It had been a little over three weeks since Kozik had come home. The club was at war with Zobelle and after hearing what happened to Gemma, tensions were higher than usual. No one was allowed to leave the club alone, a Son had to be with them at all times. Kozik had been busier than usual, back on the rotation for runs, handling club business at all hours of the day and night. Harley was fine with it. She wasn’t going to change her routine so Isabelle and Koz wouldn’t cross paths but the longer they prolonged it, the better it was. Or so she thought.
She had multiple conversations with Gemma regarding how much he’s changed. Gemma had practically begged her to let Isabelle meet him. Seeing how dedicated Koz had been to everything made her miss him. He was always so passionate about what he cared about. She had to stop. He had Nora and although that little bitch had been making snarky comments non-stop, she made Koz happy and that’s all there was to that. Maybe it wasn’t a terrible idea to introduce him to Isabelle though. What happened between them shouldn’t be affecting her daughter. She’d give the toddler anything her heart desired, so why keep this from her?
Being locked inside the clubhouse made Nora stir crazy. She wasn’t comfortable being watched over by a stranger every time she went outside so she’d try to wait until Kozik had free time to go with her. Lately though he was just too busy to even give her a kiss when he did see her, yet he always managed to stop and watch Harley and her daughter for a few minutes before continuing on about his day. After cleaning the dorm room that had become like a prison cell, she sucked up the courage to walk outside and be in the same room as those people.
Wearing a pair of bootcut jeans and one of Kozik’s sweatshirts she made her way to the main room. Of course little miss perfect was there looking perfect with her perfect daughter in her perfect life. “Bitch” she scoffed under her breath. She glanced over at Harley, whose golden blonde hair was tied up into a messy bun. She had on a hot pink bralet peeking out of the low sides of her dark grey racerback tank top showing off her tan skin and tattoos. Her short denim cut offs curved perfectly with her ass and her Steve Madden combat boots seemed to make her long legs look longer. Nora growled to herself. She hated to admit that this girl could be effortlessly good looking while being a mother to a toddler. She wouldn’t have cared had she not noticed the longing glances coming from her man. Hell – even her daughter was perfect. Her dewy blonde hair in loose curls with her denim shorts and light pink racer back tank top. Ugh. FUCK. She was jealous of a child. A child was getting more eying from her man than she was.
Nora rolled her eyes as she watched Harley sit on the bar stool with Isabelle sitting on the bar in front of her playing patty cake. The child giggled as Gemma and Jax watched the two play. Why was she feeling so jealous of this lowlife biker nobody? As she put her head in her hands, she had to figure it out what was going on that she couldn’t get ahold of her feelings. Back in Tacoma, she had so much confidence in her relationship. She knew from the one or two parties she attended in Tacoma that Koz had other woman around him constantly but that never affected her like this. She knew for a fact Kozik would never leave her for one of them. Now, though, she could feel her relationship crumble from right under her. They hadn’t been intimate at all since coming to Charming and that was the biggest red flag of all since there wasn’t a night that went by that he wouldn’t take her for a round or 2.
Someone sat next to her and she looked up to see Tara, Jax’s old lady, sitting on the couch.
“Hey hun, you feeling okay?” The young doctor asked her.
Nora looked once at Tara then at back at the sight of Jax lifting the baby up over his head as she pretended to fly. “Do you ever get jealous of her relationship with the guys?” She finally asked Tara after a long pause. She had to talk to someone about this. It was driving her crazy keeping all these thoughts to herself.
Tara followed her gaze to to Harley and Jax playing with Isabelle and smiled softly. “Sometimes, but she’s never been with any of them and shows no interest in it” Tara shrugged placing a hand on her back. “The only thing that makes me jealous is how open and willing to talk everyone is with her. I swear she holds more secrets than Gemma.”
Looking up at Tara, Nora just shook her head. “What happened between her and Kozik? I mean he never told me much about her. Just that they had a rough ending.”
