Chibs stood in the tiny bathroom at TM Auto. The room was barely the size of a closet which meant that Chibs found himself standing pressed against the door trying hard to avoid the dirty old toilet as he held his cell phone up to his ear.

He'd much rather be anywhere except for stuffed into the garage's bathroom like a sardine in a tin can. The bathroom was truly the only place where you could any true privacy around TM Auto and the clubhouse even.

He did all he could to ignore the noise coming from the other side of the door out in the busy garage. Just like any other Monday afternoon the garage was busy with cars and bikes that had been brought in early this morning after breaking down over the weekend when the garage held shorter hours.

Chibs listened to the little ecstatic voice on the other end of the line a smile on his face. "My babysitter Norah and I made tamales for lunch yesterday Filip. I helped a lot. I've never made tamales before they were good but too hot though. I don't like spicy food. And when Momma was done with work we went to the bakery to look at cakes for Tia Gabriella's birthday and momma bought me a cookie."

"Did ya buy a cookie fer me wee love?" Chibs teased the girl his smile growing at the sound of her giggles.

Sophie continued to giggle as she replied. "No."

It didn't take her long to speak again once her laughter had died down. "I got my library card today Filip. Momma took me to the library I got two books. Guess what I got?"

"What'd ya get?" He asked treasuring every second of this little conversation.

Nina had called him out of the blue telling him that Sophie was insisting on talking to him right this second.

Though all the little girl had done so far was tell him about all that she'd done in the past two days; her meals, what toys she'd played with, the coloring books she'd colored in, Chibs wouldn't miss any of it for the world.

Sophie spoke her voice still so elated. "I got two books about Scotland. You can read them to me the next time you visit right? I wanna learn about the castles you talked about."

This tiny comment filled Chibs up to the brim with pride. Sophie wanted to learn about Scotland. She wanted to learn about his heritage.

A little voice in the back of his head was quick to point out that this was her heritage too. Sophie just didn't know it yet.

He spoke up this realization tugging at his heart strings. "Of course wee Sophie. I'll come see ya as soon as I can. We can read about Glasgow. That's where I'm from. I'll tell ya all about it."

He paused for a moment as an idea began to formulate in the back of his mind. "I'll bring us some tea...some real tea."

He knew that there was a new shop that had opened just recently down on main street. It was called Lemons' Tea, Lemonade, and Specialty Beverages.

The place made the drinks there to go or to drink in.

Juice was always going to the place and ordering weird tea concoctions that were supposed to cleanse his body.

Chibs assumed that the shop must have something that would be kid friendly. He figured if there wasn't anything appropriate for Sophie he could just order some traditional English Breakfast tea to go and add a bit of cream and sugar to it the way his ma had once done for him when he was about Sophie's age.

Even after all these years he still had a soft spot for the creamy sweet tea mixture. He would often find himself mixing himself up a glass of it after he'd had a long difficult day at the garage or with the club.

He was sure that Sophie would like the tea just as much as he did.

The sound of absolute delight was clear in Sophie's voice as the girl spoke. "Can I have it in a tea cup?"

Chibs chuckled knowing that Nina might not approve of pouring the tea from a Styrofoam glass to one of Sophie's toy cups. "We might have ta talk to yer ma bout that wee love."

Chibs cleared his throat knowing that he really didn't want to end this conversation but he knew he'd been in the bathroom long enough to draw up some curiosity from the men out in the garage. "I have ta go back to work Sophie. Why don't ya put yer ma on the phone so I can talk to her fer a bit."

"Okay. I love you Filip bye." Sophie blurted out causing that pull in Chibs' heart once again.

He didn't have time to even reply as he heard the sound of the phone being passed it causing a muffled sound. Nina let out a soft sigh as she spoke an apologetic tone to her voice. "I'm sorry I called. I know you're at work. Soph was just so excited about the books. She wouldn't take no for an answer. It was either I call you or she was going to get a hold of my cell and do it herself."

"It's not a problem lass. Sophie can call any time she wants...day or nigh." Chibs insisted his palms beginning to sweat as he tried to work up the nerve for what he was about to ask.

He had no idea how to even broach this subject. He wanted to spend more time with Nina and Sophie just the three of them.

