Forever Lo (Devil's Knights Book 9)

by Winter Travers

*

  Meg

   “Come to bed, Lo.”

   “I can’t.” His eyes remained on Jonas as he lay sleeping in his bed.

   Remy’s old bed that was now his.

   “He’s not going anywhere, honey. You need to sleep just as much as he does.”

   It was half past midnight, and Lo had been watching Jonas sleep for over half an hour. The memorial service at the clubhouse had still been going when we left after eleven, and I expected it to go into the morning.

  Lo had insisted we leave to get Jonas into bed and not sleeping on the couch in the common room.

  “Just a few more minutes,” he insisted.

  I sighed but knew I wasn’t going to get him to move. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Fifteen minutes Lo finally came to bed. He left our door wide open and the hallway light on.

  “You can turn the hallway light off, honey.”

  Lo pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. “It stays on. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he won’t be scared.”

  I closed the book I was reading and laid it on the nightstand. “It was a long day. I doubt he’s going to wake up much before ten o’clock.”

  “We should get one of those walkie talkie things.” He popped the button on his jeans and pulled them off.

  “Uh, for what?” I cocked my head to the side. “Is that some new sex lingo the kids are using?”

  Lo scoffed and shook his head. “Not that I know of. I’m talking we should get one for Jonas’s room.”

  “Oh.” Now I knew what he was talking about. “A baby monitor?”

  Lo flipped our bedroom light off and crawled under the covers next to me. “Yeah. That way if he wakes up, we’ll know.”

  I laughed and scooted closer to him. “You do know we live in a small house where he is literally less than twenty-five feet away from us, right?”

  “Walls,” he muttered.

  I laid my head on his shoulder and tipped it back to look at him. “He’ll be fine, Lo. I promise.”

  “That’s a promise you know you can’t keep. We all know that after this week.”

  “Lo,” I whispered. I laid my hand on his cheek. “We’re all gonna be fine. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but we are. We just have to make the most of the time we have together.”

  “I love you, babe. More than I ever thought I could love someone.”

  I smiled softly. “You wanna know something?”

  “You’re not gonna tell me that you love me?”

  “That love you feel for me? You’re gonna feel that tenfold for that little boy next door.”

  He pressed a kiss to the palm of my hand. “That doesn’t seem possible.”

  “It is. I feel it for Remy.” I winked. “I think you’re already starting to feel it for Jonas seeing as you refuse to turn the hallway light off.”

  “But what if that’s not enough, babe? What if that love you’re talking about isn’t going to be enough to replace Mal and Turtle?”

  “Oh, sweet Lo. You just made me fall in love with you all over again.” I scooted up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Just by you worrying about it means that it is going to be enough. Just trust me.”

  “Guess I can do that.” A smile spread across his lips. “Been doing it for ten years, what’s another ten years?”

  “I only get ten more years?”

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. “I like the ten-year lease option.”

  “Lease!” I squawked. “You own this ass, just like I own yours.”

  “Shh,” Lo chuckled. “We don’t want to wake him up.”

  I rolled my eyes. “But you have the hallway light on. That makes it all right.”

  “You really think being sassy is a good idea for you this late at night?”

  There was my playful Lo. I hadn’t seen him the past week. “You like the sass.”

  “That I do, babe. I can’t really deny that at all.”

  I sighed and laid my head back on his shoulder. “Things go back to an even keel now, right?”

  Lo grunted. “I don’t know about that. You just became a parent for the second time, and I’m brand new at all of this.”

  “You’re gonna do great,” I whispered.

  “Just taking my cues from you, babe. You did a damn fine job with Remy.”

  “I did, didn’t I?”

  Lo pinched my side and I yelp. “Try to be a little modest,” he smirked.

  I snuggled back into his side. “You better be thankful that I’m too tired to show you my actual sass.”

  “Raincheck?”

  I closed my eyes and patted him on the chest. “Definite raincheck.”

  “Sleep tight, babe.”

  I drifted off to sleep snuggled in with the man of my dreams, dreaming about how much everything was about to change.

  *

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lo

   “He’s three, Meg. What the hell does he need to go to school for?”

   Meg thrust the paper in my face. “He’s going to be four in a month, Lo, then two weeks after that, school starts. It’s just for half a day. I remember Mal talking about it. She wanted him to go to PreK.”

   “How is that even a thing?” I grunted. What the hell was he going to do in school? Draw pictures, take a nap, and eat a snack? He could do all of that at home with us.

   Meg and I were sitting at the kitchen table finishing our breakfast while Jonas was sprawled out on the couch watching Mickey Mouse.

   Meg rolled her eyes and withdrew the paper from my face. “It’s a thing because the school says it’s a thing.” She read over the paper and tossed it on the table. “I’m gonna have to call the school today. Enrollment was last week.”

   Last week when Jonas’s parents died and Meg and I became parents. That last week. It felt like it was ages ago, but the pain from it was still very much there.

   “Come on, babe. You really think he needs to go to school? He’s super young.”

   Meg nodded her head. “He is really young, Lo, but it’ll be good for him to go to school. Hangout with kids his age and just start learning, well, everything.”

