MC: Pres: Book Four

by L. Ann Marie

  I'm stopped by Dave and the Baxter's. They all go for a drink. I take a minute to go over everything in my head. We took them out in three hours from start to finish. Fuckin Brothers. I smile and move down the hall.

  In the common room I yell, "Brothers." Tiny whistles so everyone quiets and pays attention. "Outlaw biker Presidents from southern chapters called Baxter's to set up a meet in our office today. Baxter's were to mediate. They showed early with bad feelings about the meet. They were right. Right before the two Presidents were to sit down, I got word over a hundred bikes were descending on our yard. The one fuckin thing every fuckin club should know is we take care of our own. These southern boys didn't count on us being Badass Bikers." Brothers laugh. "While they sat in our office with fuckin smiles that I wanted to punch off their faces, my Brothers gathered and took down ONE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN bikes and bikers." I wait for the cheer and chatter to die down then raise my hand. "We have four wounded, three with gunshot wounds one a slide going fifty. Since it's warm our Brother was not prepared and he had no cover." People mumble. "Please remember our Brothers in Doc's rooms. Three of these Brothers have no family. Let them know they have us." I give them a minute to take that in. "Baxter's are transporting one hundred twenty seven bodies with a chopper escort down the highway. The chopper will pick up the driver. We gave the Outlaws the portable coffin. We'll report the truck stolen in one week." Brothers laugh. "Fourteen men, their wounded, were walked to the highway. I don't think they will be returning. Casper has a fuckin useless uniform car following them until they get picked up. The bikes are at salvage. Dave tells me quite a few are in decent condition. We decided to auction them off next Saturday. Go by salvage; find the bike of your dreams, parts that you need, or a gift for a friend. Whatever the fuck you want to do with it. We will be giving the money to Tess, Patches and Rich's old lady. She can start her new life with room to breathe. Brothers she showed courage where not many would. Now she's protecting our babies at Millie's, remember her next Saturday. Tess has Officer Protection. Unanimous. Not one fuckin nay. That means every fuckin Brothers' job is to make sure Tess is safe and happy. I will not have a repeat of the past here. Any issues with this, members will be dropped immediately." I give them a minute to understand that.

  "Brothers, you made me Fuckin proud, go drink, eat; do whatever the fuck you want as long as it makes you happy. You deserve it. I couldn't have done this without my Brothers, thank you for keeping our women and children safe. For the Brothers I went off on earlier. My apologies, I was running four teams and had no time or patience to deal. I should have shown more respect. If you show at the bar, I'll buy you a drink. Have fun Brothers."

  I stand at the bar with a drink talking to whoever stops by. Danny sits by me. Tess comes over with Rich and Patches. They each have an arm around her. I hug Rich thanking him and notice Tess badge, she talks to both me and Steve looking right at us. She's happy with her new ID. She's so fuckin cute, she shows me her check. She has no concept of money. The Baxter's just gave her a hundred grand and she's excited about a fuckin hundred dollar check. Steve watches her laughing. She tells us about Sally her therapist companion. I’m glad she likes her. She’s helping Doc right now, Patches seems impressed with her. I watch as they go into the kid’s room. I hope Sally can help find the fuckin trigger words so we don’t have another ‘slave mode’ incident. Steve slaps my back. He knows what I’m thinking.

  I turn to see Beau coming toward us. He compliments us on our ops organization and the people that carry them out. I tell him he didn't get to see it run well. "One hundred and twenty seven bodies, fourteen injured in three hours with four injuries on your side is as big of a success as it gets when you had no time to plan. It was a hell of an operation Ben, take it in. You ran it with an inexperienced second and you didn't shoot the crazy bastards sitting in your meeting room." Everyone laughs. I throw him chin. Fuck that felt good.

  Kate comes over and stands in between me and Danny. I turn in time to see Danny turn her toward me. Fuckin Brother. I throw him chin and pull her upstairs. I send Brenda down, the kids are sleeping. I can't get undressed fast enough. We end up laughing and waking up Devan. I send Kate for a shower while I sit with him thinking about what the Club will be like when he gets older.