He coughed a few times trying to fight of the lump he felt developing in the back of his throat before he finally worked up the courage to just jump right into what he wanted. "I have somethin ta ask ya...Would it be alrigh if I took ya out to dinner tonight...I mean ya and Sophie. I want the three of us to spend time together. I'd like it if we spent more time together. We need ta figure out how ta at least get along...don't ya think?"

Nina widened her eyes shocked by this request. She twisted a curly lock of hair around her finger as she debated what she should do.

This really was the last thing she'd been expecting; dinner. Dinner with Chibs.

Her heart began to pound at the thought. She did her best to calm her frantic heart reminding herself that Sophie would be right there with them.

This was just an innocent dinner, she reassured herself. Just a family dinner. Sophie would be thrilled Nina realized.

She couldn't deny the girl this dinner.

"Okay...You're right... Eating dinner sounds nice. Sophie would really like that." Nina remarked still a little uneasy about this entire situation.

The thought of sitting with Chibs at a dinner table did strange things to Nina's heart. It made her heart flutter in a way that she told herself it probably shouldn't flutter at the thought of Chibs.

Chibs smiled so relieved that Nina had agreed to this. He'd almost feared that she wouldn't trust him enough to accept this invitation. "Does Sophie like pasta? There's this Italian place I was thinkin would be good...It has pizza too if she's not big on pasta."

Nina smiled unable to stop herself from swooning a bit over how considerate he was of what would make their daughter the happiest. "She loves spaghetti and cheese pizza. That would be great...so do you just want to meet up at the restaurant?...or we could just meet up at my apartment and all go to the restaurant in my car."

"Meetin up and takin yer car would work." Chibs replied the thought of being in a car with both his girls sending a jolt of joy through him.

He loved the idea of riding in a car with Nina and Sophie just like a real family going out to dinner on a Monday night.

He spoke again hoping that he sounded less anxious about this than he actually felt. "I'll see ya around six thirty...that'll give me time to go home and change out of my work clothes."

"Okay...I'll see you then." Nina replied her heart still fluttering.

She let out a huff as she hung up the phone. She frowned shaking her head. She had to snap out of it. Chibs and she just couldn't work.

Chibs shoved his cell into his jeans pocket the megawatt smile still on his face.

The smile disappeared as he opened the bathroom door only to be met with an irritated looking Juice. Juice was quick to speak as Chibs finally vacated the bathroom. "You were in there forever."

"Aye...upset stomach." Chibs remarked the lie sliding out his mouth easily.

Juice shook his head as he spoke completely buying this story. "It's all that processed food you eat. You ate that nasty greasy fried burrito from the gas station on your lunchbreak today. Crap like that is horrible on your digestive system. Have you seen the contents of an average American's colon? It's a mess."

Chibs scrunched his nose up disgusted by this observation. He was quick to step past Juice as he spoke up putting an end to this conversation. "No and I don't intend on lookin at anyone's colon. Besides I gotta Scottish Colon."

"So funny. Suit yourself. When you've had enough of not being able to work shit out give me a call. I can get you a colonic at half price. Green tea. It's refreshing. You'll feel like a new man." Juice remarked causing a grimace to appear on the faces of the two non patched mechanics standing nearby.

Chibs was quick to walk away from Juice before the man had a chance to enlighten him any farther on the inner workings of a colon.

As much love as Chibs had for his brother Juice was the biggest health freak Chibs had ever met in his entire life.

Chibs went back to the Harley he'd been working on when Nina had called.

He did all he could to focus on the motorcycle's wonky fuel system and keep his personal feelings pushed far back in the depths of his mind.

Chibs did feel a twinge of guilt about the lie he'd told Juice about what he'd really been up to in the bathroom.

Chibs could admit that he wanted to be a little selfish and keep Nina and Sophie to himself as long as possible.

He wanted to keep his life with Nina and Sophie separate from his life within SAMCRO for as long as he could.

Though he knew rationally that this separation act wouldn't last long. Not with the complications of his lifestyle.

He knew though what would happen the second the truth got out about his past with Nina and the fact that Sophie was his child.

Things would become so complicated when the truth was revealed.

His brothers would have a bombardment of questions; questions that Chibs wasn't quite ready to answer just yet.

And once the news got to Gemma he knew that the Queen of SAMCRO would swoop in on Nina with questions of her own.

Gemma was the type that would want to know every little thing about Nina. She would be suspicious of Nina's intentions.

He knew that Gemma would assume that Nina was some desperate croweater type that was trying to entrap Chibs with a kid.

