LOST KING: THE KINGS OF RETRIBUTION MC

by Alvarez, Sandy

  Shit! I forgot about my appointment with my OBGYN today.

  "Yes, I can make it. I'm on my way up now. Thanks for calling me." I head down the hall and make my way to the elevator and up to the third floor. Thank God Dr. Spears is a friend. I worked alongside her when I first transferred to Polson.

  "Good afternoon, Emerson," Dr. Spears greets me as she walks into the exam room. I'm only here for my birth control shot, so hopefully, I can get this taken care of and still have time to grab a snack from the vending machine. "How's it going, Dr. Spears? I'm sorry about missing my scheduled appointment time."

  "It's okay. That's the life of a doctor. We're too busy taking care of others that we often forget to take care of ourselves. I see here you missed your last injection," she says looking down at the tablet in her hands. "So, before I can administer another we'll need to do a pregnancy test. Just as a precaution."

  Confused, I hold up my hand cutting her off, "What do you mean I missed my last injection? I came to that appointment." Didn't I?

  Dr. Spears furrows her brows, and looks back down at her notes then back at me. "No. I'm positive you missed that appointment. You called the next day and rescheduled to today," she reminds me.

  Sitting on the exam table stunned, I think back to a few months ago. Fuck, she's right. I wasn't having sex at the time and didn't see it as a big deal missing my next shot. Suddenly I feel nauseous, and I clap my hand over my mouth. How many times have Quinn and I had sex in the past six weeks? Too many to count that's for sure.

  "Emerson, are you okay?" Dr. Spears asks placing her hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to guess by your reaction to what I just said a pregnancy test is definitely in order?"

  Closing my eyes and unable to speak I nod my head in confirmation. Ten minutes after taking the test the doctor returns to the room, and the look on her face confirms what I already knew. "I'm pregnant," I state before she has a chance to open her mouth.

  "Yes, Emerson you are in fact pregnant. I'd like to do an internal ultrasound to see how far along you are. Are you okay with doing that now?"

  "Yes."

  At my agreement, Dr. Spears walks over to the ultrasound machine and places it next to the exam table. She steps out of the room allowing me to prep myself. With shaky hands, I remove my scrub bottoms and panties then climb back on the exam table and use a paper cloth to cover myself. A minute later, she returns and flips off the lights before sitting down on a stool next to the machine. "You ready?"

  "Yes," I say not able to hide the shakiness of my voice. Once the ultrasound wand is in place, Dr. Spears clicks away at the keyboard, and suddenly the room fills with the whoosh, whoosh sound of a heartbeat—my baby's heartbeat. The moment feels so surreal. I've never given much thought to being a mother. My priorities have always been on my career. But in this very instant with mine and Quinn's baby's heartbeat filling the room, my priorities shift.

  "Here he or she is," Dr. Spears says pointing at the screen to an image the size of a pea. "You look to be about six weeks." That confirmation tells me this baby was most likely conceived the first time Quinn and I had sex. Of course, he would accomplish impregnating me on his first go. Knowing Quinn, he's probably going to brag about it too.

  My body runs on autopilot for the rest of my shift. After finishing up with Dr. Spears and her giving me a prescription for prenatal vitamins and scheduling me for follow-up appointment in four weeks, I grabbed myself a juice and chips from the vending machine since I missed my lunch. Now I'm sitting in my Jeep in the hospital parking lot staring down at the ultrasound picture in my hand. I can't help but question am I ready for this? Can I be someone's mom? At least I don't have to worry about Quinn's reaction. He has made his feelings about us having children clear. Even before we were together, he made comments about us having kids, or as he once said a litter.

  One thing I know for sure about that man, is that he jokes a lot about the subject, but he means every word he says. I know he'll be crazy happy about this news. Shoving all my fears about motherhood into the back of my mind I place the ultrasound pictures in my bag, start my Jeep and head home.

