Veronica couldn't believe her life had come to this. Yesterday she graduated with an Associate's in General Studies, and in August she would start at California State to pursue a Bachelor's in Psychology. For all intensive purposes, the sky was her fucking limit. And now, in three minutes, give or take, that could all go to shit. Her life had come down to a stick, a stick she literally just finished pissing on, dictating the next 18 years of her life.

Pulling the damn thing out from underneath her, she put the cap back on and stared at it. She realized refusing to take her eyes off of it wasn't going to make the results appear any faster, but that didn't stop her from trying. This was a make or break situation and she needed answers. Stat.

"Come on little pink minus sign!"she whined, her left leg shaking with impatience.

Feeling like the clock had started running backwards, Veronica placed the test on the sink counter and pulled her underwear back on. Hopefully, she was being ridiculous and worrying over nothing. Donna showing up at the house the other day in freak out mode had probably just put ideas in her head. God willing, in a couple minutes she would be laughing at her own stupidity and wondering why she even bothered.

So what if she had checked off at least four of the symptoms Donna had been ranting about ? That didn't necessarily mean anything. Yeah, she'd recently been eating Twinkies by the box full even though she never really liked them much before. And yeah, she was like, seriously tired all the time, and kind of nauseated. But that could just be the results of her aforementioned shitty eating habits? As for the missed period…well, lots of women had irregular periods for a variety of different reasons. Like stress. Which she had definitely been experiencing a lot of lately, what with the move, and then finals, and Jax being out on dangerous runs all the time... that was it, stress had to be the culprit.

"Dear Lord, please let it be stress," she muttered to herself, taking a seat on the side of the tub and putting her head in her hands.

She sat that way for a couple of seconds before reaching for the test again.

As expected, still nothing.

God she needed to calm the hell down already. There would be plenty of time for panic later, when she knew for sure that there was, in fact, something worth panicking over.

Actually, now that she thought of it, if she truly was pregnant these might be the last few minutes she had to breathe easy for awhile. It would certainly be the last time she'd be able to sit down and think of only herself. Or of stupid things like, how unfortunate it was that unicorns didn't really exist and, whether or not she would want to have one if they did. Although, why the hell she would ever think about that anyway, she didn't know. She'd never pondered it before, not even as a child, so it wasn't likely to come up any time soon. Except it had come up and she was totally thinking of it now. So maybe getting to a place where you would think about it just required realization that at some point in your life you might not be able to. Yet, now that she really had thought about it, she realized it didn't require that much thought at all, because the answer was obviously: yes, if unicorns existed she would totally want one…

Dammit! All the waiting was literally driving her insane.

Not that that was very far trip. She was definitely a top contender for the most impatient person on the planet. Jax was always making fun of her for it, telling her to try and chill out and just learn to go with the flow. She wondered if he'd still be saying that if he knew what may or may not be looming over their heads. The simple answer to that would be a big, fat, resounding NO. Because she was willing to bet that he too would be losing his shit if he was with her right now.

Thankfully, he was not. God knew she was having enough trouble trying to calm herself down without adding a hotheaded biker to the mix. Her and Jax hadn't so much as discussed their thoughts on children, not even in passing. She had no idea if he might like to have them in the future, much less right now. That's why she wasn't going to tell him until she absolutely had to. Better to spare him until she knew for sure, to tiptoe into the subject rather than slam him with it out of the blue. Then again, if she was already with child, she wouldn't have much of a choice, would she?

Unable to take it any longer, she grabbed the stick again. This time, she paused briefly before looking at it to throw one last quick prayer up to the higher beings. A lot of good it did her though, because as soon as her eyes landed on the results box, her stomach sunk so low she could've sworn it fell out her ass.

Positive. The test was fucking positive.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you wanted to look at it, she didn't have time to worry herself into a frenzy, as she heard the front door close at the other end of the house. She needed to hide the test, and fast; simply throwing it in the trash was not an option. So she opted for throwing it in the back of the cabinet under the sink instead.

Opening the door, she came face to face with Gemma, which was almost a relief just because it wasn't Jax. However, Gemma finding out her secret would be worse because she would be so fucking giddy, Veronica wouldn't be able to figure out what to do.

"I see it didn't take you long to get back into your old habit of sleeping the day away, little miss graduate," she said with a smirk. "Nice outfit."

Forgetting what she had on, V looked down. Of course she would be wearing one of Jax's old SAMCRO t-shirts and no pants in front of his mother. At least her ass was covered...somewhat.

She could feel a blush creeping across her face as she slid past Gemma and headed toward the kitchen. "Good morning to you too."

"I brought you some groceries." Gemma explained, following behind her. "The German was having a sale on steaks and I know how much our Jax likes his meat so..."

