With her legs crossed and black headphones sitting on top of her ginger hair, Sage let out an exhausted sigh while she ran her hand over her bump. Being nine months pregnant wasn't easy. Not only did her back hurt but also her feet from carrying all that extra weight. The nausea was still present on some days and headaches were bugging her now and then.

Nicely said, she was ready to push her baby out.

Her baby.

Those words still scared the shit out of her sometimes and got her all nervous, yet she felt like the luckiest woman on the planet. Her dream came true about having her own little family with a man that truly loved her and fulfilled every wish of hers without her having to say anything first. It almost was like Happy could read her mind sometimes.

The killer was more attentive than Jax ever was while she was pregnant with her son. Sage wasn't used to being this pampered while carrying a child under her heart. Not that she was complaining, not at allᅳ she had never been this grateful in her life before.

Her gaze roamed the room, her angelic smile radiating even more joy and contentment. Since she felt a tight feeling in her lower abdomen and nausea this morning, she decided to spend a day in bed and only get up when she had to use the bathroom or cook dinner later.

Happy had strictly forbidden her to even think about preparing dinner or lifting a finger with the promise that he would bring back something from the Chinese restaurant down the street. But Sage wanted to do something good for him and spoil him, just like he did her.

A small sigh slipped past her lips as the sun shone directly through the large window in the bedroom and gave Sage the warm feeling on her skin she loved so much since she moved here. That was one thing she really loved about California. The sun, the good weather and the extra vitamin D that she got from it.

In addition, they didn't have to constantly worry that the baby would get sick due to too cold temperatures. Maybe Charming wasn't a bad decision after all and was the better choice.

Sage reached for her phone when it vibrated and raised a corner of her mouth as she answered Gemma. The matriarch asked if she should keep her company. Apparently she knew from Happy that Sage was all alone at home and was probably bored.

The redhead stretched extensively before throwing back the white covers, throwing her feet out of the bed and straightening her back. Then she strolled into the kitchen, stopping for a moment at the nursery.

Every time she passed it she had to take a quick look. The house had become a real home by now and the nursery was Sage's favorite room.

There was a changing table against the white wall that contained everything you needed for a baby. Above it was hanging a round mirror with gold border and some shelves with toys and decorations. Floral wallpaper adorned the wall next to it, where a simple white baby bed stood. Between the two pieces of furniture was a nursing chair in soft pink. The curtains matched the large carpet that lay on the dark wooden floor.

If there was one style Sage loved, it was vintage Victorian, although she didn't overdo it. The rest of the house was kept simple, so that it also suited Happy's taste. The rest was mainly decorated with plants to give it a nice but clean touch.

Rubbing a hand over her stomach, she shook her head with a smile, humming as she walked into the kitchen to make some coffee, knowing that Gemma couldn't survive without the hot liquor. At the same time, she took some cake out of the fridge and ate a few forks of it.

During her pregnancy she discovered her love for baking. After moving, she needed some distraction and since cooking was less her thing, she tried baking and discovered a hidden talent.

Almost half an hour later there was a knock on the door and Sage scurried out of the kitchen to open the door. Grinning, Gemma stood now in front of her, a large box in her arms with which she pushed herself through the door.

"Gemma hey", Sage chuckled as she saw Gemma struggle. "Do you need help?"

"No, I've got it." The older woman put the box down in the hallway and pulled Sage into a hug before crossing her arms. "I know you've already bought everything. But I couldn't resist."

“What did you get?”, the redhead asked before she crouched down full of curiosity and took a loot at the box. A soft gasp escaped her throat. "A baby bouncer! That's exactly what I wanted", she exclaimed happily.

"As if I knew", the matriarch let out a soft laugh as she looked around. She really loved their house and always had to take a look around when she came over. "I still can't believe you got a house like that for that price."

"Trust me, we didn't either." Sage decided to unpack the baby bouncer afterwards and led Gemma into the kitchen. "We were really lucky. Coffee?"

