24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sophia helped Adley frost the last sugar cookie.
She stared around at the women who were her family: Ruthy, Charlie, Adley, Ariel, Lake, and Freedom.
Last year, Christmas had been just her, Lake, and Freedom.
They’d had a nice day, but this—being married to Tack and expecting his baby—was so much more.
Tack should be home in a couple minutes. He’d texted her when he got off shift and headed home. With the Christmas season being so busy, he’d taken to texting her when he was positive he wouldn’t get another call.
Their house was almost done. Hopefully after Christmas. Tonight they were staying at Ruthy’s house since the single guys were planning a big party.
The cookies were for supper. Everyone was eating together, then the party would start.
Sophia had told Tack they could stay if he wanted, but he’d told her no.
She figured it was because she’d been so sick starting the second month of her pregnancy and through the first trimester.
It had been a lot better the last two weeks.
She hoped that meant it was gone for good.
Hanging her head over the toilet wasn’t her favorite thing to do.
Multiple times she’d had to run to the bathroom while she was seeing patients to puke.
Lake and Freedom had stocked the clinic with ginger ale and saltines to help with the nausea.
She was currently taking applications for an additional veterinarian.
When she’d checked with some of the local ones to partner with, she hadn’t liked their attitude toward women or animals.
With the money they had and her partnership with the club as one of their legal businesses, she could expand the clinic.
They were building another structure, which would be dedicated to the club’s dog training business, with Shield heading it.
Lake had decided she wanted to do more of the office manager tasks for both the business and the dog training.
She’d taken a couple of accounting classes and loved them.
Sophia was paying for Lake to get a degree.
Seeing her friend beam when she was talking about something new she’d learned warmed Sophia’s heart.
The club had decided having Prospects help at the dog training and the clinic would be good ways to weed out those who didn’t want to work. Plus, watching each of them get their “welcome” greeting from Pudding made for good viewing from the farm’s video cameras.
Ruthy set a cup of herbal tea in front of Sophia. Sophia grinned at her mother-in-law.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a sip of the warm beverage. When Sophia had been so ill, Ruthy had made it her quest to figure out what drinks might help calm her stomach.
The sound of engines had Sophia standing up to head outside. Her man had been on shift, and Sophia missed him. She was also tired because she was so used to having him beside her that her nights without him were filled with tossing and turning.
His grin as he got off his motorcycle and moved toward her sent that zing through her system that she hoped never dimmed. His love wrapped around her and made every day a gift.
“How’s our little one, babe? Is he being good and not making his mama sick?
” Tack asked, laying his hand on her belly which hadn’t changed much, especially after she’d lost so much weight when she was sick.
Her belly might not be rounded with pregnancy, but Tack still loved laying his hand there, especially when they cuddled in bed to sleep.
“She is being very good,” Sophia sassed. It was too early to tell what they were having. Tack alternated between calling the baby a boy or girl, and Sophia sassed back with whatever was the opposite. Teasing was one of the many things she enjoyed with her man.
Before the gate could be closed behind them, a police car drove in followed by a blue sedan.
“Give me a second, babe,” Tack said, heading over to the patrol car. Tack shook the officer’s hand, then they both walked over to the car. A woman in a navy-blue pantsuit got out, opened the back door and took out an infant car seat. The officer accepted the car seat while she grabbed a diaper bag.
“Babe, could you see where Shield is? We’ll be in the main room,” Tack directed.
Sophia nodded. She walked in and headed down the hall to the men’s room, but before she could knock on the door, Shield opened it to come out.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
“Umm, there’s a police car and what I’m guessing is a social worker. Tack sent me to get you,” Sophia announced.
Shield’s eyes widened, but he wasted no time hurrying down the hall to the main room.
“Did somebody need to see me?” he asked, walking over to where Tack stood with their company. Sophia sat down at the table by Adley to watch the drama. What the heck was going on?
“Are you Cal Tucker?” the woman asked.
“Yes. Why?” he demanded, his tone harsher than she’d ever heard.
“Is your sister Destiny Tucker?” the woman questioned.
“Yes, but I haven’t seen her in fifteen years. I was sent to my great-aunt’s,” Shield confirmed.
“Cal Tucker, as the only surviving blood relative of Destiny Tucker, she has you listed as the next of kin for Gabriella Tucker. If you’re agreeable, you would have temporary kinship guardianship as we evaluate your home and status.
If you’re not agreeable, she goes into the system,” the social worker informed them.
Sophia wished she could see Shield’s face as he turned to the table where the baby car seat sat with the child in it.
Shield stared at the infant for a minute. “She looks so much like Destiny did as a baby,” he breathed.
He turned toward the social worker. “What do we need to do to make this happen?” he inquired.
Sophia smiled, with tears in her eyes. She’d known that Shield was a good man by how he treated the animals, but he hadn’t hesitated to take on his niece. Oh, they’d need to go shopping for him and the baby.
“Yes, we will. For tonight, we can move the crib in my house over, or he can stay in the house with us. I have plenty of bedrooms,” Ruthy said, with a grin.
Sophia joined the laughter around the table. Ruthy had been teasing Adley and Sophia earlier today that her house had plenty of rooms if they all wanted to have multiples to fill her house with grandbabies. It seemed that Ruthy was getting her wish since she considered Shield her family too.
Ruthy stood up and walked over to Shield. She slipped her arm around Shield. Sophia could see the tension melt from his shoulders. He wasn’t alone, and Ruthy had just reminded him about that.
Sophia stared around the clubhouse. She wished her dad and mom were here to see how things had changed in her life and her family. But this Christmas was full of love and family that she was thankful for.
And it was all due to a crazy old biddy calling the police over the great Kansas City Squirrel Abduction, which reminded her.
She’d planned on giving those squirrels a special Christmas treat of sliced apples.
She needed to remember to take them over tomorrow.
She’d always be thankful how she and Tack met.
Tack walked back over after the officer and the social worker left.
“So, it seems we have an addition to the Saint’s Outlaws MC family,” he teased.
“He’s special. I want us to support him in any way we can,” Sophia insisted.
Tack smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “We will. Love you, babe.”
He told her that every day — multiple times, but she would never get tired of hearing it.
“Love you too,” she said softly, sniffing as she watched Shield lift his daughter out of the car seat and cuddle her against his chest. Yep, he’d make an amazing father, just like her man would when their little one joined them.
The Saint’s Outlaws MC family was growing, and Sophia couldn’t wait to see what was next.
Thank you so much for reading this.