Talon & Claree

by Liberty Parker

  “My folks have told me they talked to your instructor and she gave them the information for the best things for the kitchen. They’re planning to outfit the kitchen for us, baby,” he replies.

  “What? Oh no, that’s too much,” I tell him. “We can’t let them spend that, Talon! They’ve still got kids to put through college and shit.”

  “Yeah, try talking my mom outta anything, Claree. Let me know how that works for you, okay?” He’s got a point, DJ is as hard headed as they come, once she sets her mind to something there is no changing it.

  “Talon, they’ve gotta let us stand on our own two feet.”

  “Sweetheart, our parents all feel guilty as fuck over what they didn’t do when we got together. If they all need to do this to help them feel better, I say let them.”

  “Fine. Do we at least get to pick out our paint preferences?” I’d like to do more than pick out the colors of our walls, but when the women take over there is no room for me to have an input.

  At my comment, he starts laughing and pulls me close. “Baby, of course. This is kind of their gift to us is all. Let them have fun, we’ll shut them down if they try to push into anything else, okay?”

  “If you think you can shut them down, then more power to you. I’ve tried several times on several different occasions and it’s never worked for me before,” I reply.

  “That was then, and this is now,” he replies. “Now, kiss me, woman, so I can head off to work. Make sure you let me know how things go and where we’re meeting for lunch, okay?”

  “You got it,” I say, with both thumbs up, causing him to grin at me. Those dimples on his cheek are blindingly apparent, one of the first things I ever noticed about him. I pull his head down and pour everything I’m feeling into my kiss, not pulling away until we’re both breathless.

  He leans his forehead against mine, panting lightly to catch his breath and says, “Can’t wait to follow through on that promise you just gave me, Claree.”

  “You and me both, Talon. You and me both.” With that, he snags his keys and heads out, leaving me to wait for my mom.

  Looking at the wrinkled skin where my casts used to be, I grin. “Thank goodness those are gone,” I say to my mom.

  “We’re getting you set up for physical therapy, Claree,” the doctor says at my comment. “You need to build strength back in both limbs.”

  “Ugh. That sounds like torture to me.”

  “You want full range of motion, don’t you?” he asks.

  “Of course,” I say, rubbing my small baby bump. I know I need to be at full strength for not just this little one’s arrival, but for Steel as well. I miss sitting on the floor and playing Legos and cars with him. “Just let me know where I need to be and what time and I’ll be there with my dancing shoes on,” I tease.

  “Girl, don’t even say anything like that, you and I both know you’d fall flat on your ass if you tried,” my mom chuckles.

  “Oh, hardee-har-har, Mom’s got jokes today,” I tease her.

  “At least get that ankle stronger before you take off, Ginger,” she replies. At her comment, I hear the doctor chuckling as he writes down the information I need for physical therapy.

  “Glad to see your sense of humor is intact. Warped, but intact,” he says.

  “Honestly? I’m glad to still be here,” I state. My comment makes Mom’s eyes water up and I lean over and hug her. “It’s true, Mom. I know y’all have kept a lot from me, but it was not a walk in the park for you guys judging from what I know my injuries were.”

  “That’s true, but I still have a hard time thinking about that day and the ones that followed,” Mom replies, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I just have to remember, some good news came with the bad,” she says to me, reaching over and placing her hand on my stomach. I place my hand over hers and squeeze it in silent support. I can’t imagine what she, Dad and Talon went through, if that had been Steel, I’d have been committed due to my breakdown I’m sure I would’ve had. I can’t even imagine what it’s like seeing your child bloody, broken, and near death’s door.

  “And it gave me Talon back,” I murmur. We are closer now than we’ve ever been, and while our folks don’t know about it, we’ve seen a local marriage counselor a few times. She felt we had a good grasp on what we needed to do to rebuild ‘us’ so she gave us some books to get, a few tools we hadn’t tried with respect to communicating effectively, and we’ve been diligent about making time every day to implement things. The only thing we haven’t done is had sex. But our make-out sessions have rivaled those from when we were teenagers, that’s for sure. Again, something the parents don’t need to know.

