“What?” he exclaims. “Are you serious? You have evidence to take the Davenports down?”
“Yea,” I say. “I also have evidence they’ve been covering up cocaine possession and trafficking charges for their son, too.”
“Damn,” says Ratchet.
“I was going to come to you with this and ask if I could prospect for the club. It’s the only logical step, for me, in my life with Harley. As far as I’m concerned, you guys are more respectable and trustworthy than the damn police force, and I would rather call you guys my brothers than those dirty motherfuckers,” I admit.
“Have you told Harley your plan yet?” he asks.
“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first and surprise her,” I say. I hate keeping secrets from her, but I don’t think she’d be too upset with this type of secret.
“That sounds good to me,” he says. “Now, about that evidence…”
I give him the file and tell him that there are copies in other areas just in case something happens to this file. While waiting for him, I made sure to email the jump drive mom gave me to relevant people, as well as uploaded them on Ace’s computer just in case. As Joe said, my dad would kill for this information so I need to make sure there are multiple copies in multiple locations.
I head home and let the guys do what they need to do because I’m still technically an officer of the law and what they’re planning to do won’t be totally legal so I head back to my apartment and wait for Harley to get back. I hear her bike pull in and she walks into the apartment. We sit on the couch, cuddle, and watch movies until Ace calls us and tells us that Mickie is alright. We’re both relieved and tell them that we’ll come by the cabin tomorrow to check on them. We get settled in our movie until Harley gets a phone call. I look over her shoulder and see it’s Marjorie, the woman that runs the shelter that Harley works for.
“Hey Marjorie,” she says. “What’s up?
Whatever Marjorie says makes her put the phone on speaker.
“Marjorie,” she says. “We’re on speakerphone. Steve and I are reconciling and he’s here with me now.”
“Oh dear,” Marjorie says, which has me worried. “Normally, I would say I’m happy for both of you, but maybe not after you hear this news.”
“What news?” I ask.
“Crystal overdosed,” she tells us. She gasps and my jaw drops. Even though Crystal made both our lives a living hell, we wouldn’t wish death on her.
“What about her daughter?” she asks, which worries me. I didn’t even think about her child...what going to happen to her?
“That’s the thing,” Marjorie says. “Crystal has your ex-husband’s name listed on the birth certificate and social services is looking for him. I told them I’d make some calls. They need to determine legitimacy so they can see if Steve is a viable placement option.”
“They want to place her with me,” I say in a panicked voice.
“Yea,” Marjorie says. “To be honest, if y’all are back together than that child could use the consistency. Crystal wasn’t the most consistent mother and that child has very low expectations when it comes to adults...she has a lot of trust issues, and you two may be what she needs. Even if she isn’t Steve’s, Harley is a certified foster mother and you guys could at least take her in until they find a placement if you want to.”
I look at Harley and she nods. I’m really lucky to have this woman in my life. We tell Marjorie to give social services my number and then Harley and I start making preparations for a child to come live with us. We call Ms. Janie and explain the situation and she tells us to go to Atlanta while she takes care of things. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m glad to have the family support.
We call mom and Ghost on the way up and give them an update on the situation, and Ghost lets us stay in one of the empty apartments in the club-owned apartment building. I get a call from social services and we arrange to meet with Opal, Crystal’s daughter, at the social services building. If all goes well, we can get her acclimated in Atlanta for a couple of weeks, and then DFCS will transfer the case to Winslow so we can foster her.
We stop at the complex and drop our stuff off before heading to the DFCS building. I’m nervous, but I think Harley is more nervous than I am. She’s actually had a few interactions with Opal, and I could tell by the way she talks about her that they had a special bond. Honestly, Crystal probably saw their bond and wanted to bring Harley down a peg. As soon as we walk through the door, Opal jumps out of her chair and runs to Harley, and the social worker smiles.
“Harley!” she screams. Harley holds her close and whispers to her. She looks at Harley with a somber face before speaking. “Mommy never woke up.”
I look at Harley and she has tears in her eyes. At that moment, I know that she’s not going to be able to let this child go and she’s going to want her whether or not I’m her father. I have absolutely no problem with it to be honest. Harley had a few miscarriages when we were married so she doesn’t think she can get pregnant. I’m not going to deny her an opportunity at motherhood.
Chapter 37 - Harley 24, years old
It’s been a couple of months since we found out about Opal. Since then, we’ve become a family. Social services looked for more family members, but Crystal’s parents have passed on and she was an only child. There’s no one else to take Opal in. They did a DNA test between her and Steve, but Steve actually asked the social worker not to tell him the results. As far as he was concerned, he told her, that was his child and no piece of paper could tell him otherwise. He also told her that we wanted to move forward in adopting her. I’ve never been happier.
