Page 22

Chapter Twenty-One

S lice picked up Isaiah as he ran by the kitchen island. “Watch out, buddy, the floor has just been cleaned, and it’s slick in your socks. Do you like our new house?”

“Yes, and the swingset outside too. When can we have Grant and David spend the night?” Isaiah asked.

“Let’s talk to Faith, and maybe we can figure out a time. How about you get your brother, and you guys can have a special thirty minutes of video games for helping so much with the move-in?”

Isaiah whooped and ran to grab his brother. It was Sunday evening, and Slice was exhausted. They’d spent the majority of Saturday packing up Faith’s stuff and also Rose and Tasha’s. The twins had moved into one of the suites in Locks’ house until they left on their trip.

This morning, they’d spent unpacking, then ran over for Sunday lunch with everyone. Sprite and Roam had taken the boys after lunch so that everyone else could help them unpack.

Slice considered it a win that they had all the beds made and clothes put away, so they’d be okay for getting ready for school tomorrow. He needed just a little time with Faith to propose. Regina had chatted with him about what his bride-to-be wanted, and Slice was all on board. Regina also suggested that they plan a honeymoon for this summer once Faith was off for the break, and all the issues with custody of the boys should be resolved by then.

He stood in the doorway of their bedroom and watched the woman who had made all his dreams come true hang her shirts up. He walked in and dropped to one knee in front of her.

“Faith Grimes, from the instant I saw you bringing your car to the garage, you interested me. Then, on Christmas Eve, you welcomed an abandoned newborn into your home along with the scruffy biker who’d found him.

“Your heart is one of the many things I love about you. The fact that huge heart is all wrapped up in a sexy package that makes me hard at the most inopportune times just makes me love you more.” He waited for her to quit giggling before he continued. Not only were their kids little cockblockers, but so were his brothers. Everyone was sleeping in their own beds tonight because Slice needed his woman.

“I know our courtship hasn’t been the most conventional, and I still owe you a lot of firsts, including your first motorcycle ride and our first movie date. But if you say yes to being my wife and my Ol’ Lady, then I promise to work my hardest to make all your dreams come true. Faith, will you be my Ol’ Lady and my wife?” he asked.

Faith smiled that smile that made his heart beat faster, then put her hand out toward him.

“Yes, Gabriel, I would love to be your Ol’ Lady and your wife. You’ve made every dream I’ve ever had already come true,” she said as he slid the ring on her finger. He’d gone for a one-carat diamond surrounded by yellow sapphires. The smaller yellow stones represented all the lives Faith touched through her foster care and teaching.

He stood up and pulled her into his arms, claiming her lips, letting the world fall away while he fell under Faith’s spell.

Yelling from the front room had him pulling back a little. “Sounds like our little sweeties are fighting.”

Faith smirked, then gave him a push. “It’s your turn. I dealt with them when they fought over which twin bed they wanted in their room.”

Slice kissed her forehead, then headed out to break up a fight. Even when they were fighting, he loved his little ones. And if they got on his nerves too much, there were so many people who had claimed the boys as their family that he and Faith could always get a break.

Faith was giving LB a bottle while Slice was helping the boys take showers in their new bathroom. Because it was the bathroom the boys would use the most, she’d let them tell her what type of theme they wanted. It wasn’t a big surprise that they wanted a video game theme.

She’d placed an online order late Friday, and everything had been delivered today. Now she only hoped they could work through getting custody of the boys and figure out how to have custody of LB too. She wanted him to have a real name.

A knock at their door had her standing up and grabbing a blanket to throw over LB as he drank his bottle. It was too cold for his face to be in the cold air when she opened the door.

War, Remi, Sarah, and Scoop were at the door.

“We need to come in and talk about something,” War said.

Faith’s heart stalled at his tone. What thing was he going to say to blow up her happy little family?

Slice walked out. “Boys are done with their showers. I got them settled on our bed with the TV on loud, watching a show since I didn’t know if they should hear what you came to say.”

War nodded. “Let’s all sit down.”

War waited until everyone sat down.

