Chapter 60

Ace

I was sitting in a back booth at the diner waiting for Ailee to show up for our lunch. I didn’t pick this place, Ailee did. I would have met her anywhere she wanted to go but she insisted she was craving their loaded fries. And now that she can eat better there was no way I was going to try to change her mind. And I like it here so that is a plus. Actually the plus is that I’m having lunch with my daughter. I have spent time with her the past two months in and out of the hospital. There were always several people around. This time I get to have her all to myself. I know Callen will be with her as usual but I doubt he will sit with us. I noticed that Finn and Callen will always be close by but they give Ailee as much privacy as they can. I have been looking forward to this all week. That is the main reason I’m here ten minutes early. I couldn’t sit around the clubhouse anymore.

Macy, a sweet teenage girl who works here part time, comes over to the booth. “ Hi, Mr. Ace. What can I get you today?” she asks. Macy is a good kid and is always in a chipper mood. Watching her, it makes me wonder what Ailee was like as a teen. I need to ask Cormac or one of the other guys for some stories. “ Hi, Macy. I’ll just take a glass of iced tea for now. I am meeting someone and will order when they get here.” Macy nods and heads off. I hear the chime of the door and look up.

Callen comes through the door first looking around before he lets Ailee come in. Callen points to me then walks over to the counter to sit. Ailee smiles and somehow manages to bounce and skip over to me. I hate to admit it but Lug’s kutte looks good on her. And she is wearing it with pride.I want to smile seeing her wear my club’s colors. A part of me that is with her all the time. She looks so happy. I look over at Callen. He just smiles and shakes his head.
I stand as Ailee reaches the table. “ Hi, da.” she says.

At first she looks like she is going to hug me then backs off like she changed her mind. She has done that several times since she got out of the hospital. I'm going to ask her about it today. I want to know why she is shying away from me. Did I do something to make her think she couldn’t hug me? “ Hey, sweetheart. Have a seat.” I told her. MAcy came over and set my drink down before either of us could say a word. “ Here you go Mr. Ace. Are you guys ready to order or do you need a minute?” she asked. I look at Ailee to see if she is ready. “ I’m ready if you are?” she said. I motioned for her to go first. I may have fucked up things with her in the begining but I do have manners.

“ I’ll have a club sandwich, loaded bacon fries and an iced tea.” Ailee tells Macy. It is good to see her appetite is back. I order a burger and fries for myself and Macy is on her way. I am about to ask Ailee how she is doing when I notice she is twisting her fingers together. Is she nervous about something? I waited for her to speak up but when she didn't I decided to encourage her. “ Ailee, is there something on your mind? You can tell me. I know we haven’t had the best start but I would like to think I am working on it.” I told her.

Ailee snaps her head up “ You are da. I swear.” She blows out a breath “ Da, I asked you to lunch so we could talk. Get to know each other. No club. No family. But there are things I want to talk about. I'm just not sure where to begin.” This I can handle. I hope. “ Let’s start small. Tell me how your date was.” My daughter lit up right before my eyes. She looked like the kids on Christmas morning. She started bouncing in her seat. “ Da. It was wonderful. Lug planned the most romantic date ever.”

Macy dropped off our food before Ailee could go into details. Honestly I didn’t want any. I had an idea of what Lug was doing. I didn’t need to know everything. I could guess. And that was more than I needed. No father wanted to know those kinds of details. Instead of eating, Ailee thrust out her hand showing me the ring on her finger. “ Lug proposed da. And I said yes. It was a complete surprise. I was blown away. And he even thought to ask grandda for permission. How sweet is that?” Ailee suddenly stops talking and looks a little embarrassed.

I place my hand on top of hers. “ That’s wonderful, sweetheart. I can see he makes you very happy.Congratulations.” Ailee smiles “ Thank ye. Lug does make me happy, da. Very much.” She grabs a fry and eats it like she is mulling something over. “ Da, I know we have been good until recently. But part of me thinks that Lug should have asked your permission as well.” My sweet girl. Always worried about everyone's feelings. “ Don’t worry about it. Lug told me what he was going to do out of respect for you. He didn’t need my blessing but I gave it to him. I have known him to be a good man for several years. The way he stayed by your side through everything proved to me he is a great man. But even that doesn’t matter as much as the smile he can put on your face.” I told her.

