Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Mongrel
Seeing how well Addy is getting along with my brothers and their ol’ ladies settles something inside of me.
They’re my family, and as much as I like her, if there was any kind of issue, I wouldn’t keep seeing her.
Because my club brothers have held me up for years now, and having Jonah and Uncle Leroy back is adding to that feeling.
Addy will be the cherry on top as far as I’m concerned.
“When are you gonna try to make them?” I ask Gretchen.
“Tomorrow!” Gretchen exclaims. “After these past two weekends and the success of the pop-up camper, I told the organizers I wanted a permanent spot. I’ve got a list of the cake pops that sell the best, of course, but being able to add different things will keep it new and exciting for customers.”
“I… I’m off tomorrow if you want me to come and help,” Addy says. “We take turns with our schedules, so I had yesterday off, today we’re closed, and this upcoming week, my day off is Monday. Not to barge in or anything like that, of course,” she hastily adds.
“Nope, you already volunteered the fact that you were off, so you can’t back out now,” Gretchen replies, giggling. “If you have the cheesecake recipe and can send me the ingredients, I’ll make a list and go pick them up first thing in the morning.”
I’m already shaking my head. “You make the list and I’ll go shopping,” I state. “Because I have an inventory of what you already have on hand in my Notes app and know you’ll forget stuff for next weekend.”
Addy giggles when Gretchen rolls her eyes at me. “I’ve got it in my phone, I’ll send it to Mongrel, okay?” she asks Gretchen. “He can forward the recipe to you so you’ve got it, or I can print off a copy when I get home later.”
It’s late by the time Leroy takes off, but not before he brings me two huge photo albums, which has my emotions all over the place. “Thanks, Uncle Leroy,” I murmur, pulling him in for a hug. “I appreciate this so fucking much.”
“I’m just glad we found you,” he replies. “Now, we just have to find the girls.”
“Yeah, hopefully, between Nerd and the search that Jonah has, we’ll be able to do so,” I say. “Are you excited about the salon?”
“Hell yeah! I’ve talked to the former owner and the girls she employed, and they’re all going to stay.
I’ll restructure that part, so it benefits them and have Jonah creating some marketing shit to send out to my existing clients.
Some may decide I’m too far away now, and that’s okay. I have a good feeling about this, Cam.”
“I do as well. The Kings have been good to me, Uncle Leroy, when I needed someone in my corner. Having blood family close means the world to me, and I’m glad they’ve helped make that happen too.”
“Go spend some time with your girl. I like her for you, Cam. She seems level-headed and even though I suspect all of this is somewhat new to her, she hasn’t wavered one bit today.”
I chuckle because he’s right. Addy has rolled with the punches, especially the one that Gretchen pulled. “Drive safe,” I tell him.
“Always. Now, no pressure, but I wouldn’t mind some great-nieces or nephews in the near future.”
“It’ll happen when it happens,” I tease. “Now, go on, I need some Addy time.”
“I should probably go,” she says as I walk toward her. While I was saying goodbye to my uncle, she was helping the ol’ ladies and prospects carry the leftovers into the kitchen so Connie and Maria could put it away.
We put a huge dent in what was cooked, but there are definitely leftovers and my stomach growls just thinking about how well the flavors are going to meld overnight. “Sorry about that,” I chuckle as I pat my stomach.
“You’re already thinking about the leftovers, aren’t you,” she teases.
“Absolutely. Do you wanna stay a bit longer?” I question. “Because I was going to look through the photo albums and I’d love to share them with you.”
“If you’re sure,” she replies.
“Positive. Come on, follow me,” I tell her, my hand on her lower back as I guide her toward the stairs.
When we reach my room, I unlock the door and usher her inside. She looks around then says, “It’s like a mini apartment.”
“Kind of,” I admit, setting the photo albums on the bed before I walk to my mini fridge. “Do you want something to drink?”
She nods her head and replies, “Water, please.”
