“Soon. I haven’t made an appointment yet, because of the timing of everything else.”
“Don’t do that. You take care of yourself and our baby above everything, you hear? There are plenty of people who can keep an eye on Brantley while you go to an appointment, and as long as you schedule it for a day I’m not with the firehouse, I’ll be there too.” I moved my lips to her and placed a gentle kiss there too. “Make no mistake, I want to be there. I want to be there for everything.”
“That’s good because I want you to be there for everything,” she told me just as Brantley decided to make his presence known again and move into Poppy’s lap.
“I be der for tings?” Brantley asked looking worried.
“You will always be there for things, lil’ man,” she told him with a conviction that no one could deny.
His smile was nearly as bright as hers was. “Good. Me likes tings.”
I laughed at his response, because there was no telling what was going through his head. “Wonder what he’s actually thinking of?”
“Who knows, but if I have anything to say about it, he’ll get everything he dreams of.”
“You have everything to say about it now,” I informed her. She was our family now. Poppy, Brantley, our baby, Bubba, and me. There was no going back. She wanted a family, and she stepped right into one when she met me.
Chapter 12
Bent over the bed, Poppy screamed into the pillow as I plowed into her from behind. Besides the fact that we hadn’t had any alone time when we weren’t just dog tired and sleeping, we definitely hadn’t had time to enjoy one another lately either, and I was bound and determined to make up for that. I didn’t know if it was the time spent apart and appreciation for finally coming together again, her hormones, or what, but Poppy was soaking fucking wet and it was driving me wild. I hadn’t wanted to take her from behind like this. I wanted to be able to watch her face as she came apart in my arms, but with Brant right across the hall, and Poppy unable to be quiet during sex, that wasn’t an option.
“So wet for me, honey.”
She responded though I couldn’t understand the words that were muffled by the pillow she was biting into. It didn’t matter, because I knew whatever she’d been trying to say had only been encouragement to keep going. I wouldn’t disappoint her.
I took a moment to run my fingers gently down her back from the nape of her neck where he hair was swept off to the side all the way down her spine to the crack of her ass. My eyes followed the trail of my fingers as I leisurely stroked in and out of her. I was memorizing her in this moment. The softness of her skin, the way little bumps erupted in the wake of the path my fingers had taken, and the way her hips tilted up just a bit more to urge me on even when she didn’t have a voice all settled deep into my soul. The moment locked in place, never to be forgotten before I reached around her and grabbed one of her tits with my right hand while I started stroking her clit with my other. All the while I never changed the tempo of my thrusts even though she attempted to buck against me in order to get me to pick up the pace.
Finally, she turned her head up from the pillow and tossed me a grin from over her shoulder. “If you don’t pick up the pace, I’m just going to take a nap, stud! I’m creating another human here, and it’s sapping my energy.” She winked, letting me know she wasn’t tired at all. She was just demanding of my attentions, and what she didn’t realize was that she had also just stroked my fucked-up caveman ego. Hell yeah she was making a human. The one I fucked into her, and that was everything.
I picked up my thrust game, giving it to her just a little bit harder each time but maintaining the same overall speed. The little squeaks the movements had her making were music to my ears, but it wasn’t until they had become a regular occurrence that I added speed to the harder thrusts too. With each one, her ass would ripple delightfully making me want to lean in and chomp down on that lush ass of hers. Instead, I angled her hips a little more, and drove home exactly what we’d both been needing. I took her, I gave her all of me, and within minutes, she was screaming my name so loud the pillow could no longer contain it. That was when she tightened up, squeezing the shit out of my cock as she came all over me. I slapped her ass and pinched down on her clit in order to prolong her orgasm as I chased my own. Just before she dropped her chest down as her shaky arms gave out, I was coming inside of her and growling out my own release and rode her body down to the mattress, pulling us into a position where I was the big spoon and she the little while my cock continued to rest inside of her.
“Popwee Otay?” Brant’s concerned voice from the hallway had me searching for the covers to throw over Poppy since I couldn’t remember if I had locked the door behind us or not.
“I’m okay, baby,” she called out to him.
“Whys da door not wowked?”
“It’s locked, little man,” I told him.
“Unwocks it!” His little demand had us both chuckling. I had tossed Poppy one of my shirts and pulled on a pair of boxer shorts before heading to the door to let the little monster in who had nearly been a major cockblock. Hell, for a brief moment, I wondered if this was why Bender hadn’t managed to knock my sister up again, because of his mini-me cock-blocking son. Then, I wanted to throw up, because it hit me that they’d never get a chance to grow their family and they’d probably both gladly give that up to have their son interrupting mommy and daddy’s fun times.
“Hey,” Poppy called out to me, worry etching her beautiful visage as she watched the thoughts play out across my expressive face. “They would have been thinking the same things,” she told me. I knew she was right, because I’d heard Bender joke about how they had to sneak in quickies because his son had sex-dar, as he called it. Radar for when his parents were having sex.
“I know.” My voice came out too gruff and thick for my liking.
