After the Fall: The Fallen Men, #4

by Darling, Giana

  “What was that?”

  Lou’s gorgeous face, angelic almost, collapsed into a stubborn frown. “Nothing.”

  “Loulou…that felt like a contraction.”

  “No.”

  “Um, yes,” I argued, looking up at King with wide eyes.

  “No. It wasn’t. Besides, what do you know about it?” she snapped.

  I recoiled as if she’d slapped me because if anyone knew how much I yearned for King’s baby, it was my girl, Lou.

  “Not cool,” King growled softly. “Don’t snap at my woman just because you’re scared. Now, tell me the truth here, Foxy. You havin’ contractions?”

  Sweat beaded on the top of her brow, and she wriggled on her swollen feet, hand to her belly, eyes glazed as another contraction rolled through her.

  She sighed. “Maybe.”

  “You need to go to the hospital,” I demanded instantly. “Why the hell didn’t you tell anyone?”

  “I didn’t want to steal your thunder! It’s a big night for you guys. King finally manned up and put a ring on it.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the sassiness of my former student. Much like me, she’d changed so much over the years it was crazy to look back and see the old Louise as the same woman now carrying Zeus Garro’s babies.

  “Honey, seriously, that’s whacked,” I said gently. “You having these babies is about as exciting as it gets for every person here, even and especially, King and me. I’ve been waiting nearly nine months to meet Angel and Walker.”

  “Zeus isn’t here,” she whispered, and I saw that fear germinating in her gaze.

  She didn’t want to do this without him.

  King and I locked eyes over her head, and he gently uncurled her from under his arm to walk away, already pulling out his cell to call Zeus.

  I wrapped my arms around Lou and felt her tremble as she clung to me.

  Instantly, Ares was at our side. He was too young to be at the party so late. It was well after midnight on a Thursday, and things were devolving as only biker parties could into a series of erotic and illegal tableaus. But Ares wasn’t a normal kid, and his eyes said he’d seen a lot worse than a man going at a woman on the pool table in the middle of a party.

  His big eyes were dark and solemn as he took Loulou’s hand and put his other gently on her belly. “Are they okay?”

  Lou smiled tremulously and put a hand in his thicket of curls. “Yeah, Ares baby, they’re going to be okay. Just a little early it seems.”

  “Cool. I can’t wait to meet them,” he admitted with a little smile as he stared at his hand on her belly and gave it a little pat.

  “Cool,” Loulou agreed, relaxing a bit in my arms as I stroked her hair, and Ares worked his particular kind of calming magic. “They’re going to love you.”

  “Probably be the best loved babies in the world,” Ares said with a shrug, completely oblivious to the profound way they moved through Loulou.

  She hissed as another contraction hit.

  I let out a relieved sigh when King stalked back into the room until he got close enough for me to see the stricken expression stamped on his face.

  “Z called,” he said hollowly. “Apparently, Reaper’s got Harleigh Rose, and he wants to make a trade for Zeus.”

  My heart dropped to the floor at my feet. “Oh my God.”

  Lou straightened, little teeth bared. “Like hell that’s going to happen.”

  “Calm down, Lou,” King hushed, gentling enough to squeeze her arm. “We got this. Parties over, though, babe. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be absurd, go,” I ordered, leaning over Lou to grasp his face and kiss him hard because you never knew, even though I refused to think about it, what might happen in a situation like this. “Go and bring them back to us. I’ll take Lou to the hospital.”

  She whimpered and clenched her teeth against the weakness as another contraction hit. “No, no. I’m fine, and I am so not giving birth to these babies in the middle of a fucking crisis.”

  “You so are,” I demanded and then turned to Ares. “Go get her coat, her mum, and Bea, okay?”

  He took off like a shot, leaving King who stared at me like he was memorizing the lines of my face.

  “Go,” I said softly, “It’s okay, baby.”

  “Love you,” he said, gruff, like the words were torn right from his heart, bloody and raw. “Love you both. You be strong for me, okay?” I nodded, but when Lou didn’t respond, he crouched down to pinch her chin and lift her gaze to his. “Hey, Mama, you gotta be the little warrior again right now, yeah? My little sister and brother need you to be strong.”

