authors note; long chapter, like, really long. I'm sorry, lol!

The heat that had hung over Charming for the past few months was slowly dissipating and being replaced with a more comfortable humidity that made it easier for Cassie to get back to doing things. The pregnancy has been uneventful so far, everything was fine, but the heat has bothered her a lot.

With Opie she strolled down the street until she reached the clubhouse. Since Gemma had asked for her help and Happy was still out anyway, there was no reason to sit at home all alone. Instead, she would first help Samcros Queen with the preparations for the big party tomorrow night. By now she was back at most parties, unless she was really too tired⸺ then she stayed home and went to bed with a good book until Happy came back.

When she entered the clubhouse, she let the pitbull off the leash, who immediately ran over to where Tig sat and was greeted extensively by him. Abel and Thomas immediately joined them and, as always, were totally enthusiastic about Opie. Tig gave the brunette a quick wink as she waved at him.

Chibs came around the corner only a moment later and draped an arm over her shoulder. “Ye' look good, lass”, he smiled down at her.

“Thanks, I'm also starting to feel better”, she retorted with a friendly smile and leaned against him just a little. Ever since her bump started to grow, she felt her back hurting from time to time because it was just being put under pressure.

“Don't get excited t' soon, the heat can come back anytime”, the Scot chuckled softly knowing how much the brunette despised the heat. “I got used t' it, too.”

She just shook her head, laughing. “Very encouraging, thanks Chibs. Where's Gemma? She wanted me to come.”

“She's in the kitchen”, he informed her. “Where's Hap?”

Cassie only came alone when the guys were out for club business together. But now everyone except for Happy was here, they had no business to handle at the moment. There was nothing new about the new threat so he wondered where their SAA was.

“Oh, he wanted to get something for the house, told me it's a surprise”, she beamed with excitement.

Chibs chuckled at her enthusiasm. If anyone had told him a few years ago that Happy would have an Old Lady one day and become a father, he wouldn't have believed it. And now his brother was out getting a surprise for the woman he loved. Oh how the tables had turned. But Chibs liked this version of Happy, it showed that his heart wasn't as cold and black like everyone thought it was.

“Well then, I'm curious what he gets for ye'”, the Scot nodded.

“I'll let you know next time I'm around”, she smiled and kissed his cheek before she slipped out of under his arm and greeted Abel and Thomas properly before she joined the matriarch, who greeted her with a warm hug, in the kitchen.

“Looking good today”, Gemma smirked as she studied the brunette. The younger woman actually managed to get into her leather pants and some biker boots with a simple matching black top that covered her whole baby bump and her hair in a high ponytail. “I'm surprised Happy let you go out like this alone.”

“I don't think anyone is going to hit on a pregnant woman with a pitbull by her side”, Cassie said with a grin and quickly washed her hands before she started chopping some vegetables for the salads.

“It's not so bad having a dog, huh?”, Gemma laughed while she cooked the meat.

Cassie was now able to cook again without any problems, or to stand by when someone was cooking meat. Apparently this was one of those things that was only a problem for the first three months. Just like the constant nausea. As already mentioned, she was only struggling with back pain, otherwise she was fine and was grateful for it.

“Dogs are the best”, Cassie said with a dead serious expression. She loved that Happy already had a dog when they got together and she couldn't wait to see her little boy grow up with one.

“How's the packing going? Need help?”, the older woman asked.

“Not yet. I just have a few more boxes left to pack. Most of the furniture is in the new house already anyway. Maybe I could use some help with the unpacking”, Cassie told her, glancing at her for a moment.

“Of course. Just call if you need anything. When's the first night in the new home?” A smirk formed on Gemma's lips. “Can't believe you two actually bought a house together. It's getting serious, baby.”

“Oh, I thought it already got serious when I found out about this one”, she pointed at her belly and let out a laugh. Of course she knew what Gemma meant. “Thinking about the future still scares me but, I also can't wait, you know?”

“Yes, I know, sweetheart. Thinking about your future can be scary, especially with this kind of lifestyle. But you and Hap are one strong couple, I can tell you that”, Gemma assured her, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “You really are the right one for him. He's one grumpy, lucky bastard.”

Cassie hummed softly and smiled to herself while dreamily stirring the dressing for the salad. “I think I'm the lucky one here. It's not easy to keep up with my complicated ass and Happy has shown nothing but patience and supported me in every situation.”

“You're both lucky, and so is your little boy”, Gemma decided, raising a brow curiously. “Any names in mind already?”

“Actually, yes.” A smile took over her face as she thought back to the moment Happy and her talked about baby names. He was so enthusiastic about it that it had melted her heart. “We can't choose between Callum and Aiden yet but those are our favorites.”

“Who came up with those names? They're great”, Gemma said in surprise, nodding in approval.

