He laughs and finishes up with Dean before jumping down and lifting me up into a bear hug. “You sure you want some of this Dani?” he asks with a smirk. Damn this man is fine! “The question is Toby, do you want some of this?” I say, motioning to my whole body. I know I can’t take him, but I can give him a run for his money at least. What can I say? I learned from the best.
Once we are both in the ring and tapped up, we both start bouncing around, looking for an opening. I find mine when someone walks in a minute later and Toby drops his guard long enough for me to strike. My right cross brings him back into the ring and by the look on his face, he isn’t going to go easy on me. Fine by me.
“Little distracted, are we Toby?” I laugh as I bounce back after the hit I landed. He doesn’t say anything, which just eggs me on. “Waiting for someone?” I prod, knowing it will just wind him up more. He shakes his head at me and gives me an evil smirk. “Why don’t you just worry about the fact that I’m going to drop you on your ass in about five seconds.” With that said, he leaps toward me, faking a swing. When I block, he sweeps his leg out and drops me just like he said. I just shake my head and stand up to get him back.
After our first round in the ring, we jump down to get some water. I love working out with Toby, it’s always a great way for me to work off excess energy, plus he really is a great teacher when I want to learn anything new.
“So Toby, you expecting someone?” I ask after I put down my water bottle. Every time someone has walked into the gym, I’ve seen his eyes go towards the door, almost like he’s waiting for someone. He doesn’t turn his head completely like he did that first time, but still I notice.
He shakes his head, but I know he isn’t angry with my questioning from the small tilt of his lips. “You’re a nosy little girl, aren’t you?” He says as he walks back over to the ring. I follow suit, but I don’t jump up after him. I stand with my hands on my hips and wait for him to answer me. I know there is something there, and I will find out.
When he turns around he notices my stance and lets out a long sigh, then leans over the ropes with his hands dangling down. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?” I just shake my head because he knows me well. I’m like a dog with a bone when I want information. I don’t push often, but when I do, you better believe I get what I want.
“No, I’m not expecting anyone but I’m waiting, let’s just leave it at that.” He looks down at me, but I don’t move. I need a little bit more than that buddy. Reading my message loud and clear, he sits down on the edge of the ring and hangs onto the last rope for support.
“A couple of weeks ago, a girl came in here for one of my classes. I’ve never seen her around here, but I got this vibe off her that she wasn’t just taking the class for shits and giggles like some that come in. I don’t know, I guess she just stuck with me. I keep thinking about her – wondering what her story is and if she is ok.” He trails off, thinking back to that day, so I remain quiet until he is ready to continue. When he looks up at me, I notice a look in his eyes that I’ve never seen before, pain and longing. “I guess I’m just hoping she comes back. There’s something about her Dani, I can’t put my finger on it, but I want to do everything in my power to protect her – make sure she is ok.”
I jump up next to him and lay my head on his shoulder. “She’ll be back Toby. If not because you’re the best teacher around, but because she felt how genuine your concern is for her. Just give it time.” After sitting like that for a couple of minutes, we both stand up and go for round two.
Not long after we start, I begin to feel dizzy. It’s probably just because I haven’t been to the gym much the last couple of weeks; I just need to get my body back into this routine. But as the minutes pass, I start to feel worse, to the point where the whole room starts to spin.
I drop my hands to my knees and bend over, trying to catch my breath and get myself together. “Dani? You ok?” I can barely hear him, and when I look up, everything around me starts to fade. “I…. I… Toby……?” I feel myself fall and hit the mat. I feel Toby come up beside me and touch my face. “Dani! Dani, open your eyes baby! DANI!” I hear him yell, but I can’t answer him. I feel him lift me up into his strong arms, and before everything goes black, I think of Zane.
***
Zane
We are just finishing up talking with the Rebels, working out a better truce. We now know why they have been in our territory and why they thought we were messing with their business. Turns out, they had a traitor among them who wanted to steer the suspicion towards us to cover his own ass.
I check my phone as we walk outside to our bikes and see that I have ten missed calls from Toby, three missed calls from Louie and about twenty text messages. What the hell is going on? Instead of looking through the messages, I decide to call Toby first to see what the problem is.
He picks up after the second ring but I barely get one word out before he starts yelling. “Where the fuck have you been brother?! Dani needs you!” What the fuck? “Slow the fuck down Toby. What do you mean she needs me?” I’m now running towards my bike, my adrenaline pumping. I need to get back now! I don’t know what is going on, but whatever it is, it has Toby freaking the fuck out.
