[ Excellent call. Raleigh's focused when he wants to be, but it's impossible when Tyler's in his arms, and Mako doesn't want to take that chance. Adjusting to his weight, she pauses, choosing her words. ]
...We can't stay in this club forever, Raleigh. I know things seemed different to us before, but Tyler -- I don't want to raise him in a place like this.
[ And what a thing to say; it's going to be an impossible thing to quit, an immense thing to consider that Mako doesn't know which way Raleigh's going to swing on this. After all, which old lady would ask her man to leave the club? ]
[Raleigh's quiet at first, not because he's mad but because that's really one of the last things he expected her to say. If Tyler wasn't here, it wouldn't be an issue, and he knows that. It'd be the two of them, running the club, facing the world together, having each other's backs through everything and knowing that the other could defend themselves as needed.
Tyler can't do that. He can't even walk yet. Losing a bike or getting a few bruises is collateral damage that Raleigh can live with but he can't live with anything happening to Tyler.]
[ And to say it out loud is even more foolish still. It's treason, of a sort, the queen making such a request from her king. Mako doesn't blame him if Raleigh's reluctant to leave -- this club is his lifeblood, this club is hers, and up until now she doesn't even know if she's invested in leaving, when this is all she knows, when this is family.
She understands the reluctance, and the security that this club gives them. It gives them income, too, and assures that their son is the new prince of the club, a rich inheritance if they played their cards right.
She doesn't look at him, even as she steps away to put Tyler into his cot in the living room, the baby soothed and ready for sleep. ] I know this club means everything to you.
[The money is a concern but it's not the only thing he's thinking of. The fact is that the club is making is possible for them to survive, financially, and rather comfortably as well, and if they saved it right-- that could be a lot for Tyler to inherit.
He could be king someday. Take over everything that his parents built. Make it his own. But he could also die young and horrible and it would be no one's fault except theirs for exposing him to this life.]
The two of you mean everything to me. [Raleigh corrects her softly, leaning in the doorway as she puts the baby down for his nap.]
I'm saying we wouldn't be able to leave right now.
[ Mako thinks about that for a few moments, because he's not refusing her -- he's actually considering it, and she's aware of what sort of treason it is. Once you're part of the reaper crew, you never leave. Not even if you're the president.
And he's right -- if they stay, Tyler would stand to inherit an empire, charters of over two thousand men all over America and the monopoly over the gun trade from the Irish and the Russians. It would be a sweet life, dangerous and wrought with landmines, but if he were anything like his old man, he'd definitely come out on top.
She turns to him, and gestures him over with a soft smile, leaning against the cot. Mako's worried, but still not entirely sold on leaving -- not yet, and she's wrapping her arms around his waist, pressing close. The two of them mean everything to her, too, and she can never have one without the other. ] Have you thought about it?
[Raleigh comes over to her, curling his arms around her in return. He's not lying when he says that she and Tyler mean more to him than the club. They do. Everything he does with the club, the deals he makes, the money he takes, the reputation he builds, it's all for them. To keep them safe and happy and none of it would mean anything to him if they weren't in his life.
Then again, he'd probably still be the VP and Chau would be alive if it weren't for Mako, wouldn't he?]
Sometimes. I want him to have a Harley but I'm not sure I can hand him a gun at the same time.
[ Mako knows better. Mako knows that their son will need both a Harley and a gun to live in this roughshod world, and she would have no problem giving it both to him. She's the one who makes the decisions when he can't; in his name and for the good of their family, and this isn't going to change.
She presses a kiss to the side of his mouth, knows all the sacrifices he makes, knows what a brutal man it's slowly but surely changing him into -- but Mako loves him all the same. He's her prince, her king, and she would follow where he goes. ]
That's where I come in. If we are to be trapped here in the end, our son will know how to use one.
[They're undeniably becoming a team, him and Mako. They are a force to be reckoned with together, where he might falter, she surges. And where she'll hesitate, Raleigh won't.
He draws her in close, looking over her shoulder at the crib where Tyler's sleeping right now for a moment.]
[ They are, and that's why they've always been so compatible since they'd first met, when she'd been Chau's woman instead of his. They are perfect complements of each other, even if they do have bumps and scrapes along the way, and they still fight.
She hugs him tight, kissing his neck and nuzzling against him with a soft, approving noise. ]
We can all hope. But he's a Becket, and your son. [ Mako smiles. ] He'll do well.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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...We can't stay in this club forever, Raleigh. I know things seemed different to us before, but Tyler -- I don't want to raise him in a place like this.
[ And what a thing to say; it's going to be an impossible thing to quit, an immense thing to consider that Mako doesn't know which way Raleigh's going to swing on this. After all, which old lady would ask her man to leave the club? ]
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Tyler can't do that. He can't even walk yet. Losing a bike or getting a few bruises is collateral damage that Raleigh can live with but he can't live with anything happening to Tyler.]
We can't just walk.
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[ And to say it out loud is even more foolish still. It's treason, of a sort, the queen making such a request from her king. Mako doesn't blame him if Raleigh's reluctant to leave -- this club is his lifeblood, this club is hers, and up until now she doesn't even know if she's invested in leaving, when this is all she knows, when this is family.
She understands the reluctance, and the security that this club gives them. It gives them income, too, and assures that their son is the new prince of the club, a rich inheritance if they played their cards right.
She doesn't look at him, even as she steps away to put Tyler into his cot in the living room, the baby soothed and ready for sleep. ] I know this club means everything to you.
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He could be king someday. Take over everything that his parents built. Make it his own. But he could also die young and horrible and it would be no one's fault except theirs for exposing him to this life.]
The two of you mean everything to me. [Raleigh corrects her softly, leaning in the doorway as she puts the baby down for his nap.]
I'm saying we wouldn't be able to leave right now.
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And he's right -- if they stay, Tyler would stand to inherit an empire, charters of over two thousand men all over America and the monopoly over the gun trade from the Irish and the Russians. It would be a sweet life, dangerous and wrought with landmines, but if he were anything like his old man, he'd definitely come out on top.
She turns to him, and gestures him over with a soft smile, leaning against the cot. Mako's worried, but still not entirely sold on leaving -- not yet, and she's wrapping her arms around his waist, pressing close. The two of them mean everything to her, too, and she can never have one without the other. ] Have you thought about it?
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Then again, he'd probably still be the VP and Chau would be alive if it weren't for Mako, wouldn't he?]
Sometimes. I want him to have a Harley but I'm not sure I can hand him a gun at the same time.
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She presses a kiss to the side of his mouth, knows all the sacrifices he makes, knows what a brutal man it's slowly but surely changing him into -- but Mako loves him all the same. He's her prince, her king, and she would follow where he goes. ]
That's where I come in. If we are to be trapped here in the end, our son will know how to use one.
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He draws her in close, looking over her shoulder at the crib where Tyler's sleeping right now for a moment.]
Still. I'd rather he never did.
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She hugs him tight, kissing his neck and nuzzling against him with a soft, approving noise. ]
We can all hope. But he's a Becket, and your son. [ Mako smiles. ] He'll do well.