“She’s waking up,” he said, looking pale. “What if she cries?”
“Relax, you both are doing fine,” said Raina, patting him on the back. She smiled down at the baby. “Oh man. I forgot how small they are.”
“Small, meaning they’re easy to lose,” said Tank. “With my luck, I’d lose one of these things between the seat cushions of our sofa.”
“Things? This is your niece,” said Raina, laughing. “Not loose change.”
Frannie also laughed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Try not to panic too much, you big scary biker.”
“Just make sure that when you come back, you bring a diaper,” he replied, nodding toward Carissa’s face, which was scrunched up and turning red.
“It’s probably just gas. I’ll bring one though,” said Frannie walking away.
“Oh crap. Literally. Do you guys smell that?” said Tank, chuckling.
“I think she just had some gas,” said Raina. “Otherwise, she’d be screaming her head off to get changed. Is her bottom warm from pooping?”
Tank patted it. “No. I think you’re right. Must just be gas. At least she feels better now I guess. Phew. Nice push, Carissa.”
“Just like you to blame someone else for your swamp ass,” said Raptor, chuckling.
“Mine would smell a lot worse,” Tank said.
“She must feel very comfortable with her Uncle Tank,” said Raina, touching Carissa’s cheek gently. The baby was awake and staring at him curiously.
“Just don’t you get any ideas,” said Tank. “I’m not letting you have one of these until you let me set a wedding date.”
“Did you actually just say that? You’re not letting me have one of those?” said Raina. “Are you forgetting who has to keep reminding you to use protection?”
“Protection from what?” asked Billy, grabbing Raina’s hand.
“From your mother,” said Tank. “She can be really scary.”
Billy nodded his head. “I know. Remember when you took me for ice cream without asking her. She got really mad.”
“Yeah, I remember,” said Tank, giving Raina a sideways glance. “Let’s not bring that up. Okay, Bud? I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”
“We could pitch a tent in the back yard again. That’s was fun,” said the boy.
Tank wiggled his eyebrows at Raina. I’m hoping to pitch a tent in my own bed tonight.”
Raina snorted. “Billy, remember you’re having a sleepover with Sammy?”
Billy’s face lit up. “Oh, yeah.”
Sammy moved over to stand by him. “We can build a fort in my room and pretend we’re camping.”
“Sweet!” said Billy.
The pastor motioned for everyone to move toward the reception area, to celebrate with the bride and groom.”
“So, you two haven’t yet set a date?” asked Adrianna, as everyone moved toward the other side of the house.
“Not yet,” said Raina.
“Yeah, why buy the cow when you can milk it for free,” grumbled Tank.
“Don’t you even go there. I don’t milk you for anything,” said Raina, giving him the stink eye.
“That’s the problem. I’ve got backup and it’s making me blue.”
“Okay, T.M.I.,” said Raptor, grimacing.
“What does he mean?” asked Sammy.
“It just means that Tank is… pouting,” said Raptor, ruffling his son’s blonde hair. “Don’t ever be a Tank.”
Standing next to Cole, I smiled at their exchange. I had to admit, they were an interesting group of people. Fortunately, they’d opened their arms and hearts to me and I could now understand what Cole saw in them.
He put his arm over my shoulders. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Are you doing okay?”
“I’m doing great,” I replied, smiling at him.
He leaned over and kissed me. “Thanks for coming. This really means a lot to me.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“I love you,” he said,
“I love you, too.”
We’d admitted our love for each other several months ago. I didn’t know exactly where the relationship would lead, but I knew one thing was for certain – we were very happy.
“If you want, we can skip out early and go for a bike ride later,” Cole whispered in my ear.
I’d taken his advice and had learned how to ride a motorcycle. I was now fully licensed and had been riding for about six months. Besides sex, it was one of our favorite past-times.
“Won’t they be angry?” I whispered back.
“No. I don’t think so. We just have to stick around for a while and pay our respects,” he said.
“We should at least stay for dinner,” I replied. “Don’t you think?”
“Yeah. We should,” he answered, kissing my temple.
***
We stayed for dinner and were about to leave, when some of the bride and groom’s friends began to make toasts. Afterword, Jessica stood up and called all of the women over to the side.
“I almost forgot to throw my flowers!” she proclaimed, turning around.
I stood in the back of the group, not really wanting to catch the bouquet, mainly because I wasn’t quite ready for marriage. I knew that if it happened, Cole would be the one standing next to me. But, we were both young and had plenty of time.
“Okay, here goes!” Jessica flung the flowers over her head and I stared up at the sky as they headed directly toward me.
Crap.
Fortunately, another young women reached up and grabbed the bouquet before they hit me in the head.
“Got it!” called Cheeks, grinning. She turned to her boyfriend, Levi, who I heard worked at Griffin’s. She held up the flowers.
“Looks like you’d better start shopping for rings,” hollered Tank, smiling at Levi.
Levi chuckled. “Looks like I’ll be asking my boss for a raise soon.”
