1 Month Later
"Bree!" Filip's voice echoes down the hall. "Ya home?"
"In here." I call back. Ian squirms in my arms at the sound of daddy's voice.
Filip leans against the doorway, watching me as I feed our son. His gentle smile is enough to comfort my nerves even if it is only for a moment. "That's a beautiful sight."
"Welcome home baby." I greet him. He steps in, leaning down to give me a kiss before leaning over Micha's crib. "How did it go?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." He smiles down at his daughter. "Right now, I just wanna spend time with you."
He helps me finish up feeding the babies and putting them down for a nap. I giggle when he scoops me up and carries me out of the room.
"I'm glad you're back." I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him to me for a kiss.
"How long we gotta wait?" He growls as he sets me down on our bed.
"Another week or two." I pout.
"That's a damn shame." He kicks his boots off and crawls up on the bed next to me. "I love ya baby." He rests his head on my stomach and I absentmindedly run my fingers through his hair. My mind wanders to my father and JT's letters. "What?"
"I'm worried." I tell him. "Clay's greed puts everyone and everything close to him in danger." I fill him in on the letters that Tara brought to me. The color drains from his face.
"Does Clay know about these letters?" He props himself up, hovering over me.
"I don't know." I admit.
Filip runs his hands through his hair. "Jeysus Christ!" The anger in his voice is intimidating. I almost re-think telling him. "Bobby's right." He mutters and I don't dare ask what he's talking about.
"I should have waited." I prop myself up on my elbows.
"No, no baby." He shakes his head. He leans down to kiss me. "No, the clubs in deep shite and I don't see any way out of it."
"Jax keeps thinking he's gonna walk away from this." I curl up into his open arms. "I just don't see how he can."
"Clay ain't gonna let him." Filip confirms my fears.
"Welcome back baby girl." Gemma greets me from across the lot. "We missed you around here."
"Good to get outta the house for a little bit." Neeta helps me get the kids out of the car and strapped into their stroller. "My brother around?" I notice his bike parked along the railing.
"Uh, I'm not sure. Maybe he's in the apartment." The look that crosses her face tells me she knows exactly where he is.
"Lila's lookin for him." I spent most of the morning fielding questions from my sister-in-law. Gemma plays with the kids while I head into the clubhouse. Jax follows me in. I ignore him, making my way back to the apartment.
I knock softly before pushing the door open, half expecting my brother to be passed out in a drunken haze. I did not expect the whore stepping out of the bathroom. Opie stares at the ground, guilt flashing across his face for only a moment. He pulls his shirt on and looks up at me, mumbling about a rough morning.
"I'll leave you to it." I tell him, closing the door behind me. Jax meets me in the hall. "I wouldn't go in there." I don't offer much more before pushing my way out the door.
After an hour of burying myself in paperwork, the twins sleeping peacefully in their stroller next to me, my brother appears at the office door. "You call Lila?"
"Not my place." I reassure him. "I'm not gonna be the one to tell her that the honeymoon's over." I can't help let the bitter tone through. I'd barely talked to Opie since the kids were born. Now I watched as he leaned over and played with them. Something weighed on him.
"I found out Lila's been taking birth control, morning after pills." He says without looking up at me. "I'm trying to build our family, she's killing it."
The pain in his voice reminds me of the night Donna died. Jax bursts into the room. "What the hell man? Getting your dick sucked by a crow eater is one thing but. . ." He stops when he sees the look on Opie's face.
"Lila's been lying to him." I explain. "Taking birth control."
"Fucking that crazy bitch was your solution?" Jax closes the door behind him.
"Worked for you." Opie looks up at him, a half-ass smirk on his face. "I don't know what I'm doin. I keep tryin to force things and none of it fits." I get up and join my brother on the couch. I lean against his shoulder, offering what comfort I can. "None of it feels real anymore. I'm just going through the motions. I miss Donna."
There was the confession I knew was plaguing him. Lila would never be enough because she wasn't Donna. It wasn't fair but it was honest.
Opie's phone rings, pulling him away from his ghosts. He steps out the door, leaving me with Jax.
"Still hate me?" He watches me carefully before taking a seat next to me. I don't answer. "Let's play a game."
"I'm too old for your fucking games Jaxson." I spit at him, letting my anger get the best of me. "You put our family in danger with your vote and you still can't tell your wife where those stacks of money you gave her came from."
"I have a plan. . ." He starts.
"Your plan include getting rid of Clay? Does it include protection for my family? Cuz Clay's a monster and he's just gonna kill anyone that goes against him." I stare at him, tears streaming down my cheeks. "You're gonna get out and that's great for you but what about the rest of us?"
