When Josie heard the words sixteen weeks, she jumped up from the black chair and stood there, switching her gaze between Steph and the doctor. The doctor was a woman with short black hair. She moved quickly and spoke quicker. She had the demeanor of someone working in the ER, ready to shout a hundred orders as she ran up and down the hallway.

“So, here’s what we need to…”

“Wait a second,” Josie said. “Sorry. Did you say sixteen weeks?”

The doctor - Dr. Klen - looked at Josie and smiled. “Yes. Give or take a few days here and there. I’d personally say we’re closer to seventeen weeks. Judging by the size of the baby.”

“Seventeen weeks pregnant,” Josie said. “And she didn’t know?”

“Everyone’s body is different.”

“But she’s not showing…”

Steph put a hand near her stomach. “I’ve felt… off…”

“Off?” Josie asked. “Sixteen weeks. Seventeen weeks. That’s… four months. That’s almost halfway there.”

“This isn’t all that uncommon,” Dr. Klen said in a soft voice.

As she turned to deal with Josie, Josie realized that she was starting to freak out a little and was starting to embarrass herself and Steph.

Screw that. Seventeen weeks pregnant?

“Some people know right away,” Dr. Klen says. “Some don’t. I know the first thing some will say is ‘what about having a period?’ but it’s not always that simple. Some women have irregular cycles and they don’t realize anything has changed until they feel bloated. They start showing. Everyone is different.”

Josie put her hands to her hips. “This is really happening?”

“What did you think was going to happen today?” Dr. Klen asked.

Josie opened her mouth, but didn’t speak. She just shook her head.

“Well, let’s talk good news here,” Dr. Klen said. “The baby is healthy. The baby is a good size. I’m confident about the due date. We’ll keep monitoring and see. As for you, Stephanie, you need to get on a prenatal vitamin right away… we’ll get you in again…”

Dr. Klen spoke and Josie turned. She covered her mouth. Here she thought they had a lot of time. She expected the doctor to say four weeks. Five. Six. Seven at the most, maybe. But seventeen weeks? That meant this situation began four months ago.

Now there were two choices.

Josie could be the supportive Josie… take care of Steph and figure out how to get through this and help Steph become a mom. Or, Josie could be the version of herself like back at the club with Starla. When she heard Starla call her a bitch, something had snapped. She wanted to tear her apart.

But that meant nothing now. Drugs? That wasn’t Josie’s business. That was Reese’s business. The MC’s business. But that put Reese’s life right back on the line, which was the one thing that messed everything up years ago.

“You take good care of yourself, Stephanie,” Dr. Klen said. “You too, Josie.”

Dr. Klen touched Josie’s shoulder and offered a sympathetic grin and nod. Meaning she understood what Josie was going through.

When they were alone in the room, Steph sat up and swung her legs off the table as she started to clean herself up from the ultrasound.

“Please don’t,” Steph whispered.

“Don’t? We’re beyond don’t, Steph. The clock is ticking, and we just lost ten weeks.”

“We?” Steph asked.

“Yeah, we. Unless you have some grand plan here, I’m stuck with this. There’s no room for a baby in my apartment. There’s barely room for you. Seventeen weeks? Are you fucking kidding me? You couldn’t have said something sooner? Why not just wait until you went to use the bathroom and just had the baby? Huh?”

Steph got dressed and stood facing Josie, tears in her eyes. “You done?”

“No. I’m not done. Do you even know who the father is? Honestly. Can you even make a top five list?”

“Right,” Steph whispered. “Because you think that some guy is going to be rich and have all the money to take care of me.”

“So that means you got knocked up by some guy at a bar. How fucking fitting.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing, Steph. How about you look around for a second. Where do you think you’re going here? I’ve let you slip for so long and I blame myself for this.”

“Right,” Steph said again.

That was her go to move. When she was cornered and knew she was guilty. She would just repeat the same thing over and over.

“Seventeen weeks,” Josie whispered. “I can’t even imagine that. And what to do next here. How to make this work.”

“You know what?… I’m just going to go to the car,” Steph said.

“Yeah, you do that. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of making the next appointment. I’ll take care of making sure you know what to get, take, whatever. I’ll even buy it for you. How’s that sound?”

Steph lowered her head and exited the room.

The second she was out of sight, Josie felt a terrible guilt weigh down on her. She shut her eyes and put a hand to her mouth.

Did Steph deserve that? Yeah. Did she deserve it right then? No.

Josie took care of checking out at the desk, making the next appointment, and getting all the papers with information from the doctor.

She left the office building and walked to the parking lot to her car.

She expected to find Steph waiting in the passenger seat, either crying or scrolling aimlessly through her phone.

Instead, the car was empty.

