Jake would have liked to say he was surprised to see Eric pushing Sophie in her stroller when he rode past them on his way to Jax's house, but he wasn't. It was how his oldest like to spend time with his niece. Outside and active. Hell, it was how he liked to spend time with his sister as well.
After he got to Jax's he waited outside for Eric and Soph to catch up. It was a little after seven. Jules had her appointment at the hospital at eight and he wanted to go with them and make sure her knee wasn't seriously fucked up.
"Good morning Grampa!" Sophie sang from her stroller, looking all snug in her jammies and blanket holding one of her new sippy cups in her hands.
"Morning, baby." Getting off his bike. He nodded to his son. "Morning, Eric."
"Morning, Pop. You goin' to the hospital with the girls?" Eric took a drink from the coffee cup that had been in the stroller's drink carrier.
"Yeah." He leaned down and unstrapped Soph and picked her up to cuddle her a bit, handing her sippy cup to Eric. His days of being able to do this were numbered. There would be no more just stopping by the girls' place when he was out and about. No last minute calls for them to come to the house for dinner.
He snapped himself out of his melancholy train of thought and smiled at his granddaughter. "I've only seen Abel through a window, thought I'd take advantage and get to meet the little guy before he comes home and none of the women let us hold him." Grinning up at his son.
"That is a possibility." Eric smiled.
"We goin' to see da baby?!" Sophie bounced in his arms. "I can't hold him yet. But I smile at him and he smiles back!" The bouncing ceased and Soph looked up at him. "Mommy says I can hold him when he comes home."
"That's probably for the best, sweetheart." Thinking that the hospital personnel wouldn't be happy to find an almost three-year old holding an infant who was not only born too soon, but with a myriad of other health issues. He was amazed they were even letting Sophie in the room, but just assumed that was due to Tara's interference.
He felt his cell phone go off in his kutte. Putting Sophie back in her stroller, he pulled it out and saw Mike Murphy's number. He nodded to Eric as he answered. "Mike, hold on a second." He took the phone away from his face. "I think someone needs to go get dressed." Jerking his head towards the house.
Eric nodded and headed inside with Sophie. Once the two of them were out of ear shot, he put the phone back to his ear. "What's goin' on Mike?"
"We're back and that piece of shit is in a holding cell." Mike sounded tired. "He'll be arraigned at two this afternoon Chicago time."
"You made it back already?" Even with Mike or his partner driving the entire time, he didn't expect them back in Chicago until later today.
"Yeah. Captain sent a couple of guys and we met them in Reno. Only stopped for gas and shit like that. Got in about four hours ago." Mike sighed. "I'm too old for this shit. I'm goin' home, gonna kiss my wife, have a beer and crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours and then make sure this asshole doesn't get bail. I'll call you after the arraignment."
"Thanks Mike, I appreciate you handlin' this case. I know you'll try to keep the girls away from this as much as you can."
"Yeah." Mike sighed again. "Give them my love. Talk to you later this afternoon." Then hung up without a good-bye.
Slipping his cell phone back into his kutte, he made his way into the house. He found Jax, Tara and Eric sitting at the small table in the kitchen, coffee cups in front of them. "Where are your sister and niece?" He directed at Eric.
Jax answered. "I think they may be arguing over clothing choices?" Jax grinned. "It's princess dress versus jeans and shirt." He glanced over to Eric. "His ten bucks is on the dress, mine's on the jeans and shirt..."
Tara piped in. "Mine's on a different outfit completely." He was happy to see that it looked like she got a little sleep, and that she was feeling comfortable enough around them to gamble on who was more stubborn; his daughter or granddaughter.
He chuckled as he pulled his wallet from his pocket and grabbed his own ten and threw it on the table with the others. "I bet it's the jeans and shirt, but she gets to wear the wings."
Jax grinned a little wider. "I guess we'll see."
They could all hear Jules and Sophie coming down the hall.
/
Jules was happy that she and Sophie had managed a compromise on her daughter's clothing choice for the day.
Using her crutch, she nudged her daughter in the ass. "C'mon Miss Thing, we need to get moving if you're going to have some breakfast before we leave."
Sophie danced in front of her making their way down the hall towards the kitchen. "So we can see da baby!" Skidding her way into the kitchen and her grandfather.
