ROWDY
I got a ride to the hotel with Pax and Bebe. They sat in the front seat of the SUV while I stretched out in the second row. I glanced behind us, where Lula drove the other SUV. An animated Sabrina bounced around in the passenger seat. I pitied Lula having to listen to our bitchy sister on a rant.
“You’re a daddy,” Bebe said, leaning forward and crying in her hands.
Stroking his wife’s back, Pax muttered, “Look at what your dick has done.”
“They’re cute little guys, aren’t they?”
“It’s all too much at once,” Bebe said and turned around to look at me. “You barely mentioned this girl. Did you even date her?”
“We sorta dated. She would show up at the clubhouse, and I’d be my charming self. We’d talk before getting wild in the back seat of her SUV. I wanted a real date, but she kept dodging making any plans.”
“She seems sweet, not trashy like I worried,” Bebe said, wiping her face with a tissue. “Is that how she seems to you? I mean she was getting wild in the back seat with a man she didn’t know.”
Pax smirked and said, “You were wild back in the day.”
“That’s not how I remember it,” Bebe replied immediately. “I was always a responsible woman.”
“Then, why did you sleep with me?”
“I needed a place to stay, and you had a safe home. I was spreading my legs responsibly.”
Pax chuckled while my mom smiled at me. “I want you to marry Kat and move your sons to Little Memphis. None of that starting your own chapter crap. You need to focus on this woman and those two little boys.”
“I have no interest in moving to Little Rock,” I said and rested my head against the window.
“But I need Kat to know she has options. Like how Zodiac told Elle that he would give up his club for her if she couldn’t be happy in Baton Rouge.
Do you think he really wants to move to Little Memphis and walk away from the Black Rainbow?
Of course not, but he had to be willing to offer her everything to be worthy of her giving up so much for him. That’s what I’ll do for Kat.”
“They had terrible families,” Bebe muttered as she frowned at the road, “but you’ll make things better. I saw how you were sweet to them.”
“Where will you live in Little Memphis?” Pax asked.
“My condo. I’ll need to get the second bedroom set up.”
Bebe nodded and checked her phone. “Lula’s planning to switch rooms at the hotel so she has a room with a double bed. Vanessa will bunk with her.”
“What about me?”
“Get your own room,” Pax said. “I can’t share a room with you and your mom. The crazy shit I do to her will scar your young brain.”
Tempting danger, I asked, “What kind of crazy shit?”
“Lots of oral,” Pax said, making me wonder what I thought he might say.
Shaking off that visual, I asked, “How long does everyone plan to remain in Little Rock?”
“We should head home tomorrow,” Pax replied while Bebe sighed. “We don’t have clean shit to wear.”
“Lula also doesn’t want to leave Dillon and Exile alone for too long. She thinks they might bond too much and gang up on her.”
Leaning forward, I smiled at Bebe. “Mom, I was wondering if you and Vanessa could take care of the second bedroom for me. Maybe get one wall painted blue and the other green. Buy two cribs and stock up on baby stuff. That way, I can lure Kat and Maria to Little Memphis. I think if they spend time around our family, they’ll see the benefits of moving. ”
Pax asked, “Where will Maria sleep at your place?”
“Clint has the second bedroom.”
My father pushed more by asking, “What about long term?”
“I don’t know. I’m still adjusting to the part where the hot chick I was obsessed with has given birth to my sons.”
“They’re so beautiful, Rowdy,” Bebe said, getting teary-eyed again. “It was so cute to see how identical Kat and Maria are and then imagine the same for Cavan and Colson.”
Pax nodded. “I like how Kat suggested the middle name Roy. I always worried you’d pick a disobedient wife.”
Bebe shot a frown at Pax, who chuckled at her irritation.
“I don’t want to whine,” I mumbled through yawns, “but I’m tired as fuck.
I need to take a shower and sleep buck naked for at least six hours.
Then, I plan to devise a list of what needs to happen and when.
Kat will be in the hospital for a few more days.
I’ll need to stay in Little Rock until she’s ready to travel.
But the details can wait until I crash.”
“Not to shit on your happy plans, but what about Goblin?” Pax asked.
“I’ll have him stay with Clint and Ivy until I get back.”
“What about when you move your woman and her two cats to your place?”
“Worries for another day,” I said and sighed with relief at the sight of the hotel up ahead. “I need to clean up and rest. I want to be on the top of my game when I return to the hospital tomorrow. Maria said Kat might be in more pain. I need to be Superman, so Kat can trust me and rest.”
“You’re a good boy,” Bebe said, admiring me in that way she had since I was little. “I can’t explain it, but I want Kat to be the right woman for you. Something about her clicked for me. But I worry that she might turn cold because she kept the pregnancy a secret.”
“Kat said she came to Little Memphis more than once to talk to me, but she chickened out. I must be scarier than I thought.”
“People let her down,” Bebe said and nodded at her own comment.
“I couldn’t rely on anyone for a long time, either.
I had friends, but they were also struggling.
I was lucky to meet Shay. She introduced me to Darby, who was the kind of woman I’d never known before,” Bebe said, mentioning Joker Curran’s first wife.
“I suddenly found myself surrounded by good people. Oh, and your dad was there, too.”
“I was the best part of that story,” Pax muttered. “But I understand why you didn’t want to share the sexy details with your son.”
I grinned at my parents’ teasing. Their love remained strong, even after decades together. Pax had been an asshole when they met. I’d heard all about his successes and failures to win Bebe’s heart.
After falling for her, Pax became a devoted dad to Lula. My parents had three more kids. Our house was always filled with noise and drama. We moved into the bigger house at the Sleepy Eye Community with many other members of the Little Memphis Motorcycle Club, including my uncle Ford.
Lula built a house next door to our parents. My cousin Clint planned to build a house there one day. I would need to do the same if I wanted to give my boys the kind of backyard that I enjoyed growing up.
As we arrived at the hotel, my mind raced with ideas about painting the second bedroom, convincing Kat to move to Little Memphis, and building a forever house. I entered my room and went straight to the bathroom. A hot shower later, I couldn’t settle down despite my exhaustion.
Crawling naked under the blankets, I made myself stop replaying every moment of the last twenty-four hours.
Instead, I closed my eyes and imagined I was in my condo.
Kat was cuddled next to me. I could smell her fruity shampoo in the dark room.
Downstairs, in the finished color-coordinated nursery, I pictured Colson and Cavan sound asleep.
My badass guard dog Goblin was curled up in his large cage by the windows.
With such a relaxing image in my head, I drifted to sleep after one of the longest days in my fucking life.