Page 7 of Providence

I let out a short, mirthless laugh at the irony, but her heart was in the right place so I just nodded, giving her a soft smile.

As we loaded the bags into the back of the truck, I looked at Trigger. “Nice kid.”

He just grunted a response. I poked my nose into his business, mainly to keep my mind off Dippy. “I thought you were going to cream your pants when she batted her eyelashes at you. Are you going to hit that?”

He stared directly out the windscreen. “Nah. She isn’t a sweet butt. Not from our side of town. Girls like that want a knight in shining armor, not villains in scuffed leather. Club life is no place for a good girl like that.”

I frowned at Trigger, trying to tell him he was wrong, but he wasn’t. Laura was proof that good girls who enter club life ended up dead. So I held my tongue and we sat in a heavy silence all the way home.

We parked the truck in the rear entrance so we wouldn’t have to walk through the bar. We climbed to the second floor, stopping outside Dippy’s door. Trigger stared at it. “Can I see Dippy and the baby?”

His eyes were soft and understanding, and as much as I wanted to keep everyone away, I trusted Trig. I nodded and pushed the door open softly.

Goliath held the baby, Cain nowhere in sight. Marco’s boy laid at the foot of Dippy’s bed, curled in a small ball, frowning even in his sleep. Dippy was still unnaturally still, though her cheeks looked a little pinker than they had been before. That had to be a good sign, right?

I dropped the bags near the dresser, walking toward Dippy’s bed. Just for the hell of it, I kissed her softly, putting all the love I could muster into the soft caress. But she still didn’t wake. Trigger had been right; we weren’t Prince Charming. We were the villains.

I walked over to the biggest villain of us all, cradling a tiny baby like it was made of glass. “I tried to put him in the cradle thing, but he just frowned and stared at me until I picked him back up.” His voice was gruff, like he was trying to blame a one-day-old for him being fucking soft. If I didn’t think he’d punch me in the face with his free hand, I would have laughed at him.

Trigger stepped forward, his hands raised as Goliath gave him a feral look, trying to work out if our Brother, who we’d known since he was literally the same size as the baby in G’s arms, was a threat to his new charge.

He must have decided no, because he curled his arm out a little so the baby’s bright violet eyes were staring at Trigger. There was weight to that gaze, and it made me feel completely crazy. Trigger didn’t seem to have that problem, kneeling down before Goliath’s knees, his face level with the baby.

“Hey there, little guy,” he cooed. “You look so much like your mama.” He reached out a hand and stroked curve of the baby’s cheek, looking completely entranced. The same expression we all had.

Weren’t babies meant to look like gross little alien potatoes for the first week? Not this little dude. He had the same ethereal beauty all angels had, just miniaturized.

He was going to give Dippy hell when he was a teenager, that was for sure. Trigger looked between the baby and Dippy.

“Have you tried resting the baby on Dippy? That’s what they always do in the movies. Can’t hurt, right?”

I shrugged and looked at G. He unfolded his body from the rocking chair and it groaned ominously. Yeah, we should probably reinforce that before it collapses into tinder.

He walked over to Dippy, his face completely unreadable. Well, unreadable if you didn’t know him. But we’d been Brothers for decades and I could all but see him rebuilding his emotional walls one brick at a time. He couldn’t be invested in Dippy, because there was a very real possibility she would die.

I didn’t push him today, because if he let himself feel… He would raze the world, and I would help him.

Somehow, Goliath maneuvered the baby so he could lay him down on Dippy’s chest, his tiny head just a little down from her breasts, as if he was cradled on top of her stomach rather than in it. G kept one hand on the little ones back, and both of them seemed to shudder and then relax. The baby’s eyes closed sleepily, and a small whisper of a sigh passed Dippy’s lips.

I watched her face, my heart thumping in my chest, but she didn’t wake. Disappointment and fear coursed through my veins.

I laid down next to her, curling my body around them both. “Go rest, G. I’ll guard them for a while.”

Goliath nodded, handing me his gun. He dragged his feet toward the bathroom and shut the door with a gentle click. I looked over at Trigger, who was staring at the baby’s wings.

“I just keep thinking I’ll blink and they’ll disappear. But they’re still there.”

I nodded. I knew the feeling. But after a while they become just another part of this tiny, breakable, child.

Trigger shook his head. “You should both rest. I’ll sit outside the door and watch out for you all.” He reached out and stroked the tips of his fingers over the baby’s wings, shaking his head and heading toward the door.

“Trig?” He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. “Even the villain is the hero in someone's story. You’re a good man, and I’m proud to call you Brother.”

He gave me a shadow of his normally impish grin. “Thanks, Sol.” He closed the door with a soft click, and I rested my fingers gently on the baby’s body.

Exhaustion swamped me, and heartache took a backseat to the darkness of sleep.

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