Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
“I didn’t want your family to know, Zeke.”
Before Kyra left the DAMC clubhouse that morning, he had convinced her to unblock his number. Since they shared a son and he wanted a relationship with him, she relented. For Ledger’s sake.
Of course he’d called her after Ledger was asleep and she’d climbed into bed.
“You ain’t the only one.”
“I wasn’t expecting your father to be there.”
“You ain’t the only one,” he repeated. “Shoulda met elsewhere.”
That was true and she should’ve made that suggestion. It was a mistake on both of their parts.
She released a resigned sigh. “If it wasn’t him, it would’ve been someone else.
” A vision of Ledger scarfing down pancakes while sitting between his father and grandfather suddenly hit her.
It had warmed her heart but also scared the shit out of her.
Now that Zeke’s father knew about Ledger, there was no turning back.
Her control over the situation was quickly slipping from her fingers.
“Ledger loved the pancakes, by the way.”
“Don’t know what Larry does to ‘em, but they fuckin’ rock.”
“It’s all Ledger has been talking about.” Along with you and your father. But Zeke didn’t need to know that just yet. “My pancakes will never live up to those.” She paused. “What did your dad say after we left?”
“Wants to spend more time with Ledger. Just a warnin’, my mother called me last night. She wants to meet Ledger as soon as possible.”
No surprise. But… “I’m not sure I’m ready to—”
“She was both disappointed and fuckin’ excited. Disappointed she missed out on his first three years and excited to be a grandmother. She’s already trying to figure out what Ledger should call her.”
Damn it. He was purposely pulling on her heartstrings. Especially since his mother, Sophie, had never been anything but warm and welcoming to her. “And did you tell her—”
“Told her that ‘grandma’ would work. She disagreed since she said she ain’t old enough to be a grandmother.”
She wasn’t? “Isn’t she in her sixties?”
“Yeah. But she don’t look it. Kinda fucked up to say my mom’s still hot, but she’s still rockin’ it.”
“She’s lucky you didn’t make her a grandmother when she was a lot younger. But Zeke, I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I don’t want to rush this and confuse him. He doesn’t even know you’re his father yet.”
“‘Bout that.”
She groaned. “It’s not up to you, Zeke.”
“Bullshit,” he growled.
“I told you I wanted to do this the right way.” At least the way she considered right.
“The right way woulda been you not runnin’ the fuck away and hidin’ him from me for the past three fuckin’ years, Ky.”
Kyra closed her eyes and gripped her phone so hard, pain shot through her fingers. “We’ve already talked about that. Anyway, why are you calling, Zeke?”
“Wanted to talk to you.”
“Well, we talked. Now we’re done and I need to go to sleep. I have an early shift tomorrow.”
“How’d it happen?”
She blinked up at the dark ceiling. How’d it happen? “Do you mean how’d I get pregnant?”
He grunted out a, “Yeah.”
“Well, you see, men have this appendage called a penis, and when he gets excited, it—”
He huffed out a breath. “Forgot how much of a fuckin’ smart ass you can be.”
She allowed herself to smile. Only because he couldn’t see it. She didn’t want to encourage him in any way to try to re-spark their relationship.
That wasn’t happening.
He burned her once and she wasn’t about to place her hand back on the hot stovetop again. Any relationship they had would strictly be about Ledger. That was it.
And she certainly wasn’t going to tell him how much watching him and Zak interact with Ledger yesterday morning over breakfast melted her heart.
It really had her hoping that he was truthful about wanting to be a father to their son. A real one. Not one in name only.
Because that was one of her fears. She wanted someone stable in his life, not someone who popped in and out when it was convenient.
“Who’s watchin’ my boy when you work?”
My boy. He was already getting possessive after only spending a grand total of about five hours with Ledger.
Bikers sure liked to claim whatever they thought was theirs. Whether it was or not.
“My mother is watching our son.” Having that kind of support was the main reason she moved home.
“Want him.”
“What?”
“Should be with me when he ain’t with you.”
“Oh no. No.”
“Wanna get to know my boy.”
“You will. But I want to be present. At least in the beginning.” Otherwise, without her there to monitor Zeke, she had no doubt he’d be telling Ledger he was their son’s father before she thought he was ready.
“Bullshit, Ky. He’s my fuckin’ blood. Should be able to spend time with him without you.”
“I don’t want him getting attached to you in case you decide being a father is too much work.” Taking him to a diner and eating pancakes together at the clubhouse might have been fun for both Ledger and Zeke, but true parenting wasn’t limited to the fun times. It was real work.
And Zeke was allergic to working.