“Dani, she was at the gym with me when she passed out. I drove her to the hospital, but they won’t tell me anything!” I hang up the phone and don’t even wait for the rest of my brothers to get on their rides, I just peel out of the parking lot. I’ve got to get to my girl.
I make the hour drive in just under thirty minutes, going at least ninety the whole way. I park my bike in front of the hospital and run inside.
When I reach the reception desk, the nurse looks up at me in fear. “I’m here for Danielle DeChenne,” I say, trying to catch my breath. “One moment sir,” she says as she starts typing. I don’t have fucking time for this! “Tell me where the fuck she is!” I yell, but before she can answer, someone comes up behind me and puts their hand on my shoulder. I turn around, intent on dropping the motherfucker who is keeping me from my girl, when Toby restrains me. “It’s just me brother. You need to calm down before they kick you out. You won’t do her any good in jail, ok?”
I take a deep breath and turn back to the nurse behind the desk. “Can you tell me which room she is in and what is going on?” I say, my voice calmer, but still laced with anger. I just need to get to her; she needs me.
“Sir, she’s still in the ER being checked out. If you could wait over there in the waiting room, the doctor will be out shortly to talk with you.” She points to a room with a TV and chairs. Even though I don’t want to sit back and wait, I know Toby is right. Heading in that direction, I notice for the first time that Louie is already waiting, along with Harlow.
After five minutes of sitting, I can’t take it anymore. Instead of going back up to the front desk, I just pace the room. I need to get rid of this nervous energy somehow.
Ten minutes later, Mack and a couple of the other brothers come in. They see us waiting and bypass the nurse at the desk and come straight over. “Do we know anything yet?” Mack asks, worry lining his face. Toby answers for me, knowing if I stop pacing I’ll lose it again. “Nah, they haven’t said anything besides the doctor is still with her.” Mack comes up to me and places his hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. “She’ll be alright son, she’s a fighter. Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.” I nod my head and go back to pacing. I just can’t sit idle right now.
An hour later, a doctor finally walks into the waiting room. “The family of Danielle DeChenne?” he asks the room. His eyes widen a bit when Mack, Louie, Toby and I all walk up to him. “We’re her family. I’m her father, these are her brothers and this is her fiancé”, says Mack, He pointing to each of us.
The doctor looks skeptical, but must decide not to voice his disbelief. “Danielle was brought in after she passed out. We’ve run some tests on her and believe we know what happened. Her iron level is very low, she seems to be a little dehydrate
d and has a low blood sugar level. All of which can cause dizziness and fainting. I feel confident that it’s just from the pregnancy, and after the baby is born, everything will go back to normal. But for now, we have her on an IV to hydrate her and I will prescribe some iron tablets. We will also keep an eye on her blood sugar levels, but I think she will be just fine.”
I’m staring at him in shock. He can’t be talking about Dani, can he? “She’s pregnant?” I whisper to no one in particular, but it gets the doctor’s attention. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were aware of the pregnancy. Yes, she is indeed pregnant. About 10 weeks to be exact.” I can’t believe it, I’m going to be a father.
All my brothers come up to me to slap my back, congratulating me. I smile at them all and then look back to the doctor. “Can I see her?” I need to be with her. I wonder if she knew she was pregnant. The doctor gives me a smile and nods. “Of course, but only one at a time please. She needs to rest.”
I follow him down the hall to a room that is closed off by a curtain. “Let me know if you need anything,” the doctor says before turning around and disappearing around the corner.
I take a deep breath before I pull the curtain aside and step into the room. I see Dani lying in a hospital bed looking as white as the sheet covering her. Her eyes are closed, so I quietly walk over to the bedside chair and take a seat. When she doesn’t move, I take her hand, bringing it to my lips for a soft kiss. “Thank you baby girl. I promise, I’ll be the best father I can be to our child,” I whisper against her hand.
She stirs and slowly turns her head to look at me. A weak smile graces her lips, then her tongue peeks out to wet them. “Hey,” she croaks. Grabbing the glass of water from the tray beside the bed, I bring it to her lips so she can have a drink. After taking a couple of swallows, she clears her throat. “What did the doctor say?”
I’m a little surprised that they told us before giving her the news. “You don’t know?” I ask. I want to know what it is they’ve told her, if anything, before I give her the information they gave me. “No, after I woke up in the ER, they asked me some questions and then hooked me up to an IV. I think I fell asleep after that. Do they know what happened to me yet?” She seems worried and completely in the dark.
I chuckle to myself before looking into her eyes. Before I can saying anything though, she calls me out. “What’s so funny?” She is smiling, so I know she isn’t pissed that I find anything in this situation funny. “Well, this usually happens the other way around, but I guess we’ve never been traditional have we?” She doesn’t respond, still waiting for me to tell her what happened.
