Page 35 of Wild Side (Vicious Reapers MC #3)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ZADIE

Twins.

Turning my head, I look over at Goose, who is sitting in the driver’s seat, his fingers curled around the steering wheel. His eyes are focused straight ahead. He doesn’t move, doesn’t even start the engine of the pickup truck.

He just stares. Then, as if something inside him causes his body to come alive, he turns quickly to look at me. His eyes are wide as he watches me for a silent moment. Then his lips slowly curve up into a wide smile.

“You’re having twins.”

“I’m having twins,” I whisper.

The news hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Twins. What am I going to do with two babies? I didn’t even know what I was going to do with one. Now it’s two. Goose and I stare at one another. He’s smiling like a crazy person.

Then he reaches out, toward my lap, and wraps his fingers around my wrists. He flexes his fingers, his gaze not leaving mine. Something washes over me, a calmness. I don’t know what it is, but I let out an exhaled breath and dip my chin slightly.

“Excited as fuck, Zadie. Happy to have you in my family.”

He releases my hands, turns toward the windshield, then starts the engine. I do the same, shifting forward and watching as he drives, the entire time wondering what is about to happen. Because it’s going to be huge. I know it is.

I can feel it.

I’ve felt it since the moment I met Chase. Something shifted in my body, in my mind, in my atmosphere. I don’t know what it is, but I knew it was going to be big, and it’s not just big—it’s gigantic times two.

Twins.

Twin babies are going to be coming into this world. Placing my hand on my belly, I let out a heavy exhale. I’m not sure what tomorrow is going to look like. Just like I wasn’t sure what today would look like yesterday, but I’m excited for it to happen.

And I’m excited to share it all with my brand-new family.

Trent accepting me into his life is probably the best thing that could have happened. I know this will make Chase happy. And it makes me… ecstatic.

Beyond ecstatic.

Just when I thought I had nobody, just when I felt that my life was going to be incredibly lonely, I came here and was not only welcomed but accepted with the most open arms to ever exist.

I can’t wipe the smile off my lips.

Trent pulls up to my new home, into the driveway, and kills the engine. Wordlessly, he opens the pickup door and jumps out. Not waiting, I open my own door and follow him, climbing out and walking behind him to the front door.

He’s got his head dipped and his focus on his cell phone as I fish the keys out of my purse.

Moving past him to the door, I unlock and open it, then walk inside.

He follows me, though he is silent as he does.

I’m not sure what’s happening exactly, but when I turn around to thank him for everything today, he shifts his gaze up, connecting with mine almost instantly

“Maverick will be here in just a few minutes. He had some shit go down. He’s updating me.”

Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times before I clear my throat. “Do you want something to drink?” I ask.

His lips twitch into a smirk. “A shot would suffice, but I try not to drink and drive too much, so I’ll wait until I get to the clubhouse. I’m good for now, but I’m going to wait until Maverick gets here before I take off. It cool I chill on the sofa?”

Nodding a few times, I tell him that it’s okay, and then I slip out of the room and make my way to the back bedroom. I need a minute to breathe, because Chase is coming home, and I’m going to have to tell him that we’re not having just one baby but two.

Hopefully, he takes it as well as his brother.

But the simple fact is that I don’t know him very well. I can’t assume to know how he’s going to react. He’s been so positive this entire time that I’m almost waiting for the other shoe to drop, and this very well could be the other shoe.

I hear a motorcycle pull into the driveway. The rumbling is unmistakable.

He is home.

Standing in the bedroom, I listen to the front door opening, then closing. Men’s voices bounce off the walls, but only murmurs seep through. I can’t make out any clear words. I don’t try, either.

In fact, I just wait, far too consumed with my own thoughts, worries, fears, and anxieties to even attempt to make out what is being said in the living room. Lifting my hand to my mouth, I worry my thumb with my teeth, chewing on the edge of the nail as I wait for Chase to walk into the bedroom.

