Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy.

A/N: The Final Chapter.

It's a great thing when shit feels like it's finally coming together, Jackson Teller thought as he wiped his hands on an oily rag.

The sun was shining brightly on the lot as Jax went about doing a hard day of honest and productive labor. In spite of the fact that it was the middle of the week, usually a slow business day for Teller-Morrow, the garage was a flurry of activity. Jax was in a particularly good mood, which had not gone unnoticed by Chibs, who treated him to some good-natured ribbing as they worked alongside each other in one of the bays.

"Ya seem to be in a pretty good mood dere, Jackie Boy." Chibs said as he leaned against the open hood of the car that Jax was working on.

"That I am," Jax replied grinning.

It had been several days since the weekend and Jax was feeling really good about the turn his life had taken. With issues between him and Donna finally coming to a head—even dealing with his son's unexpected and brief illness together—Jax was feeling like things were finally starting to change for him for the better. It was becoming clear to Jax that as his personal life continued to de-clutter itself, he would be able to get a better handle on how to deal with the problems that were brewing within the Club. Now that Piney had sobered up and returned to the Clubhouse while he had been visiting the Indian Hills charter, with the old man's support and his father's manuscript to guide him, Jax felt on track to recreating his place within the MC.

Chibs cocked his head at the younger man. It was clear to him that Jax seemed more relaxed and upbeat since their return from Indian Hills. For quite some time, Chibs had been genuinely concerned for his young brother. The death of Opie Winston had hit the Club hard, but the worst of it had landed on Jax. Losing his best friend since childhood, his wingman in all things, had many at the table wondering if Jax would ever make a comeback or if he would simply fade away. Over the last couple of weeks, however, Chibs had started seeing a change in the young VP for the better. Although unsure as to what had caused the about-face, Chibs was glad to finally see it come about. Any lingering doubts the Club may have had concerning Jax's focus were put to rest during SAMCRO's most recent run to their newest charter in Nevada.

Although not a blood relative, Uncle Jury—as he was affectionately called by Jax—had genuine affection and love for the son of John Teller, the man who had saved his life at Tay Ninh in 1967. As a result, long before the Devil's Tribe had been patched over by the Sons of Anarchy, Jury had always made it a habit of opening up his fine stable of women, the quality of which was unsurpassed, to JT's son whenever he stopped by the Tribe's Clubhouse for a visit.

Now that the Tribe had been patched over, that longstanding friendship between Jury and Jax quickly morphed into a strong bond of brotherhood, which naturally extended to his new brothers from the mother charter as well. Needless to say, Chibs and Juice had been as giddy as young girls on prom night when they got the nod from Clay to join him, Tig and Jax on their run to the new SOA charter.

Considering the recent tension between the Sons and the Mayans, Clay had decided that it might be best to make the journey to Indian Hills under the radar. Instead of riding, they made the trip in two cargo vans and without their kuttes until they arrived at the new clubhouse. With Clay, Tig and Juice in one van and Chibs and Jax in the other, they had made good time to Indian Hills with their cargo of AKs and MAC-10s.

Arriving at the seemingly abandoned strip club several miles off US-395 N designated by Jury for the meet, SAMCRO had been treated to a warm reception, a far cry from the one they had received during their last visit. Several months had passed since the patch over—or what former members of the Tribe had referred to as a "hostile takeover" before turning in their kuttes. Even though the MC he had founded thirty years before had ceased being outlaw some time ago, Jury had reconciled himself with his new set of circumstances.

When he had called upon the Sons for help in dealing with the Mayans' strong-arm tactics in trying to squeeze a vig out of the Tribe, the last thing Jury had expected was that the price for their protection would include accepting the Sons' club colors. He had lost about half his members, all good and loyal men, who knew they weren't cut out for the outlaw game. Aging bookies and bouncers Clay had called those that had fallen by the wayside. Times were changing fast, the SAMCRO Prez had said, and this was a change the Tribe had to embrace or run the risk of losing their book and pussy trade to the wetbacks.

After their agreement with the Mayans to sell them guns fell through, so did the uneasy truce with the Sons' Indian Hills charter. With this visit, the mother charter was supplying Jury with the weapons necessary to protect their interests in Indian Hills. The meeting site was off the grid and the perfect location for testing out their newest hardware. Afterwards, both charters headed to the Clubhouse for Church where they discussed the new charter's ongoing problems with the Mayans.

Jury reasoned that he could use his connections with the Sheriff, who was quite fond of the girls in his stable, to inhibit the Mayans' Reno charter from conducting business wherever possible in his district. With prodding, Jax was able to convince Clay to ask for several members from the overflowing Las Vegas charter to make the jump to Indian Hills as a more permanent solution to Jury's problems. Chibs realized that Jax's recommendation would be a smart move for any young patch feeling lost in SOA's third largest charter. Not only would they get a piece of action, but they would also get access to Jury's prime stock, in Chibs' mind a valuable consideration. With 42 being the average age of the Indian Hills charter, they would benefit greatly from a healthy infusion of young blood.

After Church business was concluded, everyone had spilled out into the main area of the Clubhouse. With its large bar and seating areas, it also served as one of the charter's brothels where a large and varied group of Jury's beauties waited to entertain everyone.

Everyone, that is, except for Jax.

Chibs had secured two lovelies for himself—one of whom was dancing on top of a low table in front of him for his enjoyment, while the other sat quite comfortably on his lap and served him double shots of Jameson without Chibs even having to ask. Curious to see just how many of the girls were cat fighting in order to get their hands on the blond patch, Chibs was surprised to see that his VP was not surrounded by sweetbutts, hookers or strippers. Instead, he was in deep conversation with Jury at the bar.

Thinking that the young man would eventually abandon the company of the older man and seek comfort in some pussy, Chibs later heard through Juice—who was, true to his calling as the Club's Intelligence Officer, a gossipy old woman at heart—that Jax had abstained from enjoying Jury's girls. Seeing even Clay himself retreating to one of the brothel's bedrooms with a petite brunette sweetbutt, Jax's all-business demeanor came as somewhat of a surprise to the Scot.

With Jax's fondness for the fairer sex being quite legendary, the fact that he had chosen to forego all the pussy that was up for grabs was a HUGE sign for Chibs that something had radically changed for the young man. Upon their return to Charming, other signs included Jax bypassing the Friday night bacchanalia, leaving the Clubhouse in a heated rush and disappearing for the rest of the weekend. It was true Chibs had heard that Jax's MIA status was due mostly to a sick wee one, but still, almost a whole week with no pussy was completely out of character for Jax Teller.

Either something was very wrong or, judging by his lighthearted, almost happy, mood, something was very right.

Only one thing puts dat much pep in a man's step, Chibs reasoned. It's definitely a lass, but who?

Chibs was about to put his theory to the test, when he looked up to see a taxi pull into the lot. With his eyes widening, he nodded towards the vehicle, catching Jax's eye.

