question…are you in any pain?" He held her out, both his hands on both her shoulders.

"I just…I just got some cramps yesterday, and I was spotting. I ignored it. And then…today…I just started bleeding. I knew…I knew it was too much blood. It was still early, in the higher risk time and…I had to go the clinic and get a D&C. The doctor couldn't give me a reason why but…."

"But stress to end all stress…" Shark summed up for her.

"It's not my first. I knew I was a high risk. I had one between Kristen and Matthew. I wasn't as far along. I wasn't…"

"You're not alone Gabby." Shark wrapped her in his arms once again and mumbled into her hair. "You're not alone."

Thanks for reading!

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If any of you are interested, I published another short fanfic a few days ago. It is just 2 chapters and an epilogue and I posted it all at once. It is called The Lock Down, The Dog Walker, and The Feud. It is about the origin of the feud between Kozik and Tig. It was alluded to in the show the feud was over Tig's dog getting shot. I fleshed out the story a bit more. Find it on the main page by title, or on my profile!