Tank raised his glass. “I’m sure he’ll help you out.”
I watched as Cheeks rushed over to Levi and sat on his lap. They were a cute couple and I could tell that marriage would definitely be in their future.
“Why didn’t you grab the flowers?” asked Cole, when I walked back over to our table.
“I don’t know. I guess that I could have but, face it, Cheeks is dying to get married.”
“And you’re not?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, smiling at him. “I mean, when it happens it happens. I don’t think we have to rush into anything.”
“We rushed into sex and that turned out well,” he teased.
Cole had a point.
***
Two hours later, we were on our motorcycles and enjoying the open road. Grinning from ear to ear, I followed Cole out of town, until we reached an overlook that gave us a great view of Jensen. We pulled over and took off our helmets.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I asked, staring at the lights below. “I love Jensen. I can’t imagine living in a big city, with all of the hustle and bustle.”
“I love it too. And even more, I love you,” he replied, grabbing my hand.
I leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, too. Ace,” I said.
He grinned. “It’s Ice. Not Ace.”
I stared at him. “I know. You just don’t come across as an ‘Ice’ to me.”
“That’s because you’ve made me nothing but happy. Piss me off, though, and once glance will turn you to Ice.”
“Piss me off and I’ll turn you over and frisk you.”
“I’d better start pissing you off more,” he teased.
I chuckled.
He reached into his pocket. “I know you like to be in charge, detective,” he said, pulling out a ring box. “But, something tells me that I’m going to have to be the one who steps up to the plate.”
My jaw dropped as I realized what he was doing.
Cole opened the box and pulled out a beautiful diamond ring.
“Are you sure abo
ut this?” I asked him, my throat closing up as he slid the ring on my finger.
He looked at me. “I’ve never been so sure in my life. So, what do you say? Will you marry me?”
My eyes filled with tears. “This means forever, you know.”
“Does that frighten you?” he asked, his lip curling up.
“Everything frightens me a little,” I replied. “I mean, come on. I’m a cop. I’m also a realist.”
“Then you must recognize real love,” he said, putting my hand on his chest. I could feel his heartbeat. “And how much I have for you.”
“I love you, too,” I told him.
“Then, you’ll marry me?”
I nodded.
Smiling, he kissed me deeply.
“Wait a second,” I said, pulling away slightly. “Does that mean you’ll have the right to call me your Old Lady and I won’t have any say? Because you know how I feel about that. It just ain’t going to happen.”
He laughed.
Cole had tried calling me that before and I’d told him where to go. I was two years older than him and didn’t need to be reminded of it.
“I’ll call you whatever you want,” Cole said. “As long as you’ll marry me.”
“You’ve got a deal,” I said, kissing him on the lips again.
Forty-five
Raina
When the wedding was over, Adrianna and Raptor took Billy home with them, so that Tank and I could spend some quality time together. This basically meant loud, dirty sex in almost every part of the house. When we were both spent, we lay together in bed, like most nights, talking.
“It was nice to see your Uncle Sal today,” said Tank, rolling to his side. “He’s looking well.”
Uncle Sal had ended up getting his liver transplant and had gotten out of the hospital the month before. “Yeah, he’s doing pretty well. Hopefully he’ll stay sober and not ruin his new liver.”
“He has friends and family that can support him,” said Tank. “Plus, now that I’ve sold Griffin’s, we can run Sal’s together.”
Tank had sold the strip joint, to Hoss, a couple of months ago. I’d been surprised when he told me what he’d planned on doing. I’d also been relieved. I hated knowing that he had to spend so much time there. Some of the girls were skanky and I’d even seen them hit on him. He’d ignored their advances, but it still had pissed me off.
“Yes. Thank you for that.”
He kissed my forehead. “Of course. You know, I’m always going to be here for you, right?”
I nodded and then cleared my throat. “So, I was thinking… maybe we should set a date.”
Tank’s jaw almost dropped out of his face. “For our wedding?”
“Yes. I was thinking that we should do it in Hawaii. Like Slammer and Frannie did. As a tribute, you know?”
Tank’s eyes glittered in the darkness. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Frannie will appreciate it.”
“Okay. Then it’s settled. Now, we just need to set a date.”
“Yeah. Let’s set a date,” he said, sitting up in bed. “When were you thinking?”
“Well…” I gave him a little smile. “We have less than nine months.”
“Nine months? Okay, that works for me. Wait a second.” His eyes widened. “Why nine months?”
I put my hand on my stomach. “I don’t know if it’s the water in this damn town, or what, but if we wait any longer, we’ll have an extra person at our party and if he eats as much as his poppa, we’re in trouble.”
Tank looked like he was about to faint.
I gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. If you can handle a group of scary bikers, you can handle a little baby.”
“They don’t cry or wear diapers. Scratch that. Hoss probably does both.”
I laughed.
He grabbed my hand and slid his fingers through mine. “So, you’re certain?”
“I took a test.”
“Twins?”
I chuckled. “You really don’t have any experience with pregnant women, do you? It’s way too early to tell. Besides, twins usually run in the family. Neither of our families have them.”
