Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy.

I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter. Thanks for the awesome reviews. Just keep them coming. :)

It's been a pretty serious ride for Jaxene over the last few chapters, so this one is a little bit on the lighter, fluffy and hopefully funny side, so I hope you all enjoy it!

I hope to have the second and final chapter for SAMCRO Princess up on Friday, so please remember, keep them love hits coming! Enjoy!

"You know I can't do this without you by my side, Ope."

The two men, who had been friends practically since birth, sat side by side on a couch in the Clubhouse. With several brothers working at Bluebird and the rest in the garage, it was a quiet afternoon on the lot. The only other person in the Main Room was Half Sack, who was busy restocking the bar and out of range to hear their conversation.

At the next Church session in a few days, Jackson Teller would be installed as Interim Acting President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original. To his mind, there was only one brother who could sit in the chair on his left to serve as his Acting Vice President.

"Listen, bro, after all the shit we talked as kids, you know I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a little bittersweet, though. I never thought it would happen quite like this." Opie replied.

Jax poured them each another shot of Jack as he shook his head. "Me neither, man."

"How's my sister-from-another-mister taking it?"

"I have a strong old lady, Ope." Jax smiled. "If she's conflicted, she's working hard not to show it. Jo's excited and happy for me, completely supportive, but I know she's sad for Clay and I can't blame her at all if she's having a tough time with this."

"Jax, more than anything, Jo's worried about her father's health, but in the end, you know she's got your back. There's no doubt in my mind about that. More important, she knows that. Don't second guess your old lady, man. She trusts you to lead the Club. We all do. After all, she's trained you pretty well." Opie said cheekily.

Jax cocked his head. "Don't you mean that the other way around, Ope?"

"Nah, I don't. It took her a minute to get you to get with the program, but now, you're good. Unfortunately, she had to work really long and hard to get you straight. Donna didn't have to train me nearly as hard to get me in line."

The two men looked at each other and started laughing. "Shit, you prolly right, man."

"Hell, I know I'm right." Opie smirked. "Jo is the only woman I know who could handle everything she's gone through with you. Donna would've kicked your ass to the curb a long time ago. I can't see anything fazing Jolene Teller and trust me, she carries your name with pride."

Jax smiled. "I love her like nothing else in this world, bro and, except for her recent craving for vanilla ice cream, cooked white rice, and raisins in the same bowl for breakfast—" Jax started as Opie grimaced, horrified. "Yeah, I know, disgusting—she's perfect. But Jo has faced some serious shit alone that she shouldn't have, and now it's shown up on the Club's doorstep. I really need your help, Ope."

Seeing his pal look at him quizzically, Jax stood up, grabbing the bottle of Jack. "Let's go back to my old dorm. I don't want to risk being overheard."

"Fuck, Jax! That bitch is crazy!" Opie growled into the silence of the dorm.

"You think so too, huh? I'm only telling you this shit. Just wait 'til you read the damn file. It'll blow your fuckin' mind." Jax said before downing another shot.

It had taken Jax several days to process all that he and Jolene had shared with one another. Now that they had, he felt empowered and prepared to do what was necessary on behalf of his family and his Club.

Jax had decided to share most of what Jolene had told him with Opie, with the exception of her stint at The Lollipop Café. In the end, it wasn't important in the overall scheme of things. Instead, Jax had spent the last hour detailing Agent Stahl's efforts to force Jolene into betraying her family and the Club while she had been on her own with Abel, her most recent attempt in Charming, and finally Stahl's true identity.

Opie ran his hand through his shoulder length hair. "I knew that bitch wasn't right in the head when she threatened to charge Jo with domestic terrorism. How the hell did this crazy gash slip by the Feds? Don't they have a screening process for this kind of psycho shit?"

"According to the reports in the file, the ATF had been actively recruiting women when Stahl was first approached. Apparently, the gash tested at genius-level and impressed a lot of people. Maybe they were so hot to snag her, they got sloppy with the screening process."

"Shit, whoever gave that psycho a badge should be shot." Opie pulled a joint from his pocket, lit it, took a drag and then passed it to his brother.

"Now that we know what we're dealing with, the question is what are we gonna do about her?" Jax took a drag and exhaled.

Opie sighed as he stroked his beard. "She tried to get Jolene to roll on the Club and failed, but she's still here. Why?"

