Paroled

Chapter 33

It had been about two weeks since Simone was sentenced but it felt as if none of it ever even happened. Eva was fine, a bit odd, but she was just...fine. It bothered Opie, on long rides or when he couldn't sleep, but he did his best not to think too hard on it.

He came home, a little later than usual, to find Harry sleeping across Eva's lap while she clacked away on her laptop.

"Hey," he huffed, more tired than usual, "Sorry I'm late."

"You're fine, I'm not cooking tonight," she said absentmindedly. "We can just order something."

"Sure," he replied. Kicking off his boots and emptying his pockets he watched as she worked intently. "What are you doing?"

"Checking my licenses and stuff," she said nonchalantly. "Is there any chance you could stay home with the baby tomorrow?"

Opie looked at her with confused, wide, eyes. "Uh I guess. Why?"

"Margaret wants to meet about an ICU position that opened up." Eva spoke confidently, she was calm, although she was clearly excited, and for a second Opie felt like he was talking to the Eva he fell in love with just over a year ago.

"ICU?" Opie asked with concern. "At Saint Thomas?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "Where else would I go?"

He shook his head. "You were just in there, babe, you were in there for weeks, you almost died there. Don't you think this shit is too much too soon?"

Eva's back went up and she was immediately on the defensive. "I remember what I went through. I'm done feeling sorry and feeling sick and hiding away in here. That bitch took enough time and headspace, I'm not giving her anymore. She's not even in prison why should I put myself in one?"

"Okay," he said half heartedly. "Sure."

"What?" She looked at him with a huff. "That was clearly a less than supportive answer."

"I don't want you to work," he said flatly.

"I get that but your dad doesn't need the care of Medicare won't pay if he doesn't actually need me."

"We're fine," he argued.

"I still have student loans," she said quickly. "There's a mortgage on this place, Harry isn't cheap and you aren't exactly a small eater, Opie. A second income is...its necessary. I don't want to pinch pennies and live check to check or, in our case, bag of cash to bag of cash." Eva laughed but despite her jokey way of saying it, she was very serious.

"I haven't been doing a lot of shit with the club," he admitted. "I wanted to be home for you two. I can pick up runs and shit."

Eva shook her head. "I'd rather us both work normal hours than have you never here and me always here," she said quickly.

"Yeah," he huffed.

"What?" She asked forcefully.

"I want you home with Harry," he told her. "That's just what I want."

Eva nodded. "Sorry, Ope."

"I don't get a say?"

"You did but it's my decision," she scoffed. "I never wanted to be a stay at home mom. I'm not Donna."

Opie looked at her, a mix of surprise and anger on his face, and shook his head. "Good, cause I divorced Donna."

"I'm going back to work,." She told him curtly, "You'll get over it."

As he silently went up to their bedroom, Eva remembered this being one of the reasons she said no to his first proposal. In a perfect world these were the kinds of talks they would have had before Harry was born or even conceived, and before they got married. They didn't though, they rushed, so they'd have to deal with contentious talks for now.