"Yes, black with sugar, please", Gemma replied as she placed her bag on one of the chairs and reached for the coffee pot while Sage got a cup. "You did really well, baby. And definitely the right thing."

The redhead smiled sheepishly. "Thanks Gem. Happy really put in the effort. In fact, he did most of the work."

"You're pregnant, of course he did most of the work", she noted, filling her cup with the brown liquid. "He wouldn't have let you lift a finger", she added with a wink.

"You're right. I've tried to help him often enough but he never let me", Sage replied with a laugh as she gave Gemma a plate with a piece of cake and sat down next to her on one of the chairs by the kitchen island with her own plate. "And you also helped us a lot."

"The least I can do, baby." Gemma patted Sage's arm before taking a sip, turning her scrutiny to Sage. "So, what are you planning to do once the baby is here? You want Hayley and Violet to get to know each other?"

Gemma loved her granddaughter and she would love Violet just as much, even if she wasn't directly related to the little one. Sage was family, that wasn't going to change and Gemma secretly hoped that Hayley and Violet would grow up together.

"I don't know, Gemma." Sighing, Sage ran a hand through her hair, shrugging. "I'll see, haven't thought about it yet. Do we need to talk about it now?"

"No baby." Gemma took a sip of coffee. For now she decided to leave the topic alone. "How are you doing? Happy said you've been pretty tired the last few days."

Sage just waved him off. "I couldn't sleep much and the nausea has gotten worse again. But it's only three weeks left."

"The last two months were worse for me than the first three", Gemma said with a soft snort. "I almost lost my mind."

Sage raised both eyebrows as a laugh slipped past her lips. "That doesn't necessarily help me to feel better."

"Sorry, wasn't my intention to scare you", Gemma winked with a smirk before shoving a forkful of cake into her mouth. "How did the visit with your mom go? What does she think of Happy?"

"Well, she likes him." Sage cupped her own cup in her hands and blew the hot liquid. "But she's afraid it'll end up the same way it did with Jax."

Gemma tilted her chin up slightly and cleared her throat. "I understand. But she doesn't have to worry about that. Happy is different when it comes to women."

"Shit, sorry." Sage lowered her voice and bit her bottom lip. "She didn't say anything bad about Jax, if that's what you think. And neither did Iᅳ it's just still a difficult topic."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Sage." Gemma shook her head with a slight smile and patted Sage's thigh. "I know that Jax is a man whore and while a mother shouldn't say something like that about her son, unfortunately it's the truth."

"It is.." Sage murmured, sighing. "But he seems to have himself under control with Fawn. That's a start, right?"

The matriarch snorted a bitter laugh. "He's only keeping it in his pants so he doesn't lose another child. Fawn would be gone faster than he could count to three, with Hayley at that."

Looking confused, Sage wrinkled her nose. "It almost sounds like he's only with her because of Hayley."

"Why do you think he's still with her? Of course it's because of Hayley." Gemma waved her hand while making an indefinable sound. "If Hayley didn't exist, they wouldn't be married anymore. She knows that she was just a distraction for Jax."

Sage was silent as she thought about Gemma's words, letting them sink in. For a while she had suppressed Fawn's words from a few months ago, but now they came back to the surface of her memory.

"Are you okay, baby?" Gemma asked, getting a nod from Sag.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something", she murmured, still kind of lost in her thoughts.

When she didn't continue speaking, Gemma helped her along. “Care to share?”

"It's probably nothing." Still, she squared her shoulders as she poked around in her piece of cake. "Fawn said something that really bothers me. It's been a while and I'm probably just imagining things. Butᅳ"

"But what?" Gemma demanded gently as Sage became uncertain. "What did she say, Sage?"

"That she worked really hard to become Jax' Old Lady while we were apparently still together", she told Gemma, whose curious gaze rested on her. "I don't know what she meant by that, but I have a weird feeling."

Gemma shifted uncomfortably in her chair and furrowed ends of her eyebrows. "That sounds like an intrigue and a woman who wanted to win. At all costs."

"So you think she had a plan?" Whether Sage wanted to know the answerᅳ she didn't know. But if anyone could see through people better than most people, it was Gemma.

