Nickel (Fallen Lords M.C. Book 1)

by Winter Travers

  He slowly rose off of the floor and pulled his shirt off over his head. “My mom died when I was seventeen, and I never knew who my dad was.” He turned off the lamp on the table next to the chair and moved to the side of the bed. He looked down at me and brushed his fingertips across my cheek. “My mother loved me with everything she had. She always talked about getting me out of the house and then having grandchildren taking over the house. I just realized how happy she would have been to know you were having my baby.”

  I grabbed his hand, lifted the covers with the other, and pulled him into bed. “You’ve never talked about your mom before,” I mumbled.

  He scooted me over, stealing my two pillows back, and wrapped his arms around me. “I never talk about her.”

  “Why not?” I rested my head on his shoulder and draped my arm around his waist.

  “It used to hurt too much to talk about her. Still does.”

  “What happened to her?”

  Nickel cleared his throat and pulled me closer. His hand rested on my belly, slowly rubbing circles. “She just died. Her heart stopped working. The doctor said she was dead before she even hit the floor. I was in my room, sneaking a smoke, when I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. I called her name, thinking she had just dropped a pan while making dinner, but she didn’t answer me. She was on the floor, dead, by the time I made it to her.”

  My heart broke for Nickel knowing that he had loved his mother so much and he had to lose her like that. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

  “Thank you, baby girl.”

  I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and buried my face in his neck. “I wish she could have been here. I would have loved to have met the woman who raised you and made you who you are.”

  “She would have loved you. She would have loved having a little baby around, too.”

  I held on tight to him, silently giving him the strength that he needed. “I love you, Nickel.”

  He sighed and pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “I love you, too, baby girl. Now get some sleep.”

  “Are you going to leave me?” I whispered. I meant to leave the bed, but my heart clenched waiting for his reply.

  “I’ll never leave you, Karmen. As long as there is air in my lungs and blood pumping through my veins, I’ll never leave you. And that also includes right now in bed.”

  I smiled and snuggled in. “Best answer ever.”

  He rumbled beneath me, and I was sure he had a smirk on his lips.

  “I love you, Karmen, now sleep.”

  I closed my eyes and slept.

  **********

  Nickel

  “They put some goop on your stomach and then we’ll see the baby, right?”

  Karmen shook her head and adjusted the gown she was wearing. Her ass was hanging out, and she was doing everything she could to wrap the damn thing completely around her. “They do a vaginal ultrasound. The baby is too small to see with the one you are talking about.”

  I sat forward on my hard-ass chair and braced my elbows on my knees. “Hold the hell up. You mean to tell me they’re going to shove something up your pussy, and then we see the baby?”

  Karmen laughed. “In very basic terms, yes.”

  Holy hell. What in the hell had I signed up for? I knew I was going to see a baby pushed out of her vagina eventually, but I wasn’t prepared for the good ol’ doc to get so up close and personal today. “Is this normal?”

  “I’m not an OB nurse, but from what I know, yes, this is normal. Every time I come to the doctor from now on, they’ll do a vaginal exam to make sure everything is okay.”

  The door to our exam room opened, and a chick wearing fancy clothes and a white doctor coat walked into the room. “Hi. I’m Dr. Krane.” She held her hand out first to Karmen and then to me. “So, we’re pregnant,” she sang out while she pulled out Karmen’s file and sat down on the rolling chair next to the bed.

  “The test results came back positive?” Karmen asked.

  “Yup, you definitely have a baby on board. Congratulations!”

  Have you ever felt like the floor was falling out from under you, but you floated away, not feeling anything? That was where I was. Floating around because I was going to be a dad. Karmen would forever be tied to me with the little baby she was growing in her belly.

  I buried my face in my hands and tried to get a grip. It had been four days since Karmen told me she was pregnant. I thought that I had a grip on this shit, but the doctor had blown all of that away by cementing in the fact that I was going to be a dad.

  “Um, is everything okay?” I heard the doctor ask.

  “Oh yeah,” Karmen laughed. “He’s still getting over the shock of having a baby.”

  “Well, he’ll have at least eight months to get used to it from what you said about missing your period for a few weeks. Plenty of time to get all of those nerves and jitters out.”

  I didn’t have nerves and jitters.

  I was happy as hell and kept wondering how in the hell I got so lucky.

  “So, I’m going to do a little exam, make sure everything looks good, and then we can get down to the fun of seeing the little guy and hopefully hearing his heartbeat.”

  My headshot up. “We get to hear him?” Karmen hadn’t mentioned anything about hearing him.

  The doctor smiled, and she stood. “Yes, as long as he works with us and doesn’t try to hide, you’ll be able to hear his strong heartbeat.” She told Karmen to lay back on the exam table and started checking her over.

  The next thing I knew, she was yanking out these stirrup things on the table, telling Karmen to put her heels in them and to lay down. As soon as she laid down, the doc pulled over a small cart, whipped out a wand thingy, and then she was shoving the damn thing up Karmen’s hoo-ha. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, not really down with watching this.

  “You can go up by her head if you want. That way, I can turn the screen so you both can see it.”

