MC Bear My Baby (Beartooth Brotherhood MC) (18 page)

T
ate clutched his chest
. It hurt to breathe like a son of a bitch, but it had nothing to do with his injury and everything to do with the last three minutes hearing Molly lay it on the line. For a second he was scared shitless, fearful that maybe this was a dream. If it was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up, because in this fantasy, the woman of his dreams was offering him everything he’d ever wanted with no strings attached. Except, he wanted those strings, in a big way. Despite the fire raging through his chest cavity, he swallowed through his parched throat. Water only went so far at a time like this.

One thing was for damn sure. He was not letting Molly or their son go. Ever.

“Do you want to know what I thought of after I got shot and was sure I was a goner?”

He didn’t really expect and answer. She was still sniffling, but she asked, “What?”

“You and our baby. The prospect of death made me sure that the only thing I want is a life with you in it. You and our son. I don’t care what I have to do to make it happen. I will.” He heard her sputter and her shaking fingers fumbled for his hand, clinging to him more tightly. When she rested her head on his shoulder and her breathing calmed down, he continued. “Because you’re mine, and you deserve the best. We’ll make this work. Trust me.”

Her hand reached up to his face and her fingers traced from his temple down to his jawbone until his whole body went taut, on total high alert. If he could get a god damn boner now, then she was definitely a keeper. Old lady material to the core.

“Do you really mean it?”

“Yes. I don’t go on saying shit I don’t mean.”

“No. It’s just…”

“Not that simple?” he finished for her with a sigh that nearly tore his chest cavity. “We’ll work it out. Day by day. We don’t have to rush into anything.”

“Look at me, Tate. Please.”

Her simple pleading nearly broke his fragile bear heart. As if she’d have to ask him twice. He took a shallow breath and focused on all his concentration on opening his stubborn eyes, even though his eyelids felt like they weighed a million pounds. Christ, she was gorgeous.

“What?”

“I’m all blotchy,” she rubbed her fist under her nose, sniffed, and made an attempt to wipe away her tears with the hem of her t-shirt.

“You’re beautiful.” Molly rolled her eyes, but her smile made it all the more worthwhile. “So is that a yes or what.”

“Yes, Tate. Of course it’s a yes.”

“It’s about fucking time,” he harrumphed like an old man and brushed her fingertips with his lips. From now on he’d give them both the chance at love that he never got, with a whole world of possibilities that were denied him. “Plus if anyone could keep my dick faithful, it’s you, you tight little hell raiser.”

Molly cocked her head. “Takes one…to know one.”

“Damn right. Trust me, Molly. One step at a time, but I’ll do right by you…and Junior.”

“We’re not calling him Junior.”

“How about Little Hell Raiser?” She just glared at him. “Okay we’ll leave it up for discussion when I can actually argue worth a damn. I’m in no shape.”

She reached up and kissed his jaw, he couldn’t keep his emotions in check as something weird swelled up in his chest. Probably happiness. He’d have to get used to that.

* * *

T
wo Months
Later

“Any leads on Kitt’s attempted assassination?” Silas sat at the head of the meeting table, working on his fifth cigarette as they hashed shit out.

Cole fiddled with a mug of beer, keeping his eyes pinned to the growing water ring on the surface of the table. “Asher called with an update. At first they thought the sneaky fucker was in the wind, but it turns out that he left something behind after all. You guys ready for this?”

Everyone including Silas looked over at him. “Spit it out.”

“It was Jett.”

Tate reared back in his seat. “What? Didn’t you guys fuck him up and shit like you were supposed to?”

“Of course we did. He probably stuck around to get back at Tate, and when he found out about the sit-down, he must have figured he would bring serious retribution on the brotherhood by targeting Kitt. The man is deranged.
Was
deranged.”

“Does that mean what I think it means?”

Cole nodded. “The panthers aren’t as forgiving as we are when members cross the line. Jett’s history.”

Tate blew out a breath. “See I told you we should have ended the bastard. If anything happens to Kitt, it’s on us for not dealing with our Jett problem like men. He broke our code and we coddled him like fucking pussies…anyway how’s Kitt doing?”

“He’s still struggling.”

“Still?” Silas asked. “It’s been two months.”

“Jett was a motherfucker. A motherfucker from Louisiana, where all the mystical shit goes down. Something was on the bullet that clipped two vertebrae in Kitt’s neck. Something is stopping Kitt from healing himself. His men shifted a ton of times to try and heal him but it’s like his system is rejecting the energy. It’s a fucking mystery.”

“What about Mob Doctor?”

“He’s been over there a lot, keeping Kitt stable. But the old guy’s too shaky to do any surgery. Actually Dean took Molly and her mother over to help earlier today. That’ll go a long way toward making peace with those cats.”

