CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ice
I WALKED INTO Reed Security, smiling like a fool. I had my baby girl in my arms and everything was right in the world. Of course, all the shit I was dragging with me was enough to break my back. Who knew you had to take so much shit with you because of something so tiny? I walked into the lobby and beamed when everyone stopped and stared at my little bundle. “Iceman, look at you. A proud new papa,” Cap said as he walked out of the office. “Isn’t she gorgeous?” I said, holding her so he could see. “Fucking beautiful. What did you name her?” “Zoe.” “Damn, she’s beautiful. You’re one lucky bastard.” “I know.” “Is that…is she wearing a plaid dress?” “It was a gift from Jake,” I said, rolling my eyes. “The plaid boyfriend?” “Not a boyfriend,” I growled. A cry came from the conference room and we headed in there, grinning when we saw all the little kiddos in there. Sinner was there with his daughter, who was almost a year old. Violet was beautiful with bluish purple eyes and dark brown hair, and was already practicing her walking skills. Zoe was a mix of her momma and me with brown eyes and blonde hair. Then there was Lola’s daughter, Piper. She was a few months older than Zoe. Piper had black hair and the most vibrant blue eyes I’d ever seen. “Aww, look at Ice, all domesticated and shit,” Sinner grinned as he walked over to me. “Damn, she’s gorgeous, man. How did you get out of the house with her?” “She was up all last night. Lindsey needed the break.” “What’s wrong with her?” “I don’t know, man.” I sighed as I looked at my sweet girl. She looked like an angel right now. You’d never know she was a fucking demon last night. “She was screaming all night. We just couldn’t calm her down.” “Huh, you know, sometimes when Violet gets really cranky, I just smack her back.” My eyes swiveled from my daughter to Sinner. “You what?” “Yeah, I just give her a good smack in the back. Shuts her up real fast.” “Because you beat her, asshole,” Sebastian said as he walked up. “No, I’m serious. It’s like she’s got a bubble or something stuck. You know, like when you need to burp? A good swat to the back seems to dislodge it.” I looked down at my little girl again and wondered if that would actually work. Sinner was a dumbass some of the time, but what he was saying actually made sense. In a completely strange fucked up way. “Have you come across the explosive diaper yet?” Sebastian asked. “Holy shit. You should have seen what came out of her after breastfeeding for a few days. I swear, this kid shits after every feeding.” “You gotta treat it like you would an IED,” Sebastian said seriously. “Handle with extreme care and when you get that shit cleaned up, get it the fuck out of the house. I’m telling you, don’t use the fucking diaper genie. One of those bags rips? The smell is enough to take out the whole fucking neighborhood.” “Yeah, but it’s getting the shit cleaned up to begin with that’s the problem. I swear, Zoe shits like she’s been building it up for a week.” “I hear ya. Violet’s the same way. What you do is you just load her up with wipes. I’m telling you, put as many as you can over it and make one long ass wipe. Don’t get that shit on your hands. I’m telling you, use as many fucking wipes as you have to,” he emphasized. “It’s like a fucking biohazard.” “You know what’s worse than that?” Sebastian asked. “The puking. Damn, Caitlin was a puker.” “It’s called spit up, asshole,” Lola said as she carried Piper around the room. “Always have a cloth over your shoulder.” “Look at you, all full of baby knowledge and shit,” Sinner grinned. “Yeah, well, I have a fucking baby. I would hope that I’m full of knowledge and shit.” “Nah, it’s just that, well, none of us ever figured you’d hop on the baby train.” I was just saying what all the other guys were thinking. “I didn’t hop on the baby train. Believe me, Piper is a demon. I deal with her the way I would deal with any insurgent. You have to know your enemy. If you look at her and think oh she’s so sweet and cuddly, that’s the moment that you fall victim to her. It’s all about eye contact. You look that kid in the eye and you tell her how shit’s going down. The minute you start feeling like you’re gonna give in, you look deep into her eyes and say, I’m not falling for your shit.” “Damn, it’s like