The Pairing

by Katie Ashley

  “It should be up to Pesh and Megan whether it’s said or not,” Aidan grumbled.

  Pesh held up his free hand that wasn’t holding Maya. “It’s fine. Truly, I don’t mind.”

  Aidan mouthed “suck up” at him before grinning. Pesh merely shook his head at Aidan’s antics. “Then let’s return thanks,” Patrick said.

  With Maya still taking long pulls at her bottle, Pesh bowed his head. As Patrick recited the blessing, Pesh couldn’t help feeling so very blessed himself. Three years ago, the dining room would have been empty. Most likely, he would have been grabbing something on the way home or finishing some leftover takeout. But now, he had a beautiful, loving wife by his side—one he fell a little more in love with each and every day. Across from him, he had a son who was strong and healthy. In his arms and his wife’s, he had two daughters who he couldn’t wait to see what the future held for them. He also had the love and support of good friends and family. At the end of the day, true love in its many forms was all you could really hope for and cling to.

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  David aka ‘Deacon’ Malloy has devoted his adult life to the Hell’s Raiders motorcycle club. Plucked off the streets as a teenager for his fighting ability, he willing embraces the violent life-style of his new family. After his adoptive father’s murder during the last club war, he slid into the vacated role of Sergeant at Arms. His world is thrown for a loop when a former club whore dies, and the five year old daughter he had no idea he had fathered is deposited on the club steps.

  Alexandra Evans followed in her parents’ footsteps by going into education. As a Kindergarten teacher, she loves helping her young students learn to read and write. At the start of the school year, one little girl stands out to her above all the rest. With an aura of sadness about her, Willow Malloy is someone who needs all the tender loving care Alexandra can give. When she suddenly stops coming to school, Alexandra goes in search of her. What she finds is a clubhouse full of bikers, and a father hell bent on keeping his daughter always within his sight during a turf war.

  The moment Deacon lays eyes on Alexandra he knows he has to have her. He doesn’t give two shits about the fact she’s a naïve civilian or that she has no desire to become another one of his conquests. He’s never found a woman he couldn’t have, and he wants nothing more to persuade Alexandra into changing her mind.

  Will Deacon seduce Alexandra into his dark world, or will she help him embrace a brighter future for himself and his daughter?

  At the shrill sounds of feminine squealing, Aidan grabbed his beer and tipped up the bottle. With two long pulls, he downed the foamy liquid. A loud burp escaped his lips. As a practicing Catholic, he was well acquainted with the idea of Purgatory. However, he never imagined he would have to experience it while on earth, nor could he imagine he would be hiding out in his sister, Becky’s, bonus room from the gaggle of females attending Noah’s baby shower.

  One thing was certain about his son. He was already attracting hoards of female love and attention, and he wasn’t even born yet. Almost fifty women had converged on Becky’s house. They had arrived with ornately wrapped packages and bulging gift-bags coupled with non-stop conversation. Once the crowd had gathered, he had slunk away to seek out refuge with the other men.

  When Aidan went to grab another beer out of the mini-fridge, his father shook his head. “You better watch it. Emma will have your hide if you go out there drunk,” Patrick warned.

  Aidan grimaced. “How else am I supposed to endure this?”

  His brother-in-law, Tate, snorted. “I feel for ya, man. But if you don’t shape up and act right, you’ll incur the wrath of not only Emma, but all the Fitzgerald girls.”

  A shudder went through Aidan at the thought of five angry females. Emma’s fury was enough to scare the hell out of him, but if you combined that with all his older sisters, it was an estrogen shit-storm of epic proportions. “Fine, fine,” he grumbled, putting the beer back.

  For the last half hour while inane shower games were played and the feast of food was consumed, Aidan had stationed himself in the bonus room with Patrick and Tate along with his other brothers-in-law, Tim, Jack, and Barry. A play-off game on the big screen captivated the other men, along with John and Percy, but Aidan was too anxious to unwind.

  He knew when it came time to start opening the overflowing table of gifts, Emma would want him at her side, and he really, really didn’t want to do that. All of the oohing and ahhing and giggling…it was a nightmare.

