Beard Up

by Lani Lynn Vale

A sound caught my eye, and I grinned when I saw Truth and Verity’s young son getting belly raspberries from Trance. The little boy was laughing so hard that he could barely draw in a breath.

  “I like this, you know.”

  Sebastian looked up. “What?”

  “Our blended family. You can’t even tell where one chapter ends and the other begins. It’s like that line doesn’t exist for us,” I explained.

  His mouth turned up into a grin.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come home?” Sebastian asked.

  All of them asked.

  Every single one of them.

  Loki. Trance. Torren. Kettle. Sebastian. Silas. Sterling. If I saw one of them, they asked.

  They missed me. I missed them.

  But Mooresville was our home now, and Benton, Louisiana held a lot of bad memories for my wife and I.

  This place was a fresh start for us.

  “No,” I answered honestly. “I love Benton. It’ll always be my home…but we’re happy here now. This is where we’re staying.”

  Sebastian sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

  He then handed me back my baby girl, who I curled into my chest.

  With one hand, Sebastian lifted his fingers to his mouth and whistled.

  The piercing sound broke the quiet conversation around him.

  “Dad!” Sebastian called. “You got that cut?”

  Silas broke off from his conversation with Big Papa and weaved through the tables that were occupied by other members of the club.

  Once every few months, we got together for a club-wide picnic/family party of sorts between the two chapters. This particular party was held exactly one month after Gianna’s birth, and it was more of a celebration of her birth rather than just our normal party. There was cake, gifts and a good time to be had as we all celebrated my daughter’s birth.

  Silas picked up a box from the gift table on his way over to us, the only present that was on the table that wasn’t wrapped in fucking pink, and stopped at the table next to where Sebastian and I were standing.

  He dropped the box on the table, tore off the top and shook out the contents onto the table in front of me.

  “This is for you.”

  My throat thickened as I reached out and took it.

  “I hope that you know that you’re always welcome back here with us,” Silas said. “You’re a fine man, and one I wouldn’t mind having in my club if you ever decide that Benton might be home again.”

  My smile was almost wistful.

  “Ohh.” I heard my wife’s hitched voice say.

  “This one is yours.”

  That’s when Mina, who I hadn’t realized had even come up beside me, burst out crying.

  “I can’t believe you found it!” she cried out, reaching out to take her folded leather vest from him. “I threw that out!”

  Silas smile was instant.

  “Yes, you threw it out, but you did it in front of four old ladies. We thought that one day you might want it back,” Baylee, Sebastian’s wife, broke in. “Though, at the time, we only thought you’d want it back as a remembrance of your old man. We certainly didn’t think that you’d need it because your old man came back from the dead.”

  I grinned at Baylee. “Thank you.”

  She winked. “We made some modifications, though. We think you’re going to like them.”

  Mina held out hers, and the smile on my face grew wide.

  “Property of Ghost,” I read. “I fuckin’ like it.”

  She tossed me a withering look. “You’re holding our kid. Watch your mouth.”

  I shrugged unrepentantly. “My bad.”

  She rolled her eyes and then threw her ‘Property of Ghost’ vest on over her shoulders. The buttery leather settled perfectly over her body, and a feeling of contentment settled over me at seeing my name on her.

  “I like it,” I declared.

  She stuck out her tongue.

  “Yours is different, too.”

  That came from Big Papa.

  My brows rose, and I gestured to Mina. “Hold it up for me to see, or take her.”

  The baby was taken from my arms, not by Mina but by Fender.

  He settled her into the crook of his arm and watched the proceedings.

  “Thanks,” I said, then took the leather in both hands and held it out in front of me.

  “We changed your name,” Silas began. “But that’s not where the real change is, it’s here.”

  He gestured to the back, and I turned it around, my stomach clenching when I saw not one rocker, but two, at the bottom of my cut. One rocker read Mooresville, AL and the other read Benton, LA.

  I hadn’t realized when my new cut had come up conveniently missing that they were merging it with my old one, but I could see the detail now that had been unique to each individual piece.

  The gold buckles of my old cut, paired with the snap buttons of my new. My old patches mingled with my new ones. The two rockers declaring me a member of both chapters. God, I fucking loved everything about it.

  “You’re a member of both of our chapters. There’s not going to be any bitching or questions asked. You just are and you always will be.”

  With that, he gestured for me to settle my vest where it belonged.

  Right over my shoulders, covering my back.

  ***

  I felt her watching me, and I knew that the time had come to finally approach her.

  I’d apologized the moment I saw her the first time after she found out I was not really dead.

  She hadn’t accepted the apology.

  I didn’t blame her.

  I’d damaged something between us, and until that damage was healed, her husband wouldn’t accept my apology either.

  Sure, he was happy that I was okay and had even been cordial, but it was the betrayal against his wife that he hadn’t been able to forgive.

  I’d made her suffer, and he would never forgive me for that.