a fucking baby convention in here,” Chance said as he walked into the room. “Cap, I gotta tell you, I’m not really comfortable coming here and seeing this shit.” “Get the fuck over it,” Cap snapped. “We have kids and someday you will too.” “Not a fucking chance. While all you fuckers are up late at night wiping pussy, I’m eating it.” “That’s fucking disgusting,” I sneered. “Don’t talk about my daughter like that.” He shrugged. “I’m just telling it like it is. You know, Ice, you were never pussy whipped like this. You were the one telling everyone to fuck and leave. Now you’re walking around with a baby in your arms and you’re talking about baby shit.” “I wouldn’t give it up for the world, man. This little girl has me wrapped around her finger and I fucking love it. Just you wait, man. Your day will come.” He snorted and walked away as he shook his head. Cazzo walked into the room with a huge grin on his face. “Let me see that little peanut,” he said, grabbing Zoe from my arms. “Damn, look at that face. You got a fucking cute kid.” “Yeah, she’s just as beautiful as her momma.” “I gotta get used to this. Vanessa’s pregnant,” he grinned. “No shit? How far along?” “She’s twelve weeks. We didn’t want to say anything, you know? After what happened last time, it just felt like we might jinx it. She’s been to the doctor a few times just to be on the safe side and they said everything looks good.” “Damn, that’s fucking great, man,” Sebastian said, slapping Cazzo on the shoulder. “She and Freckles can do the whole baby thing together.” “What?” Sinner said in shock. “Freckles is on the nest? Again?” “Yeah, she wasn’t so sure about it, but I was determined to knock her up again.” “You remember what it was like last time, right? Why would you put yourself through that?” Sinner said, looking a little pale. “I’m going for a boy this time. I need a strapping young lad to blow shit up with,” Sebastian puffed out his chest. I snorted. “Good luck with that one. So far, we’re all fucked. Every single on of us is having girls.” “Just gotta keep trying until one of us has a boy,” Sebastian said. “Just so you know, I won’t be anywhere near you for the weeks leading up to her delivery,” Sinner interjected. “I’ve seen it once and I’m never seeing it again.” “Just don’t call her fat this time. I had to hear about that for three fucking months after she had Caitlin. Do you know how many times I had to lie and tell her she wasn’t fucking fat?” “What?” We all spun around, seeing Maggie standing in the doorway with a look of horror on her face. “You were lying to me? You thought I was fat?” “What?” Sebastian fumbled over his words. “No, fuck no, Freckles. You were…you just…baby and water weight.” He stood there with his mouth hanging open, trying to come up with something intelligent to say. “Sinner’s the one that called you fat,” he said, pointing his finger in Sinner’s face. “But you just said that you had to lie to me,” she said with tears in her eyes. “No, no, no, no.” He shook his head rapidly as he gaped like a fish. “What I meant was…” He cleared his throat and looked over at me nervously. I fucking laughed. There was no way out of this one. “You had this nice, full ass and huge fucking boobs and…some might misconstrue that as being fat… uh, but not me. I fucking loved your curves, Freckles. And…the wider, the better.” Maggie’s eyes narrowed in on him as she crossed her arms over her chest. “The wider, the better?” she said slowly. “Uh-huh. Baby got back.” Sinner gripped tightly onto his shoulder, his own shaking with laughter. “Dude, abort abort. The plane is fucking going down in flames.” “I’d like to see you carry around a baby in your belly for nine fucking months and then push it out through a hole the size of a quarter.” “Is that all it is, man? I would have thought you were bigger than a quarter,” Sinner said, looking down toward Cap’s groin. “Oh, no. It fucking stretches,” I nodded vigorously. “Believe me, I saw it. That thing gets fucking huge. I’m kinda scared to see if Lindsey’s has shrunk to a normal size yet.” “You guys are such assholes,” Maggie spat. She pointed her finger at Cap, her eyes narrowed in rage. “I’m not having any more kids after this. And let me tell you something, this is going to be another girl. As God as my witness, I’ll never give you a boy!” She turned and stormed