“Here they come,” Mary Ann said.
“Here they come!” Greg shouted, excited to see the boys, like it had been weeks instead of maybe twenty minutes. “And Marc!”
Oh yes, here he came...
Her husband’s gaze locked with hers and he smiled.
She decided right then and there, she was taking a nap after the parade so she could jump his bones as soon as he walked in the door after his shift.
His smile wobbled and he lifted one eyebrow at her, like he could read her mind.
She hoped he could. Because that might keep him warm while he walked the parade beat.
When they got close enough, he put Jax down and let go of Austin’s hand so they could run over to her.
“Mommy!” They both tackled her and she guarded her hot chocolate so they wouldn’t knock it out of her hand. “We had funnel cake.”
“You did? Before dinner?”
Austin, a perfect clone of Marc, nodded. “Daddy got it for us.”
“Yes, I see the powdered sugar on your lips.” She lifted her gaze to his father. “Daddy knows what sugar does to you. And Daddy also knows your grandparents are getting you Chinese food tonight for dinner.”
“Daddy also knows what a little sugar does to Mommy,” Marc whispered.
“Is that what you younger generation are calling it now?” Ron asked. “Sugar?” He turned to Mary Ann. “Are we going to have sugar later?”
“I put plenty of sugar in your wet-bottom shoofly pie, honey.”
Ron smiled. Marc made a face. And Leah groaned.
“At least that gives me hope,” Leah said under her breath.
Ron patted her hand. “Yep. If he’s anything like me he won’t have any problems in the future.”
“Christ,” Marc muttered, “Pop, the kids.”
“The kids, what? We’re talking about sugar and pie. Isn’t that what you’re talking about, too?”
“Whoa,” Leah whispered as she saw a big man with an extremely long beard making his way to an empty spot on the sidewalk. He was holding on to a blonde woman with one hand and a matching little girl with the other.
Marc turned his head in the direction Leah was staring to see the six-foot-three, two-hundred-something pound biker heading toward an empty spot not far from where his family sat.
“Dunn and I ran into him the other week in the empty lot where the old warehouse used to be,” Leah said.
“What was he doing there? The Blood Fury hasn’t owned that lot for a while now.”
“He was talking to that blonde. He said she had gotten lost and was only trying to help her. I didn’t think they knew each other, but apparently my instinct was wrong.”
Marc’s eyebrows rose. The PD dealt with Judge Scott and his cousin, Deacon, a lot since they owned Justice Bail Bonds on the other side of town. However, they both began to wear the Blood Fury MC’s colors last year when the MC was resurrected by the deceased former president’s son. Not one cop at Manning Grove PD was thrilled to hear or see that club be reborn since the Fury had caused a lot of problems prior to it imploding over twenty years ago.
Murder and mayhem had been their M.O.
“She doesn’t look so lost right now since she’s holding Judge’s hand. The little girl must be hers. She looks just like her.”
“First time I saw the girl,” his wife answered.
As Judge began to set up their folding chairs, the little girl spotted them and took off at a run, little bells jingling on her sneakers.
Both Judge and the mother screamed, “Daisy!” at the same time.
Daisy ran up to both of Marc’s sons and Oliver and yelled, “Hi!” at the top of her lungs and did a floppy side wave. “I’m Daisy!”
Austin and Jax both glanced up at Marc, unsure what to do.
Marc shook his head. At this rate, his sons would need help learning how to flirt with girls. He nudged his oldest. “Say hi back.”
Before any of the boys could say anything, Daisy announced, “I’m five. Will you be my friends? I don’t have any friends to play with yet.”
Leah shot Marc a look.
He took the reins since his sons apparently lost their tongues. He placed a hand on Austin’s shoulder just as Judge and the blonde reached them. “This is Austin. He’s six.” He put his other hand on Jax’s knit-cap covered head. “This is Jax. He’s four. That’s Oliver, he’s the same age as you.”
“Hi!” Greg bellowed, getting to his feet and coming to stand near Marc, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I’m Greg! I’ll... I’ll be your friend.”
