“We’re gonna let you guys talk,” Mom said and rose to her feet. Cassidy followed.
Mom took the peas with her, and Maverick closed and locked the door before joining me on the sofa.
“What are you hiding?” he asked, sitting beside me.
I almost said “nothing,” but I knew it would be wasted breath, so I sighed and rolled my sleeve up again.
Maverick scowled. “That fucking bitch.”
“It’ll heal.”
“I have never wanted to hit a woman before, but she might be my first.”
I smiled. “I give you permission.”
Maverick stretched out, pulling me slightly on top of him and kissing me gently. “It won’t happen again.”
“I know.”
Shifting me, He laid his hand on my belly and kissed me again. “God, baby, if anything happened to you two...”
“I know, Mav. We’re okay.”
He stroked my face. “We’re taking care of this on Saturday.”
“What?”
“The Spiders.”
I gasped. “No. Don’t.” I sat up. “Please don’t put yourself in danger, Möosh. They haven’t done anything! Just leave it.”
“Yet. They haven’t done anything yet. We’re gonna make sure they can’t.”
“No.” I pushed off the sofa. “I forbid it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You forbid it?”
“Yes. I forbid it,” I repeated.
“Love it when you’re feisty, Lil.”
“Do not patronize me, Maverick Quinn. I will not sit back and let you put yourself in danger. You have a child to think about.”
Maverick sat up and leaned forward. “You think I’m not thinking about you and our baby?”
“If you’re heading into something that could potentially get you killed, then no, you’re not thinking hard enough.”
He slapped his hands on his thighs and rose to his feet. “Well, now that I know where we stand.”
“Ohmigod, Maverick, don’t make this a thing.”
“Jenny got to you today, Lil. She fucking got to you!” he bellowed.
I blinked. He’d never yelled at me before. He’d raised his voice but never like this.
“But she won’t ever again, Mav. If you rush in and attack, they will have the advantage. You’ll go in half-cocked, emotional, and you’ll be vulnerable.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you. The club’s made a call. I’m a recruit, and I’m going along with the call they’ve made.”
“Oh, hell no.” I stalked to the door and pulled it open. “I’m shutting this shit down.”
I arrived upstairs to a similar argument happening between our parents. Mom was giving Dad a piece of her mind, while Cassidy (in her quiet, calm way) glared daggers at Ace. Flea was nowhere to be seen... smart man.
“Please don’t do this,” I said to no one in particular. “It’s suicide.”
“Not your call, baby girl,” Dad said.
“Why the hell not?” Mom snapped. “This is about her, so she should have some say in it.”
“Club business,” Dad ground out.
“Fuck your club business, handsome.”
Mom only called Dad “handsome” in that tone when she was about to go postal on his ass, so I stepped back a little.
Maverick dragged his hands down his face. “We’re putting a plan in place. We’re not going in blind.”
“Maverick,” Ace warned.
Cassidy threw her hands in the air and, without a word, walked out of the room. I heard the front door slam a few seconds later. Ace sighed and followed, while Maverick and I remained with my parents.
“Which part of confidential did you not fuckin’ understand, Maverick?” Hawk snapped.
Maverick crossed his arms but didn’t respond.
“You obviously told Mom,” I pointed out. “So don’t go blaming Maverick for giving me a little heads-up on you guys being idiots! Do you seriously think I’m going to be okay if my child doesn’t have a father or grandfathers?”
“Lily—” Dad started.
“No, handsome,” Mom cut in. “You and your merry band of idiots need to go back to the table and come up with another plan because I swear to God if you do anything that endangers your life... or Maverick’s... I will kill you.”
“How long we been together?” Dad demanded.
Mom scoffed. “What the hell does that have anything to do with anything?”
“How long, Payton?”
“Almost twenty years,” she answered.
“In twenty years, have I ever done anything that leads you to believe I’m an idiot?”
Mom crossed her arms. “You don’t want me to go there, handsome.”