  I jumped up from my chair and stood at the head of the exam table. Thank God. Karmen grabbed my hand and groaned a little bit.

  “You all right?”

  She bit her bottom lip and grimaced. “Yeah, just weird.”

  “Just a little bit more pressure, and then we’ll be there.”

  I didn’t know we were on a journey through Karmen’s vagina. “It’s okay, baby girl.” I brushed her hair off her forehead and pressed a kiss to her temple.

  She looked up at me with a weak smile. “Bet you didn’t expect this, did you?”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Not at all.”

  “Sorry,” she whispered.

  “I take it this is a first for you two?” We both nodded. “All right. Why don’t you two have a look at your baby then.” She turned the cart toward us, and we both eagerly looked at the small screen.

  My head tilted to the left and then the right, trying to figure out where exactly the kid was. Thankfully, the doctor took pity on me and pointed out a blurb that was apparently the baby. I had to take her word for it because honestly, I didn’t know what I was looking out.

  “Now for the heartbeat.” She flipped a couple of switches, and then there was a steady beat coming from the screen.

  Karmen clapped her hand over her mouth and burst into tears. “That’s him?” she gasped.

  “Or her,” the doctor beamed. “You won’t be able to find out a for a bit if it’s a boy or girl, but from everything I’ve seen today, I can say the baby is healthy and doing good. We’ll have you go up to the third floor for some imaging so we can figure out exactly when your due date is.”

  I held my breath, memorizing the sound of the baby’s heartbeat.

  Karmen asked questions, but all I could do was stare at the screen and listen to the little life that Karmen and I had made.

  The doc slowly took the wand out then packed up the cart. “I’ll have you make an appointment to come back in next month just for a check-up and to go over any questions you have.” She nodded to both
of us, congratulated us again, and then she was gone.

  Karmen slowly sat up and pushed down the paper gown. “Are you okay?”

  I blinked slowly and delved my fingers into her hair. “You’re having my baby,” I said stupidly.

  A huge smile spread across her lips. “I sure am.”

  **********

  Karmen

  I held the tiny picture in my hand and couldn’t stop looking at it.

  After we finished up with the doctor, we went to make an appointment for an ultrasound and found out if we hurried to the third floor, they could fit us in right away.

  So, after slipping into my second paper gown of the day and laying on a hard-ass exam table, I got to see our baby again.

  “So how accurate is that due date?” Nickel asked as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

  “I think it’s pretty spot-on. The second week of January, you and I will be parents as long as this little bean doesn’t decide to take up residence any longer.”

  Nickel laughed. “And if he does, are you going to serve him with eviction papers?”

  I rubbed my belly and rested my head against the headrest. “He’s good in there for now. Ask me again in seven months when I look like an elephant and am probably uncomfortable as hell.”

  “You make it sound so fun, baby girl.”

  I laughed and turned to look at him. “I really have no idea how this is going to go. Is it strange that I’m excited to get as big as a house?”

  Nickel glanced over. “Probably not exactly what most women look forward to, but whatever makes ya happy.”

  And I was happy.

  So damn happy that I was terrified something bad was coming.

  **********

  Nickel

  “Nikki is coming over after work, and I need to stop and get gas. I should have done it this morning, but someone decided fooling around was more important than putting gas in my car.”

  I chuckled low and held the phone to my ear with my shoulder. “Don’t act like you didn’t like it.”

  “I didn’t say I didn’t like it, I just said it messed up my plans a bit.”

  “Well, get gas and come on home. I should be back to the clubhouse in twenty minutes.” Unfortunately, I had drawn the short straw and had to go on a run to do some dirty work for River Valley.

  “Is there anything you need? I’ve been craving some Twizzlers all day, so I think I’ll grab some when I’m at the gas station.”

  I knew exactly what that meant. “You mean you’re going to buy every package they have, right?”

  Her laugh rang through the phone, and I missed her like hell. It had only been eight hours since I had last seen her, but it had been eight hours too long. “You know me so well, Outlaw.”

  “Just keep Boink close by, okay?” It had been over three weeks since Morski had tried to grab Karmen, but we still knew that he was out there.

  “Will do. I’ll make him pump gas.”

  “You do that, baby girl. I love you.”

  Her voice softened. “I love you, too, handsome. See you soon.”

  I disconnected the call and shoved my phone in my pocket.

  “Everything okay?” Pipe asked me.

  “All good, brother. Karmen just has one stop, and then she’ll be home. We’ll probably be pulling into the parking lot the same time she does.”

  Pipe flicked the butt of his cigarette to the ground. He snuffed it out with the toe of his boot then swung his leg over his bike.

  “Nikki is coming over tonight.”

  Pipe shrugged. “Good for her.”

  I twisted at the waist and looked at Pipe. “You wanna tell me why you get a stick up your ass whenever someone mentions Nikki or when she comes over?”

  He cranked up his bike and shook his head. He revved the engine and shouted, “Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  Yeah, right. He knew exactly what I was talking about, but he wasn’t telling anyone what the hell was going on in his head. Pipe probably didn’t even know what the hell was going on.

  A shit-eating smile spread across his lips. “Let’s get you home to Captain.”

