By the time Jax pulled into the T-M lot with Clay they had been gone nearly three hours. As he parked his bike, he noticed that not only was the van not back yet, but both his Mom's car and Tig's bike were gone.
Getting off his bike, he walked over to where Chibs and Bobby were sitting at the picnic tables taking a break. "Where's everybody?"
"Gem took the little lassie with her to the house to get started on dinner. Tig went with 'em." Chibs grinned. "Jake and Jules got back about an hour ago. They're inside." Nodding towards the clubhouse.
Clay came up behind him. "Unser said that the Chicago cops and their trash are gone."
"Good." Hopefully they'd toss the fuck out somewhere over Donner Pass. Let him take a long bounce down the mountain.
"I gotta go talk to him." Clay shrugged. Holding Unser's hand had been a necessity of late, between Hale trying to take over and the ATF agents that have taken up shop in his station. "I'll see you at the house later."
"Yeah." He smirked a little at his step-father. "Have fun with that." Bobby and Chibs snickered.
Clay just flipped them all off as he walked back to his bike. When he heard the engine of the bike engage, he looked at the other two. "I'll be in the clubhouse if anyone needs me."
"Aye." Chibs gave him a smirk. "We'll see ye aren't disturbed."
Shaking his head, he didn't even bother with the energy to flip them off. As the door to the clubhouse closed behind him, he could hear Bobby. "Have fun with the father-in-law." The laughter from the two of them following him inside.
Where Jake was sitting at a table drinking a beer. He felt a bead of sweat between his shoulder blades start to trickle down. "I don't suppose I got lucky enough that you didn't hear him."
Jake gave him a side-eye as the man took a drink of his beer. That bead of sweat was now somewhere towards the reaper's hands on his back. "Nope." Setting the beer back on the table. Jake edged a chair out with his boot. "Have a seat." It wasn't a suggestion.
Part of him wanted to tell Jake to remember whose clubhouse they were currently sitting in, but instead, he sat. It had been made abundantly clear that even though Jules was head-strong and stubborn, in the end, what Jake said was rule of law. If the man wanted this ended, it would end. He wanted to be with Jules, quite possibly for the rest of his life; and the Lyons were part of that deal.
Jake just looked at him for a couple of minutes, not saying anything. Usually he was fine with silence, rarely being the first to break one, but this one was putting him on edge.
"Bobby was just flippin' me shit." He was floundering internally for something to say that didn't make him sound like an ass. "He…"
Jake shook his head. "Meant every damn word of it." Jake's tone just as neutral as Jules's had been at the hospital.
He had no idea what the hell to say to that. But his mouth had decided to try. "I…"
Again, Jake cut him off. This time with a non-sequitur. Kind of. "I asked Marina to marry me after knowing her two hours." A regretful laugh came from the man. "And approximately every two days after until the day she died."
He wasn't sure what to say to that, and he'd never hurt himself by shutting the fuck up and just listening. Seemed like that was the right move here, because Jake wasn't done talking.
"So, I get what's goin' on here between you and my daughter." He noticed the slight emphasis on the 'my' part of that sentence. Jake looked at him, the man's blue eyes staring straight through. After a second, Jake shook his head. "Can't say I'm thrilled about it."
As he went to open his mouth to defend himself, Jake raised a hand. "Nothin' to do with you." Then the man gave a wry grin. "Well, next to nothin' to do with you."
"Tig." He felt the need to make sure.
Jake nodded. "Yeah. Him." Jake looked around the clubhouse for a second, looking as if he was organizing his thoughts. His probable future father-in-law looked back to him. "Jules's mother had her reasons for not wanting him around Jules. And like I told Jules, I'll respect those until the day I die." This is it. This is where the man tells him to back the fuck away from his daughter and granddaughter.
"But if her Ma knew I tried to keep Jules from a chance at what her and I had?" Jake shook his head with a sad smile. "She'd figure out a way to haunt me." The smile turned wry as Jake looked back at him. "So, you hurt her, you're a dead man." The smile turned slightly vicious. "After Eric and Butch have spent time with you."
He knew he should be assuring the man that he'd try his damnedest to make the girls happy for the rest of his life, but his inner stand-up took over. "No Dennis?"
Jake grinned. "Den will ruin your life in other ways." Then laughed. "That's all you have to say?" Jake downed the rest of his beer and pulled out a cigarette.
