Epilogue
Rider
A Year Later
“So, raise your beer for the newest member of The Fallen Reapers!” Colt said.
“Here, here!” the guys said.
“May he shoot more bullets than he takes,” Doc said.
“Here, here!” the guys said.
“May he subdue more men than he kills,” Bruiser said.
“Here, here!” the guys said.
“May he never piss off Colt’s sister, lest we lose him to his ignorance,” Fender said.
“Here, here!” the guys said with chuckles on their lips.
“Well, I think that’s about as official as it gets,” Jax said.
“Welcome to the club, Rider. We sure as hell could use you,” Doc said.
“After I healed from that bullet wound,” I said with a grin.
“We aren’t talking about that,” Zoey said. “That didn’t happen.”
“It’s not official yet. But once you slide this thing on, it will be.”
Colt pulled out a sleek leather cut with the club’s logo embroidered on the back. I’d been walking around for the past year with a shitty leather cut with a patched up bullet hole in it. I had to dry clean that piece of shit four times to get all the blood out of it, and every time I slipped it on it made Zoey cringe. She hated the thing, and so did I. It was a stark reminder of the bullet that almost took my life.
Especially after the infection I developed.
Two weeks after I’d been shot, I had a fever. One hundred and four and soaring as Zoey rushed me to the hospital. We had no choice. The club fucking hated hospitals, but I needed to be treated by a doctor in a sterile facility. The guys couldn’t come visit me because of their own paranoia and jobs and shit, but Zoey was there. Holding my hand the entire time as the rounds of antibiotics got my body back on track.
But for a while there, it was touch and go.
“Want another soda?” I asked Zoey. “I’m gonna go get one for myself.”
“Nah. You’re the guest of honor tonight,” Grave said. “I got you guys. Be right back.”
“I’m actually good for now, Grave. But I could use some water,” Zoey said.
“Pussy shit!” Grave said.
“That’s my fucking sister,” Colt said.
“And that’s the mother of my child. Watch your tongue,” I said.
“The two of you are relentless,” Zoey said as she rolled her eyes.
“You’re pregnant. Expect it,” I said with a grin.
“Speaking of, how’s the mother-to-be feeling?” Doc asked.
“Like a damn whale. I’ve hit a point where I can’t see my toes, my boobs are bigger than any of the bras I have, I’m growing out of my second round of maternity clothes, and I can’t fucking bend over to pick up anything,” she said.
“Sounds fucking terrible. I could never go through that shit,” Grave said as he slid Zoey a glass of water.
“That’s why I’m the woman, and you’re the man,” she said. “I’m stronger than all of you combined.
“No one’s arguing that truth,” Jax said.
I watched Zoey chug her water as beads of sweat gathered on her brow. This pregnancy had been beautiful, but this last trimester was hard on her. When we found out she was pregnant seven months ago, I was insistent that she move in with me. She was living in a dingy old apartment across town, and while my home wasn’t big, it had a room for us to convert into a nursery for the baby. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and fourteen hundred square feet of space to fill with things to make our family comfortable.
And a fenced-in backyard for when the little guy started getting older.
“You excited about having a boy?” Colt asked.
“Depends. If he gets his personality from Rider, I’m gonna be up shit creek without a paddle,” Zoey said.
“I’m not that bad,” I said.
“You’re stubborn as hell and huge. If he takes after you, I’m gonna be shoving a two-year-old out of my vagina.”
“That sounds terrible. It’s a shame pregnant women can’t drink. They need it more than we do,” Grave said.
“Fucking right on the nose with that one,” Doc said.
“You ever gonna make an honest woman out of my sister?” Colt asked.
“All right, big brother. Get off it,” Zoey said.
He was right. A lot of things had happened between his sister and I over the past year. We fell in love and fought for my life. She took care of me and kept my head in the game while I was recuperating and unable to help out with jobs. She kept me warm at night and always made sure I had food to eat in the house. She was carrying my child while still trying to look out for me. She had been strong for me in ways I never thought a woman would ever want to do for me. She had given me everything. Her life. Her future. Her body to enjoy and her motherly instincts to raise my child.
I looked over at Zoey, her eyes filling with rage as her and her brother continued to argue.
“What? It’s a fair question,” Colt said. “You’re living together. You’re pregnant. When’s he gonna pop the question? We all know you love one another.”
“Marriage isn’t something you can force onto someone, Colt,” Zoey said. “And I’m not gonna have you intimidating him into doing something like that.”
“So you want to marry him,” Colt said.
“Get off the damn subject. I’m hot, I’m hungry, and I have to piss. Rider? Move.”
I whipped my eyes up to her and could see beads of sweat dripping down her brow. I slid from the booth and helped her stand to her feet, holding onto her hands until her center of gravity was stable. Her hand pressed into her lower back as she waddled off to the bathroom, trying her best to get away from the scenario as I sighed.
Even with her swollen ankles and her rounded stomach, she still tugged at me in a way that was indescribable.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said as I looked at Colt.
“Not my fault you’re dragging your feet. You bought that ring two months ago, man. When the hell are you gonna grow the balls?” he asked.
I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out the diamond ring. I felt the room grow silent as everyone turned their heads toward me, taking in the canary diamond surrounded by rubies. Zoey’s two favorite colors, all wrapped up in the perfect ring that caught my eye in the jewelry store after one of her doctor’s appointments.
I heard the bathroom door slam open as a smile crossed my cheeks.
“No better time than now, I suppose,” I said with a grin.
I sank to my knee as Zoey rounded the corner. The guys parted a path, connecting my body with hers. I watched the shock roll over her face as tears welled in her eyes, smiles peeling across all the guys’ faces in the bar. She slowly waddled towards me, her thick legs carrying the weight of our child as I smiled up at her.
“Zoey, you have been the single most powerful force in my life for the past year. This club reminded me of what it meant to have a family, but you reminded me what it meant to be loved. To give love unconditionally and to feel equal to a whole person again. You took care of me when I was sick, and you nursed me back to health without so much as a complaint. You’ve turned my world upside down and helped me to see the fullness of life in a way I couldn’t see after I’d lost my leg. You made me a whole man again, Zoey, and I don’t ever want to let that go.”
I watched as tears rumbled down her cheeks.
“I love you, Zoey. And I can’t imagine ever spending my life with anyone else other than you and our child. Will you marry me?”
Zoey reached down for my shirt and fisted it in her grasp. She ripped me off my knee, our lips colliding as our teeth clattered together. The entire bar erupted into applause and cheers as I smiled into her lips, feeling her nodding against my face as her stomach started to bounce against mine.
“Guess our little boy’s happy about it, too,” she said with a grin.
I smoothed my hand over her stomach, feeling our son kick against her body. I dipped back down to my knees, pressing kiss after kiss into her stomach as she plucked the ring from my finger. I looked up and watched her slide it onto her hand, the ring fitting her perfectly even with the swelling that had taken place in her hands.
“I love you,” I said as I stood to my feet.
“I love you, too,” Zoey said as she smiled up at me. “So much.”
“Drinks for everyone!” Doc called out.
“And keep ‘em coming!” Colt exclaimed.
“You wanna get out of here?” I asked.
I saw Zoey’s eyes darken as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Do I ever,” she said with a groan.
I took her hand and led her from the bar as the crew continued to celebrate. I gripped her hand tightly as we took off for her car. I helped her into the passenger’s seat as she sat down, the car rocking with her weight as she rolled her eyes.
I dipped down to kiss her lips, my tongue sliding into her warmth as she moaned.
“Just wait until I get you home,” I said in a whisper. “You’re not gonna know what to do with yourself.”
“Then get behind the wheel of the car and drive,” she said.