Kenny was sitting in the Alvarez's kitchen bright and early, feeding Evie from a bowl of warm rice cereal with Tessa Alvarez talking his ear off at his side. Angela hadn't been able to stay in her house the night before. As soon as she'd packed more of her and Evie's stuff, along with her laptop, she'd made them all get into the car and go to Oakland. She was bottling up everything she was feeling inside, keeping it all to herself in an attempt to be strong. He knew it wasn't the best way for her to deal with the pain, but it was better than her abandoning her kids to "clear her head" like his Pops had done after him Mom was murdered. At least Angela was hanging around.

He heard a throat clear over his shoulder and turned to find Marcus Alvarez himself walking into the kitchen. The older man looked him over, raising an eyebrow. "Who're you?"

He opened his mouth to answer but started stuttering instead. Alvarez intimidated the crap out of him. He'd met him once at his dad's wedding, but it'd been quick and in passing, but there was no forgetting who he was. "I uh...I'm uh..."

"He's Angie's son," Tessa put in, swinging her legs happily. "I'm his Tia, right, Kendo?"

Kenny let out a sigh of relief, thankful for Tessa's rambling. She'd been talking about how he was her new nephew for hours now and though she was annoying as hell, he couldn't help but smile at the little girl. "Yeah," he agreed softly. "We uh...we kinda met at my dad's wedding. He uh...he was..."

"Opie," Alvarez finished on a sad frown. "Good guy. Sorry about the way he went out."

For some reason, Alvarez's apology felt more real to him than any apology he'd ever gotten from a Son. "Thanks," he said, nodding his head. "Ang kinda...took me in."

He nodded in approval. "And the Sons don't mind that you're here?"

Kenny wrinkled his nose in distaste. "The Sons can go..." he paused, censoring himself. While Angela didn't mind people swearing in front of Evie, he had a feeling Diana and Marcus would mind him cursing in front of Tessa. "They're not really a part of my life. All they do is kill people I care about."

He looked impressed for a brief moment, bobbing his head. "Wasn't expecting such an honest answer from you."

"Don't want you thinking I'm here to spy or somethin'."

"He's a good boy, Marc," Diana said as she rushed in, setting a plate in front of him. She ruffled his hair lovingly. "Helped me with breakfast."

Marcus nodded slowly, his dark eyes landing on Evie and warming considerably. He walked over and rubbed a hand over her head. "Hola tesoro," he said, stroking her chubby cheek. Evie, ever the friendly baby, grinned back up at him. "She's beautiful. Looks just like her Mama." (Hello, treasure)

Kenny knew Angela would correct him for that. While Evie had a lot of her features, there was no hiding who her father was. "Thanks for taking me in, Mr. Alvarez. Know you don't owe me nothin'," he said, hoping like hell it got him on Alvarez's good side.

"Don't worry about it, mijo," he replied, sitting down at the table. "How's she doin'?"

"I'm fine," Angela stated flatly as she walked in looking freshly showered and dressed for the day. If it wasn't for the bags under her eyes, it'd be hard to see something was wrong. She kissed Evie's cheek before ruffling Tessa's hair lovingly. "I'm actually going to uh...head over to TM. Pick up the rest of...his stuff."

Kenny didn't miss the way she avoided saying Juice's name; she hadn't said it since they told her what had happened almost as if she thought saying it would make it real. "You think that's a good idea?"

She shrugged a shoulder as she poured herself some coffee. "Got nothin' else to do today. The boys won't let me work."

"Got a meet with Nero later," Marcus stated from his seat, his eyes worried as they looked at Angela. "Business deal. You always had a head for numbers. Could use those smarts to look over it."

Her back tensed a bit before she shook her head. "No thanks."

"Want me to come with you to TM? Run some interference?" Kenny offered, following Alvarez's lead. It was clear no one wanted her to be alone after everything that happened.

"I'll be fine, Ken," she assured him with a sad smile. "This is somethin' I got to do on my own."

"Leave Eva with me, mija. You go do your stuff," Diana suggested, pushing Angela towards the table and waiting until she sat to put a plate of food in front of her.

Angela ran a hand through her hair, staring at the food for a moment. "Sure. Thanks, D."

Kenny watched her pick at the food without putting a single bite in her mouth. She wasn't fooling anyone, though. "Eat," he stated. At her glare, he quickly grabbed a spoonful of the rice cereal and pretended he was talking to Evie. "C'mon Monk. You gotta eat."