  All this time, she’d thought she’d been responsible for my death, and I’d never corrected her assumptions. So in all actuality, I really did deserve her anger. She’d lived with those feelings of guilt and remorse for years.

  I hitched Gianna up onto my shoulder.

  I’d been holding her all night.

  She was definitely a daddy’s girl, just like her sister, and hated everyone and everything unless she was sleeping, like she’d been doing for the majority of the day.

  Moving to the shadows where she stood, I stopped just short of touching distance and said, “I’m sorry.”

  This time, though, instead of looking away from me like she usually did, she stared straight at me and then burst out crying.

  Then she threw her arms around me and cried into my chest.

  I wrapped my free hand around Rue’s shoulders and pulled her in tight, dropping my chin down on top of her head and closing my eyes.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said in between sobs. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch these last few months. I was just so angry and hurt.”

  I made a humming noise under my breath. “You had every reason to be angry. You have to know that I didn’t have a choice in the fake death at first, but I did have a hand in the way I allowed it to play out. I’ll never forgive myself for allowing you to think I was dead for so long and causing you to carry around the guilt that I know you felt.”

  She sniffled loudly.

  “Your baby smells good.”

  I laughed, causing her head to bounce on my chest.

  “You want to hold her?”

  “In a minute.”

  So I continued to hold Rue, allowing her to compose herself for another few minutes before she pulled away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “I’m glad you’re home, Tunnel.”

  I pushed Rue’s hair back away from her face, then pulled her in for a kiss on her forehead. �
�I’m glad to be home, Rue.”

  “Not that I don’t think this needed to happen,” Cleo said, interrupting us. “But don’t put your lips on my wife again.”

  I grinned and pulled her into my arm, and she wrapped her arm back around me tightly.

  “Oh, Cleo,” I teased. “I can’t help it if your wife likes me better than you.”

  Cleo snorted.

  “You just keep telling yourself that.”

  Laughing, Rue pulled away and then took the baby from my arms before she walked away.

  Cleo waited for another minute, making sure that Rue was far enough away, before he turned to me.

  “You ever hurt her again like that—either of them—and I’ll fucking kill you myself.”

  I sobered.

  “Good to know.”

  He offered me his hand, and I took it, keeping my eyes on his as I did it.

  “I’m glad you’re home, too,” Cleo said, squeezing my hand tighter.

  I squeezed his back.

  “Me too.”

  ***

  “You let your daughter take that to sleep?” Mina whispered from the doorway.

  I looked up to find her standing with one shoulder leaning against the wall just inside the door.

  “It was the only way she’d stay asleep. I’ve been trying for over an hour now to get her to sleep,” I said.

  Her smile was soft as I watched my girl hang on to the t-shirt I’d been wearing up until I’d somehow maneuvered her, and my shirt, off to get her into bed.

  “Well, hurry up. Let’s not wake her up with our talking.”

  She turned to go, and I walked up behind her and scooped her up into my arms.

  “You check on our other girl?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “I did,” she said. “I walked in, and she was asleep like usual—with one arm and one leg hanging off the bed.”

  I grinned.

  That was how I slept, too.

  It wasn’t because the bed was too small, either, it was just how I, and obviously now Sienna, slept.

  “So we have two sleeping children?” I clarified as I passed through our bedroom door and kicked it closed.

  Mina caught it before it could slam, closing it quietly from her perch in the protection of my arms.

  “We do,” Mina confirmed. “Now what are you going to do about it?”

  I groaned. “We can’t do anything.”

  She sighed and threw her head back to look at me. “We didn’t follow the six-week rule with Sienna, why are we doing it now?”

  I pushed her back onto the bed and followed her down.

  “Because with Sienna, we were young and stupid and had no idea of the consequences of having sex before you were fully healed. Now, you’re a nurse, and we know better.”

  She grunted.

  “I have to go back to work in six weeks. Do you think Tommy will give me another two weeks off?”

  She rolled over onto her side, and I pulled her in close to me, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

  “Yeah,” I said. “But you told me just yesterday that you were ready to go back.”

  She grimaced. “That was when they had a busy day, and it was a moment of weakness.”

  I grunted in amusement.

  “Have we decided what we’re going to do with Gianna yet?” I questioned.

  “Actually,” she said. “I do have an idea about that.”

  “What?” I pushed.

  “I was thinking that, since we have a lot of kids here, all under the age of four, that we could see if everyone wanted to hire a full-time nanny who would watch them all day while everyone was at work. That way no one has to take their kids to a daycare,” she started. “But I don’t know how to broach the subject with the others.”

  “Just ask Tally,” I said. “Or Imogen. Or…”

  She started to laugh. “I know, I know.”

  Grinning, I reached over to the lamp and plunged the room into darkness.

  “We better go to bed now, or we’re going to hate ourselves in an hour when she wakes up.”

  Mina yawned. “You aren’t kidding.”

