Two Of A Kind: Snakes Henchmen MC

by Grayson, Alivia

  Fallon: It’s Fallon.

  Trace: Oh.

  Fallon: Are you going to let me see my daughter?

  Trace: Maybe tomorrow. We’ll see.

  Fallon: You can’t keep her from me, Trace, you have no right. I am her mother!

  Trace: I have every right; you abandoned her!

  She’s my little girl, and I won’t be giving her up!

  I think I’ve read that message at least ten times. His little girl? Ava is my little girl, dammit, and I will not walk away like she means nothing to me! Fuck Trace, I can walk away from him quite easily, but not Ava. I’ve done enough of that in her short life. Trace is not keeping Ava from me!

  Fuck this, I’m going over there, and I’m not leaving without Ava!

  * * *

  What are you doing here?”

  “I want to see my daughter.”

  There Trace stands in his front doorway, arms folded around his big chest, staring me down. His hair is a little longer, his beautiful face a little harder. He is not happy to see me at all. He hasn’t even asked me to come in out the cold, but I don’t care, I will not leave here without my daughter.

  I borrowed Marley’s car. Romany’s car seat is in the back. It’s a big one, due to the fact my baby sister is a chunky little monkey. Ava isn’t very big for her age; she’ll fit.

  “What makes you think I’m gonna hand her over to you?”

  “Because she’s my daughter and you have no right to keep her from me.”

  “I have every right! You abandoned her when she was a baby and kept on doing it her whole life!”

  “I was trying to protect her, Trace.” I should have known he wouldn’t understand. I’m not here to make him either. “I don’t expect you to understand, and I’m not here to beg you to forgive me, but I am here for Ava. I’m going to fix my life, make something of myself.”

  “That’s all well and good, Fallon, but the fact remains that Ava is staying with me.”

  “I won’t leave without her.” And I won’t. I’m not going to lose my temper, Trace is a stubborn and proud man, and he’ll only dig his heels in harder. “You have no idea how grateful I am to you for taking such good care of Ava. Roman told me what you’re like with her. I couldn’t have asked for more, Jordan.”

  His eyes dart across my face, nostrils flaring. He hates that I called him by his given name. Very rarely have I ever called him Jordan. Only his girl can call him by his given name. I was his girl once.

  “Everything I said to you that day on the phone was all bull, Trace. I had to say it in order to have Brick believe me. None of it was true. I had to protect you.”

  I swallow past the lump in my throat. Trace isn’t saying anything, but I know he’s listening. It’s so cold out here, but he’s not going to let me inside his house, so I won’t ask, but it would make this a lot easier if he did.

  “This baby,” I place my hand on my stomach, but I keep my eyes on Trace’s face. He looks at my stomach for a second before finding my eyes again. “This baby is yours, Trace. I lied when I said it wasn’t, but I didn’t have a choice but to do so.

  “I’m keeping it.” I smile slightly. Trace doesn’t. I sigh. “I know Mortar probably told you everything... I don’t know what to say except, I’m sorry.”

  “You can see Ava at Roman’s in the morning.” He steps back, ready to close the door.

  “Trace, wait!” Rushing to the door, I lay my palm against it, stopping him closing it on me.

  “Daddy, I finished!”

  My eyes shoot to Trace. Daddy? What the hell! “You have her calling you, Daddy? Who the hell gave you that right?!”

  He smirks at me but doesn’t answer me. “Coming Ava!” He calls to her, still smirking at me. He wants to play games? This isn’t a game. This is my child’s life!

  I’m not playing! “Ava?! Ava. Baby, mommy’s here!”

  “You stupid...”

  “Mommy?” There she is in her little purple pajamas, hair loose. She’s just brushed her teeth. She has a little bit of toothpaste on her cheek. “Mommy! Mommy!” She rushes toward me, I crouch down and catch her, scooping her up in my arms. I kiss her head over and over. I’m so overwhelmed. I can’t believe she’s in my arms. She’s clinging to me so tightly. “Daddy found my Mommy.” She mumbles to herself.

