Tig set the boxes he was carrying in the corner of Sophie's room. So far things had gone far better with the rest of the Chicago crew than he had thought it would. Granted, none of them had much to say to him, and he certainly wasn't going out of his way to make conversation with any of 'em.
He straightened the boxes, turning them so that the labels were clear. Toys, Legos, and books. He knew he was dinkin' around trying to stay out of the way. While no one from Chicago had said anything, he really didn't want to give them a reason to start. Jules and the baby doll didn't need that kind of shit right now.
"So, this is where you decided to hide." He turned to see Jules leaning against the doorway.
He shrugged. "Just bringin' some boxes in." Nodding to the stack in the corner. Seeing the walking stick in her hand, he nodded towards it. "Aren't you supposed to be takin' it easy?"
Jules rolled her eyes. "I'm using the stick." Lifting it slightly. "You all can just get the hell over yourselves." Then glanced towards the living room, rolling her eyes again. "I was just letting people know that the truck is empty and the kids have started to eat so it's fair game for big people." She was grinning as she started out of the room. "I was getting tired of slapping hands anyway."
"I'll be there in a minute, doll." Watching her head towards the other bedroom to let Jax, Ope and Eric know food was ready. He could hear the three of them head towards the kitchen.
When he was sure he'd be left alone for a minute, he reached into his kutte and pulled out a small picture frame. Using the cuff of his sleeve, he polished the glass a little before he set it on the top of the bookcase that was in the room. He had thought about just asking Jules about giving it to Sophie but decided that he would rather ask forgiveness than permission.
He stood and looked at the picture for a moment. It had been taken at Marina's tenth birthday party. Marina was planted between him and Rip, who at that point was still answering to Richie; all of them with gap-toothed smiles and cake everywhere. He can't remember who started the cake fight. He just remembers how hard they were laughing and how much trouble he got into when he got home.
"Hey darlin', you comin' to eat?" He jumped a little at Gemma's voice.
"Yeah." Giving Gem a side hug as she wrapped an arm around him and looked down at the picture he was leaving Soph.
"That Jules' mom?" Gemma picked up the small frame to take a closer look. "Like I need to even ask." Gemma gave him a smile. "I know what Sophie is going to look like in a few years."
"Yeah." Grinning at Gemma.
Gemma's eyes narrowed just the slightest and she tilted her head a little. "You brought this picture?" The soft smile on her face telling him that he'd done okay.
He just nodded, feeling just the slightest bit caught out.
Gemma just shook her head with a smile. "You were a surprisingly cute kid, Tig." Taking him by the arm. "Let's go eat."
He let her lead him out of the room.
/
Jake looked around the living room as people were starting to get in line to grab food. The truck was unloaded and on it's way to the T-M lot. Dennis had followed Jase with the Caddy and would bring him back. Vince could ride back to the clubhouse with Johnny in the trail van since that's where they were all staying tonight.
He was glad those logistics had already been taken care of. Pop and Mercy were going to stay with Clay and Gemma. He was glad his old lady had the foresight to think to grab a hotel room for the two of them. Slim and Grace were staying at the same hotel. As things had been winding down, he and Slim had gone and gotten them checked in. He was looking forward to spending some time alone with Lu.
With that pleasant thought in his head, he turned to where that Juice kid was finishing up with the entertainment center. He seemed like he was a good kid. A little skittish, but a good kid. "Almost done?"
"Uh, yeah." Juice wiped his hands on his jeans. A part of him wanted to reach over and give the kid a pat on the shoulder and tell him to relax, but Juice wasn't one of his kids and he didn't want to make Juice even more self-conscious. "Just finished what Dennis told me to and was just getting ready to move it back against the wall."
"Let me help." The two of them got the entertainment center back against the wall. He turned to the young man. "Thanks for finishing this for Den."
"Yeah, you bet." Juice shifted on the balls of his feet. "No problem." Seemingly waiting for the other shoe to drop. He wasn't surprised. He'd seen this kid get flipped a lot of shit over the last five days.
