Page 15 of Merry Merry Biker

Opening the passenger door of my uncle’s car, I looked at her and motioned with my hand for her to go in, which she did, but not before rolling her eyes at me. I waited until the front door shut and I heard it lock before getting in the car. My uncle was chuckling, but he didn’t say anything as we pulled out of Lana’s driveway and onto the main road. It didn’t take long for us to find where my bike was lying on the side of the road, but we’d need a trailer before we could pick it up, so turning around, we drove up the road and into the drive for my uncle’s property. I had to shake my head at all the signs he had posted warning of private property. When we got to the main gate, he handed me a key to open the lock. This part hadn’t changed much, other than the gate, which was much larger and sturdier now, as was the anti-climb fencing. I made a note to get the cost to have Lana’s property fenced and gated and a few more cameras set up. She’d hate it, but I also knew that she’d let me do it if it made me feel better, which it would. I didn’t live the life I had without knowing a thing or two about security.

Rolling the gate back on its tracks, I waited for Uncle Colm to drive through before closing and locking it behind him, knowing that we’d only be doing the same routine again when we left.

It amused me a little and also made me feel better that not everything had changed. Some things had stayed exactly the same. I can’t think how many times I’d done this exact routine as a kid.

With a small smile tugging on my lips, I got back in the car, and we continued to drive along the bumpy dirt road towards the main house.

As with the gate, not much on the property had changed over the years. Soon, we were leaving the tree-lined road and pulling into the wide driveway and up to the front of the house.

It still looked much the same, other than it looked like it had a fresh coat of paint, and a wide veranda had been added on.

There was a grouping of chairs and benches on it with comfortable-looking cushions. On one of the benches sat two men and a woman; the woman was wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the lap of the man with short, dark hair. I couldn’t tell from this distance, but I had to assume that it was Johnny and his wife. I wasn’t aware of any of my other cousins having a woman.

The man next to him had short blonde hair and if I had to make a guess, I’d say that it was Adam as only Johnny was dark like me—the others had all had blonde hair. That would make the large man with long blonde hair chasing the little boy and girl around the garden my cousin Liam.

I was older than all of them, with Rhett being the closest to me at forty. After Rhett, there had been Liam, who would be around thirty-eight, Adam at thirty-four and Johnny at thirty-two.

“They look good,” I said quietly, suddenly feeling nervous. It had been years since I’d seen them.

“They’re doing better,” Colm agreed. “It’s been a tough few years, but having Maya and her children come into our lives has been for the better and having you home now is the icing on the cake. Come on, they’ll be happy to see you.”

Even though Uncle Colm had invited me to get out, I waited in the car, not wanting to just announce myself by immediately getting out. The children stopped running around as soon as Uncle Colm opened his door and made a beeline for him, the little boy shouting, throwing his arms around Uncle Colm’s legs, “Grandpa, you’re back!”

Uncle Colm laughed and ran his hand over the boy’s dark hair. “I am. Looks like you’re running your uncles ragged. What do you think about having another uncle join us?”

At his words, Liam picked up the little girl and settled her on his hip. Johnny gently set his wife on her feet and he and Adam walked down the veranda steps to stand next to Liam, the little girl reaching for Johnny when he came to a stop.

There was no hesitation from him as he took her, and she cuddled into him. The pretty, dark-haired woman walked down the steps behind them and came to a stop next to Johnny. He automatically lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her close even as his eyes never left mine through the windscreen. Something in my chest tightened as I watched them. Making me ache a little at all I’d missed out on with the choices I’d made in my life.

“I have more uncles?” the boy asked curiously.

“You do,” Uncle Colm told him. “This one has been away for a long time. He’s my oldest boy, older even than your Uncle Rhett.”

Pushing open the door, I got out and stood up. “Holy fuck,” Adam sucked in a breath, “Tommy!”

That seemed to break the tension as they surged forward as one, and I was pulled from one back-breaking hug to another. Questions were asked one after the other. There was no way Iwould have been able to answer them all, but I answered what I could as I basked in the attention of my family.

“Okay, boys,” Colm raised his voice to be heard over everyone, “Tommy’s back for good, so we’ll have time to find out everything. I found him at Lana’s. He came off his bike. We need to get the trailer hooked up and go get it. We’ll have to take it to Gunny after the holidays. For today, I promised we’d help Lana with the painting.”

He then turned to the pretty, dark-haired woman who was smiling wide as she watched us, her daughter now in her arms and the little boy at her side. “Maya, sweetheart,” Uncle Colm’s voice softened as he spoke to her, “do you think you can sort supper out for tonight? Lana and Tommy can spend the night here so they don’t have to sleep in a house full of paint fumes, and we can catch up.”

‘Shit, I hope Lana was okay with this plan,’I thought but didn’t say anything. If she wasn’t, I’d find a way to get us out of it.

“Of course, Da, it’s not a problem; tell Lana not to worry about bringing anything.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Colm said to her, then turning to us boys, he started barking orders at us. My cousins just rolled their eyes at their Da but did as he asked. As my name hadn’t been mentioned in those orders, I walked up to the woman and held out my hand.

“I’m Tommy, and I’m guessing you must be Johnny’s wife, Maya. It’s great to meet you.”

Maya smiled as she shook my hand, “Good to meet you too, Tommy. I’ve heard a lot about you. I think you might just have made Colm’s Christmas. This is Emma,” she jiggled the little girl in her arms making her giggle, “and this is Jackson,” she introduced her son, running a hand over his head.

“It’s nice to meet you, Emma,” I said gently, poking her in her side and getting another giggle from her as she shyly hid her face in her mum’s neck. Turning to the little boy, I held out my hand, “It’s good to meet you, Jackson.”

He shook my hand, then tilted his head back, “You’re big. Bigger than my Uncle Liam and he’s huge,” he said, holding his hands out to emphasise how big he thought his uncle was.

Laughing, I ruffled his hair, “Yeah, I am tall. But that’s because of all the good food my aunt used to make me eat.”

“Vegetables you mean,” Jackson said, wrinkling his nose a little.

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