Chapter Thirty-One
Ryder
Today was the day.
I was getting married again. Only this time, I loved the woman I was marrying. I never thought I would find myself standing before someone again, pledging my life to them.
Ellie was different though.
Sure, she was beautiful, and kind to everyone she met.
But it was the way she treated my girls that made me fall in love with her.
With Chrissy she was patient. She never got annoyed by her talking. I swear my daughter had decided that if her sister wouldn’t talk, she would double her efforts to make up for it.
Ellie actively listened to her. She never let anyone interrupt when Chrissy was talking to her. She encouraged Chrissy by engaging in the conversation with her. Asking her questions, ensuring Chrissy would keep talking. Giving my little girl an avenue to express herself.
Then there was Tabby.
Ellie showed how fierce a momma bear she was when she handed me my ass in the store the day I yelled at Tabby.
She’d been right. I was taking my anger out on my daughter. Ellie wasn’t about to let me get away with that. She even slammed into the shoulder that had been shot on her way out the door.
I knew this woman would protect my girls at all costs, even from me. A woman like that was sexy as hell.
And she was mine.
I walked into the kitchen and found Jessie sitting at the table.
“Hey, where’s Ellie?”
“She’s getting dressed.”
Jessie never looked up from her coffee cup, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked at me then. “Do you really love her?”
“More than I ever thought I could,” I said honestly, sitting at the table across from her.
Jessie stood up and walked her cup to the sink. After rinsing it and placing it in the dishwasher, she leaned against the counter and looked at me.
“Jessie, what’s going on?”
“She’s scared, Ryder.”
“I know she is. I have tried everything to convince her I want this. What else can I do?”
Jessie walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Just listen to her. Don’t dismiss her fears.”
Jessie left the kitchen, and Beck and Blade walked in.
“Hey, man, happy wedding day,” he said, slapping me on the back.
“When are you two tying the knot?” I asked.
“Not until after this baby is born. I am not walking down the aisle looking like a whale.”
“There will be an aisle?” Blade asked.
“Yes, there will be an aisle, and my father will walk me down that aisle. I want all the traditions.”
“Except for one,” I said, reaching over and rubbing her belly that had just barely started to show.
Blade slapped the back of my head. “Hands off my woman.”
I laughed at his possessive demand.
“What about Ellie?”
“What about Ellie?” I asked, turning back to Beck.
“Does she want a big wedding?” Beck asked.
“I don’t know. I told her if she wanted to have a real wedding, we could do it after.”
“Hmmm.”
“Babe,” Blade said in a warning tone.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she muttered.
“Bullshit. Jessie was acting weird when I walked in earlier. What happened last night? Why was Ellie crying when you went upstairs?”
“Good morning, Ellie,” Blade said, looking behind me.
I turned to look, and there she stood in a simple white dress. It was nothing special. It wasn’t covered in lace or beads. But knowing she wore it because she was becoming my wife today made it the most beautiful dress I had ever seen.
I stood up and walked to her.
“You look beautiful.”
“It’s just a dress,” she muttered, her eyes looking down.
“Nothing on you is just anything.”
“Ow!” Blade yelled.
“How come you don’t say crap like that to me?”
I chuckled at my friends. I could hear Blade whispering to Beck. Thank God I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Based on the blush covering Beck’s cheeks, I didn’t want to know.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked Ellie.
“We have to talk first.”
“Tell me you haven’t changed your mind,” I urged.
“No, but you might when I tell you what I learned last night.”
“Come on, babe. Let’s give them some privacy.”
“No, please stay,” Ellie said, looking at Beck.
Beck walked over and took Ellie’s hand. “It’s gonna be ok,” she whispered.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Ry, sit down.”
The four of us sat at the table. Ellie across from me, and Beck next to her. Blade sat next to me, and I immediately began to worry. He always sat next to Beck.
“Ellie, you can tell me anything,” I assured, reaching for her hand.
“Um, last night.” She looked at Beck.
“Go on,” Beck encouraged.
“Well, Beck was eating pickles. She was dipping them in peanut butter—”
“You’re the reason the peanut butter tastes like pickles?” Blade whined.
“Hush, so not the time,” she chided. “Go ahead, Ellie.”
“Anyway, it looked good, so I asked to try it.”
I pulled my hand away. “Are you pregnant?” I asked.
“What the fuck?”
The four of us looked up as Jingles stood in the doorway.
“You knocked my sister up?” He growled.
Blade stood from his seat beside me and walked toward Jingles. Pushing him through the door back into the hallway, I heard him say, “Let them work it out.”
I looked back at Ellie, and there were tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. I wasn’t trying to…”
While she apologized, I stood from my chair and walked around the table. Her eyes tracked my movement, and her voice trailed off. Beck gave me a look that told me to tread lightly.
Kneeling in front of Ellie, I turned her chair to me.
“Baby, don’t be sorry. If anything, this is my fault.”
“But in the hospital, you said—”
“Fuck what I said in the hospital. I was in a shit mood. I didn’t remember being with you.”
I looked at Beck. She quietly stood and walked out of the kitchen. I slid a finger under her chin and forced Ellie to look at me.
“What did I say yesterday? I wanted to marry you. This was just moving the timeline up. This is the same thing. I want you to have my babies, Ellie. This is just another timeline we are moving up.”
“You aren’t mad?” she asked.
“No, I’m not mad.”
“I didn’t want you to think I trapped you,” she whispered, her eyes dropping to her lap again.
I threw my head back and laughed out loud. Ellie snapped her head up to look at me, her eyes questioning me.