  “I don’t want to this without Z,” she admitted in a wobbly voice that broke my heart.

  “I know, Lou, but you also know he’s gotta take care of this so when these babies come, we can all greet them together. The whole Garro clan includin’ Harleigh Rose.”

  “Okay,” she whispered, pale and obviously distressed. “Just take care of him, okay? I need…I need him.”

  “Gotcha,” he said, eyes tipping to mine because he knew the feeling. “Love you, Lou, okay? Love you and I’m gonna love you even more, you bring these babies into the world nice and healthy, all three of ya.”

  “Okay,” she agreed, leaning into the palm he used to cup her face. She breathed deeply, steadying herself, and then pulled away, blue fire flashing in her eyes. “Okay, let’s get these babies out of me. I’m tired of not being able to see my toes.”

  King grinned. “Atta, babe.”

  Gibson appeared, face creased with genuine concern. “Seems things are goin’ down…Anything I can do to help?”

  King stared at the man, taking his measure slowly, making it obvious, but not insulting. Finally, he reached out and clapped the off-duty cop on the shoulder.

  “Sure, man. It’d be good if you could call down to Van PD and let them know there’s shit goin’ down at the Port Authority. The Prez of Berserkers MC might or might not be committin’ a crime there.”

  Gibson’s grin was slow spread, honey sweet but slightly wicked. “Think I can do that. Thanks for the anonymous tip.”

  “Just bein’ a good citizen,” King quipped with a wink, then clapped him on the shoulder to send him on his way. “And the support, Gibson, means a lot. Can see why Lion liked you so much.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He waved it off. “I’m already doin’ you the favour.”

  King chuckled as Phillipa and Bea both swarmed Lou. I passed her over to their coddling so I could wrap my arms around King and give him a hug. There was something about feeling him so strong and solid in my hold that made me believe no matter what happened, he’d survive because he was the strongest man I knew.

  “My Queen,” he murmured into my hair.

  “Bring them back to us, honey,” I told him as he moved away, keeping hold of my hand until the last second and then turning on his booted heel to rally the men.

  I moved back to Lou just as her water broke, splashing against the ground and the two women supporting her.

  Bea screamed, “Ew! Jesus, Lou, did you really have to do that on my feet?”

  And as Lou and her mother, Phillipa, laughed, I had to believe everything was going to be alright.

  If I’d known then what I did now, I would have taken another moment to let it all sink in.

  King

  * * *

  It was over by the time we got to Vancouver. So, instead of the brothers rollin’ over to a crime scene we didn’t need to get messed up in, we headed to the hospital where Lou had been admitted and took up sentry in the waitin’ area. Over the course of the night, it seemed everyone showed. Buck and Maja tucked together in a chair too small for the burly ass biker, Nova on the ground holding Lila and Cleo on either side as they slept, Bea curled up half on Lila, half on Priest’s feet where he stood sentry beside the swinging door for hours without rest. Smoke arrived with Riley dragging his asthma machine, and he quickly took a seat next to Phillipa who blushed and chatted wit
h him all night long.

  I sat there, talkin’ to people when they sat beside me to chat or readin’ from the first edition copy of The Prince Cress had given me, even though my mind was on Cressida in that room with Lou, supportin’ her through givin’ birth.

  I’d peeked in on them in the early stages, just leaned in the doorway and watched as Cress fed a sweating, visually uncomfortable Loulou some ice chips and told her little stories about Zeus and the club from before she and Dad had gotten together. I loved the way they interacted, as if there was some inviable force field around them, as if their love was a barrier against all the wrongness in the world, insulting them from it, warming them against it. They treated each other like sisters and best friends when really Lou would be Cress’s mother-in-law, weird as it was given Cress was ten years older. Nothing mattered between them but the love they had for one another.

  We gave them that, Zeus and me, and our family in The Fallen. We’d showed them what it was to love against all odds, to strip the crap away because it was what laid at the heart of a person who meant everythin’.

  Made my throat tight and my heart pump slow, my blood weighted with pride and so much affection. If I’d been less of a man, I might’a cried.

