Page 31 of Wait For Me

“The most attractive thing about you is that you’re still breathing. I plan on keeping you that way for a very fucking long time and it don’t matter a single bit if you have no tits, fake tits, inverted tits, or tattooed scars. I will love and cherish every breath I see you take. And Vivian, make no mistake, I will find other ways to love you up and let you know that you are still very much all woman and the only one that I ever want to sink my cock into. You hear me?”

Holy shit! I watched, mouth agape as Viv nodded her head while tears streamed down her beautiful face.

“When we couldn’t have kids, you thought I’d leave you then too, find you less attractive, remember?” I didn’t see her nod that time, but she must have. “And what did you learn from that?”

“That you loved me more than any other woman on the planet whether my womb worked or not.”

“You’re damn right. I don’t love you for the parts of your body you think I want to use. I love you for every bit of heart you’ve given me over the years. You are my fucking heart woman! The only reason this one beats,” he said as he thumped his chest hard with his fist, “is because yours is beating right beside me. Now, don’t ever let me hear you talking ugly about yourself again. I love you, not your parts. The whole fucking package, no matter what that ends up looking like. It still houses your heart and soul and those belong to me. Always, Viv.”

My aunt had dissolved into too many tears to respond, so my uncle pulled her into his arms instead. If ever there was a couple on this Earth to serve as true relationship goals, I was looking at them. I sent up a prayer that my Aunt Viv would make it out the other side of this stupid diagnosis and into remission. Uncle Mack would never survive losing her, and quite frankly, for me, it would be like losing a second mom and I didn’t think I could handle that either.

Uncle Mack swung around with my aunt still firmly ensconced in his arms and grinned at me. “I’m going to show my wife exactly what my words mean, so you might want to go busy yourself somewhere else for a while, kid.”

“Ew, and aww, I’m not sure which to go with there. You’re a good man, Uncle Mack.”

He tipped his chin up at me and then stared me down for a minute. “Remember that, because you have somewhere to be Saturday, and there’s no backing out.”

“Let me guess, family day?”

“Got it in one,” he told me as he scooped my aunt into his arms and headed for their bedroom.

“Fine,” I huffed and then I got the hell out of dodge, because there was no way I wanted to hear how my uncle showed my aunt that he loved her. That was pushing the limits of what I could handle.

~*~

Saturday crawled around slowly, most likely because of the anticipation of seeing my MC family again for the first time in two years. I still hadn’t even seen my own brother since I got back. Not for the lack of being available either, it seemed that he no longer cared to see me. Yeah, that made me both sad and angry, considering his attitude and revelations had been the reason I left Sturgis so quickly.

Still, my father had shown up to dinner at Mack and Viv’s place on Friday and made me promise that I wouldn’t miss the cookout on Saturday, so that was how I found myself rolling up to the clubhouse. Mack was planning to come out for a little while later, but Viv couldn’t come just yet since she just had chemo and was afraid to be in a big crowd.

So, instead, I ended up sitting with some of the Old Ladies of the MC and telling them all about my travels. We were talking about the asshole I’d just broken up with when I noticed my old crush sitting across the lawn with a woman who I had never seen before.

“Must be new meat around here. I wonder who their second will be?” I laughed at myself as I made the comment about Bagger, but the women all looked a little put off by it. “What?”

“I was just coming to say hi to you, but should have known you’re still a self-righteous bitch,” my brother said from over my shoulder.

“What did you just say?”

“You come here, after being gone for years, and think you have the right to judge anyone? Fuck you, Star. That fresh meat you were just talking shit about is Missy, Bagger’s exclusive woman for the past six months now. Hell, I think he’s planning to claim her as his Old Lady, if he hasn’t already done so. Yet, you’re gonna sit here and paint her as a club whore while talking shit about a brother of the club whose food and company you’re sitting back enjoying. I wonder what Mack would think of his freeloading niece talking shit about his brothers.”

“Excuse me?” I yelled at Kip as I stood from the picnic table. “I made a fucking joke, asshole. And I don’t know where you get off telling me to learn the facts when you so clearly don’t care about them. I just paid all of Aunt Viv’s outstanding medical bills when I took her in for chemo the other day, so how the fuck I’m a freeloading bitch, I won’t ever know. It’s good to see how fucking unwelcome I am here though, brother. I’ll just see myself back out the way I came.” I turned to leave then and ran straight into my father, who was fuming.

“Oh, no you don’t. I didn’t just get you back home to see you walk back out the door.” His attention flickered between my brother and me. “Maybe the two of you need to go have a conversation in private?” I shook my head and Kip turned to leave.

“I’m out of here.”

“Kip,” our father called out.

“What?” He asked without turning around.

“Get your head right. You have a lot of explaining to do too, so you aren’t one to judge here.”

“Whatever.” My brother walked away then.

“I’m going to the kitchen to get some air,” I told my father.

He chuckled and looked around at the wide-open space we were currently standing in. “Think the air is as fresh as it’s gonna get out here, Sunshine.”

“Yeah, well, I’d like a little less crowded airspace to pull myself together,” I admitted quietly. It was only then that he noticed the tears about to drop down my face, so he pulled me in for a hug and then let me go.

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