Page 15 of The MC's Surprise
My eyebrows shot up as I followed him toward the kitchen. “Wait, that’s a real thing? I mean, I’ve read biker romance before, but I thought that was just creative license.”
Vegas snorted, giving me a look that said he had plenty of thoughts about my literary adventures. I refused to admit I started reading them after I met him. He sparked something in me.
“It’s real,” Prez said with a smile and a nod. “We’ve got a hierarchy, all clubs do, and as my partner, Maggie gets her own title.”
“All the old ladies have their own road names, too,” Vegas added. “Skylar is Mama Bear and Mel is Little Sister.”
Prez rolled his eyes. “Mel doesn’t need a club name.”
Something about the way he reacted made me curious. His expression was fond exasperation which made me think he butted heads with this Mel person a lot, but still accepted her as part of the crew.
“She’s Wraith’s old lady,” Vegas argued. “And your sister. She’s crew.”
“Damn right, I am,” a feminine voice agreed as we stepped into the kitchen. “But I still vote I need a better name.”
The kitchen was crowded with kids demanding snacks and parents trying to control the chaos. Ages of the kids ranged from tiny infants to a preteen glued to their phone. If I was worried about how the crew would react to another baby, I didn't need to. They obviously had experience with all ages. And not a sharp word from any of them, even when a little girl with big green eyes started wailing.
Vegas moved with the ease of practice as he scooped her up and started talking to her, soothing her before the tantrum could get its legs. She settled with his gentle attention and when he gave her a bowl of fruit he’d snatched from the counter, she beamed at him, like the tantrum never happened.
It was a little overwhelming, watching him be so soft with the little girl. It made my chest ache for something I knew I couldn’t have.
“Stupid hormones,” I grumbled, turning away to look anywhere else. I was not crying in front of all these people.
“They make your ovaries melt, don’t they?” another woman asked from nearby. She had a nose ring and a mom bun on her head, holding a baby in her arms.
I looked down at my belly, then back at her with a shrug. “A little late for that, I guess.”
She snickered, offering me her free hand after shifting the baby to one arm. “I’m Skylar. Butch’s old lady.”
“Sierra. Uh…” I wasn’t sure how Vegas wanted to tell his people. He seemed confident in introducing me, but I wasn’t sure what he was going to say.
“Hey, listen up,” he called out from closer to the table. The kitchen got quieter as they all turned to look at him and the little girl still sitting on his arm. “See that beautiful woman over there?” He pointed at me and my stomach dropped to my feet. Oh crap, he really was jumping right in, wasn’t he? “I just found out she’s carrying my kid. I’m taking bets on the next Dirty Devil in the making. Gender and birth date. Lemme know where you want your money.”
My mouth fell open. Of all the things he could’ve started with, I wasn’t expecting that.
“Seriously? That’s how you’re going to tell people?” Mel demanded with a frown. “What’s wrong with you?”
He shrugged, that familiar smirk flashing across his face. “I’m the best gambler in the house, Little Sister. What’d you expect?”
Skylar shook her head as they bickered, heaving an exasperated sigh. “Sorry. I might have guessed that’s what he’d choose to focus on. But congratulations. When are you due?”
“Um, they’re thinking last week of February?”
It was the first time someone asked me about my pregnancy so casually, and it still felt a little weird. Skylar didn’t seem to notice and pursed her lips thoughtfully. “With my first, I was two weeks early. He was and still is in a rush to experience life. My second was right on schedule. It surprised me how much that seemed to reflect on their personalities.”
“Which ones are yours?” I asked, scanning the group of kids. There were so many, I was surprised we could hear each other over the chaos.
She pointed to the little girl in Vegas’s arms, then another little girl with braids and big glasses, and an older boy who darted out of the room with his mouth still full. He got maybe two feet out of the kitchen before he was snatched up and turned around, forced to finish his snack before going to play.
“I’ve got four now, thanks to this one. And my old man wants more.” She smiled, shaking her head. “If I’m not careful, we’ll need a bus to transport them all.”
Yikes. I was struggling to come to terms with having one. Four kids, maybe more? “You’re a superhero,” I breathed.
She laughed. “That, or a little crazy. You have to be to be part of this crew. Come sit down. You can meet the rest of the superheroes in this crew.”
9
Vegas