"Thanks," Veronica said pulling the steaks from the bag and sticking then in the fridge.

"Are you feeling okay?" Gemma asked from the door way.

Veronica emerged with a carton of Tropicana and moved to the cabinet to grab a glass. "Yeah, why?" she asked tensely. There was no way Gem could already tell she was pregnant, was there?

She shrugged. "You look a little haggard, that's all."

Leave it to Gemma to put it in such lovely terms. "I'm just tired," V offered with a weak smile.

Gemma smirked knowingly. "Up late celebrating and welcoming home your man?"

Yeah, that. Oh, and finding out that she was carrying his fucking child.

"Jackson Nathaniel Teller," his mother's voice shrieked across the TM lot.

Jax groaned and pulled himself out from under the Nissan he was working on. He could tell by the tone of her voice, and the use of the full blown name, that she was about to lay into him for something. Although for the life of him, he didn't know what. And to think, he'd been in such a good mood this morning after waking up in his own bed with his girl next to him.

"Hey, Ma," he said with a smile as he grabbed a rag and wiped his greasy hands before leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Don't you 'hey Ma,' me, Jax," she said. "I've got a bone to pick with your sorry ass."

He smirked. "Yeah, well, what else is knew?"

"Nothing's new Jackson, that's the God damn problem."

Growing annoyed at her run around, he reached for a cigarette out of habit. Unfortunately, he found his Marlboro's missing from his front pocket, the direct result of his promise to V to quit smoking. "What are you talking about?"

She looked at him as if the answer should have been completely obvious. "Veronica, Jax, what else would I be talking about?"

Upon hearing her name, a wave of worry consumed him, his head immediately running through multiple scenarios as to what could be wrong with his girlfriend. "Why? What's going on with V?"

"Damnit, aren't you listening to me," she asked, hands flying to her hips. "Nothing is going on with V, not a single god damn thing."

Jax felt his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Okay, then what's the issue?" he asked, clearly not following. "Last I checked no news was good news."

"Not when I show up at your house again this morning and find your girlfriend's skinny ass finger still bare," she explained. "Care to tell me why that is?"

He scoffed and bit his lip, realizing what she was getting. "Probably because I haven't given her anything to put on it yet."

"And why the hell not?" she raved. "You bought that ring two months ago, Jax, said you were going to propose the day you closed on the house."

Jax shrugged and busied himself looking for a wrench. "It wasn't the right time."

Gemma threw her hands up. "Well, excuse the hell out of me for being so stupid, but I don't see how there could have been a better time."

Jax sighed and faced his mother's questioning stare. "Not that owe you an explanation, but I'd just sprung the fact that I bought a freakin' house on her. I thought it might be better to give her some time before I sprang forever on her too."

"Baby, I hate to break it to you, but buying the girl a house kind of already implies forever," she said. "You're not having second thoughts are you?"

"No," he answered truthfully, as there was no doubt in his mind that Veronica was it for him.

"You sure? Because you're only 22 and it would be perfectly normal to..."

"I'm not having second thoughts," he stated firmly. "I just...I want to see where her head is at first, ya know?"

Gemma smiled warmly. "Sweetheart, that girl has wanted to marry you since she was thirteen years old. Maybe even before that, truth be told. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Maybe not," he agreed. "But you know how she feels about being an old lady."

Gemma chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I've had the pleasure of hearing one of her feminist rants once or twice. But honestly, I think her only real concern is being called 'old.'"

Jax laughed a little, recalling a conversation they had on her birthday after a member of the club had referred to her as his old lady. "Why does everyone insist on calling me that? I'm 20, I'm not fucking old!" she had complained. To which Jax had so cleverly replied with a suggestive wiggle of the eyebrows, "last I checked you weren't much of a lady either." Man, that one had earned him a good punch.

"Seriously, Jax, the girl let you brand her with your crow above her ass. Proposing is just a formality at this point."

He smirked. ""Technically, it's on her side. And if it's just a formality, then why is it such a big deal if I do it or not?"

"Because I'm your mother and I want to throw you a fucking wedding," she responded matter-of-factly. "Plus, if you don't give her that ring soon I'm going to take it. Someone needs to show it off."

"And she will," he promised, "when it's right"

"Alright," she said with a smile. "Just try not to drag it out too long, huh? Some of us actually are old and we aren't getting any younger."

"You are definitely pregnant, Ms. Morrow," her Urgent Care physician, announced as she reentered the exam room. "Congratulations."

Veronica wasn't sure "congratulations" was the word for it. More like "condolences," as in for the loss of all her plans. Plans which, ironically, probably would have included having kids someday. Of course,"someday" was the operative word, as in someday five or ten years down the road. But it would seem that the universe had determined otherwise and someday was actually right now.