  “Well, we’re done here, young lady, I’ll see you in another six weeks so I can check on how you’re healing and hopefully be able to release you from light duty so to speak,” he says, and I’m sure he’s uncomfortable from the conversation we ended up having in the middle of my appointment with him. I unfortunately tend to follow where my mind leads, which isn’t always on the topic at hand.

  “Thank you, doctor, for everything,” I state. He was apparently on call the day I came in and was instrumental in saving my foot. I may bear the scars from the accident for the rest of my life, but at least I still have all my body parts. Well, except my spleen. But that isn’t life or death, so I can deal with losing it. I shiver as I think about what else I could’ve possibly lost. I’m not sure what ever happened with the other driver, when I ask anyone about it, they tell me it’s club business. In other words, it’s not my place to ask questions, I have to trust that they’ve taken care of it and I’m not to worry. Which, I might add is easier said than done. I make a mental note to talk to Talon tonight about it because I know he said Law was handling the insurance crap, but I need another vehicle now that I’m not constrained to casts. I need to make sure my new vehicle has room to grow seeing as we’re having another baby and hopefully one more, my dream has always been to have three.

  “Send Talon a text, honey, and let him know we’re done. How does Mexican sound?” Mom asks, interrupting my thoughts.

  “Mexican is always a good answer,” I reply, pulling my phone out and sending my man a text.

  *

  Me: We’re finished. Mexican?

  Talon: Hell yes. Give me thirty and I’ll meet y’all there.

  Me: K. See you then. Love you.

  Talon: Not as much as I love you.

  *

  “He’s good with Mexican. We’ll meet him in thirty minutes,” I tell Mom.

  “That’s plenty of time. Go get your physical therapy scheduled so we can leave,” she replies.

  I hobble up to the check-out desk, using the cane they gave me. When I wrinkled my nose, the doctor had said it was just until the strength returned. Whatever. I feel like an old woman, not a twenty-one-year-old, that’s for sure! I get my first three appointments scheduled, along with the doctor follow-up, then head out the door with Mom so we can get some lunch.

  *

  Talon

  *

  I jump on my bike and head out to meet my woman and her mom. I do this with a smile on my face because Axe just gave me a gift that will hopefully lead to the future I have in mind with my woman. I just need someone to watch Steel for us while I take my woman away for the weekend. The club just purchased a cabin in the woods right off the lake, it will be romantic and with just the two of us there, I can ask her that question that’s been stuck on my tongue since she has recovered.

  I pull up to the restaurant and immediately see her and Trinity, her head is thrown back in laughter and I take a minute to enjoy the sight. Damn, she’s so beautiful and I’m so proud that she’s mine.

  Walking quickly to them, I slide my arm around her waist and kiss her temple. “Hey, baby,” I murmur. “Love seeing you so fucking happy.” She beams a blinding smile my way and I return it with just as much love as she just showed me.

  “So,” I say taking a seat, “got a favor to ask of you and Chief,
” I look over at Trinity.

  “What’s that, Talon?” she asks me.

  “Axe just gave me the okay to use the cabin to take Claree there for the weekend, can you two keep an eye on Steel for us, so I can spend some time alone with my woman?”

  “As if you have to ask if we want to spoil our grandson,” she replies. “We’d be absolutely thrilled to spend the weekend with him.”

  “Yes, I have to ask. I never want to presume that y’all or my folks are able to take care of our son. You’ve got your own lives still,” I state. “So, I’ll always ask.”

  She waves her arm at me and makes a pfft sound as she pulls her phone out and calls Chief. We can only hear her half of the conversation but the gist I’m getting is that he’s thrilled and they’re going to take the kids fishing. Once she’s off, I ask, “Fishing?”

