Shout out to the freak circle, and my beta EmeraldJewelSparkle I had a bit of a melt down in the process of this and the next chapter and she talked me off the ledge. If you haven't yet, PLEASE go check out her stories!
and thank you to all the anonymous reviewers, i knew there were still nice people out there :D:D:D
my favorite was Kudos 3 who named herself that and left no comment. so i got "Type your review for this chapter here.."
That put a huge ass smile on my face after a horrible night at work, thank you! :D
Set 2 weeks after chapter 12 and the funeral.
Disclaimer: I do not have the rights to SOA and make no profit off my writing. Anything you don't recognize from the show I have created.
Content Warning: This fanfiction is rated M. Please respect that warning and do not read this if you do not want to read M rated material.
2022
Age 30
Gabby folded sheets in the clubhouse laundry room. Life had gotten back to what was now normal. The so called boring days of the club were gone, replaced by the constant hustle bustle of searching out and tracking down new leads on the once thought solved problem of D-27.
Vivica seemed to be adjusting but she was still very withdrawn. So was Becky. She hadn't been back to the clubhouse since the funeral. She opted instead to watch the kids at home while Gabby took care of the daily goings on that Vivica hadn't picked up yet.
"Hey sweetheart." Happy's greeting at the door pulled Gabby out of her thoughts.
"Hey stranger. You coming over for dinner?"
"Club dinner?" He asked, though he would come either way.
"Whoever wants food, nothing formal. First game on Casper new ginormous TV. No point fighting it, I'm just gonna cook for an army." Gabby shrugged her shoulders referring to Casper's purchase of a 54 inch flat screen for the living room.
"Who's playing?" Hap teased.
"Funny. Dinner's at 7." Gabby rolled her eyes and picked up the now full basket of warm folded sheets to take to the dorms.
Happy held the door open for her. "I'll be there early." He assured her.
"With bells on?" Gabby asked cracking into a smile as she turned the corner. She headed towards the dorms bypassing the main bar and the men in it drinking after church. She could hear Frankie Vin and Shark discussing the game and rolled her eyes. She truly hated sports.
She braved Bull's dorm first, tossing any obvious garbage she found and quickly changed the sheets on the bed. This was the first time since the funeral Gabby had gone through the dorms. She had the prospect clean them again once the company left before the guys moved back in.
Every time Gabby came in Bull's disgusting dorm room she cringed at the thought of ever having given the man the time of day. She couldn't imagine marriage and kids with Bull the way her father had wanted. Shark maybe, well yes actually she could imagine that. Shark would be a great dad, a cheating husband, but at least a great dad.
Gabby chuckled at the fact that it was Tig's fault she had ended up with Casper in the end. If he hadn't meddled who knows if Gabby ever would have had a chance with him.
"Something funny?" Bull asked from the door and Gabby's head snapped up, apparently she had chuckled out loud.
"Just trying to distract myself from the mess. Otherwise I'd cry." She assured him and pushed him with the laundry basket out of her way so she could leave. "You're welcome by the way!" She added as she walked down the hall.
She hit the two empty rooms next, both stayed relatively clean but she knew they got used repeatedly by the guys with the crow eaters so she changed the sheets.
She ventured into Tom Tom's room last. She hadn't seen a whole lot of him recently, the men had all been busy but Tom Tom had to be downright avoiding her. She had briefly wondered if he had gotten back once again with Karen, but Casper had assured her he was staying in the dorms every night, and more importantly, completely alone. No sweet butts since the funeral.
She shoved her urge to snoop aside and looked around the room. At least he kept his room relatively clean, no trash lying around and he actually owned and used a hamper for his dirty clothes. She stripped the bed down, her eye catching a slightly folded over piece of computer paper, marker seeping through to the back of the page. She starred at it while taking the cases off the pillows.
It was definitely a little kids drawing. Becky had mentioned Suzie drew Tom Tom a picture, but this couldn't be the same one. That would mean that not only had he kept it when it was given to him, but also that he had packed it up and taken it back out again after the funeral.
"I can do that Gabby." Gabby looked up once again startled and chastised herself for not paying better attention. She had always been on high alert at the Charming clubhouse, she tended to be almost too much at ease here.
