by Erin Osborne
“Then let me talk to everyone involved and we’ll bring it up to you guys in our own version of church later on,” I tell him, making my way into the kitchen.
Raegan follows me to help me. Whenever I bake or cook now, I have a little shadow. I love that she wants to help me and learn what I do. She is growing so much and wanting to get more involved with everything going on around her. There haven’t been any seizures lately, but I don’t let my guard down when it comes to her. I’ll always be an overprotective mama bear. Of course, the guys will always be worse than me when it comes to her. Especially Jamison.
Keira
I’ve had the afternoon to finish uploading my book and am now playing the waiting game to see when it goes live. I’ve done some work on my new page on social media for my books, and I’ve connected with someone to help me make some teasers for the book and my author page. Jeez, the things I’ve learned that I have to do if I want to be somewhat successful with writing. Now, I’m going to have to look into putting up a site for what Skylar wants to do. I just have to make sure that my name isn’t attached to it. So, maybe we’ll have to set up an email account just for that.
I make notes on the notepad that’s ever present these days. You never know when an idea is going to hit. Mainly it’s things that we need to do, ways we can get around having any of our names attached to anything until we get comfortable enough to introduce ourselves in a private message or something. Especially after Sky messaged me that her men were already trying to get it out of her. I guess it’s truly a good thing that Blade isn’t home now because he’d be just as bad as them.
Taking a short break, I go out and feed the twins so that I can get them ready for their nap. This would be the perfect time for the girls to come over. Blade isn’t here and the kids will be asleep. We’ll be able to talk and get things ironed out before the men find out and I get the site up and running. More than likely I’ll just set something up on social media instead of a private website. It will be easier for other old ladies to find us that way. And it will probably be easier to connect through private messaging than constantly exchanging emails.
Today it looks like macaroni and cheese and hot dogs for lunch. It’s so nice to know that I can feed them more table food instead of trying to feed two kids at once with baby food. I put them in their highchairs and let them loose. It’s easier to put them in the tub to wash them up really quick versus trying to feed two hungry, cranky babies at once. That was always a fun time!
Skylar and Bailey are the first two that show up. They’re followed shortly by Maddie, Melody, Whitney and Sami, and Keegan. Keegan is the newest one to our group and I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to get to know her better. Maybe through this whole process I will. Whitney and Sami too. I’ve been trying to get the book finished so I’ve been holed up in my ‘writing cave.’ Bailey has a bottle with her and I know that I’m going to have to limit my intake since I have no clue when Blade will be back.
“Hey everyone!” I greet, sitting down on the couch with my notebook.
“So, we have an idea we want to run by you all. I brought it to Keira this morning when I escaped for a few minutes. Now, we want to get your input on it,” Skylar tells everyone.
“Basically, we want to set up a site so that we can get to know other old ladies from other clubs. We can use this to vent, throw ideas about things out there, and things like that. I think our best bet would be social media since most everyone uses that daily,” I begin. “Until we’re comfortable, we can keep everything anonymous and only give our names out when we’re ready to.”
The girls give the idea some thought once we both stop talking. I can see the wheels turning and them weighing the pros and cons. Before anyone else can say anything about it, Skylar adds in that we can also use it to help other clubs set up something to help domestic violence victims. If that’s something they want to do, of course. Or, Skylar adds, they can give people they know needing help our name and we’ll do what we can.
“Should we get Darcy’s input on this? We all know it’s just a matter of time before Crash and Trojan add her to the old ladies club. She just needs to stop fighting it,” Maddie states.
“I’ll let her know later on. I’m sure she’ll be on board with whatever we decide,” Bailey replies. “Now, as far as I’m concerned, I love the idea. How soon can something be set up? Who’s going to be in charge of checking it and maintaining it?”
“Well, I can set it up,” I answer. “I’ll create a separate email and give the information to all of you. Then I’ll go in and create a page for it. I don’t know that I'll have the time to constantly check it, but one of you guys can do that.”
“I can do that,” Sami pipes in. “I have my phone and laptop at school with me. I’ll just use one of them between classes and when I’m not studying to check in.”
“We can all check it when we have time, too. I don’t want it to all be left on Sami’s shoulders,” Whitney says. “But, I love the idea. I think everyone can benefit from it.”
“Well, I may have let it slip to the guys that we have an idea in the works. They want to know what it is,” Skylar admits.
“Screw that!” Melody bursts out. “This is our project, our baby. We’re going to connect with other women in our situation and there’s nothing they can do about it.”
Melody is usually quiet and reserved. She’s not one to go against Tank, or the rest of the men of the club. I like this side of her coming out, though. Maybe we should have thought of this idea sooner. I can’t wait to see what she’s like when the men finally find out what we’re doing. She’ll be the one standing up next to Bailey to make sure no one gets in our way.
It’s been a few days and I’m finally starting on getting the Old Ladies site up. I’ve created an email for us and now I’m working on setting something up on social media. Skylar and Bailey are coming over today to help set up some questions that the women must answer before we accept their request to join. It has to be questions that the general public won’t know the answer to, but that doesn’t give the club’s name away. We’re not trying to find out personal information about the clubs the women are from, just things that we can help one another with. The only pictures I’m going to use right now are stock photos. Motorcycles and things like that. There’s just not much more I can do until they show up and we come up with some questions.
