As Donna passes the Welcome to Charming sign, she can't help but think the town is anything but Charming. For the past five years of her life, Charming has been nothing but a nightmare. And before, when she was naïve, she had no problem with Charming. It was small and quiet. For the most part, crime was non-existent. Her family had moved to Charming during her freshman year of high school and they all thought Charming was well charming.
But of course, Donna and her family soon would learn about some of the very notable citizens of Charming. Donna didn't really care about the club. She wasn't going to get involved with any of them. At the time, considering there weren't any drugs or crimes inside the borders of Charming, it seemed the club was a necessary evil.
However, in her sophomore year of high school, she met the love of her life. She can say Opie did not fit the stereotype of a menacing biker. Although he wasn't a patched member yet, still he didn't fit the description given to members and families of club members.
While everyone else was smitten by his best friend, Jax Teller, he wasn't Opie.
After Opie's return to Charming due to his parent's divorce, they were paired in science class. She believed it was the only class Opie didn't have with his best friend. Over the course of the year, she didn't know how or when exactly, but she fell fucking hard for Harry Winston.
Unlike Jax and Tara, her relationship with Opie was steady and healthy. She trusted him and loved him. That was why when Opie dropped out of high school to devote his time fully to the club with Jax; she thought her fairytale relationship would end.
Despite being confident in her relationship with Opie, they were around Jax and Tara a lot. Tara had no problem vocalizing her distaste for Charming and some aspects of the club. At the time, Donna could see the arguments Tara had made so vocal to the point it made everyone miserable.
Donna could say she had worries about her boyfriend becoming involved in an outlaw criminal enterprise. Despite him having late nights at the clubhouse and having to reschedule a few dates, Opie didn't change. His commitment to her and their relationship didn't change.
Of course, they had their opponents like her parents who were concerned, but they embraced Opie like a son. Her parents didn't even castrate him when he knocked her up at 19 with Ellie. Donna for sure thought adding a baby into their relationship was going to ruin them, but a year later she was married and a year after that she was pregnant with Kenny.
However, Donna knows the real reason she stuck by Opie as his commitment to the club got deeper or even when he started prospecting and Tara was a Negative Nancy about the whole thing was because of Opie's sister, Kennedy. She thinks watching Opie interact with his sister, and the love he had for Kennedy, was what really made her heart melt for him. And it also helped that Kennedy had embraced her into the family. Kennedy also kept it real with her about the club and in telling her that everything wasn't sunshine and rainbows. Donna was slightly concerned about these words coming out of a 13-year-old's mouth and the whole you love the man, you learn to love the club speech, but Donna soon learned those words originated out of Gemma Teller-Morrow's mouth. Still, Kennedy was a nice medium between Tara and Gemma for Donna.
If Donna ever felt overwhelmed and didn't want to bother Opie and didn't want Gemma to see her as weak, she had Kennedy.
That's why as she goes through Charming, which now holds bitter memories, she knows moving out of Charming means leaving Kennedy. She feels as if she is betraying Kennedy by wanting to move away from a town and the people that have caused so much pain for her family.
With Opie's five-year stint in prison, she knows the only reason she was able to get by and survive that stigma of Opie truly being a felon was because of Kennedy. Kennedy was there for her when she needed to vent and cry. She was there helping the kids get to school and with their homework. Donna looks at her kids in the backseat, who are playing on their Gameboys that somehow Kennedy could afford to buy them. When the time comes to move, she knows her kids will be upset. Kenny, nicknamed after his aunt because of how he seemed to only like her presence, was going to be the worst. She knows Kennedy and Kenny have this unbreakable bond as Kennedy had with Opie. She knows it is going to break her baby boy's heart, especially after losing his father.
Not once did she ever see Kennedy throw a pity party or show any emotions of indifference about her brother's prison sentence. Donna wonders how Kennedy does it because Donna would crumble under the weight and she did.
Donna knows being raised and honed by Gemma, Kennedy was practically old lady material. All she needed was the old man. She also knows Kennedy's childhood with her mother made her the woman Kennedy was today.
As she reaches her home, Donna's eyebrows skyrocket to her hairline as she notices a particular bike parked behind Kennedy's Jeep.
When Donna wasn't wallowing in her misery, there was one thing that kept her amused for five years was how Jax and Kennedy were dancing around their feelings.
