Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Cass
Christmas morning. This is the most perfect Christmas morning I’ve had since I was a teenager.
Mom always woke me up with blueberry waffles.
She and my dad would dance around the kitchen and cook breakfast before waking me up to eat then open presents.
Our house was always decorated with multi-colored lights, and it smelled like blueberries and pine.
I haven’t had any semblance of a Christmas since I was sixteen and that last Christmas with her was agonizing.
I fought through it and smiled as much as I could make myself, knowing that she wouldn’t make it to the next Christmas.
Lilly is asleep next to me, flat on her back with her knees pulled up.
I’ve never seen a grown woman sleep like that before in my life.
She’s in the fetal position, but on her back.
It’s strange, but it’s one of those things that make her…
her. I have got to put up those curtains she’s been asking about.
The sun is the only reason I’m awake right now.
After loving her last night and watching her come beneath me over and over again, I should still be asleep right there with her, but because it’s daylight, I’m wide the fuck awake.
I ease out of bed, careful not to wake Lilly up, and make my way into the kitchen.
I know we don’t have blueberries, but I’m sure I can find something to add to the pancakes I’m about to make for my girl.
It’s time to start my own tradition. I close our bedroom door quietly and start rummaging through the refrigerator.
There’s a tray of strawberries Lilly bought the other day at the market and it’s perfect.
Strawberry pancakes on Christmas morning.
I put a pod in the Keurig and brew a cup of coffee for my morning-hating fiancée and whip up the pancake batter.
The time on the microwave tells me it’s seven in the morning, which translates to way too fucking early.
Lilly’s alarm will be going off soon so she can start cooking the rest of the food that she needs done by lunch today for our families.
A familiar pang hits me at the thought of how much I wish Mom could be here to meet Lilly and see how far I’ve come since the last time she saw me.
I push those thoughts back, though, and try to focus on the here and now.
On the things that I have to be grateful for.
Small arms snake around my midsection and I grin in response. Lilly’s cheek is flush against my bare back and it feels so good.
“Merry Christmas, baby.”
“Merry Christmas, love,” she rasps, her voice thick with sleep.
“I was bringing you breakfast in bed, you know.”
“I could smell the sweetness cooking and couldn’t stay in bed without you any longer.”
“Is that so?” I ask, playfully.
“Mhmm,” she nods into my back.
I chuckle and flip the last pancake onto the plate next to the stove.
“I’ll grab the butter and syrup,” she says, letting go of me and opening the refrigerator. She puts the gallon of milk on the counter, hinting that I fix the glasses of milk since her hands are full.
I grab two glasses from the cabinet and fill them, then sit them on the table along with two plates. I sit down with Lilly at the table and she’s already three bites into her pancakes. I put a light layer of syrup on my plate and dig in.
“I could get used to you cooking breakfast for me,” she says with a mouth full of pancakes and strawberries.
“When you start bartending again, you’ll never wake up in time for breakfast. It’ll have to be lunch.”
“I can’t wait to go back to work, and I can’t wait for Mindy to have this baby for me to spoil!” she squeals.
Her excitement is infectious. It will be cool to have a little one around now and then. I’ve got an awful lot of time and awful lot of useless knowledge that’s steady going to waste without someone to pass it on to.
“I hope it’s a boy.”
She scrunches her nose.
“No. A girl. I need a little niece to spoil and put bows in her hair.”
“Bows, huh? If it’s a boy, he can have bows too. The kind you shoot, not the frilly ones you want.”
“That defeats the purpose. I’ll be happy either way, honestly.”
“Mindy and Linc are going to make great parents. And we’re gonna make a killer aunt and uncle.”
She smiles that smile that makes me weak in the knees, and I lean across the table and kiss her, syrup and all. Sticky ass woman.
“I’ve got to start cooking. I only have a few things left to do because I did the majority of it yesterday and the day before. Potato salad, cornbread dressing, and green salad are the only things I have left. You have to cook the steaks, though.”
“I’m going to start on those around eleven, right around the time everyone shows up. Who all is showing up again?”
“Your dad, my mom, David, Aaron, Mindy, and Linc.”
“Good. I didn’t want too many people over to entertain today. I’m still recovering from the party last night.”
Lilly giggles and shakes her head at me with a widespread grin on her face.