Opie sticks his head in. "We gotta go." He looks at me as wipe the tears away. "What's going on?"
"Nothing Op." I reassure him. "You go take care of whatever you need to. I'll run interference on Lila for now."
Jax reaches out for my arm and I jerk away from him. "Don't."
"We're gonna talk about this later." He says.
"If we're still around to." I glare at him before he turns away.
I bury myself in my work, ignoring the building anger in my chest. The fears and questions rush at me, sucking the air out of the room. I'm thankful when Ian starts to fuss. We'd been lucky; the babies were content, quiet and calm. They were the only things in our life that were.
"You hungry?" I lean over his stroller, tickling his small feet. "Let's go inside and get you two fed."
I push the stroller out of the office and am almost knocked over immediately. "BREE!" The familiar voice has me rolling my eyes. "Oh wow! Look at them!" Dawn gushes over the babies.
"Hey Dawn. You here to see your dad?" I push the stroller toward the clubhouse as she follows.
"Yeah, I gotta talk to him about my sister." Her fake puppy dog look doesn't fool me.
I cringe as Lila's car pulls in. "Dawn, you wanna take these guys inside to Neeta for me?"
"What's going on?" She watches Lila climb out of the car.
"Nothing, just tell her I'll be there in a minute." I push her into the clubhouse.
"You seen Op?" Lila greets me. "He didn't come home last night."
"He's out with the guys on some club business. Filip had a late night too. Opie probably crashed here." I don't lie to her, it's not my place.
"You talk to him lately?" She presses on.
"Not as much as I probably should." I confess. "It's been a little stressful."
"Yeah, we've been a little distant lately." She looks down at her hands. I feel bad instantly. She turns around, catching sight of Ima's car. "Where is she?" Lila demands.
"Who?" I try to play innocent. She pushes past me and into the clubhouse. I rush to catch up with her just as Ima appears from the back.
"What are you doing here?" Lila struggles to keep her voice down.
"No one says good morning anymore." Ima sneers. I fight the urge to slam her head into a wall.
"You spent the night?" Lila's voice breaks.
"You don't wanna know." Ima dismisses her. My dad grabs my arm and pulls me to the side as the two women continue their argument. Neeta stands next to him with Ian in her arms. She hands him to me and reaches down for Micha.
"You stay outta this." He warns. "You take them babies and go back to my room."
Before I can make a move, Ima pulls a gun. She waves it about as she makes her way out of the room. My heart races and I hug Ian close to my chest. Dad stands up, positioning himself between the crazy whore and his family.
I stare after the woman as she backs out the door. Drug cartels and porn stars with guns; I did not sign up for this.
After she's gone, I try to distract Lila. "Help me take these guys in back? They're hungry." My voice shakes almost as much as my hands. Lila nods, following behind me down the hall with Micha.
I feed the babies in silence. Lila sits perched in the chair, not moving or speaking. I couldn't find the words to make this right. That wasn't on me.
"I'll take these two home for you Bree." Neeta offers.
"Probably a good idea. I'll be home soon." I help her pack them in the stroller. Neeta watches my sister-in-law cautiously. "You want me to pick up the kids from school?"
"Yeah, take them to my house. They can play with the babies." I answer for Lila.
The door closes with a soft click. I sit back down on the bed and watch her for signs of life.
"You're lucky." She finally speaks up. "You know he doesn't think about her when he's with you. He wants me to have a kid, thinks it will fix everything. I'm not her."
"I know." I can't manage much else.
"I got pregnant right before they went to Ireland." She turns to look at me, gaging my reaction before continuing. "I knew he'd take care of me and the baby. I just couldn't."
"Opie never told me you got an abortion." I can't believe he was ok with it.
"He doesn't know." She stares down at her hands. I watched her and saw the fear and pain in her eyes. I couldn't stand it anymore. Instead of comforting her, I stood up and walked out. Everyone's gathered in the clubhouse, waiting for my brother to show up. I pushed past Tig and Dawn to get outside.
Opie and Jax had just parked their bikes. "You guys ok?" He calls to me. Before I can answer, dad swings. I heard the thud of his oxygen tank connect with my brother's head and scream.
"Your dick almost got people killed." Dad spits at him. "Your sister and the babies were here. I don't even know you anymore."
I race to my brother's side, checking out his head. "He's right." Opie sits up, leaning his arm against the picnic table. "I'm sorry." He mumbles.
"I'm fine. Just go deal with this shit." He pushes himself up and away from me, heading inside to find his wife. Jax stands in front of me, watching me carefully. "I'm going home."
Before anyone can stop me, I make my way to my car.