Page 29 of Ace's Legacy
She adjusts something on the machine, and suddenly the room fills with a rapid whooshing sound—quick, strong, otherworldly.
"Is that...?" I can't even finish the question.
"That's the heartbeat," Dr. Monroe says. "Good and strong, about 160 beats per minute, which is perfectly normal at this stage."
My own heart seems to stutter in response to the sound. This is real. There's an actual human being with a beating heart growing inside Sarah—a human that I helped create.
"Everything looks good," the doctor continues, still moving the wand. "The size is right on track for twelve weeks, and I'm not seeing any concerns."
"So, the baby's healthy?" Sarah asks, her voice trembling.
"Appears to be perfectly healthy," Dr. Monroe confirms. "Would you like some pictures to take home?"
"Yes," I answer immediately, surprising both women with my eagerness. "Please."
The doctor smiles, pressing buttons on the machine. "I'll print a few. You can share them with family and friends."
Family. The club, she means, though she doesn't know it. The brothers who fought beside me to end Charles's reign of terror, who've been supporting me through this unexpected journey into fatherhood.
Dr. Monroe wipes the gel from Sarah's stomach and helps her sit up. "I'll give you two a moment while I get those pictures," she says, slipping out of the room.
Left alone with Sarah, I find myself at a loss for words. The sound of that heartbeat seems to have hollowed me out, replaced everything inside me with something new and terrifying and beautiful.
"You okay?" Sarah asks softly.
I nod, still struggling to speak. Then, "That's our kid. Our actual kid. With a heartbeat and everything."
She laughs, the sound breaking through my daze. "Yes, that's generally how it works."
"I know, but..." I shake my head, trying to articulate the tornado of feelings whirling through me. "It wasn't real before. Not really. But now I've seen it. Heard it."
"And?"
"And it's the most fucking terrifying, amazing thing I've ever experienced." I finally look at her, really look at her, and I'm struck anew by how beautiful she is, how strong. "Thank you. For letting me be part of this."
Her eyes soften. "Where else would you be?"
"I don't know. Anywhere. Nowhere. A lot of guys would've run when you told them you were pregnant."
"You're not a lot of guys," she says simply.
No, I'm not. I'm a biker who's spent the last month orchestrating the systematic destruction of another MC while simultaneously learning how to be a supportive partner. I'm a man with blood on his hands who's now preparing to raise a child.
I'm a study in contradictions, and somehow, this incredible woman sees past all that to something worth loving.
Because that's what this is becoming, isn't it? Love. The word I've avoided my entire adult life, the concept I've dismissed as weakness, as vulnerability I couldn't afford. Now it's taking root inside me, growing alongside the image of that tiny lima bean-shaped person on the monitor.
"We should get our own place," I blurt out.
Sarah blinks, clearly caught off guard. "What?"
"A house," I clarify. "Our house. Not my room at the clubhouse, not your apartment. Something that's ours, for the baby."
"Ryan—"
"I know it's fast," I continue, the words tumbling out now that I've started. "But we've been living together at the clubhouse for a month already. And it's not the right place to raise a kid. We both know that."
"You want to buy a house? With me?" She asks, hope flickering in her eyes.
