"I see you and your mother aren't butting heads as much recently" John spoke as Johanna stood at the sink washing dishes from breakfast.

"Yeah, I don't really know what happened really. I mean, ever since we had that talk at St. Thomas the other night, it's like a flip switched." Johanna responded. The situation did confuse her, she didn't understand why things randomly changed, she wanted to believe that it was just because her mom finally wanted to build a relationship with her but she knew her mother so that probably wasn't the case.

"You never know with Gemma. That lady is like a sour patch kid. First they're sour, then they're sweet." He replied, causing Johanna to laugh at the example he used.

"Is it bad that I entertain this thing with mom ? Even though I know it probably won't last and I'll most likely end up hurt ?" Jo asked her father who was sitting in his usual chair at her kitchen table.

"No, I don't think it's bad per say, I just think you're relishing in the moments you wish you had growing up. You never had a tight bond with your mom, anyone could see that, but they could also see how badly you wanted it. While I think it's good you two are getting along at the moment, I would suggest you to not fully open the door for her yet, keep the door ajar, stay cautious." He informed her.

Letting her father's words sink in, she realized he was right. Growing up, she was always placed on the back burner whenever it involved Gemma. If Jax and Thomas wanted to spend time with her, she'd drop everything and do it but if Johanna wanted to, she ended up forgetting or working for so long to the point where there was no time. She'd always wanted to be able to bond with Gemma like the boys did, so now that she has something remotely close to it, she's gonna hold onto it for as long as she's able to.

"Thanks Dad. You always know what to say." she said with a soft smile while putting the last dish into the dishwasher before running it.

"Of course Anna, I love you." he responded, watching as she came to sit down at the table with him.

"I love you too Daddy, and I miss you" she sighed, tearing up a bit. "Uhm I gotta head over to 'TM', I guess mom needs some help filing paperwork." she spoke softly, not wanting to end her conversation with her father.

"Okay, just remember what I said." her father spoke

"I will, don't worry." she replied and before she knew it, her father was gone and she was on her way to 'TM'.

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Upon arriving at the garage, she saw Half-sack standing at the office door talking to Gemma. "You look real nice today, Gemma." the prospect spoke.

"Thank you, Eddie." Gemma replied

"Ugh, gag !" Johanna exclaimed, walking up behind him and fake gagging. "For Christ's sake, that's my mother Odie, and the wife of the president of the club you're currently trying to earn your top rocker for." she continued.

"Oh- uhm- sorry, Jo." Half-sack stuttered

"Oh get out of here you dope." she laughed while shoving his shoulder a bit.

As she watched the prospect walk away, Johanna caught sight of a girl hopping out of the big truck that Juice had just pulled into the lot. She also noticed as Half-sack looked at the girl with the softest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen.

"Whew ! It's good to be ba--" she heard her best friend start to speak before he was cut off by Clay grabbing his neck and dragging him off to the side. She couldn't quite hear the words the two were exchanging, but then she saw the girl run up to them trying to difuse the situation.

"Hey, it's not his fault, okay ?" she spoke towards Clay. "I know I'm not supposed to be here just let me-- let me go talk to somebody." she continued.

"You talk to somebody in some other charter. You got that, sweetbutt ?" Clay spoke, his words rather harsh as he pointed his finger at her. "Get her the hell out of here now." he told juice

There was usually no issue when it came to bringing new girls in, it meant more pussy for the guys to choose from, so why would Clay have such an issue with this sweetbutt being brought in ? Jo sat there thinking about the situation a little longer before it finally clicked in her brain.

"Oh shit." Johanna spoke out loud as she put the dots together. Clay must've slept with her on a run, and 'what happens on a run, stays on a run', so for this girl to show up is like a slap in Gemma's face.

Johanna turned around, seeing her mom watching everything from the office window. As she started to walk into the office, Half-sack wasn't far behind, seeming a bit upset. As the two walked into the office, Gemma shut the door behind them.

Walking up to the prospect, she took the phone out of his hands, putting it back in it's place. "Who's that girl ?" she asked him.

"Um-- I don't really-- I don't know." he replied, stuttering and looking around the small office, his eyes landing on Jo to help him out. All she did, was shake her head slightly, indicating that she couldn't help him with this one.

"Yeah. I saw your heart skip a beat from here." she spoke, her eyes not once leaving the prospect's.

"Yeah, I saw those puppy dog eyes Odie boy, and now you're all worked up" Johanna chimed in.

"Who is she" the matriarch continued to press.

"Just a tribe hang around." he responded.

Nodding softly, Gemma spoke again, "Clay hit that tart, didn't he ?"

"I wouldn't know who Clay's hitting-- except for you." he told Gemma, his response causing Jo to facepalm and shake her head in disappointment. Sometimes it really shocked her just how dense both of her best friends could be. "I'm sure he's hitting you, 'cause you're his wife and all." he continued.

"Stop, please just stop." Johanna whisper shouted as she could feel the tension getting heavier by the second.

Turning around, Gemma walked over to the chair by the office door. She signaled towards the door and spoke again, "Get out." was all she said, trying to keep her emotions intact.

Not knowing what else to do, Half-sack exited the office, with Jo following behind, sensing her mother would want to be alone.

"I'm sorry mama." she spoke, softly touching her mom's shoulder before closing the office door.