  When I pull up to my apartment, I see Grey on his bike parked a few spots over. Quinn texted me earlier saying he had club business and that Grey would see me home. Walking into my apartment, I head straight for my bedroom. I strip off my clothes that smell like the hospital, and toss them in the hamper. All I want right now is a hot bath. I need time to relax and absorb the life-changing news I received. I even called my supervisor Dr. Brewer and told her I needed to take the next couple of days off work due to a family emergency. I've never taken so much as a sick day off of work, so she was understanding and said my taking two days wouldn't be a problem. But in all fairness, I'd say this situation constitutes as a family emergency.

  Sinking down into the tub, I close my eyes and let out a deep sigh and think of all the changes about to take over my life and body. At the last thought, I run my hands over my still flat tummy. I can't believe there is a life growing inside of me right now. I may be uncertain of a lot of things in this moment, but there is one thing I'm sure of, and that is I love Quinn, and he loves me. As long as I have the comfort of him and his love I'll make it through anything thrown my way.

  "What the hell are you doing?" is shouted and I startle awake with water splashing all around me. I'm about to scream when through my water filled eyes, coughing, and sputtering I see Quinn in front of me lifting me out of the tub where I must have fallen asleep. Wrapping a towel around my body, he carries me over to my bed and sits me down. Taking a knee in front of me, he begins drying me off. "Don't ever do that shit again, Emerson. Who knows what could have happened had I not come in here and found you. You could have drowned," he grits through clenched teeth.

  "I'm fine, Quinn. It's not the first time I've fallen asleep in the tub," I say trying to tease only for him to level me with a hard look. The look on his face says he is mad, but his eyes show I truly scared him. "You're right. It's dangerous. I'll be more careful from now on," I say cupping his cheek. Nodding his head, Quinn goes about drying me off. He then walks over to the dresser and pulls out one of his t-shirts. They are my favorite thing to sleep in. "I thought we were going to the clubhouse for dinner tonight."

  "No. We're going to stay in tonight. Pizza will be here soon," he informs as he slips his shirt on over my head.

  "Is everything alright?"

  Hearing the worry in my voice, Quinn kisses me gently on the lips. "Everything is fine. Just figured we needed to talk, Sunshine." Taking my hand in his, he leads me out to the living room and guides me to sit on the sofa. Before Quinn has a chance to sit, the doorbell chimes. "That's probably the pizza." After paying the delivery guy, Quinn sets the food on the table in front of the sofa. The smell causes my mouth to water and my stomach to grumble. "Since you missed your lunch today, I want you to eat first then we'll talk," he orders.

  "How did you know I missed lunch?"

  Taking a large bite, Quinn answers me around a mouth full of cheese pizza. "Max told me. Said he saw you scarfing down a juice and bag of chips. I'm going to tell you right now, babe, there will be no more skipped meals. Even if I have to bring you lunch every day, you will eat."

  Chucking my food back into the box, I turn my body towards Quinn and level him with a look. "Who the hell is Max? Do you have people spying on me at work, Quinn? Because if you do, that is not cool."

  "First of all, babe," he says grabbing me by the waist and bringing me over to straddle his waist. "I don't have people looking in on you because I don't trust you. I have you watched to protect you. You are the most important person in my life. I'll always have someone watching you and protecting you when I can't." Knowing this is something he feels strongly about, I decide to drop it, but not about who he has watching me.

  "Fine, but that still doesn't answer my question on who this Max person is."

  "Babe, you work with Max Collins. Also, the guys and I went to high school with h
im. He decided to come back home to Polson after med school and got back in touch with me when he did. I still grab a beer with him at Charley's a few times a month. He's a good guy," Quinn finishes with a shrug.

  Still confused I ask, "Max Collins as in Dr. Collins?"

  "One in the same, babe."

  "How come neither one of you mentioned you knew each other?"

  "I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I honestly thought you knew."

  Changing the subject Quinn asks, " So, are there some other things we need to talk about, Sunshine?" he asks running his hands up and down my legs and suddenly all thoughts of earlier today come flooding back. The baby.

  "Yes, I have something I need to tell you," I confess while looking down and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. My mouth has gone dry, and my heart feels like it's going to explode out of my chest. Placing his finger underneath my chin Quinn coaxes me to look at him.

  "You don't have to be scared to tell me, Sunshine. I already know."

  "Know what?" I choke out.

