Page 22 of Coal
The brothers let out hoots and hollers, including foot stomping, making me laugh as a warm feeling of belonging floods over me. When the cheering dies down, Coal continues, “We not only have a new queen, but we also have a new princess; meet our daughter, Shea Tin. Opal, you’ll have to share that spot now,” Coal teases his sister. Another cheer lifts the rafters at his words as his sister laughs at him.
Coal kisses my temple, then whispers to me, “I won’t be long, baby. I need to fill Dad and Sterling in on what happened and to find out where we can build you a workshop. I’ll pull youin for that meeting, so we know exactly what you’ll need.”
Again, moisture fills my eyes.‘Fecking hell, this man,’I think to myself.
Tilting my head back on his shoulder so I can see his face, I reply, “I’ll be fine here with your mam,a ghrá,and all I ask is that you make sure my workshop is far away from the clubhouse and hidden in case you are ever raided.”
“Understood,” he assures me, then asks suspiciously, “Are you cursing at me?”
“What?” I splutter with laughter. “No, why would you think that?”
“I’m wondering what you called me.”
Smirking at him, I answer, “If I ever curse at you, you’ll know,a ghrá.”
He narrows his eyes at me and then presses a quick kiss to my lips as his mam comes towards us with Shea. “Somebody needs a change,” Maggie tells me.
My eyes widen; I’d forgotten. Reaching for Shea, “Sorry, cailín deas,your mam isn’t with it today, is she?”
Turning towards Maggie, I ask, “Is there somewhere I can change her?”
“Use my office,” Coal tells his mam. “We’ve got Church, but it won’t be a long one. Then I’ll take Thea and Shea home.”
The men walk towards the carved wooden double door, and Copper puts a code into the digital lock before pushing them open. Coal tickles Shea under the chin, making her giggle, then kisses my cheek. “I’ll see you soon. My mom and Opal will look after you,” he assures me before turning and walking away.
“Come this way,” Maggie says, taking my elbow and pulling me along with her to another door that is also locked with a digital lock. I’m happy to see they take their security seriously.
She unlocks it and ushers me in, clearing a space on the desk.
“Here, give me that,” Maggie says, reaching for the nappy bag on my shoulder. I’d forgotten I’d grabbed it. It was second nature to scoop it up whenever I took Shea out of a car seat.
She rifles through, finding everything I’ll need and setting up a temporary changing table. Lowering Shea onto the mat, I smile at her when she babbles, her eyes darting around the room. Opal comes into the room and stands near the door, watching us, wanting to put her at ease. Ilook over at her. “You can stand at her head and talk to her. If you want, it will make it easier to change her. Fair warning, though, she grabs hair. She about pulled my sisters bald,” I warn her, my eyes flicking to the masses of black hair around her shoulders.
Opal laughs and ties her hair up in a bun. “My friend’s little sister does that too.” Maggie watches with soft eyes as her daughter keeps mine amused while I make quick work of changing Shea. Once I’m done, I pick her up and hand her to Opal, who immediately gathers her close. Shea is used to being passed around my siblings and doesn’t make a fuss. Opal smiles and takes hold of Shea’s hand, blowing a raspberry against her palm, making her laugh loud baby chuckles that you can’t help but smile at.
“I’ll babysit for you whenever you want,” Opal offers, looking over at me. “I can give you references.” She grimaces slightly, then continues, “They are all in the States, though.”
“I don’t need references,deirfiúr bheag.Not from family,” I assure her.
Opal’s eyes widen, then they flick towards her mam. “What did she call me?”
Maggie laughs, wrapping an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and kissing her cheek. My heart is happy to see how much they love one another and hurt because this wasn’t something that any of my siblings had. Aiden and I’d tried, but it wasn’t the same as having a mam. I’m brought back to the moment when Maggie says, “I don’t speak Gaelic, darlin’, but I’m sure that Thea will tell you what it means.”
Opal turns to look at me in question. I finish packing everything before I reply. “It means little sister. I miss mine; we’ve never been apart a day since they were born. I hope you don’t mind me calling you that?”
“Oh, no, I don’t mind. It sounded beautiful,” Opal murmurs, then asks, “What did you call Coal?”
I hesitate to reply and then decide that while it may be too soon, it wouldn’t matter, as I had no intention of going anywhere. “Love,” I reply, “I called him love.”
“Even better,” Maggie responds with a twinkling smile. “Come on, let’s go get comfortable. I’ve got a few toys in a box in the common room for our Shea to play with while we get to know each other.”
“I’d love that,” I tell her and follow her and Opal out the door. Turning slightly as I close the door, I make sure that Coal’s office is left tidy. Inhaling one last time, I fill my lungs with the scent that is wholly him. Closing the door, I walk into the common room to get to know my new family and send a brief prayer out that my sisters and Aiden are okay. I’ll have to ask Coal if there’s a way we can check in with him. I was worried about them, and I hated that he was alone with only a few trusted men to help him deal with the fallout from our jackass of a father.
CHAPTER 7
COAL
Leaving my girls in the capable hands of my mother, I follow my brothers into Church and take a seat. Somehow it feels different today. The last time I’d sat here, I’d been a free man. Now I was a family man. It was a complete mind fuck. Not that I regretted a single decision I’d made in the last few days. When we were all seated, I look at Sterling and nod. He switches the outside cameras to the big screen and auto-locks all the external doors.
