Tig was used to being woken up by sudden knocks on his door in the middle of the night, but he really hadn't expected it tonight.
"Yeah?" He croaked as he looked over at the clock on the nightstand. Two-forty. He hadn't even been asleep an hour.
"Tig, you need to get up. Jules needs you in the clubhouse." Jax's voice was barely above a whisper.
He threw the covers off and grabbed a pair of jeans and threw them on. He opened the door to see Jax standing there in jeans, t-shirt, and shoes, holding a sleeping Sophie. Before he could open his fuckin' mouth Jax put a finger to his. "Grab one of your muscle relaxants. Jules has a cramping hamstring and needs you to help stretch it. I'm going to go put Sophie back down and stay with her." Then the VP walked across the hall and into the room the girls were in and shut the door like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He stood there like someone had clocked him upside the head for a second. Jax was dressed. Jules was in the clubhouse. Jax was putting Sophie back down. The three of them had been up. Together. Okay.
Oh yeah, his kid needed him. He shook his head and went to his dresser and rummaged through the various bottles on top until he found the bottle of Flexeril he was looking for, and then headed to the clubhouse.
He could hear her when he opened the door. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." A little chant whispered through gritted teeth. He hustled over to the bar and grabbed a beer and opened it, getting back over to his kid. He opened the pill bottle and shook out a pill, handing it and the beer to her. "Take this doll, then we'll start stretchin' it out."
While she was taking the pill, he put a hand on her back and could feel her shaking. "How long has this been buggin' you?" He knew he didn't sound happy and he wasn't. He got that she wasn't real comfortable with them, her whatever with Jax aside, but to not let them know she was hurting was beyond fucking ridiculous.
She shrugged. He shook his head. "That's not really an answer doll."
"It's been mildly cramping for the last twelve hours. It started to really tighten up while I was sleeping, then got to the point I couldn't ignore any longer about fifteen minutes ago. I tried walking it off." She sounded defensive. "And I've had bigger problems to think about." She laid back onto the clubhouse floor and pulled her right knee towards her shoulder.
He sighed a little. He didn't want her defensive. Grabbing her ankle, he extended her leg, continuing to try and stretch her hamstring. "I know that doll, but you if ya'd said something earlier, it wouldn't have gotten so bad." He moved his hand down to her hammie, hoping to start working out the cramp, but found it as hard as a rock. "Holy shit honey, this thing's as tight as a..."
His kid gave a pained laugh. "Virgin asshole?"
He laughed, hard, as he sat down on the floor. "That's certainly one way of putting it." He shook his head with amusement. Rip hadn't been wrong; his daughter was a lot like him even if he'd had no hand in raising her. "Give me your leg doll." She brought her leg back down to where her calf was resting on his shoulder. He started to try and dig his fingers into her hamstring to try and loosen it a little. "So, the baby doll woke up?" He wasn't gonna try and hide his curiosity.
She grimaced a little as his fingers were working. "Yeah." The grimace became more obvious and he had the feeling it wasn't just her leg. "Bad dream and her cheek hurt."
He nodded. He wasn't gonna lie to himself, he was a little hurt that Jax had been woken to deal with the situation and he hadn't. But he didn't want to lay some sort of guilt trip on his kid, so he kept his mouth shut.
But it looked like he didn't need to say anything for her to see what he was feelin'. She shrugged. "I told Jax if she woke up, his ass was getting up with her. I try to keep my word." He noticed a touch of uncertainty in her eyes. "So, what's the deal with your VP and the doctor chick?"
He shook his head. "No idea, doll. They were together in high school and then Tara left to go to college. She came back a couple months ago. Brought some ATF stalker with her." He snorted at that. Really, how fuckin' dumb was she? "But I don't know if they're sleeping together."
She shook her head. "They're not." She flinched as his fingers dug in again. "The body language is too awkward." His daughter propped herself up on her elbows. "He doesn't trust her motives and she just..." His own eyes looked back at him, serious as a heart attack. "Wants to be anywhere but here."
He sighed, his kid probably wasn't wrong. Tara had never liked SAMCRO. Oh, she had liked that Jax was the 'bad boy', but hadn't liked the reality that the title came with. "They've got history doll."
His kid shrugged again. "You know why they call the past, the past?" He shook his head. She gave him a smirk. "Because it's behind you and that's where it needs to stay." The smirk faded. "You should always remember it, but you shouldn't try and go back there. You gotta move forward to get to the future."
He arched a wry eyebrow at her. "Where'd ya get that doll? Some self-help book?"
She shook her head, her face dead serious. "My mom. About a month before she died. I've never forgotten it."
Well, didn't that just wipe the smirk off of his face pretty fucking fast? He looked back at his kid who was studying him.
His daughter gave a small, sad smile and for a second looked so much like her Mom he was sure he was gonna break down bawling. "You loved her." She sounded a little surprised.
He nodded while trying to speak without the bawling. "Since we were seven." He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. "I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen." Not bothering to add that she still was.
Jules smiled back. "She really was, wasn't she?" The smile faded some. "Sometimes I think Sophie looks like her." She flinched again as he dug back into her hamstring. But it was starting to loosen some.
