AF MC Ohio (Book Two)

by Esther E. Schmidt

  “I’m glad you weren’t in the room when the bullets started to fly,” I croak and my chest tightens at the thought of all the others who got hurt.

  “They’re gonna pull through,” Tenley whispers next to my ear as she hugs me tight. “They just have to...all of them including the little one.”

  I damn well hope she’s right.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ***Casey***

  I’m gasping for my next breath as I raise my arms to pull the trigger. Fuck. Where’s my gun? Where the hell am I? I’m being pushed down by Calix and Curls. My whole fucking body hurts and my head is pounding.

  “Calm down,” Calix growls. “Go get a nurse or a damn doctor in here, Curls.”

  “No,” I croak, my voice raw. “Stay.”

  I don’t care about anything other than having her near me. Even if my stomach rolls and it takes everything in me not to throw up. Fuck. I try to breathe through the nausea.

  “I’m here, right here,” she whispers and slides her fingers along my cheek.

  “Fine, I’ll go get someone. Just don’t do anything idiotic like surging up again. You’ll rip the damn IV out,” Calix grunts while he spins around and leaves the room.

  Hospital room I now realize. “What happened?”

  The only thing going through my head is that I was firing my gun before everything went black.

  Curls searches my eyes. “What do you remember?”

  I try to wrack my brain but I come up empty. I start to think about the shit I do remember. “We were sitting in church...gunshots. Fuck.” The beeping in the room spikes and my head whips that way to see my heartrate is accelerating.

  “Calm down,” Curls urges.

  “Gael?” I question, needing to know if the fucker is still alive.

  “Dead, and so is Hunter. They found his body underneath his truck. Geal killed him to pretend he was him. Feargal thought Hunter was hurt when we saw him slumped over the steering wheel. Instead it was Gael who covered his face with Hunter’s blood and put on his beanie, hoodie, and cut. Feargal is still fighting for his life. He made it through surgery so that’s a good thing but his body went through hell and the doctors have no clue if he’s going to pull through or not.”

  “Ransom...Hedwig? The baby?” I’m afraid to ask with everything she just told me.

  A bright smile paints her plump lips. “You’re an uncle, Casey. Ransom is fine and Hedwig had an emergency C-section because she took a bullet to the leg and needed surgery. Their baby boy, Zander, is healthy as a horse.”

  “Zander,” I croak.

  Fuck. They named their son after his father. I haven’t heard Ransom’s given name for a long damn time. Mainly because my brother started to use Ransom to step away from his dark past, one he connected with his name. It seems to me he’s grabbing this chance to give the name he lived through to his son.

  And I damn well know my brother will be a great father and will move heaven and earth to give him what he needs. Knowing this new family is safe and complete soothes me. I don’t even care my body is hurting because I’m staring at the very person who makes life worth living.

  And yet the loss of my AF MC brothers hits me hard and it’s also something we all have to live with. They gave their life to make ours safe.

  Calix rushes back in and a nurse is close behind him. “Sir, you need to rest,” the nurse says and Calix smirks behind her.

  “Your Old Lady okay?” I question, totally ignoring the nurse because I will fucking rest when I’m dead because I’m fucking thrilled to be alive right now.

  “Yeah.” Calix rubs his sternum. “Thanks to your Old Lady she wasn’t even in the room when shit went down. I can’t fucking thank your Old Lady enough.”

  “We needed to go to the hospital since Hedwig was having contractions and her water broke. Tenley was grabbing the bag Hedwig prepared. It’s not like I sent her out of the room because I knew things were going to...shit. I just...never mind,” Curls mutters and keeps her eyes on the nurse checking all the machines.

  The nurse turns her attention to me. “The doctor will be right with you.”

  Curls glares when the nurse starts to fuss with my IV, probably checking to see if it’s still okay after I tried to get up when Calix held me down, he must have mentioned something. I reach up with my other hand and let my finger trail down Curls’ bare arms.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” I croak, my voice loaded with emotion.

  Without looking she reaches out and holds my hand between both of hers, eyes still pinned on the nurse.

  Frustration, along with annoyance, makes me snap at the nurse, “Stop touching me,” resulting in a full-on glare from the nurse.

  I know I shouldn’t snap at the woman, and I’m thankful she’s looking after me, but in this moment all I need is my Old Lady and some quiet time to appreciate what I have right in front of me. Now Curls’ eyes do land on me and she gives me a bright as fuck smile.

  “Feeling better, huh?” she beams and leans in to whisper, “I dang well love how you can agitate females within mere minutes of being in their presence.”

  “I only care about one and even if I manage to agitate her, she stays and gives me hell just as fierce in return,” I tell her and shoot her a wink.

  “I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.” She swallows hard. “You took two bullets and lost a lot of blood. For a moment you passed out and...I almost lost you...your heart...you were...” Curls sucks in a shaky breath as if she needs other words and to skip what she intended to say. “But you’re here and the doctor mentioned full recovery. But you need to rest.”

  “Yes,” the nurse chimes in. “You need to rest.”

