The morning after, Harley woke up in bed next to Kozik. She leaned up on her elbows watching him sleep peacefully. She ran her hand lightly down his cheek and leaned in giving him a kiss before sliding out of bed to go take a shower.
The weight of the last few days events had hit her like a ton of bricks. She’d almost been killed. Kozik had almost been killed. Isabelle would have been left without parents. Gemma had been beaten. Tara might have potentially lost use of a hand and now there was an all out war between Gemma and Tara. Harley knew she had to keep her promise to Jax. Tara was pregnant with his kid, but her loyalties lay with Gemma also. In many ways she’d been more of a role model than Luanne when Harley was growing up. As much bullshit as SAMCRO was in, they were all family. They were all going to pull through this together. But Clay had to go. He was the poison that had caused all of this to happen.
She let the water run over her body as she leaned her arms against the wall and hung her head. Clay had been the father figure Harley hadn’t had since Otto was in jail. Clay was a grandfather to Abel and Isabelle. Clay who had done everything possible to make sure Harley and Isabelle were taken care of when Kozik was gone.
She shook her head at the thoughts after she realized she’d been crying. Clay had become a weak minded man in a powerful position. He had lost his way. He’d turned on his own club and his own family. Clay was a traitor and that needed to be handled.
Harley felt rough hands run down her arms before wrapping around her body holding her close. She turned around burying her face in her Old Man’s chest. As many problems as they had, they knew each other better than anyone else. Even though everything had turned to shit around them, he was her comfort zone. Her constant. Even if he hadn’t come back, he would be the one she’d have gone to so she could process all of this.
Kozik held her close to him. Even though she didn’t let it out, he knew how hard this was for her. He could see it in her face. She was tired and worn from all the stress. Harley was always in the middle of all the mess going on with the Sons. She held so many secrets and truths that could never be spoken. It took its toll on her, but nobody handled it better than she did. She was his old lady and he wore her name on his neck with pride. She was so strong willed and protective. She was in mama bear mode even before she had the baby but he could see how much more it came out now.
He felt her tears against his chest and lifted her head up to look up at him. “Shh, I’m here babe. Everything’s gonna be fine.” She just nodded before leaning in to kiss him. It wasn’t passionate or hungry. It was soft and lasting. She needed to believe the words he’d just spoken.
After the shower, Kozik slid on his boxers and a pair of sweats before going to wake up Isabelle and make breakfast while Harley got ready.
He shook her gently and the sleepy look on her face as she opened her eyes made his heart melt. He had so much to live for now. So many stages of his daughters life he needed to see. He knew what his vote for Clay would be when it came down to it. He knew the type of life he lived. The risks that came with it. But to be blindly led out into a battlefield in the middle of a full out war was not what any of them had signed up for.
After making sure she washed her face and brushed her teeth, he walked downstairs with a PJ clad Belle so they could start making breakfast. Isabelle immediately ran to the radio, turning it on and blasting the music before reaching into a bottom cabinet and pulling out her own apron. Kozik crossed his arms over his chest watching his babygirl with amusement. It still amazed his how great of a job Harley had done with her. They had their own routines in the morning with music and cooking, he wasn’t going to interrupt her now.
Isabelle stopped in front of him, placing her hands on her hips after tying her apron. “Ready daddy!”
He laughed at his babygirl before lifting her up in his arms so they could pull out the pancake batter and bacon. After pulling out the eggs and butter, he cracked them in a bowl and poured the butter in. He watched Belle instantly reach for the wisk holding it up with an excited smile on her face as he pushed over the bowl closer to her so she could start to mix. He watched her with a smile on her face while he laid the pieces of bacon on a pan. Although she did a great job mixing she’d also gotten batter all over her face.
Harley came down after getting ready for the day. She’d done up her makeup and slid on a pair of light wash ripped skinnies with a light grey vneck tshirt and her boots with her hair down straight. She leaned against the doorframe watching the two cooking and laughing as Baby Belle mixed the bowl and sang out loud to the song on the radio.
“Good morning!” She laughed as she walked over to her daughter giving her a kiss on the cheek before walking over to her man kissing his lips softly, running her nails gently down his bare back.
“Mornin Mama” Isabelle beamed as she handed the bowl over to her.
“You made this all by yourself Baby Belle?” Harley laughed finishing mixing up the bowl.
