Opie was the first witness called to the stand. Jax and Tara couldn't be in the room since they would both be called as well. Describing how it felt when he saw the pictures of his dead wife was one of the hardest things he'd had to do. It ranked close to having to tell his kids that their mother was dead.

His voice broke as he described his fear of the kids seeing the pictures, especially when Ellie tried to come down the hall. He described how he'd flashed back to that night, sitting in the middle of the road, holding Donna's lifeless body. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and let them freely roll down his face as he continued to answer their questions.

His fear for Tara's safety if Gemma were to go free was so genuine that even the judge raised an eyebrow in Gemma's direction. By the time the judge allowed Opie to step down there wasn't a dry eye in the jury box. Many of the jurors were looking at Gemma in disbelief.

Opie went back to the witness room and sat with Tara while Jax was called to the stand. Jax described his mother's crazy antics toward Tara over the years. He answered the prosecutor and defense questions with calm ease, even when his mother's attorney tried to rile him up by bringing up Tara's leaving Charming when they were teens. His testimony didn't quite move the jurors to tears as Opie had, but it was impactful to see a son testifying against his mother. The way Jax looked at mother, like he'd never seen her before, was damning too.

Jax returned to the witness room and the judge dismissed court for lunch. The family opted to head to a nearby burger joint, to avoid seeing Gemma in the court cafeteria. They nibbled on a large order of fries, but none of them really wanted to eat. They were ready to get the day over with and get back to their kids, hopefully with Gemma behind bars.

After lunch, court resumed and Tara was called to the stand. She told her story to the jury, describing the threats she received from Gemma over the years, the physical assaults, and the way they had to sneak out of Charming in an attempt to avoid her wrath. Her breathing hitched, but she remained composed, as she described the fear she felt when the pictures of Donna fell to the floor and scattered across her kitchen. Reliving her dead friend's murder had been awful for the three of them and had made Tara look over her shoulder for weeks to come. Even after Clay and Gemma were placed in jail, she couldn't stop worrying.

The defense thoroughly grilled her over every little detail. They also tried to bring up how she'd left Jax, trying to say that Gemma was just an overprotective mother. Tara rebuffed their claims by pointed out that Jax was a man in his thirties and didn't need his mother to threaten away women. Gemma hadn't liked that and had tried to snarl something in Tara's direction, but was stopped by her attorney.

When Tara was done testifying they were given the option of leaving the courthouse or staying while the defense plead their case. They chose to stay and watch, hoping to see a verdict today. Gemma was the only witness listed on the docket, and they figured it was going to be entertaining to say the least.

Gemma started out weak and it only got worse from there. The judge warned her twice before having her removed from court and added contempt of court to her charges. She was screaming at Tara and not even paying attention to her attorney's pleas for her to shut up. The bailiff dragged her from the courtroom and into a nearby holding cell to wait.

The prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments and the jury was sent to deliberate. They only took twenty minutes to reach an agreement. Everyone was called back into court and when they were settled, and Gemma was brought back in, the judge asked the jury foreman for the verdict.

The foreman stood and read off each charge, followed by "Guilty." Jax, Tara and Opie were shocked. They sat, holding hands, as Gemma's attorney requested immediate sentencing. The judge granted the requested and paused to go over the list of charges and tally up the charges.

Gemma was sentenced to fifteen years in Chino Women's prison. The judge ordered her to serve a minimum of ten years before she'd be eligible for parole. She screeched at the sentence, but the judge held up his hand and continued. After her release, Gemma would be under a no contact order for the entire Teller-Winston family, for an additional ten years.

Tara, Opie, and Jax let out a collective sigh of relief. They, and their children, were safe from Gemma for at least twenty years. They could finally relax and enjoy their time without worrying about what was coming up behind them. They were free. "Let's go get our kids," Jax said with a big smile.

They drove back to Charming and parked in front of Scoops. It was later in the afternoon and the shop was bustling with children and families. They could see Abel, Thomas, Brooke and Rat sitting at a table near the big picture window. Rat waa feeding Thomas a bottle while Brooke supervised Abel eating a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Tara smiled at the sight. She'd never had a problem with Ratboy.

The trio entered the shop and were warmly welcomed by Chucky, who still stood behind the counter scooping ice cream. "Welcome to Scoops," hw called as the bell rang.

They all opted to get a scoop of ice cream and crowded around the table with Brooke, Rat and the boys. They'd agreed for Mary to meet them there with Ellie and Kenny. Abel squealed and Thomas gurgled and reached for Tara when she stepped into his line of sight.

The other members of Samcro passed through the shop, Chibs sitting at the table with them for a while, others nodded or waved on their way through.

It wasn't too long before Mary showed up with the kids, and Chucky brought over a couple more bowls of ice cream. The quirky man had remembered their orders and got them exactly the way the kids liked them.

Rat and Brooke excused themselves soon after, and the shop started to empty out as it got near dinner time. Chibs invited them all to Hannah's to celebrate the verdict and they accepted.

They loaded into the van and followed Chibs over the the diner. They took up the entire big curved corner booth, with Abel and Thomas in high chairs at the end. Chibs happily sat at the end beside Abel and entertained the little boy as they waited for their food.

Soon the table was covered with burgers, fries, chicken nuggets and grilled cheese. The conversation was comfortable and friendly as they ate. They finished off their meal with an entire peach pie spread around the table. They were sad to leave the diner but the sun was sinking low in the sky and the kids had all had an exciting day.

"Well, mission accomplished," Opie said as they exited the diner, heading to the van after bidding goodbye to Chibs.

"What do you mean," Tara asked.

"Jax said keeping his family safe was going to be his mission when he got out of prison," Opie reminded her.

Jax chuckled, "Mission: Family, accomplished."

AN: for those who were begging dor smut, that wasn't what this story was about, but kerp an eye out for a smutty oneshot.