Jax stood up to pace the room. "Well, we know she was looking to link the Club to Kyle's disappearance."

"When Kyle fell off the grid, the ATF lost a rat." Opie reasoned.

"Maybe Stahl's got a Plan B for catching another rat. Jo wouldn't play into her hand, maybe she's hoping somebody else will." Jax suggested.

"Like another old lady?" Opie asked and Jax nodded. "A good old lady is like a seasoned patch, Jax. They won't flip so easily on the Club."

"At this point, bro, we can't rule it out. Stahl could have anything up her sleeve." Jax replied.

"According to Unser, that gash and Captain America are pals. You think Hale has any clue that Stahl's not firing on all cylinders and has a raging hard-on for your old lady? I have to believe targeting Jo must not sit well with Deputy Dog." Opie said.

Jax stopped pacing and gave his friend a hard look.

Opie stood up and grabbed the joint out of Jax's hand. "Come on, bro. It is so fuckin' obvious that pig has a soft spot for Jo."

"I nipped that shit." Jax growled in return.

"I'm sure you did, but unrequited love dies hard." Opie replied, throwing his hands up when Jax continued to glare. "I'm just saying, bro, we might be able to use that to our advantage."

Suddenly, Jax realized he had made the right call bringing Opie in on this. He loved Jolene like a sister, but was still capable of stepping back and not let his emotions override his common sense. The same could be said about Jax, but not when it came to his old lady. There had been just one too many close calls that the fear of losing again her was almost paralyzing.

As much as Jax hated Hale, he couldn't believe that the Deputy Chief would willingly conspire with Stahl to hurt Jolene, even if it meant taking down the Club. Although his male pride was tearing him up knowing that his best friend had clued into Hale's feelings for his wife, Jax knew Opie was right and decided to think over the possible ways to use Hale for the Club's benefit.

Money can't buy David Hale, but he's not above bending the rules where Jolene is concerned, Jax said to himself, thinking about the night Cara Cara was raided. Not only had Hale given his old lady special treatment by holding her in a room instead of a cell, he had leaned pretty heavy on the porn pussy Ima and convinced her to drop assault charges against Jolene.

"You realize we have to bring this to the Club before Stahl makes her next move." Opie opined.

"I know, but I think it's best if we do it when Clay's not at the table." Jax suggested, surprising Opie. "He's dealing with his own bag of shit right now. Jolene's worried that something like this will set his recovery back."

Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, Jax lit one and watched as his friend sat down again. After killing the joint, with his elbows on his knees and hands clasped, Opie rubbed his forehead with his thumbs as he pondered the situation.

"You're right, bro." Opie spoke up after a long silence. "We wait and bring it to the table after you're voted in as Interim Pres. Knowing Clay, he's a reactive nut job at best and a complete psycho at his worst. His last executive decision could end up having him beating Stahl to death with his cast and federal lock-up won't help his recovery."

Jax nodded, glad that Opie agreed with his reasoning to withhold certain Intel from Clay, for now. "We still have to give the Club a head's up on Stahl. Just enough to let them know that we are not to sleep on this bitch."

"Okay, after the vote goes through, you bring up your concerns about Stahl still being in town. After Jo getting pulled in and with the Club going through a transition, it only makes sense to keep an eye out on all of our women, just in case Stahl decides to strike when she thinks we're at our most vulnerable. Later, we hold a separate meet here at the Clubhouse and fill everyone in on the Intel we have on Stahl."

"Sounds like that's the way to go, bro." Jax nodded. "One more thing, though. I think Jo may have overplayed her hand in letting Stahl know the shit she has on her. I wont' feel safe unless somebody's on my old lady 24/7."

"I thought that was your job." Opie teased.

"Nah, man, that's my privilege," Jax snarked. "But you know what I mean. Just in case Stahl gets any bright ideas about unleashing her crazy on my wife."

"Get Sack on it." Opie suggested, knocking back the rest of his drink. "Her disgusting cravings aside, how's Jolene handling carrying another spawn of Jax Teller?"

"She's handling it just fine. Me? Not so much." Jax replied as he sat next to Opie. "She's in constant go-mode from the minute she gets out of bed and trying to get her to stop for five minutes is turning me into a nagging little bitch."

