Chloe sighed as she got into her car after a long shift at the hospital. It was just after midnight, and she was exhausted. Flipping on the radio, a soft sigh left her lips as the car was filled with classical music. Angela always gave her crap for having the classical radio station on her programmed radio stations, but it always relaxed her after a long day at work. She pulled into the driveway, fighting a smile when she saw her living room lights on. Flipping down her visor, she looked herself over in the tiny mirror. Her hair was a mess and she looked like she hadn't had a goodnight's sleep in weeks, which was true, she hadn't. Shrugging, she flipped it back up. "This is as good as its gonna get," she muttered to herself.

Opening the door to the house, she smiled as her grey pitbull lazily made his way over to her. "Hey Hades," she greeted, rubbing a hand over his big head.

"Didn't bark when I came in," a rough voice said from her living room.

Chloe smirked, looking over to find Happy on her couch, his legs stretched out, feet on the coffee table, a beer sitting on the coaster beside his sock clad foot. She'd told him once she didn't want his boots on the coffee table, and he'd taken them off when he came in ever since. "He's gettin' used to you," she said, a little voice in her head telling her that she was too. That was a scary thought. Men like Happy didn't stay in one place for too long.

Happy tilted his head at her, his dark eyes regarding her with a curiosity she was used to. He'd been trying to figure her out for a week or two now. It seemed he was always there when she got home lately. He used to wait outside for her, and she'd silently let him in, they'd share a beer in silence and then somehow it always ended up in the bedroom with mind-blowing sex. After she'd told him where the spare key was, the situation changed. They'd talk a little first, mostly about her day and Angela. Then they'd get onto the sex. Sometimes he stayed the night, sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he was too rough, other times he was almost gentle. He was a complete mystery to her, but she was having a good time figuring him out. "Guess so," he said after a moment.

She nodding, heading to the kitchen to pour herself some wine. "Beer?"

"Yeah."

She grabbed him another bottle and headed to the couch, handing it over before looking hesitantly at the furniture. He was seated in the middle, elbows hanging off the back of the couch. She sat down next to him, turning to face him, her feet on the cushion just by his thigh, his hand was close to her cheek but not touching it. "Your cousin and her Old Man came by today," she stated, seeing if he'd take the bait. Very rarely did they have conversations, mostly it was just a contest to see who would attack the other first, but Chloe was thoroughly exhausted and not up for a romp in the bed, no matter how amazing it would be. She just wanted to sleep.

"She okay?" he asked, turning his head to meet her gaze. She could see the hint of worry on his face, though she knew he was trying to keep that mask of calm on. Angela was his soft spot. She was the only reason he ever opened up to her in the first place. Angela was the only thing they had in common. When the did talk, it was about Angela first and then the conversation would meander to other things.

"Totally fine," Chloe said, dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Juice wanted to be able to stop calling their baby 'it'. He thought it made them bad parents."

"Idiot." Happy snorted, shaking his head. "And?"

"Oh, I can't tell you. Ang'll kill me," Chloe said, smiling from over the rim of the wine glass as he scowled at her. "But they weren't fighting, which was good. She was happy, they were holding hands it was...pretty disgusting."

Happy fought against a smile. He didn't know what kept drawing him back to the nurse's house. It wasn't the sex, he could get that at the clubhouse, this was something more. Sitting there with Chloe felt normal, almost like he'd known her all of his life. The only other relatively young woman he was this comfortable with was his baby cousin, and they didn't hang out like they used to. She was busy with her man now, and he was left trying to find someone to fill the void she'd left behind. Chloe, so far, had been a good fit. The nurse was smart, knew when to ask questions and when to bite her tongue, and didn't expect anything from him. "She really happy?"

Chloe smiled, that warm smile that made him feel weird things in the pit of his stomach. "I think so," she replied, taking a deep sip of her wine.

He studied her face again, noting the deep circles under her eyes. "Tired?" he asked, a note of concern in his voice. His finger lazily lifted off the back of couch to brush her cheek.

"Mmm," she hummed, leaning into his touch, her eyes feeling heavier than normal. "Sorry, 'm not much fun tonight. Today was...heavy."

Happy knew what that meant. There'd be no sex for him tonight. He knew he should get up and leave, but something made him stay. "What happened?"

She sighed, shrugging a shoulder. "Lost one of my patients today," she admitted on a frown. At Happy's eyebrow raise, she sighed. "I mean, I knew she was going to die. It was...inevitable but..."

"Still hurts," he muttered, knowing exactly how she felt. It was a lighter version of how he'd felt while watching his Uncle deteriorate when he was sick, how he felt now, watching his mother get sicker and sicker.