Ailee sniffles “ So you approve. And you will come to the wedding.” “ Yes, I approve. And it would take all of your guards to keep me away.” I told her. Ailee bolts up from the table, runs over to me and hugs me with all her might. Any harder she would have caused some serious injuries. Fuck, this girl has a grip. Suddenly yanks her arms back “ I’m sorry. I should have asked. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Is that what she thinks? How did that happen? I stand from the table and grab her hands. “ Ailee, you didn’t make me uncomfortable. Is that why you kept stopping before?” I asked. Ailee nodded her head “ Aye. You have hugged me twice and that was in the hospital. I wasn’t sure if I should initiate it or not. I wanted to but I wasn’t sure.”

I pull her into my arms “ Ailee, you can hug me any time you want. You never need to ask. These arms are always available for you.” Ailee holds me tight like she is afraid to let go. I make no effort to move either. I missed being able to do this when she was a kid. I’m going to make up for it now. Ailee lifts her head and I see tears sliding down her face “ Thank you da.” I take my thumb and wipe them away. “ No need for tears. We have some celebrating to do. This isn’t a sad time.” I told her. Ailee laughs “ They are happy tears da. I never thought I would be able to hug you. This is a dream come true.” “ For me too, sweetheart. Come, sit, your fries are getting cold. You can tell me about your day and anything else you want to talk about.” I said.

We both sat down and began eating. My fries had gone cold but I didn’t mind because I got to hold my daughter. While we ate we played twenty questions. I know you think it was weird but it wasn’t. We both had tons of questions for each other so we came up with the game. And we would take turns so we got equal time. Ailee asked about how Raider and I got the MC started and why. I told her that when we got out of the service we had a hard time finding somewhere we felt like we belonged. That was when we came up with the club. I even admitted that when we started we didn’t do things fully legal. But we didn’t want to stay that way and began slowly converting over the years to make it what we are today. We have even started on a new venture of hiring ourselves out as body guards.

I asked about her childhood and she brought Callen over to share some stories. I almost choked on my tea when Callen told me about a time when Ailee was thirteen and thought she was fully trained in firearms. She had taken Finn’s gun and went in the backyard to shoot down a wasp nest that kept stinging her and her friends. She shot the nest alright, after the tree, a shed and a window. When asked why she did it she told Cormac that they crossed an O’Sullivan and had to pay. Callen said Cormac was so red in the face but not because he was mad but because he was trying not to laugh while he punished Ailee.

Ailee told me how great mother Mara had been. Callen was able to show me some pictures on his phone of Mara and Ailee when Ailee wsa in her teens. They said Cormac had the ones from when Ailee was younger.But would ask him to show me some. The sad part of the day is when Ailee told me how Mara had died. Something as simple as a blown tire on a wet road. Mara had lost control,rolled the car twice, crashed and died instantly. Mara didn’t like being driven around and would often drive herself. From what little I knew personally and the stories they told they had all lost a great woman.

We even talked a little about the wedding. Ailee wasn’t sure what she might want other than she wanted to uphold some of her Irish traditions. She told me Lug said as long as she married him he didn’t care how. I thought to myself I was going to offer to help pay. After all she is my daughter and she is only going to get married once. I’ll have to talk to Cormac about that. We sat and talked for a couple of hours. I have had several good memories in my life. This one was the best. I even offered to help with the wedding in any way I could, especially if it required food tasting. Ailee laughed at that but said she would find a way to take me up on the offer.

I offered to pay the check so Ailee and Callen could get going. Lug was fully moving in tonight after rehearsal and Ailee wanted to surprise him with a late dinner. I sat for a few minutes to finish my tea. Macy came over and laid down the check. “ Mr. Ace did I hear right? Miss Ailee is your daughter.” she asked. I smiled “ Yes Macy she is. I just found out about her a few months ago. We are making up for lost time.” “ She is a really nice lady. She helped me sign up for a scholarship that will help pay for my books and stuff so I won’t have to worry so much about getting a job right away. I can focus on my studies.” Macy said then walked away. I have a feeling that isn’t all Ailee did. My daughter is fucking awesome.