by Sam Crescent
Damn, he missed that kid.
Making the decision for him to head back to Fort Wills had been hard. Between work and Cheryl, and Michael’s sucky attitude, he didn’t have a choice.
Yeah, Michael had been a pain in the ass.
Who wasn’t at that age?
Still, being around Punk reminded him of that.
“You can’t fight because you’ll die and then what will your mom do?” Butch asked.
“I’m not going to die. I’m stronger than I look.”
“You know, I’ve met men stronger than you. They’ve been prepared, knew the risks, and yet they still fucking died. You think this is a game. A fight and if you get knocked out, that’s it. You’ve got to put on a show, a performance, and there’s a good chance someone will die. It’s the way it is. Ned Walker does fights where the odds are all over the place. I get that you think you’re ready, but look at what you did now. You’re in the hospital, and you’re not getting out for some time. You’re not ready. You think I want to put men in that ring for them to die? Let me tell you something, I’ve been around death a hell of a long time. I’ve watched good men and women die. It’s the way of the world, but each time someone close to you goes, it fucks with your head. You lose a part of yourself. Your mother, you’re all she has left. You die in that ring, you’re signing her death sentence.”
Punk’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “It’s what I’ve got to do,” Punk said.
“No, it’s not. You can find the money another way. Constantly pay every single month. You don’t need to kill yourself to fix your mom, because here’s another thing—if you die for this, your mother isn’t going to want the money.”
Butch sat back in his chair, allowing that piece of information to sink in.
He knew it did because Punk stopped fighting with the damn cuffs.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
“She’s all I’ve got,” Punk said. “I know it’s not cool, but she’s my mom and I’ll do anything for her.”
“I’ve not told you to not do anything for her. I’ve told you to think about her and what your idea of paying her fees will do to her. You’re not being selfish.”
The tears finally started to fall then, and as he fell apart, sobbing, Butch moved to the bed, grabbed the kid’s hand, and offered him some support.
“I don’t want her to die.”
“I know.”
“I can’t do this without her. I don’t have anything to offer. Fighting is all I know. I don’t…”
“Don’t think right now. Just focus and you’ll come up with something.” He stayed there for the rest of the day, giving the kid some company, and he hoped by the time he left, that he’d gotten through to him.
Death was hard.
Ned Walker had lost a lot of men in his fighting rings. Butch had seen the effects it had on the older man. He tried to hide it, but it was there. The pain of the loss was a part of him.
Ned didn’t breed losers.
It’s why he worked so damn hard to get the fighters strong.
Death wasn’t going to get a helping hand from either of them.
****
One week later
Cheryl stared up at the café she’d been asked to visit. Putting a hand on her stomach, she thought about the morning she’d spent with Butch before he headed to the hospital. Punk was due to be released in another week. The beating he’d taken was pretty serious, and there had been some fear of internal bleeding.
Poor kid.
Fortunately, he seemed to be making a full recovery, and she was a day closer to her due date, and that was a good thing. Her baby also liked to make her or his presence known with the constant kicking, but she wasn’t going to complain about that. She loved feeling this baby inside her, and since talking with Butch, life felt … good. Less complicated, at least.
She knew there was still a lot of work to be done for her and for Butch, but in time they could work on that.
She wasn’t going to give up on them or this relationship. Keep moving forward, that was her motto right now.
Pushing some hair behind her ear, she released a breath and decided to just head on inside.
Opening the door, she saw it was busy, and scanning the crowd, she found Alex pretty damn easily. He sat in a private booth facing the door.
He’d told her where he’d be.
She saw no one else was with him. Sunshine, his wife, she adored.
Walking past the tables, she took her time, careful as she walked. The doctor had told her that any serious fall, and she’d need to go to the hospital right away. With every single passing day, Butch had been firm in his decision to only hire the best doctors.
Taking a seat in the booth, she removed her jacket and offered Alex a smile.
There was a time she’d hated this man sitting across from her.
He was a manipulative bastard, but of course she was biased, seeing as he’d left her with a kid, and not even his name.
“Hey, Alex,” she said.
“How are you doing, Cheryl?” he asked.
“I’m doing good.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and waited.
He signaled to the waitress and made sure to order her favorite. It wasn’t coffee, she couldn’t have that, but the blend of tea was her favorite.
“You remembered.”
“I remember a lot of things. Being a businessman, it helps me to remember.”
“Yes, who could forget? How is business and Sunshine?”
“The hotel is doing wonderfully, as always. The casino as well. Between Sunshine and my kids, life is good. Sunshine is everything to me. I’ve left her back home. She didn’t need to come on this trip, and Vegas doesn’t really suit her.”
“How is Michael?”
“I brought him along for the trip. He’s stopped by Ned’s first. I hope that’s okay.”
“Oh, does he even want to see me?” She nibbled her lip.
