The holidays got the best of me. I'm sorry it took me this long to update; it seems as though I'm always apologizing for not adding new content as soon as I would like to. BUT ANYWAYS! Last day of 2013 and I hope everyone enjoys this day by remembering all the good things that happened this past year! 2014 has a lot in store for us! AND that includes Season 7! THE LAST SEASON OF SONS OF ANARCHY! *starts crying* I am NOT looking forward to it. I never want it to end, but knowing how crazy Kurt Sutter is, he'll leave us with our minds BLOWN like he usually does.

Season 6 finale? Had me crying at least 4 times. I am NOT exaggerating! It was TOO damn intense and just thinking about it makes me want to cry again.

Enough with the rambling, i hope you enjoy this next chapter and thank you to all who read/favorite/follow my story! It means SO much to me! Enjoy the New Year!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy.

Emily didn't get any sleep that night. How could she? After she drove home with Opie, she stayed up to make sure he would make it through the night. She managed to walk him into his room, but the second he saw his kids sleeping in his bed, he broke down again. After crying in her arms for what seemed like forever, he kicked her out of his room, saying he needed to be alone. Emily didn't argue, but she couldn't go to sleep, so she just sat on the couch in the living room, aware of the stillness. How were they going to tell Ellie and Kenny? The last thing they remembered was saying goodnight to their mother. Hours ago, she had been talking to Donna in the kitchen, and now? The house felt empty and cold.

A loud knock made Emily jump. She rubbed her eyes and slowly looked around the living room; the early morning sunlight was slowly creeping its way in through the windows. What time did I fall asleep? Another knock at the door made her groan, pushing down on the armrest to lift herself off the couch. She reached the door and swung it open, her mother stood at the front porch. She had a long face with her eyebrows drawn together as she looked up at her daughter, immediately letting out a sigh.

"I…" She stopped and stared down at the floor; Mary was not the type of person to hesitate on saying what was on her mind. Emily stepped aside to let her mother into the house, who walked in with a slow strut. "Opie?" She asked as she set down her bag on the couch.

"In his room with the kids. Haven't heard anything yet." Mary simply nodded and looked at Emily from head to toe and back up.

"Go get cleaned up." Emily nodded her head and walked down the hall, grabbing some clothes from her room before heading into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She rubbed her back as the hot water hit her body, relaxing most of the tension. She didn't know if it was because of what happened the night before or the fact that she fell asleep on the hard couch. She shut off the water and stepped out, drying herself off. She put on her undergarments before pulling on a pair of jeans and a dark gray sweater that was a size too big for her small frame.

Her body froze as she heard her brother's gentle voice from the next room, soon followed by a muffled cry. Ellie. Her heart broke as she heard her niece crying, Kenny didn't make a sound. A tear escaped her eye, it burned. Raising her hand, she tried to wipe off the foggy mirror clean before she stared at her reflection. Faint dark circles were forming under her red, irritated eyes. She turned the faucet and let her cupped hands fill with cold water, lifting them to her closed eyes to try and reduce the puffiness. Her hands ran through the knots in her blonde hair before getting impatient with it and decided to leave her damp hair around her shoulders. She pulled on her dirty boots and gathered her dirty clothes in her arms.

The second she opened the door to exit the bathroom, Opie walked out of his room, his eyes dragged up from floor to look at his sister. His green eyes were dull, weary and tired. He sighed and closed his eyes for a bit longer than the standard blink, then raised his hand to rub his temples.

"H-How did they take it?" was the only thing she could think about saying. He shook his head, his shoulders slouching down a bit.

"Ellie doesn't want to be seen crying…and Kenny-" He licked his lips and blinked again, losing his train of thought for a second before he gave a slow shrug. "I don't know. He won't talk to me." He breathed out, his voice cracking. She reached out to him, wrapping an arm around her brother as he did the same to her. They stood there for a second, just holding each other, before he kissed the top of her head and let her go.

"Mom is in the kitchen." She stated, waiting for him to nod until she walked into Ellie's room.

