Hands All Over

Ch. 89 Don't Let Me Go

Juice was sitting in the van staring at the little Irish bar across the street. They were staking out the Irish in an attempt to locate Galen or one of his crew. He'd been looking at the building for so long; he could see those damn neon Irish shamrocks behind his eyelids when he blinked. He checked his phone, smiling at the picture of his daughter with huge headphones on her head. The caption explained it was a present from her 'fairy godmother'.

"That's one sweet girl you got there," Tig stated, nodding at the phone.

Juice shut his phone quickly, not exactly pleased that Tig was snooping in on his personal life. "Yeah," he said, his voice rough and tired. "How's Fawn doin'?"

Tig shrugged a shoulder, his blue eyes staring out the front window. "Dunno. She won't talk to me. Least she's safe, y'know?"

He nodded in agreement, staring back at the bar. "You ever wished you'd a kept them here?"

"No," he answered honestly. "Wish I woulda made more of effort to see 'em though. Their Ma was a bitch, but I love those girls. Shoulda showed it more when they were growin' up."

"Why didn't you want them here?"

Tig shrugged again. "They were born smack in the middle of that Mayan war. All the shit that was going on...it was better they were gone. No way could I have been dad and Sergeant. Hard to flip off that switch and be a good dad. Better that they were far away. Outta sight, outta mind," he explained, before he realized why Juice was asking. "You're not gonna make her leave are ya?"

Juice shrugged in response. It wasn't a bad idea. It'd be nice to know she was out of Charming and safe. One less thing to worry about. But he knew there was no way she'd up and leave. Not unless he gave her a reason to. "Dunno," he answered curtly. "You think I should?"

He frowned, running a hand through his crazy hair. "Eve's, what, a month, two months old now?"

"Two weeks," he corrected, wondering how Tig could possibly think two months had gone by. "Two weeks and already two brothers have died and she's in her first lockdown."

"Kids love lockdown. Always thought it'd be fun to have the girls here for one. One big sleepover."

"She's two weeks old," he repeated incredulously. "She barely knows what's going on."

"Which is why it don't matter if they're here or far away. She don't know what's goin' on. It ain't gonna scar her later. Keep her close as long as you can 'cause there'll be a time when she won't want to be close anymore 'n' that shit hurts. Ang too. There's gonna come a point when she wants out like Tara. The smart ones always do... 'cept Gemma, of course."

Juice sighed, running a hand over his head. "But what if they get hurt? What if the Irish come after 'em? Then what? I lose 'em anyway."

"Not gonna happen," Tig said as if he was positive. "No way."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Just can be. Have a little faith in the club, Juicy. Look at Gemma and Tara, Abel and Thomas, the Winston kids, they're all alive and kicking."

Juice snorted at that, shaking his head. "Gemma was...taken by those Nazi assholes, Tara and Angel were kidnapped by Salazar, then Angel was shot by that asshole, Abel was kidnapped by that Irish prick and the Winston kids have lost not only their mom and dad but their grandpa too. You call that safe?"

"Didn't say safe. Said alive," Tig pointed out. " 'sides, look at Tommy. Nothin's happened to him."

"Not helpin'."

The older man sighed, straightening up in his seat slightly. "Look, you love them, right?" he asked. Juice looked at him like he was an idiot, so he continued without an answer. "Don't send 'em away just 'cause a all this shit. You might not get 'em back."