Chapter 8 #2
We’d barely entered the crowd when I abruptly lost Curtis’s arm around my shoulders.
I jerked to a stop and turned toward him, only to find that a blonde woman had jumped onto his back.
Her arms were wrapped around his neck like she was trying to put him in a headlock, and her knees were bent, her thighs gripping his sides.
“Hey, loser,” she sang with a laugh.
“Goddamn it, Charles,” Curtis bitched, reaching for her arms. “Your elbow’s diggin’ into my shoulder.”
“Oh, this one?” she asked, laughing as he cursed and tried to pry her off him.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do as Finn and I watched them in shock. Cam and Dylan hadn’t even paused and had disappeared into the crowd.
“You do know you’re a fuckin’ adult, right?” Curtis asked, bending at the waist like he could shake her loose that way. “Didn’t you just have another kid like two months ago?”
“You’re such an ass,” she griped breathlessly as she hung on for dear life. “I haven’t seen you in a week, and I haven’t even seen my nephew yet.”
“Why the hell didn’t you jump on his back?” Curtis shot back, finally dislodging the woman. She ended up flat on her back in the grass, laughing. “And where the hell is your husband?”
“Who knows,” she said, grinning up at him. “He’s with the kids somewhere.”
“You’re insane,” Curtis grumbled, grabbing her hand so he could yank her to her feet. “Teddy’s gonna think we’re all idiots.”
The blonde’s smiling face turned toward me, her eyes dancing. “Oh, you don’t think we’re idiots, right?” she asked. “My mom said you’ve got brothers. You know how it is.”
“This is my cousin-aunt, Charlie,” Curtis said, sweeping his hair back from his face with both hands. “She’s a fuckin’ lunatic, but she’s harmless.”
“I’m neither of those things,” the blonde corrected, lifting her hand to shake mine. “Nice to meet you. Teddy, right?”
I nodded, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
“Cousin-aunt?” Finn asked in confusion.
“Well, I’m technically his aunt,” Charlie told Finn. “But we’re the same age, so we’re more like cousins. His dad is my much older brother.”
I couldn’t see any family resemblance between the man we’d just met and this woman. She was smaller than me, and Curt’s dad was massive.
“She’s also Kara’s best friend,” Curtis said, giving Finn a little more context.
I didn’t think my boy needed it. He was staring at Charlie in awe.
“Okay, she was nice,” Jesse said as they appeared next to me again. “But I still have no idea who she is.”
“Hey, Jesse,” the woman greeted. “Nice to see you again.”
“Oh, hey,” Jesse replied. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
“I’m everywhere, always,” Charlie replied, lowering her voice ominously. She grinned. “You haven’t been back to get coffee. Don’t tell me you’ve been cheating on my shop.”
I watched as Jess talked with Curt’s cousin like they were old friends, trying not to show any emotion.
It was already happening. The kids were already finding their place with these people, and there was nothing I could do about it.
And as Charlie smiled at my kid, I questioned whether I should even want to.
We’d never had this—the big family get-together where everyone knows everyone else.
For most of Jesse’s life, it had just been the four of us, and last year our number had shrunk.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing for Finn and Jesse to form connections with these people.
A few moments later, Kara joined our little group, holding a tiny baby in her arms.
“Give her,” Curtis ordered, letting go of me so he could reach for the baby.
“I think I get first dibs,” Charlie complained, rolling her eyes. “I did grow her.”
“Hey, princess,” Curtis crooned, holding the baby girl up so that they were eye to eye. Her little knees were bent up toward her belly like she was still in the womb, and she blinked sleepily at him. “Are you havin’ a good day?”
I tried and failed to ignore the way my stomach flipped at the sight.
“That’s my youngest, Jenna,” Charlie told us. “I’ve got two older boys who are running around here somewhere.”
“Finn!” Kara and Draco’s oldest, Mia, yelled from across the grass. “Come on! Nana’s getting out the water guns!”
Without even glancing at me, Finn ran toward her and disappeared between the picnic tables.
“He’ll be fine,” Curtis told me as he lowered the baby and tucked her into the crook of her arm. “Everyone keeps an eye on the kids. They won’t get into trouble.”
“My stepmom will wrangle them,” Kara agreed. “She’s the one who brought the water toys.”
“Shit,” Charlie muttered, pausing. “That’s Cody’s hurt cry. Does anyone see him?”
Curtis looked around the area and then jutted his chin toward the building. “He’s over there. Bishop’s got him.”
“Thanks,” Charlie replied, turning on her heel. She raced in that direction.
