trigger warning; mention of child death and child/baby graves! ⚠️

ᚔ

The cemetery was quiet and not too crowded and no one paid attention to Fawn and how badly she looked. And even ifᅳ Sage didn't care. She didn't care if they got dirty looks or if someone would try and talk to them. All she wanted was to hurt Fawn like her sister had hurt her.

The weather was the opposite of the mood that prevailed among all parties. Cool and depressing in contrast to the warm sun shining down on the graves. Some of them were neglected and abandoned, while others were decorated with flowers and other decorative things.

Rubbing the tip of her nose, Sage made her way to the correct row, her gaze distant. In the large green area with dozens of different graves and a few large, old trees in between, the two slim women seemed almost lost.

Her heart sank deeper in her chest which tightened painfully, her breathing shallow and slow as she stopped in front of the grave that belonged to her son. After all these years the pain wasn't any better, time hadn't healed all the wounds like many people always claimed.

The row of small graves always took her breath away and made her feel sick. All the flowers and toys and pictures of small children or babies. It was sad enough to bury a loved one that had a long life. But burying a childᅳ that left you scarred and angry at the world.

Nevertheless, a smile crossed her face when she saw how well everything was cared for. When she had lived in Seattle, she hadn't been able to come weekly or visit every two weeksᅳ in the first year she was generally unable to visit the grave. The pain and trauma was too great.

But thanks to Gemma, who regularly looked after the grave, it looked neat and clean. Since she had been living here in Charming, Sage had come here regularly, changing the flowers and making sure everything looked nice.

She had been here just last week with Tig. And apparently Gemma was here a few days ago, as there were new flowers on a corner and a little teddy bear lying next to it. Or maybe it was Jax that had been here, she didn't knowᅳ at least someone was here and had added something.

"You did thisᅳ you killed him", Sage finally broke the awkward silence, her eyes still trained on the stone, her eyebrows furrowed as she pressed her lips together. "Do you know how painful it is to have to visit your own child in a cemetery?"

The redhead heard Fawn let out a shaky breath and watched from the corner of her eye as her younger sister tensely wiped her sweaty forehead and shifted from foot to foot.

Sage's green eyes slowly landed on Fawn. "Don't you have anything to say? No sincere apology? Nothing?"

"What do you want to hear?!", the blonde hissed from the side. Fawn seemed annoyed, although there was something else in her toneᅳ remorse perhaps, Sage couldn't say for sure.

"Just fuckin' look at it", Sage snarled angrily before she dragged her sister closer, making a hand gesture towards the grave. "Just look at it and let it sink!"

Fawn refused for another moment, her heartbeat doubling. The blonde looked down, her eyes staring at the grass beneath her sneakers. It took all of her strength not to shed a tear. At the moment she didn't want to give Sage the satisfaction. Not if they'd actually let her rot in prison.

"You're a cold-hearted bitch, you know that?" Sage heaved a bitter laugh, shaking her head with a scoff while trying to keep her own tears inside.

More minutes passed, neither of them saying a word. The chirping of birds rustled in the background and the light wind cooled them down a bit. But the only thing Sage could focus on was the small picture of her son immortalized on the gravestone next to his name.

At that time, when she was holding her son for the first and last time, she was unable to take a picture to have an eternal memory of him. Fortunately, for which she was still grateful today, Gemma had found the strengthᅳ also to have a memory of her grandson herself.

He looked like a normal newborn, only a lot smaller and more fragile.

To this day she remembered how bitterly she had cried, how many tears she had shed that day and for weeks and monthsᅳ and all because of Fawn.

She pressed down her anger as she looked at Fawn. Her sister's silence made her blood boil and elicited another snort from her salty tasting lips.

"What if this would be Hayley instead of my son?" Sage spat at her, studying Fawn's side profile as it scrunched up.

"You know, I will go home later, cuddle up with my Old Man and my beautiful daughter while you're going to prison, far away from your daughter. And that gives me at least some peace", the redhead added with the slightest smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she shot her sister a satisfied look. "You'll lose everything, Fawn, doesn't that make you feel helpless?"

Fawn took a shaky breath, which she released again after she had held it in her lungs for a few seconds, including a few tears that were now rolling down her cheeks.

"You're right", she nodded slightly, quickly wiping the tears from her face before finally showing a reaction, looking at Sage. "And maybe I deserve thatᅳ but you know what at least gives me some satisfaction?"

"No, what?" Sage asked, groaning. That Fawn still had the audacity to talk to her like that. "What else could satisfy you right now, huh?"

"Well", with a calm smile, she stepped closer to the grave, crouched down and picked up a flower from the ground, which she put back in the vase. "You still won't get him back, no matter how good your life will be."

Fawn slowly stood up again and eyed her sister, whose face was red with anger as tears were brimming in her green eyes. "Guess we'll both always carry a burden with us."

Satisfaction spread across Fawn's face as her older sister's sniffling reached her ears, causing her to fold her arms carelessly. "Look, we do have something in common."

"You are a profoundly evil person, Fawn." Sage's body trembled, her hands clenched into fists beneath her crossed arms.

"I've heard worse", the blonde said quietly, but secretly it hurt her to know that now that everyone knew about what she had done, she had lost her entire family. "You can't really hurt me anymore, Sage."

"Maybe not." Sage swallowed, trying to act calm as she started to walk past Fawn.

