Axton (Creed’s Lake MC #3)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Axton

F our days later, I was sitting at the conference room table back at Creed’s Lake with several pairs of eyes staring at me.

“For the last time, the answer is no.” I repeated myself.

“Just a little?” Magnus asked and I shut my eyes in frustration then opened them.

“What happened between my wife and I after the wedding is private.” I should have known better than my brothers and sister at arms respecting any kind of privacy.

“That’s enough.” Irons said. “Give them some respect, damn you guys act like everything is your business.”

Creed walked into the room and took a seat, eyeballing me as he did so. I smiled and he did the same before he looked at everyone. “Sorry I’m late, Cole had a blowout in his diaper, and it was unfortunately my turn to change it. Feel free to pick up where you left off.”

“Axton won’t even tell us if he at least popped her cherry.” Drakos whined like a baby. The dude sounded like a child tattling.

Creed looked at me then back to Drakos. “Not everyone cares to share the intimate details of their marriage. Why exactly is that your business?”

“This whole thing has been playing out like a soap opera, and we are starting a new division because of it. Curious minds want to know.” Drakos said.

“On to business that matters. Since I’m not allowed at home in the afternoons now, my paternity leave is now over. I’ll go back to sharing my duties with Irons.”

Creed got in trouble again for smothering Morgan and Addie. He didn’t want to put the babies down and Addie was having tantrums, because if he wasn’t holding the twins he was, “All up in her shit,” as Addie so kindly stated it. That got Melissa in trouble because that’s what she always said about Drakos, and it wasn’t hard to imagine where Addie learned it. He also tried to bake cookies with Addie when Morgan was napping, and it didn’t go over so well.

“Thank God.” Irons said. “Between you being on maternity leave and Axton on his honeymoon, on top of the SWAT team, I think I might need a vacation.”

“Any updates from legal about the inheritance? We need to get Axton and a team to Arizona so he can start the process of breaking down the cult.” Creed asked.

“I’m sure after your father’s death, it took time. Large estates can take up to a year to go through probate, even if there’s only one heir. I’d suggest Axton make an appearance in Arizona to make changes necessary for them to sustain themselves as they wait for everything to settle. He also had that trust for Belle which can be accessed, which is where their pay is being deposited. They need to start their own bank accounts and keep their pay. We’ve already begun shutting down the church deposits, but they’re in need of money and they’ve not asked for their pay to go into individual accounts yet. From what they report they’ve suspended any future marriages for now. At least that much is happening.”

Creed looked at me. “Take Belle to Arizona and I want you to take men with you. Go one weekend soon since school is back in session from Spring break. When summer starts you can take some time out there to finish it. These men manage small businesses, they should be able to manage their own finances for the time being.” Creed looked at Irons. “Any luck with the feds?” Creed and I both still wanted the men charged for the child brides. If they didn’t know what they were doing was wrong, then why did they fear the feds so much? Yeah those fuckers knew what they were doing.

“They’re supposedly looking into it, but you and I both know they’re looking into it about as well as they’re looking into these Indigenous women and girls.” Irons rolled his eyes.

“Speaking of that, let’s schedule our next recruitment meeting.” Creed said.

After that was done, I noticed they were all looking at Creed like there was something else to discuss. “What else happened while I was gone?”

Creed sat forward. “We didn’t want to tell you on your wedding night or during your honeymoon, but something happened at the reception. When we went to leave that night, several of our cars were vandalized. I have no fucking clue how they got around the security detail, and that’s something else to discuss, but mine had words keyed all over it. “Dereliquit post tergum.” Creed said.

Irons spoke up. “That’s Latin for left behind. My car had the tires slashed and the same words keyed into Creed’s car was also keyed into Magnus and Grangers cars too. Drakos had the shape of a coffin keyed into his and they all had a weird picture drawn on paper left as well. The same kind Magnus has been getting for months that references Morgan.”

