Chapter Text
“Really?” Clay looked at him with barely concealed irritation as Jax settled into his chair at the table with Nate on his lap. “This is church, not a daycare.”
“The only person in the garage is Gemma, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to watch him.” Clay knew he had the kid this weekend. He told everyone that he would not be around to do club shit while he had the toddler. Clay had called him in anyway. “He’s not even two, Clay. It’s not like he’s going to go blabbing to the world what he heard today.”
“Just keep him quiet.” The SAMCRO Pres ordered as the other Sons filed in. None of them uttered a damn word about the extra person in the room.
“He’s not much of a talker anyway.” The boy was a chatterbox, actually, but that was only when he felt comfortable. He was still shy around the club, having only met most of them once before. “Don’t worry, I’ve got shit to keep him occupied.”
He pulled a picture book and a small foam ball out of the diaper bag and set them on the table. The kid pushed the book aside, instead choosing to grab the ball, which he seemed to be favoring lately. He squished it in his hand, bounced it in front of him, letting Jax catch it before it got away from him.
Halfway through the meeting Nate got bored, Jax should have seen that coming. He was fidgeting in place, kicking his feet out, and huffing indignantly whenever Jax stopped the ball from going over the side of the table. At some point, while Jax was caught up talking to Clay, the boy found a way to maneuver around the wall Jax made with his arms and roll the ball across the table, straight to Opie.
Opie grinned at the boy and obediently rolled the ball back, while keeping his eyes trained on the Pres. Nate took that as some kind of permission and rolled it to Chibs next, who was more than happy to join in on the game. Jax probably should have put a stop to when he saw what was going on, but Nate had roped the majority of the table in to playing with him, so he let it go.
Clay, on the other hand, did not enjoy his club members focus being shifted from the meeting to the kid. When the ball made it back around the table, when Nate rolled it to Tig, who sat at Clay’s right, the Pres snatched it before the Sergeant at Arms could participate.
“Enough.” Clay ordered, shoving the toy back in Jax’s space. “Put it away.”
“Chill, Clay.” He wanted to tell his stepfather that Nate was only a toddler and that his attention span was pretty short, but he never got the chance.
Nate had taken the ball Clay had dropped between Jax’s arms. He tightened his fingers around it, acted as if he might bounce it on the table again or roll it toward Opie or another member, just to spite the Pres, but he did neither of those things. He lifted the ball in his hands and chucked it in Clay’s direction, landing a solid hit to the man’s cheek.
While the club members stifled their snickers of amusement, Clay could only glower at the boy, eyes wide and wild. Nate glared back, looking incredibly menacing for a baby. Jax watched the exchange with concern, wondering what the hell would happen next, when a throaty laugh from the opposite end of the table pulled his brother’s attention from the club president.
Piney was chuckling, not even caring that it was pissing Clay off. Nate seemed absolutely mesmerized by the reaction he had pulled from the old man. He smacked his hands against the table in delight as he began climbing off Jax’s lap.
“Hey. Where you going?” Jax made a move to grab the boy but he was out of his reach before he made contact.
The kid ignored him entirely, tottering off on unsteady feet. He made it to Piney’s chair without falling down or being stopped by anyone. He smiled up at the old man as if he were greeting an old friend, rather than someone he had only met twice. It was fucking adorable.
“Up.” Nate lifted his arms expectantly.
“All right.” Piney leaned down to heft the boy up and onto his lap. “You’re a testy little spitfire, aren’t ya?”
“Ya.” Nate nodded along as if he understood every word Piney was saying.
“Got some good aim with that ball too.” Piney smirked up at Clay who only scowled in response.
“Ball.” The boy made grabby hands at the item that had landed on the floor beside the President’s chair. “Ball.”
“No.” Yeah, there was no way in hell Clay would be giving that up.
“Mine.” Nate was more than a little possessive of his toys.
“Here.” Jax slid the book over, hoping to stop a tantrum before it started. “You can have the ball back later.”
“What makes you think he’s not going to throw that next?” Opie chuckled.
“He could try but it wouldn’t go very far.” Even so, Piney put a hand down on the books edge to keep it in place.
The old man kept Nate occupied throughout the rest of the meeting. When Jax glanced their way toward the end of it, he couldn’t help but grin as he saw his little brother snuggled up against Piney. The old man was talking in low tones and pointing out things in the book as he flipped the pages. Nate was content to just lean back, stick his thumb in his mouth, and listen to whatever the man had to say, completely captivated by him.
“Ope,” Jax tapped a finger against the reaper. “I think your dad’s got a new favorite.”
“I think our brother’s got a new favorite.” Opie shot back and fuck if that wasn’t true.