"I don't mind." She smiled at Tom Tom in the door way. He stepped into the room and grabbed the last folded sheet set out of the basket on the floor. She reached for them but he brushed her off and started making the bed himself.
"Thanks…" Tom Tom said hesitantly and shrugged. "You don't have to clean up after me just because I'm staying here."
"I really don't mind, your room at least." Gabby smiled at him as she picked up the basket of now all dirty sheets. "Bull's is disgusting and the empties are used by everyone."
Tom Tom snorted a laugh and finally looked her in the eye. "Are we cool? After…" He trailed off and looked away again.
"After you pummeled V-Lin in my house, got the cops called, and then spent two weeks hiding from me and the girl you were fighting over?" She looked him over, his bruises had all healed and he didn't have any scars. She wondered of V-Lin had been so lucky.
His head snapped back up to look at her again but he couldn't think of anything to say in his defense.
"Yeah, we're cool. But you might want to ask Becky the same question." Gabby leaned on the door jam, her laundry basket balanced on her hip, her best disappointed mom look on her face. "You coming over for dinner tonight?"
"I…Casper said not to come around." Tom Tom decided on as his answer. Casper had barely spoken to Tom Tom and now that his bruises had finally healed he wouldn't be surprised if Casper took him to the ring on Friday.
"Did you pay the ticket?"
"Yeah…"
"Then come. Start the healing. I'm making meatloaf."
Tom Tom couldn't help but smile, Gabby's meatloaf was the best. He sobered quickly though. "Is she gonna be there?" She, they both knew, being Becky.
"She's invited." Gabby shrugged and walked out. "Up to you." She added from the hall. She looked down at the basket of disgusting sex stained sheets. Yup, they were gonna sit in the basket for two weeks till sheet change day, just like last time.
"Uncle Shark!" Kristen beamed and ran to him as he came through the front door.
"Hey munchkin!" Shark picked her up and carried her back through the house to the kitchen where Casper Happy and Gabby were.
"Uncle Shark I lost my first tooth!" Kristen yelled excitedly and smiled wide for him to see the gaping hole in her mouth. The other adults smiled all having already gotten the same announcement personally.
"That's awesome! Are you gonna put it under your pillow for the tooth fairy?"
"It already is! I'm gonna get it and show it to you!" She squirmed out of his arms and bounded up the stairs.
Gabby looked at the group of men completely bewildered. "What the hell is a tooth fairy?" She finally asked.
"You don't know about the tooth fairy?" Shark and Casper asked in unison.
"Well that answers my second question of how Kristen knows about the tooth fairy." Gabby mumbled under her breath looking at her husband.
"She doesn't know who the tooth fairy is!" Shark turned to Happy angrily, pointing at Gabby.
"No, this is not a 'blame Happy' thing." Gabby came to her father's rescue. "I don't think I ever lost a tooth when he was visiting."
"Uncle Shark!" Kristen bounded back down the stairs. "Look, see, I was eating an apple after school and it came out when I took a bite. It didn't even hurt. Becky helped me dig it back out." She held up the small white baby tooth for Shark to examine.
"Wow!" Shark took it and held it up to the light like a diamond.
"Yo!" Vin yelled from the door, coming right in just like Shark.
"Go show Vin, hurry!" Shark handed the tooth back and swatted Kristen on the butt as she ran full speed down the hall.
"How can you not know who the tooth fairy is?" Shark turned back immediately and looked at Gabby. "What did you do with the teeth when you lost them?" He was completely distressed by the topic.
"Jesus Shark I don't remember." Gabby sighed still pulling ingredients out.
"Well what happened when you lost your first tooth?" Shark leaned over the center island Gabby was working at.
"I swallowed it." Gabby shrugged.
"You swallowed it?" Casper cringed and ran a hand over his throat, a lump forming at the idea.
"Yeah, it was loose and Emily slap…I swallowed it." Gabby cut herself off and tried to cover up her slip.
Happy stood up from the kitchen table and looked at Gabby. She met his eyes for a moment and quickly looked back down, starting to measure out ingredients. Casper and Shark stood quietly watching the two, both in shock over the idea that Gabby had been abused at such a young age.
Vin carried Kristen into the kitchen and looked around, feeling the tension.
"Why don't you go find your brother sweetie." Vin said and set her down.