Slapping his brother on the back of his cut, Opie laughed. "I'm not surprised. This may be your second kid, but it's the first one you've been there for since day one. And I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but Jo's only in her first trimester. The worst is yet to come."

Jax half-grinned. He had missed so much the first time around, he was actually looking forward to sharing the whole experience, good or bad, with his old lady. Unfortunately, now knowing the truth about her pregnancy with Abel, "bad" took on a whole different meaning and Jax was convinced his goatee was turning white from worry.

Still, Jax couldn't help but chuckle when he thought of his wife. "To tell you the truth, man, I can't really tell where Jolene ends and the pregnancy begins. She's always been a little—"

"Bat-shit crazy?" Opie finished for Jax as he saw his brother hesitate. "Yeah, well, trust me. It gets worse. Donna acted all shades of crazy on my ass in her first trimester and it only got worse towards the end. It got so bad, she had me jumping at the sound of my own fuckin' voice. I'm telling you, by the time Jolene's ready to pop, she'll be wearing your balls as earrings."

"Really?

Opie took a smoke from the pack Jax offered. "Really."

At that, Jax dragged on his cigarette and smiled.

And I can't fuckin' wait!

Neeta Benson took her responsibility in looking after the new Prince of Charming very seriously. She had quickly come to love the little boy and she was very much in tune with his moods. Abel was normally a pretty happy child, rambunctious sometimes, occasionally demanding, but generally speaking, a very loving little boy. In other words, he was very much like his mother and if he didn't get regular attention from those he loved most in the world, he got grumpy, depressed, and irritated. So when she read in the Charming Gazette that the public library was doing a series of book readings for children, Neeta thought that this might be a good way to get her baby boy out of his current funk.

After spending mornings with her husband and son, Jolene would usually drop Abel off at his grandparents' house before heading off to spend a few hours in the afternoon covering for Gemma at T-M's office. After packing a small cooler with a couple of sandwiches, apple juice, fruit, and his favorite freshly-baked pecan chocolate chip cookies, Neeta advised Abel of her plans for a special outing.

First, they would have an early lunch at one of the picnic tables at the park downtown, then they would head over to the library across the street for a reading of one of his favorite books, Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. Neeta hoped that the trip might cheer him up because, ever since Clay Morrow's accident, her baby had been in a bad way. His appetite had changed so radically as a result that even her famous chocolate chip pancakes failed to put a smile on his face.

The grade school where Abel would be going to in the Fall was only a few blocks away from the library and Neeta suggested taking a walk over there after lunch to check it out. Not surprisingly, Abel, who had been looking forward to starting Pre-K for months now, just shook his head, his chin resting on one hand as he poked holes into his half-eaten egg salad sandwich with the index finger of the other. After tossing his mutilated sandwich in the garbage, Neeta packed up Abel's untouched leftovers before they took a leisurely walk through the park as they headed to the library. Although it was early afternoon in mid-July, Neeta was surprised by the large number of children who had shown up with their parents for the book reading. For about ten minutes, with his mother's outgoing and affable personality taking over his tiny body, Abel seemed to enjoy meeting some new faces. Neeta was grateful that the boy had finally allowed himself to take his mind off of one craggy and old face in particular that he had been missing so much.

But Neeta soon learned that the whole reason for getting Abel out of the house had never been really far from the child's mind.

"Miss Neeta, since we're in your car, can we go see Papa? Pleeease? Just for a little while?"

Neeta looked at her young charge perched in his car seat through her rearview. "Baby, I know how much you miss your Papa, but he's going to be home sooner than you know."

Making a little "harrumph" sound, Abel crossed, his arms over his chest. "I wish we had gone to see Papa instead of listening to that lady read my book. She didn't read it right at all. Not like Papa, anyways." He said with a frown on his face.

Neeta actually felt her heart ache for her little boy as it was growing increasingly obvious that he was in a bad way, with no chance of getting better any time soon.

I need to think of something to cheer my baby up.

As an idea struck, Neeta smiled. Carefully turning the car around, Neeta headed for the I-22. "You know what, Abel? I think you need a little therapy."

"What's that?" Abel quirked an eyebrow, now curious as Neeta piqued his interest.

"That's something to make you feel good when you're sad. Most people call it window shopping. You look in the windows of stores at things that make you feel good, even though you can't get them at the time."