She threw her dirty clothes into the small laundry basket her niece had let her borrow. She sat down on the bed and stared at the wall, debating on what to do next. We have to plan the funeral. She shut her eyes, trying to resist the urge to cry. How could this have happened? Who would want to shoot Donna? Emily knew this accident had to be connected to the MC, but why go after the wife instead of the club member? Did they think Opie was the one driving the car? This doesn't make any sense. Emily was just going to visit her hometown to support her brother, and now she's staying for her sister-in-law's funeral? She stood up off the bed to exit the room, standing in the hallway; she decided to knock on Opie's door before peeked her head inside.

Kenny was sitting at the edge of the bed, his eyes glued to the floor. Ellie was sprawled across the bed, burying her head into a pillow. Emily made her way toward the bed and sat between them. She rubbed Kenny's back and he looked up, as if barley noticing her presence. She then turned to Ellie, who peered at her from the pillow. "I'm sorry." She whispered, hugging her niece and nephew as they made their way into her arms. Ellie continued to cry and Kenny simply stared off. They sat there for a while, in each other's arms, until Elli's trembling shoulders had relaxed. She patted their backs and looked at their faces. "Come on, let's go to the backyard, okay? You need some fresh air." When the kids nodded their heads sadly, she kissed their heads before hauling them to their feet. She held their hands as she led them down the hall and into the living room, where they ran towards Mary.

Their grandmother hugged them, giving them kisses and whispering things into their ear. Opie was sitting down at the kitchen table, staring at them. A knock came to the door and Emily quickly walked over to it, stunned to see the women from the clubhouse standing in front of her. "Emily, we're sorry for your loss." A blonde woman she had seen hanging around Tig the night before stepped into the house, holding bags of groceries. "We're here to help, okay, Sweetheart?" She tried to shake off her baffled feeling and simply nodded.

"Y-Yeah…thank you." The blonde smiled at her and led the rest of the women into the kitchen. They all greeted and paid their respect to Emily, Opie and Mary.

She didn't attend many funerals, but the one ceremony she definitely remembered was when Thomas had died. Of course, she was only 8 at the time, but she knew something was wrong when she noticed Auntie Gemma wouldn't stop crying, and that her little 6 year old friend had suddenly stopped playing with her. Then just three years later, Uncle J.T. had disappeared too. Piney had told Emily that his best friend had left to go with Thomas because he missed his son. Emily never questioned her father.

SeeingOpie's small living room and kitchen packed with women, she knew how it worked; Old Ladies and Crow Eaters helped around the kitchen of the unfortunate family, trying to comfort them as much as possible during and after the funeral arrangements. It's what they did. How SAMCRO worked.

She looked over to Opie, who had stood up to get out of the way of the women, and mentioned him over to the kids. She walked over to them, Opie following her. "Hey kids, head out to backyard with your dad, okay? We'll get some food ready for you guys."

"Come on, kids." Opie placed his hand on Ellie's shoulder, the other hand on top of Kenny's head, and led them out to the backyard. The women were cooking and cleaning; everyone had their hands busy.

"Here, Sweetheart." She turned to face a tall brunette, hand her a cup of hot coffee.

"Oh…uhm…thank you." Emily couldn't recall her name. The woman shook her head and smiled at her.

"Don't worry. We have everything taken care of." She walked away. Emily sighed and sat down on the couch where she had slept that same morning, taking a sip from the black coffee. She looked over to Mary, who was drinking her own cup of the hot liquid.

A few minutes had passed, her mug now empty, when the front door opened. She looked up to see Jax removing his cap, staring down at her. She placed the mug down before pushing herself off the couch and walked toward him. He wrapped his arms around her, placing his cheek on top of her head and he gave her a tight embrace. She heard him sigh before letting go, his hands still on her shoulders.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice low and tired. Emily shrugged and looked up into his blue eyes.

"I have to be." He slowly nodded his head and lifted his arm up, holding her bag.

"You left this at my house." I forgot about that. She grabbed it from him, tried to give him a smile but it crumbled.

"Thanks." She mumbled. Jax leaned down to kiss her temple before walking toward her mother, then after giving her a hug and exchanging a few words, he walked out to the backyard.