Daisy dropped her head back and stared up at Greg. “Hi, Greg! How old are you?”
“I’m...” Greg tilted his head, and wrung his hands together as he tried to remember. “I’m...”
“Thirty-two,” Marc whispered to him.
“Thirty-two!” Greg echoed.
“Oh! You’re old!” Daisy said and stuck out her bottom lip in a dramatic pout.
“Daisy!” her mother scolded her.
“Well, he is, Momma!”
Greg laughed. “I’m old.”
“Hi, Greg,” the blonde greeted. “I’m Cassie. And Daisy is my daughter.”
“Hi, Cassie!” Greg greeted with a half-wave and a big smile. “You’re really pretty. You here to watch Max in the parade?”
“Thank you. I’m not sure who Max is?” Cassie asked, her brow lowered.
“Max is the Chief of Police around here,” Judge explained. His green eyes hit Marc’s and he jerked his chin up in greeting. “Marc.”
“Judge. Surprised to see you here.”
“Ain’t my thing, but Dutch is playin’ S—” He snapped his mouth shut and glanced at the kids. “Daisy wanted to sit on Santa’s lap, give him a list of demands, and also watch the parade.”
Marc nodded, glad the biker didn’t blow the secret that Dutch, the local garage owner, was playing Santa like he did every year, and that Santa wasn’t real. The kids didn’t know yet and he wasn’t sure if even Greg knew the truth.
Marc glanced down at Daisy who looked tiny standing in front of Judge, then up at Cassie. “New in town?”
“My sister and her husband live here. Daisy and I came right after Thanksgiving.”
“Staying?” Marc asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
Marc didn’t miss the look Judge gave her with that answer.
Leah spoke up. “I saw you that night in the empty lot. I was the pregnant one in uniform.”
Cassie turned to her. “Yes. The night I got... uh... lost.”
“Mmm hmm,” Leah answered. “Lost. You show her how to get around town, Judge?”
Judge’s lips twitched. “Yeah. She’s learnin’ her way.”
“How are things with the MC?” Marc asked. “Staying off that mountain?”
“Yeah, no more repos up there,” Judge said, his face unreadable and not because of the long, bushy beard covering it or the gray knit cap pulled low over his forehead. “Trip learned his lesson.”
That wasn’t what Marc meant, but he had made his unspoken point that he knew what happened last month up there between the Shirley Clan and the MC. He didn’t know all the details but he knew something went down.
But if it wasn’t for the MC, or the Shirleys, Levi wouldn’t have come into Matt and Carly’s life, so he wasn’t going to give Judge a lot of shit about it. Or even dig.
No one had come down that mountain to file a police report and he doubted they would. The Shirleys lived by their own law and hated the PD.
Just like the MC did.
However, Marc was grateful for Autumn letting his youngest brother adopt her baby. They all were.
“Carly’s bringing Levi,” Marc warned. “Autumn and Sig coming to watch the parade?”
“Don’t think so. Don’t think Sig wants her in town right now. See you’re workin’ the parade. Guess your brothers are, too. Figurin’ you don’t need me to watch over Levi. But if you do, I’m here, just in case.�
��
Marc studied the man for a long moment. Judge had taken on the role of Sergeant at Arms for the MC. That meant he was the muscle behind the club and was in charge of protecting its members and everyone else who fell under that umbrella. Marc had done some research on motorcycle clubs after Trip came back to town and began to rebuild the Fury. He wanted to be prepared. They all did.
He knew the women and children who belonged to club members were considered “property” of the club. And by Judge offering to keep an eye on Levi, the man probably still felt responsible for protecting Marc’s newest nephew, even though the baby was now a Bryson.
Protected by a family of cops instead of bikers.
“My wife will be here with them. As will my Pop. He might be retired but he’s still a cop and a Marine at heart. So, I think we got it covered. Adam and Matt will be sticking close, too.”
Judge pulled at his long beard and nodded. “Got it handled, then.”
“Yeah, but appreciate the offer.”
Judge tipped his head and stretched a hand out to Daisy. “C’mon, kid.”
