Chapter 16
Willow
Y es, it was crazy to get married so quickly, but in my heart of hearts, I knew Dean Hamilton was it for me.
He had been since the night I met him, and fully realizing how much he sacrificed for me made it that much more special.
I didn’t expect to see my brother there, and definitely not with his cut turned inside out to hide his colors, but when he hugged me, telling me how proud he was of me and how good of a man I had, I felt like we’d come full circle.
This should have happened six years ago, but there was no turning back time. We only had what lay ahead, and I was eager to see what the future looked like.
After my claiming and proposal, I was whisked to the ladies’ table to discuss what I wanted for the wedding.
Paige remarked, “You and Jigsaw need to go first thing and get a marriage license, and then we can find you a dress. Do you know what you may want to wear?”
I shrugged and responded, “I never really thought about it.”
A few of the ladies gasped, and Charlie laughed from beside me. It was Chayenne who asked, “You’ve never dreamed about your wedding?”
I shook my head and took a sip of the rum and Coke Jigsaw had brought to me before he stepped away to speak with Ghost, who was now proudly wearing his colors.
“Honestly, I’m not a girly-girl, and the idea of planning all that, at a ridiculous expense, just for a few minutes of pictures, never appealed to me. ”
It was my brother who interjected as he and Dean walked up. “Not to eavesdrop, but Willow didn’t play with Barbies or babydolls growing up. She had a black mini-trike as a little girl and was happier skinning her knees playing outside than she was playing dress-up.”
I nodded, adding, “I didn’t babysit as a girl, and I never daydreamed of what my wedding would look like.”
“Me either,” Claire said, and I looked at her in confusion. She explained, “I was happier hanging out at my dad’s business, learning how to make deals, than I was playing with dolls.”
I felt myself relax as the ladies began to tell me how they agreed with me and how little they each planned their ‘big day’.
They really were my sisters, and when Dean kissed me and Ghost bumped my shoulder with his fist before they walked away, I couldn’t help but smile. Life was good, and I was happy.
Isn’t that all anyone could ask for?
Monday afternoon
I was in Cheyenne and Roughstock’s bedroom with the ladies helping me get ready.
Dean and I got up this morning and were the first ones in line for a marriage license.
Luckily, this kind of thing happened at the Rally every year, so there was no wait on getting the license.
The chaplain who was doing the ceremony texted Dean late last night that he was in town and would be ready to go whenever we were.
I wasn’t nervous . . . I was fucking excited.
Being claimed wasn’t something I ever thought I wanted, but it turned out I was wrong.
I did want to be claimed, but not just by anyone.
I only wanted Dean Hamilton to place his claim on me.
When he slipped the cut onto my shoulders yesterday, the broken pieces inside me found their spots and healed themselves.
When I saw him holding the little black box with a beautiful ring inside, I felt something bigger than love take root.
I didn’t even have a way to describe what it felt like, but deep down, I was at peace.
“Are you sure you don’t want the old traditions?” Cheyenne asked, and I shook my head as I put the final touches on my makeup.
They asked about me having something old, new, borrowed, and blue, but I refused.
I didn’t believe in old world folklore about the keys to a successful marriage.
That was the reason I rode Dean’s cock until we both exploded before we left his house— our house —to come over for the ceremony.
If things didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be because he saw me or I didn’t have a blue handkerchief tucked into a garter, or because I wasn’t being given away.
I took care of myself, and I wasn’t something to be passed from one man to another.
“I know it’s crazy, but those things don’t worry me,” I remarked as Charlie, Animal’s aunt, walked up behind me.
“Would it be okay if I gave you some advice?” she asked my reflection in the mirror, and I smiled and nodded.
“Go to bed angry. You’ll be less willing to meet in the middle if you’re tired.
And let him fix his own plate and wash the dishes.
You weren’t put on this earth to serve him or any man, unless you choose to.
And most importantly,” she leaned over and whispered softly into my ear, “don’t suck his cock until he eats you out.
Get yours first and then take care of him. ”
She stood and smiled, and I tried and failed to keep the laughter contained.
“What did she say?” Jackie asked, and I shook my head, dabbing a tissue into the corners of my eyes to keep the joyous tears from leaking down my face and ruining my makeup.
“Just wisdom from someone who grew up like Willow did. Us club daughters have to stick together,” Charlie remarked, and my eyes grew wide as the rest of the ladies stopped moving to stare at her while she worked on a curl in the back of my hair, not responding to the silence.
It was obvious no one knew Charlie’s father had been a club brother, and I knew instantly that she and I would be spending time together.
A knock on the door broke the silence, and Paige walked over and cracked the door to peek outside and see who it was.
She looked over her shoulder and said, “It’s your brother, Willow. ”
I turned in my seat and stood as she opened the door and let him inside.
He stopped, and his eyes grew soft as he looked at me.
It wasn’t until the door closed that I realized all the ladies had left the room, leaving us alone for a few moments.
I’d been honest with them over the last few days, so they knew he and I were working on repairing what Popeye had fucked up in our family.
“You look so beautiful, Willow. You remind me of your mother,” Ghost said.
I didn’t want to cry but felt my nose burning as he took a step closer to me.
“I know we’ve had issues throughout our lives, but I wanted to give you something.
” He reached into his cut and pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket.
It had been well handled, with my name on the outside and the words ‘when it’s important’.
He placed it in my hands before he explained, “I found this inside Dad’s safe after he died, and I feel like this is what he meant by that. ”
Looking at the sealed envelope, I asked, “What’s inside?”