  The time for visits was over, though, and Lou was officially givin’ birth, and Zeus, done with the police and the Berserker drama, was on his way to meet his babies.

  Heard him before I saw him, the early hours of the mornin’ makin’ his voice even coarser, his laugh like a lion roarin’ through the halls of the hospital.

  He rounded the corner, and it struck me like it sometimes did how larger than life he was. Big man, packed like a powerhouse with dense muscle, thick, dark beard, and eyes as light as mine but silver. Hair like mine too, crazy and rumble all around his angel wing tatted shoulders, brown dipped in honey at the ends. He was beautiful to me, and it might’a been weird to say that as a son, but I felt the beauty of him in my gut because he was the best man I knew. There was nothin’ bad in him, not at all, not an ounce. He was love and laughter and family.

  He’d sacrificed for the people he loved, and he’d taught me that. He’d taught me that nothin’ was more important than protectin’ the ones you loved, and it was a philosophy that was carved into my fuckin’ bones.

  Everything good in me I got from him.

  Not Farrah, the bitch who carried me in her toxic womb, and continued to spit poison at me all the years of my life she was a part of.

  Not the grandparents or ancestors we never knew.

  Just Zeus.

  One parent as if H.R. and me had sprung from him fully formed, Athena from the head of Zeus.

  Might’a been the day, knowin’ I was welcomin’ two new siblings into the world, knowin’ they’d have two parents, the best parents those kids could probably ever have save for Cress and myself, but I felt honest to Christ moved by the sight of my dad in the hall, beamin’ proud and strong even after dealin’ with yet another shitshow.

  Then Harleigh Rose was there, her smile dropping with an almost audible crash to the linoleum as her eyes, melted down aquamarine, swept over the crew of us waitin’ there. A deer caught in the headlights, she froze, and it seemed like she would’ve run if Danner wasn’t there beside her, hand to her back, the tiny action holdin’ her completely in his thrall.

  I moved without thinkin’, just needin’ to have my little sister in my arms again after weeks of not seein’ her. I was walkin, then joggin’ when her eyes widened and I thought she’d bolt, and then runnin’, snaggin’ her up in my arms so tight she gasped in my ear.

  She smelled the same. Somehow, it struck me as fuckin’ crazy and beautiful that her whole life, she’d smelled the very same. Floral, some kind of barely sweet, kinda earthy flower that made me think of untended fields where wild horses roamed. Pretty and wild, just like my sister.

  “H.R.,” I said into her streaky hair, voice coarse, arms banded too tight around her. “Fuckin’ welcome home.”

  Like a key in a lock, she broke open in my arms, clingin’ and sobbin’ like she’d been separated from me for years and gone through unmentionable tragedies.

  I didn’t doubt the tragedies, and it broke my fuckin’ heart. It seemed like years since I’d been able to care for her properly. It was hard, bein’ the older one, the one who’d always taken care of her, that she was old enough now not to need me, at least not in the way she once had.

  Felt good, like pressure on a knotted muscle, that she gave me her tears, that she could still feel safe enough with me to drop the thorns and be that sweet little girl she’d once been.

  “My sweet Harleigh Rose,” I soothed, draggin’ my hand down her upper back like soothin’ a cat. “Hush now.”

  She only cried louder, and I realized it was because Cress was there, wrappin’ her arms around us both, pressing kisses to H.R.’s wet cheeks. And Lila bracketed us from the other side, whisperin’ to her best friend.

  “Can I get in on this action?” Nova asked with a leer in his voice. “You know I love a group hug.”

  “God, don’t be gross,” Lila admonished, but she opened her arm so Nova could join our huddle.

  “Ah fuck me, if there’s one reason I became a fuckin’ biker it was to avoid this shit,” Buck grumbled from behind me, and then he was there too, proppin’ his white beard up on H.R.’s head. “But fuck it, not every day we get our princess back.”

  Then everyone was there, our hug six people deep, some fuckin’ biker kumbaya shit that we’d all pretend didn’t happen as soon as we disbanded.

  Noticed Danner leanin’ in a corner with a small smile watchin’ H.R. and chuckled thinkin’ of all the times they’d look at each other like that thinkin’ the other didn’t notice.

