Author's Note: So I know you all already know you're awesome, but I will tell you one more time – you're all totally awesome! To all of you who reviewed, we appreciate all of your feedback more than I can possibly say. Every time we get an email saying we got a new review we're texting each other back and forth about it and so excited, so please know we DO appreciate it! I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

Lux sat across from Jess at the diner, watching the table shake as Jess anxiously tapped her foot, staring at her food. She finally picked up the burger in front of her before throwing it back down, looking up at Lux.

"You alright there?" Lux asked her, though she knew why Jess was anxious. The results of the paternity tests were coming in today and Lux was having a time getting Jess's mind off of it. She'd suggested lunch as a last ditch effort to get her to stop pacing the apartment, but it didn't seem to be working. Jess's cell phone rang and she jumped, fumbling in her bag to get it and quickly opening it.

"Hello?" she said.

"It's here," Gemma said, "I promised you you could open it so you need to get your ass over here."

"We'll be there after lunch," Jess said as she hung up the phone, staring back at Lux, her eyes wide. Lux looked back at her, gnawing on a fry.

"We can go now," she suggested. Jess shook her head.

"No, we can finish eating," she said.

"You're not eating, and I can't eat with you bouncing your leg like that," Lux told her, throwing several bills down on the table, "Let's go."

"Yeah, okay," Jess said eagerly, tripping over her feet as she clambered out of the booth. Lux grinned, shaking her head, as she followed Jess outside.

They pulled up to the clubhouse several minutes later and walked into the office to see Gemma sitting in her chair behind the desk, waiting on them. She glanced up when they walked in and smiled, holding up a padded envelope and handing it to Jess.

"Moment of truth," she said. Jess took the envelope gingerly in her hands, staring at the front of it before glancing up at Gemma.

"I need a minute," she said, and without waiting for a response, turned around and walked outside. Lux went to follow her and Gemma grabbed her by the back of the shirt, pulling her back into the office.

"Let her have a minute," Gemma told her. Lux scowled but shrugged, flopping into Gemma's chair and looking worried.

Jess walked inside the clubhouse, not really knowing where her feet were taking her until they got there. She found herself at the ladder to the roof and quickly climbed up, knowing she wouldn't find more privacy than up there.

She sat down when she finally made it to the roof, her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared at the envelope in her hand, willing herself to open it. She flipped it over, putting one finger under the flap before quickly pulling her finger away. She had never felt more nervous, or more conflicted, in her life. The decision to finally know who her father was was the most challenging dilemma she'd ever been up against. She still wasn't sure if she even wanted to know, and at the same time was terrified that all the tests will have come back inconclusive and she'd be back to square one. Maybe they were all wrong and it wasn't even a Son at all. Maybe it was one that wasn't around anymore.

She had tried not to allow herself to hope at all. The idea that after 26 years she might finally have found her father, the idea that she'd find that he wasn't some drug dealer or junkie loser like her mom, was an idea she'd squashed long ago. It had been great having Rose in her life. That was already more than she'd ever thought possible, and staring at the envelope in her hand, she knew it held an even greater possibility and it terrified her that she'd be let down again.

She took a deep breath, finally sliding her finger under the flap when she heard the door to the roof open from behind her and knew immediately that it was Jax. She felt herself stiffen, afraid he'd be angry that she had utilized his spot.

"I'm sorry for being up here," she said quickly, her back still facing him, "I just needed to get away from everyone for a second and this seemed like the best spot." She heard him walk towards her and felt him take a seat next to her, but still didn't look up.

"What's in your hand?" he asked, looking down at the envelope.

"My father," she muttered. She finally glanced over at him, noticing that she was too full of nerves and anxiety about the envelope that she had no room to have those feelings towards Jax.

"I can't open it," she admitted, shoving the envelope into his hands, "You do it." He took the envelope from her, looking at her worriedly.

"Are you sure you want me to?" he asked. She nodded, feeling her entire body begin to shake.

"I can't open it," she repeated. Jax slid his finger under the flap, pulling out the contents and flipping through the pages while Jess watched him nervously, feeling as if she might have a heart attack. He looked down at the pages, his face full of shock, as he lifted his gaze to her face, staring at her for several moments.

"Well?" she asked anxiously. He shook his head, passing the page with the results on it to her. She snatched it out of his hands and skimmed the page, her eyes widening before she looked back up at him.

"Holy shit," she breathed.

