Long after my ass had gone numb, the familiar sight of Phoenix came into view. The anticipation was reaching a fever pitch, and I could feel Hunter slowly stiffen in front of me.

“We’ve got this, babe,” I said over the wind.

He merely nodded, focused on the road.

We made another quick stop for me to dash in and have my latest pregnancy pee of the trip. As I washed my face, I took a cold, hard look at myself in the mirror.

You’re strong, you’re an adult, I reminded myself.

Dad is going to just have to get over himself.

The woman who stared back at me was obviously unconvinced, and I grimaced at her.

Hunter was topping off his tank as I waddled out of the convenience store. Leaning against the pump with his arms crossed and his boots out, he offered me a supportive smile.

“How are you holding up, babe?” He asked.

I exhaled nervously. “Well, I’m roasting in these clothes, the entire world is shaking, and Connor’s obviously awake…”

“Is he?” Hunter perked up.

“After that ride? Definitely.”

I lifted up my sweater as Hunter pulled off his fingerless leather gloves. He dropped to a kneeling position in front of me, pressing his cheek and rugged palms to my swollen womb.

As if on cue, our son kicked.

A wide smile crossed Hunter’s lips.

“That’s our son,” his voice was thick with emotion. “I’ve never felt him kick before.” He looked up at me with such undying warmth in his eyes, his body still pressed against my womb. “Sarah… I can feel our baby moving around in there.”

I smirked lovingly.

“That’s right,” he told my baby bump, sliding his palm along my skin. “It’s me. I’m your Daddy... and I can’t wait to meet you, Connor.”

It crossed my mind, as I savored the moment, that this was how life was meant to be. I might have been exhausted and sweaty at a roadside gas station, and still feeling the world rattle around me…

But I had never been happier.

“He’s probably wondering what the hell we’re doing way out here,” I chuckled. “We’ve been on the road a long time.”

“When this is all said and done,” he reminded me as he rose to a towering stand, “We’re going to have more miles to cross. Thanks to Grizz, we’ve got somewhere new to call home…”

New Orleans, I thought wistfully to myself. I’d never been there, personally. But I hoped our son would love it.

We hit the road again shortly after.

Finally, as the overhead sun finally began to lower in the clear sky, we came to my old street. The neighborhood was exactly as I’d left it before getting wrapped up with Hunter again. Staring down at us from either side were a line of pale, two-story houses with tan rooftops and tall, round alcoves shielding the front doors. Every yard was buried under a small lake of stones; without a blade of grass in sight, the stones gave way only to thick desert shrubbery that jutted out in green or dark purple patches and bursts.

Hunter turned his head slightly, muttering just loud enough for me to hear over the rumble of his engine. “Well, this brings back memories…”

It sure did.

Our destination was a house coming up on our left, one of the nicer ones on the street. It wasn’t quite the overpriced, imposed mansion that loomed at the end of the cul-de-sac, but it was still picturesque and clearly maintained with care.

“Your Dad has always been concerned with appearences…”

“That’s the ex-military in him,” I noted. “Ever since his time in the army, Dad’s had a lifelong obsession with keeping things neat and clean.”

Hunter slowed us down, gazing at the house. I couldn’t see his expression from behind him, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell how he bristled at being so close to it. The clear, visible reminder of his discomfort in being here only further endeared my lover to me, and I lovingly squeezed his torso in my embrace.

There was something under his breath.

“I didn’t hear you,” I said.

“Thinking aloud,” he apologized. “What you said about your Dad. There are definitely worse obsessions to have.”

I dwelled on that for a moment.

Hunter grunted as he turned us onto the concrete driveway, parking right in front of the closed garage door – next to my father’s old truck. From here, we couldn’t see the front door, but undoubtedly my father had heard the rumbling of the motorcycle engine.

I wondered what he thought of that.

“Give me a second to check the bike,” Hunter noted after he carefully helped me off the back, dropping to his knees on the driveway. “Think I heard a noise I don’t recognize. It’ll give me peace of mind to do a quick look-over.”

“That works,” I smiled. “That’ll give me few minutes alone with Dad, anyway.”

He glanced up with a wide grin. “Kind of what I was thinking. Not that I’m exactly eager to look him in the eye again… But seeing you without me first might keep the old coot cooled down.”

I laughed bitterly. “One can hope…”

“Hey,” he stood up again. In a stride, he closed the distance between us to grasp my shoulders and look me square in the eyes. “Sarah, no matter what goes down, I’ve got your back… and I promise you, I’ll be on my best behavior. If there’s any chance this thing is gonna work… I’ll give it my all. I know how important this is to you.”

I smiled appreciatively.

“Thanks, babe.”

I planted a quick peck on his lips.

“Go,” he said, flashing me a handsome smile.

While Hunter knelt back beside his chopper and pulled open a compartment with a couple of tools, I turned towards the familiar front door of the Buchanan household.

I had spent the latter half of my childhood growing up in this house, always under the stern, protective eye of the local sheriff. He’d been a firm but loving father, rough around the edges but he was still my dad at the end of the day.

He always told you how proud you made him…

It was true.

