Chapter 10
Kit
My eyes swept over the room, looking for anything that wasn't set up right. This all needed to be perfect. I wouldn't accept anything less for the women who were now as much a part of my life as they were their men's.
The door opened and the three guests of honor came in.
They were blindfolded and being led by their bikers.
Auron and Jecht trotted in behind the group, watching carefully.
I swore it seemed like they were making sure that the women weren’t going to trip.
Those dogs were a wonder. No one around here was going to be able to bring home another dog without having Seek train it, so that it behaved as well as they did.
"Please tell me there's going to be at least some alcohol at this shindig."
I jumped as the voice sounded from right behind me.
Whirling around, I laughed at the pained look on Toxic's face.
"There will be plenty of alcohol," I assured him with a pat on his shoulder.
"But you're not allowed anywhere near it.
" Since there were kids, and pregnant women who might murder me for having alcohol when they couldn't drink, I hid it all in the back office.
I doubted the girls would notice as people slipped back there to refresh their drinks all night.
He groaned, but nodded. "Fine. I'll just sit in the corner and watch everyone else drink." He gave me a pitiful look.
My eyes narrowed on him, but he didn't seem to notice. He was already staring off into space like he was imagining all the booze he was missing out on. I’d been planning to tell him I was kidding, but he wandered off before I had the chance.
Shaking my head in amusement, I went to greet our guests of honor.
They were all gasping with pleasure by the time their men took off their blindfolds. They gushed over pink and blue balloons. Then the streamers and banners hanging from the ceiling and walls. It was overdone, but it was perfect for this party and all three women loved it.
"Oh!" Dani cried as soon as she saw the trio of rocking chairs we'd set up at the back of the room. "Those are gorgeous." She rushed over and ran her hands over them. "I love the color of the wood."
"Toxic thought you’d all probably picked out cribs already," I told her with a smile. "He and Butcher can tell you all about them. They made them themselves."
Three pairs of eyes landed on me, filled with astonishment and tears. I had a feeling there were going to be a lot of tears tonight.
"They made them?" Seek asked, her voice low and husky as she fought back tears. Hush frowned down at his wife, then stalked off.
"Where's he going?" I asked. Tonight was going to be a juggling act of making sure these rough and rowdy men behaved and didn't ruin the baby shower.
Though, given how much they loved the women being celebrated, I doubted they'd do anything to actually mess things up. At least I hoped. You never knew.
Before Seek could answer, Hush returned, hauling both Toxic and Butcher over by their cuts. I lifted my hand to muffle laughter at the look on the men's faces.
"What the hell, Hush?" Butcher asked, jerking out of Hush's hold.
"The girls want to talk to you."
Toxic grinned at them. "Happy Baby Shower."
"You made those?" Sloane asked, a wayward tear sliding down her cheek as she pointed to the rocking chairs.
Toxic looked more than a little uncomfortable. "Maybe." The word came out hesitant and slow.
Butcher glanced at the women, who were all three shedding tears now, then over at Hush. "Depends. Is the gorilla going to beat the shit out of us if we say we made them?"
Hush folded his arms over his muscular chest and grunted in response.
I shrugged when Butcher looked my way for translation.
I had no idea what most of Hush’s grunts and groans meant.
There was no holding back my laughter as the women surrounded Toxic and Butcher and hugged them while thanking them profusely.
Butcher patted Seek on the back as he was pulled into a hug. "You're going to get me killed, Seek."
"Not this time," Hush said, grabbing him as soon as his wife was finished with him. "Thank you both for the chairs."
"Glad you're happy with them," Toxic said with a smile.
"What kind of wood is this?" Dani asked.
"Purple heart," he answered. He launched into an explanation about how they’d built them.
The chairs were so beautiful. The wood was a reddish-purple color with a heavy grain pattern that stood out and made each rocking chair unique. When I saw them a few days ago, I'd gasped out loud, then peppered them with questions.
I watched as they rejoined their brothers over near the bar, both still looking uncomfortable at being thanked so profusely. They deserved the gratitude. These chairs were works of art. I knew the women would cherish them long past the time they rocked their babies to sleep in them.
