Hey, sorry for the very few and far between updates; I have my chapters mapped out and there is an end-game it's just finding time and motivation to write. In this chapter, all medical knowledge and reasoning flies out the window to make it work in Fiction land.

The past few weeks had flown by; before anybody knew it, Valentine's Day was fast approaching them. Kerrianne was still staying with her father and Charlotte, and showed no signs to be leaving anytime soon.

Kerrianne spent most of her days with Tara, helping her look after the three young boys. Charlotte would drop her off at Tara's before heading to work (both thankful it was only a 5 minute car ride as there was always an awkward silence). Nobody could recall how the routine started, but it was one which suited everyone. Kerrianne was busy, Charlotte could work, Tara got help and Chibs always knew where his daughter was.

Tara worked three days a week at the hospital, mainly consultancy work. On these days Kerrianne found herself at the Clubhouse with the three boys and on one occasion, sitting on a picnic bench with Gemma.

Kerrianne had heard some stories about Gemma from her mother, and didn't feel entirely comfortable being with her. It must've showed, as Gemma spoke to her.

"I don't bite."

Kerrianne looked up.

"Well, unless you make me." Gemma smirked.

Seconds later Charlotte pulled into the lot, driving straight down to the garage. Bobby met her and after a quick conversation he popped open the hood and started work on her engine.

Gemma watched Kerrianne, watching the exchange between Bobby and Charlotte.

"She loves him, y'know. He loves her back twice as much."

"Bobby?"

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Does all that hair on top of your head shrink your brain? Your father; Those two are crazy but they're crazy together."

Kerrianne picked at some lint on her jeans. "They've been together for ages. He doesn't stop talking about her. How come they're not married?"

Gemma's eyebrows raised slightly. "Kinda hard to get married when he was already legally married to someone else. Fiona never gave him a divorce."

Kerrianne's face said it all.

"Oh dear, sweetheart," Gemma reached across the table and gently took Kerrianne's chin in her hand, "Do I need to tell you some home truths?"

"Hey, are you two okay?" Charlotte appeared suddenly at the side of them, although her question was more so directed to Kerrianne. Somehow she had missed the two of them sitting on the bench as she pulled into the lot, but when she did notice them she immediately went over. Kerrianne looked less than impressed with something Gemma had said.

"Oh yeah, we're fine." Gemma stood. "I'll see you around, sweetheart," she smiled at the younger woman.

"Sorry." Charlotte said when Gemma had gone.

"It's fine. I gotta go." Kerrianne shook her head and slinked into the Clubhouse.

Talk between Charlotte and Kerrianne had always been minimal since she arrived, but things were gradually progressing. The other night they had even had a conversation that lasted more than two sentences. Chibs didn't notice; he didn't notice anything anymore. He was still on Cloud 9 at having his 'two girls' - as he always called them - under one roof.

Charlotte knocked on Kerrianne's door, and entered. As she did, the younger woman stuffed something under legs where she sat on the bed.

"Washing," Charlotte offered and stepped inside the room to place it on her dresser. Kerrianne had bought little more than a rucksack's worth of clothes from Ireland. Chibs had forked over some cash to buy her more, but still what she had barely filled half the dresser, and the closet housed a mere 3 pairs of shoes.

"You don't have to do that y'know, I can do my own," Kerrianne stated.

Charlotte though for a few seconds. "Yeah, sure, okay," she shrugged a little and went to leave the room. The less clothes she had to wash the better!

"And don't make my bed anymore, either, you're not running a hotel."

Charlotte paused on her way out. Fair enough on the laundry, but now Kerrianne's tone of voice was all bratty and unappreciative.

"I'm just trying to make you welcome." Charlotte explained.

"Don't. You're not my mother."

Charlotte slammed the door shut. "No, I'm not, and I'm glad; she was a psychotic, evil bitch who made Chibs miserable and raised you to be an ungrateful brat." She quickly snactched whatever Kerrianne had previously tucked under her legs.

"Don't you even think about leaving here without saying goodbye to your Father." Charlotte waved the envelope of money in Kerrianne's face. She guessed she must've saved every bit Chibs (and anybody else who felt pity on her) had given her. "You have no idea how much he loves you, how much he needs you to be here."

"You have no idea what it's like!" Kerrianne made a swipe for the money but failed.

"You're not the only person in the whole world who lost a parent! I lost my Dad suddenly when I was thirteen years old; I didn't have a mother to go to. You actually have a parent who wants you, Kerrianne, don't fuck it up."

Charlotte left, taking the money with her, slamming the door shut. Kerrianne fell to the bed and sobbed herself into sleep.

"Here she is!" Chibs greeted as Kerrianne hovered in the kitchen doorway. "Have a good day, sweetheart?"

Kerrianne nodded, eyes boring into Charlotte as she flitted around the kitchen - a blur of grabbing plates and cutlery, serving up dinner and loading the dishwasher simultaneously. Charlotte never looked at her and judging by her Dad recounting a funny story, Kerrianne detected Charlotte hadn't grassed on her about the envelope of money. Why wouldn't she? Kerrianne wasn't naive enough to know there some awkwardness between them, it would've been easy to rat her out to Chibs and send her back to Ireland.

