Page 77 of Tech

“Shadow, you’ll mourn baby, I promise. In a few days, we’re going to the meadows so you can spread her ashes. I’ll hold you while you cry, but hopefully not too much, because stress isn’t good for you or our baby.” She sniffles. “As for Nina, I don’t want you thinking about her. I have tagged all the cameras in town; as soon as she steps into focus, I’ll get a ping. We’ll find her, Angel, just like we did that fucker. No one is hurting you and our baby.”

“Amen to that,” my dad rumbles as he mounts his bike, and I grin, mounting mine.

Sighing, I state, “I’ll speak to your parents. I know you don’t want to hurt your momma, but she needs to understand her actions have consequences, and right now, those consequences are not seeing you for a while. You weren’t ready for people to know until you had confirmation on the diagnosis, and she breached your privacy. And as for us; you’re living in my home, you’re wearing my patch again, and you’re there when I wake up. We’ll be okay, Angel. We’ve both made mistakes, mine quite big, but we’re pulling through together because I fucking love you.”

She sighs happily. “I love you, too.”

I smile. “Try not to stress. Go save that chihuahua, then order all the baby stuff you need online, just not the crib; Momma messaged me and wants us to have my old one.”

My father tenses, his eyes tearing up, and I wince because I may have forgotten to inform him Momma has messaged a few times about baby things—only fucking baby things, nothing else.

Clearing my throat, I state, “Just leave everything to me, Angel.”

“I love you, James,” she whispers with a sniffle.

I smile, replying, “I love you, too, baby. Go save some animals, and I’ll see you tonight.”

Saying bye, I put my phone in my cut and start my bike, and Dad asks, "Are you both doing okay?”

I give him a smile. “We are. We had a heart-to-heart and got everything on the table. She’s trying to forgive herself for running instead of fighting for us, and me, well, I’m trying to forgive myself for fucking the clubwhore, and for what I did with Faith.”

Dad nods, starting his bike. “You’ll both be okay. You’ll make sure of it, and at least you didn’t cheat, son, because I can promise you she’d never forgive it.”

I hum in agreement ,and state, “Let’s go win your wife back, Dad; it’s been thirty years, and she gave you another chance once. Even though you threatened her when she tried leaving with me as a baby, she stayed even after I turned eighteen.”

He takes a deep breath but nods and revs his bike, before he drives toward the gate. I follow, hoping Momma will give him a chance.

To him, Momma is what Brook is to me—his everything.

Twenty minutes later, we pull up in front of Bell’s Café, one town over, near Momma’s new apartment.

I remove my shades as my father begins to dismount his bike.

I warn, “Dad,” causing him to thump down on his seat and grunt.

“She’s my fucking wife, son. We both know I’ve torn those papers up. If she thinks I’m going to allow her to leave me because I’m a dickhead, then she’s got another think coming.” He shakes his head, his eyes going to the café. “I have loved your mother for thirty-two years. I got scared and allowed others, as in your grandmother, to convince me she was after my patch, and then when the second pregnancy test came back negative, I believed my momma. I was an idiot.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I-I can’t live without her any longer. For fucking months, I have stayed at the club, not seeing what was really going on, not wanting to understand her hatred of the brothers, knowing I was the reason, and allowing Nina to stay here. I’ve felt fucking lost without her.”

I sigh and look out the window to see Momma sitting at a booth with a mug in front of her. Her shoulders are hunched, both hands gripping the mug, and she looks sad, so fucking sad.

“Give me twenty minutes with her, dad, please. It took me an hour to even convince her to see me; she wrote me off, Dad, her own fucking son, because I threw her on the floor. Twenty minutes, that’s all I ask.”

His coming in all guns blazing before I get her to talk, will cause her to leave, and he knows it.

Grinding his back teeth, he nods, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes on my momma. I grunt, climbing off my bike and walking into the café before he changes his mind.

The doorbell rings, and Momma looks up, her eyes tearing, and I walk straight over to her.

She looks like she’s lost weight, and bags are dark beneath her eyes, and I fucking hate it.

When I’m close, she stands, wringing her hands in front of her.

Ignoring her nerves, I grab her, and pull her into my arms, and whisper, “I love you, Momma,” causing her to wrap her arms around me, tears soaking my shirt.

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” she sobs, and I hold her tighter.

Am I angry with her decisions? Yeah, I am, but unfortunately, I also understand.

My father loves my momma, but he’s struggled with guilt over what he did, and took it out on her instead of kissing the earth she walks. She fell apart and didn’t want me to follow in my father’s footsteps, and well, I did, didn’t I? I may not have cheated, but I still screwed someone else, hurting Brook. Momma felt like she failed and decided to help save Brook from a similar fate.

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