The young doctor hesitated a moment before speaking. “Well.. they were together for 7 years. Their first real relationship. Harley’s father was VP at the time and didn’t think Koz was good enough for the princess of SAMCRO so he forbid them. Neither one of them took no for an answer and it got to a point where Kozik was ready to give up his patch just to be with her. Everyone was jealous of their love. They loved hard and hated harder. When they fought, hell broke loose everywhere they were. It was so destructive but they always worked it out.” Tara shrugged looking Nora who was listening intently.
“So why did they break up?”
Tara sighed remembering that night clearly. “Well one night they got into this huge argument, nobody could remember why, but when Kozik came to the clubhouse, the sluts got in his head about why he had to deal with his nagging old lady when he could have anyone he wanted. He had a problem back then and he was high off his ass and took one to the back.” Tara sighed remembering Harley’s pained face after finding them. “Anyway, Harley came to to clubhouse to find him that night and despite Jax trying to push her away from the dorms she barged in and found a girl on top of him. She pulled that girl by the hair, nearly ripping it from the scalp and beat her half to death before him and Jax had to pull her away. She stormed out to the lot and he ran after her. I don’t remember what was said but they were extremely heated and he ended up slapping her hard enough to bust her lip. She wasn’t one to roll over so she shoved him hard and kept yelling at him, calling him a worthless junkie, but that angered him more so he tackled her to the ground and she ended up shooting him in the shoulder before Gemma could bring the guys out to pull them apart. Everyone knew he got off lucky when she didn’t shoot him through the heart.” Nora scoffed at her comment about him being lucky but Tara just nodded. “Apparently that night she had taken a pregnancy test after their fight and came to tell him but after the incident she never did. He was in the hospital for a week and the club decided it would be best if he moved to Tacoma to put some distance between the two. Harley had requested the charters keep him from coming to Charming to keep the peace and they did. And here we are now. To be honest everyone was so nervous about the two of them coming face to face. But it turned out better than expected. Motherhood works well for Harley. Her temper isn’t to be taken lightly but she’s calmer now. They were best friends before any of this, its good to see them getting back to that. ”
Nora felt her heart drop to her stomach. That really was his kid. How could he not tell that he was a father? What was she going to do. She could never compete with the mother of his child but she wouldn’t have a baby with him until they were far away from this hellhole. He almost gave up his patch for Harley, he’d better be willing to do it for her. Listening to Tara’s story only made her frustration worse. Hearing how in love they were and how badly she’d hurt him. She needed to get him far away from her, the longer they stayed here the closer he would be to her.
She stood up and thanked Tara before heading back to her dorm. She was going to look for a house for them to settle into. Settle with him. Maybe a ring and marriage. She’d give him everything Harley kept away from him.
All week everyone close to her was dropping hints as to how much he’d changed. How much he’d cleaned up his act. If she was being honest with him she could see it too. He had a passion behind his actions that she hadn’t seen since the early stages of his relationship. Gemma and Luanne had made it a point to talk with her several times about letting Isabelle get to know her father. Sure she could ignore him while he was in a different state, but with them being under the same roof – it was unfair.
Kozik came back to the clubhouse to see Jax playing with Isabelle. He bit back the burning sensation in his eyes from unshed tears. That was his little girl. He should be the one playing with her.
Harley noticed Koz watching them play. A sad smile played in her lips. Gemma watched the younger woman and placed a hand on her leg. “Go talk to him baby. Give him a chance. Even if he messes up now, she’ll be too young to remember. It’ll be like it never happened”
Harley leaned back on her elbows against the bar and sighed. Her eyes shifting from Koz, who was now sitting on the couch with a beer in hand watching Jax and the baby, to Isabelle. “But I’ll remember Gem. I don’t know if I can do that again.”
Gemma kissed the girls temple and fixed a loose strand of hair. “You’re one tough broad baby. Don’t let your daughter miss out on something great because you’re scared. She’s your baby, you’ll always want to protect her and everything is going to scare you, but obstacles can be overcome. You can’t miss out because of fear.”
Harley sighed and nodded. “It never gets easier does it” Gemma just shook her head and smiled, nudging her softly off the seat towards Kozik.
