23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Griffin's Beach Lex
A loud whistle cuts through the air, followed by Jennings’s shouting, "Everyone! Before anyone takes off, we need everyone inside for a bit."
As the massive crowd moves indoors, Lex makes a note of how Snake seems to give her a wide berth. Considering the overstimulation from so many people hugging her or talking to her or asking her what the gender is, it's a welcome change of pace. She can almost forget the fact the last time they were here together that he smacked her. It's not the hardest she's ever been hit.
When she spoke to Dani a few days ago, she told Lex that Snake's still being treated like a leper and even more outcasted than Venom was. Very few of them want anything to do with him, and Everlee banished him to the sex room of the clubhouse. That in itself is a bit of a punishment, but Dani heard he was back in the house. On the couch, but at least he wasn't in the room designated for men to take the club bunnies.
"What's going on?" Dax asks.
Seeing Dani wrapped against Dax's side after the hell they've been through for over two years makes Lex smile despite the situation about to happen. Dax's happiness to find his wife wasn't dead like he thought didn't mix well with her experience being held captive for that timeframe. Dani started working with a therapist shortly after Lex and Colt moved back, and Dani told Lex they're finally sleeping in the same room. Her anxiety at being touched, at least with Dax, is getting better. Not perfect, but at least he can finally hold his girl again.
"We need everyone to come back here on Saturday for a wedding. Attendance is mandatory," Jennings says, his voice increasing in volume as groans fill the air. "Lane and Zane are getting hitched, and it's a quick turnaround. There are a few things we still need, and there will be a few rules."
"She's knocked up, isn't she?" Melanie calls out. "I knew it!"
Stomach bobbling, Lex tries to keep her expression as unreadable as possible. It's going to be bad enough to tell everyone if she's being asked by a thousand people if she's okay. She hates this has to happen at the end of what should be one of the happiest days in Psycho and Lacey's life so far.
Times like this make me wish I wasn't part of a club. My loyalty wouldn't be like it is, and the situation would be so fucking different.
"Um, baby, can you, Emma, and Karmen take care of the food?" Jennings asks, pulling Lex back to the conversation at hand.
Her mother gives her a confused look but nods as Tess smiles and says, "Of course."
"We need a cake. Just a normal cake. Nothing fancy or tiered," he says, his eyes quickly looking at the ground. Lex bites her lower lip to stop it from trembling.
Goldie raises her hand, and Lex still can't get used to her flat hair. She was always the epitome of not wanting to let go of the eighties. "I can make it, if you want."
His eyes lock with Lex's, and she nods her head in approval. He turns and smiles at Goldie. "Thanks, darlin'. Now, we need music, chairs and tables, and a photographer."
"This is, like, a whole to-do, huh?" Heidi asks with a smile. "The DJ from the club can do the music. We can close the Puffy Taco for the night if we need to."
Who knew having a strip club on the books would come in clutch for more than a lap dance?
"I know a guy who can get us rentals for chairs and shit," Undertaker volunteers.
Venom lifts his hand in the air. "I know a guy who can do the pictures."
"Does he have a quick turnaround for whatever the fuck photographers do?" Jennings asks.
He narrows his eyes and shrugs. "I can make sure he does. How quick are we talking?"
Sighing, Lex nods to Jennings and climbs onto the bar with the assistance of Colt. She turns and gapes. "Holy shit, there are way more of you when I'm standing up here."
Chuckles fill the air, and Diesel tilts his head. "What's going on, Lex?"
"We need the pictures as quick as possible. Like, days, Venom. The reason it's such a rushed plan is because Lane has cancer again. It's why Zane's taken a step back. He's spending time with his family right now."
Gasps spread around the room, and Autumn shakes her red head. "No, that's... We'd know if she was sick."
"When was the last time anyone of us actually saw Lane?" Tess asks, her dark hair streaked with gray. Lex fixates on it to stop herself from showing too much of a reaction. "I remember the last time I saw her. It was at that disastrous old lady gathering at Lily's house. That was before Lex and Colt moved."
"That's why you moved back?" Dani asks. "To help care for your soon-to-be sister-in-law?"
The way she hangs onto Dax makes Lex feel like there's still a little bit of hope in the world. Rather than risk answering vocally, she just gives a small nod.
"It's rushed because Lane wants to get in all the pictures before the chemo takes all her pretty hair, right, Lex?" Melanie asks.
The rules haven't even been said, and they're already asking questions. "Like Jennings said, there will be rules to this wedding everyone has to follow. No exceptions. The first rule is that there is to be no mention of cancer. Lane's or anyone else's. She doesn't want to hear about your aunt's cousin's battle with cancer on her wedding day."
A few chuckles fill the otherwise silent room as some know exactly who Lex references with this rule. A few of the old ladies are known to try and identify with anyone going through a difficult time and thus making the situation worse rather than better.
"Second, only happy tears are allowed. Any sadness will have you kicked out without question. Lane wants a big party to celebrate finally marrying Zane. Sad tears mean you get the boot and possibly ruin her day," she continues.
"Lex—"
She shakes her head at Heidi, cutting her off. "Third, there will be no pity looks. You are to ignore how sick she is and just enjoy the day. She wants to forget about everything bad and just enjoy her wedding. I will throw you out myself if I see it, and you'll get a beat down if she's the one who catches you looking at her that way."
"Are those all the rules?" Ky asks. "They sound fairly reasonable."