"I don't understand how this could happen," she told the doctor. "I'm on the pill."

"Well, the pill is generally pretty effective yes, but, as with all birth control, not entirely 100%. Therefore, it is still possible to conceive while on it. And in your case, it may have been less effective than usual."

Veronica's eyes widened at that. "What do you mean, in my case?"

"According to your medical records, you'e recently changed prescriptions, correct?

"Yeah, to help with cramps but…"

"When you change dosages like that, it can sometimes take your body a little time to adjust your hormone cycle appropriately. So you switching could be a contributing factor to your current pregnancy," she explained. "Actually, it's probably the most likely."

Great, just fucking great. She'd done it all right, taken her pill at the same time every day like clockwork, never missed a day, and still gotten pregnant. What made it even worse was that she got here by listening to her doctor's advice and switching pills. Wonderful. And the icing on the fucking cake was that, for the most part, Jax and her still used condoms. Except for that one time, however many weeks ago, when he took her up to the streams to help her study for her Astronomy final. Which, drum roll please, was a whopping three days after she switched pills. Thanks cosmic timing, thanks a lot!

"Ms. Morrow, are you alright?"

Veronica hadn't realized she started crying, but sure enough tears were streaming down her face. "Uh…I…this wasn't exactly planned and I…I don't know."

"Right," the doctor said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Well, you always have options, whether it be carrying the child to term or terminating the pregnancy. I can send you home with some literature and when you've gotten over the initial shock of it all you can decide what's best for you."

Veronica nodded and wiped her face. She appreciated the effort, but literature wasn't going to help her now. What she needed was a way to figure out how to tell Jax he was going to be a father without sending him running for the hills. And she was sure no pamphlet, no matter how well written, could help her with that.

The party was in full swing. Well, as much as it could be considering the guest of honor. Jax hadn't been to many, but as far as third birthday party's went, he would say Ellie Winston's was a success. Granted, he would much rather be at home with his girl having some more of that hot welcome home sex. But hey, at least there was cake!

Veronica wasn't making anything any easier on him either. She looked so damn good in that little white sundress, with her long tan legs. And the boobs...God, her tits looked amazing. If he didn't know any better, he'd almost swear they'd gotten bigger, that's how well she was working that dress. It was probably a good thing for everyone in the room that Ellie had attached herself to V the second they walked in, otherwise he might not be able to control himself. There was no denying it, she was smart, funny, the perfect package. And with that megawatt smile of hers shining across the room, she was hands down the most gorgeous woman in the whole damn place.

As much as he hated to admit it, his mother was right, it was time he got his shit together and proposed. He already knew without a doubt that he wanted her to be his wife, had since he was a kid. So what better time than the present? It had to be done right though. None of that over the top, cheesy shit, because she would hate that. But he still wanted it to be meaningful.

"Can I have every one's attention for a minute," Donna's voice rang throughout the club house, finally managing to pull Jax's attention away from his girl. "Ope and I just want to let everyone know that...we're pregnant! Again. We're pregnant again."

Jax felt a smile tug at his mouth as the entire room erupted into cheers. The guys started whistling and shouts of "well done Ope," could be heard over by the bar. Tig even yelled an obligatory crude statement about Opie's penis that, Jax couldn't help but notice, made V's nose wrinkle in a look of disgust. Because even though his friend just made one of the biggest announcements of his life, Jax's main focus was still the beautiful blonde over by the door.

Pushing his way through the throng of people congratulating Donna and Ope, he watched her slip quietly out the door. Following her, he found her alone in the parking lot staring at the sunset.

"Hey hot stuff, can I buy you a drink?" he asked as he came up behind her.

She turned, tossing her long blonde ponytail back in the process. "No thanks. I don't accept drinks from strange men in biker bars," she said curtly before turning back around.

Jax moved in close, wrapping his arms around her slender waist, his hand dipping dangerously low. "Guess it's a good thing I'm not a stranger then. Otherwise, me touching you like this might be considered inappropriate."

"Jax," she scolded, smacking his rogue hand. "We are at a child's birthday party."

Jax smirked against the flesh of her neck. "I don't see anyone around, do you?"

"No, but you never know when they might show up," she replied, trying to move his hand up to a respectable position.

He complied, placing his hand just above her bellybutton. "Fine, I relent. But tonight you're mine."

Even though he couldn't see her face, he could picture the eye roll as she muttered a "yeah, yeah, yeah." She then placed her tiny hands over top of his larger ones perched around her middle. Intertwining her fingers with his, she pulled his arms tighter around her and leaned back into his shoulder.

