Page 8 of Karma (Deranged Drifters MC #23)

Chapter Eight

Griffin’s Beach Hailey

“ H ave you talked about moving into another place?” Felicity Short asks.

Hailey Nichols smiles at the little girl on the seat next to her in the carrier. “We’ve talked about it, but we’re not really in a rush right now. It’s kind of nice being in such close quarters with each other,” she says to her boyfriend’s mother. The same mother who once called her a whore.

“I’d go crazy if I was stuck in an apartment with Ky. Kid or no kid, I need to have space. And separate bathrooms.”

Giggling, she turns from Nancy and looks at Felicity. “It’s been kind of nice not having to worry about mowing the lawn and everything that comes with a house.”

“We can make sure someone takes care of that for you,” Felicity says with a smirk. “You’re not on your own, Hailey.”

“I know.” She reaches over and tickles Nancy.

The way the baby giggles and holds her fingers makes her heart melt. While Nancy Short may not be Hailey’s biologically, she may as well be. There is nothing Hailey wouldn’t do to protect her. She always thought she’d die for Lucas, but this is different. So different.

In every other way, she is Nancy’s mother. She’s the one who wakes up in the middle of the night to feed her. And she’s the one who changes most of her diapers.

“You’re so good to her,” Felicity says. “I have to say, both of my kids made pretty good choices with their partners. You and Kent both adore their kids as your own.”

“You like Kent with Gracie, huh?” Hailey asks with a wide smile. “Could it have something to do with the way he reacted to Cole the night he patched in?”

Kent Conway, another legacy who prospected with Gavin, patched in together. Gracie and he had been together for a hot minute at that point, having been just close friends until Gracie turned eighteen. He even helped deliver her son, Nolan.

“That was crazy,” Felicity says and wraps her dark hair up in a bun on the top of her head. “He always has such a calm demeanor that I was certain his apartment was nothing but bongs everywhere. It’s weird to see a man wearing the leather who doesn’t have a quick trigger.”

The weather outside has warmed up quicker than normal, and it’s the strange time of year where the public spaces haven’t changed the thermostats yet because it could be cold one day and warm the next two before dipping back down.

“It was kind of scary when he attacked Cole. But, like a good scary.”

Cole Walsh joined the club to become a Prospect with Jace and Gavin, and he thought he was special because he was dating Klaire, Colt’s little sister.

It came out the night of the vote that he’d fathered Gracie’s son.

The father who wanted nothing to do with his child and said terrible things about Gracie.

When he accused her of being the reason he was getting the boot, he called her easy and a whore.

Kent attacked him. Dove for him, and Gavin helped hold him still while Kent beat him bloody.

If Colt hadn’t ordered him to stop, he would have murdered Cole.

Hurt him enough as it was that Cole spent over a week in the hospital.

“It makes me comfortable when he’s around them. I know he’ll never let anything happen to them, but I never thought I’d be the type of mom who let her daughter’s boyfriend sleep over.”

“Your daughter’s also eighteen, so it’s not that bad. Plus, she has a kid that was conceived at a party, not under your roof,” Hailey says with a laugh.

Snorting, Felicity shakes her head. “I also feel safer with him around, too. He only stays over when Ky’s gone because I think they have an understanding that he’s sleeping with Gracie, but it’s another thing when they’re possibly having sex under the same roof as Ky.”

“Again, he wasn’t the one who knocked her up. In fact, he helped her bring Nolan into the world. That has to count for something.”

Gracie’s seventeenth birthday was memorable for the entire family. Kent planned to take her out to dinner to celebrate, and when he showed up to pick her up, her water had broken, and she was in labor. They barely made it to the hospital in time.

“Do you believe in fate?” Hailey asks out of the blue.

“I guess I don’t really think about it. Why?”

Smiling, she leans her elbows on the table.

“It’s just unbelievable to think about how we almost didn’t make it to the place we are now.

You know, like Kent and Gracie being together when she went into labor, and now they’re in a relationship.

If he hadn’t been there that day, they might have never started dating. ”

“I suppose that’s true,” Felicity says, looking at her water glass.

“And Nancy, too. She wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have my plethora of issues to deal with. And if the waitress wanted to be a mom, we might not be sitting here together right now.”

“Getting philosophical on me?”

She shrugs. “I guess so. It’s just wild to think about how one change could have altered everything. I don’t know how people don’t believe in fate when you sit back and think about it. There’s a bigger plan for all of us.”

Just as she opens her mouth to respond, or maybe laugh, a familiar voice says, “I make cute kids, don’t I?”

The waitress. Hailey whips around, her protective instincts taking over, and she shifts to block Nancy from the woman who decided she couldn’t be a mom.

“What are you doing here?” Felicity asks.