He met Marcus' gaze and the Mayan nodded in understanding. His demanded didn't mean much, but he knew she'd listen to the Mayan President. "Come, Angelita," Marcus ordered. "For your own good." (Eat)

Angela sighed softly and brought a piece of bacon to her lips. She took a single bite and set it back down before pushing away from the table. "I gotta go. Want to get there before the Queen shows up."

She kissed Evie's cheek, murmuring a sad 'I love you' before grabbing her keys. Kenny stood up quickly. "I need a ride to Charming, Ang," he blurted out. There was no way in hell he was going to let her go anywhere alone. By the approving look on Marcus' face, he felt the same way. "I...I can't drive yet, 'n' I can't stay here since Bones probably needs help at the funeral home with you gone."

"Good call. Let's go, dude."

They sat in silence for most of the trip to Charming before he cleared his throat. "Ang..."

Angela's hands gripped the wheel tighter, her knuckles turning white. "Ken, please. Don't...don't bring him up. Just let me deal. I'm doing the best I can, kiddo."

Kenny frowned, playing idly with his phone. "I know. Just want you to know I'm here. 'm not a kid any more. I can help you though it. My dad went through it 'n' he never really got out of it."

She reached over and grabbed his hand as they pulled into the funeral home's parking lot. "I'm not your dad, Ken," she assured him, squeezing hard. "I'm going to get through this. It'll take some time, but I'll find a way. Not goin' to leave you 'n' Eves alone. My mom did that to me, and I know how shitty it feels. Not about to repeat that sad cycle."

He nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "Thanks, Mama Bear. Good luck today," he said, feeling a lot better about the whole situation. "You're stronger than anyone I know 'n' I...love you."

A small smile crossed her face, and she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Love you too, Ken."

---------------

Angela pulled into Teller-Morrow keenly aware Gemma Teller was not only there, but she was standing right outside, deep in conversation with Unser. She stopped her Mazda, trying to be as inconspicuous as possibly while getting out of it. Ducking her head, she power walked to the garage bays hoping to go unnoticed by everyone. The mechanics working there ignored her. She knew most of them, but clearly her husband's status was one they were well aware of. He'd been dead for all of a day, and she was already being ostracized. Good, she thought. The farther away from SAMCRO and its cronies, the better.

Approaching the lockers, she hesitated at the sight of the work shirts hanging on a rod between them. All of the boys' shirts were hanging there since none of them were at the garage. Her Old Man's shirt was the easiest to find; it was the only one that didn't have any motor oil stains on the sleeves. She knew because she'd watched him scrub them out using a stain remover he'd concocted that stunk to high heaven but could get any stain out of anything. Her hand shook as she reached for it, pulling off its hanger in one swift tug.

She brought it to her nose, breathing in the soapy smell for a moment as tears blurred her vision. This wasn't a good idea, she realized too late. She'd was doing her best to keep her emotions at bay but being confronted with his stuff like this was putting cracks in her armor. Shaking her head, she wiped at her eyes and draped the shirt over her shoulder. "Stay strong. You can do this," she muttered to herself. Bending over, she grabbed the lock on his locker and stared at the numbers there. His combination, like Happy's, was her birthday because he knew he'd never forget it. She unlocked it and took a deep breath before pulling it open.

The inside of the door was covered in pictures of every shape and size. All of them were of her. Every single one. Pictures of her in her bikini, in her sweats, in work out gear, candids she didn't even know existed. The only picture she wasn't in was the first sonogram Chloe had printed out for them after everything that happened with Mel.

A wave of pain hit her like a freight train, and she slowly sank to her knees. "Shit, baby," she murmured, pressing her hand to her chest as she breathed in deeply. Gathering herself together, she sat up on her knees and pretended like she'd knelt to get a better view instead of because she was on the verge of breaking down. No, she was stronger than that. She had to be. Sniffling, she decided looking through each individual item wasn't the smartest idea ever, so she stuck her arm inside and shoved everything into the backpack at her feet. The pictures were next, she took the sonogram off easily enough. Then came a picture that put everything to a screeching halt. "Goddamn," she cursed, raking her hand through her hair as she sat back on her heels. It was the two of them, just sitting on the picnic table outside of the clubhouse, talking, so engrossed in each other, they didn't even realize someone had snapped the shot. His hand was on her thigh, and he was leaning into her with that adoring look in his eyes and that huge smile on his face that gave her butterflies every time. And she was smiling right back, her hands in the air as if she was telling a story. No doubt, she was in the middle of some funny story. It was them in a nutshell.

"Didn't expect to see you here."

Angela jumped at the interruption to her thoughts. Quickly, she wiped at her eyes and sucked in a quick breath before turning around to find Gemma standing there, her hands on her hips. "Yeah, well, someone has to clean this," she explained, turning back to face the locker. "Didn't want anyone to trash it."