  “Danny,” I said, walkin’ over with a grin. “Fuck man, it’s good to have you back.”

  “Yeah, I recall you not likin’ me much when Cress and Lou went through their shit.”

  I shrugged a shoulder, grin still in place because fuckin’ with Danner had always been a hoot. “Water under the bridge, you were conflicted back then. You’re on the right side’a things now.”

  Cress laughed as she held H.R. to her, strokin’ her hair and lovin’ on her without any bitterness at her absence, just happy to have her home.

  Fuck, I loved my woman.

  “You tell him I was leavin’ the force?” he asked my sister.

  She shook her head, but I whooped loudly, fuckin’ thrilled to have corrupted another copper to the dark side.

  I was getting’ good at that shit.

  “Fuck yeah, you did! Wasn’t talkin’ about the right or wrong side’a the law, though. Was talkin’ about bein’ on our side again, mine and H.R.’s. We missed ya there.”

  Somethin’ in his stoic face moved, like shadow over concrete. “Yeah, King, I missed you too.”

  “Here to stay, I’m thinkin’.” I winked at him as I went to collect Cress and Harleigh Rose went to him.

  It was good to see that, the way she smiled at him like nothin’ bad would ever happen again so long as she was with him.

  If she didn’t need me anymore, I was glad it was him who’d bear the brunt of responsibility for her. She was a fuckin’ handful.

  “Fuck, yeah!” Zeus hollered, havin’ raced back to the delivery room as soon as he’d arrived and now back, arms raised, fists tight like a rocker at a concert. “We got two healthy kids and a healthy Lou. Walker and Angel Garro.”

  Maja climbed on a chair, spun her fist in the air, and started whooping.

  Everyone else followed, shakin’ the thin hospital walls with our celebratin’, drawin’ nurses out to shush us only for them to start laughin’ and cheerin’ too as we thumped Z’s chest and let him roar.

  “Zeus Garro,” a cold voice called out, hammering through the noise and leavin’ ears ringin’ with sudden silence.

  Danner frowned, steppin’ in front of Zeus. “Robson, Hatley, what’s goin’ on?”

  They stopped, surpri
sed probably to see a cop with a crew of bikers in 1%ers cuts.

  “Good to see you, Danner, but this is official business.”

  “The fuck?” I demanded, pushin’ through the crowd so I could get between them and Dad.

  They got to him first.

  “Zeus Garro, you’re under arrest for the murder of Officer Gibson. You have the right to remain silent. An attorney will be provided to you by the province…”

  “Fuck that.” I pushed through, stoppin’ one of them from slapping cuffs on his wrists. “We’ll provide his lawyer and fuckin’ roast you for this. What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

  “Riley Gibson was found dead on a Christmas tree farm owned by Townsend, shot through the head.”

  “Was nowhere fuckin’ near that place,” Zeus argued, calm as a fuckin’ monk. “Ask Danner, I was down here all night, half’a that spent with him.”

  They paused, but the one named Robson held up the handcuffs. “You can put your hands behind your back or my partner can do it for you. The murder weapon was found a hundred yards away in a creek bed with your fingerprints on it, registered to you. You got a problem with that, I suggest you get one of your biker buddies to call your lawyer.”

  “My wife just had twins,” Zeus said in a dead voice. “Let me say goodbye.”

  “You wanted time with your wife and kids, you should’ve thought twice before murdering again,” Robson snapped before the other guy shoved him against the wall and wrenched his hand back.

  I lunged forward, but Buck held me back, and whispered, “Calm the fuck down. We’ll get ’im out, and we don’t need to be splittin’ resource on you.”

  “Dad, no,” Harleigh Rose cried, tryin’ to hug Zeus as he reluctantly let them cuff his hands.

  He made eye contact with me as they turned him around and started to frog march him down the hall, expression blank but eyes grey fire. “Call White. Meet me at the station. I’ll be home with my woman and my babies by tonight. You tell them that.”

  “I will. No way you’re goin’ back there,” I promised, and I felt it take root in my fuckin’ soul. He had almost lost himself to prison before. No way I’d let that happen again.