“Daddy helped a liddle bit but it was alll me, mommy!” Harley laughed as Kozik winked at her.
“Kid’s a natural!” Kozik shrugged his shoulders with a laugh as he watched the two of them interact.
Harley poured a bit of batter into a pan before wrapping her arms around Kozik from the back, kissing between his shoulder blades. He tilted his head back to look down at her with a smile as she started swaying their bodies to the music playfully. Belle laughed and clapped watching her parents as Harley took Kozik’s wrists moving his hands wildly dancing to the music. As a slower song came on, Harley held her hand out for Belle so they could dance slowly to their song. She picked up her daughter and rocked them back and forth slowly to the music as she sang to her. Isabelle laughed as she held her mommy tightly while she dipped her. Kozik laughed and took Belle from Harley dancing with her in his arms as a faster paced song came on.
Harley laughed while she flipped over the pancakes and bacon watching them dance. This was perfect. If only they could stay in this bubble forever. She put the final pieces on three plates and set up the table as Kozik sat Belle down on her seat before sitting down with Harley in the seat next to Belle.
“Daddy, can we has snow for Christmas?!” the baby asked as she shoved a forkful of pancake in her mouth.
Kozik looked at Harley and laughed before turning his attention to Belle. “We don’t get snow in Charming, darlin’”
Isabelle frowned and Harley looked at Kozik. “What if we go to that cabin in Tacoma? We can set up the tree there and invite everybody over? That would be nice to get away from all of this.” She gave him a hopeful smile.
Kozik finished up his plate and nodded. “That sounds great babe. It has enough rooms and shi-” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Stuff.” he finished his sentence.
Harley smiled as she picked up the plates from the three of them. “It’s settled Baby Belle. We’re having snow for Christmas!” Harley and Kozik laughed as Belle’s eyes lit up with excitement.
After putting the plates in the dishwasher, Kozik went to get dressed while Harley cleaned off Isabelle pulling on a grey tshirt and a pair of light jeans that matched her own as well as her boots. Isabelle may have been identical to her father but style and personality wise she was a mini me of Harley and she dresses her as such.
Isabelle went over to their room with Kozik while Harley packed her diaper bag and the three headed out to the car. Kozik strapped Belle in while Harley got up in the drivers seat. She felt her stomach start to cramp and put her hands on it immediately.
Kozik walked over to the drivers side to give her a kiss before he got on his bike but noticed her holding her stomach. “You alright babe?”
” Yeah.. just cramps.” She shrugged it off.
Kozik looked at her with worry but there was no point in arguing with her. He kissed her softly and walked over to his bike, leading them over to TM.
Harley was sitting on top of a pool table with Isabelle and Abel while the guys were at church. She watched the kids as they went around putting all the balls in the holes and laughing. Gemma came over putting an arm around Harley’s shoulders. She smiled at the older woman leaning her head on her shoulder.
“How you holdin’ up baby?” Gemma asked as she watched the kids.
Harley shrugged, desperately needing to keep an upbeat attitude after yesterday’s shitstorm. “Hey, so Belle & Abel want to see snow for Christmas. Koz & I are thinking about getting the cabin up in Tacoma and having Christmas there with everyone? It’ll be nice to get away for a few days after all this goes down. We can head out there next week and set up the decorations and rooms for everyone before they come up?”
Gemma smiled at the younger woman. It would be nice to have a Christmas getaway. “That sounds great sweetheart. I’ll let everyone else know. Is there going to be enough rooms?” Harley nodded. “Then it’s settled, baby.”
Harley smiled over at Isabelle and Abel. “Hear that?! We’re going to have snow for Christmas!” Both kids laughed and clapped their hands in excitement.
“Harley?” Harley turned to look at Gemma. ”Thank you. For Tara.”
Harley nodded as the men came out of church. Tig and Koz came up to the woman. Tig attacking the children with tickles while Koz threw an arm around Gemma and Harley.
“You tell her about the cabin?” He asked kissing her temple.
“Yup, she’s going to make the arrangements with everyone. We’ll head up there next week to set everything up.” Harley smiled wrapping both arms around his waist.
“It’ll be good to get the family together. They all need it.” Gemma piped in watching the eye contact between Harley and Koz with a smirk.