  Seventeen

  Two weeks

  Kate

  Ben is due back from Cleveland today. He's been gone for four days but it seems like forever. I can't believe it's two months shy of a year since the first time he came over. So much has happened. It's been a great year for us but a stressful year too. Since it's Saturday I take the kids to the grocery store. They're so good helping everyone and being sweet and helpful for me. We get the groceries in the house when he pulls in. The kids all jump on him and I laugh, he is always surprised when they do. They do it to Danny all the time, Ben always smiles when they do. He kisses me to hacking noises. We get the groceries put up and sit talking at the table. Danny comes in and kisses me to hacking noises. He laughs at the kids and picks up Devan.

  "So we're having a family meeting." Jessie stands up and moves to where Darren can see him. "We have some boys and a girl that are old enough to learn to ride. I know you can all ride the minis but we think you’re ready to graduate. We've talked about it and decided we need to teach you if we want to keep Badass Bikers in the family. All others will be thrown away." The kids look at each other and laugh.

  "We have some practice bikes at Security and we'll be having classes starting tomorrow." Ben tells them. They all cheer jumping up and down. Danny is cracking up.

  "If you're real good I may decide to take you over so you can check them out. I bet we could find something to eat on the way back." Danny tells them. They've gone wild again.

  "Ben do you want to relax for a while or come with?" Danny asks him.

  He looks at me and I shrug. It doesn't matter to me either way. I know he must be tired. "I'll stay here. I'm exhausted."

  I kiss him telling him we'll bring him back some lunch. I corral the kids and get Devan's coat on him. We file out and pile in. Danny laughs most of the way. They crack me up.

  Ben

  What the fuck? I thought she would stay with me. I didn't mean I wanted to be left alone. I grab my gear and drop what I need to in the laundry room carrying the rest upstairs. I take a shower and drop on the bed. Why didn't she stay? I can't get it out of my fuckin head. Last time she was waiting for me in the tub.

  I hear the kids and open my eyes. Kate and Danny are laughing at the stove. Darren signs and Jessie tells me about the bikes. Kate spins smiling. She's so fuckin beautiful. She walks over and kisses me. The boys smile; I watch her walk back to the stove and see Danny smiling too. They get the kids to set the table so I get drinks while they bring the food. I sit in Danny's normal seat. He sits in the seat I normally do. He said it held no sentimental value and I want to be closer to Kate. She gives me a funny look then looks at Danny. He barely moves his head but I see him lift his chin. She smiles and nods. The kids tell me about skating a couple of days ago. They crack me up with how many times Kate fell. She's laughing with them. Even Aaron skates better than her; I can't get over her not doing something well. She's so good at everything she does.

  "Danny sit over here, it will work better for you." Jessie says. I look at him then Danny. He gets up with his plate and moves to the other end of the table. What the hell? Jessie gives me a look. Fuck if my kid isn't pissed at me. Danny picks up the conversation and has the kids engaged again. I put my hand on Kate's leg; she freezes for a second then goes back to eating and talking. I slide my hand up and she stops me. Squeezing my hand she moves it back to her knee.

  I get up and go to the garage. What the fuck? I put my hands up on the doorframe and look out at the water.

  "What's going on Ben?" She asks from the doorway.

  "The last time I came home you were waiting for me. This time you left and I can't touch you. I don't know what's going on?" I don't turn around. She puts her arm
s around me. I don't move. I get her hands on me only when she feels like touching me?

  "Last time I planned my work around when you were coming in. It was a weekday. Today is Saturday; if I wasn't about the kids today you probably wouldn't love me. You've been around long enough to know we spend as much time as possible with the kids on the weekends. It's always been that way. What's really going on?" She kisses my chest then looks up at me.

  "Maybe I'm just tired." I say still looking at the water.

  "We're taking the kids to the movies; do you want to come along? If you'd rather sleep I understand. You’re always exhausted when you get home from these training trips." She's smiling.

  "I'll just stay here." She nods but her brows are drawn down. When she pulls my shirt I bend to kiss her. I lift back up and look at her. She takes a breath and turns away. She's still not willing to stay with me. She'll go with the kids and her husband to the fuckin movies.

