"Ma. Calm down, m'gonna be fine," She said, trying to pry her mother's worrisome arms off of her. "I know you're worried about this, but Da will be with me."
Her mother rolled her eyes. "Aye. Great comfort that is." She cupped her daughter's face. "I tried to keep you out of this life, darlin'. I never wanted you to get involved with the Sons. Samglas. Any of this shite. I tried to protect you, and now look at what's gunnae happen to you, gettin' shipped off to Samcro."
"I know, Ma, I know. But are you sure about this? Can't we stay here? I know it's dangerous and all but can't we —?"
"No, Roxanne," Her mother said. "You cannae stay here. It's not safe, I told you that. I know you don't want to do this, but this is the only way I can be sure my baby is safe. As much as I hate to admit it, you need your daddy right now." She pulled her daughter into her arms again and let her tears meld with Roxanne's shirt.
Charlotte, Roxanne's lifelong friend who had somehow gotten roped into all this as well, stood by the car. "Oi! Rox, we really ought to be goin' by now!"
"Ach!" Michelle pulled back from her daughter and wiped the tears off her face. "Char's right." A fake smile was plastered on her face. "We gotta get you on that plane. I'm sure your father's dyin' to see his little princess again."
A genuine smile bloomed on Roxanne's face. "Hey, Ma," She said, her voice gentle and soothing. "I promise I'm gunnae be okay. Tha gaol agam ort." She buried her face into her mother's shoulder and whispered, "I'll miss you, Mummy."
"Tha gaol agam ort," Her mother replied as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. She gave Roxanne one more vise-like hug and a kiss, then shoved her gently. "Go, my girl." As Roxanne started to make her way to the car her mother yelled after her, "You call me when you get there, you hear?!"
She turned to her mother with her trademark smile and an eye roll. "Aye, Ma. Heard you the first thousand times."
And with that, she climbed into the car with Charlotte to headed off to the small airport. Nothing big. Given their situation, they couldn't afford the risk of going to an actual commercial airport. The Sons charter in Glasgow called in a few favors, got Roxanne and Charlotte on a trusted flight. Charlotte drove them there almost in silence, both of them wondering how they had gotten into this mess in the first place and how much they would miss home. She figured she might as well try and break the silence, Roxanne was her best friend after all.
"Exciting to see your Pa again, yeah?" Charlotte asked. Hopefully, she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.
That seemed to snap Roxanne out of her daze, at least temporarily. "Yeah. Gunnae be great. Haven't seen me da in years. I miss him."
"Been quite a while since you've been around Charming though, eh? Who knows? Probably gunnae be some new and sexy Californian bikers on our hands."
Roxanne smacked her on the arm. "Not happening, Char," She said sternly. "Do not forget why we're getting shipped off to the states. This is not a joke and it's not a vacation. We aren't there to search for lads."
"We'll see when we get there then, yeah?"
"Piss off," Roxanne said, and together they sped off toward the airport and to whatever shit they got themselves into.
"House is all set, right?" Charlotte asked Roxanne again, wringing her hands as they waited for the van to pick them up.
"I told you, yes" Roxanne replied on a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We have been through this hundreds of times before, Char. House is set, we just have to get our shit moved into it. Club's waitin' for us. We have absolutely nothing to worry about."
Charlotte's teeth dug into her lip. "Doesn't Samcro have a ton of enemies, Rox? How do we know none of them will try to pick us up?"
"Seriously? The charter in Glasgow is just as bad as it is here. We're probably better off here anyway. Plus, my da told me everything has been decently quiet as of late. All the shite we just had to deal with, and now you wanna pussy out on me?"
"No, Rox! I'm not. I just — " She ran a hand through her hair and sighed again. "I guess I'm just a wee bit nervous? That shit back home rattled me and — "
The sound of a vehicle interrupted Charlotte and both her and Roxanne's head whipped around to see it. "Oh, look!" Roxanne said. "There they are. Told you it'd be fine."
