by A. J. Downey
“Did you get sick? Is that how you knew?”
I laughed slightly, “No, we were painting the living room and I leaked.”
“What? Like pee?”
I laughed, high and bright, “No, that comes much later,” I said, “Breastmilk, I leaked breastmilk. I bent over and the next thing I knew, my whole bra and shirt was wet.”
“Huh, more fun things I should try,” he murmured, copping a feel.
“You can be so crude sometimes,” I laughed.
“Mm, you like it.”
“Like it better if you’d put your mouth to work doing something other than talking,” I both teased and hinted.
“Why Mrs. Turner, are you horny?”
“Hmm, a little bit,” I confessed.
“Yeah?” he asked, kissing along the side of my throat, his hand drifting up along the outside of my thigh.
“Mm-hmm, quickies are nice and all, but I kind of figure that was just a preview of coming attractions,” I murmured.
“Oh, you’d be right on that account, Baby. You’d be so right…”
He kissed me for real then, and I pulled him close. I loved how his powerful arms caged me, how his warmth filled me, and how his body fitted to mine. I loved how he loved me, and how no matter if it was a five minute quickie in the kitchen, or an hour long lovemaking session in the bedroom, Archer gave it his all.
I giggled, and wrapped my legs around his hips, kissing the side of his neck, holding him close, until the laughter faded into desperate moans and I gave over to simply feeling and being in my husband’s arms.
“I love you,” I whispered in his ear as we both came and he kissed my shoulder reverently and murmured, it back.
“I love you, too, Melody. God, I love you, too.”
Chapter 34
Archer
“Dude, why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?” I sat back in my chair and sighed.
“I probably should have, but you know how I get,” I said frowning.
It was Friday, and we were all sitting around in church, Dragon was nodding and looking thoughtful.
“So you think it would help, having some of the more upstanding guys without records there?”
“Yeah, I figured it couldn’t hurt. They might not even be needed. Just dress nice and sit behind us kind of a thing.”
“I think this is a job for our Wonder Women, don’t you?” Ghost asked and I nodded in his direction.
“Carina Washington, the social worker assigned to us says that the more of a support network we have behind us, probably the better we’ll fare.”
I swept eyes around the table and honestly didn’t expect any of them to offer up. I mean, I’d at least rubbed every single last one of them the wrong way at least once in the last year, but I guess the lessons were just going to keep on coming, because Doc was the first one to speak up.
“Count me in,” he said.
“Long hair might throw ‘em off but my record as a Marine won’t. May have a history of drug use, I admit that, but nobody really knows about it. It ain’t on paper anywhere. I’ll be there, too.” Trigger said.
“Count me in,” Ghost said.
Rounds of ‘yeah’, ‘yep’, and ‘I’ll be there’ went around the table, the only brothers bowing out being the ones who had a record or wouldn’t do much if anything to support the cause with their lifestyles or tattoos on full display. We were in the heart of Bible belt country, so that eliminated Disney and Aaron, as well as Blue and Duracell with their criminal histories. Zeb bowed out with no way to hide the tribal tattoos all over one half of his face, and Dragon on account of his past, said he’d run the shop for the day so Dray could go with us as my boss.
“Add the women, you’ll have a pretty good showing,” Dragon said judiciously.
“Hayden will go, but I’ll hang back. The judge might know me from years past and battles over Connor,” Reaver made a face and I nodded.
“I’m sorry ‘bout that, bro.”
Reaver shrugged, “It’s my own damn fault, but the good news is, Connor’s getting older and is wanting to spend more time around me, not less, so there’s that.” Nods went around the table like a wave.
“Anybody got any good news?” Dragon asked with a little bit of a huffed laugh and I grinned.
“Actually, I got that covered, too, P.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep, Mel’s pregnant. I’ma be a daddy again.”
