Chapter Thirty-Two
Ellie
It was done.
We were married.
I was a wife.
And a mother.
The last twenty minutes changed my life in such a way that made the last thirteen years worth every tear I cried, including every moment of pain I had endured since I lost my brother.
I looked around the common room and the absolutely hideous decorations that surrounded us, and my eyes filled with tears again.
Most people would chalk it up to hormones, but even if I weren’t pregnant, this would have meant the world to me. These women, the old ladies and the club girls, did what they could to try to make this day memorable.
And they did it because they were my friends.
They didn’t do it for Ryder. While they loved him, I’m sure he wouldn’t care how the room looked.
They certainly didn’t do it for the club. Watching the guys’ faces as they looked around the room after we returned from the clerk’s office said they were as horrified as I was.
I suspected they didn’t even do it for me. They did it, knowing my girls would need more than the words.
My girls.
They were mine now.
Sure, they still had a mother, but I was their mom now.
I watched Chrissy and Tabby sitting on the couch with Charlie. They were smiling. They were happy.
Ryder had spoken to them both before we got married. He said they would be thrilled, but I needed to make sure. Chrissy had screamed out her excitement. Tabby, sweet Tabby, jumped up and down. They both ran to me and threw their arms around me.
We haven’t told them about the baby yet, though.
That could wait.
“Hey.”
I looked up at my brother. I hadn’t heard him approach, which was normal for him.
“Are you happy, Bellie?”
“More than I ever thought I could be.” I smiled at my brother.
“I’m sorry I left, Bellie. If I could have, I would have taken you with me.”
“I know, Sebbie.” I wrapped my arms around my brother. “It’s done. I’m just glad to have you back.”
“Hey, baby.” Sebbie growled when Ryder called out to me.
“She has a name, asshole.”
Ryder just grinned and said, “Yea, and now it ends in Thomas. I fucking outrank you where she’s concerned.”
My brother grunted, “Asshole,” behind a cough.
Ryder took my hand and pulled me away from my brother. Another member, I think his name was Matlock, walked over to us. I wasn’t sure I would ever learn everyone’s names and keep them straight.
“Hey, Ry, you want to do this now? Judge Markham said we can take care of it here and his clerk can file the paperwork when he gets to his office.”
“Yea,” Ryder said, then he turned to me and once again changed my life.
“What’s going on?” Sebbie asked before I could.
Ryder ignored him and took both my hands in his. “Ellie, Matlock has the paperwork to make you Chrissy and Tabby’s mother. All you have to do is say yes and sign.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When I divorced Tammi, part of the agreement was she gave up her rights to the girls. I wasn’t taking a chance she would come back one day and try to take them away. So, if you say yes, you can sign the papers and you won’t be their stepmom, Ellie. You would just be their mom.”
I could feel the tears welling up and knew this also wasn’t about the hormones. This was the man I loved, trusting me to be the mother of his children. This was the man I loved, telling me he wanted to keep me.
“I told you I wasn’t letting you go,” he whispered before kissing me.
Those last five words meant more to me than I love you ever could. I wiped the tears that had fallen away and took a deep breath.
“Where’s the fucking pen?”
I heard shouts and whistles go up around the room, and Ryder dragged me into his arms. “God, I love you.”
King led us into church, and we sat down at the table with Judge Markham, the sheriff, and Matlock. Chrissy sat on Ryder’s lap, and Tabby sat on mine.
“Wait,” I said before we started. “Can Sebbie be in here? And Mark and Abby? They should be here for this. And Jessie, and Blade and Beck.” Turning to look at Ryder, I added, “If we were doing this in court, they would all be able to watch.”
“Maybe we should all move back out to the main room,” the judge offered with a smirk.
“That’s a great idea. The club is our family now. They should all be a part of this,” I said.
Ryder’s eyes traveled all over my face, and he whispered, “I don’t deserve you.”
I smiled at him. “You’re the man I’ve waited my whole life for. We both deserve this, and so do the girls.”
We all stood and moved to the main room.
“Is it done?” Abby asked.
“No, not yet. Ellie wanted our family to be a part of this. It would be cramped in church with everyone there, so we are doing it out here,” Ryder told his mother.
Her eyes turned glassy, and she looked at me. “Chrissy was right. You are perfect for them.”
“What do you mean?”
“The day I met you in The Boutique. When Chrissy whispered to me, she said you were going to be their new mom. She told me Tabby had told her it was you. That’s why I asked you to lunch. I needed to know who you were before I let you get close to my family.”
I looked at Chrissy, who was still held in Ryder’s arms. She smiled so big and nodded her head. Then I looked at Tabby. I held her a little closer, and she whispered, “Mama.”
The entire room gasped.
Tears ran down my cheeks, and I had to sit. I looked up at Ryder, and he was a mess. He didn’t hide behind the cut he wore, his tears streamed freely at hearing his little girl say her first word in two years.
He kneeled beside us, Chrissy standing next to him.