Just you wait. "There's another rule, but this one is for me. Zane's having a difficult time dealing with things, and he's angry. Really angry, and I'm the subject of that anger. I need you to let him be angry with me because he can't be angry at anyone else."
Lily gasps and steps up to the bar. "Lex..."
"Yeah."
"What?" Shep asks as he looks between the two blonde daughters. "What?"
"That's why Zane's been screaming at you," she says. "Son of a bitch."
"He better not do that when I'm around," Psycho says. "I don't care if his girl is sick. If he starts screaming at you, he's getting his ass handed to him."
Shaking her head, Lex lets out a shaky breath. "No. Only step in if he looks like he's going to smack me. Otherwise, if he's going to scream, let him scream. It's easier to just let it happen and not fight him."
"Lex, that's the story of his fucking life thanks to VP never putting him in his damn place," Shep says. "This isn't your fault."
VP looks like he's about to defend himself, and Lex can't listen to it. Instead, she says, "It kind of is."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Diesel asks.
Letting out a shaky breath, she sniffles. "Like many of you in here, myself included, we don't take feeling helpless very well. We want to find solutions and fix things, not sit by and let something happen. That's exactly what Zane feels, and I'm going to be completely blunt about this: Lane royally fucked me over. She made me her power of attorney for medical care. Because I'm the only one strong enough to stand up to my brother, and because of that, it's a guarantee he will fucking hate me for the rest of his life. Assuming he doesn't kill me first."
"Lex, that doesn't make sense," Psycho says.
She lets out a long breath. "Lane's been sick for a while, and she didn't tell anyone. She tried various treatments, and everything looked positive. Until it wasn't. The treatments didn't work, and the only option available wouldn't save her. It would give her a couple of extra months, at best, but she'd in so much pain that she would need to be heavily medicated. She doesn't want that for Margaret. She wants to make as many memories as possible for her daughter, and that means she's opted out of any treatment options after the last one failed."
Heidi gasps. "No."
"Zane's not strong enough to adhere to her wishes, so she's asked me. When she first called me, when we first moved back, the doctors gave her six months to a year, if she was lucky. She's not lucky."
"How much time?" Shep asks.
"We're probably going to be gathering a couple of weeks after the wedding, at best, for Lane's funeral."
The room falls completely silent as everyone stares with exploring eyes. Some look like they're waiting for her to drop a punchline and say it's one big joke, and she wishes she could. That she could be cruel enough to worry everyone for nothing, but she's not.
Melanie's the first to speak. "Lane's... dying?"
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lex nods. "Yes. Which is why I need you to let Zane be angry with me. The way he sees it, I'm the one killing his wife because it's my responsibility to allow her to forego treatment and die the way she wishes."
"Oh God," Heidi says and joins Melanie.
"Zane's being forced to watch the mother of his child die the same way his mother did. He's powerless to stop it, and I know every single one of you in here would be going crazy in his position. I know because I am, too. To sit back and not be able to do something to fix this is killing me, but it's out of our hands."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Lily asks. "At least those of us who had an idea of what was going on?"
She looks at the ground. "Because she asked me not to. Until last night, Jennings, VP, and I were the only ones who knew, but I hit my breaking point last night. I've been shouldering this mostly alone since we came back, and I can't do it anymore. I never should have agreed to what I have because the truth is... I... need... help."
Tears fall down her cheeks, and she quickly wipes them away. She can't believe she just admitted to being unable to handle something in a room of people, and she dislikes it.
"God, that must be what swallowing battery acid is like. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit," she says with a dry chuckle.
"We got you," Venom says. "You're not alone in this. I'll make sure my photographer knows he needs to get a six pack of energy drinks and get the pictures done before I break his fucking fingers."
Lex smiles and nods at him. "Thank you."
"We're all here for you, baby," Colt says. "It's just a matter of you letting us."
Her lip trembles, and she sits down on the bar top, her eyes unable to meet anyone's. "I think I've just been strong for so long because I've always had to be that I don't realize when I wade too far into the deep end until it's too late. Honestly, I'm drowning," she says and sniffles as she wipes her eyes again. "It's killing me to not have a way to fix this. No matter what, my brother will watch his new wife die, and my niece will bury her mother. And there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it. Worse, I'm in charge of letting it happen."
"We'll figure out how to do this together. We're a family, and we're stronger together," Colt says.
The room falls silent again with no one quite sure what to say. What can anyone say that hasn't already been said?
Undertaker's the first to break the silence by stepping forward and saying, "I was kinda pissed at you earlier because you made me blush. No one fucking makes me blush. It got a laugh out of you, and I realize now that you haven't laughed as much as you did when I first met you. Now I know why, and if you need to try to embarrass me again, that's okay."
Laughing, she wipes her eyes. "Thanks. I'm going to be honest with everyone. The next few weeks are going to be hell. But we'll get through it together and come out mostly unscathed. I hope. Unless Zane decides to murder me."
"What if he does?" Ty asks.
"Then I'll be dead," she says with a shrug. "But maybe don't let him get that far. You know, if you're not too busy."
Ty laughs as Shep punches him, and Heidi walks up to her. "Can I hug you now?"
Lex nods and accepts the hug, followed by one from Melanie and another from Lily. She's not alone anymore. It doesn't stop the feelings of slowly being pulled beneath the surface, but at least she's not an island alone any longer.