"So when do I get to see Jax?"

Frankie's patience with Wendy Case was admittedly wearing thin - she had agreed to take the woman to her prenatal appointments, but having to drive her across town to St. Thomas's, having to actually sit next to her for any extended period of time, was something that grated on Frankie's nerves.

"You don't," she retorted shortly, turning up the radio a little bit in hopes that Wendy would get the message that Frankie wasn't about to give her a better answer. "You're going to the doctor, then you're going back to the motel."

"Or," Wendy said, turning to look at Frankie with a slight sneer, "I could make a break for it and find him myself. I don't need you, sweetheart."

Wendy happened to say this just as they pulled up to a stop sign, and Frankie took the opportunity to glance over at the woman with a frown.

"Door opens from the inside," she said with an irk of her eyebrow. "So does the motel door. If you're gonna bluff, do it better."

"I'm not bluffing -"

"If you weren't, you'd be out already," Frankie said simply. "If you're not bluffing, you're just lying - which doesn't surprise me. The fact is, you know you can't just show up on Jax's doorstep because he has zero interest in making an honest woman outta you. The ball isn't in your court, Wendy. You have nothing, and you have no leverage to be calling the shots. You're not going anywhere."

Wendy sneered as the car started moving again, and she crossed her arms while glaring at Frankie. "You're a piece of work, kid, you know that? You're definitely your mom's daughter."

Frankie's jaw clenched as she drove, and it took every ounce of self-control she possessed to remind herself that Wendy Case was carrying her nephew and that running the car off the side of the rode was not an option. Besides, Frankie realized with what felt a lot like resignation, Wendy wasn't exactly wrong. She was playing the game the same way Gemma did - because she had to - but only convinced herself that she was different because her intentions were better.

"If you mean that I'm willing to pull every play outta the playbook to protect my family, then I guess you're right," Frankie said simply, not turning to look at Wendy because seeing whatever expression the woman bore on her face was bound to grind Frankie's gears. "Now, you better just lay back and take a few deep breaths before your blood pressure goes up and they think you're been using," Frankie said offhandedly.

When they pulled up to the doctor's office, Frankie stepped out of the car and gestured for Wendy to walk ahead to make sure Frankie saw her go in. As she followed behind the pregnant woman, Frankie pulled out her phone and, as she had agreed to do beforehand, dialed Tara's number.

"We're at the doctor's office. She's heading inside right now," Frankie said calmly.

"Good," Tara replied, though her voice seemed to show little relief. "The last thing we need is for her not to show up to her prenatal appointments - it's already going to rough enough. Are you sure you're okay with this, Frankie?"

"Okay with... what?" Frankie asked, slowing her steps and hanging back a little bit more, just enough to remain out of Wendy's earshot. "Look, if it's about Opie, don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"If you say so," Tara conceded. "But if you're ever not okay with this whole Wendy thing, just say something. She's still my patient, I'm sure I can justify bringing her to her appointments -"

"I'm fine," Frankie repeated. "We're heading inside. Bye, T."

Truth be told, Wendy hated doctors. She hated hospitals. She hated all of this. She hated every minute, but went along with it because she had nothing left except for a few too many pairs of eyes on her that would destroy her chance of the family she wanted with Jax. This, she convinced herself, was what they called the long game.

So, here she was in Dr. McInerny's office - Tara had recommended this doctor to monitor her pregnancy, and this was the second time Wendy was seeing her. McInerny wasn't bad in any way, but she was a doctor, and that was enough to keep Wendy on her guard no matter how pleasant the doctor tried to be with her.

"Have you given any thought to who you want with you during the birth?" McInerny asked as she jotted away notes on her clipboard. "We'll likely be scheduling a c-section for you, and you'll be conscious during the procedure - it's sometimes a little overwhelming."

"No one."

"No one?" McInerny asked, looking up with an expression of concern. "I'm just curious. The baby's father recently called in and entered his information as your emergency contact in case anything happened -"

"What?" Wendy interrupted, a mixture of surprise and hope spreading across her face. "The baby's... father?"

