"How's your head?"

"It's fine."

"Fine-fine, or just... fine?"

Denise looked over at Juice from her laptop, her brow furrowing in mild annoyance. This, she realized, had been the reason she hadn't told Juice about the headaches or the pains, because she knew it would pull him into a frenzy. Denise, to be honest, couldn't quite put her finger on what she wanted from him anymore. She wanted to be taken care of, to feel safe, of course, but she didn't want to feel like she was too vulnerable or useless.

Granted, it had been a rough day so far to begin with. It had been about two in the morning when Juice and Brucey arrived back at the house - Nero had set Denise up with a blanket on the sofa where she'd fallen asleep, and she had only stirred when her husband got back home. When Juice leaned over to kiss her in greeting, she had immediately stopped him, realizing that he smelled - no, he reeked women's perfume. She pulled back with a raised eyebrow, and Juice suddenly looked like Newton discovering gravity because of an apple falling on his head.

"Jax sent me and Brucey off for a job."

"I see that," Denise said, unimpressed as she glanced toward Brucey and saw a smear of lipstick on the shirt he was wearing underneath his kutte. "It looks like he had you two working really hard -"

"It's not like that, baby," Juice said. "He just had to cozy up to the girls enough to get them to take us to a back room so we could hand off a message to -"

"To their vaginas?"

"To your brother."

Denise involuntarily let out a slow hiss, her gaze going cold at the mention of Charles - shaken back to sense, she dropped the argument and instead went silent. And now, here they were, hours later, still walking on eggshells even after Brucey, Nero, and Wenya had all left.

"Baby, come on," Juice said, walking over and crouching in front of his wife, placing a hand on her knee. "Yesterday was - it was bad. For all of us," he began tiredly. "Can today just be better?"

After a tense silence, Denise sighed and gave her husband a grudging grin - he had a way of doing this, getting her to stop being angry. At times, it frustrated her because she wanted to be the one in control of how long she was angry and who she was angry at, but at the same time, there was a sense of safety that came with knowing he could pull her back from the edge like this.

"C'mere, you idiot," she laughed, leaning over and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face tiredly into the side of his neck. Thankfully, he had already showered and no longer reeked of cheap Chinese strippers, or else it would have been war all over again. He gave a chuckle and shifted so that his forehead was resting against hers.

"Fifi's sleepin'," he pointed out with a mischievous grin, which Denise quickly mirrored.

"She'll probably be out cold for another couple hours."

"Well, I think I know exactly how we should use that time..."

Juice grinned wolfishly, looping his arms under Denise and scooping her off of the armchair she had nestled into, giving her barely enough time to put her laptop down. "Easy on the goods, Mister Ortiz," she laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging gently. Juice took the opportunity now to swoop down, placing a sound kiss on his wife's lips.

Perhaps, he thought, it was a strange thing to note - but there was something about the taste of her kisses first thing in the morning, the warmth of her mouth on his, and the rich aroma of strong coffee and sugar. His first kiss with her, nearly two years ago now, had been so much different - all sweetness and cherries and wine. Now, however, just as she had grown and matured, so had her kisses, each of which he relished greatly as she peppered them down the skin of his neck while he carried her towards their room, pushing open the door and putting her down on the bed.

Juice's hands roved over her body like a blind man trying to paint a picture in his mind - it had just been so long since they'd been able to be like this. Everything had been so insane, and Denise had only just recovered some level of normalcy after Gemma's attack, that Juice almost felt like he had forgotten the way her soft, warm skin felt underneath his calloused hands. She let out a small gasp as his rough hand slid over her waist and her ribs, pulling her shirt up as they went. Juice leaned over and gently kissed and raked his teeth over the newly revealed skin. He realized quickly that Denise was wearing a bra that unhooked in the front instead of the back, and she felt his lips shift into a smirk against her skin as he undid the clasp with his tongue and teeth, pushing the garment off of her shoulders and casting it aside entirely.

