A/N I don't own SoA. Wish I did! I'd get Jax all to myself.
Chapter 2
Church was held that afternoon. Emily had been taken home with Gemma who told her under no circumstances was she to stay in the crappy old house that had been left to her alone. She was going to stay with them until they fixed it up. They went and picked it up her shit and moved her into their spare bedroom. The members crowded around the redwood and talked business. The return of Emily had yet to be discussed and some of them didn't know.
"Last but certainly not least. Goliath's daughter Emily has come home at long last." Clay started. "For some of you newer members who need to brush up on your club history" He looked at the prospects. "Goliath was a founding nine. Emily was his only child and grew up in the SAMCRO world."
"That's great news." Chibs drawled out. "It'll be nice to see the sweetheart."
"I bet she's as hot as her mother." Tig cackled and was shoved by Piney.
"I'm with Chibs but why is this Church talk?" Bobby asked taking a drag of his cigar.
"She's getting a divorce. Asshole got abusive. She threw him out, he started stalking her after she filed. He's got money and connections, old man has friends up high and a little brother whose a cop. She's got awarded half of everything, pissed him off. He roughed her up pretty bad." Clay told his brothers.
"Fuck."
A low rumble of protests circled the redwood.
"So how are we going to teach this scumbag a lesson?" Opie threw out.
"That's what I wanted to –"
"-Now wait." Tig's voice cut through. The man shook his head. "Now I loved Goliath and I hate that his kid got roughed up by her old man but do we want to go off playing bodyguard over it? She's here, she's fine."
"The bastard choked her out, Tig." Jax spit out angrily. "He choked out Emily McConnell…Goliath's daughter. We're the only family she has."
"If Goliath was here he'd be calling for blood." Piney rasped with surety.
Tig held up his hands and shook his head. "Hey, I want to protect her. But I just don't see why we should go out and initiate. What we gonna do? Go all the way to LA and beat up some rich pussybeater? If he comes here, I'll be the first one to land a blow to the fucker."
The instinct to teach a lesson, to land blows and the logic warred with each other in the group. But each brother knew that the logic was going to win, was the right path.
"We're do it Tig's way." Clay said with finality banging the gavel. "Family dinner tonight. Gemma's off the wall that Goliath's kid is back, be prepared for the whole damn ten yards."
xxxxxxx
Emily sat on the couch in Clay and Gemma's house with a cup of coffee. She and Gemma were gossiping but her mind kept wandering. She had the worst time concentrating lately. It was the stress, but she figured she'd be able to focus after coming home. Instead she found that it kept jumping back and forth like a bunny on crack.
"Where's your mind at, baby girl?" Gemma asked.
The woman shook her head and shoved her hair back behind her ears. "I don't know. I can't seem to relax. I keep feeling like Jason is going to come at me."
"It'll get better." Gemma reassured. "You came back at a good time…well…anytime is a good time to come home. You should've come home sooner though. If a man ever hits you again baby girl you shoot him and then call the Club. You hear?"
She nodded with a smile. "Okay."
"Now, you look hungry. I'm gonna fix you your favorite for dinner. Opie's wife and Tara are coming over to help out and then the rest of the boys. A quiet family dinner is exactly what you need."
Emily sat in her designated room and felt aware of her surroundings. She ruffled her honey-colored hair and rifled through her purse until she found what she was looking for. A pocket knife that she slipped into her pocket. It was the one her Daddy had given her, it had a reaper on it. She never left home without it and hated to even have it off her body. She examined herself in the mirror and lifted her shirt.
Her stomach was mottled with bruises, painted blues and greens and purples and blacks. But behind it, prominently was the crow tattoo she had gotten when she was seventeen. Her Daddy had been so proud. She fingered it, saying a prayer for Goliath. He had been a good father.
Emily felt strung out half the time with out him. Everything she had done right. She had done everything by the books after he died. She went to college, married the nice rich college sweetheart, worked and was the perfect wife. Where had it gotten her? Anger boiled in her as a wave of shame enveloped her. She was ashamed that she had gotten herself in a situation. Especially her. Emily loved her childhood, she loved SAMCRO, she loved her father. Why hadn't she come back home?
Because she was lost.
When she moved away from Charming she started losing herself. She lost herself in college. She lost herself with Jason. Unbelievably lost and poisoned by the mainstreamed world. So much so that she couldn't breathe at night beside her husband. And that was before he started smacking her.
Emily slammed her palm against the dresser furiously.
No way.
Not again.
Emily vowed to herself that she would not lose herself again.
"I got a present for you." Gemma sounded behind her. Emily turned to see her surrogate-mother holding a gun. The woman handed it to her.
"How does it feel?"
"Good." Emily replied.
"It's safe, no numbers." She explained.
"Thanks." Emily replied gratefully.
The gun was put in her purse with a promise from Gemma that she'd help her brush up later on that week. Emily followed her downstairs and watched as she went around the kitchen. She wasn't allowed to do much, she needed to rest. Or so Gemma told her. It grated on her, not doing anything. Her mind and body kept telling her to keep busy, to do something. But try telling that to Gemma Teller, she thought ruefully. When Gemma said sit, you sat. And so she did and caught up on the gossip and the Club news. She held secrets already from when she was a teenager, things that no teenager should ever have to know but did anyway. She knew how to bartend by the time she was thirteen.
The old ladies got there early. Tara brought a medical bag and examined her and handed her some better pain killers than the generic ones she had been taking. Opie's wife was a sweetie, and a hot sweetie at that. A relief that she forgot existed settled on her skin as Emily laughed openly and joked without fear of what she was saying. It was okay to be real with these women. They were from the same place, she didn't have to worry about offending or being polite. She was…just herself.
No one stared at her bruises or asked in hushed voices what had happened. It was accepted. She was accepted. And they moved on. If she didn't hurt every time she moved she would have forgotten she had marks on her at all from her ex-husband.
The others started filing in for supper, with hugs and words of welcome and support for Emily.
"Aw, welcome home sweetheart." Bobby said giving her a careful embrace. The rest of them filed giving her hugs. She was introduced to the others that had patched in after she had been in town last.
Tig studied the woman across from him and shook his head to himself. A looker, just like her mother had been. Her brown eyes met his across the way and he gave her a friendly smile. He remembered her when she was a kid, following her Dad around like a puppy. Actually if he remembered correctly she thought she was a dog when she was three. He vaguely remembered trying to get her to eat dog food but getting caught and getting pummeled by Goliath. The woman in front of him was a far cry from that little girl.
The brothers studied her, each in their own way. They weren't used to a woman around in their family like her. A daughter of one of the founding nine. It held weight in their world, a heavy responsibility fell on their shoulders to honor their fallen brother's memory in protecting her. For those who remembered, they knew what this girl meant to Goliath. He had lived for the club and the only thing that came close to his love for his brothers was his daughter. Goliath adored the ground she walked on. Hell, he carried a picture of her in his wallet and would talk about her to a sweetbutt for hours instead of fucking like a normal human being.
Emily was just damn happy to be home that for a moment she forgot. For a moment she forgot about her troubles and her heartache and her battered past. She was just…SAMCRO. She was home.