  Georgie came running into the room. “Come on, Uncle Aidan! It’s time to open presents!” he cried.

  Aidan couldn’t help grinning at Georgie’s excitement. He had refused to leave Emma’s side the entire day and couldn’t wait to see what Baby Noah was getting for his “pre-birthday”. Aidan was glad that in Emma’s thoughtfulness she had brought gifts for all of the boys since the shower was being hosted at their home and uprooting them for an afternoon. But deep down, he knew she was mainly looking out for Georgie.

  He bounced up and down as Aidan remained rooted on the bar stool. “Whaddya waitin’ for?” Georgie questioned impatiently.

  Aidan drew in a deep breath. Glancing over at Patrick, he said, “Wish me luck.”

  Patrick thumped Aidan on the back. “Come on, son. I’ll go out there with you.”

  “You will?”

  “For Emma’s sake, not yours,” Patrick replied, with a wink.

  “Figures,” Aidan grumbled.

  Georgie grabbed Aidan’s hand and jerked him off the stool. With a tug, he pulled Aidan out the door and down the hallway. As Georgie led him around the corner, Aidan saw an empty chair waiting on one side of Emma while on the other side was a mountain of wrapped boxes and gift bags.

  When she met his gaze, her pleased smile warmed his heart. He knew she had waited all her life to get to have a baby shower, and from the flush on her alabaster cheeks, he knew how thrilled and excited she was. And for him, there was nothing better than seeing Emma truly happy.

  Impulsively, he leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips. “Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”

  He wasn’t just flattering her either. The emerald maternity dress, cream colored leggings, and brown knee boots made her absolutely stunning. He loved how she could appear both trendy, graceful, and sexy as hell in what she wore, even eight months pregnant.

  Pink tinged her cheeks at his compliments. “Thank you.” Her hand came up to cup his cheek. “Baby, are you sure you don’t mind helping me open gifts?”

  He furrowed his brows and held his breath. This had to be some sort of trick question, right? She couldn’t possibly be giving him an out from Baby Shower Hell. And just like that, he saw the flicker in her eyes, and he knew how much she wanted him beside her.

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  At her wide smile, he reluctantly plopped down in his chair. Gazing out at the sea of faces, he recognized a few friendly ones. Casey and Connor were both in attendance along with Virginia, Emma’s grandmother. Although he couldn’t name them all, there were a bunch of Emma’s female cousins who had come down for the day from the mountains. If he survived this baby shower, he had to make it through another one the following weekend with all of Emma’s relatives.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” Becky said, handing a large box to Aidan.

  He glanced from Becky to Emma. “You want me to open it?”

  “Sure, go ahead,” Emma said.

  Sucking in a breath, Aidan tore into the pastel blue wrapping paper. He peered down at the box. “What the hell…”

  Emma giggled at his side. “It’s a breast pump, babe.”

  “A what?”

  “It’s so I can pump my milk for Noah to take while I’m at work or when I can’t breastfeed him.”

  He jerked his gaze over to hers. “You mean, you’re actually going to hook yourself up to that?” he asked incredulously.

  Women’s laughter rang in his ears, and it was his turn to
blush. “It looks painful,” he muttered.

  “It’ll be fine,” Emma reassured him.

  With one last skeptical look, he passed the box back to Becky. After a few minutes, he felt like a robot on an assembly line. A box or bag was given to him to open. Emma and others would ooh and ahh over it—sometimes Emma would even get teary like with the quilt Virginia presented her with—and then the process would be repeated all over again.

  He rubbed his temples at the sight of so many clothes, blankets, bibs, pacifiers, and toys. It made his head swim, especially the thoughts of getting it all back to their house. He couldn’t imagine they would need to buy anything else for Noah for a long, long time.

  When the last gift was unwrapped and Emma, through her tears, had thanked everyone profusely, she eased her chair closer to his. “Thank you for helping me.” She slung one arm over his shoulder and leaned in to nuzzle his neck. “I know you how much you hated doing this, but I really appreciate it.”

  “Are you kidding? I just had the time of my life,” he argued.

  Emma pulled away to grin at him. “You’re such a liar.”

