Ana groaned when she saw the mess left behind by the guests in the clubhouse, and she sat on one of the sofas as Tara shook her head wearily.
The baby shower had been today. Tara had been released two weeks ago, all charges dropped. She had thrown herself into planning Ana's baby shower, and any one who had been connected to the club was there to celebrate it. Tara had planned games galore, Chucky had brought in the cake before being kicked out with the rest of the men, and Gemma had agreed to get along with everyone for the day. That was a feat in and of itself; once she'd learned of Juice's plans to patch out and move away from Charming, she got angry at Ana and him. In her mind, Ana had as good as promised her she'd stick around when Tara left, and now she was leaving, too. She felt as if her family was falling apart, but, by some miracle, Gemma had remained civil today. She had left early, but she still came, and that mattered to Ana.
The only person who wasn't here was Juice. He was out of town with Ratboy, checking in on Bobby and helping him move into a new place. He was due back that night. Ana missed him like crazy, but she knew it was just in his nature to check in on one of his brothers.
"Leave it to SAMCRO to make sure we had a huge mess to clean up," Ana grumbled, still not wanting to get up. She was eight months pregnant, her ankles were swollen, and her back hurt like crazy.
"We?" Tara said, laughing as she was putting wrapping paper in the huge trash bag she held in her hand. "Happy or Chibs sees you cleaning when they get back in here, they're going to be on the warpath."
Ana laughed and looked at the pile of gifts ready to be loaded into her car. She smiled, still overwhelmed by how many people cared about her and Juice. They all genuinely made her feel loved, and asked how the baby was doing. How she was doing. She almost felt guilty for wanting to leave after Gia was born, but the guilt wasn't enough for her. Juice had already discussed his thoughts with Jax, and Jax assured him that when he was ready to leave, he was free to do it.
She heard the door open and smiled when she heard Chib's and Happy's voice carry toward them.
"Jesus Christ, it looks like Pepto threw up in here," Chibs said, sinking on the seat next to Ana and shook his head at all the pink decorations and wrapping paper. "How's the lass doing, sweetheart?"
"Active," Ana said, wincing as Gianna kicked her in the ribs. "How'd things go today?"
Chibs just shrugged wearily as Happy grabbed another trash bag to help Tara. He called Phil in to help, because he knew both Tara and Ana were eager to get back home.
"It's been a rough one, doll. Lyla got roughed up pretty bad. We almost got arrested taking care of the shitbags that did it," he said.
He didn't tell her how roughed up Lyla was, nor that she had been an unwilling participant in torture porn. He was sure that while Juice told Ana everything, that this was something Ana wouldn't want to know. The studio itself was too horrible for him to process fully.
"Yikes," Ana said. "Everyone whole?"
"Yeah," Happy said, tying the trash bag in a knot. "It got handled. Hey, you want me to put those gifts in the van? I'll have V-Lin run them to your place."
"Thanks, Hap," Ana said, giving him a warm smile as her phone buzzed. It was a text message from Juice.
On the road now Eagle 1, should be home to my girls in a couple hours. Did you save me cake? love you.
Ana grinned, looking at the refrigerator where a huge slice of the cake was already wrapped up just for her fiance. He had gone on and on about missing the baby shower, so much so that Ana caught on fairly quickly he was acting, and acting badly at that. Finally, when Ana called him on it, he laughed and admitted the only thing he would be sorry to miss was "the super cool cake Gemma's forking over $300 for."
As for the stupid code names, he'd started that business when he began playing video games with her. The war games were his favorites and he insisted on using code names. The problem was he used them after the games were done, primarily because he was so easily amused these days.
Yes, cake is confimed Redeye. Can't wait to see you. love you too, she typed back. Chibs rolled his eyes, seeing the grin on her face. He knew that meant Juice was on the other end of the conversation, and it probably meant he was on the way home.
"Come on, lass," Chibs said, getting up and holding out his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Let's get you home so you can be there when he gets there. We'll help put everything away."
