by A. M. Myers
Shoving the chair back, I stand up and stare into the living room, looking for a clue but there is nothing. It’s the same as when we left yesterday. Running my hand through my hair, I turn and march down the hallway to our bedroom before staring at the space but everything looks exactly the same as it did the last time I was in here two days ago. I turn back to the wall and place both of my hands on it before squeezing my eyes shut and blowing out a breath.
You know what…
It doesn't matter why Piper is running. I made her a promise last night and there is no way in hell I’m going to let her walk away from me again. Over my dead fucking body. She is my wife and I refuse to live another second of my life without her in it. Done it before and I’ll be damned if I let it happen again. Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I pull up the GPS and release a sigh when it blinks, showing her location at the studio. With renewed determination, I walk back out to the dining room and grab my keys off of the table as I stare at the screen.
“Go ahead and run, baby,” I whisper as I walk out to my truck, my mission clear to me and a wave of calm washes over me. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Piper
“Okay,” Dr. Brewer says, her voice chipper like we all haven’t been describing the worst experiences of our lives for the past hour as she gazes around the group. Her eyes land on Lillian in the chair next to me and she smiles. “I think we have time for one more, Lillian, and it’s been a while since you shared anything with the group. Why don’t you go?”
Lillian shakes her head, her gaze firmly rooted to her lap. “No, I’m good.”
“I know it can be hard to talk about but you’ll never get better if you don’t push yourself a little bit and this is a safe space. Isn’t that why you come to these meetings? To overcome the trauma in your past?”
Every eye in the room is trained on Lillian, waiting for her answer and my heart aches fiercely for her. My friend is sweet and soft-spoken but I know her quiet nature harbors more pain than she knows what to do with. It’s hard to get up and talk about your past under normal circumstances but when you are put on the spot like this, it feels impossible and all you want to do is go back to being invisible. When she still doesn’t say anything, I nudge her arm with my elbow and as she peeks over at me, I flash her an encouraging smile.
“You’ve got this.”
She stares at me for a second before sucking in a nervous breath and wringing her hands together in her lap. “My fiancé was killed three years ago.”
“How?” Dr. Brewer asks, her face pinched in concentration as she focuses on Lillian and I’m mentally cheering her on in my mind, hoping that she can find the courage to speak her truth. I know Lillian needs to talk about this, needs get it all out, and I get the feeling that she doesn’t talk much during her regular appointments with Dr. Brewer so she has no other way to try and help her.
“It was summertime and we were driving to get dinner with his parents to tell them the news. He had just proposed to me two days before.”
Dr. Brewer nods. “And how did he die?”
“Someone ran us off the road,” she answers, her voice cracking as tears shine in her eyes.
Come on, Lil.
You can do this.
“What do you remember from the accident?”
Lillian shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“I know you can do this, Lillian,” Dr. Brewer says, encouraging her with an eager expression on her face. “Is there anything you’d like to share about that night? Anything at all? It doesn’t matter how little or insignificant it seems.”
Lillian clamps her mouth shut, her lips pressing into a thin line as she shakes her head and refuses to look up. After a second, Dr. Brewer sighs.
“All right. I think that is all for this evening. I’ll see you all next week.”
As everyone else starts standing up and taking their chairs to the wall, I nudge Lillian again and she meets my eyes.
“You okay?”
She shakes her head and stands up. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
As she walks away from me, I turn and watch her practically run out of the building. Worry eating away at me, I stand up and gather both of our chairs before taking them over to the wall. I glance over at the door Lillian just marched out of. I can’t help but remember when I was in her position and thought things would never change. It feels like an endless black hole but I just hope she will keep fighting. I prop our chairs up against the wall and turn when I hear a growl behind me. Tate is staring down at her phone with a look that honestly scares me a little but I’m quickly learning that’s just Tate. She’s passionate and intense but I have no doubt, she would jump in front of a bullet for the ones she loves.
“Everything okay?” I ask her and her head pops up. Her snarl falls away as her eyes land on me and she nods, glancing back down at her phone as she starts typing so fast that I swear her fingers blur.
“Yeah. I’m just about to murder my husband if he doesn’t back the fuck off.”
I laugh as we start walking toward the door. “Oh, him, too, huh?”
“Girl,” she quips, meeting my gaze as she tucks her phone into her pocket. “All of them. Like I get it, the club is under attack and all that but Lincoln damn well knows that I’m capable of defending myself.”
I nod as we step outside and stop to talk. “Yeah. Wyatt bought me a gun.”
“Shit, is that all? Then, you’re lucky. Storm has been following Ali around like a puppy and then, if anyone looks at her too long, he turns into a damn pit bull. She threatened to cut his junk clean off if he didn’t let her breathe.”
“Goddamn,” I whisper with a laugh and she nods, smiling.
“You know what we should do, we should teach these damn boys a lesson.”
I nod, crossing my arms over my chest. “Uh-huh and how do you suggest we do that?”