Gemma would have a hard time accepting the truth of it all.

Chibs knew that Nina wasn't the type to put up with a stranger sticking their nose in her life. He knew she'd freak if Gemma stuck her nose where it didn't belong.

Chibs didn't want to lose all the progress he'd made with Nina so far.

He had just gotten to the point where Nina was trusting him enough to allow him to get to know their daughter. Chibs wanted so badly to show Nina that he wasn't the man she'd assumed he was those years ago.

He wanted Nina's complete trust. If he was willing to be honest with himself he'd admit that he wanted more than just Nina's trust. He wanted her love.

He let out a heavy sigh that last thought making his stomach plummet.

That what a big can of worms he knew better than to open.

Nina would never look at him that way again he told himself. He'd screwed up any chances of her ever loving him.

If he was lucky they might find themselves becoming friends through co-parenting Sophie, but it would more than likely never go beyond friendship.

He tossed a wrench down onto his tool box his mood going sour at the thought.

He ran his hands through his hair knowing that he had to move past this. Nina and he were just going to have to be friends nothing more.

For the sake of Sophie Nina and he could never be more than friends.

Nina sipped her Dr Pepper through a straw as she watched Chibs and Sophie stare down at a paper kids menu a red crayola in Sophie's hand and a blue crayola in Chibs' hand.

Once again Chibs was behaving like a model father. Sophie was clearly soaking up Chibs' attentions and Chibs in turn was soaking up Sophie's attentions.

Nina had been surprised to find that the restaurant Chibs had taken Sophie and she to was nice. It was located in an old brick building down on main street.

The restaurant was called Pasta Bella's. Nina could remember often passing the restaurant when she'd lived in Charming long before Sophie had been born. Though Nina had never really stepped into the place. It seemed to be the kind of restaurant you ate at with a date.

The restaurant was filled with a ton of cute little decorations; maps of Italy, a gondola boat hanging high on near the ceiling above a section of booths, dozens of wine bottles up on shelves around the walls, posters of lush Italian countrysides the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the coliseum.

Soft opera music played over a sound system. The little tables around the restaurant had red and white checkered table cloths with a soft fake candle light in the center of the table.

Nina was surprised to find that it seemed to be a pretty family friendly place. Nina was quick to realize that Chibs, Sophie, and she looked just the family they'd passed on the way to their table.

This realization wasn't entirely an unpleasant one.

As hard as Nina tried she couldn't deny that it felt good sitting here with Chibs and their daughter like this.

She knew Chibs was right. They needed to find a way to get along with each other.

Once Sophie knew the truth about Chibs she would need to see that her parents were a united front.

Nina didn't want Sophie to look back on her life and remember that her father had broken her mother's heart so much that her mom couldn't even stand to be civil with him.

Nina's heart still did hurt of course. Thinking back to what had happened between Chibs and she still made her feel terrible.

She knew though that she had to put her personal feelings aside for Sophie's sake. Nina knew she had to be an adult about this. A grown woman didn't let her heartache rule her.

A good mother did what was best for her baby and Chibs was good for Sophie.

Nina was relieved to find that the outfit she'd worn wasn't too casual for the restaurant. She'd worn a pair of jeans, a black spaghetti strapped top, and a pair of navy blue flats.

She'd dressed Sophie in a purple dress and a matching pair of flip flops. She'd thankfully talked the girl into leaving her tiara at home replacing it with a fabric pink flower clip.

Chibs was dressed in the cleanest pair of jeans he could find, a dark blue t-shirt, his boots, and his kutte of course.

He was grateful to see that Sophie had paid no mind to the reaper on his back. He hadn't wanted to be forced to answer any questions the child might have about the kutte and why her friend Filip always wore it.

He knew of course that sooner or later Sophie would have questions. Especially once she found out that he was more than a friend.

He just wanted to hang on to this a little bit longer. He feared that once Sophie knew the truth she'd no longer see him as the nice guy that came over and read to her.

Yes Sophie was too young to realize what the Sons were. Once she got older though she would hear rumors around town. She might even see the police having a special interest in her father. She would know the truth one day.

He didn't want his girl to think that he was a horrible man; a no good outlaw who had hurt her mother enough that she had to run away to Florida.

He didn't want Sophie to think that he didn't love her. He knew that she'd wonder why her dad hadn't been in her life until now.