There were grunts of agreements around the table and Tate rubbed his chest, satisfied. That was his Molly. After she’d given him the all clear, he had kept himself tied up with work, taking all the jobs he could with the club’s security business to build up his savings account. He had looked it up and realized it cost a shit ton of money to raise a kid. The little poop machines weren’t cheap.

Silas cleared his throat. “No matter what, we’re taking more precautions. Tate, you’re with me later. We’ll head over to their compound tonight to see what hardware they’re working with on the grounds. Maybe upgrade their camera system, give their front door a couple tweaks.”

Tate nodded. “I’m game. I just don’t think they’d allow their past rivals to enhance their physical security. Think about it if the tables were turned.”

“Okay you have a point. Still, we can offer and if they say no, so be it.”

“Good.” Tate smiled, taking meeting notes on his laptop. His head was in the game, fulfilling his role as Secretary and Treasurer, but the rest of his body was craving Molly. Sure, she was knocked up, but she wasn’t dead. Being pregnant had only ratcheted up her sex drive, and now that his brothers were building them a cabin beside the clubhouse, she had moved into his room to make sure they got things right the first time. He didn’t mind. It meant she got to do wicked things to his cock every night. Fuck, even most days. Things were damn near perfect.

Axe nodded over to him. “Hey. Your president just asked you a question. You going soft on us, dude?”

“What’s the question?” Tate fired back, straightening himself in the chair.

Silas glanced down the long table at them all. “I asked about the prospect. Do we want Dean in officially as Road Captain?”

“Guy’s been really handy around the place,” Tate chimed in.

“He’s helped saved our asses more than a few times.” Axe leaned back in his chair and fondled his beard.

“I say we patch him in next month,” Cole suggested.

Silas cracked his knuckles. “Sounds like we’re all in favor. Just for the sake of the meeting minutes, all right, all in favor of patching over the prospect, say aye.”

There was agreement throughout the room. Tate guessed that was settled then, it’d be damn fun to tell the fucker. The man was going to lose his shit.

“We all good here, bros? I’ve got other shit to attend to when Molly makes it back here, and after that we have to head over to the panthers.”

“By other shit, you mean fucking,” Axe wasn’t exactly subtle today. He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, that’s what I mean, assface. You got a problem with it?” Tate narrowed his eyes at his brother and got ready to throw down, at least in play.

“We’re all good. Just keep it down over there, for fuck’s sake. The walls are thin and I don’t need to know about your role playing exploits on the daily. Got me?”

“Yeah, well…I don’t need to hear you moaning and groaning when you jerk off because none of the twisted claws are in the mood for you to break them with your massive dick.”

“My massive dick does just fine, fuck you very much.”

Silas raised his hands. “Cut that shit out until after the meeting. Any other business?”

“Actually, yeah.” Tate got serious. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head. “I want to bring Molly into the family. Claim them. As MC family.”

He kept tight in his seat, nervous as hell because he didn’t want to hear anyone say no. Why anyone around this table would was beyond him. It wasn’t much to ask in the grand scheme of things. Plus he was planning to hold on to Molly until they were both old, gray, and grumpy as fuck.

“So you want her as old lady status minus the wedding?” Silas asked, steepling his fingers at the end of the table.

“Yeah, no wedding. No different from you and Sabrina. When we get that far I want her to know it’s me wanting to be with her, not because of the baby, you feel me?”

Axe rolled his eyes. “There we go with that touchy-feely chick flick bullshit talk again.”

“How would you know what the fuck they show on those girlie channels, unless that’s how you get off at night, Godzilla dick.”

“Shut the fuck up, both of you,” Cole grunted. “Makes sense to me, but I don’t think we need a vote on this one, brother. Molly’s like kin…well, if you could call a half-human, half-wolf shifter kin. In any case, you wouldn’t be in the picture if she didn’t save your undeserving ass. Silas, you want to do the honors?”

“Everyone in favor, to give Molly all the rights of an old lady, say aye.”

He never felt more proud than when his brothers around the table all gave the aye.

S
ix Months
Later

I
t was finally here
. After the hormonal changes in her body, the nausea, morning sickness and fatigue, and then the leg cramps and constant heartburn, followed by exhaustion and swollen feet, she was ready for the baby to be outside her belly. Not that is was all bad. She loved that feeling of helping to create something, a whole new little person. And when he moved or kicked inside her and let her know he was there, it was indescribable. She couldn’t wait to meet him.

Except right now, at the beginning of this labor process, Molly couldn’t believe she’d agreed to an unmedicated birth at home. Her water broke just after dusk, and an hour later the midwife arrived. By then, according to Mom, she was already dilated to six centimeters. The baby was coming and fast. Fast would be good, because it meant this pressure on her back and this pain extending from under her ribcage and down between her thighs would be over soon. All she wanted was Tate beside her right now, sitting or pacing or holding her hand somewhere here in Mom’s sitting room, which they chose to perform the delivery. It had comfortable lighting to begin with, a dimmer switch to make it much darker if needed, neutral colored walls, lots of room to spread out, and it was closest to the only full bathroom on the main floor of the house.

