Nine
Princess and Vex are confused, their eyes sweeping from their father to Bellamy and back. And when no one gives anything away, they look at one another and do that weird twin thing. Questions swim in their eyes, but neither has answers for the other. They don’t know who the girl is sitting in front of them. Prez watches his children with adoration and love in his eyes, but I can also see wariness. When he smiles at them, it appears pleading, which isn’t like him. And that’s when the twins realized something was up and decided to be smart and do as asked. With only a passing glance at Bellamy, Vex takes a seat. Princess takes a moment longer, looking at her father and then her eldest brother. She huffs a breath of annoyance, stalks over to the couch, and sits. The silence in the room is filled with tension and is nearly overwhelming, even for me. Princess being Princess, her whiny voice breaks the silence and into everyone's thoughts.
“Daddy?”
Prez looks over to Princess, eyes hard but pleading for her to keep her shit together. “Baby Girl, Vex, I'd like you to meet your sister Bellamy. Bellamy, this is Paisley and Preston or Princess and Vex, as we call them in the club.” he says in a soft tone he’s not known for. The tension in his brows should be clue enough to his kids that shit is difficult for him right now.
As I watch everything play out, I’m not surprised that Bellamy says nothing. The only acknowledgment she gives her siblings is a chin lift. Unlike Vex and Princess, she has an unbothered air about her with the declaration. Vex and Princess, on the other hand, stare at her wide-eyed and shocked. Vex's head tilts slightly as he takes Bellamy in. Princesses' mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. It takes everything in me not to laugh at the look on her face. I can see it in Princesses' eyes. She is gearing up to write checks her ass can’t cash.
Vex and Princess continue to stare at Bellamy. Bull still looks pissed as fuck. I'd be pissed, too, if a beautiful woman beat my ass in front of my brothers. The problem now is that he knows she’s his sister, so being pissed off needs to take a back seat.
“Chill the fuck out, brother,” I say low, leaving no room for misinterpreting my words or the warning behind them.
Bull's eyes snap to mine. We hold each other's stare, mine unwavering, his frustrated with a glint of anger. But he’s smart enough to back down. I'd hate for it to be two in owe for his ass tonight. He gives me a jerky nod, returning his attention reluctantly to Prez. His jaw ticks, making it clear he is not happy being made to back down. Too fucking bad. My eyes remain on him a little longer before my attention is snatched away by no one other than Princess and her dumb ass. She shifts in her seat, sitting forward, face becomes redder and redder the longer the silence in the room lingers. Her mouth continues to open and close. She looks at her brothers and father and then at me. My head shakes at her, hoping she’d get the hint. She doesn’t.
“But... but...” She scowls at Bellamy, which pisses me right the fuck off. “… she's Black.”
“Fucking hell.”
“Fuck’s sake.”
“Christ.”
Bull, Vex, and I say simultaneously in disbelief. Prez stares at her like she’s lost her fucking mind. It’s Bellamy next that draws my attention. Her head turns slowly in Princesses' direction. Have you ever seen the movie exorcist? That’s the way her head moves. The look on her face, though, says it all. Bellamy gives Princess a look like she is the dumbest bitch she has ever met in her life.
“Wow. This is coming from the girl I watched damn near climb inside her father’s Black VP. Seriously?” Bellamy’s face scrunches up in disbelief, and she shakes her head.
As I try to keep from laughing, under her breath, I hear her say. No fucking way. Bimbo Blondie and I are not sisters. No… fucking… way. I do my damndest not to laugh at the utter disbelief on her face. I don't think that shit will go over well. But a chuckle makes its way out, and I try to cover it with a cough. She looks over at me, holds my stare, and winks. The side of her mouth tips up.
Prez clears his throat, which draws our attention to him. He seems more wary than before. His eyes bounce between his girls; I can tell he doesn’t want to reprimand his youngest, but he knows he’ll have serious problems if he doesn’t.
“Baby girl, let me explain everything to you and your brothers so you'll understand how your half-sister and her twin brother came to be…”
I hear a gasp and look over to Princess, who looks adequately scandalized, and damn it if I don’t want to fall out laughing. Shit, I should have brought a snack and some beer for this shit. I look at Bellamy to see her staring at her Pops, not acknowledging Princess or her dramatics.
Bellamy speaks under her breath, “Because explaining fucking to a dummy will take too damn long. I ain't got time for this shit, for fuck's sake. Our education system needs a serious damn overhaul.” saying louder than before and possibly louder than she intended.
Princess hears her and scowls, huffing out and crossing her arms over her chest. She looks to her brothers for backup, but she gets none. Her eyes returned to Bellamy and narrowed. She’s now shooting daggers into the side of her head. And I’m sure she can feel it. And instead of ignoring them, Bellamy does the slow head turn thing again and shoots Princess a condescending look that calls her all kinds of stupid.
Over the next hour, Prez explains how he met Beverly, the mother of Bull, Vex, and Princess. He explains that their time together was short. And it was supposed to be two people having a good time with one another. No strings, no promises, and no commitment. At that simplified explanation, Bellamy snorts, and Prez stops speaking, looking over at her with pleading eyes, essentially asking her to be patient with him. Eventually waves her hand in a carry-on motion, apologizing for the interruption. The look on her face, though, says otherwise. With an exasperated sigh and shake of his head, Prez continues the story, leaving out some of the sorted details.
Anyone who knows him would know this is hard for him to get through. Telling his children that he essentially didn’t love their mother and only married her out of obligation despite the picture he painted for them growing up. He’s taking the rose-colored glasses off and sharing how he and Beverly came to be and how they lived a lie. A marriage whose foundation was built on deceit and manipulation. Prez always tried to put on a show for his kids with Beverly. He tried to love the woman, and even though he didn’t have it in him, he still tried.
Prez continues explaining that between the time he met Beverly and the few months before finding out she was pregnant, he met Savvy, Bellamy, and Blaze’s mother. Prez explains he spent a few months with Savvy in a relationship that he thought would lead to her becoming his ol' lady and wife. Unfortunately, that part of the story wasn’t going over with Princess. Her eyes filled with anger, rage, and hatred toward her sister the longer he spoke. However, Princesses’ anger doesn’t stop him from telling the gentler version of the history between him and the mothers of his children.
He explains that a few months after their time together, his now ex-wife's family showed up at the clubhouse demanding a meeting with Mad Dog, our former Prez Gunner's father. Because Beverly was pregnant, they demanded that she and Prez marry, or there would be war. The club was not too keen to take on a fight with an unknown enemy. So, Prez did what he felt was right and broke things off with Savvy, even knowing she was pregnant, too.
The part he leaves out is that Beverly, the bitch she is, knew who Prez was when she pursued him. She was looking to get knocked up and made sure she did. In all her planning and scheming, Beverly hadn’t counted on Prez meeting Savvy and falling madly in love with her. She hadn’t counted on him being reluctant to agree to their union. And Prez learned pretty quickly that neither Beverly nor her family were opposed to threatening Savvy to get what they wanted from him, which was ultimately why he did what he did.
He doesn’t tell his kids any of that, instead deciding to tell them he wanted to give his child with Savvy a life outside the MC. He didn’t want Savvy to feel second best to Beverly. It was an impossible situation, but he did what he thought was best. He made the love of his life hate him.