  Fuck this. I go in to get dressed for the Club. Jessie stops me on the stairs. "You're going to mess it up dad."

  What the fuck? "What are we talking about Jessie?"

  "Danny sits there so he can see everyone without turning his head all the way around. He only has to turn a little when he sits there. You did it cause you're mad. You're supposed to talk it out dad, not make it worse. That's what kids do." He lowers his voice and almost growls out the last.

  "What the fuck Jessie? Why the fuck are you pissed?"

  "Cause you're not ready to hear it. That means you're going to mess it up. They love you. Everyone does but you're acting like a kid." He fuckin walks away disgusted. Fuckin kids. He sounds like fuckin Danny. It's not like he's staying either. Fuck this.

  I take the stairs two at a time and am on my way in minutes.

  Danny

  What the fuck now? Pulling in I notice his bike is gone. We get the kids in bed and I go to the office. I track him to the Club. Keeping my head clear because he's Pres and something might be going on, I tell Kate I'll be out for a while. She nods but doesn't ask so I don't say.

  Walking in the Club I see Ben is at the bar, Darlene and Flo are hanging all over him. He's laughing when I walk to his side. "Shouldn't you be home with the wife and kids?"

  Fuck I really don't want to do this here. "Let's go talk Ben."

  "That's Pres." He growls out. The girls step back. Fuckin hell.

  "Meant no disrespect, let's go talk Pres." Fuckin guy making me bow to him. I touch his arm and he swings. The girls move away. I stand with my arms down. He connects to my face. "Now that you got that in and everyone knows you're Pres and I'm not, let's go talk." He swings again and I let him. What the fuck can I do here?

  Rob comes up to us. "Pres he can't raise his hands to you. He's got a fuckin plate in his face. Are you that pissed you'd put him in the fuckin hospital without him defending the first fuckin punch."

  He turns and swings his arm back to land an uppercut. I let him swing through and step back so he loses his balance. "Only willing to take so much Ben. I'll hand you my cut before I lay flat out for you and your fuckin over inflated ego. It was a fuckin kid’s day. If you had bothered to look, you would have seen it on the calendar. No one slighted you. We offered for you to come along or stay back and sleep. You’re pissed because you made the wrong decision." He pulls his arm back. "One more, you can have my cut and I'll move out of the fuckin yard tomorrow." I say low so no one but Rob and him hear it.

  Rob stands in front of me. Steve stands to Ben's side and leans to his ear. "Fuckin drunk, you're makin the biggest mistake of your fuckin life. Let's talk." He pulls him along. I fuckin relax and turn.

  "Danny, you can't leave it like this." Rob says.

  "Not my job to hold his fuckin hand while he fixes this." I hold the plate side of my face.

  “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.” He says to me.

  "Yeah, been hurting lately, have an appointment this week."

  "He fuckin hit you knowing that and that you wouldn't defend because he's fuckin Pres!" He says pissed and fuckin loud enough that people hear.

  I bow my head. Fuck this night just keeps getting better. I drop my hand and walk the fuck out.

  I shower and climb in bed. Kate is sleeping to this side because her hip is bothering her. She's taken to laying the opposite way lately; it feels good with her on me. It's been a fuckin day.

  "Everything ok honey?" She doesn't open her eyes.

  I kiss her head and tighten my arm around her waist. "I love you Beautiful K. We're always good baby." She smiles and kisses my chest falling asleep just like that.

  Fuckin Ben. My phone rings and I grab it quick. "Downstairs. He welcome here?" Steve says.

  "Be right down." I slide out, put my patch on and go to the kitchen. "He lives here Steve. Whether that continues is for him to decide. Why don't you go up to bed Ben?" He grunts and gets himself across the room.

  "What the fuck?" Steve asks getting an ice pack for my face. I pull the patch and put it on that side. "Was for the other side. Your appointment comin up?"

  "Yeah, this week. I don't know what the fuck the problem is. We had everything on the calendar. We do the same thing every fuckin Saturday. He was pissed about it."

  "Not sure he knows what's wrong."