Abel thought about this for a minute. "If you can't get what you want, how does that make you feel good?"

"Well," Neeta hedged. "You might not get it right then and there, but you can still appreciate it and, hopefully, you can get it later. Don't worry, baby boy. I think you're going to like where we go to window shop."

The Stockton Galleria was a large, three-story mall in the heart of the city. Boasting over 150 stores, the mall had something for every age bracket.

Especially four-year old little boys.

Muttley's Pet Emporium strategically occupied the large space directly across from the Chuck E. Cheese's on the basement level. Abel could hear the barks and yips of the dogs half way down the escalator.

Looking at his companion with bright shining eyes, he practically squealed, "Miss Neeta! I hear dogs."

Neeta beamed. "That's right. I thought we could come by and say hi and visit for a little while. Whacha' think?"

Abel tugged on her hand excitedly, his Papa momentarily forgotten. "Let's go!"

And so for the next thirty minutes, Abel practically skipped all over the store, making time to meet each and every dog in the place and showing no fear. Muttley's had a large selection of full and mixed breed dogs in every size imaginable, ranging from gentle giants like Great Danes to nippy little boogers like Chihuahuas. Abel ran from one display to another, his green eyes large and sparkling at the antics of the animals.

Neeta stood close at his side as he smiled and waved at a dog that looked to be about the size of a pony. "Abel, don't get too close." Neeta said as the large shaggy dog put his head through the partition to sniff Abel's outstretched hand.

"Oh, he's a good doggie. He won't bite me." Abel looked up at Neeta and assured her confidently. "Miss Neeta, maybe he could come home wit us for a visit."

A young sales woman, whose name tag read "Marie", overheard and walked over. "I'm so sorry, honey, but I'm afraid you can't take this dog home. He's has a new owner who is coming to pick him up later today, but if you want, I can show you some other dogs."

"Oh, no!" Neeta interjected quickly. "That's quite all right. We're not doing any retail therapy today. No buying, we're just window shopping to cheer up my boy here." She smiled.

Abel snapped his head around at Neeta's statement. "Grandma does retail therapy all the time and she comes back with a lot of bags. I think we should do retail therapy too and buy me a dog." He pronounced sagely.

Marie tried to hide her laughter, only for it to come out as a series of coughs. "Smart kid." She whispered.

"Too damn smart." Neeta whispered back.

Abel turned around to try and argue his point better, but suddenly fell silent as his eyes widened. The next thing Neeta knew, Abel took off, heading towards a display where another sales person was settling some new arrivals into a display at the front of the store.

Chasing after Abel, Neeta, with Marie hot on her heels, pulled to a screeching halt as she saw Abel's nose pressed up against the glass. Neeta face-palmed herself as she realized her goose was cooked.

Approaching Neeta, Marie giggled as she summed the situation up. "Oh dang, it's on now."

Having met up his old lady at the lot, Jax followed her up the driveway as she parked her car behind Neeta's gun mental gray Honda Civic.

Grabbing her handbag, Jolene stepped out of the car. "Why is Neeta's car in our driveway?"

"Gemma said Neeta would bring Abel straight to the house after their outing in order to start dinner for us." Jax said as he got off his bike.

Slamming her car door, Jolene stopped dead in her tracks. "Start dinner?"

"Yeah, Neeta called Ma from the market. She knows how much I love her pot roast so she picked one up and offered to make it for us. We have been eating a lot of take out lately—" Jax stopped and suddenly threw his hands up defensively as Jolene flashed him a death glare. "Hey, not that I'm complaining, darlin'."

Although I might want to.

Jax couldn't really help it. Since Clay's accident, Jax had come to realize just how much he loved his old lady's cooking, especially now that he wasn't getting any. With Jolene constantly on the run, helping out at the garage and spending time with her father, the Teller family had been getting a pretty steady diet of take out food—burgers, pizza, and the occasional meatloaf from Nicky's Diner. Although he wasn't as talented in the kitchen as Jo's Uncle Elvis, Jax could manage to work the fancy grill out on their deck in the backyard. The last time he checked, however, he would need actual meat to put on it and the Tellers' freezer was currently sitting empty.

