The smell of freshly baked cakes, one chocolate and one lemon, filled the house with an irresistible smell early in the morning already. Since Lily fell asleep right after dinner last night the three year old woke up early, cuddled up between Happy and Cassie with Opie laying by her feet.

She watched them sleep, finding it funny to tap their noses with the tip of her finger to see who's going to wake up first. In the end, it wasn't tapping her nose, but Lily's infectious giggle that finally woke Cassie up and the brunette had to admit that there were worse ways to be woken up. A smile crossed her face as she imagined it could be like this more often if she would keep the baby. But the sight of Happy's arm still wrapped protectively around Lily even though he was sound asleep made her realize how lucky the baby would be with a father like Happy.

To distract herself from the thoughts that were coming up again, and of course also to keep Lily busy, she climbed out of the bed, carefully took Happy's arm off Lily so as not to wake him up and lifted the toddler into her arms. Opie stirred briefly, but continued to sleep just as peacefully as Happy.

And two hours later there now stood two freshly baked cakes in the kitchen, which Cassie put on the table for Lily to decorate. With a gleam in her eyes, the toddler watched her aunt as she placed icing, colored sprinkles, and chocolate sprinkles on the table.

“Can I use all of this?”, she asked as she happily wobbled in the chair and tasted the colorful sprinkles, a soft giggle slipping from her lips.

Cassie nodded slightly as she laughed softly at the little girl. “Yes, you can. You can decorate as you like and then you can take half of each cake home with you. I'm sure your daddy and Benny can't wait to get a bite of it.”

“Can we make the icing pink just like my new shoes?” The girl batted her eyelashes at her aunt, already knowing how to wrap adults around her finger. That one would be trouble once she would hit her teenage years.

“Mhm.. whatever the princess wants”, Cassie winked before she turned around and opened the cupboard behind her to look for the food coloring. Since she often baked with Lily and also liked to bake for the club or at home just for Happy and her, she always had those ingredients in the house. Finally finding the pink food coloring, she went back to the table and colored the icing and handed Lily a spoon to make it easier for her to spread it onto the cakes.

After ten minutes, the three year old finished decorating the two cakes and looked at the results. “These are pretty cakes”, she exclaimed, proudly clapping her little hands together.

“Good job, sweetie! They're really pretty”, Cassie agreed with an eager nod as she kissed the top of Lily's head, meaning her words. For a three year old, Lily had done really well.

That being said, Cassie would probably find everything her niece did beautiful anyway. In general, she liked things that children made themselves. Whether it was something crafted, baked or painted. In her eyes, people should always praise children when they have done something great on their own, it simply strengthened their self confidence. She liked to think back to how happy her father was when he got a painted picture of her or Benny. Each time genuine joy was reflected in his eyes before he put them up on the fridge.

In such moments she really missed her dad. It didn't matter that he was dead for ten years, the pain was still there and Cassie was sure it would never fully go away.

“Smells good in here.” Happy's raspy voice startled her and pulled her out of her head and back to reality.

She gave him a sweet smile after he kissed her gently and poured himself a cup of coffee before taking a seat on the table with them, taking in the two cakes. A chuckle vibrated through his chest at how proud Lily looked.

“You can have a piece later, uncle Happy”, the toddler sing—sang and dipped her finger into the icing only to shove it into her mouth a moment later.

“Oh, that's nice of you”, Cassie let out a small laugh and put a hand on her little cheek, caressing it with a smile. “Are you still hungry, sweetie?”

Happy's eyes landed on his Old Lady and the toddler and how Cassie interacted with Lily. He knew she would make a great mom, now only Cassie had to realize that, too.

“No, not hungry!” The girl shook her head, giving her aunt a toothy smile. She then climbed off the chair and walked over to where Happy sat to climb on his lap. With a little help from him, she made herself comfortable and leaned against him, her feet dangling down sideways.

It didn't bother the SAA at all to have a little kid climb all over him while he just tried to drink his coffee in peace. Cassie let out a soft sigh, supporting her head with her hand as she watched the two of them while Lily talked his ear off and told him what they had already done since they woke up three hours ago. Happy just listened while casually sipping on his coffee.

“Why didn't you wake me up?”, Happy asked his Old Lady, reaching out to take her hand, closing his around hers to give it a squeeze.

He saw how tired she was and he wouldn't have minded to help her with the clearly active toddler. Especially now Cassie needed all the rest she could get. The first three months were always a risk and Happy probably wouldn't be able to handle a miscarriage well. It would turn him into one grumpy, bad tempered, dangerous man since that was the only way he knew how to deal with negative feelings.

“Because you came home late. I already got some sleep before that. I'm fine, Hap”, she smiled reassuringly and got up, running her hand over his neck. “Want some breakfast?”

