Ms. Clark’s expression didn’t hold any judgement, but she didn't pull her punches either. “Unfortunately, our next step is putting them in the system. Given their age gap, they’ll likely be split up. The youngest, Isla, is nine months old. It’s likely she’ll find a family pretty quickly. Jasper…” She hesitated for a second, then sighed. “For kids his age, the likelihood of adoption is extremely low. He’ll go into a group home with other boys his age.”
The message was clear. Without me, those kids wouldn’t see each other again. All because I was too selfish to set aside the bachelor life to give them a place to stay. I wasn’t that cruel, no matter how out of my depth I felt.
“I’ll take them. What do I have to do?”
CHAPTER TWO
ZERO
The list of shit I needed to get done before CPS would let me take in the kids was long, and I needed the whole crew to get it done. I had to move out of the clubhouse and into a rental with enough rooms for both kids to have their own space. The guys donated furniture they could spare, including a queen bed and dresser for the older one from Wraith’s spare room and a bunch of baby clothes and toys for the younger one. Vegas shelled out for a new crib, which I appreciated. Chains found a decent car at his junkyard he was willing to give to me, and Butch offered to fix it up free of charge. It was a decent SUV without terrible mileage that probably got too expensive for the previous owner to fix, but being friends with a mechanic had its perks.
By the time the social worker was scheduled to visit with the kids in tow, most of the list had been crossed off. I still felt unprepared, but the club wasn’t unused to this kind of thing at this point and said they’d back me every step of the way. I thought I’d be the last person who needed that kind of help, but here we were.
Since they didn’t want to overwhelm the kids, the crew left before the kids arrived. It was just me in the big house that still felt like someone else’s. I ended up pacing and rechecking things because the quiet was strange after a lifetime living in the clubhouse. If the clubhouse was quiet, it usually meant someone was up to something.
A sleek black sedan pulled into the cracked driveway just as I was pacing past the big bay window in the front. Ice filled my gut and I had to take a breath before turning and heading for the door, opening it just as Ms. Clark led the kids toward the house. I took them in as they got closer. The younger one looked like any other baby I’d met. Big brown eyes, tight curly black hair, one hand clinging to her brother while she chewed on the other one. The older one looked a lot more like Hannah with his blue eyes and lighter brown hair. His hair was just as curly as his sister’s though, and they had the same skin tone. They were obviously siblings, and the older one held his baby sister protectively against his chest, already glaring at me even though we hadn’t said a word to each other yet.
“Alright, introductions first, I think,” Ms. Clark said with false cheer in her voice, trying to make the situation a little easier on us all. “Kids, this is your mom’s cousin, Elias Fletcher. Elias, this is Jasper and Isla.”
Was I supposed to offer a handshake? They were kids. How was I supposed to greet a kid? I never shook hands with any of the club kids, most of them would probably look at me like I had two heads if I tried.
I decided to nod in greeting, since Jasper looked like he’d bite my hand if I tried to offer a shake. “Uh, nice to meet you,” I offered awkwardly.
Jasper didn’t reply, just continued to glare. Ms. Clark gave him a second to say something, and when he refused, she moved on without drawing attention to it. She seemed to know it wasn’ta good idea to push. I decided to follow her lead, gesturing toward the house instead.
“Pretty sure I got everything you said we needed. A few of the guys helped with babyproofing, too.”
Her smile warmed and she took the lead heading toward the house. “I have to say, I’m still shocked that a group of bikers knows how to babyproof. I saw there was babyproofing at the clubhouse too. Do you have kid friendly parties there as well?”
She didn’t sound like she was fishing, just curious, but I was careful with my reply. She was still a government worker and we’d had problems with them in the past. Hell, we still had problems with them now. Vegas’s old lady was doing her damndest to show the town we weren’t that bad, but with another crew causing trouble on the edges of town, there wasn’t a full turnaround just yet.
“Sometimes. Barbecues, birthday parties, that kind of thing. Never on a school night or anything like that. But if they’re going to be there, the club wanted to make sure they were safe.”
She waited for me to open the door before ushering the kids inside, a smile on her face. “That’s very responsible of you. And if the childproofing here is anything like what I saw at the clubhouse, I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about.”
While she did her walkthrough, I was left alone with the kids. It was painfully awkward, I didn’t know the first thing to say, and whenever I looked in his direction, Jasper’s scowl dialed up a few degrees. God, he couldn’t stand me already.
“Uh… Are you hungry? I can make something,” I offered awkwardly.
Jasper shook his head, silent as the grave. Something told me that wasn’t his natural state. His shoulders were tight and he looked like he was holding back all the shit he wanted to say to me. Melissa mentioned doing some family therapy so we couldlearn to communicate or whatever. Maybe it wasn’t the worst idea in the world.
The baby, Isla, had been looking around and chewing on her hand for the most part, but she started fussing and wriggling in Jasper’s arms out of nowhere, ignoring him when he offered her a pacifier.
“Do, uh, you want me to take her?”
Again, Jasper shot me a death glare. Seriously, if looks could kill, I’d be dead on the floor right now.
“I’ve got her,” he bit out sharply.
I put my hands up in surrender before tucking them into my pockets. I sure as hell wasn’t going to argue with him. He was a big brother protecting his sister. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could get between that.
“Sure.” A thought crossed my mind and I looked around with a frown. “One of the guys brought over a playpen. I can get that out if you want.”
All I got in response was another glare. If this was how things were going to go, I was looking at an awkward five to seventeen years. What the hell had I been thinking?
It took less than a handful of weeks before I got the first call from the school about Jasper acting up. It honestly hadn’t surprised me. He’d put up a fight about going to school in the first place, saying something about how school was stupid and he didn’t need it, but I got the feeling it had more to do with his little sister. He let me take over her care after a few days, but he still hovered and kept her with him for the most part, either in the playpen in the living room or in his room. He was protective ofthat baby, and it felt a little like he was waiting for someone to take her from him.
I got him to ease up on that by getting him a phone. I thought it’d been working since he allowed me to take him to school, but a phone call from his math teacher requesting a conference made me think I was wrong. That didn’t surprise me either. I was wrong about a lot of shit since the kids showed up. I was starting to think it was the wrong choice to take responsibility for them in the first place.
