All the Money in the World

Chapter 42

Having almost nowhere left to go, Katie decided to pick Charlotte up from school that day. If she hurried she'd make it in time so Katie rushed and managed to scurry into the schoolyard as the kids were gathering at the door.

"Mommy!" Charlotte cheered.

"Hey baby," she said, forcing a smile. "How was your day?"

"Good," she said with little enthusiasm.

"What did you-"

"Hey Kate," Ryan interjected. "Before you get mad I'm just here to say no hard feelings. We can be cordial, right?"

"Sure," she said coolly. "Cordial."

"Great," he smiled and gave Charlotte a little wave. "I'll see you around."

Katie watched with a dark expression as he left, his son's hand in his, but she wasn't even angry with him. From what she'd been told he was fairly innocent in it all, Jax had been the one pressure her, and clearly, he took the rejection rather well.

"Hey," she called out after him. "Sorry, I was rude. No hard feelings, Ryan."

He smiled and nodded. "Good. Have a nice evening, Mrs. Lowman."

"Is he your friend?" Charlotte asked innocently.

"No," Katie sighed. "Just someone I know from town. Don't worry about it, baby. You're not going to Daddy's weekend, he's uhh, not feeling himself."

"Daddy's sick?"

Katie paused before opening the car door for Charlotte. "Uh yeah, he is. Don't worry, he'll be fine eventually."

Sulking, Charlotte got into the car and they quickly headed home. Happy was there with the boys but he was even more annoyed than when she left.

"I got work tonight."

"We have to talk." Katie knew those words would put anyone on edge but Happy was already on edge and she wanted to instigate.

"What now?"

"I saw Jax."

"And?"

"And he claims you fucked up that night, told me he tried to set this shit up with Ryan to keep you from being killed over the screw up."

Happy rolled his jaw and turned away from her. "He put this shit on me?"

"What the fuck happened?" She said, slapping her hands on her thighs. "Stop lying, stop giving me half-truths. What happened that night and who gave you that note?!"

"That note is bullshit," he roared. "And Jax made a bad deal and now we're stuck helping the fucking feds so we don't get nailed and shipped off for the rest of our goddamn lives."

"Mommy?" Charlotte whimpered a few feet away from their battle.

"Go to your room," Happy barked at her.

"Don't you dare," Katie warned him. "Don't talk to my daughter like that. Ever."

Happy glared at her and grabbed her wrist to pull her into the kitchen so they could speak privately. "I didn't fuck up."

"Who did?"

Happy hesitated. "No one."

"Tell me what the fuck is going on before I leave this house, with all of my children, and never come back."

"This shit doesn't leave this room," he warned her in such a way that actually scared Katie.

"I swear," she said in a harsh whisper.

"Irish have a rat, we could either play ball or go down," he said shamefully. "I'm talking life in prison, Kate." When he said it she inhaled sharply, her breath catching in her throat, but she didn't speak, she was too shocked. "We got kids, me, Jax, Ope, we got little kids. Ten years ago we woulda told em' fuck off." He was mortified, he never saw himself as an actual father, just a man who had kids, as if it was really different, until faced with never seeing his sons in person again.

"Hap," she whimpered. "You can't be a good outlaw and a good father," she remembered Jax having said in passing in Happy. At the time she didn't think twice but now it made sense.

"Good outlaw woulda did the time or -"

"Died in a blaze of glory?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Being a good father, and a good man is more important than being a good outlaw. I know this life is new and weird," she gestured to the kitchen around them. "You were never a family man and even years into this shit it's weird for you, but -"

"I'm trying," he interrupted her. "We voted, everyone knows, Gemma and Tara don't. We weren't going to tell the women."

"I love you," she said, throwing her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you for doing this for us."

"Yeah," he kissed the top of her head.

"Do you need me to keep him company?" She asked quietly. "If it's for this whole mess-"

"No," he said forcefully. "Asshole took it well, that shit's done."

"Wait," she stepped away from him. "Was that part of it? Did...did you know?"

"No," he swore to her. "The fuck up was planned, we couldn't kill the guy with the FBI watching. I knew they were pissed but not what Jax did."

She nodded and hugged him again. "He just blamed you to be a dick then."

"Yeah," he grumbled.

"I have to talk to Charlotte," she sighed. "Call Ana, I think we need some time together tonight."

"Alright," he sighed. "I'm sorry about Charlotte."

Katie nodded. "I know, I'll talk to her."

"You know I love you, all of you, I'd fucking take a bullet for you guys," he said sadly.

"Don't," she said on her way back to find Charlotte. "No one is taking a bullet for anybody."

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