He wasn’t completely right. I did have furniture, there just wasn’t a lot of it. “I don’t have people over. A recliner, end table, and TV are more than what I need.” I didn’t think I had ever used the end table. Hell, I could probably count on one hand how many times I had sat in the recliner.
For the past few months, if I wasn’t over at Fayth’s, I was at the clubhouse trying to catch up on shit I was missing.
“Am I at least going to have a bed?” Marco asked.
“Yeah, the spare bedroom had a twin bed. That can be your room.”
“Sweet. Where is it?” he asked as he wandered down the hall.
“Second door on the right. The first door on the right is your bathroom.” I turned to look at Fayth and crossed my arms over my chest. “Will it do?” There really wasn’t a reason why she wouldn’t like it here. Well, at least she didn’t know of any reasons of why she shouldn’t like it here. I was hoping she wouldn’t find out until bedtime that I had only two beds, and Marco was already using one of them.
Fayth nodded and wandered over to the fridge. She opened it and I dove for the door, but missed. Fayth slapped her hand over her face and her skin went pale. She slammed the door shut and looked at me like I had just killed her cat.
“I haven’t been here in over two weeks. I’m assuming the Chinese I brought home went bad.” I shrugged. “I should probably clean that out.”
Fayth gave me a thumbs up and backed away from the fridge. She grabbed her notepad. I can bring some of my furniture over if you want. At least a couch.
“You don’t need to do that, Firecracker.”
Yes, I do, if I want a place to sit.
I looked in the living room and eyed up the recliner. She was probably right. I didn’t think we could all fit in the chair. “I’ll call some of the guys and see if they’re able to grab some stuff.”
Fayth roamed around, opening cabinets and shaking her head while I called King.
“Yo, what’s up, brother?” he answered.
“Not much. We just got back into town.”
“Hell, you made good time. Where are you at?”
“The house.”
“Wow, you actually took her to your house. I figured you were just going to stay at the clubhouse.”
Fayth meandered down the short hallway and disappeared into the bathroom.
“Not enough room. We have Marco with us.”
“You know he could have taken Roam’s room. He’s out in Kentucky doing Lord knows right now.”
I leaned against the counter. “Yeah, but I just thought this would be better for Fayth.”
“She doing okay?” I had called King last night and given him the quick rundown of what was going on. All I had mentioned about Fayth was she was coming back with me.
“Yeah, still not speaking except for a word here or there. She’s getting damn fast at writing out her words, though,” I chuckled.
“Damn man, that fucking sucks. They know when she’ll start talking again?”
“No. They said she’ll talk when she’s ready. Physically and mentally, she’s fine. She just can’t find her voice.”
“It’ll come, brother.”
“I hope so.” I heard the water turn on in the bathroom and knew Fayth would be back anytime. “I was calling wondering if you were able to get a couple of guys to go to Fayth’s storage unit and bring some of her furniture over.”
“Yeah, we can grab it today. You want it all?”
Now, this is where I was torn. I knew Fayth had two beds in storage, and if King brought the beds over, she wouldn’t have to sleep in my room with me. “Just living room shit and probably kitchen stuff. Hell, stop at the store for groceries too,” I laughed.
“I’m not sure about the groceries, but we can get the furniture to you. You gonna give me the address to that mansion you bought now?”
I wasn’t kidding when I had said I don’t have people over. King knew I had bought a house, but I never told him where. “I’ll text it to you.”
“All right, see you in a few.”
I shoved my phone in my pocket just as Fayth flounced out of the bathroom. “Find everything okay?”
Fayth grabbed her pad of paper. The toilet is hard to miss.
I laughed and ran my fingers through my hair. I guess that was a stupid question to ask. “King said he would bring some of your furniture over. I asked him to bring groceries too, but we might be shit out of luck on that one.”
Fayth gave me a thumbs up and yawned.
“Tired?” Fayth nodded, and I motioned towards the recliner. “Take a nap, Firecracker. I’ll wake you up when your stuff gets here.”