When Opie went inside, Jax quickly stepped up in his role as an uncle. At first, she thought it was because it was an obligation from the club to make sure his brother's family was okay. She realized she wasn't being generous with her thoughts about her husband's best friend. This wasn't a burden to Jax in making sure she and the kids were doing okay. If the roles were reversed, she knew Opie would be doing the same thing if Jax had his own family.
But she watched as gradually Kennedy and Jax became closer. It was obvious from Jax's end that he indeed was feeling something for Kennedy. Donna could never get a read on Kennedy. However, by the way, they acted, Kennedy must feel something towards her brother's best friend. She imagines that was part of the reason they had their big blowout. That and certain club rules and by-laws. The next thing Donna knew, Jax married a well-known junkie, the complete opposite of Kennedy, if Donna could say so herself, and managed to knock her up.
Since Opie's funeral, Jax hadn't been around. But everyone was getting used to Opie being gone, again, forever this time, and no one in the Winston household was pining for another male presence that had the same risk as Opie.
Despite loving Jax as a brother and Kennedy as a sister and wanting the best for both of them, she was sure their getting involved romantically wasn't in the best interest either of them. Donna's fundamental problem was she didn't want Kennedy to go through the same thing she was currently going through. Opie wasn't even an officer of the club and he was murdered. Jax is the Vice President of a club that has many enemies, evident by her husband's untimely demise.
However, she knows people do certain things when they are grieving. Kennedy, despite having Opie who was a scary overprotective brother, had no problems luring men into bed. When Opie wasn't around, Donna had the privilege of hearing about Kennedy's nights of passion with her flames of the moment. Jax didn't have problems getting women into bed either. She was sure when Tara hightailed it out of Charming he had slept with the whole West Coast. Outside of his man whore ways, Jax was a good man. Sure, his marriage to a junkie wasn't ideal and is a bit of a disaster, but when he finds the right person, she knows that the lady will be a lucky girl. However, she doesn't want that lucky girl to be Kennedy.
She never wants Kennedy to go through something like this again. She deserves more than this charming life.
"Ma, is that Uncle Jax's bike?" Kenny asks from the backseat as she puts the car in park.
"Yeah, it is sweetie," Donna mumbles and she prays that she doesn't walk in on a scandalous scene.
Walking into her home, she releases a relieved breath as they are greeted with the large SAMCRO reaper back tattoo, the same one Opie had that belongs to Jax Teller, who is passed out on the living room couch.
Donna is somewhat comforted that he, at least, isn't in Kennedy's bedroom tangled in her sheets.
"Come on, babies, why don't you put your things back into your room while I'll see if your aunt is up," Donna says as she directs her two children down the hallway. The children continue to their room as Donna stops in front of Kennedy's door. She taps the door lightly and calls out Kennedy's name as she opens the door, but finds her bed empty.
However, her eyes turn toward the sound of Kennedy's bathroom door opening and a bunch of steam follows the younger woman out the door, who is clad in only a large navy blue towel.
"Oh hey, you're back." Kennedy greets her with a smile. "How was your weekend?"
"It was fine," Donna replies as Kennedy begins to get dressed. Kennedy, never one for being modest at least keeps her towel on as she puts on her underwear and a pair of shorts, but drops her towel to put on her bra and tank top.
"Just fine?" Kennedy questions. "Didn't find a house ya liked?"
Donna rolls her eyes. "There was a couple, though my parents do have enough room for all of us. But I was thinking renting would be a better option. I looked at a few townhouses."
Kennedy throws her towel in her laundry basket and grabs her lotion and begins to lather some on her skin. "You know I can come up and look at a few places with you."
"I know, but I want to narrow the search down some more," Donna replies. "So what's up with the person passed out on our couch?" Donna adds with a raised eyebrow.
Kennedy rolls her eyes. "Nothing happened."
"Obviously or he would be in your bed." Donna points out.
Kennedy rewards her with a glare, but Donna only ends up snickering before the door is opened further. Kenny and Ellie burst into the room. Kenny tackles his aunt into a hug while Ellie only walks next to the bed and waits until Kenny settles down a bit.
"I take it someone missed me." Kennedy quips as she hugs Kenny back and motions for Ellie to join the hug and places a kiss on each of their foreheads.
"I'm mad you had a sleepover with Uncle Jax," Kenny states as he removes himself from the hug.
"Oh really?" Kennedy says as she abandons putting lotion on her skin and stands up placing her hands on her hips.
"Yep." Kenny says with a smile.
"Well maybe if you asked him, he will have one with you," Kennedy replies. "You guys hungry?"
"Yeah," both kids exclaim.
Kennedy sends Donna a playful glare, "I can't believe you're starving my niece and nephew."
