His Property (Iron Bandits MC)

“God, people are going to hate us.”

“Why?” He looked at me quizzically.

“Because we already use the same freaking phrases. ‘All-in’ was my motivational motto today, getting ready to come see you.”

“Yeah? All-in? It’s ’cause you picked it up from me, baby. Must have.”

“Your ego is ginormous.”

“I got something else that’s ginormous for you, baby, and it likes to play the all-in game, too.”

“Oh, that’s horrible, Jack. Shut up and kiss me.”

And he did.

Epilogue

Jack

“Daaaaddy!”

“Dude, I’m right here. Volume check, yeah?”

“Um, yeah. Did you see? Did you see me? Wanna see me again?”

“Yeah, buddy, I saw you. Let’s see if you can do it even better this time. Go big, or go home!”

“Jack!”

I turned to my wife, who had narrowed her eyes at me and was shaking her head.

“Hey, he’s into it. Let’s see what he’s got.” I tipped my beer up and winked at her.

“Okay, are you watching? Mommy? Daddy! Here I go!” And the kid took a short running start off the shorter diving board and cannonballed into the water, causing a huge splash that circled around past the edges of the pool. Good thing I had dug it deep.

When Pete emerged, he was wearing a huge smile that ate up at least half his face.

“That was excellent. Nine point six.”

“Momma?”

“Almost perfect. Nine point seven.”

“What wasn’t perfect?”

“I think your eyelashes are too long. They caught the water at a bad angle,” said Ellie with a wink.

He laughed and leaped on top of her, causing her to tip somewhat precariously in her deck chair.

I got up immediately and lifted him off her by his still-small ribcage, hefting him over my head. He was four already, but I could still take him. When he let me. Usually, he was running circles around us. Total ball of energy, this one.

We were lucky. Peter had had the last of his surgeries over a year earlier, and was now considered by all to be a completely healthy kid, with nothing more to worry about on the horizon. So his high energy levels were nothing but joy to us, even if we did have to rein him in sometimes.

“Whoa, dude, easy. No jumping on Mommy, remember? We gotta be a little careful now.”

“Oops, sorry, Momma. Sorry, baby. I won’t do it again.”

Ellie grinned up at us and patted her baby bump. “It’s okay, honey. No harm, no foul.”

I put on my mean voice. “El, don’t let him off the hook so easy. This kid needs to learn some respect.” I dropped him into an airplane hold, under the arms at my side. He immediately assumed the proper Superman flight pose, and I asked him, “What are you gonna do, next time you feel like jumping on your mother?”

“I’m gonna jump on you instead!”

“That’s acceptable.” Then I gave him the one-two-three swings before releasing him into a thrown-dive. Kid took to it like a fish.

Ellie got up, stretched her arms over her head, and said, “I’m going in, dig up something for dinner. You want anything special?”

I walked over to her, swept her up in my arms, and planted a long one on her luscious lips. She gave me some tongue play, too. “I got my special. Whatever you want.”

She smiled at me, looking at my mouth, and whispered, “Later. I’ll have what I want later.”

“Yeah, you will.”

I was the luckiest bastard alive. And I knew it.

THE END