Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters from the show. They all belong to Kurt Sutter and FX.
This is a really, really short one. On the other hand I published a full chapter today so this could be somewhat of a dessert. A little sweetness after the pretty dark chapter.
In Case I Miss
Happy looked at Ava, she needed to understand how important this was and let him do it. "I taught you."
"When I was 27. She's twelve!"
"She needs to know how to do it." He walked up to Ava and put an arm around her. "Being a part of this life, she needs to be able to handle a gun and be good at it. And I need to know that she can take care of herself. If she starts training now it will come natural to her when it's important."
Ava sighed and he knew he had won. She didn't like it but she agreed. "Fine, but you better start with a thorough lesson about safety."
"Babe, I know that. She's my kid too and I want her to be safe."
"And she can't even touch a gun if you're not with her. You need to make that really clear to her." She glared at him. "Remember when she played with your knife?"
"I remember. I'll make sure she knows." He still hated to think about when Grace and Peter took his knife. He had really fucked up that time. "She'll be safe. I promise."
He gave Ava a kiss before he left and found Grace in her room.
"Come on, Sugar." He threw her helmet on the bed next to her.
She smiled at him. "A ride?"
"Not only. I'm going to show you something."
"What?" She looked eager when she grabbed her helmet and skipped past him towards the stairs.
He didn't answer, just followed her and they got on the bike. They stopped at a shooting range and Grace had the biggest eyes when she got off the bike.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No." He walked ahead of her, knowing that she followed him.
When he turned around she was just behind him and he knelt down in front of her. "You need to listen carefully, Grace, and you need to remember everything I'm telling you now. Ok?"
"Ok, Dad."
"There are four things you always need to keep in mind when you're handling guns. I want you to repeat after me." She nodded. "First. Always assume that a gun is loaded. Say it!"
"Always assume that the gun is loaded," she said with a shaky voice.
"Do you understand what that means?"
"That I should always treat the gun as if it can go off."
"Exactly." His girl was a smart one. He could see why Ava was nervous but he knew Grace. She wouldn't take this lightly. "The second rule is never point the gun at something you don't want to kill."
"Never point the gun at something I don't want to kill."
"Good girl. You should never do that because you should always assume that the gun is loaded."
"I understand." She was starting to look a big freaked rather than excited, which was good. She should have a healthy amount of respect. "Third: Always keep you finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot."
"Always keep my finger off the trigger until I'm ready to shoot." She looked at him with big eyes. "So I don't accidentally fire?"
"Exactly." He kissed her forehead. "Fourth; always know what's behind the target."
"Always know what's behind the target." She hugged him with her arms around his neck. "In case I miss."
"Yes. And in case the bullet passes through." He grabbed her shoulders to make sure she looked at him. "Now, Sugar, I want you to repeat all four rules."
"Always assume that a gun is loaded, never point the gun at something I don't want to kill, always keep my finger off the trigger until I'm ready to shoot and always know what's behind the target."
"Good girl. And until I tell you otherwise, you do not ever touch or handle a gun unless I'm with you."
"I promise."
He took her to the target practice area and gave her safety glasses and earmuffs. He would never use it but this was his kid. "Don't put those over your ear yet, you need to hear."
-o0o-
They were there for two hours and she was great. She paid attention to everything he said an as oppose to pretty much any other situation; she did what he said. She understood why this was important and for her own safety. When he told her they were going home she protested.
"No!"
"Honey, we're leaving now. You did really good and I'll take you here again but if you get tired you get unfocused."
"Ok." She handed him the glasses and the earmuffs. "I liked it."
"Good. You need to be able to protect yourself." He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the bike. "What were the rules?"
"Always assume that a gun is loaded, never point the gun at something I don't want to kill, always keep my finger off the trigger until I'm ready to shoot and always know what behind the target." She turned to him and smiled. "Can I have an ice cream?"
"Yes."
-o0o-
Four years later he and the sixteen year old Grace was at the shooting range and he was standing slightly behind her. There were five human shaped targets ahead of her and he was holding four clips.
"Go!" He said and she emptied the first clip. Four in the head and eight in the body. All perfect hits. She ejected the empty clip and took the one he was holding next to her shoulder. Loaded and did it again. Five times, all with four in the head and eight in the body. Happy felt the smile on his face and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Perfect, Sugar."
She handed him the gun with a smile. "Thank you."
"If you can find a guy who can stand the humiliation of you being a better shot, I'll be ok with him,"
"Really?" She eyed him suspiciously. "I might hold you to that. What if I find one that's a better shot than me?"
"Won't happen, Baby Girl." She was amazing and he was so proud of her. He loved to watch the faces of the other guys at the range when she was practicing. Especially the new ones who checked her out and then turned red when she started to fire. "You'd never date a guy who was better than you."
She smiled. "No. I wouldn't."
He turned her around and whispered in her ear. "Again. Let's show these old dudes how a sixteen year old girl handles a gun."
The smile didn't leave his lips as he watched his Baby Girl kick ass.