by K E Osborn
He exhales sounding relieved as he leads us over to a table where Sensei and Sass are sitting. Sass is getting ready to go to the garage, so we take a seat. “Morning, it’s great you’re up and about, Sparx,” Sass calls out to me as she pops a bubble of gum. Sensei wraps his arm around her shoulders looking completely smitten.
“Morning, it’s a great feeling,” I reply as Trax grins wide. It’s so much better than watching the worried frown he’s been sporting the last few days.
“I need to see those pictures of your babies when you’ve got time. I have to head off to work soon, but maybe tonight?” Sass asks. I forgot Dr. Branson gave us some printouts of the scans. We haven’t really shown anyone other than Torque and Freckles. I guess with my morning sickness, the celebrations were kind of put on hold. A sense of family and home floods through me.
“I’d love that. I’ll show you when you get home tonight.”
“Awesome. Better go, but you have a good day, yeah. Keep that smile on your dial,” Sass chimes.
“Thanks, you have a good day, too.”
She leans in kissing Sensei a little deeper than I want to see as I turn my head to look at Trax who smirks raising his brow. They eventually break free, and Sass rushes off leaving Sensei shaking his head as he takes a deep breath turning back to look at us. “I don’t understand how the hell I keep up with her.”
We both let out a laugh as he waves his hand in the air signaling for Ruby. She walks over making me smile at the club girl everyone loves so much. “Morning guys! So happy to see you all out and about. You up for some breakfast this morning, Sparx?”
“I think so.”
Her eyes light up like this is the best news she’s heard all day. “Okay, you want something big? Or wanna start off small?”
“Definitely small to start, maybe just some toast and chamomile tea?”
Trax places his hand on my knee. “I’ll have the same, but coffee instead. Thanks, Rubes.”
She bounces on her toes as she rushes off in the direction of the kitchen.
“What do you say about us getting out of here today? You, me, going and stretching our legs for a bit?” he asks.
“You wanna go somewhere?”
“Yeah, I want to go shopping.”
I let out a laugh. “Shopping? A biker, shopping? Now I have heard it all,” I scoff as Sensei chuckles along with me.
“I should be recording this for evidence,” Sensei mocks as Trax groans.
“Not just any fucking shopping… I want to buy stuff for our room, stuff for you and the babies.”
My heart leaps into my throat. Not sure I could fall any more in love with this man if I tried right now. I giggle and lean in kissing him quickly on the lips. “You’re way too good to me.”
He snorts. “This ain’t no normal shopping. We’ll only be buying the shit I think is safe for our kids. I don’t want any second-grade crap. Only the best.”
I chuckle. “You have final say on everything, I promise. I’m excited we’re doing this together.”
The look on his face tells me he’s excited to be doing this together too.
He really is going to be a great dad.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MYLEE
We ate breakfast. It felt good to actually get something into my stomach and keep it down. Those ginger and B6 pills of Kline’s are magical. I think I love her a little bit. But right now, Trax and I are walking to his truck on our way to pick out baby stuff. To say I’m excited is an understatement as I walk up to the passenger side.
Neala hops out of her car beside us. “Hey, where are you two going? What are you doing? Who are you going with?” she blurts out in quick succession with a giggle as Trax looks around the back of the truck letting out a laugh.
“What the hell, Lala? Stop being nosey,” Trax grunts as she curls up her cute button nose at her brother.
I, on the other hand, am too excited to not say something. “We’re going baby shopping for your little nieces or nephews… or both. Shit! I have no idea what we’re buying for.”
Neala puts on a stern face grabbing my shoulders. “It’s okay, we got this. I’m coming with you.”
Trax scoffs. “What now?”
“Actually… I would like another woman’s opinion. It might be helpful, Trax.”
He groans, storming around to the driver’s side. “Fine, get in,” he demands then slams his door.
Lala and I both giggle jumping into the truck, and we head straight to the baby emporium. The drive there is fun. Lala talks about all the things we can buy while Trax groans the entire time like a man with heartburn.