She had shed real blood, sweat, and tears while raising her son. Having a child took sacrifice and selflessness.
Zeke had always been about Zeke.
“Ain’t gonna do that.”
“You say that now…”
“Gonna make you a promise.”
This should be good. “You’ve been known to break promises.”
“Ain’t gonna break this one.”
He was talking a good game, but she wasn’t sure she could trust him. It was one thing to hurt or disappoint her, another to do it to Ledger. At only three, he wouldn’t understand it.
She rolled to her side and propped her head in her hand. “Let’s hear it.”
“Gonna be there for him no matter what. Whatever he needs, gonna make sure he gets it.”
“You mean you’re actually going to work and help support him?”
“Yeah. Get that you wanna be careful. That’s what any good mother would want.
But you gotta let me spend more time with him ‘cause I got a lotta time to make up. And that wasn’t ‘cause of me, Ky. That’s ‘cause of you. Should be fuckin’ pissed at you.
Tryin’ not to be ‘cause I see how you are with him. Like I said, you’re a good mother ‘cause you’re puttin’ him first.”
Oh yes, he was definitely talking a good game. She wanted to believe him. She truly did. What he did at that pig roast four years ago was a kick in the chest that damaged her heart.
She only knew about what he did because she caught him in the act. She spent plenty of sleepless nights afterward wondering how many times it might have happened when she hadn’t been around.
“Gotta gimme a chance, Ky,” he pleaded in a whisper.
“I fuck up, then I’ll get it if you never want me to see him again.
Just askin’ that you make sure it’s a real fuck up first, not like me givin’ him fuckin’ apple juice when he shoulda had orange.
Wanna know my son, Ky.” He blew out a breath. “Please.”
She closed her eyes at the unexpected desperation in his voice.
Not to mention the fact he actually used “please.” She wasn’t sure if she’d ever heard Zeke use it before. But because he did, she realized how genuine he was being. How serious he was taking this.
Of course, this could come back to bite her in the ass and could potentially hurt her son, but in the end, Ledger deserved to know his father, whether good, bad, or indifferent. Zeke also deserved to know his son. Despite how she felt about it. Or even worried about it.
One thing she definitely knew was that the DAMC family was tight. So if Zeke needed help, someone would always be there to step in. The proverb was: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
For Zeke—and soon Ledger—the DAMC was that village.
“If I hear that you had him on your sled tomorrow…” she warned. “Wait. Do you even have a vehicle to transport him in? He needs to be in a car seat.”
“Already bought a car seat. Got my truck to use, too. Got it covered, babe.”
He did?
Who was this man?
She wasn’t expecting any of this from him.
And that was worrisome.
Not for Ledger.
But for her.
“Got someone you wanna see,” Zeke announced, walking through the door at Sophie’s Sweet Treats.
It was difficult to keep the grin from his face, so fuck it, he didn’t.
With a blinding smile and a rushed “thank you,” Sophie shoved a pastry box at the customer she’d been waiting on before tugging off her apron and tossing it on the back counter. She hurried around the display case and over to Zeke, who had Ledger perched on his hip.
“Oh…my…goodness!” she squealed with her palms pressed to her cheeks.
For fuck’s sake, her eyes had a sheen to them. His mother was about to get overly emotional.
“Keep your shit together, Mom,” he warned.
Her eyes lifted from Ledger to Zeke. “But—” she started, then simply nodded and wrung her hands.
A tell-tale sign she was not going to keep her shit together.
“Hi, Ledger! It’s so nice to meet you!” she chirped, cupping his face.
“Hi!”
His kid was definitely not afraid of meeting new people. He told Ky last night that she was a good mother and every minute he spent with Ledger made him believe he was right.
The boy wasn’t a crybaby. He wasn’t shy or scared to go off with someone he barely knew. Though, that last one could really be a problem.
Especially with him being the son of an MC president.
“Lemme put you down, lil dude.” Only a few minutes of carrying him was a damn workout.
The second Zeke put Ledger on his feet, he ran over to the display case, slapped both his hands on it, and smashed his nose against the glass. “Want that.” He pointed to some kind of chocolate cake.
Zeke had to admit he wanted a piece of that, too. Growing up around the bakery made him appreciate the quality of baked goods his mother and Bella made. Now Bella and Sophie were retired and only filled in when the shop was shorthanded. Like today.
Sophie went over and got down on his level. Her fingers were curled into fists, probably so she didn’t squeeze the shit out of him. “Your granddaddy loved chocolate whoopie pies. Do you like them, too?”
“You know my gwandpaw?”