He sighed a little. "You wanna know somethin', son?" His voice pitched low so Juice would have to lean in to hear him.
Nervous energy was pouring off the kid. "What?"
He nodded his head towards the congregation of people in the kitchen, watching his oldest and youngest cheerfully snipe at each other, then back to the young man who was twitching, as if waiting for a blow to come. "You need to take a breath, go get some food and beer, maybe get laid later." He put his hand on the back of the kid's neck and gave a slight squeeze. "You need to relax, kid. Seriously." He shoved Juice towards the kitchen. "You make Dennis seem calm and collected."
Juice seemed to relax as he laughed a little. "Maybe I've had one too many energy drinks today." Before heading into the throng of people in the kitchen.
Jake looked up at the ceiling for a minute, trying not to laugh at the fact that while Dennis would be going back to Chicago, Jules would still have someone to keep in line. And it seemed like maybe Juice would benefit from having a sister like person to tell him when he's bein' an idiot, and to pick him up when he needs that too. Sisters get away with things that even a brother can't.
Looking over to the kitchen, seeing Mercy and Grace, he can personally attest to that.
/
Tara was surprised at how much fun she was having and how relaxed here she was. Granted, the margaritas had certainly loosened things up, but she switched to club soda after the second one, so she was genuinely enjoying herself.
And with that sudden realization, simultaneously she could feel Josh's hands on her and that song in her head and…
"Tara?" Lu's voice broke through.
"Yeah?" She swallowed trying to get some moisture in her mouth where it had gone dry. She looked up to see Lu's dark eyes looking very concerned. "I'm okay." Lu did not look convinced.
"Everything okay?" Jake's sisters Grace and Mercy had joined them, forming a little semi-circle around her.
She knew that Jules wasn't related to these women by blood, but she could see some of all of them in Jules.
Lu looked over to the two of them. "I think she was having a flashback."
Mercy nodded. "That is to be expected, Lu." Then looked down at her. "Is that what happened?"
She wanted to assure them she was fine, and that she'd just spaced out for a minute, but found she couldn't insult them by lying. Two of them were medical professionals, and quite frankly nurses do so much and if they've been doing it long enough, probably know more than a lot of doctors; they would know she was lying before she even finished. And Jules' Aunt Grace was just intimidating.
She nodded. "Yes." Then sighed. "I had just been thinking of how much fun I was having."
Grace smiled. "Well we are a good time, but it makes sense for your brain to jump from that to why you shouldn't be." Grace reached out and pulled her out of her chair. "It's gonna take some time, but keep in mind you really shouldn't give him that power or satisfaction." Lu and Mercy voicing their agreement. "The guys are through the line, let's get some food."
She let Grace lead her towards the counter. It really was easier to let these people take charge.
After getting her food and sitting back down at the table, she looked at Jules' plate and then raised an eyebrow.
Jules snorted. "Don't give me that doctor eyebrow." Then gave her a sheepish smile. "I had too many chips and salsa." Nodding at her plate of pasta and fruit salads with a little bit of barbecued chicken. "You make a mean salsa, lady."
"Thanks." She took a bite of the chili that Jules had started last night. "This is as good as it has been smelling most of the day." Then hazarded a glance at Gemma. "I hate to say it Gemma, but this might be better than yours or Bobby's." She offered her bowl to Gemma who took a spoonful.
"Damn, this is good." Gemma nodded a head towards Jules. "At least I won't have to worry about my son going hungry." Wry humor in her voice.
Jules nodded her head towards Lu who had gone to sit with Jake. "Lu's mom is Sicilian." Raising both hands. "Enough said." Then smiled. "Plus my grandma was born in Tennessee, she could cook her ass off." She noticed that Jules, Grace and Mercy all got a slightly dreamy look in their eyes. "The best biscuits and gravy."
"Chicken fried steak." Grace chimed in.
"Ham and bean soup." Mercy put her two cents in.
"Fuck all that, it was her fried chicken." Dennis added as he walked past towards the counter to get seconds.
