Chapter 11
Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.
-www.spirituallythinking.blogspot.com
Sadie
Two and a half weeks later...
I’m taken by surprise as Twist and I walk through the club’s door, coming back from another doctor’s check-up. I think I like Dr. Marsh more each time we go in.
The bar’s festively decorated in bright orange, black, and Harley Davidson stuff, with a big banner that reads ‘It’s A Boy!’
“Surprise!” Avery yells once Twist closes the door and the brothers all whistle and cheer.
“This is for me?” I stammer and she nods, smiling hugely.
Twist pulls me close, whispering in my ear, “I hope you’re happy, Sunshine; I wanted you to be excited an’ get cool shit for the kid. You’re a part of us now, Sadie.”
Turning in his strong arms, I rest both hands on each of his cheeks. He’s gained a little weight and it looks really good on him, even if it’s just a few pounds. Clearing my throat and swallowing back my tears, “You did this for me?” I ask quietly.
“I just asked the girls if they wanted to plan it and then they sorta took over. You happy?”
“I’m more than happy. I’m thrilled!” I say loudly and plant a scorching kiss on his lips in front of everyone. I can hear my brother grumbling, but I ignore him, showing my man just how much I appreciate him thinking of me. I can’t believe he came up with this idea on his own; I’m so lucky to have him.
Pulling away slowly, I whisper against his mouth, “Thank you so much.”
He pecks my lips. “No problem, babe.” Then steps back a pace so I can face the group again.
“Thank you everyone, this is so amazing,” I happily convey wearing a large smile.
Silas comes up to me, hugging me to him tightly. “You deserve much more, Sadie, but hopefully this will get you started on what you need for little man.”
“I love you, Silas.”
“Aw, I love you, too, sister,” he mutters, letting me go.
London approaches me, with a small smile. “I have a boy you know, so I tried to think of everything you might need, and if you can use anything of Jameson’s that he’s too big for, you’re welcome to it all.”
“Thank you, London. This is great, I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem. I kind of like having an excuse to decorate this place without having the guys complain. I think the only other time they won’t mind is for Christmas,” she grins, her expression full of mischief. It’s refreshing to see her relaxed, not uptight about stuff going on with the club.
Avery comes over next, hugging me, “We’re so excited to have a nephew!”
“Thank you for this, Avery. You did an awesome job.”
“It wasn’t just me. It was mostly London and then the guys giving us money.” She giggles and I smile gratefully to London again.
“So are you hungry or anything?” Avery asks excitedly.
“Umm maybe a little bit. Twist wouldn’t stop to get my sundae, so I’m thinking I know why now.” I laugh and she nods. She takes my hand and leads me over to a six-foot rectangle table set up off to the side.
There’s a large cake decorated to match the theme and one of the prospects brings over a tub of ice cream with fresh cut fruit. Of course there are chicken wings, chips, and mini sandwiches for the guys, but all I can see is chocolate cake and homemade strawberry sundae in my near future.
“Can we eat?” I request suddenly and everyone chuckles.
“Yes, definitely. We were just waiting on y’all to get here so we can dig in too.”
London goes on to explain that there’s a little baby inside the cake, kind of like a King cake you eat at Mardi Gras and some of the brothers wig out about it. Twist takes a huge piece so we can share it and I load up on ice cream and fruit. The brothers jovially dig into all the other food and everyone happily eats, joking and celebrating.
Once the majority is finished and had some dessert, London and Avery make us play games, and the best part is these big bad bikers take turns playing one or the other. I never imagined Cain would win at a Marshmallow eating contest, or Smiles would guess the right amount of toilet paper sheets it would take to wrap around my belly. He claims it’s because of his map and distance reading skills, but the guys claim it’s because Smiles is full of shit, so of course he’s going to know about toilet paper.
The girls did really good on winners’ stuff; for prizes they gave out shot glasses and new riding gloves. The guys were pleasantly surprised, and by the last game, nearly all of them were playing to see what cool prize would be won. I couldn’t have had a better party if I were surrounded by women covered in pastel. I had so much fun and laughed until my stomach and ribs ached.
I never felt like a part of the club; but today, it was like I belonged. Everyone was friendly and made the party completely about me. I ended the evening by handing out hugs to everyone while Twist followed me around, growling and cussing at each guy that would wrap their arms around me.
I’ll never forget it and I can finally understand why Avery told me to give London a shot. Today I saw a completely different side to the MC world, and I’m happy to be a part of it.
***
I plop down on the bed, pulling Twist with me. “Thank you for today. I had no idea about it and had an absolutely amazing time.”
“Good, you deserve so much more, but we tried.”
“Are you kidding me? I had the best day today! I couldn’t imagine a better party no matter how hard I could try. Seeing Cain attempt to shovel marshmallows in his mouth with a spatula was hilarious; I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life! When he picked his head up and looked like a chipmunk, then London laughing hysterically, it was just amazing. I loved today.”
“Yeah, you’re not pissed ‘bout the strawberry sundae and me getting you back right away? You’ve probably gotten used to me taking you on a little drive when we go to your appointments.”
“Not one bit. The chocolate cake more than made up for it; I hope there’s a piece left over for tomorrow,” I smile, and he chuckles.
“You got some good gifts, huh? Stuff on your list, right?”
“Crib, car seat, baby bath, blankets, onesies, baby biker boots, and a leather jacket. I have everything I need now.”
“Yeah I figured we’d get that too. Cain’s kid, Jameson, has the boots and leather jacket so I was expectin’ London to get the next club kid a set. We’ll have to get him a little cut made to have the whole set.”
“Club kid?”