“Say it again, Tabby,” he encouraged.
“Mama.”
He pulled her into his arms and looked up at me and mouthed, Thank you.
I looked around the room, and there was not a dry eye among the women. The men were different. They were trying to be strong, trying to show they were tough. All but one.
He was an older brother. He looked like maybe he was the oldest one. He appeared to be closest to the sheriff’s age. I looked at his cut. His name was Banshee.
He didn’t look the least bit embarrassed as the tears fell from his eyes. I vowed to get to know him better when this was over.
“Ok, folks. Let’s get this done so you can all celebrate this very emotional day,” Judge Markham said.
Ryder wiped his eyes and sat in the chair beside me. He held on to Tabby, whispering in her ear. I hauled Chrissy up on my lap. It didn’t matter which girl I held as long as it was one of them.
They were mine now.
The judge asked us a few questions, things like who I was and did I want to be a mom to the girls. That was the easiest question I had ever been asked in my life. He asked when the last time Ryder had heard from Tammi, and Matlock explained Tammi had signed away her rights when they were divorced.
A few minutes later, he stamped the paperwork and congratulated us on becoming a family. Matlock told us he would take care of having the girls’ birth certificates changed so that I was listed on them as their mom. I had no idea that was even possible.
We spent the next few minutes taking pictures and letting everyone hug us. I was spent. The judge had nailed it when he said this was an emotional day.
Beck, Sam, and I had been ushered to the couches to relax while Rachel, Grace, Lily, Jessie, Abby, and the club girls worked on putting together some lunch.
We spent the afternoon celebrating, and I had forgotten all about the reason we got married in the first place. It no longer felt like Ryder married me only to keep me safe. Nothing could have shown his love for me more than allowing me to adopt his girls.
Hours later, evening arrived, and with it came my parents. Mark and Abby had gone home. They offered to take the girls, but I wanted to spend my first night as their mom with them. We were all just enjoying the time together when King’s phone rang.
“What is it, Prospect?”
He was quiet as he listened to what the prospect said, but when he looked over at me, I knew the time had come.
“Ok, I’ll send someone out to get them. They don’t come through the gate until someone is out there.”
He hung up and looked at Sebbie. “Do you want to go?”
“Fuck no. I’m staying right here with Ellie.” Sebbie walked over and sat down beside me on the couch. Ryder was positioned on my other side, and I leaned into my husband.
Husband.
The word was foreign to me but settled me at the same time. It brought with it peace, protection, love. All the things I had been missing since I was eleven years old.
“I’ll go,” Banshee offered and walked out the door.
Ryder held me while we waited. Tabby ran over and crawled into my lap just before the doors opened and Banshee walked back in, followed by my parents and Jeremy.
“Oh, Ellie, thank God we finally found you!” My mother rushed over to the couch, and Sebbie stood in front of her, blocking her attempt to get to me.
“Sebastian.”
That was what my mother said to him. She wasn’t happy to see him. That was clear. She stood tall, expecting my brother to cower in her presence. That was a joke. Sebbie had never cowered to my mother. My father, on the other hand, was different.
“Son—”
“I’m not your fucking son. I’m not anything to you. You both made that clear when I left and you never looked for me. You made no attempt to contact me. Out of sight, out of mind, right?”
“You made your choice to leave. You were an adult,” my mother said.
“You always were a bitch,” Sebbie snarled.
“You will not speak to me that way—”
“I will speak to you any fucking way I want. You’re in my house now.”
My father looked around the room, his eyes landing on the sheriff. He walked over, his hand stretched out.
“Hello, Sheriff O’Rourke? I am William Livingston. I contacted you about my daughter and her mental state. Please apprehend her and bring her outside so we can take her home and get her the help she needs.”
The sheriff looked at my father’s outstretched hand but never took it. Instead, he laid his hand on the top of the gun attached to his belt.
“Mr. Livingston, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not? You received the paperwork I sent.”
“I did,” the sheriff confirmed.
“Then I demand you do what you are paid to do.”
“Sir, this is Nebraska. Not New York City. We do things differently out here.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. How much?”
“Excuse me?”
My father was about to try to bribe the sheriff. He believed he could get his way in any situation as long as he threw money at it.
“How much for you to do what you’re told?”
“Sir, I suggest you rethink your question. Unless you want me to do what I am paid to do and arrest you for trying to bribe a public official,” the sheriff threatened.
The look on my father’s face was priceless. He didn’t get told no often from what I understood.
That was when Jeremy stepped forward. He had been quiet until then, watching everything unfold. He was slick. He knew not to go in guns blazing like my parents often did.
“Sheriff, I am sure Mr. Livingston had no intention of offering a bribe. It was simply a miscommunication. The Livingstons have been very worried about their daughter, as have I.”
“And you are?” the sheriff asked.
“Jeremy St. Matthews, and Miss Livingston’s fiancé.”
“The fuck you are!” Ryder shouted as he stood.