Before Michael had left to go and be with his father, they’d argued. He’d accused her of loving the new unborn baby more than him, and of course a lot of other accusations had flown around. They’d hurt, no doubt about it.
Putting a hand to her stomach, she waited.
“He misses you, Cheryl. Don’t doubt that for a second.”
“I don’t doubt it. I just … I don’t want him to think it was an easy decision for me to make.”
“How is the pregnancy?”
“It’s doing good. I think. I hope. I mean…” She put a hand to her stomach. “Yeah, we’re still going strong.”
“You look amazing.”
“I do?”
“Yes, really healthy, and you’re smiling as well. The stress the last time I saw you was clearly getting to you. It’s good to see you’re doing well, and if I can say it, it’s a good look on you.”
“Thanks.”
“How are things with Butch?”
“We’re doing good, I think, for the most part. It has been stressful with this, and I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about my relationship with another man, or that we’re even being able to have this conversation right now. It’s kind of surreal.”
“That’s true.” Alex chuckled. “You know, I never really hated you.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“That was a … trying time, don’t you think? The stress. The expectation. It was all the pressure, built up in one, and I didn’t handle it very well,” Alex said.
“Neither of us did. We had the loves of our lives, and it all went to shit.” She stared down at her hands. “We can’t keep living in the past though.”
She stopped as the waitress brought her tea and her favorite muffin. Saying her thanks, she stared down at the offering and felt overwhelmed with emotion.
“You’re going to cry, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just really emotional. Everything seems to be piling on me all of a sudden.”
“Is that why y
ou wanted to see me?” Alex asked. “I was shocked by your call.”
She’d reached out to Alex. They’d not had the best relationship out of all of The Skulls, but they had the one connection neither of them could deny: their son, Michael.
“I wanted to talk to you about Butch, about The Skulls, about a lot of things.”
“Michael has told me before we came over here that he doesn’t want to stay,” Alex said. “I’m not saying this to be a bastard, but I’m letting you know.”
Tears filled her eyes, but she smiled. She still saw a lot of Michael, and they did talk regularly.
“He wants to be with his dad, and I can’t blame him for that.” She released a breath. “I’m not upset or angry.”
“He doesn’t want to upset you. That’s why he asked me to double-check that you’re okay with him staying with me.”
“Of course. I know he’s in really good hands with you.”
Alex nodded. “I will protect him always. I love him. You and I, we don’t always see eye to eye, but I think the one good thing we ever did was make that kid.”
“Then we can agree on something.” She released a breath. “I think this is a world record for us. Look at how we’re talking and there’s no flames. We must be growing up.”
He laughed. “It had to happen eventually.”
She knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. “Butch.”
“What about him?”
“Do you know if Lash is going to call him back to Fort Wills?”
Alex stared at her. “I don’t make those decisions anymore. I helped Tiny out, but that is all on Lash, and I have to say, the kid knows what he’s doing.”
“You don’t know at all?”
“Do you want to come back home?”
She felt a twinge in her chest. Fort Wills wasn’t home.
Even though settling down here with Ned Walker for company had been hard to do, she’d gotten used to it. This was home now, and part of her was afraid that Butch wanted to go back to Fort Wills.
She didn’t know if he’d be able to handle that life though.
The life of being a Skull.
In the years they’d been together, so much had happened between them. She’d seen the leader inside him flourish, especially with Ned for company. There was no way a leader could deny his place with that man there. He brought out the best in people. She’d seen it. Not many people liked him, or at least, the men he pissed off didn’t like him.
He was a good man.
He hid it well.
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know the answers you want, Cheryl. Honestly, I’m a Skull, but I don’t play as a big a part in that life anymore.” He reached across the table and took her hands. “If you want me to talk to Lash, I will.”
“You’d do that?”
“Of course.”
She squeezed his hands. “I don’t think I want to go back to Fort Wills. I think our life is here.”
“Okay.”
“But I don’t think Butch being a Skull in the capacity he is, is enough anymore.”
“You think he wants more.”
“I think he deserves it.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Everything is so confusing right now, and I know I’m not making any sense.”
“I’ve got some advice though. You want to hear it?”
“Please.”
“Talk to your husband. It’s a great deciding factor when you want to get a job done.”
She couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing. “Wow, I can’t believe we’re doing this. Talking, having a conversation. It’s really crazy.”
“Second time, I know.” He was laughing though. “We’ve come a long way.”
“I need to use the bathroom,” she said.
Climbing out of the stall, she took a step and felt wetness on her feet.
Glancing down, she saw it looked like she’d wet herself, only she knew that wasn’t the case.
“Holy shit, is that, has your water broken?”
“Yes, I need to go to the hospital.”
Staff were already rushing to her, and as she gripped her stomach, a contraction hit her hard.
“It’s too soon. It’s way too soon. Shouldn’t we be forty weeks? It’s too soon.”
