Chapter 32
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
Sawyer
I stare at the woman across the table from me, loving how well she blends into my family.
Mom insisted I invite Nova over—after my knuckles had done healing from all the bruising, that is, because Mom will just nag — to have dinner with Chris, plus my brother and Casey.
I don’t know how the invite got extended to the Nomad Brothers, their families, plus Payden, but here we are.
Ryder and Crystal are away with their kids for a few weeks, otherwise it would’ve been mayhem.
“These are mighty fine potatoes,” Brew grunts, digging into his second plate. I did warn my mom the boys are big eaters, but she loves to cook for everyone.
“Well, thank you, Dylan, that’s awfully kind.” She also refuses to use biker names, so there’s that. Apparently we were all given perfectly good names at birth, so why change that?
“He really isn’t kidding, what do you do to get them so crispy?” Erica asks.
“Oh, I just rub them in oil and season them really well and I add rosemary to the pan, the key is to have the oven really hot,” she says.
“Totally works with the roast chicken,” Haze agrees.
“Thanks for feeding all of us,” Willow puts in. “I would’ve loved to help.”
Haze almost chokes on his food because we all know Willow can’t cook. I mean, she tries, but most of what she makes is inedible.
She side eyes him, giving him a ‘what the hell?’ look.
I pat him on the back so he doesn’t actually choke. “You good, bro?”
“Sorry, that went down the wrong hole for some reason,” he says, smiling sweetly at his wife.
“Now, now, boys,” Olive pipes pipes up. “I’ll have you know Willow makes really good toast.”
Everyone laughs, except Willow. She narrows her eyes on her niece. “Very funny.”
Olive puts a hand over her heart innocently. “Grilled cheese, then?”
“Ha-ha,” Willow mocks. “We all know my culinary skills may not be the best, but we’ve never gone hungry so the jokes on those who mock me.”
“Thank god for ramen,” Nova mutters.
“Hey, everyone, sorry I’m late,” Payden says, startling us all. “I just let myself in.”
My mom jumps up, ready to seat Payden, but the only seat left is next to Logan. How terrific.
Payden purses her lips, but then smiles sweetly at my mom and says, “Thank you, Rose.”
He eyes her but doesn’t say anything.
“Welcome, honey,” Mom says. “I’ll grab you a plate.”
“I’ll do that,” Chris says as he stands, kissing my mom on the forehead. She pats his hand as she sits back down.
“Wow, look at all of you digging in, it smells amazing,” Payden says, and is it just me, or does she move as far away from Logan as she can without it being noticeable?
What’s up with that?
“Thank you for inviting my family. This is like a real Sunday dinner,” Payden goes on.
“Well of course, the more the merrier,” Mom says, clapping her hands together. She’s in her element, and now that I’ve settled down, she’s loving having two girls to shop with and talk to. Casey and Nova adore her, and Willow and Erica have been tagging along too.
I let her know a little about what had been going on lately, it wasn’t like it was a secret being on the news every night for a week.
I told her I had gone after the trafficker who kidnapped me, and that he’d killed himself before we could get to him.
I’d never confess to my own mother what really happened, so it’s a version of the truth, but not the whole truth.
She cried, of course, and Chris hugged me like he really meant it.
He’s a great guy and he adores my mom. They’re perfect for one another.
He told me I was the strongest man he’s ever met. That meant a lot.
“Ooh,” Erica says, shifting in her seat, pressing a hand to her swollen stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Brew immediately asks, diverting his gaze to her as he stops chewing.
“Just a little kick,” she says, rubbing her hand over her bump. “I’m fine.”
Brew isn’t convinced, he drops his cutlery unceremoniously, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “I mean, are you sure? What if it’s a contraction or somethin’?”
I never thought we’d see Brew at birthing classes, but apparently he’s a natural.
She smiles at him, resting a hand over his. “It isn’t. I’ve had a baby before, and while it was a little while ago, you don’t forget what contractions feel like. He or she is just being rowdy.”
“Was I a good baby?” Olive asks, loading up her plate with more chicken as she passes the dish to Payden.
