2:47 am:

Rita was awake and informed that her unborn child was not as fortunate as her to pull through a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Eli, Evie, and Cheryl immediately closed in on her to comfort her, but she was inconsolable.

She was drowning in grief which pushed her current caretakers on shift to sedate her.

Moving out from the corner of the room, Evie bobbed and weaved through the doctors and nurses to excuse herself.

She propped her body against the closest wall, resting her head on the glass window behind her.

The moment her tired eyes fell closed, a set of tears fell down her face and her breathing became irregular.

Hearing the distinct sound of her mother's high heels coming closer to the open hospital door, Evie quickly stood up tall and wiped away the visible trails of fallen tears from her cheeks.

"Evie.."

"I figured Eli and Rita could use some time alone."

Looking into her daughter's watery eyes, Cheryl let out a soft sigh.

Why does she always feel the need to illuminate a strong and sturdy desposition?

It is okay to crumble from time to time.

"Sweetheart, you should head home. You're exhausted and you're in your first trimester which is the most crucial. Your body needs all the rest it can possibly get. You can come back and check in on her tomorrow. I'll keep you updated, " she whispered as she rubbed the top of her forearms with her warm aged hands.

"Okay."

She leaned in and gave Cheryl a much needed hug.

She gave her youngest a quick peck on the cheek before pulling away to watch her head down the hall to the elevators.

Evie reached the chapel on the first floor, peaking through the closed door's window, discovering Jax was the only one present in the holy room.

He was hunched forward, resting his arms on the pew in front of him with his eyes glued to the large cross presented before him.

Her hand coiled around the metal handle, yanking the heavy door back, creating a sharp squeak due to the motion, disturbing the serene atmosphere.

Jax's head immediately turned in her direction, causing a small smile to form in the corner of his mouth.

"Hey darlin'."

"Hey handsome," she replied as she took a seat next to him.

She wrapped her arm around his, resting her head onto his shoulder.

In result, he gave her forehead a gentle kiss which began to dissolve the tension that radiated within it.

"Did she wake up yet?"

She nodded, holding his arm tighter.

"Does she know about the baby?"

"Yeah, Eli told her. She had to be sedated soon after."

"Jesus Christ."

"That reaction was expected. But, to actually see it..you can't prepare yourself no matter how hard you try."

"Ain't that the truth."

Silence surrounded them for a brief moment before Jax began to speak once again.

"I got a call from Dr. Zaragoza's office to confirm your appointment for tomorrow.. well, technically today at noon. I said I needed to check with you before I do. They said if we need to reschedule, they have an opening on Friday at 11:00."

"No, I don't wanna reschedule. I want to know how our little one is doing," she stated as she rubbed her stomach.

He lifted her hand from her stomach, giving it a tender kiss.

"Okay. Let's get you two home to get some kind of rest before we have to be back here in a couple of hours. As far as your car goes, I'll have one of the prospects pick it up and bring it back home."

"Okay, thanks."

"You don't need to thank me."

Jax took her hand in hers and made their way out of the chapel with their hands still conjoined.

The elevator doors opened , revealing Eli right behind them.

When his sister and Jax came into view side by side, his hands balled into fists.

Jax and Evie finally made it home close to four in the morning.

Being the gentleman he is toward her, he let her take the lead into their home with him following close behind her.

Evie flicked on the bathroom light, retrieving her toothbrush from its charger.

She handed Jax his own, passing the fresh tube of toothpaste to him once she was done using it.

The couple put their toothbrushes back to their original locations on the counter in perfect sync.

He unzipped his sweatshirt, sliding it off of his broad shoulders.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower. You wanna join?", he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'd never thought I would see the day that I would say this, but I'm gonna take a raincheck and save my shower for the morning. I'm too tired to stand any longer."

"Okay," he replied, giving her a kiss on the lips.

He released his hold on her, allowing her to depart the bathroom and into their bedroom.

With Jax standing next to her, Evie slid herself up onto the hospital bed, laying her head back and making herself comfortable.