“Slider,” she whispered.
Jesus. Did she even know what she did to me when she said that? “Yeah?”
She just looked at me, uncertainty written all over her face.
“Just go relax, Fayth. I see your mind running a hundred miles an hour. There's nothing for you to do right now. Trust me.”
Fayth hesitated but finally made her way over to the chair. Before she sank into it and popped open the footrest, she grabbed the blanket that was tossed on the back and wrapped it around herself.
“I’ll be in the garage, okay?”
Fayth nodded sleepily, and I knew it wouldn’t take long for her to be knocked out.
I checked on Marco, who was camped out on the bed with his headphones on, listening to whatever shit he called music. I told him I would be in the garage if he needed me, and I couldn’t help but notice how much he reminded me of his mom when he gave me a thumbs up.
I moved to the garage and hoped working under the hood of a car would help distract me from what I was feeling.
It felt damn good to have Fayth and Marco under my roof. What I always said I never wanted to do was happening to me, and I didn’t even want to stop it.
Fayth was with me, and I never wanted her to leave.
********
Chapter 14
Fayth
“I brought five rotisserie chickens, two pounds of potato salad, two pounds of some noodle salad Lo likes, and about five different kinds of chips. I also grabbed some extras to throw into the fridge.”
“I still think we should have gotten one more chicken.”
“There are ten of us. I don’t think a half a chicken a person is not enough.”
I groggily opened my eyes and looked around the kitchen. My eyes fell on Cyn and Meg, who were arguing about chicken while they unloaded bags of groceries. When I had fallen asleep, I had thought only a couple of guys were going to drop off my furniture. Now, there were ten people here and a feast of rotisserie chicken was going to happen.
“Yeah, well, two of those people are growing teenagers who could probably eat a chicken a piece.” Cyn balled up all of the plastic bags and shoved them into the garbage. “Not to mention the four grown men out there who can keep up with the teenagers when it comes to eating.”
“Shit, you’re right. Maybe we can have Turtle run and get two more chickens.” Meg began popping open the containers of salads and then started searching in the cabinets. “Jesus, you can totally tell a bachelor lives here. I don’t think he has anything that isn’t plastic or paper for utensils.”
“Maybe Fayth has something in all of those boxes that the guys are unloading,” Cyn suggested.
“Slider told them to leave all of the boxes in the garage until Fayth and Marco go through them. I think they’re only bringing in the furniture.”
“Thank God for that. Hopefully, there is a kitchen table in there. I honestly don’t know how Slider has lived here this long with nothing more than a recliner and a couple of beds.” Cyn leaned against the counter and looked down by her feet. “I can’t believe Micha is still sleeping. Do you think that I should wake him and make sure he is okay?”
Meg waved her arms and shook her head. “Hell to the no, girl. As long as that baby is sleeping, let him be.”
Baby? Oh hell, Cyn had the baby while I was knoc
ked out and then shipped off to Chicago. I tossed the blanket on the floor and sprung from the chair.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Meg cried as I bound into the kitchen.
I rounded the counter and saw Cyn rocking a dark blue baby carrier on the floor with her foot. “And she’s as mesmerized with Micha as much as you are,” Cyn laughed as I kneeled next to the carrier.
“Can you really blame her? He’s damn cute.”
Micha was sleeping peacefully, a light blue blanket tucked round him, and I had to fight the urge to unbuckle him and cradle him in my arms. It had been years since I had held a baby.
“Oh, I know that look. Just like I told Cyn, do not unbuckle that baby,” Meg tsked. “Now that you’re awake, you can run out to the garage and find some pots, pan, and plates. All Slider had was paper plates and a mountain of plastic forks.”
I looked around for my pad of paper and spied it on the counter. I stood, holding up a finger to let Meg and Cyn know to hold on. Hi, I wrote in big, bold letters.
“Hi,” Meg and Cyn chirped at the same time. They both looked at me expectantly.
How long have you been here?
“We got here a little bit ago. We were trying to help guide the boys on where to set stuff, but they sent us away when they couldn’t handle us anymore,” Meg laughed.
