Gemma's house was filled with life.  Conversations and loud laughter echoed through the house as the matriarch once again hosted one of her famous family dinner. With more Old Ladys and everyone being  closer than ever before, these family dinners now took place weekly.

Gemma was completely in her element, busying the children with a board game. Kenny and Ellie were the oldest and were both in their teenage years, but they still had fun playing with the younger kids.

Abel was the typical big brother who always had an eye on Thomas, who was only a year older than Gabby. With her three years she was the youngest in the group and also the princessᅳ which meant that she was spoiled from head to toe, and everyone letting her get away with whatever came to the three-year-old's mind.

And which toddler has had good things come to mind?

When Stella poked her head out of the kitchen to see if the table was already set, she shook her head with a grin when she spotted Tig pushing a piece of chocolate towards her daughter, receiving a playful slap on the arm from Venus.

"You should ask Stella or Happy first", she scolded him, although the sheepish grin on her lips revealed that she would probably have done the same.

"Gabby!" The three-year-old flinched when Stella called her name and quickly shoved the chocolate into her mouth before hiding her hands behind her back with a sweet smile.

"I don't have chocolate!" She exclaimed with her mouth full, putting on the best puppy eyes look she could.

"We need to practice that, princess", Tig whispered to the toddler, a giggle falling over Gabby's lips.

"Alexander! Stop teaching her such things", Venus warned with a raised eyebrow before slightly bumping his shoulder.

"I never mentioned chocolate", Stella chuckled after walking up to her daughter, tapping the tip of her nose. "What did we say about lying, huh?"

"Uhm.." Avoiding her mother's gaze, the three-year-old swayed her body from side to side.

"What has she done now?" Happy sounded amused as he walked over and placed a hand on Stella's shoulder, who was kneeling in front of Gabby.

"Our sweet daughter lied to me", Stella let him know, although she didn't sound scolding at all and found it just as amusing as Happy. "And now she's avoiding a conversation with me."

"Hey, it's my fault", Tig chimed in, giving the same look as Gabby. "You know I can't turn her down."

"Then learn it", Happy told him with a grunt before giving his daughter a loving, yet stern look. "Gabby, look at me."

"Uh no", the toddler shook her head quickly and hid her face behind her tiny hands. "Gabby isn't here."

Shaking her head, Stella stood up and crossed her arms with a chuckle. "I wonder who taught her that."

All eyes landed on Tig, who cleared his throat. "That was probably me too."

"Man, you're really giving us a hard time." Happy smacked the back of the head. “Stop teaching her shit like that.”

Snickering, the older SAA rubbed the stinging spot on the back of his head. "You guys are boring."

"Hey, be careful how you talk about my baby and her family", Luann warned him from across the room after listening in on the conversation with amusement. "They're both doing a great job."

"Fuckin' idiot", Happy cursed under his breath, yet he was smirking. Then turned back to his daughter. He and Stella weren't strict, but he wouldn't accept lies and Gabby knew thatᅳ  otherwise she wouldn't avoid to look at him and Stella.

"Gabby, look at me." He only had to raise his voice slightly to let the three-year-old know that she needed to listen now. There was just a certain authority in his voice that was enough to set boundaries.

Not once had he and Stella ever had to seriously scold Gabby.

Gabby gave him a hard time staying stern as she turned back to him with that puppy eyes look and ran into his arms. The girl knew exactly how to get the killer all soft and he had secretly already forgotten her little lieᅳ but he didn't let it show.

"You know not to lie, right?" After picking her up, he rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"I know", Gabby mumbled sheepishly, lowering her gaze to hide her face on Happy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, daddy."

Stella was close to 'awee' to this. She couldn't get enough of watching the two of them together. Their bond was special and Gabby was definitely a daddy's girl. Happy would kill for that little girl and Stella had never expected anything less. She'd also do everything for their daughter.

Seeing Happy as a dad, witnessing the pride in his eyes every time he looked at Gabby, finding him asleep in Gabby's bed at night because he fell asleep with her while reading her favorite stories to her was exactly what Stella had always dreamed of.

A normal, happy family. Okay, maybe not completely normalᅳ but happy. Most of the time at least.

"Okay, I see you've got this under control", she said with a grin and stole a kiss from Happy's lips, who placed his hand on the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, eliciting a pleasant sigh from her.

Only when they heard Gabby's giggle did they break the kiss, both letting out a laugh. "Okay, I have to go back to the kitchen and help Charlotte. Luann, can you please set the table?"

"Sure thing!" the blonde shouted back. Luann was still an important part of Stella's life and always would be. After all, she was like the mom Stella never really had.

"Thanks!" Stella scurried back into the kitchen to help Charlotte. The blonde immediately gave her a cutting board and a large bowl.

"For the salad?", Stella asked with a hum.

"Yes, I hate chopping vegetables", the blonde said cheerfully as she took care of the sauce and meat. "What did Tig do this time?"