"It looks like ya have a visitor, Jackie." His brogue was a little gruff as he eyed the blond-haired women getting out of the car before paying the driver. "I dinna know she was still around."

Shyte! Is it possible that Jax would take up wit her again?

Jax looked over his shoulder, a near-scowl wiping the good humor off his face as he watched Wendy Teller slowly make her way towards them.

Fuck!

Quickly taking note of the pissy look on his brother's face, Chibs concluded that he was—thankfully—on the wrong track.

I dinna know wha has put da light back in Jackie Boy's eyes, but I guarantee dat it's not his ol' lady.

Tossing the dirty rag in his hands onto the workbench beside him, Jax turned without another word to his brother and walked towards the woman he had married almost four years ago.

Wendy was looking particularly well, wearing a pair of skin tight dark wash jeans, a form-fitting peasant-style blouse with long sleeves, and knee-high stiletto boots. Jax's discerning eye when it came to the female form was quick to pick up that Wendy had finally returned to her pre-pregnancy weight. She looked good, he noted, her face full and healthy, and her eyes clear and calm. Wendy had moved into the sober living house at Lincoln Village, the best possible step on her part for everyone involved, and it had been a few weeks since he had last laid eyes on her.

In her absence, Jax had done a lot of reflecting on their relationship and by no stretch of the imagination could what they had ever be defined as a happy marriage. As Gemma was so fond of pointing out, they never stood a chance, especially with Jax's need to take his dick on a dip in every available Club woman coupled with Wendy's need to remain high in order not to care. But even though Jax would be the first to admit that he had been a shitty husband, he was tired of feeling responsible for Wendy's addiction, something she had struggled with for years prior to coming to Charming.

Now, with his son almost paying the ultimate price for his parents' self-absorption, Jax was too busy being the father Abel deserved to exhaust himself even further in order to keep Wendy sober, only to fail miserably. He was finally ready to accept that only one person was responsible for Wendy's addiction as well as her sobriety and that was Wendy herself. Jax was more than ready to move on from their dead relationship and maybe that was what Wendy needed to do as well in order for this round of rehab to succeed.

Even with Wendy clean and sober, their relationship was toxic and Jax needed to make her realize this without sending her on the road to relapse. She was still his son's mother and one day Jax would have to explain to Abel why his father had turned his back on his birth mother. No matter the outcome, Jax wanted to be able to do that with a clear conscience, knowing that he had done all he could for the woman that had nearly killed his son. Ultimately, only Wendy was responsible for her own destiny.

As if the universe were in complete agreement with him, two days ago Jax had received a phone call from his attorney, who was happy to report that the judge was set to sign the order granting the Tellers their divorce petition by the end of the week. Considering his conversation with Donna over the weekend, Jax had been tempted to give her a call in order to share the good news. Seeing Wendy hesitantly making her way to him, Jax was glad he hadn't in case she was here to complicate things further by stalling the divorce and pleading her case for a reconciliation.

Had Jax known that wasn't to be the case, his reception of his former old lady might have been less frigid.

Wendy came to an abrupt stop in front of him, her smile tentative as she noted the face of the implacable man who had once been her husband standing in front of her.

Shit, Wendy thought. This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.

"Hi," She started quietly.

"Hey," Jax responded as he crossed his arms over his chest. "This is an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?"

Not in the least surprised by his surliness, Wendy continued apologetically. "You look busy. I probably should have called first."

"That would have been a good idea."

Wendy moistened her lips. "I know never is probably a good time for us to talk, but can I have a minute with you?" She asked cautiously. "In private?"

Thinking he knew where this was going, talking to Wendy privately was the last thing he wanted to do. His love of women didn't translate well into dealing with a hysterical one, but dealing with one in full view of his mother was high on his list of things he wouldn't do if his life depended on it.

With numerous repos to coordinate along with receipts to be balanced against invoices and payroll for this week to be dealt with, Gemma had been holed up in T-M's office all morning. Other than waving at each other once through the window facing one of the bays, Jax hadn't spoken to her at all. For now, that was a good thing considering he had no idea how to deal with his mother after her most recent interference in his love life. After all, her confrontation with Donna had yielded him an unexpected benefit and for once Jax was actually grateful that Gemma had meddled in shit that wasn't any of her concern.

Still, Gemma deserved a good rap on the knuckles for sticking her nose in his shit, but with Donna insisting they keep their relationship under wraps, he wasn't sure how to do that without revealing too much. Finding Wendy on the lot now would only guarantee Gemma coming at him full throttle.

"Okay," Jax agreed quietly and, taking Wendy by the arm, quickly marched her across the lot and into the Clubhouse.

Sitting on the edge of Jax's bed, Wendy let her eyes wander around the all-too-familiar dorm as one hand traced the outline of the crow on her forearm covered by the flowing sleeve of her blouse. She remembered the night she had been tatted and how proud she had felt to finally be considered Jax's old lady. Despite the ugliness that came to define their relationship later on, for a while things had been good between them. Being the SAMCRO VP's old lady had meant more than just an elevation in status inside the Clubhouse for Wendy. Although it was unlikely that Jax would believe her if she told him now, the fact was that Wendy had loved him very much. Or at the very least, as much as he would let her. Truth was, Jax made loving him hard as he seemed hell bent on making her hate him with every whore he bedded right under her nose.

Little did Wendy know that Jax had been unknowingly challenging her to stand up to him and not take his shit. Deep down what he had wanted was someone willing to fight for him. Unfortunately, as much as she had loved Jax, Wendy had loved crank just a little bit more and had taken the easy way out of their one-sided relationship by relapsing yet again.

But Wendy had not made the trip down to the T-M lot to reminisce about a part of her life that was now behind her. For her sake and Abel's as well, it was time for her to move on, but not before she tried to salvage what she could of her relationship with her son's father.

"How's Abel? Is he doing okay?" Wendy asked tentatively.

Jax nodded. "He's teething, but otherwise he's been doing good." He answered, not bothering to mention Abel's recent visit to St. Thomas.

Wendy smiled slightly, genuinely pleased to hear that her son was doing well.

No thanks to me, the self-hating part of her chastised.

Wendy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, desperate to silence the nagging, woe-is-me voice she heard in her head every time she thought of or mentioned Abel. A lifetime of feeling sorry for herself had made her weak and selfish. It had set the course for the predicament she currently found herself in. If Wendy wanted to stay the course and make it through this conversation with Jax having said all she had come to say, then she couldn't allow herself the luxury of wallowing in self-pity.

Wendy looked up as Jax stood looming over her like some dark and foreboding angel. "I know it's been a while since we talked, but could you please sit down? It would make it a lot easier for me to say what I have to say without you towering over me."

Jax shrugged his powerful shoulders under his T-M work shirt and grabbed a chair from the corner of his room. Turning it around so that he could straddle it, Jax rested his folded arms across the back of the chair.

"This better?" He asked, now eye-level with Wendy.

Wendy sighed with relief. "Much. Thanks."

