Juice woke up to hearing Gia crying softly in her crib. He sighed and got out of bed, deciding to let Ana sleep this morning.
He went and picked up his daughter, holding her to his bare chest as she calmed down, snuggling against his shoulder as he went to make her a bottle.
He enjoyed moments like this with Gia. It gave him time to marvel at how perfect she was, and how he had a hand in creating her. He sat in the rocker in her room and fed her, humming aimlessly as he did.
"I'm not sure how to be a dad, little lady," he said after a while. "I know shit's fucked up right now, and I don't know when it's getting fixed. But I do know as long as there's breath in my body, you and your mom are going to be okay."
A snore was all he got from Gianna, and he chuckled.
"I guess I'm boring you already," Juice said, putting her back in her crib.
"You weren't boring me," Ana said softly from the doorway.
Juice glanced her way and grinned.
Damn, she was beautiful. Her hair was messed up, and her figure was still in the middle of bouncing back from the pregnancy, but she glowed from the inside out. She smiled back at him as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Good morning, beautiful," he murmured.
"Right back at you," she said, kissing his shoulder. "I could hear you on the monitor. Don't worry about us, we're going to be okay."
Juice shook his head as he pulled back.
Today was the day they would be breaking Clay out of prison, and taking care of him and Galen once and for all. Juice would be on his first club assignment since the baby was born, and he was terrified. He wasn't looking forward to putting himself in harm's way, much less for Clay Morrow of all people. However, this needed to get done, and Juice felt the need to be there at the end of the day.
"What's your plans today?" he asked Ana as they headed to the kitchen.
Ana shrugged as she pulled out the bacon and eggs to make breakfast.
"I'm going to put out feelers for a teaching job in Sacramento," she said. "Since Jenni told us about getting a job out here, I think that's the best place to look."
That made Juice smile to think about. His sister and nieces coming to California was something that brightened up his day. Jenni had told them about the new job when Juice called to tell her about Gianna being born. It certainly made sense for them to be around family when he patched out.
"She called me yesterday," Juice said. "She might be making a visit today. I think she wants to see the baby and I think she wants to see Happy too."
Ana laughed and put a plate in front of him.
"Well, Happy will be happy," she said. "He can act all macho if he wants, I know he cares about your sister. And the girls."
Juice's phone rang before he could answer, and he sighed as he looked at the caller ID.
"I got to go," he said, sighing. "I'll see you tonight, babe."
He kissed Ana's cheek sweetly before he headed out. Ana watched him leave, the nervousness in her stomach increasing as the door shut behind him.
"God, let him be okay," she whispered to the empty room.
As he pulled up, Juice spotted Jax outside of the ice cream shop that was their temporary headquarters. He noticed that lately, Jax looked as if he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. Juice knew his family was going through it lately. Tara had pulled a dirty stunt, faking a miscarriage to shut Gemma out of their lives. Now Tara was on lockdown, with someone watching her and the boys at every turn in case she wanted to run. Tara also still had conspiracy charges pending, thanks to the new DA who wanted the Sons to burn for the Acquino shooting.
"You okay, Pres?" Juice asked, walking up to the door.
Jax nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm just ready to get this done. I know you are, too."
Juice knew that wasn't all that was weighing his president down, but he wasn't going to pry. He just nodded, and headed inside.
It was going to be a long ass day.
"So we'll arrive at the warehouse, and change for the next phase," Jax said, sitting at the head of a rickety card table. "Connor will run us through the exact plan when we get there. We'll get into delivery trucks and wait until it's time to intercept the transfer."
He sighed, and glanced at Juice. It was time for another Mayhem vote, but Jax needed to be sure of something first.
"Are you sure you want to be with us on this?" he asked. "Your daughter is barely six weeks old."
Juice shook his head.
"I don't think any of us want to be here," he said. "I sure as hell don't. There's nothing I want to do more than to jump on my bike, and head home to my girls."
He looked around at the guys, who were all paying attention to him. It wasn't something he was used to but he had to say what he had to say.
"Clay Morrow has been someone we all loved. He's touched all of our lives in some way. There's nothing to doubt about that. But everyone at this table right now has been negatively impacted by his actions. It started with Donna-" Juice broke off for a second, his voice breaking as he remembered Opie's wails the night she died. "And it just snowballed into something evil. The cartels. Him beating Gemma, ordering the hit on Tara. Kozic getting killed based on misplaced retaliation. Sending the Nomads into Ana's house. Lying about who shot him, which led to so much death. Dawn, Opie." He had to stop again. "Ana going into preterm labor…I owe it to all of them to be there to see it end."