“I think a small get together is perfect with the people I love the most.”
I nod in agreement.
“I’m going to get some firewood for the fireplace then I’ll start all of my tedious duties around here.”
She rolls her eyes at me and mouths a ‘whatever’ before I disappear into our bedroom to get dressed.
It’s cold out. Lately, the winters have been cooler than normal, and I hate it.
I can’t stand to be cold. I get a chill and I can’t shake the fucking thing.
It’s good cuddling weather though. There’s an old man who lives a few blocks over that has a ton of chopped firewood, so I throw on a zip-up Hounds jacket and a pair of worn blue jeans.
I lace up my boots before kissing Lilly and walking out the door.
If I didn’t have to pick up firewood, I’d be on the bike. Rain, sleet, or snow, I ride.
And I have to pick up a last-minute gift for my girl.
One of the vendors from a motorcycle rally we attend is meeting me at the gas station by the interstate.
She was coming this way for family shit anyway and said it worked better for her that way.
I’m not one to argue and it’s convenient as fuck for me.
I got her a custom, one-off ring with a purple stone in the center and small accentuating diamonds surrounding it in a square, halo style ring.
The interior of the band has two wolves engraved in it.
I think I’m more excited about the damn thing than she will be.
I stop at Mr. Watts’ house and fill the bed of the truck with firewood, paying him in cash with one hundred dollars more than he asked.
I hand the wad to him and say goodbye before he has a chance to count it because I know he’ll try to give it back.
He needs it more than I do, that’s for sure.
I live a well-off life, and I like being able to do for others when I can, and I always can.
I’m ready for Christmas to be over with.
I’ve got a lot of loose ends to tie up, starting with Gater.
Thoughts of all the ways I will make him pay for what he’s done to my club taunt me on the drive to meet Allison at the gas station.
I spot Allison’s blue Jeep parked on the side of the store when I arrive.
Her grey-blonde hair hangs low down her shoulders and wisps in the wind as she steps out to greet me. She smiles brightly at me.
“Merry Christmas, Cass.”
“Merry Christmas, Allison,” I chime, wrapping her up in a hug.
She reaches just inside the driver’s door and hands me a small ring box.
Inside is the custom ring. It shimmers under the morning light, making me grin.
Lilly is going to love this, I just fucking know it.
I shove it into my pocket and hug Allison before heading back home.
When I arrive at the house, Lilly has the entire thing smelling like a gourmet restaurant, making my mouth water when I walk inside.
The smell of gumbo and potato salad makes my stomach grumble.
Lilly, Mindy, Linc, and our newest prospect, Aaron, are hanging out around the kitchen island when I walk in, talking and laughing and snacking on crackers with cream cheese and pepper jelly.
I snag one and dip it, shoving it into my mouth as I walk by with Lilly’s present in hand.
I set it underneath the tree before I return to the kitchen and press a kiss to the top of Lilly’s forehead.
“Hey, you,” she says with a smile, leaning into me.
“Hey, yourself,” I retort.
The sound of a motorcycle outside lets me know that Clayton’s arrived. Sure enough, his broad shouldered self walks in through the backdoor, shivering. He’s still got his leather jacket, chaps, and gloves on.
“It’s too cold down here,” he huffs, removing his gloves.
I chuckle. “Says the snowbird?”
“It’s a different kind of cold, and you know it,” he narrows his eyes in my direction.
His expression changes quickly when Lilly approaches him and wraps him into one of her hugs.
He smiles softly at her and embraces her.
It makes me think that old heart of ice is melting a little.
Softie. The television is playing Christmas music through the surround sound in the house, and I can’t help but grin at how much my girl loves Christmas.
Lilly’s mom and step-dad walk in the back door, each holding a red sack that looks like they were made for Santa Claus himself.
She beams with a wide smile and Linc rushes over to take the sacks from them.
He carries them into the living room and sets them down underneath the colorfully lit Christmas tree that Lilly had to have.
Lilly and Mindy have rushed her mom and they’re both talking so fast and excited, probably spilling secrets already knowing the two of them. I shake David’s hand and introduce him to Clayton and Aaron.
“Okay, now that you’re here, let’s eat!” Mindy cheers, already holding a bowl of rice.