CHAPTER 8
I can’t tear my eyes away from Heather’s pregnant belly. I don’t know what I was expecting when we approached her, but this was the last fucking thing I even considered. Seeing her like this is like hearing angels sing.
Because I’m so fucking relieved to have my eyes on her again. Because she’s safe. Because she’s right here in front of us.
Because she’s carrying our baby.
There’s no doubt in my mind the baby is biologically one of ours, but which one doesn’t matter. I’m already hooked. With one fucking glance.
Just like I was with Heather.
It’s heady and I’m feeling a little lightheaded as the silence around us stretches into something bordering on awkward and uncomfortable.
I’m not sure I have the words to deal with this situation, but when I look back up into Heather’s hazel eyes and see fear there, I know I need to get my shit together.
“Okay,” I breathe out.
“Holy shit,” Scope murmurs. “You’re pregnant.”
I can’t help but bark out a laugh because of the bewildered tone of my brother’s voice and because he’s stating the obvious. Viper slaps my shoulder and I rub a hand down my face, swallowing the last of my laughter.
“I, um,” Heather’s face is a mixture of emotions, none of which I like, “yes, I’m pregnant. I’m about 25 weeks along now.” She shakes her head and starts to trip over her words, like she can’t stop them once the floodgates open, “When I first found out I thought it might have been that night at Club Sin since the condom broke. Then I found out how far along I was, and it was before then. I was on birth control,” her tone is insistent, “but I didn’t know antibiotics can make them ineffective and we weren’t always on top of using condoms. I’m,” her face crumples and my heart fucking breaks, “I’m sorry.”
There’s no more room for hesitation or surprise anymore. Not when our woman has tears running down her cheeks and so much fucking despair swirling in her beautiful eyes. I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her to tug her against my chest. It feels different with her pregnant belly between us, but not in a bad way.
Not at fucking all.
“Cherub,” my voice gets locked in my throat as I bury my face in her hair and take a deep breath of her lavender and crisp air scent, hoping it’ll calm me, “why didn’t you tell us? Why did you run?”
“I didn’t want you to think I trapped you,” her voice is muffled against my chest, but I can hear her.
When I look up to find Viper and Scope closing in on us, their bodies coiled tight with the need to be just as close to her as I am, I know, by the way they clench their jaws, they heard her too. It kills me that she thought we’d ever accuse her of such a thing. Then again, did we give her a reason to trust anything different?
Fuck. We messed this whole damn thing up.
Scope’s eyes are sad as he reaches out and runs his fingers through Heather’s hair. “We would never think that,” his voice is soft but firm.
She turns her head and peeks over at him. “Really?”
“Never,” Viper chimes from her other side and she looks at him, the relief on her face a physical thing that digs its claws into my chest and rips out my heart.
“Other people would, though. The angels,” she closes her eyes and sighs, “it’s exactly the kind of thing one of them would try to do and then accuse me of.” She shakes her head and tries to pull out of my hold, but I can’t seem to get my arms to drop. Not yet. “I just didn’t want to bring that kind of drama to the club. I didn’t want to cause any kind of rift. Not when you were about to get your cut, Gray,” she looks over at Scope, “and you still had a few months.”
“Fuck anyone who would say such a thing to you or us,” Scope’s voice is fierce.
Her eyes flick over him and land on where his patch is on his cut. “Scope,” she whispers, and her eyes fill with tears. She turns back to Gray, and a small smile graces her face. “Viper.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly and nods her head once. “They’re fitting. Congratulations.”
Viper reaches out and tucks a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “I’m going to tell you a secret, Cherub.” He doesn’t wait for her response and continues to plow ahead. “I had been looking forward to earning my cut, but it didn’t mean a damn thing when you weren’t there to celebrate it with me. I’m glad I have it, don’t get me wrong, but without you it felt hollow.”
“It was the same way for me,” Scope whispers.
A few tears slip down over Heather’s cheeks, but we’re right there to wipe them away. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I just didn’t want to put this on you, any of you. I didn’t want there to be any problems. I thought leaving would be easier. We never promised each other forever. We never,” her voice gets lost as a sob escapes her lips and I pull her even tighter against my chest, hating that we did this to her because we didn’t give her the reassurance we should have.
Scope and Viper press in closer, their hands running over her, trying to soothe her, trying to give her comfort. She sobs into my chest, her tears soaking my t-shirt. I’m both devastated we didn’t do right by our woman but elated to have her back in my arms.