"Juice -"

Denise's voice suddenly halted in a gasp when there was the sound of a knock at the front door, and she stiffened immediately. Juice, however, coaxed her gently back down to the bed.

"Let 'em knock."

He made quick work of his own shirt and claimed Denise's mouth with his own yet again, pressing his body against hers eagerly as he settled between her legs. Juice made a noise almost like a growl as he felt her heat against his as their hips ground against one another, separated only by his boxers and her panties. He groaned unintelligibly, burying his face now in the curve of her neck when she wrapped her legs around him more tightly, pressing their bodies even closer.

"Baby -"

The knocking returned, however, louder and more urgent than the first time, this time not stopping and now accompanied by a voice. Jax Teller's voice. Juice reluctnatly stopped, groaning in frustration while Denise reached over for her bra and shirt.

"Go open it," she said, clearly frustrated by the interruption as well. "I gotta get some... clothes on."

Juice grudgingly pulled on a pair of jogging pants that were set on the dressed before heading out to the living room and opening the door for Jax, who quickly understood what he had interrupted when Juice answered the door, shirtless and covered in a very light sheen of sweat.

"I need to talk to you and your wife -"

"Yeah, I figured," Juice retorted before he could help himself. He scratched the back of his neck in frustration, but invited Jax inside nonetheless, just as Denise emerged from the bedroom, red-faced and mussy-haired.

"My bad," Jax smirked upon seeing the state that the two were in, but Juice seethed internally at the fact that Jax didn't seem remorseful at all. It was trivial. They'd be able to have sex plenty of times. But right now, it felt practically unforgivable. The club had stomped all over every special moment Juice had with his wife, and the fact that he couldn't even have this gnawed at him.

"What do you need, Jax?" Denise snapped shortly.

"We need to speed up the timeline on your little project," Jax said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I got the papers started, you got your permits and shit for your little event. You get the whole park, three weeks from Saturday -"

"What?" Juice snapped, holding up his hand and stepping between Jax and his wife. "Brotha', hold on a sec. We just got rid of a rat, and you want to make my wife the center of attention? You already know -"

"No, he's right," Denise interrupted with a defeated sigh. "If - if we're gonna try and pull something off, we need to act fast, before they have a chance to come with a way to stop us. We have to -"

"Dee."

"Juice, I know what I'm doing," Denise said in exasperation. "I can protect myself, I -"

"Jax," Juice interrupted, suddenly turning away from his wife - an action that immediately had her hackles raised. "This is club shit. You can't make her -"

"No, don't talk to him. Talk to me," Denise said, reaching out and grabbing Juice by the forearm so that he was again turned to face her. The situation had now become so tense that even Jax felt uneasy, being the third wheel in the argument between Juice and Denise. "You talk to me -"

"Comin' from you?" Juice asked angrily. "After all the times you've gone over my head to him?"

"This affects me," Denise hissed adamantly. "This affects your family and I get to have a say in what we do. Didn't you say I wasn't just an ol' lady? I'm your wife. We're supposed to be partners in this."

Juice opened his mouth a few times but found no adequate response. It was true - he'd told Denise she was more than just an ol' lady, and he'd meant it. He'd meant it when he said that he didn't expect her to just put up or shut up when it came to the club's decisions - but sometimes, he just wanted her to stay out of it. Sometimes, he just wanted her to accept his protection. He exhaled through this nostrils and shifted his posture in defeat.

"I'm askin' her a favor is all," Jax said, shaking his head plaintively. "As a friend."

"Yeah," Juice said, his jaw practically locked in agitation. "Some friend." He stared Jax down for a few moments. "The boys over at Wendy's?"

"Yeah."

"Aight. I'm takin' Fifi over there then," he nodded before turning to his wife and kissing her protectively on the forehead. "I'll see you later, babe."

Once he had gotten a still-sleepy Sofia into her baby carrier and left in Denise's car, Denise set out a tired groan, slumping onto the sofa and resting her head in her hands.