“Alright, so check the security cameras.” I thought that would have been the first thing they would have done.

“That’s the first thing we did.” Said Magnus. “They all cut off at the same time around town.”

“Someone tried to run Wrenly off the road the other night.” Irons spoke in a growl. “It was a later model Chevy truck with no tags and all the windows were blacked out. Thankfully, she out smarted them and called the command center for a satellite visual on the truck and it was like it disappeared into thin air. I no longer think this is a crazy fan of Morgan’s. It’s someone that’s no longer focusing on her and Magnus, it’s everyone.”

After what turned into a long meeting, I went to visit my wife. She was in the front of the class wearing a dress that made me want to sink my teeth into her, and also wearing her new glasses. She had a sexy librarian look to her and she was driving me insane. She was teaching division to the kids, and watching her ass as she wrote on a dry erase board was almost the sexiest thing I ever saw her do. I was standing in the back of her class when a kid raised his hand. “Mrs. Axton, may I please go to the bathroom?”

My eyes darted down to her hand, and I saw the glimmer of the diamond on her finger. Holy shit, that gorgeous woman was my wife. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine being so damn happy with my life.

“Actually, let’s go ahead and break for lunch.” She put the cap on her marker and set it down. The kids all piled out to head toward the lunch room, which was actually just an extra-large classroom because the school wasn’t completed yet, so they were still in the training center.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Axton.” She walked toward me.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Axton.”

She wrapped her arms around me, and I pecked her lips. “Any chance for an early dismissal?” I asked.

“Oh, so you’re not going to Mrs. Hoffman’s?” She pecked my lips.

“Not if you dismiss class early.” I pecked her lips again.

“I guess I’ll see you at dinner then, Mr. Axton.” She pecked my lips, but I held her head and made her kiss me the right way.

My hand went between us and under her skirt. “What are you doing?” She whispered.

I looked up and saw the closet, so I started walking her backward.

“Here?” She asked as I backed her inside it then shut the door behind us. It was dark but I could get the job done.

“According to my calendar we don’t have much time left before we have to take a break.” I reminded her. If our pre-cana courses taught us anything, it taught us some natural birth control options. We chose the rhythm method because I didn’t want her pregnant yet. She was ready whenever God decided to bless us, but I wanted to be selfish for a little longer. Preferably a year or two.

“Turn around.” I ordered then knelt behind her as I pushed up her skirt, then kissed and teased her nub. She was already wet and waiting when I prepared her with one then two fingers.

“Michael, please.” She begged.

I stood and unfastened my belt then my jeans before they dropped, and I pulled my cock from my boxers and slid her panties aside as I lined myself up. She took a sharp breath, and I grunted as I pushed inside her. “Jesus.” I shut my eyes to the initial sensation of her tightness squeezing me.

I held one hand over her mouth, as the other massaged her clit and my thrusts came hard and fast. She was biting the palm of my hand as I drove her into her orgasm. “You better fucking come right now, Belle.” I was too damn close to exploding inside her. She whimpered against my hand as I fucked her from behind. “Fuck, Belle, you’re almost too damn tight.” I hissed. Her pussy gave me an experience I never knew was possible and I still was shocked every single time we had sex. She let out what would have been a scream if my hand wasn’t over her mouth. I gave her clit a hard flick and she almost fell to her knees, but I held her body up against mine. It took everything I had not to make any grunts, or moans while I filled her completely full with my own release. I wrapped my arms around her and fell against the wall, unable to hold myself up, let alone both of us, from the intensity of one contraction of my stomach and what felt like a huge shot of my hot warmth deep inside her.

Belle

I sat in a chair at the salon as Melissa was getting her hair done. School was out, but Michael was still at work. I blushed as several sets of very beautiful eyes blinked at me while they waited for my answer.

“Yes! And it was so much more than I expected!”

The girls squealed and a few hugged me. Except for Kayla, who was unexpectedly gagging.