  “Yeah, he enjoys going from time to time, so he wants to share it with his grandson. Neither Shelby nor Cora are thrilled with worms or baiting hooks. He needs ‘a guy’ to do that with, according to him. Guess Steel is his wingman when he wants to fish.” I am now picturing my son digging for worms and excited at the chance to play in the dirt. I make a mental note to send his oldest clothes in case they get ruined.

  “We’re going away for the weekend? Just us?” Claree asks me, a light in her eyes that has me wishing we were alone.

  “Yeah, baby, just us.”

  “About time,” she states, and then she blushes when she remembers her mom is sitting across the table from us.

  “Yeah, I didn’t hear that,” Trinity says. “As far as I’m concerned, Steel and this new one were immaculately conceived.”

  “Moving on, what are you going to get?” Claree questions, her face redder than before.

  I chuckle at the two of them acting like this because I’m sure Cora wasn’t ‘immaculately conceived’ either. The waitress comes up before I can respond and asks for our drink orders, which we quickly give. A cursory glance at the menu has me ready to place my food order when she returns. Just hope the two women are ready as well.

  “What are you going to get, Talon? It all looks so good I can’t decide, I sorta want several different things from different specials.”

  “Probably the number five lunch special,” I say in response to Claree’s question. “It’s what I usually get, and I like it, so why change a good thing?”

  “Then why do you look at the menu?” she asks.

  “In case they change which number it is,” I reply.

  “The menus have been the same since we started coming here in high school,” she states.

  “You never know,” I say, “they could get a new menu maker or something. Best to be sure.” I see her open her mouth to respond, but the waitress appears with our drinks and asks us for our order. Claree asks her if she can build a plate, and the waitress tells her there’s an extra charge, which she shrugs away, she wants what she wants and doesn’t want anyone changing her mind, extra charge be damned. “Baby, you gonna be able to eat it all?” I ask after she gives the waitress her order.

  “Whatever I don’t eat and you don’t want, I’ll just take home,” she replies.

  “Always good for a midnight snack?” I question, because I know I’ll be the one down in the kitchen heating it up when the desire hits her in the middle of the night. Just as it did with our boy.

  “You know me so well,” she states, kissing me on the cheek. I turn and look at her in the eyes, wanting to show her with my look alone, that I do indeed know her…very well.

  “This I do,” I respond.

  “Y’all are too cute,” Trinity states, causing us to grin at each other, eyes still glued to one another’s. “I’m so happy that you two found comfort in each other growing up and that your bond is just as strong today as it was back then. We all lose our way here and there, and the fight you two fought for each other, just shows the love that is everlasting.” I look around to make sure my mom isn’t around taking notes, because there’s no way in hell I want to be the star in one of her romance novels.

  “Uh, thanks,” I say, popping a chip in my mouth.

  “Mom! You should know you can’t say that shit around a biker. They don’t deal well with the fluff of life,” Claree states. I hide my chuckle because she sounds so…offended on my behalf. Trinity, however, just grins at the two of us and sips her soda.

  “Oh shush, I deal with the alpha to beat all alphas, and I know they may not like it stated, but deep inside they appreciate it.”

  I can’t help it now, I burst into laughter imagining Chief all warm and fuzzy. Nope, won’t compute for my brain, that’s for damn sure. He’s so unyielding in many ways, especially around me, that I cannot picture him any other way. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  “Yeah, Mom, we don’t need to know about you and Dad,” Claree tells her, while giving her a look that says, ‘there is such a thing as too much sharing’ and I know she hates to think of her parents being together in any way…I guess that immaculate conception is a concurring thought in her family when it comes to how children are born.

  “Anyways, is this weekend alright?” I ask, changing the subject.

  “Yes, I thought we established this already?”

  “I was just reiterating that we’re on the same page,” I state.

  “Then yes, we’re on the same page…nice change of subject by the way.” I hear her and Claree both giggle at my display of uncomfortableness. Not funny, I think, but at least we’re no longer dealing with the need for bleach when it comes to Chief and Trinity.