But Jax knew how rough Jolene had it and wasn't about to take his wife to task about it. Instead he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Babe, I actually thought this would be a nice surprise for you. Now more than ever you need to eat properly and this fast food shit ain't cutting it. It's not good for you or the little man in there." He lectured as he rubbed her tummy through the material of her top.

Jolene smiled and pulled him down for a kiss. "I know, baby. I promise, I'll go the market tomorrow and stock up." As Jolene opened the front door, the smell of simmering beef and vegetable emanated through the house. "Gawd! That smells really good." She exclaimed as her stomach growled in response. "I don't know why Neeta decided to cook for us today, but I'm glad she did."

However, as she saw Abel run a blue streak towards her, with a furry, four-legged companion nipping at his heels, Jolene finally got Neeta's number.

"Mommy, Mommy! Guess what? We got a dog!"

Jax looked from the ecstatic grin on his son's face, to his old lady, whose look of shock and horror begged him for an explanation. "I just got here myself, darlin'."

"Mommy, isn't he pretty? Don't you want to know his name?" Abel piped up excitedly, as the puppy leaped and ran around his legs, barking excitedly.

Stunned, Jolene had dropped her handbag on the floor and was now currently in a tug-o-war for it as the puppy stopped jumping on Abel and grabbed onto strap. Under the impression that Jolene was playing a game, the young pup refused to let go and was having a ball. Finally, squatting down, Jolene managed to tug the strap out of his mouth.

"His name's Chopper, Mommy. Just like Uncle Elvis' bike."

"Neeta!" Jolene called out loudly. "NEETA!"

Chopper, who seemed to clue in that this was his prime opportunity to make an impression, placed his front paws on Jolene's knees, jumped up, and licked her nose. Startled, Jolene leaned back and landed on her ass. Taking this as another good sign, the puppy scrabbled up Jolene's body, licking and barking in excitement. Jolene looked up at Jax for some help as the pup knocked her onto her back and slobbered all over her, but quickly realized he was practically useless as he was nearly doubled over in laughter.

Finally managing to sit up, Jolene grabbed the rambunctious puppy and held him at arm's length to take a good look at him. Chopper, a Red Labrador Retriever, had huge floppy, velvety ears and massive paws. At about 10 pounds, a foot and a half long, and a foot high, he was the cutest damn thing Jolene had ever seen on four legs. The dog made good use of his tongue, too. As Jolene cradled him in her arms, Chopper licked every part of her face as if he knew he was in imminent danger of being kicked to the curb.

Finally lifting the dog off of her chest, Jolene looked up from the floor to see Neeta smiling blithely as she walked into the room holding one of her signature apple pies. "Oh, hi, you two. I didn't realize you were home."

Jax tried in vain to control himself. After all, he was an outlaw biker, but he lost the battle and snorted, his laughter spilling out again.

Jolene, however, was not about to be deterred. Struggling to get up from the floor with the puppy still in her arms, she demanded. "Neeta, what is this?"

"Oh, that? That's Abel's dog, Chopper." She replied nonchalantly. "You know, I finished this pie and just realized that I forgot to buy some ice cream earlier and there isn't a bit of it in the house, so let me put this down and I'll hop right on over to the store—"

"Hold it right there, Neeta Benson!" Jolene finally got up from the floor and practically threw the dog at Jax, with Chopper quickly transferring his affections to Abel's father. "Please explain to me just how Abel went to the library today and, instead of a book, brought back a dog."

Fortunately for Neeta, Abel stepped in. "Mommy, after the liberry we went to the Mall and did retail therapy."

"What?" Jax and Jolene said simultaneously.

Abel nodded his head. "I was depessed 'cause Miss Neeta wouldn't take me to see Papa, so she took me to look at the windows instead. Then we saw Chopper and he had to come home with me, Mommy, because he picked me! So we did like Grandma and did retail therapy and Miss Neeta bought him for me."

Neeta spoke hurriedly. "I have to say, it was the strangest thing, really. I mean, there they were—all of Chopper's brothers and sisters—and they were just ignoring poor Abel, but the second Chopper spotted him, he came right over to my baby here and pressed his little brown nose up against the glass and well, what was I supposed to do?" Neeta put her hands on her more than ample hips. "The dog picked out our boy just as pretty as you please, and since you said you was thinking about getting him a dog—"

"But I wasn't done thinking about it yet, Neeta—" Jolene started.