"Don't ask." Laughing, Stella blew a strand of hair out of her face. After washing her hands at the sink, she grabbed the lettuce and vegetables and started chopping the onions.

"So, how are things going with you and Jax?", the raven-haired woman asked curiously.

Charlotte's cheeks glowed a soft red, which made Stella smile. "Pretty good. We've gotten even closer since I moved in with him."

"You see, I told you", Stella replied with a shrug. "Tell me, how did Gemma take it?"

"Surprisingly good." Charlotte chuckled softly as she turned slightly towards her friend, lowering the spoon into the pan. "And Abel and Thomas were happy too. That was most important to me."

Taking a deep breath, Stella put the knife aside for a moment and smiled weakly. "I'm happy for you, really."

"Is it okay with you that I'm part of Abel's life now too?" This question had been burning on Charlotte's tongue for a long time, but she had never dared to ask. "I know how complicated the situation was back then. Jax told me about it. And your sister was his former Old Lady. It must be hard for you to see him with someone else."

Stella knew exactly what Charlotte meant. The situation with Abel at the time demanded a lot of energy from everyone and caused a lot of trouble. However, everything changed after Tara's death. Neither Stella nor Jax nor Happy wanted to fight. The solution that they would all raise Abel together had been quite successful.

Nevertheless, Happy and Stella had decided to let Abel live with Jax entirely, especially since Thomas also lived with Jax. The brothers shouldn't be separated just because the couple had a hard time letting go.

Abel still visited the Lowman's regularly, which was also important to Jax. Without the support of both of them, he would never have been able to get back on his feet like he did after Tara's death, which really weighed heavily on him for several months.

Meanwhile, Abel was at an age where things could be explained to him better and he knew that Happy and Stella weren't his real parents but that Jax was his father and his mother lived somewhere else.

Happy and Stella were now aunt and uncle, which was a change at first and painful for both of them. But as long as Abel remained a part of their lives, they could live with it. And since Abel now had a new mother figure in his life, Charlotte, Stella didn't want to get in the way.

She had her family, and she wanted the same for Jax after he had suffered so much.

"Jax is happy, and apparently the boys are too. That's all that matters to Happy and me", she assured the blonde, her voice gentle. Stella slightly patted Charlotte's hand. "Besides, I know you're a great person. That's everything I wanted for Jax."

"You know, you're a really great best friend." Charlotte didn't hesitate and pulled the raven-haired woman close to give her a bone crushing hug. "I'm so glad I met you."

With a smile, Stella wrapped her arms around the blonde. After being betrayed and humiliated by Kate, she didn't think she would ever find a friend again. But when Charlotte started working in the same nursing home two months after her, the two women quickly became friends and found someone they could trust in each other.

Charlotte had experienced something similar when she was still in highschool, just not to the extent that Stella experienced it. And that's exactly what brought the two women closer and the two friends were now inseparable.

And through Stella, who invited Charlotte to a club party one evening, the blonde met Jax and fell head over heels in love with the blonde biker. It just took Jax a little longer because he was still mourning Tara and Charlotte totally understood that and gave him the time he needed.

Finally, after a few more parties and private dates, the two finally got together and have been a happy couple for a year now. Charlotte even had the Old Lady tattoo on her left shoulder blade. Which she never would have gotten if Jax wasn't serious about her.

Just like Stella, Charlotte was too good for the world and was always there for everyone.

"Okay, enough." Stella blinked as she felt a burning sensation in her eyes. She didn't know whether it was from the onions or tears. "You're going to make me cry!"

"Oh, sorry." The blonde looked at her friend sheepishly before pushing the pot with the finished sauce aside, getting another pot for the pasta from a cupboard.

Once filled with water and salt, she placed it on the stove and out of instinct immediately reached for Stella's arm when her friend let out a hissing sound. Stella's body arched slightly as she placed her hand on her lower stomach.

"Hey, what's wrong?", the blonde asked worriedly, but ordered the other women in the kitchen to keep working. "You wanna sit down?"

"No", Stella quickly shook her head, a strained smile on her face. "I think I just got my period, nothing serious."

“Are you sure?”, the blonde asked with a sceptical look darted at her friend.

"Yeah, I'm sure", Stella nodded. It took a lot from her not to let Charlotte see the pain she was in at the moment. "Is it okay if I go to the bathroom for a moment? I'll be right back."

"Yes, yes of course." Charlotte nodded quickly and scurried her friend out of the kitchen. "Let me know if you need anything. I'm down here."

With a tight smile, Stella thanked her friend before she walked up the stairs and headed to the bathroom. Only when the door was closed behind her did she allow herself to let out a whine that she muffled with her hand by covering her mouth. She carefully leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths, hoping to be able to breathe away the pain.