Once I have two bottles of water, I motion for her to sit on the bed then join her, my back against the headboard. She copies me but seems nervous. “Nothing’s gonna happen between us until you’re ready,” I remind her. “I just wanted to share these with you first.”
“Nobody will mind that I’m up here?” she asks.
“Nope. I live at the clubhouse, Addy, and am allowed to have guests. And to answer your unasked question, I’ve never brought a woman in here before. All of my brothers know you mean something to me, and so do their ol’ ladies.”
“Okay, just checking,” she says. “Now, which one is first?” she asks, motioning to the two albums.
I look through them and quickly figure out which is which then scoot closer and open the cover. “This is my mom and dad on their wedding day,” I say.
“You’re tall like your dad but have a lot of your mom’s features,” she replies, her finger lightly tracing the picture. It’s almost reverent and I know she gets how important having these books is to me.
“Yeah, me and Jonah are both tall like he was. I’m not sure about my sisters since they were only four when we all separated, but they were petite like my mom, so I suspect they’re closer to her height than Dad’s,” I say as I flip the page.
Each picture of their early years, before us kids started coming along, is a showcase of how much they loved each other. They had holiday pictures with just the two of them, and occasionally Uncle Leroy and my grandma. My grandfather and Uncle Bobby were in a couple, but it was mostly just them.
Then, as us kids came along, I saw how they expanded the love they felt for each other to encompass us.
A lot of smiles, candid shots of them laughing, and memories that live on in my mind come to life once again.
“I remember that,” I say, pointing at a picture from the last Halloween we had together.
“Mom decided we were going to be themed with respect to our costumes. So, Dad was a bag of milk chocolate M&Ms, Mom was a bag of white chocolate M&Ms, and us kids were bags of mini M&Ms.”
“That’s so creative!” she exclaims, leaning closer to look at the smiles on our faces. “Y’all look so happy.”
“We had a great life with them. It wasn’t perfect, I’m sure, but as a kid, I thought it was,” I tell her.
“I never celebrated holidays until Betty took me in,” she admits, her face falling as she remembers something painful.
Then she brightens up and adds, “But since then, she’s gone all out every single year.
Not only does she buy for me and vice versa, but we usually adopt multiple kids from the Angel Tree and take care of their gifts too. ”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” I say.
“Yes, we need to get that sorted out as soon as we can, because she wants to meet you too. She’s got a crazy work schedule, but she told me last week that she’d make it happen because she knew you were important to me,” she replies.
“I am?” I ask.
“Mongrel, I very nearly had you switch therapists,” she retorts. “It was either that or risk ruining my professional reputation, and it got a bit dicey in my head for a bit.”
I burst out laughing because she’s disgruntled right now, and so damn adorable I want to hold her and never let her go. “I’d have gladly switched to another therapist in order to go out with you sooner. But I don’t know that JB would’ve let me.”
“He’s something, isn’t he?” she muses.
“Do you want kids?” I suddenly ask.
“Someday, yes. For a long time, I was firmly in the ‘no kids, ever’ mindset because of my childhood, but then I realized that I couldn’t allow what I went through to color my perception of what a good parent was like.
Betty will probably never get married or have kids because she’s married to her job, but she was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me as a kid. ”
“I do as well, down the road, of course. My parents were a couple for a few years before we started coming along, and I remember my dad saying one time that it helped cement the bond they had before late, sleepless nights joined the chat. It was them against the world, and while we grew up knowing they loved each one of us, we also understood that Mom came first for Dad and vice versa. That’s what I want.
Kids are important and they should know they’re loved, of course, but eventually, they grow up and move on to create their own lives.
If the parents live for their kids, what’s left when all the kids spread their wings? ”
“That’s a good point,” Addy says. “I guess I never really thought about it like that, but it makes sense.”
I eventually put a movie on, but I have no clue when either one of us doze off. All I know is I wake up curled around Addy with my arm across her waist. Glancing at the clock on my wall, I see it’s about four in the morning, so instead of waking her up, I snuggle closer and fall back to sleep.