Sins of the Father

Chapter Twenty

Charming was only an eight-hour ride away, so Mercy and Happy made it to town in the early morning hours, before the sun was up.

When Happy parked his bike in the lot of the SAMCRO charter's clubhouse, Marcy was amazed. "Whoa. This place is a lot bigger than ours." She didn't notice Happy's small smile at her claiming his club as her own.

"This is the mother charter," Happy wrapped his arm around his waist. "The Sons of Anarchy started her back in the sixties."

"And you have friends here?" Mercy was curious if that was anything special or not, but that just wasn't a question you asked.

"Most of the guys here," Happy confirmed as they slowly walked the length of the barely lit parking lot. "Before I met you, I'd been thinking of transferring here."

"So, you didn't do something you wanted because of me?" Mercy felt kind of terrible.

"I didn't think you'd want to uproot your whole life, and I didn't think I had the right to ask you," Happy huffed as he brought them both to an abrupt stop under one of the only street lights in the lot.

"Because my life was going so well," Mercy rolled her eyes and pulled away so she could turn and face him.

"You had deluded yourself into thinking so," Happy shot back with no real venom.

Mercy looked down at her watch and sighed. "Hap, it's 3:30 in the morning. I don't want to fight with you. Can we just get some sleep and talk about this like adults tomorrow?"

Happy gave her a tired smile and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sure, little girl." He leaned down and softly kissed her.

"Hey there, killa!" A mischievous voice had them breaking apart like teenagers caught under the bleachers. Turning, they found a young blond man with shoulder-length hair wearing a SAMCRO kutte and smirking at them. He looked closer to Mercy's age than to Happy's.

"Jax." Happy leaned over and hugged the younger man. "I see you patched in, brother."

Jax nodded. "About six months ago." He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his baggy jeans. "Who's this?" He nodded politely at Mercy.

Happy wrapped his arm around her waist. "This is my old lady, Mercy. Baby, this is Jax Teller. His pops co-founded the Sons," he made introductions.

"Nice to meet you, Jax," she smiled at him even though all she wanted was some sleep. It had been an incredibly long day.

"You too, darlin'." Jax was that unique combination of friendly and charming that made it hard to dislike him. He turned his attention back to Happy. "I was just grabbing my smokes from my bike," he explained his presence in the lot. "I'm sure you're both tired. Mom set up the dorm next door to mine for you."

'Oh, thank God.' Mercy mentally sighed in relief.

***

"This clubhouse is way nicer than Tacoma's," Mercy made unneeded conversation as they lay cuddled up together in bed.

Happy chuckled huskily. "Go to sleep, little girl." He kissed her forehead. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," she kidded.

"Mercy, so help me God, woman," Happy was too exhausted to play.

"I'm done." She kissed his chin before cuddling into his chest to sleep.