A/N: This it it. The final chapter in the Marissa and Happy saga. I fought with finishing this story because in many ways, these stories were my babies. I want to thank everyone who reviewed, made this one of their favorites or put an alert to read every chapter that I have wrote. I will now focus on my other stories and I hope that I can keep you guys interested in the ones coming up. You have all been great to me and I can't thank you enough for your unwavering support.

"You were the last person I expected to be here." Zander remarked from his spot on the park bench next to the cemetery.

"I come here every year to pay my respects to Opie's first wife."

"I didn't know Opie had any wives."

"Yeah. Donna was his first wife, the mother of his two kids. She was killed years ago."

"Were you two close?"

"Nah. She was a good lady though, didn't deserve to go out the way she did." Tig looked down at his rings. It had been decades since Donna's death but it didn't haunt him any less, especially since bad shit always seemed to happen to Opie because of the club. "You know if you don't go and see her before she dies, you'll regret it."

"I don't need a lecture." Zander scoffed as he lit up a cigarette forcing Tig to do the same.

"It's not a lecture, it's a reality check. I wasn't going to go by the house, didn't want my last memory of her to be weak in some goddamn bed."

"But you went."

"I love your mother like she was my own. She's one of the few that doesn't treat me like I'm a complete bastard. Saved my sanity more times than I can count." Tig turned to look at the man who had become his unofficial grandson. "She deserves more than dying without getting to see EVERYONE she loves. You were her fucking miracle kid."

"What are you talking about?" Tig sighed. He knew that Marissa never told her children all the hell she went through in order to have a family but he figured it was high time to start giving out a history lesson.

"A few years before you were born, your Mom was pregnant. No one knew but me. Happy had gone back to Tacoma; shit was real upside down then. Some asshole from her past showed up and beat the shit out of her. She lost the baby before she could ever tell anyone."

"I never knew that."

"She doesn't talk about it. When she found out she was pregnant with you, the club was going through some major changes. Jax just became President; we were in a fucking war zone…you were the only bright spot around that time. Marissa treated you like glass while she was pregnant, fucking glowed everywhere she went. She loves all of you kids, but kid, you were something fucking special."

"I always thought both of my parents were fucking invincible, that nothing bad could ever happen to them. Just look at all the shit my Dad survived."

"Death never gets easier kid but we all gotta go."

"I don't know how to live without my mom around. She's always just been there, you know." Zander ran a hand over his black curls and leaned back on the bench.

"It's up to you and Aiden to keep her memory alive. Remember the lessons she taught you, be the man that she raised you to be. That's all she ever wanted from you boys."

"I'm thinking about prospecting. Do you think Ma would be okay with that?" Tig smiled wide at the idea of Zander wearing the patch that had meant so much to him for some many years.

"Yeah I think she would."

"Aunt Tara hates that Abel did it."

"Marissa had a different mindset when it comes to the club. The club took away a lot from Tara but it gave your mother everything."

"I'm going to miss her." Tig clapped the young man on the shoulder.

"We all are."

"You ever regret sticking with me?" Marissa looked up from her resting spot on Happy's chest to look at him and see if he was joking or not. His deep onyx eyes told her that the question was very serious. Marissa sighed as she lay back down and grabbed Happy's hand in her own.

"After Dante died, I swore I would never love again. Being with you and falling for you was like breathing for the first time in seven years."

"I didn't always make shit easy on you."

"Well that saying could go both ways. We both made our fair share of mistakes Happy."

"But you never left." Marissa ran her thumb over Happy's fingers.

"I thought about it a few times, even packed a bag and kept it in the closet for a while."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because a life without you scared the living shit out of me. Despite all the bad shit, I never stopped loving you." Happy cleared his throat as his free hand ran up and down Marissa's arm.

"I remember the first time I saw you. You were dancing on the pool table with Tara and all I wanted to do was bend you over that table right then and there." Marissa laughed quietly.

"Tara told me you were trouble. That you made Tig seem like a teddy bear. Now look at us: married with a family. I don't think anyone could have predicted this shit."

"My ma did. She called me out on it when I went to go see her after we got out for that Zobelle shit the first time."

"Really? What did she say?" Happy thought back to the conversation that he had with his mother when he went to visit her.

Miriam sat her fork down and stared at her son with a look that Hap had come to realize was the look she gave when she was getting ready to school him. "You live a…interesting life and from what I have been able to understand, that leather vest you wear makes you a pretty big deal. There are going to be a million girls that are going to want Happy but it takes a special woman that is going to want Michael. That will be the woman that looks beyond the vest straight into your soul. She's the type of woman that will walk through hell with a smile on her face as long as she is by your side. That type of woman will also not wait around forever for you to get your head out of your ass."

"Ma, it's not that serious."

"You have listed 4 things about this woman in one breath. Tell me one thing about the last girl you slept with that wasn't her. Do you even remember half of their names? What color are their eyes? You like this Marissa girl, in a way that makes you unable to stop thinking about her and that means that you have to do something about it. You can not use your dick as a way to convey your feelings." Happy winced at his mother's words.

