“The wedding was awesome.” Eliza pushes my arm with hers.
“Yeah.” I smile and down the margarita.
We talk about the kids and Stella throwing the petals then her dancing with Jax while I danced with Brandon. It was sweet. All the good parts of the day were really good. Jax dancing with me was my favorite part. He sang all the words to Foreigner’s, I Don’t Want to Live Without You while holding me close. It was beautiful.
Lily orders food from the restaurant and we drink another margarita. When the men show we're all smiling. They're surprised.
“I can't say I expected you to be smiling, but I'm glad you are,” Prez says, looking at each one of us.
I smile up at him. “There's only ever two choices with shit like this. Sit around and bitch about what went wrong or laugh about what went right. We picked the old lady way, knowing it was right. The margaritas might have helped.” They laugh and the doorbell rings.
Lily jumps up. “Our dinner!”
Jessie opens the door and hands bags in. “What the fuck did you get?”
“Twelve dinners and six kids' plates,” Lily says smiling. “I didn't know who would be here. I'm starving, the food had bullets in it when I went out to scrounge something up.”
I crack up. Prez pulls her to the kitchen with him. Jax kisses me. Jessie pulls Jess up and Darren is all over Eliza. “Break it up you two, I need to follow that food.” Dakota laughs and Darren steps back. I push him so he'll move faster. “I'm fuckin’ hungry Darren.” He laughs moving Eliza in front of him and walks leisurely to the kitchen. Ass.
Dakota stops me from moving. “I know you are hungry, but I need to tell you Pres did not act on the vision because he did not understand it. He was not purposely keeping it from us. It was not until everyone sat down that he realized what the vision meant. He is upset with himself for not giving it to Little Ben. He would have understood. It all worked out and no one was hurt. I could not change what happened today. I would have avoided this happening on your wedding day if I could.”
I reach up and kiss his cheek. “Thank you Dakota. Everyone is good so I'm good.”
He smiles. “I am happy for you on your special day. Please go eat now. Good friends and close Brothers are the best way to spend the remainder of your day. I will make you another margarita too.”
Jax laughs. “Don't get her too drunk Brother.”
I walk away while they talk about how drunk is too drunk. The kids are around the table. I sit beside Taylor looking at what's left. Lily got me a turkey plate. “Love ya Lily.”
She smiles. “You and Eliza are easy. You always get the same thing.” I smile at Eliza. We like being easy.
It turns out to be a great night. We sit around the table talking and laughing while the kids play on the floor around us. When I yawn Jax stands up. “Thanks for the dinner Lily. I need to get Sheila home it's been a long day for her.”
Everyone stands and we do the bye ritual. Darren and Eliza take Stella and Brandon for the night. We kiss the kids and Jax carries me home. “Turned out nice.”
I smile holding onto him. “Yeah.” I make a mental note to call Nancy and Tiny tomorrow and tell them how it ended.
He walks right through the front door kicking it closed then sits on the couch. His arms tighten around me.
***
Jax
“Welcome home Mrs. Jackson.” I kiss her head. Dexter comes running, but doesn't see the kids so he mopes to his bed and lays down with a sigh.
She looks up at me. “Fuckin’ sightseeing again?”
I smile. “Just taking it all in.” I loosen my hold. “I was scared today. I never want to feel that again.” I don't say ever, but I mean it. Holy fuck, what a day.
I see the tears in her eyes before she puts her head back on my chest. “Me too.”
I give her a minute. Knowing she was scared has me pissed. She deserved a better day than what she got. I'm fuckin’ glad Prez didn't ask the MC for anything to get everyone home. While we were waiting for the other choppers Prez paced. When he stopped, Dakota told him the same thing he told Sheila. Prez was still pissed saying Pres should have told him because he doesn't understand visions. He should have given it to anyone that did. No one disagreed.
When we walked in to the smiling old ladies we all relaxed. Fuckin’ women are strong. They dealt and came up on the sunny side. I kiss her head again. My wife.
I give her a squeeze. “You good?”
She pushes against my chest and looks in my eyes. “Yeah.”
