Four years later…
Lily sat in the small, white marquee as the old ladies of the Immortal Souls fussed around her. She couldn’t believe how much had changed in the four years since that day in the cabin.
They’d returned to Amberton the following day, and the day after that, Hammer had called the club together. With her standing at his side, he’d announced to the club that she was his old lady. To say the reception of the news was cool was an understatement, but Hammer had warned her it would be. She was a cop after all. But as he went on to explain what had gone down at the cabin, and what she’d done to cover for him, she could sense the club thawing. It had still taken her a little time to win the club’s trust, but within a few months, they’d accepted her as one of their own. She hadn’t expected to be accepted, at least not right away, but Hammer made it clear his mind was made up, and it wasn’t going to change.
He didn’t discuss club business in front of her, and she didn’t ask questions. It was part of a silent agreement they’d reached. She pretended that she didn’t know what sometimes went on when someone needed a little more help than the police could provide, and Hammer pretended it didn’t happen
She glanced at Shelly, Knife’s old lady and her closest confidant, as she hurried about, making sure everything was in order.
“You look lovely,” Shelly said as she fussed with Lily’s dress.
Lily smiled and struggled not to cry. Shelly had been the first to accept her as a sister, and though she wouldn’t admit it, Lily suspected that Shelly had a great deal to do with the club giving her a chance.
Less than a month after the announcement that she was Hammer’s old lady, she and Hammer decided it was stupid for her to continue to pay rent when she was spending all her time at Hammer’s house anyway. On moving day, they had just started hauling her things out of her apartment and loading Hammer’s pickup when they heard the rumble of approaching motorcycles. Four more pickups, two SUV’s, and many hands arrived on a wave of V-Twin thunder.
Hammer appeared to be just as surprised as she was, but while Hammer talked to his brothers, Shelly had pulled her aside and asked what needed to be done. While the men muscled furniture, the old ladies carefully packed boxes. What she’d expected to take, at least, a week was completed in only a few hours.
“Thank you, Shelly. You’ve been a godsend.”
Shelly smiled. She and Knife were unable to have kids, but she’d taken Lily under her wing like a daughter.
“It’s not often I get to dote on a bride,” Shelly said as she fussed with the dress a bit more.
“Don’t make me cry, okay?”
Shelly curled her lips into a firm line to prevent herself from crying too. “I wouldn’t do that. If you start crying, then I’ll start crying…”
The two women giggled.
“Where’s Samuel?” Lily asked.
“He’s with Hammer. He’s just adorable in his little tux.”
Lily desperately wanted to see him, but he’d insisted he was going to stay with the men. She’d see him soon enough.
Samuel Morgan Grimes was now the most important male in her life, alongside Hammer.
When she’d been settling into Hammer’s house a few years ago, she’d realized she was late. With a sinking feeling, she’d purchased a pregnancy test. When it came back positive, she didn’t know if she was crying in panic or joy. She knew she’d missed her pill the night that Robert had attacked them, but she’d taken both pills the next day and hadn’t thought anything else about it. She’d missed a pill before, and nothing had happened, but in hindsight, she was considerably more sexually active now than the last time she missed a pill.
She’d fretted for several days, afraid to tell Hammer. He’d picked up on the fact that something was bothering her, but hadn’t pressed it when she’d objected at telling him what it was, claiming she was feeling a little under the weather. Finally, one night after an especially tender love making session, she’d told him.
At first, he’d been shocked, and fell silent after a single word. “How?”
She’d begun to cry and offered to have an abortion if that’s what he wanted since they hadn’t talked about having children. That had snapped him out of his stunned silence, and he had pulled her in close and held her, muttering his love for her until her tears had stopped.
They talked for a long time, and she gradually relaxed as the conversation became less about how their lives were going to change and more about how they were going to have to convert one of the bedrooms into a nursery, and how they may have to trade her Focus for something more baby-friendly.
She’d worried for months that Hammer was suddenly going to realize that he didn’t want to be a dad, but as she’d begun to show, he’d seemed to become more excited and begun to dote on her, showing her a side of himself she hadn’t known existed.
When the old ladies of the club found out that a little one was on the way, they all became mother hens, almost to the point of driving her insane, and Shelly was the ringleader. She quickly learned to stop saying anything in an offhand manner lest it suddenly materialized, like when she mentioned that she didn’t know what color she wanted to paint the nursery. The next day Shelly had a selection of paint samples for her to choose from, along with matching wallpapers.
As her pregnancy had progressed, so had things at home. She would come home from a tough day and Hammer would be there, waiting, with a kiss and something cold to drink. She was worried that having to take time off for maternity leave was going to hold back her career, but while Hammer sympathized with her, she could tell he didn’t share her concern. It hurt her feelings until he explained it to her one day, how he thought having a kid would make her even more valuable as an officer because she would have a better understanding of the typical family.
She wasn’t sure she believed him, but his unwavering confidence helped keep her spirits up.
Gert, the wedding planner, stuck her head into the tent. “Ten minutes, ladies.”
Lily’s heart began to thud in her chest. She wanted this more than anything in her life, but she was so nervous, on edge more now than she’d ever been in her life.
“Relax,” Shelly said with a soft smile. “It’s going to be fine.”
Lily forced out a smile. “I know, but I can’t help it.”
Shelly giggled. “The woman that’s going to be Amberton’s first female police chief, and you’re worried about this?”
Lily smiled. “This is way more nerve racking than being a cop.”