"Yes," Dr. McInerny said. "Mister Winston?"

"What?" Wendy practically spat - and suddenly, the explanations for this began buzzing in her head. Frankie had to have something to do with this - this was something Gemma would have done, after all. "I -"

Wendy wanted to scream - she wanted to let this doctor know that there was know way in hell that Opie Winston was the father of this baby. But she knew as well as anyone else who dealt with SAMCRO that you didn't knock down what they were setting up, because they were the law in Charming. For the first time, Wendy found herself truly grasping the fact that perhaps Gemma's promises were no good.

"Miss Case?" Dr. McInerny asked, trying to call Wendy's attention back to their conversation. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she said blankly. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"I'm just going to need a urine sample before you go," Dr. McInerny said, reaching into the cabinet behind her for the sterile plastic specimen cup and holding it out towards Wendy. "The results will be confidential, Miss Case -"

"I'm clean," she interrupted with an indignant sneer. "Two weeks clean tomorrow."

"That's excellent. I'm very happy for you," the doctor said with a smile, but it was a smile that Wendy met only with hostility.

"Sure you are. I'm not taking your test," Wendy said in a near-growl before picking up her purse and walking out the door to the waiting area, where Frankie Rose was in one of the chairs. As soon as Wendy walked out of the exam area, Frankie could tell by the look on her face that she knew. Wendy knew that for all her doe-eyed, baby sister antics, Frankie could tell - and still, all she did was calmly rise from the chair and nod towards the door.

"We all done here?" Frankie asked, but she didn't await an answer before heading out the door with Wendy walking across the room behind her. Frankie held the door open for Wendy, but as soon as the door closed and they were alone outside, walking towards the car, Wendy stopped in her tracks and stood up as straight as she could with her growing belly and squared off with Frankie.

"Why do they think that Opie's this baby's dad?" Wendy asked, her face wrinkled in disgust. "I know you know something -"

"It doesn't matter what I know, Wendy," Frankie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What matters is that if you raise a stink about who the real dad is, everything goes to shit and Jax will never, ever let that go. If you out Jax, he loses Tara -"

"Good," Wendy snapped. "If we get Doctor Homewrecker out of the way -"

"Homewrecker?" Frankie said, her face contorted in anger and her hands in fists at her side as she reminded herself that the woman in front of her was carrying her nephew. "Jax and Tara got engaged. You got knocked up. You never had a home to wreck, Wendy," Frankie snapped bluntly. "And you never will. Not with my brother. Get in the car."

The ride back to the motel where Wendy was set up was a silent one. After making it all the way back across Charming and pulling into the spot right in front of Wendy's door, Frankie came around to open the door for the pregnant woman.

"You're gonna go along with this," Frankie said sternly, and while there was no threat or malice in her voice, it was clear that there was no room for argument. "You're gonna stay awake from my brother, you're not gonna distract him, and you're gonna lay low. You got it?"

"You sound like your mom, kid."

Wendy swatted away the hand that Frankie had offered to help her out of the car and with a grimace, got up herself and fished her motel key out of her purse. Frankie, meanwhile, seemed to have frozen in place - did she really sound like Gemma? Was she turning into Gemma? The thought of it left her feeling nearly ill, and seeing the sickly expression on her face gave Wendy a spiteful sort of glee.

When Wendy was alone in her motel room, however, that glee melted away into a deep sense of regret. She hadn't been telling a lie when she'd told McInerny she was clean. She had been clean for weeks, and she had done it for the baby - for the family she was going to have with Jax, because she was so convinced. Gemma had given Wendy the illusion that she could win - but how could she? There was nothing she could offer Jax that Tara couldn't. On top of it, it appeared that SAMCRO had already decided she was unworthy. She was no good. Frankie's words from earlier returned to her.

"You never had a home to wreck, Wendy, and you never will."

Wendy let out a shrill sob and banged her fist on the bed where she sat, rocking slightly and panting to catch her breath before standing up, walking towards the bag she had brought with her. Still crying, she dug around with shaking hands until she found a particular pair of jeans.

