Page 96 of Motorycle Daddies

“There she is!” a woman exclaims. I’ve never seen this woman before in my life, but she seems very excited to see me. I turn my gaze toward Grizzly, who’s smiling ear to ear.

“Who is that?” I say, jabbing him in the side a little bit.

“Farrah. A fellow rescue from the Bratva. She’s heard everything about you, so be nice.”

“When am I never not nice?” I jab back at him.

“How are you feeling?” Farrah says. She’s young and bubbly, and you can feel her energy from across the room.

“Very pregnant,” I say, “but I’m great. Thanks.”

Farrah wraps her arm around me and seems to subtly push Grizzly away from me.

“Alright, Grizz, I’ll take it from here. I’ll call you when we’re all finished here, okay?”

“She’s due any time now,” Grizzly says, wanting to stay close to me by any means possible. He seems put out by Farrah’s attempt to distance us. “I think I’ll stick around just in case.”

“Not in here you won’t,” she says, and she has a playfulness about her that would put anyone in a good mood. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this is a women-only event.”

“But—” Grizzly starts to say, but not before Farrah takes his arm and begins walking him toward the exit.

“But nothing,” I hear Farrah say as they walk away. “Don’t worry your head for a second…”

I look around the room, blown away by how many people have managed to make it out. This baby is obviously a big deal for so many of us. It feels like a new beginning after such a dark time dealing with the Bratva, and for some of us, winning our innocence and freedom back.

“Sorry about that,” Farrah says. “Duty called. Is he always so protective of you?”

“Kind of,” I say, and what I don’t add is how much I absolutely love that about him.

Farrah clasps her hands and beams as she discusses everything that’s set out for me to do at the party. She points out the food and the dessert table, a place to take pictures with props, and a large polling box where guests are submitting their guesses for the baby’s sex.

She invites me to eat first, and I’m happy to be eating anywhere besides my bed. As Farrah and I share our struggles with the Bratva and our relief to be free from them, other guests sit down and chat with us, congratulating me on my first baby.

“I think we should play a game,” Farrah suggests once I’m finished with my plate. “How good is your aim?”

“I almost got kicked out of Little League if that gives you an idea.”

Farrah laughs and shrugs. “You’ll do your best then. But you’re going to want to do this. You’re going to have a ton of expenses soon, and this will help with that.”

Farrah helps me up from my chair—I’m so big now that I waddle everywhere I go. She has me line up in front of a board that’s full of pink and blue balloons and hands me a dart. She has more darts lined up next to me on a tall tabletop. Everyone gathers to watch.

“On the count of three, you’re going to start whizzing these darts at the board. The more balloons you pop, the better. Some of the balloons have nothing in them. Others have a surprise. Ready?”

“I’m ready,” I say. I have no idea if I am, but I’m willing to be a good sport.

Farrah counts down from three and I start driving the darts at the board. I miss the first few and laugh it off, but the more I do it the more I get the hang of it. The first balloon I pop Farrah claps and does a little happy dance. It makes total sense she was put in charge of this party.

I take a few more turns and pop more balloons. Eventually, she invites me and others to do an exercise in popping all the balloons together and the board is left nothing but a sea of deflated latex. On the floor are a bunch of gift cards. I waddle closer to the board and Farrah looks like she just had a front row seat to her favorite sporting event.

“You did perfect!” she says, and she pulls the gift cards up from the floor. “These are all yours.”

“Thank you,” I say as I take the gift cards into my hands.

“We’ll just put these over with your other presents.”

I’m shocked to see an entire table with gifts on top, of all shapes and sizes. I only did a registry for fun while I was bored in bed. I never would have guessed it would have such an amazing turnout.

Suddenly I hear Grizzly’s voice at my side. “Are you okay? That looked like it might have been a bit strenuous for you.”

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