He nodded. "She does." Then smiled at her. "Not a shock doll, you look an awful lot like her too." He realized they were venturing into some really emotional territory, and he wasn't real sure it was the right time. He knew he really wasn't up to it at the moment, so he steered things back to where they had been. "So, not from a self- help book then." He grinned when she started to snicker a little. "Is that your plan? You quote that to Jax and he just agrees?" He had the weird feeling that it could actually work as taken with his kid as Jax seemed.
She laughed. "Not quite." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Smart-ass." She shook her head. "No, my plan is to be me." Oh, and he was the smart-ass. Her face grew serious again. "That chick obviously has some issues. My guess would be she didn't have the greatest childhood, and wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of this town. That's what's driven her to be a doctor. Well, that and ego. Even with the little exposure, I could see she's got a serious superiority complex going on when it comes to the MC. That's not good."
He shook his head. It really wasn't. Tara did seem to underestimate the levels of intelligence that he and his brothers possessed. Education didn't necessarily equate intelligence. Jax had dropped out and gotten a GED, but he also knew that the kid had read more philosophy than most college graduates. And understood it. He had always secretly wondered what Jax would have been had he not been raised in SAMCRO, because the kid really was off the charts smart.
His daughter went on, looking almost apologetic. "And even though you would think I'd have more issues than a TIME subscription, I really don't." She smirked a little. "Plus, I don't hate MC's. And I don't underestimate the men in them. Like, I know for a fact that you have a history degree from Northwestern."
He grinned a little. "Yeah, let's not spread that around. I like them thinking I'm barely civilized."
She chuckled and shook her head. "Oookay. I'll play along with that. But that's my point, she just assumes that all of you are uneducated heathens, and you're not." She laid back down, looking up at the ceiling.
Then she popped back up with a grin. "Plus, I look like me, and she looks like her." Her grin became even cheekier. "And, I always get what I go after."
He had to laugh at that, because she wasn't necessarily wrong, but it showed a level of confidence that he was sure Tara didn't possess. "I'm sure you do. But like I said she came back because she needs Jax and that's something that Jax likes."
His kid shook her head. "Not really. He likes to be the white knight for sure, but what he really wants is to be wanted for himself. Not because he can keep someone safe, like Tara. Not because he's the VP of SAMCRO, like Wendy. But someone who wants him just because he's Jax." She smirked at him. "I have plenty of people who are more than happy to make sure I'm safe, and my brother has been VP of the Satan's Sons since he was twenty-four. I was barely eighteen. Not really something that gets my panties wet if ya know what I mean."
He chuckled, because he did get it. "Then what..."
His kid laughed. And in it he could hear wonder and a touch of, well the only word he could think of was joy. It was a laugh he hoped he would hear often and for a very long time. "Let's start with the fact that he looks at Sophie like she's one of the Seven Wonders of the World."
He had to smile at that because she wasn't fuckin' wrong. Sophie had Jax around her finger from the minute he had brought her down from Hap's room. "Who wouldn't doll?"
She nodded like he had said something profound. "I know. But trust me, plenty of guys looking to date me don't look at Sophie at all. And if they do, it's as a hindrance, not a blessing."
"Let me guess, those guys don't get very far with you." He chuckled. "Let's try stretchin' this again." Grabbing her ankle to extend her leg as she pulled her knee towards her shoulder again.
She looked up at him, grimacing a little as the muscle was finally starting to loosen some. "Not at all. She may be only three, but Soph is a pretty good judge of character. If she doesn't like you, what I think doesn't matter because it's all about her."
He smiled down at her. "Can't say I disagree with that. Okay, so Jax thinks Sophie is awesome, as he should, because she is. So..."
Jules interrupted him. "Oh God. You've only known her like not even six hours and you're already this way." She gave him a mock groan. "You're gonna be worse than Jake and Lu, aren't you?"
He tried to give her as innocent a look as he could muster, and being him, it was probably a pretty crap one. "No idea what you're talking about, doll."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Giving his arm a light slap. "My grandkid is the smartest, cutest, whatever-est in the whole damn world and basically letting her think she runs the universe."
He grinned. "Oh. That. Well, yeah. I'm totally gonna be that way if you let me be around."
She frowned. "Why wouldn't I let you be around?" She gestured for him to let go of her leg. When he did, she sat up and looked him dead in the eyes. "This is gonna be the one emotional moment before we get into the rest of this after this whole stupid Dougie thing gets taken care of. Ready?"
He nodded. Not wanting to say anything that could fuck this up because he had the feeling that for once, this kind of shit may actually go his way.
She took a breath and looked at him again. "Jake Lyons has raised me, loves me like one his own and I do call him Pop like the boys do. But you are my Father, the only flesh and blood that I have left and that means something to me. I think because I lost my Mom so young." An embarrassed smile crossed her face. "For the last seven years, you've been my New Year's resolution. This year I find my Dad." The smile turned melancholy. "When I told Jake I was gonna do it, it was after Rip had been diagnosed. Jake asked me to wait, that it would upset Rip because of some promise Rip had made to my Mom." She took another breath. "So, the only way you won't be in our lives is because that's what you choose." Then her smile was back and it was quite possibly one of the most glorious things he had seen. "Plus, if things work out the way I would like them to, I think we'll only be going back to Chicago to pack."