“I don’t know, and it’s not my business to know. I wanted you to have it, and you can decide what to do with it,” he reasoned. “I think it may have been his way of saying he was sorry for Jigsaw leaving, but that’s just my guess.”
I reached up and hugged my brother as I said, “I love you, Marcus. Thank you for being my big brother.”
He returned the hug as he replied, “I love you, little sister. I’m glad you finally got your man. I’m just sorry I didn’t stop Popeye from letting him walk away.”
I pulled back and remarked, “I’m not.” He looked confused, so I expounded as I turned and started touching up my makeup.
“Everything happens for a reason, I think. And everything with Dean happened the way it needed to so that we were here, now, ready to say yes to forever. I stopped questioning fate a long time ago, and the universe delivered the perfect person to spend eternity with.”
“You really are an egghead, aren’t you?”
I smiled and asked, “Are you really that dense?”
He bopped my nose with a chuckle at the old insults we used to hurl at each other then walked to open the door. He offered me his elbow and asked, “Can I escort you to your future?”
“Please,” I returned and slipped my hand into the bend of his arm.
I glanced at the full-length mirror near the open doorway and smiled at my appearance.
The ladies and I found a beautiful, gray slip dress with various shades of blue flowers climbing up the front from the hemline and dropping down from the sleeveless top.
The only area without flowers was the waist, which is cinched with a belt.
It wasn’t a wedding dress, but it was stunning, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was what I wanted to wear.
It showed off my tattoos, which Dean requested, it was beautiful but comfortable, it cost less than a hundred dollars, and it could be worn for another occasion.
Spending thousands of dollars or more for something that you wear for a few hours and is only admired in photos was crazy. At least, I thought it was.
Ghost helped me walk into the foyer of the house, where Cheyenne, Jackie, Claire, Paige, Charlie, and Laura were waiting for me. He smiled as he slipped my hand from his arm and gave me a kiss on the forehead before he winked and walked out the front door.
“You look beautiful,” Laura said, and the ladies all nodded in agreement.
I felt beautiful, but I was trying to keep my cool. It wasn’t panic I was feeling, but I had butterflies filling my stomach. I didn’t want to run away. I wanted to run to Dean.
“Are you sure you don’t want your brother or even Pappy to walk you?” Claire asked.
“I’m sure. I know it’s unconventional, but it’s just the way I want to do it,” I reasoned.
“Let this strong woman walk herself down the aisle,” Charlie said to the group and then added, “We’ll see you out there.”
Nodding, I watched my friends walk out the front door, leaving it open so I could follow in a few minutes.
As I stood there in the foyer of the hundred-year-old ranch house, feeling the breeze blow through the open doorway, I thought of what came before us all and what will come after.
Not in the religious way, but in the grand scheme of the universe.
Out of the millions of years and vast, uncountable expanse of the universe, somehow, in some mysterious collision, Dean and I made a connection deeper than the cosmos and wider than the imagination of the human mind.
We found each other in all the bleak darkness and overpowering light.
We loved on a level that few experienced, and in the years we were apart, we grew as humans but remained interlocked.
Two ever-changing people, bound by the unpredictability of life, had found forever.
As I took a step out of the front door and onto the wide porch, I saw what Dean had prepared.
I told him to do whatever he wanted, and as I walked down the steps, I was assisted at every step by an Phantom Renegades offering me a hand.
Ghost was standing at the bottom, and as I walked past him, he handed me a single red rose.
Continuing down the path between the group of friends, I saw Dean standing at the end of the aisle, wearing a pair of black jeans, his black cowboy boots, and a light blue dress shirt. He was wearing his cut, and I saw mine hanging on a hook next to an old biker holding what looked like a Bible.
As I got to Dean, he smiled and reached out, taking my hand. I wasn’t sure what to do with the rose, so he took it and handed it to the man standing with us, whose cut read ‘The Rev’. Rev shrugged and tucked the rose behind his ear as Dean took my other hand into his.
He began to speak of riding together, of life’s tests, and a few other things, but I was lost in Dean’s deep green eyes.
When it was time to say the words that would bind us together forever, I repeated what Rev said, followed by Dean doing the same.
We exchanged rings, then Rev handed Dean my cut so he could put it on me.
Rev told us to hold left hands as he wrapped a piece of leather around our hands.
“Rings are an old way of showing your connection, but this symbolizes the oldest of ways to mark a union. The binding of the hands shows that two souls are connected, that they are one, and that no man or woman can separate what the universe has brought together.” He placed a hand onto the binds and declared, “You’re hitched, so kiss your woman and claim your man. ”
We pushed our bound hands between our bodies as Rev stepped back.
Dean’s kiss was all-consuming, filled with love and promises of unbridled passion.
As we broke apart, the cheers erupted, and we stood as the leather was unwound from our joined hands.
Dean and I walked down the aisle and straight to his bike, which was waiting at the side of the driveway.
There were cans tied to the back, and he helped me on as the group followed us to his motorcycle.
We were only driving around the clubhouse, where we would be celebrating our union, but this was something I really wanted to do.
I wanted to ride away with my property cut on, feeling the weight of my wedding ring and having the wind blow through my hair.
On a bike was where I was comfortable, and it was where I wanted to be.
He cranked the bike and pulled away, lifting one hand into the air as I turned and looked back at the two clubs—my father’s, which was passed to my brother, and Dean’s, in which he was a revered member—standing together, celebrating the joining of not only us but also them in a way.
We can live with hate or we can lead with love. I knew Dean wasn’t a saint, and I wasn’t either, but I chose to give grace and lead with love.
It was better for my soul in the long run.