"Yeah, it does," she said, her voice rougher than normal. She stood, setting her wine glass on the table. "I'm going to change out of these gross scrubs. If you need to go, you can go."

Happy nodded in response, his eyes lingering on her back as she walked away. The only other places for him to go were either back to the clubhouse or to the shitty motel room he was living out of, neither of which seemed too appealing. He had to admit Chloe's bed was the most comfortable of the three options and though he wouldn't be getting any that night, he might be able to luck out in the morning. He considered his options as he finished off his beer.

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

After a long hot shower, Chloe changed into a pair of sweats and a white v-neck undershirt. She walked down the stairs, not at all surprised to find the living room empty. The back door was open though, and from it she could hear the sound of Happy's voice. Raising an eyebrow, she headed that way, leaning against the open door to see him messing with Hades. The dog abandoned him when he saw her, lopping over to her, his tongue hanging out. "Hey handsome," she murmured, rubbing her hand over his coarse hair. "You havin' fun with Hap?"

"He's a good dog. Smart," Happy replied, straightening up and wiping his hands on his jeans. "You train him?"

Chloe nodded. "Me and my brother."

"Brother?"

"He's younger. Works at one of those start-ups in San Francisco," she explained on a shrug. "Livin' the rich life over there."

"Thought you had a sister."

She raised an eyebrow wondering how he remembered that. Maybe he'd been paying closer attention to her than she thought. "Yep. Got one of those too. I'm the oldest. Lucky me," she said, sarcasm in her voice. "What about you? Any brothers or sisters?"

"Just Ang."

"Bet she was a fun kid."

Happy shrugged a shoulder. "Was a pain in the ass," he said, though the smallest of smiles turned up the corners of his lips. "Still is."

Chloe smiled. "Not as bad as my sister," she murmured, thinking of her gold-digging sister who now lived in a mansion in Beverly Hills with her second husband in two years. She yawned, covering her mouth in an attempt to be polite.

"Gotta be up early tomorrow?" he asked, smirking as she shook her head, another yawn preventing her from answering. "Go to bed."

"I don't want to be a bad hostess," she said, walking back inside with him.

Happy shrugged again. "You're not. 'm goin' to bed too."

Chloe looked up at him curiously, still trying to figure him out. "You gonna cuddle with me, Lowman?" she teased, elbowing his side as he lazily slung an arm around her shoulders.

He smirked, shaking his head slowly. "Don't push your luck."

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

Angela was just finishing off showing Bones the proper way to apply blush to one of the bodies at the mortuary when her phone went off, the "Imperial March" from Star Wars filling the air. She grimaced; only two people had that ringtone. Neither of which she wanted to talk to, but both of whom she had to. Not answering would only make it worse. With a sigh, she handed the brush over to Bones. "Light blush, Boner," she instructed with a smirk. "Please don't make her look like a clown...again."

Bones took the brush from her with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said waving her off. "Go deal with one of those crazy ladies."

She flipped him off, stripping off her gloves before grabbing her phone out of her pocket and checking the ID to see who it was. "Hey Gemma," she greeted, slightly nervous as to why the head Old Lady was calling her. "What's up?"

"Need you to stop by the clubhouse," Gemma replied without a formal greeting, as usual.

"Gemma, I'm working..." she started, as she usually did. Her excuse had yet to work, though. Gemma always found a way to hook her into doing what she wanted.

"Hap's hurt. Get over here, preggo."

Angela's breath caught in her throat. Happy was hurt. It had to be bad for Gemma to call her. "What! What happened?" she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. There was no response on the other end. The line was already dead. "Shit! Boner!"

Bones stuck his head out of the workroom, his eyes wide. "What? Are you okay? Is it the baby? Do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked, rapid fire, his questions all jumbling together.

"Stop! I'm fine! I need to go! Hap's hurt!" she exclaimed, grabbing her purse. "Watch the front and the phones!"

"Hap...that big dude? What happened?" he asked, trailing after her.

Angela gave him a frustrated look as she headed to the door. "I don't know. Can you handle being here by yourself or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it!" he said, leaning against the front door and watching her rush to the Mazda. "Drive safe, Ang! Not too fast!" He chuckled as she responded with her middle finger held out the window as her car sped out of the parking lot.

Angela parked haphazardly in the parking lot, slamming the front door behind her before practically sprinting to the clubhouse, intercepting Jax who was on his way out. Her eyes were wide, her heart on overdrive. Gemma had called to say Hap was hurt but hadn't explained what happened or how badly he was hurt. For her to call, it had to be bad. She was in full blown panic mode, different scenarios running through her head, each bloodier than the last. " 'ey Angie," Jax greeted, nodding to her. "You here for Hap?"

