Instead, I found my way back home. I beam as I come to that realization. The Lost Souls are my home.
“Hey, Mason,” Misty says as she comes to sit beside me and laugh at herself.
“What’s up, Kennedy?”
Her cheeks glow. It’s not just the baby. King wasn’t playing about her being his for life. Their wedding was in true Lost Souls fashion, right here at the compound.
Owen and I chose a church wedding, but the reception had to be here. King insisted and Owen looked as if he would have been disappointed if I wanted to do anything else. Honestly, this was the only thing that felt right.
“God, that sounds so crazy,” she says.
“I know, right?”
Becoming the prez’s old lady looks good on Misty. I’m happy for her and King. My brother will have a son soon and I plan to spoil my nephew.
“We just became sisters and now you’re changing your name.” She pouts and reaches to play with the wedding rings on my swollen finger. “I wish I could still wear my rings on my hand.”
“Ha. Mine are on there just barely,” I say with a laugh. “Besides, we’ll still be sisters. I’m changing my last name, not my family.”
She reaches for her wedding rings on the chain around her neck and smiles. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I never thought this would be where we’d all end up. Married and having children with the prez and VP.”
I place my hand on my undeniable bump and smile. “Would you rather have it any other way?”
“No, not at all.”
“Come on, let’s get a dance in before they move the party outside and our feet are too swollen for us to move,” I say.
She smiles and nods. I laugh as she pushes up from her seat and waddles ahead of me. I’m big, but not that big yet.
King and Owen appear as soon as we get on the dance floor, as if we’ll hurt ourselves out here or something. These two are going to be a mess when these babies get here.
Owen pulls me into a tight hug and rocks me from side to side and kisses the top of my head. I wrap my arms around him as much as my protruding belly will allow. A song starts and the swaying becomes a part of the music.
At five months it’s becoming a challenge to get as close to Owen as I’d like. The fact that there are two little ones in there might account for most of that. I smile when I think about them.
“You look beautiful, Mrs. Mason,” Owen says in my ear.
I laugh. “Is everyone going to call me that today?”
“They better,” he growls, his eyes sparkling as he looks down at me.
“I love the way it sounds.”
“I do too.”
“Now, this is how you celebrate,” King croons as he holds Misty in his embrace beside us. “We’ve got a clubhouse full of bikers showing some real love.”
“Couldn’t have asked for more,” Owen says with a gorgeous smile on his lips.
“I can. This little boy is demanding I eat again,” Misty says.
I laugh. I was thinking the same thing not even a second ago. As soon as we started to dance I got hungry. However, I didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“Let’s feed my boy then,” King says. “You want something, sis?”
“Please, the fruit was so good. I can eat that and still dance.”
“We don’t have to dance if you’re hungry,” Owen says as his brows pinch with concern.
“No, I’m not ready for this to end.”
“I’ve got you,” King says and pats Owen on the back.
I can’t stop smiling as I watch King and Misty walk toward the food tables. Cage catches my eye and lifts his beer at us. I beam at him and then look up to see Owen smiling his way as well.
However, there’s something else in his expression. I slide my hands to his chest, drawing his attention. The look I caught is still there.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he says.
I frown. “Then what’s with the long face?”
“Memories. Cage has been a father to me since the day he walked into my life,” he says, pain showing in his expression.
I sway in his arms thoughtfully. I’ve never asked him how their relationship came to be. He was already with Cage when we moved in.
“He means a lot to you. How’d you become one of his kids?”
A cloud grows over his face. “He saved me from hell,” he says.
“What?”
At first, I don’t think he’s going to answer me. We continue to dance, but he’s stiff and his gaze is hard. I try to think of something to change the subject and lighten the mood. This is our wedding reception after all.
“I was seven. My real father had been beating on me for over a year. He hated that I was alive, but my mama wasn’t and he was stuck with me.
“One night he beat me to within an inch of my life and left me to die. For two days, I laid on that trailer floor in my own body fluids with broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken arm.”
He gives a snort of disgust. “My daddy came in and out with whores to fuck, stepping right over my small body. It was the one who came to feed me after my pop passed out who called Cage and had him come get me.”
“Oh my God, babe. I—”
“No, I want you to know,” he says in a detached voice and continues. “It’s how I became a Lost Soul.”
“Okay.” I nod.
“He picked up my broken body after he beat the shit out of my pop—ending that sorry son of a bitch’s memorable life—and took me to get care. He asked me if I’d like to be his son and have a safe place to grow up and I was his boy from that day,” he says.
“Wow.”
It’s lame, but I don’t know what else to say. I cup his face and his smile comes back.