She and Gemma looked at each other for a second. One thing she's noticed with the Lyons family; conversations that start with two or three people will usually end up with at least three or four more people finding their way in. This was not a reticent bunch.
"Or her pancakes." He went on as he came back to the table with another full plate, taking the seat that Mercy had just vacated. "Why are we talking about Gran's cooking?"
Jules gave a shrug as she popped a black olive in her mouth. After swallowing it, she grinned at her brother. "Some were expressing surprise at my culinary skills. I was explaining that I had plenty of good teachers."
"Okay." Then Dennis looked over to her. "So, are you staying here again tonight?"
She sighed. She knew she should go home tonight, the longer she stayed away, the harder it would end up being going back. Hale had called earlier in the day to tell her that the crime scene cleaners had been there and she could go home, but she had been waffling on making a decision. She really didn't relish the thought of being alone through the night. But she also didn't want to overstay her welcome here.
"Um, I haven't really thought about it yet." She finally said.
Dennis reached out and patted her hand. "Sorry." Then grinned a little sheepishly. "It's just that there really aren't enough beds at the clubhouse, and if you were gonna try to stay at your place, I was gonna ask if I could crash on the couch there." He rolled his eyes. "Eric's already called the one here."
She thought about it for a minute, it really did eliminate the biggest reason for going home, the idea of being alone. Over the last couple of days she had figured out that Dennis wasn't as flighty or superficial as he seemed, and was easy to spend time with.
Jules looked her over. "I'm just warning you that if you say yes, he will not pick up after himself."
"But I will make coffee if I wake up first." Dennis retorted.
"Pfft." Jules laughed. "Like you're ever up first. Usually, by the time you get outta bed I've already been up for hours dude."
"Not everyone feels the need to be up at the butt-crack of dawn." Dennis shot back. "That's just absurd." Dennis grinned at them all. "I prefer to wake at a civilized hour."
They all laughed as Jules just threw a wadded up napkin at him in response.
Dennis stood with his empty plate. "Well, think on it and let me know." He went and threw the paper plate into the garbage and wandered outside where most of the guys were.
Jules turned to her. "I'm not tryin' to kick you to the curb in any way, shape or form. You can stay as long as you feel you need to." Jules took a drink of her margarita. "But, if you want to go home, I might feel better if Den was there."
"So would I." Lu chimed in.
She looked to Gemma, who looked at her seriously for a few moments. "I know you probably shouldn't be alone there, sweetheart." A fleeting sad smile crossed the older woman's face. "At least for a little while."
She nodded. "Yeah." She pushed her chair back from the table. "I suppose I'll let Dennis know."
Jules shook her head and motioned her to sit back down. "Fuck him." Jules said with a laugh. "Let him sweat a little." Jules grin got bigger. "I'll tell him he can sleep on one of the patio loungers."
She sat down with a small smile on her face. Jules and Dennis sniping at each other was highly entertaining.
/
Eric was out back with most of the guys watching the kids play, drinking some beers and talking shit as men do when his cell rang. Looking at the number he quickly stood and made his way over to where he could have a little privacy.
"Yeah." he answered.
"That piece of shit is dead." Mike Murphy's voice was smug over the line. "Apparently to get in with AB he was supposed to take out some banger, looks like the banger got the best of him." Mike chuckled over the line. "Doubt anyone other than his mother will miss that piece of shit." Mike went on. "Your Pop's phone is going direct to voicemail, so I thought I'd call you and let you know that Dougie won't be a problem for the girls anymore."
"Yeah, thanks Mike. I know Pop will be happy that Jules won't end up in court." He was ready to end this call. He wanted to let Pop and the others know that Dougie Jones would no longer be a problem for anyone.
"No problem, Eric." Mike replied. "Give the girls our love." He could hear Mike's wife Sylvia in the background. "And Sylvia says to tell Jules to call when she has a chance."
"Will do, Mike. Have a good night." He said as the line went dead.
Sighing, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and headed back to the others.