“I’m going to go get a drink,” Kara said, still smiling. “You wanna come?” she asked Jesse.
“You want one?” Jesse asked me.
“I’m good,” I replied quietly. “Go. Meet people.”
Jess grinned and followed Kara away.
“Come on,” Curtis said, leading me through the throng of people. I tried to smile at everyone as they greeted us, but Curtis didn’t pause to introduce me to anyone, and by the time he came to a stop, my face felt frozen.
“I wondered when you’d get here,” a beautiful woman with long black hair and Curtis’s smile greeted as she rose from her seat. “I see you stole the baby on your way through.”
“Hey, Ma,” Curtis greeted happily. “Tried to find you first, but Charlie jumped on my back.”
“Hopefully she wasn’t holding Jenna when she did it,” his mom joked as she rounded the table.
“Nah, I stole Jenna from Kara,” Curtis replied. “Ma, this is Teddy. Teddy, this is my ma, Trix.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, my mouth so dry it came out a little hoarse. I didn’t know why I was so fucking nervous to meet Curtis’s mother. It didn’t matter if she liked me or hated me. None of this was real.
“Hey, Teddy,” Trix said, smiling. “How’s the new place? You guys getting all settled in?”
“Uh, yeah,” I said, relief making my legs a little wobbly. “All good.”
“Good,” she replied. She looked up at Curtis. “Kara said you guys are still looking for furniture?”
“Yeah,” Curtis said, his arm shifting. His fingers began to play absentmindedly through the hair at the nape of my neck. “We need a couch. Teddy’s ten-year-old still needs a bed, dressers, coffee table—”
“Make me a list,” Trix said, her gaze coming back to me. “I’ll pass it around and see if anyone has anything they’re wanting to get rid of. Some of these guys buy new furniture every season.”
“Oh, I do not,” a blonde woman called from the table.
“I didn’t say who,” Trix replied without turning to look at her. She grinned at me. “I’ll make sure anything they’re offering up isn’t shit.”
“Thanks, Ma,” Curtis said.
“Yeah, thank you,” I agreed. “We had a furnished apartment before. I swear my kids weren’t sleeping on the floor of our old place.”
Trix chuckled and waved me off. “It’s good for them. Builds character.” She turned and gestured to the table. “These are Curtis’s aunts. Cecilia and Lily.”
“Hi,” I greeted. By the way she introduced them, the two must’ve been Cam’s sisters, but again, I couldn’t see any resemblance. Both women were on the smaller side, but they didn’t look like each other or their brother. Cecilia did look a little like an older version of Charlie, though.
Baby Jenna started to fuss, and Curtis let go of my hair in order to readjust her, pulling her up so that she rested curled up against his chest. She stuffed a hand in her mouth and started noisily sucking on the side of it. Trix smiled softly, reaching out to rub her little back.
“Looks like she’s getting hungry. You should go find Charlie before she really lets loose. That baby’s scream is so loud, your ears will be ringing for days.”
Curtis nodded and looked at me.
“It was really good to meet you,” I said.
“We’ll have more time to get to know each other,” Trix said. “Go make the rounds, and don’t worry about remembering anyone’s names. There are too many of us to keep track of.”
As we walked away, I could feel the women’s eyes on the backs of us.
Curtis’s hands were full, keeping the baby secure, so I reached over and set my hand on his back, sliding it up under his cut and T-shirt.
The smooth skin of his back was hot under my palm, and his muscles flexed as he turned to smile down at me.
“Not so bad, yeah?”
“This is not what I expected,” I murmured, glancing around.
It was actually kind of surprising how relaxed the party was.
If I would’ve tried to imagine an Aces MC barbecue, this would have been pretty much the opposite of what I would’ve envisioned.
I knew that years ago Pop had brought Jesse to family days at the club in Sacramento, but I’d been so focused on work and glad that he could babysit that I hadn’t thought too much about what they were doing.
Pop was solid, and I trusted him with our lives, so I hadn’t needed to.
We found Charlie sitting on the lap of an insanely handsome man, holding a sweaty little boy who was still sniffling as he held an ice pack to his chin. Draco and Kara were sitting with them, along with another woman with shoulder-length brown hair whose back was to us.
“I had a feeling she’d be hungry soon,” Charlie called out, pressing a hand to one of her boobs. “She lasted longer than I thought she would.” She set the little boy on his feet, and he wandered over to Kara and collapsed dramatically onto her lap in the grass.
“I want her back when you’re done,” Curtis said as he handed her the baby.
“You’re such a baby hog,” Draco said with a scoff. “I haven’t even held her yet today.”