Take Me to Church

The next morning, I was out of bed and dressed before my alarm ever even went off. Any other day, I would've snoozed the alarm time and time again; but not today. The boys were getting out today, this morning. Today was the day that I was going to tell Filip he was going to be a father- it couldn't wait any longer. He's already gone too long without knowing.

I dressed in something relatively simple, but also something that I knew Filip would like. Black jeans, a plaid tube top, matching heels, and my cut. I left my hair down, and did some simple eye make up that matched my outfit. Though, deciding it wasn't enough, I also put a bandana through my hair and added a bit more volume.

Even though the boys wanted Happy back at the club, Happy had stayed with my last night. He had been able to tell I was too anxious to sleep, so he didn't want to leave me alone.

Not wanting to drive, and since my bike was still parked in the lot at the club, I rode with Happy on the back of his bike. It was nothing like riding with Filip-for example, with Happy my heart didn't beat out of my chest like it did when my arms were wrapped around Chibs. When we got to the club, I noticed that Tara and the boys were already here and waiting, Dyna sitting patiently next to Abel. I moved to walk over to the picnic tables when I heard the sound of motorcycles rumbling in the distance. My heart skipped a beat as I moved to stand next to Dyna, scratching behind her ears briefly.

I watched, practically frozen, as they pulled into the lot and parked their bikes neatly in a row. My eyes immediately found my husband within the group of men, and couldn't stop the smile that appeared on my face. Though, I waited for him to climb off of his bike before running over to him.Once he was off of the vehicle safely, I couldn't stop myself.

Noticing me coming towards him, he opened his arms widely and caught me in his grasp, I clung to him desperately as my feet were lifted off of the ground. Instinctively, my legs wrapped around his wait, as I pulled back ever so slightly, and looked down at him. His eyes found mine briefly before our lips collided together. God I had missed him so much. It had only been two days, but those days felt like an entire lifetime. "I have something I need to tell you." I hummed in-between kisses.

"I should go away more often if this is what every welcome home is going to be like." He chuckled, his hand squeezing my ass ever so briefly before lowering me back down to the ground. I rolled my eyes, adjusting myself before looking around the lot, everyone was so happy to have them back. Something wasn't right.

"Wait a minute, Filip, where's Opie? He was supposed to come back with you, right?" I questioned, not seeing the man in the lot with everyone else. Looking up at my husband, I saw the expression that came over his features, and I knew. I knew, immediately, that our brother wasn't going to be returning to us. Another family member ripped away. My heart cracked in my chest, and tears filled my eyes. "No." I whispered, shaking my head and gripping onto the front of his shirt.

His arm went around me, and pulled me into him- effectively hiding my tears from everyone who was still having a happy home coming. "I'm so sorry, love. I know how much you cared for him." He whispered, holding me tightly. We stayed like that for a few seconds before Jax walked over, and I felt his hand on my shoulder briefly. "Come on, guys. We have a lot to discuss." He sighed.

The group of people disbanded as we followed Jax into the club and into the chapel. We all settled into our usual seats around Jax. As he got started, my eyes found the empty chair where Opie was supposed to be.

"I think that Ope's been looking for a way out ever since Donna died. He hasn't been right ever since then. He went out a warrior." Jax sighed, looking down at the table at he spoke. It was obvious that I wasn't the only one pained by this happening. "We wouldn't be sitting here, if it weren't for him." I could hear the sadness in my husbands voice. Once more my heart felt like it was breaking in my chest, Opie had given himself so my husband could return to me. So Jax could return to the club, and so Tig didn't have to pay for his mistake.

"No doubt that Ope made his own choice, but it's Pope forcing that is what concerns me." Clay spoke next. Just hearing his voice made me angry. "Jax did everything he could to push back the threat." Tig snapped. I was almost surprised to see him taking someone's side other than Clay's. I guess the lie he had told really upset him.

That's when Frankie opened his mouth to speak. I heard his words, but I didn't really hear him, or the other two guys that Clay had brought in from the Nomad charter- Greg and Gogo. "Like agreeing to a fifty G payout?" He questioned with a scoff. My eyes moved away from Opie's empty chair and found the man who had just spoken. We're discussing the loss of one of our brothers, and all he cared about was money. "It's just short term, Frankie." Jax spoke, glaring at the man as well. "Yeah, how short?" Gogo was the one to question this time. Jax took a deep breath as he placed his hands down on the table.

