When Jules walked out of the dorms, with Jax following, everyone kind of stopped for a second. Well, those connected to SAMCRO at least. Deciding she was going to do what she always did when others stopped to stare, she went on about her business like it hadn't happened. She was aware of what she looked like to others. Fuck, she'd been modeling around Chicago since she was fourteen.
But like her Gran had told her when she first started modeling and her ego had gotten a little big for her britches, Gran shook her head and nailed her with a look. "You can be as pretty as pretty can be on the outside honey, but if you aren't pretty on the inside too, that outside isn't really gonna mean a lick." And she took that to heart.
She wasn't gonna lie though, it was fun getting all dolled up and doing photo shoots. It fucking beat a three-hour tennis practice any day that's for damn sure. And it helped pay for grad school, which she was trying to complete one class at a time.
Looking around, she could see Butch and Soph come in from outside and that Soph was in the process of saying good-bye to him; Den was sitting with Tig smoking a joint. She rolled her eyes at the two of them. Eric was standing by Pop, watching Soph and Butch with a half-smile.
Pop caught her eye and nodded to her. Mentally rolling her eyes, because there would be hell to pay if Pop actually saw her do it, she made her way over to them. She knew as soon as Butch's bike pulled out of the SAMCRO lot, Pop was going to want to talk to her. And she could readily say it wasn't something she was really looking forward to.
After she got over to them, she looked back over at Jax, who gave her a slight smile before making his way over to Clay and Bobby. Glancing over at Pop, who didn't seem as upset as he had been earlier, she gave him a slight smile in return. She was looking forward to later tonight and continuing their 'conversation'. She was pretty sure she wouldn't fuck him tonight, but that didn't mean that there wasn't a whole world of other things they could do. Because, if he did other things as well as he kissed, they were in for a fun evening regardless.
Pop looked at her with a slight eye roll. Awesome. "After your brother leaves I want to talk to you and Den for a minute." The tone of his voice letting her know that her and Den were in for a lecture.
"Sure, Pop." There really wasn't anything else to say. She and Den would do what they always did. Listen to what Pop had to say, and then straddle that fine line between doing what they wanted and keeping Pop from going nuclear.
As Pop nodded, Butch came over holding Soph who was talking his ear off about the princess dress she was going to get. Reaching out, she took her kid from her brother. "Did you actually tell Uncle Butch good-bye, or did you just talk about princess dresses?" Shooting Butch a grin. Den was cool with all of the girly stuff, but other than buying her pink shit, Butch really wasn't equipped to deal.
Soph looked at her for a second and then back over to Butch. "Bye Unca Butch." Reaching back to her uncle for another hug. "I wuv you."
She smiled a little as Butch hugged her back. "Love you too, Baby Princess. Be good for your Mommy." Then Butch grinned at Den then back at Soph. "But make as much trouble as you can for Uncle Manny." Grinning even wider as Den flipped him off.
But, Soph had Den's back. She shook her head. "No, Unca Manny and me make trouble for everyone else." Looking over at Den, who gave her a thumbs up.
Pop barked out a laugh, as did pretty much everyone else in the room, including herself. Den was grinning so wide she was sure she was going to see his face split open. "Aww…foiled by an almost three-year-old." Next to him, Tig looked like he was going to burst trying to contain his laughter.
She shook her head at Butch with a grin. "Wow, Butch. When did you become so dumb?" She shook her head mockingly at the brother closest to her in age. "You should know better. Pretty sure when you talked to her last month, she spent the entire time talking about all the trouble they get up to."
As everyone else was chuckling, Butch shrugged with a wry smile. "Had to take a shot." Then his smile was gone and she knew what was coming. "I gotta get movin'." Yep.