  Lunch passes quickly and before I know it, I’m walking my woman back to her mom’s car. Before I help her in, I pull her close and kiss her, putting all I feel into it until we’re both breathless. “Soon, baby,” I promise.

  “I hope so. You’re wasting good pregnancy hormones,” she teases.

  “Not for long. We’ll make up for lost time,” I reply.

  “We better, because if not, I’m chaining you to the bed until I’m fully sated.”

  “Hmm…I may like that, we’ll put it on the list of things to do.”

  “Children! Immaculate conception, I tell ya!” Trinity whisper-shouts. “I can’t even with you two.”

  I can’t help the laughter that erupts, and I help Claree in the car and then lean over her toward Trinity and say, “Just a little payback for your earlier words concerning you and Chief.” Her blush is my reply, and I grin before closing the door, and tapping the roof. Time to head back to work, I’ve got a family to support.

  13

  Talon

  Later that day, I’m speaking with my dad and making plans for the weekend. He’s going to enlist the help of my mom to get things set up at the cabin to make it a romantic setting. “About time you made it legal,” Dad states.

  “It’s never been my decision to wait, Dad. It’s always been hers,” I reply. “After what her stepdad did, I guess she didn’t want to chance anything like that happening again.”

  “As if you’d ever… no, I take that back, as if we’d ever allow anyone to take a hand to that girl again,” he declares. “I remember how they both were when Chief and Trinity first got them. All the therapy and shit. It wasn’t an easy time, although you’re too young to remember.”

  Not exactly. I remember the times she’d doze off only to wake up screaming in terror. And the scars she has from her stepdad? Let’s just say I’ve been up close and personal so many times that even though it’s been years, I have to tamp my anger down every single time. She knows they bother me because of the pain she endured, but I won’t let her think she’s anything less than beautiful. Because she is and always will be, even when we’re old.

  “So, this is it, this weekend you pop the big question, and before long you’ll be a married man with kid number two on the way. I’m so proud of the man you’ve become,” he shares. “The day I walked into that jewelry store was the day our family grew and the love we all share is what’s kept life good.”<
br />
  “Agreed.” I need to change the subject. I’m not always comfortable with emotions and shit and that’s twice today they’ve been tossed at me.

  “Talon, you know we never wanted to take the place of y’alls folks,” he starts, “but I’m sure you’re aware that as far as your mom and me are concerned, we’ve had you both all of your lives.”

  I start laughing because he’s correct. Mom made it her mission to track down everything from before and then created photo albums with those pictures so we’d have them. She even got medical history stuff and put that in a binder thing, stating that someday, we’d need that for our own families. “Love you too, Dad,” I finally say. “Couldn’t be prouder to be your son or to be a part of the club.”

  And… now it’s Dad who is uncomfortable. “Yeah, same. So, Chief’s taking Steel fishing?”

  “Yep. Said he’d make a good wingman or something like that because the girls don’t like digging up worms.”

  “Oh, he’s going to have a blast. Better send old clothes.”

  “Think Claree’s got that covered,” I inform him.

  “She feeling okay?” Jeez, what the hell is this today, twenty-fucking-questions?

  “Yeah, no major problems. A little bit of morning sickness which was interesting when she couldn’t maneuver on her own, but now that she’s able to hobble, hopefully that’ll help.”

  “So you’ve been mopping then.”

  “You could say that. Your grandson is no help either. Well, other than saying, ‘Mama sick, Daddy,’ that is.”

  “Well, sounds like he’s learning early to take care of women, it’s a lesson that’s natural to him and not something you’ll have to work hard to make sure he follows.”

  “Yep, he’s very protective of his mama, and he already talks to the baby. It’s hilarious because he’ll lean over her and place his mouth directly on her stomach and holler at him or her to make sure the baby hears him.”

  My dad’s laughter increases at my words and I find myself chuckling. It’s so fucking cute watching him ‘talk’ to the baby. He’s been telling the baby about us, how I don’t do the voices right, how his mama will love them both. Fucking cute. Not that I’d admit anything like that to my woman and lose my biker rep.