"So I went ahead and did it for you. If I hadn't, Chopper would have been gone by the time you finished thinkin' about it and went to get him." Neeta said snarkily. "Abel was so happy, he ate all of his lunch, and you know he's been really off his food since he hasn't been able to—" Neeta paused and then mouthed, "See his Papa."

Jolene hesitated. "He ate all his lunch?"

"Every little bite." Neeta said triumphantly.

I got her now.

Neeta picked up the pie from the table and turned towards the kitchen. Calling over her shoulder she said, "Since y'all don't want the ice cream, I'm gonna check on dinner. I made twice baked cheesy potatoes, roasted broccoli with garlic and butter sauce, a nice garden salad and some of my good yeast rolls to go with the pot roast. And since Gemma thought it was a good idea, I filled up the freezer and the refrigerator with fresh meat and produce. Why don't y'all let Abel show you Chopper's bed in his room and then get cleaned up for dinner?"

Jolene looked at her husband, who was now playing with Abel and Chopper on the floor.

"When did I lose control?" Jolene asked Jax, whose eyes were watering as Chopper tugged on his goatee. Getting no helpful response from her husband, Jolene placed her hands on her stomach as she headed upstairs. "'Lil Peanut, I'm outnumbered here, so I sure as hell hope you're a girl."

"Hey!" Jax called from the bottom of the stairs. "I heard that!"

With the house finally settled down for the night, Jax was nibbling away at Jolene's ear as they snuggled together in their California king bed. Continuing her losing battle in her efforts to make Jax work for it, Jolene tried to pretend she was actually interested in reading one of his motorcycle magazines.

"There is absolutely nothing in this rag that justifies it calling itself informational." Jolene started, trying to ignore the fact that her old man's hand was now under her tank top and kneading her breast. "It's nothing but pictures of skanky-looking naked women on bikes. It's Harley porn!"

"I wouldn't know, darlin'." Jax stopped sucking on her neck. "I buy it for the articles." He laughed, unable to say it with a straight face as Jolene swatted at him with the rolled up magazine.

Grabbing her hands and holding them above her head, Jax gently rolled onto Jolene, effectively pinning her to the bed. Soon, he had Jolene making happy noises as he kissed her thoroughly. Jax let go of her hands and Jolene tossed the magazine into the wastebasket by her nightstand without looking in order to grab fistfuls of Jax's hair.

"I need that, you know." Jax barely broke their kiss to complain.

"Oh no you don't."

"I do if you want Chopper housebroken." Jax said and Jolene pushed him off her.

"You are not going to hit that sweet little ball of fur with a rolled up magazine in order to get him to go outside." Jolene said indignantly.

Jax smiled at his old lady, his blue eyes twinkling devilishly. "You are so much like Clay Morrow, it's kinda creepy."

Jolene crossed her arms over her chest. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that a couple of hours ago, you were threatening to stuff Chopper into the garbage disposal if he dropped another bomb in the house."

"Did you see the size of his last BM?" Jolene asked her eyes wide.

Jax twirled a lock of his wife's hair around his index finger. "You're not really upset about the dog, are you?"

Pushing Jax onto his back, Jolene snuggled into her husband's chest. "Nah, it was just the shock of it. According to Neeta, it was love at first sight for both Abel and Chopper and the little shit is just too cute for words. Housebreaking is going to be a bitch, though."

"Yeah, and this whole walking the dog business is going to get pretty interesting. Abel had a great time walking Chopper over to G-ma's, but he wasn't too crazy about the fact that I expected him to pick up dog shit." He chuckled.

Jolene snickered. "I hope you made him pick it up anyway. He wants a dog, then he's gonna have to learn how to take care of him."

With Jolene now in a relaxed mood, Jax thought it was as good as time as any to fill her in about his conversation with Opie. Kissing the palm of her hand, Jax looked into her eyes. "I talked to Ope today about Stahl."

Jolene she sat up. "You didn't tell him about—"

"Nah, babe. You and the pole was nothing to bother him about."

"What did he have to say?"

"You know Ope. He's pretty laid back and level-headed, but I think he was ready to kill her. He was pissed, Jo and upset that you had to go through it alone, but he gave me some good advice. I think we're gonna be okay."

"You really mean that?"

