She looks from me to the rest of the soldiers, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Are you all Rangers? Did you all serve in Afghanistan with Snake? Did you shoot people? Did you bring your guns? Can I see them?”
Adella clears her throat. “Josie, I’m sure they can show you their guns later and tell you all the war stories you can handle, but we need to take your picture first.”
Josie looks back at her over her shoulder, turning her head so fast her hair whips through the air, and my dog tags go twirling. “I know that. Obviously.”
“Come on over here, Speed Demon. I want you standing in front of me for this picture,” I say.
While the rest of us get back into place, Josie comes to stand in front of me. She’s hardly up to my waist, but she stands as tall and proud as any soldier. And, by the time Adella has her camera up to her eye, Josie’s doing a picture-perfect imitation of a salute.
As soon as the shutter clicks, and I have locked away forever this perfect moment with the five most important soldiers in my life and the woman I love standing across from me, I feel total contentment. Life could hardly get more perfect.
Stepping forward, I pull Adella into my arms and kiss her, drawing a low, needy moan from deep in her chest.
“You seem like you have something on your mind, Snake? Do you want to sneak back to the apartments for a minute?” She says.
This woman is special — in every single way she makes my life better.
“I’m putting my property patch on you tonight,” I whisper, kissing her again, fierce. Never in my life did I think I’d be where I am now, finding peace with my past and looking forward to a future with a woman who makes my life good beyond description. Yet, here I am. “I’m putting that patch on you. And I am never letting you go.”
Epilogue – Adella
Adella
Four months later
“Snake, the FedEx closes in twenty minutes and my mom just texted me — she and my dad are on the way and they’ll be here in ten minutes. If you’re going to get that package of mine dropped off and get back before they get here, you need to leave now,” I call out. I’m a whirlwind of activity in the kitchen, my feet hurt, my ankles feel swollen, I’ve been racing from the fridge to the stove and back all day, getting ready for dinner tonight.
Thank god for Snake. If I didn’t have him, I wouldn’t be able to get those photos in the mail before my deadline.
In that little package sitting on the small table by the front door of Snake’s home are the high quality originals for my latest assignment for National Geographic Traveler. My work’s been in their last three issues, and they’re not the only ones I’ve been freelancing for. I did a spread for Country Homes and Gardens which, although boring as hell compared to some travel stuff I do, meant I got to take a nice ride up Highway 1 along the coast while photographing some beautiful homes around Monterey.
While the homes were objectively beautiful, and I made some decent money for my work, the best part about that assignment was taking Snake along with me, riding up the coast with him at my side, and then politely asking him to head elsewhere while I worked, so as not to scare any of the people whose homes I’m photographing by having a big, scary-looking biker loitering in their driveway.
I’m so lucky to have a job that allows me plenty of time to stay around the club, around my family, and around my man.
That assignment in Monterrey was two months ago. Snake and I took a detour on the way back and did some camping by Big Sur. We hiked in the mountains, swam in the surf, and made love every night in the small tent we pitched in a private clearing.
A few weeks after that, I was late.
I took a test, felt like my heart was going to implode when I saw the positive but, once the feeling settled over me, I’ve been smiling since.
I’m sure Snake knows something is up — my drop in beer consumption alone must be a big hint to him, as I’ve suddenly switched from ending most hard days rides with an ice-cold beer to closing out my day with a cup of herbal tea.
And I’m certain that a few of the other ladies in the club suspect something, too. Just the other day, I had to decline tasting the latest batch of high-end vodka that Violet brought into the clubhouse to share. I ended up giving mine to Ruby and, while I doubt she minded, I caught a few sideways looks from her and Violet.
Still, tonight is the night I end suspicion and come out with the truth.
Snake will make an exceptional father; he’s loyal all the way down to his bones, so fierce in protecting the people he loves and, as time has gone on, I’ve seen some of the darkness that he keeps locked away inside get replaced by love.
Sure enough, not minutes after Snake leaves the driveway, my parents arrive.
I watch them through the window. See my dad offer his hand to my mom to help her off the bike, watch her slide her hand around his back and lean into him as they walk up the driveway. As the years have gone on, their love has never wavered, it’s only gotten deeper. I hope that Snake and I will be the same way. Him, me, and
