Page 73 of Biker's Baby

Abe smirked, and I felt sick to my stomach.

“Let’s just make it clear to him first that he better not try it,” Abe said.

The two talked for a little while longer before Abe finally sighed and stretched his arms. “Well, I’m glad you came by here earlier, and I’m glad you were able to stay with Iris. It really means a lot to me that you would do that while I was working.”

“Sure,” Glenn said. “Like I already told you. I’m going to help in any way I can.”

“You put your money where your mouth is,” Abe said as he shook his friend’s hand. “I’m going to get some sleep. You can hang out if you want, but don’t expect me for a few hours. I’m beat.”

“I’m heading home now,” Glenn said. “If you both feel okay with that.”

I nodded.

“Thanks again for staying with me,” I said. “I really was scared earlier. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Glad I could help out,” Glenn said. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Abe saw him to the door, then he gave me another hug and a fierce kiss before heading to bed himself. By this time, Tris was just getting up from his little nap, and I knew I wasn’t going to get any more sleep myself. I was okay with that, however, knowing that I wouldn’t get much sleep anyway.

Not with how frazzled my nerves were after the morning.

I gathered Tris and put him in front of cartoons with some colors, letting him entertain himself while I tried to calm down reading something on my phone. There were support forums I’d read every now and then with the hope they would give me the strength to keep going, and once again they started to relax me. The only problem was that I was having second thoughts about staying here. Joel knew I was here. Abe had a lot on his plate already.

It wasn’t fair that I put him through this. He didn’t deserve this on top of everything else. He never asked for this. I just showed up out of the blue with all my baggage and he was left to pick up the pieces.

I knew he wouldn’t be happy with the idea of me leaving, but I would just tell him that it was only until everything settled down with Joel. When I knew I wasn’t causing him any stress by being here, I would come back. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it was the right thing to do.

But I wasn’t able to look over any available apartments with Tris acting so restless. I kept trying to distract him with his colors and with what was on tv, and I was sure it would work, but it didn’t seem to matter. No matter what I did to keep him distracted, he made it clear he wasn’t interested.

Tris didn’t want to stay in the living room.

Finally, I relented and followed him. He walked to the staircase and took his time, using the bottom part of the railing to steady himself as he slowly picked his way up the stairs. We’d been practicing to make sure he didn’t fall if he tried to do them himself, and I was proud of the effort he was making.

I followed him up the stairs and thought he was on his way to his room, but had to cover my mouth to stop crying out at how cute he was when he toddled his way into his father’s bedroom. He went straight to the bed and yanked on the sheets until Abe lazily reached down and picked him up, putting him in bed beside him.

Tris laid down, using his father’s arm as a headrest as he looked happily at the picture he had drawn. It was so adorable I thought my heart would burst with the pride and joy it brought me. I could have broken down in tears just watching the two of them, but I was overcome with the need to be with them.

Those two were my family.

I didn’t know what I was thinking. Maybe I told myself it was for the good of the family that I didn’t stay with Abe, but I knew that wasn’t true. There was no way I could be anywhere else without him. He and I were meant to be together, and that included the bad times as well as the good. If he knew I was thinking about leaving for this reason, I knew he would be upset with me.

He was protecting me. All I had to do was trust it.

And I was doing my best.

I stepped to the other side of the bed and gently slid in with Abe and Tristan. Tristan was in the middle, and Abe was falling back to sleep on the other side, but I was okay with that. I just wanted to be in the same room with both of them.

I put my hand on my little boy’s head, proud of him for how well he was doing with all this change he had been going through. He had done so well, and I was happy for it.

I wasn’t going anywhere.

Sure, I was scared, but I also trusted Abe.

He would take care of me. He would take care of Tristan, too.

If anyone should be scared, that was Joel. He was the one who had a target on his back, and I hoped for his sake he would get the message before things fell apart around him.

Abe was a fierce protector, and I trusted him fully.

I was safe with him.

And always would be.

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