Shepard

9 - Unexpected

Lynette

We’ve been together six months already; Vincent and I have been married for the past four months. Things have been amazing between us, and the kids couldn’t be happier. It seems they’d wanted us to get together for a while. They had a blast at our wedding. I hadn’t seen Tate smile that much in months. Willow and I moved in with the boys before the wedding. Shepard said it made more sense that we lived together; we were getting married, after all.

Yes, Apollo was right; the man I love asked me to marry him after spending a while trying to organize the perfect proposal. It may not have worked out how he planned, but it was perfect for me. I’d already said yes, but Shepard made a good point; we love each other; we’re soulmates, and neither of us doubts that fact.

Why shouldn’t we get married?

I stroked his face while smiling at him and told him, ‘I love you, Vince. Of course, I’ll marry you.’ He kissed me hard and made love to me all over again.

My handsome man surprised me with the wedding of my dreams. Sure, we weren’t married in a church, but the clubhouse and the people in it are home to me. I love them all, and having them there for my wedding to the man I love meant everything to me.

I will never forget how perfect it was. How beautiful my little girl looked in her dress, nor how handsome Tate looked in his suit, standing right by his father’s side, watching me walk down the makeshift aisle Apollo had set up for us smack in the middle of the clubhouse.

The whole day was perfect, and the evening was even better. Shepard made love to me in ways no one else ever could or will again. Not that any other man will ever be touching me the way my man does, hell no, I am his for all eternity. I am his wife; he is my husband, and I never thought that would happen. But it did, and I couldn’t be happier.

I wear my leather jacket with the words Property Of Shepard written across the back in white stitching with more pride than I could tell you. I’m also branded with his mark, a tattoo that shows everyone I belong to him. Property Of Shepard was written between my shoulder blades with the club’s banner below the words, two snakes wrapped around two pistols.

I loved the pain so much that I had another tattoo a month ago. My daughter is my life, and Tate, or Jett as his grandfather renamed him of late, has become my son. So, I had a willow tree tattooed on my right rib cage with a small Jet plane flying above it.

I also had the lights of a supernova right above the plane. It looks as though the jet is flying toward the lights.

When Shepard asked me, ‘Why the supernova?’

I told him, ‘Because Nova will be home one day, and I want her to know we never forgot about her.’

Shepard broke down in my arms and cried. Shepard told me he loved me so much that he knew he’d never survive if he lost me.

He’ll never lose me; I hope I never lose him. It’s not like that isn’t a real fear for me being the wife of a biker VP. They could quickly lose their lives at any point in time. It scares the shi.t out of me on a daily basis.

However, thinking about my wedding day and how it all happened keeps me from having a breakdown with worry. I always get such a warm feeling inside of me when I think about the lengths Shepard went to to make it all perfect for me.

My parents weren’t there that day. I would rather have died than have either of them there. My father is dead to me after what he did, and my mother, a stranger after she took his side.

Shepard asked me repeatedly why I wouldn’t invite my family. I don’t have any, that’s why. It’s been just Willow and me for so long that I don’t feel we need anyone but the family we chose. The Snakes Henchmen are our family, Vincent and Tate are our family, and Willow and I need nothing and no one more.

Of course, Shepard told me that if I wanted, we could marry in church and have a big white wedding. But I didn’t care where we got married, how we got married, as long as we got married. It was the best day of my life, and I’m so excited about spending my life with him. Honestly, I am.

But right now, I’m having a heart attack!

Two pink lines.

Two pink lines!

“Lyn, what you doin’ in there, gurl?” Taylor calls from outside the bathroom door. I hadn’t realized how long I’d been in here. “Babe, is everything okay in there?”

“Yeah!” I yell back while stuffing the pregnancy test into the unit beneath the sink. Out of sight is out of mind. “I’ll be out in just a minute!”

