*Author's Note*

Thank you for all the follows, faves, and reviews.

Engaged & Shacked Up Now

Shaw POV:

I was at Devil Anse's lumber mill, loading boards into the back of my wagon. I was going to be making and installing kitchen cabinets today. I had to get it done by tonight since tomorrow I was taking Jessa to the large china store in Charleston to buy china so we'd be able to have things to eat and serve Thanksgiving dinner on, especially since it was in a few days. I was gonna stop by Johnse's still to get some shine bottles and to ask for his help with the cabinets; I was also gonna invite him and Roseanna over for Thanksgiving dinner too. I think that Jessa and Roseanna spending some time together'll be good for the both of them.

"You fixin' up that kitchen of yours ya pappy says you tore up mighty good?" Uncle Jim's voice sounded out from behind my back.

Turnin' around I found myself face to face with Uncle Jim and Cap, the lumber mill's security team. "Yea, gotta get them built and put up so I there's a place to stick the china I'm buyin' with Jessa tomorrow in."

"With Jessa? You're back with her?" Cap asked, his mismatched eyes popping out of hise head.

"Ah, so ya finally done killed Tolbert an' took your family back." Jim stated, not asked, with pride oozing from his crochety crackling timbre.

"No, Jim, I didn't kill Tolbert. She just got tired of livin' a lie and showed up on my doorstep yesterday wantin' to be with me." I told my uncle, giving him a sugarcoated verision of how me and Jessa got back together. I mean, yea, I was making it sound better than it really was, but my family didn't need to know that I had to plead my case with Jessa and use our son's wellbeing as a way to get her to leave Tolbert and move in with me.

Cap just gave me a skeptical look while Uncle Jim nodded his head and let out a simple, "Ah."

"Hey, Jim, can you tell Sully for me that he's welcomed to have Thanksgivin' dinner with me, Jessa, and the kids this year?" I asked since I wanted my dad to get to know his future daughter-in-law and his grandson.

"Sure." The crochety mountain man nodded before adding in, "I'll show up for supper too since I wanna meet this girl; make sure she ain't useless like that Yankee was."

"Uncle Jim, Olga wasn't useless. She was nice, just didn't get a fair chance's all." Cap told our uncle, defending my ex. Of course, he'd defend her since his wife was such great friends with the stupid crazy bitch.

"She was useless, boy." Our uncle firmly said, dismissing the previous remark my cousin had made.

"I was gonna stop by Johnse's still after I'm finished here, invite him and Roseanna over too." I said as a way to change the subject off of Olga. I hated that woman with a passion since she kidnapped Lydia. Only god knows where she's at and who she's with.

Meanwhile In Denver, Colorado…

Olga POV:

The train made a stop in Denver, not a quick one, but a half hour one for ev'body t'get somethin' t'et an' stretch their legs. Me an' most of the train riders were ettin' inside of a diner 'cross from the train depot. I was havin' breakfast wit' Asa at a table by the winda. The newspaper man was nice; quite a looker too. It was nice t'have somebody to travel wit', to talk wit' so I wouldn't be plagued by loneliness. We were strikin' up a friendship, one I needed right now too.

"We should be in San Francisco on Thanksgiving or the day after." Asa remarked, 'tween sips of his black coffee.

"Yea. It's a long ride." I told him as I picked at my marmalade smothered biscuit.

"Yes, a week's long ride if not more." He nodded, sippin' on his coffee 'fore puttin' his cup on the table.

"I don't mind it. When it's ov'r I'll be back wit' my own."

"Where in San Francisco are they at?" Asa asked, his warm hazel eyes holdin' an honest curiousity in 'em.

"The Barbary Coast." I answered 'fore eatin' a bite o'my biscuit.

"Ah." He nodded his raven-haired head. He et a spoonful o'grits 'fore tellin' me, "I've read that's a place known for hotels, bars, and brothels."

"Knowin' Amsterdam an' Jenny they prolly own one o'em establishments." I told him as he put his spoon in his bowl an' picked up his half et toast.

"Hmm…" Asa let out in a long hum, his head slowly noddin'. He took a large bite o'his buttered toast 'fore tellin' me, "Well, I'll be staying in a boarding house downtown, but I do plan on buying a house as soon as I get settled into my new job."

"I'll just be stayin' wit' Amsterdam an' Jenny." I told 'im 'tween pickin' at my biscuit.

"Would you mind if I called on you once we're out there? I mean we're friends and I'd like to build upon our newfound friendship." Asa asked me, pickin' his coffee cup up an' takin' a long sip of it.

Oh, my goodness. I weren't expectin' 'im t'ask t'call on me. Starstruck, I just nodded my head. Asa smiled at me an' took a long sip o'his coffee. I couldn't help, but t'smile at him back. The moment o'smiles was broken when Imogene woke up wit' a cry in my arm. Lookin' down at her, I said, "I oughta feed her 'em grits we ordered 'fore it's time t'get back on the train."