   “Jonas,” I called.

   “Yeah, Papa Lo?” he called back.

   “You wanna go to school or hangout at the garage with me?”

   Jonas’s head popped over the half dividing wall of the living room. “Can I do both?”

   Meg snickered. “You sure can, because school is only half a day and then you can go to work with Papa Lo the rest of the day.”

   “You talk to him about this already?” I muttered.

   Meg circled her finger above her head. “I would never do something like that, honey, I’m an angel.”

   “Angel my ass,” I growled.

   “Papa Lo, you can’t say that!”

   “Say what?” I grunted.

   “I can’t say it either,” Jonas giggled.

   “Ass,” Meg pronounced loudly. “Is that the word, Jonas?”

   “Yup!” He pointed his finger at me. “Don’t say dat.”

   I poked my finger in my chest. “I can’t say it but Mama Meg can say it?”

   “Yes.” His curled his lip and gave a growl. “Dat’s the law.” He dropped out of sight in a fit of giggles.

   “So how come you get to cuss and I can’t?”

   Meg shrugged and grabbed her empty plate. “Maybe because I’m Mama Meg?”

   “You’re something alright, but it ain’t got nothing to do with what that little boy calls you.”

   Meg flipped me off and she flounced over to the sink and dropped her plate in. “You better be careful, or I’ll set Jonas on you.”

   I shook my head and finished my coffee while Meg did the dishes and started a load of laundry.

   “You just planning on holding down that chair you’re sitting in, or did you actually have something to do today?” Meg se
t the loaded down basket of laundry on the table and blew a wisp of hair from her face. “With fall coming you could work on the yard.”

   That sounded like something I did not want to do at all. “Got some things I need to be doing at the shop.”

   “Right,” Meg drawled. “You seem to forget that I know everything going on in the garage seeing as I’m the one answering the phones and writing down all of the work orders.”

   “Uh, club stuff.”

   “Logan Birch, you are so full of shit that I’m surprised your eyes are brown.”

   “Jonas,” I called. “Meg just said shit.”

   Jonas popped up again. “I didn’t hear her say it, but I heard you say it.”

   “Not even two weeks and you managed to turn the kid against me,” I grumbled under my breath.

   Meg shrugged and dried her hands on the dish towel hanging off the stove. “I guess the kid knows who wears the pants in the house.”

   I moved to the sink and dropped my coffee cup in. “We’ll see who has the pants on later tonight.” My arms wrapped around her waist and I pulled her close. “Now kiss me so I can get to work.”

   “You mean hanging out with the club all day,” she mumbled. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she leaned up on her tiptoes. “I’m making meatloaf for dinner. Try not to me late.”

   She pressed a quick kiss to my lips but I pulled her back in before she could pull out of my arms. “You know I’m gonna need more than that, babe.”

   She huffed but didn’t pull out of my arms. Jonas had dropped back down on the couch and all of his attention was on the TV.

   “I’m gonna need something to hold me over until tonight.”

   “What happens tonight?” Meg whispered.

   I glanced over to make sure Jonas wasn’t watching then delved my fingers into her hair. Her head tipped back and my lips claimed hers.

   “Lo,” she gasped softly when I finally let her up for air.

   “That and a whole lot more is going to happen tonight.”

  *

  Meg

   “I want chocolate milk.”

   I set the white milk in the cart and looked down at Jonas. “We can’t get chocolate milk because I have no self-control and it’ll be gone before dinner.”

   “What’s self-control?” Jonas asked.

   I sighed and glanced at the cooler full of my delicious nemesis. “Self-control is knowing something is bad or wrong, even if it’s delicious and not eating or doing it.”

   “So chocolate milk makes you be naughty.”

   Chocolate milk contributed to making my butt a few sizes bigger, and I wasn’t up to testing the fact if Lo really did love me no matter what. “Yes, that is exactly it. It’s so good that I can’t say no to it.”

   Jonas grabbed a bag of potato chips. “What about these?” He smiled widely and shook the bag.

   “We can get those because they aren’t my favorite. I can say no to those.” At least half of the time.

   “Can we get a small chocolate milk and I’ll hide it from you?”

   This is what my life was coming to. Having a three, almost four-year-old, have to hide chocolate milk from me.

   I stepped over to the cooler and grabbed a half gallon of chocolate milk. “You know what, we’ll get this one and you yell at me if I drink any.” I could make Jonas my drill sergeant when it came to eating naughty food. The kid had no filter and blurted anything out that popped into his head. This could totally work.

   Jonas grabbed the milk from me and placed it at the bottom of the cart. “Okay. You and Papa Lo can’t drink this.”

   I cringed and tipped my head to the side. Lo didn’t really drink milk, but I wasn’t sure how that would go over if Jonas told him what he could and couldn’t eat. Lo wasn’t needing a kid yelling at him to drop the chocolate milk. Even in his forties, the man looked like he was thirty. Half of me loved that about him and the other half wanted to shove a donut in his face and demand he gain a few pounds. “Maybe just me, Jonas. Papa Lo can eat whatever he wants in the fridge.”

