The nurse wheels me, too fucking slowly, in my personal opinion. I want to see my baby, and I want to see her now.

Prescott showed me a picture of her, and he told me how tiny she is, but I want to hold her myself. It feels like it takes a lifetime to get to her, but when we arrive at the entrance to the NICU, I feel nauseous.

I’m not ready.

My stomach knots and I hold my breath when the doors open, and we go through.

I know exactly what incubator she’s in, and I can see the blue lights shining on her. Prescott explained the lights to me, they help with her jaundice.

I want to rip her out of the small little plastic bubble and take her home where she belongs—at my side, always.

The nurse standing at Evalyn’s side looks up, but she doesn’t look at me, her eyes meet Prescott’s and I watch as a huge smile plasters on her face.

Narrowing my own eyes, I look from her then back to him. He’s got a similar expression on his face, but his gaze isn’t pointed toward the nurse. No, Prescott’s eyes are solely on his daughter. My heart practically bursts at the sight.

He rushes past me, and I watch as he rips his shirt off, reaching for the baby before quickly placing her on his chest. My smile turns into a giggle and I hear the same come from the nurse behind me. “He’s one of the most excited fathers I think I’ve ever seen, you’re very lucky,” she grins.

The nurse parks my wheelchair next to him, and puts the brakes down so I can’t move. She whispers that she’ll be back a bit later to pick me up, then she quietly walks away.

The NICU nurse, she only has eyes for my husband, or rather his chest as she brings a blanket over to him. It doesn’t shock me, Prescott is built quite nicely, however, I wish she could keep her eyes to herself in this situation and circumstance.

“I think Ginger needs to hold her,” Prescott announces.

I watch as the nurse jerks, and she looks over at me with a bit of shock on her face. She probably had no freaking clue I was even in the room.

Prescott brings Evalyn over to me as the nurse adjusts the top of my gown to allow for her to be placed against my bare skin. Then they both help cover us up. Looking down, I can’t believe that she’s mine, and so tiny, but so absolutely beautiful.

“I’ve never seen anything as gorgeous as her,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes yet again as I look over to Prescott.

He smirks at me, his fingers reaching out to touch Evalyn’s soft head. “She looks exactly like her mama,” he states.

I swear the nurse in front of us swoons. I do too, so I try not to hold it against her. We spend hours together, just the three of us, plus the nosy nurse. She’s helpful when it’s time to feed Evalyn and I try to breastfeed but end up giving her the bottle after a little while. The nurse tells me to come back and try again, never giving up if it’s something that I have a desire to do, and I truly do.

By the time we leave the NICU, I’m in tears again. I don’t want to leave my baby, but I need to rest. I hurt, and I’m exhausted.

I’m wheeled back into my room, and Prescott helps me to my bed so that I can rest. He sits down next to me and we talk. He explains that he’s told everybody about Evalyn’s arrival, including my mother who will be here by tomorrow.

I fall asleep to the sound of his voice as he murmurs what everybody has said about our sweet girl, how all of the brothers can’t wait to meet her. How they’re all half in love with her already just by her photograph. How she’s going to be the most protected princess the Notorious Devils has ever seen.

I press my lips to the brand on Ginger’s neck before I leave her asleep in her hospital bed. I don’t go back to the NICU, choosing to make my way toward my pickup. Ginger’s Jeep wasn’t towed away, Free was able to talk the security guard out of it the night everything went down. I’m grateful and lucky. That was not something I really wanted to deal with on top of everything else.

Letting out a breath, I start the engine of my truck. I need to get headed toward the airport, it looks like I’ll probably be late as it is to pick up my mother-in-law.

I’ve only met Roberta once, and she’s not the kind of woman you leave waiting. She’s the kind of woman who’ll hand you your balls. She’s already pissed as fuck that she didn’t know about Ginger’s blood pressure issues ahead of time.

She thinks we kept it from her on purpose, and maybe Ginger did, but I never thought it was really that big of an issue. I was worried at first when the doctor mentioned it. Then Ginger seemed fine, and quit taking on so much at the bar, I figured that was all she really needed to have everything under control.

Luckily, the hospital isn’t too far away from the airport, and I make it in record time. I pull up to the passenger pickup area right as the woman herself walks out.

Roberta’s shorter blonde hair comes into view and I smile when I see her. She looks so much like my Ginger, albeit a bit older, but I know just by the looks of her mother, that my woman will be a knockout as she ages.

I shift the truck into park, and quickly slide out of the vehicle, hurrying toward Roberta so that I can grab her luggage.

