19
EVERLY
One Week Later
I’m not going to lie.
Rowan claiming me as his old lady in front of everyone last week totally freaked me out. I may have had a little panic attack when we went back to our suite, but Rowan calmed me down.
He explained what being an old lady meant. I’m his and he is mine. He said that for some of the guys, it’s a bigger deal than being a member’s wife. Which shocked the hell out of me. Motorcycle club members do things differently, though.
Of course, Nicole was so happy for me. I couldn’t wait to call her and tell her the news so she could talk me off a ledge. Which she’s so good at. We actually realized that there is a Sovereign Sons charter in her town, which Rowan thought was amusing.
This last week has been really special. Rowan has helped with Hazel every single day.
I didn’t think that a man would be so okay with taking care of another man’s child, but he really cares about her.
I can see it in the way he watches her. It’s like she’s his.
It shouldn’t make me as happy as it does, but then I remember that Travis threw away his chance to be here.
We’re currently on our way to my house. Rowan said we needed to stop by but didn’t really give me a reason as to why.
I haven’t been back since I packed my bags to come to the clubhouse, so it’s probably a good thing we’re going.
I could use some more clothes since the seasons are changing, and I don’t have a tiny human inside me any longer.
Hazel is sound asleep in her car seat as we pull into my garage. Rowan turns the vehicle off and closes the garage door before hopping out and coming around to my side of the vehicle to open my door and then get Hazel’s car seat out. I swear he never lets me open a door for myself if he’s around.
As we walk inside, I take in the familiar space with a different lens. The last time I was here, everything still felt so fresh. Travis had just betrayed me. He had just died. He had just left us to deal with his mess.
This time is different, though. This time I have Rowan and Hazel.
“I want to show you something,” Rowan says as he walks toward the hallway where the bedrooms are.
I frown but follow after him. What could he want to show me that I wouldn’t know about? This is my house.
He stands by the guest bedroom with Hazel’s car seat hanging from the crook of his arm with a smile on his face. He reaches out his free hand and turns the doorknob, pushing open the door and ushering me inside.
I walk past them and enter the room, a gasp stealing my breath when I see it. A nursery. Where there was once junk, there is a bedroom for Hazel. My eyes track over the new furniture and land on her name on the wall with pink flowers surrounding it.
I whirl around to face Rowan and find him smiling. “You did all of this?”
He nods. “Gray and Axel helped.”
“Why?” I rasp.
“I think it’s better for us to stay here,” he says, walking into the room.
He puts Hazel’s car seat down and moves to stand in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders.
“I think the clubhouse is a little too loud for our girl. She needs a quiet place to sleep and so does her mama.” He smiles down at me. “I think we need to move here.”
My heartbeat picks up. “You do?” He nods. “But what about the nursery at your place?”
He shrugs. “It’ll be there for the nights that we want to stay there.”
“That easy?” I ask.
“That easy,” he murmurs. “What do you say?”
I smile up at him. “I say, hell yes!”
I launch myself at him and he captures me in his embrace. He swings me around for a moment before placing a gentle kiss on my lips.
“Good, because I kind of packed our bags already,” he admits with a wince.
I laugh and pull him down to kiss him. This man surprises me at every damn turn. He’s so good and so thoughtful . I’m so lucky to have him.
“You better go get our bags, then,” I murmur.
He smiles and turns out of the room heading toward the garage. I smile with a shake of my head and then get Hazel out of her car seat, opting to let her sleep in her new crib.
I walk through the house as Rowan brings in our bags, stopping to remove all the pictures of Travis that I have hanging up. I’ll save them because Hazel deserves to know who her dad was someday, but I don’t need his image haunting us.
I stop short in our bedroom, staring at the bed. The bed where Hazel was conceived. “Want me to get rid of it?” Rowan asks from the doorway.
I turn around and wince. “Is it weird that I do?”
He shakes his head. “Not at all. I’ll have the prospects bring my mattress from the club until we can get a new one.”
I’ve been sleeping in Rowan’s bed for the last week. Nothing has happened since I’m still healing, and he hasn’t even tried to get me to do more than kiss him. He’s a total gentleman, but I’m going crazy over here.
“Sounds good,” I say before I start to pull the bedsheets from the mattress. “Can they bring your sheets, too?” I ask, wrinkling my nose.
He chuckles. “I’ll tell them, darlin’. How about I make us some dinner while we wait?”
We have the best first night at the house.
Rowan makes us steaks for dinner and Hazel sleeps until the prospects leave.
Rowan was smart enough to have them bring her bassinette, too, knowing that I’d want her by our side for the first night.
She hasn’t slept in her own room since we brought her home.
I’m just not ready for that yet but knowing that she has her own room waiting for her, warms a piece of my heart.