Promise To A Brother

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Tig's POV

Seeing the kid standing outside the office was a sight for sore eyes. This past year, I had been worried about how she was doing in Tacoma. Don't get me wrong, SAMTAC looked after her but this was my kid. Kozik's little sister. She was more than just a club's family member. She is my kid. I will never forget the words in the letter Koz left me.

Tigger, you sick fuck,

You are one of my best friends and I love you man. If you have this then that means the Reaper came and I am no longer here. When I was figuring out who all should get letters from me the only ones I could think of were you, Happy and of course Lisa. Lisa. My baby sister. After everything I put her through when she was younger and I was using, she should really hate me but she doesn't. She still stood by me and I have you to thank for that. Man, I know we haven't really gotten along since MIssy and again I am really sorry about her. I loved her too but you never neglected my sister. You took care of her like she is your own and I will be forever grateful for you for that. Take care of our kid, man.

There are a couple of things I need you to know about the letters I wrote them. You know as well as I do, Happy will never take an Old Lady unless he is made to. He won't let himself open up enough to find someone so I am doing it for him and I need your help. But also there is Lisa. She is no longer under club protection like she should be because I am not here. I know you and Happy will take care of her but she needs to be on the books as someone's Old Lady to make sure that if anything ever happens to you or Happy that she is taken care of. This is where the letters come in.

I used the dead man card on them. Haha. Yes, I am making them promise me after my death so that they can't back out. You know how loyal they are. I made Lisa promise that when Happy asked her to be his Old Lady and asks her to marry him that she says yes and that she doesn't fight him. I also asked him to take her as his Old Lady and that she is going to want to be married and have kids and he is the only one that I trust to give that to her and I know you agree with me. In Hap's letter is also our grandmother's ring for Happy to give her when he proposes and when that happens, you have to be there to give our girl away. You have to be the one there to do that for the both of us. Promise me Trager. I need you to promise me that.

One more thing before I go. I hope you can one day forgive me for Missy. I know you don't want to but please do that for me someday.

Koz

I know that letter by heart I have read it so many times. We have both known that Lisa has loved Happy since she was 15 years old. We all knew this was coming. Koz is just making sure of it. Sneaky bastard.

Seeing the look on Happy's face when he saw she was sitting in the clubhouse was priceless. It was like Koz's words were smacking him right in the face. I did notice that as soon as she walked out there, he walked back in, grabbing a bottle of Jack and heading to his dorm alone. Didn't even pay attention to the croweater trying to get his attention. Hmmm. Wonder what to make of that? I think to myself smiling like an idiot.

The next day, my phone rings. I look at the caller ID and see Lisa's number flash. I answer, "Hey Doll Face. How'd you sleep?" I still couldn't believe she is here in Charming. "Good. Hey Pop. I was looking through some of Herm's things and I don't see our grandmother's ring. Does he still have some things at the clubhouse by chance?" She asked me. "Yeah, just a small box of things. I will bring it by later if you are going to be home." I tell her knowing where her grandmother's ring is. "I'll be here. Thanks Pop. Well, I gotta go. Love you." She tells me. "Love you too Sweetheart." I tell her ending the call. I walk to my dorm and pull the box out of the top of my closet and head out the door to Lisa's.

Pulling in the driveway at Lisa's, I hear music playing. She always plays music when she is cleaning. I knock on the door and she answers, jumping up and hugging me. We have always been close. Closer than my own daughters. They hate me and judge me for the things I do for the club. Lisa never did. She loved me unconditionally just like a daughter should. She may not be mine by blood but she is mine. "Hey Doll. Here's that box you asked for." She takes the box from me and we walk into the house. I was right. She's cleaning. I know Gemma cleaned the house every so often but it was never "Kozik" clean as she called it. She opened the box and saw his dog tags right off. She slipped them over her head and tucked them into her tank top. She started sorting through some pictures and found three she pulled out. Looking through the rest of the box she sighed not finding the ring she was looking for. "I am sure it will turn up. Maybe it's in the safety deposit box." I tell her. "Maybe. Did you know he had this pictures?" She asked me holding them out.

One picture was of Lisa and Koz. They were standing outside the clubhouse in Tacoma and she had a cast on her leg from when she broke her leg and Koz was carrying her on his back piggyback style. Both smiling and happy. She was about 12 at the time. The second picture was of her and myself, sitting at the bar on her 21st birthday having a beer together looking like any other father and daughter, smiling at each other. The third picture was of her and Happy. They were sitting on top of one of the picnic tables and she was leaned over against him and he was just looking at her. A hint of a smile on his face. She was maybe 23 at the time. That was right before Kozik and Happy moved to SAMCRO. Now I see why Koz picked Happy.

"Well, baby girl, as much as I would love to stay and watch you clean, I better get back. Left some fine croweaters to come see you kid." I told her laughing. "Ugh, Pop, I did not need to hear that. Thanks for bringing this over." She tells me leaning up on her toes to kiss me on the cheek. "Bye Pop. Love you." She tells me as I walk out the door and to my bike. "Love you too kid." I pull out of the driveway and head back to the clubhouse.

Back at the clubhouse, I see Happy sitting at the bar. I walk up and take the stool next to him. "You okay Killa?" I asked him taking the beer from the prospect. "Yeah. You come from the house?" He asked me. "Yeah" I respond. "She doing okay?" He asked me and I had to cut him off. "Let's go in the chapel." I tell him, getting up to walk to the Redwood with him following me. I close the doors once he walks in and start talking. "I know about the letter from Koz left you and what he asked you to do. He left me a letter too telling me what he asked of both of you." I tell him. "What do I do? I don't do relationships. I don't do feelings and shit. You know that." He tells me. "Look Brother. The reason he is asking you to take her as your Old Lady and marry her and give her babies is because you are the only one that he trusts to take care of her that way. He knows you won't settle down and he knows you need someone to keep you level. Someone to be there to take care of you so you don't have to worry about shit. This is his way of taking care of you and her. Man, that girl has loved you since she was 15 years old. You are the only person that she has ever looked at as something other than a brother or father. No one will protect her like you will." I try to explain. I walk out of the chapel leaving him with his thoughts. Now just to wait and see what happens.

I get a text from Lisa telling me she is cooking tonight and wants some father/daughter time. I pull back up to her house and walk in to the smells of her famous chicken casserole. Walking into the kitchen just as she is plating the food. We sit and eat and I decide to bring up the letter. "Lisa, doll, I need to talk to you about something." I start. "I know about the letter your brother left you. I know what he is asking of you and Happy." I tell her. She looks at me shocked that I know about it. "Look Pop. I know what he asked of Happy and I'm not holding him to that shit. My brother thought he knew what was best for me but he didn't." She tells me. "So, you're telling me that you don't care about Happy anymore?" I question. She looks at me and her eyes got wide. "You knew about that?" She asked. "Yes I knew about it. Me and Koz both did. So, now look me in the eye and tell me you don't still love him." I challenge her knowing she can't. She looks down at her plate. "It's not a matter of if I love him. You know I do. Probably more now than before after seeing him again. But Pop, I am not holding him to that shit. He doesn't take on Old Ladies. He doesn't do relationships and feelings and shit. I don't want him to do anything he doesn't want to do. I won't be coming around the clubhouse so he doesn't have to feel like he has to stop his life because of me. I will still be at Gemma's for the dinners but that's it." She tells me and with her tone I know to drop the subject. We will see how long this lasts.