After much deliberation, Tara decided to sit with the redhead who was sitting on one of the picnic tables in front of the clubhouse. After Lyla had to leave quickly to pick up Piper from school, Avery didn't move an inch, instead she just stared around and smoked one cigarette after the next.

The only reason why Tara sat down with Avery with two cups of tea that she had quickly made inside was a very simple reason; she didn't want any trouble with Jax, who had already asked her a few weeks ago to at least try to get along with Avery.

And if she was honest with herself, she also felt a little sorry for the redhead after she heard what had happened earlier.

“Hey, I thought you could use some company”, Tara said with a small smile as she placed a cup in front of Avery and then sat down herself.

Avery's slightly skeptical look landed first on the cup, then on the doctor. “You don’t have to keep me company if you don’t want to.”

The redhead wasn't stupid and knew that Jax said something. Tara had never tried to strike up a conversation with her before. Instead, Tara had always given her the impression that the doctor was better than everyone here.

“I know”, Tara replied simply, wrapping her hands around the hot cup, which Avery did the same. “But I see that you’re not feeling good. Believe it or not, I know what compassion is.”

“Hard to believe”, Avery muttered with a grin, but she was willing to give Tara a chance.

“I deserved that.” Tara let out a small laugh. When she thought about how dismissive and superficial she had been towards Avery, she couldn't blame the younger Dvorak for being skeptical. “But I really don’t have any ulterior motives. If you want to talk, I still have a little time before I have to leave.”

“There’s not much to talk about.” With a bitter laugh, she raised the cup to her lips and took a small sip, her hands wrapped tightly around the porcelain. “Kim really did everything she could to screw up Happy's life and I'm really scared that Debbie will end up in the system and won't come back to us.”

“And why would that happen?” Tara knew that the authorities didn't think much of the Sons. But the fact was, and she had to admit it herself, that Happy was a good father.

“Why?” Avery asked dryly. “Because he is part of a motorcycle club and has been to prison more than once. You know as well as I do that the authorities are quick to label you.”

“I know, believe me”, Tara nodded in agreement. “But I heard when you told Lyla about the CPS woman. And apparently she saw that Debbie feels comfortable with Happy. And if they question Debbie tomorrow she'll tell them, too.”

“And what if the officials don’t care? What if they believe Kim’s accusations that Happy had something to do with her sister’s disappearance?” The fear and worry that wavered in Avery's voice was not lost on Tara, who sighed softly.

“Then things probably aren’t looking good for Happy. But who says they even believe Kim? This woman is terrible and she doesn’t really seem believable to me”, Tara said with an unimpressed shrug. “Where is he now? I hope he doesn't do anything stupid. That would be something that could really cost him a lot.”

As much as Avery wanted to believe that Happy really just wanted to clear his head, of course she also had her concerns. Happy was an impulsive person who couldn't deal with betrayal, which Kim had somehow done.

“That's right, Kim is nothing more than a deadbeat”, Avery agreed with a nod and took another sip of the hot liquid since her throat felt dry as the desert. “He said he needed to clear his head and wanted to be alone for a bit. Which means driving around until he could let off some steam, I guess.”

“Mhmm, makes sense”, the brunette nodded, raising one corner of her mouth as she looked at Avery for a while. “You’re not as bad as I thought.”

At Tara's words, Avery frowned, looking almost amused at the doctor, who was sitting across from her. “What did you think of me?”

“Well”, Tara cleared her throat and scratched her temple awkwardly. “I already wrongly judged your sister back then, and I did the same to you. Probably because you were a drug addict and well, I knew about your films too. Don’t ask me why, but your face immediately seemed familiar to me and then I just looked up your name on the internet.”

Avery let out a chuckle as she listened to Tara and could practically see the doctor's cheeks becoming increasingly redder. “Ah I understand. Junkie and porn star, although you definitely can't call me that after two films, can sound daunting. So you’re someone who’s quick to judge, huh?”

The question Avery asked didn't sound aggressive or judgmental. In contrast to Tara, she first gave people the chance to explain themselves. She also saw that Tara felt really bad about her early wrong judgment.

“Yes, unfortunately that’s a weakness of mine”, the brunette admitted honestly, sighing again. “I don’t know why I always do that. So if I’ve wronged you in the last few months, I’m sorry.”

“It's okay. I can handle shit like that. You aren't the first person who was judging us Dvorak's early on.” Avery just waved it off before fiddling with the pack of cigarettes next to her cup, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“There's still something on your mind, right?” Tara asked cautiously, not wanting to be too intrusive.

Without feeling pressured by Tara at all, the redhead looked up and narrowed her eyes slightly against the blinding sun. “You’re a doctor. Do you know anything about fertility and pregnancy?”

“It's not my usual type of work, but I'm still familiar with it. Why?” Tara asked interestedly.

“I was in a car accident years ago. After a surgery that was absolutely necessary, the doctors told me that I would probably never be able to have kids.” She lowered her voice as Juice walked past and smiled at the women.

Tara waited until Juice was gone and leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the table. “I’m sorry, something like that must be difficult”, she said with sincere sympathy. “Does Happy know about this?”

“No, I haven't mentioned it yet because we've never talked about that topic before. But I'm afraid that at some point he'll want another one and I won't be able to give him one”,  the redhead sighed as she massaged her temples. “But why I asked you; Can I get tested or something? Like I said, the doctors didn’t say it was impossible, just pretty difficult. But I wanna know how difficult.”

Tara was silent for a moment, trying to think of what tests she could recommend to Avery. “There are some tests, but you would have to talk to another doctor about them. If you want I can get you an appointment at St. Thomas with a specialist.”