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Earlier that day after the whole fiasco with the girl that Juice had brought back, Gemma left to go pick up a prescription, and ended up getting locked up in the process. Apparently while walking out of the pharmacy, she saw the girl Juice had brought back walking down the street, and she ended up smashing her nose with some random kid's skateboard.

While all that was going down, Johanna sat back at the clubhouse and watched as all the guys freaked out over how to hide the guns from ATF, her brother no where in sight. Eventually, Jax made his way into the room, suggesting that they hide them in the septic truck. Since no one else had a better idea, that's exactly what they did. Now here they sat, outside on the picnic table, all calm as they watched the feds storm onto the lot.

"Federal agents !" A man yelled

Nobody moved from their spots, not even Johanna, who sat on the tabletop behind her brother, occasionally leaving a braid in his hair.

"Face on the pavement. Spread your legs." an officer spoke while pulling Jax from his seat and tossing him on the floor.

"You too little miss." a different officer spoke, grabbing Johanna harshly and pulling her from her spot. The officer had grabbed her and pulled her with so much force that she didn't have time to get up properly or find her balance, which caused her journey to the ground to be a lot more rougher than the rest of the guys. Johanna had no way to catch herself as the cop took it upon himself to keep her hands pinned behind her back, so due to this, she ended up busting her chin on the cement.

"Ow, fuck !" Johanna exclaimed. "You need to get your buddy, officer douchebag. Teach him how to treat a lady." Johanna spat towards the officer who had been the one to toss Jax towards the floor.

The feds had ended up moving them all into line, a little bit away from the clubhouse while they raided it. As they were laying there, all they could do was laugh as Agent Stahl circled them.

"You smell nice." Juice stated as she walked by

"Dude, you are so fuckin' weird" Johanna stated rolling her eyes as she layed on her stomach in between Jax and Juice.

Looking over at his sister, Jax saw the blood trailing down her chin from where she had hit the ground. "Jo are you okay ?" he asked, angling his head towards her chin.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, letting out a huff of air before dropping her forehead gently to the ground. She hoped they would be able to get up soon.

Meanwhile, inside the clubhouse, Agent Kohn was sitting on Jax's bed in his dorm and looking around. He got up and walked over to the dresser, spotting a picture on the mirror of Tara and Jax as teenagers. He picked it off the mirror and shoved it in his back pocket, and just for the hell of it, he took another picture off the mirror and ripped it into pieces. Once he had done that, he swiped everything off the dresser, and started to destroy the room in a fit of rage.

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Once the clubhouse was cleared, the club and everyone else who had been caught up, was allowed to go back in. Once back in the clubhouse, everyone started to clean it up and put it back together. After her chin had been checked over by Chibs with him giving her a couple of butterfly stitches, Johanna decided that there were plenty of people to help in the main area of the clubhouse, and made her way back to the dorms to see what needed to be fixed back there, starting with her brother's dorm.

Upon opening the door, she let out a gasp as she looked around at the huge mess. This room looked worse than the entirety of the clubhouse, and she had an inkling on why it was in such horrible condition. Walking in further to assess the damage, she paused when she saw the remnants of what looked to be a picture right on the floor under the mirror where the dresser was previously standing.

Walking up to the scraps on the floor, she collected every piece that she could and put it together. She couldn't help the tears that began to form in her eyes as she saw just what picture had been torn up. It was a picture of a 6 year old Jax and a 4 year old Johanna surrounding a bassinet that held their newest baby brother Thomas, as they each held one of his tiny hands with nothing but love and adoration in their eyes.

Jax walked in, stepping on some broken glass in the process which startled Johanna, causing her to snap her head in his direction.

"I-- I have the same one at home, I can copy it and bring it to you, or you can have my copy, I have plenty of pictures." she rambled, as her lip began to quiver, her eyes slowly betraying her as tears slowly began to run down her cheeks.

"Jo, it's-- hey it's okay." Jax spoke, grabbing his sister by her shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug. "I got more pictures too, I found some in storage the other day." he spoke, trying to calm his sister down.

"But this one is special, its the first day we met Tommy." she sobbed into her brother's shoulder. Every picture was special to Johanna, but the one's of passed loved ones were even more special to her. They were her reminder that nobody is immortal, and eventually, everyone's time will come.

"I know Jo, I know. Good news is, that is one of the pictures I just so happened to find a copy of in storage in with Dad's stuff. Mom must've made us each a copy." he spoke, gently rubbing his hand up and down his sister's back to comfort her. "I'll keep that copy okay ? Problem solved. Now come on, relax. In through your nose, out through your mouth." he instructed his sister, breathing with her to help her calm down.

As she calmed down, she pulled herself out of the hug and looked around the room. "This room looks like shit." she huffed out with a light laugh leaving her lips as she looked around.

Jax couldn't help but chuckle a little too at his sister's remark. "Well why don't we fix that huh ?" he spoke, as he walked to one side of the dresser that layed on the floor, waiting for Jo to get on the other side. Once she was there, the duo picked it up and slid it back into it's place under the mirror.

That's all they did for the remainder of the evening. Occasionally coming across an old photo or artifact that caused them to reminisce a bit. Once night had fallen and everything had been cleaned up and reorganized, the two went separate ways, with Jax heading the direction of the cabin and Johanna heading home.

A/N : Chapter 9 is heree !! Sorry that there's not a lot of Happy and Jo scenes going on recently, I plan to try and fix that lmaoo. Anywho, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the book so far !!