He felt a little, no, he felt a lot silly. This was a position he'd never found himself in, having to deal with some girl's Dad. Mr. Knowles was already a drunk by the time he started dating Tara, the man had barely paid attention. Wendy hadn't really had any family to speak of when he'd been with her. Plus, she'd been a Croweater, so there was that.
But Jules? Jules had these men; smart, tough men that had loved and cherished her, and Sophie for all their lives, and they would hold him to any vows he made to them.
He lit a joint and took a hit. "I'd like to say I'll never fuck up and it's always gonna be sunshine and flowers…" He offered the joint to Jake, who shook his head. He shrugged and took another hit. "But I probably will and it isn't always gonna be sunshine and flowers." He gave the man the most serious look he's probably ever given anyone other than his mother in his life. "But it won't be on purpose and I'll do my best to keep them safe and happy."
And since Jake had already addressed it, he continued. "And as much as you don't like the idea of them being around Tig…" He could feel the wry smile on his face. "And trust me, I can understand that to an extent." The smile went away. "I do know that Tig would die before he'd let anything happen to either one of them." He didn't bother to add kill for them too. With Tig that was a given. He smiled again. "And as you've seen, they both already have him so wrapped, he's already in the air before either of them even think jump."
Jake chuckled. "He ain't the only one." Giving him a smirk.
He shrugged, because he was nearly as bad as Tig. "Yeah." Sighing good-naturedly. "Although I should probably curb that with Sophie before I end up with a bald spot."
"Or be like Den and just tell her to hit you somewhere else." Jake laughed for a minute.
He figured since this seemed to be going so well, he'd follow Red's advice and talk to Jake about the whole Opie situation. "Can I ask you a favor?" Jake raised an eyebrow. Remembering what the two of them had just talked about, he winced internally. "Another favor?"
"Now that you put it that way, what do you need?" Jake gave him a wry smile.
He really wasn't sure how to begin, so he started with Red. "Red told me you guys did some digging and you know about Stahl." Jake nodded. He took a deep breath. "So, you know she's trying to make it look like Opie turned rat?" Jake nodded again.
"Yeah, I know." Jake got up and grabbed a couple of beers, handing one to him. "You also got Kohn hanging around too." Jake rolled his eyes. "Man needs to learn 'no means no'." Jake popped the cap off the beer, taking a drink. "I'm guessing Clay isn't convinced that this is just Stahl?"
He shook his head. "No, and every time I try to talk to him about it…"
Jake smiled just a twitch. "He pulls the 'best friend' card?"
"Yeah." He finally popped the top off his beer and took a drink. "Red also thinks it may have something to do with Clay being my step-dad too." He gave Jake a wry smile.
"Yeah, I get a lecture every few months about treating him like my VP instead of my kid." Then Jake laughed. "And I gave my father the same lecture when I was his VP." Jake shrugged. "Sometimes it's hard to separate the two."
"Ope would never sell the club out. Ever." That he would take to his grave. It wouldn't matter what Stahl dangled in front of his face, Opie just wouldn't do it. "Me and Ope were SAMCRO before we even put Prospect kuttes on." He didn't know how else to explain it.
Jake shook his head. "You don't have to sell me, Jax." Jake was fiddling with his beer bottle. "My boys were the same way." Jake snorted. "Hell, I was the same way." Jake looked at the bottle between his fingers for a couple of minutes, then looked back at him and nodded. "I'll talk to Clay. I'm not guaranteeing it'll change his mind, but I'll at least talk to him. Let him know what Den found."
He breathed a sigh of relief. Jake knew where he was coming from. Hopefully Red was right about this and Clay will listen to Jake because if Clay doesn't, he doesn't even want to think of what could happen.
"Thank you." He was almost shaking with relief. "For everything." Hoping Jake would know what he meant.
Jake tipped his beer bottle at him. "Yeah." Then tilted his head towards the dorms. "She's in the room. I'd like to say she's takin' a nap, but the way her phone was blowing up now that Lu's told everyone she's been reunited with the damn thing?" Jake shook his head with a sarcastic smile. "My guess is she's still got the thing glued to her ear." The man's tone implying that this would be par for the course.
Jake's cel phone went off before either of them could say something. Pulling it out of his pocket, Jake looked at it and he could swear he saw the man wince a little. Putting it to his ear, Jake waved him on and walked off. "Dad." The tone of the voice on the other end was, well, yelling.