"Probably. Or why do you think she suddenly stayed longer after visiting you and Jax, huh?" A humorless laugh came from the older woman with the dark hair. "You know how much Fawn despised Charming and your dad's lifestyle and suddenly she decides to stay? She fell in love with Jaxᅳ that was the only reason."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain her words", Sage reasoned with a confused expression on her face, her eyes narrowed as the sun shone through the window and blinded her. "I mean, Jax and I were fine until the pregnancy got worse and I ended up losing the baby."

Silence fell over them, Sage lost in her thoughts while Gemma didn't have to think much at all. She felt an anger boiling up in her that she had never experienced before and it was only when Sage saw the scowl on Gemma's face that the penny dropped for her too.

"No..she wouldn't do that." Sage swallowed hard, in vain as the lump in her throat blocked everything and literally took away her voice.

Having digested the initial shock, Gemma shook her head slightly. "Oh baby, when a woman is as devious and cold as Fawn, she's capable of anything."

"But how? I mean, she never touched me or anything like thatᅳ" Sage got cut off and stared at the floor, her eyes growing wide. A small puddle had formed under her chair and her grey sweatpants were clinging damply to her legs. "My water broke!"

"Oh shit!" Without further hesitation, Gemma jumped up and rushed into the bathroom to grab towels. Back in the kitchen, she threw one on the floor before the water could soak into the floorboards and ruin them. "We have to go to the hospital! Call Happy, baby."

"I can't!" With a painful groan, Sage leaned over the kitchen island, her fingers tangled in her hair as she tried to breathe in and out. "I think we need an ambulance."

"Shit, that sounds like a crash birth", Gemma muttered when even she could no longer keep her cool. "Okay, I'll call an ambulance. Try to breathe calmly, that usually helps."

"No wait!" Sage grabbed Gemma's phone before she could call an ambulance. It would be just too expensive. "You have to drive me, please..", the redhead pleaded.

Sage knew that giving birth would be painful. Even though she hasn't experienced a natural one herself, she was prepared for it. But she just realized that she could never have properly prepared for such pain.

The feeling that something was tearing everything apart inside her and the downward pressure completely consumed her and made the redhead sweat. What's more, it felt like the baby was already on the way down and St. Thomas was fifteen minutes away.

"Okay, we can do this, baby." As Sage panicked more and more, Gemma knew she had to stay calm. So she gently grabbed the redhead's arm to support her and lead her outside. "Slow steps and don't forget to breathe properly."

"Uh huh.." Sage let out a small whimper on the way to Gemma's SUV. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her lips and legs trembled in pain, but she still made it to the back seat. "The hospital bag!"

"We'll get the bag later. Can you call Happy while I drive?" Gemma made sure Sage was wearing a seatbelt before running around the car, getting in.

With screeching tires, Gemma turned around and rushed towards the hospital. Not that she would mind if the baby was born in her car, but the risk of something going wrong worried her.

"Yes..yes, I think I can do that", came from the back seat, Sage's voice weak and laced with pain.

Her tense pose made it difficult for Sage to reach into her pocket, but she managed to do so in the end. With shaking hands she looked for Happy's number and let her head fall against the window. As the contractions stopped for a brief moment, she let out a heavy sigh.

Quiet cursing flowed over her lips when only the voicemail answered. "Gemma and I are on the way to the hospital, my water broke!"

She had left the same message for Tig, also only reaching his voicemail, making Sage's panic slowly increase. What if Happy didn't make it and missed the birth? Why didn't he answer his damn phone? He had promised her that he would always be available in case there was anything with the baby or her.

Now she also had to worry about whether something had happened to him and her dad. The next contraction immediately distracted her and caused her to let out a loud, painful moan.

"We're almost there, baby", Gemma tried to reassure her as she kept glancing through the mirror. "He'll make it, I'm sure. He'll probably listen to the message soon."

"I hope so...I really hope so." Panting, Sage wiped some sweat from her forehead, one hand placed under her stomach as if she had to hold it to keep the baby inside.