“He did even more than you guys said he would do! I drug him to a couples only sex resort and we had sex in front of this really hot guy in the voyeurists room. It was so much fun, and he just gave me a life altering orgasm in the classroom closet during lunch.”

Several pairs of beautiful eyes blinked at me, but it was Morgan that spoke up. “Did you just say you had sex on purpose with another man watching?”

“Yes, and I was going to ask for a threesome, but Michael wasn’t into it. Anyway, our sex resort lifestyle ended abruptly, he didn’t like it.” I sighed then looked at Kayla and never knew a person face could turn that color of green.

“Umm…what…umm.” Melissa gulped. “A sex resort?”

“Yes, it was really neat but also a little gross. There was this grotto and people had sex all over the place. Boys with girls, boys with boys, and girls with girls. Some even did it in really large groups. Then there was this club that was for couples only. Like a man could only touch his wife or girlfriend, but watch other couples. I kinda got pissed because all the other women were looking at my husband, and a few of the men too, and it made me mad because they looked at him like he was some cheap piece of ass.”

“Did she just say cheap piece of ass?” Heidi asked, like she was shocked about the things coming from my mouth.

“Axton is pretty damn hot.” Morgan said.

“Ewe.” Kayla looked sick.

“I saw a lot of penises and none were as beautiful, large, and perfect as Michael’s. Not even the guy that got off by watching us.”

Kayla gagged out loud that time.

“What have we created?” Melissa asked. “I wasn’t even prepared to learn that Axton was that sexually aware, let alone sweet little Belle.”

“I don’t think sweet little Belle is as innocent as we thought.” Morgan was suspicious of me. “I bet Axton’s mind is blown. So, what about birth control? Has he finally talked you into it?”

“Just a condom at the club. He still respects my beliefs, other than that one time. I understood, he didn’t want me getting pregnant in front of another man or something.”

“Wait, you’re not on birth control?” Steph asked.

“No, I do still value some of my beliefs, one of which is to accept life as its given. We will be using the rhythm method for now, but if it’s God’s will then we will accept his blessings. Michael’s faith also asks us to have faith in the power of God’s will. Michael would like to wait a few years but will accept what we are given.” I explained.

“I am so confused.” Melissa said. “I’m not seeing where you’re still practicing any of your former beliefs, except that one.”

“I do not use birth control, do not eat meat on Sundays, I say a silent prayer before every meal, read one passage from the Bible every single day, and I also pray for forgiveness for the sins I have committed.”

“You know.” Melissa leaned in. “If you and Axton get bored, Drakos and I are always looking for new friends.” She winked.

“I thought we already were…”

“NO!” The other girls yelled at the same time.

“She doesn’t mean the regular kinds of friends.” Heidi warned me.

I scrunched my nose. “No thank you. We aren’t in the market for those kinds of friends.” I gagged internally. If we were it wouldn’t be anyone at Creed’s Lake. Our sexual exploration was over when it came to involving anyone else.

Friday evening, I was with Michael and Kayla on a commercial flight to West Virginia. We were about to help my husband face his past and I wished it was already settled. I knew he loved Natalie, and it was hard to hear her name so much. We were enjoying being newlyweds, but he had to put his past to rest, all of it.

We were there to watch their childhood home be demolished, then we had to go into Natalie’s old house to get her ashes. Michael wanted to take them to New York where Natalie wanted to live when she finally escaped the mountainside. As far as I was concerned, Natalie raped my husband then had the nerve to make her last wish something that tore him apart for many years. She wasn’t as nice or as wonderful as Kayla wanted to believe, and Michael didn’t want her to know otherwise. Just because Michael was in love with her didn’t give her the right to take what she did away from him.

Axton

Kayla and Belle were exploring on their own as I stood in my old front yard. The house was falling in and hadn’t been touched since my family left.

