Twenty-Three:

Happy had left early in the morning to do something for the club, leaving me in a cold bed at five o'clock in the morning with the promise that he'd try and make it back for dinner. I'd groaned and questioned what he'd had to do, but he just shook his head and gave me a tender look before he kissed my forehead and walked out the door.

It had not only pissed me off, but it had also put me on edge, because Happy and I had agreed to have a one hundred per cent open and honest policy with club business, easier to stick to since the club had gone legit and the information he shared usually didn't stem from anything illegal.

I'd just finished flipping the pancakes for Harry's breakfast when the knock on the door sounded and he glanced up at me. "Someone here."

"I could hear that, buddy." I dumped his full plate in front of him and kissed his forehead. "Not too much syrup, okay? I'm just going to answer the door."

He murmured his agreement but I knew he wouldn't take notice of what I'd said, always smothering the fluffy pancakes that I made him with so much maple syrup it left me feeling nauseous when I watched him eat.

I unlocked both deadbolts and punched in the code for the alarm so it didn't make the horrendous noise at having the door open for too long, then tugged the front door open and paused.

Her blonde hair was perfectly done and styled up to rest just above her shoulders, green eyes shining as she looked at me with a large smile on her face. As always, she was dressed as though she was on her way to meet Barack Obama in a pencil skirt that went past her knees and a white button up shirt that was done up to her chin. The pearls around her neck were her staple item, a small purse tucked underneath her arm.

To her left was a man that I knew well. His grey hair was slicked back with too much product and the lines around his eyes clued me in that he wasn't exactly screaming with joy on the inside. He was wearing a pair of dress pants tucked into a black button up shirt with a tie around his neck like he'd been on his way to another business meeting to make more money just to add to a bank account that would never dwindle.

"Mama? Daddy? What are y'all doing here?"

My mother's eyes were still shining when she stepped close to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, tugging me into her so that her smell overwhelmed my senses. She smelt like expensive perfume and rose oil, a smell that brought tears to my eyes after I realised how badly I'd missed her. "We wanted to see you, baby. And our grandson, of course."

She'd just let me go when my father shot me a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Are you going to invite us in, Jasmine?"

From his tense tone I knew that he didn't approve of the three bedroom house that I'd bought. It was too small for his extravagant taste and had been a steal when I'd signed the papers, but I'd loved the simplicity of it and that it felt like a real home rather than the museum I'd spent the first twenty years of my life living in. Nothing would ever be good enough for my father, nothing that he thought was 'cheap', at least.

Their Lamborgini was parked out the front on the curb, a flashy car that he'd bought in his mid-life crisis after he'd found out that I was pregnant. The couple oozed class out of their every pore.

"Sorry, yeah, come on in." I stepped back and held the door open for them so that they could enter my safe haven and willed for him to keep his mouth shut about the furniture I knew he would find tacky since I'd bought most of it from Ikea.

Harry had his mouthful when he looked over at us as I shut the door, inquisitive as to who had come to our humble abode since the only people who tended to visit were his adoptive uncles. "Grandpa! Grandma!"

He was out of his chair and across the room before he had even wiped his face, arms wrapped around my mother's legs who stroked his hair with affection. "Hi, Harry!"

My father looked around the room with his lips pressed firm, distaste obvious, but he thankfully didn't open his mouth and say anything that would have offended me in front of my son.

"What are y'all doing here?" I questioned again a short time later after Harry had gotten over the shock of seeing his grandparents out of the blue and I'd asked him to go and tidy up his room.

My mother took a sip from her tea, pinkie finger raised in the air and gave me a soft look of apology before my father even opened his mouth. She was obviously uncomfortable with what had really brought them to Charming.

"I ran into Bill down at the bank." My father started off and my stomach dropped.

Bill was the town's local gossip and couldn't keep his mouth shut, especially if it meant getting on my father's good side and spreading information that he should have kept private. I knew exactly what he was going to say before he told me.

"He let me know that you made a withdrawal of quite a sum of money."

I busied myself by drinking out of the mug in front of me so I didn't squirm at his penetrating stare. "I'm sure that's illegal."

"Illegal or not, you know that he likes to keep an eye out for you." He didn't stop staring at me while he waited for me to crack.

"Likes causing trouble for me." I muttered under my breath. "Yes, I took out some money, but it got transferred back in. I don't know why he bothered to worry you, daddy."

"Well, it got me thinking, why would you need such a large sum of money, Jasmine?"

I suddenly felt like I was a rebellious teenager again, my father's scrutiny coming out full force, rather than a woman in my twenties. "I don't really think that's any of your business, daddy."

My mother stifled her laugh by taking another sip of tea and avoiding my father's harsh glare that he shot her way when he heard her amusement at my avoidance.

"I would like to think that it was just another investment adventure that took your fancy." My father carried on like he hadn't heard the way that I'd tried to shut down the conversation. "But my stomach is telling me that ain't the case, and my stomach never leads me wrong."

