30. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

C annon grabbed the bar above his head and pulled himself up with his good hand. Yesterday, Jesse had been around the house most of the day. Cannon hadn't had a chance for Clara to hide the notes, but Locks had come over to help Jesse with a project. He still couldn't believe what Jesse had done for him.

She had installed a bar above their bed so he could lift himself up to a sitting position in bed and also use it to slide himself into his wheelchair. Even though he wouldn't be in a wheelchair much longer, she'd modified his so the right-hand side arm slid out, then she'd installed a board that was hooked to the bed. He could now get out of bed by himself. Was he a little bit of a horn dog if he imagined Jesse using the bar to balance herself over him?

When she'd been drawing stuff out for the babies' room, he'd enlisted Locks' help to hide the notes. He'd changed one of them after he and Jesse had talked. He'd had Locks hide one in the jar under the sink she kept the dishwasher tabs in.

Locks had walked over and patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "I'm proud of you, son." Even with all the tears he and Jesse had wept, he'd had to fight to not cry again.

He helped himself into the bathroom because he was going to try to piss while sitting down in his chair. The freedom of taking care of himself had him wanting to do it all on his own. He didn't know how he missed it last night, but the bathroom had the same pulley system above the toilet along with a contraption that look like it bridged the space between his chair and the toilet. He'd known Jesse was smart with all the modifications she made to the vehicles, but he wondered how many other things his woman was capable of.

He finished his business, along with brushing his teeth. He wasn't going to chance changing clothes until someone was here to help. He wasn't stupid. He grabbed one of his caps and slid it on.

Jesse was in the kitchen with her breakfast. She turned at the sound of his wheelchair and gave him the smile he was looking forward to seeing every day. Her skin tone was back to its peaches and cream color without any added flushing. They'd decided they didn't need to have her seen when she was back to normal after resting.

"How did it feel to be able to get out of bed and pee without anyone helping?" she asked.

"Like I'm king of the world. You are brilliant," he said, leaning over to touch her belly and kiss it. "Good morning, girls. Are you being good for Mommy?"

Cannon thought he would feel stupid talking to his unborn daughters, but Flick had given him all this information. If even half of it was true, he was following it.

"Yes, except for when one of them started kicking my bladder this morning. I went ahead and got up because I was awake."

Cannon poured himself a cup of coffee. Jesse had moved things around so he could reach some things from his wheelchair. He appreciated being able to do some things for himself. When he turned around and wheeled closer to the table, she slid a plate with a slice of pumpkin bread, banana bread, and a sausage roll from the diner. Without being able to work out, he couldn't imagine how many pounds he was putting on. He'd be working to get back in shape after the casts were off.

"Thank you," he said, pulling up his email. He and Jesse had a routine in the mornings. He wasn't a morning person before having coffee and food. Jesse wasn't either. Add in she didn't get the caffeine she was used to, and they both had a quiet truce in the morning until they were ready to interact.

He had an offer from his insurance company on his bike. He opened it, knowing what he'd see. Of course, it had been totaled because the wreck had destroyed it. Their offer was fair, so he went ahead and approved that yes, he was accepting it. It's not like it was able to be ridden. He had another bike he used sporadically, so he wasn't in a rush to replace it. Sure, he wanted another nice bike because he looked forward to him and Jesse being able to take a ride. But that was a long way in the future. Jesse had to have the babies. He had to heal, and then they both had to be comfortable leaving the babies. Although with their family, he could so see everyone converging on them. He might need to set some boundaries so he could hold his own kids.

"Are you going in today?" he asked, hoping she said no. He knew she couldn't stay home forever, but it worried him, her being there after what had happened. He wondered if she'd be annoyed if he offered to hang out with her today.

"I need to. I'm not looking forward to it. He changed my happy place. I know Dad said the front gate would go back to being locked but still. He caught me unaware."

Cannon put his hand on Jesse's arm. "I don't want you to take this like I don't think you're capable. I think you're an amazing, kickass, fierce woman. But I'm uncomfortable having you that far away from me today. I could go hang at work with you. I can take my laptop to keep busy, so I don't annoy you with questions."