"Guess there's going to be another little Ope or Donna running around here soon," he mused as they stared at the crimson and orange sky before them.

"Mmmhmmm," she hummed innocently in agreement.

Jax, of course, was not so innocent. Hearing V reply like that reminded him instantly of sex. Although to be fair, he was a guy and he'd been away for a week. An entire week in which he'd spent his free time being the good and faithful boyfriend she deserved. Despite all the girls throwing themselves at him, mind you, so he was clearly still a little deprived. And the way she let out that contented hum was practically a dead ringer to the way she whined as he worked her body the way she liked. The way that only he knew how...

"Jax?" She said questionably, almost pulling him out of his sexual fantasy before it began.

"Yeah baby?" He replied, a bit more huskily than he intended.

"Do you ever think about it?"

Oh yeah, he was thinking about it right now. "About what, darlin'?"

"Having a baby?"

Just like that, all the dirty thoughts that we're swimming in his head vanished, and the semi he was sporting went flaccid real quick. He could feel every muscle in his body tense up as soon as the words left that pretty little mouth of hers, the weight of her question slamming into him and the shock making him rigid.

She must have felt it too, because she pulled herself out of his embrace and turned to face him. The smile on her face, the one that he loved so much, was gone. And she had this look in her eyes, this expecting look, that made him even more uncomfortable than that time a fellow inmate tried to seduce him in county when he was 18.

Jax ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Uh, no, not really," he answered hesitantly. "Why would I?"

"I don't know," she said, nervously looking everywhere but at him. "I guess with the news and all the kids running around here, I realized we've never really talked about it."

"Why would we?" Jax asked, trying not to laugh. "We're not exactly parent material, babe."

"No... I guess we're not."

If he didn't know her as well as he did, he would have missed the hurt expression that flicked across her face before she turned away. "V..." He said, pulling her back. "V, I wasn't talking about you, I didn't...I'm just don't think I'm the family type, babe."

"What are you talking about? You love family," she said with a laugh. "You're always talking about how lucky you are to have the club, your brothers. And the way you are with your mom...Jax, you're the most family centered person I've ever met."

"Yeah, but that's different," he countered lamely. "I mean… can you honestly picture me with a kid?"

A caring smile tugged at her lips. "Maybe not at this very moment while you're standing outside the clubhouse looking at me like I just shot a puppy in front of you, but eventually, yeah. You already have that crazy protective instinct about you and I see the way you are with Ellie..."

"Ellie's not mine," he cut in. "You see me spend maybe ten minutes with her in passing before I give her back to her mom. Being responsible for a rugrat day in and day out? That ain't me, babe."

"Well, you know I'm sure Opie felt the same way once too, but..."

Jax left out a sarcastic chuckle. "Darlin, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I ain't Ope. I'm not the level-headed, gentle giant. I don't have weird, built-in caregiver instincts."

"I don't think you really know yourself, Jax, or at least you don't see yourself the way I do. I mean, yeah you're kind of a hot head, but you're not some psychopath. You are a gentle, loving, caring man, Jax Teller. You really are."

Jax could feel himself getting more flustered. "Yeah, but caring about you is exhausting enough. I can barely take care of myself most days, and now I'm busy trying to deal with worrying about you constantly too. If we ever have a kid together, the stress might kill me."

Annoyance flashed in those cold eyes of hers as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh well excuse me, I didn't realize I was that much of a burden to you."

He looked up at the sky to tried and calm himself down. "Damnit V, you know that's not what I meant," he replied harshly. "Why are you trying to put words in my mouth?"

"I'm not trying to put them there, you're saying them all on your own."

"Jesus Christ," he said, rubbing his face and trying to keep from tugging his hair out. "Why are we having this conversation right now?"

"Because it's something that couples need to discuss at some point in their relationship."

"Okay, and so you pick right now because?"

"Because it came to my mind and, seeing as you're the only person I see a genuine future with, it just made sense," she shot back, disappointment apparent in her tone. "But you know what, I'm pretty sure you've already answered it. You don't want kids."

"Honestly?" he asked. "No, I don't."

"Not ever?"

Jax shook his head. "I don't think so, no."

Her eyes narrowed. "You don't think so? Like there's a possibility that you might change your mind in the future, or…"

"Hell, I don't know," he replied doing his best to remain calm and failing by the second. "Is it possible? Yeah. Do I see it ever happening? Not really."

"Okay," she said slowly. "Can I ask why?"