She nodded and hugged Soph a little tighter. Even though Butch could be a pain in her ass with his weird possessiveness, he was her brother and she loved him. And really hated the fact that he was leaving so soon. She knew what Pop thought, along with a slew of others; but it wasn't what they all thought it was. Everyone seemed to forget that she and Butch had been so young when Ma had gotten sick, that Ma'd had a few years to drill into Butch's head to 'take care of your sister' when Butch was at an age that mantra became a core tenant of his being. And they'd been so young when she'd died, that they had clung to one another as much as they'd clung to any other family members. Since leaving for Annapolis, he'd gotten better about his behavior, so something bad must have happened on his last mission for him to be acting like he did when they were younger.
Eric wrapped an arm around her as Butch said good-bye to the SAMCRO crew, making sure to play up to Gemma to get extra hugs. She was glad to see he wasn't going to be a prick and do the whole 'shovel speech' to Jax.
After shaking Tig's hand, Pop looked at the five of them clustered together and jerked his head towards the clubhouse door. Luckily the SAMCRO people understood and stayed inside while she, her daughter, her siblings, and Pop went outside to finish their farewells.
Pop pulled Butch into a tight hug, clapping him on the back. "Let me know when you make it to Coronado. Be smart." Pop knew better than to say safe. He was former special forces. He knew the drill. "I love you."
Butch nodded as he returned the hug. "Love you too, Pop." Smiling as he let go.
Pop nodded and reached over to her for Sophie. "C'mon Baby Princess, let's let your Mommy and Uncles say good-bye to Uncle Butch." Pop had always been understanding that the four of them had a bond that at times could exclude everyone else, other family included. She smiled a little as she heard Soph hollering for 'Other Papa' as the two of them went back into the clubhouse.
"Ooooh… Pop's gotta love that." Butch gave a wry grin as he turned back to the three of them. Her, Eric, and Den all looked at each other and then Butch. It was obvious to the three of them that Butch was still strung a little tight. Butch rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine." Looking at Eric. "Seriously. Untwist those boxer-briefs, big brother."
Eric grinned. "You sure? I know you SEALS are the sensitive types." Laughing when Butch flipped him the bird. "Love you bro. Watch your six." Pulling him into a hug.
"Yeah. You too." Butch patted him on the back as he was letting go. "And give that little Nazi prick a couple of shots for me." Eric nodded.
Butch turned to Den and just shook his head. "I'd tell you to stay out of trouble Manny, but…"
Den grinned. "You know there's no fun in that, Bitch." The grin wavered. "And I think I'm the one that needs to be saying that to you." For all of his irreverence and teasing, Den was easily the most emotional of all of them.
"Hey, trouble is scared of me." Butch pulled Den into a tight hug and was whispering in his ear. After a few minutes the two broke apart and Den had a small smile on his face. Butch just smirked. "I'll be fine, Manny."
Den nodded. "Yeah. Watch your back." Pulling Butch into another hug. "Love ya, bro."
Butch turned to her, his grins and smirks gone. She glanced over at Eric and Den and they got it. Both nodded and went back into the clubhouse.
When the door closed and the two of them were left alone at the picnic tables, she looked at her brother. Really looked at him. He was thinner than he had been the last time he was home five months ago. "What the fuck happened, Brendan?" She was the only person other than Pop who could call Butch by his given name and get away with it. Both her and Pop used it judiciously.
He shook his head. "Can't really tell you, Jules." Looking at her dead on, his eyes serious. "But things went wrong, people got hurt. Badly."
"How bad?" She swallowed. She had met some of Butch's team almost a year ago when they had been at the Great Lakes Naval Base doing a training exercise. She had liked them and really hoped no one was dead.
Butch shrugged. "Josh will end up either riding a desk or getting a med discharge." There was a lot her brother wasn't saying and she knew he wouldn't. Fuck classified. Fuck it up the ass with a knobby stick and no lube. How could she help her brother when he had to carry the burden alone? Sometimes life just sucked.
