Chapter 18
Bronson
Cole, Bax, and I finished carrying all of Lila’s things into our house.
I saw Lila looking around while biting her bottom lip. Seeing the unease that was clearly written on her face, I asked, “What’s wrong?”
She sighed, “Are you sure this is what you want?”
I winked down at her, “Only been sure about four things in my life. Fighting. Cole. Madalyn. You.”
I pressed a kiss on the tip of her cute as fuck nose.
She sighed, “Crazy.”
I chuckled, “Got hit too many times in the head.”
But when she wanted to move to one of the guest rooms, I stood firm on that.
“Spent the past week without you at my side, baby. Not doing it anymore. Not doing it until God himself tears you from my grasp. And baby, I got a strong fucking grip. Okay?”
At my words, a tear trailed down her cheek.
Her stuff was now mingled in our bedroom, and that was where she was going to stay.
After I had shared my deepest secret with her and she agreed to give me another chance, one I wasn’t going to fuck up with, I asked them to come back into the house.
We argued, Bax and I did.
The ending result was me getting punched by Bax for what I did to Lila.
I earned that punch and even gave him free rein if I dared to hurt her again.
Lila and I were taking things slow.
I was determined to fully prove to her that I was in this, and I was staying in this.
In other words, I wasn’t fucking going anywhere.
And I started showing her that as I walked up behind her and pressed a kiss on her shoulder.
I also started that by getting another tattoo.
But this one was right over my heart.
With the light blue ribbon for Kidney Awareness, and right in the ribbon, was a single word, “Hers.”
I also made a vow that Lila was going to be my last.
If we couldn’t find a kidney for her, and the worst thing happened, then she would be it for me.
I knew she was it for me.
And when she saw that tattoo.
She kissed me stupid.
And slowly but surely, that light I had extinguished was starting to shine bright.
And I wouldn’t stop until I winced every time I looked into her eyes.
***
In the middle of making dinner, Lila snapped her fingers, then whirled around and looked at me, “I got it!”
The nurse I hired to stay at the house with her when we weren’t here smiled, then shook her head.
Lila still had little to no energy, but she would be damned if she didn’t cook at least once a week.
Her response when I told her she didn’t have to cook... we were hers. And to her, that was all that needed to be said.
Fuck, but I loved her. Loved the hell out of her.
“You got what, baby?” I asked.
She smiled, “Her name.”
I lifted a brow, “Her name?”
She giggled, “Ms. Nothing Cuntnugget.”
I frowned, “Huh.”
“Their cuntmuffin twatwaffle of a mother.”
Cole and Madalyn pulled their phones out.
But it was Cole who read, “A cuntnugget by definition, according to Google, is a person who...” he trailed off.
Then he looked at Lila, and all he said was, “Fitting.”
She smirked.
Madalyn giggled then nodded.
I took Cole’s phone and read it too.
Yeah, that was fucking fitting.
After dinner, I helped Lila to our room.
And once I helped her get into a pair of fleece pajamas, she got underneath the covers.
I pulled my side back and climbed in.
Then I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her close.
Her face buried in my chest, and then brokenly, I heard her whisper, “I’m sorry.”
I frowned. Sorry. What for?
I leaned my head back and asked, “The fuck are you sorry for?”
“I’m too weak to do much,” she whispered.
I sighed then bent my head and kissed the crown of her head. Then, staying there, I breathed in deeply, cashmere and vanilla, yeah, I was addicted to it, “Baby, you don’t have to worry about doing nothing but breathing.”
She sighed.
And since she did nothing but melt further into me, I knew that it was a good kind of sigh.
***
I sat with her in front of Dr. Harding as he looked at me and smiled, “Glad she told you.”
I chuckled, “I kind of forced her to.”
Lila scoffed, “True.”
Then he proceeded to explain how things would go.
But the only thing that struck my mind was, ‘Once her kidneys get to 90% non-functioning, it will be a matter of hours’.
We were at eighty- one percent already.
***
“I don’t want to go,” I growled.
Lila placed her hands on her hips, “And I don’t care. You're going, and that’s final.”