Jax let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know, babe, where do you want me to start?" he asked. "First of all, they're expensive as fuck, always wanting or needing something that costs a shit ton of money. And I don't know if you've noticed, but I make the majority of my money running guns, which is dangerous shit that doesn't always go as planned. Which brings me to my second point, kids are a liability. Given the shit that I deal with on a daily basis, all the enemies the club has, a kid is just one more target to take me down with. And I don't think I could handle being responsible for something like that. Not to mention the fact, that you spend all your time raising them and taking care of them, and then they just grow up to hate you anyway, blaming you for all the shit that went wrong in their lives. So maybe a better question would be: why the fuck I would want them?"

Veronica stared at him blankly. "Wow, thanks for laying it all out there so delicately."

Jax winced at her blatant sarcasm. "Baby, I'm sorry, but that's just how I see it. Who knows, somewhere down the road I might feel differently, like if, God forbid, you get knocked up or something. But at this point in time that's how I feel about it. I like my life the way it is, just you and me."

V nodded and bit her lip, a sure fire sign that his answer still bothered her, but that she didn't want to say anything more about it. "Okay, well, thanks for being honest with me, I guess," she offered, looking at the ground.

Jax moved forward, placing a gentle hand on her smooth cheek. "Hey, don't be upset." he said softly. "Aren't you happy, being with me, with our life together?"

"Yes," she replied, looking up at him with sad eyes.

"Right, so it's not like we have to figure this out right now because there will be plenty of time in the future to worry about it. And in a couple of years, after you've finished school and things have settled down with the club, we can revisit this if it really means that much to you," he promised.

"But for tonight, let's just have some fun, okay? Because it's been awhile since we've been able to do that and I want to spend some time with my girl. We can do whatever you want, stay here, go home, go see a movie. I don't give a shit what we do, as long as I get to do it with you," he said before leaning in for a quick kiss. "How does that sound?"

She wrapped her small arms around him again held on a little bit tighter. "Sounds nice."

Veronica stared at the ceiling, the light from the street lamps coming in through the window and casting and erie blue haze above her. She couldn't sleep, not with Jax next to her. Usually it was the other way around, him being there actually helped her, calmed her down because she knew he was safe and she was safe by extension. However, tonight, being wrapped up in his arms felt…well, suffocating.

She had gone through the motions all evening, put on her happy face, laughed and joked with him, even made love to him. But now, in the deafening silence, she couldn't breathe. She just kept replaying their conversation over and over again in her head, like a horrible loop of all the things that made her afraid to tell him that she was already, "God forbid, knocked up."

Looking over at Jax, who was the picture of Adonis sleeping beside her, all she wanted to do was cry. She knew she should have told him, should have fessed up despite his negative view. She loved Jax so much and this was their kid and their decision to make together. But feeling his whole body go rigid like that, seeing the look on his face at the mere mention of a child, it scared the shit out of her.

It didn't help that she wasn't sure she really wanted children either. Growing up, while other girls were carrying around baby dolls, pretending to be mommies, she had been utterly disinterested. A part of her always figured that was just because she was a tomboy, that she would learn to want them and one day the motherly instincts other women seemed to be born with would kick in. So far though, the verdict was still out on that, because being pregnant seemed like more of a burden than a cause for excitement.

Although, if she really thought about it, her lack of enthusiasm on the matter could just be a result of the circumstances. I.e. because she was young, unprepared, and generally not in a place in her life where bringing a child into the world made any real sense. She was still a student with no real job, or really any relevant skills to speak of. Not to mention the fact that her baby daddy, who she loved despite it, was a known felon who could get picked up, or worse, shot at any moment. And she too was battling with the same concerns Jax had laid out for her. He was right, children were a huge responsibility and , given his way of life, the very life she had grown up in, there would always be a bigger realm of safety concerns. Everyone knew there was always an extra level of danger that came with being the child of a Son.

Child of a Son. Now there was a psych evaluation waiting to happen. Every one she'd ever known, including herself, was fucked up in some way or another. Either they were a product of their environment, or the sad result of it. Jax and Ope had always been so engrossed in the club that there was never any hope of them rising above becoming mirror images of their fathers. Tig's three daughters, all of which lived with their mother and hated him, were crazy as fuck. She'd never even met Chibs' daughter because of some kind of fall out with his wife and the IRA. God, and don't get her started on Bobby, with his long list of ex-wives and child support payments. One thing all SAMCRO offspring had in common? Their parents were no longer together, and, except in Jax's case, it was because the men just weren't meant to be fathers.

In her own life, that had always been a bitter pill to swallow. Even though she knew now how much Clay loved her, and had ended up with a pretty decent childhood, there were just some things she would never be able to forget. Like watching from the living room floor at the age of three while her mother ODed. Or being told when she was five that she was reason her mother hated herself and wanted to die. Or having to go and live with her father, a man she hardly knew, the man who originally didn't even want her in the first place, because her mother was too wasted to even make sure she had food to eat. And while living with Clay had been the best thing that could have ever happened to her, seeing her mother slip so far down, to the point where she was manipulating her own daughter out of her college fund for more booze and pills, that was something you couldn't come back from. She'd be damned if she'd ever put a child in a situation even a sixteenth as miserable as what she went through.