“I think we should let you two talk,” I said and faced Maverick. “You and I can continue this downstairs.”
I headed back toward the apartment. My parents almost never fought, so when they did, it was usually big. I wanted to be anywhere but there.
Maverick closed the door behind us, and I faced him. “If you’re going to try and convince me that whatever you have planned isn’t going to be dangerous, save your breath. I’m tired, and I don’t want to fight.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me forward. “I don’t want to fight either. Let’s just eat, and we’ll stow the subject for now.”
I nodded. Since it was Maverick’s night to cook, I headed to the shower and took some time to decompress. Flipping off the water, I grabbed my towel and stepped out of the shower just as Maverick walked into the bathroom.
“Dinner’s ready,” he said.
“Thanks, honey.”
“Hey.” I met his eyes, and he smiled. “I’ll talk to our dads, and we’ll figure something out. Something that’s less dangerous.”
“I just don’t want you dead,” I said.
He chuckled. “I know, baby doll. We’ll figure it out.”
All of a sudden, I felt movement in my belly and gasped, gripping my stomach.
Maverick’s face dropped. “Baby?”
“I’m okay. I just felt the baby move for the first time.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded and pulled his hand to my stomach. “I don’t know if you can feel yet, but... right here. Do you feel it?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“I scheduled the sonogram for three weeks. We should be able to see the sex of the baby by then.”
“Sounds good.” He knelt in front of me and kissed my stomach gently. “Hey, baby. It’s Daddy. You’re gonna be so loved.”
Tears leaked down my cheeks, and I pulled Maverick up and hugged him. He kissed my temple and held me for a few minutes before he said, “Time to eat.”
“Just a little longer.”
He chuckled and held me “just a little longer.”
Lily
THE MORNING OF my sonogram, I awoke with nervous energy. My belly was getting bigger by the day. At least, I felt like it was—probably because I wanted to eat constantly. The nausea was finally gone, and I felt incredible.
My appointment was during my lunch hour, and I wasn’t sure how I’d make it through the first part of my day. I couldn’t wait to find out what we were having. Flea was driving me to work since Maverick left early, so I decided to take advantage of my parents’ kitchen, especially since Mom mentioned she might have picked up fresh bagels that morning.
Locking my door, I headed upstairs and to the kitchen. Mom held up a bagel, and I nodded my head. “Grab the cream cheese, will you?”
I opened the fridge and handed her the container just as Rex shoved his nose into my hand. I knelt down to scratch his ears. “How’s my boy? Hmm?”
“Dad took the last of the coffee. Want to make another pot?”
“Sure.”
Flea walked in just as I’d hit the brew button. I gave him a nod since my mouth was full of bagel.
“Perfect timing,” Mom said and handed him a bagel.
“T
hanks.”
I glanced at my watch and frowned. “We need to head out, or I’m going to be late.” I hugged Mom. “Are you coming today?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said.
I grinned, and Flea and I headed to the hospital.
* * *
Maverick, Cassidy, and Mom arrived within minutes of each other, and I could barely contain my excitement. Maverick kissed me gently, and then we headed to my appointment.
We were guided into a room, and I settled myself on the table while Maverick stood beside me, and our moms hovered close by.
The ultrasound tech smiled as she tucked paper towels into the waistband of my scrubs and tugged them down a little farther. She grabbed the jelly and said, “Might be a little cold.”
I nodded, and she squirted it on my stomach and then placed the wand on the jelly. “We’ll just have a look at the baby. I’ll take some measurements then we can look at the sex if you want.”
I looked at Maverick and then back at the tech. “Yes, please, we’d like to know.”
Mom and Cassidy held hands, and Mom let out a quiet squeak.
I lay on that table, my bladder ready to burst, especially when the tech applied a little pressure, but I didn’t care. I was holding hands with the hottest guy on the planet, and we were looking at a picture of the baby we made.