"Can we have crepes, Auntie Ken?" Ellie asks.
"Of course, sweetheart."
With Kenny and Ellie at the kitchen table relaying their weekend at their grandparents' while she is making them breakfast, she realizes Jax is still knocked out on the couch, even with the scent of food filtering the house.
With the kids stuffing their faces and the coffee done brewing, she grabs a mug, fills it up, and then grabs the sugar and practically pours half of the jar into it. She walks back into the living room, surprised that Jax can sleep this long on the old couch that he barely fits in. She sets the coffee on the table and kneels in front of Jax and lightly shakes him while she calls out his name softly. At first, he tries to ignore her as he buries his face into the couch, but at the mention of coffee, his head facing her, she watches as his baby blue eyes open, the same eyes she had seen on his son, and looks at her sleepily.
"Morning," she greets.
Jax blinks, then blinks again before he slowly sits up and then runs his hand down his face. Kennedy grabs his mug and presents it to him, which he gladly takes. He must've been more tired than he thought.
"Thanks." He says after he takes a generous sip from his coffee and he smiles as she made it just right.
As his eyes adjust to the brightness of the living room, his senses are flooded with the smell of bacon and as his eyes scan the house, he sees that Ellie and Kenny are in the kitchen chatting while they are eating.
"You know you have to stay for breakfast, right?" Kennedy says as she stands up.
"As I would ever pass on a home-cooked meal," Jax replies with a smile as he stands and follows Kennedy into the kitchen. He can't help but drop his eyes to her ass which is barely contained in her shorts.
"Morning Uncle Jax!" Ellie and Kenny greet.
Jax smiles as he pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads. "Morning, guys." Donna, at this point, has come into the kitchen and he presses a kiss on her cheek. "Morning, D."
"It's actually afternoon." Donna quips as Kennedy hands her a cup of coffee.
Jax takes a seat at the table. It instantly rewarded him with a plate full of crepe and bacon. He flashes Kennedy an appreciative grin. "Thanks, darlin'."
Kennedy looks at him with a smile of her own. "You're welcome."
Immediately Jax digs into his food and he can admit that Kennedy was a fantastic cook like his mother. When Opie was locked up in Chino, he always made it a point to try to make it over to dinner and if he didn't, Kennedy seemed to know he would eat leftovers.
The adults are quiet as they ate, but the kids tell him all about their weekend at Donna's parents' house. They recently got a dog and by the way, Donna's face scrunches up, he knows the kids are already begging for one themselves.
"Hey, you guys going to Fun Town?" Jax asks. He knows it's tradition to go. Kennedy practically lived there in the summer when she was younger, when she would drag him and Opie along for a weekend just for the three of them–no girlfriends–were her demands.
"I don't know," Donna replies. Kennedy keeps quiet as she sips her cup of coffee.
"Can we go, Mom?" Kenny asks from his seat. "We've been going to grandma and grandpa's every weekend. I want to hang out with Auntie Ken and Uncle Jax."
Jax risks a glance at Donna and, by the pinched look on her face, it's either about money or the fact she is avoiding the club at all costs that have her not wanting to attend the carnival. Most likely it's both.
"It can be my treat." Jax offers.
"Please, Mom!" Both Ellie and Kenny plead.
"Alright, alright, we can go." Donna concedes to the kids' pleasure.
Jax smiles, and he winks at Kennedy, who only shakes her head.
After filling up his stomach, Kennedy escorted Jax out of the house to his bike.
"So you going to pay for me too?" Kennedy asks, referencing Fun Town.
"Of course, darlin'," Jax replies. "It's tradition, right?"
Reaching for his bike, he throws his leg over while Kennedy walks in front of it and leans against his handlebars. "I'm not sure your wife would mind."
Jax rolls his eyes as he straps on his helmet. "Ex-wife." He corrects, which has her chuckling. "How are you doing?" He asks referring to what he told her last night. He watches as her face falls slightly and she pushes herself off his bike.
"I'm okay. Although I don't know if I should tell Donna."
Jax nods his head as she knows she is referencing the fact that Opie didn't have full disclosure with Donna. And both he and Kennedy wanted to respect Opie's wishes in not telling Donna everything about the club business.
"If you think it's best for her, I think she deserves to know. It'll help provide some closure, ya know." Jax tells her softly while she nods her head. He grabs her arm and pulls her into him and he inhales her scent of pomegranate and mangos. He presses a kiss to the side of her head. "I'll see ya around, okay?"