"So what is it you want to talk about?" Jax asked. His tone wasn't harsh, but neither did it clue Wendy into how he was feeling. Although not unusual between them, it certainly didn't make what she needed to say any easier for her.

"I want to talk about us." Wendy started.

Jax rubbed the bridge of his nose. Shit, this is exactly what I don't want to do.

But after what had happened during the weekend and the promises he had made to a somewhat-reluctant-to-believe-him Donna, Jax realized that this was exactly the conversation he should be having with Wendy. He couldn't go on letting her believe that they could one day reconcile and become a family. What they had, if anything, had died long before Abel had been born.

"Wendy, there is no us." Jax said firmly. He had mentally braced himself to deal with her tears, but he was not at all prepared for her response.

"I know." She said simply and nodded.

At first, Jax thought he hadn't heard correctly. Knowing that he had, he then thought he was being set up for a big "but". But noting the solemn and resigned look on her face, Jax realized Wendy was serious.

"You know?" He asked tentatively. Jax needed Wendy to clarify before he ran the fuck out of his dorm and broke open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Blue Label to celebrate his freedom. "You know what, exactly?"

Wendy felt the tension ease from her shoulders. Finally acknowledging the truth about their relationship out loud to the man who needed to hear it the most was a great relief. Seeing the barely-suppressed joy sparkle in his bright blue eyes stung a bit, but Wendy knew deep down that it was all for the best.

"It's taken me five long years, Jax," Wendy replied, her voice a notch above a whisper, but strong with determination. "But I know that it's not going to work out between us. I mean, maybe it's something I've always known—I know you have—but now I know that it's something I'm capable of accepting. Does that make any sense?"

For a moment, Jax was literally tempted to let himself fall out of his chair in shock. He felt an immeasurable sense of relief course through his body, but did his best to restrain himself from heaving a hearty sigh of relief. Although part of him wanted to kick up his heels, the other part of him counseled that he not treat Wendy cruelly. This was obviously a big step for her and he was genuinely happy to see her sober and finally on the right track with her life. However, Jax couldn't help but wonder what impact this sudden epiphany would have on him and their son.

Into the suddenly uneasy silence, Wendy spoke up. "I guess you didn't see that coming, huh?" She said with a little chuckle, her hands folded in her lap.

Jax shook his head. "No, I didn't." He admitted. "And it does makes perfect sense, by the way, but I'd like to know what changed your mind, if you don't mind me asking?"

Wendy ran a hand through her long blond hair. "I know you've heard it before, Jax," She rolled her eyes with a self-deprecating smile. "But this time, rehab changed something in me. Seeing what I did to Abel changed something in me. I'm ashamed of myself for letting it get to that point, but that was the wake up call I needed. I used up the last of my nine lives with what I did to our son and I know that this is my last chance." She said candidly. "As much as I wanted to believe when people promised that, with their support, you and I could work things out and be a family for Abel, I knew in my heart that if I latched onto that, my next relapse would kill me."

"When you say people, I take it you mean my mother?" Jax asked wryly.

Wendy nodded absently, but with her eyes suddenly widening to twice their normal size, she vehemently shook her head. "Shit, Jax. You have to promise me that you won't jump on her ass about this." She practically begged. "It's bad enough Gemma will probably want to track me down in Seattle and kill me for 'abandoning' my family."

Jax raised an eyebrow, his mind honing in on one word out of the many hurled in his direction. "Seattle?"

"It was my sober living counselor's idea," Wendy replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "The old crone has been pushing me for weeks to make a fresh start so I can concentrate on fixing what's broken. For a while, I thought that meant fixing us, but I know that's not possible without forgiveness and I know that you can't ever forgive me for what I've done and I don't blame you for that." Wendy looked up at Jax with moist eyes. "It's something of a relief, actually, because right now God knows I'm in no way ready to be a mother to Abel. I'm such a dismal failure as a mother that I even failed to bond with my own baby. It's almost like he knows that I almost killed him before he was born and that even now he's probably not safe with me." Several fat tears ran down her cheeks. "I hope that will change one day. That I'll be able to have some sort of relationship with my son. Maybe even, sometime down that road, you and I can salvage what's left of our relationship to the point where we can at least be friends for Abel's sake, but I know that time's not now."

"No," Jax agreed. "It's not."

He looked at the woman sitting across from him and for the first time he could really see that there was indeed more than just a physical difference in her. There was a new core strength within Wendy not present after her last two rounds of rehab. Obviously, the damage that she had inflicted on their son had made a far greater impact on her than he or anyone could ever believe possible.

"I really think this is the right move for you, Wendy." Jax reached out and placed a hand on her knee. "Take this time to figure out what it is that you need out of life to make you happy. Let finding yourself be your priority right now and let me raising our son be mine."

Wendy placed her hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It took me a minute to come to grips with that, but away from Charming is where I need to be." She conceded. "I'll be leaving in a couple of weeks. I've already been set up with another sober living home in Seattle and now I'm looking into taking some college courses, hopefully figure out what I'm good for. It's scary, but I really feel like I can do it this time." Wendy sighed. "All that's really holding me back is the fact that I'm going to miss out on so much of Abel's life." She whispered sadly.

"Abel will always be here and one day he's gonna learn about his birth mother. I can't make any promises as to how that's gonna work out, but stay clean and I won't deny you getting to know him when you're both ready." Jax promised.

"Thank you, Jax. I know that's probably more than I deserve." Wendy replied sincerely. "It tugs at my heart knowing that Abel will grow up calling someone else 'Mommy', but I'm sure Tara will make him a good mother—" She said quietly, but trailed off as Jax's head literally snapped to attention.

"What the fuck did you just say?" He blurted, with no small amount of incredulity.

"Uh, I—I—" Wendy stammered. "I'm sorry, I just meant that once you're together—"

Jax held up his hand which was currently clenched into a fist, his SONS rings standing out in stark relief against his skin. "Okay, where the fuck did you get the idea that option was even on the table?" He demanded, his blue eyes literally boring holes into the wide-eyed woman.

"Look," She replied anxiously. "There's no need to go ape shit, Jax, alright? I mean, I pretty much had it figured out the day of Abel's Welcome Home party. The meth may have done a number on my brain, but it's not completely fried."

Jax rubbed his chin and grimaced as he recalled the scene in particular he was sure Wendy was alluding to. The little spit-swapping moment with the Doc that he had quickly put the brakes on and that had earned him a resounding slap for his trouble. He could almost laugh about it now, especially since this was the second time it's been thrown in his face in the last week.

"Look, Wendy, I know that when it comes to being faithful to you my track record speaks for itself, but I'm not shitting you when I say that was not what it looked like."

"Really?" Wendy cocked her head at him. "Because from where I was standing, it looked like you and your ex-girlfriend were back together."

"Well, we're not." Jax insisted adamantly.