"I'm sorry about what happened, baby," Gemma murmured, setting a hand on Angela's shoulder. "Juice was a good guy. Loved his girls 'n' his club a lot."

Her whole body tensed in response to her touch. Rolling her shoulder like a petulant teenager, she got the Queen of SAMCRO to release her. "Yeah," she repeated for lack of a better thing to say.

"Anything we can do for you, we will, sweetheart. Juice may be gone, but you're still part of our family. You're still Happy's cousin," she assured her.

If it wasn't Gemma saying those words, Angela would've slapped her. That "family" Gemma was saying she was a part of was the same "family" that had murdered her husband. No way was she ever going to turn to them for help. Never again. "Only thing I ask is for you and your 'family' to stay the fuck away from me and mine," she seethed, getting to her feet and turning around.

"That include Kenny Winston?" Gemma asked, a challenge in her voice. "What? You get tired of your little baby and decide to adopt another one?"

Angela blinked at the rapid change in demeanor, but she fired back quickly. "No. Kenny was the one who wanted out of this piece of shit family and asked me to adopt him because I'm the only one who gave him the time of day after Donna was killed."

Gemma laughed, shaking her head at her. "That's bullshit."

"Oh no? What's his favorite book? His favorite movie, video game, color? What kind of grades does he get? Does he like school? When he's mad where does he go? How do you cheer him up when he's sad?" she shot off, ready and willing to answer each of the questions.

"I don't need to know that shit to prove he's family."

"All right. I'll give you an easy one. You get it right, and I'll forfeit the application," she challenged with an eyebrow raised. "When's his birthday?"

Gemma clenched her jaw, clearly annoyed by the question. "I was there the day he was born, Little Miss Undertaker."

"Great! You should know it then! What day is it?" she insisted, throwing all of her pent up anger into this little discussion.

"August tenth," she replied confidently.

"Wrong. July thirteenth. It was a Friday. My kid was born Friday the thirteenth, and he blames all of the shit luck he's had on that. He doesn't have a favorite book because he hates to read no matter how may books I throw his way, he'd rather spend time trying to beat every fuckin' level of any Zelda game he can get his hands on because those are his favorites. When he's mad or sad, he goes out to the cemetery and talks to his Mom. He gets happy if you let him kick your ass at Mario Kart, which to be honest, isn't hard because that kid is fuckin' amazing at that game," she took a deep breath, more comfortable talking about Kenny than about...him. "And, like most kids his age, he hates school but mostly because none of those fuckers will talk to him anymore after everything that's happened with his family. They're afraid of him which is why he wants to get out. Just like me. I love that kid, Gemma. Him and his sister. I will always treat them like my own. Kenny just wants to make it official. You goin' to deny that kid something he wants? After everything this club has put him through?"

Her hazel eyes swept over her for a moment as she crossed her arms over her chest, her lips pressed together angrily. Then the anger faded and that familiar smug grin appeared. "You surprise me, undertaker," she drawled mockingly. "Here you are all concerned about a kid that's not yours while your Old Man's lyin' dead somewhere. You're keepin' it together pretty damn well for someone who was supposedly head over heels for him. Maybe you didn't love him as much as you claimed to."

It was a low blow that perfectly hit its mark. Angela clenched her jaw, her hands curling into fists. She wanted to punch her. Grab the nearest wrench and just pound it into her face, but she knew once she started, she wouldn't be able to stop and that was something she did not want on her conscience. "Says the woman who had her last two husbands killed," she ground out. She went to leave, ready to get the hell away from Gemma before she did or said something she'd regret. The Queen blocked her way, staring down her nose at her. Angela didn't back down, though. She'd never been afraid of Gemma, and she wasn't going to start now. "Get out of my way."

Gemma pushed her chest out, squaring her shoulders. "Or what?"

She felt a heavy hand fall on her shoulder and immediately tensed. She in no way wanted to be touched at the moment, but she refused to drop Gemma's stare. "What's goin' on here?" a gruff voice said from behind her.

The Queen of SAMCRO's hazel eyes flicked over to Happy's face. "Oh, we were just talkin'. I was expressing my condolences."

Angela scoffed at that, moving her arm out from under Happy's touch. His dark eyes were worried as they scrutinized her face. "What's goin' on, kid?"

As much as she wanted to lean into him, to gather strength from him like she had since she was little; she forced herself to stand strong on her own. The man in front of her was not the same man who held her after her father died, this was the man who murdered her husband. "I'm not your kid anymore," she spat, glaring at him. "Leave me the fuck alone."

