Page 29 of Lore (Serpents of Chaos MC #3)

Skull

Still hungover from the celebrations the night before, I cover my eyes with my arm, trying to block the sunlight. My phone vibrates, and I feel like it isn’t the first time.

“Yeah,” I bark, not checking to see who it is.

“Skull, you and Bones need to get to the hospital right now,” Scorp demands, and something in his tone has me sliding my sheet off and sitting up.

“What is it?” I ask, standing up.

“Daisy showed up here last night and had the baby. She had left town but decided to come back to give birth…” He pauses and takes a deep breath. My heart starts hammering in my chest. He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying, right?

“I quickly ran the tests, and the baby is either yours or Bones.”

Fuck.

No.

We knew this was a slight possibility. We had both fucked Daisy. Yeah, we wore protection, but accidents happen. I guess it was double the chance of us being the father since we both had her.

What a fucking shit show.

I have a quick shower, get dressed, and head next door to my brother’s room. Rose is still naked in bed with him. We both fucked her last night, but while he allows sleepovers, I do not.

“Bones, get up,” I say, and his blue eyes, identical to my own, open.

“What?”

“Get dressed, we have to go to the hospital. Scorp called.”

His brows knit as he tries to process my words while he’s still half asleep. He quickly rises and stands in front of me. “Who’s hurt?”

“It’s Daisy,” I say, swallowing hard. “The baby. It’s ours.”

He makes a choking sound, mixed with laughter that lacks his usual humor. “Stop messing around.”

“I’m not,” I reply quietly.

We share a look.

“Fuck,” he grunts, stalking toward the bathroom with his hands behind his neck.

Neither of us is father material.

The first baby we ever held was Zade, Ora’s son, and that was just last week.

It’s the blind fucking leading the blind here.

And the child’s mother is a club girl.

What life is this baby going to have?

While Bones gets ready, I pull out my phone and do an internet search on what newborns need. Apparently, a lot . I’m going to need Ora’s help with this one.

On our way to our bikes, I turn to Bones. “Should we bring something?”

At the same time, he says, “We should bring something, right?”

One mind.

“What, though? I don’t know what a baby needs.”

I nod in agreement. “Let’s go check out the situation, and then we can go buy everything.” I pause. “Should we bring Daisy flowers or something? She did just push out our baby.”

A muscle works in his jaw. “Yeah, all right. We can get something in the hospital gift shop.”

We take care of what’s ours.

It doesn’t matter who the baby actually belongs to.

He or she is ours.

It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

When we step inside the hospital, we find Scorp waiting for us at reception. The concerned look on his face doesn’t bode well for us. He looks away from the paperwork in his hands, his green eyes darting from one of us to the other.

“I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just tell us,” I demand quietly.

He rubs the back of his neck. “Daisy left. She had the baby, and she left.”

I share a look with Bones, eyebrows scrunched.

“What do you fucking mean she left?” Bones snarls, his jaw tightening. “Where the hell did she go?”

“She left a note,” Scorp says, handing it to us.

I don’t want this baby.

Give it to her father.

“Did she even know we are the father?” I ask, trying to figure out why the fuck she has done something so heartless to an innocent child.

“No,” he admits, shaking his head, but he lowers his tone. “She doesn’t know I ran those tests. I still had the samples we took before she ran off. So I just tested your DNA with the baby’s. It was a match. If you want, we can run more tests to find out which one of you is definitely the father.”

“No,” we reply at the same time.

“I thought as much.” He sighs, crossing his arms over his chest, his muscles straining against his fancy white doctor coat. “I think you should find out. You can both still raise her, but you’ll have to figure out how it all works. Think about it.”

She?

We have a daughter. A little girl.

Why am I more terrified than I was before?

“We have a little girl?” Bones mutters, shaking his head like he’s clearing his thoughts. “I’m going to need more guns.”

“There’s more. Your daughter is in the NICU because she was born with low birth weight. She’s only a tiny little thing, and she was having some breathing difficulties. We want to watch over her for a few more days to be safe,” he explains, and my heart starts racing with pure fear.

“But she will be okay?” I ask, frowning.

“Yes, she will. Come on, you can both go see her.”

At the first sight of our daughter, lying in the clear cot, sound asleep, I instantly fall in love with her. A full head of blonde hair, long dark lashes, and the tiniest set of fingers and toes I’ve ever seen.

She’s perfect.

Scorp lets us hold her hand through the circles in the cot.

That has to be enough for today.

But we stay with her for hours.

Bones heads home to sleep, and he will swap with me tomorrow morning.

“She’s the most adorable baby,” the nurse says as she steps into the room. “Sorry to interrupt, I’m Isla. I’ll be her night-shift nurse tonight.”

Thick dark hair tied at her nape. Big brown eyes. And a curvy body, even her scrubs can’t hide the shape in.

“Skull,” I reply.

She’s wearing glasses that I find really-fucking-adorable and hasn’t checked me out even once.

Isla picks up my baby girl’s chart and reads over it, smiling down at her. “I caught her with her eyes open yesterday. Big blue eyes.” She turns to me and looks me in the eye for the first time. “Just like yours.”

I study her for a few moments, but don’t say anything in return. She goes about her business and then turns back to me. “You want me to get you anything. A coffee?”

I’d love a coffee, but I shake my head in answer.

She must have seen just how much I wanted one on my face because a few minutes later, she comes back inside and hands me one anyway. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I guessed.”

I bring the cup to my lips.

Black.

One sugar.

Just how I like it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Daddy,” she replies, flashing me an easy, amused smile, and then leaves once more.

Daddy?

Yeah, now is not the time, Skull.

Little did I know how this one interaction with Isla would send me down a fucking rabbit hole.

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