She pulls back and her eyes flicker from his kutte up to his eyes. "Be safe, Jax."
"Always."
. . .
Arriving at the clubhouse, Jax isn't surprised to see his mom already waiting for him near his designated spot. After having a pretty decent morning, the last thing he needs is his mom's meddling in his business. He throws his mom a neutral smile as he parks his bike. "What's up, Ma?"
"You've just missed Wendy."
Jax's head snaps up as he wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth. He knows there was no love lost between his mom and Wendy. Wendy herself wasn't necessarily a bad person outside of her crank habit. It was just the two of them together were a disaster and through his mother's eyes, no one was good enough for him, especially after Tara.
"What did she want?"
Gemma holds up a key to his house. "All her shit is gone. She's moving to Seattle after Abel is out of the hospital."
Jax nods his head, grateful that she is getting help again, and that he isn't paying for it this time. He doesn't know how much money he wasted trying to help Wendy to get clean. He was sure it was enough to earn his name on a goddamn wing named after him. Plus, he had come to terms he was going to be a single parent. He never voiced it aloud, but he knows Wendy thought her having a baby would somehow keep him with her. Once she realized that just because she was carrying his child, he regretfully didn't want or was prepared, it didn't mean he would still be there.
"So where were you last night?"
Jax looks at his mother unimpressed and he watches as she looks affronted.
"Considering everything going on, Jax, the last thing you need to be doing is riding alone." His mother points out with narrowed eyes.
Jax sighs as he rubs his eyes, his peaceful mood dulling with his mother's inquisition. He loves his mother, he does, but sometimes she is overbearing and he questions if he is 30 or 3 with the way she acts.
"I wasn't riding. I was at Ope's place." He tells his mother as he gets off his bike. "Anything else you want ta know?" Jax questions his mother, who has gone silent.
"No, baby," Gemma says as she shakes her head.
The red flags sprout in her head as she knows it isn't going to be good for anybody if there is something brewing between the two people who loved Opie most in the world. She is also unsure what her son is telling Kennedy. Her son is the kind of patched member that needs a woman at his side. In all honestly, Kennedy would be a good old lady. She grew up in the life and knew what was to be expected of her as an old lady. At the same time being the daughter of a First 9 member, it would say a lot for a patch member to begin seeing a daughter and sister of a member, especially a man whore she has for a son. It could cause trouble, especially if her son were to humiliate Kennedy and treat her like a pass-around.
She watches her son stalk into the clubhouse, and she knows it's time for her to see Kennedy Winston.
Jax makes it back to his dorm room without any more interruptions. It seems the croweaters and old ladies were busy earlier cleaning up and only Bobby lying on the couch with the Prospect at his beck and call is the only visual reminder that there was a party last night.
Jax makes it back to his dorm and quickly locks it. He walks over to the bottom drawer of his desk and unlocks it as he grabs the envelope Piney gave him a few days prior. He takes a seat near the top of his bed as he begins to read the words of his father.
. . .
"You've been quiet since Jax left."
Kennedy was sitting at the table drinking a glass of wine after she had put the kids to bed. Donna was in the dining room going over their budget for the next two weeks until payday.
"Don't mean to be," Kennedy replies as she takes another drink of her wine.
"So you going to tell me the real reason Jax was here last night?" Donna probes.
Kennedy sighs as she downs the rest of her wine and refills the glass again. She was better off drinking straight out of the bottle. She also knows that she can't lie to Donna about this. Donna deserves to know how her husband's murder is being handled by the club.
Kennedy sits up straighter in her chair as she looks at her sister-in-law. "The club found who was responsible for Opie's murder. Jax killed him."
She watches as Donna freezes slightly at the news and her face becomes completely blank. Kennedy sometimes wonders why Opie didn't insist on full disclosure, as Donna took everything in stride. However, Kennedy thinks Opie's prison time and death have just made Donna stronger and more resilient, but also angry.
"You didn't say anything to him?"
Kennedy sighs. "Don –"
"No, he just murdered a man who didn't murder my husband!" Donna snaps.
Any response from Kennedy had died in her throat. Ever since the fog of grief had dissipated after Opie's death, both Kennedy and Donna realized some things just didn't make sense timing-wise. Donna came to that conclusion quicker than Kennedy did. Kennedy could admit considering the close call Opie had when delivering guns to the Mayans and the Niners. She wasn't all that surprised that something like this would happen. Kennedy was initially angry at the club because if rival gangs were angry, why were members traveling alone?
