Page 25 of The Loves We Lost

“There isn’t going to be a next time,” Spark grumbles.

“Oh, shush,” Iris says. “Niro is a surprisingly good teacher.”

Niro flips the bird at Spark behind Iris’s head.

“And I spent two hours with my friends. It was good exercise,” she continues.

“You’re fucking pregnant, Iris,” Spark says, almost shouting the words. “If I’d known you’d be throwing knives and nunchucks, I’d have kept you home.”

There is a moment’s silence, and then volume explodes around me.

The old ladies are suddenly squealing around Iris, and Saint tugs Spark into a hug.

“Wait, wait,” Iris shouts. When no one listens to her, I whistle to get their attention. “I’m only seven weeks. It’s too early to be celebrating.” She looks to Spark. “What happened to waiting until twelve weeks like we agreed?”

Spark steps into her space, but he’s smiling. “What happened to taking care of the little one, nunchuck queen?”

“I wasfine. And we aren’t doing thirty-three more weeks of this.”

“We are. But I’m sorry for telling everyone before you were ready, little chick.” He touches her cheek, and I feel a tinge of jealousy. I left Viola behind in a random hotel room. I wish I could show her that the MC life isn’t what she thinks. But then I remember how Iris had been kidnapped by the Righteous Brotherhood, and my heart sinks.

“It’s okay,” Iris says. “They’re our friends. I suppose they’re here for us whether this all goes well or something bad happens. So, yeah, I guess we’re pregnant.”

The volume erupts again, and this time two prospects, Noah and Jerry, are called upon to pour drinks.

“To the first kid of our generation,” King says, raising his glass of Scotch in the air.

“To the first kid,” everyone responds.

“I’m already over toasting shit with soda,” Iris grumbles playfully.

“Doesn’t get you out of practicing those diagonals,” Niro says, and Iris high-fives him while Spark growls. “Same time next week, yeah?”

“What did we miss?” Switch and Vex ask in tandem as they enter the bar, still sweating and wearing workout clothes.

“I’m gonna be a dad,” Spark says with a grin so wide, I’m worried about his jaw breaking.

Vex wipes his hand on the towel around his neck and shakes Spark’s hand. “I’d hug you but ...” He glances down at his sweat-soaked T-shirt. He takes Iris’s hand and kisses it in an altogether old-fashioned way.

Switch congratulates them before grabbing me and King and pulling us to one side. “I’m guessing that medical bay should include an upgrade for emergency deliveries,” Switch says.

King nods. “We can’t build a NICU, but figure out what we need for labor, birth, whatever. Just in case it happens while we’re on lockdown.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to build a plan for how we’d get Iris to the hospital rather than trying to build something here?” I ask.

Switch nods. “In an ideal world, yes. But on the off chance we can’t, there are a few things we can do to make everything a bit more comfortable for Iris. And to be honest, better for everyone else too. A gas-and-air combo for pain relief. Better sterilizing agents. More surgical options. Better lighting. And blood typing everyone to see who can give blood to who. We could triage faster if we needed to.”

King thinks for a moment. “Do both. I want a plan on how we get Iris to the hospital, what route, who goes, what vehicles. And I want a plan for here.” He glances over at Spark and tips his chin. “He’ll lose his fucking shit if anything happens to Iris. So let’s have something to knock him out too if we have to.”

Switch does a double take at our boss. “You want to knock Spark out?”

King shakes his head. “No. I really don’t. But if we’re locked down and the enemy is at our gate, and she’s in pain, you know he’s gonna pick her up and walk her straight out that door into a wall of gunfire. Remember when he was hurting after taking a beating and Iris asked you to keep him sedated so he could heal? ... I’m thinking she’d appreciate our help again if it came to it. We’re starting a war. We’re going to have to do things that don’t feel comfortable. All I care about is that we are all alive when this is over.”

Switch nods. “I’ll make sure we have options. I’m gonna take a shower.”

I turn to head back to the bar, but King stops me. “Come into my office,” he says.

“What’s up, boss?” I say when I close the door behind me.