   Jonas grabbed the bag of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. “These nuggs are mine.”

   “Nuggs?” I laughed.

   Jonas nodded his head and hugged the chicken nuggets to his chest. “Yes. That’s what dad called them.”

   I ruffled my fingers through his hair. “Well then that is exactly what they are called then.” This was the first time Jonas had really mentioned Turtle.

   It was so hard for me to figure out what Jonas was thinking or feeling. Three was a tough age to decipher. He could talk and string words into sentences, but putting his thoughts into words was hard. Hell, I was in my forties and still had a hell of a time saying what I was feeling.

   On one hand, I wanted him to always think of Turtle and Mal, but then I also didn’t want him to always be sad that they weren’t here anymore.

   The balance between never forgetting about them and moving on with our lives was a tough line to walk.

   We weaved our way through the store picking up things that caught our eyes. Jonas helped to unload everything onto the checkout conveyor then crouched in front of the display with tempting last minute items to buy.

   These things were another thing that tested my self-control.

   “Paper or plastic?” the cashier asked.

   “Mama always brought her own bags to the store,” Jonas called.

   I closed my eyes and tried not to feel like I was about to wreck the environment with my next words. “Plastic, please.”

   “He’s so sweet,” the cashier laughed.

   I nodded my head and opened my wallet. “He really is, but he also has a knack for making me second guess everything.”

   The cashier laughed. “My grandson does the same thing. It’s nice that you take the time with yours.”

   I blinked slowly. My hands become clammy and a heat washed over me. “Come again?” I strained.

   “It’s nice that you get to spend time with your grandson.” She smiled at me and continued to scan all of my items.

   “Mama Meg,” Jonas tugged on my hand. “Can I get this?”

   I waved my hand at him without looking. “Whatever you want, baby,” I mumbled.

   Did I really look old enough to be Jonas’s grandma?

   I was young.

   Well, I at least felt like I was young.

   But I had a twenty-seven-year-old.

   Jonas was three.

   I did the math and cringed. Jonas totally could be my grandson seeing at Remy would have been twenty-three or four if Jonas was his.

   I was totally the age to be a grandma.

   And now I had a three-year-old that was mine.

   This totally called for hitting the gas station on the way home and drinking a six pack of wine coolers once Jonas went to bed.

   I was old and didn’t realize it.

   Facepalm.

  *

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lo

   “Pretty sure I was supposed to have my way with you tonight, babe.” I scooped Meg up in my arms and carried her to our bed.

   “I’m too old for that, Logan.”

   “Why are you calling me Logan?” I grunted. I laid her on the bed and pulled the covers over her. She was three sheets to the wind and there was no way in hell I was going to have my way with her like that.

   “Because we’re old, Logan. We need to go by our full names now.” She patted her hand to her chest. “I am now Megan Claire Birch.” She closed her eyes and tossed her head back on the pillow. “God, I can’t handle this.”

   I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it in the hamper. “That’s not your middle name, and you were fine when I left after dinner to run a couple of errands. I come back to you drunk and babbling about being old. What the hell did I miss?”

   She sighed and slapped her han
d on the bed. “Claire made me sound older, so I changed my middle name. Keep up, Lo. You missed so freaking much.”

   I kicked my pants into the hamper and laid down next to her. “Then clue me in, babe.”

   “I’m. Old. Logan.” She enunciated it word more dramatic than the last and looked to be on the verge of tears.

   “Says who?”

   “Gloria!”

   “Who in the hell is Gloria?” I had been thinking that with Jonas coming to live with us that Meg would cool it on the kooky dramatics, but I was wrong. Once I figured out who the hell Gloria was, I was going to ask her why she thought Meg was old. Maybe Meg might be able to help me figure that out, but from the state she was in right now, I knew all of this was going to be as clear as mud.

   “I don’t really know if that’s her name,” Meg sobbed, “but she’s got grandkids so I’m sure she has an old name like that. Gloria seems fitting.”

   “Meg,” I muttered. “Try to make a bit of sense here for me, babe.” I was trying to follow her rambling, but that was never easy when it came to Meg.

   She took a deep breath and draped her arm over her eyes. “I went to the store with Jonas today. Everything was going good. Jonas is going to protect me from the chocolate milk and we now refer to chicken nuggets as nuggs. That is what Turtle calls them.”

   This is not at all where I thought this story would start. “I have so many questions, but I’m going to wait to ask them until the end.” I lifted her arm and looked her in the eyes. “That’s not the end, right?”

   She scoffed and laid her arm back over her eyes. “Of course not. How crazy do you think I am? It takes more than chocolate milk and nuggs to make me cry.”

   Some days I think that was debatable, but today was not the day to debate that with her. “Keep going, babe.” I still needed to know who in the hell Gloria was.

   “So after we got the chocolate milk and nuggs, we made our way to the cashier.” She huffed and dropped her arms to her sides. “Gloria.”

   “Meg.” If I didn’t keep her focused I knew she was going to go off on another tangent that was just going to leave me with more questions.