"Okay. I gotta put my tooth away first though." She darted out of the kitchen and once again back up the stairs.
"What's wrong?" Vin immediately asked, going on the defense.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Happy asked Gabby, ignoring Vin. He clearly remembered the first time he had noticed bruises on her and it hadn't been at Kristen's age. She hadn't admitted it was even happening till she was 16.
"Water under the bridge dad. Doesn't matter." Gabby threw the measuring spoons in the sink and grabbed the thawing meat out of the fridge.
"How old were you?" Shark asked quietly.
"Uncle Vin will you push me on the swings outside?" Kristen asked running back into the kitchen. The adults all turned to look at the innocent six year old girl.
"Sure sweetie." Vin took her hand and let her lead him outside where Becky was playing with the younger kids.
"I'm not having this conversation." Gabby picked up a larger than necessary knife to slice the package of meat open with and plopped it into the bowl to mix with other spices.
Happy swallowed and stormed out of the kitchen to the garage.
Casper kissed his wife on the head. "I'll do the tooth fairy thing tonight." He assured her. "I love you." He whispered and followed Hap to the garage. He eyed Shark on his way out but left the man there.
"Gabby…" Shark came around the counter and stood next to her. "I'm sorry, okay. You…you never talk about that stuff, sometimes I honestly forget you went through it. Hap's so solid with you and the kids and Tig wants so badly to be in your life. Hard to believe it ever wasn't like this."
Gabby glared at Shark. "You have no idea the things I don't talk about. Things no one knows…Just mind your own fucking business." She turned back to the food on the counter, obviously dismissing him. He rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment, another silent apology, and then left, following his brothers to the garage.
"Hap." Casper tried saying his name again. He didn't dare go up to the man currently kicking the shit out of a plastic tub of kids' toys.
Casper gave up on his father in law and leaned against his cage, resting his forehead against the cool metal. He hadn't known how long Gabby had been abused, and he didn't know how badly. It was something she rarely talked about. She had never actually called it abuse, never talked about being beaten. She had said, on occasion, she was slapped around.
It was when they had talked about having kids that she first brought it up, and only so far as to say that her mother had slapped her around and she wouldn't tolerate her kids being hit. No hitting, no slapping, no spanking.
"You two just gonna stand out here and brood?" Shark asked as soon as he closed the door.
"Shark." Casper said his name in warning.
"Let me guess, mind my own business?" Shark asked sarcastically. Happy stopped kicking and turned to glare at him.
"Did you know?" Shark asked him.
"Hap wouldn't have left her there if he knew. Back off. I mean it. All this shit is a lot deeper than just Gabby and Hap, alright?" Casper stepped up to Shark and used his four inch height advantage to make his point.
"Yeah." Shark pushed away from Casper. "I know exactly who else is to blame. And it ain't the dead whore." He walked past Hap out of the garage around to the side of the house and pulled out his prepay.
"How pissed do you think she is in there?" Casper asked, turning back to Hap.
Happy starred at him. Casper rolled his eyes and tried hard not to huff.
"Hap." Casper tried again, louder, and Happy finally seemed to snap out of his daze. "It sucks Hap, I know it sucks, I hate it. I hate thinking about it. But you didn't know. It's not your fault."
"I knew." Hap said simply and turned to leave.
"Hap!" Casper called, stopping him from retreating from the garage.
"I knew when she was eight. I knew worse than that at eight." Happy remembered Emily's fateful words. You make me your old lady, you can fuck whoever the fuck you want, any whore, any crow eater, Gabby, whoever the fuck you want, but I want your god damn crow. "I left her." He walked out of the garage not waiting for a response and walked straight to his bike.
He reached it just as Vivica pulled up. She got right out of her SUV and Happy sighed, he couldn't walk away from the newly widowed queen, he caved further and accepted a hug from her.
"You aren't leaving are you?" She asked.
"No…just stashing my stuff." Hap pulled his spare switchblade out of his pocket and threw it in his saddle bag, his k-bar and glock inside the house locked up already. He cleared his throat. "How are you Viv?" He asked as she turned back to her SUV and opened the passenger door.
"I'm alright." She handed him two store bought pies to carry in and retrieved two more. "Keeping busy." She cleared her own throat and shrugged.
The two walked inside in silence and went to the kitchen.