When I asked the girls around, I didn’t expect to have a breakdown. I just felt out of sorts and needed some girl time. I’ve spoiled that because I felt sick and had to rush to the bathroom. While in here, I decided to get it out of the way and do the damn test I’ve had hidden from Shepard for the past few days.

I hadn’t done it before now because I was too damn scared in case it was positive.

How the hell did I let this happen?

I’m twenty-eight years old; I didn’t expect to be pregnant at this age. I’m not old by any means, but I was nothing more than a child when I had Willow; we grew up together. But here I am twelve years later, pregnant!

“You look like hell.”

“Thanks,” I mumble while dropping into the seat opposite the girls at my kitchen table.

Shepard was right when he suggested we move into his house; it’s much bigger in every way. There is a big kitchen/dining room, a vast living room, a bigger den, four bathrooms, and four bedrooms. It looks like the extra bedroom is going to come in handy. Shepard will have to move his gym equipment to the basement, though, and that big backyard will be an excellent place for the baby to play when it gets big enough.

Listen to me; I already decided to keep the baby without even talking to Shepard first.

“What’s going on?”

I shrug at Hillary before dropping my head on the table.

I don’t want to deal with this right now, I feel like crap, and I assume I look it too. Hillary is so glamorous, tall, and graceful. You can’t even tell the woman has had two kids, and there’s no way in hell you’d believe she’s the mother of a twenty-year-old. You wouldn’t think she’s in her early forties either.

She married Titus when Hammer was still in her belly. Hammer isn’t Titus’ kid by blood, but if anyone says that to him, he’ll blow their heads off, and I mean literally. Hammer doesn’t know Titus isn’t his father, and Titus doesn’t want him ever to know. He loves Hammer as his own, and that’s that. Most would disagree with keeping such a thing from one’s child. However, Hammer’s birth father was an incredibly dangerous man who would kill you as soon as look at you. He was vile to Hillary, and if he knew about Hammer, he would kill my best friend for keeping his son from him. If he had known about the baby when Hillary was pregnant, he would have locked her up until she gave birth. Once she had, he would have killed her and taken the child. Yes, he is that bad.

Hillary and Titus also have Haiden, who’s around Tate’s age, a couple of months older. They’re best friends, and he often stays over with us.

Then there’s Taylor, my beautiful mixed-race best friend. She and BlackJack had such a tough time when they first fell in love. BlackJack’s racist, very white family banned him from going near Taylor. He was seventeen, and she was fifteen. It almost broke him in two. They may have been kids, but they were so in love.

My Vincent, because they’ve been friends since BlackJack was a little boy, made BlackJack see that if he loved Taylor, he’d fight for her. By the time he was old enough to leave his family, he was a prospect with the Snakes. BlackJack told his father he wouldn’t be coming home if he couldn’t accept Taylor. Both BlackJack’s parents told him that if he went to Taylor, he need not return. He’s never seen them since.

Taylor’s parents weren’t too happy with her falling for a biker, but they allowed her to be with the man she loves, and they have two beautiful little boys together, Dante and Dominic.

I love both of these women like sisters. I’d be lost without them.

“Don’t give us that; something’s wrong. This isn’t like you.” Hillary says.

“I’m pregnant. How’s that for something?” That shot out my mouth before I could stop it.

I lift my head to face them. I thought they’d go into it, but they don’t; they both hug and congratulate me.

“How far along?”

“I don’t know, Taylor; I haven’t had time to think about it. I’m scared right now.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of,” Hillary smiles. “You are an amazing mother, Lyn.”

That’s nice of her to say. I don’t claim to be anything special. I love my children easily because loving them isn’t hard to do.

“Mommy! Mommy, you have to come quick!”

“Willow, calm down.”

My daughter is practically jumping up and down anxiously on the spot, trying to get me to follow her. When she yells how some older boys are fighting with Tate and Haiden, I’m out the door faster than I can blink.

Everyone in this town knows this house is the property of Shepard, Vice President of Snakes Henchmen MC. Only an idio.t would cause trouble here.