"My God, Jessica is more like you everyday. When I was taking her back to Tara's, we rode past a playground and she made me stop so she could play on the monkey bars. Hell, I started playing with her." I chuckled and felt a tingling warmth grow inside of me that let me know that Talia was listening to me.

I was at her grave and sitting in front of her headstone. I remembered when she'd take me to see her Mom and I did the same thing, talked to her and felt like someone was listening.

I already went to see Jayden and I put some new flowers on his grave, but I had to find a spot to set them. People he went to school with still came to put stuffed animals or flowers on his grave and I thought that was very kind of them. I almost wished we would've buried Kozik in Charming, but like Half-Sack, his casket was transported to the closest family we could get in contact with.

I've been talking to Talia for a good hour now. I told her about what we made for her at the clubhouse and how amazing it was. The Sons went to that shrine almost everyday and added a new picture that they found. I told her about my last weekend with Jessica too. Our visits usually started with me going to pick her up, if she managed to stay at Tara's house, but that was becoming a regular thing because Jessie was getting deeply attached to Abel. She tells me how much of a quiet kid he is, but that he likes playing with her all day. She even has a picture of she and him as her phone's lockscreen. They reminded me of Talia and Juice and I hoped they'd stay close.

For the remainder of our Friday night, Jessie tells me what's been going on with school and her friends. Her closest ones were Drew Tanner and Harley Maye, both girls. Jessie was more in touch with her feminine side and she was into skirts, light colors and anything that had sparkles or glitter on it. She and her friends would stay up almost every night on their laptops video chatting. She's taught me how to do that from my phone, but we have yet to try it on a computer. After that, we go out shopping for something to make at home and destroy the kitchen because neither of us were great cooks.

On Saturday morning, Gemma usually comes over and she's always so happy to see Jessica. She usually makes us a nice breakfast and that draws the Sons to my place. Jessie knows who her Uncles are and she always asks about them, but she wouldn't let Quinn out of her sight for some reason. He wasn't too big on talking, but he'd listen to her say a million words in 10 seconds and keep her talking. Opie always puts his beanie on her head and Chibs teaches her a new word in Gaelic whenever he sees her. She's very neutral when it comes to Jax, probably because she knew that was Tara's ex-husband, and Rat can get her laughing so hard, she'll start crying. Juice keeps his distance from her for some reason. He always greets her and he'll talk to her if she goes to him, but if he doesn't have to, he won't. I wasn't sure if Jessie reminded him of Talia and it was painful for him to interact with her or if they just had nothing in common. As for the rest of the guys, they love seeing her and they're always happy to have her around.

After breakfast sets, Jessie usually asks me to take her on a ride and we cruise around Charming for hours. I had to ask Tara for her say on letting Jessica come to the clubhouse and she told me not to make a habit of letting her hang around there, but that she was fine with it. Jessie would take pictures of all the decorations we had around the clubhouse, then she'd venture back to the hall of the dorms and stare at Talia's cut-out. She'd sit there for a good 20 minutes, just taking in everything and making sure she saw every tiny detail of the tribute. After that, she'd go to John's bike and snap a picture.

I had to take Jessica back to Tara's house at 1pm every Sunday, but it was always a fight with her. She never wanted to leave and she'd start crying when it was time to go, begging me to let her stay with me. It broke my heart every time. Tara would usually call me a few hours later to tell me that she didn't know where Jessie was because she stormed out of the house after saying that she hated her and that she wished her real Mother was alive. Jessie would always go to Talia's grave and I'd make sure she was there before leaving my girls alone to have their time. I talked to Jessie about that and she always apologized to Tara, but it would just happen again every Sunday.

"Tara's doing a good job with her, making her into a good woman. Gemma's so jealous." I chuckled and stretched, repositioning the bouquet of flowers laid across the front of her headstone. "Jessie's taking after you though. She told me she wanted to dye her hair pink. Could you imagine that? It'll look like she's got a wad of bubblegum on her head."

That warming feeling came back again and I couldn't stop smiling. I could image how excited Talia would be to color Jessie's hair. I missed the day she turned Jayden into a blonde, but Jayden would wake up everyday and scream his goddamn head off which would effectively wake up the entire house. He'd come into our room, jump on the bed, trample me and smother Talia with hugs, kisses and tell her how amazingly happy he was. That went on for a few months and when I was busy with the Club, Austin would join in with Jessie and I wondered how beatific those moments looked. I've really started to understand how time waits for no one. Moments come and go. You're either there to see them or you miss out on such wonderful memories.

