How it would work out, I couldn't fathom. But I want to believe in the brighter world that Cleo sees for herself and her son.
I clear my throat, voice thick and unsure when I ask the question that's been weighing on my mind since she brought Bryan home.
"I want to be a dad," I blurt.
Cleo blinks up at me. "What do you mean?"
"Bryan's dad. If we marry, I want to adopt him. I don't want to just be his stepdad. I want to be a father. Do you think we can make that happen?"
Cleo's eyes brim with tears and her only response is to throw her arms around my shoulders, burying her face in my neck.
"Oh Ryker, I'd love that. We can be a family, the three of us."
Or four of us. Or five, six, seven or more. I want the future with Cleo. I want to give her everything I can, everything that she's ever dreamed of.
I roll her onto her back, tugging at the hem of her shirt. She surrenders with a soft, breathy moan and tangles her hands in my hair. We would be a family. I would be a dad.
And tonight, we'd try for kid number two.
* * *
"Breathe, Ryker," Cruz says with a chuckle. He knocks me in the ribs lightly with his elbow but doesn't take his eyes away from the doors of the chapel. Mine have been glued there since the start of the service. The music swells around us and my heart thumps double-time.
"Don't go passing out on Cleo," Cruz continues. "It's not exactly a show of strength you know."
I sober instantly, despite the happy occasion. It's a reminder of just how dicey things have gotten in the last few months. Trent's capture had mollified the Kings enough to keep the casualty rate between their two MCs down. However, it hadn't stopped the splinter group from leaving the Spades. The Hellion MC was setting up shop and gathering followers even now. It was getting more difficult to keep the working girls safe and off the smack they were peddling now.
There's a war brewing, and we're smack in the middle of it. I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be smarter to send Cleo away until the baby can be born.
Then the doors open and all thought is wiped from my mind. Penny and Holly enter first, wearing matching lilac dresses. I bet Holly and Cleo had to wrestle Penny into her gown. It's the dressiest I've seen her since her Quinceañera. I bet she'll strip it off the moment she gets the chance.
They take their places at the other side of the altar, and my searching eyes finally make her out, haloed in the doorway leading to the chapel. She looks so goddamn beautiful that it makes my head spin. The ivory dress is strapless and clings to her like a second skin. It can't disguise the gentle swell of her belly. She's self-conscious about it, convinced that we're just tempting fate by having two within a year of each other. But I can't bring myself to care about the sleepless nights still to come. She's pregnant withmybaby.
Then she's standing across from me, her hands linked with mine. The gentle pressure of them soothes the worst of my nerves. She's here. I can worry about the rest when it comes.
The minister's speech seems to take a small eternity. I can tell Cleo thinks so too, because her dark eyes keep darting down to stare at my lips. She wants to kiss as badly as I do. When the vows do come, she repeats them breathlessly. I repeat them without hesitation, sliding the ring onto her finger with a smile. I've never been so sure of anything in my life.
The kiss we share is electric, her arms tightening around my neck, holding me so close we're nearly one person. My lips mold to hers, tasting her, pulling her bottom lip until she sucks in a breath and bows her body into mine. We don't break apart until the minister makes a small, uncomfortable cough behind us. I grin unrepentantly. If I had my way, we'd scandalize the minister.
Cleo links her arm with mine and leads me back the way she'd come. I shut the door behind us when we reach the lobby. Cleo lets out a breathless little laugh.
"Ryker, we have to let the guests out." She pushes my face lightly away from where I've nestled it in the crook of her neck. Her breath comes in quick, excited pants. I can convince her if I try. But I good naturedly pull away with a grumble.
"Let's skip the receiving line," I murmur. "Holly and Cruz have Bryan for the weekend. Let's make the most of it."
"After the reception," she says with a grin full of promise. "Then later I'll fuck your brains out."
"Is that a promise, Mrs. Fenton?"
She closes her eyes, as if she's savoring the words. I wonder if it feels as good to hear them as it does to say them.
"It is," she says. She offers me a hand. "Now, let's go. We don't want to keep the family waiting, do we?"
The family is half the MC that's bothered to show up for the wedding. Neither Cleo nor I have family around. Hers, because of death, mine because of distance and general jackassery. I don't care for most of my relatives. The MC is our family. Our life. Each and every one of us is a Spade, ready to die for each other if we had to. And really, at the end of the day, wasn't that what family was? The people you turned to when things were great or at their shittiest?
I took her hand and squeezed it. "Of course not. Lead the way."
Epilogue