Kozik leaned onto the table pecking Harley’s lips continuously. Harley laughed pecking him back as he laid her down onto the table leaning his body over hers. He laughed as he kissed her lips before he began tickling her sides. Harley laughed hard trying to squirm out from under him as Isabelle and Abel begin trying to tickle Koz. Gemma and the rest of the crowd laughed watching the the scene.
Jax laughed as Kozik finally got off of Harley with both kids up over their shoulders, spinning them around. He looked over at Harley and although she was laughing and having a good time she looked off and pale. As Kozik wrestled with the kids on the couches, Jax walked up to her wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, you feeling alright?”
Harley leaned her head on his shoulder smiling watching Koz and the kids. “Yeah! Yeah. Just feeling a little sick.”
“Like the flu?” He asked looking down at her.
She shook her head looking up at him. “No like a stomach bug.”
He shrugged “You should have Tara go check it out.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing. I will if it gets any worse.” He kissed her temple before gathering the guys. Kozik walked up to her still laughing from the kids, giving her a kiss. She kissed him back and smiled up at him. “Where you guys off too?”
He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “To see about a rat problem.”
She laughed and kissed him again. “When are you guys voting on Clay?”
His face turned serious and he looked down at the floor. “Tonight at 9.”
She nodded and kissed the side of his neck. “It’s what needs to be done.”She whispered against his skin. He looked down at her with a nod. “Be safe.” She smiled again before kissing him.
He kissed her back and nodded then moved to kiss Isabelle. Harley was right. It needed to be done. God, in so many ways she was stronger than him. She set him straight. Kept him focused. He needed that. Needed to be reminded of how much his decisions mattered now.
Harley was in the office making phone calls for arrangements for the cabin. Isabelle and Abel were laying on the couch with their heads on Tara’s legs, one on each side as she read them a story.
“Alright. Thank you so much. We’ll be seeing you soon.” Harley hung up the phone and smiled over at Tara. “Cabin’s all set.” She whispered seeing the babies asleep.
Tara shut the book putting it to the side placing her hands on the kids bellies. “Thank god. It’ll be just what we need. A break from ‘club business’.” Tara took a deep breath before looking at Harley. “You know, about what I said the other day..” Harley turned her chair to look at her. “I love all of these guys Harls. I can’t imagine how much you care about them. I’m sorry for what I said, it was out of line. I just can’t imagine going through a pregnancy and raising a child by myself if he goes to jail again. Or even worse, gets killed. You know what they do. I don’t want Abel and the baby to have to experience that.”
Harley rolled her chair over to her, placing her hand over Tara’s. “Tara, we are not against you. None of us are. But this is who you fell in love with. If you can’t imagine your life with the club, you can’t imagine your life with Jax. This is who we are. This is what we know. Jax and I grew up into this life. We don’t know anything else. It’s in our blood Tara. It’s in Belle and Abel’s too. You need to understand that. Even if they do go to jail again, you won’t be alone. You’ll have me and the entire club to help just like they did when I had Isabelle. I know what it’s like and I’d be there with you every step of the way.”
She heard a car pull up to a screeching halt on the lot. Tara stood up carefully not to wake the kids and looked out the window. Her eyes quickly shifted to Harley as she saw who got out of the car.
“Uh, I need to go to get a drink. Watch the kids?” Tara quickly said heading to the door.
“Uh.. sure?” Harley looked at her confused as she quickly went outside shutting the door behind her.
She glanced over at the sleeping children before looking out the window seeing the familiar blonde who had destroyed her relationship talking to Gemma and Tara. She swung the door open and started marching towards the woman when Gemma saw her and yelled to Half Sack who ran to grab her holding her by her waist.
Harley swung her arms trying to get out of Half Sack’s arms as the roar of motorcycles pulling into the lot took over. “Let me go!” She screamed at Sack before turning her attention back to the woman. “I’ll fucking kill you, you stupid cunt!”
“Harley!” She heard Kozik’s voice.
“What?!” She screamed at him. “Why the fuck is she here!?”
He threw his hands up in his hair as Half Sack pulled her into the garage shutting the doors behind them.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!” He charged towards the girl but Opie stopped him shaking his head.
“Go take care of your Old Lady brother.” He nodded his head towards the door. They could hear tools being thrown and metal crashing. Kozik threw his hands over his face yelling into them in frustration.
