“Hey, what areᅳ” Happy's raspy voice trailed off as Avery placed the side of her index finger on her lips, motioning for him to be quiet, before pointing to Debbie, who was sitting on Avery's bed with Cookie, telling the cat about her day.

“Listenᅳ she barely stutters”, she whispered so Debbie wouldn’t hear them. Avery definitely didn't want to ruin the quiet, peaceful moment Debbie had with Cookie.

Frowning, Happy leaned against the doorframe across from Avery and listened to his daughter, a smile tugging at his lips. In fact, she hardly stuttered at all, except when she had to say a difficult word. Otherwise she spoke completely normally.

Happy had an idea why things suddenly became easier for Debbie. Debbie's doctor had always said that her stuttering would be much less severe in relaxed situations than in stressful situations. Even though she would always stutter a little, there was a chance that things could get significantly better if Debbie were exposed to less stressful situations.

Which was another reason for Happy not to let his daughter go back to Kim.

“Maybe it's a good thing you brought your cat with you”, he admitted after pulling the redhead a little away so he could talk to her without disturbing Debbie. “Were there any problems while I was gone?”

“I can already see it happening; You’ll love Cookie as much as me and Debbie someday.” With a satisfied grin, she pulled Happy into the kitchen, who just shook his head in amusement, and motioned for him to sit down before she fetched him a beer from the fridge, which she placed on the table for him. “And no, there were no problems. The few hours alone with Debbie went surprisingly well.”

“Good, I'm glad it went well”, Happy grunted, taking a sip of his beer and letting his eyes wander over her body after Avery turned around and put the leftover dinner in the microwave. “No cravings or anything?”, he asked.

Since he had something to deal with earlier, he had to leave Debbie alone with Avery. He could have taken her to Gemma, but Avery had offered to let her watch the four year old. Admittedly, he was a bit skeptical at first and didn't know whether she was ready to spend hours alone with a child. Until now, he, Gemma or Lyla had always been there in case it got too much for Avery, after all, she had only been clean for a little over two months, so the craving could still be quite strong.

And taking care of a child could sometimes be stressful, no matter how well-behaved or the kid was.

“Well, the craving is always there somehow”, the redhead admitted honestly, turning around and resting her hands on the edge of the kitchen counter, her gaze resting on Happy. “But it was bearable. And Debbie made sure I was distracted. Still, it was hard.”

“You know you could've called me anytime, little girl.” Happy looked at her again, this time with concern in his eyes as he looked at the scratches on her arm that kinda looked infected. “Debbie behaved?”

“You had something important to do, Hap. And Debbie is an angel, she hasn’t caused any problems”, she assured him with a sincere smile.

When the microwave beeped, Avery turned around again and pushed the finished food onto a plate, which she handed over to Happy and then sat down herself. When he thanked her with a grunt, she gave him a small smile and let him eat in peace.

Of course she was curious and would like to know what he had to do earlier, but she also didn't want to be too pushy or seem like she was a control freak or something. Then she could probably forget a relationship with Happy, since he certainly wasn't into clingy, controlling women.

“You should get your arm checked”, he stated with another worried look forming on his face. “That bitch got you pretty good.”

Sighing, Avery nodded slightly. “She did. This shit still burns like hell. Maybe I'll let a doctor check it out if it doesn't get better in a few days.”

“We're not waiting a few more days, woman”, Happy demanded sternly. “I'll give Jax a call. If Tara’s home she can check it out.”

“Does it have to be the uptight doctor?” Avery wrinkled her nose, not really looking forward to being examined by Tara Knowles. “I don’t think she likes me much.”

“Why? She said anything to you?”, Happy inquired.

There were a lot of things that made Tara unlikable and Happy disliked the doctor just as much as she disliked him and the rest of the club, but she was a doctor and could treat Avery without charging half a fortune. And he was really worried about his girlfriend.

His girlfriend. He liked the sound of that. But was she even his girlfriend? Since the kiss a few days ago, they hadn't really talked about what that meant now. And not much had changed, except that they both sought closeness at night and either slept in his room or he slept in hers. And he really liked it, which he never expected from himself.

The main reason he had wanted to get rid of Betty was because she had insulted Debbie and threatened him. But when he saw that she had hurt Avery, even if she only wanted to defend herself, his instincts kicked in. The woman needed to get taken care of before she could hurt Debbie or Avery any further, so he didn't think twice and just did it. Which is why he was gone today.

“No, she didn’t say anything. But her looks are enough to tell that she is judging me.” Avery's soft voice and the sigh coming form her pulled him out of his thoughts.

“That’s typical of Tara. She doesn't really like any of us”, he explained, hoping that might make her feel a little better. “In her eyes, we’re just criminals and can’t get our lives together. Don't take her looks or taunts personally. But don’t put up with her shit either, little girl.”

“Then why is she even here?”, the redhead asked confusedᅳ it didn't make sense to her. “Why am I starting to date someone whose lifestyle I can’t handle?”

Happy just shrugged his shoulders. “We all ask ourselves that.”

“So not only does she look and sound tiring, she actually is”, she sighed.

“Yeah, she is.” Happy smirked before pushing his plate aside, leaning back and beckoning Avery over to him. “Come here.”

He grunted softly as Avery obeyed and watched every step she took until she finally stood in front of him and slowly sat down on his lap, whereupon he placed a hand on her thigh and looked up into her blue eyes.

“What about you? Would you be able to handle my lifestyle?”, he asked, his raspy voice sounding almost demanding with a hint of curiosity in it.

He had to know, and he had to know now  before he developed more feelings that would only end up hurting him if she wasn't ready for this. He needed to know if she was ready to accept this life and the responsibility of being an Old Lady.