She nodded, raking a hand through her hair. "Is it bad?" she asked, feeling tears prick her eyes. "Gemma didn't say anythin' on the phone..."

Jax set a hand on her shoulder, giving it a loving squeeze. "Relax, darlin'. He's fine. Chibs is patchin' him up right now. 'm sure he'll be happy to see ya. We gotta head out," he explained, glancing over at Bobby who was gesturing that it was time to go. He squeezed her shoulder once more. His blue eyes raked over her figure briefly before they met her gaze again, an unreadable look in them. "Take care a yourself, Ang."

"Yeah." Angela watched him walk away, wishing she could read his mind. Did he feel bad for what he was doing to Juice? Did he know she knew? Knew that he was using Juice as his own personal puppet. If so, was he sorry for it? She didn't understand what was going on within the club only that it was in a state of turmoil. A part of her was thankful Jax was at the head of the table; Clay wouldn't have showed Juice such mercy. He'd have killed him without a thought. Donna's face flashed in her mind. Her hit had been meant for Ope after Clay suspected he was a rat. She could only imagine what Clay would've done to Juice in Jax's shoes.

Shaking her head from those thoughts, she pushed the door open and walked into the clubhouse. The first thing she saw was the blood covering the side of Happy's head, soaking through his wife beater. "Jesus Christ, Hap!" Angela exclaimed, running over to him. "What the hell happened?"

"Just a graze, kid. Chill," Happy muttered, wincing as the needle dug into his skin. Angela hovered over him, her brow furrowed in concern. Her nervous energy was putting him on edge. He was in enough pain as it was, he didn't need to worry about her and the baby on top of it. "Would you sit?"

"By a bullet?" she exclaimed, ignoring his request. "Holy shit, are you serious?"

Gemma watched the exchange with a small smile on her face. She'd never seen anyone fuss over Happy the way Angela was nor had she ever seen Happy be so patient. She could tell it was taking every ounce of his self control not to grab her and force her to sit down. His dark eyes landed on her for a brief moment, a silent plea for her to get his little cousin to relax.

Gemma pulled out another chair, pushing it towards Angela. "Sit, Preggo. Relax. He's fine," she ordered, grabbing Angela's shoulder and pushing it down until the younger woman was forced to sit. "He's fine. Stay here and relax. I'll be right back." She waited a moment to make sure the pregnant undertaker stayed seated before she, Unser, and Nero made their way out the door.

Angela couldn't relax, her cousin was bleeding. He'd been shot. In the head. How was she supposed to relax? She twisted the ring around her finger roughly, wincing as it twisted the skin of her swollen fingers. A large hand covered hers, rough and calloused. " 'ey, kid. Relax. 'm okay," Happy's rough voice assured her. "Breathe. Tell me about the kid."

She breathed in deeply, letting it out slowly. "Did Chloe tell you?" she asked, watching as Chibs worked the needle through her cousin's skin.

"Nah," he said, pouring himself another shot of Jack. "So?"

She hesitated, looking around briefly before sighing. "I don't know if Juice wanted me to say..."

Chibs snorted at the mention of her Old Man, something that was strange to her; the Scot had always been one Juice's greatest allies. His dark eyes looked her over and softened some. "Ye know what yer havin' then?"

She nodded slowly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear nervously. "Yeah."

"You gonna tell us or not?" Happy asked, wincing as Chibs' needle dug into his skin.

Prompted by the way Happy winced, she blurted it out, "It's a girl. A baby girl."

"That's fantastic, Angie-girl!" Chibs said with a wide grin as Gemma walked back in. "You hear, Gem! Angie-girl's havin' a lil' girl!"

Gemma smirked, one hand on her hip as she looked Angela over. "Been awhile since we've had a little girl runnin' 'round the clubhouse. Congrats, sweetheart."

Though Angela was appreciative of their congratulations, there was only one person's opinion she really cared about. She met Happy's eyes, fidgeting nervously as she waited for him to speak. His dark eyes regarded her with pride as he nodded. "Congrats, kid," he said, a hint of a smile on his face. "You gonna tell your Ma?"

"Eventually," she answered on a sigh. Telling her mother was the very last thing on her mind at the moment. "You gonna show up there with stitches on the side of your head?"

Happy smirked, shaking his head. "She don't need that stress."

Angela laughed, rolling her eyes at him. She felt a hand on her shoulder and tilted her head back to find Tig's clear blue eyes looking down at her. "You up for a game of pool, preggo?" he asked.

