Chief: Rebel Guardians MC

by Liberty Parker

  “Claree?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You do know you don’t have to do that, right?”

  “I know. I’ve done it for so long, though, that it’s a habit. Plus, I enjoy this time I get to spend with her one on one.” My heart melts at what she says. Claree is an amazing big sister, she has a natural maternal instinct that I hope follows her into adulthood. Just not too soon, I hope and pray. I know she’s far more mature than her chronological age and it’s my goal to get her to let loose a little bit and be more like a kid than a mini-adult. Hell, I don’t remember making my bed when I woke up unless I was told to do so and yet, every morning, hers is made and her dirty clothes are in the hamper and everything is put away. Then again, the house she was living in after her mom died was chaotic, so maybe this is what she needs to ensure all is well. Something to keep a watch on, I guess. I also notice that she has changed Shelby’s diaper, clothes and cleaned up her room as well. I don’t want her to be feeling like she has to do these things for us to love her, I want her to know that no matter what happens in her life, we’ll always be there by her side.

  “Claree, you know that you don’t have to be perfect and do all these things to stay here. We’re never letting you go, we love you and Shelby just like you’re our own. We’ll never abandon you two nor will we stop wanting you to be here with us.”

  Her wide eyes look up at my statement. “I guess I figured if I did everything I could to help, you wouldn’t get tired of us being here,” she admits.

  I pull her into a hug and kiss her head before saying, “Sweetie, kids are meant to be kids. I’ll never say you can’t help with your sister because that’s what good sisters do, they help. I just want you to know you can relax and just be a kid. I...no, we don’t expect perfection.”

  “Okay, I’ll try...Trinity?”

  “Yes, sweetheart.”

  “Would it be okay if we started calling you and Mr. Chief, Mom and Dad? I know you’re not really, but I want you to be.” Claree looks up at me with all the love in the world shining in her eyes. I love these two little ones as if they were my biological children.

  “We’d love it, sweetie. And as of next week, we’ll be your parents when the judge signs the adoption paperwork. Family isn’t only about the ones you share blood with, it’s also the ones you let into your lives and you and your sister are in ours until we take our last breaths.”

  Turk ambles into the room, asking, “Are my girls ready to go?” We all smile up at him and I watch as he melts at the way we’re looking up at him as if he is what makes our world go round.

  Trinity

  What a whirlwind morning! Once we finished with breakfast, we dropped Claree off at school then headed over to the courthouse and applied for our marriage license. Since I’m still off and it’s Turk’s day off, we’re now at the clubhouse hanging out with everyone. I can’t help but beam in happiness at the way Nan seems to be fawning all over Shelby. Seems my girl has won everyone’s hearts which is a good thing, because we have to watch her like a hawk. We’ve been lucky so far, only two minor seizures since she’s been home, but everyone volunteered and took classes to know what to do if a seizure happens. They all wanted to support her and that says alot about the character of these men and women I now call family.

  “So, once y’all are done at the courthouse, you’ll come here for the reception and celebration party for the adoptions,” Nan states, writing notes on her ever-present pad of paper.

  “And our wedding, don’t forget that that is a need for celebration, Nan.”

  “Yeah, we need to celebrate that someone is willing to put up with his ugly mug,” Bandit hollers out.

  “Soon, Chief and Trinity are gonna need a minivan,” Smokey laughs out. I swear, these two are going to be the death of the RGMC men. I know they make me want to find my own suite at the insane asylum sometimes when they get going.

  “I happen to like his ‘mug’ very much,” I state. “And don’t you have a job you need to get to?”

  Bandit laughs at my words before saying, “Nope. I’m up-to-date on all my contract work and we’re just waiting on the go-ahead to start working on the truck stop.”

  Ah, the truck stop. I don’t understand a lot of what they do but Turk has assured me that every business they buy and get involved in is legitimate and with everyone’s best interests at heart. Since I’m in such a good mood, I look at Smokey and Bandit and say, “Someday, a woman is gonna come along and knock y’alls socks off. Personally, I can’t wait to see the two of you running around. Just remember, what you’ve thrown out there will likely come back to you in spades because I’ve got a long memory and so does DJ.” Karma’s a bitch boys, keep it up, I can’t help but think.

  The conversation gets back on track and before I know it, we have the party planned and the guys are talking about some trip that they’ve been planning, apparently when I’m all healed, and before Cara delivers the twins, we’re going away for the weekend. Just the adults! I can’t help but become excited at the prospect of having an adults-only getaway. Thank goodness for Nan and the prospects, I’d love to be a fly on the wall during that escapade. Then I think about Claree and Talon and realize that there may not be enough adult supervision. “Uh, Turk?”

  “Yeah, sweetness.”

  “Um, are you sure there’ll be enough adult supervision?”

  He spears Hatch with a look and they do that whole ‘talk with the eyes not with words’ thing that all of them have down pat before saying, “It’ll be fine, Trinity. We’ve already decided that the boys will stay with two of the prospects and the girls will stay with Nan and one prospect. There will be no hanky-panky going on while we’re away. I can guarantee you that.”