Pop looked up at him and he looked to make sure the kids weren't around. "First of all, turn your damn phone back on, you've got at least one important call you've missed."
Pop nodded. "And the important call?"
"Mike Murphy called." He looked to the others. "Dougie is dead."
Pop gave him a look that told him he was being too succinct. He rolled his eyes just a little. "Mike called. Said that Dougie had attacked a gang-banger as some sort of AB initiation and the banger took him down. That's all that Mike said."
"I doubt anyone will miss him." Jax chimed in. "Except maybe his mom."
Jase waved a hand. "Maybe." As everyone else laughed. "She's had to bail his ass out so many times it ain't even funny." Jase looked to him and Pop. "Nobody is missing that bottom feeder."
Jax started to get up from his chair. "Should probably let Jules know that piece of shit won't be a problem anymore."
He waved Jax back down. "I'll go tell her." Walking off before Jax could even argue.
He needed to be the one to tell his sister that Dougie was dead, that she wouldn't have to go to court, that Soph and her were safe. He had no idea why he needed to do this, but he did.
He found Jules in the kitchen with Tara, Donna and Aunt Grace drinking margaritas. Jules smiled up at him. "You want?" Raising the pitcher that he knew was mostly tequila.
"Uh, no." Laughing a little. "Can I talk to you in private for a minute?"
The smile on her face dimmed. "Sure." Getting up from the chair. "Let's go back to the bedroom."
"That'll work." He turned and headed towards the bedroom with Jules following. He knew by the time they emerged that the news would have made it around, but he wanted his sister to be able to have her initial reaction without an audience.
When they reached the room, Jules shut the door behind them. "What is it?" Taking a seat on the little bench at her vanity. "Because you are tearing me away from awesome teen Jax stories from Tara and Donna." His sister grinned, her own dimples popping out. "So much blackmail material, so much."
He couldn't help but laugh, it was so Jules. "Sorry." Then sat down on the edge of the bed opposite her. "Mike called. Dougie attacked a gang-banger in lock up and they killed him."
Jules just stared at him for a minute, then nodded slightly. "Okay." She stood up for a minute and then sat back down. He waited patiently. He knew that 'okay' would not be her only reaction.
Jules looked at him, her blue eyes wide and a little hazy from the tequila. "At least now I don't have to go to court." She sighed. "I'd like to say I feel a little bad, 'cause you know, he was Rip's kid, but I don't." Now she got up and started walking towards the door. "He traumatized my kid and she had to get stitched because of him, so yeah, I'm finding I don't give a flying fuck that he's gone. Good fucking riddance." Swaying a little with the tequila that was in her.
He stood and pulled his sister into a hug. "Yeah." Letting go he put a hand on the doorknob. "I'll let you get back to your intel gathering." Then shot his sister a grin of his own. "Although what do I get for not spilling that nugget to Jax?" Laughing harder. "Because you know he'll shut that shit down right away. And you'll lose your element of surprise."
Jules shook her head with a hopeful grin. "Waffles and bacon in the morning?"
He put a hand out with a smile. "Deal."
Then followed his sister back out to the cheerful chaos.
/
Jax stood to go follow Red, he wanted to make sure Jules was alright. Jake stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.
"Son, let Eric go tell her." Jake's voice was low but serious. "It's somethin' that he's gotta do for himself." Sounded like there was a story there.
He stared at the older man until Jake sighed. "The morning that everything went down, Eric was supposed to have been at Jules' place." Jake looked over and the two of them watched Jules follow Eric back to the bedroom he assumed. Jake turned back to him. "They'd gone running and he was gonna watch Sophie while Jules was at campus doing something. But he got a call from Johanna at the shop, they'd had a water pipe bust."
He stared at Jake some more. He didn't know any of this. Neither Jules nor Red had made the slightest peep about it. Jesus, he couldn't even begin to imagine the guilt that had to be for Red. It certainly explained the need to be close that Red had been displaying. "Jesus, Jake."