"Yes, so we can see the baby." Pop picking Sophie up. "And so mommy can have her knee looked at again."
She noticed that Pop and everyone else was taking stock of Sophie. Then noticed the money on the table. Four ten dollar bills. Schooling her face so the grin wouldn't show, she turned to Tara.
"Really? You've been taken in by our crazy-ass family to the point they have you gambling on god only knows what?" She was so glad that Tara felt comfortable here with them. That Tara didn't have to handle what had happened to her all alone. She couldn't even imagine. Even stuck in that car with Dougie she knew that Pop and the others were on their way, and she knew that even if they didn't know her, SAMCRO would be there for her and Sophie too. So she had people to hang onto even in the worst situation.
But as far as she could tell, Tara didn't really have anyone other than her tension laden connection to Jax and his club. So she was glad to see that her clan could maybe fill a little bit of that void in Tara's life. At least for the moment.
Tara just shrugged with a smile as she reached over and grabbed the tens off the table. "Just taking advantage of earning some easy money." Then handed Pop two of the tens. "But you were right about the wings."
Pop chuckled and handed the bills to her. "For Soph's bank."
She eyed her family, all of them, including Tara. "You know, when making bets of these kinds..." She grinned at Sophie who was bouncing up and down.
"You need to be quiet!" Sophie hollered. "We heard you!" Sophie climbed up on Jax's lap. "We heard you Daddy! And we let Auntie Tara win 'cause girls..." Sophie looked at her.
"Stick together." She grinned at the others. "Although we didn't hear what Pop said, so he legit won."
Sophie was still focused on Jax. It absolutely melted her heart when she saw them together. If she didn't already believe in fate, just seeing those two together would seal that deal.
"We got you Daddy!" Sophie bouncing in his lap, her stitches nearly disappearing into her dimples. "We pwayed a joke on you!"
Jax chuckled as he hugged her. "You sure did, baby." Giving her a kiss on the head. "But, I gotta go to work." Jax stood and sat Soph on the chair he'd been sitting in. "I'll see you later, okay? You make sure you tell Abel about your new swing set."
"I will, Daddy. Can you have wunch wif us?" She was glad Sophie wasn't making any fuss over Jax leaving like she had yesterday morning when he had first brought them to the house.
"I'll have to get back with your mommy on that one, sweetheart." Jax nodded his head towards the door. "You okay to hobble with me out to my bike?"
"Actually it feels pretty good." She stood without the crutches and was able to put all of her weight on the right knee with just a little pain. "But I know if I try to not use these before an x-ray is taken..." Glancing at Pop and Eric. "I will be scolded." Rolling her eyes. "So, yes, I'm okay to hobble outside." Looking again to Eric. "You wanna get her started with a bowl of cereal? We need to leave in like twenty minutes."
She followed Jax outside as Eric slid from his chair to grab a little breakfast for Sophie.
Getting to his bike, Jax turned and leaned against it, looking at her carefully. "How you feelin' this mornin' babe?" He gently pulled her towards him. "And I'm not talkin' about your knee."
She sighed. She really didn't want to think about the nightmare she had last night, much less talk about it. "If I say I'm fine will you drop it?" Knowing the answer already.
Jax was shaking his head. "Babe." Feeling her heart swell at the sheer emotion in that one word. "I'm not one to advocate talkin' to a shrink or shit like that, but it might not be the worst idea." She closed her eyes as she buried her face in his neck. He probably wasn't wrong.
She felt his lips brush her head before he went on. "You were right, if we love Sophie and fill her life with good stuff, this is all a bad dream in a few years, and by the time she's an adult it's only the faded memory of a bad dream." She felt his arms go tighter. "But for you it's real and always will be."
"Yeah." She sighed. "Why do you have to be smart too?" She laughed a broken laugh into his neck as she hugged him tight. "You couldn't just be pretty?"
She felt his responding laughter. "You wouldn't like me if I were only pretty, babe." He lifted her face from her neck and kissed her. Grinning when he pulled away. "Pretty sure of that." The grin fell away to something more serious. "I just don't want you to have nights like last night and if you don't talk to somebody there will be more of them."
