The Past Repeats (Part One Of For The Love Of Charming)

Chapter Twenty-One

"Did he just call you mom?" Harmony just stared at Kenny, who looked like he was regretting his choice of words as Opie glared at him. Opie turned that look on Harmony and she found herself catching her breath at the sheer anger she saw there. "Did you tell him to call you that? Because just to be clear, Donna was their mom, not you!"

Harmony shook her head, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at his sudden outburst. "No! I would never... "

Kenny cut her off as he pulled on his dad's sleeve. "Dad, listen, I just... "

Opie cut him off, never taking his furious gaze from Harmony. "Kenny, Ellie, get in the truck. We're going home." Kenny starts to protest but his dad cuts his eyes to him. "Now!"

As the kids took off at a run for their dad's truck, Opie turned back to Harmony, leaning in close. "You are not their mother!"

With that, he stormed off after the kids, leaving Harmony standing there trying not to cry. Jax rushed over to put an arm around her as Opie spun tires, spitting gravel leaving the parking lot.

"Harm, don't let him get to you. I'm sure he didn't mean it. It was just a shock, ya know?"

Harmony nodded, trying to smile even as the tears ran down her face. "I just need to get Max. I need to go home."

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Opie never said a word all the way home, until he sat both kids down at the kitchen table and sat across from them. 

"You kids can be honest, ok? Did Harmony ask you to call her mom?"

Ellie shook her head no as she wiped her eyes and Kenny glared at his dad. "No! I tried to tell you that, dad. I just thought... me and Ellie both thought that since she was like a mom to us, we could call her that. Just like you act like Max is yours, ya know?" Kenny shook his head. "Harmony takes us to school before work and picks us up when grandma can't. She takes care of us when you ain't home, like a real mom. She tucks us in at night and reads us stories. She helps us with our homework and yells at us when we're fighting."

Opie felt his heart break when Kenny stopped talking, his shoulders shaking from holding back his tears. Opie lifted a hand to push his hair back out of his face, sighing. "You guys miss having a mom, huh?" 

Both kids nod while Opie tries to push back tears of his own as Ellie speaks up. "We know our real mom is dead." She shrugged, looking heartbroken. "Harmony was just the closest thing we had to a real mom. We love her, dad."

Opie nodded, silently deciding that he's probably the biggest dick on the planet. He sighed before giving the kids a small smile. "Ok, go pack a bag for the weekend while I call grandma."

Both kids look surprised at this, but then Kenny starts grinning. "Are you gonna talk to Harmony?"

Opie blows out a breath and nods. "If she'll speak to me, yeah." Opie stands up and takes a step away, but then turns back to his kids. "It's fine if you want to call her mom. I don't think your real mom would mind."

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The pounding on her door started about an hour after she got home. Harmony ignored it and the texts and calls from Opie as well. That is until he started yelling her name along with the pounding on her door. With a frustrated growl, she ripped the door open to find him standing on her front porch looking like he was on his deathbed. She looked over his shoulder and saw his bike sitting in front of Mary's car in the driveway. She blew out a breath and glared at the giant man-child in front of her.

"Are you trying to wake the baby? Jesus Christ! Haven't you yelled at me enough for one fucking day?"

Opie turned to motion to his mom to wait a minute as he looked back at Harmony. "Please let me talk to you, baby. I want to explain everything, but I just need to go get Max and take him to mom real fast first."

Harmony stared at him like he had two heads. "What? No! You aren't taking my son anywhere! Just go, Ope."

She starts to shut the door, but Opie sticks his foot in to stop her, slowly pulling the door from her grasp as he steps around her. "Babe, I really want to explain and I will, but mom is meeting pop at the cabin and she really needs to get going." He gives her a small smile. "She just wants all of her grandkids for the weekend."

As Opie steps around Harmony like she isn't even standing there, she puts her hands on her hips and yells after him. "Max isn't her grandson, Harry!" She follows behind him down the hall, finding him in her room bundling Max up in a blanket and grabbing the diaper bag she hadn't unpacked yet. "This is kidnapping, you know!"

Opie had the nerve to roll his eyes at her as he pawed through the bag. "Does he have extra clothes in here, babe?"

"What? Yes, of course, he does. Wait, what? Dammit, will you listen to me? You aren't taking him!"

Opie throws the diaper bag over his shoulder and smiles at her. "Ok, all set. Give me two minutes to get him strapped in, then we'll talk, ok?"

Harmony stomps her foot and yells at him as he passes her in the hallway. "Harold Kenneth Winston, stop steamrolling me!"

Opie stops at that, wincing as he turns to her. "Ok, I deserve that, but I'm still taking him to ma. Wanna give him a kiss goodbye?"

Barely giving Harmony time to kiss Max on the cheek and tell him to be good, Opie is out the door and has Max strapped into the car seat in Mary's car before Harmony can even get outside. By the time he comes back in and shuts the door behind himself, Harmony is livid. 

"I think you have finally lost your fucking mind. Not only are you crazy, but you just committed a felony and your mother is an accessory!"

Opie points a finger at her, snorting as she smacks him on the arm. "If you don't stop screaming at me like a banshee, I'm going to add murder to the list. Now, are you willing to sit and listen to me explain why I was an asshole earlier?"

That statement gives Harmony pause. If he was going to admit that he was wrong, she could certainly take a moment to listen to him before calling the police.