by KT Fisher
“I went into the bathroom to change.” Erica laughs. “And besides, it’s not like you haven’t seen this before.”
I’m shocked at her response. Is she flirting?
“I didn’t think of that.” I admit.
“Well where did you get dressed?” She quizzes, sitting on the bed with Lewis.
“I went across the hall.” And Erica bursts out laughing. Yeah, I’ll give her that. I should have thought about going into the bathroom myself.
Lewis begins to complain that he’s hungry, so we get ready to take him to have some breakfast.
“Before we go, I need to tell you something.”
“What?” Erica asks.
“Tonight, I want to take you to my parents and tell them about this little guy.” I ruffle Lewis’ hair. “You ok with that?”
Erica has a look of panic. “Sure.”
“Really?” I laugh at her expression, she looks terrified.
She looks down at her hands nervously. “Well it’s just, your parents will think badly of me for what I did and I’m the reason that you’ve been kept away from your son and they’ve been kept from their grandson.” Erica glances at Lewis and then to me, the tears in her eyes hit me like a punch to the gut. “I wish I never did it.”
I sit down beside her, luckily Lewis isn’t paying any attention and is too busy with his toys. “Look, I’ve got passed that now and you need to as well, I’ll handle my parents. You’ve just gotta go and be your usual pretty self.” She smiles sweetly, blushing slightly. “They will love you and adore Lewis, trust me.”
“I’m hungry.” Lewis complains and we both look at him and smirk.
“We will get you breakfast.” Erica assures him, holding out her hand to him and he scoots up closer to her, tucking himself into her side. “But first, I need to tell you something.” Lewis looks up to her and I listen, wondering if she’s really doing this. “Well, you know how Scrappy is your friend?” Lewis looks to me and smiles, nodding to her mum. “Well, Scrappy is your daddy.”
My heart beats like fucking crazy and I begin to worry as Lewis slowly turns to look at me. “Hey buddy.
Lewis tilts his head, observing me. “You’re my daddy?”
Erica smiles at me, tears glistening in her eyes and I have to try hard to hold back my own. “Yes I am, you ok with that?”
Lewis stares at me and I’m beginning to think this kid is going to refuse me as his dad! But then he cracks a smile and nods. “Can I have food now daddy?”
Erica and I burst out laughing. “I guess that means he’s ok with it.” Erica continues to giggle, standing from the bed.
The three of us go to grab some breakfast, Lewis practically skips towards the food and I feel happy as fuck. Lewis knows I’m his dad and he even called me, daddy. That’s made my day. We grab our plates of chosen breakfast, Lewis has decided he wants cereal and toast. I think, fuck it, and let him have what he wants.
Grim walks over and smiles at us. “Hey guys.”
“Hey.” I nod and Erica returns his smile. Lewis waves because he’s too busy with his mouth full of food.
“You did tell Drew right?” Grim glances to Lewis. “Because she knows.”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. I’m going my mums later.” I explain.
“Ah.” Grim’s smile widens. “She’ll be happy.”
Erica shuffles nervously but I seriously don’t think she has anything to worry about. I’m not going to tell my mum about what the truth of what Erica did, there’s no need for my parents to know and anyone else for that matter. As soon as my mum finds out she’s got another grandchild, she will be over the moon and Lewis will be sick of the sight of her. She spoils Madison, so I already know how she’s going to be with Lewis.
Grim wishes us luck and goes about his presidential business. I know Grim has arranged for his son, Connor to come over to the clubhouse later to meet Lewis. I can’t wait for the two of them to meet, Grim and I are hoping they become best mates because they’re so close in age.
For the rest of the morning and early afternoon, Erica is a nervous wreck but it’s soon time for us to get ready to leave. Erica changes her own clothing into a fitting, long black dress which makes her look smoking fucking hot and Lewis into smart denim shorts and a batman top. He runs around singing a batman song as I stare at Erica.
“What?” She looks down at herself. “Shall I change? Do I look silly?”