“Ambush called. Faith, he’s one of the brothers in our Texas Chapter. He was driving through Oklahoma and stopped at a gas station. When he went into the store, a young girl was asking any trucker that walked in about getting a ride to Bluff Creek. Hearing our Chapter’s town, he listened, then went to talk to her. She’s fourteen and told a fairly fantastic story about living in an apartment that was actually half of a house modified. She talked about needing to check on a baby.”

Faith gasped. LB’s mom was only fourteen. Would she want him back, and what was the poor girl doing trying to hitchhike on an interstate by herself?

“There’s more,” Remi said. “Ambush got her something to eat and drink at the rest stop. She basically started crying and poured out her life to him, which isn’t surprising. Ambush has that way about him that people just talk to him. She and her brother lived in St. Louis. Her parents had died six months before. Before that time, she’d never met her brother. He took custody of her. One weekend, he had a lot of friends over and fixed her something to drink.

“She didn’t remember anything after that. The first thing she remembered was her brother waking her up for Monday morning school and her stomach, arms, and chest hurting. Her brother told her she’d had the flu and her fever had broken during the night. She went to school, and that’s the last thing she thought about it until two months later when she couldn’t shake a stomach bug.”

“Oh no, oh no,” Faith said. She knew where this was going and wasn’t sure she could handle knowing more, but she really didn’t have a choice. She hadn’t had to endure it.

Remi nodded, then let War continue for her.

“Once her brother figured out she was pregnant, he told her they’d need to move. He had them move late one night. She thinks she was drugged again because she doesn’t remember the trip. He told her that bad men were after them and that’s why she couldn’t go to school or see people. The reason you thought she’d moved was because he didn’t let her look outside.

“The well-dressed woman you saw a couple times sounds like she was the person who checked on the pregnancy. When she started having contractions on Christmas Eve early in the day, her brother got mad and then started making phone calls. She remembers holding LB on her chest after having him, then her brother put a cloth over her mouth. She woke up in an apartment, which was in Dallas. Her brother wasn’t there, so she looked for clothes she could wear and money. She’s spent the last couple of weeks trying to make her way to Bluff Creek.

“From what Ambush said, she doesn’t want to be a mom but wants to know the baby is okay. By now, they should be close to pulling in. We need to know how you want to handle it.”

“How do we know she’s telling the truth?” Slice asked.

“She gave her name and her Social Security Number to Ambush. Sarah and I did some digging. It looks like everything checks out with her story, at least what we can verify. Her notes in her file at school had one of her teachers asking social services to check on her because the teacher thought the brother was hurting her. Two days later is when he pulled her from school and they moved,” Scoop said.

“So, she’s fourteen and alone in the world. She’s had a baby that she has no memory of making, and her scum of a brother is in jail for the foreseeable future. Does that sound about right?” Faith asked, handing LB off to Remi so she could pace around the room.

“What do I want to do? I want to wrap that girl in my arms and tell her I can’t fix what happened to her, but from every day forward we’ll take care of her. That’s what I want to do, but she may not want to be around LB every day. I want to protect her and give her parents who love her,” Faith finished, wiping the tears she couldn’t keep in one second longer.

Slice stood up and pulled her into his arms. “Then we’ll make it happen. There is some reason I found LB and some reason that she has found her way back to us.”

War nodded and typed something into his phone, then walked toward the front door. Faith waited.

“Locks is directing Ambush to the house,” War said, then waited by the door.

Faith stood still, unable to even walk toward the door at this point. Slice’s arm around her kept her in the moment. How should she act? What should she say? This girl was just a child still, even though she’d had a baby.

The door opened, and a tall, bulky, bearded biker in a black jacket walked in, then moved to the side for Faith to see a young girl with dark hair and a frame way too skinny for just having a baby, standing there, wary with just a hint of hope in her eyes.

“This is Deborah,” he said.

Faith knew what to do immediately. The same thing she’d done for every foster kid walking through her door. She showered them with love. She walked to the girl.

“Honey, I’m Faith, and I’m so glad you found your way to us,” she said, then enveloped the girl in her arms. Deborah waited a second, then threw her arms around Faith and started sobbing. The girl shuddered in Faith’s arms. Faith just held her tight, letting her know she was okay.