“Heather?” All our heads snap toward the woman’s tentative voice calling our woman’s name. She lets the door to the real estate office close and takes a few steps closer as she eyes us warily. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Heather gets out before taking a few deep breaths. She turns in my arms and my hands immediately drop to her belly. “These hormones are no joke,” she tries to lighten the mood, but she’s not buying it if the slight frown on the woman’s face is any indication. “Really, I’m fine, Taylor,” our woman insists.
I give Taylor a chin lift in acknowledgement. “You’re our woman’s boss,” Heather stops fucking breathing in my arms, and I know it’s because I just called her ours, something none of us have done before. My voice is sincere, “Thank you for taking care of her while we couldn’t.”
Taylor’s eyes soften as she looks between us and Heather. I brace myself for disgust since I called her ours, but it’s nowhere to be found.
“Damn,” Taylor fans her face and winks at Heather, “I should have asked more questions and gotten these details.”
The most beautiful sound fills the space around us—Heather’s laughter—and my shoulders relax a little bit more. The last three months have been hard for me. Everyday without our woman has left me feeling empty while slipping farther away from the person I was and closer to a cold asshole my parents tried to turn me into. I never want to be that guy, it’s who my brothers are and they’re nowhere near role models for anyone.
Taylor looks between us again before looking at Heather. “If you need to take the rest of the day off, I can manage without you,” she offers gently.
I want to jump all over the offer, but Heather shakes her head quickly. “No, I want to finish out the day.” She looks over her shoulder at me and whispers, “I need a little time to process the three of you showing up here.”
It kills me, but I force myself to nod and kiss her forehead. When she steps out of my arms, I feel the loss instantly. My brain scrambles for anything, for a plan, something I can hold onto.
Viper blurts out, “Can we have dinner with you?” Heather tilts her head to the side like she’s considering his words, and he tacks on, “We can cook.”
Heather smiles softly at him, her hazel eyes sparkling for the first time since she turned around and saw us standing in front of her. I wonder if it’s been a lot longer than that.
She digs around in her purse and pulls out a set of keys, unclips part of them and holds them out to Viper. “These are my house keys.” She bites her lip, pulling my focus to the action while my cock thickens behind the fly of my jeans. “I’m renting a house. I can write down the address.”
“We have it,” my voice is husky and Heather’s eyes snap to mine.
Her brows furrow together before they smooth out and she surmises, “Hacker.” I nod and she looks at me, so many questions in her eyes. “You knew where I was this whole time?”
“Not the whole time,” Scope deflects slightly, “but damn close. We were waiting for this,” he tugs on the edge of his cut, “so we could do this right.”
She nods slowly as her eyes roam over the three of us and her hand smooths over her belly. I want to touch her again. My hands itch with the need to hold her belly, talk to the little life she’s carrying, and promise them we won’t ever leave them or their momma alone again.
I barely hold myself back from falling to my knees and doing just that.
“I’ll be home around 5:30?”
Her considering the house she’s renting her home kills me, but that’s exactly what it’s been for the last three months. I’m not going to argue about it, even though the reality of it has my heart dripping blood at her feet.
“We’ll be there with dinner ready, Cherub,” Viper’s voice is soft.
We stand there frozen as Heather turns toward Taylor who loops their arms together as they walk back to the office and slip inside. It’s hard to look away let alone walk away.
“I was not expecting that,” Viper’s voice is filled with awe and all I can do is nod my agreement.
We decide to go by Heather’s place first, drop off our bags and bikes, and then ride to the grocery store together to get whatever we need to make dinner. Being able to climb on my bike and feel the wind against my face gives me a few minutes to think, which is exactly what I need.
I could be pissed, and I am a little bit, but I also understand why Heather made the choices she did. Being mad at the months we lost, even though it feels like a knife in the gut, isn’t going to give us the future we want. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t need to know finding out she’s pregnant with our baby hurts.
The house she’s renting is cute and looks perfect for a family. I instantly hate it. From the looks on the faces of Scope and Viper, they’re right there with me.
By the time we make it to the grocery store, I’m filled with nervous energy that needs an outlet. We found her and saw her, but we still need to convince her to come home with us. How difficult is it going to be? How will we do it?
“At 25 weeks, the baby is the size of an acorn squash,” Scope lays another pregnancy fact on us, true awe in his voice now.
