Exile
Lula couldn’t contain her excitement to have us back in Little Memphis. She was normally such a cool customer, but she came running out from the house as soon as we turned the corner. I grinned at how she waved wildly. Dillon came outside, too, smiling as much as her mom.
Nova met Lula’s excitement by bouncing as soon as she exited the SUV. They hurried to free the giddy girls and Ramen. As I turned off my motorcycle, I chuckled at the sight of them all bouncing together.
As Nova went to the trunk, I walked over to Lula and dropped a kiss on her waiting lips. We’d been apart for less than twenty-four hours, yet I felt like I was falling apart without her nearby.
“I promise we won’t ignore your life back in Baton Rouge,” Lula said when our lips parted. “I might love my life, but I wouldn’t be here if your club hadn’t saved me. We’ll get a house in Baton Rouge that’ll make all six of us happy.”
We spent the next week in Little Memphis before Lula came to visit Baton Rouge while Dillon was in Little Rock with her dad. Nova startled me by saying she worried the house would seem too small or low-class for Lula.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked my sister before we drove to Baton Rouge. “We spent a fortune turning that house into a palace.”
“It’s not fancy like this place,” Nova mumbled while wearing a stubborn pout. “This place is swanky, Dan.”
“Sure, but our place is a quality house. Stop talking shit about our home.”
“Why talk up a house we’re leaving?”
“We’re moving because of space issues, not because our house isn’t a good place to call home.”
Nova smiled at me like she understood what I was truly saying. Our years together in that house were life-changing and made me the man capable of loving Lula.
Our search for a new house in Baton Rouge didn’t take long. Lula and Dillon had a long list of expectations for the agent, and only five houses in the entire county fit the bill.
Nova didn’t like one of the houses, claiming it had bad mojo. I suspected the place reminded her of our second stepfather’s home.
Another house was structured wrong for our family, with the girls’ rooms set up far from where Nova would be. The third house was a possibility, but it would be tighter than we might like without building out. The fourth house was sized right, and the layout worked, but it needed updates.
“I can do them,” Nova insisted.
Lula sensed my unease with my sister taking on another big project.
Before I could say anything, she spoke up to remind Nova, “But we’ll mostly visit Baton Rouge for weekends and holidays.
You won’t have time to fix up the house if you’re building a new life in Little Memphis.
I think finding something more move-in-ready would be best.”
“But I don’t want a house that feels like it belongs to someone else.”
“That’s what paint colors and décor are for,” Lula replied and smiled warmly at my pouty sister. “Plus, the yard will need our personality. Those are things you can do during our visits to Baton Rouge without feeling overwhelmed.”
We settled on the fifth house, an updated place with six bedrooms and an in-law suite for when Lula’s parents or siblings visited.
The four-car garage offered room for everyone’s vehicles, and the fenced, landscaped yard offered plenty of space and privacy for the kids and dogs. There was even a gated pool.
Lula and Nova worked together to give the house and yard their personal touches. The girls decorated their shared bedroom pink and filled it with their many toys. Dillon’s bedroom was an upstairs attic-style suite, where she could study and enjoy quiet from Skylar and Lyric.
As much as we loved the Baton Rouge house, I preferred staying at Lula’s slick house in Little Memphis.
The Sleepy Eye Community was filled with people I trusted.
If I were away from home in Baton Rouge, I would find myself worrying about Lula, Nova, and the girls.
If I were away from home in Little Memphis, I knew my people were safe.
That first month was wild, leaving me torn between my growing family and the loyalty I felt to the Black Rainbow.
I struggled to keep in touch using video calls and texts.
Zodiac preferred to talk on the phone rather than texting, but then lost interest in conversations halfway through his point and hung up.
By early summer, we spent more time in Baton Rouge while Dillon was out of school. Lula worked on getting her license in Louisiana so she could assist the Black Rainbow with legal issues. Nova painted a spare room near the one I shared with Lula.
“This room will be a perfect nursery for that little baby you’re bound to make with all your bedroom time,” Nova said, choosing a soft blue color. “I dreamed you would have a boy with a giant head. I’m sure that monster noggin thing was just weird dream stuff, but the boy part felt right.”
Back in Little Memphis, Nova attended her first party at the Sorority House, where so many of the female Crimson Guard members called home.
Though watching a stoned Nova awkwardly flirt with Rock nearly drove me to madness, I was happy my sister was making friends. Besides, the Crimson Guard’s VP made clear to me that he wasn’t interested in Nova.
“I like to fuck women and then never talk to them again,” Rock announced, winning eye rolls from Sabrina and her girlfriends. “Your sister isn’t the kind of woman I can ghost, so I will refrain from acknowledging her flirting.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Rock,” Sabrina muttered. “Nova was flirting with Rowdy before you. She also tried to hump me at one point. I think that girl’s just horny.”
When I frowned darkly at the laughing women, Vanessa said sympathetically, “We’ll buy your sister a supercharged vibrator, so she’ll stop flinging her hot body at guys and foxes so much.”
With my sister settling into her new life, I decided to make a big move and propose to Lula. Dillon helped me pick the engagement ring. Having seen the peanut shells given to Bebe and Lula when Pax proposed, I bought Dillon a ring similar to Lula’s.
