I grinned and sat back down. I bet she was. It was dark, the only light coming from inside the oven, but the kitchen appeared to be clean now.
“You’re a big girl to take care of your mama, Katydid. I’m proud of you.” I kissed the top of her head.
“I’m pwoud of you too, Daddy.” She got to her feet and reached for my hand, pressing a kiss against each tattooed knuckle. That was another one of her nightly habits that I never wanted to go away.
“What are you proud of me for, baby girl?”
“Because you take good cawe of me and Mama. She telled me so. Will you come to Spidewman’s tea pawty?”
I nodded and wrapped my arms around her little body, pulling her close again.
She squirmed against me, struggling to get back to her feet with a giggle. “Daddy, you awe squeezing me. Let me go.”
“I will, as soon as you tell me how you got to be so smart.”
Her dark curls tickled my nose as she leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Yesterday, Spidewman’s awm falled off and guess what?”
“What” I whispered back.
“Mama fixed it. All by hewself. Maybe she can fix you.”
I leaned back with a frown. “Fix me? What’s wrong with me? My arms are still on… and my legs…”
She blinked her cat-like green eyes at me with another frown before simply stating, “You feel sad.”
I was but had no idea how my three-year-old had picked up on it. “Maybe I’m just sleepy. It’s past both our bedtimes.”
“Yew heawt feels sad to me.” She yawned and rubbed at her eyes again before climbing back into my lap with a soft sigh.
I carried her back to her bedroom and closed the door softly behind me before making my way down the hall to the master bedroom.
Celia lay on her side with my pillow wrapped up in her arms. I sank down on the side of the bed with a sigh; she’d kicked the comforter off at some point, leaving her bare legs exposed.
I ran my index finger from her ankle up to her thigh. When that didn’t work, I patted her ass. “Wake up, baby.”
Celia sat up with a jolt. “Jamie? Is everything okay?”
I shook my head and choked out, “No. I’m sorry to wake you up, but I’m a fuckin’ wreck. Shouldn’t have woken you. Go back to sleep, princess. We’ll talk in the morning.”
Her hand found mine. “Just give me a second.”
She padded into the bathroom and I laid back on the bed, Mikey’s horrified expression ingrained in my mind. I didn’t know if the image would ever go away.
The bathroom door reopened, and she emerged, wearing a bathrobe. “Come on. Let’s go sit outside. You can tell me what’s wrong.”
“Baby, it’s late—”
She opened the bedroom door. “I’m up now. Let’s go.”
I sat down on one of the vinyl chaise loungers when we reached the patio. Celia climbed across my lap, straddling me. “What’s wrong?”
“Kate said you passed out tonight.” I swallowed hard. “Are you okay?”
The moon was full, and I watched as her lips curved up into a smile. “She was supposed to keep that between us. I’m fine. Tell me what happened.”
“Mikey—Comedian brought him to the clubhouse tonight. He, uh, he—” My nostrils flared as I saw it happen again and I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Mikey heard a scream and he thought it was a mountain lion; you remember how he was obsessed with those damn things last year?”
She nodded and I continued. “Only it wasn’t a mountain lion. It was Karen, Beast’s Ol’ Lady. He put both her and Beast down right in front of the kid, Celia. Fuckin’ Christ. I tried, but couldn’t stop it.”
Her hand moved up over her mouth. “What did he say? Oh, he must’ve been so scared.”
“He thought maybe that was part of being a man; assumed that was why Comedian had brought him out there.” I’d tried explaining the way the club worked in terms I thought he’d understand while making it clear that I wanted better for him.
I didn’t even know if I’d gotten through to him. He’d stayed silent as I drove him home, jerking awake as soon as his eyes would close, as if he was afraid of what he might see.
Celia shifted on my lap before quietly asking, “Do you think you could move them again?”
“Yeah, because that was such a fuckin’ success the first time.”
I’d shown up at their house in the middle of the night, not long after Mikey had stayed over, hellbent on getting my kid somewhere safe. Rented a house a few hours south and had handed her all the cash she could ever need.
It lasted three days.
Three days before she’d gone running back to Comedian, putting my son in danger again.
“Could we fight them for custody? Tell the cops that she’s negligent?”
I shook my head. “They’d forget all about Mikey to go after the club at that point. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to keep him safe when his idiot of a mother refuses to leave Comedian.”
With a sigh, I looked up at the sky. “Tell me a story, princess. Astrology… mythology… whatever. I just need something with a happy ending. Maybe a Greek god who saved his son?”
Celia chewed at her lower lip. “Well, Greek mythology isn’t really known for showcasing good relationships between fathers and sons. They’re more cautionary tales like, ‘don’t eat your kids’ or—”
“Don’t eat your kids? Jesus. Well, tell me something else—distract me before I start considering kidnapping again.”
“Oh, you need a distraction. You should’ve said so.” She unbelted the robe, letting it fall from her shoulders.
I made a sound that might’ve been surprise before pulling her body down closer to mine. Her nails raked along my scalp and I groaned against her lips before kissing a trail along her jaw.