Cheers erupted around the table and guys started slapping me on the back. Hugs were traded with the twins, and I think Nox even may have had something in his eye; I know I did. It was kind of a surreal experience. I never in a million years expected to be one of the guys that would have this. At 43, I felt like some kind of an old dog, and I’d pretty much believed that you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks.
“Just letting you know, I got the whole diaper change thing down to a science, you need help with that, I’m your man,” Ghost said.
Rev raised his fist, “I second that.”
“Man, you guys have no idea, I used to change these motherfucker’s diapers when they was kids, first dropped off in our home,” I said, jerking a thumb at Rush and Nox.
Rush nodded, “It’s true, it’s true,” he agreed.
“This calls for shots,” Disney said and set a tray of ‘em down.
Every man helped himself; Dragon saying over the rim of his, “This better be the good shit.”
Disney grinned, “Glad you said it that way, ‘cause it is.”
“To Archer! Brother and now father. May it be healthy, whatever it is, boy or girl.”
“To Archer!”
We pounded shots and glasses hit the table. Cheers went up and more congratulations went around. It was a better day than not, especially when Rush gave a shrug and said, “I better go get started on a crib and shit, I ain’t got one of those in storage.”
“I’m surprised you got anything left in storage,” I said after he’d literally kitted out my entire fucking house.
“Meh, gives me an excuse to build more and work on some new designs I had ideas for.” He said and slapped me on my shoulders where I remained seated, gripping them tight and giving me a shake back and forth in my seat.
“Nox, you comin’?” he called out.
“Yeah, be out there in a minute, but you know I gotta watch the hands.”
“I know, you pussy!”
Chuckles went around the room and Nox shrugged, “I actually like what I do. You have any idea how many hot women come across my table?” he demanded.
“Not enough,” Rev said and Disney and Trig laughed.
“That is true, but I still get enough to make it worth my while,” he said and stretched before getting up and sauntering out towards Rush’s shop. We never did figure out what’d possessed my brother to become a massage therapist, but apparently the money was good and it’d given him the benefit of a hell of a grip which came in useful sometimes.
Reaver dropped into a seat next to me and bounced his eyebrows, the creepy fucker. He grinned and I raised an eyebrow.
“You lookin’ to get into some trouble?” I asked.
“Maybe a little,” he said and bobbed his head.
“Let’s not and say we did,” I uttered.
“Oh come on! We could totally make it look like an accident,” Duracell said jovially, dropping into the seat next to Reave’s.
I thought about it, and looked around to make sure we were still estrogen free, “Non-lethal?” I asked.
Reaver pouted and Duracell grinned, “Sounds like a job for me and Blue!”
“Dammit!” Reaver pushed to his feet and went over to where Trig and Rev were standing.
“What’s his problem?” I asked.
“Think he’s having Reaver-specific issues,” Duracell said, and leaned back in his seat.
“Yeah, well, hopefully he can keep a lid on that shit,” I said eyeing the crazy Enforcer.
“Meh, we all go through it,” Durac
ell said with a shrug and I turned my attention back to him, the grin on his face more than a little disconcerting.
“So, what did you have in mind when it comes to a little retribution?” I asked.
“Well, they have to be at the court date if they want an icicle’s chance in hell of actually getting custody; that means that their house’ll be empty, yeah?”
I nodded, “Yeah, sounds about right.”
“Excellent! Then Blue and I, we‘ll head down and give good ‘ol Karma a helping hand.”
“Yeah, y’all should see if she needs some help with the heavy lifting.”
“Don’t worry, bro. It’ll totally look like an accident, or better yet, negligence on their part.” I glanced at Blue who winked and shook my head, chuckling, letting a little bit of my own evil out to the surface.
“Remind me never to cross any of you fuckers,” I said dryly and they both exchanged a look, lighting up like it was the best compliment they’d been paid in a while. I looked over to Reaver who had his lip stuck out in a childish pout.
“What is his deal?” I wondered out loud without realizing it.
“Frustrated, I’d imagine,” Blue murmured.
I frowned, “Yeah?”