She was staying clean in the hopes of putting together some semblance of a family - and since she was never going to have that family, what was the point?

Unfolding the pair of pants, she revealed the unused syringe she had smuggled along when Gemma had taken her to Charming. A familiar haze descended over her thoughts, tinging her view. She'd lost the game, she thought to herself as she held the needle in her hand. Why keep playing?

"Juice, hold up a sec."

Church today had been as close to celebratory as SAMCRO had been and probably would be for a while after the others had returned with news that SAMDINO had their backs. That being said, Juice felt a little wary of being held back with Jax and Opie after JT had adjourned.

"What's goin' on?" Juice asked, feeling uneasy being taken aside by the pair after recent events.

"Nothin'," Jax said, gesturing with his hand for OPie to let him speak first. "Just wanted to put it out there that... I appreciate you keeping quiet about this whole thing with Wendy."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course," Juice said with a slightly confused expression, though he knew also that this was a veiled threat more than a statement of genuine appreciation. "Ain't any of my business, brother. You won't hear a word out of my mouth. I don't see how you're gonna hide somethin' like this for long though -"

"It's taken care of," Opie finally spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest. Even with this small gesture, Jax was able to read that his best friend was clearly still not at peace with the way they'd decided to solve this problem, but that he was dealing with it. "We've cleaned up the mess. Made it out to be my kid -"

"Your kid?" Juice interrupted. "But... but what about Frankie?"

The question clearly caught Opie off guard, and he tensed slightly. Frankie was no longer Juice's problem, and a part of him wanted to very explicitly remind him. The hostility was clearly apparent in his face even if he said nothing to indicate it, because Juice took a step backwards, holding his hands up in an almost surrendering gesture. It took a moment for the brief flare of envy to subside in favor of common sense, which reminded Opie that of course Juice still gave a shit. He'd been in Frankie's life for years. He was probably entitled to a question.

"She's in on it," Opie said stiffly. "We're - we're figuring things out -"

"So by figuring things out you mean you're dragging her through more of all this bullshit?" Juice asked, sounding much braver than he actually felt in Jax and Opie's presence. "Look - this is your call, not mine. But letting her out of one lie just to ask her to carry another one don't seem fair."

For a few tense seconds, Juice and Opie seemed to stare one another down, and Opie momentarily wondered if maybe something fake with Juice was safer - was better for Frankie for something real with him. But he also knew that Frankie wasn't just a game piece to be shuffled around or given back at will.

"Are you going back home to 'er tonight?" Juice asked. Opie shrugged, to which Juice responded with a snort of a laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "Aight," he said in resignation. "Whatever's best for the club. But whatever happened with her or me, I hope it's what's best for her too. She's a good girl."

"I know," Opie said. "I got it."

"I hate to break up the first meeting of my baby sister's fan club, but we gotta get goin' if we wanna get to Oregon ahead of Clay," Jax said, raising his eyebrows. "Ope, you sit this one out -"

"No can do -"

"I'm telling you as VP," Jax said, clapping a hand on Opie's shoulder. "Just stay here with my sister this time, aight? We all know shes a runner and we can't afford that right now."

The feeling of being responsible for Frankie now was something that caught Opie by surprise - he'd loved her for honestly as long as he could remember now, but had never been responsible for protecting her. She had always done that on her own, or it had been her dad, or Juice responsible for her. Now, however, Opie realized that Frankie Rose Morrow was throwing herself into the middle of a very messy lie just for the sake of being there with him.

"Get back to my dad's place before she does something dumb," Jax said with a nod. "We've got this run covered. You've got a more important job."

A/N

The next chapter, things will start to get really messy and we start to see just how hard it is to keep such a big lie going. I'll keep this author's note brief for now, but I want to say thank you to all of you for all of your support and feedback! I want to also put it out there that while I have the general storyline planned out, I am always open to hearing suggestions or requests for what you want to see happen.

Thank you again for reading, reviewing, following, and all that good stuff! Until next time, cheers!