48. Kennedy
Chapter 48
Kennedy
“ W here’s Daddy?” I cooed as Charlotte pointed to the ice.
“Dada!” she cried, pointing to every random player who passed. She didn't quite understand which player was her daddy, but she had the right spirit.
“You know, I'm going to have to tell Storm that she thought every player was him.” Charlie chuckled. Charlotte was sitting in his lap to my left, and I was wearing Samuel in the baby carrier. Eli was sitting to my right, and Micha was next to him.
It was our first family outing. Now that Samuel was nearly three months old, I felt more comfortable going out. The first few weeks were for family time at home and nest snuggles while I recovered. Samuel had on a small pair of ear defenders and was snuggled into my chest. Being able to relax with my baby had been a rare luxury. When I had given birth to Charlotte, I’d had to be up and about almost immediately.
When the time was right, I was going to sit for my finals, now that we had received a full apology and I was allowed back on campus. There was no rush, though. I wanted to take the time to enjoy my first few months with my new baby.
I wasn't admitting it to the guys, but I was already thinking about potentially having another baby in the future, considering how easy Samuel's birth had been.
I wasn't saying yes or no, but I was considering it.
After I got my doctorate.
“Does Mama want some sustenance?” Micha asked, leaning forward to grin at me.
“Is that even a question?” I asked. “Fries. Always fries.”
Micha snorted. “Yep, that sounds about right! I'll get a few orders of fries for all of us.”
“And a coke?” I asked sweetly.
“Of course, I wouldn’t dream of failing to get soda. I like my life.” Micha chuckled as he leaned over, placing a kiss on my head before going to get my treats.
The game went smoothly, and Storm's team won by a landslide. After each celebration, Storm would take off his helmet and wave at Charlotte excitedly. She was a lot better at recognizing him when he wasn't wearing his helmet.
I only paid a little attention to the game. I was far more concerned with Eli feeding me fries. I had made several attempts to eat the fries myself, but after the third time I nearly dropped ketchup on Samuel's head, Eli had taken over, and I wasn't complaining.
“Are we meeting Storm outside the locker room again?” I asked as the cheers died down and the game officially ended.
Eli nodded. “He said he hasn't got any meetings today, so he's going to be right out as soon as he showers.”
“Why does he have to shower?” I pouted. “I happen to be a fan of sweaty Storm.”
Eli smirked. “You can get him sweaty at home. How does that sound, killer?”
I groaned. I wanted that, so badly. I was almost fully recovered from birth, and my post-birth heat was due any day now.
“Soon,” I muttered.
Eli nodded, his grin widening. “Soon.”
“There’s my girls!” Storm shouted as he rushed over to us, wearing his post-game sweats and T-shirt, his hair still dripping from the shower as he hugged us.
“Well done,” I beamed.
“Damn good game,” Charlie agreed.
Storm peered down at Samuel lovingly. “Well, I had to play well, considering all the family is here. How did he enjoy his first game?” he asked me.
I scrunched my nose. “He slept through the entire thing,” I admitted, making Storm burst into laughter.
“Well, it’ll be a few years until he can really get involved, but it’ll be damn fun when he does.”
“Dada!” Charlotte cooed, reaching her arms out for Storm, who happily took her off Charlie.
“Hey, pretty baby,” he said, nuzzling her face, peppering her with kisses, making her giggle. “Did you enjoy watching Dada play?”
“She did—though she did confuse you with every other player with a helmet on.” Charlie chuckled.
Storm rolled his eyes. “We really need to?—”
“There they are!” a shrill voice shouted, making my blood run cold.
I had never wanted to hear that voice again.
Our heads all turned to see a very pissed-off Lorna pushing through the crowd. Her perfect hair was a mess, her face blotchy.
“Lorna, what an unpleasant surprise,” Storm muttered, his hands tightening around Charlotte protectively.
Next to us, Charlie pulled out his phone, taking a step back and muttering quietly into the receiver.
“This skank is the reason my mother got fired!” Lorna shouted, pointing at me.
I turned to Storm with a questioning look. “Her mother got fired?” I asked quietly.
He pursed his lips and nodded. “Turns out, she was doing a lot of sketchy things with the university funds to keep her daughter out of trouble.”
“She didn't deserve that!” Lorna screeched. “You’ve let this whore ruin my life, all because she couldn’t take a joke!”
Joke? What was she talking about? Did she consider planting drugs in my bag and getting me potentially expelled from the university a joke? Was that how she was trying to downplay what she had done?
