Chapter 40: Forgiveness
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong." ~Gandhi
It was the best surprise Tig could have asked for, he had his baby girl in his arms once more. It was way better than twins and triplets combined. Olivia was by far the best birthday present he had ever received.
"What are you doing here?" Tig held Liv out at arm's length and his blue eyes took her in. She looked good, he had never seen her look as radiant as she did at that moment. She was no longer the broken girl that had entered his life just short of a year before. This girl standing before him was strong and resilient. Olivia was finally happy.
"I'm here for your birthday." Liv beamed. "I mean I can go if you want." She teased as she started to turn away from her father.
Tig grabbed Liv's shoulder and turned her back towards him. He understood that but he was surprised that she was in the same room with Happy. He had hurt his daughter so badly and left her feeling like she needed to stay with someone she didn't love. In the end it left them both miserable. "I understand that you are here for my birthday baby girl. And no I don't want you to go! I want you to stay right here, have a beer with me and tell me how everything is going in your life." Tig pulled Liv up to the bar and told the croweater, who was a brunette with bleach blonde streaks in her hair, to grab them each a beer.
Liv glanced back at Happy, who raised an eye brow at her as if to challenge her to tell Tig about them. She knew she needed to ease her dad into the fact that she was now Happy's old lady. For all he knew she was still in love with Happy but couldn't forgive him for what he did to her. Liv turned back to the bar where Tig was sliding a light colored beer towards her and looked at her expectantly.
"Life has been pretty good, Daddy." Liv didn't give too much away.
"How is school?" Tig asked.
"School went well. I am prepped for fall when classes start again, on the road to graduate in the summer. I am thinking about moving back to California when I am done with school." Liv admitted. This was something she hadn't even told Happy. She was sure that he was just assuming it since things were progressing with them.
"What?" Tig frowned briefly, "What about Washington?"
"What about it?" Olivia was short, with Tig. She didn't really want to live in Washington. She wanted to be close to dad and most of all Happy.
"Your family is there." Tig said something he never expected to pass his lips. He wanted Liv close to him, he wanted to be a part of her life.
Liv blew a stray hair out of her face with a strong huff and let out a snorted laugh. "You're kidding me right? My family is right here." She cupped her father's scruffy face gently.
"What about Natalie and Jim and his family?" Tig asked.
"Seriously Daddy. Nat and I aren't really on the best terms anymore. I mean we are still friends but we will never be as close as we use to be after what she did." Liv shook her head. Had Jax not told anyone about what happened between Juice and Nat? She was grateful Jax had kept what occurred to himself; it reinforced her trust in him.
"What happened, baby girl?" Tig searched Liv's face which now held a frown.
"God I cannot believe Jackson didn't tell you anything. He really knows how to keep his trap shut, doesn't he?" Liv winked at Jax, who smirked and nodded at her. "Listen Daddy. The night that Juice came over when you at my place, there was something that happened before he got back to my place." Liv stopped for a moment as she felt the betrayal all over again. Tig gave her an encouraging look. "Juice and Nat had sex. Juice is the father of her baby."
Tig wanted nothing more than to wrap his hands around Juice's neck and choke the life out of him. Not only did he lay hands on Liv that night but he also fucking her best friend and knocked her up. He was pissed that Olivia had been hurt by those who she trusted and loved the most. Tig drank down the rest of his beer before saying anything, "Tina get me something stronger than a beer!" He barked.
Liv smiled at him; he was angry for her. "Daddy…please don't let it ruin your birthday. I have come to terms with what happened, I am at a good place in my life. Plus Juice wasn't the right person for me." Liv said quietly as she stole a glance at Happy, who was sitting with Rat and an African American man she didn't recognize. The man was all but bald except for the nicely trimmed goatee on his face and he wore a SAMCRO kutt; he must have been a new member.
Tig drank down the shot of whiskey that Tina gave him and pounded the empty shot glass to signify he wanted another one. "I wish I could have done something baby girl." Tig finally said to Liv. He felt helpless when it came to his daughters. He wanted them to be safe and unmarred by his club. He had already failed them especially Dawn; his sweet Dawny. He wanted to protect his daughters in every way possible.
"You couldn't have done anything Daddy. It happened and I have to move on. There is a beautiful, innocent baby that came into this world because of what happened so it wasn't all bad." Liv thought of sweet Avery. She stood up and took her glass from the bar, "Don't let this ruin your birthday, old man. I haven't let it ruin my life." Liv kissed his cheek and started towards the front door. She need a bit of fresh air. She gazed back at Happy hoping he would follow.