She didn't know what was going on with her, and she definitely wasn't on her period. That was simply an excuse so Charlotte wouldn't worry any further. Yet the raven-haired woman couldn't stop herself from starting to worry.

Her periods were irregular, she had regular pain in her lower abdomen and she also struggled with extreme fatigue, as well as unexplained weight loss. However, all pregnancy tests she had taken were negative.

Should she see a doctor? Probably. But she was scared, and not without reason.

After a few minutes she actually felt the pain slowly getting better and her tense muscles relax again. Slowly, Stella stood up and, at the thought of having a serious illness, ran cold water over her wrists to ease the panic that was building up.

A thing that sounded simple, maybe even stupid, but sometimes actually helped. A look in the mirror made her sigh. Her skin was extremely pale. Even she noticed how unhealthy she was looking right now. Swallowing, she forced a smile onto her lips before leaving the bathroom and rejoining the others so no one would ask questions.

ᚔ

From the bed, Happy watched as his wife came out of the adjoining bathroom, smiling back at her by lifting a corner of his mouth. The towel wrapped around her slim body fell to the floor, causing him to lick his bottom lip and shifting to hide his emerging erection.

She looked tired all evening and even the shower didn't seem to have helped to make her look fresher. Now asking for sex or taking what he wanted seemed wrong.

Nevertheless, his eyes were glued to her body until she put on one of his grey shirts. With a sceptical expression, he studied his wife closely. He had noticed that his shirts had looked even bigger on her lately. At times she really seemed to get lost in it.

She was always almost two heads shorter than him, but that wasn't the reason. His Old Lady seemed fragile, much thinner. Unhealthy even to some extent. At first he hadn't thought much about the weight loss, he knew that Stella went to the gym twice a week because exercising was good for her anxiety and depressionᅳ but he slowly started to worry.

"You lost weightᅳ again", he pointed out with a sigh as she climbed into bed with him after taking the clip out of her long black hair that was now falling down her back.

She immediately took a defensive pose, uncertainty written all over her face. "Iᅳ I've just been doing a lot of exercise lately. Don't you like it?"

"Babe, I didn't say that", he clarified firmly. His fingers wrapped around her wrist to pull her towards him. "I'm just worried. You're losing a lot of weight lately, Stella. You eating regularly?"

"I'm not having a depressive episode", she said firmly, knowing what Happy was trying to say. "You know that I promised to let you know if it gets bad again. I eat regularly and take care of my body."

"I know", he grunted, nodding. Still, he wasn't completely satisfied with her answer. "Then what's going on? Nobody loses weight for no reason, at least not that much."

Because of her past, the bullying and the self-confidence that she only managed to get after years, it was difficult for her not to immediately develop new insecurities when someone commented on her appearance.

She especially wanted to look good for Happy, after all, he was her husband.

"I don't know, Hap." Shrugging, she dropped her gaze as she snuggled up to Happy, silently wrapping her arm around his torso, her head resting on his tattooed chest. "I'm sorry if I don't look like my usual self right now."

"Stella, I really love you, but shut the hell up", he warned as he ran his hand over his tired face, then lifted her chin. "Why are you apologizing for that?"

"Because I want to look good for you," she said, swallowing softly as she looked into his dark eyes that stared back at her.

As an Old Lady, it was her duty to care for her husband, outside and inside the bedroom. Even though Happy would never take advantage of her, she was afraid that he would eventually get bored of her if she didn't look perfect all the time.

She had always had a tendency to think catastrophically.

"Jesus woman", groaning, he reached for her hand to push it under the covers. When she snorted a laugh after he placed her hand on his crotch, a grin crossed his face. "I'm fucking hard, as always. Proof enough that I think you're hot?"

"How classy", she teased with a smirk. Before he could take her hand away she started rubbing her hand over the fabric of his boxers. "Gabby's sleeping. We could have some fun", she purred against his lips as his erection grew, making her shiver at the thought of taking him between her lips.

"Fuck.." Groaning, he let his head fall against the headboard as her hand slipped under the waistband of his boxers and her fingers were soon closed around his rock hard cock.

"We're not done talking yet", he added, although he lost all self-control when Stella's fingers were replaced by her lips.

He only heard her hum softly before she bobbed her head up and down, the warmth of her mouth and her saliva making it impossible for him to stop her just yet. The SAA internally cursed himself for the fact that this woman controlled him in every way and yet he wouldn't want to change anything about it.

His eyes closed, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and tilted his hips towards her with every movement of her head, letting go of all the tension of the last week. And he enjoyed every damn minute of this.

Still, her condition was always in the back of his mind and he would talk to her about it again tomorrow. This shit was serious and he wasn't going to watch his wife slowly break down.

ᚔ

authors note; I'm back with my fave couple [besides Happy and Sage, they share #1 place😌]. Stella is my insecure but still confident baby and was probably my fave OC character that I ever created. I hope you're gonna enjoy this one just as much as the first book. 🥰