  Is that what he promised her, that he’d find me?

  If so, why is he treating me like the enemy?

  Like he doesn’t want me to have anything to do with my child?

  I don’t get Trace at all.

  “I’m here now, baby. Mommy’s home.”

  “Uncle Brick not going to hurt you again, Mama?”

  “No, Ava, never again.” I hold her for a few moments before she pulls away and giggles happily. Is there any better sound? I never appreciated it before, but I do now.

  “Come on, Ava, it’s your bedtime, and your mommy has to go.”

  Bastard!

  I’ve had no more than five minutes with her!

  “Where are you going, Mommy?”

  “Back to grandpas, but we’ll see each other in the morning.” What else am I supposed to say? Trace is not going to let me take Ava tonight, but I guarantee he won’t be leaving Roman’s with her tomorrow, no matter what I have to do to make that happen!

  I could get to my feet right now, put Ava in the car, and drive away. However, I know I have no chance of starting the car without Trace stopping me.

  I can’t bear that my baby is crying on my shoulder.

  Why is Trace hurting her like this?

  I get why he wants to hurt me, but Ava is an innocent child!

  “I don’t want you to go, Mommy.”

  “Don’t be sad, baby, we’ll see each other tomorrow. I promise.” I tell her while stroking her hair.

  “She’ll be fine.” I’m seething inside. He’s determined to piss me right off! “Say goodnight to your mother, Ava.”

  “Goodnight, Mommy.” She says, sadly while waving.

  “Goodnight, my princess.”

  With that, Trace takes Ava’s little hand in his big one and leads her inside, slamming the front door, shutting me out like the nothing I am to him.

  Chapter Thirty

  Trace

  What was it I said I was going to do before the day was out? Put my little family back together?

  So, why then have I just treated Fallon like a criminal? I can’t keep her daughter from her. No matter what I think or feel right now; Ava belongs with Fallon. Hell, all that little girl wants is to be with her Mommy.

  What I just did outside was cruel. The look on Fallon’s face when I answered the door, she was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to hold her, kiss her, tell her that it everything all right. I couldn’t do that after the texts I’d sent a little while earlier, my mind wouldn’t let me.

  I don’t want to hurt Fallon, and I certainly don’t want to hurt Ava. What’s done is done. Fallon’s reason’s for staying with Brick were all to do with Ava and me. She tried to protect us. Almost gave her life for us.

  Fallon is carrying my baby, and she should be here in my arms listening to me telling her how much I love her. She needs to know that she’s loved after everything she’s been through.

  I could punish Fallon and keep Ava from her, but I won’t. I could punish myself and never have her again, never feel her lips against mine. I could never hear her tell me that she loves me again in my life. Never see my child because she could choose to keep it from me, or she could allow me access once in a while like I’m forcing on her where Ava is concerned.

  I hate that thought, the thought of being a full-time father to one child and a part-time one to the other. I want my kids to grow up together in the same house with both parents.

  I won’t be the man who takes his kids from their mother. I won’t be the man who punishes the woman he loves for doing whatever it takes to protect her family. Isn’t that what all good mother’s do, protect their children no matter the cost? />
  There is no doubt in my mind that I love Fallon. I love every little thing about her. Her sweet smile, her rocking body, her sassy attitude, her strength, the way she loves me, and the way she loves Ava. Moreover, I love her for keeping my baby.

  Fallon has been through hell and back in her life. She went through hell with Brick, and I hate more than anything that he touched her, but it’s not like I’ve been a saint while she’s been gone. I can get past it because it wasn’t her fault.

  But do you know what I really hate? The fact I’m the cause of Fallon’s tears. Those tears she tried to hide from Ava, her little girl.

  No more.

  I set Ava on her little feet. I’m such a cunt; she’s crying because of me. “Don’t cry, baby girl.”

  “Why did Mommy go away again?”

