by Krane, Kasey
Judge adopted Maggie, just like James and Mary had adopted me. “Half breed” kept ringing in my ears as I watched Judge and Maggie together, but Judge’d never said anything even vaguely like it to her. She’d called him “Papa,” and Judge hadn’t corrected her and said, “I’m not a father to a half breed like you.” Judge hadn’t put her down.
Judge had seemed to…love her.
Maybe, just maybe, there were more James’s and Mary’s and Judge’s out there than there were bastard stepdads like I’d had.
It was a freeing thought.
But now, as I held Leia against me, I couldn’t help but wonder - would I want a child of my own?
Would I want to stand up and make an announcement that Leia is pregnant?
The thought sent a thrill of pure excited dread through me. A child was…scary. But with Leia? A little more exciting than scary.
I was starting to have a lot more sympathy for Bishop. The man had fucking looked like he was going to upchuck when he made the announcement, but he made it through and afterwards, seemed happy about it.
I pulled Leia tight against me, placing my hand over her belly.
Someday…
* * *
The next morning, I pulled on my cut and grabbed my keys. I had some reports to run to get over to the accountant to double check my work. Bishop had been very supportive of me taking over the bookkeeping for the club, but I still worried that I was fucking everything up. I would feel more comfortable about doing the books once I had taken a class or two on it.
“Hey baby,” Leia said, wandering into the living room, yawning. She was only in a pair of panties, and my dick tightened painfully at the sight.
Oh my God, just look at those tits. I could lose myself in them and never come up for air again and be perfectly happy.
“I was wondering…” Leia paused and nibbled on her lower lip for a moment. “Can you take me out to visit Butcher today? I know he wanted some space to get the club set up, but…I want to see him and ask him some questions.”
I wondered if this had to do with her journal reading spree in the middle of the night. I had worked hard to give her space and only listen to whatever journal entries she chose to read out loud to me, but something made me think that the latest entries weren’t good.
“Sure. Let me tell Bishop.” I pulled out my cell phone to text Bishop when I felt Leia’s lips press against my cheek. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and buried my hands in her curly, long hair. If she was going to tease me with just a kiss on the cheek…
Minutes later, we came up for air.
“Good morning,” I whispered, running my thumb over her swollen lips. She grinned up at me.
“Hey,” she whispered back, and then nipped at my thumb. I jerked back in surprise and she laughed. “I’ll hurry and get dressed.”
I watched as she disappeared from sight, her ass swinging in just black lace panties, and thought about following her into the bedroom to finish what we had just started. My dick sure thought this was a good idea.
But with a sigh, I pulled out my cell phone instead. She wanted to go see Butcher - I needed to support her.
And get intel for the club.
I shoved that thought out of sight. You can feel guilty about being a spy later.
Bishop didn’t seem bothered by me not coming in right away, which was a relief. Leia and I took off on the Duo Glide, her tits pushed against my back. She’d begged me to allow her to leave her bulletproof jacket off, arguing that no Sangre would dare mess with her while she was at the Outlaws’s clubhouse, and that Butcher might be offended if she showed up wearing one.
I agreed to let her leave it off, trying not to let my almost overwhelming worry for her safety come between us - if I was going to have a relationship with Leia, that apparently also included having one with Butcher.
Isn’t that a hell of a thought: Butcher as a father-in-law.
Or having a father-in-law at all.
We pulled up in front of the Outlaws clubhouse where I was surprised to find Skinner, Dutch, and Razor guarding the front door again. In the Dead Legion, Bishop made sure that all guard duties were rotated among all of the members - in the summer heat, standing guard all day, every day, could kill a man. But in the Outlaws, Butcher seemed to be taking a different approach. All three guys were deeply tanned, attesting to the weeks they’d been spending outside in the sunshine.
“Hey Knight,” Skinner said in a falsely cheerful voice. “How has your summer of betrayal been going?” I flipped him the bird and then pulled my Desert Eagle out of the small of my back, laying it on the sidewalk. I spread my arms and legs for the men to pat down, something all three of them took great delight in doing. I could feel the muscle in my jaw begin to tic again.
Goddamn bastards are just trying to see how many hoops I’ll jump through before I break.
But I couldn’t break. Not with Leia there.
Didn’t keep me from imagining wringing each of their necks though.
Finally satisfied, Leia and I were let inside of the building. Things had changed drastically since the last time we were there - instead of one large, open space where I could see the building as a whole, they’d studded out walls to create a lobby, complete with a biker calendar where a naked woman was draped over a 2016 Harley-Davidson Street Glide. I hoped Leia would overlook the calendar. They may be par for the course in nearly every MC club, but that didn’t mean that you wanted to think that your father had one too.
We were seated in black leather and chrome chairs and told not to move. As if I really thought I could just wander through to the main area. I imagined that for a moment, trying to pretend as if it was an accident that I had wandered back there, but knew that I would get shot for my troubles.
Not to mention that I was a shit actor.
Leia leaned over and grabbed my hand in hers. She seemed more nervous than she had been the first time, something that surprised me. Butcher had seemed to accept Leia as his daughter - she should feel more comfortable now, not less.