“No.” I quickly shake my head. “You look,” I try and think of the right word. I want to say sexy, beautiful or hot but I can’t. “You look great.”
Erica grins wide. “Thank you, I want to make the right impression.”
“You would have in just your jeans and shirt, there was no need to change.” I point out but Erica just rolls her eyes as she turns to the mirror, fixing her hair and make-up.
We leave the clubhouse, Lewis proudly holding onto my hand making me feel like a fucking king. Walking outside, I head towards my car but Lewis points to my motorcycle. “Bike daddy?”
I swear I love him calling me daddy, I’ll never get tired of it. “Not today bud, we’ve got to go in the car.”
He pouts adorably but gets into the car and I fasten him in, safely inside his car seat. Erica is quiet during the drive to my parents, so I place a reassuring hand on her leg and gently squeeze. I think she appreciates it because she gifts me with one of her gorgeous smiles.
We arrive at my parents and I can’t help but think Erica looks adorable as she takes in a deep and calming breath. I get Lewis out the car and we walk up to the front door, I knock a couple of times and open the door, walking inside. “Hello?”
Erica and Lewis enter behind me, Lewis looks around curiously.
“Scrap?” My mum calls out, answering my call but as she rounds the corner and sees me standing there with Erica and Lewis, her wide smile falters and is replaced with a confused look.
“Mum,” I step towards her, offering her a kiss on the cheek. “Where’s dad?”
“In the living room.” She answers, glancing around at Erica and Lewis curiously again.
“Come on then.” I lead the way into the living area, my mum walking beside Erica as Lewis is by my side.
“Hello dear.” I overhear my mum talking with Erica. “I’m June, Scrappy’s mum.”
“Hi.” Erica answers. “I’m Erica, erm a friend of Scrappy’s.”
Well I guess that was an awkward one to think of. We enter the living area, my dad sat on his large chair watching the TV. My mum walks in and shuts the TV off as Erica, Lewis and I take the large sofa. My mother takes the sofa beside the chair my dad is sat on and they both look over, waiting for my explanation.
“Who’s your friend Scrappy?” My dad asks, smiling at Erica and Lewis.
“Ok, so this is going to be a little weird to hear but I thought I should bring Erica and Lewis to meet you both.” I glance at Erica and Lewis, offering Erica a supporting smile and she gives me one back. My parents stay quiet and wait to hear what I’ve got to say. “The truth is, little Lewis here is my son.”
Both my mum and dads eyes widen comically. They sit frozen for a few seconds and then my dad sits forward. “You wanna explain son?”
I can practically feel the nerves pouring from Erica. “Mum, you’re going to kill me but when Erica told me she had my child, I didn’t believe her and she didn’t live around here anymore so it kind of went to the back of my head. When she came back for her dad’s funeral, I bumped into her and when I saw Lewis, I couldn’t deny he is mine.”
I look to Erica who is staring at me with wide eyes. She’s probably thinking what the hell am I doing, but I’d rather they be pissed at me and not Erica. My dad frowns at me and my mum looks like she wants to smack me around the back of the head, but instead of acting on their anger with me, they turn to Erica and Lewis.
“Well Erica.” My mum stands from her seat, walking over to Erica and smiles. As my mum holds out her arms to her, Erica stands matching my mother’s
emotional grin. “I’m sorry for what I just heard, but welcome to the family my dear.” She hugs Erica and then crouches down to Lewis, tears pooling in her eyes. “Hello there Lewis. I’m your grandma.” Lewis cuddles her, melting my mum’s heart. “Oh I’m going to make up for these lost years.”
Erica laughs at my mother’s response. I just knew my mum would be like that.
“Well there’s no denying he’s your son.” My dad joins us, grinning down at Lewis who is still squished in my mum’s arms. “He’s the double of you as a kid!”
“Yeah, I thought that when I first saw him.”
My dad gives me a stern look. “Come and have a word with me.” And he leads me outside the room and into his home office. He takes a seat on his chair and I take the empty one opposite. “So you gonna tell me the truth or not?”