"I know," Jax responded, "Bobby and Piney will be disappointed." Jess laughed, feeling the laugh catch in her throat.

"Why?" she asked.

"They always wanted daughters and you come with no child support," Jax responded, grinning. Jess laughed again before she stopped abruptly, looking sadly down at the paper in her hands.

"I'm sorry your dad's a Son," Jax said, watching her carefully. Jess shook her head slowly, looking back up at Jax.

"It's not that," she said, feeling tears brimming her eyes, "It's just… weird. Finally finding out who your father is and then finding out he's in prison for the rest of his life. And everything I've heard about him makes him seem like this great guy and I'll never get to have a relationship with him."

Jax nodded, reaching out to wrap an arm around her before changing his mind mid-course, resting his arm on his knee.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Jess shook her head, staring blankly at the paper in front of her.

"I don't know how I feel right now," she said quietly. They sat in silence on the roof for several more minutes before Jess finally stood and Jax followed her back downstairs. They walked into the clubhouse to see Lux and Gemma waiting at the bar, looking at Jess expectantly.

"Well?" Gemma asked. Jess gazed through her, handing her the paper.

"I'm going to the apartment," she mumbled, walking past them and out the door. Lux turned to Jax curiously.

"What was that about?" she asked. Jax shrugged, grabbing a beer from behind the bar.

"It's Otto," he said. Lux nodded, glancing at the door Jess had just walked through.

"Is she upset?" she asked.

"Not about him," Jax said, "Just about him being in prison." Gemma sighed, leaning back against the bar.

"Damn," she muttered, "I was really hoping it wasn't Otto. What good is he to her from behind bars?" Jax shrugged, taking a pull of his beer.

"I'm sure he'll do whatever he can for her once he finds out," Jax said. Gemma sighed, pulling out her phone.

"I need to call Luann," she said, "She can get word to Otto, and honestly she's probably the only person Jess wants to talk to right now."

SOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jess sat upright on her couch in the apartment, still numb to the new information. She had always been slow to process things, and she couldn't even bring herself to go for a run. She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there for, it could have been minutes or hours, before there was a knock on the door. Jess pulled herself up to answer it, relieved to see Luann, and not Jax or Gemma, behind the door. She stepped back to allow Luann in, giving her a small smile.

"So I heard," Luann said tentatively as they sat on the couch. Jess nodded, feeling the tears starting to form again. She quickly brushed them away, looking over at Luann.

"From everything you've told me, he seems great," she muttered, "but how is this fair? Can you just tell me he's an asshole? That I'm better off with him in jail?" Luann shook her head sympathetically, reaching over to run her hand gently through Jess's hair.

"I can't tell you that," she said softly. Jess sighed, pulling her knees into her chest.

"I feel like a bitch for being disappointed, but I actually had hoped that maybe now I'd have a family," she said, tears now streaming freely down her cheeks.

"You do have a family," Luann told her, "You have me, and you have the club. You're our family now whether you like it or not." Jess looked over at her, afraid to believe her. If every foster kid out there was completely honest, they'd tell you that all they'd wanted their entire life was a family. A group of people that loved and accepted them no matter what. It was what they longed for, and Jess was having a hard time believing it was really happening.

"I brought something for you," Luann said, reaching into her bag, "I put it together a couple of days ago because I just… I just knew, just looking at you, that it would turn out like this." She pulled out a charm bracelet similar to the one hanging on her own wrist but with much fewer charms, handing it to her. Jess took it tentatively from her, staring down at the bracelet, before looking back at Luann, smiling at her.

"It's like mine, see?" Luann said, shaking the bracelet on her wrist and making all the charms jingle. She had clearly been collecting for a long time, if the amount of charms on her bracelet was any indication.

Jess flipped through the charms, smiling at the thought that had clearly been behind each one. There was a J for Jess, a tennis shoe that must symbolize her love for running, and even a rose for her aunt. She held up the next charm – 2 interlocking C's that was the logo for Cara Cara – and looked up at Luann.

"That's a special one. I only had two made. I have one on my bracelet and I thought you should have the other one," she said. She pointed to the last charm on Jess's bracelet, "We also both have a crow, too, symbolizing your new family."

Jess felt tears pouring furiously down her cheeks now, but out of a completely different emotion, one she hadn't felt since the day she met Rose. This was, hands down, the most thoughtful gift she had ever received. She put the charm bracelet on, clasping it around her wrist before leaning over and wrapping her arms around Luann who, judging by her sniffling, had started crying, too. They eventually pulled apart and Jess fiddled with the bracelet for several minutes before looking back up at Luann.