“Hi Leia,” Butcher said, striding in, wiping grease off his hands. He had pulled his cut off and from the looks of him, had been working on his bike when we had pulled up. He’d always been one of the biggest gear heads in the club - which was really saying something - so this wasn’t surprising to me.
“Hi Dad!” Leia said, jumping out of her chair and giving Butcher a hug, which made him as uncomfortable as he was the last time she’d done it, but she didn’t notice his grimace this time any more than she had previously.
“I wanted to talk to you about Mom,” Leia said hesitantly as Butcher stood back, arms crossed, watching her. “I’ve been reading her journal, and some things happened that—”
Skinner came walking in and whispered in Butcher’s ear. Butcher nodded once and then looked at Leia. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the main clubhouse area and Leia sank back into her seat, worry lines across her forehead.
The minutes ticked by - a large Harley clock on the wall with a sprocket gear hanging below, swinging back and forth marked the glacial passage of time. Leia reached over and took my hand in hers, and I squeezed. I wasn’t sure what to say or do, as usual it seemed, so I just stayed silent.
Finally, Butcher reappeared. “Sorry. You were saying?” he asked, his voice harsh. Leia visibly cringed and I had the burning desire to knock Butcher’s teeth down his throat. Couldn’t he see that whatever Leia was about to ask was a tough topic for her? He could try being slightly less of an ass to her.
She took a deep breath. “Mom wrote some pretty awful things in her diary - the last entry, actually. Did you know that the night she ran away, Wolf came over? He bragged to her that he’d sent you—”
Skinner came back in and Butcher held his hand up to Leia, stopping her in her tracks. He listened to Skinner’s whispered words, and this time, without even looking at Leia, disappeared into the back again.
She sank into her chair and stare
d bleakly at me. I didn’t know what the fuck to do, short of tying the man to a chair and forcing him to stay put for more than three minutes.
And intel for the Dead Legion? All I had figured out so far was that Butcher didn’t seem to care if he roasted his men alive while guarding the place, and he had all of the decorating skills of a one-toothed redneck in the Appalachian Mountains.
“Knight,” Leia whispered, her voice breaking, “let’s go. I’ll…talk to my dad later. He said that he was busy setting up the club and not to bother him again right away; it’s my fault for coming over too quickly.”
I wanted to yell about exactly whose fault today’s interactions was, but decided that Leia needed to get out of the clubhouse more than she needed to get an earful about standing up to assholes and not just assuming that everything was her fault every time.
I held my hand out to her and she took it gratefully. We walked out into the bright sunshine, Skinner handed over my Desert Eagle with a surprised look, shocked that we were leaving so soon, and Leia and I settled onto the Duo Glide.
“Can we stop at Mary’s on the way home?” she asked me as she put her helmet on.
I nodded and we took off down the street, leaving the Outlaws and her asshole father in the dust of Playas.
24
Leia
We pulled up in front of Mary’s house and I hurried up the sidewalk to the shade of the porch. I wanted my mom right then, and since that obviously wasn’t an option, Mary was my second-best choice. I raised my hand to knock on the door when it swung open in front of me, Mary dusting her hands off on her apron.
“Why hello, darlin’, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon!” Mary reached out and pulled me into a hug and then pulled me inside into the cool of her home. I tried to act as if everything was normal, but I couldn’t hide the fact that I was hanging onto Mary’s hug a little longer than normal.
Knight, bless his soul, made some noises about checking on the yard and disappeared outside. I made a mental note to surprise him with a lengthy blowjob as a thank you for his sensitivity.
Mary sat down with her on the couch, holding my hands in her good hand, her misshapen hand lying on top.
“Now tell me what’s going on,” she said in her motherly voice. The same tone that my mom had always used.
Which broke me.
I began to cry; stiff upper lip be damned.
“I wanted to talk to my dad about my mom. My dad is Butcher, you know, and he used to be in the Outlaws club but he dated my mom and hid her away in his apartment for months and knocked her up - with me! - and then when my mom snuck out to go buy a pregnancy test, Wolf found out that she was there and went and…raped her. Mary, my mom got raped on the kitchen floor and instead of just curling up in a ball and hiding from the world, she got up and packed up her bags and moved to Albuquerque in the middle of the night!”
My voice broke and I sobbed for endless minutes as Mary pulled me against her chest and stroked my hair.
“I don’t think I can be as strong as her, Mary,” I said, my voice muffled and wobbly against Mary’s soft chest. “I wanted to talk to my dad - to find out if he even knew that this had happened - and I couldn’t even ask him about it. He was harsh and busy and instead of demanding that he sit and talk to me, I ran away. I always run away. That’s how I ended up in Deming to begin with!”
I finally stopped talking then - stopped trying to make sense - and just relaxed into Mary. Mary kept stroking my arm and hair, holding me, comforting me.
I realized then that since my mother’s death, I had never had someone hold me while I cried over the loss of my mom. I had broken down a few times, sure, but I had always been by myself.
This time…having Mary there helped. I was surprised by just how much it helped.