The room was dead silent. Tig was staring straight ahead, his eyes watery. Chibs looked down at his hands. Jax looked at him with sorrow and respect. What Juice had said resonated deep within everyone.
"I couldn't have said it better, brother," Bobby said softly. "His actions affected not only us, but those we love the most. What we do today, we do for them. For Gemma. Tara. Ana. Ope."
"Dawn and Donna," Tig whispered. "And Koz."
Jax nodded.
"Let's take a vote. And remember, it has to be unanimous."
Ana pulled up to Gemma's house, smiling when she saw Nero's car in the drive. She was so happy that her friend's charges were dropped. Nero had become somewhat like an uncle to her recently, someone who she could talk to without judgement. He hadn't met Gianna yet, but that was about to change today.
Cradling Gianna in her arms, she knocked on Gemma's front door.
Nero answered the door, looking a little worse for wear, but he brightened up considerably when he saw Ana and the baby on the front step.
"It's good to see you mamita," he said, letting her inside. "Let me take a look at the little one."
Ana handed the baby to Nero, who lit up immediately. He began cooing over the baby as he sat down.
"Where's Gemma?" Ana asked, sitting on the couch next to them.
"At the garage, spending time with the boys. We had a bit of a…situation here so she wanted to get away for a minute, see her grandsons and all that," he replied.
"Everything okay?" she asked him, concerned
"Yeah, everything's cool. Just a friend of hers that needed some help," he answered. "How about you? How's everything going for your little familia?"
Ana spent the next hour telling him about looking for a new job, Jenni moving to Sacramento and how Juice and her wanted to do the same. She told him how they were adjusting to being parents, and how Juice seemed to take to it like it was second nature.
"Of course he did," Nero said. He had put Gia in a playpen in the living room while they sat in the kitchen drinking tea. "That kid was Daddy the moment he learned you were pregnant. Gemma told me all about it, and he was always talking about you and the baby whenever I spoke with him."
Ana heard some voices in the living room before she could answer. Gemma was home and it sounded like she'd brought the boys with her.
"Oh, look at that, someone left a pretty little baby in the living room," Gemma said, coming into the kitchen with a smile and with Gia in her arms. "She was already awake, Mama, just looking around being quiet."
Ana smiled and reached for the baby.
"She might need to be changed," she said. "Is there anywhere I can change her at?"
Gemma gestured with her head. "My room's free. On the left."
Ana nodded gratefully and picked up the diaper bag. Once she was in the hall, she was greeted by a woman who looked disheveled and disoriented.
"Sorry," she muttered. "Gemma in there?"
This must be the friend Nero was talking about. Ana nodded and moved so the woman could pass. It wasn't until Ana was in the bedroom when she realized who the woman was.
It was Wendy, Abel's birth mother. From the looks of it, she was in the middle of detox. What Ana didn't understand was why she was at Gemma's house.
Maybe it wasn't Ana's business to understand. And she knew she certainly wasn't going to try to understand it, either.
Juice sat behind the driver's seat of the delivery truck, waiting for Connor's call to come. Jax sat in the passenger seat, and each of them were lost in their own thoughts.
They were going against heavily armed police today. It was dangerous, to say the least, but Juice saw this as his endgame. This gets done, they get out of guns, and Juice was out, free to live his life with his family.
Juice didn't know what was going through Jax's head. He knew getting out was a different story for the President, and that his family situation wasn't the best. But while he adored Tara and the boys, he wasn't prepared for the moment when Jax would inevitably mix his family business with the club. Rumors among the members was that Tara was possibly going to rat. Juice couldn't see it, but he'd been wrong before.
"Juice, you still here?" Jax asked, bringing Juice back to Earth.
He nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm just trying to make sense of everything."
They sat in silence for a couple moments.
"Jax," Juice said. "I'm not just leaving for my family. I'm leaving because I want to feel like one of the good guys. Like I'm doing the right thing. And the club doesn't feel like that anymore."
"I get that," Jax replied. "It's why I haven't questioned your decision. You still have a chance before the club consumes you. You need to take it. You're always family, regardless."
Before Juice could answer, the phone rang.
"Time to go," Jax said.