And Chibs had no idea how Nina and he would explain the truth to her.

Nina grinned at the sight of Sophie carefully drawing a daisy allowing Chibs to draw the stems. "Have you decided what you want to eat Soph? The waiter will be back soon."

"Uh huh I want Macaroni and Cheese and chocolate milk. Can I have ice cream?" Sophie exclaimed not looking up from her drawings.

"If you eat all your dinner." Nina answered amazed at her daughter's appetite at times. It seemed that Sophie's little tummy was an unending pit.

The girl could really eat, yet she was a skinny as a bean pole. Of course this might be because the little girl had an endless amount of energy. It seemed that Sophie only stopped moving when her head hit the pillow.

Chibs gave the girl a smile placing the crayon down on the table. "Maybe we can share some ice cream wee lass."

He paused for a moment knowing that undermining Nina's authority wasn't a suggested move. "Yer ma is righ though ya gotta have a clean plate before ya get dessert."

Nina had to smile a little at this comment. Good move Chibs.

She laughed as Sophie lifted up her drawing beaming with pride. "Filip drew a sun Momma. It's blue though."

"How pretty." Nina remarked loving her daughter's drawings. The fridge back at home was covered in the girl's artworks.

She and Chibs had drawn a field of various flowers with a big sun in sky.

Chibs grinned at the picture as he spoke. "Hey haven't ya heard of a blue moon lassie. That's a blue sun."

Nina had to laugh at this little comment as Sophie gave Chibs a look of confusion her eyebrows rising.

Chibs admired the drawing as Sophie began to work on it again. It was clear that the girl had inherited a bit of her mother's artistic talents.

The bits of Sophie's drawing were quite intricate for a five year old child. She worked hard on the flowers moving slowly with the crayon adding little details as she moved.

Sophie spoke again looking up at her mother pleading as she spoke. "Can Filip come home and read to me before bedtime? Please Momma please."

Nina sighed knowing that she wouldn't be able to deny the girl this. She'd never heard Sophie beg for anything like this. It seemed that Chibs was quickly becoming an important fixture in Sophie's life.

"I don't know...You don't mind do you Filip?...I mean I know this is such short notice. And you have work tomorrow so I can imagine you don't want to stay out too late." Nina replied still thrown a little off guard by Sophie's request

"I'd like that Nina...We'll finish If ya give a moose a muffin Sophie." Chibs assured both Nina and Sophie.

He finally tore his eyes from Sophie's drawing as Nina spoke a soft smile on her face as she turned her eyes to admire the panting of a wine bottle on the wall. "This restaurant is beautiful."

"Aye I come here sometimes when I wanta good pizza. It's got good prices. Charming doesn't have many pizza places." Chibs replied.

Nina nodded her head knowing that he was right about that. Charming didn't have any Pizza Huts or Dominos. Charming was all mom and pop stores. There were no chain stores anywhere.

"It used to drive me crazy when I was a teenager...you know no real mall in town. Not even a crappy McDonalds When I first moved to Miami I pretty much lived at Dunkin Donuts." Nina remarked chuckling.

She paused shaking her head nodding her head to Sophie. "When I was pregnant with that one I craved Vanilla Coffee Danishes and Eclairs. Oh and the decaf Mocha Iced Coffee. I loved that place. I could have moved in to that place. I went there every morning before work."

"Where'd ya work?" Chibs asked not helping but to be so curious about this life Nina had in Miami; the life she'd had without him; the life he could have been a part of if he hadn't been such an idiot.

Nina raised a manicured eyebrow a little shocked that he wanted to know more about her life away from Charming. The life she'd only had because she'd run away from Charming; away from him.

She cleared her throat a little embarrassed by her less than glamorous job. "I worked with my roommate Rosa. She was a friend of my Tia, since they were kids. She got me a job with a cleaning service working with her. I cleaned everything from peoples houses to banquet halls. I was a maid...it wasn't a glamorous job by any means...I know it was kind of stereotypical a half Latina maid..I couldn't find much as far as employment though given my state. The maid gig paid well though...I got maternity leave. My bosses liked me. They were a sweet elderly couple. It was a small operation so they treated their employees nicely. They always made sure we got paid fair. Rosa and I had a nice apartment three bedrooms. It was in a nice part of town. There were a lot of families in the building so Sophie had a ton of kids to come to her birthday parties."