  I study her for a moment. This beautiful little replica of the woman who owns my heart and soul. “Ava. You know that I love you, don’t you?” She nods her little head enthusiastically. “I would do anything for you, Ava.”

  “I know, Daddy,” Melts my outlaw heart each time she calls me Daddy. “I miss Mommy.”

  “I know you do, baby, but do you know what?” I take her tiny hands in mine.

  “What?”

  “I want you to put your coat on. We’re going over to papaws.”

  “But it’s my bedtime, Daddy.”

  “I think you can stay up a little later tonight. There’s someone we need to collect.”

  “Mommy?” She asks wide-eyed and hopeful.

  “Mommy.” I parrot back.

  * * *

  Ava hasn’t shut up the whole ride over to Roman’s. She’s so damned excited, asking if Mommy is going to live with us, what room is she going to sleep in, then giggling like crazy when I tell her how Mommy will be sleeping in Daddy’s room, in Daddy’s bed. She’s so excited by the time we pull up, that I’m scared she might pee herself.

  “Ava, I need you to behave while I talk to Mommy for a moment. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yes, Daddy. Can I squeeze Mommy tight,” she squeezes herself to show me what she means, “before you talk?”

  I chuckle. “Of course you can.”

  “Yay!”

  I unstrap Ava and carry her to the front door. Ava’s in her PJ’s and house slippers, I don’t want her walking outside like this.

  Roman answers the door. He’s looking at me like he wants to kill me. I’m guessing Fallon filled him in on what was said between us. God. He’s not happy with me at all.

  “Hi, papaw. Where is my Mommy?”

  “She’s inside, sweetheart,” Roman tells Ava while still eyeballing me.

  “I know you’re angry,” I wanna say Fucked off, but we try not to swear in front of Ava, she’s at an impressionable age. “I know you probably wanna kill me.”

  “You want to kill my Daddy?!” Ava screeches. I sometimes forget that you can’t say certain things in front of this kid; she takes things literally.

  “Of course not, Ava. Trace is just being silly.” He never refers to me as her father. That shit will change soon enough.

  “Don’t hurt my Daddy, papaw.” Women. No matter the age, even little three-year-old women are so very dramatic. Ava lays her little hand on my face, pulling my head towards her, and kisses my cheek.

  “Don’t worry; papaw isn’t going to hurt Daddy, princess.” I hug her to me. I don’t want her to fear her grandfather.

  Roman moves aside and lets me walk past him and into the house.

  You wouldn’t believe a biker lives here, Marley really has made this a woman’s home. Even the couch cushions are girly.

  “Ava,” Marley smiles from her seat on the couch. It seems Marley and Roman were having a movie night. The room is lit by dim lamplight — some action movie playing on the big TV screen. I’m guessing Romany is in bed, as she would be at this hour. Colt’s asleep in his basket bed next to the couch, and I don’t see Fallon anywhere.

  Marley snags the remote from the coffee table and switches the TV off while getting out of her seat, and Roman turns on the light.

  “We came to get Mommy.”

  “Get her?”

  I nod at Marley.

  “Ava, sit with grandma while I have a quick word with... your Dad.” It pained Roman to say that. Makes me smile on the inside.

  “But Daddy said I could see Mommy before they talk.”

  “And you can, little darlin’. I just need to talk to him real quick, and then I’ll get your Mommy. Grandma will put cartoons on for you.”

  Ava doesn’t want to, but she stays with Marley after I tell her that she really will be seeing her Mommy soon. I follow Roman to the kitchen. He closes the door before handing me a cold beer from the fridge. We both sit at the table, eyeballing each other.

  “You broke my daughter’s heart tonight, Trace.” I take a deep breath. I know what I’ve done, and I hate that I have. “All she wanted was to spend a little time with her child. The child that everyone else has kept from her for years.

  “You really think I’m gonna let you keep my granddaughter from her mother?” He doesn’t give me a second to respond; he just carries on with his rant. “If I thought I could get away with it, I’d rip you the fuck apart!”

