She shoved the shifter into Park, opened the door, and climbed out.
What was before her was why she was here. Back in Pennsylvania, in Manning Grove, and involved with a club she never thought in her right mind she would be.
However, here she was. And here they were. The man, the baby and now, the mobile home.
She knew he was about to ask her to move in. Once again, she had been warned ahead of time when Trip and Judge showed up at Lottie’s last night to have a serious sit-down with her.
They asked her to consider Cage’s request.
They stressed the part where the club was a family and needed to act like one. Unlike the Originals who were all selfish, motherfucking assholes.
Even Dutch. Maybe even Ozzy, but Jemma didn’t know him at all. So, she couldn’t say for sure.
However, as much as they stressed the whole family bullshit, none of it applied to her. She wasn’t part of the club. She wasn’t club property. Being born to an Original, or being the sister and cousin to current members, didn’t make it so. This wasn’t her life.
It never would be.
It stopped being her life when she was five and she wanted to keep it that way.
She approached Cage and kept her eyes on the bundle in his arms. When she stood toe to toe with him, she leaned in and sniffed Dyna’s dark downy hair, her own hair brushing against Cage’s chest and arm.
There was nothing like the smell of a baby. Unless they shit themselves.
Dyna smelled clean, but Jemma also smelled the combo of tobacco and weed on Cage.
Men with babies. Fuck. It shouldn’t be a turn-on but sometimes it was unavoidable. It had to be some deep-seated hormonal thing.
“How’s my little monkey?” she asked softly and noticed when Dyna turned her head toward her voice and gurgled. Both she and Cage were her source of food, so it made sense the baby would bond with her. Jemma straightened and pulled free a few strands of her hair that had caught in his short beard. “She eat?”
“Yeah.”
“She keep it down?”
“Yep.”
“Did you remember to wipe her front to back?”
He nodded, but his mouth got tight.
Jemma pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. He was trying his best, she had to give him that much. He wanted to learn and do it right. He didn’t always, but he was willing to listen and fix his mistakes.
That was half the battle right there.
She grabbed Dyna’s little foot in her cute little onesie and shook it gently. She wasn’t sure from whom or where he got all the biker-themed onesies, but today’s read: From the Bottle to the Throttle with a picture of a motorcycle.
“It’ll be a while before she can be your backpack,” Jemma murmured.
“Soon as she can, she’ll ride in front of me.”
“Let’s not rush it, biker boy.” She patted his tattooed arm and he winced. She made a mental note to check his ribs again. “You know, you don’t have to hold her constantly.” Especially when you’re suffering, she added silently.
“She likes it.”
She couldn’t read his expression because he wore dark sunglasses. He also had a folded up bandana tied around his forehead, probably to keep his longish, messy hair out of his face. It wasn’t super long but it wasn’t cropped short, either. Just long enough to be annoying.
“You’ll spoil her.”
The clenching of his jaws was hard to miss. “Then I fuckin’ spoil her. Don’t got much to give her, but can give her that.”
Damn, that hurt her heart. “Chris...”
His nostrils flared and every muscle went stiff, so she gave him a moment. She wasn’t sure if his reaction was from what he said or from her use of his real name.
“Cage,” she finally whispered.
When he stared over her shoulder into the tree line behind the shed and mobile home, she realized it wasn’t from her calling him Chris. It was time to change the subject. Right now he seemed to be as vulnerable as the baby in his arms.
“You asked me here for a reason.”
“Yeah.”
She reached out. “Let me take her. I’m sure your ribs are killing you.”
His fingers tightened slightly on Dyna, but a few seconds later they loosened and he handed her over. But it was clear he had a hard time letting her go.
“Did you bring her bouncer?”
“Inside.”
“Did you move in yet?”
“Sort of.”
She nodded, not expecting more than that, but he continued.
“Got some stuff still in my room in the bunkhouse. Some clothes and shit. Some stuff still at Dutch’s. Not much, but then I don’t got much ‘cause I don’t need much.”
However, his daughter would. Jemma realized why he’d gotten upset, he was worried he wouldn’t be able to give Dyna everything she needed.
“Want to show me the inside? I assume this is where you want me to watch Dyna during the day?”