"She misses you, Tal." I softly muttered, hanging my head a bit. "I know Tara feels like she's her mother, but Jessie knows she's not and I can imagine how much it hurts Tara to hear her saying that she hates her. She doesn't, she just wants you back...I do too..."

Don't do it, Trager. You're done with the waterworks, you've gotten past it. Don't start acting like a soft ass now.

Against the warning in my head, I was biting back the tears because Jessica shouldn't be going through this. She shouldn't be torn between the people that love her, but I always tried to make her understand that this is what was best for her. I've kept her out of the Club and she thinks what everyone else does. The Sons of Anarchy were a rough gang of criminal bikers that partake in shady activity, but they are the sole protectors of the town. She doesn't know about our gunrunning or our murders or anything like that. Of course, she thinks we're a righteous group, but it's up to her to think about what we're involved in.

I felt my Burner buzz and I knew one of the guys probably needed me back at the clubhouse. With a sigh, I stood up and kissed the headstone with a whispered "I love you." I made my way out of the cemetery and to my awaiting bike, but I didn't mount it. I checked my Burner and saw that Rat texted me saying it was almost my shift to guard Cara Cara. I had a good 20 minutes to get to the porn studio and from here, it was only 10 minutes away. Since I had some time to spare, I walked down the long street until I came to the only bench in the grass.

I sat down and appreciated the tranquil silence. I looked up at the sky and there were clouds everywhere, but I knew the sun was hiding behind them. It was a nice day. Spring has sprung and there were flowers blooming everywhere. Speaking of, Gemma's taken up a new hobby and turned her backyard into a garden. she actually made the bouquet for Talia. That garden always had colorful roses and Gemma bonds with Jax because of those plants. He helps her tend to them and they talk about Nate, when Gem was a little girl. It was good that they were getting close because,if anything, Jax really needed someone in his corner that was there to stay and Gemma was.

With a sudden temptation, I went into my pocket and tugged out one of my favorite pictures of Talia, the one of she and Rouge. My girls. I usually propped a picture on her headstone to feel like I was really talking to her, but I didn't this time. I put that one back and replaced it with a single shot of her. It was when she first came back home and she still had her purple hair. She was at the clubhouse, sitting on the bar with her one silken leg crossed over the other and I could see Half-Sack behind her. She really was a little Queen, our princess.

"Would it be okay if I sat with you? I'm waiting for my ride." I heard a voice ask from next me and the heavy country drawl it held was new to my ears. Most people around Charming didn't have an accent unless they were rednecks or foreigners from a different country. I didn't take my eyes off the picture, but I knew it was a woman's voice.

"No, please." I scooted over on the bench, but I still didn't take my eyes off the picture.

"I don't mean to snoop, but is that your daughter?"

I felt the woman sit next to me and I saw she was wearing a black pencil skirt. I wondered if she was a businesswoman or if she was just a classy kind of girl. I didn't bother looking at her though. My wife had my full attention and I felt like she was watching me right now. The last thing I'd want is for her to think I'm a scumbag in the afterlife for checking out some broad, even if the broad was nice.

"No, this is my wife." I started to smile, but it faltered. "...this was my wife."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Divorce must be a mighty painful thing to go through, forced to be separated from the one you love."

"I've been there before, divorce. It's easier. My wife's dead."

"That's even worse..." I heard how sad the woman's voice became and it always amazed me how strangers could be impacted by people they've never met before. "She's very beautiful. Those eyes are stunning." I smiled at the woman's compliment. "You said you were married. Did you and, um..."

"Natalia...Natalia Rayne Langdon."

"Such a pretty name. Did you and the lovely Natalia have any children?"

"3 of them. 2 boys and a beautiful little girl. Austin, Jayden and Jessica." Smiling, I dug into my pocket and took out my wallet. I had a few pictures of all my kids tucked in there and I plucked the one of my sons out.

Austin and Jayden had to be 14 or 15 in the shot because Jayden still had his black hair. I remembered this day. They just came home from practice and were sitting on the front porch. Rouge was laying behind them and had her head under Austin's arm, laying on his slightly dirty leg. Austin was looking at the camera because I called them, but he wasn't smiling. He wasn't frowning either. As expected, Jayden was making the goofiest face he could. I felt the woman's arm touch mine as she got closer to look at the photo.