"I know." She sighed again. "I'll talk to Tara and see who see recommends, I know she's planning on talking to someone." She disengaged herself from Jax. "I think that's why I had the nightmare, since Tara mentioned she was gonna talk to someone, I started thinking about it."
Jax looked at her with surprise. "You did? Why didn't you say something last night?"
She shrugged. "It was just a thought of a thought, you know? Tara mentioned it after dinner when I was in the kitchen." She shrugged with a slight smile. "Then it was time for Soph's bath and bedtime and I didn't think of it again." She gave him a wry smile. "It was on the list for today." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Me 'n Butch went to a therapist after Ma died. It helped."
"Okay." He smiled at her. God, he was gorgeous. She may have hated the trip and wished it had never happened, but the destination had turned out to be pretty spectacular. "Check in with me after the hospital, I wanna know what they say." Then smiled again as he gently cupped her face and gave her a tender kiss on the forehead. "And give that to my little man." Then kissing her again until they both were feeling the need for air. "I gotta go, babe. Call me later."
She backed away as he swung a leg over his bike and started it. Waving at him as he pulled out of the driveway, she wondered. She she have told him they were going appliance shopping after the hospital?
It was time to bring the kitchen into the twenty-first century. She shrugged as she turned to go into the house. Jax hadn't seemed to mind anything else they'd done or mentioned they were going to do. He had just smiled and said. "It's your house too, babe. Whatever you wanna do is fine with me."
While she was inclined to take him at his word, she'd tell him about it when she called to let him know what happens at the hospital.
She went back to the house to find that everyone was ready. She looked at Pop. "Someone have my bag?" Nodding when she saw Tara hold it up.
Both Pop and Eric headed for their bikes, as she watched Tara help Sophie get into her car seat. After gently lowering herself into the passenger seat, she looked over at Tara. "You gonna be okay to drive after the hospital?"
Tara nodded. "I'm not talking to someone today. Just making the appointment."
"Do you think..." She looked out the window as Tara pulled away from the house.
"I think it would probably be a good idea. I think you would like the woman I'm going to be seeing. Would you like me to set something up?" Tara's voice tinged with what she liked to think of as 'medical calm'. Lu and Mercy had the voice too.
"Yeah." She was glad Sophie was singing along to the radio and not paying a lick of attention to her and Tara. "I really don't want another night like last night. That nightmare was too real, if you know what I mean." Blanching a little when she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry. You've been through your own nightmare, of course you know what I mean."
"Exactly." Tara's voice was sad, but friendly. "I think it would do us both a lot of good."
"Yeah." She leaned back in the seat. "So tell me about this ortho guy." She was done talking about talking to someone.
Taking the hint with a slight smile, Tara told her about the doctor she would be seeing and other hospital gossip until they arrived.
/
Dennis was just leaving the clubhouse to make is way to the hospital when Jax pulled up on his bike. Pop had called already irritated that he wasn't at Jax's ready to go to the hospital with all of them this morning. Why they all needed to be there was beyond him, but if that's what Pop wanted then that's what Pop was gonna get.
Waiting for Jax to turn his bike off, he adjusted the strap of his computer bag. Once the bike was off Jax looked up. "Hey. You headin' to the hospital?"
"Yeah." Watching Jax stow his helmet. "Pop talked to Mike Murphy this morning. They made it back and Dougie will be arraigned this afternoon. So he wants me to look into who's who, see if we can assure that there's no bail."
Jax cocked his head to the side. "Like judges and shit?"
"Yeah. If it's the right judge, all it takes is a phone call and Dougie isn't goin' anywhere."
"Satan's Sons have that kind of juice?" Jax sounded skeptical.
"Nah." He grinned. "But we have friends that do." He shook his head with a smile. "Dude, you have to remember, Chicago is… Chicago. Outfit still has a hold whether the government wants to admit it or not." He shrugged. "If it's the right judge, Pops calls Gramps, Gramps calls some old buddy and next thing you know Dougie has no bail."
"And a warm welcome once he hits lock up." Jax replied with a vicious smile.
He wasn't sure how much Pop or Eric had told Jax about the deal they had made with the one of the street gangs to take care of Dougie, and it wasn't his place to spill that info so he just nodded. "I'm sure someone will take it upon themselves." He gave Jax a wry grin. "Dougie always makes friends wherever he goes. Girls do okay last night?" Changing the subject.