Happy grunted something incoherent but nodded eventually and gave her hip a gentle squeeze while she stood next to him, her fingertips ghosting over his skin making him sigh comfortably. “Breakfast sounds good.”

“Perfect. I'll make you some bacon and eggs.” She bent down to give him a quick kiss before she turned around to get the ingredients out of the fridge.

Humming, she stood behind the stove while the bacon sizzled in the pan, her gaze wandered to Happy and Lily, who had gotten her coloring book in the meantime, and couldn't prevent a warm feeling spreading through her body. Without thinking too much, she put a hand on her still flat stomach and only when she noticed what she was doing did she realize that she had secretly built a bond with the unborn child that she carried under her heart already.

⸺

It was three weeks later when they came home from their appointment at St.Thomas with Dr.Summerlin. Cassie kicked off her shoes, letting out a relieved sigh. How was it possible that she already found it exhausting to walk in heels?

Shaking her head, she put her bag down and waited for Happy to remove his shoes before slipping her fingers between his and dragging him into the bedroom, where she collapsed onto the bed and opened the window for some fresh air. Well, if you could even call that hot air fresh air. She was really looking forward to the trip to Tacoma, which was definitely cooler now that it was fall than it was here in Cali.

As Happy lay down beside her, he pulled her closer and slipped an arm under her head, he caressed her cheek before he ran his fingertips further down her neck to her shoulder, the slightest smile on his lips. The brunette could literally watch how all the tension had melted away after the appointment and he had finally allowed himself to relax again.

“Thank you, little girl”, he rasped as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes, sincere gratefulness in his tone as he spoke.

“For what?”, she asked softly, bringing her hand to his cheek. Her thumb caressed his cheek, the stubble slightly scratching against her palm.

“Choosing the baby”, he grunted softly, his grip around her waist becoming firmer, more possessive, like someone could steal her from him if he wouldn't hold her close. “I know you wanted a different life.”

“I did”, she admitted honestly. God, she remembered the day when she found out that she was pregnant. The sadness, panic and fear she had felt in that moment, that was something she didn't want to feel again. But things have changed. “But I'm glad I changed my mind and didn't get an abortion.”

“What changed your mind?” That was something he really wanted to know. He had seen how scared she was, witnessed the ultimate sadness and fear she felt for weeks, the guilt she felt towards him and the baby about wanting an abortion. She seemed so lost that he had got seriously worried about her mental health.

But since a few days her beautiful smile was back. A smile that could end wars and brought everyone to their knees. Her nickname wasn't Sunshine for nothing, most of her family and friends called her that. Her smile was the prettiest he had ever seen and no matter if it would be a boy or a girl, Happy hoped their child would inherit her smile and beauty.

“You”, she replied simply and gave him a weak smile before she nuzzled the tip of her nose into the crock of his neck, taking in the leather scent of his Kutte and the aftershave he always used. Alone his scent gave her the feeling that she was home wherever he was.

“How?”, he furrowed his brows, looking at her a little confused.

“Well”, she let out a soft sigh. “I knew that with you I have someone by my side who I know will always support me. You don't find a man like you often anymore. My fears of failing as a mom are still there and probably always will be, but I have someone to lean on, someone I can trust. Besides, I couldn't imagine a better father for my child. Why should I take something so precious from you when you want it? And I think I'm slowly starting to like the idea of becoming a mother.”

Cupping one side of her face into his hand, he leaned down and wrapped her in a loving yet demanding kiss that expressed how much those words meant to him. He just wasn't good at putting his feelings into words, so he showed it by reaching out to her and showing her how important she was to him.

“I love you, I hope you know that”, he grumbled against her lips making her smile happily.

“I know”, she whispered back, pecking his lips one more time. “And I love you, Lowman.”

He pulled away from her with a smirk and slid down a bit. He positioned Cassie so that he had easy access to her stomach, which was slowly becoming apparent. He carefully pushed her red dress up so that her stomach was exposed and made himself comfortable between her legs. At the moment it looked like she just ate too much, it really was just a small bump.

Cassie was surprised that she was already showing and that you could actually see the smallest bump since she was only eleven weeks pregnant, but the doctor said it was different for every woman. Some women looked clearly pregnant in the fourth month already while others only started to look pregnant towards the end of the pregnancy or don't look pregnant at all.

If Happy was honest, he was glad that Cassie was already showing. That meant people could soon see that she was carrying his child, which made him fucking proud and also boosted his ego. He was just a man after all.

Without a warning, he started talking to the baby that made Cassie laugh. She liked the sight though. A rough biker talking to his girlfriend's belly. But it also showed how much he was looking forward to meeting this child and how grateful he was for her decision. She had noticed that until now Happy had never tried to touch her stomach or put too much pressure on her, for which she was grateful. And right now she had absolutely no regrets, on the contrary. Keeping the baby was the right decision.