DECK

Holy fucking shit! How did a three-year-old, pint-sized tutu-wearing little girl rock your world?

By doing what my Shiloh just did, calling Charlie Mummy without any prompting from me and without any discussions about whether she would like Charlie to be her mummy from now on. Nope, she just came straight out and said it. All over a pair of shitkicker boots made in pink.

I thought I was going to be the one rocking my woman’s world there tonight. But it seemed I got bested by a three-year-old.

“Brother, Teach has totally outdone me with those pink boots,” Darth complained, coming at me.

“That ain’t the best part, brother.” I looked around at my club members, and they were all there to see my daughter and my woman have their moments on the stage.

“What you talking about, Deck?” Booth asked. He was standing next to a very pissed off looking Stella.

What the fuck was going on now? Then I saw Ingrid standing at the end of the aisle, dressed demurely for once. The girls were warned to dress more appropriately for tonight if they wanted to come, and looking closer at Booth, I saw he had a smudge of red lipstick on his neck. The same shade of red Ingrid was wearing. Oh, for fuck’s sake. At my daughter’s ballet recital? Jesus Christ, Booth.

But whatever shit Booth was causing with Stella was not going to have an impact on the joy of what just went down with Shiloh and Charlie.

“Shiloh called Charlie Mummy,” I announced with what I was sure a shit eating grin on my face. “No warning, no prompting. She just came out with ‘look what Mummy got me.’”

“Fuck, brother, that is fucking awesome.” Darth patted my shoulder.

“It was awesome, man. Charlie was sitting down on the floor, and she couldn’t get up from the shock of it all. Tears were streaming down her face. Damn, it was one of the best moments of my life, brother,” I said.

The lights above us flickered a few times, then they slowly dimmed, signalling the night’s event was about to begin. I quickly found my seat, as did the other members and friends of the Wounded Souls. All of them were smiling and happy for my family.

Then Charlie appeared on stage, dressed in a silky white robe over her ballet costume. Her hair was pulled completely off her face into a neat, tight bun, and her face was all made up with stage makeup. Her eyes were dark, and even from my seat in the second row, I could see she had thick, long lashes—they didn’t look real—and her lips were a deep ruby red. She looked absolutely beautiful, but she looked better when she was just my sweetness. She walked across the stage towards the microphone.

“Thank you, all for joining us here tonight. The Sunshine and Daisies dance class welcomes you to a night of Swan Lake and sugar plum fairies.” She smiled at the audience, and being accustomed to looking at such strong stage lights, Charlie’s gaze easily found mine. And I got my smile.

“I love you so much,” I mouthed the words to her.

She answered with a saucy wink and grin, then she did a pirouette for the crowd and glided off the stage, her arms stretched out.

For the next half an hour, we were entertained by girls of various ages, all dancing some part of Swan Lake. To be honest, I was bored shitless, and Charlie hadn’t been back on stage since her first greeting

Pretty boy Alexander, who thought putting his hands on my woman in my own compound was a good thing, took over the emcee job. The smartarse prick had even winked at me when he came on stage to introduce one of the performances.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Four Little Swans.” Charlie’s voice was coming from somewhere behind the curtain. I could hear giggling that sounded very much like my little swan.

“Mummy, doos my shitkickers look okay?” Shiloh’s voice was so loud, it sounded like she was holding the bloody microphone.

Darth and Booth were laughing quietly while Steel and Mannix were just about pissing themselves. Creed was just sitting there, but I could see even in the darkness his eyes were shining with laughter. Kind of.

“Baby girl, you look breathtaking. Are you ready to dance for Daddy and your uncles?”

I smiled at Charlie’s answer. Soft and gentle encouragement. Not reprimanding Shiloh for speaking loudly and out of turn.

“Abso-effing-lutely.”

Oh, God, she didn’t. Looking around the audience, I could see that, except for the members of the club, people were shocked.

“Might have to get a handle on that child’s language, Deck,” Ingrid called out, a sly grin on her face.

“Mind your own business,” Stella said angrily to her, taking the words out of my mouth.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Ingrid responded loudly back, causing some parents to look our way. Fucking great. Who invited this bitch?

Before Stella or I could retort, Booth held up his hand. “I suggest you tread carefully, Ingrid. Deck is an officer of this club, so you show him and Shiloh respect. And Stella is totally off limits, get me?” His voice was low and quiet so as not to attract too much more attention our way.

I could hear Stella’s intake of breath before she mumbled, “I’m so confused.”

Yeah, darlin’, I can’t say I blame ya.

“Knock it off. Shiloh is coming out.” Darth growled as Shiloh and her friends made their way onto the stage, all four of them tethered by their arms. Shiloh was decked out in the chunky pink boots, and the others were in standard ballet slippers. My girl was unique. The familiar sound of the upbeat swan music we had all been listening to at the compound for the last three weeks started to play.

“That’s my girl,” I yelled, standing up and clapping hard as I could.

“Encore, encore,” Booth and Steel shouted, their hands making just as much noise as mine were.

“Go, Squirt. Good job, kid,” Darth cheered, his deep voice sounding more like a bellow.

Rainn, Vegas, Stella, and Mia were all on their feet, whistling and clapping. Shiloh was still on the stage taking her tenth curtsey and lapping up the attention like a sponge. She was waving madly at everyone in our row and lifting up her tiny feet to show off her new boots.

