“Fuck. I was looking forward to doing it on my own.”
“Sorry, brother; we’re too used to sharing all the fun.” Razer slapped him on the back before moving away to find his babies.
Shade opened Beth’s door, seeing the two sisters hugging each other. He silently closed it again, leaving the two alone. He would wait for Razer.
Chapter 78
Shade reached into the ice cooler, pulling out a beer then carrying it to King who was determined to man the grill, despite the heat. Shade handed him the beer, seeing the sweat dripping of him.
“Thanks.” King took a long drink of the cold beer.
“Want me to take over for a while?” Shade offered.
“Don’t even think about it. Evie doesn’t think I can do anything macho. This is me about to prove her wrong.”
“Grilling is macho?” Shade’s eyes took in his sweaty T-shirt.
“Isn’t it?” King asked, wiping the perspiration from his brow with a paper towel.
“You’re not going to feel very manly when you suffer a heat stroke,” Shade advised.
“Just keep the beers coming. The burgers are almost ready.”
The crowd had gathered in the backyard of the clubhouse for the baptisms of Beth and Razer’s sons. Many were waiting to be fed, already making their plates from the buffet the women had put together.
King looked like he was about to pass out as he pulled the meat off, placing them on platters.
“Go find a seat in the shade. I’ll take these to the tables,” Shade told him as he picked the platter up.
King nodded, taking his beer to find a cool seat.
Shade carried the plates to the tables, setting them down, then got out of the way as the hungry members grabbed plates. He took a beer for himself as he walked around the yard, talking to the brothers while waiting for Lily to come outside. She had told him she would be out in a little while, that there was something she needed to do. It had been an hour already, though.
Shade passed Evie who was holding one of Beth’s sons while Razer stood not far away, keeping him within his eyesight. No one could tell the babies apart other than the parents. They had named one Noah and the other Chance.
Evie had grown attached to the baby she had delivered. With her and King now married, if King wasn’t careful, his father-in-law would be carrying around his own bundle of joy soon.
Shade laughingly joked to himself. The man can barely handle a grill, couldn’t fish worth shit… I hope, if King does have another kid, it’s another girl.
Lily came out of their house, carrying a large book. When she saw her father, she walked over to his table. She sat down next to King, placing the book in front of him.
Shade had watched her working on the scrapbook over the last week. She had shown him several of the pictures inside.
While King opened the book and began looking through it, Shade gave them their privacy as he threw his beer bottle away.
He saw sadness in King’s face until he turned through most of the book then joy filled his expression. Then Lily said something to King which had the man practically in tears.
Shade figured he had given them enough time. Besides, if he didn’t break it up, King was going to have every brother in the backyard making fun of him.
King closed the scrapbook as he approached.
“Are you ready to eat?” Shade asked Lily, frowning when he saw King wipe his tears away.
Maybe he should take another look at the scrapbook. The pictures inside shouldn’t be causing that kind of reaction from her father.
“No. Would you mind going to the car? I left a pack of diapers on the backseat. I thought we could…” Lily began mischievously.
“No. I am not making another diaper anything. I don’t care who it’s for.” Shade broke off his rant, taking a good look at King’s face. “Is Evie…?”
Hell, he felt bad about making fun of King’s crying.
“No.” King smiled widely at him.
Shade looked back and forth between Lily and King. His face broke into a smile as he lifted Lily from her seat, twirling her around in his arms.
“What’s going on?” Evie asked as she came to stand next to King. “Have you been crying?”
Shade heard her when he placed Lily back on her feet, kissing her then picking her up to twirl her again.
“Yes,” King admitted.
“Why?”
“Lily called me Dad.”
“Do you know why Shade’s crying?” Evie asked.
“Yes, because he’s going to be a dad.”
*
Bernard used his cane to hold the door open for the man entering the bar. He nodded toward the same card he had in his pocket.
“I see you won one, too.”
“What?” The man stopped as he was about to enter.
Bernard walked in, looking around. There were about twenty men watching the stripper shake her tits at the men in the bar.
“I got one. It’s for a free lap dance, isn’t it?”
“Yes. You won, too?”
Bernard nodded, losing interest in the man he was talking to.
“We must be on the same mailing list,” he said, taking a seat at an empty table.