"Oh, they're so handsome!" The woman chirped and that just made me smile more. "Twins?"

"Yeah, that's Austin. He's the oldest by 15 minutes." I pointed to my oldest son, then Jayden. "That's Jay-Jay. Dear God, he didn't want to know what life was because he refused to be birthed. For identical twins, those boys couldn't be more different. Austin's always been a mature kid, pretty quiet too, observant. He likes reading and he knows how to play the drums, not much of a troublemaker. He did get suspended for a few days because some Senior was picking with his little brother though. He almost got an assault and arson charge on the same day."

"Oh, my." The woman giggled. "He sounds like a very protective boy."

"He is. That's why he's a SEAL, lives to protect..." I lowered the picture and looked down at the space between my feet. "...I wasn't the best father to him. I didn't beat on him or any crazy shit like that, but...I didn't love him enough. I didn't spend enough time with him and he was because he was exactly like me...I saw myself in him and I didn't want him to be like me...I guess I pushed him away and when he noticed it, he pushed back..."

"What's Jayden like?" The woman softly asked and I frowned at the thought, not that I was upset to hear my son's name, but because I could go on for days about the kid. I couldn't do that with Austin.

"He was a good kid, really social. He was the silliest guy you'd ever meet, but he had a heart of pure gold. He loved being around his family, liked entertaining us. He should've been a musician because he's got a killer voice, just like his Mom." Breaking the sad moment for a second, I smiled. "Their Mother was in a band when she was a teenager. Jayden watched some of the videos and said he was gonna make one with his brother."

"Are the boys on tour now, traveling across the country to meet all their adorning fans?" The woman asked and I knew she was smiling, but mine was gone.

"No...um, Austin's overseas and he never tells me when he comes home, doesn't visit me. Aria, his fiancé, calls me when he's home and gets him to say something to me. Jayden, um...he's dead, passed when he was 17..." I heard the woman's sharp gasp and she must've turned away from me because I heard the bench creak a little. I could heard her quietly muttering to herself and I wondered if she was saying a prayer for my son. That was sweet of her if she was.

"...is Jessica alright?" The woman spoke up after a few more minutes of silence and I nodded. I almost asked her how she knew what my daughter's name was, but I remembered that I told her.

I gazed at the picture of my boys for a second before I put it back in my wallet and went looking for some of Jessica. There were a lot. I picked 2 from the ones I had. The first one was of my baby girl on her 2nd birthday and she was digging into her cake, already having icing all over herself. The next one was the most recent one I had and it was a school picture. She really looked like Talia in this shot. Her eyes were more of a sea-green color and her hair was darker, but it almost looked like it could be a very dark shade of blue.

"I lost her too." I told the woman and let her take the picture, turning away to wipe the tears from my eyes. "She's not in my custody anymore. I got to keep her until she was 3, then Tara, the woman taking care of her now, stepped in. I didn't wanna give my daughter up and she brought in the lawyers. They saw my track record and that was all she wrote. Those people told me I was unfit to be a father, but Tara granted me weekend privileges because she knew I was a good parent. It's for the best that Jessie be with Tara. Her Mother didn't want her to have the same life she did and I wouldn't know the first thing about how to raise a girl. I wouldn't give her The Talk. She'd just wake up with a chastity belt mounted around her and that'd be the end of it."

The woman started laughing and she excused herself. I think she put her hand over her mouth because her laughs got a bit muffled, but I didn't mind hearing them. She had a nice laugh, rich and sweet.

"Is Jessica anything like Natalia or her brothers?" The woman asked with a small giggle.

"She's pretty...normal." My smile came back. "Austin's a bit of a firebug and Jayden really wanted to share his love with all the girls at school. Like Father like Son. Jessie though, she's just your average teenager. She's doing pretty good in school. She's a B average, but she's pushing herself to get straight A's. She plays volleyball at her school, but she said she might transfer to the swimming team. She told me she wants to be a wildlife photographer when she grows up. She loves lions and she told me she wanted to move to Africa for a few months to get pictures of them."

