Page 26 of Royal

“Yeah, he meant it!” Penny giggles from the back seat. “I think you guys are teaming up on me. Donovan wants to watch movies with me, so it’s three against one.”

I reach over and take Royal’s hand, squeezing it.

I think I’m going to love it being three against one.

Chapter 7

Naomi

LATER THAT NIGHT

Everyone has eaten dinner, the kids are bathed, and it’s bedtime. The prospects in Royal’s MC have put together Donovan’s bedroom almost exactly like it was in the trailer.

When I searched for my things, I almost expected Royal to put my stuff in a guest bedroom.

He walked behind me when I found an empty room. “I’m not that much of a gentleman. I want you in my bed, angel,” he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine at the promise of what he has planned for tonight.

God, I’m scared of being with someone, because I have only been with my ex, but I know without a doubt that it will be intense with Royal, and it’s going to change my life.

But I want to experience all this with him. I have lived the motions of life for so long, until he shook me out of my comfort zone.

He has put effort into ensuring that Donovan’s room is the same as it was in the trailer. It’s wild that the prospects would do things like this for people, and they put in the effort for me and my boy.

The kids are playing together in Penny’s room, and I swallow hard, walking into the bedroom that is now mine and Royal’s.

My clothes are neatly hanging beside his, and my toiletries are lining the counter. When he moved me in, he moved me in.

“Mama,” Donovan calls, and I walk into Penny’s room to see Royal sitting at the end of the bed with them both lying in Penny’s bed.

I walk over to my son and sit down on the edge of the bed. “Wead to me.” He points to the book Royal is holding, used to me reading to him before bed.

“Dad is going to read to us,” Penny tells me.

Donovan leans over and rests his head against the side, and I run my fingers through his hair. I almost do the same to Penny but don’t want to cross boundaries.

I peek over at her and see she is snuggling closer. I take that as my cue to run my fingers through her hair as well.

Donovan loves scratchies, he will randomly lay across my lap and grab my hand to put on his back.

My brother used to brush my hair when I was little and was scared because of my mom and her flavor of the month.

Royal gives the three of us a look I can’t decipher, but it does things to my chest. It doesn’t take long for them to knock out. It has been a long day.

“I will move him to his bed,” Royal whispers and gently scoops Donovan off the bed.

I hold Penny’s head to make sure he doesn’t jostle her, then I turn off the light and lift the blanket higher to her shoulder. It breaks my heart how a mother could genuinely abandon her child to hurt her purposely. “You’re a special little girl, Penny, and I’m so glad I met you.” I kiss her forehead softly, tucking her in a little more.

I flip on the night-light by her bed so she is not in the dark before slipping out of the door, almost pulling it shut.

Royal is tucking Donovan into his bed. He is super attached to the small blanket the hospital gave me when I had him. It’s on the floor by his bed, so I lift his tiny arm and stuff it under like I do every night and kiss his chubby little cheek. “Good night, my sweet boy.”

Royal takes my hand, and we walk together into his bedroom. The nerves hit me hard, and I feel awkward, unsure how to act.

“Is it okay to use your shower?” I ask him, needing a second to collect my thoughts and put my big girl panties on.

“I will shower in the guest room,” he tells me and grabs a change of clothes from a drawer, giving me a small smile and leaving me alone in his vast bedroom.

This room is almost the size of my whole trailer. I promised myself I would someday have a home that is not on wheels.

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