“Give him a one-time pass, Salem,” Dart suggests. “Maybe when you learn those torture techniques, you can use him to demonstrate on. It might make him reconsider whether Swift knows what she’s talking out.”
“I like that,” the enforcer replies, and gives a grin better seen on a Halloween skeleton.
Snips has gone white. We all give him a moment, then the table, once again, erupts in laughter.
“Your fuckin’ face!” Keeper calls down the table.
Prez’s head moves side to side, and for a moment his eyes go to the ceiling, then he bangs the gavel. “Okay, is there any other business, or can we wrap this up?”
Brothers shrug, Token closes his laptop. I’m the only one to raise my hand.
“Sergeant-at-arms?”
“Yeah. Well.” I gather my thoughts. I’m normally a private person, but the coming months might mean I need my brothers around me, and I want them to be prepared.
“Mary and I have spent the past few weeks coming to some decisions, and she’s given me permission to share them with you.” We’d gone back and forth about whether to keep things to ourselves, but in the end, we decided we needed support. “Some of you have been badgering me to share shit with you, but until now, I’ve stayed quiet. The long and short of it is, while it was highly unlikely, Mary’s pregnant.”
“She is?” Dart’s eyes widen. “Didn’t think it was possible, Brother.”
“Old man’s still got it. I’ll be damned.” Bones is smiling.
I don’t take offence at either comment, it had surprised me too. “It was confirmed two weeks ago. There are risks to her and the baby. For a while, we didn’t know which way to go.”
“She’s keeping it?” Niran asks, quietly.
“May not be the most sensible thing, but yes. We are.” I change the pronoun to show I’m invested in this as well.
“Is that dangerous?”
I grimace. “It could be. Pregnancy at her age will be harder on her. She might miscarry any day, in fact, that’s highly likely. Or, we could find out the baby’s so poorly, the pregnancy has to be terminated.”
“Or, you could end up with a precious bundle of joy?” Bones queries.
“And I fuckin’ hope we do.” I don’t want them to doubt it.
“You need time off to be with your ol’ lady?” Lost asks.
“Maybe. I want to be there for all her check-ups. They’ll be monitoring her carefully. It will hit us hard if anything goes south, however much we think we’re prepared for it.”
Salem leans back, clasping his hands behind his head. “Christ, Brother. You’re wanting us to be there for you. You don’t need to ask us, that you already know.”
I nod. I do know, but if they understand our worry, then that’s a weight off my mind. I don’t like hiding that I have shit going on in my private life. Now I know, if the worse comes to worse, they’ll understand.
Prez drums the table with his fingers. “Take what time you need, Brother. If it comes at a bad time, Niran can step in and deputise for you.”
“You want me to step down?” I’ve no doubt Niran would be able to take on my role.
“No, I fuckin’ don’t,” Lost replies firmly. “But if you’re called away when shit hits the fan, it’s good to have a backup plan.”
“What can we do to help?” Dusty asks.
This I’ve been thinking about. “We’ve kept ourselves to ourselves while wondering what’s best to do. I know you think we’re probably crazy, but now we’ve both come to the decision to let Mother Nature play her hand, it’s meant us doing some hard thinking. Now we’ve got our path planned, I want us to come out of hiding. I’d like Mary to become comfortable around the MC.”
“You’ve not brought her here,” Scribe points out.
I shrug. “As I said, we had to get our heads on straight. This kind of blindsided both of us.”
“And she knows we know?” the VP asks.
“Yes. She knows I’m telling you now.” And hell, I’ve got it easy. Mary wanted to talk to Alicia by herself and should be doing that now.
“Well the answer’s simple, isn’t it? She’s got to get her patch, and what better time than at a party to welcome you both?”
“Might be more than that.” I grin. “I’ve asked her to marry me. We’re going to the courthouse next weekend.”
Lost’s eyes narrow. “Is this our official invite, Brother?”
I nod. “I suppose so, if any of you want to go.”
“You fuckin’ what?” Brakes eyes widen comically. “Of course we fuckin’ want to go. And afterward, a double party. Your wedding and you officially putting your patch on her.”
Now I’ve got them just where I want them—a party, a celebration—exactly the right way to welcome my old lady.
“Sounds fuckin’ ace, Brother.” I glance at Prez, making sure he’s happy about this.
Reading my unspoken question, Lost snorts. “It’s been a while since we had something to celebrate. You really think I’d say no, Brother? Let me be the first to say how fuckin’ happy I am for you.” A cloud passes over his eyes. “The next few months are going to be fuckin’ hard for you both. Goes without saying we’ll be here for whatever you need. I’m glad you didn’t try to keep that to yourself.”
“Hear! Hear!” Salem bangs the table loudly.
“One more thing.” I eye my brothers one by one. “You can say what you want to me in private but leave the ‘old’ jokes aside when you’re in front of Mary. She doesn’t need to be reminded of that every day.”
“Compared to you, Brother, she’s a fuckin’ baby.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t need to be reminded I’ve cradle snatched—not when Mary’s worked so hard to convince me it’s how I feel in my mind and not in my body. I’m not considering hanging my motorcycle boots up, can’t ever see that time coming if I’m honest. I’m determined the kid will give me a new
