Page 95 of Motorycle Daddies

“You deserve this too,” I say, and I get up from the chair and go to the dresser where I pull a small box out of the drawer.

“This is all too much,” Meredith says. “I think I might cry at this point.”

“We never want you to do that,” Dart says. “Happy tears or not. Smiles only, please.”

I hand her the box and take an extra moment to brush her hand before I pull it away. I can’t move my eyes away from her. I want to drink in every second of her opening the gift from all of us.

“This is from all of us.”

She smiles as she rips off the paper and sees a small black satin box. She looks around at us, somewhat confused. She pops the top open and her jaw drops as she looks at the ring inside. We knew it was the perfect ring when we saw it. It may not be a proposal, but this beautiful woman having our baby deserves recognition and something that will lay claim to her.

“Oh, my sweet boys,” she says. And despite the warning from Dart, tears form at the corners of her eyes.

“Here, let me,” I say, and I’m on the edge of the bed, taking the ring out of the box and putting the box to the side. I slip the ring onto her finger and she only glances at us momentarily before looking down at it again. My heart sings at the chance to have been the one to do that for her.

“How did I get so lucky?” she says. “I need a hug from all of you right now or I’ll never stop crying.”

She leans in toward me first, and I gladly put my arms around her. She feels like home in a way I’ve never known before. I know it’s only fair she takes the time to give Grizzly and Dart a hug, but I feel so cold the second her embrace is pulled away from me, and more hopeless than ever.

Draped in the jacket and clasping her hands together, her fingers toying with her ring, she looks around the room at us.

“This has been the most unexpected display of your love and intentions. So, I have to thank you all for this. I’m blown away.” I lean in to wipe a tear running down the side of her cheek. “But more than that, I have to tell you something I’ve been holding back. Mostly because I’ve been too afraid of what you might think, or what you might say back to me.”

“Anything,” Dart says, reassuring her. “You can tell us anything.”

“Okay, well…I’ve been getting to know each of you on a more personal level. We’ve done things together I’ve never done with anyone else. Felt things with you unlike what I’ve felt with anyone else. And we’ve been through a hell of a ride together. Sometimes I think it’s lucky we’re all still alive.”

We’re all intently listening, wondering where she’s going to direct this conversation.

“And if there’s one thing that happens when you’re brushed up against death over and over again, it’s that you realize there isn’t any time to lose. So I’m just going to say it. I’m in love with you.”

“With who?” I say, desperately seeking clarification because I can’t believe she would include me in what she’s confessing right now.

She meets my eyes. “You.” She turns to Grizzly. “And you.” Then she turns her eyes to Dart and smiles. “And you.” She wraps her arms around her legs and rests her chin on her knee. “I tried to make sense of it all. I never expected to be here with the three of you. But I am. And I am truly in love.”

“I’m in love with you too,” I say, and we stare at each other for a long time.

I’ve never been so in love in my life, and excited to be a father. I can’t believe this is real.

Dart and Grizzly affirm their love for her as well, and for once it doesn’t make me jealous to observe the moments she shares with them. It feels like this is how it was meant to be.

Meredith smiles contentedly at each of us. “Are you all ready to start our lives together?”

Instinctively, we all lean in, kissing her on her lips, her forehead, and her cheek. We won’t let anything happen to this woman if it’s the last thing any one of us ever do.

EPILOGUE

MEREDITH

The baby shower is half blue and half pink, since the sex of the baby is a surprise.

And I had no idea any of this was happening today. I woke up thinking it would be another boring day on bed rest, when I woke to a floral dress hanging on the back of the door. When I asked Grizzly what the dress was all about, he just told me to look pretty and get excited.

I didn’t bother questioning him because I was so excited to do something, anything, different.

When he brought me to a building a few minutes up the road, I had to wonder if we were moving locations to a new safe house, and if our place had been compromised. I thought for a moment the dressing up was just a ploy to get me to leave without fussing. That all changed though when he told me to close my eyes and I walked into a crowd yelling, “Surprise!”

When I opened my eyes, I was amazed to see staff members from the club, some friends from campus, and even some new faces. The whole place looked adorable, adorned with decorations, balloons, and a variety of what looked to be baby-related games for the guests to play.

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