“You never told me much about your life, Hap”, she stated before leaning in and placing her lips on his. It was a short but gentle kiss that she enjoyed as much as the others they shared in the last few days. “But I think I've seen enough in my life to know that I could handle your life.”

“I need to know for sure, Avery”, he rasped against her lips, which he ran the tip of his thumb over, maintaining constant eye contact. “Because if I commit to more, I will only do so if I know that you are also completely sure about this.”

Once again there was that certain crackle in the air that they both knew too well by now. There was always a certain tension in the air when they were so close to each other. It was difficult for both of them not to immediately tear each other's clothes off and jump each other's bones.  But Debbie was still awake and even though that probably sounded uptight, Avery wanted to know what the two of them were before she would go any further with Happy.

“Does that mean you would give us a chance?” The sparkle in her eyes literally captivated him, as if she had cast a spell over him.

“I would”,he nodded with a grunt and let his hand slide a little further up her thigh, his grip becoming a little more possessive. “I want you to be mine, and mine alone. And I’ve never said that to a woman before.”

His words made her feel hot. The heat rose to her head and caused her cheeks to flush. If she would stand now, she would have to support herself because her knees felt like jelly.

I want you to be mine, and mine only. As she replayed his words in her head, she could swoon.

Jeez, what power did that man have over her? And it didn't even bother her. She wanted to belong to him, to be his property. To outsiders that might sound a bit absurd, but not to her.

“And I only want to be yours”, she finally replied, the blush on her cheeks turning an even deeper shade of red.

“The only right answer”, he smirked before closing the distance between their lips again, but this time he immediately deepened the kiss and let his tongue slip between her lips. Fuck, she tasted so fucking good and he wondered how she'd taste down there.

Just the thought made his jeans tighten around his crotch. As Avery's tongue danced skillfully around his and her nails gently scratched over the back of his head down to his neck, he groaned into the kiss, which he broke away from shortly afterwards.

“What's wrong?”, the redhead asked with a provocatively innocent but at the same time seductive tone, a slight grin on her lips.

Of course, since she was sitting on his lap, she had felt his growing erection and she found it just as difficult to hold back as he did. Shit, her panties had probably never been as soaked as they were right now.

“You know exactly what the problem is”, he growled softly against her neck, where he placed a few kisses. A soft whimper escaped the redheads throat as he slid the tip of his tongue over her soft spot.

“Happy, stop”, she panted as she dug her nails into his gray shirt, making him bark a laugh.

“Sucks gettin' teased, huh?”, he asked with a mocking gleam in his eyes, sliding his hand up to her middle and watching as her breathing quickened under his touch. She was so wet that he could feel the warmth and wetness through the fabric of her jeans. “So fuckin' wet for me. I wonder how you taste.”

“Iᅳ I..stop with the damn teasing”, she swallowed, breathing shallowly as the excitement became almost unbearable. She changed position so that she was sitting properly on his lap, with one leg to the left and one to the right.

“How I'd love to fuck you on that table right now, little girl”, he growled at her, his cock hardening even more at her whimpers and the way her body bowed on his lap.

“Too bad that we can't”, she breathed, searching for his lips. Once their lips collided once again, she moaned into the kiss as his hands roughly grabbed her ass and pushed her down on his erection. “Fuck Hap, we have to stop this..”

Or else she wouldn't be able to resist any longer. This was pure torture. In a good wayᅳ but still torture.

“Mhmm..”, he grunted, exploring her curves with his hands. “As soon as we get the chance, I’ll fuck you hard.”

“Is that a promise?”, she smirked, her eyes filled with excitement as she bit down on her lip.

“You bet”, he smirked back and gave her ass a sharp slap, drawing a throaty moan from her. “Now get down before I can't control myself anymore”, he added with a wink, whereupon Avery slipped off his lap so they both could cool down.

ᚔ

“Hi daddy!” About twenty minutes later, Avery and Happy were sitting on the couch, his arm loosely around her shoulder while the redhead was snuggled into his side. Debbie was the only reason Happy had stopped earlier. He didn't necessarily want to get caught by his daughter and probably neither did Avery.

“Hey bug, how was your day?”, he asked, patting next to him as he watched in amusement as Debbie carried the cat around the house. “Sit down before Cookie gets too heavy.”

“She's n-not heavy”, Debbie smiled happily, climbing onto the couch with Happy's help, always careful not to hurt Cookie or let her slip out of her arms.

“You’re totally spoiling her, sweetie. At some point, Cookie will want to get carried around all the time”, Avery noted, letting out a chuckle. “But she likes you, she’s never let anyone carry her around other than me.”

“Really?” Debbie asked proudly, her eyes wide. Then she carefully hugged the cat and placed a kiss on its fur. “She’s my new b-best friend!”

“Let's see if Abel is happy about not being your best friend anymore”, Happy said amused, running his hand over Debbie's head.

“He's still my b-b-best friend, Daddy”, the four year old stated with a giggle, who then sat Cookie down next to her and climbed into Happy's lap so she could cuddle with him and Avery. “Can we w-watch a movie before I go t-to bed? Pleaseeee?”

Happy rolled his eyes, smirking. “Let me guess, How the Grinch stole Christmas?”

“Yes”, Debbie smiled sheepishly as her father immediately guessed which movie she wanted to watch. “C-can we?”

“You mind?” Happy looked at Avery, who shook her head and reached for the blanket next to her to put it over Debbie's legs. The woman was perfect in every way, even when she was just doing the most normal things. It meant everything to him that she cared so much about Debbie.

“No, I like the movie too”, she chuckled. The younger Dvorak could get used to that. Sitting here with Happy and Debbie every night, watching a movie and not worrying about how she was going to get through the next day.

She owed a lot to Happy and now he was giving her what she had always longed for. A little family. In return she was accepting his lifestyle and would support him if he needed it.