I stand up and carry her into the bedroom. “You looked beautiful in your dress today.”
She giggles and I stop. I don't think I've ever heard her giggle. She looks up at me with that shy smile. “You got it off me pretty quick.”
I smile. “You were the one that put on the little bathing suit. I would have helped you put the dress back on. I liked the dress.” I smile down at her. “Liked the bathing suit too.”
“You liked what was under the dress.”
I let her feet down and kiss her. “Fuckin’ loved what was under it.”
I kiss her again and everything moves fast. Clothes are thrown, I lift her up and she wraps her legs around me. Shit. Turning her to the wall I slide in. Everything hits me, how scared I was. How beautiful she looked. How sweet her kiss was. The way she looked at me when we danced. Her husky voice laughing at dinner. My head is spinning and I don't stop moving until she gives me my name in that throaty voice. We come together and it almost has my knees buckling. I love the way she strokes me runs through my head as I'm trying to breathe and keep standing. “Holy fuck I love you Mrs. Jackson.” I turn putting my shoulder to the wall before I fall.
She grunts then looks up at me. “Me too.”
I smile getting her on the bed. “Next one's slower baby girl.”
“You're trying to kill me. I made it through the day just to die by love making.”
Since she's still trying to catch her breath I guess she felt it too. “I think that was the tension of the day.” I kiss her cheek and get a towel to clean her up.
“Never heard of tension sex. I like it.”
I laugh. Fuckin’ Sheila. I take her nipple in my mouth and release it. “Let's try wedding night sex.”
“I'm going to like that one too.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sheila
“Why is Tiny pissed?” I ask Nancy. Shit everyone is pissed up there.
She pauses. “He didn't know what happened until last night. His daughter and grandkids were in the middle of all that and he didn't get a say.”
“Oh.” I guess he would be pissed. “Can you talk to him? It ended really well. We had a nice dinner with everyone here. Darren and Eliza took the kids and Jax carried a smiling me home. We all made it through and we're all happy.”
“That's good. I'm happy you got good yesterday. You were a beautiful bride. We're so proud of you Sheila.” I can hear her smile.
I blink like crazy. “Thank you Ma.”
“I need to get the kids moving. We love you Sheila.”
“Love you too.”
Jax tightens his arm around me. “That was nice.”
I turn and kiss his chest. “We have Church. I wonder what we do with the kids.” They used to go to the daycare for the morning.
“Lily and Jess have them. Done is moved to them permanently so they have help and Prez doubled Security here.”
He kisses my head and sits up. “Let's get showered and go see the kids before Church.”
I jump out of the bed and he laughs. “What? You miss them too.” He nods and pulls me into the shower.
When we’re dressed, we walk over to Darren and Eliza's with Dexter. The kids come running. Dexter gets some love then sits watching. Stella is signing about sleeping at Te Liza's. She is so damn cute, I’m glad she had fun. I look at Eliza. “Thank you for keeping them.”
Eliza laughs. “I'm not sure I want to give them back. They're really good and Stella is
so damn sweet, she loves everything.”
I kiss my girl and put her down. She sits with Dexter petting him while she watches us.
“She's a smart kid, I was playing a game with her on the iPad and she beat me,” Darren says. We laugh.
“Are they going to Jess's or Lily's?” I ask, noticing the time.
Darren shakes his head no. “The Activity Center. All the kids will be there with Lily, Jess and Done. Lily is starting Little Brothers today. They decided to do it while we're at Church so they don't have another activity taking away from family time.”
Jax nods. “That's a good idea. With everyone working, our time together is limited.”
I smile at him; he does the same thing with training. He takes them in the morning so it's not cutting into our afternoon and night time together.
We get the kids and Dexter to the Activity Center and Lily shoos us away before I even open my mouth. Jax pulls me out and we walk back to the house.
On the ride I think about yesterday and hope it wasn't broadcast all over. I killed Strapper on my wedding day and I know there will be blowback from that. He had friends in Princes and the MC. Jax parks and holds his hand out for me. I take it.
