The moment quickly ends when the clubhouse door swings open.
She stands there like a ghost from my past, her auburn hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, dark circles under eyes that I remember being brighter. She's carrying a child—a toddler with familiar green eyes that sweep the room before landing on me.
My glass slips from suddenly numb fingers, shattering on the floor.
I know her. Sidney Parker. A one-night stand from Cedar Falls, back when I was drinking myself to death every night. I told her not to expect anything more. Told her I wasn't relationship material.
I never expected to see her again.
And I definitely never expected to see her holding a kid who looks exactly like me.
"Dean," she says, using my real name. Her voice is exactly how I remember it but tinged with desperation that wasn't there before. "I'm sorry to show up like this, but... we need help."
The room goes silent. Everyone's eyes ping-pong between us.
"Is that..." Steel starts but trails off when I shoot him a look that would melt steel.
"Sidney," I manage to say, my voice sounding like it's coming from somewhere far away. "What are you doing here?"
She shifts the boy to her other hip.
"This is Max," she says simply. "He's two. And he's yours."
Time seems to stop. The noise in the clubhouse fades to nothing as I stare at the child, at those eyes. My eyes. My mother's eyes.
A son. I have a son.
My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat. My legs go weak, and I grip the bar to steady myself.
"Mine?" The word comes out as barely more than a whisper.
Sidney nods, "Yes. Yours."
I can't tear my gaze away from the boy. He has my nose. The same stubborn set to his jaw that I see every time I look in the mirror. There's no denying it, even if I wanted to.
"Jesus Christ," I breathe, running a shaking hand through my hair. "How... why didn't you tell me? Two years—" My voice breaks.
Two years of his life. Gone. First steps. First words. Everything I missed without even knowing I was missing it.
"I tried," Sidney says quietly. "I called the number you gave me when I found out I was pregnant. It was disconnected. I went to the address. You'd moved out. Nobody knew where you'd gone."
The shame hits me then. I remember those months. Drinking myself into oblivion, switching phones, getting evicted, crashing on couches. Running from everything, including myself.
I take a step forward, my eyes never leaving Max's face. He watches me curiously, no fear in his eyes despite the stranger staring at him.
"Why now?" I ask, my voice rougher than I intended. The shock is wearing off, anger and grief taking its place. "Why show up now?"
Her chin trembles slightly, but she squares her shoulders. "Because I have nowhere else to go. I lost my job. I'm being evicted. I've been sleeping in my car for three days, and I..." She swallows hard. "I found an article about the Savage Riders helping people in Blackwater Falls and you were in the picture. I didn't know if you'd want anything to do with us, but I'm desperate."
Every eye in the room is on me, waiting for my reaction. King's face is unreadable. Tank looks sympathetic. Beast is frowning. And I have no idea what to say.
I've dreamed of being a father someday. Of doing better than my own parents did. But not like this. Not with a kid I didn't knowexisted. Not with a woman I spent one drunken night with three years ago.
"He's really mine?" I ask, though I already know the answer.
Sidney nods. "I can get a paternity test if you want, but... yes. He's yours. I haven't been with anyone else who could be his father."
My brain is spinning, trying to process too much at once. I have a son. A son who's been living without me for two years. A son whose mother is so desperate she's shown up at an MC clubhouse looking for help.
