While Cassie was in the kitchen to make breakfast, Happy offered to get Callum ready for the day. There was something he wanted to do and for that he needed his son. Maybe it was a bit early, but Happy felt it was about time Cassie would get his last name. What could possibly go wrong? She was the right one for him and in a thousand years he couldn't imagine another woman by his side.

He wanted to grow old with her, watch Callum grow up and raise him together, maybe someday have more children. Even though he didn't mind the name Connor, he wanted her to be addressed as Lowman so that everyone really knew who she belonged to. Although her crow tattoo had his name engraved on it, it was still something else if her official name on paper was Cassandra Lowman instead of Cassandra Connor.

After he had finished feeding Callum, he quickly changed his diaper and dressed him in one of the simple rompers, after which he took the ring box out of his pocket and put the ring on his son's thumb, of course always making sure that Callum didn't put his hand in his mouth. As he picked him up, Callum did the famous newborn scrunch his Old Lady couldn't get enough of.

“Your mom's gonna be sad that she missed that”, he told his son, amusement lingering in his tone. Even though Callum couldn't give him an answer, Happy still spoke to his son always when he had the little one in his arms or changed him.

When he walked into the kitchen, the smell of fresh coffee and bacon hit his nostrils, the smell of freshly baked cake was also in the air and he was sure Cassie made one for Lily, who she was going to pick up from Gemma later since it was Friday and the guys had their meeting with the Rivals.

“There you are!” Smiling, she turned around and got on her tip toes to give Happy a loving kiss before she ran a hand over her son's head before kissing his forehead. “Good morning, little man. Oh, what do you have there?”

Happy watched her eyes grow wide when she spotted the ring on Callum's thumb, her mouth open but not a sound came over her lips. Instead, she looked up at him with sparkling eyes. Gently, as if she could break something, she took the ring in her hand.

“Is that what I think it is?”, she uttered, her heart doing flips in her chest at the thought of him proposing to her.

Happy grunted softly, nodding. With the slightest mischievous smile, he took the ring from her hand and put it onto her ring finger.

“I want you to be my wife, little girl. I know we're only together for a little over a year but I know what I want, I know who I want to be with for the rest of my life. You gave me the best gift that you could give me. I want you to have my name, be mine completely”, he took a deep breath, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Will you marry me, Cassie?”

He looked her intensely in the eyes, the nervousness almost made him sweat. Would she even want to marry him? Was she ready for this? This woman had a talent for giving him all kinds of feelings. Feelings he didn't even know he had.

Tears of joy welled up in her eyes, her gaze still fixed on the incredibly beautiful ring. After a while she looked up at Happy again, happier than ever. “Of course I want to marry you! I don't care that we haven't been together that long, after all we've known each other for over a decade and I can't imagine another man by my side. You and Callum⸺ you are all I need.”

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in and handed her Callum so he could cup her face in his hands to kiss her. In that kiss was all the relief he was feeling right now and the love he had for her. For a moment he was really afraid that she would say no, but she didn't.

When Callum started to fuss, the two broke away from each other and laughed briefly, both looking down at Callum. The newborn looked up at his parents curiously, the fussing over when he had everyone's attention again.

Cassie couldn't have imagined a better proposal. She had never been particularly romantic and a huge proposal with candles and rose petals wouldn't have impressed her nearly as much as this simple proposal that even Callum was involved in.

She had been incredibly nervous all morning about the meeting between the Sons and the Rivals, fearing for her now fiancé's safety. But the proposal had cheered her up.

“I love you, Happy”, she said, her expression dead serious as she looked up into his dark orbs. “I need you to come back to us. Because I also want to have your name and I can only have that if nothing happens to you. We need you, baby.”

“Stop worrying, little girl”, he told her with urgency, an almost pleading look in his eyes. She needed to stop worrying about him and give her mind some time to rest. “I'm not going anywhere, not without you and our boy. I'll be there in time for dinner and after that I'll show you who you belong to.”

Cassie bit her lip, her cheeks blushing at his last words. “You better do or I'll make sure to wake you from the dead just so I can kill you again.”

“Yes ma'am”, he winked before he pulled her into another kiss that was filled with nothing but love and admiration.

⸺

The Sons and the Rivals were all gathered in an abandoned lot in the middle of nowhere. Bikes lined up, on the opposite side as well. What was strange, however, was that the Rivals had a black van with them.

“So.” Jax took a step forward, cigarette hanging between his lips while removing his black leather gloves. As he stood directly in front of the other club's Pres, he raised an eyebrow. His attitude cocky as usual. “Why should we meet here? I hope it wasn't a waste of time.”

“You killed three of my men, at least they disappeared. Don't even try to deny it, your club, especially that one..”, he nodded in Happy's direction before continuing. “..is the only one who has a motive. I know why you guys killed Preston Malarkey back then, it was fair. I told his brother to leave your SAA alone because Preston's death was justified. Basically it's the three's own fault that they are no longer among us living. Still, I can't just accept it like that."

The dark haired man, about five years Jax's senior, had his hands clasped in front of him and was smirking as he saw the Sons' faces twist in anger.

