22. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

J esse smiled as she walked into the clubhouse with Rascal pushing Cannon. She'd texted that she and Cannon wanted whoever could make it in the clubhouse when they returned for an announcement. Rascal had run out to help Cannon out of the car, even though Clara had taken care of it in Wichita. Rascal had tried to get Cannon to give him a hint before they got inside. She had no doubt there was probably some betting pool going on about their baby.

Rascal settled Cannon's wheelchair at the front of the room, and Jesse joined him. She glanced around the room, making sure all her sisters and her dad were here. She also noticed all the MC brothers were here. She honestly wondered who was working today if everyone was here.

She leaned against Cannon's wheelchair, laying her hand against his shoulder. She leaned down close to his ear. "You tell them," she whispered.

He nodded and took a deep breath. Even though Clara was in the car with them, he'd shared with her that he wanted to start seeing someone to help him deal with the trauma of his childhood. It was the first time he'd shared that his childhood included trauma. She'd guessed but when he'd confirmed it, she'd ached for the child Cannon had been.

"Listen up, Jesse and I are going to need a lot of help. I'd like all the MC to start stocking up on ammunition and I think maybe we should make the fence around the property a lot higher. When our twin girls start dating when they're in the thirties, I want to keep the riffraff out."

Jesse smiled at the screams and yells of congratulations. Her sisters ran over to her and pulled her into their arms.

"Oh Jesse, how exciting!" Sarah said.

"So does Cannon's speech mean he's pulled his head out of his butt?" Remi quietly asked, looking around the room for the younger kids.

"Yes, we're going to do what's best for the twins. Although saying that out loud scares the crap out of me. I'm having twins. I'd barely wrapped my head around one."

Beth leaned her head on Jesse's shoulder. "You can do this, sissy. We'll be here to help, though you're going to need different names. Sparky won't work for both of them."

Jesse grinned at all the congratulations Cannon was getting. Phoebe was asking how old the babies had to be before she and Blake could babysit. Cannon was handling it great. He mentioned they were a little young to babysit by themselves, but if an adult would agree to supervise that they could babysit as soon as the twins were old enough and Jesse felt comfortable with babysitters. Phoebe and Blake immediately headed around the room to talk with the adults. Jesse was positive they were trying to decide who would be their best option.

"All right. It sounds like our family is increasing and I couldn't be happier. Let's get some drinks out here to toast to the next generation of our female-led bail bonds. May these fierce babies and girls turn into women who can change the world, just like my girls have done," her dad's voice cracked a little as he finished.

"To the next generation," Baron said, holding his glass up.

Jesse hadn't really considered until her dad spoke that she and her sisters would be raising the next generation of the bail bonds if the girls were interested in that. Just like her parents had let her follow her dreams, that is what she wanted for her girls. To let them develop their interests and see where it took them. Maybe they'd love the garage, or maybe they'd take after Cannon and want to work at the range. Or maybe they'd be badass, fierce girls and lead the bail bonds or Kathryn's Wings.

Whatever they wanted to do, Jesse would do everything in her power to make it happen.

Clara, Regina, and Stella walked over. "We'd like to have a baby shower for you both. We're thinking the sooner the better. So how about Saturday?"

Jesse thought about it and she wanted everyone to be able to be there.

"Maybe we could do Sunday afternoon instead? Cannon wants to be at the range to see Hennessy's activity Friday night, even though Ellie can handle it. Ellie also has a couple classes scheduled Saturday, and I want Ellie at the shower. Sunday would let Cannon recover from being out with the guys for the first time since his accident."

"Okay, let's move it to after Sunday lunch, but I suggest we give everyone close to two weeks to get presents. We can invite whoever wants to come for lunch also. A couple of weeks should give us enough time to get everyone notified and shop," Stella said.

Now Jesse was trying to figure out how to reconfigure the bedroom she was considering for a nursery into a room with two of everything. She'd need to talk with Regina and find out how she handled having two babies at once. Jesse had planned on breastfeeding, but how would she handle two babies? She hoped that Cannon would be out of his casts and rehabbed a little before the babies came because thinking about taking on two was scaring her.

"Two babies are a lot, but I know you can do it, Jesse. If I could do it without any help, I'm positive you and Cannon can do this with the MCs help," Regina said, pulling her in for a hug.

"Your mom would be over the moon about this," Regina whispered with tears in her eyes.

Jesse nodded with the tears she'd been holding at bay rolling down her cheeks.

"She would but having you all help us makes it a little less sad. I have so many questions, but I don't want to ask them in the room with everyone."

Regina gave her another little squeeze. "You let me know when and I'll be there to answer what I can. Stella can answer any of the technical questions."

If there's one thing she'd learned growing up, it's she didn't have to do everything on her own. She'd needed that time early on to process the changes in her life, but she realized she'd missed out on the support by keeping it from Cannon and her family. There was no use worrying about it now because she couldn't go back and fix it. She could only go on and build with what they had. Hearing Cannon say on the way home that he was all in had opened up that place in her heart she'd guarded since he'd found out.

Today was a turning point for them. They were both going to do whatever it took to make their girls know how much they loved them.