While she sat outside the clubhouse at one of the picnic tables, her feet on the bench with her sunglasses resting on top of her head, she was lost in one of her favorite books that she was re-reading for the fifth time already⸺ which you could clearly see from the bent corners and edges. By reading she also eased the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel nauseous.

It was only when someone tugged at her leather jacket that she took her eyes off the book and glanced to the side, having to look down quite a bit to spot the toddler standing in front of her with a sheepish smile, waving at her.

“Hey little man”, the brunette smiled after the little boy appeared next to her out of nowhere.

“Who are you?”, he asked curiously, climbing onto the bench and then onto the table and casually sat down next to her as if he had known her for years. “Can you read me something from your book?”

“Well, I don't think that's an interesting story for you”, she laughed softly. “I'm Madison, and who are you?”

“Rico!” The little boy winced before he giggled, and even Madison jumped when a loud, raspy voice rang out. “I told you not to run away all the time.”

You could see how relieved the heavily tattooed man was to find the boy, apparently named Rico, outside on the bench. He probably just turned around for two minutes and the little rascal just took advantage of that. She used to work in a kindergarten, so she knew how fast these little munchkins could be.

Madison couldn't help and had to inconspicuously examine the man for a moment. He was exactly her type with the many tattoos, the dark eyes and the hard facial features. The stoic, hard look didn't scare her, who knew why he looked so intimidating. Maybe he was a pretty nice person. The brunette learned early on never to judge a book by it's cover. But she wasn't here to fall madly in love, she was here to get to know her mother. But taking a look was allowed, right?

“I have a new friend”, Rico told the man, who meanwhile picked him up and whose chest was still moving up and down heavily due to the brief shock moment.

“Do you?”, he asked the boy, who nodded eagerly and pointed at Madison. “And who is your new friend?”

The question was more aimed at the woman he had never seen here before. Which automatically made him skeptical and awakened all his instincts. The brunette, who was pretty hot, looked harmless and nice, but that didn't have to mean that she actually was. Trust in strangers has never been one of his strengths and that was a thing that would never change.

“I'm Madison, but I prefer Mads”, she introduced herself politely, and like with Juice before, she held out her hand to him. “I'm here because of the job at the office”, she added quickly before any more questions would come that she couldn't answer right now.

Happy just grunted in response and let his eyes travel over her body again. Fuck, she was smoking hot. But also really pretty. Unlike many women he met, she didn't look used and scantily dressed. Her plump lips curled into a smile when he looked at her again and her green eyes lit up as the sun shone on her face. Her lightly tanned skin was almost flawless and her hair fell in curls over her shoulders and ended below her breasts.

When he spotted the scar, which looked almost exactly like Gemma's, he was a bit taken aback. Of course it could be a huge coincidence, but it was still funny. Still, he wouldn't ask her about it.

“Happy”, he introduced himself, his toothpick rolling over his lips, and finally shook her hand so she could lower her arm again. “I'm sorry if he bothered you. He's still not listening sometimes.”

“Happy? Do you all have such special names here? I met someone named Juice before”, she said amused but in a loving way. And to be honest, Happy didn't look happy at all and she wondered if that was actually his real name. “And don't worry, he didn't bother me, not at all.”

She found herself pouting over the fact that Happy seemed to be a father. In most cases, that meant he had to be in a relationship. Even if she was here because of her mother, she wouldn't mind having some fun with a man who was just her type. She was still a person with needs and not a nun.

“Couple of us”, he replied with the slightest smirk. “How come a young woman like you wants a job in a small workshop office?”

It was common that younger women in particular preferred to get jobs that were better paid and more pleasant. Although he thought that the job didn't matter as long as you could pay for your a roof over the head and food. And Madison just looked pretty neat with her simple makeup, styled hair and manicured fingernails. Again, this just showed that she took care of her appearance and the Old Lady's here did the same. So maybe she wasn't so different after all.

“I'm only in town since today and I'll take any job I can get. I mean, no landlord will give me an apartment if I don't have a job”, she explained simply and basically that wasn't a lie either. She would later ask Gemma if she could have the job since she definitely needed one.

“Mhm.. it's going to be difficult to find an apartment here in Cali without a job”, he agreed with a grunt and let Rico down, who ran straight to the small playground area and sat down in the sandpit.

“That little boy is really cute and not shy at all. Must be great to be a parent”, the brunette said almost dreamily as she watched the toddler play in the sand. At some point she also wanted children, at least one. But she still had time for that.

“He's not my kid”, Happy clarified immediately when he realized what she meant by her words. “My sister just didn't have anyone to watch him. Although with a babysitter he probably wouldn't have just tried to run away”, he grunted, shaking his head.

Madison cocked her head a little and looked at the man in front of her, who obviously had a guilty conscience that something like this had happened while he had to watch his nephew. Which also showed that he wasn't as stoic as he looked. And a part of her was also pleased to hear that he was just the uncle. Maybe he was single. There were rings on his fingers, but not a wedding ring as far as she could tell.

“Hey, this can happen to anyone, besides he didn't run away”, she assured him softly, jumped off the table she was still sitting on and crossed her arms with a smirk. “I worked in a kindergarten, I know what I'm talking about.”

