Spark in the Dark

Chapter 104

"You don't work today?" Tig asked Shawn as she came down the hall in jeans and a v neck t-shirt.

"Nope. I have today and tomorrow off," Shawn told him. There was movement on the screen hanging right above Tig's head that got her attention. "Hey, I think they're here."

Tig looked up. "That's them alright."

Shawn followed her father and Kozik out to the van. As she left the building she saw Lyla outside, sitting at one of the picnic tables. She fell into step next to Shawn for a moment, then rushed over to the van so Opie could lift her into his arms. Shawn felt a pang of jealously hit her. She wanted to rush over so Juice could hold her, too. Instead, when they made eye contact, Juice gave her a nod and Shawn responded with a tight smile. She looked away from him and went over to Gemma, who was holding a large basket.

"Hey, Gem," Shawn said and gave her a hug.

"Hi, sweetheart."Shawn leaned over the basket to look at Abel. "Hi, buddy. I missed you."

"Take him," Gemma offered.Shawn smiled and lifted the baby boy out of the basket and into her arms. Everyone went inside the clubhouse and the guys went straight into the chapel. Abel began to fuss, so Gemma took him back to feed him. Shawn sat with Lyla on one of the couches until the guys came back out. Gemma passed Abel off to Lyla and Opie approached her. Shawn stepped to the side to give them some space and headed over to the bar. Juice watched her walk over and followed.

"Hey," he greeted her. "Everything go good here while we were gone? You know, other than Tara getting kidnapped."

"Yeah. Other than that one minor detail, everything is fine," Shawn answered him sarcastically, but smiled at him.

Juice wanted to saw more, but looked around at all his brothers who were close by. He thought about trying to get her down the hall so they could talk, but before he could, Bobby and Tig grabbed him to go find Tara's kidnapper's aunt.

Shawn left the clubhouse not long after to go to Gemma's with Lyla and Opie. Lyla carried Abel into the house while Opie carried Gemma's pet bird into the house and down the hall into Gemma's bedroom. Shawn sat at the dining room table with Lyla, playing with Abel until Opie left a few minutes later.Shawn could feel Lyla's eyes on her as she played with the baby in her lap. Shawn looked up to see Lyla looking sympathetically at her.

"What?" Shawn asked her.

"You going to be okay tomorrow? You know, when they guys go back inside?"

Shawn shrugged. "I should be okay, I guess. I've been through this before, you know."

"That's bullshit," Gemma said, coming into the room. "You've been through this before with Tig. Having your dad inside is totally different than having your old man inside. Especially when no one knows your old man is your old man."

Shawn sat back in her seat. "Are we really going to talk about this?"

"What? Like we don't know?" Gemma asked skeptically.

"Everyone in this house already knows about you and Juice," Lyla pointed out. "Well, except Abel, but I don't think he's going to tell anyone."

"I don't know what else I can do. He's afraid of getting stabbed in jail, again. He thinks if we tell and Tig doesn't take it well that the guys won't protect him."

"They wouldn't leave him unprotected like that over something like this," Gemma told her.

"I know that. I've tried to reassure him that they guys love him, but he just won't budge on this."

"So, what? He wants it to be a secret forever?" Lyla asked.

"No, just until they get out."

"In about 2 years?" Gemma asked.

Shawn shrugged and thought for a moment. "Maybe I should just tell Tig with or without Juice."

"No, absolutely not," Gemma said, shutting down Shawn's idea.

"Why not?" Lyla asked.

"You cannot cause problems inside the club behind Juice's back," Gemma explained. "His club, his rules."

"Tig's my father," Shawn argued.

"Club comes first," Gemma retorted. "You cannot stir up shit with them and still expect to be an old lady. Especially not now with what they are already dealing with."

Shawn looked down at the table as she blinked away tears. She glanced up to look at Lyla, wondering if she agreed with Gemma, but Lyla was looking off into the distance, deep in thought.

"So, what should I do then, Gemma?" Shawn asked.

"Talk to him, baby. Try to get him to see reason," Gemma told her. "But, if he says no, you got to accept that. Old ladies do what they're told."

"Maybe I don't want to just follow someone's orders for the rest of my life," Shawn said bitterly.

"Then maybe you don't really want to be an old lady." There was a knock at the kitchen door and Gemma stood to go answer it. A moment later, she came back into the dining room with Unser. "You girls mind giving us a minute? You can take Abel into Jax's old room."

Shawn stood without saying a word and led Lyla to Jax's bedroom. Lyla entered the room and sat on the bed. Shawn closed the door and took a seat in the desk chair.

"Do you agree with her?" Shawn asked.

"I don't know," Lyla admitted. "Still pretty new to the old lady game."

"Then don't answer as Opie's old lady. Answer as my friend."

Lyla gave her a sad smile. "Talk to Juice. Maybe he'll come around."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then I guess you'll have a decision to make."