Mess Me Up (Bear Bottom Guardians MC 1)

I paused, smiling at that memory.

“Yeah, I did kind of do that,” I admitted.

She smacked my arm playfully.

“She’s coming back tomorrow for dinner. I invited Tyler and Reagan back, as well as Linc and Wade,” she continued.

My grandmother had returned into my life, and so far, I was really enjoying having her back.

After she’d learned that Izzy was back, things returned to our new normal.

We weren’t super easy around each other yet, but we were getting there.

My parents were still a no-go, but that was to be expected.

Tyler and I had also mended fences…again.

Now we were all just one big, happy family.

“Wade came by,” she confided as I cuddled into her deeper.

The belly that rested against my abdominals rolled, and I found myself smiling.

This wasn’t something that I got to experience with Tara, and I found myself longing to have had that part of Matias.

Each day was a struggle.

Each day, I remembered yet another thing that I missed about my baby boy, and I had no doubt that it would continue on like that forever.

Matias had marked me, for better and for worse, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Izzy made it better, though.

Even when she wasn’t trying to.

Like now, the simple, peaceful feeling of her resting here against me, our baby nestled safely in her body between us, meant the world to me.

She just made me better.

“Did he tell you the news?” I asked.

“What news?” she murmured sleepily.

“That he got his job back,” I murmured. “Desk duty, but he’s back. Until they’re sure about his leg, they’re not going to give him anything more. He’s pissed.”

“Rightfully so,” she agreed. “And his wife—I can’t believe they’re still married—is doing okay, too. She finally got control of her hand again, I saw her flipping Wade off with that hand today.”

We both had a chuckle at that.

“Do you think that they’re going to get back together?” she whispered hopefully.

I doubted it.

“Those two fight like cats and dogs.” I yawned. “I highly doubt they’ll ever get back to what they used to be.”

And I hated that for Wade, because despite the tough guy act he put on, he really was in love with his wife.

“I also saw Linc today,” she continued. “He said that they’re done for the season. He seemed really bummed about it.”

I snorted. “Linc made twenty-five million dollars on a two-year contract just a few days ago. Trust me when I say he’s not sad. Though, it sucks that they didn’t go all the way this time. I was really hoping they would earn another Super Bowl ring.”

“Means more pick-up games since they don’t have to worry about getting hurt.”

I felt something deep in my chest take off at that.

She got me.

She knew what I loved and encouraged me every day to continue to do the things that made me happy. Like hanging out with my MC brothers, playing pick-up games with my football family, or working even though I didn’t have to. If it made me happy, and those things did, Izzy was all for it and the first one pushing me out the door to do it.

Though all of those things paled in comparison to spending my days being lazy with her.

“When are you going to marry me, anyway?” I teased, brushing my lips against her brow.

She snorted. “When I’m not hugely pregnant and can walk down the aisle without waddling.”

And I was okay with that.

As long as she promised me forever, I didn’t care when we got there, as long as she was at my side.EpilogueToday, I’m going to give it my some.

-Coffee Cup

Rome

“Ma’am,” the doctor tried to interrupt Izzy’s screaming. “Are you allergic to anything?”

When Izzy did nothing but grunt and scream, I turned and said, “She’s allergic to Penicillin.”

“And penises!” Izzy screamed. “Penicillin and penises!”

The doctor’s lips twitched, but he didn’t say a word.

“You are not allergic to penises, you big cooter face,” Reagan snapped. “You’re such a lying slutbag.”

Izzy flipped her off. “Look where the last one got me!” She turned her head so that she could glare at me. “This is all your fault.”

I bit my lip, unsure what to say to that. Or if anything said at this point in time would come out as soothing, or just annoying.

The doctor was not Izzy’s normal doctor. Izzy’s normal doctor had a heart attack two days ago, leaving both Izzy and I scrambling to find a suitable replacement.

In the end, we hadn’t found anyone.

Not because we hadn’t wanted to, but because our child had decided that three weeks before his or her due date was a perfect time to come, making us both lose control.

Me, because Izzy was slightly freaking out, and Izzy because she was so damn scared that something bad was going to happen to this baby, too.

Though she hadn’t voiced those words.