A little surprised to hear that she had worked in a kindergarten, he gave her a sideways glance and nodded curtly. “He just didn't run away because he was curious about you.”

“Well, good thing I was there, huh?”, she asked, chuckling.

“Probably could've ended up worse without you, Mads”, he winked, emphasizing her name and grinned briefly when her cheeks turned a faint red.

“I see you've already met one of ours”, Gemma joined the pair and smiled at her daughter. After she had digested the shock a bit in the last three quarters of an hour, she called Nero and Jax and asked them to come over.

She didn't want any secrets from the others and she was glad to have her daughter here. There was no question of denying who Madison was. She owed it to the young woman to stand by her and let everyone know what happened twenty-five years ago.

“Yes, I have. And so far everyone seems pretty cool.” She tried not to show how nervous she was getting again as Gemma stood next to her. It was just mixed feelings that opened up in her and she didn't quite know how she felt at all. But first of all she was glad that Gemma hadn't sent her away yet.

“I'll leave you two alone”, Happy rasped before he went over to the playground set to sit down with Rico, who beamed immediately when his uncle came over to play with him.

Gemma put her hands on her hips, now looking a little nervous herself. “I asked my partner and son to come over. I want to tell them the truth and I want them to get to know you. Are you okay with that?”

A little overwhelmed by Gemma's question, she was silent for a moment and rubbed the tip of her nose. So she had another half brother, that was for sure. Was she excited about that? Definitely.

“Well, if that's what you want, sure. It's fine with me”, she reassured Gemma after a while, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Are you sure you want me to be there? Maybe it's better if you talk to them alone first.”

“No, it's your business too. Come on, we'll wait inside.” The older woman waved it off and led Madison inside, where several more glances landed on the two women, making the brunette even more nervous. “What do you want to drink?”

“Uh, just a coke please.” The nervous feeling was no longer just in her stomach, but ran through her whole body. Was she really ready for such a conversation? Apparently she had no choice and running away wasn't an option, she was a grown woman.

“Tell me more about yourself. How did you grow up? Do you have a high school diploma? A boyfriend?” Gemma eyed the young woman carefully after asking the prospect to bring two cokes which he placed on the bar in front of them.

Madison, who had to think about what to tell the woman  sitting next to her, scratched her forehead before she started to talk. She left out the unimportant details and only told her about the difficult relationship with her parents, but also about the all the better relationship with her brother. Then that she had a normal high school diploma and that she started working in a daycare after she had decided against college⸺ to the chagrin of her parents for whom it was just another disappointment. They didn't seem to care that their daughter had a decent job.

Gemma also wanted to know if Adam and Diane had ever mistreated her, to which Madison denied. There were moments when Madison wanted to cry for hours after her parents had told her again that she was just a problem, just like her brother⸺ but she wouldn't tell Gemma that, she didn't want to make the woman feel even worse for her decision. Adam and Diane were special and only cared about good grades, good manners and the church. They simply didn't care how their children were actually doing.

After another half hour and a few questions that Madison had, two men entered the clubhouse. One of them was about Gemma's age. Toned skin, tattoos, here and there a few gray streaks in his dark hair. The other was maybe in his mid-thirties, had blonde, slicked back hair and wore the same kutte as the others in the room.

Gemma waved the two over and Madison knew immediately that this had to be Gemma's partner and son. Her heart pounded madly against her chest as the men approached and joined them. The blonde had just as piercing blue eyes as Jesse, apparently she was the only one besides her half brothers who had inherited green eyes.

“Hey mom, what's so important?”, the blonde asked, putting a cigarette between his lips while eyeing Madison closely. “Who are you, darlin'?”

Darlin'? Charming. She almost chuckled at his nickname. It was quite charming and she was sure that many women would melt at the panty dropping grin on his lips, but he wasn't her type. And she was glad that she wasn't, it was her half brother after all.

“I'm Madison”, the brunette introduced herself politely, her voice shaking slightly with excitement.

“Hey Madison, I'm Nero.” Now it was he who first stretched out his hand, which she shook with a smile.

Okay, they both seemed nice enough, which was an good and calmed Madison down a bit. Still, she was curious how they would take the news and wondered if they would ever accept her.

“Hey, nice to meet you”, she said almost shyly, which she was only when she felt a little uncomfortable or overwhelmed in a situation.

“Gemma, what's going on?”, Nero asked his girlfriend, resting his hand on her back as he patiently watched her. The look on her face told him that she had something big to tell them and he had a feeling it had something to to with Madison.

Gemma puffed out the smoke of her cigarette, gripping her glass tightly as she looked at the two men in turn, seeming as if she had yet to find the right words. But before anyone could ask again, the words just gushed out of her.

“Madison is my daughter. I left her with her father twenty five years ago and now she's back.” So now the truth was out and the whole room suddenly went very quiet. Apparently the rest of them had heard what was going on too, which hadn't been difficult to overhear due to Gemma's nervous, louder growing voice.

⸺

authors note; ending this with a little cliffhanger! Feel free to leave a comment. 🖤