Page 20 of Hurricane's House

“Well, you are,” she insisted.

“I know, it’s just something that I never thought that I’d be—a father,” he admitted. He was getting all sappy and that was the last thing that he wanted to do. He wanted to be strong for Tina, not a mushy mess by the time they got to the doctor.

“I get it,” she breathed, “I never thought that I’d become a mother either. I mean, taking care of Chasity had me wondering if I’d be a good mom someday—maybe. But now, we’re going to have to figure this whole parenthood thing out fast.”

“As long as we can do it together, I’m good with that, honey,” he assured. He pulled into the parking lot and parked. “Ready?” he asked, looking her over.

“As I’ll ever be,” she breathed. He knew that they were about to possibly find out what their whole future might entail, and even with his joy, he still felt a bit empty without Chasity there to share the moment with them. He knew that Tina had to feel the same way, but for now, he’d find a way to keep her happy. At least until he could bring her niece home where she belongs.

Tina

Tina knew that it was a long shot that they would find Chasity again. She had been out on the run for weeks now, and if her niece wanted to, she’d stay hidden for a while longer. The problem was her very savvy niece seemed to stay two steps ahead of them at all times.

Hurricane was right—finding out that the baby was okay helped to calm her frayed nerves. Seeing that they were having a boy seemed to bring an unexpected joy that brought her hope for the future. Maybe that was premature on her part, but she knew that Chasity would love a baby boy cousin if she would just come home to them.

Hurricane had gone down to the clubhouse to meet with a few of the guys about where to search next. A part of her wanted to tell him that it was no use, but Tina couldn’t give up on her niece. She owed it to her brother to keep looking for her and with Hurricane leading the search, she knew that they were doing all they could to find her.

Tina had agreed to stay home and find something to do to fill the time, but that was getting harder and harder to do. And when the doorbell rang, she knew that Hurricane had sent Wren overto babysit her, as usual. Every time he had to leave her since they found out that she was pregnant, he had Wren casually stop by to check on her to make sure that everything was all right. It was sweet, really. She liked Wren and Tina didn’t have many friends in the area. She never really hung out with anyone from work, and since losing her job, she had no one to talk to except poor Hurricane. Sometimes, she felt as though he might get sick of her going on and on, but he never seemed to.

She pulled open the front door to find Wren impatiently pacing on the front porch. “What took so long?” she grumbled.

“Is everything okay?” Tina asked.

“Yes, and no,” Wren said. She made her way past Tina, into the family room and sat down. “I can’t stay long. My mother-in-law is watching the baby, but I was thinking about something this morning and I just can’t get it out of my mind.”

“What’s that?” Tina asked. She sat down in the chair next to Wren and she swore she could feel the excitement and tension rolling off her friend.

“Remember when you and Chasity first moved in with Hurricane and Yonkers and I came over for a barbecue?” Wren asked.

“How could I forget?” Tina said, rolling her eyes. “It turned out to be the barbecue from hell.” The grill had caught fire, and poor Hurricane had singed off his eyebrows. “His eyebrows are just now growing back in,” she teased.

Wren giggled and nodded, “Yep, that night. We talked about living in Alabama and the Royal Bastards down there. Chasity seemed to ask a million questions about living down south and kept telling me that she liked my accent, remember?”

“Yes,” Tina breathed. She was starting to see where Wren was going with all her questions. “Chasity seemed to be fascinated by you and the South. All she’s ever known has been the city. Do you seriously think that she went down to Alabama?”

Wren shrugged, “We talked about the guys and where the club is and all that. I’m wondering if she was listening more than we thought she was. It’s worth a shot, you know, to have Hurricane call down there and check our theory out.”

“You’re right,” Tina agreed, “but, if she’s down there, why wouldn’t someone from the club call us to let us know?”

“Maybe they don’t know who she is,” Wren said. “I mean, Chasity is smart. She’d never tell the guys down there that she’s from up here. I’m going to call my brother, Blade, and see if a young girl has been trying to hang around the club. I’m sure that he’ll get Savage involved and if Chasity is down there, they’ll track her down.”

Tina pulled Wren in for a quick hug. “I know that we haven’t known each other long,” Tina said, “but I honestly love you, Wren.”

“Right back at you,” Wren said, pulling her up from the sofa with her. “Let’s call my brother and then, we can tell the guys if we get a lead on Chasity. No sense interrupting their meeting without solid proof.”

Wren rummaged through her giant diaper bag and found her cell phone, holding it up triumphantly, and making Tina laugh. “You just wait until you have that kid and need all this crap. I feel like I have to pack for a three-week vacation every time I leave my house.”

“I can’t wait,” Tina admitted.

Wren smiled back at her, “Yeah, it is pretty great.” She dialed her brother’s number and put the call on speaker. “Let me do the talking,” Wren insisted. “He’s going to be pretty pissed that I haven’t called in a few days.”

“Wren,” Blade growled into the other end of the call, “where the hell have you been?”

“Um, up in New York, with Yonkers,” she sassed. Tina could tell that Wren liked giving her older brother a bit of grief.

“You know what I mean,” Blade shouted, “why haven’t you called me? I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“Well, the phone works both ways,” she said. “You know how to use a cell phone, right?”

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