Page 38 of Slice

“Jesse has an old beater that she wants to teach the girls how to repair stuff on. She said to take a sledgehammer or whatever you want and beat it to your heart’s content, as long as we all wear safety glasses,” Cannon said, leading the way.

“If her brother wasn’t already in jail, I would beat on him,” Slice said.

Locks chuckled. “Umm, we know enough people that you couldn’t beat on him, but you could make his life pretty freaking miserable.”

Cannon flipped on the lights in the garage. He handed safety glasses to everyone and gloves to Slice.

Slice put them on and then walked over to the old car that was sitting on top of two tarps. He turned, and Locks handed him a sledgehammer.

“Wait,” Cannon called.

Slice turned to him.

“When you get home, you’ll need to remove all your clothes because of flying glass. If you don’t want to have to do that, you could put on my coveralls that are here.”

Slice shook his head and started swinging. With each hit on the car, he envisioned everyone who had let Deborah down. When he smashed the taillights, he imagined it was her brother’s kneecaps. How could someone treat their family member like that?

As he swung at the trunk, he screamed at the injustice of her first time being while drugged and a middle schooler. He hit the vehicle until tears blocked his vision in the safety glasses. As he dropped the hammer to get something to wipe his eyes, strong arms came around him, hugging him.

He dropped his head on Locks’ shoulder and cried for his little girl’s innocence being lost. Slice had hated how he’d grown up in foster care, but he’d never had to deal with anything like she had. He didn’t understand why it had happened, but she was his now,whether she chose to stay as his and Faith’s daughter or chose to leave. For the rest of her life, he would always watch over her.

“I know this is hard. It’s the hardest thing to do as a parent—learn how to deal with horrible things happening to our children. You want to wrap them in cotton wool, but their experiences, no matter how awful, shape the amazing people they become. Your heart will break so many times for the things you can’t fix. All you can do is love them and help them navigate this road we call life. But we’ll all be here with you as a shoulder to cry on,” Locks said.

“Or a body to beat on,” War said.

“Or an ear to listen when you don’t want to burden your wife with your fears,” Bear said.

Slice sniffed, then breathed deep. “I just never thought my heart could be so happy and so sad at the same time,” he said.

“Welcome to parenthood,” Cannon said.

“I need to get the clothes for Deborah and get back to Faith. Thank you all,” Slice said.

Echoes ofany timesounded as they walked out of the garage. Slice breathed deeply of the crisp, cold air. Not only would he be sharing a lot of firsts with Faith for their marriage, he was friggin’ going to make sure Deborah, Michael, Micah, and Isaiah experienced everything childhood had to offer. He wondered how old Michael would need to be for them to go to an amusement park. Slice hadn’t ever been, and he couldn’t wait to take his kids.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Faith held Slice’s hand as they said their vows. Regina and the ladies had done exactly what she wanted. The women were in jeans and dressy tops under their cuts, while the guys were in jeans and their cuts. Slice had presented her with her cut last night at the party in the clubhouse, along with cuts for their kids. After participating in it with their extended family, today was just another layer, because last night was what Faith would always remember as them becoming a family.

The women had dropped by and helped Faith with her hair and makeup, but it had been more about spending time together. They’d also done Deborah’s too. She’d been beaming at their compliments and feeling accepted.

She’d come to them last night before the party and said she wanted to be their daughter, with Michael raised as her brother. Faith had cried tears of joy along with Slice, though Slice had planned for it by having Deborah’s cut ready too as his daughter. The boys were thrilled they were getting an older sister.

“Faith, you’ve made every dream I had come true. You’ve given me a family and a woman who stands beside me. Your heart is bigger than the ocean, and I vow to spend eternity showing you how much you mean to me,” Slice said.

“Gabe, your love has given me the strength to know we can have it all. I vow to always let you protect us and be your shelter at home, where you can find rest in my arms.”

“You may seal this union with a kiss,” the pastor said. The pastor was a biker whom Locks knew. He’d ridden to them and was in jeans and a cut too.

Slice’s lips claimed hers, and Faith couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.

The reception was held in the clubhouse. Honestly, Faith was ready to leave because it was just another party like last night. She enjoyed being around their friends, but what she really wanted was to have her husband all to herself.

It had been a busy three days, with tomorrow culminating their wedding weekend with Sunday lunch at the clubhouse. Slice had gone to grab them drinks and some cake, but Faith was hugged out and ready to leave.

Hope had kissed her goodbye after she’d left Locks on the dance floor and stormed away. Hope hadn’t been in a good mood when she walked away from Locks to say goodbye to them, but Faith was positive Hope wouldn’t let it affect the evening she had planned with helping keep the kids overnight.

Beth, Remi, Sarah, Jesse, and Winnie sat down at their table, leaving the seat beside Faith for Slice.

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