We had finally finished getting everything put away and cleaned up from the party and I was looking forward to a couple beers and spending some time at home with Ana. Instead, Nita had showed up to watch Harper and Ana was dragging me out of the house without so much as a hint as to where we were going.
"Stop grumbling and follow me, babe. I mean, if you think your bike can keep up. I'll try to take it slow for you." Ana called as she climbed on her Iron 883. I rolled my eyes and strapped my helmet on without taking my eyes off her. She had been smiling and laughing all night and the past couple months had been getting progressively better.
"Hey brother." Happy said as he opened his front door and raised his beer bottle to me. I nodded and walked in behind Ana who was still gloating about leaving me behind back on Main Street.
"You get that you cheated and ran the light, right?" I teased as she rolled her eyes and started digging around in her bag. Happy chuckled and headed over to the table where he'd sat almost two years ago and tattooed Ana's crow on her arm. I raised my brow as she passed him over a paper with a tiny handprint on it.
"Don't be mad, Opie. I wanted to surprise you with this since it's our baby's first birthday and I wanted something to remember it. I'm getting the same thing here below my crow." Ana said with a timid smile. I nodded and kissed her forehead.
"I'm not mad, munchkin." I clapped my hand down on Happy's shoulder and gave him a tight grin. He and I hadn't really talked about what had happened while I was locked up, but neither of us were really the talking type.
"Thanks Hap!" Ana smiled down at her arm and twisted it back and forth to look at all of the angles of the hand print. Her phone started vibrating in her bag and she grabbed it quickly before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and walking out to the front porch. Happy moved his eyes up to me as she left, but didn't say anything or show what he was thinking on his face.
"She's got a way of making you love her. Harper's turning out to be the same way." I said as he started the outline on my shoulder. Happy grunted and kept pushing ink into my skin. "If anything ever happens, you got to take care of them."
"Don't start that shit. You sound like Juice." Happy growled as he dipped the needles in ink. I shook my head and looked over at him.
"I'm serious, Hap. She'd be okay if something happened to me, as long as you were there." I said before he touched the needles to my skin again. He shook his head and started the machine again.
"Not having this bitch conversation with you, brother." It didn't surprise me that he avoided the subject and it told me everything I needed to know. Ana walked back in with a smile and she looked me in the eye.
"That was Tara. She said a group of nurses and doctors want to do a self-defense seminar. She dropped my name and I got the gig. I just have to come up with enough shit to go over for eight hours." She was bubbly and excited, just like the Ana I knew before the war. I gave her a quick kiss as Happy got more ink on the needles.
"Come here, munchkin." I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her over to me with a grin. She giggled and turned on the bedroom light. Ana smiled at me as I brushed hair out of her face and let my hand rest on her cheek. Harper was sound asleep when we got home, likely from a sugar and cake overload.
"Are you going to take me to bed, Ope?" She twisted her finger around my beard before I kissed her. It was slow and teasing at first, just barely touching our lips together. She caught my bottom lip with her teeth and pulled on it slowly before crashing back into my mouth. I hear a little moan and picked her up so she could wrap her legs around my hips. She laughed and tossed her hair back.
"I love you, Anastasia." I kissed her neck as I laid her down on the bed. She looked up at me and nodded, running her palm over my cheek and jaw.
"I love you, Opie. Always have." She whispered before our mouths collided again. She pushed my kutte down my arms as I kicked my boots off so I could crawl further on the bed.
I woke up with Ana's head on my chest and her bare leg thrown over my waist. Harper was crying and I could tell Ana was just starting to stir awake. Moving as carefully as possible, I slid out of bed and pulled some sweat pants on as I walked down the hallway. Bronx lifted his head and looked at me as I walked into the nursery.
"What are you crying for, sweetie?" I picked her up and held her close to me as her wails faded into sobs. I walked around her pink and grey room, studying the various pictures in frames on the walls and on the furniture. She eventually stopped crying and started to fall asleep in my arms.
"That was the day before I left for New York," Ana said. I put the frame back down on the chest and nodded before putting Harper back down into her crib. The picture bothered me and I assumed Ana knew that.
"I wish I could have been here. You shouldn't have had to go through that alone." I said, sitting down in the rocking chair and looking over at the beautiful woman who had somehow fallen in love with me. She'd given me a daughter and somehow grew more beautiful with each day.
"I wasn't alone, Ope. I had Tara and the club, remember?" She smiled and crossed the room, climbing into my lap and tucking her head into the crook of my neck. I nodded and kissed her forehead. That last part was what still got to me. She had the club, but more specifically, she had Happy.
