9. Olivia
9
OLIVIA
Waking up to the smell of food, I groan and rub my still closed eyes. Ronny and I have taken turns getting up with baby Madeline all night. She was up every hour or two, and I know it’s partly because she is uncomfortable if she pees in her diaper and it causes her a lot of discomfort.
I think I want to go find her mom and have her sit in her own shit and pee for days and days until her skin breaks apart.
I reach over and feel to see if Ronny is next to me, but he is gone. The second she cried, he would practically jump out of bed to get to her.
I sit up and see if Madeline is in her bassinet but she’s not. I gather my hair in a bun at the top of my head since I know it’s a rat’s nest at this point from my rough night’s sleep.
Seeing her dirty bottles that need to be cleaned and sanitized, I grab those on the way down the stairs. Following the smell of the bacon.
I never thought turning the corner of the kitchen would be half of Ronny’s family. My eyes are wide, then I look down to make sure I’m clothed.
Bell has Madeline snuggled against her chest, she is in heaven. Maverick is hovering behind her, watching her and the baby.
My guess is Ronny’s siblings are at school since it’s a weekday. Elle is here with her baby, smiling adorably, and her parents are here too. Christopher, Lane, and Amelia, along with Wilder and Joslyn’s kids Mason, Cole, and Harlan.
My whole entire kitchen is filled, everyone hovering over Madeline.
“She is so gorgeous.” Elle walks over to me, giving me a hug.
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us, you made this transition so much easier.”
She grins, I can tell it makes her happy that she is able to help us. She has had such a tough go of it herself but I can tell she is flourishing now.
Christopher, I feel, is a huge part of that, his eyes never leaving her. Her daughter reaches over her shoulder, opening and closing her hand toward him so he will pick her up.
He grins and takes her, then she lays her head on his shoulder, snuggling into him. I sigh because there is nothing more beautiful than the sight of a huge-ass man that is a tattooed badass turning to mush by the hands of a baby.
Derek lets out a grunting sound. He eyes the two of them and Elle rolls her eyes. “Dad will never get over the fact that I’m old enough to have a baby or a man.” She looks from the corner of her eye to Christopher.
He gives her a wicked smile that even I have to turn away because, holy shit. “I will pray for you,” I whisper, and she giggles.
“Trust me, I think he might break me.”
I laugh under my breath with her. “Girls’ night soon?” I ask her, and she winks before walking back across the room to stand beside her daughter.
There is a knock at the front door before it’s opened, and it’s my dad along with Maci. “Did I hear the news that I’m a grandfather?”
I run over to my dad. Doesn’t matter how old I am, I will always need my dad. “You are,” I say against his chest, my face smooshed into him. “We adopted a little angel.” I lean back, grinning up at him, and right on cue Ronny walks over holding the tiny bundle.
“Fuck me,” he says under his breath before he takes Madeline from Ronny, holding her expertly. “God, I forget how tiny these babies are.” I lean my head on my dad’s shoulder, looking down at Madeline. “My baby has a baby.” He sounds like he is seconds away from getting choked up.
“You said you wanted to be a grandfather,” I point out, and he tilts his head back, sighing. “I thought you would wait a few years.”
“Dad, I could be forty years old and you’d still think of me as a teenager.”
He laughs. “That is right, you’re my baby. I will protect my baby at all costs, even kill for you.” He looks pointedly at Ronny at the last part.
Ronny is used to the threats, my dad has made subtle hints throughout the years and it just slides over his back now.
Maverick, on the other hand? He doesn’t like my dad threatening Ronny in any sort of way.
Maverick walks into the living room, eyeing my dad. The room turns intense and I suck in my lips, trying to not show how it’s suffocating me.
Ronny straightens his shoulders. “Dad, what will you do when sis tries to date?” he points out to Maverick about his younger sister.
Maverick shrugs. “I don’t fucking care, no one threatens my boy.” His voice is rough, ragged, and my dad straightens his shoulders before turning to face Maverick.
I take my daughter from him, and Ronny backs me out of the way in case this is the time they actually go to blows.
Over the years it’s come close.