“What are you talking about old man?” I quiz him, I should have known he would see right through my fake version of events.
“Your story may have fooled your mother, she’s too busy being happy she has another grandchild, but you need to tell me the truth. Now I know he’s yours, he looks just like you, but why haven’t you brought him to us before now?” My dad can be scary when he’s all business like this. It reminds me of the man I’ve heard stories about within the club.
Sighing, I lean back in the chair. “Look, I said that because I don’t want you to feel bad of Erica. She’s an amazing mum to Lewis and I don’t want you to think any different of her.” I take a breath but my dad just stares and waits. He looks so much like uncle Franky when he does that. “I was with Erica about four years ago and we fooled around,” Dad rolls his eyes. “One day, she up and left. I never saw her again.”
“What about her parents?” My dad asks.
“Her mum died when she was younger and she’s never got on with her dad, he’s dead now though.” I answer. “She has this cousin, but he said he didn’t know where she was. Anyway, after a certain amount of time, I stopped looking but a couple of weeks back, I saw her again.”
“For the funeral?”
I nod. “Right, when I saw her again in town, she was with Lewis and I think I knew right away he was mine. She never told me about him. Just don’t want you to judge her, she’s great dad. Believe me I know, I was angry, fucking pissed actually but the more I spend time with them the less my anger is. I don’t hold any bad feelings towards her now, to be honest I don’t blame her.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, she said she was dealing with a lot of pressure from her dad, when he found out she was pregnant her threw her out and she didn’t feel secure enough in me, to come to me for help. She had never been to the clubhouse or met anyone else in the club. So she decided to run away.” When I finish, I look back up at my dad to find his expression hasn’t changed. “Don’t be angry with her.”
“I’m not angry with Erica.” He adds. “I’m angry at you.”
“What?”
A smirk cracks on his face. “Scrap, you can’t even see that you still like this girl. Get to know your son and fix what’s between you two.”
I’m stunned. “What?”
“Stop messing with the whores and go and get your girl.”
I stare at my dad. Not understanding why he’s saying this. “What?”
“Boy if you say that again I’m going to punch you.” He snaps. We stand together, ready to re-join my mum and Erica when my dad wraps an arm around me. “Congratulations on becoming a father, son. You take care of that boy, protect him before your own and love him like no other.” Patting me on my chest, he then adds,” And Erica? You take care of her too. Whether or not you two are together, she’s the mother of your child. You treat her well and don’t give her shit. Your boy will see how you treat her.”
I nod in response to my dad’s words. “Thanks dad.”
“Oh don’t get soppy on me.” He charges past me. “Come on, I need to see my grandson.”
We return to the living room, but my mother makes a charge for me and smacks me across the back of the head. “What was that for?”
“Lying to me.” She frowns. “Erica told me the truth, and to be fair to her son, I don’t blame her for what she did. Are you forgetting that I wasn’t inside the club before I met your father?” She then steps closer and adds quieter. “She has no support system, there’s no wonder she ran away but she’s back and you need to be that support. We need to be her support. Look after her.”
And with that, she spins and returns to Lewis’ side but not before offering Erica another hug. Erica looks over to me and smirks, I can’t believe she went behind my back and told my mum the truth.
“She’s got some balls son.” My dad mutters, laughing on his way.
I watch my parents talking with Lewis, so fucking happy I brought him here to meet them. Erica looks a lot calmer now too and is finally enjoying herself. She laughs along with my mum and they talk about the women of the club, my mum no doubt plans to show her off very soon.
After a few hours in the house, my parents come back to the clubhouse with us as I’ve told them about what Grim plans. However, as we pull up at the clubhouse the yard is packed. Not only with bikers, but their families. This looks to have turned out to be one big fucking party.
I pick up Lewis in my arms and with my parents following, Erica and I walk into the clubhouse, side by side. Grim greets us at the door with his son Connor.
“Hey!” He grins. “Here’s the star of the show.”
“What do you mean?” I ask Grim.
