Chapter 45
Vee
Two weeks. I still can’t believe that it’s been that long since Hank poured out his heart to me, telling me all the things he needed to. Clearing up things he learned about himself and divulging things he had done while we were broken up.
That hurt. Him being with a club girl. But I took a page out of his book and asked if I could go to a session with him and his therapist. He agreed.
Through her help, we were able to work through all the feelings I had about that.
And now our new bond is growing stronger bit by bit.
We are falling back to the couple we were before I confessed my love was for more than just him.
“Last box, baby,” Hank says, stepping into the living room where I’m looking around my apartment. No. Not mine anymore. Jake, one of the Hellions, has taken over the lease from me. I’m leaving the furniture for him, too, since the house Hank gave me is furnished.
I shouldn’t be sad. But I am. Not because I’m moving on, but because of what I’m leaving behind.
Memories. This was my first place on my own.
I was living here when I found my brother again.
When I lost my men, and still… they somehow found their way back here. To me. It was here I conceived my baby.
Hank steps up beside me and kisses me on my cheek.
“Why so sad?” he asks.
“Just thinking about all the things that happened here in this apartment,” I tell him softly.
“You’ll still have the memories. Now we have a house to make new ones in, with our baby.”
His words have my eyes tearing up. Who am I kidding? I've been a ball of emotions lately. If I’m not laughing, I’m crying.
“Let’s go, baby. Luca and the guys are waiting for us at the house. They’ll bring the boxes in for us, and they have Mexican food. Your favorite.”
“And Cherry Pepsi?” I ask hopefully. After Josh talked to them about cutting back on my caffeine while pregnant, they’ve all been watching how much I drink.
But the joke’s on them. Well, Luke. He has to stop smoking.
Josh got on to him about the effects of cigarette smoke and what he’s doing to his lungs. Thank God for nicotine patches.
“I’ll sneak you one,” he whispers. “Our secret.”
That’s why I love this man. It’s the simple things that make me happy. I follow him out of the apartment and lock the door. Hank, or one of the guys, will give the key to Jake when they see him later at the clubhouse for church.
It doesn’t take long to get to our house, and when we pull into the driveway, I see Luca, Nic, Josh, and Luke drinking a beer while watching prospects from both clubs putting together an elaborate swingset in the yard.
“Don’t. It’s not worth questioning,” Hank says. “They’re already talking about how old our kid should be before they start taking them for motorcycle joy-rides.”
I laugh and he continues. “Luca and Luke are already in a heavy debate about what club they will belong to.”
“And what if it’s a girl?” I ask. We decided not to find out the sex and thankfully we’re not having twins. Not that I wouldn’t love having two babies, but one will be so much easier.
“Who says a girl can’t ride a motorcycle and belong to a club? If she wants to, and they deny her, well, then she’ll just start her own and I’ll back her.”
And yet another reason I love this man.
“Let’s go. I’m starving,” I tell him, opening the door to get out of the truck. The guys are already heading across the yard to us, smiles on their faces.
Luke and Josh both take a turn hugging and kissing me as if they hadn’t seen me just a few hours ago.
“We already unpacked the boxes we brought over. If there’s anything not where you want it, we’ll make sure to move it,” Josh reassures me. Always the one to pay attention to detail. Guess that comes with being a doctor.
“There’s my favorite sister,” Luca says boldly, arms already open wide to give me a hug.
“I’m your only sister,” I remind him, but wrap my arms around him, squeezing him tightly. I’m so happy I have him back in my life. We missed so much of each other’s lives growing up that we never want to miss out on anything again.
He just blows me off before slipping a hand around my waist, holding me tightly.
“Now that I’ve got the three of you knuckleheads together, it’s time we have a chat.
” His face loses the cheerful smile it just had, and morphs into a serious one.
“This is my sister, and the three of you hurt her. You broke her. I wanted to kill you, but she stopped me.” He takes a swallow of his beer.
“I’m glad that ya’ll were able to work shit out, and she has her beautiful smile back.
But mark my words, if any of you hurt her again, cause her to shed one tear, you’re dead.
I may not have a pig farm at my disposal, but trust me when I say I know how to make a body disappear. ”
“Luca!” I reach over and slap him on his chest.
“What!” he exclaims. “They need to know I mean business. The Rejects’ clubhouse ain’t no place for a pregnant sister, or my niece or nephew. They’ll be the ones who disappear from sight.”