  Quinn shakes his head, "Nope. I want to hear you say the words, Emerson. I want you to say the words I've been waiting two years to hear. Words that will make me the happiest man in the world," he rasps resting his forehead on mine, and I begin to cry. In this moment with me in Quinn's arms, his face a breath away from mine and with his beautiful blue eyes on me I know that this baby I am carrying is meant to be. So, I give him what he's waiting to hear. "I'm pregnant."

  "Yeah you are," he says before claiming my mouth with a brutal kiss. A soul consuming kiss that wipes away every fear I had about the future and replaces it with hope.

  Breaking our connection, I ask, "How did you know?"

  "It was little things over the past two weeks that gave it away. Like for one, you started drinking milk like it was water. You used to drink orange juice. Then one day I came home, and you had five jugs of milk in the refrigerator, and you drink it morning, noon, and night. Then I noticed these," he says cupping my breast, "they're bigger and more sensitive," he tells me as he plucks my nipple through my shirt and I gasp. Quinn's right. My breasts are more sensitive. "Another thing that clued me in was you hadn't had a period in six weeks. I would know because I have fucked you every day of those six weeks."

  "I can't believe you noticed all those things about me and I didn't."

  "I know every inch, every detail about you and your body, Sunshine. I have been patiently waiting for you to find out for sure and then come to me with what I already knew. When I called Max to check on you, he told me since returning from your lunch break you seemed off. He also may have mentioned you spent about forty-five minutes up on the third floor."

  "I don't know whether I should be happy Dr. Collins is your friend, and he looks out for me or creeped out by it."

  Chuckling, Quinn shakes his head, "Max is a solid guy, babe. He's only reporting back to me as a favor."

  A minute later we both fall silent. We are content at the moment with him holding me. Quinn begins to rub lazy circles on my back. That and the rise and fall of his chest is all that is needed to lull me to sleep.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Quinn

  I'm awake again in the early morning hours because I can't sleep, so I lay on my side staring at my woman's beautiful face. My hand rests palm down, with my fingers splayed over her lower abdomen as she sleeps.

  Holy shit balls I'm going to be a dad.

  My heart races. It may be a huge cliché, but as I lay here next to the mother of my unborn child, I can't help but put a different perspective on just about every damn aspect of my life. For the past couple of years, I've watched my brothers become fathers. And I'm not ashamed to admit the envy I felt because I wanted that for myself. And now it's happening for me. My life belongs to them now; belongs to Emerson and my child she carries.

  Emerson begins to stir in her sleep. Her hand comes to rest over mine. With a long moan, she turns over on her side and faces me. "Can't sleep again?"

  "Too excited to sleep," I tell her, which is partially correct. It's true, I am excited, but other things on my mind have kept me awake as well, but that's for me to worry about, not her. Emerson needs to focus on herself and the baby.

  "I'm surprised you didn't call everyone last night," she softly giggles. Closing her eyes, she snuggles her face into my chest, her warm breath brushes across my skin and I allow my eyes to close comforted by her warmth.

  "It was our moment, babe. I didn't want to share it with anyone but you."

  Emerson's responds by placing her hand over my heart. "It beats for us," she whispers.

  Rolling onto my back, Emerson rests her cheek on my chest. Kissing the top of her head, I hold the center of my universe as she falls back to sleep.

  * * *

  "You should find something safer to drive other than this Jeep now that you're carryin' our baby," I mention as I drive us to the clubhouse this morning. We need to take care of the whole car vandalization that happened the other day, but first, I'm going to have lunch with my brothers.

  We've all been a little busy since my dad has been in the hospital recovering. My mom has been relying on me to help with my sister, so we haven't gotten the chance to sit down and figure any shit out yet. Jake assured me though, he and the guys would handle things because I was needed elsewhere.

  The good thing is my old man gets to go home tomorrow. Not to mention I wanted Emerson to be with me when I told my brothers the news. This morning before leaving the house Emerson said she wanted to wait until my dad got home from the hospital to visit and tell them they were going to be grandparents. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we tell them.

  Emerson whips her head in my direction. "What? There is nothing unsafe about my vehicle. I love my Jeep. I'm not getting rid of it."