With her legs pressed together as if she could prevent giving birth in the car with this action, she typed a message with her free hand to Dawn so that her sister would be informed too. Then Sage remembered that she could also call Ima, which she did immediately and at least the blonde answered her phone.

"We're here, you made it!" The relief in Gemma's tone as she parked right in front of the hospital was not lost on either the matriarch herself or Sage. “You want me to get a nurse or can you do it on your own?”

Sage shook her head as she unbuckled herself and opened the door, slipping out of the car. "No...I think I can manage a few more steps."

"Wait", Gemma hastily killed the engine, jumped out of the car and jogged to the other side to help Sage out.

Despite the difficult situation, a smile crossed Gemma's lips. "I can't believe itᅳ in a few hours we'll have a new family member!"

"Or in a few minutesᅳ that's more likely", Sage chuckled through a painful groan as she made the final steps to the hospital with Gemma's help.

Two nurses came running towards the women, one with a wheelchair that she had grabbed. After that everything happened so quickly that Sage didn't even realize what was actually happening.

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"You have to push!" The midwife stood desperately in front of Sage as the redhead refused to push.

With Gemma and Ima at her side, each holding one of her hands, an hour later she was ready to give birth to the baby and probably had to soon. However, she still tried to delay this.

"I'm not pushing the baby out without Happy", she moaned out in pain, her chin pressed tightly against her chest as she automatically started pushing. "I want him here!"

The matriarch and the porn star, a strange constellation, yes, exchanged a worried look. One look under the blanket draped over Sage's legs was enough to tell Gemma that the baby was already on the way.

She looked at Sage understandingly and yet sternly, leaned down a little and brushed some of her damp hair out of her sweating face.

"Listen to me, baby", Gemma began firmly, her face scrunching up as the next contraction seemed to come and Sage squeezed her hand so hard that it would still hurt tomorrow. Gemma could also hear a quiet hissing sound coming from Ima.

Sage shook her head apathetically before Gemma could even continue. "I'm not doing this without him."

"It's not like you have a choice, sweetie", Ima called from the side, shock evident on her face after she too glanced down there. Sure thingᅳ she would never want to get pregnant. "Your baby has other plans and she definitely wants out."

"I know how much you wanted Happy to be there." Gemma spoke calmly as Sage let out a sob. "But if you don't push now, it could be dangerous for the baby. Do you want that?"

"No, of course not", the redhead sniffled before another loud scream filled the room and she had no choice but to push.

Just then the door was thrown open and Happy stormed into the room. When Ima quickly stepped aside, he reached for her face and gave her the most loving kiss, not giving a shit about how much she was sweating or how exhausted she looked.

She gave birth to his childᅳ she couldn't look more beautiful in his eyes. He tasted her salty tears flowing into the kiss and ran his thumb over her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, little girl", he rasped out of breath, his tone full of sincerity. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

Whimpering in pain and relief, she nodded quickly and finally reached for his hand, which in the next moment she squeezed so hard that even Happy clenched his teeth.

"You can do this, baby", he encouraged her without leaving her side, his other arm around her so she could lean her head against it.

"Very good", the midwife praised with an encouraging smile, happy that Sage was finally participating as she should. "I can already see the head. Push one or two more times and we have a new resident in Charming."

It took a lot of strength for Sage to get through another contraction and push. She had no idea how some women managed to endure labor that lasted hours or even days. The female body was truly a miracle.

Happy's encouragement gave her strength, even if she only half listened to what he whispered in her ear. But his voice alone was enough to get her through the whole thing. The next contraction felt worse than any before and the feeling of everything in her center getting teared apart was definitely something she didn't want to feel again so soon.

With her chin firmly placed on her chest again and Happy's arm supporting her shoulder, she once again gave all the strength she had left and put it into the final push.

"You're doing great, she's coming", the midwife announced, as everyone in the room except Sage held their breath, who had to take a few deep breaths to get some air back into her lungs.