After Jax left, Opie decided to hide out in his room, a beer in his hand, while Mary looked after the kids and the rest of the women cooked. Emily managed to plan the funeral. A few phone calls to Skeeter and everything was set; the funeral was going to take place the next day. She hadn't heard anything from her father or the rest of the club; they must have been busy trying to figure out who did this to Donna. She wanted answers, just as much as anyone else, but not hearing any news was making her anxious.

The noise of a motorcycle made her jump off the couch and head straight for the door. Finally! Someone is here. A bike made its way to the driveway, she couldn't help but smile when she saw the tall man jump off and made his way toward her.

"Hap!" she met him halfway and threw her arms around him. She quickly withdrew, knowing he wasn't the type of person to show affection.

"Hey, Em. Heard you were back." His voice was rough and low, like it has always been. If she hadn't known him after all these years, she would definitely be scared of him.

"I'm sorry." He nodded towards the house, his face still, not showing any sign of sympathy. It's not like he didn't mean it, but for someone nicknamed The Tacoma Killer, death was nothing new. Man of few words, like always.

"Yeah." she shifted her weight before his cell phone started to ring, he dug his hand into his pocket and answered it.

He turned his back on her, murmuring into the burner. She turned and walked into the house to grab a cold beer for him. She hadn't seen him since he left Tacoma to hang around Northern Cali. As tough as he was, Emily loved being around him; always protective and dependable. The second she walked out of the house and took the first step off the front porch, Happy hung up his phone and accepted the beer that she handed to him.

"Tig." He stated.

"Business?" she asked, not expecting to receive a 'Thank You' from him.

"Yeah." he popped off the top and took one long swig, guzzling down half the beer. "Gotta handle some shit. ATF is trying to drag your bro back in jail." She felt her stomach drop.

"W-What?" she stammered, trying not to look as horrified as she felt. With the death of their mother, the last thing the kids needed was for their father to do time in prison. Again.

"It ain't gonna happen." He reassured her, his dark brown eyes staring down at her until she gave him a slow nod. She didn't know what they were planning on doing, but she wasn't going to ask. If it involved Tig and Happy, she expected the results to be gruesome. She knew exactly what the two men were capable of.

"Have to go." Happy spoke up, chugging whatever was last of the beer before handing the bottle to Emily.

"Are you going to stick around for the service tomorrow?" she asked hesitantly. Happy always had something up his sleeve. Club first. Everything else comes second, even if it is to attend a funeral.

"Yeah." was all he said. She gave him a small smile, nodding her head gently. Having Happy around always made her feel reassured, no matter what occasion. He raised one arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. She felt the muscles in his arm as he gave her one firm squeeze before letting her go.

"See you tomorrow, kid." She nodded her head again before murmuring an 'okay' before he turned on his heel to hop back on his bike.

"Be careful!" she managed to yell before he raised a hand and waved at her before he sped passed the house and disappeared down the street.

The next morning, Emily was awoken by a firm knock on the door. She had slept on the couch again, wanting Ellie and Kenny to sleep in their own rooms to let Opie have his bedroom to himself. Like the night before, she hadn't gotten much sleep.

She opened the door and was surprised to see the Queen herself standing on the front porch. "G-Gemma?" she stuttered, clearly confused of her early morning visit.

"Hi, Sweetheart." She stood there awkwardly for a second, something that was surely out of her character. Gemma cleared her throat before holding up a brown paper bag toward Emily. She grabbed it and gave it quick glance, looking back up to Gemma.

"What's this?"

Gemma wiped the bangs out her face with the back of her hand. "I uhh… just thought you'd like to wear proper attire for today."She gave her a slow shrug. "Pretty sure all you have are jeans, t-shirts and those old boots of yours."

Emily reached inside the bag; her fingertips brushed up against soft fabric before pulling it out to reveal a black dress. She held it out in front of her, admiring the black lace."It was the closest thing I thought you'd be okay with wearing. You wouldn't have liked anything else in there." She quickly looked up at Gemma and flashed a smile.

"Thank You, Gemma." The older women opened her arms and gave Emily a hug. She stepped back, wiping the hair away from her face again.

"I'll you later." She stated before hopping back down the steps and towards her car.