"That sounds nice. I'm glad ya were in a good place there...Glad fer that one." Chibs replied nodding his head at the little girl as Sophie continued to draw.

He was unable to stop himself from speaking a bit confused by her career choice. "Why didn't ya use yer art ta get a job lass? Did ya get inta school in Miami?"

Nina drifted her eyes downwards pretending to be fascinated by the table cloth as she spoke. "I had to leave school...I tried to take classes in Miami, I really did. It was just too hard you know? Being a mom and juggling classes and work all at once. To be honest I haven't picked up a drawing pad or a paint brush since...well since I got pregnant."

Chibs frowned shame hitting him hard. He knew that if he'd been able to be there for Nina then he could have helped her.

If he'd been with Nina then he could have made sure that Sophie was taken care of while Nina went to her classes. He could have made sure that Nina was well taken care of that way she wouldn't of even had to worry about balancing motherhood with work and schooling.

Because of his actions she'd given up on her dreams of owning a gallery of her own.

Nina felt her cheeks darken spotting the look of guilt in his eyes.

She'd thought that it would feel good seeing him feel some shame over all that had happened between them. She thought that letting him know how much he'd disrupted her plans for her life would make her feel some sort of vindication, but in reality it just made her feel sort of bad.

She looked back up at him as she spoke. "It kind of worked out...I mean I was able to pack up and move back home to help my Tia out."

"How's that goin?" Chibs asked remembering how frail Gabriella Diaz had looked that day he'd first run into Sophie and she at Estrella's Tavern.

Gabriella had looked tired as though someone had come along and sucked all the energy she had straight from her. She looked ill.

Chibs remembered that conversation Gabriella and he'd had. How desperate the woman seemed to be to mend fences between Nina and he.

It was the work of a woman who seemed to be looking to right some wrongs. He could remember her comment about being an old woman having no need for any more secrets.

Something about that comment had struck him. He knew deep down inside that there was more to it than Gabriella growing old; something darker.

"I wish I could say that it's going amazing. That's not true though...Things have been going downhill with the bar for so long now. My Tia's last ex husband put a ton of money into the greyhound tracks. He got into some bad debt and starting taking money from the bar and my tia. It seems like we spend more money than we make trying to break even with things...It'll kill my tia if the bar has to shut down it's her pride and joy. I mean she wants to pass it down to me and then down to Sophie and so on...we can't lose it." Nina explained as she reached up running a hand along her wild hair the conversation making her feel fidgety.

Nina dropped her hand down on the table as she let out a heavy sigh speaking again. "I have some ideas about how to fix things you know? How to maybe bring some attention to the bar...attract a new line of customers, but I don't know...my ideas are probably not as clever as I think."

"I'm sure yer ideas are wonderful lass. Ya will never know if ya don't try. What are the. It's try? Maybe I can help ya decide if it sounds like a good idea or not." Chibs replied trying his best to pull his mind away from the guilt he felt.

He knew the best way to do that was to encourage Nina in her pursuits.

If the bar was really in as bad as shape as she said, then Chibs would be willing to do anything to help her hang on to her aunt's legacy.

He felt his stomach begin to churn as he realized it was more than Gabriella's legacy. The bar was where this all started.

He couldn't bear the idea of the place where he'd first laid eyes on Nina to disappear.

"Well I was thinking of doing this thing where I have a painting night. I can close the bar and have people pay for spots which will cover the paint, the easels, and a teacher, the rest will go to the bar and supplying the drinks. I could do themes like they could paint a margarita while having margaritas...I don't know it's kind of stupid...I just thought it would work you know. It would be something different." Nina explained her eyes shifting back down to the table.

She knew it sounded a little lame. It just felt like it would be something unique; something that would catch people's attention.

"That sounds like an amazin idea Nina. I bet ya could work that out." Chibs reassured her causing her to stare back up at him a soft smile appearing on her face.

The little smile made Chibs' heart beat a little fast. He'd do anything to keep her smiling like that.

He was quick to speak again wanting so badly to help her with the bar. "I think ya should try the art thing out. It might be a good idea to look into renting the bar out fer parties ya know...I think yer smart enough to figure somethin out...Anytime ya need some help with it all jus call me...I'd do anything to help ya out."

Nina widened her eyes surprised to hear the certainty in his voice. It seemed that once again Chibs Telford was shocking her.

She had to wonder how many more surprises he had in store for her.