Looking over at Jax again, all the feelings she had for him swelled in her chest. She couldn't raise a child without him being on board, she just couldn't. And she couldn't ask him to pretend to be the doting father either if that wasn't what he wanted. She couldn't put her child in her shoes, couldn't let them grow up in an environment that was not only psychically dangerous, but emotionally as well. Try as she might to rationalize it all, play the what if game, hope that Jax might magically change his mind and that she would suddenly be ready, she had to face the harsh reality. She couldn't be a single mother, she couldn't expect Jax to stay with her forever, and she couldn't have this baby.

Pushing a heavy, tattooed arm from her waist, she quietly pulled away from the beautiful man sleeping beside her. Getting out of bed, she watched as he rolled over before tiptoeing out of the room and down the hall. When she reached the kitchen, she found her bag hanging on the back of one of the chairs and pulled out the pamphlets the doctor had given her earlier. Tossing the others aside, she let out a very heavy sight and sat down, staring at a cover that read "Thinking About Abortion."

Yes world, sadly, she was.

Jax woke up alone, which was quite the disappointment seeing as he was a fucking sap who lived for mornings when he could just sit and watch his girl sleep. Dragging himself out of bed, he made a quick detour into the bathroom before heading into the kitchen. As expected, Veronica was standing in front of the coffee pot, presumably on her third cup of coffee seeing as she was an addict, although she would never admit it. Regrettably though, she was fully dressed, meaning he'd have little, if any, luck convincing her to come back to bed with him.

"Hey baby," he said, leaning against the door frame.

"Hey," she responded without bothering to even look at him, as she moved to place her cup in the sink.

Not sure whether to take her disinterest in his presence as a bad sign or not, he propelled himself forward. "You're up early," he mused wrapping his arms around her from behind.

He felt her stiffen a bit at his touch before pulling away from his embrace. Standing there dumbfounded, Jax realized her greeting was indeed a bad sign. And he had a pretty good feeling he knew where her coldness was coming from. She had been distant since their conversation last night, even though she'd done her best to pretend like everything was fine. He just wished he could figure out why this seemed so important to her all of a sudden.

"You alright?" he asked, his eyes boring holes into her back.

She turned back to him, and forced a tired smile. "I'm fine Jax. I'm just late, and we both know where your head is at," she answered, her eyes traveling down below the waist band of his sweats.

He nodded, an amused smirk appearing on his face; she knew him so well. "Late?" he asked. "For what? It's Sunday."

Veronica cocked her head to the side and gave him a 'what are you, stupid' look. "It's Monday, Jax."

He shot her one of those infamous Teller grins. "Sunday, Monday, what's the difference?"

"Yeah, tell that to your mother and see how that goes over. Especially since she's been nagging me about going through TM's old invoices for the past month. Spring cleaning, she calls it. Sounds more like a pain in the ass if you ask me."

"Tell her no," he advised, leaning back against the counter. "Tell her you're taking the day off."

Veronica grabbed her bag from the chair in front of her and slung it over her shoulder. "Clearly, you've never met your mother. The woman's a goddamn bulldog."

"Yeah," he nodded in agreement, moving to pull her in for a hug. "I guess you're right. Better to suffer now than hear about it until Christmas."

"Exactly," she said pulling away and heading toward the door. "I'll see you later."

He caught her by the hand and brought her back in for a kiss. "Be careful."

"I will if you will," she replied sweetly before heading out the door.

Alone in the house, Jax considered going back to sleep for a bit, but quickly nixed that idea. There wasn't much use in being in the house when V wasn't here. And there really was no point in being in the bed without her. So, he opted for a shower instead.

Stripping off, he stretched his tired muscles and stepped under the stream. As the water sprayed on him, he thought of Veronica, trying to remember if she'd ever shown an interest in kids before. Sure, she seemed to like Ellie well enough, but she wasn't exactly the motherly type. Actually, the first time she ever held Ellie had been hilarious. She hadn't been expecting it when Donna handed her the kid and she had just stood there with wide eyes, holding the baby out in front of her and staring at it like it was an alien from a foreign planet. When Jax had poked fun at her for it later she had seriously, although he found it to be right comical, explained in earnest that she'd been scared to death she was going to break it.

Pulling his bottle of axe from the landing, he tried to squirt some soap onto his hand but found resistance. He gave the bottle a couple of shakes. Still nothing. Sighing to himself, he briefly considered the Bath and Body works shit sitting on the other side, but since he wasn't exactly up for having the shit teased out of him for smelling like his girlfriend, he ended up using his Head and Shoulders shampoo instead.

