CHAPTER TWO

Happy was here by morning. He needed to work things out with Clay and it was a long ride from Charming. My dad was taken into police custody, but there was a large axed cut in my door. I knew that before selling the house that I would have to get a new one. I was hoping that my dad would be placed in police custody for a while, but I knew at most that it would be only a couple of weeks.

By the middle of the night the police officers were gone, but the twins didn't get to sleep until twelve thirty and I knew that they would sleep in well. I used duct tape to put over the cut on my door so that it was at least covered for now. It wouldn't do much but it would work fine until we got a new door. I wasn't looking forward to having to pay for a new one again.

I heard Happy's bike early in the morning and I heard him come in, but after that I fell right back to sleep, exhausted myself. He had his own key to let himself in and I knew he wouldn't do anything. He would sit and watch television at most, maybe read the paper. Hell he'd probably be bored, but he was silent. I think I heard him make his way to my bedroom just to make sure we were there and sleeping well before going back somewhere else in the house. I was asleep for another hour before I got off the bed carefully as to not wake the girls.

Making my way down the hall and into the shared living room and kitchen area, I saw him lounging on my couch, watching something on the television. I noticed that he had a beer pack on the coffee table and had one open that he was drinking. I also came to notice that someone had placed plastic wrap and special tape over the hole in my door.

After I came out of the hallway, he moved his head back to look at me. I gave him a small smile before walking to the other, smaller couch. He placed his beer down and I commented, "beer run?"

He shrugged, "I didn't know how long you three would sleep in until. Stopped at a hardware store on the way to fix that covering better. That was a crappy duct-tape job."

That made me smile a bit and I told him, "I'm not exactly a handyman, and it was twelve thirty in the morning."

He nodded and we were both silent for a moment before he asked, "so I'm guessing that things calmed down after the police left?"

I nodded, "yeah. They took him in, just questioned me about what he did this time. They didn't make me go down to the station thankfully. I never would have gotten the girls to sleep until two if we did."

"How were they last night?"

I sighed, "scared, but after they were sure that dad was gone, they calmed down and watched some cartoon on TV while I fixed up the door. By the time I got back in they were asleep."

He nodded and took another drink before placing it down again, "was it an axe?"

"That hit the door? Yeah. Police came just in time," I answered.

"Fucking Christ," Happy muttered. I knew he was pissed. Dad didn't start trying this hard until he learned that Happy was in jail for a couple of months. I couldn't go calling Happy for security. I was alone and was helpless for a hit. Even when he learned that Happy was out, he had grown more dominant since then, thought that he could get away with it.

Boy was he wrong. Happy was angry enough about what happened the last time when he got out of jail. The fire in him was just growing. If the police hadn't taken him into custody I knew that Happy would have paid our dear old Daddy a visit.

"It's done now. He should be in there for a bit," I tried to calm him.

He nodded and I watched him move to sit up on the couch. Happy and I were half brother and sister, but since my mom didn't want to have anything to do with me I would have been placed in foster care at my father's request had Happy's mom not ask to keep me. Bless that woman's heart. She wasn't my own mom and she begged to take care of me. Happy was fifteen at the time. There was a large age gap between us, but I was his baby sister. He and his Ma took care of me and we grew very close. It's weird when you see our photographs in albums because of how old Happy was in comparison to me. There were pictures of me when I was five and riding on his back and he was twenty. For a while people apparently thought that I was his daughter, the age gap was so significant.

I watched as he leaned over so that his arms were resting on his knees. He looked at me and I knew what he was going to suggest already. We knew each other too well.

His rough voice told me, "you know that you can't stay here right?"

I nodded and folded my hands and fingers together, looking down at them, "I know."

"I want you in Charming by the time he gets out. We can pack up before putting this place on the market," Happy told me.

Nodding, I agreed. I told him, "I know. I was hoping to keep the girls here over summer, let them have some fun with their friends before leaving but it's not safe to stay here."

"No, it's not safe. If dad had the mind to axe down your door, he wouldn't be afraid to do it to the rest of the house, or to you and the girls."

"I know."

"Then you agree?"

I nodded and he told me, "I can have you three stay at my place while you look at houses or apartments in Charming."

I nodded, "I can't keep placing the girls in situations like this. It's not good for them. First Angelo and now dad's escalation."

Happy agreed and I looked at the clock. Nine in the morning? Goodness I did sleep in. So were the girls. I looked at Happy and asked, "did you get any breakfast?"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," he answered me.

I nodded and got up, going to the kitchen to put on some waffles and pancakes that I know the girls would like when they wake up. I made some extra just in case Happy changed his mind. I began making the scrambled eggs and I looked over at Happy again, "thanks for the door. How long are you planning to stay?"

"No problem. And Clay said that I should at least have three days if I need it," Happy answered.

I nodded and he asked me, "when do you want to pack up?"

I thought for a moment, looking down at the ground. I looked around the house and said, "well…it might take me at least a week and a half to pack. But by the end of two weeks from now we should be all good."

"I can ask Clay about taking some more time off," Happy suggested.

Shaking my head, I answered him, "I can drop the girls off at daycare, their friends should all be there. It would get them out of the house and make it easier for me to pack quickly."

I knew he agreed with me and I heard the pitter-patters of two feet. I smiled and I saw Happy make one as well when the twins came out of the hallway. They saw Happy and smiled before running over to him, their arms open wide as they cheered, "Uncle Happy!"

Happy smiled and moved so that he could pick them both up with they hugged him. He kissed their cheeks and told them, "hey, it's good to see you too. Do you two ever stop growing?!"

I heard Maria and Lucia giggle before Happy walked them over to the kitchen, but still held them. It was adorable how fast Happy's attitude changed around his niece's. He tried to be with me throughout most of the pregnancy and he made sure to be here with the girls were born. He didn't like Angelo, Maria and Lucia's father, but I thought he was just being the protective big brother like he always was when I was growing up. But he managed to stay with me for the first three weeks that the girls were born. Although, I was in the hospital for one and a half of them. I was in labour for three days before I wanted a C-section. The recovery was longer since I was so weak and I didn't want to leave the girls while they were still in the hospital.

I remember when Happy first held them. He had to hold both at once. He couldn't do one at a time. His arms were so big he could cradle one baby in one arm easily. He smiled down at them. The Sons of Anarchy Killer Happy was gone as he cooed and made cute faces at his nieces. I knew what Happy was like and his club life, but he never seemed to frown when his nieces were around. God help anyone who ever makes them cry.

I saw Happy bring them over and I asked him, "say girls, how would you feel about going to live with Uncle Happy?"

They smiled and nodded, making gleeful noises and I looked at my brother and gave him a smile, "I take it that everyone is on board then."