By the time I let go of Val, the rest of the club had heard about my return and were bombarding me with hugs and, of course, shots of Jack. Val gave me a look that told me I couldn't escape the conversation we both knew we had to have, but I was going to avoid that shit for as long as possible. I lost Jax in the crowd and let myself get pulled away by some of the club girls and old ladies. I had to admit that even though I was only gone for a couple weeks, these people were my family and I missed them.
I was at the bar with Lacey when Jax reappeared, one of the club girls hanging off his arms. I took a deep breath and forced myself to realize that he wasn't mine, and he never would be. Lacey saw my obvious anger and put a hand on my arm.
"Don't worry girl. You'll be his old lady before you know it."
"No offense, but I don't want to be anyone's old lady. You got lucky with Gunner, you know he would never do anything when they go on a run. The other guys aren't like that, guys like Jax especially." I downed my shot, pouring myself another one.
"You never know, honey." She gave me a sympathetic smile before going to find her man. By the time I saw Val approaching me it was too late to escape, to I settled for pouring myself another shot. Val hesitantly sat down on the bar stool next to me.
"I'm not drunk enough for this conversation, Val."
"We're going to have to talk about this Scar, whether you like it or not. You can't keep running from this." I sighed, knowing he was right. I motioned with my hand for him to get on with it, disregarding the shot glass and taking a gulp straight from the bottle.
"You should talk to Anastasia." I choked on the liquor, my throat burning.
"I should, that doesn't mean I'm going to any time soon."
"She's carrying your brother's child, Scar. Don't you want to be part of his life?" my heart skipped a beat.
"Him?" Val nodded, a sad smile on his face.
"Nathaniel Jr." I felt a stabbing pain in my chest and grabbed the bottle.
"This is what you wanted isn't it? I'll stay away from the both of them. You and Anastasia clearly both think I'm too fucked up to be around that kid, so I'll stay away while you both play house with MY brother's kid." I began to get up and so did Val.
"Stop fucking walking away from me. Maybe if you would actually listen to what I'm saying you would realize I'm trying to explain everything to you." I saw anger flash in his eyes.
"Why did you keep it from me? What other reason could there be for keeping this a secret? You both made your opinions very clear when you lied to my face for 7 months. So I'll make it easy for the both of you and I'll stay away."
"Don't try to put that on us when you're the one obviously avoiding this. If you don't want to be a part of his life then tell me now, because it changes a lot of things."
"What could it possibly change? This is what you want, isn't it? This is what you both wanted and I won't keep fighting with you about this." He sighed angrily, dragging his fingers through his hair.
"Sit down and listen. Please." I sat down, ignoring the urge in my body that was telling me to run.
"Anastasia wants to make you his other guardian." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"What?"
"You will be his second guardian Scarlett, if you want to."
"Why would she do that? What is she playing at?"
"She knows you better than anyone, Scar. She knows how much this kid means to you, she knows you'll love him just as much as she does. And she can't do this on her own."
"I hate her Val. What am I supposed to do, play house with her?"
"That's your decision. You have to decide what you need to do about this whole situation. Maybe if you let her explain everything to you, you would understand why she did what she did. I'm not saying you have to forgive her, but if you want to be a part of the kids life, then you can't just keep avoiding her. She's your nephew's mother and that means something." I sighed, knowing he was right.
"I'm scared, Val. Â I don't know how to raise a child. Â I don't want that kid to end up like us."
"I know." I knew that Val saw the kid as his own and would do whatever it took to protect him.
I grabbed two shot glasses, filling them both and sliding one to him.
"Thanks Val." He just shook his head and nodded.
"You both will be the death of me. All three of you actually." He tilted his head back and downed the shot and I smiled, my heart feeling warm.
"I guess I have some work to do." He just smiled and nodded at the bottle I was holding on to for dear life.
"Should probably start with that." He nodded towards the bottle and I knew he was referring to my slight drinking problem, so I downed the little that was left in the bottle and gave him an innocent smile.
"I'll start tomorrow?" he laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me close to him, planting a kiss on the top of my head.
"I missed you, kid."