“They asked for it, man”, Jax huffed, running a hand through his slicked back hair while taking a drag of his cigarette. “Hurting an Old Lady, a pregnant woman, they just went too far with that.”

“Mhm..”, the dark haired man nodded slightly, taking another step towards Jax. “I know, but still. You killed three of my guys. I could kill three of yours, then we'd be even. But I have a better idea.”

“And what idea would that be?”, Jax frowned, eyeing the man up and down. He definitely wouldn't let those bastards kill one of his guys, so he was curious about this idea he had.

“We have problems with the Chinese. I don't want to go into detail, it's none of your business. I know that you work with them, meet regularly. I want Lin dead and you'll do it for me.” His mischievous grin faded, his features now hard as stone. “You have twenty four hours while I keep two of your men. If Lin isn't dead tomorrow, the first one will die. If he's still not dead the day after tomorrow, the second one is going to die, too.”

Jax stared at the man like he just made some sick joke no one would laugh about who wasn't traumatized enough for that kind of dark humor. But the blonde soon realized that Jeffrey, the Pres of the Rivals, was dead serious about this.

“You gotta be kidding me, man. I'm not giving you two of my guys. And why don't you do your dirty work yourself, huh?” Jax scoffed, shaking his head at the disrespect.

Jeffery snapped his fingers. “Get her!”

One of the Rivals opened the backdoor of the van and roughly dragged a woman outside, pushing her to the ground.

“You fuckin' bastards!” James tried to ran towards the blonde who now lay in the dirt, her whimpers loud enough for everyone to hear.

It took Happy and Chibs to hold the man back even though they felt just as angry and wanted to kill all of them, yet that could get Lyla in even more danger, maybe even get her killed.

“What is wrong with you, man?!”, Jax shouted at Jeffrey, pure anger and hatred in his tone.

“Two of your men and we'll let her go with you”, the man repeated with a victorious smirk, his hands still folded in front of him. “You have one job, can't be so hard, right?”

Not only Jax but the others were willing to fight if it didn't endanger Lyla's life. Jax hated to admit that they had little choice right now. With a snort, he turned to his brothers and looked at everyone in turn.

“What are we going to do?”, he asked, his chest heaving.

“They can't fuckin' hurt her, Jax”, James whisper-yelled, real desperation vibrating in his voice. “She doesn't deserve this!”

“He's right, brother”, Chibs said through gritted teeth. “She's innocent, has three kids t' raise.”

“Leaving her here is no option”, Happy grunted, knowing this would break his best friend and a lot of other people.

Jax ran a hand over his face, nodding slightly. They were right, he couldn't let Lyla die, she was family and he cared for her. “Okay. Look, we're on good terms with the Chinese. We're gonna ask Lin if he can play dead for twenty four hours. We'll get, whoever goes, back safe and Lin can rise from the dead a few hours later. We just have to make sure to kill every single one of those bastards before that. Is that okay with all of you?”

The guys shared a look, the prospect making sure the other's hadn't listened to them, then they all nodded in agreement. This was the only plan that could actually work out. If not, they were fucked and he would have to bury two of his brothers.

Jax turned back around, facing that asshole once again. Oh, how bad he wanted to punch that smirk off his face and kill him slowly.

“We're doing it. Two of my guys for the woman. We're gonna make sure to kill Lin and you won't harm my guys. If they have one scratch tomorrow, we'll kill you”, Jax threatened, venom dripping from his voice as he spoke.

Jeffrey lifted his hands in surrender. “If Lin's dead, nothing is happening to your guys and the war will be over.”

“Yeah, not so sure about the war being over then”, Jax snarled. “Bring the woman over.”

Again, Jeffrey snapped his fingers and ordered one of his men to bring Lyla to him. With a firm grip, he held her close, eyeing Jax suspiciously. “I want him”, he pointed at Tig, then at Happy. “And him. I won't hand the pretty lady over to you until the men are in the van.”

Happy saw the tortured, murderous look on his best friend's face as he watched Lyla wriggle in the arms of that bastard, trying to free herself from that painful looking grip. To put a quick end to her torture, Happy stepped forward and nodded Tig with him. Those fuckers were smart, they knew exactly that Tig and him were the one's taking out the club's murders and were probably the strongest, most dangerous in the group.

Jax gritted his teeth and put a hand on Happy's and Tig's shoulder. “We'll get you back. Don't provoke them!”

“You don't leave Cassie and Callum out of your sight and you're going to explain everything to her. I need her to know that I'll be back”, Happy said, his tone demanding and insistent.

“Don't worry about that, I'll let her know”, Jax promised. This would be the first thing he'd do after their meeting with the Rivals was over.

“Smart choice.” With a smirk, Jeffrey stepped forward and handed Lyla over once Happy and Tig were in the van. All the murderous and merciless looks he got from the Sons didn't bother him, he had the power at the moment. “Clock's ticking. See you guys tomorrow right here.”

James catched the blonde who was thrown into his arms as if she was a sack of potatoes. His arms were wrapped around her protectively while she buried her face on his chest and let the tears fall, still in shock that she had been kidnapped from work. With his jaw clenched, he looked after the Van with his best friend and Tig in it. Cassie would kill them for letting Happy go with them.