"So what should I do then?"

"You show her that you're worth it. I know that you aren't big on talking about your feelings but you have to try. For a woman that you really want, you make the effort to try. As long as you try; if she's the right woman; she will stand beside you. I know that you don't believe it but I am so proud of the man you have become. You are strong and loyal and when you love something or someone, you give it your all. I have prayed for years that a woman would come into your life that would get your love."

Miriam picked her fork back up as she knew her son was trying to wrap his head around everything that she had just said. She finished her salad before giving him one last piece of advice. "Keep in mind that women love very differently than men. Men love with caution, always keeping a hand on the brake, looking out for the bumps and curves in the road. Women love unconditionally and full throttle, constantly going 120 MPH without a helmet. If you find that kind of woman to love you, don't you EVER let her go."

Marissa laughed when Happy was done talking. "Guess she was right. Our life together has been full throttle since the beginning. We never really had any slow periods."

"I know I didn't always show it and I damn sure didn't say it often but I love you so much reina." Marissa felt the tears fall down her face as she smiled.

"I know." Marissa put her head back up and Happy leaned down to kiss her on the mouth. "I love you too…Michael." Marissa laughed at the look of annoyance on Happy's face.

"Is this a bad time?" Marissa looked over to see Zander, Aiden, and Joshua standing in the door frame.

"Not at all. Come on in." The three boys walked in the room and sat down on the bed with their parents.

"What are you guys doing?" Zander asked as he rested a hand on his mother's leg.

"Just taking a trip down memory lane."

"Anything interesting?" Aiden asked causing Marissa and Happy to chuckle. Marissa smiled as she and Happy started to tell the children their love story.

Epilogue

My name is Marissa Ramirez Lowman and I passed away last night in the arms of my husband and surrounded by my children. I lived a life that most could only think about and I survived more than many could ever dream. My life had been a series of ups and downs, highs and lows, good and bad but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat as long as I knew that my story would end the same: finding love and happiness.

Who would have thought that a trip to a small town named Charming would forever change the course of my life? I guess in some fucked up way I have Agent Stahl to thank, although I hope she continues to rest in shit. If she hadn't have shut down my bar, I would have still been in Chicago. I would have had the bar of my dreams but no other fulfillment. I had no family and my only true friend was hundreds of miles away. It's such a contrast from the life that I had before I took my last breath: wife, mother, business owner. Charming gave me all that. SAMCRO gave me that life.

No one ever wants to leave their family and there are things that I wish I would have been around for, so many things that I am going to miss. Joshua moving to Arizona and settling down with a normal 9-5 job and a beautiful little girl and a girlfriend that he would never marry but remain committed to. I would miss my sweet, shy Aiden turn down a full baseball scholarship in order to be a Son. In some ways, my death hardened my sweet child and he never fully got his innocence back. He would be taken far too young while being part of the NOMAD charter. Zander would follow in his father's footsteps, taking to the club like a lifeline. He would end up sitting on the right side of the table under Abel's presidency.

None of my boys would ever get married and Happy never took on another old lady. When asked why not, Zander would always say "There were two Mrs. Lowman's and no other woman would ever be fit to have that title." Knowing that is bittersweet. I love that my boys regarded my memory and the memory of Miriam in such high regard but I wished they would have taken on old ladies, started real families.

Sooner or later, the men and woman that defined the majority of my adulthood would in one form or another suffer the same fate that I had. Some of their deaths had been bloody, others had been peaceful but like Tig once said "We all gotta go sometime."

Juice and Tig died in a shoot-out with the Niners. Gemma succumbed to injuries sustained from a car accident. Chibs died from lung cancer. Opie never recovered from all the loss he had suffered by the hands of SAMCRO. In many ways, he became like Piney: holed up in cabin for weeks at a time, drinking his life away. Ultimately alcohol poisoning is what killed him. It was weeks before Jax went up to the cabin and found his body. Jax, ironically, went out the same way that JT did but without all the secrecy and murder. He was hit by a semi on Interstate 18 and was killed instantly. Tara outlived us all, dying peacefully in her sleep when she was well into her older years, being the last one standing.

Happy…my difficult, complicated husband. He suffered with my death and in many ways; he was never the same again. He tried to be there for the boys, teach them right and honor my wishes but it all became too much for him. If you ask the club or the police, his bike lost control and collided with a barrier. But I know the truth. I know that he had all but given up on a life without me and let the road take him.

There was no way that any of us could ever predict our fates, nor do I think we would have wanted to. Years after my passing, on the clubhouse wall was a poster with the lyrics that summed up the lives of every man and woman in SAMCRO

Each night I go to bed

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

No I ain't looking for forgiveness

But before I'm six foot deep

Lord,I got to ask a favor

And I'll hope you'll understand

'Cause I've lived life to the fullest

Let the boy die like a man

Staring down the bullet

Let me make my final stand

Shot down in a blaze of glory

Take me now but know the truth

I'm going out in a blaze of glory

Lord I never drew first

But I drew first blood

and I'm no one's son