"We've never rubbed up against a guy like Pope. An OG sitting at a table with judges, senators, and CEO's." Jax stated.

"He could kill us with a phone call just as easily as a bullet. We're just white smoke to this dude." Bobby added in quickly, helping to prove Jax's point. "I say, we agree to his terms, see where things go. Maybe we can even use this guy to our advantage." Jax continued after Bobby's little addition.

"What advantage would that be?" Clay immediately questioned. This is how things were even since Jax took the President patch and chair. Clay felt the urgent need to question any and every tiny thing Jax ever said. "If we're good with Pope, the rest of black gets in line." Jax spoke with a tone that said his word's should've been obvious to a point he shouldn't have had to say it. "What about the stains that killed Ope? They just gonna get in line too?" Happy growled.

I had never seen Happy so torn up. He looked incredibly sad and possibly on the verge of tears. It was heart breaking.

"No retaliation, not yet. It puts us and Charming at risk." Jax said it as a warning; and judging by his tone, it's the only warning he would be giving us. "We're already at risk. These home invasions- have to be black." Once more, Clay opened his mouth.

"And just why the hell should we even consider trusting a word you fucking say, huh?" I couldn't stop myself from voicing my own opinion with a low growl as I leaned forward ever so slightly. I felt Chibs squeeze my thigh, as if holding me back, while Jax raised his hand up in my direction as if telling me to stand down. "Pope didn't put them in play. He's not sure about the Niners, so he's looking into it." Jax continued on as if I hadn't spoken.

"We're throwing Pope a lot of trust." Greg, the third and final Nomad, finally opened his mouth. "It ain't trust man, it's fear! Right now, he controls it. We got to buy time to change that. Let's vote this. We pay out the fifty g's til we figure this shit out. Yay." Jax ordered.

It was voted in, and we moved on.

"The body should be here this afternoon, let's do this right." Was all Jax said before dropping the gavel and sending us about our business. I was left at the club while Chibs left with Jax to check on some things, so I made sure that the club was ready for tonight.

In little over an hour, Skeeter would be bringing Opie to the club. So I made my way down the hallway in search of something- a picture.

A picture from the day I had gotten married to be exact. I had still been in my wedding dress, with a large smile on my face. Opie was standing to my left with his arm wrapped around my waist, and was kissing the top of my head. Piney stood to my right with a smile on his face, in his hand was a bottle of tequila with a straw in it, raised up in the air like he was toasting.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I sucked in a deep breath as I felt my heart aching within my chest. We all looked so happy in the picture, now I was the only one left. Back then, things seemed so much more simple than they were now. How did we end up here? Things are just so messed up now, I don't think we'll ever be able to fix it. Sighing, I looked over at Dyna, who was laying comfortably on the bed next to me. "Why do people keep dying?" I whispered, patting her head.

Hearing bikes pull into the lot, I looked at the alarm clock on the night stand and saw that I had been sitting here for almost forty-five minutes. Putting the picture in the inside pocket of my cut, I made my way out of the apartment, through the bar, and outside.

Almost immediately after getting off of their bikes, Jax and Chibs approached Nero in an almost harsh manner. Seeing an unknown blonde woman with them, I made my way over as well, curious as to what was going on.

"What happened?" Nero asked. Both men looked a bit roughed up, as did the woman. "Your boys showed up at the hotel same time we did." Chibs growled out, very obviously upset. "Almost ended up with a hood slaughter. We convinced them that we'd finish her off." Jax added in. "So, what we need now is a digit and a tiny titty to prove it." I had to keep myself from laughing. Chibs had a very widely known dislike for women with a small chest.

"Jesus Christ." Nero sighed, shaking his head. "How'd they know where she was?" Jax questioned the man. Nero paused and had think about it before he could answer the question. "There was only one other person who knew." Nero looked at Carla as he spoke, his eyes narrowing down into a glare.

"I was protecting you! If your crew found out, they'd crush you. They'd ruin everything we've built together." She didn't even try to deny her actions. In fact she owned up to it proudly. "Where do you get this 'we' from? 'We' haven't built anything. I'm sorry, I never would've sent you if I'd known." Nero apologized, trying to stay on good terms with Jax.