There was a note stuck under one of the wiper blades.

Josie slid the note out and quickly knew it was Steph’s handwriting.

And it said two words.

I’m sorry.

* * *

Josie didn’t know where else to go.

She pulled into the lot of Back Down Devil MC with her heart racing and the feeling that she was going to throw up. Steph was gone. And she wasn’t answering her phone. She couldn’t think of anything else to do. Going to the police would have been useless because Steph wasn’t actually missing. She voluntarily walked away. Somewhere. Josie thought she could find her. How far could Steph have really walked in the few minutes it took Josie to check out at the doctors?

Which left her wondering something else.

What if she knew who the father was? What if she called for a ride? What if she’s already on her way to another state? To start a new life?

By the time Josie parked the car, she was the one in tears. Attacking Steph had been stupid and now Josie was the one suffering for it.

She walked through the lot, hugging herself, the walk so familiar. How many times in her life had she walked across that same spot with tears in her eyes? Looking for the comfort of Reese’s strong arms?

From the corner of her eye, she saw two guys approaching her. Their leather cuts were all-black with a small logo of the MC on it. That meant they were prospects.

“Hey, can we help you?” one of them asked.

“Get Reese,” she said. “Now.”

“We can’t do that,” the other one said. “That’s not how it works.”

Josie stopped and looked at them. “You’re fucking low life prospects who don’t know a thing about this life. I’ve been in this life since I was thirteen years old. My father tried to take down the MC and lost his life. I’ve known Reese since I was thirteen. Do you really want to fucking tell me how this works? Because if you don’t get Reese, I’ll just walk into the clubhouse and tell him you refused to help me.”

The two prospects looked at each other and nodded.

One broke away and hurried toward the clubhouse.

The other stood there. “So, what’s your name?”

“Don’t talk to me, prospect,” Josie said.

She couldn’t believe how vicious she’d become lately. Ever since she started talking to Reese again…

No. That’s nothing. It’s life. It’s everything happening in life.

It took a minute before Reese came barreling through the door and was charging across the lot.

Seeing the way he moved and the look in his eyes… it made Josie feel things that were dangerous.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Reese asked.

“Steph is gone.”

“What?”

“We went to the doctors. She’s seventeen weeks pregnant.”

“What?” he yelled.

“Yeah. I sort of lost it on her, Reese. I told her to go to the car and she didn’t. She took off. She left a note. I don’t know where she is. I don’t know…”

That’s when Josie’s voice finally quit. And her heart. And her emotions. Everything.

She felt her knees starting to give way and Reese was there to catch her.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s okay. We’ll find her. Look at me, Josie.”

She looked up at him.

“I’ll find her,” Reese said. “Come with me. We’ll get on my ride and go.”

“What about my car?”

Reese looked at the prospects. “You. Watch her car. Keep your phone handy if I need you. Got that?”

“Yes, sir,” one said.

“You,” Reese said to the prospect on the right. “Go inside and tell Ellis that I’m helping Josie with something. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come on,” Reese said.

He slipped his hand into Josie’s and started to run.

She ran with him, bringing back even more memories.

Josie swore to herself she’d never end up here again. Taking Reese’s helmet. Adjusting the strap so it fit under her chin snugly. Watching him stand his motorcycle up and start it. Hearing and feeling the rumble as she climbed on the back. Sliding her hands around his body and interlocking her fingers together. That first rush as the motorcycle moved and her body jerked back.

Just like that, they were off.

Just like that, Josie was letting Reese ride back into her heart.

* * *

If Josie thought she couldn’t feel any worse, she was wrong. Because the first place where Reese decided to check was the place where Steph was.

The cemetery.

The ride took about fifteen minutes. Josie had no idea how Steph managed to get there, but she promised herself she wouldn’t attack Steph for it. She was sure that Steph didn’t intend to get pregnant, but she got pregnant. Which meant there was a baby on the way. A new life. A life that was going to be special. A life that needed all the love in the world.

When Reese turned his motorcycle and eased by the tall, iron gates, Josie shivered. She had a thing about cemeteries. She didn’t like them at all. Her own dumb childhood fears, but also because she had the experience of watching her father get lowered into the ground when she was just a teenager. Because her father had gotten too mixed up with things in the life of outlaws, gangs, and the law.

Josie shut her eyes and waited until the motorcycle came to a stop.

She opened her eyes and saw Steph sitting on the grass, right at Laszlo’s grave.

Reese killed the engine. “There she is.”

“I should have known,” Josie said. “I’m sorry I bothered you, Reese.”

Josie climbed off the motorcycle. Reese hurried to grab her wrist. “Hey, sweetheart. I’ll go with you.”