“Baby, if anything, I am trapping you. ’Cause no matter what, I ain’t ever letting you go.”
With that declaration, I pressed my lips to hers. I needed her to feel everything I did in that kiss. I wanted to put to rest all her doubts, all her fears regarding what we were about to do.
Reluctantly, I pulled away. I stood and held out my hand.
“Come on, let’s go share the news.”
“What?” she asked as she stood from her chair.
“Your brother already heard part of it. You know you’re going to have to tell him.”
Ellie sighed heavily. She looked at the door, and I watched her throw her shoulders back and walk out of the room, dragging me behind her.
We walked into the main room, hand in hand, and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us. Everyone was here this morning. Jack and Blade stood at the bar, both grinning widely.
King, Cash, and Gunner sat at a table together, while the rest of the brothers, old ladies, and club girls were scattered around the room. It was a full house.
Jingles walked toward us, glaring at me. When he stopped in front of Ellie and me, he looked at his sister.
“Are you pregnant?” he asked Ellie.
“Yes.”
Jingles looked at me and in a split second, I saw the look in his eye. I knew it was coming, but I couldn’t brace for it. I had just enough time to let go of Ellie’s hand so she wouldn’t go down with me.
“SEBBIE!” Ellie yelled as I hit the ground.
Fuck.
Jingles packed a punch.
Ellie hit the floor next to me, hovering over me, concern on her beautiful face.
“Ryder, are you ok?”
“I’m ok, baby,” I said, sitting up.
A hand stretched out in front of my face, and the body attached to the end of it surprised me.
“You gonna pull me up so you can knock me on my ass again?”
“Nope, but you had that coming for knocking up my baby sister.”
Jingles helped me to my feet, and I reached down to lift Ellie to hers.
“You gonna deck me every time I get her pregnant?”
“Every time?” Jingles asked.
“ Every fucking time . This won’t be the only baby we have.”
“As long as she has a cut on her back and a ring on her finger, no,” he said and walked toward the front door. “Let’s fucking go.”
We walked outside, and I led Ellie to my truck. I’d planned on putting her on the back of my bike. We wouldn’t have many more days in November that would be warm enough to ride. But Ellie being pregnant changed everything.
There were eight brothers riding with us to the clerk’s office. It was a bit of an overkill, but better safe than sorry, I guess.
Cash, Blade, Jack, and Tank led us through the gate in front of my truck. Winchester, Banshee, Romeo, and Shotgun brought up the rear.
The ride into town was uneventful, as I thought it would be. I was thankful for small mercies. Now we just needed to get back and have the ceremony before her parents’ flight got in.
Nav assured us they were on the ten o’clock flight, which would be a couple of hours as well as the drive from Denver. We had plenty of time, but I was eager to get Ellie tied to me forever.
By the time we had returned to the clubhouse, my parents were there with the girls. The sheriff had also arrived with Judge Markham.
Judge Markham had agreed to perform the ceremony. I felt a little guilty after Beck’s words this morning. Did Ellie want a big wedding? I grabbed her hand, pulling her back before we went inside.
“Hey, I need to ask you something.”
Ellie bit her lip as she waited for me to speak.
“Do you want a big wedding?”
“What?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Shaking my head, I continued, “Beck said something this morning about wanting a big wedding with all the traditions. Is that something you want? Am I cheating you out of what you want by rushing this?”
“Ryder, no.” She smiled up at me, putting her hands in mine. “I mean, yes, I do want a real wedding, with bridesmaids and walking down the aisle. A wedding where the girls can get dressed in fancy dresses and be flower girls. But we don’t have time for that right now.”
“We can do that. When we have more time.”
“Maybe after the baby is born. I don’t want to look like a whale walking down the aisle.” She laughed.
I smiled at her words. “Beck said the same thing.”
“Then we’ll do it next year. After the baby is born.” She stepped closer and lifted up on her toes. “Let’s get married.” She kissed my lips, and I groaned. I wanted nothing more than to take her upstairs, but we needed to get the ceremony done first.
“Ok, let’s go.”
I led her into the clubhouse, and we both stopped and stared. We hadn’t been gone long, but in that time, the old ladies and club girls had done what they could to transform the main room into something that looked like a party store had thrown up.
There were black balloons tied to a small bag sitting on every table. Bright colored streamers in red, green, and gold hung from every doorway and corner, converging in the middle of the room.
I looked at Blade and Jack. My mouth opened to ask what the hell happened, and they both shook their heads at me.
“Oh, Ryder, isn’t it beautiful?” Ellie gushed beside me.
I looked down at her, ready to ask if we were looking at the same room, but there were tears in her eyes as she looked around the room. She rushed over to the girls, hugging them and thanking them for everything they’d done.
I looked at the women, dumbstruck at what was going on. My mother walked over to me, putting her hand under my chin, pushing my mouth closed.
“This is hideous,” I whispered.
“Try to remember you have two pregnant women who wanted to do something nice for you. With the rush, they worked with what they had. And Ellie seems to like it.”
I shook my head and laughed. I understood what was happening now. I looked at my mother and shared my news.
“No, she doesn’t. Ellie’s pregnant too. She’s overwhelmed by the gesture.”
“What?” my mother whispered with a smile.
“I found out this morning. We’re having a baby.”
“I like her for you, Ry. I like her for the girls too. She isn’t like Tammi.”
“No, she isn’t. I love her, Mom.”
“I know.” She grinned, hooking her arm with mine. “Come on, let’s get you married.”