“I don’t know yet. Let me think on it,” she says and we turn to walk out to our cars. We reach the end of the sidewalk and she reaches out, grabbing my arm. “Hey, you feel like going to get ice cream or something? I need to calm down before I go home or I’ll end up shooting that man again.”
“I’m sorry… did you just say that you’ve shot your husband before?”
She shrugs. “It was a misunderstanding.”
“And he forgave you?” I ask, my gaze flicking to her in disbelief. I have a hard time imagining Wyatt just letting it go if I shot him. She flashes me a grin and shakes her head.
“Oh, no, he groveled a whole hell of a lot. I was not the one who needed forgiveness.”
I shake my head, fighting back a smile. “Ah, so it was like that, then.”
“It was,” she says, her grin growing. “So, how ‘bout it? Ice cream?”
“Ohh, you know what I’ve been craving for like two days? Cheesecake with cherries and chocolate syrup on top.”
She arches a brow. “What are you, pregnant?”
I stop in my tracks, staring out at the parking lot with wide eyes.
Holy shit.
Could I be pregnant already?
Shaking my head, I turn to her. “No… it’s too soon. Wyatt and I have only been back together…”
“For a freaking month, Piper. You totally could be pregnant… do you want to be?”
I nod, trying not to get my hopes up but my heart races as I think about the possibility. “We’ve been trying.”
“Okay,” she says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to her car. “We have more important things to do than get ice cream.”
She stops next to the passenger side door and releases my hand to yank it open before bending down and digging through the glove box. When she stands up again, she has a box of pregnancy tests in her hand and I start laughing.
“Tate, why the hell do you have pregnancy tests in your car?”
She shrugs as she pulls one out of the box and hands it to me. “Because when Lincoln and I
were trying, I stashed these things everywhere so that no matter where I was, I could pee on a stick and find out.”
“Huh,” I mutter, thinking it’s actually not a bad idea. “Okay.”
“Come on. Let’s go back inside so you can pee.”
I try to hand the test back to her. “I think it’s too soon. There’s no way I’m pregnant yet. I mean, it takes months to actually conceive.”
“Tell that to fertile Myrtle, Juliette. Moose knocked her up right away. Besides, what does it matter if you waste one little test? I have no further use for them for the time being and I clearly have plenty,” she says, pointing to the box sitting on her passenger seat. Sucking in a breath, I look down at the test in my hand and nod as my heart kicks in my chest.
“Okay.”
She pumps her hand in the air before hooking her arm through mine and slamming her car door. “Let’s go… Ooh, just think how pissed Streak is going to be if you are pregnant. Man might just explode.”
“There will be quite a few babies hanging around the club pretty soon. Streak might not be the only one getting sick of it.” I laugh as we walk back into the rec center where our meetings are held and dip into the bathroom. She shakes her head.
“If you’re talking about Blaze, you’re dead wrong. That man loves getting to play grandpa to Ali and Storm’s kid, Mags, and I have no doubt he’ll be the same way with all the rest of them.”
“You know,” I murmur, glancing over at her. “The club is so different than I assumed it would be when I first found out Wyatt has joined.”
She nods. “Tell me about it. I had plenty of reasons not to trust them but they won me over and wormed their way into my heart. Bastards. Now, are you gonna take this damn test or not?”
“Okay, okay,” I say, holding my hands up in surrender as I set my bag on the counter and step into one of the stalls. After I finish doing my business, I unlock the door and step out, my stomach rolling and my heart racing as I set the test on the counter and take a step back. Tate sets a timer on her phone and we both sigh, ready to wait for the results.
“I think I’m gonna throw up.”
Tate studies me. “Morning sickness or nerves?”
“How could it be morning sickness at night?” I ask, shaking my head and she throws her head back and laughs.
“Oh, girl… you are in for a rude awakening. Morning sickness should be called all day long, constant, you don’t get no break, good luck eating for the next nine months sickness. But maybe that’s just me because I’m having twins.”
I nod, my mind racing with the possibility that there could be a little human growing inside my belly right now, a little perfect piece of Wyatt and me. Pressing a shaky hand over my heart, I suck in a breath.
“Oh my God, I’m so nervous… I’ve wanted this for so long.”
“Just one more minute,” Tate says, trying to reassure me but as the words pour out of her mouth, it feels like an eternity. What the hell am I supposed to do for another minute?
“How did you find out you were pregnant?”
Tate laughs. “I threw up.”
“That’s it?” I ask, joining her in her laughter as she nods her head.
“Yeah. I have a freaking stomach of steel so when I threw up one morning and then felt completely fine for the rest of the day, I just knew. I took a test at the clubhouse and then I whispered the news to Lincoln as we were going home on his bike.” She laughs again. “I’ve never seen that man pull over so fast and he insisted that someone with a car come pick me up. Not even the threat of the taser worked to change his mind.”
I shake my head as a smile stretches across my face. “Y’all are something else.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, shrugging. “But it works for us. Lincoln likes that I’m a little crazy and I love the way he mellows me out like no one else can. And that he puts up with me ‘cause you know there aren’t many men who would.”