“Okay,” the tech said and smiled at us. “Ready?”
I nodded.
She moved the wand around and pointed at the screen. “That right there... is a girl.”
I burst into tears and looked up at Maverick. “Charley.”
I could see a sheen of tears in his eyes too as he grinned. “Charley,” he agreed.
Our little girl would be Charleston (still unknown middle name) Quinn.
“Charlotte?” the tech asked.
“Charleston,” I corrected.
“Oh, that’s so cute.”
“Thanks, we like it.”
She pointed out all the fingers and toes, we got a close-up of her little face, and then it was time to head upstairs. The whole process had taken less than half an hour, and I still had five months to go. I wanted to meet her now. Especially since we knew her name.
I cleaned up, then we made our way to the cafeteria for a quick lunch before it was time for me to go back to work. Mom and Cassidy monopolized the conversation, and I was grateful since I was unable to focus on anything. I just nodded and smiled and let Maverick hold my hand while I ate.
“So we were thinking ponies and zebras to ride at the shower,” Mom said.
“Sure,” I said and then registered what she’d just said. “Wait, what?”
Cassidy and Mom chuckled as Cassidy gave me a sympathetic smile. “Maybe we should wait to make plans for the shower until this has all sunk in.”
I smiled. “That’d be great. Thanks, Cass.”
“I think we should do high tea,” Mom said. “Just the girls. Then we can do a big combined party at the club another day.”
“Mom,” I said with a sigh. “One. You get one shower.”
Maverick kissed my cheek. “I have to go, baby doll.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll see you when I pick you up.”
“Remember, I may go to Poppy’s tonight,” I said.
“I’ll drop you there and pick you up after church.”
Wednesday night was the club meeting, which the brethren referred to as “church.”
“I think that works.”
“I pick you up, Lil, got it?” he stressed. “No walking home with another recruit or by yourself.”
I squeezed his leg. “Got it, Möosh.”
He rose to his feet and leaned down to kiss me gently, laying his hand on my belly. “Love my girls.”
“We love you, too.”
“Flea’s here, so he’ll walk you back,” he said.
I nodded. Maverick kissed me once more, before kissing our mothers’ cheeks and walking out of the cafeteria.
“High tea with close girlfriends, big club party with everyone?” Mom asked, hopefully.
“You’re ridiculous,” I said.
“That’s not a no,” Cassidy mused.
“No, it’s not,” Mom agreed and stood. “Let’s get out of here before she has a chance to think about it.”
I giggled as they gathered their trash and waved Flea over.
“I’ll walk you all back to Lily’s station then walk you two to your car,” Flea said.
“Thanks, buddy,” I said.
* * *
“Okay, so high tea with the girls,” Poppy started, “then a big party with the club?”
I groaned. “How the hell did Mom get to you already? We just talked about it at lunch!”
Maverick had taken me home to change before walking me to Hatch and Maisie’s where I was meeting the girls while the men were at church. Dogs’ women were upstairs, and the younger women were down. We were here most Wednesdays since it was a fortress.
Poppy chuckled. “Cass told me. Grace and I had a class with her today.”
“I have no problem with a small one with you guys and a bigger one for the Club, I guess.” I smiled. “My wedding didn’t kill me.”
Grace laughed. “Way to look on the bright side.”
I sighed. “Is it wrong that the bigger the party, the more diapers we won’t have to pay for?”
“Not wrong at all,” Poppy said.
“How’s it going with Devon?” I asked.
“Holy subject change, Batman,” Poppy retorted.
“Not sure you want to go there, Lil,” Grace warned.
I gave Poppy a sympathetic smile. “Who’s the holdout?”
“Poppy,” Grace answered.
Poppy gasped. “I am not.”
“You totally are,” Grace countered.
“One, Devon is very clear on not being into me. Two, I have been trying to move on, but he’s the one who interferes with everything.”
“Because he loves you,” Grace said with a singsong voice.