A doctor stood directly behind the midwife and had an eye on everything, another nurse was standing next to him with a towel in which she would immediately wrap the baby.

One last scream echoed through the room before Sage suddenly fell silent and were replaced by Violet's screams. Neither Sage nor Happy found words, their eyes only focused on the little baby that was being wrapped in the towel by the midwife.

"Congratulations. You have one beautiful girl", with a smile, the nurse came to Sage's free side.

Only when Violet was placed on Sage's chest did the couple exchange a look, the happiest smiles on both faces while Sage instinctively began to rock the baby on her chest to calm her down.

"It's okay, baby, we're here", she whispered, exhausted but endlessly happy. Gently, she ran the side of her index finger over Violet's cheek. "Mommy and Daddy are here."

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at her daughter and couldn't be happier. The pain she had just felt had vanished into thin air and was inexistent. The only thing that mattered now was the little redhead in her arms.

"I'm so fucking proud of you", Happy whispered against her lips before pressing a kiss against the corner of Sage's mouth, feeling her lips curl into a smile. "You did great, little girl."

"Mhmm...without Gemma, Ima and you I would've probably lost my mind", she murmured with a soft chuckle, casting a grateful look at Gemma. The Queen's lips were covered with her fingertips as she tried to get her emotions under control. "Thanks Gemma..you really were a big help."

"Don't thank me for that, baby." Gemma slowly approached the small family. When Happy arrived, Ima had already slipped out the door to give the family a moment together. “Can I take a look at her?”

"Of course." Sage nodded eagerly. With Happy's help, she sat up a little so Gemma could get a better look at then newborn. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Oh she is." Absolutely delighted, Gemma ran her hand carefully over Violet's small head, which was covered by red hair. "Your genes are strong", she grinned at Sage.

"Yep, apparently my genes won in that case", Sage replied amused and then looked up at Happy. "Sorry babe. But she does have your nose!"

The killer just chuckled and shook his head as he carefully ran his fingers through the many red hairs on Violet's head. "I'm glad she got that from you. She'll be able to get her way eventually."

"Because redheads are so fierce, right?", Sage wiggled her eyebrows, chuckling.

After Gemma said that she would keep Ima company outside, the couple was left in the room with a nurse and the doctor, the midwife already on her way to the next job. While the doctor was discussing something with the nurse, Sage turned around slightly and held the bundle in her arms out to Happy.

"Take her, I'm sure she wants to meet her daddy too", she said with a soft smile.

"Uh sure." Happy cleared his throat to hide his nervousness as he stood up and carefully scooped his daughter into his arms, gently rocking the fussing baby in his arms.

As he looked down at Violet he was overcome with all the emotions he had feared. Tears burned in his eyes as Violet calmed in his arms, her tiny hand clasping his index finger. She wasn't even ten minutes old and already had a strength in her hand that filled Happy's chest with even more prideᅳ if that was even possible.

"I'm your dad", he whispered before pressing a kiss against her forehead while holding her close. "And I will always protect you", he added with a swallow as his emotions continued to overwhelm him. "And keep boys away from you."

As Sage watched the moment, she knew that together they could do this. Happy would be the best father out there and she would give everything to be the best mother to Violetᅳ her rainbow baby.

And yet she would never forget her son, or the moment when she held him in her arms for the first time. Except he wasn't breathing, but Violet was and she would protect her daughter with her own life if she had to.

The lump in her throat only grew as she sniffled and quickly wiped her eyes, just like Happy.

"You got a good one, I can tell", the nurse said with a smile as she quickly took Sage's blood pressure.

"I know", the redhead murmured proudly. "I'm one lucky woman."

While the doctor was still checking whether Sage was okay, whether the afterbirth had completely come out and whether her condition was generally good, she couldn't take her eyes off Happy and her daughter once while the killer roamed the room with Violet and seemed absolutely happy.

Nothing, absolutely nothing could ruin this moment for her and Sage would definitely always hold on to these special moments in her mind.

ᚔ

authors note; the baby is finally here! I just love making Happy a dad, lol. Let's see how long there will be peace. 😌