At the four-month mark of her pregnancy, Lily had asked to be transferred to school security, not because she could no longer perform her duties but because she worried about the safety of the life growing inside of her. At seven months, she’d transferred to an administrative role until after the birth. After Samuel was born, she’d returned to the force and resumed her duties on the street as soon as she was able.
She still loved being a cop, but it was no longer the most important thing in her life. Or even the second. Hammer and Samuel filled that positions, and she was content. She still wanted to advance in the department, but now it was no longer her single goal in life.
She smiled as she thought about it. The day she made Corporal was the second-best day of her life so far, only the birth of her son exceeding it. She’d been worrying about her promotion test for weeks, hoping she’d passed, hoping she hadn’t misread the review board. When she received her stripes, she’d wanted to leap for joy and had been bursting to tell Hammer, but resisted the urge to call him, wanting to save the news until that evening so they could go out and celebrate.
She’d been unable to wait until dinner to tell him, but she’d still wanted to celebrate. And celebrate they had, with Lily changing into a dress and Hammer putting on a jacket and tie. She’d insisted on taking Hammer and Samuel to a nice restaurant, and he’d agreed, but once there, he’d stolen all her thunder. As Samuel fed himself while smearing peas and carrots in his face, while banging his spoon on the tray, Hammer had reached across the table, taken her hand, and presented her with a small black box as he asked for her hand in marriage.
She had cried, and several nearby tables clapped, as she accepted him then fell into his arms, laughing and crying, until she could get control of herself. She’d found out later, after they’d returned home, that he’d had the ring for weeks, waiting only on the news of her promotion before popping the question.
“Bridesmaids, this way,” Gert said, holding back the marquee flap so they could exit.
Lily and Hammer were getting married, ironically enough, in the same park where they’d first met. They’d reserved the gazebo by the bubbling stream—a place that was popular for outdoor weddings—for what had started out as a small and simple wedding. It was fitting that her life had come full circle, returning to the point where it had turned from the path she’d been on to the one she was on now.
Shelly gave Lily a hug. “You look stunning! Hammer is a lucky man.”
“I know,” Lily said, then smiled at her joke. And I’m a lucky woman, she added to herself as she stood, waiting for Gert to return, too nervous to sit anymore.
It was perfect weather, cool and sunny, the skies an impossible blue, dotted with white fluffy clouds, and the perfect southern spring day of a Norman Rockwell painting.
She paced around, still trying to control her nerves.
“Lily?” Gert said, holding out her hand. “They’re waiting.”
Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the marquee, and a moment later, the wedding march began. Hunter Cullen was standing there, waiting to take her arm.
“I’m sorry your dad couldn’t be here for this,” he said, his voice soft.
“Me too,” she replied, biting back tears.
Ed slowly walked her down the aisle between the two ten-deep rows of chairs. It was an amazing sight, a significant portion of the Amberton Police Department on her side, with all the Immortal Souls on Hammers’. It was probably the first time so many of the Souls and the department had been together in the history of the town.
As they slowly walked, she could see Hammer, dressed in black, beaming at her as she approached. Samuel stood beside Knife, Hammer’s best man, the ring pillow held carefully in his tiny hands. She licked her lips behind her veil. She had promised herself she wasn’t going to cry during the ceremony, but it was hard, her heart was so full of love and joy that it tried to leak out her eyes.
They’d each lost so much, but they’d gained so much more—a life together and a family. She wanted to cry, her joy and grief almost overwhelming her, but she fought back her tears, and smiled.
Hunter paused and handed Lily off to Hammer, and with a radiant smile, she stepped forward to her new life.
###
“You be good for Uncle Don and Aunt Shelly, okay?” Lily said as she knelt and hugged Samuel.
“Okay! We’re going to ride ponies!”
“We need to go,” Hammer said, with a broad grin.
It had all been worked out. Samuel was going to spend a week with Knife and Shelly, to give him and Lily some alone time. They were flying to Bermuda, and it would be the first time they were spending more than a single night without Samuel.
“Yeah, I know,” Lily said. “Give Mommy a kiss,” she said, holding her arms out for Samuel.
“Be good, Kiddo,” Hammer said, swooping Samuel into his arms after Lily let him go. “Don’t give Uncle Don any trouble or…”
Hammer made a scratching sound as he drew his finger across his neck.
Samuel giggled. “I won’t!”
“You’ve got my number?” Lily asked Shelly.
“Would you go already?” Shelly laughed. “You’re going to miss your flight. We’ve got this.”
Lily grinned. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…”
“I know. But we’re going to be fine. I’ve got the whole week planned out. Keeping him only a night here and there hasn’t given me much opportunity to spoil him, so we’re going to make up for it this week, right?” she asked as she took Samuel from Hammer and gave him a quick tickle that made him shriek and squirm.
Hammer opened the door to the club’s SUV, and then shut it behind Lily as Don crawled in behind the wheel. She waved to Samuel as they pulled away, then sniffled as Hammer handed her a tissue.
“You know me so well,” she said as she dabbed her eyes.
“You’re going to make me think you don’t trust us,” Knife said. She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
“It’s the first time I’ve been away from him.”
“I know, but it’s good that you two are taking some time for yourselves. You may be parents, but you’re also husband and wife. Don’t forget that.”
She reached forward and patted Knife on the shoulder. “I won’t.”
Hammer looked at her, then smiled. “I’ll do my best to remind her.”
She felt a shiver pass through her, and she smiled in return. Even through the pregnancy and the midnight feedings, she’d never lost that tingle that came every time she thought about his touch.
“I certainly hope so.”
THE END
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