Chapter 5
Kelly
I step back from the last Minnie Mouse banner and tilt my head, studying it critically.
"Little to the left," Bella says from the other side of the porch.
I move it an inch.
"There."
"Perfect." I smile, pressing the tape firmly against the outside wall before stepping back again.
Red and white streamers stretched neatly across the backyard, framing the large "Happy Birthday, Maddy & Madison!
" banner we'd spent nearly twenty minutes hanging perfectly straight.
Clusters of red, white, and black balloons floated from weighted centerpieces on each table, while matching Minnie Mouse tablecloths covered every available table.
It looked cheerful. Warm. Exactly how I'd pictured when I started planning their first birthday weeks ago. Bella joins me, folding her arms as we admire our work.
"Much better."
I laugh.
"Just a little."
She nudges my shoulder.
"I still can't believe they managed to make every single streamer crooked."
"I can."
We both laugh. Johnny meant well. So did Mason. Decorating simply wasn't one of either of their talents.
I look around the backyard and watch Mason and Stryker unfold another table while Johnny proudly carries a tray of plastic forks, spoons and knives across the patio like he's transporting priceless treasure.
"Careful!" Mason calls.
"I'm being careful!" Johnny yells back.
A second later, he trips over absolutely nothing. Forks, spoons, and knives fly into the air and scatter across the patio and the grass.
Bella snorts.
"I swear that kid has two speeds."
"What are those?"
"Full speed... and asleep."
I laugh.
"That's about right."
We watch as Johnny and Mason start picking up the utensils and listen to Mason fussing about having to wash them all, when the reason for buying plastic silverware was that we didn’t have to wash them because they could be thrown away after using them.
We laugh and make our way into the kitchen, where the counters quickly get crowded with serving bowls, trays of vegetables, chips, fruit, and enough food to feed an army. Knowing the Storm Reapers... We probably needed more.
Bella picks up a knife and starts slicing strawberries while I arrange sandwich trays onto serving platters. For a few minutes, the only sounds are knives against cutting boards and the quiet music drifting from the speaker sitting on the kitchen counter. Then Bella breaks the silence.
"So..."
I glance over.
"So?"
She smiles nervously. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Anything."
Bella hesitates for a second before resting a hand over her rounded stomach.
"Were you scared?"
I pause, setting down the platter I'd been carrying.
"About becoming a mom?"
She nods.
"I mean..." she says quietly. "I already love this baby more than anything." Her hand unconsciously rubs slow circles over her belly. "But sometimes I wake up wondering if I'll know what I'm doing."
I smile softly.
"I still wonder that."
Bella blinks.
"You do?"
"Every day."
She laughs. "Really?"
I nod. "When Mason and I got together officially, I thought of Johnny as my own. Especially, after what we went through with Steven. I thought every little cry meant something terrible had happened." I rinse my hands before reaching for another bowl.
"If he sneezed, I worried."
"If he slept too long, I worried."
"If he didn't sleep enough..."
"I worried."
Bella smiles.
"And the twins?"
I laugh.
"Oh, the twins humbled me."
"How?"
"They came home and immediately reminded me that babies have absolutely no respect for sleep."
Bella laughs harder.
"I believe that."
"They have their own schedule. And apparently," I continue with a grin, "their favorite hobby is finding new ways to make messes."
Bella's eyes sparkle.
"I heard about the baby powder. Johnny started talking about it as soon as we walked in earlier."
I bury my face in my hands as I start laughing as an image of Mason covered in baby powder pops into my head.
"Yeah, I'm never letting Mason live that down."
"No?"
"Never."
We both laugh. Then Bella grows quiet again.
"What about giving birth?"
The question is softer this time. More vulnerable. I can hear the uncertainty behind it.
"I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't hard," I admit honestly. "It is. But your body knows what to do." I reach across the island and squeeze her hand. "And you'll have Stryker."
Her eyes drift toward the backyard. Through the window we can see him helping Mason roll the grill into place.
"He hasn't let me carry anything heavier than a gallon of milk in months."
I smile. Remembering Mason doing the same thing. Only a gallon of milk was in Mason’s terms too heavy for me to carry and was put on the banned list.
"He loves you and he worries. Mason was the same way. Only with me carrying twins, I wasn’t even allowed to carry a gallon of milk. He not only worries about me that way but all of us."