Reese took her hand again and they walked toward Laszlo’s grave.

Josie couldn’t imagine what Reese was feeling. He and Laszlo had been best friends. From the time they were little kids. Everything was Reese and Lasz. It was always a packaged deal. Even when they were teenagers, Josie would try and get one of her friends to come along on dates because Reese could never go anywhere without Lasz at his side.

Now they were separated. By a bullet and six feet of dirt.

“Steph,” Josie said.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I said I don’t want to hear it.”

Reese winked at Josie and broke away. He crouched down and put a hand to Steph’s shoulder.

“He was a crazy son of a bitch, Steph,” Reese said. “And I miss him every day.”

“Me too,” she said. “He’d be so mad at me right now. I let him down.”

“No, you didn’t,” Reese said. “Shit happens in life. I shouldn’t have ragged you the way I did. I haven’t seen you in forever, Steph. I should have been around more. Seeing you makes me think of him. You were a pain in the ass as a kid. Always in our way.”

Steph smiled. “You guys were my heroes. I had a huge crush on you, Reese.”

“I know you did. You used to write things about me. Creep.”

“Shut up,” Steph said, blushing.

Reese put a hand out for Josie. She inched forward, and Reese pulled her down.

Steph looked at Josie and then looked away.

“I’m sorry, Steph,” Josie said. “For what I did. The way I did it. I was shocked.”

“So was I,” Steph said. “I really had no idea. I didn’t pay attention to myself. Things that were changing. All I noticed was that the last few weeks I haven’t felt good. When I would try to drink, I would get sick.”

Josie cringed at the idea of Steph trying to drink while being pregnant. But she didn’t know she was pregnant. Not that it made it okay, it just made it… whatever.

“You’re not alone,” Josie said.

“I know that,” Steph said. “I don’t want to live off you.”

“You won’t,” Josie said. “But you’re not living on the street. Pregnant or not.”

“Hey,” Reese said. “It’s life. It’s never perfect. Right now, you need to take care of your body and that baby.”

“How’d you know to come here?” Steph asked.

“I didn’t,” Josie said. “I was in a panic. Reese came right here.”

“I just knew,” Reese said. “I’d do the same. I have done the same. When you feel at your lowest, you want to go back in time and figure it out. I’d give anything to change what happened. But we can’t.” He stood up. He offered his hand to Steph. “We can only go forward. And right now, going forward is taking care of that kid.”

Steph was finally standing.

Josie couldn’t contain herself as she hugged Steph.

They both started to cry.

From the corner of Josie’s eye, she watched as Reese approached the headstone. He put his fingertips to the headstone and lowered his head.

Josie’s heart was twisted and breaking into pieces.

She broke away from Steph and touched her face. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I won’t,” Steph said. “I didn’t know what else to do. I knew you were mad at me. I didn’t want you to get more upset.”

“That was my fault,” Josie said. “I shouldn’t have reacted that way. But… seventeen weeks?”

“I know,” Steph said. “I’m terrified.”

“We can be scared together.”

“I don’t want you to have to move,” Steph said.

“Don’t worry about that part of things,” Josie said. “One step at a time.”

“Listen to me, both of you,” Reese said. He stood there, tall, strong, commanding. “The club takes care of family. Lasz was by my side for a long time. He wore the cut. You’re family to me, Steph. Through him. Through everything. Which means you’re protected. The baby is protected. I’m not promising fucking rainbows here… but there’s no need to run.”

“I’m sorry,” Steph said. “I’m tired. I want to go home. And eat. And cry. And sleep.”

Josie nodded and rubbed a hand along Steph’s back. It was starting to get dark now. Being in a cemetery was scary enough, but at night? No way. Josie wanted nothing to do with that. Not to mention her father was buried not too far from where they were standing.

“So how does this work with a motorcycle?” Steph asked.

“I’ll take you, Steph,” Reese said. “We’ll leave Josie to herself here.”

“Shut up,” Josie said. “No way.”

Reese grinned. “Still afraid, huh?”

“I hate you,” Josie said.

She turned as Steph started to giggle.

Reese called the prospects and made them come and bring her car.

Of course Reese had a plan. He always had a plan. That’s what made him Reese.

Reese got Steph into the car and walked Josie to the driver’s side.

“Thank you, Reese,” she said, putting a hand to his chest. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

“I’m glad you came. I’m glad I could help.”

“I, uh, this is weird… but I have no way to contact you.”

“Are you asking me for my phone number, sweetheart?”

“Maybe I am.”

Reese grinned. “I’ve got something better for you.”

“Oh?” Josie asked.

Reese leaned down, the scruff of his face tickling her cheek.

“The night isn’t over, sweetheart… I’m following you home.”