“That’s great!”Cali says as I look at her and can’t help but return her smile.“Are you wanting anything specific for dinner tonight?We can make you anything you want.”
“Not really.I’ve been adding a lot more food to my diet very slowly and have a pretty good range at this point.Sweets are still my favorite thing but I’ve added a lot of fruit and vegetables to my diet as well.I’ll try anything once and if I don’t like something, I just avoid it in the future.The doctors and my therapist are happy with the progress I’ve made because my portions are bigger than before and I eat almost everything in front of me.I’m doing everything slowly but I can see the progress I’ve made as I track my food intake each day.So, I’m good with whatever you guys had planned already.Whatever you’ve started honestly smells amazing,” I tell her as the aroma from the kitchen fills the entire clubhouse.
“We’re making roasts with mashed potatoes, peas, biscuits, and there’s pie for dessert tonight.We might have overdone the pies, but there’s definitely more than enough for everyone here,” Sam says as she leaves the kitchen and joins us.“Good to see you, Annistyn.”
“It’s good to see you, too.”
Looking down I take in Dakota in my lap.She’s got her little thumb in her mouth and her eyes are closed as she sleeps on me.I really don’t mind being her place for a nap because it means she trusts me.Reaching up, I brush a few stray strands of hair out of her face and Dakota doesn’t even stir.Smiling down at her, I let my mind wander to what my kids will look like.Something I learned during therapy is that I really want to have a family of my own someday.When the time is right, I would like to have a couple of kids and maybe a dog.Roger still has puppies and I wanted to bring one or two of them home with me.On top of realizing I want a family of my own, I fully understood the only man I want to have at my side is Kreed.It’s one more conversation we’ll need to have once the time is right.
“What are you thinkin’ about?”Kreed asks me, leaning over to whisper so only I hear him as the conversations in the room surround us.
“How much I like when Dakota falls asleep on me.Of knowing she’s putting her complete trust in me to take care of her,” I answer honestly because I was thinking about that as well.
“She’s missed you so much while you were gone.Their birthday is coming up and she wanted you here for her party,” he informs me as I look back down at the sleeping angel in my arms.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world,” I say as I look back up at him and take in his amazing smile.Kreed has the best smile I’ve ever seen and I want to make it happen every day.
“Is there anythin’ you need us to get here for you, Annistyn?”Reckless asks me as I turn my attention toward him.“Things you need to continue your treatment or anythin’ like that?”
“I don’t think so.Well, can I use the gym here in the clubhouse?”I ask, not sure if that’s allowed.
“Of course you can.You’ve been workin’ out?”he asks, sitting up and looking completely interested in my response.
“I mainly do yoga at this point, but I would love to start a workout routine and maybe learn some boxing or self-defense of some kind,” I say while looking between the men around me.
“Any of us will work with you, Annistyn.Kreed will be the only one to touch you though.The rest of us can help you put a workout plan in place if you’d like.Manic and Force run the club’s gym and can see where you’re at and then figure out what would work best for you when they’re done if you’d like,” Reckless says as he looks around the room to find the two men in question.
“I’d really like that.I can go to the gym if I need to.That’s not a problem.I’ve been working a lot on getting out of my comfort zone and doing things in public since it’s all so new for me,” I say as the two men make their way over to our table.
“What’s goin’ on?”Manic asks, looking at us all.
“Annistyn is interested in gettin’ a workout routine in place.I was just tellin’ her the two of you could give her an assessment and then put somethin’ together for her.She also wants to learn boxin’ and self-defense.Kreed can handle that because he’ll be the only one to touch her.You guys got any time to do somethin’ like that?”Reckless asks the men in front of me and they both immediately nod their heads in response.
“You come to the gym anytime you can and we’ll make sure to work with you, Annistyn.You’re family and will always come first,” Force says, making me smile once again because these men and women are my chosen family and I couldn’t be happier.
“Thank you.I’ll be there some time this week,” I say as Cali looks at them.
“I’m gonna join her.If Annistyn is gonna start working out, I will too.We can go for walks around the compound instead of using the treadmill and I think it would be nice to workout with you,” she says as I look at her.
“I’d really like that.Thank you, Cali.”
“No thanks needed, Girl.You’re my best friend now and we’ll start this journey together.I’ll get in the ring with ya too.When Caleb pisses me off, I can get in the ring with him and put him on his ass,” she says, making us all laugh at her.
“You think you’re gonna put me on my ass, Reina?”he asks, a smirk on his face as he looks at his wife.
“Yeah, I do.You have no idea how often you piss me off in one way or another,” she states while looking up at him with a large smile on her face.
“I can think of better ways to get rid of that aggression and rage you feel when I piss you off,” Reckless says and I feel my cheeks heat with a blush because it’s the first time one of them have talked that way in front of me.
“Caleb!”Cali admonishes him with a look of complete shock on her face.“You can’t say things like that in front of everyone.Your dad and uncle are sitting right here.”
“Sweetheart, you know we’ve said worse in front of all of you more than once,” Playboy teases her as Sam walks close enough for him to smack her ass.“You act like this is new for him when you’ve been around him since elementary school.Caleb has always talked this way and it shouldn’t surprise you at all.”
“You men are something else,” Sam teases her husband before she heads back to the kitchen and Cali gets up to follow her and Kreed’s mom.
“You stay here, Annistyn.Spend time with Kreed and I don’t think Dakota is gonna let you up anytime soon,” Cali says as she disappears from sight.
“Not gonna let you out of my sight anytime soon, Pixie.Went a year and a half without seein’ you or hearin’ your voice.I’m gonna be all up in your business for the foreseeable future,” Kreed whispers as Dakota finally stirs before settling back against my chest.
