Epilogue
The judge’s office is filled with my brothers and their Ol’ Ladies. Sierra, Cash, and I are up front, me holding the little girl we named Scarlett. It took three months after her birth to finally be weaned from the methadone, and we made sure that the adoption would happen the day she was released from the hospital.
The judge begins, “Today we are here to finalize the adoption of Scarlett Grace Jackson. By signing these papers, you are promising to…”
Fuck it; here goes nothing. “Wait!” I blurt, cutting off the judge. Sierra snaps her eyes to me. “We’re not doin’ it like this.” The room grows quiet, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The women are glaring at me.
Sierra’s mouth gapes open. “Hacker? What…” Tears pool in her eyes. She thinks I’m backing out.
I interrupt her, too. “What I mean is I wanna do this right.” I pull the folded marriage license I applied for the other day out of my back pocket and hand it to the judge. I turn to Sierra, pulling the one-carat princess cut diamond ring out of my pocket, and hold it out to her. “If we’re doin’ this, we’re doin’ it right. We’re gonna be a real fuckin’ family. Marry me?”
Her mouth flops open and closed. Her eyes go from the ring to me. “What?”
“I love ya’, Red, and you deserve to have the same last name as our daughter. You gonna be my wife, let me give you your fuckin’ dreams and shit?” I smile; I do a lot of that since Sierra and I worked our shit out.
Tears flow down her cheeks, but she busts out laughing and so does everyone else. “That was real romantic, Hacker.” She hesitates, and I start to think she’s going to turn me down. She slowly nods, and her beautiful smile starts to appear. “Yes, I’ll be your wife and let you make my fuckin’ dreams come true and all that shit.” I pull her into my side, kissing her lips softly. I slip the ring onto her finger; it’s the perfect fit, and looks stunning on her.
With my arm around her shoulders I turn to the judge with a smile. “She’s perfect!” Everyone laughs harder. Cash shakes his head. “Alright, judge, marry us and then let’s make Letti our official daughter.”
“Okay,” he laughs. He has us repeat our vows after him, and we seal it with a kiss. Our guests clap and congratulate us.
“Congratulations. Now, as I was saying, by signing these papers you promise to take care of Scarlett, you support her financially, emotionally, educationally, and you give her the best possible life she could have as your daughter.”
“I do,” Sierra and I say in unison.
Cash speaks up, “I promise to be the best big cousin.” I take my arm from around her shoulders, reach over, and ruffle his hair. Sierra and I both laugh, but the tears are there. Cash is such a great kid; he reminds me a lot of Max.
“We promise to babysit,” Zoey and Jacey tell him. Of course, they do. That makes everyone in the room laugh.
Dancer speaks up with a grin. “I promise to spoil her and teach her everything she needs to know about boys.”
“The fuck you…” I’m cut off by Hanger.
Hanger chimes in, “We promise to protect her from all the little shitheads that try to date her.” Zoey slaps his arm with a glare.
All of my brothers agree with Hanger, “Aye!”
“You are going to have quite the family, little lady,” the judge says to Scarlett. Damn right, she is! He turns the papers around to us and holds a pen out. Sierra signs them first and I follow. “Congratulations,” the judge announces, and everyone claps again.
I pull my wife into my arms, kiss her temple, and look up at the ceiling. I know Tisha and Max are looking down on this, and I know they are smiling wherever they are. For a long time, I didn’t think I could move on from them, find happiness again, or have a future. They will never be replaced or forgotten, but the man I am today has a lot to look forward to with Sierra, Cash, Scarlett, and the family we have become. I look forward to my new future.
We meet everyone back at the clubhouse to celebrate Scarlett’s adoption—and now, I guess, our wedding, too. I can’t believe we got married; I shake my head at the thought. Hacker and I have had one crazy ride in our lives, but I never imagined it would lead me to where I am today. Happy. Happier than I have ever been in my life. I look across the bar at my husband; his eyes are glued to me, even though Hanger and Gunner are speaking to him. We smile at each other with nothing but love in our gaze, more love than I ever dreamed was possible between two people.
My eyes move over to Cash running around with all the other kids, smiling and laughing. My heart fills with pride for him: the strength that he possesses, the compassion that is within him, and the unbreakable faith he holds, even after everything he has dealt with. He’s going to be an amazing man when he grows up.
Scarlett stirs in my lap, and I look down at our daughter. Daughter. Hacker doesn’t realize it, but he’s already made my dreams come true. I never thought I would get the chance to be a mom, but here I am. Tears blur my vision.
“You okay?” Zoey comes up next to me.
I look up with a smile. “Yeah, better than okay.” All of the ladies join us at the table, and Hacker walks over with something in his hands.
“I had to wait for this to be made, but it couldn’t have been ready on a better day.” He holds the vest out for me to look at. “You like it?” he asks.
On the front of the black vest is a patch that says Red. When he flips it around so I can see the back, it says Property of Hacker. It’s the same type of vest that the other women wear. I smile ear to ear. “I love it!” I stand, letting him put it on me.
“Welcome to the Lady Sinners!” they all shout while the men clap and stomp their feet.
I look around the room then turn to Hacker. “I love you.” I lean in, touching my lips to his.
“I love you too, Red.” He runs a hand down the back of my hair.
I gaze up at him. “I don’t think I could dream of a better life than the one I’m going to share with you.” I look around the room and back to Hacker. “And our family.”