It took a while until Happy felt ready to go back inside. Scaring his already upset daughter because he was so fucking pissed was the last thing he wanted. The SAA wasn't a smoker, yet he gratefully accepted a joint from Juice a few minutes ago to calm his nerves or he would've followed those two bitches.

Kim had always been aware of how she could provoke him best. It didn't matter how often she insulted him, her words didn't mean shit because she was nothing but a cheap skank. But she, together with her sister, made the mistake and insulted his daughter, which was something he couldn't accept, nor would he keep his mouth shut in that case.

Flipping away the last bit of the joint, he got up and walked inside, all eyes falling on him; mostly to check if he was okay. Wordlessly, he looked around but couldn't find his daughter or Avery.

"They're in your room", Lyla informed him with a sympathetic smile. "We're out here if the three of you need anything.

Happy grunted a thanks before he made his way down the hallway towards the dorms, entering his room only to find Avery sitting on his bed with a still crying Debbie on her lap. The redhead was rocking the four year old in her arms, trying to calm her down while running her hand up and down her back and telling her nice things.

"Thanks for staying with her." Happy took Debbie from Avery's arms, who looked up at him silently, yet curiosity flickered in her eyes while she watched the man carry the four year old around.

The girl got literally attached to him and sniffled a few more times, wiping her wet face on his shirt before looking at him with a sad look, using her small hands to rub her eyes.

"I'll leave you two alone. If anything happens, I'm with the others." Avery stood up and pressed a kiss against Debbie's temple as she walked past the two of them. "You're great the way you are, sweetie. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise", she said to the girl, emphasizing every word.

Her gaze wandered to her wrist, which Happy was clasping, then she raised her gaze again and smiled weakly at him. "You need anything?"

Happy shook his head, letting go of her wrist to slip his hand into hers, which he then squeezed gently. "We'll be right out there, then we'll go to my place. Just wanted to let you know"

"Your house?", she asked confused, not quite sure if that was what he meant.

This time he nodded. "I want her to be able to sleep in her room again and have all her toys around. Besides, I wanted to talk to you about something later anyway."

To his house? Shit, why was she suddenly so nervous? She had often heard that he had never taken a woman home with him. But maybe that was really just because he wanted Debbie to be in her usual environment and not have to stay in the cabin with him and her all the time.

Maybe he would also tell her that it was time to finally move in with Lyla because he needed time for himself again. Which would be completely fine, but she still hoped that she could at least spend a few more days with him. Especially now that they were slowly getting closer.

"Okay. I'll pack some of the food that Gemma made", she nodded slowly, whereupon he squeezed her hand again and finally let go of it to let her go.

And shortly afterwards Avery left the room and filled some of the food that Gemma had prepared into two large boxes so that they didn't have to cook extra and chatted with the others while she was waiting for Happy and Debbie.

Meanwhile, Happy sat down on the bed with Debbie, who slowly calmed down. As strange as it sounded, Happy had always been Debbie's source of calm, the person the four year old trusted most and always found peace. Normally it was always the mothers girls trusted more. But here it was different. Probably because Happy wasn't ashamed of her or made fun of her.

"What Avery said is true, bug", he murmured surprisingly gently and asked her to look at him.

Sighing, he wiped the last tears from her cheeks, her face still red from crying. She looked at him through her slightly swollen eyes, his heart breaking again as she sniffled through her stuffy nose. Oh, he definitely wasn't done with Kim's sister yet.

"B-but mommy d-d-doesn't think I'm g-great. And aunt Betty s-said I was stupid because I c-c-can't speak properly" she said between sniffles as she dangled her short legs off his lap. "Am I s-stupid, daddy?"

Clenching his jaw, he shook his head firmly and ran his hand over her head, pointing at her chest with the index finger of his free hand. "You're perfect the way you are, bug. You're not stupid or retarded, you just have trouble speaking, which doesn't make you any less perfect."

"But t-t-then why does mommy k-keep trying to c-change me?" Tears formed again in Debbie's brown eyes, which looked sadly at Happy. "Why d-d-doesn't she like me t-the way I am?"

Oh, he would kill Kim and her sister, that was for sure. Under no circumstances would he send Debbie back to this woman; he would rather hide with his daughter before Kim could destroy Debbie's self-esteem even further.

How was he supposed to explain to a four year old why her mother behaved like that? He never wanted to be one of those parents who spoke badly about the other parentᅳ but here he had no other choice and he certainly wouldn't say anything nice to put Kim in a good light, not after what happened earlier.

"Because some people are just stupid, bug. Some people just don't know how to get along with others, how to treat people nicely." As harsh as it may have sounded, he just said it like it was and stated facts.

The four year old seemed to be actually thinking about Happy's words, processing them. But she was only four and didn't fully understand all of this.

"Or m-maybe I did s-s-something wrong and t-that's why she d-doesn't like me," she sniffed, wiping her red nose with her sleeve again.

"No you didn't, Debbie. Your mom and Betty are the only ones who did something wrong." A sigh left his lips as he ran his hand over her head again. "Would you like to stay with me? I mean permanently."

She blinked away the tears that formed in her eyes again before looking up at Happy, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and nodded quickly. That she didn't even think about it for a while, actually said it all.

"Can I really stay with you forever? And with Avery?", she asked excitedly and the sad tone in her voice finally subsided a little.

"Yeah, you can. With me, Avery will probably have her own apartment soon, bug", he explained, although he had to admit that he didn't really like the idea of Avery moving into her own four walls.