I dragged my teeth down her neck, and she arched her back, thrusting her tits up toward my face as an offering. The cold air had turned her nipples into weapons, but that didn’t stop me from latching onto them.
She began fumbling with my belt buckle, panting, “Need you… inside me.”
“Fuck, Celia.” I’d had her more times and, in more ways than I could count, but her begging never failed to send my cock standing to full attention.
I unbuckled the belt and let it fall to either side of my body before working the zipper down. Celia tossed the robe onto the patio, baring herself completely before me.
I raised my hips and worked my jeans down to my knees before laying back to stroke myself with a grin. “This what you need?”
Her teeth sank down onto her lower lip as she nodded. “Please.”
I jerked her hips forward and dragged my cock through her wetness, loving the way she moaned and whimpered as I teased her. She began rolling her hips forward, trying to get herself off.
“Greedy girl.”
“Just for you,” she panted in return.
Goddamn, I needed to feel her body around me.
I lifted her up and pushed inside roughly. She clenched and tightened around me with a soft cry, looking like a goddess in the moonlight.
Just when I thought she was coming down, her movements increased, and she began riding me with abandon again.
“Harder,” she demanded, letting her nails sink into my shoulder blades. Her lips parted slightly, and she smiled when I thrust in deeper.
“Like that?” I whispered and she nodded as she came again. Instead of relaxing, she began rocking against me in ways that didn’t seem physically possible.
“You haven’t been this horny since—” Her eyes flew open and she grinned down at me wickedly.
“Since when, baby?” she asked with another roll of her hips.
“Since—fuck, Celia,” I growled, doing my best not to come. “Are you knocked up?”
The pieces came together—passing out… the secret she’d wanted to keep. My girl was pregnant again.
She nodded. “Yeah. I wanted it to be—” Her words cut off as another orgasm hit h
er.
I gripped her hips in my hands and groaned as she moved back, forcing my cock even deeper. I couldn’t have stopped myself from filling her even if I tried.
“Love you, princess,” I sputtered with a ragged breath as I fell back against the lounger.
“I love you too, Jamie,” she whispered with another smile before taking my hands and placing them on her stomach. “Are you happy?”
I nodded. “So fuckin’ happy.”
And I was. I was going to get Mikey and Betsy out of town first thing in the morning and be home in time for a tea party with my favorite little girl. When she went to bed, I had plans to take advantage of her mother again.
I knew that I’d sleep better at night, knowing my son was safe. And I’d still visit him every chance I got, all while knowing that he was going to get to grow up normally.
Betsy would have to listen to me this time around; after everything Mikey had seen, she’d want him as far away from Comedian as possible.
I grabbed the robe from the patio and wrapped it around Celia’s shoulders before carrying her back inside.
It wasn’t easy, but I was straddling the line between father and leader pretty well. I kept thoughts of war to myself, convinced I could neutralize the threats long before this baby arrived.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Celia: 1994
“Why do our babies insist on coming early?” I growled through another contraction. It had been just after one in the morning when I’d woken up, convinced I’d wet the bed like a small child.
The baby wasn’t due for another four weeks and, as I hadn’t had any complications, it hadn’t initially crossed my mind that I could be in labor.
I called my father and asked him to come over and stay with Kate before stripping the bed and starting laundry. When two o’clock passed and Jamie still wasn’t home, I began to worry.
At my dad’s urging, I finally called the clubhouse, praying that they weren’t out on a run. I got lucky and my husband came roaring up in front of the house twenty minutes later.
Jamie glanced at the clock on the dashboard and the speedometer crept up a little more. “She’s comin’ quick… just like her sister.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and laid back against the seat. Jamie reached over and squeezed my hand as I joked, “At least we’re not driving in the middle of an ice storm.”
He kept his eyes on the road but nodded. “Yeah, we should stick to making summer babies.”
“What makes you think we’ll be having anymore after this one?”
Jamie’s lips curved up into a smile. “Oh, we’ll be havin’ more, princess. I’ll buy you a big house and we’ll fill it up with little girls.”
“What—no little boys to balance things out?” I regretted the words as I watched his face fall. He was thinking about Mikey again.
He’d tried everything to keep his son safe, but Betsy couldn’t stay away from Comedian. I was beginning to think that she was addicted to being hurt; that maybe some part of her was hardwired to crave it.
Despite Jamie’s best efforts, she’d selfishly continued to put her son in danger.
I’d tried dropping hints whenever Comedian was around, about how much love children needed, but I wasn’t sure if he listened to a word I said.
Another contraction hit and I tightened my hold on his hand as I rode it out. There was a quick blip of a siren and then the truck began slowing.
I forced my eyes open to red and blue flashing lights illuminating the cab. “What’s happening?”
Jamie cursed as he shifted the truck into park. “We’re getting pulled over. Just keep breathing, in and out. I’ll have us back on the road in a sec.”
“Good evening, sir,” the police officer began, holding a flashlight up to the window. “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“Speeding.”
“That’s right,” he nodded encouragingly. “Speeding. I clocked you at thirty miles over the speed limit. Going somewhere in a hurry?”