“I was just making sure he was treating my daughter right, Maverick,” my dad tells him.
I rub my eyes, over this shit.
My dad is terrified of something happening to me again. I was kidnapped for years and he assumed I was dead. But the alternative was worse—I was getting abused every day of my life.
Maverick splits the distance between them, getting in my dad’s face. My eyes widen, scared there’s really going to be a fight this time.
I swallow hard and look around the room at the other guys wondering, are you going to stop this?
Ronny moves me farther out of the way, grabbing Maci so she doesn’t get taken into the crossfire. “Stop this,” I yell at them both, frustrated.
“My son has treated Olivia with respect. He has taken care of her and never would hurt her. If you threaten my son in any way or even hint to it, I will beat your ass. I don’t care if you’re my brother or not.” Maverick sounds scary as fuck, but my dad doesn’t back down because he is his own version of scary.
My dad’s jaw is clenched, then he lets out a rough sigh. “Fuck, I know he loves my girl.” He looks over at Ronny. “I don’t even know I do it half the time.”
Maverick nods at Dad like his apology is accepted. Dad holds his hand out for Ronny to shake, and they do, then he does the same with Maverick.
The fight is over. “If you guys are done measuring your penises, can we eat our food?” We all look over in sync at Tiana, who is grinning, and her mom Shaylin is behind her looking proud at her sass.
Meanwhile, Butcher looks bored at the whole thing. “Don’t say penis in front of me again,” Butcher grumbles, and I bust out laughing, everyone following suit.
Family isn’t family if we don’t fight or argue.
We all go into the dining room, where Ronny helps me sit down and scoots my seat in while I hold Madeline, not wanting to stop my snuggles.
Amelia sits across from us. “She have a good night?”
We both shrug at the same time. “Well, she was up every couple of hours,” I tell her, then open my mouth when Ronny feeds me a bite of eggs.
He’s so sweet.
“Maybe let her cry it out?” Maci suggests.
“No,” Ronny says sternly, and I shake my head, “she has been left to cry it out enough the first two weeks of her life.”
I just picture her lying in that dog bed, alone, scared, and hungry, wondering why someone isn’t holding her, changing her.
That’s heartbreaking.
So no, no matter how tired I am, I will not let her “cry it out.”
“Fuck, I could kill that bitch,” Tiana says menacingly, slamming the butter knife down on the table.
I run my hands over her the top of Madeline’s head. “Did you give her antibiotics?” I ask Ronny.
He nods. “Yeah, just right before you got up.”
“I would have loved to have hurt her mother for what she has done to her, but getting Madeline out of there was way more important,” I tell Tiana.
Maverick starts chuckling. “She did punch her lights out, though,” he tattles on me, and my dad looks at me like he is proud of that.
My face reddens at the attention. “If I see her again, it’s on sight,” I confess. I’m not someone who resorts to violence like a lot of people, but the fury I have toward her is down to my core.
She left this angel to die, and she didn’t care. She deserves to hurt the same way but ten times over. I have had some pretty rough thoughts of things I would do to her.
Tiana gives me a secret look with a slight smile that promises violence. Ronny feeds me another bite of food then takes one himself.
My dad and Maverick are acting like best friends again. Maci is quiet and listening to everyone around her, but once she is with just us, she is different.
In the cult we were told to be sweet, to not speak unless spoken to or your tongue will be cut off.
I witnessed a woman’s tongue getting cut off because she accidentally told her abuser no.
He was cruel, one of the worst and one of the head guys. I haven’t heard if he is still alive or not, but the horrible thing is there were so many men in the cult.
The possibility of them still out there is a great one as the cult got disbanded. A huge thanks to Konrad and Etta, who are now retired.
She is the one that found me, saved me, and gave me another chance at life. It does break my heart that some of the girls and women could never mentally get over what happened to them.
Though they are now living their lives surrounded by women and kids without the fear of a man hurting them.
I still carry that hurt, but I can live with it now.
“You okay?” Ronny whispers in my ear, stopping my depressing thoughts.
I nod, smiling. “I’m okay, just thinking. I’m really happy.” This is the moment that I have looked forward to.