Donna was the one to point out it was fishy that after all the bullshit with ATF that her husband wasn't even dead a week later.
Kennedy was quick to dismiss Donna's words at first, but both Opie and Jax revealed more about what happened while Donna, Opie, and the kids were taken to that facility. Unlike what they led Donna to believe, Kennedy knew the club was responsible for the death of the man that ran the ports. She also knew her brother was the one who probably killed him. However, Jax had disclosed that there were some things that ATF knew that only he, Bobby, and Opie would know, like Jax being the lookout. Kennedy was quick to point out that considering Opie and he was best friends, it's not hard to assume that they usually work on club business together. Jax seemed to agree with her, but Kennedy knew other members were probably skeptical and she didn't judge them harshly for it. It would've been stupid to not be suspicious, but it was Opie.
Kennedy tried to ignore Donna's suspicions, but they made sense. In her gut, she knew something was off about Opie's death. And meeting ATF AgentStahl,l there was something off with that gash. She wouldn't put it past a federal agent to do whatever it took to complete their task of bringing down an outlaw organization, especially one where their face was bashed in by a member because she got too cocky trying to use RICO.
"We should tell Jax." Donna pleads. "He would never be involved in something that would hurt Opie or you. He and Piney both need to know."
Kennedy grabs her pack of cigarettes as Donna's words eat at her. She wanted to tell Jax her suspicions, but why rock that boat after it seemed it truly was a Mayan that had killed her brother? If Jax couldn't see the holes, maybe she and Donna were grasping at straws that weren't there. Her and Donna's suspicions are serious allegations against the mother charter–against Clay Morrow. They are something that has serious repercussions against them if anyone knew what they were saying.
Standing up and taking a cigarette out of her pack, Kennedy looks her sister-in-law directly in the eyes, "If Clay–the club–can kill Opie, what's stopping them from killing Jax to keep their secret?"
. . .
At 25, Kennedy thought she would be somewhere with her life. Don't get her wrong, she loved being an aunt to Kenny and Ellie, but they were Opie's family. Despite the first fucked up 9 years of her life, Kennedy always wanted a family of her own to make up for what her mother did to her. She wanted to prove that she was better than her deadbeat egg donor. Then coming to Charming and seeing what a family is like only made her positive that when she got older, she would want a family.
However, once you grow up, Kennedy realized it isn't as easy as it seems to be able to have a family, especially when you have connections to SAMCRO.
She found out that most men thought she was an easy lay being associated with bikers and others were too intimidated to try and talk to her. Plus, there were slim pickings in Charming. It also didn't help the fact that at 19, with a brother locked up that she devoted her time and energy to making sure that her brother's family was okay.
And relationships–her life–was put on the back burner. It wasn't as if she minded; she was still young. However, as she looked at her nieces and nephew, she can admit she was slightly jealous of her brother and his wife.
They were the perfect example of a healthy couple, despite being young when they started having kids and got married. She saw how devoted her brother was to Donna and she was positive that there was no other man like her brother because she knew he sure as hell didn't inherit his devotion from their father.
Kennedy couldn't help the tears that started to spill from her eyes as she looked at her niece and nephew. They would never get to know their father. She knew they loved Opie, but his absence would overpower the memories they had now. They would never know how happy he made their mother. They would just remember those five years in Chino and the cold front that had taken over the couple when he came home.
Her niece and nephew wouldn't be able to experience their father's love and know how great of a man he was. She thinks that is the most heartbreaking thing out of all of this; that Ellie and Kenny would never know the amazingly loyal man that was their father.
And now, as she looks down at Abel, she hates to think of the precious little boy to grow up without a father or really in this lifestyle.
"Your father's a good man, Abel." She tells him softly, and she's rewarded with a gurgle, which has her smiling.
Her attention is diverted when Tonya, a young blonde nurse, enters the room. "Oh, hey you're back." Tonya gets some hand sanitizer and peeks down at Abel in the incubator. "He recognizes you."
"Is that a good thing?" Kennedy says playfully.
Tonya chuckles. "Well, I hope so as we plan to get this boy out of the toaster soon. A couple of weeks is Dr. Namid's estimate. You'll be able to hold him."
Kennedy raises her eyebrows at that. "Does Jax know?"
"I haven't seen him today. He usually comes in the afternoon. I think Gemma was in here earlier."
"That means he'll be able to go home soon," Kenney says absentmindedly. As much as she knows Jax is a good man and will be a good father, she can't envision him alone with a baby despite how much she believes Gemma is going to probably live at Jax's house.
