Chapter Six

The house smelled stale as soon as Tatum stepped into it, the curtains were drawn making the house completely dark. The dark haired female let out a sigh as she closed the door behind her and quickly walked over to the dark blue curtains, pulling them open and allowing sunlight to enter the home. Tatum's eyes looked around her former childhood home, her father had barely stayed in the home while he was alive opting to sleep at the clubhouse and it really showed. There were dirty dishes in the sink, a couple of shirts thrown around, and dust everywhere. Tatum guessed Cal hadn't made the time to come over and make sure the place was clean before she got there to start packing up their fathers stuff.

Tatum gathered her hair into a bun before making her way towards the kitchen, another sigh leaving her lips as she began to wash the dishes. She didn't want to come up pack up her fathers house by herself but Cal was busy with club business, and while Tatum was grateful for that Ima had offered to help she didn't want Callie to have to sit there while they sorted through years worth of junk. It wasn't Tatum's idea of a fun time and she doubted it would be the toddlers idea of fun either.

Tatum shut off the water as she finished washing the last dirty plate. She quickly dried her hands and searched through the cabinets for a garbage bag, a satisfied smile taking over her face as she saw an unopened box pushed towards the back. Tatum made her way back into the living room once she had the box in her hands and began to clean up the mess around her.

The feeling of sorrow took a hold of Tatum as she looked at the shirt in her hands, it was one of her father's favorites and she could remember him always wearing it. Tatum could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at the worn shirt, but before they could fall a knock came on the door. The dark haired female wiped away at her watery eyes before tossing the shirt into a garbage bag and walking towards the door.

"Hey, Gem." Tatum said while putting a smile on her face as she stared at the SAMCRO queen. "What are you doing here?" She asked, watching as the older woman tossed her cigarette to the ground.

"I heard you were packing up your dad's place." Gemma said as she placed her sunglasses on top of her head. "I figured you could use some help." The older brunette offered with a smile.

"Sure." Tatum nodded as she stepped aside to let Gemma in. "Thank you."

"Of course baby." Gemma said as she walked into the house. "I still can't believe he's gone." She said while pulling Tatum into a tight embrace.

"Yeah." She muttered while pulling away from Gemma. "Um, I'm just cleaning out here first and then I'll go through his room if you wanna go through Cal's room, because I'm sure he's still got some shit left here." Tatum said as she began tossing shirts into the clear plastic bag once again.

"Sure." Gemma nodded as her heels echoed across the floor as she made her way towards Cal's childhood bedroom.

"Thanks." Tatum muttered once again as yet another sigh left her lips.

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A groan left Tatum's mouth as she continued to sort through her father's bedroom. It was a fucking mess and full of junk to put it lightly, there were old Harley magazines from the 70s and 80s piled up in his closet. Tatum grabbed a box labeled 'MISC' in her fathers bold handwriting, she threw open the box and let out a groan as she quickly noticed it was fill of more magazines. The Reyes woman had decided against throwing them all out, figuring maybe Cal or someone else from SAMCRO would enjoy them, but she was staring to regret that decision. Tatum ruffled through the box making sure there was nothing else but old magazines in it before she could move onto the next one. Her eyebrow raised in curiosity as she came across what looked like a manuscript at the very bottom of the box.

"Tatum."

Tatum quickly shoved the manuscript back into the box once she heard Gemma's voice calling for her. She had no fucking idea what it was but she had a feeling that it was important to her father and she didn't want to show it to anyone else just yet. At least not until she read it herself.

"What's up?" Tatum asked as she stepped out of her father's room, closing the door behind her.

"I've gotta go relieve Neeta from babysitting duties."

"Okay." She nodded, watching Gemma walk towards the door. "Thank you for helping Gem." Tatum thanked once again with a smile on her face.

"Enough with all the thank yous." Gemma waved a dismissive hand. "I'll see you at family dinner tonight." She said, turning around towards Tatum with a smile on her face and her hand on the doorknob.

"Family dinner?" Tatum questioned as her forehead furrowed into confusion. She had no idea what Gemma was talking about. No one had said anything to her about Gemma hosting one of her infamous family dinners tonight.

Gemma let out a sigh as she shook her head. "Of course no one told you. I'm having a family dinner tonight at my house. It starts at seven." She said, not allowing Tatum to try and come up with an excuse for why she couldn't be there before walking out of the house.

"Great." Tatum mumbled.

A dinner at Gemma and Clay's with SAMCRO wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her night, but maybe it would be that bad. Oh, who the fuck was Tatum trying to convince? It was going to be fucking terrible. She just knew it.

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A/N: sorry it took me so long to update! Thank you for the votes and views! ❤️