MICHELLE
One month later…
“What’s up?”
Declan looked across the table at me, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
“Nothing’s up.”
“We’ve been over this. You don’t usually wanna go out for dinner. It’s not your birthday. It’s not our anniversary. Was there something I missed?”
“Maybe I just wanted to go out with my husband and have dinner with him,” I sighed. “Did you think that was a possibility?”
“That’s a possibility. But I’m thinking…”
“You’re thinking…?”
“I’m thinking and I still can’t think of a reason you’d wanna go out for dinner.”
His laugh had never been so annoying. I rolled my eyes at him and sank into my seat. I took a sip of water then looked around the restaurant to avoid his paranoia of our peaceful night out.
“There is something though,” I said.
“Of course. I’ve known you for a long time, Michelle. You think I can’t figure this shit out?”
“Save it.”
“All right,” he said with a laugh. “What is it?”
“I just… I wanted to celebrate how nice it is.”
“How nice it is?”
“After what happened a month ago… It’s hard to believe things have gone back to normal.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I guess that is nice. Drama in Ivory can’t be avoided but when it’s not there, it’s a good feeling.”
“That’s just it. You take it for granted when things are going fine. The clubhouse is making money. Club business seems to be in order.”
“And how about you? You and your friends getting along?”
“We’re getting along just fine. Gina can’t stop talking about her sex life with Dorian. Anna seems really in love. Katrina’s looking forward to the wedding.”
“I won’t believe Needle will walk down the aisle until I see it.”
“Declan. They have a kid. You know Blake will be faithful.”
“Needle’s a good man. He would never cheat on her. But he’s the most prideful man I’ve ever known. Must be some blow to his ego knowing he’ll have to stop swinging his dick around.”
“He’ll stop swinging it unless he wants something to happen to him.”
“Maybe he’ll get it all out of his system at the bachelor party…”
“If you even think about doing anything crazy with him…”
I picked up the steak knife on the table and pointed it at him.
“…I’ll kill you myself.”
“I don’t think you have it in you.”
“Do you wanna test me?”
He chuckled softly at me.
“Then again, I like breathing.”
I laughed back at him as I set the knife back down.
Before our conversation could get obscene, the waiter arrived to take our order. We ordered our usual then the waiter held out the wine menu to me.
“No thanks,” I said as I put my hand up. “We’re not drinking tonight.”
The waiter bowed his head and excused himself. Declan arched an eyebrow at me.
“We’re not drinking tonight?” he said.
“No.”
“We always drink when we come here. That’s what makes the food even better.”
“We’re not drinking tonight,” I said.
“You afraid I might swerve and crash after a glass of wine?”
“The way you drive when you’re sober, that’s a possibility…”
“Don’t ever question my driving.”
I giggled at him. Even though I was joking, he always took it personally when I brought up his riding. It was that way with every man in the club, so I was used to it.
“No, we’re not drinking tonight,” I said again. “I won’t be drinking. I don’t want you to drink either. Not around me, anyway.”
“And just why aren’t you drinking—”
He cut himself off. His mouth half-open, he narrowed his eyes at me. It was one of the few times I was able to catch him off guard. There was no point in keeping it from him even though I suddenly felt nervous.
I looked down at the table, unable to hold my stare with him.
“I wasn’t feeling well this morning. I… I thought it was just what I ate last night. I thought about taking something to settle my stomach when I realized…”
“What did you realize?”
I reached into my bag and pulled it out. I set it down on the table then shifted my eyes up to him. Declan kept his gaze locked on it, his eyes unblinking.
“Is that—”
“Yes,” I whispered.
His tattooed throat bobbed up and down with a swallow. Even a man as hard and rugged as him was vulnerable. Declan slowly reached out and picked it up from the table.
His eyes narrowed as he examined it.
“I don’t know how to read these things—”
“The line means positive.”
“Right… A positive pregnancy test.”
“They’re not entirely accurate. I’ll have to go to the doctor to make sure but it looks like you did it.”
“Considering how much I’d been fucking you these past few weeks, it’s about fucking time.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“It probably happened a long time ago. It takes some time for symptoms to appear.”
He slowly put the test back down on the table and looked back at me. I smiled at him. A sudden wave of emotions hit me when he smiled back at me. My lips quivered as I tried to hold my smile.
“You’re gonna be a father,” I whispered, my throat suddenly dry.
I knew he was feeling the same emotions I was. He clenched his jaw to hold everything back but his eyes were glazed over just enough to let me know that he was happy.
“I love you,” he said. “I love you so much. I’ll do anything for you. The both of you…”
“I know you will.”
“It’s been such a long time. I can’t imagine being with anybody else.”
“I’m not asking for much. All I want you to do is keep being the man you are.”
“The man that I am is one who’s in love with you, Michelle.”
“I love you… Declan…”
He got up from the table and took a knee down next to me. A sudden weight lifted off my shoulders when he kissed me. A tear streaked down from the corner of my eye.
He pulled away from me so he could look down at my stomach. He rested his palm on my belly. I swore I could already feel something moving inside of me.
“You’re going to be an amazing father,” I said.
Declan shook his head like he wasn’t sure it was real. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t need to.
Moments like these made me realize just how fortunate I was to have a man like him in my life.
President of the Black Reapers. My husband. Declan. Now he was the father of my child.
I was with my husband. I had a child on the way. I was in the town I loved, supported by friends who cared about me. Everything was the way it should be.