Shaking his head, Butch gave her a genuine smile. Not a grin, not a smirk, but a smile. "I'll be fine Jules, really." Now he grinned a little. "As much as the reason for it sucks, the ride out here with Pop, Eric, and Den really did help clear my head." Then the smirk came. "So did the waitress in North Platte who could probably suck the chrome off of every tailpipe here and still have energy left over."
"Great." She shook her head, laughing. "Did you warn her you were probably passing along some exotic STD from some Thai she-male you fucked on some blackout Libo?"
"Nah, figured I'd let that be a surprise gift later on." Butch grinned back, briefly. The grin faded to a more serious look. "You're gonna stay here aren't you? You and Soph?"
She looked over to the clubhouse door, feeling a little caught out. Whatever was happening with Jax Teller wasn't just chemistry. It wasn't just lust. She actually LIKED him. He was smart with a dry sense of humor, who obviously cared deeply for those he chose to let into his heart.
"Probably." Just like with Eric, she never lied to Brendan. Although unlike with Eric, she had never even remotely thought about lying to Brendan. Lying to Brendan would be like lying to herself, and that was something she didn't do. "I…"
"I know." Brendan smiled at her. "If it makes you feel better, I do like him. Seems like he's an okay dude."
She laughed. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know he has the Butch Lyons seal of approval."
"You fucking know it, sis." Butch pulled her into a fierce hug. "And he should be."
Wrapping her arms around her brother, she returned the hug. "I love you." She knew they had mere moments before Pop's patience ran out and the rest of the clan came out to see Butch off.
"'Course you do." Butch gave her a squeeze as he kissed her forehead. His green eyes smiling. "Love you too, sissy." Butch lightly knocked their foreheads together. "You or Soph need anything…"
Letting go of her brother. "I know. Call Eric." Smiling at him as the clubhouse door opened and with Pop in the lead, everyone started to gather around the tables to see Butch off.
Clay looked at Butch. "We got time. You want an escort for a stretch?"
Butch shook his head with a smile. "Nah. Got no patch on my back, and…" Mindful that Soph was right there. "You guys have more important things to do than babysit a SEAL."
Clay nodded and shook Butch's hand. "We do."
Once again, the SAMCRO people stayed by the tables as Pop led the Lyons clan towards Butch's bike. After saying their final good-byes, the five of them stood together as they watched Butch pull out of the T-M lot and hang a left.
For a minute after Butch's bike disappeared, Pop stood there staring at the empty parking space at the end of the row of bikes. After he was done with whatever the fuck was going through his head, Pop turned and handed Soph off to Eric while pinning her and Den with a look. "Eric, go get Princess set up with a movie or something because it's gonna be a bit before they go to get a princess dress for her."
Holy fuck. It was the tone of voice even Soph knew not to argue with. Eric nodded and that Viking turncoat turned tail and got the hell away while the getting was good.
She glanced at Den who looked at her with a shrug in his eyes. They all knew Pop wasn't thrilled, but this was a pissed off Pop.
"I've gotten six texts from Lu in the last hour." Oh. Yeah. That would piss him off. Even though he'd never married her, he loved her as much as he had loved Ma, and didn't like her upset. "I told you to call her."
"And I will…"
Pop cut her off by shoving his phone into her hand. "Yeah. 'Cause you're gonna do it now."
The phone was open and she could see the call was already placed. Great. She took the phone and heard her step-mother's voice. "You should know better Julian Alexandra. Your Daddy is already not thrilled about where you are, and then you don't do what he tells you to?" She could almost see the smirk on Lu's face. "You're lucky he pretty much thinks you hung the moon and stars."
"Yeah." She should have taken the five minutes to call when she was in her room earlier, but she had gotten distracted. Because that's all Lu really wanted, just five minutes to know she was relatively okay. "I'm sorry, I should have called sooner."
"That's okay, honey. You and Sophie are okay though? Other than her cheek?" Lu was past whatever hurt feelings and getting down to the nitty gritty.
"Yeah, so far at least. I'm sure the doctor that stitched her up will take another look, make sure it's healing okay. Dr. Knowles is a pediatric surgeon."