"And what about you?" The woman asked and gave me the picture back. Her hand settled over mine in a caring way and her palm was soft on my knuckles. "Are you alright?"

"More or less. I've accepted it, I mean. It took a long time for me to get over her, my wife, and I know I messed up with Austin, but I know he's gonna be taken care of because he's got Aria. I just want him to be happy and if he needs me to be absent from his life for him to be happy, then so be it. It hurts, yeah, but it's what he wants. Then I've still got Jessica and I'm not gonna mess things up with her. She wants to move in with me when she's 18 and as much as I want her around, I can't let her. Tal wouldn't want that."

"You are a very strong man." The woman briefly pat my hand and gave it a squeeze. "If I were in your shoes, I would've been crazier than a rabid dog. You know, the people who suffer the most and go through the hardest times get something truly wonderful in their lives. Maybe your son will come around and you can work on your relationship. I believe you're at the end of a very dark tunnel and a whole lot of sunshine's about to brighten your life."

"Thank you." I smiled, genuinely smirked, and finally decided to look at the woman.

Smiling back at me was a honey brunette and she had stunning hazel eyes. Her white blouse didn't have any buttons and the deep V neckline showed off her breasts, but it's not like you couldn't notice them. She had to be sporting D-Cups and I couldn't help but wonder if they were natural or implants. I wasn't bluntly staring at her chest, but her huge mounds were in my field of vision and so were her blush pink painted lips. Now that I was totally focused on her face, I noticed the makeup she was wearing and it wasn't too much or clashed with her lightly tanned skin.

"I'm known to leave men speechless, but not under such innocent circumstances." The woman bat her lashes at me and I swallowed a dry ball of nothing. She smiled at me, but turned around when she heard honking. "Oh, there's my ride."

She stood up and I did too, but I took the opportunity to take her in. Her long legs were on display and her black heels were doing her good. I got to see just how tight that skirt clung to her body too.

"I, um." I cleared my throat and caught the woman's attention. "It was nice talking to you."

"I enjoyed your company as well..." She raised her eyebrows a bit and it took me a second to realize she was asking what my name was.

"I'm Tig, that's what everyone calls me. My name's Alex."

"Is that short for Alexander?" I nodded and she smiled, holding her manicured hand out. I gently took it. "I'm Venus. I had a delightful time talking with you, Alexander." Venus turned around again and sucked her teeth at the honking car. Her ride must be getting impatient. "Hold your horses! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Her hand slipped from mine and she started strutting off towards a white Chrysler 200 convertible. I saw a blonde in the driver's seat and she opened the door when Venus got to the side. Venus looked back at me again and her ringed hand came up to her shoulder, waving at me. I waved back and she smiled before sitting in the passenger seat and buckling herself in. The convertible went in the opposite direction of me and all I could see were the backs of 2 heads with hair flowing behind them.

I sat on the bench again and took out the picture of Talia I was looking at when I was thinking about her earlier. I gazed into those beautiful eyes and was glad that painful ache wasn't making its presence anymore. I remember when I couldn't look at a picture of her without crying, but I was at ease now. I still hurt and I would always carry a little pain with me, but I was okay with it.

"I think Venus was right, about the tunnel and me. I hope she was. What do you think, angel? I know you wouldn't want me to suffer again."

I stared into those beautiful eyes that were captured in a moment of happiness and felt my heart start to ache, but it was a good feeling. I felt the warn sun's rays start to heat my back and sighed, smiling. That was Talia's answer.

Maybe things were going to start looking up for me.

The end!

Wow, this story was so much more than I thought it would be and I didn't expect it to be this long! I'm proud of how I wrapped it up though. I hope you guys enjoyed it too.

On a side note, I've been collaborating with one of my Reviewers and she's given me the confidence to create a prequel to this story! I didn't expect everyone to love Happy and Talia so much, so the prequel will get some major bonding time with them, the fluffy goodness of Juice and Talia's friendship, how she got in her high school band , possibly a little gory stuff for the club and who knows what else.

That story definitely coming to the table and I've already made a Pinterest board for it XD
I've got another SOA story in the works and it's going to give Half-Sack some much needed appreciation! I don't have a date for when anything will be published, but I promise, it's happening.

As always, thank you for following, supporting, Favoriting and Reviewing this story. It really does mean a lot and I truly appreciate all the feedback.

Arrivederci, my sweet vixens!