Jake nodded. "Yeah, so you see why Eric might need to be the one to deliver that news." Jake shook his head. "Not that it would even enter Jules' head to lay any of it at his feet." Jake had a fond, but sad smile on his face. "Eric has always been her hero, since she was a little girl."
"When she was thirteen, Dougie tried messin' with her at a party for Eric's leave at the clubhouse." Jake looked back into the house, smiling a little as he spied Sophie sitting on Lu's lap talking a mile a minute to Gemma. "She didn't come get me or Rip, she went straight to Eric and Butch. Den was at MIT."
The shit back at where they had Dougie stashed suddenly made a hell of a lot more sense. That was why Red had fucked up Dougie's hand.
"So let the two of them have this one." Jake patted his shoulder. They both watched Red and Jules come back out, grinning and gently shoving each other. Jules headed back to the kitchen as Red headed their way.
"How'd she take it?" Dennis asked before he could get the question out of his mouth.
"Fine." Red shrugged. "Happy she doesn't have to go to court." Then the man grinned. "But then again, she's pretty well lit by now, so she may freak out later, but I doubt it."
"He hurt Soph." Red's buddy Jase spoke up. As far as he could tell the guy was basically another one of Jake's kids; Jules and Dennis treated him the same way they treated Red and each other. "I'm not surprised she's not sorry he's gone."
They all nodded to that dose of reality. Jules had tried to gut Dougie when he was in the garage, no one got away with harming her child.
He looked into the living room where Sophie was now dancing around between her grandmas and her aunt, laughing her little head off. He certainly wasn't sorry Dougie was dead. Not in the least.
Before he could say anything, Donna stuck her head outside. "Hey, anyone interested in dessert?" Loud enough for Kenny and Ellie to hear.
Most everyone went inside. He stayed outside to finish his smoke. He turned at the footsteps behind him.
"Hey babe." He smiled at the fact that it was becoming obvious that she was a little drunk. "How ya feelin'?"
She smiled back at him and damn, his heart did a little flip. "I'm kinda drunk so I'm pretty good." He noticed that she really hadn't answered his question. She knew he wasn't talkin' about her knee.
He raised an eyebrow, and she snorted with humor. "Oh, you weren't talking about my knee." She gave a small smile as she grabbed his smoke and took a drag. "But it's pretty much the same answer." She said while exhaling a cloud of smoke. "We're all better off with Dougie in the ground." She leaned over to kiss him.
He was really enjoying kissing the taste of tequila out of her mouth when they heard both a cough behind them and Sophie squealing with laughter in the house. Breaking apart they turned to see Lu, grinning ear to ear.
"You two need to get in here. Dennis has shown Soph what you can do with two cookies and ice cream! It's the cutest damn thing! Your Pop is getting video." Then the woman hustled back inside.
He and Jules hustled in behind her to see Sophie happily munching on an ice cream sandwich; chocolate ice cream all over her face and arms, hell, all over her clothes. He and Jules looked at each other and then over to Dennis.
"Dude, you are in charge of bath time." Jules looked at her brother, who looked nonplussed at the order. "And maybe just throw her shirt out." Jules shook her head with a laugh. "I'm not spending days to get those stains out."
He looked over to Soph, who was still munching down. He grinned at the sight. "That good, sweetheart?"
Soph nodded her head vigorously as she swallowed her bite. "It's yummy! Unca Manny showed me how!" She looked over to Dennis adoringly. "It's the best way! Unca Manny says so!"
Jesus fucking Christ. He was sure that he was going soft because this little girl melted his heart at least three times a day. "Uncle Manny said so, huh?" He rolled his eyes at Dennis who was grinning like a loon.
Sophie smiled, her teeth bright in all of the chocolate on her face. "You wanna bite Daddy?" Holding out the rapidly melting ice cream sandwich. He really didn't want a bite. He wasn't a fan of ice cream sandwiches.
What the hell, this was part of being someone's daddy he supposed. He gave his little girl the biggest smile he could muster and said yes.