Everything has settled down since the guys rescued Mickie and the Davenport family all got arrested by the feds. Apparently, their illegal activity went far deeper than any of us anticipated. On top of that, Steve’s dad got arrested by the feds too for aiding the Davenports. I’m not going to lie, I’m glad he won’t be able to interfere in our lives. With the sheriff in custody, we’re less discreet about our relationship and our family and it’s a relief. There’s a vacancy in the sheriff’s department and everybody in Winslow has been hinting to me that they want him to run for office, but I think he should come to that conclusion on his own. I have an appointment with Aunt Sue because I’ve been feeling tired lately, so Steve is taking Opal for the day. I head to her office and check-in. When I get into the office, she looks at me with a twinkle in her eye.
“I was wondering when you were going to come to see me,” she says.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “I’ve just been feeling super tired lately and wanted a check-up.”
She looks at me funny and wrinkles her nose. “I’ll do a full workup on you plus a pregnancy test.”
“Pregnancy test?” I exclaim. She sighs and looks at me with sympathy.
“Your momma and I talked about it, and I’m surprised you didn’t realize it sooner. We thought you were just waiting until the first trimester was over before saying something...we didn’t realize that you hadn’t figured it out yet. Then again, you’ve had a lot of changes recently in your personal life. You probably thought you didn’t have your period because of all the stress,” she says.
That’s actually exactly what I thought. She has me pee in a cup and takes some blood, and while she’s gone I’m freaking out. I didn’t even think I could get pregnant if I’m being honest with myself. Steve and I tried for a long time and I’ve had a few miscarriages. It’s the reason why I was so excited that Steve told the social worker we wanted to move forward with Opal’s adoption. She comes back in and confirms the pregnancy and I burst into tears. She immediately hugs me.
“I didn’t think I could get pregnant,” I tell her while she rubs my back.
“I know baby,” she says. “I figured and your mother confirmed it when we both thought you might be pregnant.”
“I’m so happy,” I tell her.
“Well, let’s do a sonogram. I’m thinking you’re at least three months a
long, but you’re tiny so it may be more and then you can tell your man he’s about to be a dad again and tell Opal she’s about to be a big sister,” she says with a soothing tone.
That actually makes me feel better. She sets up the sonogram and I look on the screen and see my baby. I start crying again and she just holds my hand.
“From the looks of it, you’re four months along. Past the first trimester mark if you’re concerned about possible miscarriages. That also may be the reason why you didn’t notice before, honey. You probably didn’t want to get your hopes up about being pregnant,” she says softly.
I know she’s right. She has other patients so I let her leave while I get myself together. She takes enough pictures for all our family members since I’m supposed to meet them at the clubhouse later. I text Steve and tell him I’m on my way. I also tell him I have to news for him and the rest of our family. I head to the clubhouse and Opal runs up to me.
“Mommy!” she yells. Fuck, my hormones are already through the roof so I bury my face in her neck to keep myself from crying. When I get myself together I look up and see that the entire club is there, including the mother chapter from Atlanta. Steve’s mom, Jamie, is even here. Very rarely do they meet all together like this because it’s a bit of a safety risk to have all these powerful men together.
“What’s going on?” I ask. Steve just smile and Ace starts talking.
“I know it usually takes at least a year for a prospect to be patched in, but sometimes we make exceptions to the rules,” he starts. I look at Steve and he winks at me. “Steve is that exception that I’m referring to. Most of you know that Steve and Harley have been on and off for a while now, and they’ve finally gotten it together and started a family with a special little girl. Steve asked me to prospect a few months back and I agreed, but we promised to keep it from my sister so we could surprise her with the fact that Steve has become an official member of the family.”
I’m crying more and Opal attempts to wipe my tears away, which makes me laugh. He really asked to join the club?
“I’m proud to say that Steve has busted his ass for this club and given me information to keep my family safe, so I decided to make an exception,” he continues.
Ratchet hands him a vest that he hands to me. It’s a brand new kutte, I flip it around and read the back, which causes me to laugh. It says Boy Scout. He then hands a smaller kutte to me and it reads ‘Property of Boy Scout’. I put the kutte on him, and then he puts my kutte on me and everybody begins cheering.
“Surprise, baby,” he shouts. He hugs me and Opal tight. I tell everyone to shush because I have more news to tell them. What other time would be perfect?
“You have something to announce, baby sis?” Ace says with a twinkle in his eye. Damn, I am oblivious as fuck if Ace noticed I was pregnant.
“I’m pregnant!” I yell. Everybody is quiet until Opal starts cheering.
“I’m going to be a big sister?” she asks.
“Yes!” I tell her while giving her a giant hug. “You’re going to be a big sister.”
Everybody in the clubhouse starts roaring and congratulating me while Steve just hugs me while refusing to let go. They throw a party for Steve and all the guys get drunk while I sip on a soda and watch my family.
We’ve had a lot of ups and downs and a shit ton of drama, but it all worked out in the end. Momma was right all those years ago...if people are meant to be together then they’ll find one another no matter what. I was meant to be with all these people. I couldn’t have wished for a better life. I have my family and the club, and things are looking all the way up. I couldn’t have wished for more in life.