She came all this way just to drop off this dress? She looked down at the dress once more before carefully placing back in the bag. It was true. All she had in her duffel bag was casual clothing; nothing that she could wear to a funeral. Emily watched as the Queen of SAMCRO drove away just as Mary pulled up in the driveway. Her short mother made her way out of the car and walked to the porch.

"I'll get Ellie and Kenny ready. You go wake up your brother." She stomped into the house.

Everyone was awake and getting dressed, the hour seemed to stretch on. Emily had thrown on the dress Gemma had brought her, and after she saw her reflection, she was glad the Old Lady passed by. It was no wonder Gemma had kept this dress hidden in her closet; it held a simple but timeless elegance to it. The dress hugged her body in the right places without making it seem too inappropriate. She kept her hair down, letting it brush her shoulders. After putting on her boots, Emily could see why Gemma chose this dress for her. Even with a pair of black ankle boots, she still looked quite graceful with the dress on. Not too casual or too fancy.

She stepped out of the bathroom and turned to Opie's room, where he was taking off Kenny's clip on tie. She slid an arm around Ellie as she watched her father ruffle her brother's hair and helped him off the bed. "Go catch up to Grandma." He murmured. The kids walked down the hall before Opie reached for his cut, slipping it on.

"Ready?" Emily whispered, worried about her older brother. He hadn't said much to her since the night of the incident. He slowly nodded, his green eyes staring down into her blue ones.

"Yeah."

The roar of motorcycles led the way to the funeral. Members from other charters rode out to Charming to support their brother in mourning. Emily led her niece and nephew toward their mother's casket where they were greeted by their grandfather. He kissed the top of his grandchildren's heads before turning to Emily and hugged her. She took a glance around her; she knew everyone but their faces were a blur. The immediate family was allowed to sit on chairs surrounding the casket as everyone else stood behind them.

The service was slow; she tuned out the voice of the preacher and focused her attention on the kids, who sat in-between her and Opie. She held Ellie's hand as the little girl stared sadly at the pile of flowers on top of her mother's casket. She felt someone's hand on her shoulder and turned around, faced the old sheriff who stood behind her. He gave her a gentle squeeze of reassurance before looking back up to the preacher. She looked at the man next to him, David Hale, whose eyes were glued to the casket, his face long. This is real. She fell a tear escape her eye, but quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone making their way toward the group; it was Jax. She stared at Tara when she stood up, taking the cut Juice was holding, and walked toward him. At this point, everyone took notice of Jax's sudden appearance. After shrugging on his cut, he shared a kiss with Tara, and Emily couldn't help but glance over to Wendy, who looked away and shrugged into her seat. She felt uneasy when she noticed the dried blood on his face.

What happened, Jax? He made his way to the casket and grabbed one of the long stemmed flowers. He gave a hard look to…who? Emily couldn't tell. But as soon as she noticed his stern glare, he tossed the flower on top of the casket and walked away. She stared after him until he disappeared.

After the service, everyone gave their respects to Opie and said their final goodbyes to Donna. "Did you go find Jax?" Emily asked Piney, noticing the old man had wondered off on his own.

"No, I uhh…" his words trailed off as he passed her. "Just wanted to pay a visit to my old friend." He walked away from her. That's right. For a second, she had forgotten how small the graveyard was. Maybe Jax had decided to visit his father's grave as well.

"You okay?" She turned to face Juice, who had hesitantly made his way toward her. He meant to greet her when she arrived but decided to wait when he saw her with Piney. "I mean, I know you're not okay but…" he rubbed his head, unable to think of what to say to her.

"I'll be okay." She answered him before he finished his sentence. She looked over to her brother and his small broken family, the emotionless faces they all displayed. She gave Juice a shrug before crossing her arms. "I'm not the one you should be worried about."

"We'll take care of him." He looked down at her; he knew no matter what she did, she felt helpless. "I promise." He was always goofing around and seemed to shrug things off so easily. Staring at him, she could tell he meant what he said, and she appreciated it.

"Thank You." Her voice cracked. It wasn't until Juice had wrapped his arms around her, giving her a strong embrace, that she noticed her eyes had begun to burn. She felt her shoulders shaking underneath his arms as she couldn't control her sobbing. He just held her as she continued to silently cry.