“He does not love me,” Poppy snapped, her red face resembling a cartoon—the kind with steam coming out of its ears. “If he loved me, he wouldn’t treat me like a piece of shit.”
“He doesn’t treat you like a piece of shit,” Grace argued. “He’s overprotective and interferes with guys sniffing after you, yes, but he has a stupid lovesick look on his face whenever he looks at you, and every guy he’s messed with has been a douche.”
“Duncan wasn’t a douche.”
“Duncan was a total douche,” I countered.
Duncan had been the guy before Donnie, and for a little while, at least, he’d seemed like the perfect guy. He wasn’t.
Poppy groaned. “He’s a nice guy. We still talk on occasion.”
“Ohmigod, don’t let Devon find out,” Grace said. “He’ll lose his shit.”
Poppy frowned. “It’s none of his business.”
“I’d suggest you also keep that opinion from Devon,” Grace said.
“Do you love him?” I asked.
She shrugged.
“She loves him,” Grace said.
“It’s complicated,” Poppy countered. “I want what Mum and Sid have. I won’t settle for less, and I don’t think Devon can give it to me.”
“I think that’s fair enough,” I said. “I wouldn’t settle either.”
Grace sighed. “If only there were more Mavericks in the world.”
“Give Liam a few years.” I smiled. “Hunter and Case are close behind, too.”
“Too young.”
“Kim’s five years older than Knight is,” Poppy said.
“Hmmm,” Grace mused. “Maybe you’re onto something. Hunter’s gorgeous.”
“Maybe give Hunter a little more time, huh?” I said.
Poppy snorted. “Okay, can we change the subject again and go back to planning the baby showers?”
“Sure,” I said, although I really wanted to dig deeper about Devon. I let it
go, though. Poppy would talk when she was ready.
Lily
Four months later...
I HAD OFFICIALLY reached whale status. I waddled far more than I walked, but I had less than a month to go until our little girl would finally be in my arms. To say that Maverick and I were beyond excited would be an understatement.
My ladies’ high tea had been a blast, and I’d been gifted with enough diapers to last at least a year... maybe more. Mom and Dad had bought us a crib, and Maverick’s parents had bought us a kickass stroller and a pack and play thing for travel. Maverick’s grandparents, Patrick and Wendy, had bought us the safest car seat on the planet, which grew with the baby, so we were set.
Tonight was the club party, and I was looking forward to seeing everyone. Maverick had been working so much, and I moved only when necessary, so we hadn’t been to a club get-together in months.
My doctor had just put me on medical leave. And although she didn’t relegate me to bed rest, she didn’t want me on my feet all day either, so I was home until I chose to go back to work.
Jenny and the rest of the Spiders were eerily quiet. Maverick and our dads had decided to go a different way than to bust into their compound and “shoot the shit out of everyone in it.” I appreciated that, and so did our moms. Ryder and Sadie (and a few of Ryder’s crew) had been folded into our club, and I really liked all of them. Reese was grunty, but he reminded me of Hatch, so I liked him despite his monosyllabic tendencies. It probably helped that he was drop-dead gorgeous.
Maverick had indicated that Reese and Ryder were helping to gather information about the Spiders, but he wouldn’t give me any further information, and honestly, I didn’t ask. I liked being sheltered from whatever crap Jenny had in store for me.
“You ready, baby doll?” Maverick asked, peeking into the bedroom.
“Yep,” I said.
“You look gorgeous,” he said.
I had on my favorite pair of maternity jeans, a lacy, low-cut maternity top, and the only pair of shoes that fit me... a pair of black, low-heeled boots.
I closed the distance between us and kissed him. “So do you.”
He wore a button-down shirt under his cut along with tight jeans and motorcycle boots. Maverick classed up the biker look for sure.
“You’re way too pretty to be a biker.”
“So you’ve said.” He stroked my cheek. “How are you feeling?”
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