Asa didn't say a word, just nodded an' set his cup on the table. As I fed my daughter Asa just et his breakfast, watchin' on wit' a faint smile on his face.

Shaw POV:

After finishing up at the lumber yard, I took off into the backwoods to see Johnse. Of course, his still was quite a ride away from the lumber yard. A ride I didn't mind taking since I needed some shine. Oh god, after days of not having a night cap; tossing and turning with insomnia, I needed a drink. Hell, with everything I've been thru lately I needed to down a bottle just to steady my nerves.

"Hey, Johns." I greeted my blonde moonshiner cousin as I pulled up to his still in the middle of the woods near a creek outside of town, close to the state line.

"Hey, Shaw." Johnse waved from his spot bottlin' up his brew. "Here for some shine?" He asked as I climbed down from my wagon.

"I need a couple bottles, but I'm actually here to ask ya a few things." I told him, walkin' over to the awning his still was under.

"Okay." Johnse nodded while grabbing me a couple bottles. Handing me over the booze, he asked, "What ya wanna ask me?"

"One, if you'll help me build and put up my kitchen cabinets today and two, if you and Roseanna'll join me, Jessa, and the kids for Thanksgiving dinner."

"Yea, I'll help ya out." Johnse nodded before going on to ask, "So you and Jessa got back together?"

"Yea, we're actually engaged too." I answered with a broad smile.

"Really?" Johnse asked before going on to tell me in a genuine tone, "Well, I'm happy for you."

"Yea, I'm happy for me too." I chuckled.

"Roseanna'll be excited when I tell her. She never liked Jessa wit' Tolbert."

"Seems like your girl's not just sweet, but she's mart too."

A serious look appeared on my cousin's face as he asked, "Has Tolbert gotten hot over Jessa leavin' him and gettin' wit'cha?"

"So far I haven't dealt with the backlash of his temper, but I'm sure eventually I will." I told him, earning me a nod, as a crisp breeze began to pick up in the woods.

"Be careful, he tried to kill me just cause he saw me kissin' Roseanna. He gets too fired up to easy." Johnse warned, genuinely concerned about my safety.

"Hell, Johnse, Tolbert wantin' me dead's nothin' knew. He tried to gut shank me once over a lousy $20 card game. Jessa's just a new excuse to kill me over."

Johnse just nodded his head. Scratching the back of his neck and pointing to the basin catchin' his shine, he told me, "I got a few more bottles to fill, but I'll be by your place once I'm done t'help ya out."

"I can help ya fill them, then we can head out together." I offered.

Pointing to a small pile of bottles, he told me, "Okay, grab a bottle and start fillin'."

A Few Moments Later…

"How's your cabin comin' along, Johns?" I asked my cousin as he climbed into my wagon after hitching his horse to the back of it.

"Good. I put the ol' paper window in yesterday." He told me as he sat down on the buckboard.

"What else do you need to do before it's move in ready?" I asked while snapping the reigns and making the horses pull the wagon away from the still.

"I need a stove and some furnishin's." Johnse told me before quickly adding in, "Oh, and a stable too.", as I pulled onto the road.

"Well, I got a spare bedframe in my barn's storage ya can have."

"Thanks, Shaw."

"I'm bringing Jessa to Charleston tomorrow to buy china and if you want you and Roseanna can come along to buy a stove and a few other things." I offered in a friendly way.

One of Johnse's brows arched up as he asked, "You don't mind us comin' long?"

"No." I simply told Johnse, causing him to nod at me. Okay, time to get real with him. "You need to get that stove in your cabin so you and Roseanna can move out from under your daddy's roof. In order to have a real chance at being a couple you need to get away from Devil Anse or else he's going to dictate your life."

"Yea, reckon you're right 'bout that since daddy won't budge 'bout lettin' me and my sweet darlin' marry." Johnse solemnly sighed, sounding a bit depressed about not being able to get married.

Fuck, he's the same age as me. He doesn't need his dad telling him who to marry. Like hell I'd let Sully dictate my love life. He tried and look how that turned out, the crazy, stupid, bitch kidnapped my kid. Giving Johnse a pointed look, I told him, "Honestly, you're both old enough and don't need permission. If you really want to marry her just pay Wall a visit."

"I can't do that; it'll make my daddy mad." Johnse protested, clearly still worried about Ans's opinion.

"Johnse, you can't live your life worried about makin' Devil Anse mad." I bluntly told him since he needed to hear it. Not giving him a chance to respond, I told him the harsh truth of, "You love Roseanna and you need to do right by her cause if she gets pregnant, mark my words her family'll snatch her back and try to shove her on that lawyer Cline."