In the meantime, I’ll go back to working on my second book. I’ve decided to write a series and the second one is just flowing right now. Hell, maybe this experience will be something that I can use as another story. I can change names and other things like that. I would just make sure I talk to everyone before I did anything like that. Just as I get into the second story, there’s a knock on my door. So, I save and close my book and pull the site back up.
“Hey Keira!” Bailey calls out. “Kenyon and Cory sleeping?”
“Yeah. They just went down. Blade is at the clubhouse, so we should be good to talk for a while.”
“Perfect!” Skylar adds, walking through the door with some of her amazing baked goods.
Just as I go to grab a piece, the overwhelming urge to be sick comes over me. This is not right! Running to the bathroom, I lose the little bit in my stomach before making my way back into my office. Bailey and Skylar are looking at me, wondering what’s going on. I shake my head that I have no clue and sit back down. Skylar puts the goodies away and I take a few calming breaths. I think I may need to take a trip to town later on today.
“Anyway, I think we need to come up with some questions before we go any further with the site,” I tell them, pretending like nothing just happened.
“One question could be ‘Who is not allowed to attend meetings?’” Skylar states, sitting up closer to the desk.
“That’s a good one,” Bailey says. “What about ‘Who handles the grunt work around the clubhouse?’”
“I like that one,” I add. “The last one could be ‘Who isn’t allowed to go
on a run?’”
“That’s definitely a good one,” Skylar says. “But, I want to know what you running out of here was all about.”
“Nothing. I’m good,” I tell them, turning my focus to the computer to add the questions to the site.
“We’ll let you have your secret for now,” Bailey chips in. “But, we’re not going to let you keep it to yourself for long.”
“I know. Now, I’ll work on this before Kenyon and Cory get up. When I get it finished, I’ll send everyone a link. You’re all going to be made administrators on it so we can all maintain the site and add people that we’re sure are old ladies. If one of us isn’t sure, we should leave the request alone and either let someone else handle it, or wait until we can discuss it and maybe reach out to them to ask more questions.”
“That’s a great idea. You do your thing and we’ll see you later,” Bailey says. “Don’t forget to meet us at the clubhouse soon so we can start getting ready for the barbeque.”
I walk the two to the door and make my way back in the office. It’s not going to take me long to make the necessary changes and get the site up and running. By the time I leave for the clubhouse, everything should be set. Once everyone else has the link, we can decide what more has to be done. For now, I think we’ll be fine just leaving it alone and letting other old ladies find us. When that starts happening, we’ll see where it goes and take every situation as it comes up.
Chapter Two
Lizzie
“Bristol? Did you see this?” I ask. I’ve been trolling through social media, bored out of my mind since the guys have been in their ‘meeting’ going on three hours now.
“What?” she asks, coming up to stand behind me.
“There’s a new forum on social media about Ol’ ladies.”
“You’re joking! What is it about?”
“I’m not sure, you have to fill out this questionnaire to be able to join.”
“Well, open up the document and fill out the form, I want to know what’s going on.”
“Me too, hang on a second,” I say as the document pulls up. It’s filled with questions that are easy for me to answer. I honestly answer each and everyone of them.
“Send me the link so I can fill it out too,” Bristol tells me. I copy and paste it into her messenger and wait for it to say sent.
“At least they don’t ask what club we belong to,” she states, as she too fills out the answers to the questions needed to join.
“Application pending,” she states as she puts her phone away.
“Mine too,” I tell her, feeling giddy at the prospect of connecting with other women from different clubs. “I wonder if their club’s different than ours,” I state.
“Probably, you know, different men running things. They each have their own individual thoughts and processes.”
“Makes you wonder though, if the other women think the same way we do, or if they are content with sitting in the background never knowing what the fuck is going on.”
“What are you two over here gossiping about?” Ashton asks as she walks into the main room and joins us. We explain about the forum we found and tell her that we filled out the form and are waiting on a pending approval.
“Sounds interesting, send me the link, I’d like to know what you two are getting yourselves into.” Typical mama bear response.
“You don’t have to protect us from everything, Ash,” I say.
“Hmm...didn’t say I was protecting you from anything, sweetie, maybe I’d like to be involved as well. I too would like to join forces with other women. We have to stick together, y’know?” Bristol giggles at her words. Me, not so much, I’ve had the overbearing parent thing and am not anxious to go down that road again.
Before I have a chance to voice my concerns, Kori walks into the room and gives me a raised eyebrow. Don’t ask me how, but she’s always so attuned to how I’m feeling and what’s going through my mind. “I have the feeling I’ve walked into something here,” she says, taking a seat between me and Bristol. My phone chimes about the same time as Bristol’s does and we look up at each other, glee written all over our faces.
“Well, now I know you two have gone and gotten into something. What gives?” Kori asks, looking between the two of us.