“You were an angel,” Erica tells her. “A blessing sent from Heaven.”
“Like you’re gonna tell her she wasn’t,” Logan mutters.
“Grump,” Olive fires back.
A few chuckles ring out because Olive somehow didn’t inherit her mother’s tact. She just says it like it is, which is more like Brew, even though he’s only been her step-dad for a little while. At least his grouchiness hasn’t rubbed off on her, so that’s something.
“He’s just sassy because of work, don’t mind him,” Pipes says. “Right, old boy?”
Logan looks over at my brother. “Watch it.”
“What are you pushin’ now, bro? Like fifty?”
He flips Haze the bird even though Olive is in the room. Erica isn’t one for swearing and uncouthness, neither is my mom for that matter, so we tone it down in their presence, and when kids are around, but Olive is a teenager, so I’m sure she’s seen and heard worse.
“If Olive weren’t here, I’d take you outside and show you how a forty-five year old breaks bones, jerkface,” Logan says, earning him a few chuckles.
“What side of the bed did you wake up on?” Brew asks, shaking his head.
Weirdly, he and Payden both still at the same time. Nothing suspicious there… I smell a fucking rat.
“Be nice,” Casey laughs. “We know if we poke the bear too much he’ll get mad and leave.”
Logan is in a mood and I’ve no idea why or what’s going on with him. He recently got the loan approved, and renovations are underway for the bar. I get he’s got a lot on his shoulders right now, but would it kill him to play nice?
“People are allowed to be quiet and eat,” Chris agrees. “Just because we’re not all neanderthals like my boys here, doesn’t mean there’s something wrong.”
I like the way Chris treats us like his own sons. He’s been more of a father figure in the short time I’ve known him than my own before he died. My real Dad was always around, but never really there.
“Hey!” Me and Pipes say at the same time.
I point to my brother. “He’s way more caveman than I am.”
“Thanks, Chris,” Logan says, then to my mom. “Really nice meal, Rose, I appreciate it.”
She smiles kindly. “Of course, honey, you know any excuse to get my hands dirty in my new kitchen is a good one.” She turns to look at Chris who is staring at her adoringly.
He installed a new cooktop and oven, made a walk-in pantry with lots of storage, and redid all the benchtops in their home with the help from me and Pipes.
Now she has the kitchen she’s always wanted.
“I don’t like to bring up shop talk at the table,” Chris says out of nowhere. “But you must all be happy about the recent arrests, it’s been all over the news.”
He doesn’t say the words trafficking but we all know what he’s referring to.
Willow made a statement and it was broadcast on the news, she credited the whole operation to me, Brew, Cash and the MC.
It wasn’t like we needed the recognition, but it still helps with people’s perceptions of the MC.
Who knows, maybe one day we’ll be readily accepted into society and not be looked down on because we’re bikers.
None of that worries me, though. Looking around the table tonight I’ve never felt so much love in the room, even with two grumps at the table.
Brew is still fussing over Erica, but she’s waving him off and telling him to get back to his dinner before it gets cold. He can’t wait to be a father, but I see the angst and worry in his eyes, too.
I know he’ll be the best dad. He’d do anything for the girls in his life, and the new baby on the way. Just as it should be.
“The force is extremely grateful to the MC,” Willow says, looking around the table.
“This one crept up on us, and they deserve the credit because they were the ones who saved the prisoners and even more lives from being ruined. Not that I agree with taking matters into your own hands, but these people had to be stopped.”
There’s a few murmurs around the table.
“That they do. I think when you join forces, you’re unstoppable,” Mom says, glancing over to me. “I’m so proud of my boys, of all of you.”
It wasn’t like Willow to go praising the MC a few years ago, but she’s lightened up a lot since getting back with Haze.
She sees what the MC has been trying to do, and while it may have seemed like we were a thorn in her and the force’s side, we just want to help people.
She doesn’t condone vigilante justice, and she’d never ask what happened to the bodies at the motel that night, but we all know it’s the elephant in the room.
She got some of the bad guys (we kept a couple alive), closed the entire operation down on national television, and assured the citizens they were cracking down on this and had set up a special task force.