“Well, Connor and I thought it would be a good thing to officially welcome Lewis into the family with a traditional family BBQ!” Connor nods excitedly.
“Wow.” Erica gasps. “That’s so lovely.”
“The motorbike!” Connor screams excitedly and Grim quickly tells Connor to be quiet.
“We have an extra surprise, as a gift from the club.” Grim explains and ushers us inside the main area of the clubhouse.
Lewis is still in my arms when we walk in and everyone cheers as they see us. Family members approach us and say hi to Lewis and Erica. All the old ladies come over and welcome Erica, wanting to know everything about her and Lewis. All the kids are here and are eager to meet Lewis and just like I thought, Connor takes the lead and is his main pal throughout the night.
As the food is eaten and the music is danced to, Grim then stands on a chair and the music is cut off so everyone can hear what he’s about to say.
“We’re all here to welcome Scrappy’s boy, Lewis to the family and of course his mother, Erica!” There’s some cheers before he carries on. “We wanted to properly welcome you to the family with this traditional family BBQ party and not only that, but we have a special gift for someone!” Right then, Connor comes from around the corner with Devlin as they push a motorcycle toy ride on into the middle of the room. Lewis gasps so loudly, that everyone in the room hears it. “We got you your very own motorcycle!” Grim yells and Lewis freaks the fuck out. He’s jumping up and down and running around the toy in circles as he celebrates his gift.
“It’s like mine!” Connor exclaims, running off to go and fetch his own.
I help him jump on top and show him how to use it. Erica beams as she watches Lewis enjoy himself so much.
“Thanks man.” I thank Grim as he comes to stand beside me.
“Honestly, it’s no problem.” He shrugs. “Your family is my family.”
We then turn to see our sons riding around the clubhouse on their rise on motorcycles. Both of them laughing and having the time of their lives.
After a little while talking with others, I look up to not know where Erica has gotten to. She’s not outside, so I go to look for her in the bedroom.
“Erica?” I call out.
“Nope.” Come another and when I turn on the light, I see a naked Talia standing in the middle of the room.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I freak out. “What if Erica or my son saw you!”
Talia jus
t laughs. “Oh relax.” She walks over to me, trying to be all sexy and shit. “Let’s have some fun, like old time.”
“No.” I step away. “You need to go.”
“Scrap.” She moans, trying to touch me but I step out the room.
“Get the fuck out of my room now!” My shouting does the trick and she gathers her things and leaves.
Fuck me, I’m beginning to see why the boys were making such a fuss about me spending any time with Talia. That girl is fucking crazy!
When I return to the party, I spot Erica by the bar with some of the girls, laughing along with whatever Drew just said and I feel a little shaken up. Like I’ve done something wrong. Damn fucking Talia.
Chapter Nine
Erica
It’s been a week since Lewis’ welcome party. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming, but I’m still struggling to settle in. Living in the clubhouse is different because life is different here. Rules are slightly blurred and it’s as if you’re living inside of a bubble. You’re never short of company, that’s for sure but that’s not always a good thing. I’ve learnt that I actually like my own space and I’m craving some alone time just lately. Lewis though, loves having someone to play with all of the time.
However, life is better here than I originally thought. Hearing all about bikers, you immediately think of gangs and danger but in reality, it’s just a big family who all love and care for each other. For me, they’re protecting me and my son from the danger.
Apart from not being able to be alone, unless you want to shut yourself in your room, the other downside to living in the clubhouse is not being able to get away from the club whores. People around here call them bunnies, but I don’t know how I feel about that. I don’t like seeing them and I defiantly do not like Lewis seeing them. I don’t think he really notices them too much to be honest, because he’s too distracted by the bikes and the men. The older he gets though, I won’t be as lucky I bet. I have noticed one whore in particular, she’s very tall, slim and blonde. I don’t know if I’m imagining things, but I’m sure she stares at me and I think I know why, and it has everything to do with Scrappy. It’s odd to think about, but I’m pretty sure she’s jealous of me. She does know that Scrappy and I aren’t together, doesn’t she?
