Half an hour later I stood outside the warehouse in the parking lot where Knight stood on the passenger side of the Bronco.The open door revealed Brynn sitting in the back seat, her legs wrapped in a blanket and a nest of pillows.She looked on the verge of laughing.
He stood arms crossed over his chest beside Brynn in the open door.If his surgical wound pulled, I couldn’t tell from his expression.
“Knight, you literally got an organ cut out of you,” Brynn said.“Stop trying to make up for everything all at once.I can freaking walk.”Brynn shoved everything out of her way, including Knight, and climbed out of the Bronco like not a Goddamned thing was wrong.
The whole courtyard roared in laughter as they welcomed the pair home.When Knight would have reached for Brynn again, Tiny scooped the child up and carried her.Not surprisingly, Brynn didn’t protest.She liked to tell Knight how Tiny had become her favorite.Knight, of course, always acted put out.It was a whole thing.
“Tiny, put her down!I’m carrying my daughter inside!”He trotted after Tiny looking like a kid chasing after his father.The sight made me laugh for joy.“I’ve been cleared for light lifting.She weighs what, seventy pounds soaking wet?”
“I’m right here, you know.And you’re acting like a lunatic.Besides.Tiny brought me Chunky Monkey ice cream.He can carry me.”
Knight’s jaw dropped.“Are you freakin’ kiddin’ me?You bought her off with a pint of Chunky Monkey?”
Tiny’s massive shoulders lifted in a shrug, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
Knight shook his head.“That’s cold, brother.”
“Jesus Christ,” Brynn muttered, but I caught the hint of a smile in her voice.
“Language,” Knight and I said simultaneously, exchanging a look that made us both laugh.
“Your castle awaits, princess,” Knight announced as he opened the door for Tiny to enter with Brynn.
Brynn snorted.“Do I look like a princess to you?”
“Nope,” Knuckles agreed cheerfully.“More like a tiny general.Which means you still outrank me.”
When Tiny set her down in front of the lift, I moved to pick her up, but she shook her head.“I can walk to the apartment.Just… maybe stay close.”
Knight and Brynn had gotten close over the last few weeks.I’d even caught Brynn looking to Knight more and more for reassurance.She still needed me close sometimes, even if she didn’t want to admit it, but I liked how she and Knight had found a happy place.Hopefully, it would grow wider and brighter and we really could make up for the years we’d lost.
Knight hovered at her side as she made her way down the hall.The club had decorated the walls with welcome home messages and pictures of Brynn’s and Knight’s time in the hospital.They showed the journey the three of us had taken together.I could tell it touched both father and daughter.
“Welcome home, baby,” I said softly as she stood in the doorway, taking it all in.
For a moment, the tough exterior cracked, and I caught a glimpse of the overwhelmed eleven-year-old beneath.Her eyes widened at the gifts piled on the sofa.Everyone had brought assortments of books and games, as well as a brand-new laptop, still in its box.
“Is that… for me?”she asked, her voice smaller than I’d ever heard it.
“All of it,” Tiny confirmed.“The club takes care of its own.”
The apartment filled with people bringing in food, gifts, and well-wishes.Brynn sat on the couch, maintaining her cool facade, but I noticed how her fingers kept touching the soft throw blanket Hannah had draped over her lap, how her eyes kept returning to the tablet.
After about an hour, I caught the droop in her shoulders, the way her responses had slowed.“All right, everyone out,” I announced.“I’m fuckin’ tired.”
Everyone laughed.They all hugged Brynn, promising to check on her.One of Carrie’s cats seemed to have found a permanent home in Brynn’s lap.Every time Chains tried to pick it up, the damned thing hissed.He’d stopped trying, and as long as Brynn was happy, I didn’t care.
Knuckles organized the exodus, herding everyone toward the door with promises of beer in the clubhouse.When the last visitor had departed, Brynn finally let the exhaustion show.
“I think I need to take a nap,” she admitted, the admission itself a testament to how tired she truly was.
I helped her to her room and into her pajamas while Knight tidied up the remains of our little party.By the time I shut her door to go to Knight, Brynn was asleep, the day’s excitement having drained her energy fast.She had come so far, but she still had healing to do.
Night fell, and I found him out on the small balcony off our bedroom, the compound stretching dark and silent below us as stars winked into existence.He pulled me against him, holding me against his chest like I’d dreamed about for so long.
“We’re really here,” I whispered, leaning my cheek against his chest.“We’re all really together.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple, and I breathed in the familiar scent of his skin.“We are,” he murmured.“Never thought I’d get this lucky twice in one lifetime.”