  “I know, Roman! I know. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking earlier. I’d never keep Ava from Fallon.”

  “You’re damn right; you won’t because I’ll kill you! Do you have any idea of the state Fallon was in when she got home?”

  I rake my fingers through my hair. I can only imagine. She’s been through hell, and I haven’t helped any. “I love her, Roman. I really do. I was angry earlier, but that’s no excuse. I want to make it up to her. I want to take her home with me.”

  “Are you sure this isn’t more about Ava than it is Fallon?”

  “I love Fallon. Even if there were no Ava, I would still be here wanting Fallon back with me where she belongs. I don’t care about the past, and I will make this up to her, I swear that I will.”

  Roman watches me for a moment, sizing me up, no doubt. “You’ve always been a bastard, Trace,” I don’t even raise an eyebrow. I’m not insulted because it’s the truth. “But I saw a different side of you when Fallon showed up. You stepped up when Ava came along when most in that situation wouldn’t have.”

  “Wasn’t easy at first.”

  “I know.” He nods. “You and I have been through some stuff the past year or so,”

  “We have. You were there for me when I needed someone the most, and I’ll never be able to show you how grateful I am for that.” I don’t think I would have gotten through all that therapy crap without his support.

  “I was there for you because I wanted to be. We’re Snakes brothers, Trace, and that means something. However, I spent twenty years wishing my daughter was with me. Now she is, and she’s broken. That’s down to you, Trace.”

  I stare at him. That was harsh and hit me right in the gut. “I’m sorry,” I offer up because I don’t know what else to say.

  “It’s not me you need to apologize to, Trace. I know you were hurt when Fallon left, and I know what it did to you knowing she was with Brick.” I grit my teeth. I never want to hear that cunts name again! “It was no picnic for Fallon, Trace. When Marley went through what she went through thanks to her ex, it killed me inside because I couldn’t save her. Knowing what happened to my daughter, all those vile things,” Roman hangs his head for a moment.

  “It’s all right, man.” I reach over and squeeze his shoulder.

  “Fallon loves you, Trace.” He looks up at me. “She loves her daughter, too. If you really love her, then don’t do this to her. Don’t punish her for doing what any decent mother would’ve done to protect her child.”

  “Where is she?”

  “She went to her room as soon as she came back. Cried herself to sleep.”

  You asshole, Trace. You utter fucking asshole.

  “Can I go up?”

  “Don’t hurt her again, Trace.
”

  “I won’t. I swear to you, I won’t.”

  He simply nods. It can’t be easy for him. It’s not like I’ve ever been his favorite person in the world. Not like I’ve ever been anybody’s favorite person. He was there for me when I needed him, but I’m sure he’d prefer it if I dropped dead right now.

  I never wanted to change. I liked my life how it was. Fucking, fighting, riding fast, and hard. Everything that goes with being a biker. It was my life, what I lived for, then Fallon came along. The sassy, sexy, crazy, complicated girl that had me falling for her so fast my feet didn’t touch the ground.

  I can’t and won’t live without her. My life just wouldn’t make sense without her; there is no Trace without Fallon.

  Fallon doesn’t answer when I knock her bedroom door. So, I let myself in. She’s asleep on her right side facing me, hand beneath her head. In her left hand is a picture of Ava, smiling away. Makes me smile to myself.

  I take a seat beside Fallon on the bed, my hand instinctively reaching out and stroking back the hair from her cheek. She’s been crying hard, I can tell. I did that to her by making out like I wouldn’t give Ava back to her. I broke her fucking heart, and I can’t bear it.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.” I lean down and softly kiss her forehead.

  Her eyes flicker open. “Trace?”

  “Yeah, baby, it’s me.”

  She looks at me for a moment, tears instantly filling her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jordan. Please, forgive me.”

  “Come here.” I help her up and wrap her up in my arms. There is nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for this woman. I never thought she’d be mine again, but she is, and I will do everything in my power to keep her. No matter what it takes.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Fallon