Page 77 of Allegiance

“None of what you just said is a lie, so I’m not offended by what you said about me.”

Jagger knew how hard it was to eat crow. He’d done it a few times in his life, and ironically, every time with Maura. That’s what love made you do.

“You tell her that you’re in love with her. You don’t play games going forward, and you be the man she wants and needs. You fucked this up, so you have to prove that is never happening again. Adder might be retired, but she still has the same instincts. She can read a room.”

Rogue laughed.

“God. Mamba too. I lied to keep her off track on her Valentine’s Day present, and you’d think I was having an affair. She followed me to the drug store for vitamins.”

Dakota got it.

He had an idea or two that might help.

“Thank you. I’m going to do everything you said, and I’m going to stop pretending I don’t love her. I get it now. When your heart knows…”

“Oh, it knows,” Jagger said. He recalled being in love with Maura for so long before he lucked out.

“Thank you for being my family.”

And just like that, he was forgiven.

That’s what your brothers did. They let you be a jackwagon and loved you anyway.

To prove it, they pulled him up and hugged him.

As they did, he sighed.

“I’m sorry I hurt you guys and said I was leaving. I was a jerk.”

“Yeah, you were,” Rogue said. “Only, we forgive you.”

That was a blessing in itself.

Now, though, he was curious.

“I don’t know how to be a dad. How do you do it?” he asked since Jagger had two kids, Rogue had two kids, Boone had two, and Zayn had three.

Well, two and one on the way.

They clued him in.

“You just keep showing up, let the woman vent, and no matter what she says, you just be there.”

“Throw snacks at her. The months four through eight are the feeding months, and boy, do they get hangry,” Zayn admitted.

That was good to know.

“And if she doesn’t want me anywhere near her?” Dakota asked.

That was a simple answer.

“Then you get a paternity test, pay your child support, and you still show up,” Jagger said. “See the pattern here? YOU. SHOW. UP.”

He got it.

Boone had to point out one thing.

“Uh, and as a side note, you aren’t getting one kid with Eve. You’re getting two kids. How do you feel about Violet?” he asked.

---