Page 73 of Ky
“Glad you’re okay,” Loch said as he stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder. With a firm squeeze, he released me.
The room was full of people and though I was feeling a little loopy and tired, I wanted nothing more than to savor this moment. Ky was standing off to the side and I could tell he felt a little out of place. I wasn’t sure why and I hoped it wasn’t because he wanted to hide away.
Brand and Ky’s phones chimed at the same time, both of them whipping out their phones with lightning speed.
Brand’s face held a smile while Ky pushed his way to me with excited urgency.
“It’s here. I mean, he’s here. That is a boy, right? That’s a blue hat on its head, so I would assume that means it’s a boy.” Ky was so cute as he stumbled over his words and shoved his phone in my face.
There was a picture of a safe and happy, but tired looking, Ingram as she held her baby in her arms. My eyes turned to look into Ky’s and he had the most amazing free smile on his face.
I was sure it was because of his excitement and elation that he kissed me right then, and couldn’t help but to grab his face and hold him to me. I was also sure that he had no idea that he’d just done that in front a room full of people, my parents being two of them.
There were more dings, alerting to new text messages and Ky broke away to check the new news.
“Chrysander Malcolm,” Ky looked at me with a scrunched up face like he’d just smelled something awful. “That’s a weird name.”
“Really?” I deadpanned. “This coming from a guy name Kynaston? I happen to like it.”
He let out a little laugh and shook his head like I wasn’t completely wrong.
“And where the hell did she get Malcolm from. I mean, I see the Chrys thing, she obviously looks up to you.”
His phone dinged again.
“She’s going to call him Chry…oooh, it’s like Kry-sander. That’s even weirder.”
“It’s like your celebrity mash-up name,” Cami said and I hadn’t even seen her slip into the room. “You know, Chris and Ky…Chry.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that and clearly, neither did Ky as he winced and scratched the back of his neck. It was cute and adorable, sure. And it really meant a lot to me that she did that because I had no doubt that Ingram knew what she was doing. She was smart like that and I knew she wouldn’t just find randomness in choosing a name. I almost hated to think about what she picked out if it was a girl.
“So,” my mother said, cutting in because it was clear we were at a loss for words. “Chris, I think you have something to tell me. Last time I talked to you, you clearly said there was no one special in your life and I can see that you were either lying to me or things have changed.”
“Ky is his fiancé, or at least that’s the word around here,” Brand said as he slung his arm around my mom’s shoulders and sent me a stupid fucking smirk.
Ky looked like a deer in headlights for a fraction of a second before he shook himself out of his stupor and stepped forward. His cheeks and the tips of his ears were tinted pink as he extended his hand toward my mother.
“I’m Ky,” he said with more confidence than I saw coming. “I’m—”
“My boyfriend,” I answered for him. Sure, we hadn’t talked about it, but I was going to go ahead and throw a damn label on it and lock him down in some way, even if it was little. “He bought me flowers.” I couldn’t resist adding that, not only because it made Ky’s cheeks turn an even brighter shade of red, but I knew my mother would simply melt at the sweetness of it.
“Oh, my. Awww. Come here,” she said as she forced a hug on Ky, wrapping her arms around him and smashing his face into her shoulder. “Just go ahead and call me Mom.”
I groaned as my head fell back against the pillow. That was what I got though for being cheeky. I was grown and able to take care of myself but my mother could still find ways to embarrass me.
“Nice to meet you, Ky,” my dad said as he extended his hand to Ky. “Alright, we can see that you’re alive and breathing. We’re going to go grab something to eat because I’m honest to God starving. We’ll give you some time to catch up with everyone.”
They gave me hugs and were off. I knew they’d be back soon.
“You good?” Diesel asked in a grunt. Not that I’d expect anything else.
“Yep,” I answered back with the same kind of caveman talk that he was used to.
“I was worried, Chris. Don’t do that to me again,” Reagan said with a smile.
Then we all sat around talking. Well, most of us. Diesel, as expected, was pretty quiet. And Ky wasn’t much better. The two of them did send a few of those manly-silent-communication-chin-lift things. So weird. But I loved it. I loved all of them. The people that filled my room right now. The ones that I knew were hanging around in the halls or in a waiting room somewhere. Even the ones that couldn’t be here because I was sure there was cleanup to be done from this whole situation.
I’d never needed for more family. I may not have been all that close to my sister and brother, but my parents were amazing. Growing up, and even now, I never felt like I lacked for support and love. But now, I had that in spades. I had people to stand beside me and behind me. Even in front of me to shield me from some of the ugly of the world. I’d always felt like I was a little on the outside of the whole brotherhood and family thing of the club. And I was fine with that because I got their friendship and that was enough for me. But I saw that I had it wrong all along. Cut or not, these guys treated me like I was one of their own.