Harry walked back into the room with a barbie doll under one arm and his dinosaur in the other, ready to showcase the new toys that his father had bought for him when he'd gotten the flu the month before to try and cheer him up.

I saw my father's jaw clench at the sight of the doll in his hand. He'd always been raised that masculinity was key to raising a child and that boys shouldn't play with dolls, he hadn't caught up to the modern world.

"Stay for dinner?" Harry asked from my mother's side. He'd shoved the doll into her hand and she'd been cooing about how wonderful her outfit looked. "Daddy says we have steaks tonight."

It was like the life got sucked out of the room instantly.

My father's back went dead straight as his head snapped towards me and I could feel the anger coming out at me like a force field he was projecting across the table.

My mother was looking at me with an eyebrow raised but no anger, just peaked interest and curiosity at the bomb that my son had dropped without realising the trouble he was going to cause.

"Happy?"

I closed my eyes and squeezed them tight, mortified about the explosion that was going to come.

"HAPPY?!"

Harry flinched at the tone and the raised voice, and my mother patted him on the cheek softly. "Why don't you go back to your room for a second, sweetheart? I'll be in in just a moment to look at the rest of your barbies."

I shot her a look of silent thanks for being able to comfort my son and send him on his way before he watched the ugly scene about to play out in my kitchen.

When I heard the click of his door and knew that he was safely in his room, I put my mug down on the table and leant back in my chair. "Yeah, Happy's back."

"JASMINE!" My father's scream filled every crevice of the room and I flinched. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?!"

I glared. "You would do well to lower your voice and not swear in my house, daddy."

"Or what, you'll throw me out?" He growled.

I pondered it for a moment before I shrugged. "You've threatened to throw me out over Happy before, seems like it could be time to return the favour."

My mother's head turned back and forth as my father and I spat words at each other, eyes wide but mouth closed like she was watching a good tennis match.

"I cannot believe that you would let that thug back near my grandchild." He snapped.

I put my fingers down on the table. "He is his father, daddy."

"He is a no good outlaw that dragged you down once, I won't let him do it again."

I knew that his anger only stemmed from worry for me and his reputation, but it still brought my anger bubbling to a whole new level that I didn't know it could raise to. I was surprised that steam hadn't started pouring from my ears. "He is a good man, daddy. The club has gone legit, he doesn't break the law anymore. He did what he thought was best for me after he heard you ranting and raving about him and his lifestyle, he didn't want you to throw me out or cut me off, so he left me behind to try and give me a good life."

"She loves him, Rupert." My mother said softly. "Can't you see that?"

My father ignored her like she hadn't spoken. "He's an outlaw, Jasmine. He has blood on his hands! And you think that he can take care of Harry-"

"He does take care of Harry." I cut him off. "He does take care of Harry, and he takes care of me. Happy makes me happy, daddy. He's not breaking the law anymore."

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated enough to leave it a mess and sticking out in all different directions, no longer the put-together man that he always had been. "I should have known that you'd come to Charming to follow him. I should have known that you wouldn't move to this useless town without having a motive. You'll never grow up, Jasmine."

"I didn't follow him to Charming, believe me or not." I smiled sadly. "I moved to Charming because I saw it's name on the map and I thought it sounded like the place that I wanted to be. I didn't even know that he was here until he walked into the clubhouse and I saw him."

"What were you doing hanging around the clubhouse?"

I did my best to not grin. "I've started working in the office, doing their books."

My father let out a long groan and I knew that he wanted to slam his head down on the table. "Jasmine-"

"Happy and I are together, daddy." I cut him off. "We're together and we're building a happy life. Bill had no right to tell you that I'd taken the money and I'm sorry that you drove all this way to talk to me about it instead of genuinely wanting to see me or your grandson, but you're not going to change my mind about Happy, so don't even try."

When he just glared at me I sat back again and sighed. "I know that I put you both through a lot when I was growing up, but I felt trapped. I was trapped in the life that I'd been born into, trapped into this perfect little square that you wanted me to be in so that I was the perfect daughter to the perfect parents. Happy makes me feel free."

"Free Bird."

I wasn't sure if I was meant to hear my mother's whisper, her knowledge of the nickname had come after I'd spent hours crying on her lap and telling her of the months that I'd spent by Happy's side, but it made me feel warm in the stomach to hear her say it was such affection.

"I don't want to lose you." I finally looked back at my father. "But I'm not going to give him up, and he's not going to leave me to save me from you this time. If you'd like to be part of my life you have to accept that Happy is here and he's not going anywhere. If you don't accept that, then there's nothing more to talk about."

My father stared at me like he didn't know me, and that hurt, but I'd only told him the truth. It would hurt like hell, but if he couldn't cope with Happy in my life than I would give up my father.

We settled into an uneasy silence before he pursed his lips, face going red, and forced the words out through his clenched teeth. "If he hurts you again I will kill him."

"I know." I reached across and grabbed his sweaty hand. "But he won't."