“You’re pregnant baby girl. You’re about 10 weeks along.” She looks at me first in disbelief, then shock, then confusion. “I’m pregnant? How is that possible? I’ve been on the pill for years?” Not knowing how to even begin to answer that, I just shake my head. “I don’t know baby girl, but it happened. You were dehydrated and anemic which they are pretty sure is because of the pregnancy. They also said your blood sugar was low, so they are going to keep an eye on that.” I wait for her to respond, but she says nothing.
She turns her head and stares at the wall in front of her. Does she not want children? Is she upset that I’m the one who told her and not the other way around? I have no idea why she seems upset. I reach over and force her to look at me, my fingers on her chin. “Talk to me baby girl. What’s going on inside that beautiful head of yours?”
When she still doesn’t say anything, I stand up and carefully move her over so I can lie down beside her. “Are you ok with this?” I really don’t know if she even wants kids. We’ve never talked about it before, not even when we were younger.
I wipe a stray piece of her hair away from her face and just hold her. Whatever she needs from me, I will make sure she gets.
Finally, she looks up at me. “I don’t know if I want kids Zane. I mean, what if I’m a horrible mother?” I can see tears building in her eyes and pray that they never fall. It brings me to my knees whenever she cries.
“Baby girl, you will be an amazing mother. You will love our baby fiercely and you will do anything for him just as you do for everyone else. So of course you will be an amazing mother.” I hope she can see how much I mean what I just said. It’s a shock to her right now, just as it is for me, but hopefully she will get used to the idea. I will spend every second of every day showing her how great she will be with our child and how happy she has made me.
“But I don’t even remember my own mother. How can I be any good at this when I have nothing to base anything off of?” This woman will never understand just how amazing she is. “Dani, you may not have grown up with your mother, but you were raised by one of the best women in the world. Your grandmother loved you with all her heart and took such good care of you. Look at the woman you grew up to be. You’ll be perfect. It’s me we should be worried about corrupting our son.” That gets a small laugh out of her which is what I was hoping for, even though I am a little worried myself.
She leans in and gives me a peck on the lips and smiles. “I love you, Zane.” I wipe the tears from her face and kiss her softly one more time. “I love you too, baby girl.”
***
Dani
I was released this morning after they monitored me overnight and they did an ultrasound to check on the baby. I still can’t believe I’m pregnant and have no idea how it happened, but I guess it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that my life is even more perfect now.
Zane seems happy about having a baby and even though I’m a little scared, I am happy as well. He thinks it’s a boy and honestly so do I. I can picture a little boy running around the clubhouse, causing trouble just like his father.
I don’t know what comes next, but I do know this – whatever destiny throws our way, we will get through it together. Life is good right now and I know it will only get better from here. It just goes to show, if you stop letting destiny walk all over you, you will always come out on top. Live your own life and chose your own path – rewrite your own destiny.
The End
Wow, where do I even start? There are so many people I want to thank, so I’ll just start at the top and go from there. If I leave anyone out, just know that you are not left out of my heart.
John – Thank you for being who you are and standing beside me through everything. I love you for everything you are, but for also allowing me to be who I am and encouraging me to live out my dream. You will never know what your love and support mean to me.
To my parents – You both are the best. I know most children say that about their parents, but you both really are the best there is. You always know what to say to me and your support and love is never ending. I love you Mom and Dad!
To my beta readers – Cupcake, Snapshot, and Squirrel. You ladies are amazing. I can honestly say that this story would not be what it is today if it weren’t for you girls. You pushed me when I needed it, told me how it is, and gave me the encouragement I needed to finish this book. You girls rock! Thank you so much! :)
To my girl Robin at Wicked by Design – thank you so much for all your hard work you put into my cover. I know I can sometimes be difficult to work with and indecisive, but the finished cover is truly amazing. Also, for working so hard on the teasers for this book and designing most of my swag. Thank you so much! Can’t wait to see what you do for my next cover designs!
To Dane – Thank you so much for fitting my project in for editing. Everything you did was greatly appreciated, and I would not be able to publish this book without your help!
To all my Facebook followers – thank you all so much for your love and support! You all mean the world to me!
Fighting Destiny: Book 1 Forsaken Sinners MC Series
(Toby’s Story) – Expected release summer 2015
Defying Destiny: Book 2 Forsaken Sinners MC Series
(Louie’s Story) – Release late 2015
Owning Destiny: Book 3 Forsaken Sinners MC Series – Release T
BD
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