Happy dragged himself out of bed, as he usually did when his insomnia took over, and into the bathroom. He could hear Nate and Sam in the playroom as he got dressed, the sound of them playing and laughing made him bitter, hateful, but it also filled him with the only bit of joy and love he had left. It was cruel, to say the very least, and Happy knew it.
"Morning," Gemma said with a smile as he finally came down to the kitchen. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm great," he grumbled.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she said, giving him a strong hug. "You hungry?"
"Nah," he shook his head. "I'm heading out," he informed her. "Thanks, Gem," he said with a sad smile.
"Happy, see your sons," she told him, as she did every morning since Katie was taken.
Swallowing hard he nodded and went into the playroom, seconds later Gemma heard the boys greet him with unbridled excitement. She felt her eyes fill with tears both for Happy who lost his wife, his sons who lost their mother and father in a way and Jax who lost his only daughter. It had been an agonizing year for everyone and the pain wasn't seeming to lessen with the passage of time.
When he got the the clubhouse Happy went right for Juice, as he always did, for any new information. He got the same response. "Nothing, IRA hasn't had a hit either."
"You sure they're lookin'?" He snarled.
Juice nodded. "They wanna find Ryan more than us, brother."
"No they don't," Happy said with a threatening glare.
"I'm sorry, Hap."
He gave Juice a slap to the back, a sign he understood and walked toward the bar where Jax was having coffee. They looked at each other and nodded their greeting in silence.
"It's been too long," Jax said quietly. "We haven't heard shit, Hap. How can three people just disappear?"
"They don't, brother," Happy said sadly, refusing to say what he and Jax had both been thinking for the last few months.
"Still gotta look," Jax said practically into his coffee.
"I ain't stopping," Hap said, clinking his mug into Jax's. "We'll bring our girls home one way or another."
--
*Hundreds of miles south*
"Hey Mama," Coco said as he greeted Katie with a small smile and a wave.
"Hey," she waved back.
"What are you doing here?" Slipping beside her behind the counter of the salvage yard.
"Chucky needed a fill-in," she shrugged. "Anyone can answer phones."
"You gotta wear one of the shirts," he said.
Katie scoffed. "To answer phones?"
"If we gotta wear em', you do too," Coco said with a grin. Snagging one off the wall he draped it over her shoulders.
"It smells like sweat and -"
"Pussy," he said with a smug grin.
"Not what I was going to say," Katie laughed. "If the pussy you get smells like this," she sniffed the shirt again, "You should get your dick checked."
"You can check it," he said, staring at her with intense eyes.
"Leave her alone," Bishop laughed as he strolled through the office. "Chucky talked you into it?"