"You okay?" Jax asked. Denise went still for a moment - of course she wasn't okay. The club was driving a wedge into her family. What was okay about that? What was even remotely close to okay?

"I'm fine," Denise nodded, straightening up with a deep breath as though it took a show of strength to tell such a blatant lie. "I'm okay."

"Good," Jax said, taking a seat next to her. "Because we gotta get to planning. We gotta get all the dirt we can on Marks in order to make your little plan work. And - and we gotta keep all the details quiet. I don't wanna risk another leak."

"You know I don't talk to very many people -"

"Even Juice."

Denise's head snapped to attention, her brow furrowing slightly at the insinuation. Jax realized the tone he'd taken and his lip curled slightly before he swiped his hand over his mouth, shaking his head. "I just can't take any chances," he explained. "Not even with Wendy -"

"So you and Wendy?" Denise asked, raising an eyebrow. "You wanna -"

"No," Jax interrupted. "Wendy and I are... we're somethin'. But I got more important things to handle right now."

"I'm just sick of it. All of it. I'm sick of the club bein' more important. I'm tired of havin' to put the club first, I'm tired of sharin' my wife with half the fuckin' town like it's her job to handle everything. I'm just sick," Juice said as he and Wendy hung back, watching the kids play in the living room. By now, Abel had taken to playing big brother to both Thomas, who was walking and talking, and Sofia, who was crawling and babbling, making it an easy job for the adults watching them. Wendy glanced over at Juice and gave a sad, lopsided grin.

"Join the club."

Juice's forehead wrinkled at Wendy's response. "You - you mean, you and Jax?"

"Me and Jax what?" Wendy asked with a sarcastic, quiet laugh. "I watch Jax's kids and let him get his dick wet. I live in his house. I cook his meals," she said tiredly. "But the minute I ask him what we are, it's the same thing - I don't got time to deal with this shit right now, or we just gotta let this pass and we'll figure it out. I'm tired of waiting," she said. Juice felt himself tense slightly when he realized that she was starting to tear up, and he awkwardly put an arm around her shoulders, giving a slight squeeze.

"We all just want all this shit over," Juice shrugged. "Then I get my wife back, you get Jax back -"

"You think this is ever gonna actually be over?" Wendy asked incredulously. "Because I don't. I think if this ever gets fixed, something else'll come up. And something else, and then something else again. It's just gonna keep goin' -"

"No," Juice said adamantly. "One day, this is gonna be over. We're gonna pay our dues, iron out our issues, and it'll be over."

There was a slight faltering in the brave glint in Juice's eyes, but he quickly blinked it away and looked back at the kids playing. "How about we not talk about this, yeah?" he asked with a forced, lopsided grin. "I came here to give my daughter a playdate, so let's not make it into a grown-up bitchfest."

Wendy followed Juice over, and the pair distracted themselves for the time being with playing with the kids. Juice played catch with the boys, and Wendy brushed Sofia's wavy dark hair, putting it up into a bow. As testament to just how much they needed a break from everything, they kept on with it until late afternoon when the kids had all curled up on the sofas for a nap.

"I - I could use a drink," Wendy admitted with a laugh, shaking her head and looking upwards. "I was gonna head out for a few beers or something, Lyla offered to watch the kids. You could probably talk her into watching Fifi too - the porn star loves playing Super Mommy," she chuckled. Her laughter faded, however, as she added, "Jax and Denise are probably still working on whatever it is they do anyway."

The reminder that Jax was monopolizing Denise time, that he demanded so much of her effort and attention, was enough to get Juice's blood boiling again, and when his blood boiled, his better judgment went up in smoke.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "A couple beers sounds good."

A/N's

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers and readers - I was away from my email for work stuff since my last update, and all the alerts in my inbox really made a long tiring day better. The next chapter should be ready soon, so keep an eye out! Until next time, cheers!