"If two past lovers can remain friends, it's either they were never really in love or they still are."
―Unknown

Marceline and Bentely have been in Charming for about a week or so and Marci was getting the boy familiar with the SAMCRO family, his new family. She and Donna have have already had two playdates for Bentley and Kenny and the boys were warming up to each other, so Bentley now had someone around his age to play with. Jasmine was a bawling wreck when Marceline showed up on her doorstep with the news that she was permanently staying in Charming and that she now had a little boy hanging off her hip. Jasmine was absolutely enchanted by Bentley too. Marceline had also gotten in touch with Freddie and he was willing to take her on as a tattoo apprentice, so she'd be going to see him a few days a week to properly learn how to be a tattoo artist, but he gave her a trial run yesterday and told her he knew she was going to be a great addition to his parlor.

Today, Marceline was driving to the garage while Bentley was staying with Gemma for the day. She parked on the lot and saw most of the Sons' bikes lined in a row, so she knew Kip was around somewhere.

"Cute ginger, incoming." Juice warned Half-Sack as she passed him.

"Eat me, Juice."

"I would, but I promised Jasmine that she was the only one who could sit on my face."

"You are so whipped." Marci teased as she approached the ginger man, her eyes settling on Kip's shoulder wrapped in bandages. "How's your shoulder?"

"I've had worse. Tara says it's healing right."

"You go on your lunch break yet?"

"No, I've got another twenty minutes or so."

"I'll be around. Come find me?" She asked and he slowly nodded.

"Yeah…sure."

"So, what's going on?" Juice asked as Marci went into the clubhouse to see who was inside.

"I think she wants to talk."

"About what?" Kip shrugged. Marceline didn't say much about why she wanted to talk with him, not that he asked, and she was wearing tinted sunglasses, so he couldn't see the emotions held in the olive eyes he missed so much. "Maybe she wants to take you back."

"After everything I did to her? Not a chance."

"You did get rid of Asher, the worst thing to ever plague her life after Rosemary."

"And he killed Zane, the first guy she loved." He bitterly reminded his friend.

"Listen, I'm not supposed to tell you this and I'm putting my dick in shooting range here, so be grateful." Juice looked around as if he might spot the girl in question before pulling Kip into a huddle. "Jasmine might've told me that Marci's been, maybe, talking about you lately."

"Talking like how?"

"Like she misses you and that she's been reading some book about glass?"

"Through the Looking-Glass." Kip corrected with a shake of his head, but he smiled. He was happy to hear that she kept the book and didn't toss it out like garbage. "It's a book by an author she likes that I gave to her when she came home. I thought she'd just torch it like she did with the letters."

"You're getting a second chance, brother. Try not to screw up again or Chibs is seriously gonna hurt you."

After Kip was finished working on a Camry with Juice, he peeled his mechanic shirt off and poked his head into the clubhouse to search for Marceline, but she wasn't inside. Scanning the lot, he found her sitting at one of the picnic tables by herself and he went over to sit on the opposite side.

"Where's your lunch?" She asked.

"I didn't pack anything, was planning to go get a sandwich."

She held up a plastic bag and gave it to him. Kip took it and there was a wad of foil inside that was hiding a double-decker club sandwich. "Packed one, just in case."

"Thanks." He smiled at her as he unwrapped the food and took a few bites. "How's things with Freddie?"

"It's great." She smiled, beamed was more like it. He knew how artistic she was and he was glad she was doing work that made her happy. "I love working with Freddie and he's been urging me to freelance to get some solo experience."

"We could throw a tattoo party here, probably on a Friday." He suggested. "Between the Sons getting old ink touched up, the Crow Eaters getting tramp stamps and the hang-arounds wanting something, you'd be going home with a fat pocket. I'll talk to Jax about it."

"Thanks."

"I didn't see Bentley anywhere." He noticed.

"Gemma took him off my hands for the day. They're at the park with Diesel." Kip nodded, not adding a comment this time.

The pair fell silent and Kip refused to look at her face. Her sunglasses were shielding her eyes, but with how close they were now, he knew he'd be able to see through them and to those gorgeous orbs. He didn't trust himself not to say something, anything that would make her give him another chance.