“Your mother was also fucking several high-ranking members of the university to get what she wanted,” Eli pointed out. When I turned to him, agape, he shrugged. “We’ve been finding out a lot since she pulled her stunt.”
“How dare you talk about my mother like that! You owe me an apology for this, and you need to talk to the dean about reversing my expulsion!”
She went to take a step forward, toward me. All her friends watched from the side with varying degrees of confusion and unhappiness on their faces.
They didn't look outraged.
Were they no longer buying what Lorna was selling?
Eli took a step in front of me, shielding me from the angry woman. Even though he was a nerdy alpha, he was still much larger than both of us and very imposing and daunting when he wanted to be. Lorna’s steps faltered as she glared at me.
“You need to leave,” Eli said, his voice firm.
Lorna shook her head. “Not until that bitch fixes this!” she insisted, stomping her foot.
Yes, stomping her foot, like a literal child. It took considerable effort not to laugh at that. Her face was getting redder by the second, and if Eli wasn’t in front of me, I was certain she would have launched herself at me by now.
A crowd was starting to gather around us, watching her meltdown.
“This isn’t fair!” Lorna shouted.
Eli laughed, loud enough so everyone watching could hear. Storm handed Charlotte to Micha before stepping forward, so he also stood between me and Lorna.
“No,” Eli said. “What's not fair is you stalking my pack mate. What's not fair is that you planted drugs in a mother's bag because you didn’t like that Storm was giving her attention. You were so pathetically desperate for Storm that you were willing to ruin people’s lives for it, and it came back to bite you in the ass.”
His voice was so firm and strong… I liked it probably a little too much.
“Also, it’s kind of sad that you just can't get the message that, if it’s a choice between you and Kennedy, she’s going to win every time,” Storm said. “I don't know what sort of beer goggles I had on when I met you, but I would probably pick a rabid possum over you, at this point.”
The crowd tittered, and Lorna went bright red. “You’re only saying that because she's convinced you that baby's yours!”
Storm snorted. “That baby is mine. I very clearly remember making her. Has someone not had the birds and the bees talk with you yet?”
I was biting my lip so hard, I was convinced it was going to start bleeding. Storm seemed to be going for the humiliation angle, as opposed to anger, and it was working quite well, judging by the looks the crowd was giving Lorna.
A scream ripped out of Lorna’s chest, and she was looking more and more ragged with every second that passed. Did she honestly think this would help her? All it was doing was making her look like a complete idiot.
Peering around the side of Eli, I watched as two campus security officers approached Lorna. She shrugged away from them, but they muttered something quietly to her before grabbing her upper arm.
“Oh, yeah,” Eli said loudly, ensuring everyone heard him. “When you committed a felony by planting drugs on Kennedy, we decided to get a restraining order against you. A lawyer sent you all the paperwork, but I'm assuming you didn't bother to read it, did you?”
The crowd muttered among themselves, shooting Lorna judgmental looks.
Storm smirked. “I’m sure a few very nice police officers will want to have a conversation with you.”
“In fact, they're already on their way. That's who I was just calling,” Charlie said, brandishing his phone in the air. “Now, Lorna, would you kindly do us a favor and get the fuck out of our faces?”
“No!” she screamed. “She needs to apologize and say she lied!”
Storm snorted. “CCTV footage doesn’t lie…”
A scream ripped out of Lorna's chest, and she took another step toward me. But through the crowd, two police officers appeared, joining the campus security officers.
By now, I was certain that we had the attention of the entire arena. Instead of being embarrassed about it, though, I was simply a bit sad. I actually felt a bit of pity toward Lorna.
Then I remembered what she had done to me and how I was investigated because of her, and that pity swiftly vanished.
Watching her get handcuffed and dragged out of the arena was immensely satisfying. She screamed and clawed at the officers, but it was useless. Within a few seconds, she was out of sight, one officer staying to take Eli’s statement, as he was the head of our pack.
“Well, I don’t think she’ll come around again.” Storm chuckled as he gave me a side hug, watching Eli in the distance, talking to the police.
“I think, if she manages to make it back on campus, it would actually be quite an impressive feat.”
“Well, luckily, a few more months, and we should all be graduating and will be living off campus,” Charlie said.
I laughed. “Ah, adulthood is calling us.”
Storm looked between us with wide eyes. “Never thought I would be the one to say this, but guys, look at us. We have two babies. Adulthood has already hit us, full force.”
I hummed, kissing the top of Samuel’s head. “Maybe, but I don’t mind it all that much.”