"Tara Knowles?" Lu's voice was intensely curious. "I had wondered where she had gone to. Sophie is in good hands with her." Lu was now speaking in her 'professional' voice. Lu was a trauma surgical nurse. She had met Pop when Rip had been in what could have been a fatal bike wreck, but luckily for him, wasn't. Although, now that she thought about it, he'd probably preferred to have gone out that way instead of the way he did.
"Cool." She didn't want to broach it, but knew she had to. "Is Will around?"
"No. He's staying at a hotel." Lu sighed. "He said if you called to tell you that there's legal things to be taken care of. Ray pretty much left everything to you and Soph." She looked over to Pop, who'd pretty much been unashamedly eavesdropping. Pop just nodded.
"Already have Mason looking everything over. All of his business interests will be sold to the partners, then it's to all go into trusts for you and Soph." Then Pop rolled his eyes. "And Dennis and Eric are co-executors of Soph's trust." Pop didn't sound surprised in the least, but she knew that he'd also had a few more days to process shit.
"The police will be releasing the body either tomorrow or the next day." Lu's voice started to shake a little, and it wasn't grief. "That little fuck is going to have the memorial service right away. When I brought up you and Soph, he said Soph was too young and that he wasn't going to hold things up just for you."
She wanted to roll her eyes, but knew if she did, there was a good chance she'd get a cuff to the back of the head. She really didn't need Jax seeing her be treated like a kid. Well, any more than she already was. "He's right about Sophie. She's too young to go to something like that." She shook her head. "And Will is right." Plowing on before Lu could protest. "Also, don't forget where and why Ray was killed. Will has a right to be angry with me, even if it isn't logical." Which she knew to be true. Logic told her this wasn't her fault. It was Dougie's and whatever entity he was working on behalf of. But emotion? Emotion told her this was at her feet and Will should be pissed as hell at her and the entirety of Satan's Sons family.
"I know honey, but…" She knew Lu was looking for a reason to be pissed instead of stewing in worry.
"No buts, Lu. Jules is right and we'll leave Will be. He'll reach out if and when he's ready." Good, Pop's voice was back to normal. She looked over at Den and saw the relief on his face too.
"Fine, Jake." Lu sounded a little put out that she wasn't allowed to be bitchy about Will and the memorial service. "Jules, when I talked to him about an hour ago, he was getting ready to take a sleeping pill and get some sleep. He hasn't slept much."
"I know the feeling." She was still bone tired, but another few cups of coffee and maybe an energy drink or twelve, she'd be, well, still bone tired but with enough fake energy to get through the rest of the morning. The odds were good she would be sharing her daughter's naptime today. "If you talk to him, tell him to text me when it's good for me to call him. That way I don't interrupt him in the middle of something and get bitchy Will." Because bitchy Will made her want to slap him upside the head. And she didn't want to feel that way about him at the moment. "Bitchy Will makes my teeth itch."
Lu laughter was tinny through the cel speaker. "I know THAT feeling." The laughter faded away. "I'm glad you and Soph are relatively okay. Call later when you and her have a little time to talk."
"Okay." She looked over at Pop who seemed a lot less stressed than he had a few moments ago. Thank you baby Jesus. Although she could almost hear Eric's voice in her head. 'What part of Pop at def-con one didn't you hear the first time?'
"Plus, I'm pretty sure your Daddy has a few things to say to you, so I'll let you get that over with." Lu sounded way too entertained by that thought. "Love you honey. Be good. Listen to your Daddy." Then she was gone.
She looked over to Pop, who was back to looking not so thrilled. He shook his head at her and Den. "I'd like to tell the two of ya not to act like knuckle-head goofballs, but I know I'd just be spittin' in the wind with that." She had to give Pop credit, the man knew his kids. "And I can't believe I'm even sayin' it, but listen to Trager if he tells the two of you something." Pop's eyes went hard and he pinned her to the spot she was standing in. "Since what's in the safety deposit box seems to be what whoever the fuck that little prick is working for wants, my guess is it's connected to SAMCRO and not us. So Trager will know the players."