“How are they?” she asks, foregoing any type of greeting.

Reaching down, I pick up her suitcase by the handle and begin to make my way back toward the truck.

“They’re good, Roberta. Ginger is tired, but she’s started moving around some. Evalyn is so beautiful and strong,” I say with a smile.

“I want to see them right away,” she demands.

I chuckle, tossing her bag in the backseat before opening the passenger door for her. “You got it,” I grin.

Driving back to the hospital, Roberta doesn’t say a word, not until I find a parking spot and shift into park. She reaches for my forearm and wraps her fingers around it. Glancing over at her, I lift my brows, waiting for her to speak.

“I know something bad happened to my daughter. I know that your club was to blame. I don’t know what it was. I’m trying not to judge, but everything inside of me is screaming to take them and leave you here,” she admits.

I try not to get angry at her words, or to tell her to fuck herself because I don’t blame her a single fucking bit. With everything that’s happened just the past few weeks, her words ring true and accurate.

She should take Ginger and Evalyn away from me. They should fucking sprint as far away as they can. It wouldn’t do them any good though, I would come after them, I’ll always go after them. They’re mine. Both of them are mine and nobody else’s.

“I wouldn’t let you,” I admit, keeping my voice low and even. I ignore the screaming rage that’s inside of me, begging to get out and turn on my mother-in-law.

Roberta lifts her chin, pressing her lips together. “Ginger wouldn’t go anyway. I sent her up here because she was more like my brother than anybody else in our family. Cash was strong and smart, but he was also stubborn. If anybody could help him in his sickness, or if there were anybody he would allow to help, it was Ginger,” she murmurs. I know all of this though.

I knew Cash before Ginger came into his life. He was strong and stubborn as fuck. He was also one of the kindest men I knew. Never outwardly kind, but he did things when nobody was watching. He would buy groceries for a single struggling mother and leave them on her porch, he would donate dozens of backpacks full of school supplies every year to the elementary school in town. Little things to some people probably, but gigantic things to the people he touched. Ginger has the same heart. I thought that what happened to her would close that part of her off, but thankfully, it never did.

“Ginger and Cash are one in a million,” I admit.

Roberta nods. “So, you see, your club, it scares me,” she whispers.

“I would never purposely put Ginger, or Evalyn, in danger,” I mutter.

Roberta shakes her head. “I know you wouldn’t, Prescott. I can tell that you love my daughter. I’m asking you though, pleading with you really. Let them go,” she whispers.

My head jerks to the side and I look over at her in surprise. “Let them go?” I repeat, sounding just as dumbfounded as I feel.

She nods. “Let them go. Let them live a normal, safe and happy life. Don’t put your baby in danger. Just being yours and breathing, there’s an unknown target on her, isn’t there?” she asks.

I try not to think about it, about her question being a reality but she isn’t wrong. There is a target on her, any rival club, or gang, any law enforcement that wants to use her as leverage, they all could. Same goes with Ginger.

Clenching my jaw, I wonder how Fish does it, how any of my brothers in Idaho, California, and all over the states do it. They do though. They all have families, Old Ladies, and kids. Some even have grandkids. They don’t walk away just because of some imaginary future threat.

“You want me to abandon my family, or push them away, to save them from an unknown threat in the future?” I ask, wanting to be sure of exactly what she’s asking.

Roberta shrugs. “They don’t deserve to be targets, Prescott,” she states.

My shoulder muscles bunch together, but I don’t say anything. I give her a nod and slide out of the pickup. I help her out as well, along with her luggage and I tell her which room she can find Ginger in.

What I don’t do is go back inside of the hospital with her.

I need to think about her words, and her concerns. I understand them, I really do, but I don’t agree with them at all, whatsoever. I also don’t want to go in there and be angry.

I don’t want to upset Ginger or Evalyn. So, I choose to get back in my truck and head toward the clubhouse. I need to decompress for a little while, then I’ll deal with my mother-in-law.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing like a shower, and fresh clothes, to make you feel like an entirely new person. I braid my wet hair down my shoulder and smile when the door to my room begins to open. I expect to see Prescott walking through, but instead, I’m met with my mother.

“Mom?” I breathe. She gives me a smile and pushes her luggage to the side of the door before she rushes over to me.

“How are you? Oh my God, I’ve been so worried,” she gushes as she sits down on the side of the bed and pulls me into her arms for a hug.

I return her embrace, a little taken aback by the affection. My mother and I have always been a bit standoffish and I’m surprised by the sudden display of warmth. “I’m okay, just really tired and a little scared,” I admit.