"Hey." Gabby smiled wide at Vivica and took the pies to the fridge before hugging her. Happy put the other pies away and grabbed a beer, leaning against the kitchen counter to drink it and stare at his daughter.
"Can I help?" Vivica offered, not quite back in the groove of club life.
"Nope, all under control, everything's in the oven. Why don't you go in the back and say hi to Kristen."
Vivica gave her a sharp look and glanced at Hap. "I feel like I'm being gotten rid of." She said frankly.
"Never!" Gabby exclaimed. "I promise Viv, Kristen just has something she's dying to tell you."
"Alright…" Viv put her hands up in surrender and walked to the back sliding doors. Gabby watched Becky give her a tight hug before Kristen jumped off her swing and ran to Vivica jumping up and down while she told Vivica about her tooth.
"Gabby?" Hap tried to get her attention, to say…something.
"I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it." She assured him, her eyes pleading with him not to be hurt, not to be angry.
"I want to talk about it." Hap said in a deathly serious tone.
"I won't talk about it." Gabby clarified and walked out of the kitchen.
Gabby Becky and Vivica stayed in the kitchen cleaning while the guys went to the living room to watch the game. Tony the prospect was in the backyard watching the kids play; which was completely unnecessary considering the backyard was fenced in and the kids could be seen from all the windows in the kitchen and living room. But the men were all for Tony missing the game.
"Well, no offense ladies, but I think I'm gonna duck out for the night." Vivica dried her hands and hung the towel back up as she spoke.
Gabby gave her a small smile, this was the first club gathering since the funeral, Gabby had done her best to make it informal. Vivica hadn't offered any dinners for the guys and when Gabby planned tonight's meal she'd had to beg Vivica to come.
"No interest in the game?" Gabby teased instead.
Vivica put a hand on her hip. "I'll stay if you can tell me what teams are playing."
Becky snorted. "She can't even tell you what sport it is."
"Yes I can! It's baseball. It has to be, it's spring, it's baseball season. Right…?" She furrowed her brow and Vivica gave her a hug.
"Yes baby, it's baseball season. Good guess. I'm still going. Thanks for dinner."
"Thanks for dessert." Gabby responded.
Vivica made a round of goodbyes with all of the patches and stepped out to say good night to the kids before heading to her car.
"Actually Gabs, I think I'm gonna skip out too." Becky confessed.
"Aww Becks, please don't leave me here all alone. If you leave I have no excuse to stay in the kitchen and drink wine all night."
"We aren't even drinking wine." Becky laughed.
"Yet." Gabby held up a finger and grabbed bottle out of the fridge. "Ask and ye shall receive." She gently swayed the bottle trying to tempt her friend.
"Sorry, still going." Becky smiled.
"You know he's not coming." Gabby threw out there and Becky froze.
"I'm not leaving because of…"
"You didn't ask who I was talking about." Gabby interrupted her.
Becky sighed. "I'm not avoiding Tom Tom."
"If he was coming he would have been here already."
"I'm not avoiding him!" Becky insisted in a whisper afraid the guys might hear.
"Fine, you go, leave me here."
Becky rolled her eyes and went out to collect Suzie. Tony brought the other kids in as well and yet another round of goodnights and goodbyes was had by the men. Gabby and Casper took their own kids upstairs as Becky left.
"It's not bedtime yet mommy." Kristen whined to her mother as she shimmied into a nightgown.
"Kristen." Gabby warned her for the whine and the girl dropped her head. "It's adult time downstairs. You don't have to go to seep yet but you need to stay in your room, okay?"
"Okay." Kristen bounced back quickly from being chastised. She understood adult time meant club time and she was not to interrupt.
"Okay. I love you. Give me a kiss."
"Love you too mommy." Kristen kissed her and Gabby slipped out of the room.
"He down already?" Gabby asked Casper when he wrapped an arm around her waist in the hallway.
"Out like a light." Casper assured her and gave her a kiss. "I love you."
Gabby smiled. "I love you too."
"You are amazing." Casper continued.
"Casper…" Gabby sighed and tried to pull away.
"No, come here." Casper pulled them both into their bedroom and shut the door.
"Please don't do this." Gabby begged him as he cupped her face in his large hands.