“You don’t have to worry, Luca,” Josh steps up and says. “If we make her cry, I’ll come to you personally.”
“Good. Since we have that all cleared up, I’m eating for two and I’m starving. Where’s the food?”
With that we all head inside leaving the prospects to keep working on the swing without supervision.
Luke
August
The three of us are sitting out back; the late afternoon sun dipping low enough that the yard is mostly shadow. The cooler sits between our chairs, half full of beer and melting ice. Crickets are already starting up in the grass.
And the house is quiet. I can’t help but smile because I know it won’t be for long. Soon our little baby will fill the air with laughter and tears.
Vee’s at her baby shower, that we were specifically told by Arizona we could not attend. Men should be able to go, it’s our kid too.
I take a long pull from my beer, leaning back in the chair and stretching my legs out in front of me, crossing my ankles.
Hank cracks open another beer. “No men. No bikers. No ruining the decorations.”
Doc huffs. “Like we would. We can be civilized.” He looks over at us with a smirk. “Well I can,” he snorts.
“Oh, look at you usin’ your big fancy words. Civilized.” I mock him before taking another swallow.
The breeze kicks up, rustling the trees behind the fence.
Doc takes a drink and then shakes his head. “She’s due next month. Can you believe that? It went so fast.”
“Don’t worry, I plan to have her knocked up again as soon as I can.” I wink.
I stare out across the yard, the reality of that settling heavy in my chest. Next month. Next month there’s going to be a tiny human in our house.
Hank nods slowly. “We're going to finally know what she's having.”
I glance at him. “You act like we haven’t known for nine months she’s having a baby.”
“You know what I mean,” he says, rolling his eyes.
Doc leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Alright. Bets.”
“Bets?” I ask.
“Boy or girl,” he says
Hank doesn’t hesitate. “Boy.”
I shake my head. “Girl.”
“What makes you think that?” Hank asks.
I shrug and take another sip of my beer. I know when I tell them they’re going to call me an idiot, but I do it anyway.
“I was watching this fucking movie one night when I couldn’t sleep,” I say. “And they checked the sex with a wedding ring.”
Hank stifles a laugh while Doc raises an eyebrow.
“The hell are you talking about?” bursts from Hank’s mouth.
“You hang a wedding ring on a string over the stomach,” I explain. “If it swings one way, it's a boy. The other way it's a girl.”
“You're not married,” Doc reminds him. “So where did you get a ring?”
“I know,” I say. “But only because she said she refused to marry only one of us and not the others. So I may have gone and bought a fake one so I could find out.”
Hank snorts into his beer.
Doc rubs his face like he regrets ever asking.
“Your logic is terrifying.”
I grin. Because it makes perfect sense to me. I just improvised.
“Hey,” Hanks says, clearing his throat. “You ever heard of a push gift?”
“A what?” I ask. “Why?”
Hank scratches the back of his neck. “Arizona asked if we were getting her one.”
“So, what is it?” I ask, truly oblivious to what the hell he's talking about.
Hank shrugs helplessly. “That’s the thing. She didn’t tell me. She just said to figure it out.”
I stare at him. “You're kidding.”
“Nope. And she said we better do it,” he adds.
“It’s what a man gives to his child’s mother for giving birth,” Doc explains. “Typically something she's been wanting.”
Hank whistles under his breath. I lean back in my chair and stare up at the darkening sky.
“Fuck. We’re screwed. Vee never wants anything.” I blow out a breath of defeat.
Hank pulls another beer from the cooler. And I rub the back of my neck trying to figure out what the fuck to get the woman who wants nothing.
“She always talks about how she wished she could have had family trips with her brother when they were younger. We can rent a cabin somewhere nice,” he says.
I lean forward now, fully invested. “Keep going.”
“We invite family and friends,” he continues. “Make it a whole week thing, you know.”
“And when we’re there,” I add, “we have a commitment ceremony.”
“Like Ash did?” Hank asks.
“Kinda,” I continue, “nothing formal. But instead of one of us marrying her, we all pledge ourselves to her for life.”
“We can give her a ring,” Doc says. “Something custom. Mixed with all our tastes.”
Hank sits forward, excited now. “And we give her the ol’ lady cut.”
“Yeah,” I say slowly.
Hank nods.
Doc raises his beer and we do the same. “To the best push gift and woman ever,” he toasts.