Page 78 of Time Served in New York
“You should hang out with your dad more so you can learn to be a little more . . . suave,” Sis suggested.
“She thinks I’m cooler than you,” Stamp teased his son.
“I didn’t say you were cool, I just think you’re cooler than him,” Sis argued.
“Damn, the girl is on fire today,” I joked. I nudged Preacher with my elbow. “Get it? I made a fire joke.”
Preacher rolled his eyes as Sis said, “You all look very dashing in your tuxedos. Now I’m going to go find August and take our seats before the festivities start.”
“Wave bye to Daddy, Boo Boo,” Hammer said from the doorway. I blew my daughter a kiss, and she blew one back before Hammer said, “I’ll take care of her, Bug. She’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“Anytime, my friend.”
19.
SANTA
“I can’t believe we’re going through with this,” I muttered as I paced back and forth in front of the doorway that would lead us out to the ballroom for the ceremony. “We should scrap this shit and go the fuck home before anything else happens.”
“Paula said Frankie’s determined to go through with everything as planned. She went off about family responsibility and not showing any weakness, but all I could think about was how close I came to losing her today,” Hook admitted. He looked at his shoes and shook his head sadly. “I know we’ve all been through some hairy shit at home, but what happened today hit me hard for some reason.”
“It’s because Boo was involved,” Preacher said. “We know our women can get through anything, but the entire dynamic of our club . . . our family . . . has changed. We’ve got little ones around now and grandkids popping up left and right. Since most of us have never had kids, it’s thrown us off our game.”
“That’s harsh,” Captain said.
“It’s true, though. They’ve changed our world. Our priorities are completely different now. Before I got with Blue, I was just sort of coasting along. Now I have her on the forefront of my mind, even when she’s just fine. If she doesn’t pick up the phone, I worry something has happened. If she gets a cough, I’m terrified that she’s gonna get sick and I’m going to lose her. Then you add in the teenage girls, and I worry about every awful thing that could happen as they get older and branch out on their own. And then there’s Jared. What if he sees us doing shit that fucks him up somehow andheends up in prison? And little Boo. She looks at me like I’ve got the world on a fucking string, and that’s a lot to live up to. Now we’ve got babies who depend on us to keep them safe and happy. It’s so much more than I ever thought I’d have in life, and the thought of anything happening toanyof them scares me to death.”
“Before Matalie and August, all I had to worry about was Mom. I didn’t even have a fucking dog to take care of. Now I’ve got my old lady, my daughter, fucking Rodeo . . . Add the babies to that, and I’m surprised I don’t have an ulcer.”
“I’m right there with you, Captain. My old lady is terrified of heights, and she jumped from one balcony to another to protect her friends. I love all your women, but I’m so pissed at her for putting herself in danger that I want to shake her till her teeth rattle, but I can’t. I’d do the same for any one of you,” Boss admitted.
“I want to bring something to the table for a club vote,” Kitty piped up.
“Now?” Boss asked him.
“Yeah, now,” Kitty snapped. “I just can’t . . . What if something had happened up there? We wouldn’t have even known until they were late to the wedding. And Boo . . . Fuck. That could have been one of my kids. I don’t know how Bug’s still standing.”
“It’s taken effort,” Bug admitted. “Boo and Jared are with Hammer, and your girls are in the congregation with their new friends who all have their own personal bodyguards. That’s all that’s keeping me here right now. I want to yank Boo up and hold her tight while I sweep Maylee off to the airport so we can board the next flight home. I want to lock all of us in the house for . . . well, probably forever, to be honest. I can’t even . . . I just can’t even wrap my head around . . . Fuck.”
“That settles it,” Kitty said with a firm nod. “I’m putting it to a vote. I propose that when we get home, we get Rodeo and his crew to dig a moat around our properties. We’ll put up walls, razor wire, and get the Ares men to help us figure out some tripwires and landmines.”
“I’ll wrangle some gators from my swamp property and put them in the moat. We’ll take shifts, four at a time with a man on each corner,” Preacher interrupted. “No one comes in who’s not been vetted.”
“We’ll make a list of approved people,” Kitty suggested. “All of us, the Ares men and women, Pop, and . . . that’s it. No one else.”
Boss dropped his head and stared at his shoes. “Apparently, Preacher’s converted Kitty. If Hammer’s in one of your heads and someone starts singing, I’ll shoot myself.”
“Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body. I know not everybody has got a body like you . . .” Chef sang as he started dancing.
“But I’ve gotta think twice before I give my heart away and I know all the games you play . . .” Captain, Kitty, and Stamp joined in as they snapped and danced along with him.
“What the fuck? I'm gonna . . .” Boss fumed. “No! Just . . .”
“Maybe . . .” Preacher threw his head back and sang along, and I thought Boss was going to have a stroke.
“Oh shit. Oh shit,” Hook kept chanting through his laughter. “Oh God.”