The wounded look in his eyes made her feel a certain kind of triumph. Good. Let him hurt. He deserved it after everything he'd put her through. Before she could make it to her car, however, Rat stepped in her way. His brown eyes were sympathetic as he met her gaze. "Hey Angie," Rat greeted, a sad tone to his voice. "Sorry 'bout everything. How you doin'?"

She didn't have time for his kindness, though. Despite how genuine he seemed, she had no kindness left in her to extend to him. "Fan-fucking-tastic," she growled, hitching the bag on her shoulder higher. He stayed standing in front of her as if there was something else he wanted to say until Happy barked his name and he went skittering over.

Before anyone could stop her, she got in her car and sped out of the TM lot. She headed out to the outskirts of Charming, driving up a road she knew too well. It didn't take long for her to get to the familiar spot. Her vision blurred with tears as she pulled to as stop. Pushing open her door, she stepped out and stared at the familiar view, his work shirt clutched tightly in her hand.

Staring at the view, she closed her eyes and tried to feel him the way she could feel her father, her uncle, and Kozik. "C'mon, baby," she urged, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Just let me know it'll be okay, please. I need you."

She stood there for what felt like hours, the cold air whipping around her, and yet, she felt nothing. That emptiness hurt like knife to the chest. How could she go on without knowing he was okay? That he was around? He'd promised he'd stay with her, that he'd watch over her, but she couldn't sense him. Not only did she not have the closure that came with laying him to rest in a cemetery, but she felt no trace of him. No finality to what had happened. How could she let him go and move on when it didn't even feel like he was gone?

"Please, baby," she begged, looking back up at the sky with fresh tears falling down her cheeks. "Please. Tell me you're okay. Give me something. I need you."

---------------

After driving for nearly two days, Juice pulled the small truck he'd traded his motorcycle for up to the front of the average size house in the middle of a suburban sprawl. The brick houses were all the same, just in different shades of reds and browns. He stared at the one before him, double checking the number on his text message to make sure he had the right one. Taking a deep breath, he got out of the truck and stepped into the humid Texan night.

Reaching across the seat, he grabbed his pack and slung it over his shoulder before starting his walk up to the front of the house. Most of the lights were off save for one in the kitchen. He hoped he didn't wake anyone. His hand shook as he reached out for the doorbell. He hesitated, his finger hovering over it awkwardly. He'd called her from a payphone he'd stumbled upon in the middle of nowhere, shocked when she'd told him she'd moved out to Austin. He was relieved, though. Texas was a hell of a lot closer than New York. That and New York, like Charming, was forbidden territory for him while Texas was a surprise safe haven. There wasn't even a Sons charter there to bother him.

He chose to knock instead and held his breath, letting it out when he heard the locks sliding on the other side. The door opened and there stood his big sister. It'd been years since he'd last laid eyes on her, but she looked the exact same. Long dark hair, hip cocked to the side, arms crossed over her chest. Her light brown eyes, the same color as his, looked him over for a moment before her trademark smirk pulled at the corner of her lips. "C'mere, idiot," she murmured, pulling him into a tight hug. When he pulled away, she caught his chin in her hand. "The fuck you doin' here, Wonka? Last I heard you were on the lamb."

"Long story," he answered, smiling bashfully at his old nickname. "You got a place for me?"

She nodded. "Always," she said, stepping back and letting him in. "Come sit. You want a beer or somethin'?"

Juice shifted uncomfortably, still surprised by the warm welcome he received even after not seeing her for over ten years. The only other person who had ever showed him this kind of kindness had been Angela. Even Gemma had initially treated him like shit. He'd been a hang around and had accidentally kicked over a can of motor oil. Gemma had read him the riot act, called him an idiot. It hadn't been until he was upgraded to Prospect that Gemma had treated him with some shred of decency. "Love one," he answered, his voice cracking a bit.

"Put down your bag, bro. Mi casa es su casa," she said gesturing to the neat living room. He knew what that phrase meant. Remembered the day Angela had explained it to him. She'd been about to move in with him, and he'd said it to her without really understanding what it meant. That sweet memory was enough to make tears prick at the corners of his eyes. He set down his bag before grabbing Jo again and hugging her tightly. Jo's hand ran over his head in a soothing motion she'd done when he was younger and in need of some comfort. "What the hell happened to you, Juan?"

Juice pulled away and shrugged a shoulder, letting out a long breath. "I don't even know where to start."

Jo grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly before tugging him towards the kitchen. "C'mon, buddy. Let's get you a beer and you can start at the beginning."