“Would you do that?”, Avery asked, who was once again surprised by the helpfulness of the otherwise uptight doctor. Who knows, maybe she had judged Tara too soon.

“Yes, of course. But it may take a while”, Tara pointed out, emptying her cup with a few more sips. “And Avery, even though I don't want to interfere, you should talk to Happy about it. Secrets are never good.”

“That's okay, I'm not in a hurry. But I just want to know more about the topic and if it's even worth to give it a try”, she smiled weakly, before lowering her gaze and nodding, aware that Tara was right. “I know. I should've done this much sooner.”

“Hey, we all make our mistakes. And I don't think Happy will be mad about it”, Tara assured her, placing a hand on Avery's.

She in turn smiled again at Tara's small gesture, which nevertheless gave her some courage. “Thanks Tara. Maybe there's still a chance we’ll get along better in the future, I’d like that.”

“I’m sure we will”, the brunette smiled back at the redhead, meaning her words.

ᚔ

Later that evening she sat on the couch with Happy after they at least tried to eat something, but neither of them was really in the mood to eat, not unless they knew what would happen tomorrow.

In order to distract Happy, she decided to bring up the fertility topic. “Hap, can I talk to you for a second?”, she asked nervously after averting her gaze from the football game on TV.

Happy also turned his gaze towards her and nodded curtly. With his hand still on her leg, he squeezed it gently as he swore he saw some fear flash in her eyes.

“What's wrong, little girl?” Happy's raspy voice asked with concern in his eyes. That she turned back to drugs were his first thought, but he would've noticed if she was high. “Did something happen while I was gone?”

“No, well, yes, Tara was nice to me. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing”, she smirked slightly, but she just had to tell him. However, the smirk quickly faded again. “There’s something you should know.”

“She was?” He raised an eyebrow in surprise. The Tacoma Killer didn't quite trust Tara's sudden friendliness yet, but he was open to be proven wrong. “What is it, Avery?”

“Do you want more children? Or only Debbie?”,  she asked first, also to find out what he wanted in the future.

Happy straightened his shoulders and sat up a little more, his brows furrowed as he looked at Avery questioningly. “Why do you ask? Are you pregnant?”

For a moment he even felt something like panic spreading in his chest. He wouldn't have a problem with another kid, but not right now. Right now he just wanted to concentrate on Debbie and make sure she didn't lack anything. That didn't mean he didn't want another kid in the future.

“No, no, don’t worry”, Avery reassured him immediately when she noticed how tense he was.

Happy let out a sigh of relief and ran a hand over his bald head. “Good, because this ain't the right time.”

“I totally agree with you”, the redhead nodded eagerly and didn’t blame him for the relief he felt and clearly showed. They just had enough problems that still needed to be sorted out. There was no room for another child.

“Then why are you asking?”, Happy inquired.

“Because there’s a good chance I’ll never be able to give you more kids”, the words gushed out of her, followed by a deep sigh. “I just never knew how to tell you. I was scared. I'm sorry I never told you about it before we started dating.”

For a long moment, Happy simply stared at his Old Lady, who nervously chewed on her lip and looked at him through her deep blue eyes. He then removed his hand from her leg and rubbed her cheekbone with the tip of his thumb before letting her nestle her cheek against his palm.

He wasn't angry or disappointed. Of course he would have liked to know about it from the start, but he wasn't someone who planned a large family anyway. Still, with Avery, he could actually have imagined it, even though they had only been dating for a little over three months. Happy had the feeling that she was the right one, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten himself into a relationship with her.

“There's nothing you can't tell me, Avery. You understand that?”, he said firmly and finally pulled her body into his, his arms wrapped around her. “If it works out at some point, it’s okay, and if it doesn’t, then that’s okay too. But in the future, I want to know stuff like this, okay?”

Relieved, her body collapsed into his arms, her arm tightly wrapped around his torso. After she rested her head on his chest, he placed a kiss on top of it.

“Tara is getting me an appointment with a specialist. I thought it would be good to get some information”,  she told him, after all, she didn’t want to keep any more secrets from him.

“I’ll come with you”, he decided simply, and he wouldn’t let her stop him. The SAA grumbled and shook his head before smirking slightly. “It’s still strange that Tara is helping.”

“Good. I’d love to have you with me”, Avery replied firmly, letting her fingertips dance over the tattoos on his bare chest before letting out a laugh. “Yes, it is. I was super surprised. I don’t think she’s that bad, just pretty insecure.”

“Whatever. Still, be careful, little girl”, he told his Old Lady as he ran his fingers up and down her arm. “When the situation has calmed down a bit and Debbie is back home, I want to give you my crow.”

With a smile, she lifted her head slightly and looked up at him and into his dark eyes. “I would love that”, she said eagerly, stealing a kiss from his lips before looking at him empathetically. “We’ll get Debbie back tomorrow, I just know it. We have to believe it, Hap.”

“I know, little girl, I know”, he rasped, but deep down he was scared shitless, which he tried to hide from Avery. If she wouldn't be at his side and hadn't specifically asked him not to do anything stupid earlier, he would probably have done so.

It took some effort, but he still managed to ask. “Can you come with me tomorrow? I need you there, Avery.”

She looked at him, touched by his question. Happy wasn't one to admit when he needed someone. The fact that he sushed his ego and told her that he needed her meant just as much to her as the famous three words that couples usually said to each other.

“I didn't plan on letting you go alone, baby”, she assured him sternly and snuggled into his side again after he answered her with a simple grunt and a grateful look on his eyes.

The rest of the evening was relatively quiet and after another football game, which neither of them really cared about but was still a distraction, they decided to call it at day and go to bedᅳ even though no one, especially Happy, were able to get any sleep.