Jax shrugged. "Sophie and Tara slept through the night." He noticed Jax wasn't really making eye contact with him. "Jules had a bit of a rough patch."
"Her knee still buggin' her?" Knowing the answer by the way Jax's eyes were skating over the lot, barely coming into contact with his own. His sister's knee was fine, but she'd still had a bad night.
He had to give Jax credit. Jax straightened and looked at him a little sadly he thought. "No. That would have been easy." Jax sighed. "Had a nightmare. Pretty sure she was just reliving the scene she walked into in Chicago." Jax looked around the lot as he lowered his voice. "Told her she should talk to someone about it."
"I'm sure Pop or Eric were already planning on mentioning the same thing to her."
Jax's eyebrow raised as the man smirked at him. "But not you?"
He shook his head with a grin. "Fuck no." He let out a dramatic sigh. "I have found my life works much, much easier if I don't try to tell Jules what to do." Then laughed. "Or not to do. Let me drop a little knowledge on how the Lyons siblings work..."
Jax chuckled as he lit a smoke. "She says jump and the rest of you say how high."
He wiggled his hand in a 'kinda' motion. "You're seeing 'state of emergency' Lyons sibling care." He sighed. He really did not mean to be having this conversation right now considering that Pop was expecting him and soon. But he felt that this was info that Jax might find helpful. Or at least interesting.
"Usually when Jules spends time with Eric, they're running or playing basketball, hiking, something physical. Or it's when the whole family is together. Same with Butch." He grinned at the incredulous look on Jax's face. "Remember, 'state of emergency'." He shook his head with affection. "Butch reverts to ten years old when the only mission he had was to keep his baby sister safe as per his Ma." Dennis swallowed hard before he continued. "And that's always been one of Eric's missions, always will be."
He shrugged. "I've only ever been her friend. Not her caretaker like Eric or her protector like Butch." He shrugged again, but this time with a smile. "And I'm cool with that." He grinned. "Just don't come lookin' to me for back up if you want to make Jules do somethin', 'cause I'm useless as fuck when it comes to that."
Jax nodded with a grin of his own. "Good to know."
"Glad I could help." He looked towards his own bike. "I should get goin' before Pop has a stroke."
Jax looked around the lot again. "I'll deny I ever said this, but I think your Dad was looking forward to spending a little time with Abel." An almost shy smile on the normally cocky biker's face.
"Another Lyon's family fun fact? Some of them will nearly get into fistfights over who gets to hold a baby next." He raised a finger before Jax could open his mouth. "And no, I'm not telling you who, because why should I spoil the fun." With that he turned with a wave. "I'm sure I'll see you later."
He waved at Gemma as the drove by each other as he pulled out of the lot.
/
Jake was outside with Eric at the hospital when Dennis finally pulled up. He'd gone out for a smoke while Jules was in x-ray. Tara had talked to everyone she needed to talk to and was currently showing Sophie her office to keep Soph occupied until Jules was done and they could go see Abel.
"What took you so long?" Lighting the cigarette he'd come out here to have.
"Ran into Jax on the lot. Little rude to walk past him." Dennis adjusting the strap of his computer bag. One of his son's defensive mechanisms. Something was bothering his middle son.
"Yeah, it would be. What'd he have to say?" Giving Dennis the opportunity to spill before Eric shifted into interrogation mode.
"Jules had a nightmare last night." Yeah, that would bother Den. He looked over to his oldest who nodded.
"I know it happened. Don't know any of the details. Jax took care of it." He bit back a smile at the slightly chagrined tone of his oldest son's voice. Apparently he wasn't the only one having to come to terms with the fact that the girls were no longer exclusively theirs and that they would have to trust others to step up.
"He said he thought she was reliving walking into the apartment again." Den's face took on a bit of a hollow look. He can understand, he knows that Eric and Dennis saw the same crime scene photos he did. Dennis went on. "Jax said he told her to talk to someone." Dennis taking up for his almost brother-in-law.
He nodded approvingly, watching some of Dennis' tension slip away. "Good. Pretty sure she made an appointment when Tara did." He looked at both his sons, grateful that they were good men and they would understand.