“Remy and Marco were listening to us, but it was the guys who were giving us a hard time. We started unpacking the boxes, but Slider insisted that you needed to unpack them.”
That was nonsense. It wasn’t like I had anything private in them. Opening a couple boxes of plates and cups that were mine wasn’t exactly invading my privacy. I’ll look for some plates.
“Perfect. I think the guys were about to start bringing in the furniture. They were trying to figure out which door to go through. That couch you have is enormous.”
My sectional really was huge. When I had seen it in the local furniture store, I knew I had to have it. It had barely fit in the old living room, but I knew it was going to be perfect in Slider’s living room.
“I heard Rigid threaten to saw it in half to make it in the door,” Cyn said, with a giggle.
Oh, hell no. There is no way anyone was going to take a saw to that couch. What?!?! I scrawled out.
“Oh, don’t worry. Slider told him there wasn’t a chance in hell that they were going to do that. He said he used to sleep on it in your old house,” Meg said reassuringly.
I headed out to the garage with Meg and Cyn following closely behind. “Leave the door open so I can hear Micha cry,” Cyn called to Meg.
Slider, King, Rigid, Marco, and Remy were gathered around my couch, each of them eyeing it up.
“All in favor of the saw,” Rigid called.
“Slider,” I yelled as I walked down the stairs, flailing my arms.
“Fayth, what are you doing?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. Like I could tell him what I was doing. I motioned to the couch and shook my head.
“Is this like charades?” Remy asked.
“Yeah, dude. She already said the only word she can. After that, it’s either crazy hand gestures, or she has a pad of paper that she writes everything on,” Marco explained. “If you really piss her off, she’ll flip you off.”
King, Rigid, and Slider busted out laughing while Cyn and Meg giggled behind me. I stomped my foot and pointed at Marco.
“So, what does it mean when she stomps and points?” Remy asked.
Marco stroked his chin and tilted his head. “I’m assuming it’s the same as flipping me off, but she can’t do that because I’m her kid.”
King and Rigid laughed even harder, and Slider tried to smother his laugh with the back of his hand.
I moved towards Marco, and he took off running.
“Abort, abort,” he shouted to Remy as they both ran out of the garage.
“Did anyone else feel like they were listening to commentary for a wildlife video?” King asked, still laughing.
Rigid bent over, bracing his arms on his knees, and wheezed uncontrollably. “Yes,” he gasped.
I tossed my hands up in the air and stomped back into the house. There was no way I was going to get my point across to those buffoons right now. I grabbed my pad of paper off the kitchen island. Cut it, and I cut you, I scrawled.
I stomped back to the garage and tossed the pad of paper at Slider. Marco and Remy were standing to the side of the garage door and peeking in. I shook my fist at Marco, and they took off running again.
Slider picked up the pad of paper that had bounced off of his chest, read it, and then showed it to King and Rigid. “I’m going to have to veto the saw,” Slider decided.
I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed. The threat of bloodshed seemed to be the only thing that got through to these guys.
“We’ll figure out a way to get it in without cutting it, Fayth,” King said reassuringly.
I nodded, satisfied with the fact I could trust King’s word.
“Dinner in half an hour,” Meg announced. “So, figure out how to get that couch in there so we have somewhere to sit beside monkey-piling into the recliner.”
“Speaking of dinner,” Cyn nodded over her shoulder, and we all glanced in the kitchen. Micha’s little feet were kicking the blanket off of him, and I could hear him making little baby noises. “Little monster is going to be hungry in about five minutes.”
I eagerly raised my hand to volunteer to feed Micha.
“Put your hand down, woman. You can only feed him if you have Cyn’s boobs,” Rigid called.
Cyn rolled her eyes. “Jesus, as nicely as Rigid put it, I’m breastfeeding. But as soon as the monster is done eating, he’s all yours.”
“I’ll get dinner set out. You two go chat in the living room.” Meg shooed us in the door.
