Page 116 of Jester

When I spend time with the younger members, life seems chaotic. People are having babies. Houses are being built. There’s a lot of new stuff to remember.

Talon feels most comfortable around her age group. None of them view her as a child. However, the founders are starting to catch on to how she’s all grown up. They’ve even begun inviting us to dinner at their houses like they do with other couples.

As the Sanctuary welcomes autumn, Papa Bear prepares for his long-delayed vacation with Lady Bug and Katana. I know he worries about stepping away from this place and his people.

“I’ll shadow Overlord while you’re gone,” I tell Papa Bear one day while we’re at his place and I get him alone.

“How come?”

“I’m still getting the hang of how things work now, and I figure my President might be on edge when you’re not around. Two birds, one stone.”

Papa Bear smiles at my reasoning. “Overlord could use your support. All the new babies at the Sanctuary seem to have made him paranoid.”

I share my old friend’s smile. Despite his words, I think Papa Bear’s the one worried about the future. Overlord seems to have a steady hand on the Sanctuary as well as the Born Villains Motorcycle Club. He’s even got plans for expansion down the road.

I can’t even wrap my head around how the club will run both Metamora and Cahuenga. But I’ve never been the man with the plan. I don’t get how most shit works. I just do my job and go home.

And while Papa Bear enjoys his well-deserved vacation, my job will be watching Overlord’s back.

When Overlord enters Papa Bear’s house with his family, I decide I ought to finally stop blaming him for what happened to Talon. I should stick the responsibility on the assholes who died for their sins.

Seeing Overlord clearly for the first time in years, I like how he’s got his mom’s soft, blue eyes. Betty Boop lives on in her son.

I see a little of her in Overlord’s two girls, too. Zoey and Evie have Betty Boop’s delicate features.

As usual, the little brunette stomps over to me to start shit. “Give me a reason, chump,” Zoey snarls and waves her fist.

Talon gets annoyed immediately. “Why are you always giving him shit?”

“I think she wants to be my friend,” I tell Talon and fist-bump the kid. “After all, she’s just a little version of you, and you were always following me around. It’s a friendship thing.”

Zoey eyes me and then frowns at Talon who bends down and coos, “Do you worship me, fool?”

“Choke on your clown tears, bitch.”

“I love you, too.”

Zoey breaks into a smile and pats her aunt’s stomach. “You ate a watermelon seed.”

Evie immediately joins in and pats Talon’s still-flat belly. “We won’t lock you in the closet anymore.”

Talon gasps and hugs them. “Your father finally scheduled that exorcism I begged him to get. Now, you’re demon-free.”

Though everyone enjoys a good laugh at the moment, I do catch Zoey plotting. She does her little devious eye look. I’m relieved her exorcism wasn’t fully successful. I actually like it when the little brat gives me grief.

After all, one day, I’ll be an old man, and the younger generation will need to keep the Sanctuary safe. Zoey’s bad temper might act as my shield when I’m too frail to protect myself.

Later, when Talon and I return to the townhome, I tell her, “I’m not afraid of the future. Well, okay, designing our house freaks me out, and I’m nervous about your body handling pregnancy. But the future feels like it’ll be a good thing.”

“I felt a dark cloud hanging over the Sanctuary for a long time,” she says, and I know she’s remembering the day Betty Boop died. “I think we’ve gotten past it now.”

I wrap her in my arms on the couch and stroke her belly. “I can’t wait until our watermelon seed is born.”

Laughing, Talon admits, “I know we’re moving too fast, but I don’t want to slow down. I like having everything I want right this second, even if it’s sometimes overwhelming.”

I’m on the same page with Talon. We’ve wasted too many years trying to get to this point. No way do I want to slow down now.

I don’t know if a man like me deserves a happy ending. Reget digs at me despite my best efforts to let shit go. If I could rewrite my history, I’d make better choices. Yet, my fuckups led to this life with Talon, and I’m never going to regret that.

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