  Now it’s my turn to glare at the nurse and she spins around and leaves the room. The hours that pass are filled with visits from the doctor and finally also a few of my brothers. They each take turns so it isn’t crowded or too stressful for me. The annoying nurse’s words, not mine. But she’s right. I feel drained with every minute that passes.

  The next day Ransom is in my room along with his son. They managed to put Hedwig in the room next to me for the next few days seeing Hedwig will be able to leave the hospital sooner than me. I still need to be bedbound and let my body heal before I can start PT.

  A few weeks later, when the day finally comes for me to leave the hospital, it’s Ransom who’s in my room while we’re waiting for Curls to come back with the nurse to go over my discharge papers. All while I keep staring at the papers Ransom put in front of me.

  “Are you sure?” I croak, unable to process what he just shoved in front of me.

  “Fuck, yeah, I’m sure. We talked about this so it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but you know what this means, right?” he challenges. All I can do is stare at Ransom and wait for him to continue. “When shit hits the fan at home, we need to build a man cave in the backyard. A huge one. One with a barbeque out front and two couches inside along with a huge flat screen where we can watch football. Not to mention a stacked fridge, microwave, bathroom...gotta have everything we need, right?”

  The smile I feel spreading my face is hurting my damn cheeks. “Like how we used to camp outside together and watch the dark sky while spilling the shit we wanted in life when we were teenagers. Only we’ll have the deluxe version surrounding us instead of a damn tent.”

  Ransom points a finger at me. “That exact fucking spot, fucker! You and me, our Old Ladies, and our kids growing up together. Neighbors, brothers, friends, for life.”

  The way we grew up, the way we each had our dreams and ended up with two women who were fast friends before we met...his woman living right next door to him and making it possible for us to become neighbors. Because that’s what the papers state in front of me. Ransom has signed the house over to me.

  He moved in with Hedwig because she had the nursery ready and he explained how he’s just as happy in her house with me living next door than the other way around. Because there wasn’t another option since we de
cided a long fucking time ago, we were gonna be brothers for life.

  I can’t even muster words right now so I only nod. Ransom shakes his head. “Didn’t you hear me say our kids growing up together?”

  “I did, and they will,” I croak, my voice loaded with emotion when I add, “Hopefully sometime in the near future if life grants us another chance.”

  “I said our kids because your Old Lady is pregnant, fucker,” Ransom tells me with the biggest of smiles and I’m absolutely stunned.

  “Great,” Curls sighs and stalks further into the room. “I leave you alone for a few minutes and you manage to spill the news I’m supposed to share myself with my Old Man. It’s dang personal, Ransom.” She smacks his chest with the discharge papers she’s holding.

  I’m glad I’ve made huge progress and can stand, walk around, and function normal if I don’t do any weird shit or lift heavy stuff because I only have to raise my arm to cup her face and let my thumb travel over her bottom lip.

  “You’re pregnant?” I ask and her cheeks flush while she gives me a slight nod, confirming the best news ever. “How long have you known?”

  “She peed on one of those things before we came over. Hedwig and her were in the bathroom watching the two lines appear. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed in there,” Ransom grumbles.

  “Oversharing personal stuff again,” Curls sighs.

  Ransom shakes his head. “You’re the one who put a stick in your own pee with my woman standing right next to you...who’s the one who’s oversharing, huh? Not me.”

  “Okay, you guys, enough. I’d really like to go home now,” I state and the both of them rush into action.

  Ransom grabs my bag of clothes while I grab the papers of the house. The house. The one where I grew up and now it seems I’ll be raising my own family in while my brother is living right next door, living his live while we still share our dreams and turn them into reality.

  Curls’ fingers lace with mine and I follow Ransom down the hall with my Old Lady right next to me while she carries our unborn child inside her belly. Even if my body isn’t back to full health, I’ve never felt better in all my damn life.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ~ One Year Later ~

  ***Wendy***

  “I can stare at them for hours,” Hedwig says from beside me.

  We made fresh lemonade and instead of bringing it over to the others, the two of us just stand on the deck, watching our husbands and our kids. They built the man cave they’ve talked about ever since we moved into the house. It actually looks like a tiny house all on its own, with a bathroom and a living room complete with a bar, flat screen TV, two large couches and a sound system.

  It’s where they go to watch any sports game or have a talk with other brothers for some club business they need to discuss or hell...they sometimes open up the sliding door and have a barbeque. Just the two of them while Hedwig and I have our own girl time. All while our kids are sleeping safely in their beds while we enjoy a movie or just talk.

  Not in a million years did I think we would end up with two guys who grew up as brothers and good friends. We’re all a tight and solid family that’s grown stronger and bigger over time.

  Ransom and Hedwig’s son, Zander, is standing against his father’s leg while his hands are up, his tiny fists clenching and unclenching reaching for Luna. Just a few months into our lives, Luna, our daughter, has stolen the hearts of all of us.

  “Same here,” I croak.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to add to it, are you ready to tell our men?” Hedwig smiles and it immediately triggers a smile on my face too.

  “Ready,” I state and a flutter of excitement fills my veins.