"What the fuck is in that box that someone wants so fucking bad?" Thank fuck for Den.
Pop sighed. "Cash and a deed to a house here in Charming." Pop's eyes flicked over at the SAMCRO guys milling around the table, then back to her and Den. "My guess is someone wants the house. Considering what the little prick and his Nazi friends are into, they want it as a cookhouse and as a way of getting a foot into Charming."
Her and Den nodded. She guessed it made sense. To be honest, she paid little attention to club business at home. She was the daughter of the Pres, and sister to the VP, so while she had a certain status, she wasn't an old lady and therefore not really in any fucking loop. "You mean Charming has managed to miss the Nor-Cal meth explosion?" It had been a problem in the area going back to her time at Stanford.
Pop shook his head. "Nah, SAMCRO keeps it out of the town." Pop grinned a little. "You can sell all the weed you want in this town, but you'll get shut the fuck down for anything harder." Pop sounded as tickled by that as she knew he was. While that was the rule with the Satan's Sons, it was impractical to think you could have that mandate throughout Chicago.
"Oh. Okay." She looked over at the clubhouse and started to fantasize about another cup of coffee. And maybe a cigarette.
Pop glanced over at Den. "You're off the hook. Go make sure your brother isn't letting Baby Princess run amok."
Den nodded as he shot her a sympathetic glance. But that didn't stop him from running off as fast as he fucking could with a shred of dignity intact. She wanted to flip him off, but, again, that whole Jax seeing her get treated like an errant child stopped her.
She looked back at Pop, who was looking at her with an eyebrow raised like he knew what she was thinking of doing. He sighed. "You know, I never wanted you to come out here."
Yeah, she was pretty sure the last couple of hours had hammered that home. Pop went on. "But you're here and it's pretty obvious that you're already thinking of staying."
She looked at him, surprised that he'd managed to say it and not sound like he was chewing glass. "I like California." Thinking she'd see if Pop would buy that.
"Yes, you do." Pop gave her a wry smile. "And certain blondes that live here too."
"Maybe." She was going to try and make this conversation as short as humanly possible. She didn't care how 'cool' most thought her parents were; she really didn't like talking about her love life with either Pop or Lu.
"Give me some credit Princess, I have eyes." Pop smiled at her. "He's good with Sophie."
"He is." He was amazing with Soph, but she wasn't gonna say that to Pop.
"She really likes him." Another obvious fact. Pop chuckled. "And seems to already know how to work him."
This time she chuckled along with Pop. "Yeah, she does." Then she stopped chuckling and looked Pop dead in the eye. "What are you gettin' at, Pop?"
He looked at her seriously. "If you were thinkin' of stayin' here only for Trager, I'd put my foot down." She wanted to protest, but Pop went on. "Your Ma had her reasons for why she cut him out and I'll respect those until the day I take my last breath." Here it comes, she was certain. Pop was gonna tell her she had to come back to Chicago. "But your Ma will haunt me if I get between you and Jax." He shook his head ruefully. "So, if you want to stay, I'm not gonna stop you."
She stared at Pop, pretty sure her lower jaw was brushing the asphalt of the parking lot. "Where's Pop and who the hell are you?"
Pop grinned and she relaxed a little. "Smart-ass." Pop gave her a hug. "See if I'm nice to you again today." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You're off the hook too, now." Letting her go. "So you can go get your cup of coffee and let your brothers know the coast is clear."
She smiled at Pop as she walked back towards the clubhouse. While yeah, she was looking forward to spending time with Tig and getting to know him; Pop would always be Pop. He was the one that knew the four of them as well as they knew each other. And the fact that Pop was okay with her and Sophie staying here? Man, it felt like he'd given her a gift she hadn't known she had wanted.