Juice pulled into the driveway just as night fell, and he grinned as he saw Chibs's bike there, along with Ana's car. He knew he could count on his brothers to watch out for Ana while he was gone. He looked in the car to see if there was anything he needed to bring in, but there wasn't. A car seat sat in the back, already installed. He grinned, knowing that was either Happy or Tara. Both of them were strict on the car seat thing.
Juice missed the hell out of Ana while he was in Indian Hills. It didn't feel like home without her with him. On the way back home, he'd gotten Gia a present from Reno. It wasn't anything big, just a pink onsie with a bike on it that said "Daddy's Little Rebel". He couldn't wait to show it to Ana, so he grabbed his backpack and walked up to the door, ready to see that beautiful fiancee of his.
However, it wasn't Ana, but Chibs opened the door, and Juice knew by the look on his face that something was up.
"Is it Ana?" Juice asked, coming in, quickly.
"No," Chibs said, reassuringly. "She's asleep, actually, and good for her. Look at the TV."
Juice's eyes darted to the screen and widened when he saw the news. He recongized the school, Count of Aquin or something like that. It was a Catholic school not too far from Charming.
"School shooting? Here?" he asked in disbelief. He was glad Ana was asleep, this would have upset her beyond belief. She may not work in schools anymore, but the woman was still every bit a teacher, so this would have hit close to home.
"Yeah, brother," Chibs said, sitting down and putting his head in his hands. Juice sat next to him, a feeling of horror settling in.
"You know," Chibs said, his head still down. "I wasn't fully supportive of you leaving til now, Juicy. But after this...you got to take your girls and go. This is-"
"It's something that happens every day, Chibs," Juice said, hollowly. "It ain't right, but it's going to happen no matter where I take them. I'm getting out. But it's not happening right now."
"It should happen soon, Juice," Chib replied as he got up. "I'll let you be with your girl. See you tomorrow."
Juice shut the TV off as Chibs left and groaned. Chibs had a point, he had to get his girls away from this. A shooting happening this close to them was unsettling, and his heart broke for all the parents who lost their kid in the tragedy. He thought of Gia and the idea of her being involved in something that horrible brought tears to his eyes.
He was so focused on what had happened that he didn't hear Ana come in until she sat next to him.
"Welcome home, baby," she said softly, placing a hand on his arm. He looked up and smiled before he kissed her.
"Hey, you," he said as he pulled away. "How's our baby girl?"
"I think she's sleeping," Ana said. "But she was very active earlier. Your cake's in the fridge."
Juice shook his head, leaning back on the couch and pulling Ana with him. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin in her hair, inhaling the rainwater scent he loved so much. He wasn't in the mood for cake right now. He was tired and burned out. The trip with Bobby had been long and stressful, especially knowing that Bobby was thinking of patching out of Redwood. Now there was a school shooting too close to home. All he wanted to do was stay with his fiancee, and pretend that the world wasn't a fucked up place.
"You okay, babe?" Ana asked, feeling the change in his demeanor.
"Not really," Juice admitted. He figured he might as well tell her before she found out through someone else. "Count of Acquino was shot up earlier today. Chibs told me while you were sleeping."
"Oh, God," Ana gasped, horrified. "That's terrible. Do they know who-"
"Not yet," Juice said. "But we're getting out soon. I promise, baby. As soon as Gia here is born, I'm telling Jax I'm done."
Ana snuggled into Juice's chest, knowing that he meant what he said. He was only taking his time because he didn't want to uproot her so close to the end of her pregnancy. However, she knew that when someone in this club planned to get out, something went wrong. She just hoped fate would have mercy on them for once.
Told you canon wasn't going to be followed much in this story. I'm still working out how I want this to go. I know how it ends, but it's the getting there that's got me all messed up. Jenni will be back some point later, and so will Mark. I'm wanting to include more Nero, too.
Hope you guys enjoy this!
