Page 50 of Her Saviors

“You do, Son. I’m signing the paperwork to make it official right now. Would you like to come up here and use the gavel when I’m done?” the judge asks him.

“Please!” he responds excitedly as the bailiff walks over to get him while the judge signs the necessary papers in front of him.

I sit with Brooklyn’s hand in mine as the bailiff helps Kyler up where he needs to be. When the judge nods at him, Kyler picks the gavel up and hits it against the stand before looking at the judge.

“That was fun. I see why you like your job, Sir.”

“I love my job on days like today, Kyler. I think we need a picture of everyone to celebrate today. What do you think?”

“Yes. Please, Brooky. You run our home and it’s up to you,” Kyler says and I lose it once again because I don’t know where the kid comes up with this shit.

“Before your picture, Kyler, we have somethin’ for you,” Anguish says, standing from his seat after receiving a nod from the judge.

I turn and watch as he pulls out a small leather cut from a gift bag. Turning it around, I see they’ve gotten him a ‘Future Prospect’ cut. I had no idea they were doing this as I look over every single one of my brothers while they smile at us.

“That’s for me? Are you serious?” Kyler asks, walking as fast as his little legs will carry him back toward everyone in our family.

“We’re serious, Kyler. You’re family and I know one day, you’ll be ready to take over with the rest of the kids in our family,” Anguish says as Kyler stops in front of him and he turns while our President slides the cut on over his suit jacket.

“You look handsome, Kyler,” Brooklyn tells him as we all stand and move to stand with the judge.

“Thank you, Brooky.”

We all stand with the judge as our family members take photos of us. The judge even holds Mia when she reaches for him. Today is one of the best days in my life and Kyler has made it even better. We’ll have the pictures to remind us of the day as everyone soon joins us for a large group picture. Everyone in the room, including the bailiff, are in the picture because Kyler asks everyone to join us. By the time we’re done, I’m ready to go home and get out of the suit I’m wearing. But, I’m not sure what Kyler wants to do from here.

“Let’s get out of here. I think we have somethin’ goin’ on at the clubhouse,” Anguish says without adding any context so we know what we’re dealing with.

“Somethin’ wrong, Anguish?” I ask him as we all head out of the room with a copy of the signed papers in hand.

“I won’t know until we get there. Let’s load up,” he states with a smile on his face and I know nothing bad is going on. Our family members have done something for today and I’m not sure what it is yet.

We all head out to our vehicles and load up to head home. Anguish takes the lead this time as we follow him back to the compound. Everyone pulls into the parking lot and we park as close to the door as we can. The ol’ ladies, with the exception of Brooklyn, rush inside and most of their men follow them as Fetch and Hulk help us get all the kids out of the SUV we’re in. In order to go anywhere as a family, we can no longer take the trucks. They’re too small to hold us all. Looks like we’re going to be car shopping because there’s no way I wanna split us up. Even if we’re on our bikes, Brooklyn needs something big enough to haul around four kids and whatever’s needed for the babies.

When we walk inside, everyone shouts “Surprise” as Kyler starts laughing at all the balloons, streamers, and everything else used to decorate the clubhouse in a way he’s never seen before. A large banner hangs saying, ‘Welcome to the family, Kyler and Mia’. Kyler locks on that immediately.

“That’s our names, Mia,” he says, reading the words with a smile on his face.

“It certainly is, Little Man. You’re family and today is all about you. We’ve got food prepared and waiting, Fetch set up games, he just went up to get Bear too, and later there’s a large cake for us to eat. We can have bonfires out back if you want to toast marshmallows and I’m sure Nanny will need help with the chickens later on today. You think you’re up for helpin’ her?” Anguish says, looking down at Kyler wearing his cut proudly on his back as Jayce and I head for our rooms here to change into regular clothes with most of the other guys.

“Do we have ice cream?” he asks.

“Of course we do! You can’t have cake without ice cream,” Nanny exclaims, leaning down to hug Kyler. “Let me take my love bug while you guys get changed,” she says, reaching for Mia.

I grin because both of the kids love Nanny, and she treats all of them the same, but she and Mia have a special connection. “Come on, Little Man, go with Anguish so you can see what you can help with. We’ll be back down in a few minutes.”

The rest of the day is spent with our family. We laugh, talk, watch Kyler have the time of his life, and just relax. For the first time since I got that call, I can breathe freely because no one can take Mia and Kyler from us, we’re getting settled into a new routine with Dax and Addy, and our family is complete. I think. Who knows if we’ll have any more kids at some point? We did find out that Dax is Jayce’s son while Addy is my daughter. We both managed to get her pregnant on the same night and it was a shock to all of us. No one can believe it and Nanny thought it was the greatest thing ever. She laughed at us for days because this shit doesn’t happen every day. For now, I’m happy with my life. Our kids are all thriving and Kyler is becoming an amazing little boy. He’s freer than I’ve ever seen him and I’m thankful our journey led us here. It wasn’t a nice path by any means and some days are still a struggle for us, but we get through each of them with our family by our side and a full support system.

Epilogue

River

“FUCK, FUCK, FUCK,” I chant, as I frantically search the house. I have to get out of here, he’s vowed to kill me. I already hit up the ATM on my way back from court and got what I could, as well as what was in my personal savings account, but I don’t dare use my debit or credit cards once I pull out of the driveway for the last time. “Where is it, you motherfucker?” I know for a fact he’s got cash stashed in this house. It’s up to me to find what I can so I can disappear. I already have my suitcases packed, as well as my personal papers, plus a burner phone I stopped and picked up before I got home. There’s no way I’ll be taking my own phone since it can be tracked. I’m worried about the car too, but right now, that’s the least of my problems. “Aha! You may think you were crafty, but I know you too well, you piece of shit.”

My husband, or rather, my soon-to-be-ex-husband, is currently in jail awaiting trial for sex trafficking. The mere thought of that has me gagging as I pull out the stacks of money he had hidden in a secret hidey hole. I still need to check his dresser drawers, as well as the desk in his office, but so far, I’m feeling pretty good with what I’ve found. Once I have the duffel bag full, I head into his office and start systematically searching each and every nook and cranny, laughing out loud when I find more money in a vase of all places. I push away the thoughts that this might be dirty money, because it makes me sick. I’m kind of surprised the people who searched the house didn’t find any of it, but I know they grabbed all of his personal papers as well as his laptop, and several flash drives. He may have threatened me, but I suspect by the time they’re done listing all of his charges, he’ll probably spend the rest of his natural life behind bars.

Still, I can’t take that chance, especially since I’m heavily pregnant with that monster’s child. Of course, I will never push the sins of the father onto the innocent little one, but I know I’m not safe staying here any longer. Daniel Thompson, the bastard, is apparently the head of this nasty snake and I know he’s got underlings the cops probably haven’t arrested yet. The last thing I need is for one of them to show up and grab me under his orders. The few men who have come to our house over the years frighten me, and now that it’s more than me to worry about, I won’t take that chance.

I grew up in a small town in Montana with my parents. Harold and Melissa Dalton are my parents and they honestly don’t have any reason to be parents much like my cousin Brooklyn’s parents shouldn’t have had her. I’m an only child and for a while I was close to Brooklyn when we were growing up. It wasn’t until her parents started getting heavier into drugs that my parents cut ties with them. I was still in contact with Brooklyn until Bennett cut off our communication. He took her phone and every call and message had to go through him. Despite my numerous attempts to contact her, he never forwarded my messages or voicemails. I’m really worried about her and I’m not sure what to do because I no longer have a way to contact her. The only thing I know is her parents moved them to a small town called Odin’s Gap. That’s where I’m planning to go now.

---