I rolled over and looked at my wife who was still sound asleep. She had curled her legs up towards her chest and looked tiny in the huge bed. I slid out of bed as silently and slowly as I could so she could continue sleeping in while I cooked breakfast.
"Happy, what are you doing?" Katerina wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her forehead on my back. I flipped the pancake over before turning around and facing her with a smile.
"Cooking my wife breakfast. You know this damn house is lined with windows, right?" She smirked and nodded as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me. Her stretching brought my t-shirt she was wearing up over her bare ass.
"I have a thong on, it's okay." She whispered against my lips. I rolled my eyes and kissed her briefly before getting back to cooking. Katerina was a master at making me burn food by distracting me. She raked her nails down my back as I slid the pancake onto a plate.
"Woman, we have to eat at some point." I growled as she laughed and moved away towards the refrigerator. She was humming some song that I remembered hearing last night as she dug through the shelves. Her phone started vibrating on the counter and I narrowed my eyes at the name on the screen.
"Mr. Kline it's Saturday morning." Katerina said as she answered the phone and headed over to the island with a carton of orange juice. I got a glass down and handed it over to her. She stuck her tongue out at me and reluctantly poured the juice into the glass instead of drinking straight from the carton like I knew she was going to.
"What? How can they even do that? Son of a bitch. No, don't send me anything this weekend. I'll come down to your office on Monday. Yeah, you to." Katerina slammed the phone down on the counter and stomped over to the freezer. I cut the stove off and slid the last pancake onto the plate as she got a bottle of vodka out and headed back to her orange juice.
"Talk, Katerina." I slid her plate over before sitting down with my own next to her. She looked down at the pancakes and smiled a little as she took a drink of her vodka heavy screwdriver.
"I don't want to, Happy. This weekend is supposed to be about us." She frowned and pointed a loaded fork at me before putting it in her mouth. I shook my head as I chewed my own food. Even without any makeup and her hair going all over the place, it surprised me how beautiful she was every morning.
"You're drinking at nine o'clock in the morning, babe. What's wrong?" I washed the pancakes down with coffee and looked over at her as she frowned.
"Declan's parent's are suing me for the costs associated with the wedding I called off in addition to personal damages for their fucking humiliation." She scoffed and stabbed a pancake angrily. I felt like stabbing something myself but pancakes weren't going to satisfy that need.
"How much is it, Kat?" I had a feeling the answer was only going to make things worse. From what she had told me and what I had found out on my own, I knew his parents didn't do anything cheap. Katerina shook her head and gave me a small smile.
"I can cover most of it with savings, Hap. No judge will make me pay though. That was between Declan and I. He isn't exactly suing me." She smirked and ran her hand over my arm. I shook my head and sighed.
"I'm going with you Monday." I wanted her to answer my damn question but fighting with her today would be worse than waiting until Monday. She shrugged and kissed my cheek before sliding down from the stool and collecting our plates. I watched her as she rinsed the plates off, wondering why we couldn't catch a fucking break.
"Let's go to the aquarium." Katerina said as she dried her hands off. I laughed and finished my coffee as she hurried back to the bedroom to change. I should have known why she picked Monterey for the wedding.
"If you don't quit I'm going to feed you to a fucking whale, woman." Katerina put the camera down and shook her head before pulling my arm around her shoulders. She'd probably taken ten pictures of stuff in the aquarium and fifty of me.
"Your threats are cute baby." She kissed my hand and twisted my wedding band as we walked over to the shark tank. I laughed and shook my head as my phone started vibrating in my pocket.
"Yeah?" Katerina rolled her eyes and moved out from under my arm to look at a striped shark. Had it not been Clay, I wouldn't have answered the phone.
"Hap, we need you brother. I know you were going to be there until Monday, but we've got problems with black." I closed my eyes and rested an arm against the thick glass tank wall.
"Alright." I snapped the phone shut and looked over at Katerina as she frowned. Breaking my promise to her pissed me off as much as it hurt her. Jax would have avoided pulling this shit where I had a feeling Clay just didn't give a damn.
"We haven't even been married forty-eight hours, Happy." Katerina threw clothes into the suitcases as I tried to stay out of her way. I nodded and caught her as she made another pass by me.