I moaned as my belly tightened again and the light from his flashlight hit me full on in the face.
“My wife’s in labor, officer. So, if you don’t mind, I need to get her to the hospital. You wanna follow me there and give me a ticket, be my fuckin’ guest,” Jamie growled.
“License and registration please.”
He released my hand and yanked the papers from the glove box before going for his wallet. “Can you just write the goddamn ticket already?”
The officer looked down at Jamie’s ID before slowly bringing the flashlight back up to his face. “I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle.”
I mashed my lips together, but the tears were already starting to fall. “Jamie?”
“Everything’s fine, princess.”
It was a lie.
“You too, ma’am,” he ordered with a jerk of his flashlight.
“But,” I protested. “I’m in labor.”
He laughed humorlessly. “You know how many times we hear that from people trying to get out of tickets?”
Jamie threw the door open and stepped out, towering over the cop. “This don’t concern her and you know it. Write. The. Fuckin’. Ticket.”
He was close to losing his temper and even closer to taking a ride in the back of the cop car.
“Wait, I’m getting out. Just give me a minute.” I opened the door and climbed down with a low groan as the baby seemed to shift even lower. If she dropped any more, she’d be able to wave to the officer.
I used the bed of the truck as a crutch and slowly made my way over to them. “I’m—I’m here. Just write us a ticket or—” The pain barreled through me and I slumped against the side.
“Celia!”
“Sir, stay right where you are. Ma’am, keep your hands where I can see them!”
My hands were the only thing keeping me off the ground at the moment and I wasn’t letting go for anything.
“Ma’am!” The officer latched onto one of my arms. “Turn around.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Jamie warned.
I wanted to tell the officer to listen because he didn’t like repeating himself, but the pain was too much. It wasn’t like before. Something was wrong.
My arm was yanked back, and I lost my grip on the truck bed. Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion.
The cop suddenly let go, and I stumbled over my own feet before falling. I watched in horror as Jamie’s fist slammed into the man’s face with loud crack. They both went down on the road.
“You know who I am?” Jamie roared in anger before delivering another blow.
Strong arms caught me from behind and I flailed my arms in a last-ditch effort to right myself.
“We know exactly who you are. Hands on your head. James Quinn, you are under arrest for assaulting a police officer.”
I jerked away from the person holding me, horrified to see that we were surrounded by cops, most of whom had their guns drawn.
“I’m having a baby,” I whispered. “I’m having a baby.”
The officer who’d caught me gave me a sympathetic nod. “Let’s get you to a hospital.”
“But, Jamie,” I panted, before screaming, “Jamie!”
He brought his hands up on top of his head before looking up at me and mouthing, “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Jamie.” I let the cop lead me over to his cruiser, dizziness washing over me in waves. He settled me in the passenger seat before coming back around.
“Celia,” he commanded as he got behind the wheel. “Look at me.”
I did, wondering how he knew my name.
“We’re gonna get Grey out. Let me handle this, okay? My top priority right now is getting you to the hospital.”
I’d always known that there were cops on the club’s payroll. It was the only way they’d been able to accomplish what they had. I just never imagined that one would be delivering me to the hospital as a favor to my husband.
I stayed silent
and watched the clock as we raced toward the hospital with the red and blue strobe lights flashing. The contractions were too close together and everything in me screamed to push.
With one hand on the door and the other against the officer’s shoulder, I forced myself forward with a cry. “I can’t—I have to push.”
“We’re pulling in now. See the lights? Just hold on.”
“I—can’t!” I screamed in a voice that didn’t sound human.
The passenger door was thrown open and two orderlies pulled me into a wheelchair before running through the emergency room. I screamed through another contraction as my body bore down in a push.
I must’ve blacked out because when I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital gown, surrounded by beeping monitors and strangers.
A nurse approached. “Mrs. Quinn, can you tell us how far along you are?”
“Thirty-six weeks yesterday. Something’s wrong,” I responded groggily before trying to sit up. Kate had come quickly once I began pushing, but this one wasn’t moving.
She nodded. “The baby is in a breech presentation and showing signs of distress. There’s not enough amniotic fluid for us to turn him or her around.”
“What?” A tear streaked down my cheek, quickly followed by another. “What’s gonna happen to her?”
“The doctor feels that a caesarean is necessary.”
I nodded shakily. “Do it.”
“We’ll do a spinal block and get started, okay?”
Lights kicked on above my head and I stared up at them as I was poked and prodded. The pain in my belly lessened as the spinal took effect and an oxygen mask was slipped over my face. Another nurse stepped in and draped a blue sheet over me, making anything from my chest down impossible to see.
As the first nurse took my hand in hers, I kept watch over the door in the corner, convinced that Jamie was going to come rushing in at the last second.
The events of the night caught up with me and I cried out with the realization that he wasn’t going to make it. The mask over my nose and mouth fogged up with each hiccuped sob.
“Just take a deep breath. Nice and even. You’re doing great,” the woman encouraged with a light squeeze.
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