“Happy had Callum in mind and I liked Aiden. But I think I like the first one better, too”, the brunette said after a while.

“Callum really does sound like the perfect name for you little boy”, Gemma agreed and handed the Connor woman more vegetables from the fridge. “You're coming to the party tomorrow?”

“Yeah, at least I planned to come. Happy really wants me there”, she told the matriarch.

The older one hummed contentedly, happy that Cassie was finally leaving the house more often again. “Good baby, you need to get out a little more again.”

The two women kept chatting about God and the world and who's coming to the party tomorrow. Apparently a few more Charters were coming, which Cassie didn't know before. But she was excited to see a few old, familiar faces again.

⸺

Happy let out a painful groan as the fist of one of the three guys standing in front of him connected with his jaw once again. When he entered the house he was surprised by three idiots of the MC they were dealing with at the moment. He had wondered why it had been so quiet for the last few weeks, now he knew. The rivals had planned their attack carefully and first gathered enough information about each member. Unfortunately, it came out that Happy had killed the brother of the person who had just punched him in the face for the fifth time.

More blood from his mouth spurted across the floor and leaked from the wounds the three men had inflicted on his torso. Still, he didn't think of begging them to stop. He'd rather get himself shot before he turned into a whining pussy. With a smug grin, he looked up at the man through half open eyelids, who immediately felt provoked again.

“That's all you got, bitch?”, Happy spat at him demandingly.

“You better shut the fuck up”, the oldest of them pushed the knife into one of the already existing wounds, not too deep. After all they didn't want to kill him. Not yet. Then, he rubbed some salt into it, pouring whiskey over it a moment later. “Who gave you the order to kill my brother?”

Happy clenched his jaw, trying not to make a sound. He wouldn't give them that satisfaction. “No one. I killed that bitch because he was a snitch!”

That was a lie. Many years ago Clay needed him for a job and that included getting rid of Preston Malarkey, the brother of the guy who was torturing him right now. He betrayed the club and gave away information no one was allowed to hear, ever. So Clay made sure Preston was taken care of. But Happy wasn't a snitch, even if Clay betrayed the club before he died, Happy wouldn't tell them what they wanted to hear.

But when he heard the door, and shortly thereafter seeing Opie running into into the now half-empty living room where he was, he swallowed. If anything happened to Cassie because of him, he would never forgive himself and until now he couldn't tell how far the rivals would go.

“I'm home, babe”, she called out and followed Opie, wondering why he was barking so much. At the sight of her Old Man tied up to a chair, blood all over his body, his face bruised up, she gasped in shock.

“Get out!” Happy didn't mean to bark orders at her, but this was for her own safety. He had hoped she'd stay longer at the clubhouse and not witness all of this here. “Now Cassie!”

She stood there, still frozen. Her eyes scanned the room, then the three strangers in her living room. All of them wore kuttes. Just like every other MC but with a different logo and name on their back.

Reflexively, she wrapped her arms around her stomach as if she were the one who had just been attacked. Panic was written all over her face and just as she was about to run to Happy, one of the men roughly grabbed her arm and held a gun to her temple while another pulled Opie into another room after the dog tried to bite.

“No! Let her go, she's got nothing to do with this”, Happy barked at them, fidgeting in the chair as he tried to rub his wrists free from the bindings that had already left their mark. No chance, they were definitely too tight.

As soon as the three men finally noticed a change in Happy, they knew what they had to do. Threatening this beauty would get him to talk, they were sure about this. And if not, they wouldn't hesitate to kill her, ready to start a war if they had to.

“Ah, ah. You stay here, beautiful”, he whispered, giving her a smug grin when she tried to free herself from his firm, painful grip. “What's your name?”

“Fuck you”, she spat in his face and head-butted him, letting out a painful his. Man, this guy's nose was hard as fuck and her forehead quickly started to hurt, yet this was the only way to get out of his grip.

“Cassie stop!” Happy was slowly losing his mind while he had to watch his Old Lady getting pushed around after she tried to defend herself. Normally, he would be hella proud, but those guys were about to seriously hurt her if she kept defending herself. There was no way a woman could fight three men, not even he was able to handle them after the third one joined.

“I'm going to kill all of you”, Happy sneered darkly, his mind was already filling up with a thousand different ways to torment all three of them until he ended their miserable lives.

Cassie breathed in sharply as one of them pulled a knife and held it against her stomach. She immediately stopped fighting and swallowed dryly, her eyes searching for Happy's. She wasn't afraid of him, never had been, even though she knew what he was capable of. But his meanwhile almost black, menacingly sparkling eyes staring blankly into those of the guy holding the knife to her stomach made her blood freeze in her veins. So cold, empty, and somber, they bored holes in all three men.

“Oh yeah? I don't think so”, the one guy teased, putting some pressure on the knife, which pushed through Cassie's top, exposing some skin. There wasn't much pressure left before he would seriously injure her stomach.