  “I thought you had four prospects?” I ask. Damn, I get confused over this shit sometimes!

  “Jaxson is coming with us and driving the SUV because Cara won’t be able to ride. It’ll have all our luggage and shit too.”

  “Plus,” DJ pipes in, “Hatch doesn’t like Jaxson around Ralynn if he isn’t around.” We all snicker at that, because Ray has a deep-seated crush on poor Jaxson, who happens to run the other direction when the poor girl enters a room. I know that things might be different when they’re older, but right now, Jaxson thinks of her as a child and treats her like one, which makes me like the young man even more.

  “So, what are y’all doing on the wedding night?” Cara asks, causing everyone in the room to burst into laughter. “Y’all get your minds out of the gutter! I know that’s gonna happen for fuck’s sake, I mean, are you going away or what?”

  I’m about to respond when Braxton says, “Actually, we’re keeping the girls for them for the weekend and they’re going to try that bed and breakfast out first for us.” Oh, so now Turk and I are the guinea pigs for the group? What jerk-offs! Then again, it’s kind of sweet that they’re giving us a weekend away, not that I expect we’ll see much outside our room if I have anything to say. I can enjoy my man without any outside interruptions, sounds like a plan to me. I swear every time I think we’re going to have some alone time, his phone rings, pager goes off or one of the girls needs us for one thing or another. Yes, he has a pager for work, go figure, I didn’t even realize they still made those until I started dating Turk. I thought those had become dinosaurs in the face of technology, but hey, what do I know about law enforcement and their equipment.

  “What’cha thinking so hard about, woman?”

  “Just about how nice it will be to have some time away from all interruptions and just enjoy spending some quality time with you is all.”

  “Sounds like a great break from everything,” Turk says to me.

  “That it does.”

  “Okay, love birds, I think we have your plans all figured out, what’s next?” DJ says.

  “I think it’s time to take my woman home,” Turk says and suddenly the room erupts in cat whistles and hoots and hollers.

  “God y’alls minds are always in the
proverbial gutter.” I say to the boys. It’s no wonder we’ve got the kids asking about orgasms and sex the way they carry on! I’m with Turk, I think it’s time to head home, I’ve had about enough of the trouble twosome’s comedy act.

  We say our goodbyes and leave after grabbing Shelby from Nan, which was a feat in itself. She’s really taken to Shelby and hates it when we take her away. But she’ll have her for a few weekends coming up and then she can get her fix.

  Chief

  The next week flies by and the next thing I know, it’s our wedding day. I can’t believe the way my life has drastically changed since the day that Trinity entered my life. “Are y’all ready yet?” I ask, knocking on the girls’ bedroom door.

  “One second!” Trinity calls out. “Seems your youngest daughter-to-be decided she had to paint this morning so I had to give her another bath.” I shake my head at the exasperation I can hear in her voice. With her new medicines, Shelby has gotten more active and consequently, into more and more things.

  “Let me guess, Claree left her water colors out again on her desk?”

  “Yep.” I shake my head and hold the laughter back. In the last week, since Trinity had a talk with her, she's started acting more like a kid her age, than a pseudo-parent. She’s made a few friends at school and more than once I’ve had to remind her it’s a school night and to get off her phone. Then again, I kinda want to let her stay up and make up for some of the time she’s lost as a pre-teen. Then, Trinity reminds me that we still have to be the parents and not one of her friends. I just have a hard time saying no to that girl, unless I think it’s something that will affect her negatively in any way.

  “Okay, I think we’re ready,” Trinity says, opening up the door. My mind goes blank as I take in the three of them standing there. She’s wearing a two-piece suit thing that I would call off-white, but she’d probably say it was something else. A lacy shell peeks out and I wonder what else is underneath. Feeling my body react, I immediately start reciting traffic laws. No sense in having the girls wondering why the front of my pants is extending. The girls are wearing matching dresses, with Claree’s hair curled down around her shoulders, and Shelby’s up in two ponytails, curls bouncing at the end.

  “You look beautiful,” I say, leaning in and kissing her gently. She never wears much make-up and today’s no different, but there’s something almost luminescent about her today. I notice Claree has some shine to her lips, I raise my eyebrows in question to my woman, but all she does is smile brightly at me, dismissing my fatherly disapproval. I just smile and lean down and kiss Claree on top of her head, “Don’t grow up on me too quickly, yeah?”

  “I’ll try not to,” she says sweetly. Well, okay then, I guess that’s about as good of an answer as I’m going to get. I usher them all out of the room and out of the house, I can’t wait until I get to share the same last name as my family.

  Thirty-four minutes later, we pull up to the courthouse, and am shocked and happy to see every single member of my club, and their families, waiting on the stoop to the front entrance.

  “I thought this was just a small affair?” Trinity asks, wrinkling her nose at me.

  “That’s what Law told me, but maybe he was trying to surprise us, sweetness.”

  We walk up and meet everyone, and Axe is the first one to extend his hand and says, “We know you wanted this small, but we can’t stand back and not be here to support you all on such a special day.” I hear Trinity sniff, and see her bring a handkerchief, up to her eyes, one that looks vaguely familiar. I look over and see Chef giving me a wink, the sly bastard. It’s my job to give her my hanky...fuck me, I must be channeling Cara’s hormones or something.