"Tara's family now." He took another drag of his smoke.
Dennis and Eric shared a look and then Den gave him a small grin. "Well, you always did want one of us to be a doctor."
"Yeah, yeah." He shook his head at Dennis affectionately. "Keep in mind I said that when you were thirteen and you, Butch and Jules all had ER visits in the course of two months. You three and those fucking skateboards." He looked over to Eric. "You mention goin' back to Chicago to Tara?"
Eric nodded. "Yeah." His oldest shrugged. "She'll end up back there but says she'd like to finish out her contract with St. Thomas, she's got about seven months left. Plus, she said she'd like to make sure Abel will be okay." Eric blew out a breath. "She said he was a pretty messed-up little man."
"Yeah, Gemma filled me in the other night." He put his cigarette out in the ashcan the hospital had out. "Kid's gonna be seein' doctors for a long time." Shaking his head sadly. What a hell of a way to grow up.
He straightened hit kutte while looking at Den. "Let's get inside, check on the girls and you can use Tara's office to do what you need to do."
Dennis nodded and followed his brother inside.
He went to follow when his phone rang. Looking at the number, he answered quickly. "Lyons."
"Heard the white boy hit lock-up." A deep baritone came over the line. "Jus' makin' sure the deal is still good."
"Yup." Fifty grand for Dougie to die? Worth every fuckin' penny.
"Cool." The baritone chuckled. "See you when you get back." The line went dead.
Slipping his phone back into his pocket. He followed his sons inside. Eric raised an eyebrow in question.
"Ricky." Both boys nodded with slight smiles.
He gestured towards the belly of the hospital. "Let's go find the girls, go see Abel and then get some food." Passing his sons, heading towards Tara's office.
/
Tara hung up the phone from the orthopedic department saying that Jules was ready to go. The x-ray had shown what the doctors had thought the other night. Strained and not torn. Assuring the nurse that they'd be down there soon, she lifted Sophie off her chair that the girl had been spinning around in.
"Hey that was the nurse down where your mommy is, they say we can come get her now." Smiling at the little girl. She was enjoying spending time with Sophie. She was a pretty easy kid, although curious as hell.
"Okay." Sophie settled easily. "We should get Grampa too so we can see da baby."
She smiled at Sophie's obvious adoration of Abel. Sophie had already been in to see him when they first got to the hospital and her and Jules stopped in for a couple of minutes.
"Grandpa too." She assured Sophie as she opened her office door to Jake's hand coming up to knock. Turning to Sophie she smiled. "Grandpa gotten." Chuckling at Sophie's hard nod.
Smiling at Jake she went on. "Ortho department just called saying Jules is done. Just strained, and the cortisone shot did it's job. She just needs to take it easy for the next week or so.
"Good, good." Jake nodded as he took Sophie from her. "Well, Baby Princess, let's go get Mommy and go see Abel." Then nodded his head at Dennis. "Would it be alright for Den to do a little computer work in here? It'll just take him a few minutes." Jake smiled. "If your more comfortable stayin' here makin' sure he doesn't steal anything, by all means. But personally I think goin' to see Abel will be better than watchin' Den." Knowing that the hospital personnel had already given their kuttes the once over.
"I'll get him set up and meet you down there." She straightened her back. Not a single person from the hospital had called to check on her. These people had taken her in and stood firm. "Plus, there are a couple of things I need to grab if I'm going to be out another five days. I can at least catch up on some paperwork."
"Alright then." He nodded to her and Dennis as he turned away. "See you in a few."
Turning to Dennis, she pointed to an outlet by the filing cabinet. "Will that work? Do you need access to our internet?"
Dennis shook his head. "Nah, got my own access." He plugged in and opened his laptop. "You should get movin'." The man grinned up at her. "Pop doesn't like his kids to, in his own words, 'dilly-dally around'." Noticing what was probably a shocked look on her face. "Ah. Yeah." The grin got bigger. "You know Pop has decided to adopt you, right?"
She stood there gaping at him, trying to smother the urge to cry. "He what?!" Trying to find her voice. Not sure where it went.