I looked down the street and saw a vision of a bright eyed, dimpled little boy walking his best friend home from school.

I turned and what was now an abandoned home across from ours had a caved in roof and I could still see the dirt around the dog house that once housed the meanest damn dog to ever live. He fought to get off those chains, just to mutilate those two children walking down the street, trying to pretend their lives were normal. I could still see that blond hair and those delicate arms wrapped around her books as we walked. Behind us was a tiny little brown-haired girl with green eyes and pigtails trying to keep up.

The old tire swing by the creek that ran directly behind our house still hung from that big tree. Images of pushing Natalie on it and feeling like the luckiest kid in the world to be able to be the only boy playing with her. I could almost hear the laughter and those few spared minutes I got to act like a kid.

I looked at the road where Natalie and Kayla once spray-painted hopscotch, then toward her house where children still in diapers played outside unsupervised, so Natalie would have to go home because they needed her to keep them safe.

Despite the misery, and desperation, there was still children’s laughter in the history of that old place. I stepped up on the porch and thought about the times I sat out there with Natalie and we dreamed about a brighter future.

I had to shove the front door that was barely on its hinges. It smelled like death inside and I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt. Seeing it after so many years was almost unreal. It was smaller than I remembered, and it was probably worse than I thought it was back in those days. I remembered a particular Christmas I worked so hard to give the girls, and the girls laughter when I chased them down to tickle them. The memories played like visions as I looked around. There was the sofa where I would cry as my drunk mother blamed me for my father going away. Then the wall I fell into and left a hole when my own dad hit me so hard my heart stopped. The hole was still in that wall.

My old bedroom door was open, so I took a few steps closer. Two kids laid in that bed, while one felt safer than ever in that boy’s arms.

I always feel safer with you.

I love you, Mikey, you’re my best friend.

I can’t stay every night. They’ll notice I’m gone eventually then come here looking for me. You don’t need that kind of trouble. I love you too much to bring my problems here.

Someday, all three of us will have nice warm homes, full bellies, and not feel scared all the time.

Someday, Michael Axton, you’re going to marry me.

I felt anger growing as my last memories of her played out.

“No, Natalie, I’m not ready.”

“Not like this, Nat. Please stop.”

I felt the first tear trail down my face as I looked at that old bed. I could feel the anger, the pain, and everything she caused me. The memory of that little baby, all the blood. All the times she could have come to me for help. She chose to go to someone else, then use me as a pawn. I knew why she did it and that hurt. It was because she was sparing Will’s reputation, and I was just a trashy mountainside kid without any chance of a college career. She saw me as dirt, and nobody would have gave it a second thought if I were the father, but people would have made fun of Will for dating a girl from our mountainside. The pain from that was still so intense it cut through me like a fucking knife. That lie was how Gloria was brought into my life. She suspected something was wrong when she heard I claimed to be the father of her grandchild. Will confessed the truth and Gloria showed up at my work one day.

Kayla and Natalie were who kept me going, day after day, fighting so damn hard to keep us together, but her betrayal, it was unforgivable. She was fucking pregnant when she took what was left inside me and shredded it. A hatred that could only come from the deepest depths in me exploded and I flipped that bed over. “Fuck you!” I screamed. “I fucking hate you, Nat!” I screamed and fell to my knees and cried. Images of that tiny perfect baby came to me, and I screamed in agony. I fucking hated how that innocent baby had to take her first breaths only to have them taken away by the one person that should have loved her more than anything. She may not have been my daughter, and I never got to hold her warm pink body as she cried, but she took a part of my soul to heaven with her because I loved her mother so damn much. But her mother took all my dreams that I worked so damn hard to achieve away from me. I ended up in a fucking war, and had nobody but Kayla. I would have accepted that baby as mine and gotten us all off that fucking mountainside. That baby may not have been my flesh and blood, but I would have loved her the same.

