I got a call from Unser the next day. "Um, hey Unser. What can I do for you?"
The former sheriff sighed on the other side. "I'm calling you to inform you that Tig's been arrested. And that Gemma has escaped from the hospital, some heat can come down on the club for this."
"Hang on," I said, putting the phone down to walk into my extra bedroom in my apartment. The safe in the room was locked up tight. I put the phone back to my ear. "How much is Tig's bail?"
Half an hour later I was at the police department with a thousand dollars and was posting Tig's bail. He came out of the holding cell, holding his cut in his hand and talking to Hale. Whatever Hale was saying, it was pissing Tig off.
Tig walked up to me and put his arm around my neck. "Thanks, Moody."
"What's new with you?" I asked him. Hale rolled his eyes and looked at me.
"He's upset because his license has been revoked," Hale said. I narrowed my eyes at him and looked back up to Tig. He was glaring at Hale. My eyes traveled around the police station and saw some new faces.
"Are they some of the new people you were talking about?" I asked Hale. He followed my gaze and nodded.
"All from the Sheriff's Department," He said giving Tig a pointed look. Tig sneered at him and we walked out of the police department together.
Tig followed me to my car and had an expression on his face that said that he wanted to talk. "Thanks for bailing me out, hon."
"You're welcome," I said.
"Listen, don't go doing anything crazy while the club's away." Tig said abruptly when we got in the car. I stared at him. "Like, I know you're not ready for a kid and we won't know how Juice feels until you tell him, but don't go in for an abortion or anything like that."
"You really think I'd do that?" I asked him, appalled at him. "Tig, I still don't know if I want this kid but I'm not going to kill it. I want to know what Juice wants before I do anything." I paused. "Besides, this kid is fifty percent Juice."
"And it's fifty percent you," Tig added. He sighed. "Moody the club will need some good news, even when they bring Abel back home, imagine having more good news about another tyke running around the clubhouse. That, and I think everyone agrees that you're a great parent."
I felt my face heat up when Tig said these things. "You really think that, Tig?"
Tig nodded. "Yeah. And I'm telling you that no matter you and Juice decide to do, the club is going to back you both up." We were at a stoplight and I took this time to reach over and hug Tig. He hugged me back as much as he could while strapped into the car, and the light turned green.
The next week was pretty uneventful as far as a week without the club was concerned. I spent most of it with Lyla and Ellie in the clubhouse, with Tara at her house where she'd complain to me about her supervisor, and then there was Tig, who had apparently proclaimed himself my guardian for the week and took his new job extremely seriously.
I remembered how Tig had stressed to me not to get an abortion, and with the way he practically hovered over me, I was beginning to wonder how many abortions happened within the club...
It was the day I was supposed to meet Julia again. The time was fast approaching and I desperately wanted to skip it and never hear from her again. But she had seemed so desperate at the Denny's, she had seemed like it was life or death if I showed up or not.
So what? A voice in my head was asking me. She signed those papers along with Duke. She doesn't have the right.
I put my hand on my stomach and thought about the child growing inside of there. A wave of morning sickness hit me and I practically ran to the bathroom. When I finished, Tig and Kozik were standing at the bar. Kozik was giving me an amused look.
"Sick, Moody?" He asked.
"Yeah, I think so," I replied absentmindedly. Tig reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of gum before tossing it at me. I quickly unwrapped a stick of gum and popped it into my mouth.
Tara entered the club, looking tired and stressed. She greeted Tig and Kozik but made immediate eye contact with me. "Sue, can I talk you, please?"
I nodded, following Tara outside. Tig looked like he was going to follow but he held himself back and turned back to Kozik. The sky was cloudy and gray when Tara and I left the clubhouse. I shuddered at the chilly temperature and pulled my hoodie around my body tighter. Tara leaned against the bars that the bikes were usually parked against and began to watch the new prospects build the playground on the other side of the fenced in area.
Phil had finished laying out the plastic grass on top of the concrete and Miles was working on building the actual playground. I could see now that it'd be a fun area for Abel to play on when he was older.
And your child, that voice in my head reminded me. I glanced over at Tara. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?" I asked.