Dennis chuckled as he set his laptop on her desk. Walking over to her, he took her arm and gently steered her to one of her consult chairs. After he got her sat down, he crouched in front of her. "Pop has decided that you're like his eighth or ninth kid. There's the four of us, then Jase; Eric's best friend since middle school, you'll meet him tomorrow." Dennis grinned. "My best friend from MIT, Elliot. Butch's friend Mikey Murphy, and Jules best friend Janie Martinelli." Then Dennis waved his hand in a 'kinda' motion. "Jax'll get thrown in there too." Dennis winked at her. "It'll just take a minute." Then he patted her knee. "I hate to say it, but I'm not seein' anyone else lining up for the job." Dennis stood and the grin softened into something far more genuine. "And everybody needs a family, and it doesn't end with DNA."
Going completely against her nature and acting entirely on instinct, she stood and hugged Dennis Lyons. Hard. Trying to convey the deep, deep feeling of gratitude that was bubbling up.
Dennis just laughed as he hugged her back. "Did I break you?!" He laughed again. "Because if I did, I need to call Jules like right now. I may have broken a record."
She shook her head as she laughed, pulling away. "Slightly dented maybe, but not broken." She gestured towards his computer and her stack of paperwork. "We should stop, what was it you said? Dilly-dallying?"
"Right." Dennis nodded with a smirk as he sat back down and started to type away.
Gathering her paperwork together, she thought to herself. Dennis didn't break her. He may have actually started to help the fixing process. With a much lighter heart she got the rest of her things together and told Dennis she would see him at the nursery.
/
Jules shook her head at her Pop, who was grilling the poor orthopedic doctor. Tara was right, she liked Dr. Brice. He was no-nonsense, and very experienced.
"Are you sure she doesn't need the crutches?" Pop looking at Eric holding them.
"Yes, Mr. Lyons, I'm sure. The swelling is almost completely gone. She has full range of motion with little pain, and it can bear her weight with little pain." The doc was actually doing a pretty good job of not sounding patronizing. "While she should by no means be out running a 5k, she should be doing some walking and rehab exercises that I'm sure she knows as well as any physical therapist by now considering all of the past damage."
And there's where the doc fucked up because Pop jumped all over that shit. "It's that past damage that has me worried about doing too much too soon."
Lucky for her the doc ignored the giant looming in the corner and focused on her Pop. Granted, Eric was far less scary when he has Sophie attached to him. She gave the two of them a smile as she pulled her phone out and took a quick picture. She already knew that she'd be taking a LOT of pictures of Sophie with Eric, Pop and Dennis. Then all of the others when they got here.
When she came to Stanford when she was eighteen, she hadn't thought much about moving that far away. Den and Butch were on the east coast, MIT and Annapolis respectively. So her being in California wasn't that big of a deal.
But now, other than Butch, there would be one of them outside the Midwest. Yeah, Tennessee was the South, but it was less than an eight hour drive. California was not. Considering she did it on no sleep, she should know.
She focused back on what the doctor was saying. "Just don't let her go overboard. Ice and anti-inflammatories if it swells. If something happens and it worsens again, bring her to the emergency room and they'll contact me."
She sighed with relief when Pop put a hand out. "Okay. Thanks doctor." Looking back at her.
"Yeah, thanks doc." She slid off the table, and grabbed the hospital issued cane she'd had Tara bring with them anticipating being liberated from the crutches, but practical enough to know that she'd be a little unsteady the first couple of hours since she'd been completely off of it for nearly two days.
She followed Eric and Soph with Pop hovering behind her as they made their way to Abel's room in the nursery. She waved at the day charge nurse as they passed by, the woman getting friendlier with every trip they made up here. She wasn't afraid to admit sometimes Sophie came in really handy.
"Hi Miss Debbie!" Sophie waved as the nurse came from behind the desk.
"Good morning Miss Sophie." Nurse Debbie smiled back. "I heard you've already seen Abel once today!"
Sophie nodded a little sad. "He was sleepin' tho." Then brightened right back up. "Now Grampa gets to hold him for me to look at." She looked at both Pop and Nurse Debbie, already figuring out Nurse Debbie has a little bit of power over her access to Abel.
Debbie nodded at her. "Yep! He must have known Grandpa was coming." Debbie turned to her. "He's just woken up and been changed. Would your Dad like to give him his bottle?"