However, she stopped next to her sister for a moment, her gaze directed into the distance so that she didn't have to look into her sister's face again. "Hayley will call another woman mother someday and I hope you get out of prison soon enough to witness that and feel that pain."

A small smile formed on Sage's lips as Fawn let out a sob. Maybe she didn't know her sister inside out, but Sage knew what buttons to push to hurt Fawn.

Without another word, Sage left Fawn standing there after taking one more look at her son's grave, the sight tugging at her heart strings, before she went back to Happy and Jax, who were both waiting a few meters away and had always kept an eye on the women.

"Come here." Grunting, Happy pulled his Old Lady towards him by her upper arm and soon wrapped his arms around her shaking body. "You wanna go home?"

"Yes please", she whispered against his chest where she had partially hidden her face and dried her tears on his shirt. "I just want to lie in bed with Violet and you for the rest of the day. Can we do that?"

"Yeah." Happy placed a kiss on top of her head, running his fingers through her hair. "We'll pick Violet up on the way back after we drop Jax and Fawn off at the station."

"No, go. I'll take Fawn home with me. Hayley should be able to say goodbye to her properly. I'll get her to the station first thing in the morning", Jax gave his wordᅳ and he would stick to it.

The blonde placed a hand against Sage's back, feeling generally heavy right now. "If that's okay with you. But they'll need your statement too and I don't think today is the best time for that."

Sniffling, Sage wiped the tears from under her nose with the back of her hand and nodded weakly, but she still looked up at Happy for reassurance.

When he nodded curtly, she looked at Jax again and finally nodded. "Okay, tomorrow morning then. Can we leave you alone with her?"

"Yeah, I just wanna stay here for a moment and then I'll take her home", he said with a sigh, an oppressive feeling in his chest. "I'm really sorry, Sage. About everything."

The redhead remained silent, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to answer. But the words got stuck in her throat. In the end she only managed to nod in recognition.

"You better not let that bitch out of your sight", Happy grunted.

He still had the desire to torture Fawn and then just kill her. Sage had only taken him to the grave once so far, otherwise she usually visited alone and every time she came back full of grief. No one would probably ever be able to cope with the death of a child. His Old Lady didn't deserve to live with so much painᅳ she was far too good a person who was always there for everyone.

"I won't, don't worry", Jax assured him seriously before shoving his hands into his pockets and strolling towards the grave.

Sage watched the sight for a moment as Fawn flinched next to the blonde even though Jax just stood next to her. Her sister was scaredᅳ at least that was some satisfaction. But not enough to still Sage's thirst for revenge.

Wordlessly, she left the cemetery with Happy to pick Violet up from the clubhouse.

ᚔ

After the couple arrived home with their daughter, Sage immediately crawled into Happy's and her bed with Violet, the baby cradled close to her, while Happy quickly cleaned the living room and got rid of the blood-soaked white carpet.

Dawn had decided to stay with Tig and Ima until tomorrow, also to give her father some support. The fate of his youngest daughter didn't pass him by coldly, it hurt him, brought him down, but he knew that Fawn was lucky to be alive at all.

Tomorrow morning after Sage gave her statement she would definitely stop by Tig's place and talk to him. There was no need to feel guilty, Fawn deserved everything that was coming to herᅳ but Sage still felt guilty towards her father and just wanted to know if things between them were good.

"She's sleeping?" Happy walked through the door and placed a cup of tea on the nightstand next to Sage before he walked around the bed and sat down next to her, looking down at their daughter.

"Yeah, she just fell asleep", she nodded weakly as she ran her fingertip over Violet's little nose. "She's still so innocent, so sweet and carefree. I never want that to change, Hap. I only want the best for her."

"We'll make sure of it", he promised her sincerely, draping his arm around her shoulder. His other hand tentatively ran through Violet's red hair. "She will have a carefree life, even if it sometimes seems impossible with club shit going on."

"The club isn't the problem", Sage argued with a shake of her head before looking up at him with concern written all over her pale face. "Your contract killings, Hap. I want you to stop them."

"It's good money, babe", he let out a sigh, his brow furrowed. "You know that I know what I'm doing."

"I know", she agreed, reluctantly, but Happy was a professional at what he did. She knew that but that didn't change her mind. "Still, it still is dangerous and I don't want to lose youᅳ I can't. So please..please just stop that", she practically begged, her voice lowered so she wouldn't wake up Violet.

The decision wasn't difficult for Happy when he saw the fear, worry and seriousness in Sage's eyes. He would do absolutely anything for this woman, even if it meant giving up a large sum of money. If it would give her peace of mind, it was worth it.

"If that's what you want, then I'll stop it", he grunted, pressing a kiss onto her forehead.

Filled with relief, she let out a sigh, her eyes closed as his lips met her forehead. "Yes, that's what I want. As I said, I have no problem with the club, the guys are our family, Violet's familyᅳ but no dangerous side jobs anymore, Hap."

"You have my word, little girl", he croaked against her temple after she leaned the side of her face against his chin. "Are you okay, Sage?"

"No", she answered honestly, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I'll be okay, with you and Violet by my side."

With a tortured expression on his usually stoic face, he pulled her closer to him, careful not to squeeze Violet in between them. There was something about watching the person you love suffer that unsettled yourself deeply, and Happy just hoped that Sage could come to terms with all of this at some point.

ᚔ

authors note; hey guys! If you haven't seen my new Happy story, you can find it under my published stories under the name BLUE JEANS. I'd appreciate it! 🥰