Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s you.”
Edge took her hands, and she stared down at his much larger ones. All it took was one touch from him to make her feel calm, even as she held the box that could potentially change her life forever.
“We’ll take care of your mother. We’ll take care of everything. Do you want to get to know her at any point?” Edge asked. “Answer this truthfully.”
“You’re going to kill her?” she asked.
“I need to know the answer.”
The first time she’d seen her mother, she’d sold her. There was no love or support there. She didn’t want to get to know her mother. She wanted nothing to do with her. If she was pregnant, there was no way she would let that vile woman come close to her, or her baby.
“I don’t want her anywhere near me, any babies we all might have, or you. I don’t ever want to see her again.”
Edge nodded. “Let’s deal with this test.”
****
Tank sat on the floor while Junior paced. Edge leaned against the wall nearest the door. Dig sat opposite him by the door, and of course, Trick was doing a handstand against one of the spare bedroom doors.
“We need to convert one of these rooms to a nursery,” Trick said.
Tank stared at the door, waiting for Leah to come out and change their lives forever. If the test read pregnant, they were all going to be a dad.
“Do you think we can logically make this work?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” Edge asked.
“Five dads, one kid. Don’t you think that is excessive?”
“No,” Junior said. “They say it takes a village or some shit to raise a kid. Why can’t it be us? We’re a village.”
“We’re a bunch of misfits that work well together,” Dig said.
“You don’t think you’d be a good dad?” Edge asked.
Tank shrugged. “I never even gave it a thought, to be honest. I guess if I was given the opportunity, I would.”
“Do you not want to share her?” Trick asked.
“More than anything.”
“Then I don’t see why we can’t make it work. We’ve been with each other for a long time now. We’re brothers. We’re friends. We’re a family, and we will make it work. For one, I love watching Leah come apart in your arms, and I’m not jealous when I see her kissing you all,” Trick said. “Our child will be loved and taken care of. There won’t be room in his or her life for anything else.” Trick dropped to the floor. “Shouldn’t she be out right now? I thought the test only took a couple of minutes.”
Edge knocked on the door. “You okay, baby?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Tank frowned, getting to his feet.
He stepped up to the door and opened it.
“Hey, privacy,” Junior said.
Leah was leaning against the bathtub with tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked terrified as she sniffled. “It says that I’m pregnant.”
He went to her, pulling her into his arms as his club brothers filled the room. They all held her, touched her, kissed her, and soothed her.
“I always wanted to be a mom, and now my dream is coming true. I’m so scared. What if I’m bad at it?”
“It’s not possible,” Junior said.
“I always avoided children. I never took a job working with them, and now, I’m going to have my own. We’re all going to have a baby. That is so scary.”
“I already picked out the nursery,” Trick said.
She smiled. “Are you all sure about this? It has only been a couple of weeks, and I honestly don’t know what the hell I’m doing half the time. I’ve got nowhere else to go. I’ve got nothing to offer you.”
Tank slammed his lips down on hers, silencing her. “You’ve given us you. That is all we want. There is no other gift we want or need. Just you.”
“I don’t know how I got all of this,” she said. “I’m scared of losing you all.”
“Not going to happen,” Tank said. He turned to look at Edge. “We need to postpone or cancel the run for Marcel. We’ve got things to handle here.”
“I’m already on it,” Edge said.
He stepped out of the bathroom.
“He’s the one that handles all the business,” she said. “He works too hard.”
“We voted him as club President because he can get the job done,” Junior said. “I’ve got a way of irritating people.”
“I don’t like being nice,” Trick said.
“I’m lazy,” Dig said.
“And I hate people,” Tank said.
She laughed. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
“If we find another two men, you’d have the seven dwarves,” Junior said.
“I don’t want seven. I love having my man for each day of the week, and sharing you all on the weekend.” She let out a yawn. “I’m so tired.”
Lifting her up, Tank carried her to her bedroom, putting her down on the bed. He removed her shoes—he knew she hated mess—and placed them neatly against the wall. With Dig, Junior, and Trick’s help, they removed her clothes. She did look a little pale and tired. All he wanted to do was to hold her close and to never let her go.