“Twins don’t run in either Raptor or Adrianna’s family. If he can produce twins, my little guys can create triplets,” he proclaimed, puffing out his chest.
“Let’s just worry about one baby right now. Besides, I’m the one who has to carry your kids and something tells me that one will be the size of a watermelon.”
“I was pretty big,” admitted Tank. “My old man told me that I weighed almost eleven pounds when I was born.”
I cringed. “You’re kidding me.”
“No. So, when will we know if it’s a boy or girl?” he asked, touching my stomach.
“In about four months. I’ll have an ultrasound and they’ll tell us.”
“Okay.”
“I was thinking that we should name the baby after your father,” I told him.
He smiled.
“What was his real name?” I asked.
“Edgar.”
“Edgar?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. What about his middle name?” I asked.
“Lee.”
“Oh thank God,” I replied.
“What’s wrong, you don’t like Edgar?” asked Tank, smirking.
“It’s fine,” I lied. “I mean, we can call him Edgar, if it’s a boy but if it’s a girl, we should call her Lee.”
He grabbed the front of his jeans and gave me a cocky grin. “It will be a boy. My sperm only produces boys.”
Three months later
Forty-six
Tank
“It’s a girl,” said the doctor, scanning Raina’s stomach. It was her four month checkup and he was finally doing the ultrasound.
“It is?” I said, my eyes filling with tears.
“Yes,” he replied and then explained how he could tell. “I mean, there’s a chance I’m wrong, but in this case, I think it’s safe to say that I’m probably right.”
“A girl. That’s great. She’s going to be beautiful,” I said huskily. I imagined myself, sixteen years later, meeting my daughter’s boyfriends with a gun in my hand and a bat in the other.
“Are you crying again?” asked Raina, dryly.
“No. I just got something in my eye,” I replied, brushing away the tears.
Raina chuckled. “Doc, you might want to check Tank’s stomach to make sure he’s not pregnant, too. He’s been so emotional lately.”
“It’s my hormones,” I joked, pretending to sob. “They’re so out of whack!”
“It’s pretty common to have partners go through similar emotions as the mother,” said the doctor, printing up the pictures from the ultrasound. “Many of them even gain weight, too.”
I patted my stomach, which Raina said was turning into a daddy pooch. “It’s her fault. I’m always running to the grocery store because of her cravings.”
“Bullshit,” laughed Raina. “I haven’t had hardly any cravings. In fact, I just finally stopped getting morning sickness.”
“You two. I tell you,” said the doctor, smiling in amusement. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, doc,” I said, as he left the room.
“So, it’s a girl,” said Raina, studying my face.
I grinned. “Yep.”
“And not twins.”
“Nope.”
“You’re not upset?”
My eyes widened. “Upset? Why would I be upset about that?”
“Because you wanted a boy.”
“Babe, we have a boy. Billy. I’m delighted that we’re having a girl. I mean, you saw me. I almost lost it here in front of the doctor,” I admitted. “Hell, I’m the happiest man in the world right now. I have everything I want and am getting a daughter now? What more could I ask for?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry that your dad wasn’t around to see his granddaughter.”
“Not this again,” I said, rubbing m
y forehead.
Raina was still distraught about Slammer. “Listen to me, he’s here. He’s here right now, probably handing out cigars to all the other ghosts with a proud grin on his face.”
She smiled sadly. “You think so?”
I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I know so. Now, let’s enjoy this moment and not talk about the past. It is what it is and you have to get over it. You feel me?”
“I feel you.”
“Good,” I said, staring into her eyes. “Because we are in the ‘here and now’. Honestly, if things didn’t happen the way they did, we wouldn’t be sitting here and I wouldn’t be the happiest father in the world, waiting to meet my daughter.”
She frowned. “But, he’d be here -”
“Stop,” I demanded, putting a finger to her lips. “You don’t know that. None of us can predict the future. I know one thing that’s for certain, though… us. You, me, our children. The club. All of my brothers and their wives. We’re one big family and nothing can change that. Not even death.”
She sighed.
“Raina, we don’t know what tomorrow brings. Nobody does. So, let’s live for today. Not yesterday. Hell, not even tomorrow. Let’s live right now and enjoy what is and not what could have been. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes,” she answered, staring at me with so much love that I felt it in my own chest.
“Good. I love you, babe.”
“I love you, too,” she replied.
Forty – six
Adrianna
“Did you hear? Tank and Raina are having a girl,” I said to Trevor, who was helping me feed the twins, Tara and Maya. They’d just turned a month old and already a handful.
“I heard,” he replied, burping Maya.
“I think it’s wonderful. Our girls will grow up together.”
“Yeah. Around Tail’s son,” said Trevor, dryly. “Don’t forget that.”
I laughed. Tail and his girlfriend, Lauren, also had a young child. One who’d just started crawling. His name was Drake and he looked like his father more and more every day.
Loving The Biker (MC Biker Romance) Page 19