Marceline's been nice enough to let him be around Bentley and he's taken a liking to the kid. He felt a sense of superiority over the other Sons when Bentley would sniff him out when the pair would stop by the clubhouse. He noticed how protective the boy was of Marceline too. He was never too far away from her and he stayed close enough to quickly run to her, always had his eyes on her. He didn't know the story behind Bentley becoming part of Marceline's life, none of the Sons did, but the kid was a great addition. She loved him like he was her own flesh and blood.

Kip accepted whatever relationship they had now. He wanted to go back and change everything he did, but he couldn't. So long as she was okay and willing to talk to him, he couldn't complain about where they stood…even if that meant they were strictly platonic.

Marceline, through the cover of her sunglasses, stole a few glances at the Son sitting across from her. Kip looked so much older than he did before she was taken. He nailed the rugged charm of a Son perfectly now. His eyes were harder, his body was more defined and muscular, there were more edgy tattoos decorating his skin and she swore he grew another foot. He looked bigger and tougher and he had a confident aura radiating from him.

Despite Kip's new features, Marci thought that he was still the same guy she went to Fun Town with and won her a stuffed monkey; Magnus was Bentley's cuddle buddy now. He was still the guy that kissed her in that photo booth and snuck into her bedroom; the same guy that her best friend absolutely adored and her father approved of. He was the same loving guy that deflowered her and made her feel beautiful with his kisses or little touches or could make her blush with a few select words. The same compassionate guy that tried to put every broken piece of her back together with his hugs or wordlessly told her that he was there when he held her hand.

And he was still that weird guy that liked relish, of all things, on his scrambled eggs.

Kip intently watched when Marci took her sunglasses off. Just to his luck, some sunlight managed to hit her eyes and he got to see those olive orbs sparkling like a green kaleidoscope. She fiddled with one of the legs for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh that made Kip's brows furrow in uncertainty.

"I'm pregnant, a few months along actually." She told him and Kip shot up to his feet, almost choking on the sandwich he was eating. "Thought it'd be best to tell you now rather than letting you figure it out when the damn thing was coming out."

"Did he force you?"

"Please sit down." She requested and he did so. "He didn't force me, but he definitely didn't stop it. It wasn't ever supposed to happen with him."

"...is that why you were being so cold towards me?" He asked, scratching his jaw. "Not that I didn't deserve it, but...was that why?"

"Figured we wouldn't get back together anyway, but me being knocked up would really keep you away." She shrugged. "I wanted to clear the air between us. I know I've been kinda mean to you, all for good reasons, but I can't avoid you forever and I'm done being spiteful. Gemma says bitterness gives you crow's feet anyway."

"...I shouldn't have broken up with you." He admitted. "I shouldn't have slept with Cherry and I shouldn't have treated you like you meant nothing to me. You were right, I should've told you what was happening. You would've been fine with me in lockup and I knew that because I knew you were gonna be a great Old Lady. I've tried telling myself that I broke your heart to protect you, but I can't fully believe that. I guess I was still getting used to having my patches and made one of the stupidest decisions in my life."

"Where did that come from?" She asked, surprised, as her cheeks flushed.

"It was everything I couldn't say when you came back. I just want you to know how sorry I am for everything I did. You didn't deserve any of it."

Before Marci could even try to respond, her phone started chiming. "Hey, Gem. How's…"

Even just a few inches away, Kip could hear Gemma's voice on the phone chattering away and Marceline's expression dropped. She hung up the phone and frantically stood from the picnic table, running to her car as Kip called out to her.

"What'd you do, man?" Juice asked as he watched Marceline speed off the lot.

"I didn't do anything. She gotta call from Gemma, then freaked out."

"C'mon."

Juice and Kip followed after Marceline and realized that she was racing to St. Thomas for some reason. As they got off their bikes, Gemma's Cadillac came screeching into the parking lot, parking next to them. She frantically got out and she pulled Bentley from the backseat. Diesel was in the backseat, barking in concern while Bentley was having trouble breathing, his face puffy, covered in red patches. They brought him inside and doctors got him on a stretcher with Gemma and Marci on either side.

"This looks like an allergic reaction." One of the nurses stated. "Was he exposed to any foods, drugs, animals, latex or mold?"