It’s quite entertaining.
We get to the shop and head inside. Lala is like a child in a toy store. I’ve never seen her so excited. It’s like we’re shopping for her baby, not ours. But Trax is dragging his feet watching Lala and me as we tease him.
“You know, oh brother of mine, if you have twin girls, you’re going to be so out of your depth, I’m going to love watching you squirm on a daily basis,” Lala gushes holding up a little frilly lace dress as I watch Trax’s face fall.
“Holy fucking shit, I never thought of it being two girls. Two boys, yes, one girl, maybe, but two girls… fuck!” Trax groans.
While watching her running around, I decide to ask how she’s doing. “Lala, what’s happening in your love life? You’re getting awfully clucky,” I add causing Trax to stop walking. He turns glaring at me which makes me laugh as he shakes his head adamantly, a look of absolute fear etched into his features.
Neala laughs, but there’s sadness behind her tone. “No, there’s definitely no babies in my near future. Hell, I don’t even think there’s a man in my near future.”
Trax goes about picking up random things as if he isn’t listening, but I know he is as I step closer to her. “What do you mean?” I ask.
“Well, it’s no secret Tremor and I have a thing.”
Trax lets out a small grunt. I send him a sideways glare, but he continues to gather baby supplies while trying to remain stoic.
“But he’s so on and off. He’s worried about getting his cut, so I have cooled things with him for now. I just don’t see how things will ever be okay with us. I really like him, but his focus is so intent on the club that I feel like I’m not important. So, for now, I have given up trying to be…” she shrugs, “… enough.”
Trax turns to face us, the bib in his hand curled into a tight fist. “You want me to punch him? ‘Cause I will. I’ll punch him.”
Neala laughs, but it’s only half-hearted as she continues looking at baby clothes. “No, he’ll fix his shit. Whether I’m a part of his future or not, I don’t know, but for now, I’m not. I know he respects Torque, and my brother, the almighty president, not being completely on board with us, has really put Tremor off. I just have to deal with the fact I’m not good enough for him.”
Trax groans, shaking his head. “Now I’m gonna have to punch him.”
Lala laughs. “No, don’t. I’m fine. Honestly. Leave it. You have better things to concentrate on… like little babies and naming them awesome things.”
Trax grimaces as he looks to me. “Shit. We have to think of four names.”
I laugh looking at him. “Why four?”
“Two boys… two girls,” he replies.
I wince in understanding. “Shit, yeah, of course. Urgh, how the hell are we going to come up with four names?” I whine as Lala pulls out her cell.
“Leave it to me. I’ll Google the best names ever… how about Bethzy!”
Trax and I both look at each other. “Bethzy? Is that even a name?” I ask.
“Yeah, or hey what about Genesis… oh, Lizeth,” she calls out as Trax and I laugh walking off from her while shaking our heads.
“She is not naming our kids,” I whisper to Trax as he bobs his head in agreement.
“I don’t think she should name her own when she has them either.” He chuckles.
I laugh as a sh
udder runs down my spine. Placing the items on the store counter, I turn to see someone wearing a baseball cap. He’s facing us, looking right at us, but I can’t see him as his cap is too low. Tension rolls over me as he suddenly turns, ducking out of the store from behind us, but I couldn’t make out who it was—but the stature was definitely of a man. Trax is distracted with Neala as she continues to rattle off baby names, but I can’t help feeling a little rattled by cap guy’s sudden departure. I didn’t see him in the store, but the creepiness that spread up my spine has me on edge.
I haven’t had any sort of episode for a while, but I have been a little out of it with my morning sickness, so my brain may not be functioning properly right now. My paranoia is probably misfiring. That’s all this is, right? I don’t want to ruin the fun we’ve been having with one of my paranoid delusions, so I’m just going to let this go. I don’t want to make Trax think I’m going crazy by me being worried about some guy who did what? Run out of the store when I spotted him. I’m completely overanalyzing this situation anyway. That’s what my brain does. And right now I need to take a moment, calm down and get back into the happy place with Trax and his sister. Because we’re having a great time.