He made a beeline for the dorms, giving the visiting President his privacy. To get his ass chewed, apparently.
Getting to the door of the room the girls were using, he heard Jules's voice; tired but laced with amusement. "I bet Pop's phone just rang Den. I literally hung up with Gramps like two minutes ago."
She had the phone on speaker because he could faintly hear Dennis. "Oh shit, really?" He could still hear Dennis but his voice had become a faint mumble. Probably telling Red. After a minute Dennis's voice was clearer. "Had Pop already called him?"
"No." Jules wasn't hiding her amusement at all. He decided to knock on the door. He felt like an idiot just standing there. "Hold on Den. Yeah?"
"Okay if I come in?"
"Get in here." He came through the door to Jules sitting up on the bed, phone in her lap. The room smelled like she'd taken a couple of hits off the joint that was in the ashtray next to her on the bed. She smiled as she patted the bed next to her. "Was Pop still in the clubhouse before you came back here?"
"Yeah, and to answer your next question, yeah, your grandfather had called." He leaned over and gave her a peck on the lips. Wanting more, but mindful of the fact that Dennis was in room via speaker phone. "I left immediately. Couldn't make out what was being said, but I can report it was being said loudly."
"I think Pop was hoping to have a little more time before Mike showed up and that shit-canned his plan." He could now hear Eric also. Sounded like they were driving. "How pissed was he?"
She grinned at him. "At me? Not at all." She leaned into him and he soaked it up like it was oxygen. "The rest of you? Varying degrees. Mostly Pop, but you two aren't out of the woods. He's even a little pissed at Butch." She did sound a little surprised by that.
"So basically, the list from best to worst is Soph, you, Bitch…Ow! Fine. Butch, Fucking Gigantor over here, me, and last but never least; Pop." He could hear the smirk Dennis had on his face.
Jules looked at him as she shook her head at the phone, with a look on her face that was asking him if he was ready to sign up for this kind of shit, because that's just how it's gonna be. "Wow. Every once in a while, your idiot ass actually gets it right."
He picked up the ashtray and moved it to the nightstand as he kicked off his shoes. At this point Jules looked ready to face plant into the bed. Taking the phone off her lap, he handed it to her. "Relay any pertinent information and then turn this thing off before you fall asleep mid-sentence."
She gave him a pretty weak glare as both of her brothers were laughing in the background. "Remind me to tell you to go fuck yourself later." Then looked at the phone. "Soph is at Gemma and Clay's for the night. As is Pop," She rolled her eyes. "I mean, after he actually goes there." She looked over at the alarm clock. "And we don't have to be there for another three and a half hours." She stuck her tongue out at him. "There, pertinent information passed." She arched an eyebrow. "Sir."
"Bye!" Eric's voice was loud over Dennis's howling laughter. Then there was silence.
He arched an eyebrow right back, trying to not only hide a smile, but the definite fact that she had pressed a button he hadn't even known he had. There'd be time for that later. Getting her some more sleep was the priority. "It's not turned off yet."
She held a button on the side until the screen went dark. "Satisfied?"
"Nowhere near." He took his kutte off and hung it across the back of the chair at the cheap desk that was in the room. Laying down on the bed, he pulled her with him. Pulling his cell phone out, he set it to vibrate and set the alarm. "This is set for three hours from now. You can get up and turn your phone back on then. Unless another emergency comes up, I've got nowhere to be until Mom's."
"When I'm actually awake again, so telling you to fuck off." As she was settling into his side, resting her head on his chest. "And maybe smack you." Throwing a leg over his and curling an arm around his waist. "Not the boss of me." Feeling her warm mumble through his t-shirt.
He just rubbed her back and planted a kiss on her head, enjoying the vibrations of her barely conscious mumbles in his chest. As those mumbles faded and he could feel her fall into sleep, he laid there quietly as a thought occurred to him.
Lying with Jules in bed like this, even fully-clothed, no sex of any sort had; was probably the most truly intimate moment he'd really had with a woman since Tara left him a decade earlier.
Putting another kiss into her hair, he smiled. "But I'm getting there."
He wasn't above getting a little nap of his own in before they were due at the chaos that family dinner at his Mom's house was known as, so he closed his eyes and followed Jules's lead.