Johnse didn't say a word, just nodded, as what I told him sunk in. Hopefully he listens to me.

Allie POV:

My day was full of my usual tasks. You know, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of my son. I was also dealing with morning sickness, but at least this time around it wasn't as bad as last time. Since I was craving chicken, I made it for dinner. I knew that my husband wouldn't mind, he ate anything I put on the table. I loved that about him, that he wasn't a picky eater.

"You won't believe what I found out today." Cap told me as soon as he walked thru the door while I was setting the table.

"What?" I simply asked, looking up from my task to watch my husband take off his hat and coat.

"Jessa left Tolbert yesterday and is now takin' up with Shaw." He told me, placing his hat and coat onto the wall hooks before going into the living room to pick Captain W. up off the floor.

My blood ran cold as I went to grab the chicken platter from the counter. "Sam's Hill, how's you find that out?" I asked, shock evident in my tone, as my husband picked up our son.

"Straight from the horse's mouth. Shaw told me and Uncle Jim when he was at the loggin' camp pickin' up some lumber to repair his kitchen with." Cap told me, taking a seat at the table with our son as I brought over the platter of chicken.

"Sweet Jesus." I shook my head. Going to grab the coffee pot and some mugs, I ranted, "I can't believe she'd be stupid enough to go back with him. Especially after they've been broken up for so long."

"I don't know why she did it, just that she did." My husband retorted, grabbing a large piece of chicken and putting it onto his plate, which had some mashed potatoes and some beans on it.

Placing the cups by our plates, I remarked, "I have to warn her about him."

"How? He's at the house all day with her fixing it up since he destroyed it pretty bad whenever Olga left." Cap told me while I poured us our coffee.

Setting the pot on the table and taking my seat, I told him, "With a letter. I can even put some money in it for train fare, room and board too."

"What? Now we're gonna fund her getaway from my titchy cousin?" Cap asked a bit incrediously as he fed our son (who was on his lap) some potatoes from his plate.

"Yes. She was my best friend for years and I just don't want to see her end up like Olga. Sad and treated like the shit on the bottom of his boot." I told him in between eating my fried chicken, which tasted heavenly.

"Fine." Cap relented with a sigh. "We'll give her some money. Just make sure you warn her good in that letter." He told me, picking up his piece of fried chicken and taking a crunchy bite out of it.

Jessa POV:

Shaw and Johnse had been building cabinets all day. They were even working while I was making dinner. Of course, even tho dinner was ready, they were still working. I sent Mary to get them for dinner which is why Johnse and Shaw had just walked in the back door, saw dust covering their hands and clothes. "Wash up, please." I told them while placing the food onto the dinner plates (since we didn't have any bowls or platters, I had to make the plates up on the counter and then bring them to the table).

"Supper smells good, Jessa." Johnse complimented, following Shaw over to the pump sink.

"Thank you, Johnse." I told the blonde man before bringing a couple of plates to the table.

"We'll be putting the cabinets up once we're done eating, honey." Shaw told me as he and Johnse washed their hands.

"Okay." I simply said, going back to the counter to grab some more plates.

"Todd, time to eat." Shaw called out to his brother, who was in the living room reading a book for school, as he walked over to me. Giving me a quick kiss on the cheek along with a gentle touch to the small of my back, he told me, "I'll get Silas."

I just nodded and watched him walk into the living room to grab Silas from his playpen while Johnse took a seat at the table across from Mary, who was patiently waiting for her dinner. Todd took a seat next to his sister as I made my way to the table with plates for him and her. As I went back to the counter to grab Johnse's plate along with Silas' for his highchair, Shaw was holding our son and walking into the kitchen. As I appeared at the table, he was placing our son into the highchair that was set in the spot between our seats. It warmed my heart to see him fussing over our son since Tolbert was never hands on. Tolbert, a pang went thru my heart at the thought of him. I just shook my head, clearing my thoughts. Quickly, I placed Silas' plate of bite sized meat and vegetables onto his highchair before placing Johnse's plate in front of him.

"Thank you, Jessa." Johnse politely told me before digging into his dinner. Okay, so this family doesn't do grace then since everyone just eats when they get their plate. Good to know.

"You're welcome." I simply smiled before taking my seat at the table.

"Johnse and Roseanna's joining us on our shopping trip tomorrow." Shaw informed me between eating.

Oh my god, I was finally going to be able to hang out with Roseanna. I nodded, a big smile on my face, before looking at Johnse (who was sitting next to me) and asking him, "How's Roseanna doing?"

"She's good, but she'll be happy to see ya tomorrow." He told me before eating a piece of pork.

"Johnse need to buy a stove and a few simple house things so he can finish his cabin for him and Roseanna to stay in." Shaw explained the reason why Johnse and Roseanna were going to Charleston with us tomorrow.

