by MLJ Quigg
I’d met her with the kids a few times and chatted with her. She was nice but extremely shy. She was skinny, around twenty-five years old, and standing around five feet eight, she towered over Monique. She had long blonde hair, which was in a ponytail, and lightly tanned skin. Her blue eyes weren’t remarkable like Monique’s but were just blue. I didn’t know her story, but she was very introverted and didn’t go out of her way to talk to people.
I introduced the guys, and she looked at Hulk as if she were very interested in him.
Hmm, interesting. Let’s see how that goes.
“I’m great,” I said.
“Everyone is in the backyard. If you follow me, we’ll get you back there.”
“No worries, angel. After you,” Hulk said, looking at her arse when she turned around.
When we got to the backyard, there were kids everywhere. I looked around, trying to find where my kids were, and noticed Madilyn was talking to a couple of her friends.
When she noticed me, she screamed and came running over.
“Dad, you’re here.”
“I am,” I replied, shocked that she had called me Dad.
I crouched down and hugged her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She said hi to the guys while the boys came out of nowhere and tackled me.
“Hi, Dad. We are so glad you came today,” they said in unison.
“I’m glad, too. You boys doin’ okay?” I asked.
“Yep, we are. We have some friends here and family, so what could be better. Okay, gotta go. Love you, Dad,” Jackson replied.
“I love you too, son,” I said with tears in my eyes.
As soon as they ran off, Monique walked over to us.
“Thank you, Monique,” I said.
“Hey, that was all them. They talked to me this morning about wanting to call you Dad. I said it was completely up to them, but that you would love that and couldn’t wait until they did,” she explained.
“Well, you’ve got that right, and I do love it. Man, they are great kids,” I said.
“Fuck, man, this is a nice house you have here,” Dozer said in awe.
“Thanks, Dozer. I bought this house last year. Luckily, it didn’t need any work done to it. I’ll give you a tour when all this is over,” Monique said.
“That sounds great. Thanks.”
“Not a problem at all. You guys enjoy yourselves, and I’ll catch up with you later. Gotta get back and keep this party in order.” “We’ll be around,” I replied.
Mike and Dave came over and chatted with us for a while. Then we joined in on the party games and had a great time with all the kids.
After the party finished, the last of the kids were gone, and a shit ton of presents was taken upstairs to the kids’ rooms, we helped Monique, Claire, Mike, Dave, and the kids clean up.
All the adults were sitting down and having a coffee in the lounge room after cleaning up when the kids came running in.
“Dad, can you take us for a ride on your bike? Mum has taken us before, but we want to have a ride with you. Can we, please?” Connor pleaded.
“Sure, son,” I said with a smile, feeling fantastic and proud that they were finally calling me Dad.
“While you take the kids for a ride, I’m going to give a tour to the guys,” Monique said.
“No worries. Come on, kids, let’s go.”
I gave them each a ride around the block on my bike, and they loved it. I was a confident rider, but I would have to take it easy with them for a while until I was used to them on the back.
When the kids and I got back, Monique offered my guys and me all a beer, and while we were drinking and chatting away, the guys looked at all the pictures on the wall. There were a ton of the kids from newborn to now.
One in particular caught Blade’s eye, so he got up and walked over to it. It was about five years old, and in it were Monique, Connor, Jackson, Madilyn, and Monique’s parents, Richard and Mary.
He was looking at it so intently that he didn’t notice Monique had walked up beside him.
“That was taken about five years ago,” she said.
“Are they your parents?” he asked with a strange catch in his voice.
We all noticed at this point.
“Yes, that’s them,” Monique answered.
“What was your dad’s name?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the picture.
“Richard. Why do you ask?” she asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
“He looks familiar, that’s all,” he replied.
“He was an MMA fighter from Miami, Florida, in the States. He was over here in a tournament when he met my mum, and he retired. He said he fell in love and that was that. He stayed and married Mum, then had me. Hey, are you all right? Come and sit down. You look pale,” she stated.
They walked over and sat on the lounge “Are you okay, Blade?” she asked again.
“Did you say Florida?” Blade asked.
Bluey went over and sat next to him.
“Are you okay, brother?” Bluey asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Blade said, answering both of them.
“Monique, does your dad have any family?” Blade asked, looking at her strangely.
“Not anymore. Both my grandparents are long gone, and I had an uncle, but he died. Um, I think it was around eighty-three or eighty-four. He was a marine and died in service,” she answered.
“Holy fuck,” he exclaimed.
“What?” Monique jumped at his exclamation.
Blade took out his wallet and grabbed a photo from it. He showed it to Monique, and she gasped.
“Holy fuckin’ shit balls,” she yelled as she shot a look at Blade. “I knew I recognised you. You’re my cousin. You look just like my uncle, but I just didn’t see it before,” she said excitedly.
“My mum said she met my dad while she was holidaying in Hawaii, and he was there for RIMPAC—you know, the joint military exercises they do every year with other counties—and he gave her this photo. It is the only photo I have of him. He was supposed to call her, but he never got in contact with her again,” Blade said.
“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. Hold on a sec.” Monique jumped up from the lounge and ran into another room. She came back with a photo album and placed it on the coffee table in front of her.