“You’re going to be my daughter,” I said as the jeweler showed her the ring. “You might not need two dads, but you’re getting two dads.”
Dillon hugged me and held on. Every once in a while, she would simply grip me as if only I could save her from the danger.
For my proposal, I took Lula to the Japanese steakhouse where we had our first date. She looked gorgeous as usual, wearing a red blouse and black slacks. Her eyes literally glowed when I opened the ring box and asked her to be my wife.
Her answer was never in doubt, yet I felt tremendous relief when she said yes. Our situation had felt precarious since we met. I still suffered fears of losing her.
After dinner, we headed to her parents’ house to share the news. Pax looked over Lula and Dillon’s matching rings and shrugged.
“Not as nice as peanut shells, but it’ll do,” Pax said while a teary-eyed Lula hugged him.
I shared a smile with Lula’s dad. We were still getting to know each other. He’d brought me to the batting cages to talk business and babies.
“Bebe wants more grandkids,” he said after swinging his bat and making contact. “Preferably, a grandson. Then, I’ll have one of each while Ford just has his weird, genius grandson.”
Pax and Bebe’s desire for another grandchild hit another level after a Sunday party at Ford and Shay’s house.
Skylar and Lyric were following the four dogs—Xena, Ramen, Clint’s dog Hanzee, and Elle’s dog Hobbs—around the yard. Dillon and Sutter were reading on their phones while Jenan and Elijah played games on theirs.
Pax and Ford drank beers on the deck steps. Their wives were inside talking about people they didn’t like.
Sabrina, Vanessa, Rowdy, and Clint kicked around a soccer ball. Ivy and Nova were inside, cooking teriyaki chicken for dinner.
I sat with Lula near the water, enjoying the warmer summer weather.
“A month ago, you were a stranger,” I said, marveling at the beautiful woman cuddled up against me. “Now, I can’t breathe right if you’re not nearby.”
“It’s magic. I foolishly didn’t believe in it before we met. I thought people who talked like that were bonkers. But I get it now.”
I kissed Lula softly, thinking about the road I took to this moment. Something clicked in me once I met this woman. Her love made me feel like I had no reason to be ashamed of my past. All the stuff with my family was necessary pain to reach the point when I could claim Lula Reed.
Our kisses were put on hold when a hollering Elle came running out of the house. Lula glanced back before trying to kiss again. Freakouts from the Reed family were fairly common, but I still got rattled by the noise.
“No!” Elle said as she rushed toward her brother. “How is this a thing that keeps happening?”
I saw her waving something in front of Clint’s face before she shoved it at Sabrina.
“Well, it hasn’t really kept happening,” Xandy said, exiting the house with Moe. “More like it’s happened twice now. No need to exaggerate.”
“You stupid twat!” Sabrina screamed at Elle and began spinning around like a building tornado.
Freeing my lips, Lula mumbled, “Uh-oh.”
We stood up and walked over to where Elle sat on the grass with her head in her lap.
“What’s happening, Mom?” Sutter called out.
Ford waved off the boy’s concerns and said, “Your mom’s got lady issues.”
Sutter was only a few years older than my nieces, but he acted like a little adult. Right now, his genius brain was picking through everyone’s behavior to search for the truth.
“What’s happening?” Lula asked her siblings and cousins.
Rather than answer, Clint squatted next to his sister, who rocked herself. Sabrina was still spinning around like a crazy person. Her girlfriends stood nearby, snickering at her freak-out.
“I’m not going to be ignored, Rowdy,” Lula insisted, doing her impression of Nova doing an impression of Glenn Close from “Fatal Attraction.”
Rowdy shrugged. “Our cousin did the nasty and forgot her birth control.”
“I’m on birth control,” Elle mumbled against her knees. “I was careful. I took my pill every day. My phone kept me organized. I should sue someone.”
“Wait, she’s pregnant?” I asked Lula.
Stroking Elle’s head, Lula nodded. I stepped back and frowned hard at the blonde woman hiding her face.
“Sutter, come to Mommy!” Elle called out to her son. “I need to smother you with my love!”
“No!” he called back.
“Maybe a new kid would be good for me,” Elle mumbled to Clint. “Sutter never wants to hug me anymore. Maybe this new kid could be dumber and clingier. Is there a food I can eat to make that happen?”
“I’m confused how this happened,” Clint said, settling next to Elle on the grass.
“Well,” Rowdy announced and cleared his throat. “When a man and a woman love each other very much—”
Clint shot Rowdy a dirty look, winning laughter from my future brother-in-law.
“I mean, who did this happen with?”
“Oh, my God,” Lula said, finally catching on. “Eww.”
I couldn’t resist chuckling at my woman’s reaction. Elle heard Lula’s words and began to cry harder.
“This is bad,” Lula said and glanced at me. “You can’t tell him.”
“I’m not saying shit to anyone.”
Clint looked up and opened his mouth to ask who we meant. I saw the moment when he caught on. If Clint were a less controlled man, I figured he’d be doing the tornado move like Sabrina was nearby.
Soon, the entire party was solely focused on Elle’s drama. With so many people aware of the big secret, I wasn’t sure how long it would be before Zodiac heard the news and all hell really broke loose.