Blood & Water

Chapter 7

"You heard her, they split up," Bishop said. "None of this shit is your concern. We can handle it."

"I hope so," Miguel said menacingly. "For your MC's sake, as well as little Joey and his parents."

Galindo nodded at Nestor who moved quickly to release Carrie. She scrambled off the pew and onto the floor, a crying, panicked mess.

"Where's my son?" She asked her voice hoarse, looking up at Miguel. "Give me my son!"

Galindo snapped his fingers and Joey was shuffled quickly in and handed over to Angel who promptly knelt beside Carrie.

"Look, Joey's alright, he's okay," Angel told her quietly. "Did they hurt you?"

"No," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Angel."

Angel just shook his head as he held both her and Joey in his arms. "You don't have to apologize for shit."

"No I do," she said. "Joey is our son, Angel, he's your son."

"What?" Angel said with a sense of bewilderment. "He's mine?" Looking down at the child Angel started to cry, he wanted to wipe away his tears, to hide his overly whelming emotions, but he wouldn't let Carrie or Joey go.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she could barely meet his stare. "I was scared. I didn't want to lose you, I thought you-"

"Stop," he said firmly. "It's fine. It's okay."

"Angel," Bishop called out once Galindo and his men were gone. "We need to talk."

"Yeah," he said shakily.

"We all do," he added. "Everyone okay?" Bish asked, leaving Hank and Taza to walk over toward them.

"Yeah," Carrie cleared her throat. "We're fine. I guess."

Bishop offered her a hand and helped her to stand, Angel holding Joey tight still processing the news Carrie had hit him with. She took the baby, needing to hold him in her own arms, and almost instantly Bishop threw a mean punch hitting Angel right in the eye.

"Let's get back to the clubhouse," Bishop said with a huff, watching as Angel fell back from the blow. "We'll figure it all out."

—

"I was at the pump and he just popped up behind me, he had my license," Carrie recalled. "He seemed fine, I didn't think he was creepy," she shrugged. "Then the first red light after I left the gas station he was there again and I knew he was trouble. He came up to the window and," Carrie shook her head. "I don't remember."

Bishop nodded. "We can get the details from Alvarez if we need to. You have to tell your husband you're okay, he can't know-"

"He doesn't know anything, he thinks I'm at my sister's," she said shamefully. "He has no idea any of this happened."

Since they arrived at the clubhouse Angel and Carrie had no time alone to share even the briefest of sentiments. She was sitting at the bar, just as she was the night before, with a cup of tea while Bishop, Angel, and Hank listened to her story.

"Good," Bishop said, "Keep it that way."

"He's not a threat," Carrie explained.

"He's my cousin," Angel added. "I ain't seen him in years."

"Just his wife?" Bishop asked with a mix of good-natured humor and annoyance.

Angel nodded his jaw tense. "Yeah."

"Anything else you wanna share?" Bishop asked, looking at both Angel and Carrie.

Carrie looked at Angel and he nodded, although she could tell this wasn't how he wanted to share the biggest news of his life.

"Joey is Angel's son, not Kevin's," Carrie said without embarrassment. "And he just found out so could we please have some time alone?"

Hank and Bishop looked at each other and Bishop nodded. "I'll talk to you later," Bishop said to Angel as he and Hank walked out from behind the bar.

"Come with me," Angel took her hand and led her out to EZ's trailer. Ignoring his little brother who was sitting with a sleeping Joey, Angel kissed Carrie, holding her close to him. "You sure you're okay?" He whispered, still clutching her as tight as he could.

"I am now," she whimpered.

"EZ," Angel finally acknowledged his brother. "Can we get a minute?"

"Yeah," EZ gingerly laid the child down and placed a pillow to keep him from rolling off the small bed.

"Tío Ezekiel," Angel said as EZ passed by them.

EZ looked at Angel, confused for a brief moment, before smiling broadly. "Shit, congratulations."

Angel smiled and gave EZ a little shove toward the door. EZ looked at Carrie, they both knew they needed to talk, but they would have to wait until it was safer for everyone. Once his brother was gone, Angel kissed Carrie again.

"Go see your son," she said, needing some space to try to compose her thoughts.

"Mijo," he said with a dreamy smile as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I should have told you," she admitted shamefully. "I didn't know how you would react and I was scared," Carrie explained.

"He's beautiful," Angel said, ignoring her reasoning and apology. "His middle name," the obvious finally dawned on him. "Ignacio."

"Yep, after you," she said with a small smile. "I thought you woulda figured it out, honestly."

"I didn't wanna think about it," Angel said, gazing at the boy. "Hurt too much."

"Yeah," she laughed sadly. "I wanted to tell you so badly, Angel. I wanted to be a family with you, the three of us," she admitted. "All I ever wanted was you."

"Me too," he finally looked away from their son. "I wanted to stop seeing you, Car, I wanted to just walk away, but I couldn't, it's better to deal with this bullshit with Kevin than not have you at all."

She smiled at that. "You know we still have hurdles, right?"

"I know," he said sadly.

Carrie wanted to tell him about the investigation into Galindo, keeping EZ's involvement secret, but she didn't, the words stayed safely behind her teeth until a better time. "I have to find somewhere to go, I'm not going up north, fuck that."

"No you don't," Angel said harshly. "You stay with me. When shit gets moving with the divorce, you make him leave the house."

"Look at you," she laughed a little.

"You have to tell him Joey's not his," Angel said, a more stern tone to the words than she had heard from him. "I'm not gonna pretend, he's my kid, I don't want anyone else involved."

Carrie nodded. "Yeah, I will, I have to."

"I know this shit is messy now," he sighed, "But it's gonna be fine. Galindo, Kevin, everything is gonna shake out."

"I hope," she sighed. "I'm tired, baby."

"I don't think they're done with me," he sighed. "I'll have EZ take you and Joey back to my place, get some sleep, I'll be there by the time you get up."

"Okay," she pouted.

Angel walked over to her and kissed her forehead before leaving the trailer. He didn't know she was about to burst into tears, if he knew he wouldn't have left her, but when EZ walked back in he took his brother's role and comforted Carrie as she cried.

"What are we gonna do, EZ?"

"I don't know," he said, rubbing her back a bit. "I have no fucking idea."