  “Still have your man card in your wallet?” Hatchet asks me. The fuck!

  “Of course I do, do you still have yours?”

  “Nope, lost it the day DJ said I do, I suspect yours will be long gone as well.”

  “Dickhead,” I say to him. “Let’s do this,” I announce and we all make our way inside.

  Once we’ve all gone through the metal detectors, the security officer directs us to the judge’s chambers. Because of our group’s size, we have to go in two separate elevators. Knocking on the door, I hear a voice say, “Come on in.” I open the door and allow the women to go in first before following them, leaving my brothers to fall in behind me.

  “Well, this is a nice surprise,” Judge Haskins says. “I know you two want to get married first so that these two young ladies will have the same name.”

  “That’s correct.”

  I watch as my brothers lean back against the wall and pull their women into their arms. Trinity and I take our places in front of him, and Claree is standing next to Trinity, with Shelby in her arms. The next words I hear are, “Dearly beloved…”

  Trinity

  The wedding is over as quickly as it began. I’m in Turk’s arms with his lips attached to mine. As soon as the judge said the words, “You may now kiss your bride,” Turk took him at his word. When we pull apart, congratulations are shared with our family and we are ushered out to the courtroom, where the hearing can be documented. The four of us are standing in front of the judge’s bench, with every one of his brothers and their wives standing behind us. Talk about one of those moments I want to commit to memory. I know that every one of the men and women behind us would do anything for our family, just as we would for them. My heart’s overflowing with love and joy, when I hear the judge say, “And now, for something I always enjoy doing, making a new family.”

  When everyone chuckles at his words, he gives what I can only say is a judge stare before continuing, “Not like that, although that’s not a bad thing. I mean through the miracle of adoption. Many times, older children and children with medical needs are overlooked by prospective parents when they want to adopt. I’m beyond thrilled that you, Trinity, and you, Turk, brought these two into your home with the thought foremost in your minds that they would be yours someday. Neither of you have wavered in this and in fact, I know that each of the family members standing behind you have sought the training needed to make sure that no matter who little Miss Shelby is with, she will be as safe as if she is with you. That’s commitment, folks, and I wish more families had that. Now, I want to ask Claree a few questions if that’s okay?” We both nod at him and he looks down from his bench at Claree.

  “Claree, do you understand what is happening today? That once I sign this paperwork, you’ll forevermore be known as Claree Janisse Dennison?” I see Claree’s eyes widen as Janisse was her mother’s first name. We decided we wanted them to have something of her in their new lives and this was what we came up with.

  “Yes, sir,” she whispers, her hand now clutching mine.

  “And the little miss who is in her daddy’s arms, she’ll forevermore be known as Shelby Marie Dennison. Your parents wanted you both to have something from your mom as a reminder of how much she loved you both.”

  “Now for the practicalities. Turk and Trinity, I believe you had Elijah do your wills, correct?”

  “Yes, sir,” Turk replies. “He said you would file all of it together since we had to wait until Trinity’s name was changed to Dennison.”

  “And are Braxton and Caraleigh Cunningham present? As well as Jayden and Donna Jo Hatcher?”

  I hear the two men answer and hope the four of them are onboard with mine and Turk’s wishes. “Turk and Trinity have listed the four of you as the girls’ guardians in the event something should happen to them. Are you willing to step into that role should it be needed?”

  I can hear the women openly crying and it’s taking everything within me not to join them.

  “We do,” all four of them say almost in unison.

  “Then by the power vested in me, this the twenty-second day of March, I am pleased to announce to you all Miss Claree Janisse Dennison and Miss Shelby Marie Dennison. May you all have long and happy lives.” I hear cheers all around us and even the judge is wearing a smile that bright
ens the room.

  “Thank you,” I say to him, then turn to my new husband and daughters. “Let’s go celebrate!” I call out in contagious excitement. We all cheer and are full of laughter and smiles as we exit the courthouse and head to the clubhouse. I notice that our matriarch is missing and once I ask about her I’m told that she’s getting the final preparations done and will be waiting for us to arrive. I feel like this day couldn’t get any better, but oh how wrong I was.

  We’re back at the clubhouse and Turk has spirited me away to get changed into something a little more comfortable. I think he really just wants to see what’s under my suit. As he closes and locks the door to his room, I raise my eyebrow at him. “What are you doing, Mr. Dennison?” I ask him as he stealthily walks toward me.

  “I’m fixing to show my bride exactly what she means to me, Mrs. Dennison.”

  “Oh yeah, and how exactly are you going to do that?”

  “By worshiping every single inch of your body.”

  “Now?”

  “Oh yeah, right the fuck now.”

  “But, Turk, everyone is waiting on us. They’ll know what we’re doing in here!”

  “Don’t care, I need you now.”

  “You always need me, how is this time any different?” I say, teasingly.

  “This time my dear, you’re wearing my ring and carrying my last name. This time, I’ll be taking you as your husband. Any other questions?”