“You’re safe here, baby. It’s okay,” she murmured. Faith wasn’t sure how long she just stood, reassuring Deborah and holding her, but it was long enough for War, Remi, Sarah, and Scoop to leave. Ambush stayed, which she was grateful for because Deborah obviously trusted him, or she wouldn’t have ridden on his bike with him.

“Do you want to sit down and get something to eat? Do you want to see or hold LB?” Faith asked.

Deborah pulled her head back and looked up at Faith. “LB?”

“Sweetie, we didn’t have a birth certificate, so Slice started calling him Little Buddy, and then my other two boys, Micah and Isaiah, shortened it to LB.”

Deborah sniffed, and Slice handed her a tissue.

“I think I’d like to hold him,” she said.

Faith turned toward Ambush, who Remi had handed LB off to as they left. He was sitting on the couch.

“Deborah, he has your eyes,” Ambush said, then laid LB in her arms after she sat beside him. “Have you ever held a baby before, besides a couple minutes after he was born?” Ambush asked.

Deborah shook her head no. Faith knew this wasn’t her time to break down. She’d stay strong for this young girl whom life had treated so unkindly, and then later, she could break down.

“When he’s this little, his neck muscles don’t have the muscle tone to hold his neck steady. When you hold him, you want to support his neck like this.”

She moved her arm to support his head. “Like this?”

“Exactly. See, you’re a natural.”

Deborah sniffed a little and then kissed his forehead. “I love him, but I don’t think I’m ready to be his mommy now, or if I ever will be,” she whispered.

Slice took Faith’s hand and tugged her over in front of Deborah.

“What about if you were his sister? If you want to, you can become our daughter and finish growing up as his sister. When he’s older and can understand, we can tell him you gave birth to him if you want,” Slice offered.

“You really want me after all I did?” she asked.

“You mean after you had a baby and then did everything you could to get back to him and check on him? I’m amazed at how strong you are,” Slice said.

“Deborah, I’m sorry you went through what you did. And if you don’t want to stay here because it’s too hard having LB here, then we’ll help to find you a good foster care family that will let you have the life you want,” Faith said.

“It’s not that I don’t want to stay…” Deborah said softly.

“Then what is it, honey?” Faith asked.

“I’m not perfect. I’ve had a baby and haven’t gone to school.”

“Hmm, well no perfect people live here. I can’t birth children, and I fight my weight all the time. I’m seriously grumpy if I don’t get that first cup of coffee, and sometimes I’m just sad. But perfection is overrated and boring.”

“I’m definitely not perfect. I can’t hear out of one ear, and I can’t father children. I’m also overprotective to a fault and sometimes try to solve everyone’s problems when I need to let them help make decisions for themselves. Though I’m sorry about the way LB came into the world because it was so hard on you. I’m grateful we’ve all found our way to each other,” Slice said.

“Ambush said something about maybe there was a reason I’d found my way to Bluff Creek, but I didn’t understand,” Deborah said.

Ambush grinned, then laughed a little. “I was trying to figure out the odds how Faith, Gabriel, Isaiah, Micah, and Deborah would all end up together. It’s interesting, don’t you think?”

“I don’t understand,” Deborah said.

“Your names are all Bible names. Gabriel brought the good news to Mary. Isaiah and Micah were prophets foretelling in the Old Testament. Deborah was a strong woman and the only female judge in the Old Testament. And all of them had to have Faith to walk the path they did,” Ambush said.

“I didn’t know you read the Bible, Ambush,” Slice said.

“My parents were missionaries. I grew up overseas where they shared the gospel with people,” Ambush replied.

“In my head, I always thought that if I got to name him before he was taken, I’d name him Michael. There was a really nice boy in fifth grade named Michael,” Deborah said softly.

Ambush patted Deborah’s shoulder. “Michael would fit right in. He’s an archangel in the Bible. It sounds like a perfect name for him. Do you want to think about if you’ll stay here, or do you want to decide right away? I thought I’d stay awhile to make sure you were comfortable.”

“I’d like to sleep on it. Where will I stay?”

