Rewind

Chapter 1

When Macy arrived at the clubhouse she was on a mission and that mission was cash. She waved at Bobby, an innocent smile on her face, as he pointed to chapel doors. She knocked, expecting Tig to answer which he did, and stepped in reverently. Macy could be petulant and problematic generally, but she respected nothing as much as the Reaper.

"How much do you need?" Clay asked, already knowing she was there for money.

"Just some for my phone bill, some pocket money," she said sheepishly.

Clay was already counting twenties before she even answered. "Don't tell your mother," he said, handing the money over to her.

"Thank you, Daddy," Macy said with a flutter of her lashes.

She spun on her heel and hurried out of the clubhouse with a wad of cash in her hands. When she stepped outside, sliding her sunglasses down over her eyes, she saw Gemma's SUV slowing to a stop by TM.

"Shit," Macy hissed. "Hey Ma."

"What's that?" Gemma asked with suspicion.

"My allowance," she grinned.

"Don't you work?"

"I'm sorry, but the senior citizen's tips at Hanna's don't exactly pay for the comfortable lifestyle I'm accustomed to." Macy smirked a little. "Hey, you raised me, you got no one to blame but yourself," she said with a shrug.

"I should have sent her back to the moss covered shit hole she came from," Gemma grumbled to Jax as he greeted her.

"She's got more of you in her than I do," Jax teased.

"Guess we have proof it's nurture over nature then," she huffed. "How are you, baby?"

"Good," Jax said cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Oil change," she said, pointing to Half-Sack. "Was looking for Piney too. You seen him or Ope?"

Jax shook his head. "Opie just left," he said, "With Macy."

"Little slut," Gemma huffed.

"Hey," Jax said defensively.

"I wish she'd settle down," Gemma complained.

He looked at her with exasperation. "She's better than I was at 22."

"You weren't exactly the poster child for a well behaved young adult," she said. "Can you talk to her?"

"Me?" He laughed. "I can try, I guess." Lowering his voice, Jax turned serious for a moment. "You gotta remember Ma, it ain't her fault."

Spiteful, she looked at Jax and shook her head. "She looks like him. Every damn time I look at her, I see him."

Jax hung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "But she's not his. She's yours and Clay's."

Gemma nodded and kissed Jax on the cheek. "You're still my favorite," she said with a devilish grin.

"We all know that," he laughed. "Come on, lets see who knows where that old man is."

—

Macy and Opie sped away from the clubhouse out to a nearby park with towering willow trees and a shallow lake. It was quiet, a late afternoon mid-week visit guaranteed it.

"You know they think we're banging, right?" She asked as they sat at the base of a tree, Opie rolling a joint for them to share.

He looked up at her with an embarrassed smile. "Who said that?"