"You built a cabin?" I asked as Silas happily grabbed a piece of food from his plate with his little hand, shoving it into his mouth.

"Yea, it's not that far from my still." Johnse revealed before taking a bite out of his biscuit.

"So, Devil Anse softened up to you and Roseanna then?" I asked since that's the impression I got. I mean why else would he build them a cabin for?

"No," Jonhse shook his head before pointing his biscuit at Shaw and revealing, "but Shaw here says that in time my daddy should come 'round." Before taking another bite out of his biscuit, Johnse added, "Especially if me and Roseanna just go to Uncle Wall and get married, then he'd have no choice, but to accept us."

Oh…I wasn't expecting to hear that. I gave Shaw a soft, but slightly surprised look. Shaw just gave me a shrug before eating a spoonful of potatoes. So, he really is helping out Johnse and Roseanna. He's pushing them together, giving Johnse the courage to pick Roseanna over the rest of the Hatfield family.

"Just let us know when you wanna see Wall 'bout gettin' married; we'll be there to support you." Shaw told Johnse, more or less volunteering us to be the star-crossed lovers' best man and maid of honor.

"I'll do that." Johnse nodded. Looking at me, he smiled, "Congratulations on your engagement." Before I could thank him, he went on to say, "Shaw told me; I'm happy for ya and I know Roseanna'll be excited too when I tell her."

"Thank you." I smiled, even tho it was a thin and faint one.

Honestly, I wasn't feeling overly excited about being engaged to Shaw. I was more or less with him for my son, so that Silas could have a good life. I cared for Shaw, I really did, but I wasn't in love with him yet. Hell, I just left Tolbert yesterday so I still harbored a love for him. Moving on with Shaw was hard, I'm not gonna lie, but I had to do it. Silas deserved a dad that would love him unconditionally, if I had to buried feelings and grow new ones then so be it.

"You're a good cook, Jessa." Todd spoke up, half of his plate already eaten.

"Yea, you are." Mary added in before eating some potatoes.

Shaw just gave me a smirk, showing that he was happy his siblings were adjusting so well to me. I just smiled back at him before telling the kids, "Thank you."

Sully POV:

After dinner I was sitting by the fireplace with Uncle Jim. His dog, Mr. Howles, was laying by his feet. I was going over some papers, grading them and what no, while my uncle was drinking his flask. I was in the middle of grading Todd's paper, which was on the first few chapters of Moby Dick, whenever Uncle Jim's crochety drawnout timbre broke the silence in the room with, "Your boy, Shaw, got some lumber today."

"Ah, so he's finally fixing up his kitchen." I nodded, trying to keep my focus on the paper in my hand.

"He's engaged and shacked up wit' Miss Jessa now. Even invited us over for Thanksgiving, invited Johnse and that McCoy girl of his too."

"What?" Fell out of my mouth as my brows quirked up. I knew they were talking and seeing each other for their boys' sake, but hearing that they worked things out so fast took be by slight surprise.

"Ya heard me. Shaw got his family back." My uncle firmly told me. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he let out a disappointed huff of, "But he didn't kill Tolbert like I thought he'd do."

"Uncle Jim, my son doesn't need to be killing people especially Tolbert McCoy." I flatly told the crochety mountain man while going back to reading the essay I needed to grade.

"If he wants t'have a quiet life wit' his woman and their son they he needs to kill Tolbert. That chaffin' wet turd lil chicken shit won't ever leave them 'lone." Uncle Jim remarked in a know-it-all tone. I just shook my head, causing Jim to tell me, "You know that Tolbert and Shaw's been at each other since they were small boys. Now a woman's involved, one Tolbert lied to and turned 'gainst Shaw for a short time, and one of 'ems gonna kill the other over her. Best it be your son doin' the killin' rather then Ol' Rand'l's."

"Damnit, don't talk like that. I don't like it." I heavily sighed, finishing reading Todd's paper.

As I wrote a grade on top of the paper, my uncle told me, "I don't give a shit if ya like it. It's true an' needs to be said, Sully."

I shook my head at him, dread filling me up. Placing the paper into the graded pile, I sighed, "Just try not to be so brash at Thanksgiving dinner. No need to scare the girl."

"I ain't gonna scare the girl on Thursday; I ain't brash either." My uncle scoffed before taking a long sip of his flask.

Oh god, Thursday's going to be one hell of a day. That's for sure.

AN:

Hope you guys liked this chapter. So, Olga and Asa are striking up a nice friendship on their trip to San Francisco. Do ya'll think that Johnse's going to take Shaw's advice and marry Roseanna without Devil Anse's blessing or no? Of course, Allie wants to get a warning to Jessa about Shaw's wicked ways. Will she be able to get her that letter or will it get intercepted? And Jim Vance's remark about one of the guys (Tolbert & Shaw) killing the other over Jessa, do you think he's right or just overreacting?