I barely had myself sat up when Belle came running in and hit the floor in her little dress to hold me, not caring about the disgusting floor beneath us. I held on to her for dear life.

“I would have loved her as my own.” I cried.

Belle held me tightly. “She knows you would have.”

“Natalie fucked me up, Belle.” I sobbed.

She ran her fingers through my hair and let me cry. I buried my face in her neck and thanked God for my wife. I loved her far more than I ever could have loved Natalie, and that said a lot.

“She was so tiny and perfect.” I couldn’t hold back all the pain that was strangling my heart. I could barely breathe as I remembered that adorable little girl next door that stole my heart so young. What those men did to her over and over again about killed me. If only Natalie would have known the truth about her daughter. She was Will’s daughter, it was proven by the DNA test that should have been ran years ago, but little baby Hope wasn’t a priority at the time. Natalie thought she was carrying the spawn of evil, but she was carrying the child of an abused young man that was just discovering the best parts of himself. Will was a good man, that Natalie and his father ruined. I hated to blame Natalie, she was a victim, but she created more victims in her downfall.

“I should have known.” I sobbed.

“You were going to school and working several jobs, Michael. You had no way of knowing.” She kissed my head and held on to me. “She knew you would have been there for her, she chose not to involve you. Not because she didn’t care for you, but because she did care for you. Maybe she thought she was protecting you. That’s what her letter said, didn’t it?”

I couldn’t reply, just held on to her, my saving grace, my angel. She was the only reason I would ever have been thankful not to have married Natalie. Loving Belle was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had no doubt I was on the right track, and I had to finish what I came to do.

It took me quite some time to stand on my own and get my emotions under control, but I had to find Natalie and baby Hope. Her old house was empty, just like all the other houses. The State Police made a few arrests over the last week. Two of which were Natalie’s brothers, but then the cops had a warrant and of course found meth in the house. Everyone was arrested, including Natalie’s parents and sisters. The children went into state care, and I bought all the properties. Their house was condemned by the health department because it was so unhealthy.

I went in by myself, wearing an N95 mask, and gloves. There was carcasses of dead animals, and the scent of death, urine, and feces made me run back outside and vomit. It was unbelievable that anyone lived in that house. I went back in, then ran back out, but after several tries I found a box, a cardboard box that was all taped up and had the funeral home’s name on it. I opened the box before taking it out to make sure it was Natalie and Hope, and there was a bag of ashes and a packing slip that verified it was in fact them. I didn’t take the box out of the house, it was too disgusting, but I took the bag. Kayla drove us straight to the hotel so I could shower about five times and tried scalding the invisible slime off that stuck to me. Belle stepped in with me and helped scrub it off my skin. Then I bagged up the clothes I had been wearing to throw in with the trash at the old house the next day. They were going to do a controlled burn of Natalie’s old house. It was too hazardous to do anything else with it.

Belle

Kayla cried and Michael stood with his arms crossed as we watched their childhood home be demolished. There were bulldozers, firemen, an ambulance, the sheriff and a few of his men watching as three houses around us were either burned or bulldozed in.

It was for the best, seeing where they grew up broke my heart. No children should have had to grow up that way. We may have had young brides, which was just as bad or worse, but we had nice clean homes that kept us warm in the winter.

A car came flying up and stopped near us. Michael pulled me behind him, and then told Kayla to stand back. I didn’t know who the people were, but they didn’t look happy.

“You son of a bitch!” Some man came flying at Michael, but that wasn’t wise. In one quick move Michael had the man at his mercy. He held his arm behind him and twisted up as the stranger was falling to the broken asphalt.

“Come at me again with my wife and sister near, I’ll fucking kill you in an instant.” Michael warned him.

A way older man approached and was laughing as Sheriff Broughton walked up and stood next to my husband. “Looky there, my two favorite grandsons wrestling around like brothers.” The old man wearing bib overalls with white hair and a white beard was only acting amused. The man was tall like Michael but far from fit with a belly bigger than Santa’s. “Now, I have a question. What kind of good man has his own grandmother thrown from her home with nowhere to go?”