  "Yeah I fuckin clued in with the second fuckin hit to my face. Next one I was dropping my cut."

  He looks shocked. "You'd drop your cut over his moodiness?"

  "No, I'd drop my cut because he stood in the middle of the fuckin Club and made me apologize and bow down calling him Pres. When I did he still took two shots. Only missed the uppercut because he's fuckin drunk and I refuse to be laid out that way so I stepped back."

  "What the fuck is he thinkin? How's he expect you to answer to that? Fuck, would have dropped my cut right then."

  I crack up then moan, fuck! I hold my face tighter. "You're his best friend and Brother. You wouldn't leave."

  "Only so much disrespect a man can take. Know you could've taken him down without throwin a punch but you let him have his. More than I would've done. He shoulda known not to hit your fuckin face." He's pissed. He gets up and walks to the door. "Call me you need his fuckin ass gone." He throws chin and leaves.

  Kate comes up behind me wrapping her arms around me and putting her head on my back. Fuck! "How much did you hear?"

  "Enough to know this is bad. I love Ben but not at your expense." She says quietly.

  I turn and she cries. Fuck! "Baby it's fine. I'm a big boy. I can handle a shot or two."

  "You wouldn't defend yourself to save face for him. What did we do that has him so pissed?" She cries more. Fuckin Ben. He's better at this than I am.

  "He's Pres. Sometimes he needs the title to hide his feelings. I get it. Don't make this more. He's got a whole fuckin Club of Brothers to answer to."

  "And me. He hit your face. He could have put you in the hospital."

  "No baby. I wouldn't have let him hurt me. He's hurting tonight and tomorrow the Brothers will be pissed at him. It's going to get worse before it gets better. We are good together. This is a first fight. We can call it quits or ride it out. Do you want to walk at the first sign of trouble?"

  "You are too fuckin much Danny. Sometimes I wonder what you're doing with a crazy greedy bitch like me. She says wiping her tears with the biggest fuckin smile on. I throw the ice pack in the sink and carry her to Patches room. After I'm done showing her what I'm doing with her, I carry her to bed. Ben is still dressed but passed out. I put Kate down and lie beside her. She turns, I forgot about her hip. Fuck, I hope I didn't hurt her.

  Eighteen

  Danny

  I get up and pull clothes, pulling on jeans I stuff the rest in my bag. I kiss Kate telling her I'll see her after church for the lesson; I put the monitor on the nightstand. She tells me she loves me and falls back to sleep. I check the kids’ rooms, everything is quiet. I roll down the drive to the street then start it up and ride. I need to clear my fuckin head. I take the highway to th
e coast and stop at the water on the city side. I get a coffee and lean on the rail overlooking the water. I hear a bike and roll my eye, fuckin Steve and his tracking. Five minutes passes and he’s at my side. “Just clearing my head then heading to the Club to work out.” I tell him before he says a word.

  “Need sparrin partner? Give you a good excuse for the bruise.” He asks.

  “Yeah.” I finish my coffee smiling as if I'd let him hit my face. He follows me to the bikes.

  Kate

  Devan is moving around. I push myself up and Ben puts his arm around me. I freeze. I’m pissed at him but I know he was drunk last night. “I’m pissed right now and I need to get Devan up and feed him. Once the kids are settled I’ll be back so we can talk.”

  “Let Danny get them. He’s done working out by now.” He says in a not so nice voice.

  “Danny’s not here. He’s either beating the shit out of a bag at the Club or avoiding it and riding to clear his head.” I say softly climbing out of the bed.

  “He left you here to deal with the kids?” He says, again not very nice.

  “They’re my kids.” I don’t point out that one is his. He grunts. Freakin men!

  I walk out the door and take care of our freakin kids. I ask Jessie and Darren to watch over the little ones so I can talk to Ben. Jessie rolls his eyes but agrees. I smile ruffling his hair and take Devan with me. Grabbing a few toys for him I go back to my room putting him on the floor to play. Ben comes out of the bathroom showered and dressed.

  “We need to talk about what the heck is going on with you.” I tell him as I sit on the bed.