“It’s a restaurant. I came to eat. You know, like people tend to do,” she says with an overly snarky tone.

“No, I meant here, in the presence of the woman who needs very little reason to jump up and rip your face off.”

The waitress leans back, her blonde hair curled and clipped back. “Excuse me?”

Hailey hates how cute she looks. And her body bounced back well after having a baby. No one would ever know, especially because she signed away all of her rights to her child.

“Lex told me she gave you a warning earlier this week, and it seems you didn’t heed her warning. That’s kind of a big fucking mistake,” Felicity says.

Lex talked to the waitress? She didn’t tell me this? Why? What happened? And why didn’t she share?

“I think you’re all overlooking the simple fact that I’m Nancy’s mother.”

“Actually, you’re really not. Not according to the paper you signed,” Hailey says. “You have no parental rights.”

“Yeah? Well, neither do you.”

The words sink in, and Hailey holds back her sob. She’s right. This stupid bitch is right. Hailey has no rights to Nancy, and she doesn’t have any type of quick or witty comeback for her.

“I’ve had some time to think about it, and I think I made a mistake. I want my daughter back.”

“You’re not her mother anymore,” Hailey says, thankful for her years of training to keep a brave face on kicks into gear.

“I’m more her mother than you’ll ever be,” she says with a smile. “I will get my daughter back. And when I do, I’ll make sure you never see her again.”

Felicity’s eyebrows lift as she snorts. “It’s not smart to threaten an old lady of a motorcycle club.”

“Well, you better hope I don’t decide to steal Gavin back, too. We’ll see how I feel when the time comes, but I might just make old lady status while Hailey gets kicked to the curb. The world is sometimes a crazy place.”

The waitress turns and walks away with a triumphant smirk on her face, and Hailey struggles to breathe. She can’t really do this… Can she?

Griffin’s Beach Gavin

“ H ey, where’s Nancy?” Gavin Short asks his girlfriend when she walks into the apartment alone. “Hailey? What’s wrong?”

Hailey looks up at him with tear-filled eyes. “Nancy’s with your mom.”

“What happened?” he asks and jumps up from the couch.

Hailey rarely ever cries, so whatever happened has to be big. Earth-shattering big. And the pain on her face has him conflicted. He wants to console her, but he also wants to murder whoever made her feel this way.

“I want to be Nancy’s mom.”

“Baby, you are.”

“No,” she says and shakes her head. “I want it official. I want to adopt her.”

Not that he has any issue with it, but he feels like this comes out of left field. “Hailey, what happened? Where is this coming from?”

“The waitress can’t take her back. She can’t take her away from me.”

“She signed her rights away. She can’t have Nancy. Hell, she doesn’t want her, remember?”

“She does now,” she says, and she bends over as the sobs take over. He reaches out to steady her, and she looks up at him with pleading eyes. “She wants to take her away. I can’t lose her, Gavin. I can’t.”

Pulling her into his arm, he holds her tightly. “You won’t. I promise.”

“I want to adopt her. She’s mine as far as I’m concerned, and even if something happens between us five or ten or thirty years down the road, I want to be in her life.”

He kisses her temple as she sobs against his chest. “You will. I promise, you’ll never have Nancy taken away from you.”

“She says she’ll take Nancy first, and then she’ll take you away, too.”

“Well, we both know that’s a fucking lie. She was convenient, but I never once cared about her. I love you . You’re the best mother to our daughter.”

“I want to adopt her, Gavin,” she says and pulls back to look up with glossy eyes. “Please.”

Nodding, he cups her face. “I’ll talk with Lily. We’ll figure out what we need to do. But you’re not losing her. And you’re stuck with me, babe.”

Her lips crash onto his, and he lifts her up into his strong arms. He carries her into the bedroom, and he finds comfort in knowing exactly what she wants. Hailey Nichols has only ever been a mystery outside of the bedroom. Inside, he knows what she desires at all times.

In this case, she seeks comfort. Sensual and intimate. Something Gavin’s more than happy to offer, his chest filled with both happiness and pain.

Hailey’s fear of losing both of them hurts him because the last thing he ever wants is for her to worry. He adores how much she loves his daughter. He couldn’t do this without Hailey, and he was more than a little scared when Emme dropped Nancy off, saying she wasn’t coming back. He was terrified.

Hailey stepped up and saved him. The way she took on the role of mother, and sometimes father when he’s gone with the club, means more to him than he can ever express to her. There is no way he could’ve done it without her.

“Gavin,” she moans as he thrusts inside her, long and slow.

They’ve never had an issue coming together like this, and he continues until her emotions shift from upset with fear to overcome with pleasure. Watching her reach her climax makes him smile, and he kisses her neck. And the moment she comes around him, he knows exactly what he wants.

I want to marry her.