“Me sweep wit Popwee?” Brant asked, but he wasn’t asking me, he was asking her while rubbing his tired eyes. I knew it was going to happen the minute her own sleepy eyes landed on him and I watched her face soften and that sweet smile of hers give all the answer that was needed before Brant climbed up under the covers. Then, the little shit looked right at me as he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled it around him so that she was now the big spoon to his little. I swear, I saw triumph in his eyes like the little shit just stole my woman. I looked heavenward and promised Bender and my sister retribution one day. I knew this was their payback for all the times I laughed about how interruptive their son was in their sex lives.
I left them to it and took Bubba outside one last time. When we came back in, he went straight to Brant’s room and whined because the little boy wasn’t tucked up in his bed. I just shook my head and laughed. “I see he already rules this house,” I grumbled. I didn’t honestly mind though. “Come on, Bubba. He’s in with Poppy.” As if the dog understood, he moved past me before I could even turn and made himself at home beside the bed where Brant had a hand and a foot dangled over the edge, and my woman’s arm still slung around him. I crawled in behind her and managed the most peaceful night of sleep I’d had since before my family was torn apart.
My cell would not stop vibrating on the nightstand so finally, I rolled over and answered it at the same moment I realized Poppy, Brant, and Bubba were no longer in the room. “Yeah?”
“Smoke, just checking in with you. Everything good?” Ghost’s voice sounded worn down and I wondered how much longer the man was going to keep up with being club president. He’d seen his share of club drama over the years, and keeping the men together was something that took a toll on a person.
“I’m good. Shit, what time is it?” I pulled the phone away from my ear as I heard him chuckle. “Almost 11?” There was no way I’d slept in until almost 11 in the morning. Shit, it was almost lunch time.
“I take it you slept well?” Ghost managed to get out amidst his laughter.
“Fuck! I guess I did. You have something for me? If not, I need to get up and
join the land of the living. I’m supposed to be here making shit easier on Poppy, not sleeping while she carries on as usual.”
“You need down time too, brother. You’ve been going hard. Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you. We’re running down a few leads the electronic way, and I want you to take time off from club shit for a couple days. We need you fresh when we get the information and everything’s a go.”
“Do not sit on anything thinking I need to recharge!” It was a demand, and I didn’t care in that moment whom I was speaking with either. I meant it. There would be hell to pay if they kept a lead from me, thinking I needed to recharge, and the bastards were able to go to ground. I’d be equally pissed if they took off and went after them without me.
“Don’t worry, Smoke. Nothing is happening without you there, and we sure as fuck aren’t going to be sitting on anything. Soon as we know, you’ll get the call.”
“Fine.” I huffed the word out and then scratched a hand down the beard that had been threatening to grow in fully. “That it?”
“That’s it. Go enjoy family time while you have it, brother.”
“Yeah,” I told him and then hung up.
By the time I managed to get myself cleaned up and out to the living room, I found Brantley sitting there trying to explain to Bubba why he couldn’t build with his blocks. Poppy was in the kitchen making what looked like lunch. I moved right up behind her and put my hands around her waist, resting them gently on her belly before I dipped down and placed a kiss on her neck. She had her hair swept up into some sort of messy bun-ponytail hybrid. It probably would have looked horrible on anyone else, but not Poppy. Her green eyes flared at me as she turned to offer up one of her brilliant smiles.
“Did you sleep well?” She asked, as if that was necessary. Obviously, I had.
“Too well, apparently. I didn’t mean to miss breakfast with you guys. You should have woken me.”
She turned in my arms and shook her head at me before running a finger under my eye and smoothing it out across my cheek until she reached the short beard I’d just trimmed up. “No. You needed some good sleep for once. I was happy to let you sleep and get rested. Now that you’re up though, you could get Brant ready so we can go have a picnic. That’s what he wanted for lunch.”
My heart slammed against my chest. Poppy couldn’t have known, but Brant had been on his way to a picnic with his parents when the crash happened. That was their thing. They’d go off to find another new place where there were easy hiking trails, or something to see in nature like a waterfall or a river, and they’d take a family day to go picnic and enjoy being in the world without being surrounded by the day-to-day bullshit.
“I’m not sure that’s a wise thing to do,” I told her.
“Why not? It’s just a picnic.” I took a minute to explain things to her and watched as her face morphed into one of sadness when she glanced back into the living room where Brant was still playing while Bubba kept watch over him.
“I didn’t know,” she finally said.
“You couldn’t have known that’s what he was asking for.”
Her shoulders immediately straightened, and she tipped her chin up to me. “We’re giving him this. From now until he’s a grown man, we’re going to give him that part of his family so he can always have a piece of them. His memories will fade, but the tradition they started doesn’t have to.”
I didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than I already did, but damn, she was amazing. “Okay, Poppy. We’ll do this, but until these assholes are caught and brought to justice, we’re going to have to make a modified picnic.” I leaned in and kissed her nose before I took off for the hall closet where Poppy kept spare blankets and sheets.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m preparing a special magical place to have a picnic. You make the rest of that food, and I’ll get everything else ready.”
