Hard Ride (Men of Valor MC)

“Thank you, sweet pea. Are you ready to go out and fish with Uncle Gage?” I joke. Lucy came prepared with her bathing suit on and sand toys, which I’m sure I’ll be the one playing with her while Gage helps Darcy and JoJo bait their lines.

“Yes!” I follow her as she runs through the house and down the porch steps, holding my breath the entire time, praying she doesn’t trip and fall. When she doesn’t, I let out a breath, and we make the short trek to the lake. There’s nothing but acres and acres of land surrounding us, not a house in sight. It feels like home to me in the best way possible.

“There you two are. I thought you were going to stay cooped up in the house playing with all that girly shit Aunt Nova bought.” I roll my eyes at Gage’s comment. He has no idea what’s in store for him tonight.

“We’re still doing that, Uncle Gage, but later. Aunt Nova got the cutest nail polish. Can I paint your nails?” She looks at Gage, and his facial expression is priceless. He looks at me for guidance. I sit down with Lucy, playing with her, not caring that my shorts will be soaked with the way the wind is bringing in the water to the shoreline.

“Uh...um.” He’s stumbling over his words, so I decide to save him.

“How about you do mine? I don’t think that dark purple will go with Uncle Gage’s skin tone.” I wink at him. He relaxes when she nods in agreement.

I’m busy playing with Lucy. The girls are using the cane poles to try and catch a catfish.

“Auntie.” Lucy pulls on my braid.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Snuggles?” she asks. I move the toys out of the way, making room for her to come and sit in my lap.

“Come here, Lucy girl. Are you getting tired?” She yawns but shakes her head no, proceeding to put her thumb in her mouth.

“Okay, we’ll just take a rest, then.” I hold her closer, letting her settle in.

“I love the girls, but baby, we need some testosterone around here. I’m overruled by all of the estrogen.” Gage sits behind me, his legs surrounding me. I lean my back against his chest and return with, “I’m sure we can do something about that, that is if you can tell my body to create a boy.” My head tips back, and his lips meet mine.

“Yeah, I think there’s something we can do about that.” I don’t hide my smile, and I can tell he knows what I’m thinking, but I’ll let him think he can control if we’ll have a boy or a girl. I secretly don’t think he cares one way or another, and I don’t either as long as we’re lucky enough to have a healthy baby.

This is how we spend the rest of our day—the two older girls fishing, sometimes playing in the water, Lucy sound asleep in my arms, Gage behind me, keeping a watchful eye over us all, and it’s pure bliss. I’d go through it all ten times over to be here with him.

Epilogue

Gage

Seven Months Later

There’s something about knowing the woman you love, the mother to your unborn child, and knowing how proud she is to have your last name attached to hers.

“You sure you’re okay?” Nova asks.

“Without a fucking doubt. It seems we’re destined to be surrounded by little women in our lives. Just think how happy the girls are going to be.” We just left her ultrasound appointment. It didn’t take Nova long to get pregnant when she caught me throwing away her birth control pills awhile back. Nova kept saying it was time to do it. She was ready but kept forgetting. It was ingrained into her since she was a teenager to take them every morning, apparently having horrible periods or whatever. I just made it happen. She laughed the entire time, even snapping a picture of me while doing so, wanting to document it. It turns out she sent it to Stella, which in turn Ghost got, and he passed that shit around the club. I took the laughter as well as the cheering in stride. Sometimes, a man has to do what he has to do.

“Yeah, but you wanted a boy so desperately. I don’t want you to be disappointed.” We found out that we’re adding a girl to the Bennett family. Sure, I wanted a boy. But a girl is just as amazing, especially if she looks just like her momma.

“I promise. There’s always next time.” I wink at her while helping her into the truck. That’s the one shitty part, and Nova grumbles about it incessantly—there’s no way she’s riding on the back of the bike pregnant. Hell, if I had it my way, she’d be surrounded by fucking bubble wrap.