“I want us to wait and get married after the court date is set for the kids. I thought since you wanted to skip having a wedding and wanted to just go to the courthouse, it shouldn’t be a problem to get it done if not the same day, then close. You still sure you don’t want a wedding, Raven?”
“I’ve had a wedding, Reed. Are you sure you don’t want to have one?”
“I don’t need a wedding, Rav. I only want the paper saying what I already know—you are mine. Just as the judge’s signature on the kids’ paper will show they are legally mine—my heart already knows that. It’s for everyone else to know.”
Raven raised up and planted a kiss on my chest. “You really are a good man.”
I rolled until I laid on top of her. “Yeah, you won’t think so in a minute. I’ve got my second wind.”
Ilaid in bed thinkingas I waited for sleep to take me as it had Raven. I knew at an early age that family didn’t always mean just parents and kids, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Family is anyone you love. Family wasn’t just about the same blood running through your veins, it was about whether a person would stand behind or with you no matter what. It meant never having to face anything alone.
Family could be a mix-matched group of people who shared the same values. I always had my dad, my sister, and then my MC brothers. But it had taken Raven and the kids coming into my life to complete my family. I was glad I grabbed the second chance life offered me.
When my eyes closed and sleep was pulling me under, my thought wasno matter what the future held for me—with Raven and the kids by my side—I’ll handle it.
Epilogue
Crank
“Last year, did youever picture any of us to be at this point?”
I chuckled as Reagan attempted to throw the rope for her dog, Halo, who jumped, missed and rolled, then I turned to Tram. “What? At a cookout?”
“Nah, three of us with ol’ ladies. Come on, we’ve gone from club parties with drinking, women, and music to backyard barbequing. Don’t it freak you out a bit?”
“We’re drinking.” I held up my beer. “There are women.” I waved my arm at the group of women across the yard talking and laughing. “And music.” I circled my finger in the air to signal the music softly playing from Keg’s outdoor speakers around the pool.
Tram flipped me off, and I laughed. “You know what I mean. It’s the atmosphere, drinking and gettin’ rowdy, music blasting and women who are wearing less clothes and up for anything.”
“Hey, I’m sure Keg would turn up the music. And while you’re at it, ask the women if they’d take off a few items of clothing. I’m sure our brothers won’t mind.”
“You’re hilarious, Crank. Just saying times are changing in the club.”
“I see it as a good thing, Tram.”
“Damn, our brother hasn’t stopped smiling.” Pinch sat down in the chair between Tram and me. I grinned at Tram, and he shook his head.