This Love

Birthday

This one's for Crash519 who requested some Hap giving Juice shit...with the added bonus of Kozik because I couldn't resist! ;)
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Juice sat at one of the booths in Flo's Diner all alone. It was his birthday. His first since he escaped New York and headed to California, and while he loved his new place and his new 'family', he was sorely missing sitting in Mrs. Zelman's diner with Angela laughing over a piece of cherry pie back in New York. Mrs. Z would give him a huge scoop of ice cream on the side, and he'd eat the pie while fending off Angela trying to sneak in a spoonful of ice cream despite the fact she usually had a slice of cheesecake in front of her since she didn't like pie. The cheesecake didn't come with ice cream, and she insisted she didn't need a scoop, that the cheesecake was enough. It wasn't, though, and she always ended up eating some of his. He never minded, he knew Mrs. Z gave him an extra scoop to share, but, he loved pretending to fight with her over it. Love the sound of her laughter as he blocked her spoon with his.

Even that diner pie was a poor substitute for the homemade pie his sister, Jo, used to make for him every year since he was six, and she was nine. Her recipe grew with her until she had it down, and it was damn near perfect. His mouth watered at the memory of it. He wondered what she was doing, if she was thinking of him or hoping to hear from him. Grabbing his phone out of the inside of his prospect's cut, he flipped it open, his fingers hovering over the number pad as he considered calling her. He couldn't bring himself to do it, though. He was already feeling homesick, hearing her voice would only make it worse, and he didn't want to end up crying in the middle of the diner. Inevitably someone would see him and probably tell one of the club members, and they'd give him shit for it or worse, think he wasn't worthy of a cut. He was still just a prospect after all.

To be fair, no one in SAMCRO knew it was his birthday save for Gemma since she had his employee record. She hadn't said much, though. Just a quick "Happy Birthday" with a hug before she pushed him back towards the garage bay and said, "Now get back to work."

He'd spent the day fixing engines and cleaning the floors of the clubhouse. Not the ideal way to spend his birthday, but at least he was alive to see another year. The highlight of the day had been the voicemail he'd gotten from Angela. He'd been bummed to have missed her call but hadn't been able to stop to return it. He opened the phone again and held down the number two for his speed dial.

Angela answered on the first ring. "Happy birthday, goof!" she exclaimed before he could get a word out, the warmth in her voice making him grin like an idiot. "What are you up to?"

"Sittin' at a little diner with a subpar piece of apple pie," he muttered, stabbing at the melting ice cream with his fork. "Missin' our tradition."

"Me too," she answered, her voice a little sadder. "I got a piece of cherry pie and ice cream by myself at the diner. Mrs. Z got upset that I wouldn't eat the pie, so I took a few bites just so she wouldn't be offended. Wasn't half bad. Still think a piece of cake is better suited for a birthday but whatever."

Juice chuckled. Cake versus pie was another argument they had on their birthdays. Angela was adamant that wanting pie instead of a big ole cake to celebrate a birthday was all kinds of wrong, and he loved arguing against her. Still, she never tried to change his mind, and every year, she dutifully got him a piece of pie for his birthday. "Yeah, well, I beg to differ. What are you doing up?"

"Was waiting for you to call me back," she answered, yawning into the phone. "Wasn't gonna go to sleep until I wished you a happy birthday."

His heart skipped a beat. God, he missed her. Missed the way she cared for him. Missed their long talks on the roof and just knowing she was nearby if he was ever feeling lonely. "Miss you, Angel."