"I bought him a macadamia nut cookie and he started coughing a little after he ate it." Gemma explained and her eyes went wide in realization, filling with tears as she turned to the ginger girl. "Oh, god. Marceline, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

The team of nurses rolled Bentley through another set of doors and that left Marci, Gemma, Kip and Juice in the waiting area while they performed on the boy. Gemma was crying her eyes out while Marci was trying to tell her that it was an accident and that she herself was unaware of any allergies Bentley may have had so there was no way of knowing this would happen.

After a while of waiting, Marceline made her way into the hospital's empty Chapel. She lit a few candles and clutched the blue rosary from Arcane in her hands as she kneeled before them.

"O merciful Lord, I call upon your charitable heart. I beg you not to take my son away from me. He's a sweet boy and I've been trying so hard to give him a better life. I think you guided me to him, that you wanted me to find him and love him. If this is punishment for anything I've done, then invoke your wrath on me, holy Father. I beg you not to punish that innocent child for my transgressions. He's suffered so much already."

Kip was watching her from the doors and waited until she was done with her prayers before he walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"The doctor wants to talk to you." He informed her and together, they walked out of the Chapel to the waiting area where there was a doctor awaiting their return.

"Marceline Telford?" Dr. Richards asked and Marci nodded. "Bentley must've given you quite the scare today."

"You have no idea."

The doctor smiled. "I'd tell you not to worry, but you're a Mom. It's in your nature."

"He's okay?"

"We found out that Bentley has a severe peanut allergy. It's very common in children. We've prescribed him an epinephrine auto-injector or EpiPen." Dr. Richards explained as she motioned for Marceline and Kip to walk with her, headed to the room Bentley was in. "It's single use, comes in a pair and expires yearly. They can be bought over the counter and at most drugstores or pharmacies. You should keep one with you at all times and send Bentley to school with another to let his school nurse and teachers know about his allergy." They stopped in front of room 115 and Marci could see Bentley sleeping in bed though the window. "Any questions?"

Marceline was trying to ask the doctor something, but she looked torn between crying and fainting. Dr. Richards looked between the ginger and the Son with uncertainty, probably knowing the signs of someone about to have an Anxiety Attack. Kip didn't think twice when he took Marci's hand and enclosed it between both of his for comfort. He felt her squeeze his hand to her own little rhythm. He squeezed back to get her to look at him and received a shaky nod in response to his silent question. She'd be okay, just rattled at the moment.

"Um, would we have to give him the shot in his chest or his arm?" Kip asked the doctor. He wasn't sure what the important questions were, so he was just going to go through the ones that popped in his head until Marceline got herself together.

"He should be injected in his thigh at the first signs of a reaction."

"And are there any side effects?"

"The most common side effect is uncontrollable shaking. At first sight, you might think he's having a seizure, but he won't and it should subside within a few minutes. After Bentley stabilizes, he should be brought into the ER to prevent another episode called biphasic anaphylaxis. After the initial reaction, there's a twenty-percent chance that another could be triggered."

"Marci, you get all that?" She gave him a shaken hum. Thankfully, her hands stopped trembling and she kept her grip tight on his. "This won't affect his breathing or anything, will it? He likes running around with his dog."

"So long as he doesn't consume or touches peanuts, he'll be the same bouncing little boy he's always been. We'll be keeping him overnight for observation, but he's been stabilizing at a very progressive rate and may be able to be released as early as tomorrow afternoon. He's sleeping right now, so I'll go grab those EpiPens."

"Thank you, Dr. Richards." Kip said and the doctor nodded, going to get the medication like she said. He turned to Marceline and she was still pale as a ghost, but she was getting her breathing under control and she no longer had tears in her eyes.

Kip and Marceline went into the room and Marci went to the bed to stroke Bentley's hair as he slept. A few minutes passed before there was a knock on the door and Dr. Richards was back with three tubes in her hand.

"Okay, here's one for Mom to keep at home and another for school." She gave two of the EpiPens to Marceline before turning to Kip. "And one for Dad."

Kip took the EpiPen, but neither he or Marceline could tell Dr. Richards that they weren't in a relationship or that Kip wasn't Bentley's father before the doctor was gone.

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