"Then someone needs to tell Tara because a little over a week ago, I finally got up enough nerve to approach the good doc about what happened at Abel's party. She was pretty unapologetic about having shoved her tongue down your throat in what was then still our house. And she made it quite clear that there was something going on between you that she wasn't 'comfortable talking about' with me." Wendy said archly. "Tara suggested that I continue rehab and after, if you and I were truly meant to be, it would happen, but it was obvious from her tone that she herself didn't buy what she was selling."

Wendy sat and watched with an inward smirk as Jax took in her words. Jax never had a problem being candid with her before, especially when it came to his extracurricular activities down at the Clubhouse, so it was clear that his surprise was genuine. Judging by the expression on his face, it was obvious that the outlaw biker didn't have similar hopes of rekindling an old flame that his former girlfriend did.

Wendy gave a little sigh of relief. Although it seemed like Jax's life was about to get just a little more complicated, at least she wouldn't have to worry about her son ever calling the back-stabbing, snooty doctor "Mommy." After all, the thought that Tara could see herself fitting into Jax's world after all this time was laughable.

Maybe one day Jax will find the perfect fit for his crazy biker life, Wendy thought, wishing her soon-to-be ex-husband no ill will, but somehow she didn't see that happening.

Sitting on the couch in the semi-darkened living room with her arms wrapped around her knees, Donna looked at her watch for the third time in as many minutes.

Where the hell is my man? She thought heatedly and then giggled out loud. My man. Maybe that's pushing it a bit.

After all, it was the infamous lady-killer Jackson Teller Donna was so possessively labeling as hers. She knew for a fact that there were a whole hell of a lot of women who, at one time or another, thought they could make that claim on Jax. And all of them, she was sure, had ended up in Jax's rearview.

What makes me any different?

"The fact that he good as said so himself." Donna said in defense of her sexy biker.

She was trying really hard to believe in his sincerity, but when she compared herself to the women she knew Jax had been with, Donna found herself sorely lacking. Her logical mind kept warning her that she was delusional and setting herself up for even more heartache. Her heart, however, advised her to believe in the reality of Jax's affection for her, feelings he claimed he's had for her going as far back to their days as teenagers.

Even then, the constant war between her mind and heart did not distract Donna from constantly daydreaming about the outlaw over the course of the past five days. As a matter of fact, the handsome biker had been on a campaign to ensure that he was never far from her thoughts, proving himself a real disruption to her work day at Oswald Construction. When Donna wasn't thinking inappropriate thoughts about him all on her own—inappropriate at least for the workplace—Jax would call or send her naughty text messages, forcing those thoughts into her mind at the most inopportune moments.

Jax had her feeling like a giddy teenager all over again, especially since Donna had been working overtime to keep her mother from cluing in to her budding romance with the town bad boy. Unfortunately, Donna hadn't become any better at hiding shit from her mother since her teenage years and was starting to fear that her mother was onto the fact that she was involved with someone.

After spending two glorious nights with Jax, one at her home and the other with him and Abel, Donna had to force herself off of Cloud Nine and back into reality as Sunday morning moved too quickly and became Sunday afternoon. The two lovers had spent another wonderfully intense and exhausting night together. Donna had made do with what Jax had in his half-empty refrigerator and managed to make an impromptu breakfast-in-bed of eggs, toast and coffee. They then spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon talking and playing with Abel.

And playing with each other.

It was almost 3:30 before Donna realized that she needed to snap out of it and get a move on. She had told her mother that she would pick the kids up around 5:00 that evening. Donna reveled in the fact that Jax had not wanted to let her go. After trying every trick in his book of sexy distractions, Jax finally realized that he had no choice but to let her go and face the dreaded "Iron Lady". He wanted to take her home himself, but Donna insisted on calling a cab instead.

Dashing into her house, Donna spent the next hour tidying up and getting rid of all traces of the sexfest she had hosted on Friday night in practically every room. Too busy putting the living room, kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom back in order, time got away from her, leaving her none to prepare a quick meal for her children before picking them up. Instead, she grabbed her bag, slammed the front door shut behind her and quickly made her way over to her mother's home.

Located on the west side of town, it had taken Donna twenty minutes of weaving in and out of Charming's downtown traffic and made it with only a couple of minutes to spare. Her mother did not tolerate tardiness and Donna didn't want to give her a reason to start asking questions.

Hoping that by some miracle she had managed to miss seeing her brother, who had a two-hour trek back to Big Sur, Donna cursed under her breath as she pulled up in front of her parents' house.

"Shit," She mumbled, more than a little peeved as she parked behind her brother's brand new Range Rover.

Getting out of her car, Donna made her way up the brick path and opened the screen door which was generally kept open at all times. It irked Donna that as much as her parents complained about the band of outlaw bikers their son-in-law had belonged to, they refused to acknowledge the fact that it was those same outlaws that kept the town peaceful and safe, making it possible to leave their doors unlocked.

As Donna made her way through the living room towards the kitchen that ran the length of the back of the house, she could hear the sound of children laughing and talking.

"Hey, honey," Bob said jovially as Donna entered the room. Her father, a balding man pushing his late 50s, had the large and oversized bulky frame which was almost a requirement for his job as foreman of one of Oswald's teams of lumberjacks. He was in stark contrast to his wife, a small petite woman whom Donna had taken after.

"Hi, Daddy," Donna said quietly, hoping to go unnoticed for the moment, but her daughter promptly threw her under the bus.

"Mommy!" Ellie said excitedly as she ran into the kitchen through the sliding glass doors that led into the backyard and gave her mother a hard hug.

"Hey, baby," Donna smiled down at her flushed face. Before she could ask how she was, her son was there to greet her as well, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Well, looks who's here," Her brother announced, as he walked into the kitchen followed by his three children and his mother.

"Hey, kids," Donna ignored the slightly irritable tone of her brother and quickly hugged her nieces and nephew. Pretending her mother and Danny weren't even in the room, Donna reached out and gave Alexa's blond ponytail a playful tug. "Did you guys have a great time hanging out?"

"The best, Aunt D!" The young girl chirped happily. "But we really missed you and now we're getting ready to go home." Alexa pouted.

Donna winced, feeling a twinge of guilt. It had been a while since she had seen her brother's children and did feel a measure of regret that she had missed out on spending time with them. But on the flip side, had she stuck around she would have been subjected to the company of her mother and her brother, the emotionally-draining tag team champions of the century.

And she would have missed out on some pretty intense and mind-blowing lovemaking with Jax and every heartfelt conversation they had managed to have. Nope, Donna couldn't say she regretted how she had spent her weekend in the least.

'Sides, there's always Christmas.

"I know, sweetheart," Donna replied. "But I'm so glad you kids had the whole weekend to spend together. I'm sure they'll be other visits down the road real soon, okay?" She dropped a kiss on top of Alexa's head.

"Whatever it was you were up to this weekend," Helen Lerner started disdainfully. "I think spending time with your family would have been more important."