The van had barely even slowed to a stop before Chibs all but threw himself out of the door. "Roxanne, baby! That you?!"
"Da!" She yelled in sheer happiness and ran at her father. "I missed you so much!" She pounced on him and swarmed him in a bear hug that practically squeezed the life out of him. He caught her with a stunned " oomph" that bubbled into a laugh. He spun her around in a circle and squeezed her with just a much force.
"Good Lord, my girl," He set her down and their smiles were enough to beat out the sun. "You've grown so much, look at ya!" He cupped her face in his hands and leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead. "You look beautiful, Princess. I missed my beautiful girl so much."
She buried her face in her father's chest and let the grin overtake her face. "I missed you too, Da."
And of course, at that moment, Charlotte decided to bust in and break up the heartwarming reunion. "Filip! It's been too long."
"Charlotte, lass! I haven't seen you since you were practically a baby." He scooped her up into a hug too. "I'm sorry you got mixed up in all this, but I'm glad to see ya again."
She patted his back and tried to edge away from his all too tight embrace. "Happy to see you again, too. I barely even remember the last time." She gestured toward their ridiculous amount of luggage. "Now how bout you get that muscle you have in that van to help us with these bags? I just had to deal with an eleven-hour flight, I'm ready to get to our house."
He smiled at them and pulled them both into a hug again. "Aye." He whistled and waved his arm at the men in the van. "Juicy Boy, Hap! Out here. Now!"
The other men piled out of the car and Roxanne took a few moments to take them in. Happy, she knew. The last time she was in Charming she was about fifteen, she remembered him from then. Really nice guy, kind of unsettling though. He had a few more tattoos than she remembered, and that ominous look in his eye seemed stronger than it had been before.
The other one though, he was new. He had a mohawk and symmetrical head tattoos that she couldn't peg whether she found attractive or tacky. Broad shoulders and muscular arms that led to strong looking hands and dark, intense brown eyes. And did she just hear her father call him Juicy Boy ?
"Happy," She said with a smile and hugged him with welcome arms. "How've ya been?'
"Been good, kid. Haven't seen you in what, ten years?" He ruffled her hair and she smacked his hand away.
"Good memory." She shoved him off toward the mountain of luggage. "Now how bout you start loadin' that shit in the van?"
She reached for one of the bags at the same time as Juice did and their hands bumped. He smiled at her and God, that was a stunning smile. "Sorry about that." He outreached his hand to her. "Ortiz. Juice Ortiz."
She took his hand a shook it with a returning smile of her own and he felt it ripple down his spine. Her smile was nothing to be shrugged at either. "Roxanne." She said and picked up the bag that she had reached for.
"Hey, no, I got it," He offered. "That looks heavy, I can take it."
"I appreciate the chivalry, darling. But I think I can handle a bag." She laughed lightly at the look on his face. Something between confusion and amusement, and she strut away with the bag swaying her to the right slightly. He was right, the bag was quite heavy.
He watched her walk away like she was something of his next meal, even though he knew he shouldn't. He knew this was Chibs' daughter but Goddamn. That smile she had given him had drawn his eyes to her mouth and her lips were so full and perfect that it was unfair. Her walking away from him gave him the perfect opportunity to look over her body and he sure as hell was taking it. She was little, about a head shorter than him, but she had all the curves in every single one of the right places. And that hair of hers, the way the sun shone on the red made it almost glow. It was just short enough and the way it curled made it look like she had just been — wait, no.
What the hell was he doing? Checking out Chibs' daughter? Well, shit, he better tuck those thoughts away somewhere he can't get to those again. If he ever voiced his opinion on her in those regards then Chibs would probably have his head. He didn't realize how long he'd been standing there doing nothing so he shook his head in a quick jerk and stuffed his arms with bags. When they got everything settled, Happy and Juice climbed into the front and Chibs joined the girls in the back.
