My boy, I hear his cry.
“That’s it boy, sing for Daddy,” I say with a smile, tearing my eyes away from my perfect boy to his perfect mother. “Sunshine,” I rasp.
“We have a son,” she cries into my chest.
“Dad, would you like to cut the cord?”
I lift Reina’s head from my chest and press my lips to hers.
“Thank you,” I whisper against her mouth. Two words.
I wink at my wife and turn to the doctor, taking the scissors from his hand and cut the cord. They clean him, wrap him tightly in a blanket and place him into Reina’s waiting arms. I move to stand beside her and lean close to them. He’s perfect, absolutely perfect.
“Welcome to the world, Daniel,” Reina tells our boy, rubbing the tip of her nose against his tiny one. I watch as mother and son bond for the first time and I feel a pang in my heart, the familiar dull ache for the boy I lost.
Don’t you worry Jack; your old man won’t ever forget you.
I bend my head and press my lips to my son’s bald head and stare into his precious face, watching as he yawns and struggles to open his eyes.
“You,” I whisper to him as his eyes flutter open and he stares back at me.
I don’t know how long the three of us stayed like that, wrapped up in each other’s arms blocking out the rest of the world, but I wouldn’t have minded staying like that for the rest of my life. The doctor had a different plan though, insisting they take Danny to the nursery as they moved Reina into a regular room. I guess it was a good thing they kicked me out or else I would’ve forgotten all about the people in the waiting room ’ve done a lot of shit in my life, committed a ton of sins and probably don’t deserve to be smiling like I am, but hell if it doesn’t feel good. I push the doors to the waiting room wide open and watch as every pair of eyes turn to me.
My daughter.
My right hand, best friend and future son-in-law.
Grace Pastore.
Her two daughters.
Michael Valente.
Anthony Bianci.
Riggs and his Kitten.
The three new brother’s patched into my club.
My family.
Every person in this room is mine. They are all Property of Parrish.
“It’s a boy,” I beam as the smiles spread across their faces.
Together we mourned and now together we’ll rejoice.
We buried one of our own today but gained another.
God works in mysterious ways, he makes sinners become believers.
Bonus Epilogue
My boots pound the pavement of the seedy motel’s parking lot. I can’t wait for the construction to be complete on the clubhouse. I don’t know how the fuck Stryker and the boys have been living in this fleabag motel for the last five months.
Resolving to fix their living conditions, I shake the thought from my head and focus on the reason I was pulled away from Reina and our son at four in the fucking morning. Just when Danny started sleeping through the night the phone rang and Stryker’s frantic voice filled my groggy head.
I didn’t know what the fuck he was saying at first but then he calmed down and told me he found the girl he’s been banging in an alley way. I’ve been too wrapped up in my own life to pay much attention to my brother’s but after placing a quick call to Wolf I found out the girl, Stryker’s girl, isn’t just some tight piece of ass he hustled pool with, nah, our boy Stryker opened a whole fucking can of worms I tried real hard to bury.
I don’t know what the fuck goes on with my men but they love that mobbed up pussy.
“Parrish,” the cocky voice greets me as the man it belongs to steps out of the Maserati.
“Spinelli,” I sneer.
“I’m surprised you called,” he says, unbuttoning his suit and sliding a hand into the pocket of his tailored pants. Vic would be proud, his little protégé is fitting the bill of a mob boss. “But I’m happy you finally came around.”
“I didn’t call you here to break bread,” I say, tipping my chin to the dingy motel. “One of my brothers found something that belongs to you.”
His eyes narrow suspiciously as I lead him to the room Stryker occupies.
“What could one of your men have that belongs to me?”
“Your sister,” I reveal, closing my fist and pounding it against the door. I don’t have to turn around to know the air deflates from his lungs, I hear it.
Stryker pulls open the door and I take in Satan’s soldier. I knew the minute I met the veteran turned biker, he was a force to be reckoned with. I pity the motherfuckers overseas he took down, almost as much as I pity the man responsible for the look in his eyes now.
“Where is she?” Rocco demands from behind me. I watch as Stryker’s cold eyes turn to him. Stryker crosses his arms against his chest and barricades the door, sizing up the gangster before he turns that glare back to me.