Jax's finger's began playing with her curly locks, causing her to drift off to a light sleep.

He continued to do so until her doctor entered the room and her eyes shot open.

" Hi Evie, I'm Dr. Zaragoza and this is the dad, I presume," he stated with a smile.

"Yeah, this is Jax."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Her doctor took a seat by her feet, lifting up the stir ups from underneath the bed, sliding her feet into each of them.

As he was preparing the endovaginal wand with gel, Jax asked him a question that was consistently on his mind since Evie announced that they're pregnant.

"Doc, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, son."

"On my side, my family has the genetic flaw which affects the heart. How soon can you detect if our baby has it?"

"This is going to be a little cold, dear."

Dr. Zaragoza inserted the wand into Evie and adverted his eyes back to Jax.

"Usually thirty days in, we can see if the baby has the same heart defect. Evie is about 35 days in, and from what I can tell and hear, your baby's heart is nice and strong. No sign of a heart defect."

Jax released a sigh of relief and looked at the screen, listening to the beautiful sound of their child's heartbeat.

He took Evie's hand in his own, bending down to give her a kiss on the lips.

He quickly pulled away to ask a follow up question.

"Is it possible for a defect to occur later on?"

"It's rare, but yes. Don't worry, we're gonna watch Evie and the baby like a hawk to make sure everything is smooth sailing."

Jax pulled into the T-M parking lot to find his club sitting outside by the picnic tables being questioned by the police.

He parked his two wheeled vehicle and quickly dismounted it, hanging his helmet from the right handlebar.

Cane exited the office with Gemma right behind him.

"Teller, we need to bring you down to the station for questioning."

Jax knew this was coming sooner or later.

"Can I take my ride or do I have to ride in the back of yours?"

" Door number two. Let's go."

Once they reached the station, Cane escorted Jax to Eli's office.

He knocked on the closed door, waiting for his boss' response.

"Come in.'

Cane opened the door, having Jax enter the office first.

"Thanks Cane. Shut the door when you leave."

"Yes sir."

Still dressed in his casual clothing from yesterday, Eli stood up from his desk, closing the distance between the two of them.

"I thought you'd take a leave after what happened," Jax pointed out.

"The thought crossed my mind. But, it looks like I'm gonna have to be one foot in and one foot out for a while."

"I'm sorry for what happened to Ri.."

"Stop acting like you give a shit."

"I do give a shit. Rita is Evie's family, and Evie is my family. When she's hurt, so am I, man."

" This wasn't us. We would never go after you and Rita."

"How do I know that for sure?"

"I wouldn't sign off on going after the god damn sheriff, let alone hurt his wife. We don't hurt women."

"I'm gonna need you to prove that to me. If it's not you, something tells me you can find the person responsible for killing my unborn child quicker than I can."

"What do you want me to do after I find 'em?"

"You bring him to me and I'll take care of it."

"Okay, consider it done," Jax stated, turning around to leave his office.

"I find it hard to believe you don't want something in exchange."

"I'm not doing this to get something in exchange. I'm doing this to stop these assholes from shittin' on our town and exposing my club for something they have nothing to do with."

"Come on, Teller. You can don't have to bullshit me. My sister isn't around. What do you really want in exchange?"

Jax turned back around fully, making his way back over to Eli.

" You need to accept the fact that Evie and I are together. I'm not going anywhere. Niether is she. I can live with buttin' heads with you for the rest of my life, but don't do it with her. Though she won't admit it aloud, she wants her brother back."

Gregg entered the home he was temporarily sharing with Gogo and Frankie Diamonds.

He closed the door behind him to find them in the living room, loading bullets into their signature weapons.

"What's going on?", Gregg asked.

"Clay gave us orders to take out Jax's old lady, "Gogo said casually.

"What why?"

"Are you kiddin'? That colored bitch is the main reason why he doesn't have the seat at the head of that table anymore, and that is something he won't and can't let go," Frankie added, sliding his piece into the back of his pants.

"And what about Jax? Clay will be the first one he will suspect."

"Not if he's in jail for his old lady's murder."