The timer on her phone goes off and my stomach flips as my heart jumps into my throat. I cover my eyes with my hand and shake my head.
“Just tell me… what does it say?”
When she doesn’t answer me right away, I open my eyes and look up. She flashes me a grin and my stomach does another flip. “Congrats, babe. You’ve got a little bun in the oven.”
A giggle bubbles out of me and I slap my hand over my mouth as tears well up in my eyes and warmth radiates from my chest. Glancing down at my flat belly, I pull the hand away from my lips and place it on my tummy as I try to wrap my mind around the news.
Oh my God.
I’m pregnant.
We’re a real family now.
“Shit,” Tate whispers, walking over to me and wrapping her arms around me. “I’m all fucking emotional already and now you’re going to make me cry.”
I hug her back, feeling so incredibly blessed in so many aspects of my life. Not only do I have Wyatt back but I was also welcomed back into his family and adopted by this group of bikers, who are so close and always there for each other and the one thing I know more than anything else is that this baby will be surrounded by so much love.
“I have to go home and tell Wyatt,” I whisper, shaking my head as I pull away from her and she quickly wipes a couple tears off of her cheeks as she nods.
“Yes, you do.” She reaches behind her and grabs the test off of the counter. “Here. Take this. Do you know how you’re going to do it?”
I shake my head. “No… I don’t know.”
“Luckily, I have you covered there, too. Come with me.”
Taking my hand, she starts pulling me out of the bathroom and I swipe my purse off the counter as she drags me to the door. Once we get back outside, she takes me back to her car and pops the trunk, pulling out a little onesie and handing it to me. I unfold the tiny piece of fabric and laugh when I read the message on the front.
Prospect
Bayou Devils MC
Louisiana
“I was going to tell Lincoln with that but then I was too excited to wait and now that we’re having twins, I need to get another one made so you can just have that one.”
I smile as I stare at the words. “You should make these for all the kids. They’re freaking adorable.”
“Flip it over,” she says, grinning and I do, shaking my head at the club’s patch printed on the back. Oh, God, Wyatt is going to love this. “Ooh, here. I also have a gift bag you can put it in.”
“Jesus, woman.” I laugh as she pulls the bag out and takes the onesie from me to fold it and slips it into the bag. “Is there anything you don’t have in this car?”
She shakes her head, handing me the bag. “I like to be prepared.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around her in another hug and she holds me tight before pulling back with a sniff.
“I swear to God, if you make me cry again…” She shakes her head. “These babies are turning me into a little baby.”
“No, no, you’re still one badass bitch.”
She narrows her eyes. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Okay,” I answer with a laugh, holding my hand up as I back away from her. “I’m just going to go now. Try not to kill your husband tonight.”
Laughing, she walks around to the driver’s side door as I walk backward to my car. “I make no promises.”
We both slip behind the wheel and I watch her pull out of the parking lot before lowering the visor and staring at myself in the mirror as butterflies flutter through me and a huge smile stretches across my face. I can’t wait to tell Wyatt the news. He’s been acting weird again these past few days and I know the stress is getting to him again. Maybe we’ll go back to his parents’ house this weekend. It will give him a chance to relax again and we can tell them the good news about our new family member. I peek down at my stomach again and flatten my hand over my shirt.
“Hi, sweet baby… it’s your mama….” Tears fills my eyes and I shake my head, wiping them away as I pull out of the parking lot. I can�
�t wipe the smile from my face and the drive back to the house passes in a daze as I think about our baby - whether he will look like his daddy or she’ll look like me. I think about bringing him home for the first time and teaching her to walk and talk. I imagine a little girl that has her daddy absolutely wrapped around her finger and by the time I pull into the driveway, it feels like my heart is going to explode.
I grab the bag out of the passenger seat and slip the pregnancy test inside before climbing out and practically skipping up the front walk. Stepping into house, I scan the living room but I can’t see Wyatt.
Weird.
His truck and his bike are outside.
“Baby?” I call.
“Back in the bedroom.”
Grinning, I walk down the hallway and stop just outside of the nursery Wyatt started setting up for me before trying to wipe the smile from my face. Once I get it under control, I walk into the room.
“Hey, baby,” he says, lying sideways across the bed as he watches a baseball game on TV and I smile. His gaze drops to the bag and he scowls. “What’s that for?”
“It’s for you. Could you turn off the game for a second?”
He nods, sitting up and turning the TV off before turning his full attention to me, concern all over his face. “What’s up?”
Without a word, I hand him the bag and my hands shake like crazy as my belly does another flip. How is he going to react? I know he wants this just as badly as I do but with all the stress going on right now, I’m not sure if he’ll think it’s such a good thing. Oh, God, what if he isn’t happy? What if he says it’s not the right time? We were so excited when we started trying but so much has changed since then. He sets the bag on the bed in front of him and reaches inside, pulling out the onesie first. His brows draw together as he unfolds it and holds it up in front of his face, reading the front. A confused gaze flicks to me and he forces a smile to his face.