  Before we headed into the kitchen to make lemonade, we took turns going to the bathroom to pee on a stick and then switched so we could tell one another if we were pregnant or not. Turns out, the both of us are and it makes it even more special to share this with my best friend. And the scene we’re staring at? Two brothers who grew up here and are clearly enjoying themselves along with their kids is extremely special to watch.

  Strolling into the backyard, we place the lemonade and glasses on the table and join our husbands. Yes, not only is Casey my Old Man, he’s also my husband. He managed to persuade me into wearing a wedding dress while I had a baby bump.

  All worth it though because we did the whole double wedding thing and a huge wedding reception at the club. Some might say we spend way too much time together but the truth is, our lives are hectic as it is and we could go days without even seeing each other even if we live right next door.

  Casey has his own company and has Calix as a partner so he can count on his brothers to assist if he needs help hunting down a perp or for a stakeout or whatever is needed for the cases he works on. I chose to work part-time and assist him where I can too.

  Hedwig also works part-time and this gives us the freedom we need to spend time with our kids but it also has days like I mentioned where our schedule doesn’t allow for us to sip coffee in the kitchen or have playdates for our kids. So, living next door to each other and having these moments in life we get to share together? Hell, yes, we’re taking them and enjoying life to the fullest.

  Even my brother spends time with us every now and then. Though Thorn is very busy with the club and running the legal businesses he’s set up with his brothers. Gael’s suicide mission with the attack on the club where Hedwig and others were injured and Hunter was killed is still branded on my brain and I think about it all the time. But then I see the warmth and peaceful moments we have now and I treasure them even more; thankful to have them.

  “Hey, darlin’.” Casey leans in, brushing a kiss on my lips.

  Luna is in his arms and she takes her chance when her tiny fists grab hold of my hair. Casey chuckles and helps get my hair loose.

  “If she keeps this up you might have to go with another nickname because I’m gonna shave my head,” I grumble, making Casey laugh even harder.

  When my hair is freed, I take the hair tie from my wrist and twist my hair up into a messy bun to take our daughter into my arms. I connect my gaze with Hedwig and she’s also holding her son as she stalks over to me.

  Ransom elbows Casey. “I’m having a gut feeling our Old Ladies are up to something.”

  Casey narrows his eyes. “We just took three more cases, can’t have the little getaway you girls asked for last week, it’ll have to wait till next month.”

  Hedwig snorts. “What we have in mind can’t wait and will last a lifetime.”

  Both Ransom and Casey’s eyes widen and bulge when Hedwig and I say in sync, “We’re pregnant.”

  Clearly, we both expect our husbands to come to us but instead they turn to face each other and high five one another, causing me to roll my eyes at their brotherly weirdness. But then they do turn to us and Casey wraps his arms around both me and Luna, inching his face close to the both of us.

  “Best news ever. This makes me so fucking happy,” he croaks and it makes my chest tighten with love. My eyes sting and if he doesn’t let go soon, I’m sure I’ll be a blubbering mess.

  “Ouch,” Casey gasps and when I check to see what’s going on, I can’t help but laugh instead of help him. Luna has buried her tiny fist in Casey’s short hair and is pulling at it with all her strength.

  We untangle and Ransom appears next to Casey, shoving his son in Casey’s arms.

  “Be right back,” Ransom says and grabs Hedwig’s hand and starts to drag her off toward their house.

  “Hey,” Casey snaps. “Not fair!”

  “Be a good neighbor, brother, and watch the kid,” Ransom chuckles while Hedwig’s giggles drift through the air as they disappear into their house.

  “Fine but you’re watching ours next, so hurry up,” Casey bellows, making me smack his arm.

  “Hush,” I tell him, my cheeks burning from embarrassment.

  Casey steps closer and murmurs, “I love watching your face flush, exactly why I
told them to hurry.”

  My body heats with desire. I quickly step away and put some distance between us. It’s always like this with us, the strong connection of our fire, flaming with lust, tangled with love and desire. Never once does it fade or grow dull, it only expands and evolves into something deeper and more valuable.

  Casey takes a seat in one of the garden chairs and bounces Zander softly on his knee. His eyes are connected with mine when he says, “I love you so fucking much.”

  My body tingles from his words and the anticipation grows of what’s to come when Ransom and Hedwig come back to watch Luna for us so we can have our own time together.

  “Love you right back, but Casey? Watch your mouth in front of the kids,” I scold, making the corner of his mouth twitch.

  “So, I can’t start talking about all the ways I’m going to worship the place between your...”

  “Casey, stop,” I gasp, making his booming laughter fill the air.

  This man. Never a dull moment and most definitely not a boring life. He challenges me, worships me at every turn, and the way he completes me and makes sure my whole life is filled with people to fall back on—with the family and friends we all need to build a life with—is more than I could ever wish for. Our life. One we will make sure to enjoy to the fullest.

  Epilogue

  ~ Twenty-one years later ~

  ***Casey***

  “No, you cannot go out on a damn date,” Zander growls in Luna’s face.

  Luna puts both her hands on his chest and he lets her push him away. “It’s none of your business. If I want to go out, I’m going out.”

  “I’m not talking about going out, you’re meeting the dude who asked you out this afternoon. While. I. Was. Standing. There. Next. To. You,” he snaps.