Where was Tate, anyway? She’d texted him just as the contractions started and he replied right away that he was on his way.

And Christ Almighty, why on earth did she agree to two extra pairs of eyes on her during this delivery? Cindy had insisted on being there as resident bear shifter expert, and just as she promised, she’d gone ahead and brought over Death Adder’s older sister, Debbie, just in case they were all wrong and her wolf shifter genes had thrown a monkey wrench in the whole melee of this pregnancy.

“Oh God!” Another contraction hit her. She’d just got up to use the bathroom to pee for the fourth time in two hours and was returning to her spot on the mammoth sized day bed on one side of the sitting room. This one was more powerful than the last, and she clung on to the wooden frame of the French door for dear life. “Where’s Tate? This baby’s not waiting!”

Cindy rushed up to her side and helped her into the room. “He’ll be here soon. Hold your horses.” She helped her back to sit, but Molly couldn’t do that. Everything hurt now—sitting, standing, walking. She’d even tried kneeling on the day bed with her arms hanging over the decorative metal side. Dammit, she needed drugs, not deep breathing.

“Can you call him for me? At this rate, I’ll be fully dilated in less than an hour.”

Debbie walked in. “Go ahead, Cindy. I’ll help her.”

Cindy found her phone and sent him a text.

“No, no, no, Cindy…ow…I need to speak to him. Call him, please.”

“Can’t do that, toots.”

“What? Why not. Shit!” Another contraction crashed through her womb. She thought she’d double over and the baby would drop right out. Sweat started beading on her forehead, and this oversized t-shirt she was wearing didn’t feel oversized anymore, riding up her stomach and making her mad as hell.

Debbie passed her a hot compress to ease the discomfort. “Breathe, honey. You need to breathe.”

“I can’t breathe right now. I want Tate!”

“Calm your childbearing ass down,” Cindy called out from the doorway. “Tate can’t answer the phone when he’s on his bike rushing to get here as fast as he can. Okay sweet cheeks? He wouldn’t even be able to hear you with the air rushing past him. Now listen to Debbie and breathe.”

“Mom!” Molly screamed out.

Mom ran in from the direction of the kitchen with a large container with more hot compresses. “Yes, honey. I’m here.”

“Pass me my phone, please Mom. I want to call Tate.”

Cindy brought her own phone over and swiped it. “Jesus, girl. Here you go. Hit send and see for your stubborn self.”

Molly turned her head for some privacy and called Tate. It went through to voicemail so she left a message. “Tate, honey. It’s Molly, and guess what’s happening, sweetie?” A strong contraction hit her and she screamed out, “The baby’s coming and you’re not fucking here!” When it subsided, she was so weak, she wrapped up the call with a quick, “Now please get here before I have to kill you, darling.”

Without hanging up, she passed the phone back to Cindy.

* * *

L
ess than three hours later
, Molly was fully dilated and ready to be put out of her misery. The contractions were coming on hot and heavy, her water broke ages ago, the baby would be here any second, and she had no energy left for breathing or pushing or even to brush her soaking wet hair out of her face or behind her ear.

Tate charged into the room and she could kiss him right there and then. He was a sight to see too. Over the past few months he’d given himself a self-imposed makeover, replacing his blue hard-to-maintain Mohawk for a low naturally light brown brush cut, choosing to wear a dark polo shirt and slacks to go to security gigs, and as usual, that black laptop bag slung over his shoulders. Seeing him like this right now, he almost seemed like a different man compared to the one she got frisky with most of the time, but she loved it. And Jesus Christ, another contraction was gearing up and she needed his hand right now!

“Where were you, baby?” she asked when it passed, rolling to her side to recover. She had likely crushed every bone in the hand he gave her to hold as he sat on the day bed beside her. He didn’t seem phased, though. His pain tolerance was nice and high.

“Working, lovely. But I’m here now, and you’re doing great.” He tucked some strands of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “You look gorgeous.”

“Liar,” she breathed out.

He rubbed her back, massaging it with his good hand. “So are you ready?”

“I was ready four hours ago, Tate.”

“Nice. I can’t wait to see what the little squirt looks like.”

“Me too. I wish he could have seen you with the Mohawk.”

“That can be arranged. It just takes a few months to grow back.”

Mom and Cindy walked in just then. “Molly honey, we’re going to get things going now,” Mom told her, like the last four hours was a walk in the park.

Boy, was she feeling lippy right now. “Okay, Mom. Pop that bag and let’s do this. I’m ready.” She looked up at Tate. “We’re ready, right?”

