Chapter 37
All the talk of plans and boundaries slowly faded away as the night grew on. The serious, guarded looks everyone carried melted right off, replaced by that easy, warm feel of a family that’s been through so much together and finally gets to breathe.
Bones reached for the whiskey sat in the middle of the table, poured a glass for Pres then slid the bottle over to Rage.
“I’m telling you,” Hawk called over from where he was sat polishing glasses at the bar, grinning like he had a secret.
“You think running a business is hard? Try keeping this lot in line around here. It’s like herding a bunch of big, grumpy kids.
How Pres has the patience to deal with them daily I will never know. ”
“Oh, don’t even get me started!” Ivy jumped right in, thumping her hand down on the table playfully.
She pointed straight at Tank, who tried very hard to look like he wasn’t listening.
“Two months back, he hurt his shoulder working on the bike. Do you know what he did when Rose and I tried to stitch him up?”
“Now don’t you dare,” Tank rumbled, his face turning bright red. Aysel sat next to him laughing.
“Rose had to practically threaten him just to get him to sit still!” Ivy laughed so hard she could barely get the words out. “He was gripping that bed so hard the metal bent, acting like we were torturing him!”
The whole room burst out laughing. I smiled soft, looking round at them all – these big, tough men everyone is scared of, getting teased mercilessly by the women who love them.
“Hey, Tank ain’t the only one,” Bones said with a wicked grin, nudging Ivy gently. “Go on, tell ’em about our Pres.”
Pres didn’t look up from his glass, but a little amused smile tugged at his mouth.
“Last year he got a little graze on his arm,” Rose said, leaning forward like she was sharing the best story ever.
“Refused to come get it seen to for more than ten minutes. Walked right out into the common room, sat down in his usual chair, and told everyone we were just fussing over nothing. Said our little clinic was nothing more than a ‘girls’ play area’! ”
“It was just a scratch,” Pres rumbled, though he squeezed Rose’s hand tight under the table.
“Two inches long and needed twelve stitches, you stubborn man!” Rose shot right back, not backing down one bit.
“Weren’t you complaining you had a headache that needed dealing with in the office not long after?” Pres teased her back.
Rose just laughed, bright and free, like she didn’t care one bit that he’d admitted to more than he meant to.
I leaned back in my chair, holding my warm mug tight. Under the table Rage’s hand rested over mine, his thumb brushing slow and steady against my skin, watching his family with that soft look only I got to see sometimes.
Then Rose turned those bright blue eyes to me, her smile warm and gentle.
“What about you, Danika?” she asked soft and kind. “We’ve told you all our silly stories. But we don’t know much about what you wanted to do, before all this. Before Sterling had other ideas.”
My throat felt suddenly tight. In London, whenever I’d tried to speak of my hopes…
“My father laughed at me,” I said quiet but steady, looking round the table. But here no one looked bored or judgmental. Just kind, interested, like what I wanted mattered. I squeezed Rage’s hand tight. “I… I’ve always wanted to be a midwife.”
“A midwife?” Rose and Ivy said together, and their faces lit up like I’d just told them the best news in the world.
“Really?” Ivy asked, practically bouncing in her seat.
“Yes,” I smiled, feeling that old spark come back to life.
“Ever since I was little. Everything else… the meetings, the dinners, the things my father wanted… they all felt so empty. But helping bring a new life into the world. Standing there when a baby is born. That’s real.
He told me it was dirty work, something no one of our sort should ever do. He even threw my applications away.”
A low growl rumbled through the men around the table. Rage’s grip tightened on my hand, his jaw set hard, like he was halfway to going right back down south to sort it all out.
But before he could say a word, Rose laughed bright and proud.
“Thank goodness your father is a fool!” she said fierce and sure.
“Because do you know how much we need you? We treat all kinds of injuries here, but we don’t have anyone who knows about bringing babies safely into the world.
And more of us are having families all the time!
We don’t just need first aid – we need a proper maternity space! ”
“She’s absolutely right!” Ivy added quickly.
“We can patch up almost anything else, but neither of us has the training for this. We can get you every qualification you need. We can set up a proper wing here, right alongside our clinic! You could be the one to help bring our next generation into the world!”
I looked at all their faces, Ivy and Rose excited, Hawk who was listening in gave me a smile, and Pres gave me a gentle nod, approving it.
Tears pricked at my eyes. They weren’t just offering me somewhere safe to stay. They were handing me back the life I’d been told I could never have.
I looked up at Rage. He was watching me, his face so full of pride it took my breath away.
“You’re going to be amazing at this, Tamer,” he rumbled soft and deep, just for me. “No one’s ever going to laugh at your dreams ever again. Whatever you need… whatever you want… it’s yours.”
I laughed through happy tears, leaning into his side. I was finally given the chance to do what I was always meant to do. My dream handed to me.