“Jesus Christ, Koz. You’re in some deep shit.” Juice shook his head hearing all the shit breaking.
Kozik looked at Gemma grabbing the croweater by the hair tossing her out of the lot. He hung his head walking over to the garage.
He opened the door and ducked as a wrench flew over him. “Jesus Christ Harley!” He walked towards her as Half Sack left the garage shutting the doors behind him.
She sunk to her knees as tears ran down her cheeks. Memories of that night kept replaying over and over in her head. He knelt down next to her wrapping his arms around her. “Hey. Hey. It’s alright. What’s going on?”
She sighed wiping the tears. She was way more emotional than normal and she couldn’t control them. “Why was she here?!” She demanded in a quivering breath.
He shook his head placing his hand on the back of her head holding her close. “I don’t know babe. I swear.”
She leaned into his shirt crying some more. Anger he could take but she never cried this long. He held her close rubbing the back of her head so she could calm down.
She pulled away from him running over to a trash bin to throw up. He quickly ran to her holding her hair back as she continued to throw up.
“Shit! Shitt!” Kozik yelled not knowing what to do. She managed to stop and wipe her mouth with the sleeve. “Babe, you alright?! What was that?”
She laid her head onto his arm as he stroked her back. She felt exhausted. “I don’t know. My stomach’s just acting up.”
Kozik shook his head holding her closer to him. “You gotta go to see a doctor babe.” She shook her head as she heard someone bang on the door.
“Kozik, Chapel!” Bobby called from the other side.
Kozik looked down at her cupping her face in his hands. “You okay to stand?
She nodded after catching her breath. “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine. Just take care of business.” He nodded kissing her lips softly helping her stand up. He held her tightly against his side as they walked over to the clubhouse.
Harley looked around the place as Kozik helped her sit down at the bar. The croweater behind the bar got her a drink as Gemma and Tara surrounded her. “Where’s Belle?” She asked leaning back against the counter.
Tara put her hand on her forehead noticing how pale she was. “Belle’s sleeping in the dorm. You okay?”
Harley ran a hand over her face. “What did that bitch want?”
Gemma grabbed herself a drink sitting next to the young blonde. “Just wanted to stop by. Apparently she’s back in town.”
Harley slammed her fists on the counter and shook her head. “Next time she steps foot on this lot, she’s dead.”
Gemma and Tara looked at each other with concern before the three women turned their attention to the opening doors of the Chapel. Clay being walked out held by Kozik and Chibs as they lead him out of the clubhouse to the garage. The women followed the group of men as they watched Happy pull out his Tattoo kit blacking out Clay’s ink.
Gemma covered her mouth watching in sorrow and anguish. That was her husband of over 20 years. Her old man. But he’d wronged her and the club. Harley watched Gemma’s eyes watering. She wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist holding her close as Gemma wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. Clay had been like a father to her once Otto was locked up. Clay had been the one to help her with Otto’s cut of the profits when she was in need. But Clay was a traitor. He’d betrayed his own family and club. This was what needed to be done.
As the men escorted Clay off the property, Gemma and Harley looked confused as Kozik and Jax approached them. “What’s happening?” Gemma asked the men.
Jax shook his head and nodded over to Bobby. “Mayhem didn’t go through. He ain’t going to be coming back here though.” Kozik nodded in agreement putting an arm around Harley.
They headed inside and Jax walked up to the Chapel. He stared at the room in silence before he walked over to his seat at the head of the table. Taking the gavel in his hand. The rest of the guys filed in, Chibs was motioned to sit as VP. Tig went to his usual seat next to Jax but the now President shook his head, motioning Kozik as Sergeant at Arms. Harley smiled with pride as the rest of the men took their seats.
Tara watched her man holding the gavel and Harley placed a hand on her back, motioning her forward with a reassuring smile. “Go take your place, sweetheart.” Tara smiled and nodded before walking inside kneeling down to whisper something to Jax then standing up behind him, placing her hand on his chest.
Harley smiled with pride watching the two leaning in the doorframe while Gemma crossed her arms with an uneased look on her face. “He’s in good hands, Gem.” She looked down at Harley and hesitantly nodded. Harley met Kozik’s eyes. A look of pride on both of their faces. She nodded at him and he nodded back. This was where they belonged.