Trax makes the purchases buying up half the store, and we head back to the truck. We jump in, and Trax starts the engine and takes off as Lala carries on in the back seat. Trax reaches out taking my hand looking at me seeming to asses me. “You okay, baby? You’ve gone all quiet.”
I shake it off. “I’m good, just tired.”
“Okay, should we stop for some lunch?”
“Yes! I’m down. Let’s get some food. You know I love to eat,” Neala calls out making Trax chuckle.
“It’s not about you, Lala. Are you up for it, Sparx? Or you wanna go back to the clubhouse to eat? Don’t want to throw too much at you all at once.”
I wince. “Would you mind if we went back to the clubhouse?”
Trax looks at me sideways. “Of course.”
I smile at him. I’m glad I got out, though I’m feeling somewhat weird about my chance encounter with a random stranger. I’m just wondering what to do about it. I’m going to need to think about whether I need to bring it up or not. The last thing I want is to look stupid in front of these guys, but if it is something, I don’t want to be caught out. I need to think. I can’t do that in public. That’s why I want to go back to the clubhouse. I need to be in my own surroundings with the people I trust around me.
I need to be home.
I need to be safe.
I just need to be calm.
And right now, I can feel myself getting worked up.
So I need to stay focused and not let the storm roll in.
Not when I’ve been doing so well.
TRAX
We pull up at the clubhouse, and I jump out starting to unload all the baby shit we bought as Lala and Sparx walk inside. I noticed Sparx has been quiet since we left the baby emporium. I’m wondering what the hell happened in the last few moments of our shopping trip to make her like this. I’m concerned. She was having a great time, then something seemed to spook her. I don’t like it. I want to talk to her about it, but Lala is too busy walking off with her before I can get a word in. So, I grab as much shit as I can and walk inside dumping it by the bar then head straight over to Ace.
“Hey, how’s shit?” he asks as I approach.
“Need a favor,” I blurt out.
He chuckles. “I’m doing great, thanks for asking.”
“Shut up! Come with me into the chapel. Now,” I tell him. He raises his brow but doesn’t hesitate as he stands up walking with me to his den. I shut the door behind us as I walk us over to his computers, and he takes a seat without me even having to tell him.
“What do you need?”
I exhale. “Okay, I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I need you to hack into the security footage from the baby emporium on Michigan Avenue from about half an hour ago and show me what happened. Can you do that?”
He snorts. “Have you met me?”
I push his shoulder. “Hurry up.”
He taps into his computer as video footage comes up on the screen. I instantly see Neala, Sparx, and me in the shop. Ace slightly chuckles. “You been buying baby shit, brother? Naw!”
“Shut the fuck up! Can you get another angle? I think something in there spooked Sparx, I just don’t know what.”
He takes on a more serious tone as he clicks on something. A different angle comes up showing another camera, and I see a man standing in the corner of the shop. He’s wearing a blue baseball cap, so I can’t see his face. His back is to the camera, but he’s watching the three of us, intently. My muscles clench, and I point to the screen. “You see that?”
“Yep,” is all he says. He zooms in slightly as I see Sparx turn to the guy, then he runs, taking off as she notices him, like he was watching her then, and when he was busted, he bolted so that she couldn’t catch him.
My skin prickles in goosebumps as I glance to Ace watching as Sparx tenses. She looks around like she’s unsure if she’s seeing things or not. Damn.
I bet she isn’t sure on whether this is her mind playing with her. This is why she went quiet on me. “Fuck, is there any way we can figure out who the guy is?”
Ace huffs, typing a few more things into his keyboard making the screen flick to an outside camera. The man is running out the side of the shop, then he turns the corner and out of the view of the cameras.
“You see the cap he was wearing,” I ask.
Ace nods. “Yeah?”
“Can you zoom in on it as he ran out. It looked like it had something on it…”
Ace reverses the image and plays it back slowly, but the image is too grainy for us to make it out.
“Damn, thought it might have been a lead.”