The little girl pursed her lips. “I want them to be my friends.”
“’Nother time,” Judge told her. “Sure you’ll hang with them when you start school.”
That had Marc’s ears perking and he noticed Leah’s had, too. “So, she is staying in the area?”
“Yeah, she’s staying,” he answered, putting his arm around Cassie’s shoulder.
The woman hadn’t said a word to that, so he wondered if she was aware that the big man was making the decision for her.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Cassie.” He offered her his hand and she shook it. “Marc Bryson. That’s my wife, Leah, who you’ve met. My parents, Ron and Mary Ann. Hannah, my niece, and you’ve met Greg, Hannah’s uncle. Welcome to Manning Grove. Great town. Great people.” He lifted his gaze to Judge. “We’d like to keep it that way.”
Judge’s jaw shifted but he gave Marc a sharp nod. “Same here.” Then he picked Daisy up, wrapped a large hand around the back of Cassie’s neck and took them back to where he had set up their chairs a few yards down the block.
Marc glanced at his wife.
She murmured, “Interesting.”
“Having women and children might keep the club on the straight and narrow,” Marc hoped.
“Didn’t last time,” Ron said. “Judge was one of those kids. Trip, Cage, Rook and Sig, too. I’m going to tell your brother to keep a close watch on that MC. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. Never thought I’d see the day when our town would be dealing with not only an MC but that crazy clan on the mountain. Once the Fury disintegrated, we thought the worst thing the force would have to deal with was moonshiners and meth makers.”
“Yeah, those were the good ol’ days, right, Pop?”
Ron shook his head. “Max has got his work cut out for him.”
“Let’s just hope Dutch was being honest when he told you that they weren’t going to bring trouble into town.”
“We’ll see,” his old man said. Oliver climbed into Ron’s lap, while Jax was already settled on Mary Ann’s.
“Going to go walk, see if I can spot the beginning of the parade. They should start moving through any time now.”
“Carly, Amanda and Teddy aren’t here yet,” Mary Ann exclaimed. “They better hurry or they might miss Max.”
Marc scanned the crowd. “Carly’s coming. She just stopped with Judge. Looks like she’s showing him the baby.”
“Well, Teddy needs to open the salon so she can take Levi in where it’s warm. I don’t want him outside in this weather.”
“It’ll toughen him up, woman,” Ron told his wife.
“A five-week-old baby does not need to be toughened up,” Mary Ann scoffed.
“Bah!”
“No pie for you later,” Marc’s mother said.
“I want pie, I’m eating pie,” his father answered.
Marc clapped his hands together. “Okay, then. I’m heading down the street. You all have fun.” He leaned over to give Leah a kiss and when he did, he whispered, “Things go sideways, text me. Don’t jump into anything.”
“What’s going sideways? Your parents fighting over pie?” Leah had air-quoted the last.
Marc pressed a kiss to her lips. When he straightened, he said, “Just text me if you need me.”
“How about if I just tell you I need you?” she whispered with a smile. “If I’m asleep when you get home, wake me.”
That sounded promising.
“Don’t eat too much sugar before bedtime,” his father butted in. “Might not get any sleep. And we got a big day tomorrow.”
Leah’s lips twisted.
“Yeah, it’s Chriss-mas!” Greg shouted. “Santa’s comin’!”
“Yeah, Santa’s coming!” Jax yelled.
“Down the chimney, right, Grandpa?” Austin asked.
“Only if you’ve been good this year,” Ron said.
“I’ll check back later. Be good for your grandparents, boys.”
With a last look at his family, Marc shook his head and headed back in the direction he came. The opposite direction from a whirlwind named Teddy, who was heading their way.
Chapter Six
Matt & Carly
Carly carefully steered the stroller through the crowd, trying to avoid everyone’s toes and shins. This was the first time she’d actually used the hand-me down from Amanda and Max.
She felt like a Nervous Nellie taking her baby out in public for the first time. She wished Matt could be there with her, but the reality was he needed to work today to have tomorrow off.
And tomorrow would be a special day none of them should miss.