“Nothing,” we both say but Ashton, that meddling woman that you love to hate, interferes and tells her exactly what we have done.
“So, what’s the big deal?” Kori asks her, “there’s nothing wrong with wanting to connect with other Ol’ ladies. “
“What if it’s more of a site that is looking to infiltrate clubs? We’ve had rats before, I don’t think we should invite trouble in where there hasn’t been any,” Ashton responds, and I have a feeling these two are fixing to go head to head.
“We’ll be careful, Mama Bear,” Bristol tells her. I’m not as close to Ashton as the other women are, because she reminds me so much of someone who has to interfere and control everyone’s lives that I haven't let her in. Her daughters adore her, but that doesn’t mean I have to. I know what it’s like to be controlled and manipulated, and I vowed to never let that happen again. Justice saved me in so many ways, but that doesn’t mean I have to trust everyone just because he does.
Kori elbows me, and I look over at her, “You promised you’d try,” she reminds me.
“I know,” I tell her. I promised her I’d give Ashton a chance, but honestly, I already have a mother and don’t need another one. I get that she’s the matriarch of the club, but I show her respect, I’ve never not done that. My walls are slowly coming down with the members and their women, but Ashton tries too hard and it puts me off.
“Trying doesn't mean dismissing her concerns or fears, a lot has happened to her in her life. She could teach you a thing or two if you’d just let her in. She’s a good woman, solid and loyal. She could be one of your best friends if you’d just open that damaged heart of yours and give her a shot.” I feel like we’ve had this conversation before, oh wait a minute, we have! I feel like she’s a broken record that I’m stuck listening to, over and over again.
“I will, promise, okay?” Bristol and Kori are the two I’m closest to. I babysit Kori’s kids and adore them both. Kingston and Lila Rose are two of the sweetest, most outgoing children I’ve ever been around. Their love for life is contagious and where I come from it’s a breath of fresh air. My father would’ve punished me if I’d done more than be seen and not heard. The ‘dungeon’ room that was our punishment still gives me nightmares. Especially since he would get busy and forget that I was down there. My mother and sisters couldn’t help me, get me out or bring me food and water without his approval first. He’s a tough man, has to be to be head of the organization, but there is no love lost between the two of us. And despite now being married, I’m still demanded to make an appearance at family dinners.
“Ooh, Lizzie, you need to check this out. It’s legitimately other Ol’ ladies who are posting about how they feel about being kept in the dark and having their alpha men control what they are allowed to know and what they aren’t,” Bristol says, jumping up and down in her chair in excitement. I open up the feed, and feel an instant connection to what some of them are saying.
One post poses the question of: “Do you ever feel like you just need to get away?”
Umm...yes, yes I do. I comment on the post and suddenly there are several doing the same thing.
I ask the question of: Does being an Ol’ lady ever overwhelm you?
Some lady by the name of Jenalyn comments: Surely this question is rhetorical, right? and I smile, finally feeling a sisterhood I’ve been missing since Justice and I had our shotgun wedding.
We begin chatting and the conversation makes me feel like I can breathe easier. I wish it was, I’m new to the lifestyle, and I can’t seem to bond to all of the women here, did you have the same issues? I ask her.
She replies with: Can’t say that I have. I was born into this lifestyle. It chose me, and I ran, but
ultimately found myself right back in it. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment. Hell, even I don’t know most days.
I respond to her reply: I was basically married into the club. I didn’t even get to meet my husband until our wedding day. Don’t get me wrong, I already love him. I just feel as if I’m not being allowed completely into the inner circle and workings. I feel like I can’t talk to the women here, they don’t seem to understand what I’m going through. I respect them all, but I worry that I’ll never fit in. I was forced into their lives with a treaty from my father to help protect them and give them information to save one of the other women’s lives.
Then another woman steps in by the name of DJ. I was married into the club as well, but I wasn’t forced to marry my man. This makes me want to take a hacksaw to your father’s balls. This causes me to laugh out loud, because she seems like someone who is going to be straight forward and not hold anything back.
Good luck, I respond. He’s a bit of an asshole and has guards around him at all times.
Jenalyn responds: Asshole? Guards? Hacksaw to balls? Now y’all are speaking my language! Those things are my specialty, although I prefer a hammer or a pair of pliers. Torture is a specialty of mine, I’ve been known to bring an asshole or two to their knees before...including my ‘Ol man.
DJ responds: Mine too, I’ve been known to remove a ball or two...lmfao. My special tool of torture is pliers. I love to see the fear in someone’s eyes when they know you aren’t playing around and couldn’t care less if they’re in any pain.
I respond: I’ve never been involved with anything of this nature. The guys protect our innocent little selves and don’t allow us entrance to anything that is club-related. Are you ladies allowed to know club business?
DJ replies: Fuck no, they think we’re too delicate to know things. Doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention and find things of my own to take care of. I had to put a club bitch in her place before, the guys tried to stop me, but I didn’t let that deter me from what needed to be done. Wow! These women are out for blood. Now these are the types of women I could learn a thing or two from.