"Thank you," she whispered, "I…I love it." Luann smiled at her.

"You need to know you have family here now," she said, "People that love you, people that are gonna look out for you, okay?" Jess nodded, smiling back at her, finally beginning to believe it herself.

"Can I… can I meet him?" Jess asked hesitantly. Luann nodded.

"I'm already working on it," she said, "We'll need to pull some strings but we'll get you a visit."

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jess lay on her stomach the next night, flipping through a magazine and unable to concentrate on any of the articles. All she could think about was how everything had changed in such a short amount of time. If she'd known how deep her roots were set in Charming, she figured she would have come here long ago and now found herself ironically thankful to her old boss, Ethan, for being such a colossal ass. She didn't think anything else would've gotten her to leave Santa Barbara.

She sighed as she flipped to the next page in the magazine, staring vacantly at an article about new summer fashion, her mind drifting towards the club. Finding out that her father was a member made her feel closer to it in a way that she couldn't describe. For the first time, she felt like she had a real home, a gift she never thought she'd have. On the other hand, she couldn't wear her rose colored glasses anymore. To fully embrace her new home would mean fully embracing club life, and she wasn't completely sure she was ready to do that, especially since it was still hard to be around Jax.

She thought about their argument. She had accused him of a lot of things, and maybe she'd been too rash. She tried to reason with herself, find any justification on why it was okay that Jax had done what he'd done to Ima. Lux had told her this kind of thing didn't happen very often… She shook her head. Once was still too often.

She sighed, rolling over on her back. She wanted so badly to make peace with it all. To get over her fear of slipping up one time at the clubhouse and winding up black and blue like Ima. But, she reasoned, Ima didn't just slip up. She'd pulled a damn gun on the vice president's sister, mother, and son. And her, whatever she had been to Jax at the time. She'd threatened his entire family.

Jess shook her head, trying to clear it. She knew she wouldn't be working this out tonight and tried to go back to her magazine, but just then Lux barged into her room, causing her to jump, startled at the intrusion. She scrambled up into a sitting position, glaring at Lux who was grinning broadly at her as she stood in the doorframe.

"Family dinner's in an hour," she announced, "I'm telling you last minute so you can't make up something to get out of it. I know you don't have any plans tonight."

"Why do I have to go?" Jess asked.

"Because," Lux said simply, "You're family now. And besides, Luann will be there and she'll be really disappointed if you don't come." Jess sighed, leaning back against the headboard.

"You had to play the Luann card, didn't you?" she asked. Lux grinned.

"Yup," she said, "Now get dressed."

As Lux and Jess walked into Clay and Gemma's, it became clear that everyone had shown up for family dinner, including Tara and Jax. Jess noticed it was getting easier to be around Jax, but this was the first time she'd seen him with Tara since that day from her balcony. She avoided them as much as she could without making things awkward, and luckily there were enough people around that it was fairly easy to do.

"Jess! I'm so glad you made it!" Luann exclaimed, walking across the room towards her and beaming. Jess smiled at her, wrapping her arms around her once Luann had made it to her.

"How're you doing?" Luann asked, taking a step away from Jess and watching her carefully. Jess nodded.

"I'm doing… okay," she said honestly and Luann nodded. She glanced down at Jess's wrist and smiled.

"You're wearing your bracelet," she commented. Jess glanced down and nodded.

"I only take it off to sleep," she said grinning.

"Well I'm glad you like it," Luann said, "Listen, the guys were able to pull some strings down at Stockton and were able to get you a visit next week. You think you're ready?"

Jess stared at her for at least a minute. When Luann had said they'd have to pull strings, she assumed it would take weeks, if not longer, to get it together. She hadn't expected it to come so soon. Now she wasn't at all sure if she was ready, but as she looked back at Luann's hopeful face, she found herself slowly nodding.

"Yeah," Jess replied. Luann beamed at her.

"Now don't be nervous," she said, "I know it's pointless for me to say that cause you're gonna be nervous either way, but he's real excited to meet you. He managed to get a cell phone from one of the guards and I told him all about you." Jess nodded, feeling better at the affirmation that she was at least a wanted surprise.