Still pressed up against his mother's side, Donna felt her son sigh. Looking down at Kenny and seeing him roll his dark green eyes, she was hard pressed not to laugh out loud. At that moment, Kenny reminded her so much of Opie, who also had a painfully low tolerance level when it came to dealing with his mother-in-law and could only stomach her in small doses. It was clear that Kenny had reached his limit.

"Well, in spite of what you may think, mother," Donna replied casually. "I had a lot to take care of this weekend and it was a good time to get it done with the kids staying here."

"You must have been very busy, Mommy," Ellie noted with a wrinkled brow. "You're still wearing the same clothes from Friday."

Donna inwardly groaned. In her rush, she had forgotten to change before heading over to pick up the kids. It wasn't like she was still wearing the same exact sex-funky and dirty clothes all weekend. After all, she had used Jax's machine to wash them—and had spent a considerable amount of time on top of the rumbling washer with her outlaw lover during the spin cycle. But it was little shit like that that could expose her relationship with Jax to her family before she was ready.

Locking eyes with Helen, it was obvious that her mother's devious mind was already putting what little clues she thought she had together. Even with nothing else to go on, she was eyeing her daughter with grave suspicion.

Shit! It's time to run for the hills before Mom gets the chance to start her favorite game of twenty questions!

"I would love to stay," Donna lied easily. "But these two have school tomorrow. They have homework and reading to catch up on and I have laundry to do for the week."

"Oh, so laundry wasn't one of the many things you had to do this weekend?" Helen asked with an arched brow. One question down, nineteen more to go.

Fuck! Get! Out! Now! Donna screamed at herself.

Ignoring her mother's pointed query, Donna quickly kissed her father and nieces and nephew and nudged her kids into saying goodbye as she grabbed their duffel bags. Like a tiny tornado, Donna came and went, briskly navigating Ellie and Kenny outside. With a little sigh of relief, Donna managed to get her kids into the back seat of the sedan without further incident.

Or so she thought.

She should have known that she wasn't going to get away so easily.

"So you're not even going to acknowledge me?" A surly voice said over her shoulder as she slammed the passenger side door closed. Turning around, Donna faced her older brother, his face stony and dark with anger.

"I wasn't planning to," Donna replied ironically. "But since you're forcing my hand: Hello, Danny. It was nice seeing you. Have a safe trip home. Goodbye."

"Really, Donny? That's all you have to say to me, your brother?" He asked incredulously. "We haven't spoken in nearly seven months."

Donna let out a frustrated sigh. Grabbing her burly brother by the arm, she led him halfway up their parents' driveway, out of earshot of her car. "Have you completely forgotten what you said to me on the day I buried my husband?"

Danny ran a frustrated hand through his thick head of dark brown hair peppered with gray. "Is that what this is about?" He sounded surprised, which pissed Donna off even further.

Donna shook her head in disbelief. He may have been built like their father back in his younger days when Bob Lerner had been fit and a wall of solid muscle, but Danny was their mother's son through and through. So judgmental and never willing to admit when they were wrong, even if they hurt someone they claimed to love.

"I know you never cared for Opie, Danny but I never thought you'd wish him dead." She accused him bitterly.

"That's not what I said, Donna—" He tried to argue, but Donna stopped him.

"I'm sorry. You said he was better off dead. My bad." She corrected herself sarcastically. "Shit like that I expect from Mom, but coming from you, it hurt like hell, especially since you know first-hand what it's like to lose someone you love."

Kate, Danny's wife of 15 years, had died of breast cancer more than three years ago. Donna had genuinely loved the free-spirited woman that always managed to bring the best out of her stuffed-shirt brother, actually making him lovable again.

Danny sighed. "Look, Donny, we're family and I love you. I always wanted the best for my little sis, so what can you expect me to say about the man who fractured this family? You deserved better—"

Donna threw her hands up, motioning for her brother to stop. "You need to stop right there, Danny. Whatever you thought you knew about my husband, the fact is that Opie loved me. He loved his children and he did the best that he could by us. He was a good man who is NOT better off dead. Those of us who love him miss him like hell and the last thing we want to hear is that we're better off without him." She ground out, dangerously close to tears. "So no, I wasn't interested in saying jack shit to you for the last seven months and if you can't understand why, then maybe you need another seven months to think that shit over."

With that, and with her brother calling after her, Donna turned around, got into her car and drove away.

Afterwards Donna had wondered if she had been too hard on him or not hard enough. Needless to say, her mother had made it quite clear how she felt about the matter, blaming Donna for the current rift in the family. As usual, Donna had no shits to give when it came to what her mother thought one way or another. Realizing this, Helen quickly segued into questioning Donna about her weekend activities, including her wardrobe malfunction the day before. Donna made quick work of brushing the woman off and ushering her out of her home. But after closing the door behind her, it became clear to the young widow that trying to develop a relationship with Jax under her mother's nose was going to be a lot harder than she had anticipated.

And speaking of Jax, where the fuck is he?

They had been in contact every single day since Sunday, with Jax finally wearing her down enough to get Donna to agree to a little late night visit after the Friday night party when the kids would be asleep. He had jumped the gun and had already made arrangements with Neeta to stay the night with Abel.

Even now, Donna could recall the conversation they'd had, down to the goosebumps Jax had caused as she thought about his lips pressed to her ear.

"Come on, Don," Jax growled sexily over the phone. "It's not like Kenny and Ellie don't sleep through the night like Abel. They won't hear a thing, I promise."

"I don't think that's a promise you can make," Donna whispered surreptitiously into her cell phone. She had been at work when she had gotten the call. "You know I'm a screamer."

"Don't I know it, darlin' and I sure do love making you scream."

It was the "darlin'" that finally got to her and before Donna could snatch the words back, she agreed. She had gone so far as to make a special trip to the mall in Stockton to pick up some new lingerie. But even as she stood at the register paying the earth for two little strips of lace, Donna knew she had lost her mind to even consider sneaking a man into her bed as her children slept only several doors away.

The threat of insanity didn't stop her, however, from getting the kids off to bed by 11:00. Donna then spent the next hour getting ready. She had showered, waxed and trimmed, slathering her body with rose scented moisturizer. But now it was after one a.m.—closer to two, actually—and still no Jax. Although a little worried, Donna managed to keep herself from texting him because it would make it feel too much like a booty call.

Stupid, it is a booty call and I've been stood up.

Wrapped in a terrycloth robe, Donna pushed herself up from the couch. Turning off the lights, she left the living room. Throwing the deadbolt on the front door, Donna turned off the porch light and softly padded down the hall to her bedroom. As she snuggled down underneath the fluffy covers, she snorted out loud.

Maybe it'll do some good for Mr. Jax Teller to realize that I'm not the kind of woman who should be kept waiting.

The SAMCRO VP was standing in Tara Knowles' bedroom wondering just how the fuck he had gotten himself into this situation. More importantly, however, was how would he manage to get himself out of it.

This is the last place I thought I'd ever find myself again, he thought grimly as he stared at Tara, who was sitting on the edge of her bed wearing nothing but an oversized man's button-down shirt.