"I'm not. I'm not gonna ask questions." He kissed her again. "I love you so much." He whispered in her ear and held her tightly against his body. "So much Gabby."
She let her head rest against him and relaxed in his arms. He held her for a solid minute before pulling away. "I know you don't want to hear me say that I'm sorry. I know it wasn't my fault. But I HATE that so many bad things happened to you. I HATE it. It kills me to think about them." He kissed her again, deeply, conveying his love through the slow sensual movement of his lips and tongue.
He pulled back and sniffed away the threatening tears. "I picture stuff like that happening to Kristen, and my blood just boils." She looked down at his words but didn't try to pull away.
"You're missing your game." She finally spoke in a small quiet voice. Casper held in a sigh.
"Please don't shut me out love." He pleaded with her and pulled her chin up so she would look at him again.
"The things I need to say…they aren't things for you to hear. There's nothing I can ask that you can answer. I know you mean well, but hashing all this out with you…it won't help. Please don't make me."
Casper nodded and kissed her again. She ran her hands under his shirt and pulled him closer. He groaned into her mouth as she raked her fingers lightly down his back.
"Gabby." He shuttered and pulled away and she stuck out her bottom lip in a faux pout.
"Fuck you're crazy."
"I blame my mother." She started to grin but Casper caught her bottom lip in his teeth first, sucking it into his mouth. He sucked till she moaned and let go.
"We have a house full of people. Again." Casper tried to talk some sense into her.
"The game is on, they won't hear us. They think we're putting the kids to bed." She pulled his shirt up and dragged a fingernail over one of his many ab muscles. "And I should be ovulating right about now." She added coyly and Casper grinned, picking her up and tossing her on the bed. He crawled on top of her and started working on getting her pants unbuttoned.
"I know you're doing this just to make me shut up." Casper added as he broke away from her lips to hop out of bed and kick off his boots while locking the door.
"And yet you're still talking." She snarked and shimmied out of her shorts and panties and whipping her shirt and bra off over her head. He shucked his jeans and shirt as he came back to the bed and laid her out flat again.
"You're the one that needs to stay quite." He warned her and took a nipple in his mouth. She grabbed his head and held it to her while she moaned. "Quite." He hissed breaking away and she blew him a kiss. He kissed her deeply and flipped her over, running his tongue along her spine. He pressed his erection between her legs as he worked his way up and down her back making her jump and hiss.
She spread her legs quickly and he pressed gently against her making sure she was ready for him before sheathing himself in her. "Fuck." He muttered at her warmth, pressing his lips to her head right behind her ear. He set a quick pace slamming into her hard, using one hand to lift her hips so he would hit her g spot with each thrust.
She bit down on the comforter as she came, muffling her moans. He pounded into her, allowing himself a quick release in response to her clenching muscles. He rested on top of her till his dick stopped twitching.
"I hate quickies." He mumbled and rolled off of her.
"Not as much as you would hate celibacy." Gabby smirked and kissed his cheek before getting up and stumbling slightly on her way to the bathroom.
Casper grinned and lay on his back a minute before furrowing his brow and getting up to follow her. "You're not ovulating." He stated; arms crossed in the doorway.
"Says who…" Gabby blew him off and kicked the door closed so she could pee.
"Says you getting your period three weeks ago. You were ovulating last week."
She washed her hands and opened the door back up. "We said we wouldn't keep a calendar. I'm in the middle somewhere." She walked past him and threw her clothes back on.
Casper was absolutely keeping track. Having another kid had been his idea and he didn't want his wife stressing over it. And it wasn't that hard to remember she was ovulating two weeks after she got her period. Plus, with Gabby off her birth control it was also wise to know when she would be pmsing.
He wiped himself off with a washcloth and went back out to collect his own clothes.
"What are you doing?" He asked when Gabby laid in bed and grabbed her book off the night stand.
"Gonna read." She shrugged.
"No way. Come on love. Come with me." He grasped her hand firmly and led her back out of the room and down the stairs to the living room.
Shark eyed the two coming into the room. He knew Gabby was still mad at him. She had glared at him through dinner and hadn't spoken a word to him. She hadn't spoken to Happy either, but at least she hadn't glared at him from across the table. Looks between those two were fucking scary sometimes. Although, neither spoke all that much, so it must be a form of communication they developed over the years.