Gemma Teller Morrow let out a heavy sigh as she carried a hand full of groceries out to her car the prospect Filthy Phil carrying the rest of the bags.

She'd just recently been bailed out of jail by Clay after the entire mess with Agent Stal and the plea deal Gemma had signed in relation to Polly Zobelle's and Edmond Hayes' death.

No one was quite sure how this mess would be sorted out. Gemma was doing all she could to shove it from her mind for now.

She hadn't been pleased to find that in her absence the kitchen in the clubhouse had become disturbingly bare.

And of course with the Queen of SAMCRO's absence no one had bothered to restock a thing.

So she had taken matters into her own hands deciding to go to the grocery store and restock on enough items to last the clubhouse until she could go shopping again.

Gemma looked up from the trunk of her SUV a frown appearing on her face as she heard a very familiar voice.

She allowed her eyes to search the street around her it not taking long for her to find where the voice was coming from.

Across the street Chibs walked two unfamiliar people to an unknown car; a woman and a child. The little girl walked in between Chibs and the woman giggling every once in a while as both Chibs and the woman lifted the girl allowing her to swing from their hands for a moment before they lowered her back down to the ground.

Gemma was more than dumbfounded as she watched Chibs go around to the backseat helpinig the child into her seat. Gemma widened her eyes as Chibs made sure that the child was all strapped in.

That was clearly the act of a father. What the hell was going on here?

She turned her head to the prospect as she nodded her head over to the mystery woman. "Filthy Phil do you know who that woman is?"

Filthy Phil turned to face the station wagon completely missing Chibs climbing into the drivers seat.

He frowned at the curly haired woman as she climbed into he passengers seat shutting the door before the car pulled away. "I think that's Nina Franklin...her aunt owns that bar downtown on Fremont Street...Estrella's Tavern I think."

Gemma raised an eyebrow this piece of information rolling around in her head.

She had to get down to the bottom of this. There was something fishy going on here.

It was time to pay Nina Franklin a visit.

Nina stood behind the bar the next day her mind full as she stared down at the dark wood of the bar. She scrubbed the wood with a rag rapidly as though cleaning the bar would help her sort out the mess in her head.

Nina was still so conflicted about how she should feel about Chibs.

It seemed that the more time they spent together that the more he shocked her. He was turning out to be quite different from the man she'd assumed he was those years ago.

Her heart still hurt thinking about that day she'd come to TM Auto looking for him; looking to tell him about the little life growing within her.

She felt sick when she thought back to that woman hanging on him. All Nina had been able to focus on was that Chibs didn't look as though she'd ever meant a thing to him.

Nina had felt so stupid. She'd gone with her stupid heart and let him come home with her that night and he wasn't worthy of it.

She'd told herself that Chibs Telford was a rotten bastard. She tried to tell herself that Chibs was a jackass who she hoped got every single STD known to man and even a few new unheard of STDs. She'd hoped that his dick fell off. She had hoped that every woman who looked at him vomited on sight. She'd hoped that every dream he had was about her and the life they could have had together if he hadn't fucked it all up.

She'd prayed that he suffered for shattering her heart.

She had been a jilted woman. And hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn.

This past week had thrown her for a loop. The man she had tried to hate was turning out to be so wonderful.

Chibs was so sweet with Sophie. He was so concerned with the state of Estrella's Tavern. He was willing to put aside the past between them aside and learn to get along with Nina.

She was flabbergasted with how patient he was being about this all. He was willing to stand back and let Sophie develop a relationship with him before the truth about him being her father was revealed.

Not only was he standing back and allowing Nina to run the show he was so willing to help her out with Sophie financially. He was willing to believe her when she said that he had to be the father.

Nina tried so hard to deny that her heart didn't skip a beat when she looked into Chibs' eyes. She tried to pretend that she didn't swell with pride and lust when his eyes scanned her body.

Nina was terrified to admit that Chibs Telford still had a piece of her heart.

She was so confused and conflicted as to how she should even begin to handle this situation.

Who was to say that Chibs even wanted her? Who was to say he ever wanted her to begin with?

After all if he'd wanted her he would've stuck around that morning.

Still though if he didn't want anything to do with her it would be easy enough for him to just step back and move on with his life. It would be so easy for Chibs to disown Sophie and she.

Was there a chance that Chibs and she could be something? Was there ever a chance?

