Nothing you recognize is mine. Original Characters are my own.

Chapter Four

The next morning I woke up to a pounding at the door and reached over to shake Juice awake and found a cold, empty stretch of bed. I sighed and got up. As I put on my robe the pounding grew louder. I was expecting my mom or Jax at the door but was surprised to find Donna without the kids.

"Good, you're home. I need to talk to you." Donna pushed in and I let her. As my best friend she had a lot of privilege in my house.

"What's up Donna?" I asked as she went to my stove and grabbed the teapot. This couldn't be good, when Donna was worried or upset she started cooking or cleaning.

"Did you know your dad is trying to get Opie to work for the club again? Trying to make him a criminal, get him back in prison." She filled the pot, put it back on the stove and took out a teapot and measured some tea.

"Donna, once they're in the club they're in the club. Yeah Opie's going straight but that doesn't mean that he's not SAMCRO anymore. Dad was perfectly within his rights to ask a favor of Opie, Op probably would have gotten a big pay day from it too." Donna and I fought about the club constantly but we loved each other too much to let it ruin our friendship.

"I thought for once you'd be on our side. Hell, Juice threw the pool game to give Opie a windfall. We both know Juice is a better player than Opie. Wasn't that good enough? Why did your dad have to do this?" The tea kettle whistled and she started the steeping.

"Juice didn't throw the game; he was just really sucking that night. I know you're scared Donna, hell I don't even want to think about how I'd feel if Juice went to prison. Babe, sit down and drink your tea. Tell me, did Opie go on the run?" I wasn't sure who went because they scattered after they got out of the van.

"No we brought Ellie to the ER with a false report. He didn't want your dad to think he skipped out on a deal." She set down her tea and ran her fingers through her hair.

"That's good, he loves you and the kids Donna, you're his life. Listen I have to get to work. Why don't you and I go out to lunch tomorrow, my treat?"

"Ok, thanks for listening. I would go crazy without you to talk to. We'll have lunch and you can let me know all about your Gemma-less wedding plans." With that remark she gave me a hug and left.

I got dressed and put the untouched tea in a thermos before heading out the door. I had barely made it out when my mom pulled in behind me. I sighed and locked my door before turning around to face my mom.

"The bitch OD'd last night, didn't even have the decency to die." She took a drag from her cigarette as she stood facing me in the driveway.

"I'm not even going to ask how she got drugs. Is that all you came here to tell me Ma?" I had a deadline that I needed to meet that had just been thrust on me that morning.

"Someone's in a nasty mood this morning. What happened?"

"I got a visit from Donna this morning; she's pissed at the club. Everything with Abel has me thinking about what might happen if I have kids, and we're going to war with fucking everyone. I think I have a right to be in a nasty mood. Oh and I have a deadline to meet." I kept my voice even and was quite proud that I did so.

"No one ever said this life was easy baby. We're having a family dinner tonight, come with Juice and we'll have a good time. I think what you need is family. You and I can also start planning your wedding. I'm thinking autumn; you always look so good in autumn colors. I'll see you tonight baby." She waved and got in her car. I waved back and felt like crying. One more thing to add to my list, Mom was going to take over my wedding.

My morning started off awful and just got worse. I missed my deadline, got a stern talking to by the editor in chief and heard from the crime reporter that Lodi police had pulled over a suspicious vehicle and were rammed by another vehicle while two men ran for it. It didn't take me long to figure out who was involved in that fiasco. When I heard there were shots fired my heart stopped. I hated the thought of Juice getting shot again. The next thing on my list of shit was the delivery of a box filled with invitation samples and a book filled with pictures of place settings and wedding scenes. Atop it was a note from my mom reading, "We'll go over some of this tonight. Remember autumn, I'm thinking we can have the wedding at Jarrow Farms. How do you feel about horses?" I would have rolled my eyes if I didn't feel like sobbing. The only bright spot was a call from Juice telling me that he thought we should take a trip to Reno that weekend. He had evidently talked to my mother and the fear of Gemma had been rekindled.

Once I finished for the day I went over to my mom and dad's house to help with the dinner. The dinner was the balm I needed after my horrible day. The guys all joked and goofed around while we ladies made sure things didn't turn into a hazing. Mom was so busy with everything else that the "w" word wasn't spoken and I could breathe a sigh of relief. I smiled as Juice draped an arm over my shoulders and leaned into him. I was where I was supposed to be and it just felt right.