Page 43 of Blade

“You have something to say, Emryn?” he says, and the room goes quiet.

“Uh, thank you.” She scans the room. “I can’t thank all of you enough for opening your hearts and including me in your lives. This isn’t how I grew up. All the love I received came with conditions, and what you’ve taught me is that love doesn’t have conditions. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have that with my parents or brother, but I’m okay with that because I have all of you.” Emryn looks at me. “Especially you.” Then she turns back to the others. “I made something for the club. I hope you like it.”

Emryn scurries away from the table to a box she insisted had to come with us, which I completely forgot about until this moment. She pulls out a thick, hardcover book, huge in size, and brings it over to Guard. She places it in his hands.

“It’s a coffee table book, but you can put it anywhere. It’s all of you, from the first night we were all together,” she says, then steps back.

Guard puts the book down in front of him and leafs through the glossy photos. Pictures of the women dancing, men in groups talking and smiling, and even the kids are featured in the pages.

“Emryn, these are beautiful,” Guard says.

“No, this family is beautiful. I wanted to capture the genuine love that’s in this room,” Emryn replies.

“Well, you’re going to have to do another book. There’s someone missing in that one,” Abby says, biting her lip.

Emryn looks confused. “I’m sure I got everyone.”

Abby grins shyly. “Not possible. They aren’t here yet.” Abby turns to her husband, Ghost, who is looking as perplexed as we are. “We’re having a baby, honey.” Ghost’s stunned expression is nothing less than priceless. It lasts only a second before he scoops his wife up in his arms and swings her around.

Guard goes over to him and, when Ghost is done kissing his wife, accepts a massive, brotherly hug from Ghost. We all take turns congratulating the parents-to-be. Emryn is in the thick of things, chatting away with the other Lady Pride, and I find myself standing next to Guard.

“It’s a good day, Prez,” I say.

“That it is,” his low voice rumbles.

“Jaws is gone, and Ryan has been warned. No loose ends.” I chuckle.

Guard puts his hand on my shoulder. “As long as we breathe, there will be stories that need to be told.”

It’s Guard’s subtle way of telling me that more is yet to come.