“Yeah, he and Hayden have had like zero luck getting her knocked up, looks like his past caught up to him. His little swimmers just ain’t up to the job. Another wonderful side effect of junk use,” Duracell said with a sour face.
“Oh, shit. That’s real fuckin’ rough.”
“Hayden doesn’t mind, I think it’s just really bothering Reave,” Blue said and I looked at him.
“Ain’t you talkative today?”
He shrugged, “It happens sometimes.”
I laughed, and looked up as Melody slid her hands along my shoulders, I looked up at her and she smiled down at me, but ever since that damn letter had come, every time she managed one it held an edge of sadness.
“Babe, what’re you doing out here? Church ain’t been declared over.”
“I know, I’m sorry, but Noah has some kind of a bug, he’s running a low fever so I was going to take him home.”
“Oh, shit. Okay, thanks for coming out and telling me but you best go on and git before –”
“Everything okay, Mel?”
She winced, “Um, I needed to tell Archer that Noah’s sick and I’m taking him home.”
“Next time you find a prospect or make yourself known before comin’ in here, Sweetheart. Them’s the rules.”
“I’m so sorry, message delivered and I’m gone,” she said and backed out of the room I looked over at D. and he gave me a wink.
“We were done,” he said, “you pretty much missed it when I called it.”
I sagged with relief, “You fucker,” I said smiling and he shrugged.
“Hell, lesson learned on her part. Best to get in reminders like that done when it’s small and as gentle as possible, like.”
I nodded and thought about that, adding it to the stack of lessons learned that I might be able to put to use with my own family in the future.
I saw Doc slip off out of the corner of my eye and had to smile to myself. I got up and went after the older biker and found him in the hall with Mel who was holding Noah. My boy looked a touch poorly, laying his head on his mamma’s shoulder, thumb in his mouth; spots of color on his cheeks. Doc was murmuring to Mel and put a hand to Noah’s forehead.
“Get him home, give him some children’s Tylenol and see how he does. If he gets any kind of worse, gimme a call and I’ll come look in on him. I’m sure it’s just one of those bugs kids get.”
“He wasn’t sniffling, or coughing,” Mel said concerned, it was about then Noah pulled his thumb out of his mouth and hurled all over my wife.
“Oh, god!” Mel cried and I went over to help.
“That’s because it’s a stomach bug,” Doc said and started laughing.
“Oh no, he really is feeling poorly isn’t he?” Ashton asked, coming out of the media room we pretty much affectionately had nicknamed the she-shed.
“Doesn’t look like,” I held Noah who had started crying and said, “Mel go get cleaned up, can one of you ladies gimme a hand with the floor?” I asked.
“I’m already two steps ahead of you, fella,” Everett said in her rich Irish brogue. She’d popped open the janitor’s closet with one of them floor sinks and was filling a mop bucket.
“Oh, poor guy get sick?” Aaron asked.
“Yeah,” I bounced Noah trying to get him to stop crying, or feel better and it was the worst thing I coulda done. He unleashed another torrent of throw-up that drenched my coat sleeve. I gagged, but held my shit together.
“Right, family cleanup it is,” I said making strides for the back door to get to one of the shower rooms near my room out back. Mel and I had clean clothes here, and I was hoping she had something for Noah, too.
“Oh no, did he get you too?” she asked, face sour.
“Yeah, let’s get cleaned up and get him home, yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.”
It was an awkward family shower time, but we managed and I realized that this was something that was pretty new to me. I mean, on the outside I was calm about it, but on the inside? Fuck, man; I was afraid. I wanted to know what was wrong and I almost didn’t want to believe Doc.
“You think he’s gonna be okay?” I asked and Mel nodded, smiling wryly.
“What?” I asked.
“Welcome to true fatherhood, you have officially arrived,” she said.
“What?”
“You aren’t really a parent until you get thrown up on or peed and pooped on,” she said cracking up. I looked at her and grinned.
“Bonus points that it was grape juice?” I asked and she winced, nodding.