“Fucking right…” he noticed Mom clear her throat and said, “Uh, yes we are.”

Mom set up the camcorder on a side table and started recording, then moved to the open end of the day bed. Cindy and Debbie stood on either side of Mom, ready to help keep her legs up high to help the baby out. “Okay honey. We need you to roll onto your back now.” Mom parted her legs when she was settled on her back.

“I’m in labor, Mom.”

“You are, honey. Baby will be here soon.”

“Shit this is what being in labor feels like. It fucking hurts like a bitch, Mom. No wonder more than half of the women in labor at the hospital maternity ward ask for the epidural. I think I want some of that right fucking now.”

Mom smiled. “And you’re a nurse now, Molly, so you know full well that ship has sailed, right?” Mom didn’t wait for her to answer because she noticed Molly had started panting. “Oh good, honey. This is another contraction. I want you to take a breath and push. Right now.”

Molly reached up for Tate’s hand, squeezing as hard as she could as she pushed. “OwwwwwwwEeeeeeeeeee,” she cried through the pain, pushing as hard as she could, feeling her vaginal muscles tearing like someone was down there cutting her with a dull, dirty knife. “That…fucking…hurts. Oh God the pain, oh hell.”

“Yes doll. That looks like it hurts,” Tate said in a soothing voice that only set her off.

“How the hell would you know!” She shrieked. “That’s my vagina getting stretched all to hell! Ouuuccccchhhh. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God!”

“You’re doing great,” Mom said from her spot between Molly’s legs. “You’re crowning, honey. Baby just needs another good push and he’ll be here and in your arms. Can you give me another push?”

“I don’t think so, Mommy,” she panted out. “I can’t. It really hurts.”

“You can do this, Molly. Come on. Let’s do it together. On the count of three. One, two, take a deep breath and three. Push Molly.”

“Oh Goddddddddddddddd!” Molly cried.

“Yes, honey. The worst is almost over now. Baby’s head is out and if we can just get one last push, his shoulders will be next and that’s it hun! Come on, love. I want to meet my grandson.”

“Jesus fuck, another push? I can’t,” she whined, hardly able to pant, let alone get a big enough breath of air to push again.

“Yes you can. And you will. I’ll count to five this time.”

Mom counted down and Molly dug deep to find that lungful of air to give the last push. The ton of pressure on her pelvis suddenly eased up, and Mom cried out, “Yes! He’s here. You did so well, honey. I’m so proud of you.”

“He’s here? Baby’s here?”

“Yes he is, love. He’s gorgeous and he looks so healthy.” She moved over to the basin of water and wiped off the bundle in her hand, clearing the airways as a very weak Molly caught her breath, desperately wanting to see the baby.

Her baby.

“Congratulations, kids,” Cindy said. “Your little cub looks very sweet. Doesn’t he, Debbie?”

“He does. He’s a bear cub all right.”

Molly took a look their way for a second. They’d both part shifted. Cindy’s bear snout was out, and Debbie’s nose was now a black wolf nozzle. Both were probably sniffing out the baby to make sure. In any other circumstance it would be disturbing to see, but this was her new world. Surrounded by shifters and people who cared for her little boy.

“We have a baby, Tate.”

“Yes we do. You were amazing. He’s looking good too.”

“Sorry about your hand.”

“It’ll heal,” he told her, laughing.

“Give him to me, Mom,” she panted out.

“Here you go, honey. He’s beautiful.” Mom stepped over to her with the little one and placed him on her chest.

“Oh my God,” she said, admiring every feature on his tiny face. His eyes were shut tight, his cute little nose wrinkled a bit, his lips were so precious and goodness he had a small cleft on his chin, just like Tate whenever he went clean shaven. “Hi baby. Look at you. This is our boy, Tate.”

“It is. He’s perfect.”

“He is.”

“Do you want to hold him?” Mom asked Tate.

“Hell yeah. I was just waiting my turn. You know, she did just stretch her vag to kingdom come to get him here… Crap. Sorry Mrs. Davenport… I figure she should have first dibs on seeing what popped out.”

“Not what, honey. Who. Who popped out.”

“Yes, he’s a cutie.”

Mom picked the baby off of Molly’s chest and carefully swaddled him and put him in Tate’s arms. Molly tilted her head to see Tate holding his baby for the first time. He was in awe. It made her heart wrench to see them together like that. Dad and son. Just as she expected, Tate half shifted his muzzle to smell his baby. After a few seconds he shifted back to his human face.

“Yes,” he said softly. “He’s a bear shifter all right. Cute little cub.”

“He kinda looks like you already,” Molly told him.

Tate leaned over to kiss his newborn. “He does, momma bear. And I’m not sure I’ll be letting him go anytime soon.”