His face as been fucking glued to his phone throughout the entire trip and he’s filled us in on things both horrific and heartwarming. I’m not sure I’m ready to know more.
My head is swimming. Heather has had three months to get used to this news, but we haven’t even had three hours. I know Scope is just trying to make sense of it in any way he can.
I can hear him audibly swallow. “That’s a lot smaller than a watermelon. Her belly already looks huge.”
Viper barks out a laugh and shakes his head at Scope. “I might not know a lot about pregnant women, but I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t say that to her.”
Scope’s eyes are wide as he nods. “You’re probably right.”
A woman’s giggle not far down the aisle has us looking toward her. She’s a beautiful woman with brown skin and curly hair that kisses her shoulders. She has a little girl in the front part of the cart who looks to be around a year old.
The woman slaps a hand over her mouth which muffles her words, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been listening to your conversation.” She drops her hand and smiles. “I will say that you should not tell a pregnant woman her belly is huge.”
“Can confirm,” comes a man’s voice as he rounds the corner of the aisle, his eyes filled with love as he looks at the woman and the little girl. He shoots us a grimace which has me biting back a laugh. I’m pretty sure stifling my laugh is the right choice considering the glare his woman shoots him. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and kisses her temple. “You good, little bird?”
She rolls her eyes and huffs, “Of course. You were gone for about thirty seconds.”
He looks at us again and gives us a chin lift in greeting. There’s no animosity there or judgement. It takes me a little bit by surprise. “You guys just passing through?”
“No, we’re here for our woman,” Scope lays it out there without hesitation before crossing his arms across his chest.
The woman’s eyes roam over us like she’s trying to put a puzzle together. “Your woman is pregnant?”
I nod and her face lights up with a big grin. She leans against her man’s side and stage whispers, “Wanna bet they’re here for Heather? I told you she was too nice and too heartbroken to not have someone out there looking for her and wishing she was with them.”
“That’s because you’re a romantic, Lark,” he says with so much love.
“It’s a hazard of the job,” she says dismissively before looking at us again. She points a finger in our direction in a way that only a mom can. “I haven’t known Heather for very long, but if I’m right and you’re here for her then it’s my duty to warn you. If you hurt her then you’re going to have to deal with me and a whole town that’ll round up some pitchforks and torches. We take care of each other here.”
I find a big smile stretching across my face at this woman’s sass and her fearlessness while her man runs a hand down his face and looks up at the ceiling like he’s looking for deliverance. “We might have fuc--,” I cut myself off and look toward the little one babbling to herself in the basket before correcting myself, “messed up, but we never wanted to hurt her. She’s ours.”
“In that case, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Lark and this is my husband, Maverick. He owns The Goose, which you might have seen when you were on your way into town. If you’re looking for a good burger or a beer, it’s where you want to go.”
Maverick kisses the top of her head and murmurs, “My little marketer.”
She winks at me and then smiles at her husband. When the baby fusses she shoots us an apologetic smile before giving us a little wave. “If you need anything, go to The Goose and they’ll give you our information. Heather needs a good man,” she looks us over, her smile widening, “or men in this case, to take care of her and the little one she’s growing.”
I’m a little surprised at how well she’s taking the three of us claiming her. It seems I’m not the only one because Viper blurts out, “You don’t have a problem with her being with the three of us?”
Lark giggles and shrugs one shoulder. “I’m a romance author. I should warn you that I’ll be going home and starting on a motorcycle club reverse harem as soon as I sit down at my computer.” My brothers and I chuckle along with Maverick. “Love is love,” she tells us, and it makes me smile, “and if you’re happy and not hurting anyone then you should live your life.”
Her little one’s voice is demanding, “Mama. Dada.”
“See you around and welcome to Sweetwater Valley.” She looks in our cart as she pushes hers past and calls out over her shoulder, “You should grab some ice cream as well. You can never go wrong with ice cream.”
I watch the little family leave the aisle and my heart feels lighter somehow. We continue our shopping, making sure to grab some ice cream when we get to the frozen food section. Since we don’t know which flavor, we grab a couple of classics and hope for the best. I don’t even give Viper shit when he tosses in some sprinkles from the display at the end of the aisle.
When we get in line to check out, Scope whispers, “Wow. At 25 weeks, the baby can hear voices and recognize them. And they can stick out their tongue.”
A pang of regret hits me because of everything we’ve missed already, but there’s still time and so much more to experience. That’s what I’m determined to focus on because I don’t want to lose any more time with our woman and our baby.