Jesse grinned. "I'd like that. Sarah and Scoop have wanted a system that notified everyone when someone came on the property by the garage. I've resisted because I hate being bothered with notifications, but I think it's time."

Cannon nodded. One crisis averted. He and his therapist had discussed Cannon's need to control everything. His therapist had suggested that Cannon explain why he was doing something, not just saying it had to be a certain way. Cannon was quite proud of himself that he offered Jesse a choice. He would have rather wrapped her in a quilt and kept her in the house, unable for anyone to hurt her or the girls. But it wasn't feasible, and it wasn't any way to live.

Jesse was a lot more relaxed, knowing Cannon was with her. She had a couple of people helping her at the garage, but both were part-time and only worked certain days. Since the pregnancy test had turned positive, she'd been trying to figure out what to do. She loved her garage, and she really enjoyed teaching the girls from the high school.

Originally, she and her sisters had opened up the garage to allow other work because she hadn't been staying busy with the bail bonds vehicles. The MC garage had focused on only bikes. Now the MC garage also did car work, but they also funneled their extra work to a garage in Coldwater. They'd helped the owner out on Christmas Eve and continued helping this year.

When she envisioned her future, she realized she didn't want her girls in daycare every day for eight to ten hours. Though she adored the daycare and the workers there. Her mom did both. She was able to be there for Jesse and her sisters but also help grow the bail bonds.

Jesse wondered if it was time to revisit exactly what her garage did. She didn't want to give up all the modifications and maintenance on the bail bonds vehicles. She also really enjoyed teaching the high school students. She had to admit that even before the incident, she'd dreaded dealing with overbearing customers who didn't think a woman should be working on their vehicles.

The garage didn't need the extra income from the outside vehicles. If she no longer accepted outside vehicles, then they could send them to either the MC garage or the garage in Coldwater. She could set aside certain times for working with the high school students. It would also give her more time for one on one with them. She was concerned about food scarcity for the girls last time and with everything that had happened, she hadn't followed up.

Stacey would be graduating this year, and Jesse didn't know what her plans were. Maybe she'd be interested in training for the shop.

Locks walked in and immediately came over to hug her. Jesse just leaned against her dad, as much as she could with Sparky. Despite being two of them, she was still calling them Sparky because trying to figure out something else was too much for her pregnant brain.

"How are my girls?" He asked.

"We're good, Dad. I wonder if you could come into the office and chat with Cannon and me?"

Locks nodded and followed Jesse in. Cannon moved his wheelchair so Jesse could easily get and sit in her comfortable chair.

"Morning, Locks. What's going on?" Cannon asked.

"Morning. Jesse said she needed to talk to both of us."

Cannon turned toward her, giving her his full attention. The closer they became, the more she liked how he was treating her. Well, now that he'd pulled his head out of his ass.

"I was thinking about it when it was only one baby. Now I know we're having twins, I don't want to miss everything. I want to do what mom did, have it all. If we changed the garage to only our vehicles and teaching some classes, I think we could cover only leaving the girls with family. I love that we have the daycare set up, but I want to only use it as a last resort. What do you think?"

Cannon grinned. "I want us to do what makes you happy. For me, I was thrilled Ellie was coming to work at the range and now Dex. I wanted to cut back some of my hours. If we both did that, we could easily stagger shifts so we still had time together as a family, but the girls were with us. I also think, though, Clara would probably love to watch them every once in a while too."

"Oh no, I'm fine with her watching, but I'm the Papa. First dibs go to me. Got it, you two?"

Jesse smiled. "I love you, Dad, and I'm thrilled you want to help with the girls. But what do you think about the garage?"

"I think it sounds perfect. I can also sub in when needed if the girls are sick and you don't want to leave them. Are you thinking we'll send everyone to Coldwater?"

"Yes. He can handle the business now, right?"

"He can and we can also get him some help if needed. With what we all did last Christmas and last spring, their bills are paid and caught up."

Jesse had hoped everyone would be on board with her idea, but it was a relief to know it was happening.

"While I'm here, is there anything I can do for you on the cars?"

"Yep, let me show you. Then I'm thinking, we'll close at lunch. If you can take care of this last task, I'm completely caught up until the girls come next week."

Locks slid his arm around her shoulders and led her out. "Let's do this, Pumpkin."