“Leave now Wayne, you’ve bullied Randy long enough. You’ve lived on his property for years without paying rent. Your days of bullying are over and it's time to move on.” Sheriff Broughton took a step forward and stood just in front of Michael who was just about ready to break the man’s arm he was still twisting.

“Now hear me out. My grandson, from what I hear, is a multi-millionaire and let’s his family live in squalor. Now we are soon to have no home at all. So, grandson, where do you suggest I take your grandmother to live her last days?” The old man ran his hand down his long beard. “You’ve helped that nasty slut of a mother of yours, but not your own grandmother?”

Kayla stepped forward but I grabbed her arm to stop her. “He’s not responsible for you!” Kayla spoke up and the old man looked at her and smiled. Other people were walking up, including an old woman.

“Oh boy, oh boy, it’s my granddaughter. Haven’t you grown up to be a fancy lady? Now, how was that possible? Oh right, you’ve sponged off your brother his whole life. Working his hands to the bone since he was itty-bitty. Now that he’s leaving us destitute, you’re just going to stand there and leave us in the cold?”

An old woman stood next to him, but he kept speaking but looked at my husband. “Is that how you treat the only father figure you really ever had?”

Michael growled in his tone. “You beat the fuck out of me, even after your piece of shit son almost killed me. Fuck…you. I don’t owe you or this mountainside a damn thing.”

“I heard you joined some kind of biker gang of vets that struck it rich by killing people. Did you hear that, Sheriff? Our Mikey here makes a killing from assassinating people, immigrants and all that shit.”

The Sheriff spoke up. “Go home, Wayne. It might not look like it now, but Mike’s doing what should have been done years ago. He owns this mountainside and can do as he pleases.”

The old lady that relied heavily on her cane held that cane up in front of Michael. “You’ll burn in hell for doing this to your own kin.” The cane came down with a crack and hit the man Michael was pretty much torturing by still holding his arm behind him.

“Mammaw!” The man cried out.

“Don’t mammaw me, you dumb shit!”

She looked at Michael. “Let the dumb shit go.” Michael did, but kneed him between the legs and the man fell to the ground in pain. “It was bad enough when I lost your daddy to the law, but this is the sickest thing a grandson has ever done to his elders. You’ll burn for an eternity for what you’re doing!” She then kicked the man on the ground then looked down at him as he groaned. “Get your ass up and act like a man!”

The woman was disgusting. She looked at Kayla and I saw Kayla gulp. She must have been scared of the woman. “Kayla Marie, our little slut of a granddaughter. When I heard your uncle Delmar say he saw you stripping up on that stage I thought, huh, she turned out just like her mom.”

“She did what?” Michael growled again.

“She was stripping, just like your mama. While you were off in the war and paying her bills, she was sharing that God given body of hers with every man in the state.”

I looked at Kayla and she had tears building in her eyes.

“Step back, Gladys!” The Sheriff warned her.

Her eyes landed on the Sheriff. “If you think we are going to evict from our own land without a fight, you have another thing coming to you. Our blood will be on that boys hands.” She pointed her cane at Michael.

The old woman peeked behind Michael. “Oh, my lord, what do we have here?”

Michael stepped in front of me a little closer. “None of your fucking business.”

She looked down and saw the platinum band on my husband’s finger. “Oh boy, boy, boy, it seems I have a new granddaughter. Why don’t you step around here honey and let everyone get a good look at you.”

Michael reached back for my hand. “Do not move from behind me.” He warned me.

I saw the entire group of unhealthy looking people step left and Michael did what he could to protect me. “Jesus Christ, she’s an angel.” One man said.

“Holy shit, I ain’t never saw nuttin like her. How does that pussy taste, Mikey? I bet she’s real sweet.” One of the toothless ones said then did some weird thing with his tongue at me.

