Damaged and the Outlaw (29 page)

By our seventh
anniversary, we had five kids and weren’t done yet. Raven was blessed with easy
pregnancies and could run around until the moment of delivery. Oh, and did those
deliveries become legend.

When River was
born, the whole crew was laughing their asses off in the waiting room because
of Raven’s profanity-laced rants. Our twins came two years later. During their
deliveries, a drinking game started with the crew and club guys. Every time
Raven screamed a cuss word, Tucker told the guys at the bar and they’d take a
shot of whiskey. Half of the guys were wasted by the time Savannah was born. As
Avery joined her sister, the other half of the bar was just as drunk off their
asses.

The obstetrician
nearly begged Raven to use pain meds. She refused of course. No one was telling
her what to do.

For Maverick’s
birth, the hospital moved Raven to a room at the end of the hall and kept the
other laboring mothers as far away as possible. Another change the third time
around was how Raven refused to allow the club guys free fun based on her
laboring pains. To play the drinking game, they had to donate a hundred dollars
into the kids’ college fun. We figured at least one of our kids would want to
do the education thing.

The guys donated
the money and got ready for Raven to let loose. In her laboring room, she even
allowed a mic connected to overhead speakers at the bar. Despite knowing they
were all listening, my woman didn’t disappoint. One particular favorite was
motherfucking crustacean cunt. When Maverick’s head crowded, she also sounded a
little bit like a graboid from
Tremors
. Hell, I think she did that on
purpose because we’d watched the movie the night before. Raven was a born
entertainer.

That night, we
added a few thousand dollars to the kids’ college fund, the guys had a blast
getting wasted to Raven’s profanity, and I welcomed my second son. Unlike his
angelic brother, Maverick peed on me an hour after birth. I knew that boy was
going to be a handful.

Despite the
chaos, our family had a solid routine. Weekends were spent at the cabin where
we enjoyed the quiet. A few times a week, Raven and Lark trained at Big Bob’s.
My kids and I cawed for mommy during games. Once a week, we dropped by Cooper’s
new house to add to his chaos.

At least twice a
week, we lived at the bowling alley. All the kids loved the game and River was
quite talented like his pop. Our youngest Nevaeh even enjoyed bowling before
she was born. Every time we were at the alley, the baby would kick the hell out
of Raven. My woman responded by eating nachos. While I never understood the
plan behind dosing our unborn kid with cheese, who was I to question her
tactics?

No matter how
wild we got at home, our kids always behaved in public. Raven figured no one
would expect good manners from her offspring and she wanted to prove the wrong.
Even after years together, Raven was still the beautiful stubborn woman I
married.

Our big yellow
dream house was filled with laughter and wild times. One of my favorite activities
was hosing down the kids and Raven on the trampoline. In fact, I wouldn’t be
surprised if we made so many kids because I kept wetting her down like that.

No longer an
outlaw, I had my family, club, and friends. Ellsberg was my home and I never
intended to leave. Raven was more than I could have wished for in a woman and
my kids kept me honest. No more lies.

Life was pretty
perfect. All because a sexy chick broke her abstinence pledge to enjoy a night
of fun. One hot roll in bed blossomed into love, marriage, and quite a few baby
carriages. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Even after all
these years, I still kept Fair Bear on my dresser as a reminder of the night
Vaughn first said he loved me. While I’d freaked out, he never gave up on us. My
man might have a dirty job, I was in a constant state of baby-making, and
chicks drooled whenever he walked into a room, but Vaughn was only mine.

We still enjoyed
the fair every summer and we weren’t the only ones. Walking with our towheaded
brood, I spotted Judd and Tawny with their little ones. They had decided, boy
or girl, they were done with two, so Heidi would be their last child.

The dark hair
beauty was the spitting image of her mother except for sharing her daddy’s blue
eyes. Unlike her mellow brother, Heidi was a giggle machine and loved to pull
Vaughn’s finger.

We waved at
Tawny who smiled from the Ferris wheel with Judd and Gunnar. Down below, Heidi
watched with Zaria. Next to me, Vaughn flipped off Judd who reciprocated. It
was good to see the guys still bonding. Our twins flipped off Judd too until
River said it wasn’t polite.

“We’ve raised
classy kids,” Vaughn said, giving me a wink.

Rolling my eyes,
I walked with Nevaeh in a baby carrier strapped to the front of me. The little
hellraiser gnawed on a corndog she would never eat with her two puny teeth. She
just wanted to be like her siblings who were all chowing down gross fair food.
Like her daddy, Nevaeh wanted to belong.

At a game stand,
we fired water into clown mouths and attempted to fill balloons in the hopes of
winning an elusive prize. I helped Nevaeh fire our gun while Maverick shot from
his father’s shoulders. Savannah was the only one who managed to inflate a
balloon. She gave her prize to Avery who smirked as if she’d suckered her
sister.

Vaughn sighed
dramatically and I noticed Sawyer running around with her friends. Wearing face
paint and barely there shorts, the teenager was stuck between childhood and
womanhood.

“Our girls will
never wear those shorts,” Vaughn said then laughed. “The best way to make that
happen is to order them to wear the shorts. Like mother, like daughters.”

Sawyer’s smile
faded when Cooper spotted her shorts. Brother and sister had a face-off which
Cooper clearly won because Sawyer ran in the opposite direction. After Farah
high-fived Cooper, he received a few cheers from his girls. Little Colton was more interested in the blue cotton candy he was holding. Based on his
expression, he just didn’t get it.

Though Scarlet
explained to her baby cousin the marvels of cotton candy, Colton wasn’t
impressed and pawned off the atrocity to his mom. Taking his sisters’ hands, he
ran after Scarlet who darted towards Judd and Tawny. Nearby goofing off at a
game, Tucker and Maddy took turns rubbing her baby bump.

By the time we
sat down for dinner at the picnic tables, I was on a sugar high from the crappy
sodas. Next to me, Vaughn and River were fake arm wrestling. On the other side
of the table, Maverick stared fascinated at Sawyer’s face paint and eventually tried
eating it. Soon, Lark and Aaron arrived with face painted Phoebe and Leo, along
with their new baby Oliver. Maverick took advantage of the new people to lick. My
boy would eat anything.

My sister leaned
her head against my shoulder and smiled at our family. Earlier, we’d seen Mom
with Larry, but ignored them. Only once had Margo tried to meet her grandkids. Without
giving it a second thought, I blew her off. I was well aware of what she
thought of my husband and our life. She knew what I thought of her husband and
her life too. With no reason to pretend, I walked away with my family and never
looked back.

As the kids played
and ate deep-fried foods, Vaughn leaned over and sucked at my neck. He also gave
me a naughty smile before returning to being silly with his kids.

Growing up, Vaughn
had no one except his mom. All those years, he only wanted to belong and find
his place. He tried first with the Devils then the Reapers, yet he was always
the outsider. These days, he was no longer an outlaw. This incredible man
finally belonged.

People had
called him Outlaw, but for me he was the cure. His love ended the sickness
plaguing me since I was old enough to dream of romance. No more chasing bad men
with the hope that I might change them. With Vaughn, I loved everything he
offered and never wanted it to end.

Living in Indiana with her three stinky sons, two wacky cats, one super mom (and her ugly dog), Bijou
loves writing, blogging, and Denny’s. Follow Bijou:

Her blog:
http://bijouhunterbooks.blogspot.com/

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Email:
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***Bijou Hunter
is the pseudonym of author Angela Horn.