“This was passed down to my dad when my grandparents died. This is Uncle Brian’s life. I think you should have this.” She opened it up, and in it were photos galore.
The photos started with a pregnant woman and a man holding her. Then it went through to after the birth. It had Brian’s whole life chronicled.
“Oh, my God. Thank you so much, Monique. This is amazing,” Blade said with a tear in his eye.
“You’re more than welcome.”
Blade stopped at a Polaroid picture of a woman and his dad. Opening the sleeve, he took out the photo and then looked at the picture intently before passing it to Monique.
I noticed writing on the back and said, “There is something written on the back.”
“It says Hannah and a phone number. Underneath, it has ‘Found in wallet after we retrieved his body. Hopefully, we can find the girl and give it back to her.’ I’m sorry, Blade,” Monique said sadly.
“This is my mum. I’ve never seen this photo. They look so happy,” he said, and then he handed the photo to Bluey.
“Look how young Mum is,” Bluey stated.
“Hold on a second. Are you two brothers?” Monique asked.
“Yes. Though, technically, we are stepbrothers. Our parents met when we were both ten. Dad is a member of the club as well. We have two half-brothers and a half-sister, but neither of us believes the half bullshit, so as far as we’re all concerned, we are full-blooded,” Bluey explained.
When Blade got to the end of the photos, he closed the book and stated, “He must have died right after he left to go back home.” Monique just nodded her head sadly.
After an hour of chatting, Monique asked, “Did you guys wanna sta
y for dinner? We were just gonna order pizzas.”
I looked around at the guys, and they all nodded their heads.
“Sure, that would be great,” I answered for all of us.
She ordered the pizzas, and when they arrived, we ate and chatted some more. By then, it was bedtime for the kids, and I gave them a kiss and a hug when they came down to say goodnight.
“Well, I think it’s time we say goodnight ourselves and head off,” I stated as I stood up.
“Yeah, I wanna call Mum and let her know what we’ve found out,” Blade said.
As we all made our way to the door, Monique followed and said,
“Night, guys. See you tomorrow.”
“You certainly will, gorgeous,” I said and kissed her on the cheek.
She closed the door behind us once we got on our bikes, and then we made our way down the street.
Arriving back at the clubhouse, we walked in and headed to the bar. The party was just getting started, so we sat and talked for a while. When a couple of the club girls came up to Dozer and Blade, they pulled them onto their laps.
“That was such a great party. I can’t believe how much fun I had,” I stated.
“I know what you mean. I thought it would be a drag being a teenager’s birthday party, but I had a great time,” Dozer said.
As they all nodded, I noticed Blade was really quiet.
“You okay, brother?” I asked him. “Yeah, it was just a shock,” he replied I nodded my head in understanding.
“Fuck, man, those kids of yours are a trip. They make me laugh,” Trigger said.
“You have kids?” This came from Trina, who was standing behind me.
“I sure do. I’m going to bed, guys. I’ll see you in the morning. Is everything set for the barbecue tomorrow?” I asked.
“All good. Night, Prez,” Dozer said.
Trina tried to follow me, but I quickly shot her down. No way was I going there anymore.
When I got to my room, something felt off. I didn’t know what it was, but something just didn’t feel right, so I checked my apartment. As it was more than a single room, I started at the end of the hallway to the left where there were two spare bedrooms, which I figured I would deck out for the kids, and then the lounge room, checking everything but nothing looked different. I opened the door to my bedroom and checked the walk-in closet and en-suite on the left, then all around the bed on the right. Nothing looked out of place. It was weird because I was usually spot-on about these kinds of things, but nothing was out of place.
It must be my imagination. I’ll keep an eye open, though.
Monique
We turned up at the clubhouse at ten in the morning and made our way inside to pandemonium. There were kids everywhere. The kids noticed Derrick first, and as they started walking up to him, he turned around to face us with a huge smile on his face. When the kids got to him, he opened his arms and hugged them as they flew into his arms.
Fuck, he is still good looking.
I started to head over to him, but Blade intercepted me just as I was about to reach them. He had an older couple, around midfifties, behind him. When I looked at them, I realised it was his mum and Bluey’s dad. Hannah was petite, about five feet nothing, had hazel eyes, and chocolate coloured hair. The man was about six foot, towering over Hannah, had brown hair and blue eyes, and was built like a brick shithouse.
“Monique, I’m sorry about the short notice, but they wanted to meet you. Mum, Dad, this is Monique. Monique, these are my parents, Hannah and Ryan Evans,” Blade said.
“Hi. It is so nice to meet you.” As I shook their hands in greeting, I noticed it said Knife on Ryan’s vest, so I asked, “Did you want me to call you Knife?”
“Nope, for you, Ryan is fine, honey,” he said.
“You’re family, sweetheart. We don’t shake hands. We hug the shit out of each other.” Hannah grabbed me and hugged me tightly.
“Thank you, for giving Dominic closure. He has always been upset that he didn’t know what happened to his birth father,” Hannah said.
“You’re welcome,” I replied.
