Page 31

“Okay, baby A…… is a boy. And baby B……… is a girl. Congratulations, mom and dad. One of each.”

I kiss Saige and thank Sydney. She laughs as she prints pictures off for us. She even prints one off for us to give to Stone. She leaves the room, and I help Saige clean the gel off her. Once she is ready to go, we head out and make her next appointment. Stone, Loki, and Tires all stand up as we get to them. We have the pictures put up in Saige’s purse.

“Y’all will find out at the family dinner tonight at Casa Bella. So no trying to get it out of us before then,” Saige tells them. Stone gets a pout on his face, it’s so funny that we all burst out laughing.

“You can wait a few hours, Daddy,” Saige says as she hugs him. We get back to the clubhouse and we go to the room to get ready for our dinner. Saige is taking her clothes off and goes into the bathroom to wash off. She hates that gel, and says it feels like it is still on her. I get her a dress out of her closet that she hasn’t seen before. It’s white with little sugar skulls on it, and ties at the neck. I lay it on the bed for her. I got it the other day when I had to go on a short run. I change into somedarker jeans, a black tank, and a black button up shirt, rolling the sleeves up to my elbows. Saige comes out of the bathroom and whistles at me. “You look good enough to eat, babe.”

I look at her and smile, then kiss her forehead. “I can definitely say the same thing about you right now. I laid you out a dress. I know it will be more comfortable for you.”

She walks over to the bed and squeals. “Where did you get this? I love it.”

“I got it the other day on the way back from that run I did with Cruz. I’m glad you like it, Butterfly. Let’s get it on you and get out there so we can meet everyone so we can go. I want to get back and slowly peel that dress off you.” Her eyes become hooded. I kiss her and help her get the dress on. She wears her sandals with it. She looks amazing with her curly hair down. I can’t wait to tell the others what we are having. We already have the names picked out and will let everyone know them as well.

Thirty-Three

Saige

The family is all togetherat the restaurant and we have all placed our orders. I have Cotton on my left and Loki on my right. Dad and Leilani are across from us, with Tires, Bexley, Stella, and Cruz there as well. We have an empty chair at the table, and I can’t figure out why. Cotton stands up, and pulls the chair out, for Tonya to sit down. “What are you doing here? Don’t you know that you could’ve brought Rancor right to Saige and Bexley?!” my dad asks with venom in his voice.

Tonya looks at him, not backing down. “I was invited to be here. Like it or not, Stone, Saige is my daughter, and she and I are trying to get to know one another. She told me that she explained everything to you about why I did what I did. I had to keep you all safe. As for Rancor, he’s gone. Crashed his bike head on into a truck while in ashootout with the cops up in Johnson County, killing him instantly. I just want to be here for Saige and Cotton.”

He goes to say something else to her, but I interrupt him. “Daddy, please not tonight, not here. This is a happy occasion, I have you and Mom, my brother, best friends, aunt and uncle, and Tonya all here. This is what I wanted. Cotton and I agreed. Tonya is my biological mother, and she put herself in harm’s way to get to you, to help Bex and me. I believe her and would like the chance to get to know her. I’m not trying to replace anyone.”

He looks at me, and sighs. “Okay, baby girl. Tonya, I’m sorry. Saige did explain everything to us. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“Thank you, Stone.” I introduce Tonya to Leilani, and it’s then that the food is brought out. Tonya even has a plate. Cotton looks at me.

“I ordered for her, she told me what she liked. I love you, baby.”

I smile really big at him, “I love you too.” The table gets quiet for a minute. Cruz says grace, then we all start to eat, talking and just enjoying being together. Leilani and Tonya are talking, and I watch as Dad listens and smiles here and there. I’m glad that they are at least trying to get along, though it seems the women have hit it offpretty well. Once everyone is done eating, Cotton hands out envelopes to everyone. We fixed the photos of the babies so that each was personalized to how the person was related to them.