Standing in the bedroom of an ex-lover was not what Jax had planned for that evening's entertainment. If Donna ever found out, Jax was sure they would be over even before they had a real chance to begin.

Earlier that evening, with the after-Church party in full swing, Jax had done his duty as VP by socializing with his brothers, including several visiting patches from Tacoma and Tucson. He was sitting at the bar with Happy throwing back shots of Jack and watching Chibs and Bobby trying to one-up each other with their humorous shit talk as they played a game of pool when he felt his prepay vibrate in the pocket of his kutte. Pulling it out, he squinted in the lowlight of the Clubhouse and made out a familiar number.

"What the fuck?" Jax had muttered to himself. There was no reason why this person should be calling, especially not late at night, unless there was an emergency. He let the call go unanswered.

Without a word to anyone, Jax had quickly made his way outside to call Neeta. After his son's nanny assured him that Abel was fine and down for the night, he thanked her and hung up as he walked to his bike. Truly hesitating, Jax finally called the number back and listened to the frantic person on the other end sob hysterically. Hanging up and shoving the phone back into his pocket, Jax had revved his bike and roared out of the parking lot.

That had been ten minutes ago.

Now as he looked down on the bent figure on the bed, he honestly had no idea why Tara had called him. Sitting down beside her, he reluctantly took her trembling hand in his gloved one as he tried to calm her down. He had already divested her of the gun she had been brandishing when he arrived, placing it on top of the dresser next to the docked iPod currently playing some old song, a crooner warbling about losing his girl.

Shit, looks like former-Special Agent Joshua Kohn won't have to worry about losing his girl ever again, Jax thought as he looked at the motionless figure lying dead on the bedroom floor, his torso splayed across the threshold leading into the en suite bathroom. The blood oozing from the gaping wound in his stomach was simultaneously soaking into the bedroom's carpet and spreading over the bathroom's tiles.

"What am I going to do?" Tara moaned as she rocked back and forth.

Calling the fuckin' cops might have been a good way to start, Jax thought silently.

Jax had absolutely no business being in the same room as the murdered corpse of the man he had thrown through a plate glass window. The SAMCRO VP was hard pressed not to shake the doctor as their current predicament hit him like a punch to the face. Of all the scenarios he had envisioned for the night, all of them included a naked Donna, not a hysterical woman holding a gun with a dead stalker in her bedroom. And certainly not being carted away in handcuffs for the murder of a former federal agent.

A couple of months had passed since Jax's last altercation with Kohn had resulted in him being stripped of his badge and credentials. The ATF wanted Kohn sent back to Chicago on the first available flight to face some serious charges regarding the stalking and harassment of Dr. Tara Knowles. Happy to see him gone, Jax had been foolish not to have Juice follow up, assuming that the man was currently sitting in some prison cell in Illinois.

The fact that Kohn was dead and in Tara's bedroom meant he had somehow eluded the agents who were to escort his ass back to Chicago. The wily motherfucker had obviously learned how to maintain a low profile while on the job, staying off the radar as he plotted his return to Charming.

And to Tara.

Fortunately, despite the bruises on her face and the lump on the back of her head, Tara had managed to avoid the ultimate indignity of being raped by her stalker. Unable to count on the Feds to do their job, she had protected herself by disarming and shooting the psycho.

Good for her, Jax thought as he looked at Kohn in disgust, his dead and unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling.

But instead of calling an ambulance or the cops, she had called him.

According to what he had been able to get out of Tara, after shooting him, she had stayed in the living room and ignored Kohn's pleas for help—interspersed with ugly epithets aimed at her—until he had finally fallen silent. By the time Jax arrived, Kohn was already dead, apparently having bled out.

Now at a loss of what to do, Jax knew that whatever had to happen had to be done fast. He decided to tackle Tara first.

"Why didn't you call the police?" Jax asked gently.

"I don't know," Tara replied hesitantly as she swiped at the tears running down her face. She avoided looking Jax in the eyes. "I was in shock, I guess. Confused. I barely knew what the fuck I was doing."

Jax nodded at the body. "The wound looks bad, but it would have taken a while for him to bleed out. There wasn't anything you could have done—"

Tara's head snapped in his direction, her eyes wide and wild. "No! I already told you, I was in shock!" She said violently. "Besides, maybe it's better that he's dead." She finished in a near whisper.

Looking down at her, Jax came to the realization that maybe that was what Tara had really wanted. With Kohn dead she could go on with her life, sparing herself the ordeal of going through a messy trial and all that it would entail.

"Maybe you're right," Jax said quietly and watched as she finally made eye contact with him. "Had he lived, he probably would have done short time, a few years at most, and once he got out, he would have picked up right where he had left off, stalking you until one or both of you were dead."

Tara swiped at the snot under her nose. "See, so it did work out for the best."

"Okay, and no one deserved it more than that asshole," Jax agreed. "But you still need to call this in. Hale will—"

"No! No one can know what happened, Jax!" She almost bellowed. "Can't you—" Tara moistened her lips as she frantically waved her hands at the body. "Can't you just make him disappear?"

Jax's eyes widened. Is she fuckin' serious? Looking into her eyes, he could see that she was. Deadly serious.

"Tara, there's no need for that. You have every fuckin' right in the world to defend yourself. He was stalking you and not only was he violating an R.O., but he broke into your home. He was going to hurt you. You're not going to get in trouble for this at all." Jax tried reasoning with her.

"Do you even know all the shit I had to go through just to get that restraining order in the first place? No one wanted to help me. I just want this over and forgotten." Tara was quickly approaching hysterical once again. "Please, Jax, you help me now. You're the only one who's never turned his back on me. Please do this for me, for what we once had." She whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder and letting it trail down his arm.

Jax could almost hear the promise he saw in her eyes. And for what we can have again.

The warning bells in his gut were blaring in his ears. Jax knew that getting involved in this nightmare by helping Tara cover up Kohn's violent death could blow back on him. He was a convicted felon with a criminal record a mile long, but looking into her desperate eyes, Jax felt something tug at his heart. Over the years, Jax had forgotten how many times he had come to Tara's rescue thanks to her drunk and abusive father. All he knew was that it had been a lot, but as he thought about everything she had done to save his son's life, Jax knew he couldn't turn his back on her, not if there was something he could do to help.

So for ol' time's sake, Jax decided to rescue his last damsel-in-distress.

"Is this what you really want?" He asked just to be sure because once the process was set in motion, there was no going back. At her shaky nod, Jax sighed. Standing up, he walked over to the dresser and eyed the gun. He was about to pick it up, but paused, grabbing a black t-shirt hanging on a chair to wrap it in before placing it in the inside pocket of his kutte. "Then I'm going to need your help."

She was on a private beach.