  With that, Mina shifted again, this time underneath the covers, and then rolled until her face was resting on my bicep.

  I slowly stroked her hair, thankful that she was growing it out again for me, and wasn’t surprised when she fell asleep within a few minutes.

  That was normal for an exhausted woman who had an infant and an active eight-year-old, though.

  She slept when she could, or she suffered the consequences later.

  As my eyes drifted closed, and I thought about how much my life had changed, I realized that my dear old dad had done something right.

  He’d hired that cleaning lady all those years ago, the one with the beautiful daughter.

  And in the process, he’d changed my life.

  Though my daughters would never know their grandparents, I knew that they would never miss that love. They had so many aunts and uncles and cousins that they would never feel that hit.

  Would never feel the pain that my parents had almost caused them.

  Would never know the hatefulness of Mina’s parents.

  Maybe someday they would know that my parents were both serving life sentences for their crimes, but that’s as far as it would ever get.

  As for Mina’s parents? Well, they weren’t even in the picture. We didn’t care, and it was obvious that neither did they.

  And to be honest, we didn’t miss them.

  How could we with the amount of love that swirled through the hearts of every single member of the Dixie Wardens MC? Not to mention the protection of the Joker, who struck fear in the hearts of nearly every criminal in three states?

  My kids would never know what it was like to not be loved. I’d make sure of it.

  And six hours later, when my daughter woke up, screaming at the top of her lungs, to sate her hunger, I could do nothing but smile.

  My smile grew when I brought her into our room to find Sienna and Mina snuggled up in my recently vacated spot.

  “Is that how it’s going to be?” I asked her.

  Mina smiled.

  Sienna patted the bed beside her, and I took her up on the offer.

  “You know,” I said as I passed the baby to her. “This would be a lot more fun if you would feed her.”

  Mina started to laugh as she gently placed Gianna in her arms. “Yeah, I’m sure it would be.”

  I was right. It was.

  With Mina nursing our daughter and Sienna telling me what she wanted to be when she grew up, I finally felt at peace.

  My heart was full.

  I had the love of my life in my arms, and our kids in our bed. My club—both of them—at my back.

  It was a long, painful road back to this point. I’d never take any of this for granted because life just didn’t get any better than this.

  What’s Next?

  For the Love of Beard

  8-31-17

  Chapter 1

  If you pour two beers into one glass and no one sees you, then it’s just one beer.

  -Pro tip

  Tobias

  I shouldn’t be doing this.

  I really, really shouldn’t be doing this.

  But I was doing it.

  I was doing it, and I knew it was a really bad idea.

  I laid on my back, wondering if I should go in there, and again, berated myself.

  She wouldn’t want me there. Hell, she hadn’t wanted me there for the last eight months, yet I had been. I’d been that annoying man that followed her around like a goddamned puppy.

  But I just couldn’t watch her sit on her ass and hide from life any longer.

  I’d let my sister do that. I’d watched her as she withered and died inside, and that was exactly what I saw with Audrey Brianne Morrison. My club member’s sister.

  A little over nine mont
hs ago, I’d first become acquainted with the little she-devil.

  And, again, I wasn’t sure why the hell I was here when she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.

  ***

  9 months earlier

  “Who are you?”

  Audrey looked nothing like Ghost, the brother that asked me to get his sister out of a sticky situation involving his parents.

  She was wearing Viking braids.

  They started at the tip of each temple, and ran straight back from her ears and then disappeared into a messy bun that was situated on the top of her head.

  She had dirty blonde hair that looked like it had hints of copper highlights, and her eyes…my God, there were no words to describe them.

  They were the color of what I would call cognac. A rich, deep brown, the color of whiskey on the inside, and on the outside, it spread out into a lighter brown almost the color of honey.

  Those eyes, though…they were shrewd. Calculating. Watchful.

  I had a feeling that they didn’t miss one single thing.

  “I’m Fender.”

  She stared at me. “I’m not expecting a Fender.”

  She tried to slam the door in my face, and I caught it with the tip of my steel toed boot.

  “My club brothers call me Fender. My real name is Tobias.”

  She glared down at my boot, then back up at me.

  “You should’ve started with that,” she informed me. “What do you want?”

  I gritted my teeth.

  She was like a rabid badger.

  “I’m here to bring you to Gho…uh, Mina,” I answered.

  She caught the slip, but chose not to say anything.

  “How much am I allowed to bring?” she asked.

  I looked at the house beyond her and found nearly the entire place packed.

  What my attention focused on, however, was the stacks of suitcases.

  “I can probably fit all of your suitcases into my truck,” I said. “As for the rest of it? That’s going to have to wait until I can get some more help and time.”

  She pinched her lips closed, and then shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  She threw the door open wide and headed deeper into the house.

  While her back was turned, I chose to study her body.

  She was sexy, but it was clear that she didn’t want anyone close to her. Her body seemed to give off this ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe, and I could clearly see the anger wafting off of her at being stuck with me.