Tara looked at me with an expression that I had come to know-because it the same expression I had kept on my face ever since I found I out I was pregnant. She let out a short laugh. "I'm guessing by the look on your face you guessed that I'm pregnant."
"Yeah," I said. Before I could stop myself I blurted out, "And I'm pregnant too."
Tara looked at me with wide eyes. "Oh my God, Sue! How far along are you?"
"About two months," I said, having finally put the time together. "How about you?"
"Just under a month," Tara said. "I found out last night."
"I found out literally the day the club left for Ireland."
"Juice doesn't know?" Tara asked sharply.
"Does Jax know?" I fired back. Tara looked away from me and back to where the prospects were building the playground. I followed her gaze and shook my head. "I hate the whole no communicating with them while they're not here. Not that I would tell Juice over the phone while he's on the other side of the world, but I just want to hear his voice."
Tara looked back at me and gave me a sad smile. "I know how you feel. No one else knows about my pregnancy, does anybody else know about yours?"
I jerked my head back to the clubhouse. "Tig does. He put it together right after I did."
"No wonder he's been so clingy with you for the past week." Tara said. "That's nice of him to keep you safe while the club's away."
"Good guy, Tig," I muttered. We silenced ourselves when Phil walked past us to go back into the clubhouse. I was just about to go back inside when my phone began to ring inside my pocket. I pulled it out and stared at the caller I.D, not recognizing it. "Do you know this number?" I asked Tara, showing her the number.
"That's the hospital's number." Tara said softly. I quickly answered it, slightly afraid as to what I'd hear.
"Is this Suzanne Moody?" A woman's voice asked. I confirmed that I was who I was. "I'm calling you to tell you that your friend, Kip Epps, had woken up."
My breath caught in my throat. "He did?"
"Yes, and because he doesn't have any immediate family members, he insisted that we call you first. He said that he wants to see you."
"I'll be right there," I said and hung up before looking at Tara. "Half-Sack's awake."
"What are we waiting for?" Tara asked. "Let's go!"
"We have to tell the other first," I said distractedly and called out to the prospect. "Get Tig and the others!" Miles ran off to do what I said and Tara hurried to her car to get it started. Tig, Kozik, Miles, and Phil ran out of the clubhouse followed closely by Piney. They all looked pretty freaked out.
"What happened?" Tig asked me immediately. He was looking down at my belly and pointed to it just a little bit, but it was enough to catch Piney and Kozik's eyes. They both looked at me with wide and understanding eyes as I shook Tig off me. I quickly explained that Sack was awake and that he was waiting for us at the hospital.
Kozik, and Piney practically flew to their bikes and Tig and the prospects ran to the van. I hurried into the passenger seat of Tara's Cutlass and we made a pretty odd looking parade heading towards the hospital.
When we got into Sack's new room, he was sitting up in his bed, eating a meal of what looked like plastic chicken with gravy on top. He pretty much shoved the fake-looking food out of his way as he moved forward in bed to get to us faster. I rushed forward and hugged him tighter than I ever had. He did the same and I could feel every movement of his malnourished body.
I let him go and stood up. "I am cooking you actual food when we get home." I announced. Sack laughed and he greeted his fellow club members and met the new prospects. The hospital released Sack after that, seeing as they waited for his tests to be finished before calling me.
I kept my word and cooked a huge meal for everyone at the clubhouse that night, including Lyla, Piper, Kenny, and Ellie. Ellie and Tig helped out with a lot of the cooking, and Piney sat at the bar keeping his eye on me. He and Kozik both knew about my pregnancy now, but they weren't being loudmouthed about it, for which I was grateful.
After saying goodnight to my adopted family, I went back into Juice's room and looked around at the clutter. Tonight would be the first time I had spent the night here since he left and I saw that it looked like he hadn't left. Absentmindedly, I began to pick up some of his stuff, throwing the dirty laundry into the basket shoved in the corner of the room. When I was finished, I laid down in the bed and immediately noticed that something with his pillow was different. I lifted it up and stared at what I found.
The scarf that I been missing since Abel's coming home party. Had it been in Juice's room this whole time? I had been in here with him several times since Abel's party, so Juice must've found it and put it under his pillow for safe-keeping...
I sighed and laid back down on the bed, one hand on my stomach and the other winding my scarf around my fingers.