“Shut the fuck up, Shane.” Michael warned him.

“When we were just kids, I used to think you had it so damn good. You always had money, the sweet little piece of ass next door, and a hell of a nice house. But you never did appreciate a damn thing you had, then I found out your sweet little girlfriend was the biggest hoe on this mountainside. Could you imagine my surprise when I learned that baby wasn’t even yours.”

Michael let go of my hand and stood over the nasty man. “Shut the fuck up.” He growled.

“She was running around behind your back with that Caston kid, and you were so damn taken by her that you didn’t even notice she was a nasty little slut. You don’t think her brothers gave us a free ride with her when you were out working? She had one tight ass pussy, too bad she killed herself.”

That man went flying and landed on his ass.

“That’s assault!” The old man pointed at Michael.

“I didn’t see anything.” The Sheriff turned toward his deputies. “Did you boys see anything?”

“I saw the klutz trip over his own damn foot.” One of the deputies said. “And what just fell out of his pocket?”

“Oh, I think that might just be a little bitty bag of probable cause.” The sheriff chuckled.

I didn’t see anything on the ground, but I wouldn’t have said that out loud. All I knew was they had ten days left to vacate their home and I prayed they didn’t decide to move to Indiana just to poke at Michael.

Once the police did their jobs, I realized why Michael wouldn’t let me step out from behind him. The police searched them, a few had guns although they were felons, and that scared me. I hated those people, and they were so mean to my husband and Kayla. I had an idea of their childhood by Michael’s description, but it didn’t come anywhere close to the reality. The men looked so dirty and sickly, and so did the women. They made Pammy look like a delicate beautiful princess.

I was relieved when those scary people left, and we finally went back to the hotel.

Michaels sex drive was nonexistent while we were in West Virginia. So was mine, and a kiss goodnight was about all either of us could give. The poverty I saw on that mountainside made me look at life a little different. I couldn’t have imagined having no hope left for the rest of my life. All you could do was exist. There were children playing in their yards that were too little to be unsupervised. They were dirty and not dressed well for the weather. I was sheltered, fed false testament, the women had no rights, but there wasn’t violence, or starving children. We had a warm supper on the table every night, running hot water, and heat in the winter. We didn’t use tarps to keep the rain out of our homes, or have to sleep in feces as children. Just seeing Michael’s house frozen in time the way they left it showed how hard he worked to give Kayla a better life.

“They’re superstitious people. They believed Natalie haunted our old house and that’s why nobody ever stepped foot in it.” Kayla said.

“I’m just surprised the kids left it alone, but shocked a family didn’t take it over.” I said.

“That’s only because nobody wanted to live next door to Natalie’s family. Randy had all the water turned off and the electricity. I’m also pretty sure Natalie’s family would have run off any squatters.” Michael said.

We were on a flight to New York, to scatter Natalie and Hope’s ashes.

Axton

“What the hell did they mean when they said Hope wasn’t your daughter?” Kayla questioned me while Belle was still asleep. I used a hell of a lot of frequent flyer miles to get us a suite with two bedrooms and a common area. It was a hell of a lot better than the adjoining rooms we had in West Virginia. The option wasn’t available at the only hotel in town. There wasn’t any newlywed sex happening in West Virginia, so I kept the door between our rooms cracked so I could listen for any trouble with the unfortunate relatives.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Mike, if you’re going to put this behind you, then you better talk about it. Did you lie to me all these years?”

I wanted to protect Natalie’s memory, and Kayla always looked up to Natalie. I didn’t want to hurt Kayla with the truth, but I was beginning to think keeping up the lies after she already suspected would be worse.

“I did it to protect her memory, but no, Hope wasn’t mine and I’ve always known it.” I admitted.

“Wait…I’m confused. Did you sleep with Natalie or not?”