The air smelt clean and dry which was a nice change from the dampness of Portland; where it rained ninety percent of the time. Liv leaned up against the building and took a drink of her beer. It felt good to be home, she had really missed Charming and everything it held. Liv closed her eyes and her whole being relaxed, the stress of the week was pushed away like a bad dream. Her heart felt so much lighter than it had in the past year. She never thought she would have said that she was glad where life had brought her to but truly at that moment she was.
"There you are." Happy's voice pulled Liv out of her thoughts. He stepped in front of her and boxed her in against the wall. "Whatever you told your old man he is in quite the mood now."
Liv rolled her eyes, "God. He needs to simmer down and realize that I am in a better place because of what Juice and Nat did. They saved me from continuing to make the wrong decision over and over again. I don't know why he can't see that." She closed the distance between them so her body was flushed against his. "I mean if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here right now…" Olivia ran her hands under Happy's kutt, "with you," she rubbed her body against his, "…like this." Liv's lips hovered over Happy's for a second before she kissed him. "I love you, Happy Lowman." She said quietly against his lips as she pulled away from him.
"I love you, old lady." Happy placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. "So you going to tell your old man about us?"
Liv let out a snort, "Tonight doesn't seem like it is a good night. He is already on the verge; adding us into the mix might just put my already crazy dad over the edge. Which sucks because I hate that I am in the same room as you and all I really want is to be with you."
Happy groaned, he knew if Liv wasn't by his side there would be croweaters or porn stars lingering around him. He blew them off however they kept coming back and he knew that Liv would lose her mind if one of them was hanging on him. He still needed to earn her trust back after he had let her down in so many ways. He smiled back at Liv who was grinning ear to ear at him. Damn it, this woman had changed him in so many ways; he never would have allowed himself to be changed by a woman but Liv was so different. She was the one his mother told him about, his el amor de su vida, love of his life. He had always told her mom that he wasn't made to love that way and she would just say to him, "I pray for it, so it will happen someday, mi hijo." Now he wished she was around to meet Olivia, the woman his mother spoke of. She would have loved Liv as much as he did.
"I better head back in and socialize." Liv smiled and pecked Happy on the cheek before turning and starting to walk away.
"Wait." Happy's rough hand caught Olivia's dainty wrist. She turned back to him. "I need you to know that I only want you." Happy's brown eyes conveyed seriousness. "The croweaters and porn girls may try to hang on me tonight. I try to keep them away but they just keep coming back."
Liv frowned, she didn't like the idea of other women touching Happy especially after his sorted history with them. She was sure that he had probably slept with all of them at some point in time or another; the knowledge of that made her ill. Olivia knew Happy was only telling her this to give her security and as soon as she told her dad about them, they would know better than to try to hang on Happy. Liv sighed deeply before cupping Happy's face gently in her hand. "Thank you. I will try my best not to be jealous or angry." The moment those words reached her lips she felt a twinge of jealousy.
"You have nothing to worry about, they are nothing to me and they certainly have nothing on you." Happy thought about the faceless women that he had been with, it was like a blindfold had been lifted from his face when he walked into the room where Liv was being held. She had never been faceless or hazy to him, she had always been the only face he had seen.
Olivia flashed Happy a reassuring smile as she turned to go back into the building. She wished that Tig hadn't heard about what happened with Natalie and Juice, it seemed to have ruined his good mood. When she walked through the door Liv spotted her dad sitting at a table with a croweater on his lap and a beer in his hand. He was smiling at the blonde who leaned in and whispered something into his ear. He laughed. A small smile crossed Liv's face, she was glad to see he seemed to be in better spirits.
"Penny for your thought pipsqueak." Quinn suddenly appeared by her side.
Olivia looked up at Quinn, "Just wish that I wouldn't have ruined my dad's birthday with what happened with Juice and Natalie."
"You would think your old man would have been happy to hear that you weren't with Juice anymore and that you want to move back to Charming. Shit we hear him bitch about you not visiting or calling almost daily. He will get over it you know. You going to tell him about you and Hap?" Quinn asked.
"Not tonight." Liv shook her head, she glanced over to the table where Happy sat down by Jax and Montez. "Not if I can help it." She added as a croweater ran her hand across Happy's shoulder. It was a little too familiar for Liv's liking. "Fuck I need something stronger than a beer." She muttered.
"Well why not let me buy you one pipsqueak?" Quinn smirked as he placed his hand on Olivia's lower back and guided her to the bar. "Get me a whiskey and this one will have a whiskey sour."