  “Okay, so that was a little bit of hell on earth for me.”

  “I thought as much.” She took his hand in hers—the one that now glittered with her platinum engagement ring along with her wedding band— and brought it to her belly. “Noah says thanks to.”

  At his son’s movements beneath his hand, Aidan smiled. “He likes having his old man around, huh?”

  Emma gazed up at him with a dreamy smile. “Yes, he does. And so does his mom.” Her lips hovered close to his. “I love you, Aidan. I love you for giving me today and every day that we’re together.”

  His chest welled with emotion, and his only response was to kiss Emma passionately. He didn’t care that they were in a room full of other women or surrounded by breast pumps and diaper genies. He just wanted to show her how much he loved her.

  And he did.

  A high-pitched squeal broke through the layers of Aidan Fitzgerald’s subconscious. As the wailing persisted, his senses slowly came awake. “Em?” he murmured drowsily. With his eyes still pinched shut, he rolled over in bed to find it empty. Craning his neck, he heard the unmistakable sound of the shower running. Well, he barely heard it over his four-and-a half-week old son’s screams.

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming, Noah,” Aidan muttered as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

  As he hurried around the side of the bed, Aidan dug the sleep out of his eyes with his fists. By the time he reached the bassinet, Noah was in full-on, pissed-off fit mode. He drew his tiny legs to his stomach while flailing his fists. His face was crimson from his exertions. “Easy Little Man,” Aidan said as he reached over to pick Noah up. While all of their family members loved telling Aidan and Emma that they had been blessed that Noah had such an easy temperament, he could really let you have it when he got going. Of course, the only time he really wailed was when he was hungry or had a dirty diaper.

  Kissing Noah’s cheek, Aidan then snuggled him against his chest. When Noah’s tiny brows furrowed in confusion, Aidan grinned down at him. “I know, I know. I’m a poor substitute for Mommy, especially if you’re hungry.” At the sound of Aidan’s voice, Noah popped open his eyes. “Hmm, feels like you’ve got a wet diaper. Let’s get you changed.”

  Aidan’s once bacheloresque master bedroom had become baby central. With the nursery upstairs, Emma didn’t want Noah that far from her when he was so small, so he slept in Pack and Play in the bedroom. Aidan wondered with all of Noah’s shit in their bedroom why he needed his own room. But when it came down to it, Aidan actually liked having him close too. Even though he adored and loved Emma with all his body and soul, the love for his son was far greater than anything he could have ever imagined. From the moment Noah had been placed in his arms, Aidan had felt the most amazing, life-altering bond. He hated spending any time away from Noah. He had even taken two weeks Paternity Leave to be with Emma when Noah came home from the hospital, but he’d been forced with a heavy heart to return to work the last week.

  Laying Noah back down on the Pack and Play, Aidan then undid his onesie and diaper. It had taken one epic dousing of piss to the face for Aidan to remember to take the proper precautions when changing Noah. While Emma had found it hilarious, he had not been so amused. After he put a fresh diaper on, Aidan tenderly kissed along Noah’s exposed belly, inhaling of the sweet essence that was baby, before snapping his onsie back together. He then popped Noah’s pacifier back into his mouth just in case he wanted to get fussy again before Emma got out of the shower.

  He sat down in the glider and began to do one of his new favorite things—rock Noah. He couldn’t get enough of the feeling of Noah in his arms. Emma had teased him that he was going to spoil Noah by holding him so much, but the truth was neither one of them could keep their hands off of their sweet son for long. Aidan loved the way Noah felt nestled against his chest along with the way he would stare intently up at him, as if he were memorizing Aidan’s face.

  Emma appeared in the bathroom doorway outfitted in her green silk robe. Just the sight of her wet, tangled Auburn hair and flushed alabaster cheeks from the shower got Aidan’s juices up and running. But they were still two weeks shy of getting back to clockwork in the bedroom, so Aidan quickly doused the fire growing below his waist. He smiled at Emma from his seat in the glider. “Someone woke up while you were gone.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I better slip into the shower while I could.”

  Shaking his head, Aidan rose out of his seat. “I don’t mind getting up with him, babe.” He kissed Emma’s cheek. “I just don’t have what all you have to offer him.”