It wasn't until he was wrapping a towel around his waist that he realized how stupid he'd been. Knowing V, there was probably some extra body wash under the sink, seeing as she was generally pretty good about keeping up with that kind of shit and making sure he had what he needed. If only Jax had thought of that before. Then again, truth be told, he would have been too damn lazy to drag his soaking ass out of the shower to get it anyway.

Squatting down, he opened the cabinet and looked for a black bottle. At first he didn't see one, but after moving a stack of wash cloths and a box of tampons, he spotted it way in the back. As he reached in to get it, something lying next to it caught his eye. Curiosity getting the best of him he leaned in and pulled out a white plastic stick with a purple cap.

"Holy fucking shit," he muttered when he realized what exactly it was he was holding. A fucking pregnancy test. And, if the little pink plus sign meant what he thought it meant, a positive one at that.

Jumping up in shock, the top of his head collided with the cabinet, sending a serious wave of pain across his skull. Rubbing the top of his head, he rose slowly but still felt woozy. He didn't know if that was because he'd just beat the shit out of his brains, or because he was holding his girlfriend's positive pregnancy test in his hand. But he had a sinking feeling it was the latter.

Jax took a seat on the toilet and stared at the plus mark. Suddenly, their conversation was making much more sense. Damnit! He had been such an ass, practically making fun of her for even asking and the hold damn time...fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

His knee jerk reaction was to be pissed. Why hadn't she told him? Then his own words popped in his head. She wasn't asking him just out of curiosity, she was asking him to gauge how he would react to the news. And, as he often did, he stuck his god damn size 12 in his mouth. Yes, he had told the truth, but he should have known something was up, should have taken the time to actually have a conversation instead of freaking out. This was Veronica, the girl he knew like the back of his hand and he'd missed the signs because he was too busy flying off the handle.

As much as the prospect of being a father terrified him, his only true concern at this point was V. Clearly, she wanted this kid and, at the end of the day, Jax knew all he ever wanted was her. So really he had no choice. It was time to man up and take responsibility for his shit. It didn't matter if he wasn't sure because it was happening anyway, and he'd be damned if Veronica was going to do it alone. He loved her and he was going to stand by her.

He was going to fix it. And he knew exactly how he was going to do it.

The day had been shitty. Veronica had tried to focus on the task at hand, but she didn't give a shit about digging through her pack rat of a father's old paperwork. She had bigger things to worry about, like the abortion she had scheduled tomorrow afternoon in Lodi. Jax would be gone on another run by then so no one had to know. It would be over and hopefully she'd be healed before he got home.

Somehow, she managed to put up with Gemma all day despite the internal struggle. And luckily Jax had not shown up on the lot, which was an odd but welcomed surprise. As much as she hated to admit it, she was slightly dreading going home to him and having to act like everything was normal. She didn't know if she had it in her anymore.

Pulling her Honda into their drive, her heart sank a little when she spied his bike. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him, it was just so hard to keep it together. But this wasn't his fault. He had every right to feel the way he did, and it wasn't fair for her to take it all out on him.

After reciting this to herself three or four times she let out of heavy sigh and made her way inside. The first thing she noticed was the smell of food cooking, which was odd because she wasn't aware Jax knew how to make anything other than cereal. The second thing she noticed was that the house was spotless, which was another oddity, as she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Jax so much as pick up a dirty sock from the floor.

"What the..."

"Hey, beautiful," Jax said from behind her.

He had a single rose in his hand, which he extended to her before moving in to kiss her cheek. As she accepted it, she fought the urge to cry. She couldn't remember the last time Jax bought her flowers, probably not since he took her on their first official date almost two years ago. It was such a simple gesture, but it made it her feel that much more guilty.

"What's all this?" she asked pulling away to look at the man she loved so much it hurt.

Jax smiled, resting his hands on her hips. "I wanted to do something special for my girl," he replied simply.

She nodded and did her best to smile back. "You cooked?"

"Fettuccine Alfredo."

"My favorite."

He shrugged. "Yeah well, it's nothing fancy, just noodles and a can of Ragu. But I figured it was the thought that counted."

"You didn't have to do this."

"I know, but I felt like you deserved it," he told her. "Besides…I kind of want to ask you something."

She chuckled despite herself, just imaging what kind of ridiculous proposal he'd have for her. Probably something like another bike, or something club related that would have her worried to death. "Ah, I see. So you're trying to butter me up so I'll say yes?"

"Something like that," he said fidgeting slightly before he stuck his hand in his pocket.