"It's okay, sounds like someone else I know. Let's call it even. Rat, put her in the garage and keep her away from the phones." Jax ordered the Prospect. It was when Rat grabbed Carla and led her into the garage that Gemma approached us. "Why's she here?" She questioned, looking at the blonde Jax and Chibs had brought with them. "That's not your concern." Jax waved her off. He wasn't in a mood to deal with or care about Gemma right now. "No, its not; but it should be yours." Gemma was referencing the time that Jax cheated on Tara with Ima.

"You know what, I kind of have a few things on my plate today, like burying my best friend. So your constant need to be loved, worshiped, and adored is a little low on my list today." Jax growled out at her.

It was then that I walked away from them.

I made my way over to the picnic table, and sat down on top of it. The stress of today was making me crave a cigarette; but I knew I couldn't. My hand came down and rubbed over my stomach lightly.

Memories began fumbling through my mind as I sat there. All the times Opie and I had laughed and smiled together. I still remember the night back when we first met, we had gotten stupidly drunk. I admitted to him that I thought his Scottish friend was quite attractive, and he encouraged me to go for it- however I put that off for a few more months. Opie's advice for my being chicken shit was to get stupidly drunk with Chibs and tell him the same way I'd just done.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, my body jumped slightly, and I turned to see my husband standing next to me. He flashed me a sympathetic smile before sitting down on top of the table next to me.

He put his arm around my shoulders, and I saw Skeeters van pull into the lot. My body tensed up, and I buried my face in Chibs' neck. I felt like I was holding my breath as they carried him past, I just couldn't bare to see it happening. Chibs' held me close to him as they passed us by.

"Do you want a smoke, love?" He asked, offering the pack over to me. "As badly as I want one, I can't." I muttered, pushing the pack away. Looking down at me, he seemed confused by my actions. "You said that you had something to tell me, earlier. Do you want to talk about it now?" He rather quickly changed the subject. Looking down at my hands hesitantly, I began trying to piece together the words in my mind.

"How could we ever raise a child in a world this horrific?" I choked out.

Once more, he looked down at me with confusion in his eyes. "Things will get better long before then, I can promise you that." He sounded so sure about that. I couldn't help but be wary. "Then I guess the world has about eight months to get better." I looked at him through my lashes as I spoke- wanting to see his reaction.

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing seemed to come out. A smile appeared on his face immediately before pulling me into his arms tighter and pressing a kiss to my cheek. "So, that's why you've not been smoking or drinking, you're doing everything you can to protect them." He had a look of affection in his eye as he looked down at me. "After last time, I'm not taking any chances." I whispered, I could basically see the memory of our past flashing through his eyes.

"Hey, nothing like that is going to happen. Everything is going to be okay." There was promise in his eyes now. I wanted to believe him, but. "How can you say that when you know you can't keep bad things from happening to us?" I whispered.

He seemed a bit take back by my words; but his pause was very brief. "Because you're my wife, and we will get through this together- no matter what comes our way. Because I will do absolutely everything in my power to protect you, and the wee one." He used my own words against me. That was what I had told him in Ireland, when we were chasing after Jimmy. Believing him, I said nothing else and leaned further into his arms. We stay like that with one another until the sun started slowly sinking in the sky, and it was time for Opie's service.

It couldn't believe it. It was actually time to say good-bye.

"I don't know if I can do this." I whispered, clinging to Chibs as we walked into the club. I could feel eyes on me as we walked through the room. "You can do this, I'm right here next to you. We'll do it together." He assured me. We waited our turn before walking into the chapel where the casket had been placed on top of the table.

Chibs went first, removing his rosary handing around his neck, and kissed it before setting it down on Opie's hand.. Then he took a step back so that I was able to step forward.

Tears came to my eyes as I pulled the picture out of my pocket. I looked at the picture once more, briefly, before laying the photograph down on Opie's chest. Stepping back, I allowed Chibs to put his arm around me and lead me away. Jax went after us, and was last to say his good-byes. While he was doing this, I found Lyla. "I want you to call me if you ever need anything, understand?" I ordered, looking down at the blonde woman.

I gave her a comforting hug, before we all gathered around. Six of the boys, including Jax and Chibs carried the casket out of the club and to the awaiting hearse. I walked with Lyla, my arm wrapped around her shoulders. Silent tears made their way down my cheeks as I watched the door to the hearse close with Opie inside.

Chibs immediately moved away from the vehicle, and returned to my arm, wrapping me in his arms. He held me close, and just allowed me to cry.