I lifted a brow, looked at all of her, and then looked at all of me, then I lifted a brow, “I’m six foot five. You're only five foot seven. What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying no more honey chicken if you don’t go.” She snapped.
I narrowed my eyes, “You wouldn’t.”
She grinned, “Try me.”
So that was how I found myself on my bike, headed to Virgin Mary’s for guys’ night.
Cole, Madalyn, and the nurse had promised to call me if anything happened and the girls would be there as well.
That helped ease some of my worry about leaving her side.
I clapped Dom on the back, then made my rounds with Carter, Ethan, Alec, and Garrick.
The guys' night had expanded to include the members of Alec’s teams when they were near.
“Saw her out and about; she looked like she was on the prowl.” Some fucker was talking about a woman at the bar.
It didn’t matter to me who they were talking about.
Because my woman was at home with her girls, having a girls’ night.
And she was telling them about everything that was going on.
It wasn’t until the man locked his eyes on me that I realized he was talking about my woman.
I lifted a brow.
“You know where your woman is?” he asked.
I chuckled at that and shook my head. Guy was off his fucking rocker if he was referring to my woman.
“Man, I’m serious. Fucking saw her. You’re the Beast. Seen your woman. Know her. Saw her. Legit man. Last night. Swear it on my life, bro.”
I grinned darkly, “Let me educate ya. One, my woman isn’t the cheating kind. Two, she made me a promise. Three, only woman I’ve met who actually keeps her promises. Fourth, she was at home in my bed last night.”
“Quit trying to start shit. Do it again, I’ll knock your fucking lights out.” With that said, I took a pull of my beer.
“Do y’all believe that shit?” I asked the guys.
Half tempted to beat the shit out of him just for the hell of it.
I locked eyes with Ethan, Alec, Dominik, Garrick, Carter, Wolf, Jekyll, and Hyde, and at their looks and their nods, we all stood up, then I grabbed the fucker, frog-marched him out of the bar and educated him a little more.
***
After I told my kids what I was planning, they were both smiling widely.
Because they too didn’t want to live the rest of their lives without her.
Lila
“Come on,” Madalyn said as she grabbed my hand and led me to the family room.
Cole was there and smiling widely.
I looked between the two of them and asked, “What’s going on?”
Cole winked as he jerked his chin to the couch.
I sat down, then he took the blanket off the couch and covered me with it.
That was something else that had changed. I stayed cold all the time.
They both grinned, then they both sat down on the couch on either side of me, and then they both said, “You’ll see.”
I sat there as I watched the sports channel.
And then... everything in me... froze.
“Good evening, and welcome to the awards ceremony of the UFL.” The guy said.
“Tonight, we have the amazing privilege of celebrating fighters, trainers, managers, staff, and coordinators. But tonight, for the first time, we are doing something that has never been done before. Therefore, we ask for your indulgence. Bronson ‘Beast ’Adams needs no introduction,” the man said, then jerked up his chin.
And there I sat as my man walked to the man and shook his hand.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I come to all of you in the hopes that you will help me. See a little less than a year ago, I packed my family up and moved to a little town called Whispering Falls in North Carolina.”
The crowd was silent.
“And then I met the most amazing lady this world has ever had the pleasure of knowing. Due to life experiences, I kept walls around myself. But like the little devil she is, she bulldozed through those walls. But it wasn’t me who accepted her first. No, it was my two kids who fell in love with her on the spot, and like all things big tend to fall quickly, I was no exception. ”
He swallowed.
“But the reason I am here is that I need your help. A plea of sorts. My woman is diabetic. What some of you may not know is that people with diabetes can develop renal failure. Their kidneys stop functioning. And over the past year, my woman has been fighting a losing battle. As of three days ago, her kidneys are at eighty-one percent non-functioning. So, I ask. I plead. Go get tested. Give the light of my life a chance to chase the rest of her dreams. Thank you.”
And there on the bottom of the screen was the number to call to get checked to see if you are a donor.
Tears trailed down my cheeks at his words.
At his trying to help.
Oh. My. Sweet. Stars.