Page 47 of The MC's Surprise
I rolled my eyes. “The guys call me Vegas. You want a new name, you gotta join our crew. See you around, Tom.”
Sierra
Seeing Vegas interacting with the store worker only made me melt a little more for him. And Mom seemed to like him too. She was smiling through the whole interaction, and she patted Vegas’s shoulder when she walked past to head for the strollers.
“Okay, sweetie. We aren’t putting one of these on your registry. This will be the gift from me and your daddy. So pick what you want and we’ll bring it home today.”
“Oh yeah, I wanted to grab a few things too,” Vegas agreed. “Making this trip twice would be a pain, especially when you’re this far along.”
I blanched, shaking my head rapidly to head them off. “You don’t have to do that. I can get most of what I need from the thrift store. We don’t need brand new–”
“With car seats you do,” Mom interrupted. “And the sets that have the infant seat and the stroller are more cost effective. Don’t be stubborn, Sierra.”
I was still shaking my head. I already felt like a burden to the both of them. I was no closer to having my own place, and Vegas still paid for every doctor’s appointment. I promised myself I’d get hand me downs for the rest of it, or go to the thrift store. The only reason I was out here was because Vegas and my mom practically ganged up on me once he floated the idea of a registry. I figured most of it would go unbought and I could shop later at the thrift store.
“It’s too much,” I argued.
Vegas studied my face while my mom continued arguing with me. It almost felt like he could see right through me. Right before I could get worked up and start crying again, he changed tactics.
“This isn’t for you.”
Jerking my gaze to his, I frowned at him. “What?”
He gestured around us. “None of the stuff we’re picking up today is for you. It’s for the baby. Yeah, you’ll be using it sometimes, but its not for you. I’m buying a crib for my kid. Your mom is buying a seat for her grandbaby. You can buy the stuff that's for you. I want to spoil my kid.”
Mom seemed to catch on to his ploy because she was quick to agree with him. “He’s right. My grandbaby deserves the best. And no amount of complaining from you is going to stop me from spoiling him or her, no matter their age. Might as well just accept it now.”
I scowled at them both. I saw right through their ploy. It did make me feel a little better, though. We couldn’t avoid buying these things. The baby needed a car seat and a crib and clothes. Some of the things we put on the registry were for convenience, like the bottle warmer, but most of it was a necessity. I wasn’t going to punish my baby just because I didn't like feeling like a burden to the people closest to me.
“Alright, fine. But you have to let me pay for some things myself.”
Vegas shrugged. “Sure. Its your baby too. Do you want to pick something now or wait until after your baby shower?”
“What baby shower?” I asked, confused.
“Oh, shit, it was supposed to be a surprise,” he grimaced before explaining, “Charlotte wants to throw you a baby shower. She’s the one that mentioned the registry, so people can bringgifts or whatever. She told me no men allowed, but I’ve seen the parties she’s thrown before. It’ll be fun.”
I had doubts. All the doubts. Charlotte didn’t like me. Like even a little bit. But Vegas was blissfully ignorant about that and I couldn’t say anything about it unless I wanted to sound like a jealous bitch. I could only force a smile and nod.
“Okay, sure.”
While he wandered off to test some strollers with my mom, I considered my options. I couldn’t exactly back out, not when the whole thing was being thrown for me. But I wasn’t going to even pretend the event would go well. Knowing Charlotte, she’d do something to ruin it just because she didn’t like me. As long as I was prepared, she wouldn’t take me off guard. Maybe I could make it a game, guessing how much stuff she would purposely ruin just to screw with me.
27
Sierra
There was an uptick in calls from the crew, saying they were being harassed and followed by officers who were determined to pin something on them. Whatever was going on with this other crew, the Dirty Devils were being blamed for it. Wraith had to set their bikes and helmets up with cameras, which seemed to stop the cops from actually charging them with anything, but it made the whole crew restless and I could tell a few of them were losing their patience. Thankfully, none of the harassment seemed to come from the community. Just the officers. It made me hopeful that my plan was working, even if just a little.
The cops even showed up to the blood drive. They didn’t approach or give blood. They just sat in the parking lot and watched us. Most of the community members who showed up to donate probably figured they were hospital security or something, but a few of them looked more wary around the guys after they noticed them. They almost seemed like they were waiting for the worst to happen because the cops were hangingaround. It was irritating, and I had to fight to keep myself from confronting them.
I did my best to ignore them, and the drive ended up being a huge success. Kennedy donated during her report, reassuring people that the staff was kind and gentle, and she barely felt a thing. She sat next to Tank, interviewing him on his experience and on why he and the crew wanted to do this blood drive. Tank’s reply was eloquent and polite, and I gave him a high five when he was through.
I spent most of the day handing out snacks and putting people at ease. The hospital staff did most of the work. It wasn’t until the day was almost done that I noticed Vegas hovering as far away as possible from the donation van, or the bloodmobile, as the hospital so affectionately called it. They set it up so they wouldn’t have droves of people coming in and out of the hospital who didn’t need to be there.
When I headed Vegas’s way, I actually saw a flash of panic cross his face and he was doing a terrible job of masking it when I stopped beside him.
“You okay?”