"Always," she said, taking the hand he offered and allowing him to help her off the stool. "We playing for money?"

Tig shrugged a shoulder. "Sure. If you win, it'll be your preggo present."

"You mean when I win?"

"We'll see about that, doll," Tig said, nodding to the table. "Rack 'em up."

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

Juice strode into the clubhouse, feeling like the weight of the world was off of his shoulders. He'd found the papers. His pardon was in full effect. He was going to live to see his baby girl, to marry his Old Lady, and have more babies. Everything was going to be fine just like Angela said it would be. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face when he saw her sitting there at the bar with his brothers surrounding her, joking with her and laughing as if she was part of the family. Because she was. She was his Old Lady. His brothers cared about her. Some more than others but still, should something happen to him, it was comforting to know they'd be there for her.

"Hey baby," he greeted, catching her lips in a quick kiss. "Talk to you a minute?"

Angela nodded, rolling her eyes as the rest of his brothers cat called after them, no doubt thinking they were going to be doing something other than talk. She flipped them off over her shoulder; glad Happy was showering off in his room and had missed it. Juice grabbed her hand in his, leading the way to the dorm room. Once the door was shut behind them, he took her face in his hands, slanting his lips across hers and pressing her to the wall. His hands traveled all over her body as he kissed her passionately.

"Juice!" she exclaimed, laughing as his kisses trailed down her neck. "Baby, what is going on?"

"I found them," he whispered, his eyes lit up with excitement. "I found the documents. It's going to be okay, Angel. We're going to be okay."

She smiled back at him, smacking a kiss to his lips. "I told you we would be!"

He kissed her again; he couldn't get enough of the taste of her lips. "I gotta go tell the guys to meet at Clay's. I'll be home late," he said a relieved look on his face, his fingers brushing over her soft cheek. "But I'll be home."

Angela sighed in relief, leaning her forehead against his chest and breathing him in as he enveloped her in his strong arms. "We'll be waiting for you."

He pulled back a little to meet her eyes. "Love you," he murmured, touching his forehead to hers. "So much."

"Love you too, daddy," she teased, that familiar fire in her eyes as her hands slipped under his shirt, fingers tracing the outline of his abs.

Juice quickly grabbed her wrists, bringing her hands to his lips and kissing her fingers. "I'm gonna pause this for a sec. Give me an hour or two tops and we can press play. All right, Mama?"

Angela laughed, nodding in understanding. She caught his lips in one more kiss before pushing him towards the door. "Go before I push you into bed and have my way with you!" she threatened playfully. He hesitated for a brief moment, torn between how good that sounded and the orders he had from Jax. As if sensing his dilemma, she rolled her eyes and pushed him again. "Go, goof! You're gonna get in trouble!"

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

"Go home, Juicy." Chibs said in disgust.

Nothing had hurt Juice as badly as the utter disappointment in Chibs' eyes as he grabbed him by the front of his cut and hauled him out of Clay's house, slamming the door in his face. He stared at the door for a moment, sheer panic setting in. His one chance at a pardon had been ruined. Jax had given him one task, and he'd let him down all because he'd been stupid enough to leave Clay in the house alone. He'd been so close to being free...to being pardoned and now it'd never happen.

He felt numb as he got on his bike, riding to his house as quickly as he could. His heart felt heavy as he made his way up the walk. This could be the last time he ever made this trip. The last time he got to sleep next to his Old Lady. Tears filled his eyes as he set his hand on the doorknob, his thoughts on Angela and the little girl she was carrying in her stomach. What if he never got to meet her? Taking in a deep breath, he strengthened himself. No, he couldn't think like that. He had to be strong for them.

He walked into the dark house, brushing his hand over Rigor's head as he trotted over to greet him. "Hey Rigs," he murmured, scratching the dog halfheartedly behind the ear. He headed into the kitchen to make sure Rigs' water bowl was full, smiling slightly when he saw the plate of black and white cookies on the counter. God, he loved his Old Lady. He grabbed one, finishing it off in two bites. The taste was comforting, something he needed at that moment. He wondered how she'd known.

Taking another one, he headed down the hall and into the bedroom. Angela was lying on her side wearing one of his tanktops and a pair of short-shorts, her dark hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. A book was open in front of her, probably one of the girly novels she was into as of late. She tried to hide it, but he knew she loved that Nicholas Sparks shit. He leaned against the doorjamb, drinking her in, wondering if it'd be the last time. Slowly, he shrugged off his cut and the rest of his clothes, wanting nothing more than to get in bed and hold his Old Lady.