With a deep breath, Harley walked over to the couch Koz was occupying and sat on the table in front of him. “Hey.” She smiled nervously.
He sat up straight and scooted forward to the edge of the couch to be closer to her. She smelled so good all he wanted to do was reach out and touch her but decided against it. She had barely spoken to him all week and now she was here. “What’s up?” He asked with a concerned tone.
Harley smiled placing a hand on his cheek to calm him. “Calm down big boy. Nothing to worry about.” Her smile became more nervous and she averted her eyes to the floor before looking back at him. ” I .. I was just wondering if you would like to meet your daughter. It’s unfair for her to not know who her father is, especially when you’re under the same roof.”
His eyes immediately got wide as he stared at her. Unsure of his own ability to speak. Of course he wanted to meet his kid. His baby girl. He nodded with his mouth open unable to the words out.
Harley’s smile dropped from her face as she nodded “Ok, but listen to me carefully. I don’t trust you, and I probably never will but I want Belle to have both parents and as normal of a life as possible. You only get this one shot – you do anything to break her heart -I won’t hesitate in ripping out yours.”
The only thing he could do was nod. He knew better than to take her threat lightly but he wanted nothing more than to hold his child.
Satisfied with their understanding, Harley stood up walking to Isabelle and Jax holding her hand out for Belle to take. “Come on Baby Belle, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Belle looked at her mother with confusion but happily complied skipping over to the couch with her. As Harley sat on the table in front of Koz, she pulled the little girl up on her lap. Taking a deep breath she smiled at Kozik before returning her gaze to her bubbly little girl. “Belle, honey, do you remember asking why Abell had Jax as a daddy but you didn’t have one? What did mommy tell you?”
The little girl looked between her mother and the stranger and thought carefully. “Yew seb I has a daddy but he wahs away for liddle while”
Harley and Kozikk both smiled at their little one. For the corner of her eye she could see Kozik quickly wipe away a fallen tear. “That’s right baby.” she said kissing her head softly. “Well, Isabelle, I’d like you to meet your daddy. He had to be away for a little while but he’s here now baby.”
Kozik felt his stomach dropp as the little girl stared at him as if thinking the situation over. What if she didn’t like him? What if she liked some of the other guys Harley must have dated better? He was ready to empty the contents of his stomach just as the little girl squirmed out of Harley’s arms and climbed up onto his lap. Without a word she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulders. Kozik hugged her tightly burying his face in her neck he left himself shed a few tears. He was finally holding his daughter. God she smelled so good. Just like strawberries and baby lotion. Just as he was about to pull away Isabelle pulled him in tighter and in the sweetest voice he’d ever heard she said “tank yew fo coming back daddy”. Kozik felt like his heart was about to burst.
Everyone had been watching the interaction and their eyes all watered up. Harley covered her mouth with her hands as she let some tears fall from her eyes. She had no idea how much this little girl must have missed out on having a father. She’d been trying so hard to make up for it that she didn’t notice that Belle knew something was missing. As Belle pulled away from her father and smiled Harley noticed he’d been crying too. It was like a rush of old memories and emotions it her all over again but she couldn’t let her daughter see her cry so she quickly wiped her face and watched as the two got acquainted.
Isabelle told Koz all of her favorite movies, songs, toys. How she and mommy turn the music loud on Sunday mornings so they can sing and dance while they make breakfast. She told him she wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up and that she couldn’t wait to start going to school like Ellie and Kenny. She told him about all the nicknames she’d called the rest of the brothers. As Kozik was listening he couldn’t help but smile and laugh. He could listen to her talk forever. He stole glances at Harley who was still sitting watching the little girl like a proud mama. She’d really done an amazing job raising this phenomenal little girl and he couldn’t be more proud of the two of them.
After being gone all day to look at real estate, Nora made her way back to the clubhouse. She had found them the perfect house to live in and was so excited to tell Kozik. Just as she walked through the doors her heart sank as she saw everyone staring happily at the picture perfect family. Kozik was sitting on the couch with Isabelle on his lap laughing and talking as Harley sat cross legged on the large table in front of them smiling. In an instant she saw red. Of course that bitch would introduce him to her baby. If course she would try to trap him further with this happy family bullshit!
