“Hey, we’re just heading into Church, you coming?” I nodded to Micro, liberating Caroline’s backpack from her shoulders, and taking her hand to lead her in that direction.
Luckily, although there were bikers hanging around already, they were mostly in the lounge, with just a few sitting around the fire pit, which wasn’t lit yet.
“Here we go, just in here.”
“It doesn’t look very fancy for a church,” she commented, her eyes taking in every detail of the shabby meeting room, as Micro and Grease both chuckled. Jay, as she’d finally permitted me to call her, followed us in a moment later, carrying a tablet, and waving hi to Caroline.
We had a large TV screen on the same wall as the door, so we amassed around the head end of the table, with Micro in his President seat, and us from my VP seat and along the side. I’d pulled Caroline’s chair close to mine, so she was almost between me and Micro, because I wasn’t leaving her feeling exposed.
She carefully hooked up her laptop to the AV cables, and opened up her design program.
“So before Caroline shows you this, I want to explain a little about it. Having taken on board your thoughts, and ours, we’re suggesting a large interconnected building, wrapping around a courtyard, with its own set of gates, so that we have a secondary point of defence before anyone wanders in.”
“Yeah, that’d keep those nosy cops out,” Grease muttered, grunting a moment later as Jay elbowed him in the chest. “Jesus, little pain.”
“Anyway, we’ve mapped out an idea for the site, and we’ll talk you through that, and the same program can be used to map out where the cameras will go for security, and of course all cabling can be routed inside walls before we plaster them over, as Grease suggested.”
Micro rubbed his hands together with glee. “Fucking love it already. The other chapter will be jealous as fuck. Wait, before you show it, we’ve got a prospect bringing drinks and snacks. He had to head out for them, so we’ll wait for him to drop them off first. I’m excited about this though. I feel like the old club had a bad feel about it, and wiping the slate clean and truly rising from the ashes should make it feel fresh and new.”
“Rising from the ashes, Jesus, way to over-use a fucking metaphor, Pres.”
Micro flipped Grease off, and we all fell silent as the prospect knocked, and delivered a tray of takeaway drinks with some sandwiches and pastries.
Once he’d left, and we’d shared those out, Caroline opened up the design on screen, and used her skills with the program to break it down, and show off each area as I described it. The Pres, Grease, and Jay piped up with occasional comments or questions, but I could tell we were all pretty much on the same page. Grease actually cheered at the idea of covered storage for our rides, saying we’d be like a real biker club at last.
“Caroline, why don’t you show them the secondary version with your suggestions.” Her cheeks reddened, and she stared at me pleadingly.
“It’s okay, we’re all friends here, right? They’re not going to disrespect you.”
“Heaven forbid,” Grease muttered, but he grinned at her, “no, seriously go on. I’m curious now.”
When she showed the revised version, they all had a chuckle at the idea of old lady space, but again there were no objections.
“That’ll be perfect for when the baby’s here,” Micro said, snapping a photo on his phone to show Sophie.
“Any idea when that’ll be, Pres?”
“Yeah, I need to pretend I’m busy, so I don’t have to be anywhere near that,” Grease added, smirking at both of us.
“They’re saying in the next seven days, but who knows. Everything we’ve read says that it could be half that or double it. I dunno. I guess probably at the most inconvenient moment, so I can fuck it up.”
“Why would you mess it up?” Caroline asked, avoiding the word she never used, even though she must hear it multiple times a day with me.
Micro grimaced, dragging a hand down his face. “Just, I’m not exactly like Harley, and so organised and calm. I’m gonna lose my shit, and let her down, I just know it.”
I rolled my eyes. “You think I didn’t freak out, man? I was a fucking kid, remember?”
Jay’s eyes darted around the room, probably because for once Grease hadn’t run his mouth, so I nodded at her.
“I have a daughter, and I was, uh, sixteen when she was conceived.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock, but I was already focused back on Micro, because the guy was clearly freaking out again.
“You won’t mess this up, Micro. You’re too invested in being the best dad you can be. That’s how you won’t mess it up. You’re not alone either. You have all of us to back you.”
“Not me. I hate babies,” Grease added, but his shit-eating grin belied his words.
“Jesus, I feel like once the baby’s here, I’ll fall into a pattern, but it’s the actual birth part that’s freaking me out.”
