Fuck, my head is killin' me. Drinkin' with my brothers like that is not something I planned on doing. I barely remember making it upstairs last night. It takes a few minutes, but standing under the spray water helps to clear my brain fog long enough to rewind all the events that lead to the massive hangover I'm sporting. I can't imagine what Mila must have thought when I didn’t return home. Finishing my shower, I get dressed in the same clothes, then I walk downstairs to the kitchen hoping someone may have gotten up before me and made some coffee. As soon as I walk through the door, Prez is standing at the counter in the middle of pouring a mug of coffee for himself.

"Reid. I saw your bike outside. What the hell you doin' here this early?"

Lifting my hand, I run my finger through my still damp hair and continue my path towards getting coffee. "It’s a long fuckin' story, Prez," I inform him, hoping he'll let it be.

"Get you a cup of coffee and have a seat. I got nothin' but time, son." He clarifies as he pulls out a chair at the table.

I should have known he wouldn’t let it be. Me being here like this is far from average. Doesn’t make it any better walking into the kitchen looking as rough as I do. After I fix my coffee, I stride over and take a seat across from him at the table and take a decent gulp and wait. Jake stares at me over the rim of his mug before he sets it down and speaks.

"You gonna tell me what's going on or you gonna make me dig it out of ya?"

"Found out Mila's daughter Ava… hell, she's Noah's," I repeat for the second time in hours. Even for Jake, this is huge. He loved Noah as if he was his own too. A brief look of surprise shadows his face.

"You got my attention. Why don’t you start from the beginning with this new-found information." he urges.

He intently listens to me retell how everything went down yesterday and why I'm here this morning. Not once does he interject with questions. He allows me to unload all of it. Talking with Jake comes as easy as it would have if my pops were sitting across from me instead.

"Sounds like you had one hell of a day. Tell me this. You stop and think about what all this might have meant to Mila? You stop and think about the state you left her in when you hopped on your bike and left her. Left her alone?" He chastises.

I mean. Fuck. I needed to process everything. It's not like I was never going to go back home. Too many thoughts were running through my head and too many emotions wreaking havoc. Then it dawns on me. I keep saying I or me. Jake is right. I didn't think about her at all. I was only thinking about myself and how I was feeling. I hang my head, worried I might have fucked things up with Mila. How can she trust me to love her when I walked out the door because truth and reality were too much for me to handle at the moment?

"I need to get home," I push my chair from the table and stand.

"You hold on to her, son. She's helped you more than you realize. We all have seen it. Life is too fuckin' short to try and walk the earth alone," he tells me with a distant look in his eyes.

Leaving my coffee sitting on the table, I turn to walk out the kitchen. Before I reach the doorway I hear Jake's chair scratch as it slides on the floor, and I look over my shoulder as he stands and takes a few steps towards me and says one more thing.

"Your old man would be proud. Proud of who you are and the man you have become, Reid. And I couldn’t be any prouder myself. Now go get your family, son." Then he pulls me in for a hug.

"Thanks, Jake," I tell him as we part. Leaving him lookin' more tired than usual, I head out into the morning air, mount my bike, and head towards my future. Mila and Ava.

When the firehouse comes into view, I notice Bella's blue mustang sitting on the side of the road. Knowing they will have heard the rumble of the bike's engine, I go ahead and pull up near the steps and park. With each step as I climb the stairs my heart pounds a little faster. Punching in the code, I unlock the door and turn the knob and step inside to find Mila and Bella sitting on the couch. Mila's red-rimmed and sad eyes gut me. I did this to her. I'm the reason for her tears. I hurt her. Rooted in my place, I stare at her beautiful face.

"I'm going to get going. If you need me for anything, you call," Bella hugs her friend then get up and gathers her things from the table. Walking right by me, she leaves quietly closing the door behind her. I don’t take it personally. She was here to take care of and support Mila. She left knowing I need to fix things.

I stride in the direction of Mila. She stands from the couch. I cradle her face in the palm of my hands and tell her, "I am so sorry. I should have never left yesterday." I confess wanting so bad to kiss her, but I wait. Her lip quivers.

"I understand. It's okay. It’s a lot to take in," she replies holding back her emotions. Guarding herself. From me.

I shake my head from side to side, "No, Kitten. What I did- leaving you was not okay. Ava being my brother's daughter changes nothing. I want you. I need you. I'm so far in love with you I can't breathe without you." I confess. And it's true. She and her daughter mean everything to me. They became an essential part of my life weeks ago.

Waiting no longer, I bring my lips to hers. I kiss her soft and slow. I pour my heart into the kiss. She wraps her arm around my neck as our kiss deepens. Not into a hot and heavy kiss, but one of longing, one of need. When we come up for air, her voice isn’t but a whisper.

"I was scared. Scared something might have happened to you. Scared you didn’t want us. Scared I would never again get to feel your lips on mine. Feel the way my skin tingles when you touch me. I love you, Reid. I didn’t know. I'm so sorry I didn’t know," she takes a shuddered breath.

I tilt her head back, so I can look into her gorgeous eyes and brush her hair from her face with my fingertips. It's my turn to plead. "I'm so sorry I hurt you like I did. I'm sorry I left you alone when you needed me the most. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"I love you. Ava and I, we both love you." She tells me.