“Put down the saw,” Cyn called as Meg shut the door.
I worriedly looked over my shoulder, and Meg rolled her eyes. “I promise they won’t cut up your couch. I’d like to think that Rigid was only joking, but you can never be too sure. King won’t let anything happen to it.”
I leaned against the island and watched Cyn grab little Micha out of his carrier. “Can you grab his diaper bag for me, Fayth? It’s by the door.”
I picked up the bag and followed Cyn into the living room. “Thanks,” she said, smiling. She rummaged through it and pulled out a blanket. “It’s so strange that you can’t talk back to me,” she mumbled.
I shrugged and couldn’t help but agree. It was freaking weird, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to be an ass. Hell, with Meg, half of the time I don’t even say anything, and she does quite well holding up both sides of the conversation.”
“I heard that,” Meg called from the kitchen. “Just for that, you don’t get your half of a chicken.”
“Hey,” Cyn called. “I’m nurturing your godson’s life. I need to eat so he can eat.”
“Then, maybe my godson’s mother needs to learn when to keep her mouth shut.”
Cyn rolled her eyes and positioned a blanket over her chest. “Your auntie is crazy,” Cyn cooed to Micha.
“Again, I heard that,” Meg yelled.
Cyn worked her shirt down, positioned Micha under the blanket, and reclined back in the chair.
I laid down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
“This still feels extremely weird to me. I think I’m going to be one of those mom’s that stops breastfeeding early,” Cyn confessed. “Rigid about hit the wall when I told him that.”
“Hey,” Meg hollered. “I never breastfed Remy, and he turned out pretty damn well. I even had that damn nurse at the hospital who told me I needed to breastfeed and then made me cry because my damn boobs didn’t work, still didn’t convince me to do what you are doing.”
“I know, you’ve told me that story ten times already, Meg,” Cyn laughed. “Did you breastfeed?” Cyn asked me.
I shook my head no. I h
ad tried to also, but my milk never came in. I had been crushed when I had to feed Marco formula, but I had quickly gotten over it after I had visited one of my friends back then who was being run ragged by breastfeeding her son all of the time. I’m sure that wasn’t the norm, but bottle-feeding is what worked best for Marco and me at the time.
“I’m telling ya, two more weeks and I’m done. Rigid is just going to have to deal with it. They’re my boobs,” she laughed.
The front door banged open, and I shot up to see what the hell was going on. Cyn stood, Micha pressed to her chest and the blanket fell down.
“Fayth, can you—” Slider’s mouth dropped open, and he slapped his hand over his eyes. “Holy fuck!” He blindly tried to walk back out the door and slammed right into the door frame. “Help! Someone take my hand, get me the fuck out of here!” He blindly reached out his arm, and Rigid grabbed it and pulled him out the door.
Rigid peeked in and shook his head. “You saw my woman’s tits, didn’t you?” he yelled.
“I swear to Christ, I didn’t!” Slider tried to walk back in the door but slammed into the door frame again because he still had his hand over his eyes. “All I saw was her shoulder and the back of the kid’s head. I took Marco’s advice and aborted before I saw any more.”
“Cyn, put the blanket back over you and sit down,” Rigid ordered.
Cyn rolled her eyes. “Another reason to give up on breastfeeding. You men are weirdos.” She gently tossed the blanket back over Micha and sat back down.
I couldn’t help but snicker as Slider blindly felt around, trying to walk.
“You can take your damn hand off of your eyes,” Rigid laughed as Slider managed to make it in the door but turned left and slammed right into the hall closet.
“You couldn’t have told me that ten seconds sooner?” Slider grumbled. He turned around, his hand still over his eye but peeked out between his fingers. “Are you sure I can look?”
I silently laughed and laid back down.
“Yes, asshole. You really think I would tell you to look if Cyn’s tits were hanging out?” Rigid growled.
“Hey!” King called. “You think we could talk about Cyn’s tits after we get the couch moved in? This thing isn’t fucking light.”
Unraveling Fayth (Devil's Knights Book 8) Page 7