“Yeah, you know, like the kids born into the club?”
“But I’m not in the club, just Silas; I didn’t think it would count.”
“And me, babe. I’m in the club and y’all are with me, yeah?” He asks seriously and I swallow, excited and nervous all at once at his words.
“Yes, Twist, we’re with you.” I answer ‘we’, since he’s been suggesting repeatedly that the baby is a part of everything also. I’m so glad he knows that we’re a package deal.
“I been thinkin’.”
“Okay.” I answer, swallowing, a little worried at what he’s been pondering.
“Well, you oughta give the kid my last name.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“Really? Why not mine?” I’m floored at his suggestion. I never in a million years would have thought those words would come from his mouth.
“A few reasons. First off, ‘cause you gonna be my ol’ lady, hmm? And then maybe my wife someday? We gonna be together that long an’ all, I don’t want that kid growin’ up, thinkin’ he ain’t mine. And also if for some reason I don’t get the chance to kill Ghost, he won’t be able to find y’all by name if he tries someday.”
“Oh. Wow. I umm wasn’t expecting all of that. You’ve really thought of everything. You think you’ll want to be with us for that long? You won’t get tired when he cries a lot or pukes on you? He could pee or poop at any time, interrupt our sex, and then there’s teething and babies can be really cranky. It could make my body sag and all that kind of stuff.”
“I haven’t told you much about me, Sunshine. I don’t care about that stuff. I mean, I do care, but it doesn’t bother me, like you would think. I actually have a little girl.”
“You do?”
“Had... I had a little girl. I lost her years ago.”
“Oh, my God! What happened? I’m so sorry!” Tears start to fall almost immediately at his admission. I knew he had demons, but I didn’t know it was about a child.
“She and her mom were murdered,” he gasps out shakily, breathing deeply, as if the pain of his loss is still fresh. I can tell it’s extremely hard for him to talk about.
“Shit! You don’t have to talk about it, Twist. I’m so sorry I asked about it.”
“It-it’s not your fault, beautiful,” he sadly replies. “I’ll tell you more at another time, all right?”
“Okay,” I quickly agree, my heart breaking for this poor man.
No wonder he has nightmares! I couldn’t imagine what he went through. I have so many questions, but I don’t want to ask him anything because it’s obviously too painful to recall. I wonder how long it’s been. No wonder he’s been so protective of me, and accepting of my having a child. Clearly he’s still torn up over the death of his family, but I love him, and I’ll be patient with him.
He starts getting some clothes together and I panic, thinking he’s gotten troubled enough to take off again and that’s the last thing I want. “I’m sorry! Please don’t leave upset again; I’ll let you be.”
“What are you squawkin’ ‘bout, Sadie baby?”
“I don’t want you to take off again like the last time you were mad; I’ll give you some space if that’s what you need.” I gesture to his clothes and his eyes light up.
“Oh, hell, sugar cakes, I ain’t leavin’ ya. I’m getting my shit squared away for the run we’re going on.”
“What run?”
“I can’t give you any of the details; you know how the club works and all that now.”
“So you’ll be coming back then?” I ask pathetically, but I can’t help it, I worry and believe it or not, I’m in love with this crazy, damaged man.
“Hell yeah, woman. Didn’t you just hear my spiel ‘bout you bein’ mine and shit? It means I come back to you every time, even when I start getting’ on your nerves.”
“Okay, good, just please stay safe; I don’t want anything else happening to you. The wreck was bad enough and now I’m literally about to pop out this baby, I’m going to need you to not get injured or I may end up in an early labor.”
“You’ll always have me; I promise you that. For some reason, dying isn’t my thing.”
I lean up on my tippy-toes and kiss him lovingly—attempting to pour my heart into it so he knows exactly how I feel. I’m in love with you, I think, as my tongue softly caresses his.
After a moment, I pull back, and he holds me close for a few beats before returning to his task of getting ready to go.
“Do you know how long you’ll be?” I inquire as I head to the bathroom, returning with his toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and deodorant.
“No, not exactly. I’m guessin’ ‘bout a week, maybe a little longer. Hopefully, it all works out quickly so I can come back soon.”
“Geez, a whole week again; I’m going to miss you!”
“I’mma miss you, too, baby. It could be longer than a week, so keep that in mind.”
“Okay,” I nod and he kisses the tip of my nose.
“I know you like to call and check up on me an’ your brother, which is sweet and all, but on runs you can’t do that. It could distract us, and being bikers, we can’t have that. I understand you worry, so I’ll do my best to call you every night. But don’t freak out or nothin’ if I miss a night, ‘kay? It doesn’t mean anything happened to us, we could just decide to ride late then pass out as soon as possible. Or to be real with you, we could stop by a bar and then pass out afterwards. I ain’t gonna lie about that shit with you. I’m no angel, but I won’t be runnin’ around on you while I’m gone.”
“I understand. I’ll wait to hear from you, but, you better actually call me! Don’t do what my brother does, where he says he’ll call and then never does. As for you stopping off at a bar, well I’m used to you doing your thing, just don’t drive afterwards.”
“You got my word.” His eyebrow goes up and I bring up the other thing I worry about.
“Also, ummm, please don’t do cocaine while you ride. I don’t like it at all, but especially when you’re going to be on your motorcycle.”
“I haven’t touched it since I came back and we talked, a little over two weeks now.”
“Oh my God, thank you!”
“I care about you. I promise, I’m tryin’ to be a better man for ya’. I know I don’t deserve you, but fuck if I ain’t gonna at least try to be half the man you oughta have.”
At his words I can’t hold myself back from squeezing him tightly. God, I freaking love him.