“Oh yeah.”
I went from fuckin’ worried, and scared as shit, to glowing with some kind of absurd pride at reaching such a stupid and ridiculous milestone.
“You’re gonna be okay, Little Man, I promise.” I hugged my son and felt awful for him, but we’d go home and get him squared away and he would be okay. He had parents who loved him and a doctor that made house calls. He was one lucky little boy, and I was probably the luckiest son of a bitch alive to be his daddy.
Chapter 35
Melody
My hands shook as I smoothed down my white, fitted business blouse before tucking them into the neat, grey slacks I’d found among the clothes I’d evacuated from Arizona. I suppose I should just be grateful they still fit. I was definitely heavier after bearing a child and with another on the way, even though it was still so early in the pregnancy, only slightly snug was better than oh my god, what am I going to wear to court?
“Hey, look at me,” Archer ordered from behind me and I turned away from the full length mirror that had been part of the bedroom set that Rush had built.
Archer leveled me with his calm, gold green gaze and said, “It’s going to be fine. Noah’s not going anywhere.”
“I know, I guess I’m just worried about seeing them, you know?”
“You ain’t gotta worry about that either, Babe. I’m gonna be right there with you.”
“I don’t like that they’re making me bring Noah with us, he shouldn’t be there.”
“He won’t be,” Archer soothed, standing up from where he’d tied his shoe. He was in an honest to god suit. A dark blue one, with a light blue shirt, and tie. It looked wrong on him, even if he did look good. I’d braided his hair tightly at the back, so from the front, it gave the illusion that he had short hair.
My hair I’d put up into a French Twist, a light fringe of bangs over my eyes. My makeup was understated, but there, and all I wanted to do was throw up – but that would make my mascara run. Additionally, I didn’t think this nausea had anything to do with morning sickness. None at all. I sighed and let Archer pull me into his arms.
“Everything is going to be okay, Baby. Your parents are crazier than a shit house mouse and everyone knows it. Just
give ‘em the rope to hang themselves.”
“I know, I mean, you’re right, but I’m still afraid.”
“I know, now come on; let’s get this done.”
I followed him downstairs to where Revelator bounced Noah, holding him up high above his head. My sharp dressed little man, with his blue slacks, white shirt, and little red and blue striped clip-on tie. He was dressed just like his daddy, and it was adorable.
“Thank you for helping us out,” I murmured to Rev, taking Noah from him. He was likewise dressed for court in black slacks and a white button down. He’d forgone a tie though, and the shirt material strained across his shoulders, and around his arms. Mandy had even tamed his hair, however the gauges in his ears, even tasteful and not stupid huge as they were, still stood out.
Mandy, held Eden on her hip, her belly swollen with Dante, their boy, who was due very soon in November.
“It’s no trouble, you guys are family,” she smiled and said, “Even my daddy is coming. Imagine the look on their faces when they realize you have a preacher of your own on your side!”
I sighed, and nodded. I felt a keen sense of dread the entire drive to the courthouse, grateful that Archer was the one behind the wheel. Rev and Mandy followed us in her economical car, and I closed my eyes and just tried to remember to breathe.
“Feeling sick?” Archer asked.
“Yes.”
“Think it’s the baby?”
“I don’t know, it could be either or,” I said bleakly.
His response was perfect. He reached over the center console and gathered my hand resting atop my thigh in his and gave it a squeeze, and he held it the whole rest of the way there, even when he parked.
We got Noah out of the car and met Carina Washington on the front steps, she smiled warmly at us and waved at Noah who smiled broadly and waved back. A lot of the club and their ol’ ladies were here, too. All dressed professionally and respectfully for court.
“Hey, Little Guy!” Rush held up his hand for a high five and Noah hit it. He flung himself at Rush and Rush grabbed him. I relinquished my son to the track of laughter around us. That was Noah, when he liked something, he was all in; often times leaping before looking, and whether or not mom or dad were prepared for it.