It took Liv five more of those whiskey sours and Tig starting to have a good time for Olivia to loosen up. He had made his way over to her, Lyla and Quinn and didn't mention anything else about Juice and Natalie. Liv stood up and started to make her way to the bar for another round for the table
"Olivia Grace did you get a new tattoo?" Tig said with a slur in his voice as he caught a glimpse of some color on his daughter's lower back.
Liv stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Tig. "I..um.." She glanced over at Happy, who had stopped what he was doing and watched what was going on.
"Let me see." Tig stood up and stumbled over towards his angel. God, Olivia looked just like Aria. He couldn't believe that they had made such a beautiful child; wait, he could since Aria was just as breathe taking as her mother. He pulled up the back of Liv's shirt to expose her tattoo. The tattoo took up the whole of her lower back and it was of a phoenix on fire flying into a crow. A crow that looked an awful lot like the tattoo old ladies get. Tig frowned, "Baby girl what is with the crow?" Tig asked.
Happy watched Liv as she turned pale, was she ashamed of him? Then he heard what he needed to hear, "Daddy, Happy inked me."
"Why the fuck did he ink you?" Tig's words were venomous. "Why the fuck did you allow him back into your life? He doesn't deserve you!" Tig growled.
Happy didn't expect those words to come out of Tig's mouth, it could be that his drunk ass just didn't have his filters on. Then again when did Tig have a filter? Happy stood up and started towards Tig and Olivia.
"Are you serious Daddy? You know how I feel about Happy and you are upset that I am finally at a good place in my life?" Liv bit back. She figured he wouldn't be ecstatic for her and Happy, but she thought he would have at least understood. Tig knew she loved Happy but he didn't know that they had reconciled and so quickly at that.
"He doesn't fucking deserve you!" Tig's irritation was growing. How could Olivia take back the man who broke her heart so deeply that it made her run from Charming and from Tig's life. He resented Happy for that. He was angry because he knew that Aria never wanted Liv to be a part of the SAMCRO life.
Happy wanted to protect Liv from Tig's assault. "You're drunk. Why don't you just sleep on it?"
"Sleep on it?" Tig barked, "What? While you fuck my daughter?" Tig shoved Happy who had placed himself between Tig and Liv. He understood Tig's anger towards him but Olivia didn't deserve it.
"I love Olivia." Happy barely got out of his mouth before Tig threw a punch at him, which he was able to avoid due to Tig's inebriation.
"Daddy STOP!" Liv yelled as she threw herself between Happy and Tig. It was too late Tig threw another punch which hit Liv and flung her back into done of the tables. Pain coursed through Liv's chest where Tig's punch hit and the back of her head that hit the table. She there for a moment trying to collect her bearings and figure out what had just happened.
What did he do? Tig tried to comprehend how Liv ended up on the floor. Had he hit her? Had he just hit his own daughter? It was like he had watched it happen in slow motion. One second Liv was standing behind Happy and the next thing Tig knew his fist was connecting with his daughter and Liv was being thrown to the floor. "Olivia…I…"
"Stay the fuck away from her!" Happy hovered protectively over Liv. He was not okay with the fact that her own father had laid hands on her even if that punch was not meant for her. He still should have stopped himself from throwing that punch especially since Liv was in the way.
Liv pushed herself up and looked at Happy, "It's fine, Hap. I am okay." Liv reached her hand out to Happy, who took it into his and helped her up from the floor. "Dad." Liv brushed herself off. "I understand you're upset because you think Happy has hurt me too much for me to forgive him. But what you don't understand is that you have hurt me as much as anyone else in my life. Maybe even more." Liv thought about it and he had, he hurt her more than anyone else in her life had. Tig stared at her with question in his eyes. "You chose not to be my dad…and before you say anything listen to me. You may have thought that you were doing the best thing for me but you didn't. Yeah my mom and dad were the best parents a girl could have asked for but you are my dad and you gave me away. You didn't want me and that could be seen as unforgiveable but Daddy, I forgave you. Why do you think that I can't forgive Happy? Yeah, what he did was shitty but I love him, Dad. He makes me feel whole." Liv said quietly.
Tig had never thought about it that way, he never realized that Olivia had to forgive him. She had a far bigger heart than he had. She had her mother's heart. He couldn't have been prouder.
A/N: Thank you all for your patience. The move went great but we were without internet for over three weeks. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It took me a while to write it because I didn't know exactly what was going to happen. Let me know what you think! Cheers!