“We have an extra bedroom, and Ambush can stay on the couch either here or in the basement. I bet one of the ladies has some clothes to fit you. Do you want to snack on something?” Faith asked. She was concerned because Deborah was so skinny.

“Maybe in a minute. I just want to hold him if that’s okay.”

“He’s due for a bottle. Do you want to help me change his diaper and then feed him?” Faith asked.

“Yes.”

Faith looked over at Slice and could tell he was almost vibrating with rage about what had happened to Deborah.

“Slice, since Ambush is here with Deborah and me, why don’t you go check on clothes for her and head toward the clubhouse for a little bit?” Faith said.

Slice nodded. He looked at Ambush and Deborah. “Let me talk to Faith before I leave.”

He tugged her toward the front door. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to leave?”

Faith leaned up close to his ear. “I know this is so upsetting. Go get your anger out. Beat on something, then come back here ready to be a dad. I’ll hold it together, but I reserve the right to have you hold me while I cry in the shower,” Faith said softly, kissing his cheek.

He nodded and walked out the door.

“Shall we get his bottle? It’s going to be nice to be able to call him a name. I love the name Michael,” Faith said, leading Deborah into the kitchen.

Slice walked out of his house and met a wall of men. Locks, Bear, War, and Cannon were standing there.

“I need to get clothes for Deborah. She only has the clothes she’s wearing. And I need to beat on something because I’m so angry.”

Cannon motioned toward Jesse’s garage.

“Jesse has an old beater that she wants to teach the girls how to repair stuff on. She said to take a sledgehammer or whatever you want and beat it to your heart’s content, as long as we all wear safety glasses,” Cannon said, leading the way.

“If her brother wasn’t already in jail, I would beat on him,” Slice said.

Locks chuckled. “Umm, we know enough people that you couldn’t beat on him, but you could make his life pretty freaking miserable.”

Cannon flipped on the lights in the garage. He handed safety glasses to everyone and gloves to Slice.

Slice put them on and then walked over to the old car that was sitting on top of two tarps. He turned, and Locks handed him a sledgehammer.

“Wait,” Cannon called.

Slice turned to him.

“When you get home, you’ll need to remove all your clothes because of flying glass. If you don’t want to have to do that, you could put on my coveralls that are here.”

Slice shook his head and started swinging. With each hit on the car, he envisioned everyone who had let Deborah down. When he smashed the taillights, he imagined it was her brother’s kneecaps. How could someone treat their family member like that?

As he swung at the trunk, he screamed at the injustice of her first time being while drugged and a middle schooler. He hit the vehicle until tears blocked his vision in the safety glasses. As he dropped the hammer to get something to wipe his eyes, strong arms came around him, hugging him.

He dropped his head on Locks’ shoulder and cried for his little girl’s innocence being lost. Slice had hated how he’d grown up in foster care, but he’d never had to deal with anything like she had. He didn’t understand why it had happened, but she was his now, whether she chose to stay as his and Faith’s daughter or chose to leave. For the rest of her life, he would always watch over her.

“I know this is hard. It’s the hardest thing to do as a parent—learn how to deal with horrible things happening to our children. You want to wrap them in cotton wool, but their experiences, no matter how awful, shape the amazing people they become. Your heart will break so many times for the things you can’t fix. All you can do is love them and help them navigate this road we call life. But we’ll all be here with you as a shoulder to cry on,” Locks said.

“Or a body to beat on,” War said.

“Or an ear to listen when you don’t want to burden your wife with your fears,” Bear said.

Slice sniffed, then breathed deep. “I just never thought my heart could be so happy and so sad at the same time,” he said.

“Welcome to parenthood,” Cannon said.

“I need to get the clothes for Deborah and get back to Faith. Thank you all,” Slice said.

Echoes of any time sounded as they walked out of the garage. Slice breathed deeply of the crisp, cold air. Not only would he be sharing a lot of firsts with Faith for their marriage, he was friggin’ going to make sure Deborah, Michael, Micah, and Isaiah experienced everything childhood had to offer. He wondered how old Michael would need to be for them to go to an amusement park. Slice hadn’t ever been, and he couldn’t wait to take his kids.