I watch as Dad and Leilani open their envelope. Their picture says ‘Hello Papaw and Tutu.

I look around at everyone and when I look up at Cotton, he nods his head and smiles. “Okay y’all. I think we have kept y’all in the dark long enough. Baby A is a boy, and baby B is a girl. We have names already also. Joseph Donovan and Nellie Marie Rose. Joseph is Cotton’s grandfather and you know Donovan was his brother. Nellie Marie was his grandma, and Rose, well Leilani, I had to name her after you as well.”

Leilani gets up from her chair and comes around the table to hug me, crying. “Thank you, my baby girl. It is an honor.” Everyone is congratulating us, and we are so caught up in the moment, that we don’t see Dayna come in and up to the table for a minute.

“Well isn’t this all nice and cozy? Are you kidding me? I don’t believe it, Cotton! You’re supposed to be mine! I know for a fact that those aren’t your babies, I know she was screwing Pyro and Bacon! She’s just trying to passthem off as yours, just to keep you away from me! I won’t let you do this, Saige! You’re nothing but a bitch! You’ll do anything to cut me out of his life, but no more! I’m taking what is mine!” She pulls a gun and aims it at me. She has it aimed at my head, her hands are shaking like crazy, as she fires at me. I move just in time for it to hit me in the shoulder.

Bacon runs in and calls out her name. “Dayna!” As soon as she hears him, she turns and fires at him. Bacon fires at her. She misses him, her shot hitting the wall, he gets her in the chest. The police are coming in at the same time, people are screaming and running trying to get out of harm’s way. Bacon shows them his badge and hands his gun over. Lt. Grady comes over to us. I’m sitting on the ground, Cotton holding me to him, with a napkin pressed hard to my shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding. Dad and Leilani are huddled around me too, with Tonya behind Cotton, getting another napkin for him. I’m watching all the chaos going on around us. Police officers are everywhere, trying to get people to clear out, taking statements and pictures of everything, gathering evidence. EMS is finally allowed to come in, and they check Dayna’s pulse, but we all know she is gone.

Wolfe is one of the EMTs tonight and he rushes over to me. Taking the napkins from my shoulder, he looks at it. “Damn, Saige, we are going to have to get you to thehospital. The bullet is lodged in your shoulder somewhere. They’ll have to surgically remove it. Come on, sweetie. Let’s get you in the ambulance.” I start to stand up with help from Cotton, but I get dizzy and the last thing I remember is Cotton and Wolfe yelling my name as I go down.

I wakeup and realize I’m in the hospital recovery room. I’m groggy and hurting like hell. I can’t move my left arm at all. “Oh good, you’re awake. I’m Britt, and I’ll be your nurse until you get up to your room. How are you feeling?”

“I’m hurting like hell. I can’t move my arm.”

She smiles at me. “What would you rate your pain on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst?”

“A twenty,” I say, wanting to knock that grin off her face.

Her smile seems to get bigger, “I’m going to give you something for the pain. I promise it won’t hurt the babies. It’ll probably make you sleepy. Go ahead and rest. Dr. Atlas will be up to check on you later. We’re just waiting on them to get your room ready upstairs. Your family is waiting for you up there. Okay here take this. This is a hydrocodone five.”

I look up at her, even in my groggy state of mind I ask, “Isn’t that an opioid? Aren’t they bad for babies?” She smiles down at me, nobody should be that cheery in a recovery room, I think.

Lil Miss Britt who is happy as a buzzing bee says to me, “Short term use is okay, and you’ll probably be on them for a week at most. It’s safe. Dr. Atlas wouldn’t give them to you if they weren’t.” I nod and take the pill. I lay back against the pillows as she takes my blood pressure and temperature. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on you.”

I close my eyes and the next time I open them, Cotton is sitting beside me, my hand in his, his head laying on the bed beside me. I move my hand a little, and he wakes up. “Hey, Butterfly. You scared the hell out of me. Are you okay? Do you need anything?”