"I love both of you too. We can and will make this work." I reassure her. Mila looks exhausted. I'm sure she didn’t get any rest staying up with worry and doubt. Backing us up, I lower myself to the couch and lean back guiding her to follow my lead. Doing so, she settles back between my legs with her back resting against my chest. Grabbing the throw from the back of the sofa I drape it across us, and I rest my arm just under her breast and hold her close to me. "We have a little more time before Ava wakes up. Rest, Kitten. I'm not going anywhere." Linking her fingers with mine she melts into me. She falls asleep and sometime after, I do the same until I'm woken by a small tickle running down my nose. I open my eyes to find Ava who has woken me the same way I've seen her momma wake her so many times before. She is standing beside the couch with her teddy dangling at her side. Smiling at me she whispers, "Can we make pancakes?"

I can't help but look upon her face in a whole new light. I'm staring into the eyes of my brother. I take in every detail as if I've never seen her before. Her hair is the same color as Noah's. Even her smile is his smile. It tugs at my heart. "Sure, baby girl. You going to help me out?" I smile back at her. She eagerly nods her head. I hate to disturb Mila, but I know getting out from under her will not be graceful, but I slowly do my best. Moaning, Mila stirs and looks up at me. "We have a hungry little girl who's requested pancakes." I look down and tell her.

"Mmm, that sounds good. I'll put on some fresh coffee and start some bacon if you two can handle the rest," she reaches out and catches hold of her daughter then proceeds to tickle her side causing her to break out in laughter.

Standing at the stove, Mila monitors the bacon sizzling in the skillet while Ava stands on a step stool at my side and helps me flip pancakes on the electric grill nearby. I once thought the club and my career was everything and I would never want or need more in my life. I was wrong.

* * *

One day has lead to the next and before I know it life has moved on in the most natural way possible. Mila finally signed papers and closed on the house. She was hoping to meet the new owners, but they couldn’t attend the meeting in person. We've just about completed the current construction project the company was working on and in about a week we will break ground on the resort just outside of town. Despite the fact Mila has plenty of money at her fingertips, she has decided to keep working. She loves her job at the nursing home, says in some ways it helps with not having her Grams near.

Turns out sharing memories and pictures of my brother with Ava has by far been the best therapy I could have ever asked for. All this brings us to today. Ava's fifth birthday. We’re out here at Gabriel and Alba's place to have the party because our space just won't accommodate everyone. One thing Mila did splurge on was Ava's party since she didn’t have the means to do it before. She is throwing her a princess themed party because our little girl is obsessed with princesses and everything girly. A blow-up bounce house that looks like a castle sits in the middle of the backyard. And in the back corner, believe it or not, is a small six horse carousel. Don’t ask me who he knew or what he did, but this birthday surprise was from Quinn.

Mila made sure everything was taken care of, right down to a local business catering the food along with Grace agreeing to make the cake. Right now, she and some of the other women are inside putting the finishing touches to all the party favors and getting Ava into her costume while the guys and I are hanging in the backyard waiting for people to start showing up. Seems like family parties and hanging out waiting on our women is slowly becoming a regular routine for us.

"Too fuckin' pink," Gabriel remarks standing at my right with his arms crossed as he looks out at his transformed backyard.

"Embrace your feminine side, man." Quinn goads him while he places a pink and purple polka dot cone party hat on top his head.

Grunting, Gabriel gives his response. "The only feminine side I'll be embracing is when I'm holdin' my woman."

Just about the time Quinn wants to run his mouth some more, we hear several car doors slamming. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, family and friends start to arrive including River and his daughter. After he sets his daughter free to play with some of the other kids I signal for him to walk over.

"Brothers, this is River. He helped with the whole shit show that went down with Mila's parents," I introduce them. Firm handshakes get passed around.

"It's nice to meet you guys."

"Why don't you join the rest of us for a beer," I gesture to him.

"That would be great," he replies.

We all end up shootin' the shit while we are waiting. River happens to be a cool guy. I've even asked his advice on a few legal aspects concerning some new contracts we were looking at, and so far, his knowledge seems to have worked in my favor.

Before the women come out with the birthday girl and get all the party games underway, I decide to engage the guys in some more serious talk. Rubbing the back of my neck I speak, "Listen, Mila has a fancy black-tie charity event coming up in a few weeks. This, of course, is at the same time we have the charity run scheduled. I'm wondering if you guys can help me pull something off."

Collectively they nod their heads in agreement.

"Whatever you need we'll make it happen, brother. What do you have in mind?" Prez says, eager to find out more. Before I can go into any further detail, the women make their entrance with the birthday girl front and center dressed as Cinderella.

"Mind if we resume this chat sometime tomorrow at the clubhouse?" I ask them all.

"We'll be there," Logan says.

Weaving my way through a crowd of children who have gathered to plunder their tiny grabby hands into the large bucket Bella and Sofia are holding loaded down with noisemakers and candy, I reach down and scoop Ava up into my arms. "You're beautiful, baby girl," I smile at her.

Giggling, she fusses with her dress, "Thank you," she replies.

After giving her a tickle, I kiss the top of her head and put her down. Grabbing some toys of her own she joins her friends making a beeline towards Quinn who has already started up the carousel ride for the kids.

My gaze lands on Mila who is standing across the yard talking to Alba. Turning her head in my direction, she looks directly at me and smiles. It's at this moment I feel something I haven't felt in a long time. I feel complete.