She feels herself being nudged by Tonya, who is smiling at her as if she knows what she is thinking. "He'll have you."
Kennedy is unsure how she feels about that statement because she isn't sure if Tonya is referring to Jax or Abel. She isn't able to comment on it as the door to Abel's room opens and it reveals a woman she never wanted to be in a room alone with, Wendy Case.
Kennedy believes with her lush curves and stripper and croweater background she assumed Wendy was an appealing and probably good lay. Wendy wasn't, by all means, unattractive, but the years of drug use and hard living had taken a toll on the former croweater. It seems with being sober, Wendy had retained a healthy glow of her skin and got some better blonde extensions.
"Oh," Wendy says as she looks at her. "How are you doing, Kennedy?"
Tonya stealthily excuses herself from the room and Kennedy wishes the woman would've stayed to act as a buffer. "I'm fine. How are you?"
Wendy smiles hesitantly as she steps closer to get a better look at Abel. "I'm good. 30 days sober."
"That's good, Wendy," Kennedy says tensely.
Wendy nods and turns her attention to Abel, who is looking around in the incubator.
"He got so big." She points out a little nervous. "He looks like Jax, doesn't he?"
Kennedy wants to say thank god for small mercies but keeps her lips shut and just nods. "Do you have a plan, Wendy?"
"I got into a sober living house at Lincoln Village. I plan to go to Seattle."
"That's far," Kennedy says with a furrowed brow.
Wendy finally looks up at her. "I think we can both agree I'm not fit to be a mother, right now, at least."
"Mmm," Kennedy says, not wanting to voice her true thoughts.
Wendy clears her throat, drawing her attention. "How's Jax?"
Kennedy looks at Wendy with calculating eyes. She doesn't want to argue with Wendy, but this was the woman who had accused her of fucking Jax during the whole duration of her marriage to him. "I think he's okay."
"Look, Kennedy, I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"Wendy–" Kennedy does not want to hear any apology that is most likely from her newfound sober antics to find redemption for almost killing her kid.
"No, seriously, I was a bitch to you. But I'm not stupid. I know now Jax never loved me. I was just a distraction. Before I married him, I knew that. And the drugs highlighted that insecurity more, but god, if you see the two of you, a blind man could even tell there was something there."
"Wendy, nothing is going on between Jax and me."
"Maybe not now, but I can walk away now because I know both of them will have you."
. . .
A few Days Later
Jax looks at Clay confused, as he relays to the club at an impromptu church meeting with Clay and Tig about the current trouble brewing between the Niners and Mayans stemming from the Mayans finding Elian Perez with his guts blown out, holding up nine fingers.
"Why would you switch the tag?" Jax asks from his seat as he eyes his President and Sergeant at Arms.
"The club wouldn't be able to handle the blowback, especially since that ATF gash just left." Tig defends.
"Who gives a fuck about the ATF?," Jax replies. "The Mayans murdered Opie –"
"Jax, I know. I want to gut every Mayan myself," Clay says from behind his sunglasses. "But brains before bullets remember? Tig made a call and I support him on it. Besides, it's not like we're selling them guns."
"It was for the good of the club, brother," Tig adds.
Jax shakes his head as he leans back into his chair. "If it was for the good of the club, why aren't we telling the rest of the club?"
Jax doesn't wait for a reply as he gets out of his chair and storms out of the chapel.
. . .
Kennedy was unsure who was more excited about Fun Town, her or the kids. Despite being 25 years old each year, Kennedy always looked forward to the town carnival. She had fond memories of dragging both Opie and Jax to treat her to a day of fun without their girlfriends tagging along. Of course, Kennedy didn't mind Donna, as with her and Opie, there was hardly any drama between the two. Tara and Jax were a whole other can of worms. Tara would start a fight with a girl who just happened to accidentally bump into Jax's shoulders. And as a young girl, she preferred to have her brother's and his best friend's full attention. For the sake of her happiness, Opie and Jax didn't complain openly to her face about them having to go on all the rides with her or the fact she made them blow their whole check from Teller-Morrow.
She loved going on the Ferris Wheel and watching how both Opie and Jax got a little green when she would have them bounce from spiny ride to spiny ride. Despite how much both would deny it, Opie and Jax sucked at the carnival games. She loved when it got late at night and the lights of the rides were turned on, how they would find a place secluded from the crowd with funnel cakes to share between all three of them while they were just content with the silence and each other. What she liked the most was the one day when Opie and Jax weren't members of the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club. They were just Opie and Jax, two of the most important people in her life.