She was pulled from her thoughts as the bell above the front entrance to the bar chimed. She stared up raising her eyebrow at the woman who'd entered the bar.

She felt a chill run down her spine as the woman locked eyes on her staring at her as though she was examining a bug underneath a microscope.

Nina shoved the bad vibe she got off of this patron knowing that she wasn't in the place to turn away any customers even if they did give her the heebie-jeebies.

Norah was the one barmaid on shift today. She was quick to give Nina a look of apprehension as she trotted off towards the backroom apparently wanting to get far away from this mystery patron.

Nina resisted the urge to roll her eyes at this. Great she was all on her own.

"Welcome to Estrella's Tavern." Nina blurted out hoping that her voice sounded less freaked out and more friendly and welcoming.

Gemma raised her eyebrow at the woman her eyes scanning her. She looked young. From what Gemma could see this Nina woman was dressed casually in black shorts and a white tank top. Her chaotic curly locks were pulled back into a pony tail revealing a rounded youthful face.

She took a seat at the bar across from the woman eying the tattoo on Nina's wrist Sophie.

Nina eyed the woman she was dressed in all black; black jeans, a black top, a black leather jacket, and black high heeled boots. Nina stared down at the black ink over the woman's left breast a crow.

She looked back up at the woman's scrutinizing gaze as she spoke. "What can I get you?"

"Bourbon on the rocks." Gemma replied her eyes still locked on Nina slowly sizing her up.

Nina was glad to turn away from Gemma as she focused on the shelf full of drinks. She did all she could to push any discomfort she felt down as she grabbed a hold of a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon.

She turned back to Gemma her eyes locked down on her work as she fixed up the drink.

Gemma took a sip from the bourbon her eyes still fixed on Nina. The woman looked nervous and Gemma knew she should be.

Gemma just jumped straight into business as she spoke up her voice cool and collected. "How do you know Chibs?

Nina tried hard not to drop her jaw at this little comment. She cleared her throat as she put the bottle of bourbon back on the shelf. "Excuse me?"

"I've seen you around with him...you and your daughter. Or who I'm assuming is your daughter by that tattoo on your wrist...Sophie. You seem close." Gemma replied her voice remaining calm.

Nina frowned at Gemma not helping but to feel as though she was on trial at the moment. "I don't think I caught your name?"

Gemma took another sip of her bourbon as she replied. "Gemma Teller Morrow."

Nina felt her stomach do a somersault at these words; Teller Morrow as in TM Auto.

Gemma went straight in for the hit as she spoke again. "Chibs is a good man. He's a complicated man. I'd hate to see anyone taking advantage of those complications. Especially some gash."

Nina's defenses went straight up at that sentence. She narrowed her eyes at Gemma as she replied to this seemingly offhanded insult. "I'd hate for that to happen as well."

Gemma gave Nina a cool smile not wasting a second to reply. "I have to ask Nina what's your game? You bat those pretty eyes at him give him a little smile? Make him think he's being a good guy helping out a single mom? You pull him in get him attached and for what?"

"You have no idea what in the hell you're talking about." Nina spat out her temper beginning to creep up within her. How the hell did Gemma know her name?

"I think I do. Like I said Chibs is a complicated man. He's been hurt in the past, nearly destroyed. He has a real tender heart. I said it once and I'll say it again. I'm not going to let some gash push up on him and drain him for all he's worth." Gemma remarked her eyes darkening.

Nina tensed her jaw her temper beginning to take complete hold. "Don't you think that if I was looking to find some man to drain dry I'd go for someone with a bit more money? Somebody like a Hale or an Oswald?"

Nina didn't even give Gemma a chance to respond to this as she spoke again throwing all tact out the window. "You don't know anything about me nor my relationship with Filip. Drink your bourbon and get the hell out of my bar."

And with that she made her way out from behind the bar off through the door to the backroom.

The barmaid that had made her escape earlier widened her eyes as she quickly pulled the cigarette she was about to light out from between her lips shoving it into her purse hoping to keep it out of sight from an irate Nina.

Nina let out a heavy breath her rage still rolling through her like a storm. She frowned at Norah as she attempted to push the rage down. "Go cover the bar...I need a cigarette break. Make sure that bitch with the bourbon leaves."

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Tia= (Spanish) Aunt/auntie

Not going to lie I almost thought of titling this chapter Bitch with The Bourbon...I held off on that though.