  Fucking prick. Karmen was never going to live that shit down. If these guys had their way, they were probably going to teach our kid to call her Captain instead of Mommy.

  I cranked the key on my bike and shook my head. “You know that drives her crazy,” I called over the roar of my engine.

  Pipe shrugged and didn’t give a fuck. “Head it home.” He merged onto the road from the shoulder, and I followed behind.

  Pipe and the guys may act like I was a sucker and pussy-whipped, but I knew they were jealous of the fact that I had found my forever and they were still out there chasing around stray pussy.

  I had found my home, and I wasn’t going to let it go.

  **********

  Karmen

  “You want anything?”

  Boink shook his head and stuck the nozzle into my gas tank. “Nah, Captain. Just wait for me to go in, though.”

  I scoffed and grabbed my purse out of the car. “It’s twenty feet away, Boink, no one is in the gas station, and you’ll be able to see me the whole time. I had told Nickel I would be home in twenty minutes, and that was eighteen minutes ago.” There was no way in hell we were going to be home when I had said I would be.

  “Captain, just damn well wait for me,” he insisted.

  “You know, I totally would have listened to you if you hadn’t called me Captain. Now, I’m totally going to get Twizzlers, and there isn’t damn thing you can do to stop me,” I called.

  Boink called my name, but I didn’t stop as I skipped into the gas station. Even when I didn’t have Nickel with me, I still had some overbearing biker as a shadow who always needed to be in control. I swear, that was part of the criteria to be part of the Fallen Lords.

  “Hey,” I called to the clerk. He absently waved to me with his head bowed looking at a magazine.

  I beelined to the candy aisle and had a hell of a time figuring out what to buy. I knew I had said that I wanted Twizzlers, but when I had a five-tiered candy display in front of me, I had to grab a little bit of variety on top of those delicious licorice whips.

  The bell above the door dinged, and I figured it was Boink coming to check on me. I was mesmerized by all of the candy and already had five things in my hand when he came to stand next to me. My head was down as I tried to finally decide between Nerds and Sweet Tarts. “You decide, I can’t.” I grabbed both and held them up to him.

  “Scream, and I will kill you.”

  The blood drained from my face, and my legs became Jell-O. I gulped around the lump in my throat and looked him directly in the eye. “Morski?” I whispered.

  A sick, twisted grin spread across his lips. “I see my reputation precedes me. I bet your biker has been crazy looking for me.”

  I stood there, frozen.

  Morski glanced out the window at the gas pumps. “Drop the fucking candy and move to the back of the store.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Boink hang up the gas hose and knew he would be in the store in thirty seconds.

  The bell above the door jingled again, and another customer walked in. “Make one noise, and I kill you right here.” Morski moved closer to me then something stabbed me in the side. I heard the click of gun and knew nothing was going to stop him this time.

  The customer who had walked in moved two aisles over from us and grabbed two cases of beer out of the cooler. He looked at us, his eyes traveling over Morski and me.

  The bell again rang over the door, and I knew that this was my only chance. Morski glanced at Boink who had walked through the front door, and I screamed at the top of my lungs. I chucked the candy in Morski’s face and dove for cover. Gunfire whizzed all around me, and I covered my head with my arms. I managed to crawl to the other side of the aisle I was in and away from Morski.

  “Stay down!” someone hollered.

  Well, duh.
I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand up and stroll out to my car.

  The gunfire stopped, and I peeked through my arms over my head to see the guy who had come in to buy beer now had a gun in his hand and had it pointed in the direction where Morski had been standing. Did everyone have a gun but me?

  Beer guy turned toward the front of the store where Boink had been standing. “Lady, you with the biker guy, or do I need to shoot him, too?”

  “Karmen, you good, Captain?” Boink called.

  “Dammit, Boink. You call me Karmen and then Captain? You think you could drop the Captain in a shootout?” I hollered back.

  “I’m going to assume she’s with you and put my gun down,” beer guy put in.

  I watched as he slowly lowered his gun then moved past me over to where Morski had been. Now I had to figure out what to do. Morski had to be down, or he managed to escape again. I got on my feet but stayed low and scurried to the front door. I glanced to the back of the store where Morski had been and saw him sprawled out on the floor in a pool of blood.

  Beer guy had his phone to his ear, and he was barking into it to get a shit ton of squad cars to the gas station. He threw a wink at me and turned the phone away from his mouth. “I’m a cop. You two get outside, and I’ll check on the guy in the back.”

  Boink scooped me up in his arms and carried me out the front door.

  “My store!” the clerk behind the counter exclaimed as Boink walked past him.

  “Be glad you’re alive, numb nuts,” Boink barked at him.

  He stalked across the parking lot straight to my car and set me down next to it. “Stay. Here. Listen for one time in your damn life, Karmen.” His lips were downturned, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Nickel is going to fucking kill me.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and made his way back to the gas station.

  “Boink,” I called, “what about Morski?”

  “He’s dead, Karmen. No thanks to me, which is going to make Nickel kill me even more.”

  I grimaced and leaned against the car. “I’ll, uh, just stay here,” I mumbled.