Despite how shitty Charming is right now, Fun Town will always hold a special place in her heart.
"God, I can't believe you dragged me out to this," Donna mutters from beside her.
Not letting Donna rain on her parade, she grabs her niece's and nephew's hands and directs them to their first ride: bumper cars.
Thankfully, as they hopped from ride to ride, Donna's mood relaxed and she was enjoying herself. Kennedy even convinced her to get her face painted along with Ellie. Kennedy got hers done as well, but she settled for just a simple pattern of stars along the edge of her face.
They were walking across the lawn debating if they were going to go on another ride or get something to eat when the kids exclaim their excitement at seeing their Uncle Jax along with Gemma, Clay, and Tig.
Outside of Jax and, of course, Piney, Donna hadn't seen anyone from the club since Opie's funeral. Kennedy had seen them a few weeks ago to get Donna's car checked, but it wasn't a social call as she didn't linger, and knowing when the lot was busy and when most members were lounging around the lot, she went at a time where it sparse and the only person she would see was Gemma.
"Hey," Kennedy greets neutrally when she and Donna reach them as the kids ran to greet their uncle.
"Hey, sweetheart," Gemma greets with a smile and moves forward and places a kiss on her cheek, which Kennedy returns. Kennedy accepts the hugs from Clay and Tig despite her feelings of betrayal from them. She isn't surprised that Donna only exchanges a nod of the head with them. "How are you guys doing?"
"Okay," Kennedy replies with a small smile. "We're getting by."
Thankfully, they are saved from any more awkward silence when Kenny begs Jax to hang out with them for a bit. Jax agrees and waves off the rest of his family. Kenny had her and Jax go from ride to ride. He was talking a mile a minute to his uncle about his excitement for everything. Watching Kenny interact with Jax put a smile on her face as she thought back to when she was younger, doing the same thing to Opie and Jax.
However, at 25, Kennedy's age was catching up to her. Her digestive system starts telling her she is no longer a kid because after going on the Spider, her stomach was feeling queasy.
"Okay, Junior, I need a break," Kennedy says to her nephew as she tries to find her equilibrium.
She hears Jax snicker while Kenny pouts. "Aw, Auntie Ken, come on."
"Unless you want me to throw up on you..." Kennedy trails off as she watches Kenny's face scrunch up in disgust.
"Hey, why don't you go buy some food for your mom and sister? I think they are feeling a little lonely," Jax says as he hands her nephew a wad of cash. He receives a rushed thank you as he runs over to where Donna and Ellie are sitting at a picnic table.
"So now you know how Ope and I felt when you dragged us onto all these rides."
"Shut up," Kennedy says as she rolls her eyes at him.
"You okay, darlin'?" Jax asks with more concern as she leans against a gate.
Kennedy nods her head. "Just need a break from the spinning rides."
She feels Jax grasp her arm pulling her to him as he wraps his arm around her shoulder. "Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"Ferris Wheel," Jax says as he points at the ride with no one in line.
Jax and Kennedy get on the Ferris wheel without any hassle. Jax leans back in the seat with his arm extended out behind her. Kennedy is leaning forward slightly as she takes in the sight of Charming, California.
"Remember when Ope and I caught you making out with that one boy here?" Jax recalls. He remembers him and Opie going to Fun Town with Donna and Tara. Tara, unknowingly, ratted out Kennedy, who was making out with a kid behind one of the rides.
He and Opie scared the kid shitless, and he remembers Kennedy didn't talk to the two of them for like two weeks. He also recalls she did some major cock blocking as retaliation. Even though he was pissed, he thinks it pissed off Tara more. Opie and Donna were amused by Kennedy becoming the cock blocking champion of Charming. She almost put Gemma to shame.
"You guys were assholes for scaring the poor boy. Besides, it's not like you never felt someone up on one of these rides."
Jax doesn't deny the allegation because he knows how crazy he and Tara were back in the day. They did crazy shit because, for some reason, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Thinking about all the wild shit he did with Tara and countless nameless girls, he doesn't like thinking about Kennedy in those compromising positions he was in.
Kennedy looks over at Jax and watches as a scowl takes over his features and decides it's best to change the subject as she thinks he is thinking about Tara. Jax opens his mouth before she can.
"Do you regret it?" Jax's question changes the whole course of their conversation. He knows at the time he resented Tara for leaving him, but he could see what staying in Charming could've done to her and what it has done to Kennedy.
"Regret what?"