The front door opens and closes again. The pickup truck engine starts, then I hear footsteps moving down the hallway. They stop in front of the closed door.

I can’t look away.

As I wait, I stare at the door. My thumb between my teeth, my heart racing inside my chest, threatening to actually beat out of my body and land somewhere on the floor. My breathing comes out in heavy, ragged pants.

Slowly, the door opens.

There, standing in front of me, wearing his cut, looking absolutely breathtaking, as always, is Chase. He doesn’t move immediately. He watches me the same way I am watching him. I wait for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t.

“I went to the doctor today. They were able to fit me in at the last minute.”

He still doesn’t speak.

“Trent took me.”

“Trent?” He arches a brow.

“He said I could call him Trent,” I whisper.

Sucking in a deep breath, I hold it for just a moment before letting it escape in a whoosh, and that’s when I decide to just say it.

The three words that are either going to make or break us, although I thought that my pregnancy announcement alone would do that.

I didn’t think anything bigger could come.

But I was wrong.

“We’re having twins.”

Silence.

MAVERICK

Twins.

The word isn’t foreign to me. However, it was not expected. Not in the fucking slightest. After coming home, I told Goose about Kyle Alexander and how Piggy had to follow him out of town after taking a gun from him.

Though I don’t think we have to worry about him any longer.

It could have had a different ending. My brother only smiled and told me that he’d taken Zadie to the doctor for an appointment. He also said he’d see me at the clubhouse later for drinks.

It was the weirdest encounter I think I’ve ever had with him in my life. I get it now. I completely understand why he was acting funny.

Twins.

That’s why he was behaving the way he was.

I blink. I’m not sure how to react to this news. This was definitely not something I was prepared to hear. However, I’m not sure why. I am a twin myself. It should not be a shock that I’m having twins.

“The doctor said you being a twin doesn’t play into the whole thing,” she says, almost as if she can read my mind. “He said that’s just happenstance.”

Her words come out in a rush, as if she’s trying to quickly save the situation. There is no saving anything, because we are not a ship going down. I close the distance between us, reaching out.

Wrapping my arms around my woman, I pull her body to mine. I need to feel her pressed against me. Dipping my chin slightly, I brush my lips across hers. Her breath hitches, but I don’t pull away. I need to feel her softness against me. Her perfect softness.

“Say something, Chase.”

I got nothing to say. Instead of speaking, I decide that this is the perfect opportunity to show her how I feel. My mouth finds hers again, and my tongue slips inside her, swirling around her own as I taste her.

She tastes like the sweetest perfection.

Reluctantly, I break the kiss, nibbling on her bottom lip when I do. Shifting slightly, I close my eyes, rest my forehead against hers, and suck in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I cannot believe this is real life.

Sliding one of my hands from her waist, I gently rest my palm against the side of her neck, curling my fingers there as I firmly yet loosely hold her. Lifting my head, I open my eyes to find hers and hold them for a moment.

I can tell she’s confused. She doesn’t know how I feel because she can’t read my expressions, and I haven’t told her yet. My lips curve up into a smile as I slide my thumb along her bottom lip, feeling her soft flesh there.

“This is scary as fuck,” I state.

Her eyes widen, and she presses her lips together in a firm line as her nostrils flare. I can see the wetness gathering in her eyes.

“That being said,” I continue, “I’m happy as fuck, too.”

“You are?” she whispers.

“Beyond happy, honey. We’re having two babies. Two. Double everything, including love.”

The tears building in her eyes roll down her cheeks, but I don’t bother wiping them away. I’m too transfixed on her smile. That’s what she needed from me. She needed to hear me tell her that I’m happy.

“Don’t be scared, honey. This is beautiful. And it is so goddamn gorgeous and right that we were given two lives to raise.”

And that is that.

My lips find hers again, and the world around us dissolves. Nothing exists but this—her and me.

Our future.

Our children.

Our world.