Small Town Hero

Chapter 54

It had been a long time since Happy had driven something besides his bike. He'd been driving a motorcycle since he was seventeen. It felt odd to drive Noelle's car to the hospital. She was being released with the baby and he was more than thankful for that. Two days in the hospital had been driving her crazy she told him. Gemma had several crow eaters at her place helping prepare a large meal for the family in celebration of Noelle getting out of the hospital and of Jagger's birth. Jax loved his mother's family dinners. No stress, now worries, just his brothers, his parents, and a good meal.

Noelle was just excited to be going home. Happy hadn't told her of Gemma's dinner plans that night. The baby was still asleep when they made it home. Since she was still so sore from the birth, Happy took the baby out of the car seat and walked up to the front door. He opened it and let Noelle walk in first. She eased herself down on the couch before Happy handed their son to her. His first night at home. Noelle was happy to be home where she could relax without nurses coming in at all hours of the night checking on her. It was annoying as all hell, she thought. Happy wanted to get a dog to help protect his family while he was at work and was gone on runs.

"Little girl, I want to get a dog. For protection." Happy suddenly blurted out making her look over at him.

"What?"

"For when you're at the house with the baby and I'm at work. Or when I'm gone on runs. I want a dog here to protect you both. It'll help give you some companionship too." Happy explained.

"Well. That does make sense. And it would be nice to have that extra sense of protection especially with the baby." Noelle conceded.

Happy smiled, thankful she wasn't fighting him on this. He promised he'd go find them the perfect dog soon earning a head nod in response. The baby started getting fussy so she stuck her pinky finger in his mouth where he started sucking vigorously. She laughed and brought her top down and undid her maternity bra so she could breastfeed him. Happy just stared, amazed at how good she was. He enjoyed watching his 'ol lady breastfeeding their son. There was this sense of bonding between the two of them that he wasn't sure he'd ever have. She looked up to see him staring at her making her blush. He smiled and scooted over so they were sitting side-by-side before draping his arm over her shoulders. "Gemma wants us over for a family dinner tonight." he told her earning a grunt in response.

He wanted her to rest as much as possible since she was still so sore from the birth and the trauma she'd gone through afterwards. When the baby needed changing, he got up to get the supplies for her. He stood by and watched her change Jagger's diaper like an expert. When it was time to head over to Gemma and Clay's, he packed the diaper bag for her so she didn't have to do any bending. He slid the strap to the bag over his shoulder then grabbed the handle to the car seat. She eased herself up off the couch and walked over to the front door where he opened it up for her. She thanked her husband before they made their way out to her car. It was odd for her seeing him driving her car instead of being on his bike.

But if they were to go anywhere with the baby, it would have to be in her car. She sat back and enjoyed the drive to Gemma's, thankful they wouldn't have to worry about dinner that night and looking forward to chatting with the other 'ol ladies. She had taken a liking to Lyla and Tara even though they were older than her. They seemed to take her in and try to teach her how to be a good 'ol lady. Happy parked the car, missing his bike, and climbed out to get the baby. She eased herself out of the car, wincing in pain, and watched her husband. Noelle took the diaper bag while he held the car seat as they walked into the house. Jax welcomed them as Ratboy got up to give Noelle a place to sit. Happy set the car seat by her feet so she could tend to the baby when needed.

The other bikers gave him man-hugs in greeting. Lyla walked out to give her 'ol man another beer and noticed Happy was there. She walked around to see Noelle and give her a hug. She had to coo over the baby making Noelle giggle. They chatted for a few minutes about how Noelle was feeling and how glad she was to be out of the hospital finally before Lyla had to get back into the kitchen. Opie watched his 'ol lady chatting with Happy's 'ol lady and smiled. He was glad they got along, especially with Noelle being so young. It wasn't his place to say anything. He was afraid her age would cause problems between her and Happy. So far things seemed to be going well between them. Other than her not taking his shit which always amused the rest of his brothers.

"Hey baby, how are you?" Gemma asked when she exited the kitchen.

"Sore but happy to be out of the hospital finally." Noelle chuckled.

"We're glad you're out too. How's the little guy doing?" Gemma questioned.

"He seems to be a very peaceful baby. Only cries when he needs something." Noelle smiled.

"You're lucky then." Gemma winked before heading back into the kitchen.

Noelle wanted to help but Happy told her to remain where she was. Bobby was sitting next to her and asked how long she had for maternity leave. They got to talking about that and her work and what they were going to do with the baby while they were both at work. Happy didn't want to put him in daycare but Noelle was adamant he'd be fine and that she wasn't going to quit her job to stay at home with the baby. They'd argued quite a bit about it until he finally caved in and agreed to put him in daycare while they worked.

Juice had teased the Killah for caving in to her until Happy had had enough and clocked him leaving a huge bruise and a warning to leave him alone. Bobby had laughed when she explained how they'd argued about putting Jagger in daycare but she'd finally won. "That man'll do anything for you, sweetheart." Bobby told her making her smirk. Clay, Jax, and Juice were in the backyard having a smoke and grilling some chicken for dinner while the rest of the bikers were scattered around the living room chatting about random things. Noelle and Bobby were deep in conversation about baking, with him making her promise she'd do some baking of her own and bring it to the clubhouse one day while she was on maternity leave, when Gemma called dinner done.

Noelle left Jagger where he was since he was fast asleep and eased herself up off the couch. She followed everyone else into the dining room where she eased herself down onto the chair. Happy plopped down beside her as everyone else fanned out around them. Platters and bowls began to be passed around as chatter continued. She took what she wanted and passed the platter or bowl to her husband. Lyla had engaged her in conversation about child rearing and sharing stories of her raising her son while Happy was chatting with Tig about modifications to their bikes. Dinner was peaceful and full of laughter. Just the way Gemma liked it.

Noelle was nearly done when she heard Jagger begin to cry. She excused herself from Lyla and walked into the living room to see about her son. He was hungry so she took out a prepared bottle, she was thankful Gemma had bought her a breast pump, and sat down on the couch to feed him. The chatter from the dining room filtered to where she sat and it made her smile. Everyone was in good spirits and enjoying themselves like a normal family. What she'd experienced living with Janie and her family. 'Thank goodness for my car breaking down here in Charming!' she mused as she watched her son.

He finished his bottle so she put him over her shoulder on top of a burp rag to try and burp the baby. He didn't want to burp so she slowly stood up to try and rock him. She was swaying from side-to-side when some of the bikers began filtering back into the living room. Happy stopped and watched his wife as she cooed at his son while she rocked back and forth. Gemma wanted to take the baby so Noelle could go and finish her dinner. The younger woman happily handed the baby over and was making her way back into the dining room when Happy grabbed ahold of her arm. He planted a soft kiss to her forehead before letting her go with a wink.

Lyla, Opie, and Bobby were still sitting around the dining table when she entered. They got to talking about a run that was coming up. Noelle hated it when Happy had to leave but it was especially hard now that they had an infant. It meant she'd be doing everything herself. She sighed knowing this was the life she signed up for when she agreed to be his 'ol lady when she turned eighteen. It would be a two-week long run making her sigh again. She always hated him being gone for long stretches of time. She missed him terribly. At least she had her job and the baby to occupy her time with.

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