The second Sophie started to whimper, Jules was awake. She looked down at her daughter who was awake with tears coming down her face. She wiped them away with a finger. "Bad dream, honey?"
Sophie nodded, still whimpering. "Owie hurts."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She couldn't believe she was so spun out that she had forgotten to ask either the Doc or someone else for a pain reliever for Sophie. She knew that the Doc had numbed Soph's cheek when she'd put the stitches in and had given her a little something for pain, but none of them had thought ahead, too caught up in the drama of the moment.
She nodded as she got out of the bed bringing Sophie with her. When she got to the door to open it, she stopped. "Other Papa or Jax?" She whispered, mostly to herself.
"Jax." Sophie said through her tears.
She smiled a little in the low light she had left on in the room. Sophie had taken to Jax like she had really never taken to any guy that wasn't family. And she didn't think it was just the chocolate.
She kissed Sophie's head. "Jax it is, then, Miss Thing." She opened the door and the two of them stepped to the room next door.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked lightly, hoping it was loud enough to wake Jax but none of the others. The two of them stood there for a few moments and as she was getting ready to knock again, she could hear the rustling of blankets and Jax's voice rough with sleep. "Just a sec."
A moment later the door opened. She nearly smiled, he had taken the time to put on a pair of jeans. At first his summer sky eyes were clouded with sleep, but the second they landed on her tearful daughter they became instantly alert. "What's wrong sweetheart?" Reaching out and carding his fingers through the curls at Sophie's temple.
Then her daughter did something that surprised, thrilled and dismayed her in equal measure. Sophie reached back for SAMCRO's VP, her baby starting to sob quietly as Jax took Sophie from her arms and held her to him, starting to rock her a little.
He looked at her with concerned eyes, and gestured her into his room. She stepped through the doorway and even with all of the shit going through her head, she almost fucking laughed. It was like stepping into Red's room at the Satan's clubhouse. It was the room of a guy who had enough other things going for him that he could get away with the room of a teenage boy at the age of thirty. Well, minus the pictures of the naked chicks.
She sighed instead. "Combo of a bad dream and her owie hurting. And tonight's the night I totally forgot how to be a fucking parent and make sure I had stuff to give her for it before everyone left or went to bed." She knew she sounded aggravated and she was. With herself. Between the sleep deprivation and the trauma of how she had gotten that way, the shock of meeting her actual father, her breakdown in the garage, and then this guy, standing in front of her looking like a wet dream and holding her baby like she was one of seven wonders of the world, she had dropped the ball. And it pissed her off. She sighed again. "Do you have any regular aspirin? I can make do with that. This doesn't strike me as a town that's got a 24-hour convenience store right down the street."
He shook his head. "Not in here. But there are a couple of places we can check in the main clubhouse and the office. I'm sure there's some around here." Then gave her a soft smile. "And while it's not right down the street, there is a place open 24 hours." He handed her Sophie back, who was still teary and grabbed a t-shirt and pulled it over his head. "We're not totally removed from modern civilization." His voice laced with wry humor. "And I don't mind going and getting kid friendly stuff. It'd only be about fifteen minutes max."
She shook her head as gave him a slight grin. "Let's see if we can find aspirin here first." She looked at Sophie. "Let's go find something to make your owie feel better honey." Soph nodded a little as she shifted her to her hip and her daughter laid her head on her shoulder. She could feel the t-shirt she was wearing soak up the tears still falling from her daughter's eyes.
When she started to turn for the door, she saw Jax stop and a step into his tennis shoes, another thing she found kind of wonderful about him. Even though boots would be more practical, the stark white tennis shoes did have a certain flair she could appreciate being the clothes horse she truly was. Then he grabbed a flannel and hoodie. When she raised an eyebrow, he shrugged. "Just in case." He held up placating hands. "We'll do it your way first." His lips quirking up into a slight smile.
She almost chuckled. "Get used to saying that, Teller." And started to walk out the door towards the main clubhouse. Fuck it, Doctor Knowles or not, she was throwing her hat in the ring.
And here was the thing. She was a trained competitive athlete at her core. A champion. She didn't lose. Not when it was all on the line. That's when she was taught to exploit every advantage she had and every weakness her opponent possessed. She was very good at that. As Doctor Knowles was going to find out.