Page 73 of Outlaws' Single Mom
“Okay, but I don’t think she’s giving birth to a horse.”
I get a look, from both him and Paige.
We squeal into the hospital lot, where the ambulance pulls right up to the entrance. They run Paige right out on the stretcher, which folds out wheels as they pull it out of the back, and rush her inside. “Out of my way. This baby’s in a rush,” Bones yells, and I domy best to keep up. Just as the automatic sliding doors are about to close behind me, I hear the roar of motorcycles. Hopefully they make it in time.
Luckily, it’s not far to Labor and Delivery, and they wheel her right in.
“Are you family?” asks a nurse, keeping me out of the delivery area. He cocks his head, probably because I look nothing like Paige.
“No, they’re on their way. I have her bags.”
As if on command, the double doors are pushed open and a moment later, the waiting area is packed with bikers. The nurse starts to object when Savage, Crank and Poe all say they’re the father, but then rethinks it and waves them through. Smarter than he looks.
“Hey, hot stuff. You come here often?” Lash leans his lower arm against the wall next to me and presses a kiss to my shoulder.
“You’re a dork.” I get up on my toes to kiss his lips and he snakes his hand down to the small of my back to give me a little lift as he leans in.
Of course, then Jackal and Stiff want their turns. Having three guys is amazing in so many ways, but alittle exhausting too. Though often exhausting in the right ways.
“I’m glad you guys made it.”
“We were all done, anyway. Wouldn’t miss it.” Jackal says, resting a hand at my neck and playing with my hair.
“She get here okay?” Stiff eyes the doors into the delivery area.
“Yep, it’s good to have an EMT in the club.” Really, at the speed things were going, I’m almost surprised she’s not done already.
“Maybe someday, it’ll be you in there,” Lash says casually, like that doesn’t come with a whole truckload of implications. “Bet Logan would love a little sibling or two.”
I don’t even know what to say, but the sly look he gives me makes me think he’s kidding.
Mostly.
For now.
Luckily, I don’t have to respond, because a moment later Crank busts out through the floppy doors, throwing both of them open so hard they smackagainst the walls and draw the attention of everyone in the waiting area. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a man smile so big.
“Ladies, gentlemen and Outlaw Sons, the club has gained a new member. His name is Corbin, he’s healthy, has strong lungs and has already figured out that tits are the best thing in the whole fucking world! Drinks on us at the Burnout tonight, even if we won’t be able to attend.” For a couple of moments, he basks in the cheers and applause, then backs out, letting the doors flop closed after him.
After a second to make sure there’s no encore, Stiff looks at us. “Burnout, then?”
Jackal nods. “Fuck yeah.”
41
DAKOTA
After everythingthat led up to it, Georgia’s funeral was almost anticlimactic, but in a good way. Quiet, understated, and sweet, but also a beautiful tribute to the little sister that I grew up with, the flawed but determined woman she was, and to the wonderful woman she might’ve become if Dillard hadn’t torn her away from us.
It took every ounce of bravery I had to stand up and give a eulogy, and if it hadn’t been for Stiff, Lash and Jackal giving me a pep talk before the ceremony and their encouraging nods through all of it, I might have broken down and never finished.
Dad came, which was nice, and he said a few words, but he wasn’t interested in following me back to theclub or meeting my new family. He didn’t straight up insult me, but the disappointed look on his face was more than enough. So I wasn’t going to bring him back to the club afterwards, for a kind of ceremony he’d never understand.
The highlight was seeing my men in suits. I wasn’t lying when I told Lash that he’d look ravishing in it, and I don’t think there was a woman, and maybe even a couple of the men, at the ceremony who didn’t do at least a double take at the sight of them poured into their black suits, with piercings, tattoos and all. And yet, they’re all mine. Even on a dark day like this, it makes me smile.
Much as I’d have loved to have all my relatives watch me ride off into the sunset on the back of a motorcycle ridden by one of the drop dead gorgeous bikers in suits, practicality won out and we used a car to get there. The club has some of those, luckily, since mine is too small to bring all of us along with Logan in his car seat.
It’s been a weird day for him. He’s old enough to understand that something big and sad is happening, but he’s still at the age where as long as I’m okay, he trusts that I’ll take care of him. When he realized that Auntie Georgia would never be able to visitagain, there were tears shed, but at the same time it’s too big for him to fully grasp. I had a long talk with a therapist so I’d know what to look for if he was having problems after everything we went through, but so far he’s handling everything well.