In the last few weeks he had gotten used to not being alone every night or crashing at the clubhouse, where he maybe had a naked woman lying next to him for some company, but who he threw out of his bed again in the morning at the latest.

Things were different with Avery, it wasn't just about sex. Sure, he definitely wouldn't say no to that and it was fucking hard for him not to just bend her over and fuck her, but with Avery he wanted to take things slowly, find out if he was actually made for more than a quick quickie.

Above all, he wanted this for Debbie. He wanted to be able to offer her a stable family, even if he didn't look like he was paying attention to that sort of thing, and with Avery he could actually imagine that. Somehow. Especially because she got along well with Debbie.

"Oh, without Avery?" And back was her pout. However, it was fine with her. She looked up at Happy questioningly. "But I can go visit her, right?"

"Of course you can", he assured her. "Maybe she'll even stay with us a little longer, but I can't promise anything."

And there it was, the smile that Happy much preferred to see on his daughter's face. "Can you ask her later if she'll stay with us? Please daddy!"

The SAA laughed and nodded before standing up with her still glued to him. "I can do that, bug."

ᚔ

"Wow, I like your house." Amazed at how clean and tidy Happy's house was, she looked around closely.

In her eyes, the house was just the right size. In the living room there was a couch that probably had room for half the club to sit on, a coffee table, a small cupboard and a television. Next to it was a box with some of Debbie's toys, there wasn't anything else in the large room and it wasn't needed.

The kitchen was right next door, in contrast to the living room it was much smaller but cozy. An L-shaped kitchenette and a refrigerator on the other side in the corner. The dining room was right next door, which was adjacent to the open living room.

Then there was a bathroom, Happy's bedroom, Debbie's room and a guest room with an extra bathroom. Basically it was perfect for a small family that had guests every now and then.

"It's not much, but it's enough for Debbie and me", Happy shrugged his shoulders, nodding Avery along to show her the guest room. Debbie had fallen asleep in the car on the way home and was already in her room.

"I think that's enough, you don't always need huge houses", she hummed softly and raised the corner of her mouth as she stood in the guest room. "I like the roomᅳ and the view."

Even if you didn't live upstairs you could still have a nice view and Avery could hardly take her eyes off the small desert looking garden with the palm tree outside her window. The fact that the next house was right behind it didn't bother her.

"The room is yours for now." Happy put her duffle bag, which they had just fetched from the cabin earlier, on the bed and looked at her in silence for a moment before finally saying what he had been wanting to discuss with her all day anyway. "If you want, you can have it permanently."

"What?" She looked at him a little puzzled, not sure what to say. "Really permanent? Not just until I can get my stuff from Idaho and move in with Lyla?"

Happy nodded with a grunt. "Permanently, yes. I thought about it for a while and it's a win-win situation for everyone. I can still keep an eye on you, Debbie would be happy if you stayed and Lyla wouldn't have to move Ellie into a room with Piper and Kenny."

"And you really want me here?" She kneaded her hands nervously. The redhead thought it would be great to stay close to him, at least they couldn't lose sight of each other. And at the same time she could help him with Debbie.

"You think I would ask if not?" He slowly walked towards her. Now that he was standing in front of her, he ran the back of his fingers over her cheek. "I'm not just asking because of Debbie, or so Lyla has more space in her house. I want you here too."

"Then I'll be happy to stay here", she mumbled sheepishly with her lips curled up. Her heartbeat quickened, as it always did when he was so close to her. Especially after his little confession that he wanted her here too. "But only on one condition."

"Okay good", he rasped, a grin playing on his lips. "And the condition would be?"

"As soon as I have a job, I want to pay rent", she immediately raised her hand when he wanted to protest. "Please, Happy. This way I can at least do my part. You've done enough for me these last few weeks."

"Fine", he grunted, probably having to accept being defeated by her. However, he would think of something and definitely put the money aside so that he could give it back to her at some point.

"Thank you", she smiled softly, chewing her bottom lip. "And there's something else that..that would be really important to me."

He frowned questioningly, placing his hand on her hip. "What is it?"

"Would it bother you if I had a cat? While I was no longer able to care for my cat, my mom took over..but my plan is to bring her back with me when I move. She's really sweet and doesn't cause any chaos", she promised with an enthusiastic nod, hoping that Happy wouldn't mind.

And he didn't. Although he would never have gotten a cat himself, he had no problem with Avery bringing hers with her. Besides, Debbie would probably freak out about it.

"If you can live with the fact that you have to share her with Debbie then you can bring her here", he replied with a smirk and rubbed his thumb over the small exposed area of her soft skin between her top and her jeans.

Avery shook her head, a laugh slipping past her slightly red painted lips. "That's totally fine, I'm actually happy if Debbie gets along with Cookie."

"Cookie? Seriously, woman?" He looked down at her in amusement, while she looked at him in a fake theatrical way.

"Yes, Cookie. You got a problem with my baby's name?", she asked with a huff before a smirk crossed her face. "Bet you'll love her too and not just Debbie and me."

"We'll see about that", he chuckled, then slowly let go of her and cleared his throat. "You know where everything is. Help yourself; And if you need anything just let me know."

As he was already on his way to the door, Avery's gentle voice spoke again. "Thank you, Happy, for everything."

"Stop thanking me all the time, little girl", he grunted, his gaze lingering on her for a while. God, he just wanted to feel her, be close to her, let her know what she was doing to him. In order to keep more of these thoughts flooding his mind, he finally left the room so that she could get some rest.