CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

Website where all photos of all outfits mentioned is on my profile. Just to clarify, in case anyone was wondering, I have no intentions of killing off any major characters…..yet. And I do apologise for the late update, a relative died while overseas on holiday. Secondary apologies for this chapter and any mistakes. I literally finished typing it minutes before posting.

Happy had spent most of Monday morning leaning back in a chair in the living room with a box of desserts from Lulu's beside him growling at anyone who went near it. Even with his stomach distended and his face slightly green from the amount of sugar he'd ingested while we'd been at the store he'd refused to share any of what he brought back with him.

The box of cakes I'd brought back from the store had been served with dinner that night, a very light salad and some freshly baked bread that we'd all been grateful for, even with a whole day to digest the huge meal from the night before I'd skipped breakfast due to feeling overfull and slightly nauseous. Trish came through the door a little before lunch with a smile "Who feels like doing a little shopping?"

Donna smiles back but shakes her head "We wouldn't have the space to take anything home."

Pouting slightly she shrugs "Oh well, then how about manicures and pedicures instead. I'm sick to death of the sight of my office."

Cam nods, pulling Donna and I to our feet and laughs at Al who's already half way out of the room heading to get shoes "That sounds like a plan. The guys can look after the kids and we can have a bit of girl time, seeing they're all going on this helicopter trip tonight."

Happy looks a little bewildered when Cam leans over the chair he's in, kisses him on the cheek, snatches what looks like a twinkie (but tastes a million times better) out of the box of sweets and darts out the door pushing Donna and I in front of her.

Al appears at the top of the steps, shoes dangling from both hands, sliding down the railing she jumps the last two steps, drops shoes into all our hands and then helps Cam with the pushing.

Reaching the front door Donna and I glance at each other and lean backwards, making both Cam and Al stop in mid-step. "I'm not objecting to going you too. But I'm not a sheep to be herded. Let me put my shoes on and find my bag then we can go." Donna says with a shake of her head.

Donna claims the front seat, her excuse of the passenger she's now carrying making all of us laugh, my giggle stopping as I realise it means I'll be stuck in between Al and Cam, and their sharp pointy elbows in the back seat.

Instead of heading straight to the beauty parlour that I know Trish frequents on a biweekly schedule she leads us to the coffee shop down the road first "I feel the need to make sure that we're out for a few hours."

Cam cocks her head to the side and asks the question on all our minds "Why?"

Glancing at Donna and I she makes a pointed motion of looking at her watch "Abel will be waking up from his nap very soon if I'm not mistaken, and Ellie and Kenny will be looking for snacks in about half an hour. Terry and Amy both have the day off, actually they have this whole week off, but I have a feeling that one or both of you will be getting calls soon about children and what to do with them."

Al and Cam both laugh with Trish but Donna and I share a look before both shaking our heads. "Jax is more than capable of giving Abel a bottle, as long as he remembers how to work the microwave. Opie knows that the kids will have half an apple each and a sandwich if their hungry, and they'll tell him where everything is. Terry had them both making their own snacks since we came to the house. They've demanded to be allowed to do it at home as well." Donna says with a half-grimace before looking at me "Do you think it would be too late to have a half-height bench put in the kitchen?"

I nod and smile apologetically "I'd say so. Everything's ordered, just get a little table for them and set up their own corner. The rooms big enough to do that with ease."

Donna groans and rubs her face with her hand "Why didn't I think of that?"

I shrug and giggle "It's the parasite, sucking all your intelligence. Maybe you're having a swarm."

Donna slaps me lightly on the arm and rolls her eyes "I hate you."

"Nah," I reply, wrapping my arms around her waist "You love me."

By the time we get to the beauty parlour over an hour later Donna and I have both had calls from our husbands, Opie's to check that the kids could have 2 cookies instead of their sandwich, this was answered with a negative and negotiated to a single cookie each and half a sandwich. Jax had rung me to remind me that they needed to leave the house at 6 to be at the helipad by 7 for take-off, which had just ended with me rolling my eyes and saying "I know dear. Yes dear. Love you dear." And hanging up with a laugh at his stuttered love you too.

Cam and Trish both pick New York inspired designs to go on their nails, Trish's fairly plain really with the NYC logo on each nail. While Cam ends up with part of the Statue of Liberty on her nails, the skyline and a few other New York related icons. Al surprises me by getting her nails done a pale yellow with hearts on them, completely girly for her and something I've never seen before but both Cam and I are silenced from whatever we were going to say by the glare she fixes on us. Donna gets hers done white with tiny pink flowers down the side of each while none of them seem surprised when I get mine painted alternating pink and white with tiny dog paw prints on each nail.

Jax is grinning with happiness when we finally get back, but even with how happy he is about it it's Opie that surprises me, watching the huge man almost vibrate with excitement had all of us laughing. He'd checked four different times in the space of the hour between when we got back from the beauty parlour and the time they had to leave that he had the small digital camera in his inner kutte pocket, and had made repeated promises to take lots of photos for Donna.

Shuddering slightly as they leave I squeeze Jax harder than intended, whispering in his ear to be safe.

Pulling away from me he tilts his head sideways slightly and smiles brightly "Babe, I am always careful. Love you."

Kissing him softly on the lips I let go of his arm and step backwards "Love you too baby."

Five hours later they finally get back home, the hour long drive, the heli-tour and the drive back towards town had taken three, but apparently the four of them had passed a bar on the way back and decided to stop for a few drinks. The cab driver that drops them off at the front door after being buzzed in laughs and tells Donna that none of them knew the address, it was just thankful that Juice still had the thank you note from the wedding in the inside of his kutte pocket, along with half a dozen mints, four tissues, three condoms (two of which were empty packets) and a big bunch of lint.

Opie hits the wall as he comes in the door, Happy falls over his own feet and Jax and Juice simply laugh, leaning against each other. When Hap looks up into Cam's eyes he chuckles "Hey babe, you got tall."

Cam rolls her eyes slightly and leans down to help him up, squealing when instead of gettting up Happy pulls her to the ground with him, her body landing on his with an 'oof' of expelled air. Nuzzling his nose into her neck I grimace when he mumbles something that sounds strangely like "Want to cover you in vanilla pudding and lick it off."

Al and I manage to get Jax and Juice up the stairs and into their rooms, leaving Opie walking slowly, his hand pressed against one wall and Donna in front of him, walking with baby steps, hissing threats with each movement about what will happen to him if he wakes up any of the kids.