"I just can't believe how different you look, Roxanne," Chibs said. "You look just like your mother." He knew that she didn't exactly want to be here. Scotland was her home, she didn't want to leave, but she didn't really have much of a choice. But he just couldn't shake the happiness of getting to spend this much time with her.
She smiled at him, although there was a hint of sarcasm behind it. "Yeah, well, ten years will do that to a person."
"You haven't seen each other in ten years?" Juice piped up from the front.
"Was he around for that?" Roxanne jerked her head in Juice's direction and Chibs shook his head. "Ah. Well, the last time I came here to see Da was ten years ago and I was fifteen years old. It was a birthday present from me ma. She wasn't too keen on it but she knew that all I wanted to do for my birthday was to spend it with my da at least once."
"Aye. And leave me home alone in Glasgow while you went galavanting around California for two weeks," Charlotte said, still holding onto a ten-year grudge.
"Well, you're here now, ain't ya?" Roxanne replied with a smirk that she knew would get under Charlotte's skin. "Feel free to go galavanting all you want, love. After all, we're basically here on vacation, aren't we?"
"Oh, really? I make one joke about us maybe having some fun here while we're being dragged away from our home and our families and our friends to try and lighten the mood. You're just going to throw that in my face the whole time, that it?"
The girls continued to bicker on the way but they eventually pulled up to a quaint little house that the girls would be staying in, and Roxanne and Charlotte basically threw themselves out of the car. Chibs tossed the keys to Roxanne and she unlocked the door, and Charlotte shoved past her with a beaming smile on her face.
Juice went to go follow them but Chibs stopped him. "Nuh-uh, Juicy. You start haulin' the bags in." And with that, he followed Roxanne into the house and tried to smother his smile as he watched her about the house. It was odd because she was running around and exploring the house enthusiastically when not only moments ago she made it quite clear that she didn't exactly want to live here. The house wasn't anything extravagant, a simple two bedroom house, but it was fairly decent.
"Daddy, I love this house!" Roxanne yelled from the bedroom she had called dibs on. "It's perfect. Just right for us. Much better than the flat we have back home, to be honest with you."
Charlotte poked her head out from the kitchen and called down to Roxanne. "Shit, woman! Come look at this kitchen, you'll love it!"
While they were admiring the house still, Juice and Happy dragged the last of the luggage, at least the portion of it that wasn't currently being shipped, into the house. They had even broken a sweat. "Thanks for all the help, Chibs." Happy muttered as he made his way past the girls to grab a beer from the fridge.
Roxanne pressed her hand to her forehead. "Honestly, Da, this is amazing. You really outdid yourself on this one. I can't thank you enough."
"Ach. Don't mention it, princess." Chibs replied. "Had to make sure you get some joy out of bein' here."
"Impossible. You're here."
They laughed at each other shoved each other around. It reminded her of older times when things were simpler and it made her wonder how long this would last. This feeling of simplicity.
"So," Juice said, "you know you guys don't have any furniture right? Or like, a car or anything?"
Roxanne spun in a slow circle. When her "inspection" was complete she clicked her tongue. "Huh. No kiddin'. Y'know I actually hadn't noticed. Whatever will we do now?"
"Wow. We've been here what? An hour? She's already crackin' jokes," Charlotte said. She laughed and gestured towards their all too big pile of bags. "We got sleeping bags and shit packed away in there someplace. Rest of the furniture's gettin' shipped over here. Should be here in a day or two."
"Well, that solves that issue. But how are we gunnae get you girls to the party tonight?" Chibs asked them.
"Party? What party?" Roxanne asked. Of course. He just had to throw a party for this. Honestly, this didn't seem like an occasion fit for celebrating in her opinion.
"Oh please, Princess," He scoffed at her. "You really think I'd let you come back to Charming and not throw you a party?"
"Looks like Kiddo's got no idea what kind of guy her old man is." Happy said after a swig of his beer.