"What would you say if I asked you to marry me?" I looked down at her face to see her reaction. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath as she pulled off my shoulder.
"I would tell you that I don't think I believe in marriage anymore. I would tell you that I don't need two rings and a certificate to love you. This doesn't come off, Ope. I'm yours and the state of California doesn't get a say in that." She gestured towards her crow tattoo and I nodded. I didn't disagree with anything she said, but I still felt rejected, even though I didn't technically ask her to marry me.
"What are you hung up on, Ope? Is it the house? We can redecorate and change the wall colors, whatever you want. I just don't know why after six months you still don't seem to feel at home with me." She looked through my eyes and down into my soul, trying to find the missing piece.
"It's not the house, Ana. I want to give you everything, darlin'. I want to be a good father and a good man but I feel like it's not enough. There's always going to be that regret." She shook her head and her glare cut me off. We'd done well at not arguing for the last few weeks, but apparently I fucked that up. She moved off my lap and left the nursery without a word. Bronx huffed and looked from Harper to the door before trotting off after Ana.
ANA's POV
"I thought you'd be out here." Opie said as he walked out onto the patio. I nodded and blew a trail of smoke up towards the stars. It was a cool, January night but the clear skies drew me outside. Looking up at the millions of starts, light years away helped me realize that my problems were small in the grand scheme of things. It was a calming technique I'd picked up in Afghanistan where the night sky was sometimes the only beautiful thing around for hundreds of miles.
"What do you want me to do, Opie? I can't go back and change things. To be honest, I wouldn't want to. Everything that happened since the day you went away to now still gives me a beautiful daughter that I wouldn't trade the world for. I just wish her father could see past fourteen months and focus on now. Living in the past will only leave you behind." I said, offering him the joint. He shook his head, so I took another hit.
"Ana, I wasn't there for you. You went through a whole pregnancy, an attempted murder and a fucking kidnapping while I was sitting in prison because of my choice to go along with a plan that I didn't agree with." I shook my head and blew the smoke out with a laugh.
"Opie, you bleed SOA blue. You aren't in the position to deny orders and I get that. You've just got to stop beating yourself up about that and be the Opie I knew and love." He started nodding and kissed my lips gently. I smiled and broke the soft kiss, resting my forehead on his. I looked into his eyes and knew he was still conflicted.
"You should really stop shutting Happy out to. If you can man up and forgive and forget with Chibs then you sure as fuck need to with Happy." I narrowed my eyes at him as his eyes darkened a little. It was obvious that he either didn't believe me after all this time or just didn't like me having friends.
"Alright, Ana. Alright. Try not to get any more of my brothers to fall for you, okay?" He was joking but his words hit me like a sack of bricks to the gut. I forced a small smile and nodded.
"Let's go to sleep, Ope. We've both got an early morning." The swing swung back and forth as I stood up and headed inside, tossing the end of the joint into the can we kept on the porch for cigarette butts.
He held me through the rest of the night. Within minutes of getting back in bed, his breathing evened out and his body relaxed as I just stared at the wall. I tried clearing my mind and convincing myself that all my problems would still be there in the morning, but it didn't work.
"Yeah, I'm on my way." Opie was whispering to avoid waking me up when I had heard his phone vibrating under his pillow well before he woke up. I closed my eyes and rolled onto my stomach as he carefully got out of bed. He was remarkably quiet for someone his size. I kept my eyes closed as he kissed my forehead and told me he loved me.
I heard his boots walk a short distance down the hall and I heard Bronx yawn, so he had to be checking on Harper. Something about that fact made tears start falling down my cheeks. I knew he was a wonderful father and I wondered if I was a better ol' lady if he'd be happier.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I threw my boxing glove covered hands up and let out a loud groan of frustration as Rat backed away from me quickly. Happy was in sliding between the ropes of the ring quickly. I put my knuckles on my hips and glared at him.
"He's helping me practice and plan out that think for Tara's people." I said, annoyed that my rhythm had been disturbed. Happy shook his head and smacked Rat on the back of the head.
"You're lucky her ol' man didn't see this shit. Go do something somewhere else." He snapped. Rat didn't hesitate and moved out of the ring faster than I thought possible. Happy turned to follow him, but I caught him in the arm with a hard left hook.
"If you aren't going to let me beat on Rat then consider yourself volunteered." I smirked and reached out to hit him again. He scowled at me and dodged the jab. I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes.
"You know I don't believe you, right? You've got a whole fucking gym and people there you can practice with. What are you taking out on the prospect?" I broke eye contact with him and turned away. Happy's arm shot around my neck and he yanked me back towards him. I grabbed his wrist with both hands and threw my elbows down, breaking the hold long enough to step out of the choke hold.