She hoped she hadn’t forgotten to pack everything she needed in the diaper bag and also hoped Levi was warm enough. But as long as Teddy opened the salon, they’d be out of the late December weather soon enough.
A tall man with an extremely long beard caught her attention first, then she recognized the vest he wore. He was standing next to a curvy blonde and a just-as-blonde little girl.
She had seen him and his cousin around town so she knew who he was, she just didn’t realize he had joined the local MC that Sig and Autumn, Levi’s birth mother, were a part of.
Her first instinct was to keep moving past them, but her curiosity had her pause. “Hi.”
The big man wearing a beanie turned his head and ran his gaze over her, then it landed on Levi in the stroller.
“You’re Judge, right? You own Justice Bail Bonds?”
“Yeah,” Judge grunted and turned to face her.
“I... uh... I’m Carly Bryson.” She waved her hand toward the stroller. “This is Levi.”
Judge’s nostrils flared and his eyes dropped again to the baby.
“Hi! I’m Daisy!” the little girl called out from her chair with a sloppy wave as she kicked her little legs back and forth.
“Hi, Daisy.”
What she assumed was the little girl’s mother introduced herself. “I’m Cassie.”
“Hi.” She jutted out her hand to the seated woman. “I’m Dr. Carly Bryson. A local OB/GYN. I’m Autumn’s doctor. Stella’s, too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Carly laughed. “I wasn’t trying to get you into my stirrups. I just wanted to point out how I know the ladies of your club.”
Cassie jerked her chin toward Judge, who now squatted in front of the stroller, staring at the baby. “His club.”
“Oh, well. Right. His club. Will Autumn be coming today? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“No,” came the deep grunt.
“Oh, well...”
Judge reached out and ran a finger down Levi’s pudgy cheek. “He got red hair?”
“No.”
“Good.” Judge nodded, his hand pressed to Levi’s chest. It was big enough to cover the whole thing. “He good?”
“Yes, he’s very good. Perfect.”
Judge nod
ded again.
“Is Autumn doing okay? I haven’t talked to her in a couple weeks. Sig did the last couple drop-offs of her breast milk. I just wanted to make sure everything with her... between them... was okay.”
“She’s good.”
“Can you let her know she’s invited over to the Bryson farm tomorrow for Christmas? That’s if she wants to spend some time with Levi.”
Judge rose to his feet. “Sig ain’t lettin’ her go anywhere without him.”
“Right.” And there was no way Sig, an ex-convict, was going to spend Christmas day surrounded by cops. “Well, please still tell her she’s welcome, even if she can’t come. I just want her to know... How thankful we are.”
“She knows.” Judge was still staring down at Levi with a relieved expression. Maybe he’d been worried that Levi was going to be born with birth defects. Which had been a valid concern. “You take care of him.”
“I plan on it.”
“Those inbreds on that mountain give you any shit, you let me know.”
Carly’s mouth opened and she let it hang there for a second not sure how to respond to that. She belonged to a family of cops. If the Shirleys gave her or Levi any trouble, the last person she’d go to was a biker. She didn’t want any more violence than there had already been. Levi was a result of it. More violence was not the answer.
“Okay, well...”
“Hellllooooooo there, handsome. Oh!” Teddy stared open mouthed at Judge. “Ooooh.” He wrinkled up his nose. “Oh no. No, no, no!” He circled his hand in front of Judge’s face. “This mess is not acceptable.”
Did Teddy even realize who he was dealing with? Judge was not one of his elderly regulars he did a style and set on. The biker was far from being one of the man’s “blue hairs.”
“Who told you that looks good? Hmm? You know who?” Teddy got right into Judge’s face and poked him dead center in the chest. “Nobody!”
Judge blinked at him, his face a stiff mask.
Cassie had a hand slapped over her face and was turning a light shade of purple, but had given Teddy a slight nod. Apparently, she agreed.
Daisy sat quiet in her chair with her mouth hanging open, entranced by the wonder of all wonders named Teddy.
A Bryson Family Christmas: Brothers in Blue, book 4 Page 11