Page 6 of Going Home

"Will Lex be mad?" Hailey asks.

He pulls away from the house to head back to his own. "Lex is a mom. She'll understand when I explain."

"Famous last words of a man," she says and looks out the window.

"Thanks, Colt," Lucas says, his voice shaking.

Looking in the rearview mirror, he locks eyes with Lucas who looks a hell of a lot younger than he did minutes ago. He nods and says, "There will be ground rules for the house. Just because you're not our biological kids doesn't mean you get to act like you have no parental guidance. Lex and I will talk to you together to go over everything."

"Oh, fun," Hailey says.

He knows immediately she will be a challenge. "We're not exactly strict, but we have two kids of our own. Structure will be had."

"Who knew bikers had structured homes?" she mutters.

"Juvie would be better than that house," Lucas says. "I'll do whatever you say, Colt."

The fact Hailey willingly got into the car, even with her attitude, tells him she'd rather be anywhere than that fucking house, too. If Colt thought his sister's attitude was bad, he suspects he hasn't seen anything yet with this teenage hormone bomb with a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder. Though, having seen only the smallest fraction of what she’s lived through in such a short time, he can’t blame her. He just hopes Lex doesn't want to murder him for this.

Chapter Three

Griffin's Beach

Felicity

"Mom,pleasedon'tmakeme do this," Gracie begs, her eyes pleading with her mother.

Felicity Short stares at her sixteen-year-old daughter. She just heard from Ky that Lex and Colt are moving back to Griffin's Beach, so her day has already been the definition of shit. She and Lex haven't been on good terms for over a year now, and she'd be happy never seeing the entitled bitch again. But her day got even worse when Gracie broke the news.

"Gracie Marie Short, you just told me you're pregnant. Your life will consist of doing hard things from here on out. Get used to it."

It hurts to see her daughter on the verge of tears, but she also beyond disappointed. Her daughter wasn't supposed to follow in her footsteps. She was a teenage mother, but at least everyone knew she was with Ky. It didn't exactly come out of left field. And Gracie refuses to share who the father is. That one is being kept close to the vest, and Felicity can't decide if it's a good move or not. It keeps the boy alive because her father will want to murder the man who did this to his little girl, but it also makes Gracie shoulder all of this alone.

"But, Mom!"

"If you're grown enough to climb into bed with someone and get pregnant, even after the numerous safe sex talks we've had, you are woman enough to tell your father about it," Felicity says.

"We didn't get into a bed when we had sex."

Groaning, she lets out a bitter laugh before opening the clubhouse door.Girl, I feel no pity for you now. I'm too young to be a grandma. Oh God, shoot me. I sound just like my mother did.

"There are my two favorite ladies!" Ky calls from behind the bar as they step inside.

His six-foot-three height always has Felicity tilting her head up when she looks at him, and she wonders if Gracie picked a man similar to her father. She takes after Felicity in the height department, so there's a decent chance she'd fall for a six-foot-something boy just like her mother.

"What's wrong?" Gavin asks, coming out of the hallway where the bathrooms are and walking up to them.

Poor kid is cleaning shitters. Being a prospect sucks, and he gets to do it for two years just like his father instead of the normal one.

He tilts his head as he looks at his sister. He's not quite as short as his mom, but he's just over six-foot. Not too tall but not short. "You look weird. You have that face... Have you been crying? Who made you cry?"

"What's going on?" Ky asks and walks around the bar to stand next to his son. "You need a shower, kid."

"Stop sending me to clean the bathrooms where apparently the men in this clubhouse projectile shit, and you won't have to smell me," Gavin shoots back.

Felicity crosses her arms under her chest. She may have felt for her daughter when she first brought her to tell her father, but her comment about her sexual position tells Felicity she either doesn't understand the severity of the situation or doesn't care. She's going to learn the hard way that her actions have consequences, and if she doesn't understand that with this conversation, labor will make it blatantly clear. Getting knocked up was the easiest part of what she now calls life. Hopefully it was fun because she's going to be celibate for a while now.

"Gracie has something she needs to tell you, Ky."

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