One Rule

Alternate Ending Part 4 - The End

I didn't talk to Jax, Clay, or Gemma after we moved to Tacoma. I said I was leaving that family, and I meant it. Kozik and I were starting our own family, and I was bound and determined to keep any and all toxic influences away. That didn't mean that I cut out everyone from Charming. I still heard from Happy quite a bit.

When we first got to Tacoma, I wanted to start looking for a job right away, but Kozik had other ideas. "Baby, we have enough saved that you don't have to work until after you have the baby," he told me.

"Babe, I love you, but I'm only five months pregnant. I'm not an invalid. I need to do something, or I will actually go insane," I explained. "It's not about the money. It's about my sanity."

"What if you only worked part time?" he countered. "I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

"Will that make you feel better?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll only work part-time."

"Thank you."

We fell into an easy rhythm in Tacoma. Kozik would go deal with club business, and I would go to work at an urgent care clinic. At the end of the day, we would both come home and make dinner together, eat, and then we would relax together before we went to bed. On Friday nights, we'd go to the clubhouse party. Life was so much simpler in Tacoma. Nothing was life or death anymore.

We found out that we were having a girl about a month after we moved to Tacoma. I was six months pregnant. I think on some level, we were both relieved. If we had a boy, there was a good chance that he would follow in his father's footsteps into this life. Neither of us wanted that for our child.

"Happy called yesterday," Kozik mentioned while we were making dinner one night. "He said he wanted to talk to us both."

"Something big must have happened," I replied. "The number of unknown numbers calling me today was high. I'm guessing it was Charming."

"Do you think it was Jax?" he asked, looking up from the chicken he was cooking.

"Maybe. None of the calls left a message, so I don't know."

"I'll call Hap and find out," Kozik said. He pulled out his phone and made the call.

I turned my attention back to cutting up the peppers in front of me. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what happened. I worked so hard to get out; I didn't want to get sucked back in with whatever drama was going down.

"Di?" Kozik touched my arm gently. "You need to hear this." He handed me the phone.

"Hello?" My voice cracked as I answered the phone.

"You ignoring me, Mama?" Happy asked.

"No, sorry. I just don't really pick up unknown numbers anymore," I replied. "You should have left a message."

"Wasn't just me calling," he told me.

"Well, someone could have left a message. What happened?" I asked.

"Clay's dead," Happy told me.

I moved to sit down at the small table we had in the dining room. "You're sure?" I asked.

"He's very dead," he confirmed.

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "Finally," I sighed.

"Everything okay, Mama?"

"Everything is great, Happy," I replied. "Thank you for telling me."

"I'm supposed to tell you that he's being buried in three days, but I'm pretty sure you don't care. Jax was gonna tell you all of this, but he didn't think you'd answer, and you didn't," Happy explained.