Page 32 of Judge
She was pregnant without me, her best friend and father of her children. She cried, she was afraid. She had fuckingsurgeryto get my kids out. She raised them, first with her dad and then alone because I was too much of an idiot to check my emails. Fuck’s sake.
A warm hand cups my cheek, turning my face toward hers. Shit, I wasn’t even aware I was staring at my clenched fists.
“Leo, it’s fine. They’re OK. We’re OK. Has it been easy? No. But I can tell you now, everything, every hardship, every challenge, it has all been worth it.” Her eyes dart between mine, imploring me to understand, to listen. Not my strong point, but I’ll try. “You’ll find out that it’s all worth it.” Her thumb grazes my beard, tickling my cheek, before pulling away. I want to follow her hand, to have her touch me again but I hold back. I stare at her for what seems an age, so long that she looks a littleuncomfortable. Thoughts bounce around my skull, none of them landing, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.
“Can I see it?”
“Huh?” Her top lip lifts in the comical way it does when she’s confused. I forgot it did that until now.
Clearing my throat, I ask again. “Can I see the scar? I just, I don’t know, I just can’t believe you went through that. That they got them out that way, I guess,” I mumble, now knowing that it was an unhinged request.
“Out the sunroof,” she snorts. Her eyes dart away before she blows out a breath. “OK, just, um, just know that I don’t, um, I don’t look like I did.” She mumbles, holding her hands over her stomach.
I place my much larger hands over hers, almost covering her whole waist, “I think you look beautiful.”
Pink stains her cheeks and she huffs, moving to stand in front of me. I gaze up at her and she narrows her eyes at me.
“Not a word about my belly, OK? I know I’m chonky and no one has seen it for -” she stops abruptly before looking away, “-ah, for a while. Besides, it’s just a belly,”
“Breathe.”She takes a deep breath at my command, then pulls her shirt up a little.
I stare at the fine, silvery lines that cover her lower abdomen, not expecting her to hook her thumb in her little shorts, and pull them down until I can see the top of the dark hair underneath her superhero panties. She reaches one hand down, pressing against her soft tummy and pulls upwards slightly, so I can seeunder the slight fold she has. There, hidden away, is a fine silvery line running from almost one hip, to the other.
Kaia
He doesn’t breathe for the longest time and my cheeks begin to heat. I get that I’m not supermodel material or anything, but the least he could do is say something. I move to step back but Leo’s large hands shoot up to grip my hips, stopping me. His eyes flick to mine before he slowly moves to his knees in front of me. One large, rough finger gently traces my c-section scar, before it’s replaced by his soft, full lips.
He presses gentle kisses from one side to the other and if his hands weren’t spanning my hips keeping me upright, I would have melted into a puddle at his feet.
“Leo, I-”
The words die on my lips as his bright green eyes stare up at me in awe, a tear trailing down his bearded cheek.
“Thank you, Kaia.”
“What for?” I whisper, not trusting my voice.
“For giving me everything.”
Reaching out a hand I lightly run it over his shaved head, the stubble prickling my hand as he leans in. I marvel at how we’re so comfortable, as if we’ve remained best friends this whole time, and yet we’re essentially strangers. I know he’s been through some shit, and lord knows I have too. There’s so much to say, so much to tell him, and yet it’s all too heavy. It’s not stuff you share with someone you’ve not seen in a decade and a half.
“Mom?” My head snaps to the stairwell at the sound of Annie-Bella’s voice, “Who are you talking to?”
Leo moves to his feet gracefully, while I stumble back, landing on my ass on the couch. I’m a mess of emotions. Whatever just happened between Leo and I, it was like the world shifted just enough to knock me off my feet.
“Just me, sweetheart,” Leo calls out, his eyes on me the whole time. He cups my face, skimming a thumb over my cheek before he takes a step back, craning his neck at the sound of the stampede coming down the stairs.
“Da-Leo!” Annie runs full force into him, almost knocking him off his feet as she throws her arms around his waist. “IthoughtI heard your voice,” she beams up at him.
I marvel at how close they have gotten even with the two weeks we’ve been away from the farm. Ever since my ex, Annie has been hesitant around men. She’s getting better, working at the diner. She’s friendly and warm, but that’s usually because her brother is always watching, two steps behind. I can still see the hesitation she has every now and then, I see how she’ll quickly glance around to make sure Jax has her back. But with Leo? She’s a total daddy’s girl, like he’s always been in her life. Same goes for the rest of the men from the DRMC. It’s like she inherently knows she’s safe. Hell, even Jax thrived under their attention, not looking at them with distrust like he usually does.
“I wanted to stop and check in.” He smiles down at her.
She beams at him before shooing him to take a seat. He catches my eye and grins, doing exactly as she asks while she sits her little heinie next to me, curling up under my arm.
“Ugh, it’s been a total ball ache.” I shoot her a look and she grins unapologetically. I’ll be having words with Rider, he’s the only person I know who has been using that word every time he talks about his healing nipple and the dent in his ass. “But wehave a soccer game on Saturday, so I’ll take my aggression out on the field.”
Leo barks out a laugh, and I roll my teeth between my lips, because clearly, he has no idea what Annie is like on the field.
