Bobby smiles, his eyes crinkling at the side. “You love me and you know it.” Doc rolls her eyes and starts fiddling with the sheets on the bed.
I grin. “You’re not leaving until you’re released,” I state, making no room for argument. “You’re going to be an uncle. You need to start thinking about that role.”
“She’s right,” Doc remarks.
Bobby shakes his head, his smile turning into a full-on grin. “Fine, I’ll stay, but only because I don’t want Dani to kick my ass,” he jokes, making me laugh. He winces from his own laughter, gaining Doc’s attention.
“Any regrets?” I question, staring at Bobby holding his bandaged side.
Bobby grins. “Nope.”
A couple of years later
I LAY BACK ON the beach towel and let my body soak up the sun’s rays—it feels good.
Zane tugs on my arm and points at the water. He turns two in a few months; he’s getting big too fast. I giggle and start to stand when a hand is placed on my shoulder.
“I got it, Big Momma, you sit back and relax. I don’t want my little girl coming any sooner than she needs to,” Shadow insists, leaning down kissing my growing belly. Shadow wanted to knock me up as soon as I had Zane, but I made him wait. Having Zane was rough: my blood pressure got really high so they had to induce me early, ending up in a C-section birth. Zane had everyone scared when he arrived, but he made his entrance into the world one to remember.
Shadow and I have decided to name our soon-to-be little girl after Babs, calling her Delilah. Babs was a motherly figure we never had, and she is truly missed at the club. Her funeral was beautiful, and I go to visit her grave often.
My dad took the biggest fall after Babs’ death. I never knew the two of them were secret lovers—Shadow was the one who told me. Shadow took over the club when my dad bottomed out, but I think my dad is finally starting to get his footing back and is taking charge of the club again. Shadow gave the position back, no questions asked. He has a lot of respect for my father.
“Come on, son,” Shadow says, taking Zane’s hand and running off toward the water. Shadow has been Zane’s hero since day one. He’s a great father, just like I knew he would be. I watch Zane giggle and laugh, his dark hair which matches Shadow’s, shift in the wind as the breeze blows. He is Shadow made over: dark hair, blue eyes, and an attitude to match.
“Hey, wait for us!”
Sand is kicked up and sprayed across my legs as Bobby takes off toward the shore, his tanned and tattooed back and yellow swim trunks nothing but a blur. I notice Doc go running off into the water right behind him.
I laugh and brush the sand from my legs, watching my family play in the water. It seems so surreal. I never thought I would be this happy, or that Shadow and I would find this place. We still have our dark tendencies, but together we help each other get through them. Mostly with the remedy of angry sex.
Bobby and Doc stomp back up from the shore laughing, Bobby’s scar silver and standing out against his tanned body, catching my attention.
“Your scar is looking very angry today,” I point out. Bobby looks down at it. “Yeah, I love it when it stands out, and the girls love it, too,” he says, grinning, gaining an eye roll from me and a scoff from Doc.
Shadow comes up behind Bobby, brushing sand from his legs.
“That kid has way too much energy,” he says breathlessly. “What are we talking about?” he asks, pulling a water from the cooler.
“How you thought I was dead but didn’t get that lucky,” Bobby replies, raising his eyebrow at Shadow.
Doc starts laughing as she sits down next to me. The swimsuit cover she’s wearing slips off her shoulder, showing fierce-looking, silver scars slashing down her back. My eyes widen, and my mouth parts in horror. I open my mouth to ask what happened, but Bobby catches my attention standing above her. I look up and see him shaking his head with a stern look on his face. I snap my mouth shut and look at the scars again, but Doc pulls her cover over her shoulder, hiding them.
“We’ve been through this,” Shadow says. “I’m not a fucking doctor; how was I supposed to know you were still alive?”
“Zane, don’t get too close to the water, Bug,” Bobby yells. I glance around the boys and look to see how close he is. He’s not close at all; he’s making a sand castle feet away. With a dad and an uncle more protective than a mother, and both in a motorcycle club, I’ll be amazed if Zane doesn’t hate them both by the time he’s ten.