Epilogue - Steve, 50 years old
Twenty-five years...it’s been twenty-five years since I became a full member of the club and Harley announced we were pregnant with our second child. We’ve had three more kids since then and life couldn’t be any better.
Believe it or not, I was appointed interim sheriff after my dad was arrested, and I haven’t lost an election since then. Due to the constant strife between the club and the sheriff’s office, some people weren’t sure how to deal with a sheriff that was a member of the Burnt Kings MC but they came around eventually. I haven’t lost an election yet, but I’m considering retirement and letting one of my sons take over.
My kids are old enough to give me grandchildren and I’m still married to the love of my life...it’s time to retire on top. Ace has already retired and handed the club over to my oldest son since his son isn’t interested in club life, and my sons are great deputies... what else could a father ask for? I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life cleaning up this office, and I think it’s time to just hang out with my wife.
I finish my workday and head home to the cabin that I built with Harley. It’s next door to Ace and Mickie’s cabin, and I couldn’t be more proud of how our lives have evolved. It seems like just yesterday, Harley and I had just gotten over our issues and she announced being pregnant with our second child. Now, we have five children and they’re all doing their own thing. I eventually learned how to ride a bike and Harley and I taught all our kids how to ride. We go on family bike rides once every few months.
When I get to the house, everybody is there. Harley & our kids, Ace & Mickie, their kids, Joe & Hammer (Ms. Janie has passed on), Loki & Livy, Brandon & Ratchet, and every other person who has been there for our family.
“What’s going on here?” I ask. Opal and her husband stand in the middle of the living room holding hands and I’m a little nervous. Is one of them sick?
“Well,” she starts. “We called all of you together to let you know that we’re pregnant. We found out this morning and wanted all of you to know.”
Everyone in the room starts cheering and I grab my oldest child for a hug...I still have the sealed DNA results from the social worker, but I only keep them in case Opal ever asks. It never mattered that she may not be my biological child. She was ours as soon as Harley and I set eyes on her and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m so glad our baby girl is about to be a mother.
I look around at my family and realize how lucky I am. There was a time where I wouldn’t have believed that my life would be like this, but here I am still married to the love of my life with awesome children. Now, I’m about to be a grandfather. I look at Harley and she’s never looked more gorgeous. We make eye contact and I can tell she instantly understands what I’m thinking. We made it...we made it through the ups and the downs of our relationship and got to a point where we were solid, but we could’ve never done it without work and forgiveness.
Epilogue - Harley, 49, years old
My oldest child is about to be a mother and I couldn’t be more excited. It also makes me a little sad because momma should be here for this moment...she would’ve loved to be a great-grandma. I look at Steve and realize he’s my everything. It’s taken a couple of decades to realize that I really needed to learn forgiveness. I needed to learn how to forgive myself. I blamed myself for robbing Steve of the years that we were together and it took me a long time to forgive myself.
Forgiveness is a funny thing. It takes a while for people to realize that forgiveness is for yourself and not for other people. It took me a long time to realize that I needed to forgive myself in order to move on because Steve had forgiven me the moment I came back into his life. It’s the one lesson that I try to instill in my children every single day...at least, the ones that are still here.
Ace has already handed the club to our oldest son, and the twins have been in Atlanta learning to take over for Bear for about six months now. Opal and our youngest still live in Winslow, but my baby girl is a free spirit and I know our youngest is on the verge of leaving the nest.
I look at my husband every day and think of the man he’s become. He’s faithfully served this town as sheriff for decades and ushered our town into a new era. He’s led the sheriff’s office with dignity and integrity and I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s
a wonderful father, mentor, and brother to the club...he’s more than earned the name ‘Boy Scout’ and I couldn’t imagine being married to anyone else. We made it....but it took time, patience, and a lot of forgiveness.
THE END
Afterword
I can honestly say that I expected to do Ms. Janie, Hammer and Joe's story before I'd do Harley and Steve's sotry, but for some reason the characters spoke to me on a deep level. Even from this story, I plan to do at least 2-3 more books. This entire community of people have spoken to me and when I write one book, all I think about are the stories of the other characters. Let me know on my social media or website about which character's stories you want to here next. I'm totally open to suggestions!
About The Author
Elise St. George
Elise S.t George started writing fantasy romance until life took her in a different direction. She started writing MC novels as a type of therapy, and the Burnt Kings MC was born. She lives in Georgia with her two kids, is a romance novel junkie, and hopes to make writing her full time career one day.
Books In This Series
Burnt Kings MC
This a series full of tough bikers and the women they fall in love with. It's full of twists and turns and strong women who don't back down to their Alpha males.
Salvation: An MC Romance
As I sit in this jail cell, I realize I’m a complete mess and I need to get my life together. None of my bunkmates would understand all the pain I’ve been through, and they probably wouldn’t believe that I’m in law school right now. It doesn’t matter though. My mother took my child from me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from that. I’m pregnant again, and she’ll probably petition the court to take my new child.
Forgiveness Page 18