“Come on. I’ll get you to the hospital, and then get Butch.”
Chapter Six
Butch burst through the hospital doors. He went to the main desk, got the directions he needed, and took off. He followed all the signs, and as he threw open the doors, he came to a stop as he caught sight of Alex and Michael. He’d left Ned and the others behind.
Ned offered to drive him.
As if he’d trust that old fool to get him to the hospital in one piece.
“Where is she?” Butch asked. He was panting for breath as he looked at Alex.
“She’s in the delivery room.” Alex walked past him to the counter.
Butch ran a hand down his face, his heart racing.
They’d planned this for the past couple of weeks, how it would go down. They’d even done some practice runs so he didn’t panic in getting her to the hospital. Only right now, he was panicking.
“Cheryl, my wife, I need to go and see her.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not possible.”
“She’s in labor, and she needs me by her side. At least tell the doctor who is handling her care that I’m here.” He gave the doctor’s name while Alex tried to negotiate with the women to get him into the damn room.
One of the women took off with his details, and he stood, waiting.
“Was she okay? Did she seem okay? Was she in a lot of pain?”
“She was in a lot of pain with the contractions. Her water broke in the café that we were eating in, and she seemed fine. More than fine. She looked healthy.”
He nodded. “She’s fine. She’s going to be fine.”
“Yes, she is. Believe me, she looked ready for this.” Alex put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s going to get through this.”
He nodded. Pacing the length of the floor, he saw that Michael was staring at him.
He walked over to the kid and smiled. “You still want to punch me in the face? Last time you saw me you said you were going to put me on my ass.”
“You said that?” Alex asked, taking a seat beside his kid.
“Yeah.” Michael’s face was red.
“It’s a good thing it was your stepfather you threatened and not a grown-ass man who’d put you on the floor,” Alex said.
“You teaching him some manners while he’s with you?” Butch asked.
“I’m sitting right here,” Michael said.
“Exactly, and as a good young man, you’ll take it.”
“I don’t have to sit and listen to this,” Michael said.
“Sit your ass down. You think about causing me any trouble, and you’ll have your allowance cut and your privileges removed,” Alex said.
“Adulting sucks, right?” Butch asked.
“I don’t remember being this big a pain in the ass. I wonder where he gets it from.”
Michael folded his arms and slumped down in his seat as if the weight of the world was on his singular shoulders.
Butch saw the truth though. The kid, with all his attitude, was worried about his mom, and it was making him lash out.
“She’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” Michael said.
The doors opened, and a nurse was waiting. “Cheryl’s waiting for you, Butch.”
Taking off, he didn’t look back at Alex and Michael. He needed to see his woman.
The nurse made him quickly put a gown on to cover his clothes, and he had to wash his hands.
Once that was done, he entered a room, and there was his wife, on the table, legs spread, and she looked in pain.
“You’re doing so good, Cheryl. Look, your husband is here right now.”
“He did this to me,” she said, whimpering.
He smile
d. The doctor had told him when the pregnancy started that during the birth, the man is responsible for everything. The woman is always the victim.
“If my memory serves me well, Cheryl, you loved every second of it.” Butch said, moving behind her and taking her hands.
He’d dreamed of this moment and dreaded it with equal measure.
He’d been warned of the dangers of pregnancy, and it scared him to think of his wife going through this.
Holding her hands tightly, he tried to offer her the support she needed.
“It hurts,” she said, crying out.
“I know. I know. Come on, baby. Another push, and you’re almost there.”
“I tried to wait for you,” Cheryl said.
“I’m here now. Alex called me immediately. Don’t worry. I’m here, and I love you. Come on, baby. One more push. I’m right here. Your pain is my pain. Come on.”
Cheryl lifted up, and he saw she was exhausted.
“One. Two. Three. Push.”
She pushed with all of her might, and she still had some strength in her. She held his hands as she screamed out her pain, and he took every single second of it.
Each scream and clench of her hand, and then he heard it.
The sound of the newborn baby.
His child.
His son or daughter.
Cheryl collapsed against him, and he watched as the doctors and nurses got to work.
“Butch, what’s happening? I want to see my baby. Is everything okay?”
He saw the fear in her eyes, and he saw the doctors doing their work. They’d been told the process, and as their doctor turned toward them, he waited, and finally, after what felt like a lifetime, he smiled.
“You have a beautiful, healthy baby girl.”
Butch watched as the doctor brought their baby girl toward them, and as he laid her down on Cheryl’s chest, Butch saw his little girl.
“Look what we did.”
He reached out, putting his fingers beneath her hand and marveled at how tiny she was. She gripped his finger and let out a little baby noise, opening her eyes.
“She’s so pretty,” he said. Kissing Cheryl’s head, he couldn’t believe that he was finally a dad.
Sharing in this moment, he felt all the love consume him, for his wife, for his child, for the life they’d built together.