"Move." Casper spoke simply and sat down in the corner of the couch. Shark moved from the middle to the other end and Casper put his leg up on the couch, pulling Gabby to sit between his legs, holding her close against his chest. He grabbed his beer from earlier in one hand and entwined the fingers of his other in with Gabbys' hands on her stomach.
Jesus Shark wanted that; a wife. There was no way Casper knew just how lucky he was.
Becky held Suzie's hand as she led her up the outside staircase to her apartment. That was one thing on her list when she moved, if she still got an apartment, the staircase needed to be inside. She was still debating renting a house, she wasn't ready to buy, she was getting child support and saving money now, but it could stop anytime, and she didn't want the first house she bought to be foreclosed on.
She stopped dead when she saw a man at her door. No, not just at her door, picking her lock, Jesus. She bent down to pick up Suzie, planning on running back to her car and calling the cops. Or the club, the club would be mad if she called the cops, and the club would get here faster.
"Tom Tom!" Suzie yelled out when she was picked up. The man stopped and turned to them. It was Tom Tom.
"Jesus Tom Tom you scared me!" Becky chastised and walked to him, and her door.
"Sorry. Umm…" Tom Tom looked down at what he was doing and shoved something in his pocket.
"Tom Tom I missed you!" Suzie exclaimed. She reached out for him and he gave her an awkward surprised hug. He pulled away and she hung on to his neck, forcing him to pick her up out of her mother's arms.
"You missed me?" He asked her, squatting down and setting her back on her feet. She reluctantly let go of him and stepped back to her mother.
"Yes. I haven't seen you. Mommy said you were busy."
Tom Tom stood back up and looked at Becky, she shrugged and pulled out her keys to open the door. "Get ready for bed sweetie, I'll be in in a minute."
"She really miss me?" Tom Tom asked still outside the door as Suzie skipped inside.
"Yes." Becky sighed. "She misses all you guys when she doesn't see you. What…what are you doing here Tom Tom? It looked like you were trying to break into my apartment."
"I…well…no. Not technically." Tom Tom stumbled over his words. "Okay look I know that the fight and…"
"No." Becky held a hand up. "I'm not having this conversation like this. Why were you picking my lock?"
"Oh, I wasn't. I snagged the keys from the club." He pulled a large key ring out of his cut pocket. "They aren't all labeled, I didn't know which was yours…"
"Right. Why are you here?" Becky asked differently.
"Gabby said I should make sure we were alright." Tom Tom shrugged.
"And…you were going to do that without me here?" Becky asked leading Tom Tom on to disclose what the hell his plan had been.
"NO! No… umm… A/C." Becky looked at him utterly confused and Tom Tom dropped the keys back in his pocket and bent over, retrieving a rather large box from behind him. "With Chris…and everything. I never got back here. But I didn't forget." He juggled the box and Becky assumed it was very heavy. She opened the door wider for him but he didn't go in. "I lied though…I know plumbing…I don't know A/C's I mean, how to fix it. So…I just bought you one."
"You…you bought me one." Becky looked at the box. "You know I'm moving, right?"
"You found a place?"
"No…but, when my lease is up."
"Oh, yeah, I uh, I figured I would put this one in, keep the old broke one, and switch 'em out again when you move. It's too hot not to have one. Oh, and I got the new locks for Suzie's window."
"Umm, Jesus come inside." She watched him readjust the box yet again and pulled him through the door by his elbow. "Please put that thing down before you drop it." She let out a small nervous laugh and he set the large box down on the floor under the old A/C.
"I need to put Suzie to bed." Becky pointed behind her further into the apartment.
"Okay, I'll ah, I'll do this. Better to do it in the dark anyway…" Tom Tom pointed to the A/C unit and Becky nodded, gave him a tight smile, and left the room.
"I'll get it." Gabby got up at the sound of the doorbell and weaved her way through the men still in her living room. She grabbed empty beer bottles on her way and dropped them with a clank into the recycle bin pulled into the hallway from the garage for the party.
She glanced out the window and opened the front door, her brow furrowed. "Hey Tig."
Okay, so it wasn't my intention to leave 2 different cliffhangers, but the chapter got a lot longer than i was planning...i promise both will be picked up again next chapter!
thanks for reading
leave me kudos! and follow me on twitter kiara8921