She wasn't sure how she got there, but she didn't care. Just like she didn't seem to mind that the gauzy, billowy sheath that clung to her body left nothing to the imagination. What she did know was that the bright sun was warm on her face and the light and airy pink-colored sand was soft and cool beneath her bare feet as she walked towards the white-capped waves crashing onto the shore. The warm breeze blew gently through the palm trees and perfumed the tangy sea air with the rich and heavy scent of tropical orchids.

"Beautiful." She heard herself whisper as her hair twisted into loose curls danced in the wind around her face.

Beautiful certainly describes him now, she thought, her eyes firmly focused on the chiseled and powerful form of the nude man standing almost knee-deep among the waves. With his hair the color of spun gold whipping in the sea breeze, he turned towards her and smiled, holding a strong and firm hand out for her to grab.

"I've been waiting forever for you, darlin'." He almost whispered as he pulled her towards him.

Wrapping her arms around him, she could feel the frantic beating of his heart pounding in his chest as it thumped in time with hers. He lowered his head to envelope her lips with his own and she groaned as his tongue danced against hers gently, but firmly.

It was an absolutely perfect moment in time. Soon, Jax Teller was laying Donna Winston down on the wet sand and making sweet passionate love to her as the waves crashed around them.

But when Donna opened her mouth to cry out in glorious ecstasy, out came a shrill tinkling of bells. Her mouth instantly snapped shut and she prayed that Jax had not heard the strange sound she had just made. Letting her eyes drift closed as he continued moving inside her at a torturously languid pace, the soothing sounds of the ocean slowly morphed into the ear-splitting sound again. That damn tinkling of bells was ruining what was probably the best sex dream she's ever had in her life!

Without warning, the bells suddenly stopped and Donna kept her eyes firmly shut, hoping to pick up in her dream where she had left off. This time, when the bells started ringing again, she realized with a miserable groan that it was her cell phone trilling for attention on her night stand. That realization finally succeeded in piercing the veil of sleep that enveloped her, completely ruining the wonderfully sexy dream she had been enjoying the hell out of! Groggily reaching for the phone, Donna noted the time with bleary eyes.

5:00 am!

"What the hell?!" She muttered as her eyes finally focused on the caller id. Suddenly wide awake, Donna shot up into an upright position. "Are you kidding me?!" She growled at the ringing phone in the palm of her hand.

Tempted to drop the phone into the glass of water next to the alarm clock, Donna convinced herself to answer it instead. She might be a glutton for punishment, but she couldn't wait to hear what bullshit excuses Jax had for leaving her high and dry.

And horny! Let's not forget horny and without a single battery in the house, too!

Brushing the hair out of her eyes, Donna cleared her throat and answered the phone as if she were sitting at her small desk at Oswald Construction without a care in the world.

"Hello?" She said airily.

"Uh, hey Don—"

"Excuse me, but who is this?"

"Babe, you know who it is."

"Oh no. You see, I don't know anyone who would spend so much time and energy trying to wheedle his way into my bed with dirty phone calls and texts only not to show up once invited." She replied sarcastically. "I'm thinking that the person on the other end of this line must have the wrong number."

"C'mon, babe, please don't be that way. I can explain. Sort of," Jax said hesitantly.

"Good, and you can explain that shit any time that's not now."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm standing on your doorstep right now."

"Motherf—" Donna bit her tongue and composed herself. "Then I'm sorry you wasted a trip out here because I'm going to back to bed. Alone."

"Don," She could hear the sudden warning in his voice. "You either open the door and let me in or I'm gonna make a big show of revving my engine loud enough to wake the fuckin' dead, and maybe the kids too. It's up to you, darlin'."

Venting with a little squeal of frustration, Donna tossed the phone at the foot of the bed. Flinging back the covers, she angrily stalked out of her bedroom and towards the front door. Muttering obscenities under her breath, Donna quickly unhooked the chain and unlocked the deadbolt before throwing the door wide open.

"You got some damn nerve showing up here five hours late looking for a booty call and threatening noise pollution if I don't let you in." She said as she placed a hand on her cocked hip.

In spite of it being so early that even the sun was struggling to show its face, the outlaw biker looked awesome, even if he did look like he had been rolling around in the dirt all night. Donna was not prepared, however, for the suddenly hot look of desire that shot across his formerly contrite face as Jax took her in from head to toe.

"Damn," He ran a hand over the hair on his chin. "If I knew I had all this was waiting for me, I would've ditched my business a hell of a lot sooner." He growled.

Only then, did Donna remember that she was still wearing the two pieces of cranberry-colored string that allegedly qualified as underwear and that she was standing in full view of whatever neighbor had decided to get up to take a piss and grab a drink of water.

"Shit! Get your ass in here." She ordered, grabbing him by his kutte and dragging him inside before gingerly closing the door.

"Damn, girl, for such a tiny thing you sure have a mean grip." Jax smirked as he grabbed her hand. "Grip this instead, baby." He placed her hand on the crotch of his jeans.

Donna quickly snatched her hand away, but before she could righteously rip into him for standing her up, Jax picked her up and smothered her mouth with his own. Carrying her to the couch, Jax plopped down with Donna straddling his lap and let his hands roam over her body in earnest. Against her will, Donna's traitorous body forced a breathy moan out of her as Jax focused his attention on her breasts that were about to spill from her top, her nipples rock hard with her need.

I can't believe this shit! Are you really so weak and needy that you're just gonna let him rush you into bed? Donna tried to reason with herself. Unfortunately her body had tuned out as it responded to his very skilled hands and quickly found herself fervently returning his kisses. Oh what the hell!

"Don't think you're getting a pass on this, Jax." She panted, her hips grinding against his as she nipped at his lips with her teeth. The sexy growl that escaped him was the spark that set her womanly core on fire as his erection pressed into her.

"Never, darlin'." With a wicked grin on his face, Jax was breathing hard as he looked up into Donna's bright aqua eyes. "You can even spank my ass if you want." He offered with a wiggle of his blond brows.

"Oh, and don't think I won't," Donna warned, already picturing him sprawled face down on her bed as she smacked that well-toned ass of his. "But first take me to bed, you idiot! I'm not taking care of business out here on the frickin' sofa."

Jax stood up with her in his arms. "You know, babe, you get really bossy when you're pissed." He said huskily as he quickly made his way to her bedroom. "I kinda like that."

Having vigorous and somewhat athletic sex while your children were sleeping only several yards away was not something easy to accomplish. Somehow, though, Jax and Donna had managed to make it work and were now lying in a sweaty heap on Donna's bed. With only a light blanket covering them, the two lovers were cuddled in each other's arms as dawn's early light shone through the slats of the window blinds.

Jax ran his ringed-fingers through Donna's rich and shiny hair that was splayed across his chest and grinned. He had always known she was a bit of a spitfire, but tonight Donna Winston had proven herself a bit of a handful as pissed off as she was about being stood up. It had taken a Herculean effort on his part to not only change her mind about letting him stay, but to please her by making her come without her screaming the house down.