Gemma called them all to the table several minutes later and everyone hurried around, taking a seat at the overcrowded table. Jess began to get uncomfortable through dinner, unsure of how to act or what to say. She knew and liked everyone sitting around the table, but finding out about her father had changed everything. She watched Lux, cracking jokes every chance she got and watched as everyone laughed fondly at her. She could feel the bond these people had with one another, and even though Luann and Lux insisted she was family, no piece of paper could create that overnight. By the time the dinner plates began to clear, she was entirely overwhelmed and knew she needed a moment to herself to regroup.

She mumbled an excuse as she pushed her chair from the table, walking through the kitchen and out to the back yard. She reached into her purse, grabbing her cigarettes and lighting one quickly. She leaned against the back of the house, staring out into the dark night sky as she inhaled, feeling the calming effect of the cigarette begin to take hold. She jumped slightly, startled, as the back door opened and glanced over to see Tara step out.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly, "I didn't know anyone was out here." Jess shrugged as she took another drag off her cigarette.

"It's not my backyard," she said, "You can come outside if you want." Tara took a tentative step outside, closing the door behind her as she moved to stand near Jess.

"It just gets a little crazy in there sometimes," she said, "I just like to take a second to get away from it all."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Jess replied. They stood there awkwardly for several moments before Tara finally spoke again.

"So, how are you liking living with Lux?" she asked, trying to start a conversation. Jess shook her head, chuckling slightly to herself.

"It's fine. How are you liking living with Jax?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. Tara bit her lip.

"I guess I walked right into that one," she said. Neither of them said anything else for several minutes.

"This is weird," Tara said, and that was enough to break the tension. Jess laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Of course this is weird!" she said, "This whole situation's weird. This whole family's weird!" Tara laughed.

"Oh you have no idea," Tara replied. Jess grinned, shaking her head as she inhaled on her cigarette.

"I'm actually glad you were out here. I've been wanting to talk to you," Tara told her. Jess eyed her nervously, not liking where this was going, "I don't really know what was going between you and Jax-" Tara started, but Jess interrupted her.

"Nothing was going on between me and Jax," she said quickly. Tara paused before speaking again.

"Well, based on the amount of times your name came up when Lux was screaming at him after we got back together, I don't really think that's true," Tara said.

"I'm not gonna try and get in between you and Jax, if that's where you're going with this," Jess told her, annoyance in her voice, "You don't need to worry about me." Tara nodded, pursing her lips slightly.

"Just… don't hurt him again," Jess added. Tara cocked her head at Jess, who sighed, "That's why Lux was so upset, you know? She's tired of seeing you break her brother's heart."

"I can't undo the past, Jess," Tara said, shrugging, "All I can do is try not to make the same mistakes." Jess nodded, tossing her cigarette to the ground.

"Try harder," Jess said, turning and walking inside the house.

Tara followed her inside and they walked into the living room, where most everyone had congregated after dinner. Jess saw Jax eyeing the two of them together with worry and she gave him a half smile, trying to appease him. Luann walked over to her, smiling excitedly and Jess eyed her nervously.

"What?" she asked. Luann shook her head, still smiling, as she turned to the crowded room.

"I've got an announcement!" Luann said loudly, gaining everyone's attention. The room hushed and they all turned to look at her. Luann turned to Jess, who felt her face heat with all eyes in the room on them, especially when she had no idea what this was about.

"As of right now, I am officially promoting Jess to Manager in Training at Cara Cara!" she said, looking down at Jess, who stared back at her as the entire room erupted in congratulations.

"Are you serious?" Jess asked and Luann nodded eagerly.

"I've been working there like 10 times as long as Jess, how come I've never been promoted?" Lux yelled from across the room, but she was grinning broadly at Jess.

"Because you only show up for half your shifts!" Luann called back at her.

"Whatever, Luann! Nepotism at work again!" Lux yelled back, shooting a wink at Jess who laughed. Tig ran up to Jess, wrapping his arms around her.

"Congratulations, Jess!" he said as Juice shoved a shot in her hand. Jax even flashed her a grin from where he stood across the room, raising the beer in his hand to her. The entire room seemed to take her small promotion as a personal victory, cheers-ing and congratulating her, and it was that moment that she finally felt like she belonged there, that she was a part of this family.

Author's Note: Again, if you've got a second to review, please let us know your thoughts! We're loving your reviews so much and we might just keep updating more than even twice a week, like we did this week, if we're getting such a great response. It gives us motivation to write even more thus giving us more material, thus giving us more confidence in posting more often - chain reaction :)