  Waiting for the light to turn green, I glance in her direction to find her arms crossed under her breasts. My eyes fall to her cleavage, and I forget what I was about to say. I become blinded by boobs. Then I start to think about how I'd like to fuck them. I visualize sliding—.

  A blaring car horn sideswipes my fantasy bringing me out of my thoughts. My eyes finally rise to meet Emerson's.

  "You done?" she raises her eyebrow, but her stare gives away the fact that my eye fucking her has turned her on. "By the way," she clears her throat, "you're drooling, handsome," she grins.

  Unfolding her arms, she reaches across the center console and uses the pad of her thumb to wipe some drool from the corner of my mouth. Her leaning in my direction only giving me a much better view. "I'm gonna slide my cock between your luscious tits one day, Sunshine," I confess my dirty thoughts. Another car's horn blows as the driver behind us becomes impatient.

  Sitting back in her seat, Emerson laughs. "You're insatiable."

  Once we make it to the clubhouse, I park under the tree next to the other womens' vehicles.

  "It will be nice to see the girls today, even if it's only for a couple of hours. Did they bring the kids too?" Emerson's smile grows anticipating spending time with her friends.

  "Yeah, as far as I know the rugrats are here too, Sunshine." Unbuckling I climb out and meet my woman on the other side, helping her climb out.

  "Quinn, I'm pregnant; not broken or made of glass," she fusses as her body slides down mine.

  I kiss the tip of her button nose. "Get used to it." Taking her by the hand, I lead her inside.

  What Emerson doesn't know is I contacted Lisa yesterday and asked her if she and the other women could whip together an early lunch today because she had to work and I didn't want her to miss out. The other reason is, I want my brothers—my family to know she's having my baby.

  As soon as we walk in, the smell of fried chicken engulfs my nostrils. "Oh my god, it smells so good in here," Emerson inhales deeply. Crossing the room, we stop at the bar where everyone is sitting.

  Peeling herself from Logan's hold, Bella walks up, and pulls Emerson in for a quick hug. "I'm so glad you could come by to
day."

  "Me too," her stomach growls loudly causing laughter between the two of them. "I'm also starving," Emerson adds.

  "Good, cause Lisa made her famous fried chicken today. I craved it almost every day when I was pregnant with Jake. It's so good," Bella brags, then looks up at me, her eyes softening with the mention of my dad. "How's your dad today?" she inquires.

  "Doing good. He should get to go home tomorrow."

  Bella smiles warmly, "With that good news, why don't we all fix a plate of food and eat outside at the picnic tables. It's such a beautiful day not to enjoy it. The kids are already out there with Raine and Ember."

  I'm burstin' at the seams; I can't hold it in any longer. "I'm pregnant!" Shit that came out all wrong. Everyone freezes, and their eyes land on me. "My super swimmers knocked up my woman. I'm gonna be a daddy!" I can't stop grinnin' and place my hand over Emerson's flat stomach. "I finally get to be a dad," I look down at my woman whose biting her bottom lip. The entire room goes silent, but not for long.

  "Super swimmers? Really?" Emerson shakes her head.

  "Super swimmers, baby batter, dick spit," I shrug my shoulders, "whatever you want to call my seed."

  "Damn, brother, you didn't waste any time puttin' a bun in the oven, did ya?" Prez is the first to say as he walks up and places his hand on my shoulder. "Congratulations," he tells us both then hugs Emerson. All my brothers follow suit. "I'm happy for ya, brother. You'll make a great dad," Logan says to me.

  Reid makes his way over as well. "Congratulations, brother."

  "Thanks." I take the beer Reid offers me and watch Emerson's face light up as the other women huddle around her and gush over the new mom to be—her happiness lighting up the room.

  "How's it feel?" Gabriel's ask when he comes to stand beside me.

  It's everything I've wanted for two years. I give Gabriel my honest answer, "Fuckin' great, brother."

  Lunch was good. For a couple of hours, we let go and enjoyed the day. When it comes time for Emerson to leave, I asked Austin to follow her to the hospital. "I love you, Sunshine," I lean down and kiss her lips that still taste like the cherry pie she ate earlier.