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” she screamed out at the pair. “Of course you would fucking use that child to get him back! What’s the matter, can’t find a man that could knock you around like he did?!” She shrieked pointing her finger towards Koz who had stood up to defuse the situation. Nora didn’t recognize the sound of her own voice. She didn’t even know where this new found courage came from but all she saw was Harley in the way.
“Nora..” Kozik started to speak but was interrupted.
Harley’s face flashed deadly in a second as she stood up stepping in front of Nora. “You need to watch your mouth around my kid if you know what’s good for you, darlin’. ” she spoke directly to Nora, her words laced with venom.
Before anyone could pull her away, Nora cocked get hand back and slapped her across the face. Harley stood for a moment before hearing Isabelle scream for her. She stepped away from the woman and kneeled down in front of her daughter who had jumped of Kozik’s lap looking ready to cry. “Shh it’s okay sweetie. You know cursing and hitting people is bad right? And people who do bad things get put in timeout right?” The toddler nodded as she stifled a cry. “Well sweetie, mommy has to put the lady in time out so why don’t you go with nana Gem to the kitchen for a little while.” The little girl nodded and ran into Gemma’s arms. The older woman was hesitant but took the little girl away.
Everyone else seemed to be frozen in suspense while Nora watched the mother daughter pep talk with an eye roll. Kozik had made his way over to try and get Nora out of the room but she only shoved out of his grasp and right back to Harley. ” Oh what, your daughter’s around criminals all day and has never seen someone get slapped.
With that last straw, Harley punched her hard in the nose causing her to stumble back before kicking her hard in the stomach so the brunette fell onto the hard floor, bleeding and gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of her. She pulled out the knife she kept in her back pocket and held it inches away from the woman’s eye. “You act like that around my kid again, I’ll carve your goddamn tongue out. How’s that for criminal.” She spoke lowly in Nora’s face as everyone stood around and watched.
Tig threw his arm over Harley’s shoulder leading her away from the distraught woman on the ground. Jax told Chibs to check on Nora’s bloody nose while Kozik had kneeled over to try to comfort his girlfriend who was crying in pain and horror all at once.
Nobody had spoken like that to her before much less put their hands on her! How could he just sit there and watch?! She wanted so badly to jump out of his arms and go to the police to put all these criminals behind bars but she had a feeling having Harley arrested would only make things worse. She was so angry! So betrayed! How could they all just sit back and watch her get hit like that without stopping that crazy bitch?!
Kozik was still in shock as he had taken her to the dorm room bed and was cleaning up the dried blood on her face. What the fuck just happened. One minute he’s having the best moment of his life with his daughter, the next Nora comes in like a maniac and before he knew it Harley was on top of her with a knife in her face. He’s never seen Nora react that way. She’d never hurt a fly, much less another person. He gave her some pain meds Tara had brought over and gently ran his fingers through her hair letting her settle into his arms so she could rest.
Harley went to the bathroom to wash her hands and face. She couldn’t care less about what that bitch was saying, it was the fact that she did, in fact, hang around all these big bad bikers and yet that was the first form of violence her daughter had ever experienced. Nora was out of her mind if she thought she was getting away from that unscathed.
Once she cleaned her face and made sure any redness was gone. She stepped back out to the main room where everyone had continued on about their business. They knew better than to question her actions. She was smart and calculated and thought things through so if she decided that was what she was doing they’d be behind her 100%.
Walking to the kitchen where Gemma and Belle were eating ice cream, she leaned over to kiss her daughter assuring her that she was okay. She looked over at Gemma’s proud smirk and nodded. “Let’s get out of here, yeah? Go watch some movies at Nana Anna’s house?” She asked the two, referring to her mothers house. Both Gem and Isabelle agreed so Gemma went out to her car while Harley called over Half Sack to help her while she prepped Belle’s things.
As Kozik walked back out to the main room, he caught sight of Sack holding Isabelle while he walked out the door with Harley. “Fuck!” He growled as he smashed his fist into the wall.