“Let her watch me beat the last bit of life out of him”, the oldest spoke up, taking a few steps closer towards Happy who gave him the deadliest glare. He rolled up his sleeves, hand clenched into a fist and ready to punch. “You can end this by telling us the truth. It's up to you what happens to you and your beautiful family.”

“No, please!” Cassie screamed and squirmed in the man's arms, who was now holding her tightly so she had to watch as his friend punched Happy. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her mascara ruining the delicate glow of her skin as she watched Happy being beaten almost unconscious.

More and more blood flowed down his face. It dripped from his nose and mouth onto his bare torso, which was already covered in blood. Cassie knew violence, she'd grown up with it. But she couldn't handle it when it involved her own family. The brunette begged them to stop but her begging only pushed them to keep going.

Happy was barely able to speak, let alone stay awake. But he knew that Cassie couldn't take it anymore, the horror, the stress she was in and the fear was not good for her or for the baby. He would kill every single one of these bastards for letting his Old Lady watch this and traumatize her. He spat blood to the side before slowly raising his head.

“Let her go and I give you what you want”, his voice low and hoarse, blood coming out of his mouth with each word he spoke, getting Cassie even more worried.

Her knees threatened to give in while her heart sunk. Never before had she felt so anxious and helpless. It hurt her to see Happy in so much pain even though he tried his best to hide the pain he was in.

“Nah, too easy.” The man folded his hands behind his back, walking with big, slow steps a few laps around the chair on which Happy was tied to before he pulled a second chair close and pulled the brunette onto it. “If we hurt her we can be sure you're going to tell us the truth.”

Cassie whimpered softly, fear but also anger rose in her and she would love to kill these guys herself. But she was aware that she had no chance against them. The brunette reached out to Happy with her trembling hand, carefully stroking his cheek. She broke inwardly at the sight that was presented to her.

Then the first punch hit her in the face. Not with a flat  hand, no. The guy punched her with his fist without feeling bad for it at all, he even smirked as blood splattered. She wasn't only a woman but also pregnant. What the guy did was just disgusting.

“I fucking told you I was going to tell you”, Happy barked. Seeing his Old Lady getting punched by a man made him tremble. No matter how injured he was, or how bad the pain was, the adrenaline pumping through his body made him forget everything.

After another punch that almost knocked Cassie out and off the chair, the guy stepped back and spread out his arms. “I'm listening.”

“Clay Morrow wanted your brother dead because he was a god damn rat. I don't know more. He gave me a job and I fucking handled it”, Happy spat, venom dripping from his voice. If this made him a snitch now then so be it, he wouldn't watch them beat the shit out of the woman he loved and Happy knew the club would understand. 

“Hmm”, the guy hummed, pacing around as he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, running a finger over his VP patch. “Well, this has to be enough for now. Since I can't decide who lives and dies all by myself, I have to let you go for now.”

He motioned the two other guys to cut Happy loose, which they did. Oh, how stupid they were. What did they think? That he'd walk them out the door as if nothing ever happened? Happy didn't waste a second and started to throw punches at the two guys. Thanks to the adrenaline flowing through his body he could easily keep up with them. The third one was about to call to call for backup when Happy was already pulling him to the ground and started to beat the living daylight out of the tallest one.

Cassie just stared at the scene, her nose still bleeding heavily but she couldn't even focus on the pain at the moment. She never saw Happy in action before, except in the ring at the clubhouse, but that was different. Now she definitely knew where he got his nickname as the infamous 'Tacoma Killer'. Even injured, he could easily kill a man with his bare hands.

“Happy stop! Killing him will only cause a war!” The brunette finally found her voice again and slipped to the ground, trying to get Happy off the already unconscious man. With a lot of effort she finally managed to get his attention. He was so engrossed in hurting the guy that he forgot Cassie was watching. He never wanted her to ever see that side of him, not so extreme. And yet she looked at him sensitively and put her hands on his cheeks.

“It's okay”, she assured him in a whisper and leaned her forehead against his, swallowing softly. The look on his face told her that he was afraid she'd see a monster in him now, but that wasn't the case. He was just trying to protect his family.

“I'm going to kill them for what they did to you”, he grunted, the anger still clearly audible in his tone. He then cupped her face in his hands to check on her nose, his jaw clenched. “Fucking bastards!”

“I'll be fine”, she mumbled, trying to control her crying. “They could've killed you.”

Happy let out a deep sigh when he saw the pain and fear in Cassie's eyes. That's exactly why he had tried to push her away at the beginning, because he wanted to save her from this. But he'd get his revenge for it.

“But they didn't. And they won't, little girl”, he promised her before he told her to take care of Opie and call some backup while he would take care of the other two guys who were knocked out but not unconscious like the other one.