Chapter Twenty-Eight
Do It Right
Ziggy
They came just before the night shift left and drew her blood again. When Dr. Franklin made his morning rounds, he confirmed another jump in her levels.
“Twins then?” I pressed him.
“It’s too early to say. The levels are highly suspicious, but it is generally confirmed with ultrasound, and such things aren’t usually visualized all that well until around seven or so weeks, I think the obstetrician explained.”
My phone vibrated against my chest. I slid it from my pocket and glanced at the screen.
Sean Morgan
Fuck. I swiped toward the red, unwilling to upset Ro with business talk. I opted to text him instead.
Doctor speaking with us. Ro is pregnant. Can’t risk upsetting her by discussing things. Will call soon.
I set the phone screen down on my leg and focused on the conversations at hand.
“When can I go home?” Ro eagerly asked, staking claim to my now empty hand.
“Well, we’d like to monitor you for another day or two. If all goes well, we can talk about discharging you before the weekend arrives.”
She groaned and the phone vibrated. I picked it up with my free hand.
Sincerely? That’s great news. We’ll talk soon.
I laid it back down, not bothering to reply.
“Perfect,” I answered the doctor, earning myself a glare from Ro. I shrugged, and tried to make it sound like an important delay. “I’ll be doing the cooking for a while. It’ll give me time to stock up on hot dogs and microwavable dinners.”
That I.V. in her hand didn’t save me from a back smack to the gut.
“I do not eat hotdogs.” She extended her finger and kept it like a toll bar across my chest until I nodded my agreement.
“Alright, we’ll talk more later,” the doctor advised before hurrying from the room.
“I was teasing, I make amazing pork and beans from the can.” I tried to keep her upbeat.
“Zig,” she said my name like it was past time for me to be serious.
When I looked at her for some clue of what had changed, she let out an exhaustive breath, “What are we gonna do?”
I studied her face, still somewhat lost. “About what?”
The way her face fell told me about what. “The baby?” I laughed, “What the fuck do you mean? You do realize, I’m not some high school punk who suddenly has to figure out a house and job, right? I mean I fucked up last time, but it wasn’t that rough. This time it’s cool.”
“It’s not cool.” She flung the words at me, and I shot my arms out in a plea for her to stay calm.
“Easy, babe. What–? Yeah, things are messy a little, but–they’ll smooth out. We’ll take care of it. I promise. I’m going to head down to the clubhouse now and put things in order. I want you to get some rest, this is our chance to do it right, and we will.”
I kissed her forehead. When she tried to protest, I dropped the next kiss on her mouth and held firm until she shut up.
“Rest,” I repeated, when I lifted my mouth from hers.
She huffed and closed her eyes. I smoothed the hair off her face and took my leave.
I was on a mission, but I still tapped the nurse’s station on my way past, “I’ll be a phone call away.”
“Understood.” The nurse nodded.
I liked that one, even if I didn’t know what the blue meant. She was good with Ro.
I made my way down to the Savages’ clubhouse, and thankfully, Henny had everyone gathered by the time I got there.
“Ziggy,” Griz stressed my name and hauled me into a side hug when I stepped inside. “I hear your ol’ lady is awake now?”
“She is,” I assured him, with a relieved smile.
“Fuck, yeah.” He nodded, patting my shoulder as we stepped into the back room.
“Sauce,” I called out, unable to keep the surprise out of my tone. I half figured he’d be on another bender, since I paid him so much for the tattoo.
His eyes were clear, he looked miserable, in that emo way he sometimes gave into, but he didn’t look high. I’d take what blessings I could.
“Good to see you, you’re gonna be a brother again by the way. The doctors said her blood levels are highly suspicious of twins,” I bragged to my son and the table.
Sauce shook his head, the side of his mouth twitching up a bit, “Congrats.”
“That’s fuckin’ awesome, man. I mean, not that all this happened while she was pregnant, but you know– That there could be two healthy kids, that’s what’s up,” Capone rambled.
“Absolutely,” I agreed, before glancing toward Cane. “You called it, bud. Let’s have it. We’re in session.”
“Cool.” Cane sat up abruptly and slapped the table. “The Felons are no longer selling arms to the Deuces. They’re officially cut off.”
“That means everything or nothing,” I shrugged, “We don’t know when their last delivery was. It could have been yesterday. They could be sitting on an arsenal.”
“Or, they could be waiting on a shipment with only a small private stash,” Talon pointed out.
“There is no way of knowing one way or the other,” Henny mused.
“I intend to sit down with Sean tomorrow. Ro is like family to him. He said he’d handle it, but I can’t ask him to do that anymore than I can vote to order you guys into it. This shit is personal. It stemmed from a side hustle Ro was pulling. Sean will probably give me a guy or two to muscle in with, I’ll take out this fucker that’s tormenting her. If there is any noise over it, I’ll start dropping their shot callers.”
“No deal. It is personal, you’re right.” Henny scoffed, before growing passionate. “It became personal when they chose to assault a woman who wears the mark of our club. Yes, your name is over that mark, but there is a principal beneath it, brother. Vote that shit. We war with the Deuces. I don’t give a fuck what Sean does.”
“That’s right,” Griz piped up.
“Fuck yeah,” Cane sang, reaching out to abruptly shake Sauce’s shoulder.
Sauce shot his hand out and damn near shoved Cane off his chair.
“We don’t need to vote.” Talon shook his head.
“Sauce?” I looked at my son.
He stared back at me blankly and my heart skipped a beat.
There was only one reason he would choose not to. Did that dope really have a hold on my boy like that? I hadn’t even thought to consider that his loyalty might be compromised.
“Yeah. We war.” He snapped, shrugging his shoulders aggressively. “We done here?”
The doors burst open, and everyone’s attention snapped from my moody son, to Candy.
“Shut the fuckin’ door!” Griz barked.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” she blurted out, her gaze darting to Henny even as she hurriedly tried to explain herself. “Henny, some lady named Aggie or Auggie called. She said that– Well, she said your baby mama just died and you gotta get to the hospital like now. Something about your daughter–”
Henny didn’t wait to hear shit else. He rounded the table in a hurry, shoving Griz’s chair out of the way while the man was still in it as he passed.
“We done?” Cane hurriedly asked, as I raced after Henny.
“Yep. Yeah. Wrap it up!” I ran outside, wanting to offer him a ride before he hopped on his bike and hurt himself or someone else trying to drive like a maniac.