Roxanne rolled her eyes, "One, I have a very clear idea of what 'kind of man' my father is. And two, do not call me 'Kiddo.' I am a fully grown twenty-five-year-old woman."
"Hmm. That you are, Roxanne. That you are," Juice thought to himself as his eyes raked up and down that petite body of hers. He couldn't help but feel the slightest bit bad because, after all, this was Chibs' daughter. And he almost had a heart attack when he didn't tear his eyes off of Roxanne's ass in time before Chibs' eyes slid over to him. Why was he so entranced by this girl anyway? Hoards of women would be awaiting him back at the clubhouse. What was she to him?
"Just send some guys over to get us in a few hours, yeah?" Roxanne said and flicked her hair out of the way. Then flicked her wrist in the opposite direction to shoo the men out of their new home. "Alright boys, it's about time that you make yourselves scarce. We got shit to do and don't need you muckin' up the works."
"Do I look okay?" Charlotte asked, twirling around in the bathroom mirror. "I wanna make a good impression on all the boys tonight."
"Lord, Char, we talked about this. We're not here on a bloody manhunt!" Roxanne said as she finished winging out her eyeliner. "It doesn't matter how you look. But yes, you look fine."
The sound of motorcycles approached and Charlotte's eyes lit up. "Well, I bet that those are our knights in shiny black leather." She ruffled Roxanne's curly hair. "Let's go get em, yeah?"
"I can't stand you," said Roxanne and rolled her eyes, fixing the hair that Charlotte had just messed up, and gathered her things and her helmet and headed for the door.
"Well, helloooo, ladies," a dark-haired man said and whistled when the two Scottish girls stepped out of the house. "You didn't get all dressed up for us , now did ya?"
"Hello, Tig," Roxanne replied unethically and accepted the hug he wrapped her up in. "It's nice to see you too. Now," she whispered in his ear, "you better tuck than hard on away before I tell my father and have your arms ripped off."
"Ah, just like your old man, Rox," Tig said fondly and kissed her on the forehead. "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your lovely friend?" Charlotte was climbing onto the back of Happy's bike and was paying Tig little mind, just like Roxanne had warned her to do.
"Nope," Roxanne said shortly and strapped her helmet on. "Now let's get to the clubhouse. I need a whiskey."
"Oh c'mon, Roxanne!" Tig said after he parked his bike outside of the Sons' clubhouse. "Just introduce us! I swear I won't even lay a finger on her."
Roxanne's eyes rolled so hard that it almost hurt. "Please, Tiggy, you're a wonderful liar but I can see right through that crock of shite. I'm sure there's plenty of pussy waiting for you right over there, now run along."
"You aren't wrong about that, but hey, can you blame me?" Tig laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "We missed you kiddo, have fun tonight, yeah?"
"Yeah yeah. Now go," Roxane said and pushed Tig toward the party that was already raging outside of, and probably inside, the clubhouse. She chuckled at how animalistic Tig already looked as he stalked up to the party. She loved that man and trusted him with her life, but he really was quite creepy.
"So, that's all for us, is it?" Charlotte asked after thanking Happy for letting her ride with him.
"Yep," Roxanne sighed. "All for us. I'm just glad they have plenty of Jameo in there to get me through this." The grills were fired up, men were already boxing in the ring, the rock music was so loud you could see it unsettling the smoke in the air, and patch members and crow eaters littered the outside. The party was wild, to say the least.
"Hey, what are you talking about? You love parties, there's plenty of cute men over there, cute girls too, depending on how drunk you get, and you got me. I'm sure this'll be great."
"I know," Roxanne sighed once more, and she looked to her best friend a little woefully. "These just aren't the circumstances I want to be partying in Charming with."
"I know, love, I know," Charlotte said and compassionately placed a hand on her best friend's cheek. "But come on, let's go get a drink. Maybe after a few of those, we can have a good time. At least for tonight."