“Now, Daddy?” she suddenly shrieked out. The lights were in her eyes, and she couldn’t see exactly where I was sitting, so her head was looking in every direction. Good fucking God, this kid.

“No, Squirt, not yet,” I answered back, getting curious stares from my brothers. But I wasn’t telling them shit. The very fact Shiloh had kept this secret for as long as she had surprised the fuck out of me, giving me hope I might just pull this off.

“Okey-dokey, Ranger Joe,” she called back, then stomped off the stage. And I meant that quite literally.

I sent Darth a death glare. “Really, arsehole. Must you teach her that shit?”

“Yep.”

Bastard.

Alexander the prick returned to the stage. His smile was wide as he picked up the microphone from the small stand.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are really in for a treat. To finish off this evening’s entertainment, we have a special performance of The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, requested by the stunningly beautiful Shiloh and danced for us by the exquisite and very talented Charlotte Jackson.”

The clapping began as Charlie walked out onto the stage. Her white costume looked like she had a big white lacy plate around her middle. She had a diamond tiara on her head, and she looked magnificent. Then she started dancing.

And I couldn’t look away.

Her legs were going in all different directions, sometimes almost over her head. She spun so fast, I didn’t know how she didn’t get dizzy and throw up. Her steps were sure and deft, spinning herself across the stage in a large circle. On and on she spun and twirled herself, picking up speed with every rotation. Jesus Christ, she was fantastic. Mesmerising us all. The crowd was, all of a sudden, on their feet clapping their hands in appreciation of her efforts. And almost as soon as it had begun, the dance was over. She had a cheeky grin on her face, enjoying herself.

Fuck, I was so in love with her. This was it. My happily-ever-after.

Getting to my feet, I pushed my way out of the row and quickly made my way backstage. Charlie was too busy accepting the crowd’s applause to see that I had left my seat.

“Deck, quick, over here.” Alexander the prick was ready and waiting with Shiloh and the massive bunch of colourful gerberas. Apparently, according to Shiloh, roses weren’t going to cut it for this moment. Charlie liked gerberas, so that was what I got.

“Thanks, man. I appreciate your help with this.”

“My pleasure, friend. Charlotte is very special, and you both deserve this.”

“Okay, Shiloh, out you go.” I put the bunch of flowers in her arms, and Alexander helped guide her to where Charlie was still curtseying to the crowd.

I had this all planned. All I needed was for Shiloh to hold shit in for a few more minutes. As I watched my daughter head towards Charlie, I got ready to walk out on stage. Shiloh just had to hand Charlie the flowers, and I would take that exact moment to—”

“Mummy, will you say yes when Daddy asks you to marry him?”

And fuck it.

Shaking my head in amusement and defeat, I walked past a laughing Alexander the prick and made my way out to the two most important people in my life, I was going to ask the most important question of my life, but Squirt beat me to it. Dammit, I was so close. She’d nearly made it.

Charlie was looking at Shiloh as if she’d grown two heads. She hadn’t seen me yet. Huh, maybe I can salvage this a bit after all. Thinking quickly, I took the ring box from the pocket of my leather jacket and slid easily to one knee.

“Sweetness,” I called out to her.

Charlie looked from Shiloh to me, and the flowers that were in her arms dropped to the ground.

“Mummy, you drops your flowers,” Shiloh scolded her, rushing to pick them up, but Charlie just had eyes for me.

“Deck?” My name came out in a whisper like she was praying. Like she did when she was coming, and we had to be quiet.

“I love you, Charlotte Jackson. I fucking love you more than I ever thought I would be able to love. You make me a better man. You make me happy. You make my world better. I love how you love our daughter, and I fucking love how you love me.”

I gave her a cheeky wink, and when she blushed, I knew she was thinking exactly how I loved the ways she loved me.

“Put me out of my misery, Sweetness, and marry my arse.”

I stayed down on my knee for minutes as I watched Charlie focus on what I was actually doing at that moment. She was stunned speechless. Her face still flushed from her performance caused her chest to rise and fall rapidly.

“Are you going to say yes and be my mummy forever?” Shiloh piped up. The blessed beauty and innocence of a child.

And then Charlie smiled my smile.

“You bet my behind I am, baby girl.”

Then Charlie took off and leapt into my arms, her arms and legs wrapping around me tight as if she couldn’t or wouldn’t let go. And that was just fine with me. I held her to me. Her body was damp with perspiration, and I could smell the sweet smell of her peach body lotion. I took a deep breath and sighed. It worked—it fucking worked. I pulled back so I could see her beautiful face, and I grinned at her.

“So that is a yes?” I asked drily.

Charlie threw her head back and laughed. Fucking beautiful. And fucking mine.

“That is an effing yes, Deck Johnston.” She giggled. It was goddamn music to my ears.

“One of these days, Sweetness, I’m going to get you to scream out the word fuck so loud, my ears will ring for hours afterwards,” I whispered in her ear. I was mindful of the fact Shiloh was now dancing around us holding on to the microphone in her hand, chattering away to Darth from the stage.

“In your dreams, soldier boy. I love you, too. Now, where is my ring?”