He couldn't believe it. She wasn't telling him to fuck off. She actually talked to him like his opinion was valued. Told him what she was thinking. What she was feeling. His daughter. His grown, beautiful, smart, funny daughter was giving him a chance. And she was still talking to him.
"...If that's okay with you? Hello?" She waved a hand in front of his face.
He nodded his head, agreeing to whatever and trying to clear it at the same time. Plus, he was trying really hard not to cry. "Anything you want is okay with me, doll. Anything at all."
She grinned and patted his knee. He couldn't help himself, he grabbed her hand and held it tight. "First, I never want to hear you say those words to Sophie. Ever. Second, at what point did you space out?"
He gave her a sheepish grin. "Right after you said if things work out, only going back to Chicago to pack."
She laughed. "Okay. You didn't miss much. Basically, I just asked you if you were okay with me being with Jax." Still laughing. "And I'm going with the answer you gave me. And just for future reference, you probably shouldn't say that to me either." Once again, her grin was a little embarrassed. "I'm a little spoiled myself."
Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around his kid. And unlike in the garage, this wasn't about trying to calm her down, he just wanted to hug his kid. He kissed her head. "Still sticking with my original answer, doll."
She hugged him back. "Like I said, works for me." She pulled away a little so she could look at him. "Can I ask you something?"
He squeezed her a little. "Sure."
"So, do I have any siblings?" He could hear her hope and it made his heart ache because he was gonna have to tell her the truth.
"Yeah. Twin sisters who are six years younger than you. My ex-wife left with them when they were about six." He sighed. "I'll be honest Jules. They only call me if they need money. I wasn't a good Dad after they left and my ex certainly didn't make it easy, but I kinda stopped really tryin' early on. And I would bet that there was very little good said about me by her to the girls." He shook his head ruefully. "And I'm not Ward fucking Cleaver." He looked at his daughter who, much to his shock had no judgment in her eyes, so he plowed ahead. "I'm not a nice guy. I've killed people and not thought twice about it. I drink too much and do too many drugs. To say I'm a sex addict is putting it kindly." A derisive snort left him. "That the kind of guy you want for a Dad and Grand-dad?"
She shook her head, smiling sadly. "For someone as smart as you are, you can be really stupid sometimes." She slapped him lightly upside the head. "Raised in an MC. And not just some dude who was patched. VP then Pres. The description you just gave isn't that far off from Jake, and almost spot on for Rip." She was still shaking her head. "And for the rest, if your ex was an unreasonable bitch who talked shit about you to the twins, you're just kind of fucked there. By the way, do they have names, by chance?" Her tone was somewhere between amused and full on smart-ass.
He cringed. "Yeah. And before I tell you, I'm gonna tell you I had nothin', and I mean nothin' to do with them. Got it?"
She nodded. "Can't be any worse than the boy name I have. Hit me with them."
He closed his eyes. "Fawn and Dawn." He opened them.
She was looking at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, did I hear that right?"
He nodded.
Her head started to slowly nod. "Well if that isn't just..." She started to shake her head. "Really? Was she high when she named them?"
"Nope." He had to grin at that. He'd wondered the same thing at the time.
"So, you married a crazy woman?" He decided she was having way too much fun with this. Oh, he was going to like having her around. His kid was certainly going to make life interesting.
"Exactly, doll." He stood up, he was too fucking old to be sitting on the fucking floor. "How's your leg?" Extending a hand to help her up.
She stood. "Better than it was, the muscle relaxant should be kicking in soon." She looked over at the clock. Three-fifteen. "And I'm pretty positive we could both stand to get some sleep. That'll help it too."
He pulled her into another hug. "Sounds good, hon." Steering her towards the dorms. When they reached her door, he put the bottle of muscle relaxants in her hand. "Just in case ya need them. Night doll." Giving her a kiss on the head.
When she opened the door, they both stopped for a minute. While he and Jules were in the clubhouse, Jax must have gone over to his room for a minute, because he was no longer in his jeans, but in a pair of basketball shorts. Both Jax and Sophie were asleep, Sophie tucked into Jax's side, head resting on his chest. Both looked rather content.
He kind of gently shoved his kid into the room. "I got the door doll, go get some sleep." Keeping his voice low to not wake Jax and Sophie.
She nodded and he watched as she crawled into the bed, curling up behind her daughter, resting a hand on Sophie's back.
As he was closing the door, he heard movement and then his daughter's voice. "Stay." He grinned a little. His daughter's tone was a more an order than a request.
Standing there, ear to the door, feeling like both an idiot and a stalker, he heard Jax's sleepy reply. "Wasn't plannin' on goin' anywhere, babe."
He shook his head as he went back to his room. Yeah, he was definitely going to have a croweater clean his room. He had the feeling Sophie was going to be spending some time in it.
A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you're digging it! Thanks to all of those who have favorited, followed, and left reviews! They mean the world to me.