“The emporium doesn’t seem to have a camera on the side of the shop where he ran. I’ll check to see if there are any street cameras, but you might need to give me some time to look into it. To suss it out more.”
I pat his shoulder. “Thanks man, do me a favor? If you find out anything, don’t say a word to Sparx. Come to me first, okay?”
He exhales. “You think this could be Everett?”
Gritting my teeth, I purse my lips. “I think if it were Everett, himself, Sparx would have reacted differently. It wasn’t him, but maybe he’s sent someone to look for her. If his goon’s found her, this shit’s bad.”
“I agree. I’ll put my feelers out, see if Everett’s moving. See if anything’s happening where he’s currently located. See what I can find out. If something is shifting, we want to know.”
“Fucking straight we want to know. My woman’s pregnant. I can’t have some fucking psycho lunatic coming after her.”
“Noted. Leave it with me. I’ll keep my eyes on everything, don’t worry.”
“Thanks, brother, appreciate it.” I slap Ace on the back and walk out of the room while he tries to dig up some info. Heading off to find Sparx, I want to let her know I saw the guy too. That she isn’t imagining things, but I need to do this carefully. I don’t want to scare her into thinking Everett’s coming after her, but I also don’t want her thinking she’s going crazy either. I have to play this just right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
TRAX
I walk into the bedroom. Neala and Sparx are sitting on the bed looking through the baby outfits and smiling, but Sparx’s smile isn’t as wide as it should be. As I walk in, they both look up as Lala holds an outfit to Sparx’s tiny stomach.
“Just think, Trax, in a few months, they will be here wearing these. Won’t it be adorable?” Lala asks. It makes my chest squeeze at the thought. I’ve never really pictured myself as the doting father, but with Sparx by my side, I know we will be great at it together.
“Lala, I love you, but get out,” I gruff.
She snorts out a laugh shaking her head. “Bikers, you never change, always so damn bossy…” She turns to look at Sparx. �
��I had a great time today. If you need help with baby shopping again or help planning the baby shower, let me know. I’m your girl.”
“Thanks, Lala, for everything.”
Lala walks out of the room but not before punching me in my arm on the way out. I close the door behind her. Walking over to the bed and sitting down, I wrap my arm around Sparx’s shoulder, kissing her hair.
She lets out a long exhale, cuddling into my side. “What a day.”
“It’s been a big one, you’ve done well…” I pause trying to choose my words wisely. “That guy in the store today was fucking weird, though, right?” I try to play it off.
She looks up to me like she’s shocked by my words. “You saw him?”
I shrug. “Yeah, he rushed out of there like he was in a real hurry. Maybe he was freaked out by all of Lala’s crazy baby names.”
It looks like she visibly relaxes. “You think that’s all it was?”
I bring my hand up to her face smoothing some hair back from her cheek. “Yeah, I mean she was freaking me out with those damn stupid names. Poor guy probably thought she was weird.”
Sparx finally lets out a small laugh. “Yeah, true. They were terrible… I… I wasn’t sure if I was being… you know… a bit paranoid.”
I raise my brow. “Paranoid?”
Her eyes blink rapidly. “No, you’re right. I don’t even know why I thought that.”
I grab her hand. “It’s okay to have doubts. I know that probably seemed fucking weird to you, especially with the threat of Everett, but babe, you never have to hide your thoughts from me. I never want you to feel like you’re carrying any issues alone. If you feel like something’s wrong, you talk to me, no matter how crazy it might sound. I will never judge you for it. You know that.”
“Yeah, I know, but for a minute I thought I wasn’t thinking straight. It happened so quick, I didn’t want to alarm anyone. I didn’t want to seem… overcautious.”
My brows knit together. “If you ever think there’s a reason you feel unsafe, you need to tell me. Don’t ever hide it from me. Don’t think it has anything to do with you. He just left quickly… that’s all.” I downplay it even though I don’t think this is the reason at all. I don’t want her frightened, she doesn’t need this right now. So I stretch the truth. It’s what’s best for her.