She backs away and holds my hands in her grasp. “I don’t blame you for being scared, your life is just completely upside down right now,” she sighs. My brows tug together and I feel confused, but I don’t ask her to elaborate on her words.

She starts talking to me about home, about everybody in Georgia and I halfway listen, my eyes constantly shifting to the door, expecting Prescott to walk through it. “How did you get here, Mom?” I ask after she’s been talking non-stop for at least thirty minutes.

“Oh, Prescott picked me up and dropped me off. You know, that boy looked scared out of his mind. He looks like a runner. Now, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just letting you know. His lifestyle, coupled with all of this added responsibility of a wife and baby, he doesn’t look like the type to stick it out, sweetheart,” my mother announces.

My stomach twists at her words, and I open my mouth to tell her just how wrong she is, but somebody else beats me to it.

“Why are you fillin’ my wife’s head with bullshit, woman?” Prescott asks from the doorway.

I lift my eyes to meet his, and I find that his green eyes are fucking pissed off.

“I-I-I, you know that’s not what I was doing,” my mother stutters.

Prescott snorts, taking a step inside. “Listen. I get it. You’re scared because your daughter is married to a big, bad biker. Just so you know, about fifty other big bad bikers have sworn to protect Evalyn with their lives. They’ll protect Ginger too, and not because she’s my Old Lady, but because they love her.” His voice rumbles throughout the room.

My lips turn up into a giant smile. I love this man, wholeheartedly, one hundred percent. Before Prescott can say anything else, I reach for my mom’s hand and give it a squeeze.

“Prescott is a good man, Mom. He won’t leave us, and he’ll never let us get hurt, not ever. Spend a few days getting to know him and his club, I mean really getting to know them,” I suggest.

“His life is dangerous,” she hisses.

I snort as Prescott looks at me, his eyes full of obvious wariness and worry. He thinks the same thing, and he’s been struggling—he’ll probably always struggle with the life, especially after what I’ve been through. What he doesn’t understand is that I don’t struggle.

Every day with him is a gift, every minute at his side, I feel not only blessed to be his woman, but I feel brave. I’ve suffered, and I’ve been through some serious nightmares, but I’m not scared. Not anymore.

“I know it is, Mom. I don’t care,” I grin.

“You should care, for your daughter’s sake,” she snaps.

I turn my gaze away from Prescott’s to my mother and I tip my head to the side. “Life is dangerous, Mom. It doesn’t matter where you are, who your man is, or if you’re alone. Shit fucking happens,” I snap.

“Now, if you have anything else to say on the matter, I personally don’t want to hear it. Prescott is my husband, and I’m his wife. Our daughter is ours, and that’s the way it’s going to be. You’re more than welcome to be here and enjoy being a grandmother. However, you trying to talk me into leaving Prescott, or the other way around, won’t be tolerated.”

My mother’s face turns to stone and her eyes narrow, but she doesn’t say anything. I watch as she breathes in and out of her nose a few times while she holds my gaze. I don’t turn away from her when I feel Prescott walking around the bed, or when his hand touches my shoulder.

After a solid minute of staring at one another, my mother’s shoulders drop, and she lets out a deep breath. “I’m just scared,” she admits with a whisper.

I take her hand in mine, again and I squeeze. “Yeah, we understand. However, this is our life, and we’re happy in it,” I whisper back.

She nods once. “Okay, okay,” she mutters to herself. Inhaling deeply before letting it out again. “I won’t try and talk you into leaving, neither one of you, again.”

“Well, thank fuck for that. ‘Cause I ain’t going anywhere,” Prescott grunts behind me. I can’t hold back a small laugh at his words, and my mom even smiles a bit as well. “How about you see that baby now, Roberta,” Prescott offers.

“I would love that,” my mom whispers as she stands.

I stand as well, deciding that I need to walk a bit like the nurse suggested. Prescott wraps his arm around my middle and he allows me to lean against him as I attempt to walk.

I’m slow as hell, and his long legs are probably itching to move me along, but he’s patient as we make our way to the NICU at a snail’s pace.

My mom and I go into the NICU together while Prescott waits outside of the doors for us. He wants us to have our moment, and he said he had some calls to make anyway.

I have a feeling he just doesn’t want to hear us cry over Evalyn, maybe there’s just too much estrogen in one place for him. Whatever the case, I don’t mind.

We need this bonding moment, the three of us, and hopefully, it will bring us all a little closer together.