He's watching me as I take the helmet off. “What's wrong?”
“I'm good.”
He smiles. “You are, but what's wrong.”
“I killed Strapper yesterday. He had friends here and in the MC. I was thinking about the blowback from that.”
He steps closer. “You won't get shit over him. He drugged and kidnapped you minutes before your wedding.”
I nod. He holds my face and kisses me. I'm breathing heavy when he steps back. “Fuck.”
He smiles. “Come on, Worry.”
“You throw wart in there and I'm looking for another pen. Worry doesn't do it for me.”
He laughs taking my hand. When we walk in everyone cheers. What the hell? “Why is everyone here so early?”
“Show of support,” Jax says smiling down at me.
“Fuckin’ nice.”
We get congratulated by everyone. Shit there's a lot of people here. Walking into the meeting room is the same. They have coffee and donuts on the table. “Fuckin’ nicer. Thanks everyone.” Jax laughs and walks me to my seat.
Prez doesn't have much for old. He tells us about the school going up this week and some changes to the schedules. I shake my head. He moves fast. When he tells about the attack on the MC everyone sits up and pays attention. There are no questions. We get the reports and call the Brothers in.
He gives them the information for Little Brothers that we already had and goes through the same shit we got, but waters it down. At the end someone asks about Strapper. My eyes snap to Jax and I hold my breath. Fuck.
“He snuck onto the MC Compound, drugged, and kidnapped Sheila just before she was supposed to be married. Using a boat, he got away fast – dropping her tracking into the ocean. Princes found her on the big slab a few towns away from here. She was chained and cuffed to his seat. The only thing available to her was a pen. That's how he died.” Everyone is quiet. I look at Prez, he's watching me. “He's lucky Jax didn't find him alive. If it were your old lady you wouldn't have left him breathing either. With Sheila being the old lady, he didn't stand a chance.”
I look around and everyone is nodding and mumbling they wouldn't. I breathe easier. I'm glad Prez answered. He throws me chin and a smile. I give it back.
At the bar everyone is happy and slapping our backs. Nick hugs me saying he's sorry he missed it. Jessie laughs and says no he isn't. I glare at him. “The wedding was fuckin’ good.”
He holds his hands up. “You're right. We all walked her down the aisle. That's a first, but she's ours so it felt right. The dancing was good too. The party sucked.”
Eliza hits his arm. “You should just stick to the good parts.”
Darren laughs and I give him a look. I look up at Jax. “Let's ride. We have some time before we pick up the kids. If we stay here I'm going to need a twelve pack of fuckin’ pens.”
Prez, Brantley and Dakota laugh. Whatever. I roll my eyes and walk toward the door. Jax grabs my hand. “Slow down Speedy.”
“Speedy isn’t fast enough.”
He just smiles at me. People follow us out – I guess they're riding too.
I usually ride on the side of Taylor and he calls Jax up to him. “She's on your bike but still takes her spot.” Jax throws him chin making me smile.
We ride the coast heading south. Prez stops at a Dunkin’ and answers his phone while some Brothers grab drinks. Jax gets me a coffee. I watch Prez and his head falls forward. When he lifts it, he's looking right at me. Oh shit. That's not a happy look.
I'm trying to think of what I could have done. I haven't shot anyone for being fuckin’ stupid. Training’s been good. I haven't hit any Brothers at the Club lately. I think I'm good. Jax hands me my coffee. “What's up, Buttercup?”
I laugh. “Buttercup's a shit name for anyone over five.”
Taylor and Brantley laugh. I give them a look and they stop. “Prez gave me a weird look. I'm good though.”
They all look at Prez, but he turned around so all we see is his back. “How come you're not in your old lady cut?” Brantley asks.
“Because we had Church. I'm not walking into the Officers meeting with an old lady cut on. Why do you care?”
“Just thought you'd wear it on the back of his bike. You know like an old lady.”
I look at Jax. “Do you care?”
“Not going into Church no. Any other time you wear it and I've never had to ask.”
I look at Brantley. “Mind your own fuckin’ business.”