After the fiasco that drove Hunter into the desert, along with whatever few survivors and escapees were left in the Devil’s Dragons MC, I had followed my father’s ragged, prestigious footsteps into law enforcement.

Months of police academy…

Years working the late night beat…

Crushing every gender barrier on the force…

The day I’d been promoted to detective was the happiest of my father’s life, and he made sure I damn well knew it. For all his flaws, my disciplinarian father had never been prouder.

Now, it was time to bring the bad boy home to Dad… the very same punk kid he had spent years trying to swat away from me, using every resource as a police sheriff to pull it off.

Worse, I was bringing that punk back home with a glistening ring in my pocket, and a kicking baby in my womb…

I smiled to myself. Well, here goes nothing.

My knuckles rapped loudly on the door.

There was the sound of small commotion from nearby, probably the living room. After all, he was expecting us, and I heard the soft footfall of his approaching steps.

3…

2…

1…

The doorknob jingled, and the door pulled open from the inside. There, standing awkwardly in the doorway and leaning on his cane, was my sun-weathered father, dressed in white slacks and an airy matching button-up.

“Sarah!” He greeted me, his arm held wide.

I carefully embraced him. “Daddy!”

It felt so great to hold him again. His age was beginning to wear him down, and he was thinner and rougher than I remembered.

It was crazy to think that I hadn’t seen him in almost a year. That had been right before I found a photo of Hunter, buried in the case files on my first day as a Phoenix detective…

“You’re dressed so warmly,” he grunted, eying my scarf and the thick garment. “Too sunny for that shit! You’re the first person I’ve seen wearing a sweater out here in ages…”

“Oh, there’s a nice breeze out…”

My father waved that thought away.

“Bah, doesn’t matter. If you’re comfortable like that, who am I to judge? All that’s important is that you’re here now…”

He looked at me with such fondness.

I was almost utterly taken aback.

My father stepped aside, pulling the door further ajar. “It’s great to see you, sweetheart. Now, why don’t we get you and your man inside, wherever he is, and out of this warm Arizona air? I’ve got dinner heated on the stove. I cooked your favorite, like I said!”

“That’s great, Dad. I appreciate it.”

I stepped inside after him, almost tripping on the doorframe. My father turned on his cane to help, but I waved him off.

“I’m okay. Just a bit nauseous…”

“From those clothes?” He asked thoughtfully. “Why don’t we get you into something a little cooler? You still have some things in your old bedroom, I’m sure that stuff will fit…”

I quickly banished that thought.

“Oh, no, that’s fine. I like this.”

I need to space these bombshells out as much as I can, I thought to myself. Hunter, plus fiancé, plus a baby on the way? I don’t need his heart giving out…

“Well, in that case,” my father suspiciously noted, “can I get you a glass of water or anything? Something to drink, maybe? You must be parched after that drive up here–”

In an instant, every drop of delighted warmth evaporated from his expression.

“No…” he groaned.

I didn’t have to guess. The crunching of booted footsteps behind me told me that the main reason I was here had just stepped into view.

“Jack,” Hunter spoke from behind. His large form in the doorway blocked some of the light. “Good to see you again, after all these years.”

My father’s gaze shifted to horror.

He pulled his stare from over my shoulder to my face, then back to Hunter, then back to me again. “Tell me this is some sick joke.”

I turned to face Hunter. He stood in the door, clearly waiting on an invitation to enter. He was putting on the bravest, most respectful face that I’d ever seen.

“Daddy… you remember Hunter?”

My father swallowed angrily.

“Hunter Hargreaves…” His wind-hardened face set into the same patriarchal scowl I had seen so much as a kid. “You awful, miserable little shit! How dare you darken this doorway! What have you done to my daughter?”

Whether he recognized an invitation wasn’t coming, or he simply wanted to show me his support, Hunter took his place beside me.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, sir.”

My father banged the foot of his cane against the hardwood floor. “You trying to make a fool of me, boy? There is no reason you would ever be in Sarah’s life again unless you’ve… you’ve done something to her!”

“Dad!” I firmly put my foot down. “A lot’s happened since I left for Tucson! Do you want to hear about it, or not?”

His scowling face turned its fury to me.

“Hunter Hargreaves is not welcome in this house, Sarah… You’ve known this for years. Why would you bring this boy here, after we finally got rid of him before?”

I took Hunter’s hand in mine.

“He’s not a boy anymore, Daddy. He’s a man. And I’m a woman. We’re adults now, but if that’s the way you want to do this, then so be it, Dad. We’re a package deal now. If Hunter’s not welcome, than neither am I.”

Dad’s eyes flared, then narrowed.

I could tell he was simmering with fury.

“…Fine,” he finally barked at the two of us. Casting a disgusted look at Hunter, he turned on his cane and began to hobble into the house. “Dinner’s ready in the kitchen…”

I let out a small sigh of relief.

Before I could count my blessings, Hunter leaned into my ear. As he whispered, a sly, mischievous chuckle bounced off of Hunter’s lips.

“Well… I think that went pretty well.”

Feared outlaw leader or not, he was goddamn lucky I didn’t smack the shit out of him.