Page 31 of JoJo

“Saw what in her?” His mom finally asked after a moment.

“I saw all the goodness, loyalty, selflessness, and the drive that one person could possibly possess. It all shined out of her like a damn beacon calling to me. We’ve immersed ourselves in one another ever since. We work and live together. It’s put us to the test at times, and made us come to greater understandings about one another. There was no way to avoid falling in love with her. I tried to stay distant. It didn’t work. She has too much wonderful in her to ignore any of it.”

Okay, well, I was speechless, and teary-eyed yet again, so I leaned into him giving him one hell of a hug. “I may not have had her very long, but I’m not stupid enough to let her go, or let you drive her away. So, when you can honestly give her a meaningful apology for what went down today, then you will be welcome here with open arms. Until then, you’re not.”

“Romeo,” his mother started with a pleading tone.

“No!” He snapped at her. “I’m not the one you need to be speaking to, and if you can’t swallow your damn pride and admit you were wrong then you don’t belong here. I’m not putting JoJo through any more shit. She’s had enough.”

Steel’s mother glanced from him down to my face, and then lower to where his hands still rested over my firm abdomen. I could see that she was trying to determine if the pregnancy was a calculated move on my part, or if there even was a pregnancy. It was almost as if she were transparent and I could see her contemplating each question as they arose. Finally, her eyes slowly made their way back up to meet the whiskey brown of my own. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a huff as if resigning herself to something she did not want to do. Carefully, hesitantly, she stepped forward and thrust her hand out towards mine. “My name is Carol McCloud, it’s very nice to meet you, Jo…” She shook her head and chuckled. “I’m sorry. JoJo? It sounds like a dog’s name or a child’s toy. What is your real name?”

“Mother,” Steel growled out. She swatted away with his outburst.

My eyes were squinted up and shooting death rays at the woman in front of me. Seriously, if looks could kill, she’d be flopping on my floor like a wounded tuna. “My father insisted I be named after his Grams, Cynthia Josephine.” Steel’s mom smiled, obviously approving of my full given name. “But my mom hated both grams and her name so she called me JoJo from day one. I loved my mom more than any other person on this planet. She was a beautiful soul, taken from this Earth far too soon. I’m thinking maybe because she was too good for this place. So, my name, the only thing I will answer to anyway, is Jo or JoJo, and only my good friends and family get to use Jo. You haven’t earned that right.”

“Are you going to allow your so-called ‘wife,’” Carol mocked, “to speak to me like that?”

“Get out!” Steel’s rage was barely contained. “Fucking Christ!” He shouted. “I thought you might try to be happy for us, for me and the woman who has made me smile every damn day since I met her. You flew a goddamn lying, cheating, whore here and paraded her around like she was some prize, but you can’t fucking bring yourself to apologize to, or be civil to, my wife? What the hell kind of shit are you smoking up there these days?” Steel had told me that his mom had at least a bowl a day pot habit before he took off from the Dakotas. I assumed that was what he was referencing.

Steel pulled out his phone, hit a button, and listened as a line on the other end rang out. “Yeah, you need to summon your old lady home. If she says one more wrong word to my wife, in her house, I will disown her completely, and I will make sure Hopper is aware she’s being shunned so the club will stand behind it and you can decide what’s more important; her or the club.”

I wasn’t sure what this “shunned” business was with his club, because we’d never discussed it at S.H.E., but judging by how sickly Steel’s mother looked all of a sudden, it seemed to skirt the epic side of the possible horrible things that could happen.

“You wouldn’t,” Carol whispered. Steel just glared at his mother, jaw set, as a voice on the phone yelled a very long string of profanity.

“She brought Jenn here, to my wife’s house. Does that tell you how bad it got?” Steel answered back whatever question he’d been asked. He pocketed his phone and we heard Carol’s begin to ring. “You might want to get that.”

“Hello?”

“You will apologize to that girl now, or you won’t be coming home. You were told Jenn Stallings was off limits and banned from the club!”

“But I didn’t realize…”

“You didn’t need to know why, or to realize anything, because it wasn’t your goddamn business to know. That alone should have told you it wasn’t your fucking grandbaby, Carol. Steel did not need this shit right now!”

“But I didn’t…”

“Apologize, now, Carol. You’re already on thin ice with me and the club.” It was obvious the line went dead in her hands then.

I turned to Steel, hugging him tightly. “I’m pretty sure that’s not going to win me any favors with her,” I whispered to him.

“She crossed one too many lines today, babe. She would have already faced trouble just for going against a club ban and bringing Jenn here. When my ex involved three brothers in her bullshit, how to handle Jenn and the baby, became club business. Something my mom knew better than to interfere with.”

Carol cleared her throat somewhere over my shoulder, but I didn’t bother to turn around. “I’m so tired,” I said into Steel’s chest.

“Come on babe,” Let’s get you back on the couch. You had a shitty enough morning with all the puking. I don’t think we have any crackers, but I can run and get some in a bit. Think you could stomach some toast until then?”

“Maybe. I felt better after the ginger ale. I just feel worn out now. Is it bad that I’m in my mid-twenties and I wish my mommy was here to make it all better?” Steel kissed my forehead and chuckled against my skin sending warm vibrations all through me.

“Not at all, babe. I wish she was here for you, so then you could get some first hand advice.” Honestly, I think we’d both forgotten Carol was still in the room, because when she spoke up it startled me.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was wrong. I didn’t realize this was more than an arrangement.”

Steel rolled his eyes. “Even after we told you an ungodly number of times?”

“It’s just not what I pictured for you. None of it is,” she admitted.

“Well, it’s not your life, mom. It’s mine and what I want. And right now, I still want you to go, because my wife is sick, and doesn’t need anymore damn stress.”

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