We continued to talk for a moment, and then I looked over at Derrick and the kids and beckoned them over.
When the kids got to me, I told them, “Kids, this is my aunt Hannah and Uncle Ryan. These are Blade’s parents.”
Hannah shot me a look so quickly it looked like she was possessed.
I laughed, and with a nonchalant shrug, I told her, “Well, you are the mother of my cousin, so technically, yeah, you’re my aunt.”
“No, that’s fine. I don’t have any other family besides my kids, but I would be honoured to extend it to you and the children. Who are these adorable babies, anyway? And why do the boys look like miniature Thors?” Hannah asked with a laugh.
“Well, they are Derrick’s triplets. This is Jackson, Connor, and Madilyn,” I said.
She hugged them all, and I smiled at the huge grin on Jackson’s face.
“This is the best year ever. We find our dad, then we find our cousins, and then we find out we have an aunt and uncle, as well. I love being fourteen,” Jackson said.
We all laughed at his antics.
God, I love my kids.
Derrick put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek as he whispered in my ear, “I love those kids, Monique. You have done an amazing job. I never want to lose them.”
I turned my head and whispered back, “You never will. I’d never keep them from you.”
“What about you, gorgeous? Will you give me another shot? I could make you happy, and I’d never let you go again. That was the biggest mistake of my life, and I can promise you that I’d worship the ground you walk on,” he continued to whisper.
“Let’s just see how it goes, okay? I’m not saying yes, and I’m not saying no. Why don’t we try dating, and we’ll go from there. I have a lot to work through, and it’ll take time, okay?” I replied. “Yeah, I can do that. We go at your pace, honey.” “Thank you.” I kissed him on the cheek.
After we all had something to eat, Derrick and I were talking to Dozer and Trigger when Trina walked over to us.
“What the fuck are you doing here? You know this is family only,” Dozer said to her.
She ignored him, and putting her hand on Derrick’s shoulder, she said, “I need to speak to you, please, Derrick.”
“What the fuck? You don’t call me that.” He sneered at her.
“Sorry, Prez. I really need to speak to you. It’s important,” she said, grimacing.
“Well, whatever you have to say can be said it in front of all of us,” he replied.
“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I really need to speak to you alone,” she muttered.
“Fine, let’s go,” Derrick said.
When Derrick gave me squeeze on the shoulder and walked off, Trina looked at me, grinned evilly, and followed him.
I seriously didn’t trust that woman. There was just something about her that wasn’t right, and I had a feeling this was more than her wanting Derrick. This went deeper. I just knew it. I thought about running an extensive background check on her, not because I cared about her and Derrick, but because I just didn’t trust her.
Fuck it, I’ll do it on the quiet and only tell Derrick if something comes out of it.
“What the fuck is she up to now?” Trigger commented.
“I don’t know, but this is going to be bad. She’s been trying to get him for ages, but he won’t have a bar of her,” Dozer muttered.
“Have they slept together?” I asked.
“Yeah, but that finished as soon as you turned back up. He hasn’t been with any of the girls since that day,” Trigger replied.
“Well, I can’t fault him for that. He’s a man. Jeez, if I hadn’t had what happened to me, I would have been sleeping with others. We all get urges if you know what I mean,” I said.
All of a sudden, we heard Derrick yelling, “What the fuck?”
I spun arou
nd and watched as Derrick and Trina had a very heated conversation.
She stormed off, and he made his way to us, shaking her head.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Fuckin bitch is tripping, that’s what’s going on. I’m sorry about this, Monique, but she claims she’s pregnant, and it’s mine. I told her I will never be with her, and we will never be in a relationship,” he said, grimacing.
“Hey, it’s okay. We weren’t together, but if it is your child, you will do the right thing by it, though, won’t you?” I asked.
“Of course, I will, but that’s a big ‘if it is mine.’ She’s been with every single guy here, which I reminded her of. She didn’t like that, but too fucking bad. She thinks she has some claim on me, but it ain’t working. If it wasn’t for the fact she’s pregnant, I would get rid of her—which I have wanted to do for a while—but I know what she’s like. She’ll try to hold it over me,” he said.
“We’ll just keep an eye out for her. She is bad news. I knew it the first time I met her. I think she sees me as a threat,” I stated.
“There is no threat at all. You have to know that, right?” he said.
“Yeah, I know. I’m not worried about her,” I replied.
“Well, enough of the drama for now. Let’s go see what the kids are up to,” he said, grabbing my hand.
“Yeah, they’ve been having a ball. I will have to go soon so they can unwind and get to bed for school tomorrow.”
We found the kids in the playground area of the backyard. They looked like they were having a load of fun, but when I called them, they came running over and hugged both of us. When I told them it was time to go, they were upset, but they did as they were told and hugged Derrick goodbye. After saying our goodbyes to everyone, we walked to the car. Derrick then gave the kids a final hug and kiss goodbye.
“Call me when you get home, please,” he asked as he gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Yeah, I sure will. Bye, Derrick,” I replied.
“Bye, gorgeous.”
I texted Derrick when we got home, letting him know we’d made it. Then after the kids went to bed that night, I called him, and we talked for about ten minutes.