Pop didn't need to be asked twice. He nodded at Debbie as he looked around. "Let's get the little man fed. Where do I need to wash up at? Anything I gotta wear?"
Debbie was already aware that Lu was a nurse, so she took his questions in stride. She nodded at the room. "There's a sink in there." Then shook her head. "Considering he's going home in a couple of days..." The rest of her words drown out by Sophie's squeal.
"Sophie." Pop shushed her with the tone of his voice. "You know better." His tone softened just the slightest at Sophie's quivering mouth. "No need for the tears. You tell Miss Debbie you're sorry for being too loud and interrupting her."
Sophie looked to her and she folded her arms across her chest. "You heard Grandpa." She nodded to Debbie. "You don't see Abel until you apologize." She sighed. "I know you're excited that he gets to come home, but we talked about this before we came in."
Sophie didn't even bother to look at Eric for help, her daughter knew when she wasn't going to be saved. She just tightened her grip on Eric's kutte and looked at Debbie with sorrowful eyes.
"I sorry Miss Debbie. I shouldn'ta been woud and I shouldn'ta innerupded you when you was talkin'." She didn't bother trying to correct her daughter's pronunciation or her daughter's grammer skills. Now was not the time.
"Apology accepted Miss Sophie." Debbie smiled at her daughter. "I know it can be pretty exciting when you get to bring your brother home. But you have to remember there are other babies here trying to sleep. You don't want to wake them up do you?" Debbie smiled at her daughter again. "You'd have to help change all those diapers!"
Sophie shook her head. "No. That's a mommy's job." Then thought for a minute. "It's not a wittle kid job, it a big person job!"
Debbie laughed. "You're right Sophie, it is." Then looking around laughed again. "And you should probably catch up to your Grandpa, looks like he was done waiting."
She had seen Pop take off once Sophie started her apology. She knew he wanted to get washed up before Sophie got in the room. Nodding her thanks to Debbie, she watched through the window for a second as Eric and Sophie stood over Abel's bed, Sophie waving like a madwoman.
Before he started washing his hands, Pop took his kutte off. She noticed him mouth the words 'road dust' to Eric, but she wasn't positive.
"Are you staying out here?" Debbie's voice came from behind her. She turned to see the nurse holding a small bottle.
"No, just appreciating the view for a second." Looking at Soph and Eric as she followed Debbie in.
Debbie had Pops sit in the rocker and handed Sophie the bottle to hold onto while Debbie retrieved Abel. She had to be honest, she was gonna have to find a nickname for this boy and soon. Why in the world would someone name their kid after the first murder victim in supposed history?! Yes, Abel was righteous and faithful, but man, she just didn't get it. Oh, she understood biblical names or religious names. Sophie was named for St. Sophia after all.
Watching Abel settle into Pop's arms, she smiled as Sophie shoved the bottle towards Pop's face. "Here's the bottle Grampa." Her daughter's voice an exaggerated whisper.
"Thanks, Baby Princess." Taking the bottle. Once Abel got going, his little arms started to flail a little before one found the outline of Pop's locket through his t-shirt and grabbed on. Not pulling, just holding. And looking at the look on Pop's face, she knows that he felt it too.
The first moment she held Abel, she just knew. This was her son. He was always meant to be her son. Not Wendy's son. Not Tara's son. Hers. The moment Gemma put Abel in her arms, she felt her mother in a way she hadn't since Sophie was born.
Pop caught her eye and she smiled. "You feel it too?" For a moment Eric and Sophie receded to the background.
Pop just nodded as he gently patted the miniscule hand holding the locket. "My grandson." Then smiled down at Abel. "You ready for your crazy huge family, bud?" Then smiled over at Soph. "Don't worry though, you got your big sissy to show you the way."
She pulled out her phone as Sophie went and leaned against Pop's leg, just happily watching Abel eat with Pop smiling down at both of them. She quickly captured another picture, silently reminding herself to send it to Lu as soon as possible.
She was glad she wouldn't have to hear the squeal Lu will make when she gets it. Maybe she should give Aunt Mercy fair warning.
Nah. There would be no fun in that.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks to all who have favorited, followed and reviewed. I truly appreciate it.