All through dinner Chibs led the conversation as he always did with those two around. Even though the two ladies sat opposite each other Charlotte refused to meet Kerrianne's eyes and it pissed her off.

"You still going out this Sunday?"

"Huh?" Kerrianne asked.

"Shopping? Thought all you girls were going out?"

Charlotte nodded. "Tara needs baby stuff." She stabbed a piece of pasta with her fork like it had done her wrong.

"What about you, you need anything else, sweetheart?" Chibs gently nudged his daughter.

Charlotte finally looked to the younger woman and glared.

"I could do with some things," Kerrianne agreed. Charlotte zoned out as they started talking money and created a shopping list. This Sunday was going to be hell.

They took Tara's 'Soccer Mom' van to take the 5 ladies shopping. Gemma drove with Tara in the passenger seat, Kerrianne and Charlotte ended up in the middle row and Lyla sprawled out in the back.

Lyla and Kerrianne were getting on famously, and with Gemma and Tara talking up front Charlotte spent the ride in silence, as she did most of the day.

"Hey," Gemma banged into Charlotte accidentally on purpose as she was browsing a clearance rail. "You're being horribly quiet today. How's things?"

Charlotte shrugged, "I'm fine."

A cacophony of laughter raised in the air; it was Tara and Kerrianne laughing at an ugly zebra pink printed hat Lyla had put on.

"She's a sweet girl." Gemma offered.

"She's too much like her mother," Charlotte countered. "Caught her with an envelope stashed full of money, she was going to run away."

"Well, you need to keep her close. Take her under your wing, raise her right. She's where she belongs, with the Club, in Charming. Keep her here and keep her safe." Gemma squeezed Charlotte's arm and kissed the side of her head before waltzing to the shoe section in the discount store.

They'd been shopping all day in Lodi; they'd exhausted every shop and stopped at every cafe for either a coffee, a snack, or lunch. It was late afternoon when everybody finally had had enough. They were walking down main street, laden with bags, to where they had parked the car at the end of the street.

"Fuck, guys, can we stop for a second?" Charlotte huffed and slowed to a halt, half dropping half placing her bags to the ground and bent over with her hands on her legs.

"We're almost there," Lyla said.

"I think I've got stitch," Charlotte winced and held her side.

"I'm twice as old as you and carrying twice as many bags. Quit your bitchin' and let's move it." Gemma ordered.

"Fuck," Charlotte cursed again and started picking up her bags, only to drop them again as the pain shot through her side this time, but it was so bad shadows danced in front of her eyes. "Jesus!" She breathed.

"You don't look so good." Kerrianne noticed her pale face. No sooner had she said it, Charlotte fell to the floor, her head smacking the concrete floor. Tara was over her in seconds, checking signs and the cut on her head.

By the time Chibs and the guys got to the hospital, it had been established Charlotte's appendix had ruptured. After Chibs poked his head into her room where she was still sleeping from surgery he found Kerrianne crying on a horrible looking blue plastic chair. He bent down in front of her and took hold of her hands lightly. She was trembling.

"Is she - is she okay?"

"Of course she is," Chibs gave a small smile, "She's a tough cookie to crumble...or something like that anyway."

"You should've seen the way she fell - like a sack of potatoes - her head whacked against the floor - I was so scared!"

"I know, I was scared too when I got the call - but Doctor's have removed her appendix and she's fine. We can take her home tomorrow, hopefully."

Kerrianne remained silent for a little while before speaking again.

"You love her."

"I do, very much."

"She loves you too. I've seen the way she looks at you. Like she's scared of loosing you."

Chibs was going to say something but a Doctor appeared beside him,.

"Mr. Telford?" The Doctor looked to his clipboard briefly, "You've been identified as Charlotte's partner, is that correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Could I speak with you a moment please? In private?" he quickly glanced around the hallway littered with people in various degrees of leather apparrel.

Chibs stood up. "Anything you have to say, you can say it in front of everybody here." As if by magic, everyone in the hallway had heard the conversation and started congregating towards the Doctor.

The Doctor shrugged one shoulder. "Okay." He had a tonne of paperwork to do, and his son's first baseball game started in less than 2 hours - he'd broadcast the news to the world if it meant he could leave the hospital on time tonight. He checked his notes again.

"Because Miss Anderson's appendix ruptured, we did some blood tests during her surgery to determine the level of harmful toxins it may have flushed into her bloodstream."

"Harmful toxins?"

"The toxin levels came back at a very good rate, normally with just a mild dosage of antibiotics they will disappear in no time at all. However, with Miss Anderson being pregnant, she cannot take the level of antibiotics I had wished her too, and therefore her recovery will take a little longer. I'd like her to stay in the hospital for at least another week."

"Pregnant?"

Jax would never forget the look on Chibs' face.