It hadn't been easy, but damn, the scratches down his back and the bite marks on his shoulders were sure worth the effort. Jax was hard pressed to know how a sensual and passionate woman like Donna could live without a man worshipping her small, but tight and luscious body with his own on the regular. Looking at her now, after thoroughly satisfying each other, Jax could almost see her putting that part of herself inside a box where it would stay until she was ready to have him worship her again. He had always admired her for putting her roles as wife and mother first, but Jax was determined to make the hot and loving woman in her a priority as well.

That is, if she didn't already have second thoughts about exploring their relationship further after he had so stupidly stood her up. Before the subject had the chance to rear its ugly head in an unfavorable manner, Jax decided to face it head on instead of avoiding the conversation altogether.

"Darlin', I'm really sorry about tonight." He whispered softly into her hair before dropping a kiss on her head.

"Uh, don't you mean this morning?" Donna prodded teasingly as she allowed herself to play with his pecs, giving one of his nipples a good tweak.

"Ow! Woman, there's no need to get violent." Jax laughed as he rubbed his sore nipple with his free hand.

"I think there is, but then you weren't the one that was stood up." Donna replied pointedly. "Where the hell were you? I was worried, you know."

Jax grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. "Of course you were. Shit, I should have known that." He responded, a little pissed with himself. "I'm sorry, babe. I just got knee-deep in some . . . Club shit." Jax finished, focusing his clear blue eyes on Donna's.

It hadn't been easy deciding to keep tonight's events to himself. Jax had agreed to help Tara already knowing he could never tell Donna and his conscience had readily kicked in. The last thing he wanted to do was start things off with Donna by lying through omission. But at this point, in spite of the many laws he had broken that night, Jax realized that he was more afraid of scaring Donna off with the truth than of anything else.

JT's manuscript had been pretty clear on the subject of old ladies and full disclosure. Either you told your old lady nothing or you told her everything. Jax had seen first-hand the damage no disclosure had wrought on Opie's relationship with Donna. The beautiful pixie he held in his arms had egregiously underestimated her own strength by not wanting to know shit about the Club and Opie's role in it. Jax knew that in order to make it work, things had to be different with them.

Just not now. And just this once, Jax promised himself.

They may have known each other for years, but now they were learning about each other on an intimate level. Jax was only in the beginning stages of figuring Donna out and so far all he knew for sure was that she was more complicated and complex than anyone could ever imagine. He couldn't figure out what would upset her most—the fact that he had spent the night getting rid of a body or that he had done it for a former-lover. Or both.

How could he possibly explain to Donna that, instead of spending the night with her—the woman he hoped would one day agree to be his old lady—he had fallen into a conspiracy with Tara by making the body of Joshua Kohn disappear? Jax didn't think there was a woman alive that could understand that shit.

Fortunately for him, getting it done had not been the difficult task he had initially envisioned. As a matter of fact, it unnerved the outlaw to realize just how easy it was to send someone on a permanent vacation. Luckily, Tara's late father, an infamous packrat, kept a large supply of plastic sheeting in the garage. For what reason, Jax had no clue, but it had come in handy in bundling up the bloody body after stripping it of all identification. Using Tara's car, Jax transported Kohn to a deeply wooded forest about an hour's drive from Charming. After digging a deeper than shallow hole, Jax dumped the body, burned it, and finally buried the remains.

It had taken nearly three hours to do the job solo and, after making a brief stop on the way back, Jax had returned to Tara's to park her car and retrieve his bike from her garage.

The young doctor had spent that time cleaning up all evidence of a violent death from her bedroom and bathroom and had been waiting for his return. Tara was grateful and extremely eager to show him just how grateful she was. There had been a time in his life—a fairly recent time as a matter of fact—when Jax would not have hesitated fucking another woman before heading home to the one already waiting for him. This time, though, it was Donna that was waiting for him and what he had told her on Sunday had been true: he had gotten over Tara a long time ago.

Jax was finally on the right track with Donna and he had no interest in complicating his life by taking Tara up on her promise that this time things would be different with them. But after the horror and trauma she had experienced at the hands of Joshua Kohn, Jax didn't want to tackle the fact that there was no "them" with Tara in an extremely emotional and volatile state of mind. Besides, in the clear light of day, Jax was sure that Tara would realize that with Kohn now out of the way, there was nothing holding her down in Charming and she would be free to return to her life in Chicago.

After beating a hasty retreat from Tara's house, Donna was now at the forefront of his mind. Jax had been so busy wrapping shit up with Tara that it had not occurred to him to touch base with Donna, letting her know that although he would be late, he would definitely be there.

Fortunately, with some well-placed kisses and caresses, Jax had managed to talk Donna out of killing him. Because she had been so upset, Jax knew that telling her about Tara's situation was not the best way to start their relationship. Besides, this being the last favor of this nature he ever intended to do for Tara, Jax reasoned that the less Donna knew about the situation, the less she could get into trouble for knowing.

"Club business, huh?" Donna cocked an eyebrow as she examined his face. Although he seemed sincere, she was getting an uneasy vibe from him.

"Yeah. It was kind of unexpected, darlin', but everything's under control. I promise."

"Okay." Donna turned over to rest her folded arms on his broad chest. She wanted to look him straight in the eyes when she made her point. "I just hope it's not about a woman, Jax. You know I'm not interested in being one of many dishes in some pussy buffet."

"You will never feel that way with me, sweetheart." Jax whispered.

Jax knew that it would probably be an uphill climb for them. After all, like Donna had said, they didn't exist in a vacuum and eventually would have to deal with their families and children and SAMCRO. And like Donna, Jax needed to know if Clay was in any way involved in the death of his best friend and her old man, and ultimately, Jax wanted to put the Sons of Anarchy back on the road that his father had originally intended.

But more than anything, Jax wanted to build a strong foundation with Donna, one that could withstand all the shit that would undoubtedly try to destroy them. In order to make that happen, it was going to take more than just telling her how much he cared for her. He would have to show her.

Cupping her face in his hands, Jax kissed Donna's lips tenderly. "Babe, I'm gonna prove to you that I can be a one-woman outlaw."

The End?

A/N: So it's official. After much deliberation, Jackson Teller has finally cleaned house, deciding that it was Donna Winston he wanted by his side.

But can Jax prove to his best friend's widow that he can love her and only her? Will Jax be able to expose the truth concerning Opie Winston's death? Will Jax's decision to keep Tara's dark secret be without consequences? Will Donna be able to find her place within the MC world, especially with both of their mothers interfering?

Like many who have commented, I too am looking forward to seeing how Jax and Donna develop as a couple. I have decided that I definitely want to work on a sequel. But I'm also in the process of developing a new SOA universe with Jax and Happy as the main focus and which sticks close to canon from Seasons 4 and 5 and maybe even 6. So yes, a Four Women sequel is in the works, but it may take a few months before I can devote any time to it.

As always, many thanks to the many faithful that have stuck with me. I really appreciate the support and it is for you that I will continue the story of Jax and Donna.

—Harlee