"Kat, I know. We can come back soon or go wherever you want." She looked up at me with a scowl and pushed herself out of my arms. I watched as she zipped the suitcase and pulled it off the bed. I shook my head and took it away from her.
"Why would we go somewhere? So Clay can just call you back to Charming?" Katerina snapped as she grabbed the car keys and her purse. I narrowed my eyes and kept my back turned towards and walked out to the car. I understood why she was upset but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOA SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
"Are you going to talk to me?" Happy asked as we crossed back into San Joaquin County. He had insisted on driving so that we could get back quickly and it only served to piss me off even more. I looked over at him and took a deep breath.
"What do you want me to say, Happy? I'm trying not to fight with you." I felt the tears pricking at my eyes again and looked away. I just wanted some normalcy and time away from Charming with him. He couldn't just tell Clay no and I knew that, but it still hurt.
"Kat, this is how I make money. Even if I could tell Clay no, we need the money from me taking a couple weeks off when you got hurt." He took my hand in his and turned down our street. I had already tried to make him understand that between my savings and the income from the bar, he didn't have to worry about money but that had been a mistake. He made it clear that his money was our money and my money was mine.
"Happy?" I put my hand on the back of his kutte as he tossed a couple of loaded magazine in his saddlebags. "I love you."
"I love you, Katerina. I'm sorry." He kissed my lips and cupped my face with his hands. I inhaled his cologne and leather and felt the tears start to fall.
"It's fine, baby. Be careful and come home to me. Please." I looked up into his eyes and bit my bottom lip. His expression softened as he nodded and kissed my forehead.
"I swear, Kat." He hugged me tightly before stepping back and throwing the bag over his shoulder. Harley hopped up on the bed and nuzzled my side as I sat down next to him and watched Happy leave. I grabbed my phone and texted Kiara.
Less than fifteen minutes later, the doorbell went off and Harley flew off the bed. I smiled, following him towards the door to let Kiara inside. She was holding a bottle of wine and a grocery bag. I laughed and stepped aside to let her inside.
"Lauren is on her way to. She was at the clubhouse seeing Chibs off. You okay, doll?" Kiara put the food and wine down on the floor and hugged me tightly. I nodded and relaxed a little.
"I'm just glad you're here. You're lucky Happy didn't really have time to notice Harley's nails." I said with a laugh. Kiara glanced down at Harley's blue nails and shrugged with a giggle. She and Juice had agreed to check on Harley while we stayed in Monterey and apparently that included a spa day for our Cane Corso.
"At least I went with blue and not sparkling pink. Ya know Tig is right upset that I got custody of Harley while you were gone." Kiara said with a proud smile as she headed into the kitchen. I watched as she unloaded chesses and gelato into the refrigerator and freezer. I put the wine in the cooler Happy had gotten me as an early wedding present.
"Harley loves all his aunts and uncles. Speaking of uncles, how are you and Juice?" I wanted nothing more than to think about something other than Happy being on the road. Kiara blushed a little and spun around on her toes.
"I like him enough to give him a fair go. He's sweet to me. It's a nice change." Kiara smiled as the doorbell rang again. I hadn't locked the door, so I just called for Lauren to come in. She didn't walk so much as waddle.
"Lauren, you look pregnant!" I said with a laugh as I rushed to hug her. She laughed and shook her head with a shrug.
"Yeah, well at least she decided not to pop up before your wedding. I feel like a beached whale." She said with a pout as I let her go. I shook my head as I walked back towards the kitchen where Kiara was searching for wine glasses.
"I saw a whale earlier today. You don't look like a beached or swimming one, trust me." She rubbed a hand over her stomach and shrugged while I opened the cabinet above the wine cooler and handed Kiara two glasses. Harley circled around on his bed before settling down and watching the three of us stand around the kitchen island talking.
"Tara said that Jax is thinking about pushing Clay out of the chair." Lauren said as she climbed onto a barstool. I almost choked on my wine and looked over at her with wide eyes. She nodded and took a sip of her water.
"Does she think it will actually happen? I thought they were planning on leaving." I asked with a furrowed brow. Lauren shrugged and stole a piece of cheese from the tray.
"Apparently he changed his mind. I'm hoping it happens though. Maybe he'll be able to put a stop to all the dangerous shit. I have a daughter that may never even get to meet her father if shit keeps going like this." Lauren said with a frown. I felt a hollowness in my stomach and nodded.