Page 3 of Risk (Mayhem Makers: MMM #3)

CHAPTER

TWO

Risk

For the first time things have been calm around the clubhouse. The kids are settling into their new roles around here, the brothers and old ladies have lifted the weight they carried off their shoulders by stepping up and taking responsibility for the younger ones.

It’s been an adjustment, I’m not gonna lie about that.

But now that we’ve gotten in the groove of things, it’s as if we’ve always been one big dysfunctional family.

The teenage boys are the little brothers we never wanted but needed to remind us that all of our struggles and sacrifices have been worth it.

I wasn’t onboard initially with settling down in one town, but now that they’ve entered the picture, I am.

Demi and Luna have taken to motherhood like they were born to take on that role.

At first, I was hesitant when it came to Demi since she thought she didn’t have a motherly bone in her body, but the way Brooklynn hangs off of her like a little monkey and Jordan goes to her whenever there’s something on his mind, says differently.

A heavy breathing sound coming from my left catches my attention.

I twist on my seat and watch Luna pace from one end of the common room to the other, holding the weight of her belly in her hand as she breathes in and out in patterns.

When Demi comes rushing over to her with a stopwatch, I drop my beer and as it shatters on the hardwood floor, all eyes turn toward me.

“Are you in labor?” I ask Luna, freaking the hell out. Kodiak and Conan went two towns over for a meeting with a potential client so it’s just me and the other guys here with the women and kids.

Luna waves me away, stating, “It’s nothing, just Braxton-Hicks.”

“I’m not sure who you’re trying to convince of that, Luna. But we both know you’re full of shit,” Demi scolds.

“I’m not full of shit, Demi,” Luna argues.

“No, you’re full of baby that’s about to make an appearance,” Rev says, “at least that’s what I’m taking from the fact that you’ve either pissed your pants or your water broke.”

“It hasn’t broken,” Luna adamantly argues. “It’s trickling. There’s a big difference.”

Not wanting to get stuck smack dab in the middle of this controversial debate, I pull my phone out of my cut pocket and go to my trusty friend—Google. “Hate to break it to you, no pun intended, but if you’re trickling it’s the same damn thing.”

“According to whom?” Luna asks, her eyebrows drawn in.

I wave my phone through the air and tell her, “The internet.”

“I’m calling Marcum,” Demi announces, walking over to the bar where her purse is stashed and starts rummaging through it until she finds her cell and yanks it out with a look of success on her face. “Ah-ha! Can’t hide from me.”

As she says that, Brooklynn giggles, squinches her nose, and aims her own finger at the device with a scowl on her face. Her baby babbling is freaking hilarious. The room burst out into laughter, including Luna, who follows that up with an, “Oh, shit.”

Those two words changed the entire atmosphere of the club. It went from jovial laughter to a bunch of men, teenagers, and little ones' backs stiffening and the air becomes stifling.

“Oh, shit?” Demi asks, tilting to the side and staring down at Luna’s feet. “That’s all you’ve got to say, sis?”

“No,” Luna whispers, “How about this. Fucking hell, this shit hurts! 911! Everyone rally, it’s time for this baby to make an entrance. Demi, what are you waiting for, call Marcum for fuck’s sake. What’s taking you so long?”

Her yelled ramblings and directives get us all up and on our feet.

Rev and Regulator run into each other as they try to sprint in opposite directions.

Midas’s feet slip out from beneath him and he lands flat on his ass.

Hemi starts hollering out orders and I get assigned the job to head to the hall closet and grab her go-bag.

Luna had one stashed at her house and one here to make things easier for when the time came.

As I come back into the main room, Demi is holding her phone out with the speaker on. “Luna!” I hear my pres scream her name with heavy panting in the background. He must be running to his bike as he tries to talk.

“Don’t shout at me, Marcum! Today is not the day for you to raise your voice at me, mister.”

“I’m not shouting at you, baby,” Kodiak reasons. I shake my head because if he could see her right now, he’d adjust his volume and zip it. I watch her intently, waiting for her head to spin because she’s that green.

“She’s gonna blow!” Tritan screams as he jumps over the bar and grabs the trash can, hurling it through the air and everyone in the room gasps as it slams into the back of Demi’s head.

Brooklynn, still in her adopted mother’s arms, turns her head slowly, pinning Tritan with a menacing glare.

Then she lifts her finger and starts waving it at him, and even though we don’t understand gibberish, we get the point.

Tritan better watch his back because that tiny tot is going to take him out at the knees.

Demi glances over her shoulder staring down at the can that landed a few inches behind her, then gently plucks it off the ground and sits it in Luna’s lap, turns and tells Tritan, “I’ll deal with you later.”

“It was an accident!” Tritan sputters.

“Not the point,” she hisses. “You could’ve hit Brooklynn or Luna. Have you never played ball, Tritan? You are supposed to look before you toss things all willy-nilly! Asshole.”

“Ashhole,” Brooklynn parrots, still waving her finger at the man of the hour.

“What’s going on!” Kodiak screams through the receiver. “Why are y’all still sitting around? Get my woman to the damn hospital already!”

“On it,” I shout, lifting Luna’s bag in the air so she sees it. “Ready when you are.”

“No time better than the present,” she mumbles, clutching the plastic can in her arms as Demi helps lift her to where she’s standing upright. “Should’ve invested in one that lifted me.”

“We’ll do that next time,” Demi says, placating her sister.

“Next time?” Luna harrumphs. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m a one and done woman. This is it, do you hear me, Marcum!”

“Loud and clear, Moon. One and done, but could you maybe go to the car so we can have this one?”

As he asks her that, she turns to me and probes, “Did he really just say us? I know he didn’t because I don’t see him having contractions that make him want to double over.

He doesn’t have any wet, sticky substance trailing down his legs.

I think I’ve done my part, if he wants to push this baby out I’ll happily tag him in. ”

“I’m sure if he could, he’d take your place, Luna,” I say softly in an effort to pacify her. “No man likes seeing his woman in pain.”

“I can help with that,” she tells me.

Even though I’m scared to ask, I do anyway. “How?”

“By putting his balls in a vice grip,” she grumbles as I open the passenger side door and help lift her up.

“I’ll get the kids and meet you there!” Demi shouts as I round the car.

Luna waves at her friend. “Hurry, Demi! Otherwise, I’ll be wearing cuffs the second I push this kid out.”

“Do I want to know?” I ask Luna as I fire up the engine.

“No. Wouldn’t want to make you an accomplice,” she says, her words strong and steady.

I make a mental note to give Kodiak a heads up. That’s if I can catch him as he comes stumbling through the maternity ward doors.

Their poor baby is going to be born to a mom trying to emasculate its father. This birth may go down in the history books.