out of the room like a hurricane. Cap turned to all of us and swore. “Next time, one of you fuckers tell me when my wife is about to enter the room.” “I don’t understand. Don’t you keep notes on your fridge that tell you what to say in certain situations?” I asked with a grin on my face. “There’s not one that covers calling your wife fat.” Sinner pulled back and punched Cap in the face. Cap stumbled back, holding his eye. “What the fuck was that for?” Sinner shrugged. “When I called her fat, you said that the notes would probably say to punch me. I figured it applied to you too.” “Shit. What happened, Knight?” I said as I turned to see him stumble into the room, looking like he’d just been hit by a mac truck. He looked around at all the kids and swallowed hard. “I just…” He shook his head and swallowed again. “Kate…” “What?” I asked, concerned that something had happened to her. “Hey, man.” Hunter walked in behind Knight and slapped him on the back. Knight practically fell over. Everyone looked over at him, concern heavy in the air. Knight was never shaken by anything, but here he was, looking like somebody had just… “Shit, Knight,” I said urgently. “What happened? What’s wrong with Kate?” “She’s…” He shook his head slowly and I looked to Hunter, hoping he could tell us something. If anyone hurt Kate, there would be hell to pay by all of us. Cap stepped right up to Knight, his voice strung tight and his face serious. “Tell us what happened. We’ll take care of it.” Knight still didn’t say anything and that concerned me more than anything. If Kate was hurt, Knight would be out there hunting down the fuckers that hurt her. But for him to act like this, it was like she was…gone. I held Zoe tight to my body as I felt sorrow build inside for my friend. We hadn’t been friends really, but all the shit that had gone down had brought us all together. Now, he was obviously hurting. “Hey, Hud. Snap out of it.” Hunter slapped him across the face, trying to get him to focus. “Talk to us, man.” Knight looked up at us all and nodded. “Kate’s…pregnant.” We all watched as he passed out on the floor. None of us moved. We all just stared at him. I looked at Hunter. He looked at Cap. Lola walked over and stared down at Knight. The whole fucking room just stared in silence. And then, Sinner started busting up laughing and the silence broke as the whole room erupted in laughter. Lola walked away with Piper, “He’s fucked.” After spending some more time with the guys and the kids, I headed back home with Zoe. Lindsey had been calling for the last forty-five minutes, wondering when I was going to be home. When I got inside, she practically snatched Zoe out of my arms and held her tight to her chest. “I missed you, baby girl.” “We were gone like, three hours.” “I know, but she’s still so new. I don’t like being away from her that long.” I grabbed all the baby paraphernalia out of the truck and hauled it inside. Lindsey was sitting on the couch with Zoe in her arms, chewing on her lip. “Everything okay?” I asked as I shut the door. “Is she wearing camouflage?” “Well, pink camo. One of the guys gave it to us.” “What happened to her dress? The one Jake gave us.” “Uh, well, you see…she had this massive blowout and there was shit all over her dress. It was a goner.” “Mmm,” she nodded. “You know, poop does wash out.” “Yeah, but this…was a biohazard,” I said, taking a page from Sinner’s book. “This could have spread disease to the rest of the kids there.” “John.” “Yeah?” “Stop. I know you hated the dress.” “Princess, I’m not sorry. I told you our kids would never be dressed in plaid.” “That’s a shame,” she said with a sigh. “Because I got a matching outfit for when I’m all cleared by the doctor.” “You got a plaid dress?” She nodded. “To seduce me with?” “Well, it wasn’t so much a dress as a uniform. You know, kind of like Catholic school girls used to wear. But I guess if you don’t like plaid,” she shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving me staring after her with my mouth hung open. I definitely didn’t want to miss out on that outfit. Springing up from the couch, I chased after her down the hall. “Princess, I think we need to discuss this whole outfit thing. I love plaid. We should have everything be plaid. Hell, I’ve been thinking about becoming a lumberjack!” I shouted as I chased her down.