Jax gently pulled her back into his arms and kissed the top of her head "I wouldn't lie to you, Jo. The plan is to tell the Club—"

Jolene protested. "Oh God, no, Jax. My Dad—"

"I said tell the Club, babe—not your Dad. We need to operate from a place of strength and knowledge is power. We won't, however, tell your Dad. The strategy going forward is to let sleeping dogs lie until Stahl makes the first move. We'll hold onto your Intel and play it at the right moment."

"Okay, makes sense." Jolene almost whispered, her fingers absently stroking the "Abel" tat on his chest.

"I think so, too."

"My Dad was so right in choosing you as Acting President." Jolene smiled up at her husband.

"Damn right, darlin'." Jax grinned as he rubbed her back, slowly inching her tank up.

"Speaking of the President," Jolene sat up again and faced her old man, disappointing Jax as she pulled her shirt back down. "I think we should talk about Clay."

"Now?" Jax quirked an eyebrow at her.

Jolene nodded. "Yeah, it's official. The doctor said he can leave the hospital this Saturday."

"That's great, darlin, right?" He asked when he saw the look on her face.

"It would be if he wasn't being such a pain in the ass. He's been fighting Gemma on redoing his man cave in order to set him up on the ground floor and is refusing to agree to a live-in home attendant to help out." Jolene explained.

"This is Clay we're talking about. That's the nature of the man."

"Well, I'm worried because Dr. Wallace says that if we can't get him settled in comfortably at home, we may have to consider putting him in a rehab facility in Stockton. Sooo," Jolene said tentatively.

"Sooo," Jax continued with an eyebrow raised.

Taking a deep breath, which somehow managed to distract Jax, Jolene decided to just blurt it out. "Now, don't flip out on me until you've heard me out, all right? I've been thinking that it might be best for everyone, especially Dad, if he and Gemma just move in with us."

Before Jax could get a word in, his wife started babbling. "Baby, I know that this is a lot to ask, especially since we only just got married and, believe me, I know what it's like living with Gemma under the same roof. The last thing I want to do is relive my years as a teenager, but it'll be different this time and there would be so many benefits—"

"Jo—"

"Just wait a minute. First, we have that large bedroom right off the kitchen with a sitting room and bathroom that nobody's using—"

"Sweetheart—"

"And it would be easy enough to get somebody from Oswald's outfit to come in and make it handicapped accessible in a couple of days, much quicker than remodeling Dad's man cave. With all the shit he has in there, it'll take a week to clean it out before anything could be set up and there's not even a full bathroom—"

"Darlin'—"

"And Abel has been missing his Papa so much. He would love to have him around 24/7—"

"Babe—"

"And we have three extra bedrooms upstairs. Dad won't allow a stranger to help him, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind Filthy Phil. He would be a really big help to Gemma—"

"Baby—"

"And best of all, I'm sure Neeta wouldn't mind coming to help us out while Dad and Gemma are here. She can look after Abel and take the burden off of Gemma and some pressure off of me. I'll be able to cook more, and Neeta will pitch in in that regard as well because I know you're tired of take out—"

"Jesus, Jo—"

"Baby, it's really a win-win situation for all of us, and it's only until Dad is on his feet again, which I'm sure will be before 'lil peanut is born. With me and Neeta helping out, Gemma won't be so stressed out, which means NONE of us will be stressed out because as long as Mama Bear is happy then all is well in Charming. So what do you think, huh? And please don't say no."

"Jo! If you would give me a second, I'd tell you what I'd think."

Jolene looked at her husband with wide apprehensive eyes.

Kissing her hand, Jax looked at his wife sternly and then flashed her a big shit-eating grin. "Guns-N-Roses."

Jolene wrinkled her brow. "Huh?"

"If I'm going to agree to this, I want you to do a pole dance to Guns-N-Roses and it's got to be EPIC!"

Jolene squealed as her old man tackled her onto their bed.

"And one more thing." Jax said, finally managing to relieve his old lady of her tank top.

"What?" Jolene pulled him towards her as she peppered his face with kisses.

"We're getting Oswald to soundproof our bedroom 'cause nothing is going to interfere with my getting a whole lot of pussy to make up for moving in the cock-blocking champion of NorCal."

Jolene giggled. "See, told ya it was a win-win!"