"The fuck, Happy?" I coughed at him, rubbing my throat. He nodded and gave me a smirk.
"You don't need any practice, Ana." He lifted my chin up with his thumb and checked my neck for any reddening or bruising. There was neither, just as I expected. He bit his bottom lip and took a step back. "If you want to spar, then let's go."
An hour later, Tara was dabbing me with hydrogen peroxide and giving Happy nasty looks. She'd put three stitches in his forehead along with a butterfly bandage on his cheek. I had a busted lip and a swollen cheek. My ribs were sore and red, but I didn't want her to fuss over me or make Happy feel bad.
"What happened?" Opie's voice boomed as he walked into the clubhouse behind Clay, Jax and Chibs. I hissed at the peroxide on my lip and gave Tara a dirty glare for getting distracted and putting that shit on my lip again. Happy pointed the neck of his beer bottle towards me and I rolled my eyes.
"It was a mutual thing. I needed to work on some moves for the St. Thomas class. I'm fine. He's the one with stitches." I said with a light laugh. Apparently, Opie didn't pick up on the light atmosphere I was trying to create. Opie grabbed my chin and turned my head left and right to survey the damage. I shook my head to get him to stop fussing over me.
"She's a big girl, Ope. Well, she's still short but she's a grown woman. Told her you'd be pissed." I flipped Happy off for throwing me under the bus and mentioning my diminutive stature.
"Yeah, I'm fucking pissed. I don't give a fuck why you two fought, you don't lay a hand on my fucking woman. Whatever shit you two have going on needs to stop. That goes for my kid to." At the mention of Harper, Happy's smirk dropped and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I shoved off the couch and stormed over to stand between the two men who had a cumulative two feet on me.
"You don't make those decisions, Opie! You don't punish my daughter for our shit. I may be your ol' lady but I'm not fucking property that you can order around, Opie. I turned in my uniform a long time ago." I snapped, shoving his shoulders for emphasis. I saw his fist ball up and I silently dared him to hit me. I dared him to make my decision for me.
"She's our daughter, Ana. Unless you were lying to me about that." He knew exactly what to say to hit me without touching me. The laws of physics worked against me as I reacted with equal spite.
"Nope, I didn't fuck Happy until after she was born. There! Does that make you feel better? Don't even look at him, he doesn't fucking remember. I told you to stop looking back, Opie. I fucking told you." I shoved past him and bolted out of the clubhouse. I was crying but my eyes were out of tears. My body was out of energy to keep fighting.
"You trying to bring my club down single handedly?" Jax asked as he walked into my house without so much as a knock. I looked up from the suitcase I was throwing clothes into and took a deep breath. He was the last person I expected to see follow me.
"No, I gave him what he wanted. He wanted so badly to believe that something happened between Happy and I. I just wanted him to come home and be with Harper and me. Opie didn't come out of that prison, Jax. Your brother may be home with you but my ol' man isn't." I zipped the suitcase and pulled it onto the floor.
"So you're going to take his kid and run, Ana? That's what your big plan is? Whether he likes it or not, you're his old lady and he was locked up." Jax's gaze was soft and I took a deep breath as I shook my head.
"Yeah, he was. What about when he came home, Jax? What about those first few nights after he got out and he fucked Ima and that redheaded crow eater?" Jax's eyes dropped to the floor and he pulled me into a hug.
"He didn't fuck the redhead. How do you even know about Ima?" I laughed and shook my head as I pulled out of his arms.
"I didn't. I had my suspicions but you just confirmed it. I knew he didn't sleep with the redhead though. You all should really work on your defensives when it comes to interrogation. It's too easy to get the truth out of you just by asking." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the bedroom.
I realize this chapter may cause an uproar and I'm sorry I'm not sorry. To address some concerns, no this will not become an Ana/Happy fiction. The plan has always been to keep it about Ana/Opie. I realize a lot of you, including me, were rooting for them, but I wanted this fiction to be a little more real instead of the fluff and rainbows I normally write. It's not fair, I know. I don't personally like infidelity, but that's not to say it doesn't have it's role in Sons of Anarchy. The fate of Ana/Opie is really up in the air right now and I haven't decided which way it's going to go. As always, I welcome all reviews good or otherwise so long as they are professional.
A/N P.S.
I've always loved Opie so please don't think me an Opie hater. He's one of my very favorite characters. Even if this fic doesn't end well for them, I may write a Opie fic in the future that ends well for him.