"Well," she goaded, crossing her arms and feigning impatience. "Out with it then."

"Okay," Jax said, pulling something she couldn't quite make out from his pocket.

However, when he sank down to one knee and his hand extended she knew exactly what it was. A black velvet box that, of course, opened to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. It wasn't huge or flashy, but it wasn't tiny either. It was perfect, exactly what she would have picked out for herself. Seeing it, her breath hitched and her stomach dropped.

"Veronica Lynn Morrow," Jax began, looking up at her expectantly. "Will you marry me?"

Veronica stared at him blankly for a millisecond, and then the flood gates opened. Or more like her esophagus. Morning sickness had hit and all she could think about was getting to the bathroom before she hurled all over the carpet. So she threw a hand over her mouth and pushed passed Jax at a dead run, just barely making it to the toilet before vomit spewed out of her mouth.

As she retched with no dignity, she felt a warm hand running up and down her back. "That's right, get it all out."

After she finished releasing the contents of her stomach, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and leaned against the tub. And then the tears started."I'm sorry," she blubbered. "I'm so sorry I ruined your proposal."

"I know" he muttered, handing her tissue. "It wasn't exactly how I pictured it going down, but hey, at least it's memorable."

She tried to laugh but it came out as a sob. Giving up on trying to keep it together, she took the cloth from him and wiped the mascara running down her cheeks. God, how did her life get so out of control? The boy she'd been in love with since she was six had just asked her to marry him and she couldn't even enjoy the moment because she was too busy puking her guts out on the bathroom floor. Why? Because she was carrying his baby, a baby he knew nothing about because she was too afraid to tell him.

"Jax," she said shakily, trying desperately to keep her voice even. "I'm...," she began, getting ready to apologize yet again.

"I know," he interrupted, leaning back against the counter and holding up her forgotten pregnancy test.

The very second she spotted it, a cold mix of shock and fear ran through her veins."How did you..."

"I ran out of soap this morning. Found this when I went looking for some," he explained easily. "I'd ask why you didn't tell me, but I'm pretty sure my big mouth yesterday had something to do with it."

"I'm so sorry," she cried. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I swear, I was on the pill and then I switched prescriptions and..."

"It doesn't matter how it happened, V. Point is, it happened. So were doing this," he told her, getting down to her level and touching her cheek. "Together."

She turned away from him and looked at the ground. "How can we possibly do that Jax? You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want kids."

Jax sighed. "I know what I said, but I didn't know that you were pregnant when I said it…"

"Because had you known, it would have changed the way you felt?" she shot accusingly.

"Yeah it would've."

She scoffed. "Oh come on, Jax. I may be young but I'm not that naïve. You may not have said it if you knew, but you'd still feel that way deep down."

"Okay, yeah I probably would…actually I do…but babe, none of that really matters right now, because the universe doesn't give a fuck about what I want. You're already pregnant. I think the decision factor is kind of off the table for me."

"Well gee, when you put it like that I really feel secure," she snapped, wiping away a stray tear with the back of her hand.

Jax stood up and paced in the small space. "I don't know what you want me to say, Veronica. You know I'm shit with words, and I've already said enough that you won't really believe what comes out of my mouth anyway," he admitted before getting back down in the floor in front of her. "Truth is this whole situation scares the shit out of me. Being a dad, I don't know if that's me or not, I really don't. But one thing I do know, is that I love you. So I'm going to make it me and just figure the rest out as I go."

She nodded at his words, but in her heart she wasn't sure she believed them. When he moved in to place a soft kiss against her lips, she accepted graciously, but couldn't really feel it. At this point she was numb, the reality of what she had to do putting her nervous system on sleep mode. Him figuring it out as he went wasn't good enough for her. She didn't have time for him to decide if he could be a dad. She didn't have the strength to watch him try only to realize that he couldn't do it.

As he kissed away the fresh new wave of tears from her face, she told herself she had to hold on to this moment. Had to memorize the contours of his handsome face, the way his lips were always soft, but firm at the same time, the loving look in his brilliant blue eyes. Because she knew these would be the last few hours that he would feel that way about her.

The last few hours she would get to be with him before she had to say goodbye.

Hello Lovely Readers!

Sorry it took a while to crank this one out. It took me a bit longer (literally like 3,000 words longer) to add everything that I felt needed to be included so it all would make sense. Also, I wanted to make it clear that Jax wasn't just proposing because of the baby, that he had actually been planning it for awhile. However, as I alluded to in the last chapter, V thinks it's only because he found the test. Anyways, I hope it gave some more perspective on why Veronica felt like she had to leave.

As always thanks for the wonderful reviews, it makes me so happy to know that everyone is enjoying the story. Until next time.