“You’ve been through some serious shit, girl. Cut yourself some slack,” Kat admonished, linking her arm through mine and towing me toward the register.
“Finally,” Wes muttered.
“Hey, this’ll be you someday,” Kat retorted, gesturing to all the baby clothes she cradled.
He had a moment of wide-eyed acknowledgement. “Fuck me,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“Well, that won’t bring a baby around anytime soon,” Kat replied with a wink in my direction.
“Christ, you chicks love to bust my fucking balls,” he retorted as I fought my struggle and let the laugh I’d been fighting burst out.
Mack’s deep-throated chuckle filled the space as he got a good laugh at Wes’ expense.
By the time we got home, I was impressed with how much work they’d done. The guys had all cleared out except for Ryker. The office was completely empty and Axel was painting it a beautiful grey-blue.
“Get what you needed?” he asked when he saw me standing in the doorway.
“Yeah,” I smiled. “Looks good in here. The delivery folks will be bringing everything up shortly. It was all in stock.”
“Good,” he nodded, looking thoughtfully at the wall. “You know, I never thought to ask if you wanted to stay here. This was my place that I rebuilt with Ry. It has meaning to me but…” he trailed off.
I moved into the room, wrapping arms around him from behind. “This is the first real home I’ve ever known. I love it,” I assured him.
“I’m glad,” he nodded, turning in my arms and laying his lips over mine.
“I wouldn’t mind doing some updating though?” I mentioned hesitantly against his lips.
He chuckled. “Yeah, babe, we can do that. We’ll have to expand someday, too,” he winked, smacking my ass as I headed back out of the room.
“Right, for that football team you want to have.” I rolled my eyes with a smile.
“Damn straight,” he nodded.
The next few days felt like a tense waiting game. There was still no news on my father – the authorities were still looking for him. Axel was still on high alert with eyes on the house.
We finished the nursery and moved on to the master. The space that had always felt like home became something more. It became an oasis that I had put my own mark on. Putting Mad to bed every night in his beautiful room gave me a sense of peace I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.
We kept up my driving lessons. I convinced Axel to let me practice on something smaller and we’d borrowed Connie’s car a few times. I was much more confident than the first time I’d gotten behind the wheel.
If I could only learn not to burn everything I tried to cook, I’d be in pretty good shape.
Axel liked to tease me that miracles didn’t happen overnight.
After many failed attempts, I ended up with something close enough to resembling pumpkin pie to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. It certainly wouldn’t win any contests but at least it wouldn’t kill anybody, hopefully.
Cole and Scarlet’s house was packed with club members and their families as the smell of the holiday permeated the air.
“Here,” I handed Scar my pie with a grimace. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“Right,” she nodded with a laugh, wrapping me in a one-armed hug.
The meal was delicious, the mood raucous and light in a way it hadn’t been in several days. I watched Cal lean over and talk to Jill from my place across the table. Every time he spoke to her, which was often, her face flushed. She seemed hesitant to engage him, but there was something going on there.
“You’re staring,” Axel reprimanded me with a quiet chuckle.
“Fine,” I grumbled, looking away from my source of curiosity and locking eyes with my husband. His beautiful eyes gleamed back at me. “I like staring at you better,” I smiled.
“You better,” he growled good-naturedly, grasping my thigh underneath the table.