"Putting your life on hold when Opie got locked up. You could've gone anywhere, Ken, became a doctor or something."
Kennedy frowns as she didn't think helping Donna and the kids was putting her life on hold. Looking out into the sky which is gradually becoming darker, she shakes her head. "No, never, Opie, D, and the kids are family."
"The club is your family too," Jax says softly.
Kennedy leans back in their seat and crosses her arms as she glances up at him. "It's not the same. The club is only family as long as the patch is relevant." Kennedy doesn't know if it's just from being around Donna and her anger and just their situation, but that is exactly how she feels some days.
"Ken, you're family no matter what." Jax insists.
"I saw Wendy the other day," Kennedy reveals. "Said she was 30 days sober."
"Where are you going with this, Ken?"
Kennedy looks at Jax from the corner of her eye. "You have a kid together, Jax."
Jax grunts at the reminder. "And she is allowed to be in Abel's life as long as she's sober. There is no me and Wendy, Ken."
Kennedy snorts. "I heard that one before and the next thing you told me was she was pregnant." She reminds him bitterly.
"Well, I made my bed now. I have to lie in it."
"He's getting out of the incubator soon."
Jax smiles brightly at her. "I know. I want you there, Ken when he comes out."
"Jax –" Kennedy begins to say, as she doesn't know if she wants to be there for such a special moment.
"Please."
Kennedy nods her head in promise. Thinking about Abel makes her think about the kutte on his father's chest and how that Vice President patch will one day say, President. "I know you and Opie planned on leading the club together one day, but now with everything that has happened, does it make you wonder if it's what you want with the nature of the club?"
Jax looks at Kennedy and finds it ironic she would say this after he began reading the manuscript and finding out that after he tagged that Mayan kill SOA, Tig went behind his back and marked the man as a Niner kill. He was beginning to question the future of SAMCRO. Sure, running guns was lucrative and provided a certain adrenaline rush, but there were a lot of risks from jail to death. Now, with a son with medical problems, he can't afford to go in and out of prison. And he could admit that since he was five, all he wanted was a kutte and a Harley, but it was with Opie. He imagined Opie as his VP, no one else. And now, with his best friend six feet under, he could only think about who was next.
The ride ends and Jax finds himself being dragged out of the seat by Kennedy and before he realizes it, he is being pushed into a photo booth.
"You know I've only been in one of these a few times," Kennedy tells him as she pulls some money out to pay for the pictures.
"Really?" Jax asks in disbelief as Kennedy slides the dollar bills into the slot.
"Yep, now make some funny faces."
Jax isn't prepared for Kennedy to grab his jaw as she squeezes his cheeks, making his lips pucker while she makes a funny face, causing both of them to laugh.
They take a few more funny pictures before Jax grabs her and places her on his lap as they both give genuine smiles to the camera.
In the next photo, Kennedy places a kiss on his cheek, surprising him. She smiles at him shyly with her chocolate eyes. She turns to look away and his hand finds her chin forcing her to stay looking at him.
He leans forward slightly, the clicking camera forgotten, as Kennedy's hands find his shoulders. He expects her to push him away. "Jax," she whispers as he inches towards her full lips. Instead of crossing that line, his lips find her throat and he presses light kisses to her burning skin. He pulls her closer to his body and her hands on his shoulders move to his hair as he travels up to her jaw.
He pulls back slightly and he can hear her take a shaky breath his blue eyes look at her dark brown ones down to her lips. She starts to lean closer to him and right when their lips are about to touch, they are both startled when someone calls out his name outside the booth.
"Jax, Irish." He hears recognizing the voice belonging to Juice.
Kennedy immediately removes herself from his lap as if a fire was lit under her ass and gets out of the booth, without even a glance back at him.
Jax wipes his hand down his face as he controls his breathing and is glad he doesn't have a full hard-on in a booth. His eyes find the pictures printed out and he grabs them. Stepping out he finds Kennedy talking to Juice he hands her the photos and she can barely look him in the eye. "I'll see ya around." He tells her as he follows Juice.
Gemma watches with a raised eyebrow at the scene of Kennedy all but falling to get out of the photo booth and she imagines if she was any closer Kennedy would look like the cat that ate the canary. Gemma was the one to point Juice in the direction of where her son and Kennedy were after she watched the two on the Ferris Wheel. And as she kept her eyes focused on the photo booth, especially after they were in there longer than she knew the pictures took to take.
As she sips on her soda, Gemma wonders what the fuck these two are getting themselves into.