Spark in the Dark

Chapter 178

Burosky ducked out as fast as he had arrived with Collette following close behind. She gave Jax a sympathetic look, then looked at Shawn.

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Shawn replied.

As they left, Gemma came in. Shawn looked from her to Jax with wide eyes. Jax's glare at his mother suddenly made her wish she hadn't gone to Diosa that day. Shawn slowly made her way back to her desk and tried to best to be invisible. After a short confrontation, Nero took Gemma into his room and closed the door. Juice and Tig came in through the kitchen. As Tig talked to Jax, Juice headed for Shawn's desk.

"Hey, you need anything?" Juice asked.

"No, I'm good. Going to cut out of here soon to get lunch and visit Ally."

"Okay. Let me know when. Maybe we can meet up when we're done talking to this Putner guy we're about to go see."

"Putner? That sounds familiar."

"This girl threw a wrench through a window at the shop today," Juice explained.

"But not before beating the hell out of my bike with it," Tig added as he came over. "You know, they're all saying that teenage girls hate me?"

"And?" Shawn asked after a pause.

"And tell them it's not true."

"I can't. All my high school friends hated you," Shawn told him. "Wait, are you talking about Brooke Putner?"

"You know her?" Jax asked.

"Not really. She had mutual friends with Tristan Oswald when they were kids and I babysat her. I probably only ever actually saw her once or twice."

"Any idea what her problem with us is?"

"Her mom died in a car accident awhile back," Shawn said uneasily. Jax shrugged. "The accident was caused by a pile up from JT's accident."

"Oh, shit. So, she blames us?"

Shawn shrugged. It looked like they were all about to leave, but Tig stopped them.

"Jax was your friend in high school, too," Tig tried to argue. Clearly hearing that all of Shawn's friends hated him was eating away at him.

Shawn exchanged a looked with Jax. "I stand by what I said."

"Let's go talk to this guy before Tig's ego gets any more damaged today," Jax said.

The guys all began to leave. Juice leaned down to kiss Shawn before he went with them. Awhile later, Shawn sent Juice a quick text to let him know she was on her way to St. Thomas. She felt a little self conscious going to the NICU in a skimpy dress and heals, so she switched into flats and added a sweater she had thought after Juice made such a big deal of her outfit. After grabbing a quick lunch in the cafeteria, she rode the elevator up to the correct floor and walked down the hall. A nurse turned to see her enter and smiled at her.

"You're just in time. She's ready to eat."

"Oh, good!" Shawn said and hurried over. She took Ally from the nurse and sat down in the rocking chair. The nurse handed her a bottle before walking away to give them some space. "Hi, pretty baby. I missed you. Can't wait until you come home so I can snuggle you all the time."

Shawn felt her daughter her bottle, stopping in the middle to burp her. She smiled when the burp came. She had no idea she'd ever find one to be so cute, but Shawn was pretty sure there wasn't much Ally could do that she wouldn't find endearing. When the door to the NICU opened and Juice stepped in, Shawn's smile grew.

"Look, baby girl. It's Daddy!"

"Hey," Juice said excitedly as he went over to them. Shawn lifted Ally to him and he held her up to see her better. He bounced her a bit while making funny noises at her.

"Be careful with all that bouncing. She ate half this bottle already and you don't want it coming back up," Shawn warned him.

"Oh, shit. No I don't," Juice said and quickly lowered her so he was now cradling her.

"You want to finish feeding her?"

"Yeah," he said as he took the bottle. Shawn started to stand, but he shook his head. "I'm fine standing. You sit and rest."

"Do you really want to stand or do you just want her to look at you instead of me?" She asked suspiciously.

"She has to get used to my face eventually."

Gemma came into the NICU, surprising both of them. "Well look at this perfect family."

"Hey. Came to see the newest Ortiz?" Juice asked.

"Yeah, figured it's been long enough."

"I'm surprised they let you in here. They've gotten pretty strict with the family only rule," Shawn told her.

"I know. I passed a nurse in the hallway and she asked. I just told her I'm your mother," Gemma admitted.

"Of course you did," Juice replied.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but this one here looks just like her dad," Gemma told Shawn, making Juice smiled broadly. "Those curls are all you, though. Unless that's what this one looks like when he actually has hair."

"It's not," Juice said as Ally finished her bottle. "Want to hold her?"

"Maybe next time. Just wanted to stop in and say hi. I have something I need to take care of first."

"Are you even allowed to be here?" Juice asked. "I thought Tara had a restraining order against you."

"She does," Gemma replied, not sounding even remotely phased. She looked away from Ally and to Shawn. "See you at Diosa later?"

"I'll be there," Shawn told her. She and Juice watched Gemma leave before exchanging a look. "You got a bad feeling about that?"

"Yup."

"Yeah, me too."