  Emma laughed at his insinuation. “He just ate three hours ago.”

  Aidan chuckled. “Yeah, well, he’s got that ‘this pacifier ain’t gonna hold me much longer’ gleam in his eyes.”

  “Here I’ll take him,” Emma said. Aidan gently passed Noah over to her. “Is Mommy’s angel hungry again?” she cooed.

  Just the sound of her voice made Noah come alive as he waved his fists and snuggled closer to her. She beamed at him as she eased down in the glider. He unceremoniously spit out his pacifier out as Emma pushed open one side of her robe. Once he was nursing heartily, Emma turned her attention back to Aidan. “Are you ready for a full day in the mountains?”

  “Of course I am. You know I love being with your family.”

  “Ah, but you’ve never experienced one of our Anderson Easter Egg hunts.”

  Aidan quirked his brows at her. “Should I be afraid?”

  Emma giggled. “Trust me, it’s intense. There are probably over a hundred people with a thousand eggs hidden.”

  “Holy shit! A thousand?”

  “Why do you think I’ve been dying eggs like crazy the past few days?”

  “I thought you had an Easter egg fetish. Who was I to judge?”

  With a laugh, Emma replied, “Nope, it’s a tradition, not a fetish.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Oh, we need to leave as early as we can.”

  Aidan lifted his brows in surprise. “Don’t tell me you volunteered my services for the massive egg hiding undertaking?”

  Emma grinned. “No, it’s more about me helping Grammy. She keeps being so stubborn and insisting that she’s not too old to do lunch all by herself. But then she’s wiped out for days after she does it.”

  Aidan smirked at her. “Hmm, so that’s where you and now Noah get the stubbornness.”

  “Hey now. There’s plenty of stubbornness floating around in your Fitzgerald DNA,” Emma countered as she propped Noah on her shoulder to burp him.

  “If you say so. I better go hop in the shower then.”

  “You do that, stubborn ass,” Emma replied, with smile.

  He winked at her before ducking into the bathroom. He showered at a lightning quick pace before getting out to shave at record speed. After he wrapped a towel around his waist, Aidan ste
pped out of bathroom and into the bedroom. Wearing a beautiful green sundress that made Aidan’s heartbeat accelerate, Emma had Noah on the bed, easing him into his clothes. At the sight of the outfit, Aidan did a double take. “What the hell is he wearing?”

  Emma glanced up at him in surprise. “His Easter outfit.”

  Aidan shook his head wildly back and forth. “It has pink in it.”

  “And blue and green.” When he continued giving her a skeptical look, Emma huffed, “These are pastel, Easter colors, Aidan.”

  “I don’t want my son in pink.”

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Seriously?

  “Yeah, I am.”

  Lifting Noah into her arms, she pinned Aidan with a hard stare. “You wear pink shirts.”

  Aidan scratched the back of his neck. “That’s different. I’m a man.”

  “And he’s a little man. There isn’t any difference. Besides, look how adorable he is.” She held Noah out for Aidan to inspect him.

  As much as he hated to admit it, Noah looked cute as hell in his gingham outfit. He even had a hat to match that bunny ears sewn on. He exhaled noisily. “Fine, you win.”

  Emma grinned. “I win in more ways than one. Patrick picked this out for him.”

  Aidan groaned. “Jesus, not Pop?”

  “Yes, your father.” With Noah in one arm, she reached over to playfully smack his ass. “Now hurry up and get ready. We need to be on the road in half an hour.”

  Later that afternoon, Aidan lounged around the giant mahogany table in Grammy and Granddaddy’s dining room. He fought the urge to undo his pants since like always, he had eaten way too much. Between Grammy and Emma’s combined efforts, the meal had been delicious. He was debating eating another piece of cake when Emma crooked her finger at him from the dining room doorway. His brows furrowed in confusion as he rose out of his chair. At the head of the table, Noah slept peacefully in Earl’s arms, so he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

  “Come with me,” she said, taking him by the hand and leading him down the hallway. She closed them into Grammy and Granddaddy’s bedroom before she spoke again. “I need to ask you to do something for me.”