“Darlin’, I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” Mary said quietly, breaking the silence. “Talking about rape with someone who you’re not comfortable with - and Butcher may be your father, but that doesn’t mean you know him well or are comfortable with him - is almost impossible to do. And to do it while the other person is distracted and not focused on you? That would be impossible to do. Don’t let this setback make you think that you are a scaredy-cat or something. You’re not.
“And don’t be too harsh on Butcher. He’s spent his whole life around other club members. I’ve never heard of him having even a long-term girlfriend, let alone marry someone. He’s not really well-versed in dealing with women, but especially not ones who want to talk about deep emotional shit.” Which caused me to giggle through my tears. She was a very prim and proper grandmother with a very naughty vocabulary. “It sounds like he’s busy and today wasn’t a good day. Have patience with him. It’ll take some time to build a good relationship with him.”
I pulled away, snuffling and nodding, and Mary went in search of Kleenexes. “Here,” she said, handing the box over to me.
It’s as if she knows me already…
I pulled out a couple and honked my nose into them.
Someday, I’m gonna learn how to cry gracefully.
Maybe.
“I actually didn’t come over here to tell you about Butcher and my mom - I was going to ask Knight to bring me over anyway,” I said, wiping my mascara and snot off my face with another two Kleenexes.
Seriously need to learn how to cry gracefully.
“Judge and Carmen’s wedding is in less than two weeks and I wanted to give them a wedding present that would really mean something to them. Can you help me out?”
“Absolutely darlin’ - what can I do?” Mary asked.
25
Knight
I pulled at my collar after Leia stepped back to inspect me, but she batted my hand away.
“You look good. Now quit futzing with it.”
I really had no idea how someone could look good with a pink tie on - unless it was tied around Leia’s wrists while I fucked her - but I dropped my hands to my sides anyway. Women knew what to do at weddings; I was just along for the ride.
My eyes roamed up and down Leia’s body. Now there was someone who looked good in pink. The bridesmaid dress clung to her every curve, and fuck, did she have some nice ones. She’d gotten handsy that morning in bed when we first woke up, something that I had happily taken advantage of, but now, looking at her in that dress and those silver high heels, I decided that taking advantage of her twice in one day could only be a good thing, right?
I stepped towards her and she held up her hands to ward me off, laughing. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Do you know how long it took me to do this,” she waved around her head, “to my hair? We can’t mess it up now.”
Her curly hair, usually just falling around her shoulders, was pinned up on one side with a pink flower. It didn’t look much different than it normally did, but she seemed hell bent on protecting it, so I dropped my hands with a sigh.
We walked out into the heat of the afternoon and climbed into her roasting hot car. She blasted the AC but still, the temperature made it hard to breathe. I understood why we couldn’t ride my bike to Judge’s house - kind of - but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
Once we got to the mansion, chaos reigned. Leia disappeared with Jules, so I went in search of Judge or Bishop. Surely someone would tell me where to go or what to do, or at least hand me a beer.
Turns out, my “must-do’s” included keeping Maggie from dirtying her dress. When Carmen told me this, I just stared at her, eyebrow cocked. They wanted me to babysit a little girl?? She had to be kidding.
“Just, keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t go work on her clubhouse or something,” Carmen begged me, and then broke off the conversation to go talk to the caterers.
Clubhouse? Maggie seemed a little young to have her own motorcycle to work on, but hell, what did I know? Maybe Judge was starting her off young.
Maggie looked up at me and grinned. “Want to see my clubhouse, Knight?” she asked.
“Hell yeah,
” I said, and she slipped her hand into mine. It surprised me for a moment and I almost jerked back from her grasp but then…
It was kinda nice.
She pulled me towards the back of the extensive grounds, towards a clump of acacia trees. Their light, leafy branches arched over a small toolshed. With pink curtains in the windows.
What the fuck?
She pulled me through the doorway and into the relative cool of the interior. I looked around to see shelves full of pink dishes and dolls and blankets and other shit I didn’t even recognize.
And no, there was no motorcycle in sight.
“Mama doesn’t want me to plant these outside,” Maggie said, pointing to some pink flowers in pink plastic cups.
“Well, not today. Not in your dress,” I felt obliged to point out. God, how did I get put in charge of a little girl?? They could have at least handed me off to a little boy, for fuck’s sakes.
“Oh! It goes out when I spin. Want to see?” Before I could even answer, she headed back out of her clubhouse and into the shade off to the side, spinning in circles and giggling. Her dress, pink with white flowers wrapping up the skirt, did flare out when she spun, but watching her in action, I realized that I should probably stop her. She might get dizzy and fall down and fuck if I was going to tell a bride on her wedding day that I couldn’t even control one small child.
“Right then”, I heard Jules’s voice calling out. “Maggie, where is your dog? We need to get Turbo ready.”
She stopped, wove around on her feet for just a moment, and then took off like a shot towards the house. Stunned for a moment at her quick movements, I didn’t catch up with her until she was at the back door, Turbo by her side.
How did she even find Turbo between here and there?
“Oh thank God,” Jules said when she spotted me. “I need you to hold Turbo while I attach this.”
Which is how I found myself holding a dog still while Jules wrapped a collar of pink flowers around its neck on Judge’s wedding day.
