Page 62 of Walker

Everyone was frustrated with the accommodations. A few of the old ladies complained that we were given the president’s suite, until Quickshot came down on them.

“Funny thing, I don’t see you here caring for all the kids. You’ve done nothing but open your mouth the whole time you’ve been here, Kim. Either you’re stuffing your face with food that needs to stretch for all the extra bodies or you’re running your mouth about what everyone else should be doing. What you aren’t doing is getting up off your ass and helping at all.” He turned a full circle looking for someone.

“Where the fuck is your old man?”

As if on command, the crowd around us parted until we had a clear view across the room of the couch near the front door where Q-Tip was sitting with a club whore on his lap. Kim’s face burned bright red at the sight.

“Q-Tip, get your old lady, your whore, and get the hell out of my clubhouse.”

“It’s lockdown, Prez.”

“Don’t give a fuck.” Quickshot pointed to the man’s lap where the woman clearly had his dick out. I quickly stood up to block my kids from being able to see it. “That shit is off limits with families here, asshole. Your woman is over here giving all the other old ladies a hard time while you’re getting off with a club girl in the middle of the common room full of kids.”

“Shit,” We all heard Q-tip announce. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“We’ll take a vote in church about whether you continue to be a patched member or not.”

“Come on, Quickshot. That ain’t right and you know it,” the man shot back as he zipped his pants up.

“Get your woman and get the fuck out of here before I strip it from your back without calling a vote.”

“What if she gets killed out there?” Q-Tip asked. I wasn’t sure if he was speaking about his old lady or the woman who his arm was still wrapped around.

“If she stays, she might end up suffocating in her sleep anyway.”

I rolled my lips under my teeth and clamped down to keep from laughing. It wasn’t funny at all, but dammit, it kind of was. Kim had been getting on my last nerve for two days because she thought, as the most senior old lady who wasn’t a member of the S.H.E. MC, she deserved the biggest room in the clubhouse.

She didn’t even consider that we had two preschoolers, two teens, and two adults in the room. Not to mention, we took in JoJo and Steel’s kids some nights because when JoJo had to stay with her club, Steel went there to be with her too.

I waved my fingers at Kim as she stood and huffed away from the table. “Good riddance,” my daughter muttered under her breath. I didn’t bother correcting her because honestly, we all felt the same.

After they left, everyone moved on as if nothing happened. My heart tripped over itself as I glanced across the room and saw Walker sitting there at the bar talking to Snake. They laughed and my hurt twisted inside my chest. It was a far cry from the man I’d met who was all on his own. My heart beat double-time as he threw his head back and laughed.

“You’re in love with him.” I turned to Griffon and offered him a smile. “I’m glad he has you. When I met him, I couldn’t figure out why he was so alone. It didn’t matter what he’d done in his past to mess up his relationship with his first wife. He was nothing but kind and patient with me. I love Spike, but if I’d been given a choice of who my dad was, I would have picked Walker out of the group that first day my grandparents brought me here and dropped me off.”

“I’m sorry they did that to you. I think your dad is going to need you more than ever now, though. Walker will understand that too, so don’t worry about hurting his feelings if you’re around less.”

“I’m not. He has you, Ariel, and Junior now.”

“That doesn’t mean he has less room for you.”

“I know that. He also has the club now. It wasn’t like this before.” Griffon pointed toward where Walker and Snake put their heads together as they quietly discussed something. “It’s good he has them. I think my dad is going to need all of them.”

“He’s going to need you the most,” I reiterated.

“I’ll be there. He gave me this new family, but I think I forgot to tell him that he’s a huge part of it. He’s the glue that keeps me anchored in this world, with these people, with him.”

“I think he’d love to hear that.” I reached over and covered Griff’s hand with my own as someone spoke from over our shoulder.

“I already heard it, Kid.”

I glanced back to see Spike standing there looking down at his son with so much love in his eyes. “Dad!” Griffon jumped up and hopped over the chair to get to his dad. “I’m so sorry. I love you.”

“Love you too, Kid.” Spike mouthed, “Thank you,” to me and then gathered up Diesel too.

“Where’s Momma?” The little boy asked, and I swear the entire clubhouse held their breath as we all felt the moment Spike broke open. He hadn’t been prepared for the onslaught of emotion or the innocent question from his son that held so much more meaning than any of us could anticipate.

Spike’s knees hit the ground as he sat his youngest son down on the ground in front of him. “She can’t come home anymore,” he tried to explain but choked up. Griffon’s hand came down on his father’s shoulders, as if the touch could give his dad the strength he needed to explain the situation to an almost 5-year-old who couldn’t understand why his mom wasn’t coming back.

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