Page 6 of Judge
“That’s something you have to ask him, baby girl. But just be mindful that the men have shit going down so they may not have time to be chatting to us,” I reply, not wanting to build her hopes up.
I took his silence for all those years to mean that he didn’t want to be a father. Seems odd that he’d be acting all twisted up about it now. But men are fucked up so who knows?
“Knock knock!” a cheery voice calls from outside before the door bursts open and we’re greeted with a small, brown lady with short dark curly hair and a warm smile. “Kia ora! I’m Debs, but you can call me Mama Debs. I look after all these boys here.”
“Don’t you mean men?” Annie-Bella asks with a grin, obviously drawn in by this woman’s motherly warmth.
“Psshh, no, they’re boys. When you’ve seen them fight over the last brownie or whine over who smells the worst, they are definitely boys.” She cups Annie-Bella’s face, smiling gently at her before shifting her gaze to Jax. “Well, look at you two. A perfect blend between your mama and your papa, huh? Anyway, I came by to see if you want a tour? It’ll be a quick one, but it’ll give me a chance to introduce you to a lot of the people you’ll be seeing around here. All of them come with their quirks, but they’re good folk. Just like you.” She smiles at us before circling her finger in the air, “Let’s go!”
We follow the small whirlwind out of the trailer and along the path to a large farmhouse that sits proudly on the property. There are bikes in a neat line, all parked up with the front wheel facing out, as if waiting for the men to jump on and speed out at any moment. The friendly woman, Mama Debs, bounces up the steps. We follow a little more sedately. Actually, that’s a lie, I follow with feet that feel like lead.
“Where are you from? You have an accent,” Annie-Bella chirps, bouncing next to Mama Debs.
“Oh, I’m from Aotearoa, New Zealand.” Mama Debs smiles kindly at her.
Her answer pulls me out of my thoughts. “Wait, what? How did you end up with an MC?” I ask, intrigued. I know from high school geography that New Zealand is a world away from Rose Grove, Texas.
Mama Debs giggles, facing me with a wide grin. “Would you believe that I ended up here because my daughter works for the Russian Bratva, and while visiting her, I ended up falling for Sidney Tombs and now I’m his Ol Lady?” Her eyes twinkle as mine grow wider.
“You’reDebs! Oh my gosh I should have realized, Pops talks about you all the time!”
A soft smile pulls her cheeks up, making her eyes squint. “That man is such a romantic,”
I try to cover my snort. I’ve seen that man cause havoc with the Girl Gang in my diner. Especially with that god awful man Vi used to date. I have to admit I laughed out loud when Chewy “accidentally” squirted lemon juice in the man’s eye.
“OK, here we are!” Looking around I realize that we’ve chatted our way into the house and up the stairs. Mama Debs gestures at me to walk through, but the door is closed so I decide to make myself known.
“Knock, knock?” I call quietly.
Mama Debs rolls her eyes and shoves past, throwing the door open.
“Kotiro,I’m sure you all know Kaia, and these are her babies.” Jax snorts behind her and my head spins in his direction, my angry eyes lasering into the side of his face. He quickly wipes the grin from his lips and clears his throat. “Jackson and Annie-Bella.” Mama Debs finishes the introductions without blinking an eye.
The women all wave from their places around the room which looks to be a nursery. There are what seems to be a lot of babies and toddlers asleep, the women all in bean bags or on the beds with their children.
“Ooohhh, come closer, we need alllll the goss,” Mira says, clapping her hands. I know her as the cheerleader of the group. Whenever they come into the diner she is always so positive about everything. I thought she was the normal one, perhaps not.
“Ae, good idea!” Mama Debs shoves me in their direction, “I’m going to take the kids to find Sage and Niko. They don’t want to hang out with the mums and the babies.” Debs bustles off as fast as she arrived and we all stare at her and my kids’ retreating backs.
I could feel put out about the whole thing, or I can use this as a learning experience. “OK ladies, I need the full breakdown of what the hell is going on.”
Chapter 3
Judge
“Is there a reason you’re just creeping around?” I startle at the sound of Pops’ voice close to my ear. So close I can feel his hot breath.
“I’m not creeping,” I mumble, hoping he’ll buy it.
“You are most definitely creeping. Trust me, I know a creep when I see one.” I glare down at him only to be met with his stink eye. The same one Jules and his daughter sport.
“I’m just…looking.”
“Riiiiiight.”
I wait for him to leave, find another victim, but instead he stands next to me, watching Jackson and Annie-Bella chatting with Sage and Niko. I marvel at the size of Jackson. Knowing that he’s only fourteen it’s now obvious that his sister isn’t little for her age, he’s just large. He towers over Niko, who at twenty is no light weight himself.
“You know, you could, I don’t know? Go and talk to them?” Pops doesn’t look at me, just stands, hands in pockets without a care in the world.