Outside, almost as if proving my point, Mason notices Johnny trying to drag another folding chair by himself. Within seconds he's beside him, taking most of the weight while still letting Johnny believe he's helping.
Bella smiles at the sight.
"They're going to be good dads."
"They already are."
She looks at me.
"Do you think Stryker will panic in the delivery room?"
I grin. "Oh... He absolutely will."
Bella laughs so hard she has to lean against the counter.
"I knew it."
"He'll try to act tough and he'll fail miserably."
She wipes tears from her eyes. "I am never letting him forget you said that."
"You don't have to." I reply and nod toward the backyard.
"Mason still hasn't forgotten the look on Stryker's face when you told him you were pregnant."
Bella blushes.
"He cried."
"He absolutely cried."
"I've never seen him cry."
"I have." She smiles to herself. "I kind of hope he cries again."
"He probably will."
Before either of us can say anything else, the unmistakable roar of motorcycles echoes through the neighborhood.
One.
Then another.
Then several more.
Bella and I instinctively glance at the clock. 2:55 pm. Then we look out the window.
"They're here," we say at the same time, sharing a little smile.
The first bikes roll into the driveway in a staggered line, sunlight glinting off chrome and polished paint. A few trucks and cars followed along behind with their families. Mason looks up from the grill and locks eyes with me through the kitchen window just as the engines shut off one by one.
Truck doors slam. The quiet backyard instantly comes alive. Children climb out carrying brightly wrapped presents almost as big as they are. Women greet one another with hugs while the men exchange handshakes, shoulder slaps, and laughs loud enough to carry across the yard.
Johnny spots the first arrivals as they make their way around the side of the house.
"They're here!" he yells.
His voice carries through the open back door.
"They're HERE!"
He sprints toward the gate without waiting for permission. Mason catches him by the hood of his shirt before he makes it three steps.
"Easy there."
"But I gotta say hi!"
"You will."
Mason ruffles his hair before letting him go. Johnny tears across the yard anyway, excitement pouring out of him with every step. I smile as I watch another family step through the gate carrying brightly wrapped presents.
The smell of charcoal begins drifting through the open windows as Mason lifts the lid on the grill. A moment later, I hear the unmistakable hiss as the burners ignite.
Stryker steps beside him, checking the temperature while they talk about burgers, hot dogs, and how much food they'll need with half the club in attendance. Behind them, the backyard slowly transforms.
Children are already chasing one another across the grass. Brothers begin unfolding the last few chairs without even being asked. The women come in to say hi to me before carrying bowls of food toward the buffet tables.
No one waits for instructions. No one has to. That's just how this family works. Everyone pitches in. Everyone belongs.
Bella comes to stand beside me at the kitchen window.
"They really are a family," she says quietly.
I look out at the backyard. At Mason laughing with Stryker. At Johnny proudly introducing his sisters to everyone who walks through the gate. At the twins sitting safely in their playpen, waving at every new face that stops to tell them happy birthday. My heart feels so full it almost aches.
"They are," I whisper. "They always have been."
I glance around the bustling house before smiling to myself. This wasn't just Maddy and Madison's first birthday. It was another reminder that sometimes the strongest families weren't born... Sometimes they were built—one brother, one sister, one child, and one act of love at a time.
The backyard had transformed into exactly what I'd hoped it would be. Laughter floated through the warm afternoon air, mixing with the rumble of conversations and the occasional burst of motorcycle engines as the last few brothers rolled through the gate.
The smell of charcoal drifted across the yard while Mason and Stryker worked shoulder to shoulder at the grill, flipping burgers and hot dogs with the ease of men who had done it a hundred times before.
Children raced through the grass playing tag, their shrieks of laughter echoing across the property. Someone had turned on music. Someone else had already started a game of horseshoes. The Storm Reapers knew how to throw a party even if it was a child’s party.
I shifted Maddy higher on my hip while Madison sat on Bella's lap, happily chewing on one of the rubber teething toys we'd packed into the diaper bag.
"She looks just like Mason when she's concentrating," Bella laughed.
I looked over at my youngest daughter.
Madison's little eyebrows were pulled together in complete concentration as she attempted to fit the toy entirely into her mouth.
"I hate to admit it..."
Bella laughed.
"But she does."
Across the yard I watched Mason laughs at something Demon had said before turning another row of burgers. Seeing him smile so easily still caught me off guard sometimes.