"Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love is family. And having both is a blessing."
-Unknown

It's been a little over three months since Bentley's allergic reaction and just like Dr. Richards said, he was perfectly fine when he was released from the hospital. Marceline tried her hardest not to hover over her son, but she paid excruciatingly close detail to whatever he ate. When he came home, she cleaned out the house of anything that contained peanuts and she meticulously made each of his meals. Her worry always skyrocketed when he went to school for fear that one of his friends would give him something with peanuts in it, but nothing's happened yet.

Bentley's officially deemed his grandfather 'Choppy' and nobody knew how he thought of it, but the nickname was there to stay; Chibs has even taken affection to the pet name. Things were rocky when it came to Bentley and Tig. The boy simply did not trust the man and he was very cautious around him. Gemma was still nervous about being around the boy because she felt like she was responsible for almost killing him, but nothing changed with Bentley. He always hugged her whenever he saw her and he'd usually sit on her lap or be as close as he could to her whenever she sat down.

As usual, the boy could be found hanging off Phil's arm at least once a day and Jax would usually be acting as a living jungle gym to both Abel and Bentley. Kozik and Happy took it upon themselves to teach Bentley how to play cards. The bad part was that Bentley was great at mentally counting, which always gave him the upper hand and earned him a few dollars every game. Sometimes when Donna and Opie would visit the clubhouse with their kids, they'd go home with Bentley in tow and unconsciously adopt another child into their lives for the day. By bedtime, Opie would usually be riding to Marci's house with her tired son ready for bed.

Bentley maintained and enjoyed a strong relationship with all his Aunts, Uncles and cousins, but it was clear to them all that he showed favoritism with Kip. He'd ask all sorts of things about his motorcycle and he'd even write them down to remember. He'd ask if he could watch Kip while he worked his day job and the older man would even let Bentley wear his mechanic shirt while he worked, asking Bentley to fetch him certain tools and showing them how they worked. More often than anyone else, Kip was usually the one to take Bentley home and wait with him until Marceline returned from work or until Chibs or Gemma came in. Kip has even prepared and shared dinner with the kid a few times, gotten him dressed and settled for bed.

Marci's come home to find her son and Kip asleep on the couch more times than she could count. She thought she'd be upset with how close her ex-boyfriend was with her son, but she wasn't. It warmed her heart to see that Kip had an active sense of parental intuition. Sometimes, she couldn't bring herself to disturb them and would let them sleep on the couch. The next morning, she'd usually bump into Kip as he was coming out of the bathroom. He'd say he was on his way out, but Marceline would invite him to stay for breakfast and he'd never argue with her.

~.~.~.~.

Half-Sack was riding down the streets of Charming to Marceline's house to check-in on her and Bentley. Upon hearing an incoming motorcycle approaching, the boy ran to the window to see who was coming to visit and watched with a smile as Kip parked and dismounted his bike next to his Mom's car.

"Hi, Kip." Bentley greeted as he opened the door.

"Bentley, you know you're not supposed to answer the door." Kip seriously told the boy. "What if I was a stranger?"

"I looked out the window and saw you coming." Kip squatted down and put his hands on the boy's shoulders, looking very serious.

"Don't answer the door, okay?" Bentley's brown eyes clashed against Kip's blue ones as he stared at the man. He was trying to figure out if he was in trouble, but he realized that Kip was trying to keep him safe from strangers. He nodded in affirmation and Kip smiled as he stood, putting Bentley in a harmless headlock to give him a noogie. "Where's your Mom?"

"Taking a nap. It's her day off." He giggled while trying to escape. "She made us lunch."

Kip went into the kitchen with Bentley to see what Marci made for them to eat and saw the plate of Garlic Bread Pizza sandwiches on the counter. He grabbed one as did Bentley and ate it in two bites. When Bentley was finished, he asked if Kip would play catch with him in the backyard with Diesel and Kip agreed to toss the ball around.

"Hey, Bentley. You know where your Mom keeps her purse?" Kip asked before the boy went looking for his sports equipment.

Bentley went into the hallway closet and pulled her purse off the hook to bring to kip. While Bentley went to find his baseball and mitt for them to play catch in the backyard, Kip unzipped Marceline's bag and dug around for her wallet. He went in his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. He separated a large chunk of the green from the rest and added it to the bills in the wallet. Kip placed everything back as it was before and hung the bag on the hook in the closet where it was.

~.~.~.~.

At around 8pm, Kip was riding back to Marceline's house. Whenever Chibs wasn't sleeping at his own place, Kip always came over to put the trash out on the curb for collection in the morning. He was working up the courage to ask her for a spare key to her place, but he hasn't found the right moment to pop that question to her yet.

When he knocked on the door, Marceline answered with Diesel at her side and let him in. Bentley was in the bathroom taking a bath, so Kip took the trash cans to the curb and washed his hands in the kitchen.

"We're doing fine, Kip." She said to him as he dried his hands.

"What do you mean?"

She pulled a folded wad of cash from her pocket and held it up for him to see. "I mean, you can't stuff five-hundred dollars in my wallet and expect me to roll with it."

"I didn't." He lied.

"Then who did?"

"Your Dad?" He guessed with a smirk.

"My Dad, who hasn't been in this house all day, right." She gave him a knowing look, but put the money on the table for him to take back. "We're doing fine." She repeated.

Kip grabbed the money off the table, but didn't pocket it. He waited until Marceline went to the sink to wash the dishes from dinner before he crept down the hallway. He went straight to Marceline's bedroom and tucked the money under her pillow, his fingers brushing against something made of metal. Tempted, he lifted the pillow and smirked at the detailed Kimber resting on the sheets.

Kip took a look around the room and remembered the day he helped Chibs and his daughter move into the house, remembered how he kissed her against the wall just because he enjoyed having her lips against his. He was reminded of the night he snuck in through her window and took her virginity the next morning. Those memories made him think about their relationship from then on out: their bumps in the road, him breaking up with her and stealing one, last kiss before he was arrested.

There was no denying that Marceline was not the same girl that he left before he went to prison. She always had the mindset of an adult when she was so young, but she still had a playful side lingering from her youth and stolen childhood. After spending a year with Asher and going through who knows what, the ginger seemed to have grown a layer of steel. She wouldn't take anyone's shit and if someone tried to hurt Bentley, they'd better get on the next spaceship into a blackhole because Marceline would raise absolute Hell.

Kip realized that Marceline was a Mom first now. She no longer put herself first, but her son.