Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
River
T hree weeks.
It had been three weeks since Tristan had gotten shot and since I had made it known that Adelaide was my woman—not Tristan’s.
Someone could try to fuck with her if they wanted, but she would be the last person they would go after. Either Joey or I would make sure of it. It all depended on who got to the dumb son of a bitch first.
After what I had learned in the hospital room, I had immediately taken Adelaide home the very next day, not wanting to risk something happening to her or Axel because of the shit Tristan had going on with Frederick. His dumb ass hadn’t even told his own VP what was going on with Frederick, not the full extent.
Secrets in a brotherhood led to deaths, and I didn’t want my woman around that kind of shit.
I held Axel on my hip as I shook his bottle. Sam was leaning against the kitchen counter in front of me while Reina made breakfast for all of us. She seemed to be dealing with what happened to her okay, though I knew she still went to Adelaide a lot when she felt bothered by it.
“Is Adelaide up yet?” Sam asked me as I shifted Axel in my arm so I could feed him since he was still too young to hold his bottle.
I shook my head at him. “Jaxon kept her up a lot last night,” I informed him. “So, she didn’t get much sleep.”
About a week ago, Adelaide went in for her monthly check-up, and we were able to find out that she’s going to be having a boy. Without hesitation, she named him Jaxon Tyler Boris. It felt nice to finally call our kid by a name instead of always calling him ‘the baby’.
“I’m awake,” Adelaide grumbled as she stepped into the kitchen.
I raked my eyes over her. She hadn’t bothered to brush her hair yet and had instead just thrown it up into a messy bun on her head with a few strands falling out around her face. She had a red line on her cheek from where she had obviously slept in one position for too long. Her belly was rounded out now, and she couldn’t hide it anymore, so she was just wearing a plain black tank top and a pair of stretchy shorts since it was pretty warm outside.
Fuck, even though she had just rolled out of bed, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever laid my eyes on. Without any effort on her part, she always made the blood in my veins head straight to my cock.
She placed her hand on her belly at the same time that I saw Jaxon swipe either his hand or his foot against her belly. “He’s awake,” she mumbled, making me laugh softly as I leaned down to press a kiss to her sweet lips—always so sweet.
“I swear, you get bigger by the day,” Sam commented, watching her belly with fascination when Jaxon swiped one of his extremities across her belly again.
Adelaide scowled at him, making me bark out a laugh. She had a low tolerance for little comments like that, even if they were harmless. “Thank you for stating the obvious,” she snapped. Sam laughed. He got a kick out of getting on her nerves. “There is a growing human being inside of me.”
He rolled his eyes at her, already used to her smart-ass mouth by now. Kale stepped into the kitchen and slung an arm around Adelaide’s shoulders, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Ma, River,” Kale started, speaking to both of us, “One of the ladies working at the grocery store mentioned to me that there’s a small fair happening in town today, and they still have a spot open. I think it would do us all some good to raise some money for the kids in town here.”
I looked at Adelaide, only to find her already looking at me. She shrugged at me. “I think it’s a good idea. It’s a nice day out, and I could use some sunshine.” I pursed my lips, not sure about having her or Axel out in that heat. It was already hot outside, and it was only going to get hotter as the day wore on—somewhere close to a hundred degrees.
She pouted at me. I sighed. She knew that look would work on me about ninety-nine percent of the time. “They’ll have plugs out there, so we can have a fan blowing on Axel while he’s in his pack ‘n’ play to keep him cool, and we can just drape a sheet over the pack ‘n’ play to keep the sun off of his skin,” she reasoned with me.
I looked back at Kale. “If she’s in, I’m in,” I finally told him. He grinned, knowing I only agreed because Adelaide wanted to go and help the community. “Call whoever and tell them to secure us that spot.”
He nodded, and with another gentle squeeze to Adelaide’s shoulders, he released her and pulled out his phone, walking back out of the kitchen. Adelaide shook her head slightly. “It’s going to take me a minute to get used to all of the men calling me Ma,” she admitted.
I smiled down at her. “You’re my woman now, darlin’.” She smiled at me, making my heart swell in my chest. “The men will look to you as a mom—a guider of sorts.”
Since I had made it known that Adelaide was carrying my son and that she was definitely around to stay, the men had taken to her a lot better. I understood why they were a bit hostile toward her at first—besides Vern and Joseph, of course. She was an outsider, and not to mention, they all knew she was the reason I got kicked out of the Sons of Death, though it had all been worth it to have a taste of her.
Because now, Adelaide was by my side where she had belonged all along.
I caught her laughing at her phone a moment later. She flashed me a grin. “Joey said to make sure I don’t get sunburned and that I better get sprayed with sunscreen every hour,” she told me, a teasing smile playing on her lips.
I rolled my eyes. “Tell him to mind his own fucking business,” I retorted.
She only giggled before she leaned down to press a kiss to Axel’s forehead, since he was still drinking his milk in the cradle of my arms. She blew me a kiss before she sauntered out of the kitchen, gently pulling Reina away from the stove and ordering another club woman to finish breakfast as she did so.
I stared after her as she went.
God, she was perfect.