There was an old area rug tucked away in the tiny little shed off to the side of the house that was perfect for what I’d need, and once I was finished, I had managed to string up a nice little blanket fort that Poppy would be able to stand up straight in, even if I had to duck down a bit. Little man would think it was huge. When I was finished, I went back inside and gathered up my family while helping Poppy bring the last of our picnic supplies out.
“Whoa!” Brant’s eyes lit up when he saw the outside of the fort. Granted, it was nothing more than a bunch of mismatched sheets, but still in a kid’s eyes it was something new and shiny. “What this?”
“It’s a magic fort, little man.”
“Whoa!” His response had us both grinning as he entered. I had built in a little entryway to the big tented room, but once we got in there I dropped to my knees and put down the plate of sub sandwiches Poppy had made. I had laid the area rug out on the ground and then piled blankets and pillows all around the periphery, so it looked like we were in the middle of genie’s lamp or something. Brant moved in circles, taking everything in and then he ran to me and threw his arms around my neck. “Unc Moke, you builded dis fo me?”
“Yeah, buddy.”
“Wub you,” he told me before letting go and calling out to Bubba who had been hesitant about entering our little blanket fort. “Bubsba!” He demanded and finally Bubba low-crawled his way into the tent as we laughed at the beast of a dog who looked like he was afraid of his own shadow when confronted with the monstrosity of sheets in the yard where he usually did his business and played catch.
“I think Bubba’s wondering what we did to his yard,” I told Brant. He laughed.
“Bubsba, come. Wets pway.”
“How about we eat first and then play?” Poppy asked.
“Bubsba has a sub too?”
“I have something special for Bubba,” Poppy insisted, and she pulled a large rawhide bone out of the little backpack she had brought out. Once Bubba had it, he took off to a far corner and lay there while gnawing at the thing. Seeing Bubba content made Brantley more willing to eat first and play later.
It didn’t take long for little man to finish his food and go about exploring the tent space I’d created. It wasn’t even long after that when both Bubba and Brantley were out like a light for naptime. There was something to be said for having the pillows splashed all around the place.
“Look at that, didn’t even have to fight him into a bed. Maybe we should leave this up all the time,” Poppy mused.
I snickered. Considering not a single bit of this is waterproof I don’t think that will work out too well.”
She shrugged. “Worth the shot.”
“Has he been hard to get down for naps?” I felt bad again because she’d been dealing with that while I’d been mostly absent.
“It’s not that bad, but he doesn’t like to go to sleep because he has bad dreams.”
“Shit, Poppy” I started to say but she leaned over and put a finger to my lips.
“Shh, it’s okay. Everything is going to be okay. It was bound to happen with him. He lived through a horrific car accident that killed both of his parents. He’s adjusting to them no longer being here. I’d say he’s doing remarkably well, considering.”
I could have apologized a thousand times over for leaving it all to her, but I knew she didn’t want to hear that. Instead I leaned in, moved her finger away from my mouth and replaced it with her lips instead. “Thank you,” I whispered against them. “Thank you for being there for both of us.”
“You never have to thank me for that, Smoke. I know why you haven’t been around. I understand. If I’d been able to blame someone for my family’s death, I’d be doing the same thing.”
“No, you wouldn’t. Your brother would,” I corrected. She simply laughed.
“If that’s what you need to keep telling yourself. If someone had been responsible, I would have just joined up with all the girls of S.H.E. and rode off into the sunset with them to get my vengeance.”
“You know how to ride a bike?” I asked while g
rinning down at her.
“Well, no. It can’t be that hard though. I’m sure one of them would have been able to teach me.”
“I’ll teach you. Never know when those crazy bitches will want to expand and start a new chapter.” I winked at her then and she just laughed at me.
“Keep grinning like you know I won’t do it. I’ll be the most badass motorcycle momma you’ve ever seen!” Her instance was cute as hell.
“Speaking of,” I told her as I managed to get Poppy spread out beneath me on her back. “I think you’re going to have to hold off on your plans of female biker world domination until this little bundle arrives.” I nudged her belly, through her shirt, with my nose before leaning back up and kissing her again. “If I didn’t tell you before, I need for you to know, I’m so fucking happy to be starting a family with you.”
“Me too,” she breathed out before our lips locked in a lingering kiss once more.
Chapter 13
The giant grin on my face as I walked into the firehouse two days after seeing my baby on that monitor couldn’t be missed. “What the hell is that all about?” Shep asked skeptically. Surfer just smiled as he watched me approach them. He already knew about the little bomb Poppy had dropped in the clubhouse.
Instead of telling either of them my news I held up the small black and white photo of the blob the doc told me was my kid. “This,” I explained as I watched Shep’s eyes round out in surprise while Surfer simply continued to smile at me.
“Congrats, brother!” Surfer finally offered up with a quick hug and slap on the bag once I was close enough.
“Are you serious?” Shep asked while eyeing the ultrasound photo. “Poppy?”
“Who the fuck else?” I asked, brows knitting together in confusion with a slight twinge of anger.
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