Happily Ever After? #Wattys2017

Chapter Twenty Six

I heard the door open and I sat up in my seat. It was dark out and Happy's mother had gone to bed a couple hours ago. Heavy footsteps made their way down the hall. I relaxed when I saw Happy appear.

I stood up, making my way over to give him a hug.

"How did everything go?" I asked him softly.

"We met with Darby."

"Who is we?"

"Clay and I," Happy replied, "Where's ma?"

"She went to bed. What did you meet about?"

"About the guys who are protecting Derek."

"Did you find out anything?" I pressed.

Happy sighed, "Can we talk about this later? I'm tired and I really want to go to sleep."

I frowned but nodded, "Yeah. I guess we could go home."

"Actually if it's alright with you, I'd rather stay the night here. I'm really tired," he said.

"But I don't have anything to wear or any of my things."

"I grabbed your bag from the clubhouse."

I nodded, "Alright."

Happy took my hand and led me up the creaky stairs. I heard the click of a door open and we stopped. His mothers head poked out of a room.

"Stephanie?"

"Yeah, its us ma," Happy answered for me, "We're gonna stay the night."

"Okay," her voice was more relaxed now that she knew who it was, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I called out as she shut her bedroom door.

I followed Happy to a room at the end of the hall. I looked around the room. There were a couple trophies on the dresser, pictures on the wall and a poster of a half naked girl straddling a Harley tapped up next to the bed.

"I'm assuming this is your old room," I commented with a smirk.

Happy glanced over to the poster I was staring at and chuckled.

"Yeah, I was a big Harley fan even when I was younger."

"I can tell," i replied.

We both got ready for bed and climbed under the covers. The bed was pretty small, not as comfy as the one at the clubhouse or Happy's place. I had to practically lay on top of Happy to keep from falling off the bed.

Happy stroked my hair gently, "It really means a lot that you came out here with me."

"She's a sweet lady. And it's nice to see a different side of you too," I added with a grin.

"She's one of the most important people in my life, it's really important that you guys get along."

"I'm sure we will," I assured him.

"Thank you for staying with her when I left. You really didn't have to do that," he said.

I shrugged, "I wanted to. I really wanted to see those baby pictures."

Happy kissed my forehead gently, "Goodnight baby girl."

Happy's POV:

"Good morning sleepy head," I greeted Stephanie as she walked into the kitchen, "Have a seat, breakfast is almost done. You want some coffee?"

She nodded and I poured some into a mug and placed it in front of her. Ma was reading the paper, humming to herself.

"Happy?"

"Yeah ma?"

"I have a doctors appointment Thursday. Do you think you could give me a ride?" Ma asked, looking over at me.

I frowned, "is Ms. Thomas not able to take you?"

She shook her head, "she has to go to her grandson's birthday."

"I don't know ma. We have a very important client coming in on Thursday," I said hesitantly.

"Oh," she said softly, "Well I don't want you to miss work. I can reschedule it."

"I could take you," Stephanie spoke up, "If that's alright with you."

Ma beamed, "That's perfectly okay with me. But I'm sure you have other stuff to do than take an old lady to the doctor."

Stephanie smiled kindly, "I don't mind, really."

I nodded, "Okay babe. Thank you."

I finished cooking breakfast and brought it to the the table. We ate breakfast, Ma telling more embarrassing stories from my childhood. After breakfast we said goodbye and headed back to the shop.

It was a long ride and we stopped for gas on the way back. Stephanie stayed on the bike as I pumped the gas.

"Thank you for taking Ma to her appointment," I said, looking at her.

"You're welcome. I'm happy to help."

I leaned over and kissed her gently, "it means a lot to me baby girl."

It really did. Seeing her spend time with my mother made me really happy. It was important to me that the two girls I loved them most got to know each other.

I loved her. I loved Stephanie. It was a weird feeling, an even weirder realization. I had never loved anyone before. I reached over and took Stephanie's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Stephanie's POV:

I sat at the bar, waiting for everyone to get out of church. As soon as we got back Clay called everyone in for a meeting, I didn't get a chance to ask Happy what happened with Darby but I was going to as soon he got out.

I looked up at the tv that showed the camera for the outside. I groaned seeing a familiar Deputy standing by the door. I got off my stool and headed to the door connecting to the garage.

"Deputy," I greeted him. He turned and gave me a smile.

"Hey Stephanie," Hale said, wrapping his arms around me in a hug, "I haven't seen you for a few days."

I shrugged, "I've been busy helping dad since he got out of the hospital."

"How's he doing?" Hale asked, leaving his arm around me.

I stepped away, letting his arm drop off of me. The door to the clubhouse opened and Happy stepped out. He motioned for me to come over.

"Sorry, I gotta go. It was nice talking to you Hale." I waved as I walked over to Happy.

"What is he doing here?" He watched Hale get back in his jeep and drive off.

"I don't know, didn't say. Do you have some free time for us to talk?"

"Yeah. What about?"

"You never told me what happened with Darby," I replied.

Happy sighed, wrapping his arm around me and leading me to his bike, "Alright. Let's go home and we can talk."