"They're amazing," Sloane said again as she ran a hand over the arm of her chair.
Seek nodded in agreement, her hand on her belly as she sat down in hers. We'd stationed them against the wall, with everything facing the chairs like they were the women's own personal thrones. They were the center of this party.
Pounding feet on the hardwood warned me before a mob of children, led by Priest's girls, rushed over to me. I smiled down at eager faces. They were all dressed up nicely, though Dex was pulling at the collar of his shirt.
"How come I gotta wear this?" he whined.
"If I hear that question one more time," Susie warned as she materialized from the crowd, "I'll make you wear something worse."
"Yeah, like a dress," Taylor complained as she motioned to her own. That shut Dex up quickly.
"Can we have cake?" Grace asked, hope filling her face.
"Soon," I told her with a laugh. She was a girl after my own heart.
I too wanted to start with dessert. Who needed dinner?
Clearing my throat, I looked around expectantly.
The noise in the room didn't die down. I opened my mouth, only to shut it in shock when Hellfire came up beside me and yanked me against his side.
"I've got this," he told me. "Hey! Shut the fuuu..." He stared down at the excited faces of the children and swallowed back what he'd been about to bellow at his noisy brothers.
I elbowed him and shook my head with a laugh.
"Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us today," I spoke to the room since Hell’s bellowing, even cut short, had worked to quiet them.
It was mostly our MC family, but Dani and Seek's families and a few other friends were here as well.
"Lockout is going to go over the rules for the property," I told everyone, this was mainly for the women's families’ sake, "and then we're going to eat and play games.
Then we'll have some cake and open presents. "
Everyone gave whooping cheers and the sight of Seek, Sloane, and Dani's happy smiles made my eyes mist up a little. They were dressed up in beautiful dresses and had flushed faces as everyone went over to them to congratulate them and ask questions.
"Getting a little soft on me, Vixen?"
I looked up at the man who was now mine and shrugged. "Honestly, I've always had a soft spot."
"I know," he replied, completely serious.
"Your huge heart is the first thing that made me fall in love with you.” He moved me around to the front, until I was facing him and wrapped his arms around me.
"I was out of town on a run with the club and my mom called.
Her car had broken down on the side of I-10 and Dad was out at a jobsite that was over an hour away.
" He smiled down at me. "Smoke told me not to worry about it.
You didn't know it, but he had you on speaker phone when he called that night.
The only question you asked was where she was at.
Mom said you showed up within ten minutes and rescued her off the highway. "
"It was pouring down rain," I told him. "The monsoon was so big the storm had knocked the power out to half the city. Who wouldn't have gone to get her?"
"Some wouldn't have," he rumbled. "Some might have done so begrudgingly. Not you. You went out in a storm, no questions asked, to help someone else. You're amazing," he told me, brushing his fingers over my cheek. "Everything about you."
Would this ever stop feeling like a dream? Hearing the man I loved say those words back had my heart threatening to burst in my chest. Being wrapped in his arms made me feel so safe and wanted. This was heaven. It had to be. Nothing on earth could feel this perfect.
"I was a dumbass for waiting so long to claim you." He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine.
My heart pounded in my chest. Being wrapped up in his muscular arms made me feel as though no one else existed.
Just him and me. Staring up into his handsome face, I smiled.
This was all so thrilling and new. We still had a lot to learn about one another, about how to navigate together, but I knew we’d figure it out.
"Hey!" Smoke's bellow had me jumping back and Hellfire steadying me with a sigh. "No PDA!" My brother gave me a wicked grin. Hell had told me about Smoke’s plan to give him a hard time, badger him into eventually realizing he loved me and doing something about it.
I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful to my brother or to smack him upside the head, because now I knew he was going to hound us unmercifully until he got it out of his system. Hell had taken away his opportunity to rile him up in that way, now he was doing it in this way.
Hellfire flipped Smoke off, but when I looked up at him there was no heat in his eyes. He just looked amused and happy. "Well, that's one way to tell everyone we're together now."
I laughed and shook my head. "That was probably a better idea than slapping you."
"Probably," he agreed with a chuckle. "But don't worry about it. It's not like I'm going to be telling anyone about that."