Nobody really wants to know what happened to the men that didn’t get away, but the few we did leave with bullets in them were clearly gunned down in self defence, according to Willow. I guess it doesn’t hurt to have a cop on your side every once in a while.
“Well, let’s not put a damper on things,” Nova says, squeezing my hand. “The bad guys were put away, and we all lived to fight another day.”
“Wait, is it true that you and Luna went undercover?” Olive asks, clearly she’s been dying to know because she’s wide eyed in anticipation.
Nova leans over to her. “I’d like to tell you, but that’s strictly club business,” she whispers that last part, tapping her nose. “We’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
Olive’s eyes go wide as she nods.
Christ knows where Olive heard that from, and Erica gives her a look across the table like she’s wondering the same thing.
“Eat your vegetables,” Brew tells her. “Less of the hundred questions while people are tryin’ to eat.”
Olive is too polite to flip him off or even poke her tongue out. She’s a good kid, and Brew adores her, but he’s always saying she talks too much. “Fine,” she sighs. “Dad, can you pass the peas?”
The entire table stops. Brew’s brow furrows, but not at her, at the rest of us. “What?” he barks.
“Dad?” Casey mouths. “This is new.”
Olive shrugs. “I know I have another dad, but Brew is much nicer, and never yells at us, I’d much rather call him my dad than my real one.”
Erica’s hand squeezes Brew’s and he smiles. “That’s my girl.”
Mom and Chris hold hands, looking really proud as they look down the table.
“Well, it’s gonna be a couple of years until you hear the new kid say anythin’ coherent,” Haze says. “So she may as well test it out.”
“Uncle Haze,” Olives sighs. “You’re really annoying.”
Everyone laughs and he flicks a pea at her, and then gets told off by my mom for attempting a food fight.
“I’ll have you know kids start blabberin’ about one year’s old, right honey?” Brew asks Erica.
She nods. “Two-word sentences by two, but Da-Da and Ma-Ma is a pretty easy one right off the bat at around ten months,” she tells us.
Padyen says something to Logan and he shakes his head.
Nova whispers to me, “Is it just me, or are those two acting shady?”
Of course, she noticed, too.
“Was just thinkin’ the same thing,” I murmur.
“You don’t think they… ya know?”
I try not to scoff and draw attention to us. “I seriously doubt it. Who would put up with him?”
“She has had a crush for a while.”
I look at her. “A crush?” I mouth.
“You’re right, that’s not what it is because Payd is too couture for that, but it’s better than saying eff buddy.” Of course, she doesn’t say the actual words in case we’re overheard.
I glance at them, frowning, then come to the conclusion that she may be right, not that Logan would make an announcement about it. He’s secretive as fuck.
“You think?”
“I’ll find out.”
Not that I want to know any details about Logan and his sex life, but it might take the edge off his grumpiness lately if he was actually tapping it. Which leads me to believe that he isn’t. “If he is gettin’ some, he doesn't seem very happy about it,” I observe.
“Shh,” Nova says as Payden glances our way.
“We’re such gossips,” I mumble, trying not to laugh.
When Logan and Payden both reach for the same bowl of slaw, their fingers touch briefly and Payden recoils back like she’s been burned. “Shit, sorry,” she says as the spoon clatters onto the table.
“My bad,” Logan mutters.
I glance at Nova again, and she at me. “Definitely,” we say in unison.
I reach over and kiss her chastely. Changing the subject I ask, “Are you happy?”
“I am with you.”
I kiss her again, then we hear from Pipes: “Get a room, you two.”
“Leave him be,” Mom says, beaming at us.
“Gross,” Logan mutters.
“Young love,” Willow sighs.
I roll my eyes.
Family.
That’s what this feels like.
Love.
Jokes.
Bickering.
It’s all part of being a family, and I’m finally home. I can rest my head at ease knowing that the chapters of my life that weren’t so grand are in the past now. That I am finally done.
And as I glance at my girl and she smiles over at me, I know I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, anywhere else.
I want to be here, with her. And that’s all that matters.