✎ CHAPTER THREE — 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

꧁𒊹︎꧂

꧁𒊹︎꧂

MOST DAYS SHAY WONDERED WHAT HER LIFE would be like had she left Charming years ago. Charming had always been her home, but it was a home filled of bloodshed, anxiety, fear, and love ones lost to the violence that Samcro brought with them.

Shay knew she would never be free from Samcro, and that's not necessarily what she wanted either. Samcro would always be her family and she would always love them wholeheartedly, but it was getting harder and harder to justify her reasons for staying in the small town.

There were some days where daydreaming through the day about a different life far away from Charming was the only thing that could get Shay through her hectic life.

"You okay, baby?" Gemma's voice startled Shay out of her daze as the older woman placed a cup of coffee in front of the raven haired Miller woman.

"Just daydreaming." Shay said, giving Gemma a small reassuring smile before bringing the cup of steaming coffee up to her lips.

The two woman had been at Jax's home all day cleaning up the mess left behind by Wendy. It was sad to see how much destruction one person could make, but then again this was Wendy she was talking about. Wendy Case had caused destruction since Shay could remember.

"I still can't believe the nerve of that bitch." Gemma hissed as she pulled out a cigarette from her purse, quickly placing the unlit stick in between her lips and lighting it. "I mean who does she fucking think she is? She comes back and thinks she can get Jax's head all fucked up again? I don't fucking think so." The Samcro queen ranted as she inhaled deeply, cigarette smoke flowing out of her mouth.

You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know who Gemma was talking about. If Wendy was like a splinter stuck under Gemma's skin , then Tara Knowles was the thorn in her side —— one that just kept getting deeper and deeper since her unexpected return to Charming.

Shay couldn't disagree with Gemma. The brown haired doctor had always acted as though she was better than Shay and Samcro —— always whispering in Jax's ear about Shay and her dislike of their close friendship. She never let it bother her though. She knew Tara was just overcompensating for her alcoholic father at home that she had to take care of. Had Tara not had been so jealous and a bitch the two could of probably became friends —— bonding over their parents addictions.

"Don't let her bother you, Gem." Shay said with sigh. "Let's just trust that Jax has grown smarter in all those years since she's been gone." Even as she said it, Shay doubted the words that left her mouth. Jax had always been an idiot when it came to Tara, but hopefully not this time around.

Gemma raised an eyebrow at Shay's words —— even she doubted the words coming out of the Miller woman's mouth. Gemma knew what her son was like when it came to Tara Knowles. He could be stupid and reckless, and that was not what he or the club needed right now, nor did Shay and his two kids need that right now.

"I hope you're right, baby." Gemma said with sigh. "But if you're not I'll personally send that bitch crawling back to Chicago." The brunette smirked.

_______________

VISITING WENDY IN THE HOSPITAL wasn't high on Shay Miller's to do list. Yet here she was walking down the halls of St. Thomas, balancing Leela on one hip and a vase of flowers on the other.

The Miller woman would have been fine going the rest of her life without having to see Wendy's face ever again. A rage burned inside of her whenever she thought of Wendy and how selfish she had been to push the needle into her arm —— not giving a second thought to Abel or his wellbeing.

Shay knew junkies only ever thought about themselves, they were incredibly selfish people with little to no care at all about their consequences for the things that they did. Junkies only ever cared about themselves and getting their next fix. It was a fact Shay knew all too well.

Shay inhaled deeply, closing her blue eyes before stepping into the bright hospital room. "Hey, Wendy."

The raven haired woman placed the vase of flowers on the small nightstand in the corner, hoisting Leela higher up on her hip before turning her blue eyes back onto Wendy.

"You look like shit." Shay bluntly spoke as she stared at the Case woman. There were dark bags under her swollen eyes, her wavy brunette hair was a knotted mess, and you had to look close to see the fresh track mark on her arm, but it was there —— a reminder of what she had done.

"Thanks." Wendy muttered with as much sarcasm as she could muster up —— which wasn't very much. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be the last person to show up here." The brunette said as she eyed the raven haired Miller woman with a slight raise of her eyebrow.

"I thought so too, but you know," Shay trailed off as she get herself comfortable (well a comfortable as one can) in the chair at the end of Wendy's hospital bed, settling a babbling Leela on her lap.

A bitter laugh left Wendy's chapped lips, "That means Jax or Gemma sent you."

Wendy knew how close Jax and Gemma were to Shay Miller —— the former even having a child with the woman. She had always been jealous of Jax's close relationship to Shay —— even when they were married. Jax had always went to Shay with his problems and Wendy could forget about trying to get on Gemma's good side. The Queen of Samcro hated her fucking guts.

"Believe it or not, Wendy, no one sent me. I came here on my own." Shay stated matter of fact. "Because even though you don't deserve anyone checking up on you at all, and I mean at all." The Miller woman stressed. "I know how to be the bigger person, and you are Abel's mother. And I'm sure eventually you'll be back in his life —— clean and sober of course, but you'll be there like that annoying fly no one can ever kill. So, this is me being the bigger person —— with flowers." A sarcastic smile made it's way onto Shay's face as she finished speaking.

Wendy sallowed hard as she nodded her head at Shay's words. Shay Miller could be a scary bitch when she needed to be and Wendy knew that all too well.

"She's a perfect combination of Jax and you." Wendy spoke softly as she looked at Leela with a frown on her face. It made her eyes grow watery as she looked at the babbling child on Shay's lap.

Shay looked down at her daughter, a smile growing on her face. "Yeah. She's prefect." She said, placing a kiss on the top of her daughter's head.

_____________

SHAY SLOWLY TIPPED-TOED OUT OF LEELA'S ROOM, releasing a sigh of relief once she had escaped the room without so much as a peep from the sleeping child. It had been a rough time trying to get the nine month old to sleep. No amount of rocking or singing could make Leela fall asleep. Eventually she had tired herself out, letting Shay make a quick but quiet exit.

"Lee finally fall asleep?" Ben questioned, his dark eyes watching Shay as she walked into the bedroom.

"Yeah." Shay nodded as a yawn escaped her mouth. "Tired herself out." The Miller woman added as she crawled into bed, instantly wrapping her body up in blankets.

It had been a long day. Hell, to be honest it had been a long couple of days and now all Shay wanted to do was sleep —— or at least sleep for a couple of hours until Leela woke her up or her insomnia decided to show it's ugly face.

"How was today?" Ben asked as he ran a large hand over his dark hair.

A soft sigh escaped Shay's lips as her blue eyes connected with his dark ones. Just the thought of explaining of how her day went fucking exhausted her. It was easy to talk to Ben. It was one of the reasons she had fallen for him. Right now though Shay didn't feel like talking, she just wanted to sleep. There was always tomorrow or a few days from now when she didn't feel so exhausted —— mentally and physically.

"It was eventful." Shay simply said before placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Ben nodded, wrapping his arms around the raven haired woman. He knew he wasn't going to get much more from her tonight and he was fine with that. Shay Miller would always keep her lips tightly sealed when it came to Jax Teller and Samcro, and Benjamin Costello knew he had to be okay with that.