Red took a deep breath as he made his way over to the huddle that was Den, Butch and Jules. Pop had been very specific, Butch was to get his shit together regardless of whatever happened on his last mission or with Jules and Sophie, Dennis was to not be an instigator, and he was to find out what exactly happened with Dougie and with SAMCRO from Jules. Sometimes being the oldest sucked.

Reaching them he had to smile just a little, overhearing them. "...you sure you're okay?"

"Bitch, how many times is she gonna have to tell you she's okay before you believe her?" Dennis trying in his own warped way to make Butch feel better.

He put his arms around the three of them and leaned down between Butch and Jules. Two sets of blue eyes and one set of green looked at him. He stilled for a second. For as much as he loved Pop, loved the club, these three and Sophie were the things he loved most in the world. Even when that love felt like a punch in the gut.

Butch kicked at some invisible rocks. "What'd Pop say?" Trying to sound casual.

He snorted. "You need to get your shit together. Period. Or you'll be heading to Coronado way earlier than you want to." Then he looked at Den. "You're not to..." He shook his head, instigating trouble for Butch and Jules was far too ingrained in Den's psyche. "Instigate."

Dennis looked offended. "Me? When have I ever?" Then grinned. "Oh, yeah. I do that, don't I?"

He smiled, just a little. "Like it's second nature." He looked back over his shoulder. Pop was busy with Sophie, but all of SAMCRO was trying hard to pretend they weren't paying attention to their little huddle. Well, all except Jax, who was unapologetic in his staring.

He turned back to the other three. "Look, Pop is a heartbeat away from defcon one, kids. So, let's be on our semi-best behavior and make my life easier." He looked at the three of them. Since he was now blocking a great deal of the view, Butch had grabbed Jules hand like it was a lifeline. He looked down at the clenched hands and then to the two of them.

Jules let go and Butch scowled. He popped Butch on the back of the head. "This is some of the shit Pop is talking about." Jules nodded and then reached into Den's kutte and grabbed the smokes she knew were there, lighting one. He looked at Butch. "You wanna get sent away again?" Butch shook his head. "Then act right."

Jules looked at him. "What'd Pop say about me?" She sounded tired. Looked it too.

He rested his head on hers. "I need to talk to you alone for a few minutes, but that can wait for a little bit. We should get over to the baby Princess."

The three nodded. Then Den pulled on Jules's hair. "So, the one standing next to Jax is your real Dad huh?"

Jules nodded. "Yeah. He was at Ma's funeral; you remember?"

He and Dennis nodded. Butch shook his head. He wasn't shocked that Butch didn't remember. Butch hadn't even wanted to go to the funeral, it had taken everything that he, Dennis and Jules had to get him to go and Butch had spent the whole thing with his face either pressed into his shoulder or Jules's. But he was the only one who knew what had happened at the clubhouse afterwards. It had been an epic fight that had ended with Rip having to bodily remove Trager from the premises and from what he had overheard later, hours of convincing to get the man to back the fuck off.

Jules nodded. "Well... He seems okay enough. Knows a hell of a lot about me. That's a little weird."

Den shrugged. "Maybe that's how Rip got him to back off and let you stay where you belonged."

He squeezed Jules's shoulder. "Guess we'll find out."

She took another drag of her stolen smoke. "Guess so." Then grinned at the three of them. "Let's get over there, think we've freaked them out long enough. Plus, breakfast is getting cold."

Both Den and Butch perked up at that. "Breakfast?" A slow smile spread across Butch's face. "Well, shit, sis, you should have mentioned that sooner. I'm fuckin' starvin'."

He shook his head. "Okay, let's remember. Pop almost at defcon one. My ass on the line." Then sighing. "And family laundry does not get aired in front of strangers." He looked at Jules. "Related or not."

The three nodded. He smiled. "Then let's go see baby Princess."

The four of them broke apart, Butch and Dennis going to their bikes to get all the bags they had been hauling for the girls. He did the same thing. Lu and Mercy, Den and Butch had packed enough for the girls for at least a week. Even though Pop was positive that this wasn't connected to the Satan's, in case it was, he wanted the girls to have enough stuff for a stay in Charming. And Pop wasn't stupid, as much as he hated it, he knew that Jules was gonna want to get to know Trager.

It made sense, at least to him. Ma had started to get sick when Jules was three. Butch was four and a half. They really only had memories of a dying mother. Trager was a way to get more memories of a vibrant and alive mother, even if it was from a time long before she was born. It was why she and Butch always liked to hang out with Rip. Fuck, who was he kidding, it's why they all liked to hang with Rip.

As the four of them walked towards the picnic tables, he made sure to stay between Butch and Jules. He wasn't worried about Jules, she would behave, if he asked. She always did. But Butch, right now, Butch was not to be trusted. He was strung too tight, a deadly bundle of guilt, need and want. And what Butch wanted and felt he needed was Jules. Always had. Always would.

He shoved all that shit aside when they reached Pop. He laughed at his niece, who was already squealing. "Unca Manny!"

Butch looked over at Jules with a shocked grin. "Really?! You got her to call him Manny?! That's..." Butch grinned at Den who didn't look as thrilled. "Freakin' awesome!" And started to laugh.

He and Jules joined him after Dennis glared at Jules. "Thought we decided that she wasn't gonna use that nickname."

Jules shook her head. "No Manny, you decided she wasn't gonna use that nickname. If you want it to stop, you know what you have to do." Their sister smiled her sweetest smile at Dennis. "And since anyone who's known you for longer than two days knows that's impossible, better get used to it."

Dennis just gave her another mild glare and took Sophie from Pop. As they were going through their rather elaborate greeting, he noticed his sister go stand by Jax who leaned over to her. "Manny?"

She leaned back into Teller. "Short for manwhore." As Teller was chuckling, Jules went on. "Told him we would stop if he dated someone for at least a month. That was twelve years ago."

He was almost shocked to see Butch on Teller's other side. "Seriously, look up manwhore in the urban dictionary and Den's picture is right there." Butch grinned. "This is so awesome. He hates that nickname and now he's fuckin' stuck with it."

Teller just looked at him with a questioning look. He gave a slight shrug as he took Soph from Den, hoping the man would let it drop for the moment. Luckily, his SAMCRO counterpart did, and just nodded at Butch with a smile.

He relaxed just a bit as introductions were out of the way and Gemma Morrow announced that breakfast was waiting.

Shifting his niece to his hip, he followed Pop into the SAMCRO clubhouse and hoped that all of this didn't blow up in his face.