Turning, he wasn't surprised to see her sitting at the edge of the bed, a worried look in her dark eyes as she looked him over. Her dark eyes zeroed in on the red welt on his face. Jax had hit him pretty damn hard; he wasn't surprised he'd left a mark. He was just glad he hadn't caught one of his rings. "Jesus Christ, Juice!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet and closing the distance between them. She lifted her hand to touch his bruised cheek. "What happened?"

He winced at the soft amount of pressure on his bruised cheek. Her thumb smoothed over his cheek gentler this time. He leaned into her touch, drawing strength from it as he usually did. "They weren't there," he whispered, hating how rough his voice sounded.

That worry wrinkle appeared between her brows, her eyes widening slightly. "What?"

"The papers. We got back to Clay's and they were just...gone," he explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He ran a hand over his face, shaking his head in disbelief. How could he have been so stupid? "Clay must've moved them."

Angela felt sick to her stomach as the meaning of his words sunk in. He'd failed. Whatever temporary pardon Jax had offered him was off. "What happens now?" she asked softly as she took a seat next to him.

"I don't know," he replied, staring straight ahead.

The room was silent, the heaviness of the situation weighing on both of their shoulders. She slipped her hand into his, weaving her fingers into the spaces between his. He met her gaze, his eyes wide and shining with tears. She wished like hell she could tell them that they were going to be all right. That they'd find a way through it, but she wasn't sure that was true. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. The one thing she was sure of was she'd stay by his side through it all.

He rubbed his free hand over his face briefly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed hard. "What am I gonna do, Angel?"

Angela breathed in deeply through her nose before exhaling. "How does the whole...process work?"

"Jax'll bring it to the table, tell 'em all what I've done, then they'll vote. First on whether I keep my patch, next on whether I meet Mr. Mayhem," he rasped, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. "It's gotta be unanimous on both accounts for them to...go through with it."

A flicker of hope blossomed in Angela's stomach. "Unanimous," she repeated under her breath. "Hap..."

He shook his head slowly. "He won't do it, Angel."

"He would. I know he would. He knows how much you mean to me, Juice. How hard it would be for me to lose you. He'd never do that to me, never hurt me like that."

Juice wished he could believe what she was saying, but he knew better. Happy might love his cousin to death, but he was also fiercely loyal to the club. "Wouldn't have anythin' to do with you. It's a club issue, and Hap is...he's the most loyal of any of us. If anything, he won't vote and that's..."

"As good as a 'yes'," Angela finished softly, tears in her eyes. "Then let's run. Let's get out of here now while we still can."

"No," he breathed. "I can't do that to you, Angel. Livin' from city to city, always watchin' our backs. That's not the life I want for you, for Monk."

"There's nothing you can do?"

"Its outta my hands," he said, hanging his head.

Angela stood up then, the movement so quick that it surprised Juice. "You're just gonna give up like that?" she exclaimed angrily. "You're just gonna lay down and let them kill you?"

Juice watched her pace the floor, feeling like shit, but there was nothing he could do. He was stuck in this hopeless situation. "What am I supposed to do, Angel? What do you want from me?"

"I want you to try!" she shouted, frustrated tears in her eyes. "I want you to...to want to live! To fight for your life instead of just...giving up! This is the tree all over again, Juice! And I just don't understand why you want to leave me so badly!"

He stood then, taking her upper arms in her hands to stop her pacing. "I don't want to leave you, Angel. I don't have a choice."

"We always have a choice!" she shouted, trying to push him away. He didn't let her go, instead pulling her in closer and enveloping her in his arm just as she began to break down. Her shoulders shook as she buried her face in his chest. "I don't want to lose you. I can't...you're all I have."

Juice held her tighter then, kissing her temple as his own tears fell down his face. "I love you, Angel."

She tilted her head back, meeting his eyes with a fierce look in her own. "Then don't let them take you away from me."

He lifted his hands wipe the tears from her face, taking in the little details of her features that he didn't normally notice. The scar on her forehead from the gash she'd gotten when Salazar had slammed her head against his car, the small beauty marks by her nose and under her mouth, the worry wrinkle between her brows. He wondered which of Angela's features his daughter would have and hoped she'd have the majority of them. Hoped he'd be able to sit there and pick them apart. Tease each other about whose nose she had like some couples did. His lips found hers, molding against them slowly, savoring the taste of her as his tongue slipped into her mouth. She pulled herself closer to him, her round baby bump preventing the perfect way her body usually fit against his. He didn't mind though, he just wanted both of his girls close for what could be the last time.