I broke down and told her the whole story, including what happened with Will and his dad. She was angry, then she cried, then she was angry again. I knew she was hurting, the girl she loved did some terrible things on top of the most terrible thing. She was so angry when she accused Natalie of raping me. I denied it, even though I knew the truth. She took advantage of me, but I never saw it as rape. Kayla stormed to her room and slammed the door shut. Belle heard the commotion, and ran out to see what was happening. Thankfully, Belle went into Kayla’s room to talk to her. I walked to the window with the view of Central Park, and thought about everything. Natalie was a victim, that couldn’t be ignored, but she had options to find help. I would have helped her, at least until Will figured his shit out and stepped up. He really fucked up when she told him she was pregnant, but he was coming around. Hell, he killed his own damn father, so of course he cared. He even told Natalie he was there for her if she needed to talk. If she just would have trusted me. She had the resources she needed at that home to at least give Hope a chance. Natalie was seventeen, that was young, but old enough to at least know what she did to me was wrong. She had a mental break, and I understood that, but she ran to Will and not me when things happened. She said it was to protect me, but I was the guy that loved her. I was thankful for my wife, and I wouldn’t change a thing if Natalie somehow reappeared, but I did love that girl. Maybe not as much as Belle, damn that woman had my heart like no other could have had it.

As the city lights twinkled up at me, I thought about Belle. Hell, no matter what I was doing, my mind always traveled back to Belle. She was fitting in seamlessly at Creed’s Lake. Much better than her mother and other mom. That was some weird shit, having two moms that way. The ladies wouldn’t leave each other’s sides. They took all their meals in their apartment, but worked hard to earn money. I needed to have a very hard conversation with Belle where it concerned her mothers. They needed the security of being back in Arizona with their own people. They weren’t thriving at Creed’s Lake, and I had a feeling that cult was going to stick together, despite what advice I gave them. I didn’t have any say over who they kept as a neighbor, and it wasn’t illegal for wives to share a man. They weren’t married legally, that was the point. What I did want was the young girls to start new lives. There was no good reason for the law to permit those continuing relationships. I needed to do something to convince the ones that were still minors to leave their community. Hell, if I had it my way, they would go into foster care with their children. Children couldn’t be expected to raise children. Just like I wouldn’t have expected Natalie to keep Hope from being placed with a good family.

I heard the bedroom door open, and Kayla came out. She walked into my arms, and I held her. “I’m so sorry, Mike.” She cried.

“Why would you be sorry?” I asked.

“Because you were always there for me. You raised me although you were just a child yourself. You were in pain, and I should have done more to be there for you, like you were me.” She sniffled.

“You were only fourteen when it happened, Kayla, and it was my job to take care of you.” I reminded her.

“No, it was mom’s job to take care of me.” She was still crying.

“Yes, it was, but she wasn’t doing her job. I love you, Kayla and I’d do it all over again.” I kissed the top of her head.

“You’re the best brother that’s ever existed. I love you, too.”

I had about enough of that shit and pulled back from her. “Let’s go put all this to rest once and for all.”

We had the permit to scatter ashes in Central Park. Kayla suggested keeping a small amount in a tiny urn, but I didn’t want any of the ashes. All I wanted was to set Natalie and Hope free. I did talk to Gloria, and she agreed it would be for the best. It was hard for her, being that Hope was her granddaughter. I wanted to know if I should have saved some for Will, but Gloria said he would want them both to be free, so it wasn’t necessary to save any of the ashes.

Belle read scripture as I scattered the ashes around a few elm trees. Then she said a prayer and they were free. We stood there for a little bit and my mind played back the most memorable childhood laughter, the I love you’s, and all the good times. I purposely tried to remember those things instead of the bad. I said a silent prayer and asked God to love both of them.

It was Sunday and we had to go find some vegetarian food for Belle. We enjoyed New York for the rest of the day and returned home to Creed’s Lake, and I felt a bit lighter after putting a few things behind me.