Taylor cracks up. “No taming the shrew.” I punch his arm.
Jax pulls me by the button on my pants and kisses me. When he steps back I smile at him. He looks at Taylor. “If you want sweet from her, you have to give her sweet. Your form of sweet better not ever be the same as mine.” His voice is hard like his eyes and doesn’t match the smile on his lips.
I laugh at the look on Taylor's face and push Brantley's chin up to close his mouth. Prez swings his finger and everyone runs to drop cups in the trash. We ride straight back to the compound.
Pulling in the gate I know something is up. Not because I'm clever, but because of the bikes and trucks lining the wall and the fuckin’ circus tent that's up. What the hell now?
“They're fuckin’ crazy,” Jax says. I don't say a word. He's right. The 'rents have always been a challenge, but today they are like a car wreck. You have to look, then you want to get away as quickly as you can.
Since our kids are here we can't get away that easily. “Maybe we could get the kids and hide out in the RV until they leave,” I tell him when he shuts the bike off.
“The RV's occupied and I don't think Tiny's going to go for that.”
I follow his eyes and see Brandon on his shoulders and Stella on his arm. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.” He takes my hand and walks me toward the crazy 'rents in the circus tent. I look around while we walk. There's a stage, a dance floor and tables of food all along the outside walls. Tables of Princes and MC Brothers are sitting and talking in the middle. How do they do this shit so fast? “We didn't expect to see you so soon.” I look forward and see we're right in front of the 'rents. I'm with Jax, we could use a breather from them. At least a week.
“This is a do-over,” Tiny says smiling.
A do-over? Jax looks at me as if I can explain what the hell is going on. “No clue.” We both look at Tiny.
“A do-over so your wedding day isn't remembered for the shit storm that happened yesterday. The do-over will give you a better day to remember. Pres will marry you again and make this the day you remember. I don't know how you can forget killing the pussy with a pen though. Pres didn't have nothing for that.”
Everyone around us is laughing. Stella is clapping. What the hell do you say to that? I look at Jax and he's trying not to laugh. Bastard. I squeeze
his hand.
“I don't think anyone is going to forget that any time soon, but thank you for giving Sheila a better day to remember.”
What? We had plans. Plans that didn't involve another round of crazy 'rents. Tiny looks toward the stage and lets out an ear splitting whistle. Fuck!
Pres has a microphone. “Yesterday Jax and Sheila got married.” People clap and whistle. He waits until they quiet down. I lean on Jax putting my head against his shoulder. He pulls me in front of him and puts his chin on my head with his arms wrapped around me. “Their day was fucked up right from the beginning. That was on me. In order to fix what I fucked up, we're here today to celebrate Jax and Sheila's wedding day.” Everyone is clapping again.
I look up at Jax. He bends to my ear. “It's a good thing, baby girl. Just go with it. They're trying.”
“Yeah.”
The clapping dies down. “So while you're talking and having a drink, I'll be talking to Jax and Sheila to see what we can do to make this their perfect day. Then we'll do whatever the fuck makes them happy.”
Everyone cheers. They're all crazy, but they're sweet and they're ours. My arm is tapped. I look over and Lily hands me a margarita. “You're going to need it. We already started.” Jax laughs and lets me go. I drink it right down and get a brain freeze.
When I open my eyes Pres is standing in front of me. “You're not armed are you?”
I smile. “Always.”
“Don't shoot me or stick me with a pen, but I wanted to find a way to let you know I'm sorry for the mess I made yesterday and show you that you mean something to the MC and me. We all decided on the do-over. Whatever you want. Kate has your dress if you want to do the ceremony again.” He has a hopeful look on his face. I've never seen Pres unsure. Jax squeezes my hand. I look at his smiling face and think why the hell not. It's not every day you get a party thrown just for you.
“I think we can skip the ceremony, but I did want a big party.”
He smiles and pulls me into a hug. “We know how to throw big parties. I'll get the band started.” He lets me go and walks away.
Enforcer: Book Four (Princes of Prophecy) Page 21