11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

E llie hugged both the boys before walking down the stairs to the bar. Last night, Lyle had asked if they could wait a day or two for him to tell them what happened. She and Hennessy both agreed that Lyle could tell them in his own time.

Quinton had come for breakfast this morning and to get all the boys’ information to draw up papers for her brother to give up all parental rights. While he was there, Lyle asked what it would take to change his first name. Ezra had told the boys how he’d taken a liquor-inspired name because he’d needed to hide, but he also wanted to be like Whiskey.

She and Hennessy had told the boys they would do whatever they wanted. When Lyle pointed out that Sutton didn’t need to change her name because Sutton was a brand of liquor, Ellie had to giggle at the stunned look on Hennessy’s face.

Last night, she and Hennessy had slept in the bed with Sutton between them. It had started out with Hennessy in the chair and her and Sutton in bed. Sutton had gotten big tears in her eyes until Hennessy crawled in bed too.

Ellie knew at some point Sutton would need her own bed but not when her world had been upended. She’d spent the afternoon wrapping presents while the boys and Sutton, along with Ry’s kids Wyatt and Freya, had baked and decorated cookies with Vivi in the apartment’s kitchen. Vivi had said that Ry had some things to take care of.

Whiskey was recovered, so he was covering the bar along with Schaefer. Peck, Burt, and Bill were hanging with the grandkids for a movie and game night. Hennessy had arranged all this so he and she could have a little time alone. The last she heard, Richy and Lyle were making a list of names and having everyone give their opinion. She had to pinch herself a couple of times to make sure this wasn’t a dream. But then, if it was a dream, her brother wouldn’t be such an ass.

He'd called today and said he’d reconsidered what she said. He had demands that would need to be met before he would sign anything. She’d done what Quinton had suggested and told her brother to write them down and mail them. Quinton wanted it in writing that her brother was trying to extort money or items to give up the boys. They’d all decided to not worry about custody until after Christmas.

Ellie walked in the bar, glancing around for Hennessy. She didn’t see him, but he’d said to meet him in the bar. She walked over to where Ry was polishing a glass behind the bar.

“Did you get all the things you needed done?” Ellie asked.

Ry sighed. “Yes, trying to wrap presents with two little ones always around is hard. I started to do it after they’d gone to bed a couple nights ago, and then Freya woke up. How are you doing?”

“I don’t know exactly. I’m thrilled Hennessy and I are moving forward, but I’m scared to believe he can really want me, along with the boys. It’s a lot.”

Ry took a measured breath and stared at her. “Do you have any doubts about Sutton?” Ry asked.

Ellie didn’t even have to think about it. “Of course not.”

Ry chuckled. “Then why would you think Hennessy would be any different?”

“Because he’s perfect and I’m not.”

Ry chuckled again, and Ellie was getting a tad irritated. She thought Ry was her friend.

“You’re not either one perfect, but you’re perfect for each other. When you’re together, you both have this look on your faces of being complete. And you’re both nurturers, so you’ll be great with three kids. I think it speaks volumes that the boys want to change their names to liquors and call you and Hennessy Mom and Dad. They finally feel like it’s home. Kids can tell what is going on. If you and Hennessy weren’t meant to be, the boys would feel the tension. They don’t because you’ve got your dream man,” Ry finished.

She took the drink Ry fixed her and sipped while she waited for Hennessy. Was she second-guessing herself because she was too scared to dream? She hadn’t thought so when she spoke to Beth on the drive, but this afternoon, as she was getting ready, all the old doubts rolled back in.

“Are you ready for our date?” Hennessy’s deep, dark voice said behind her. She turned and smiled when she saw him. He’d obviously brushed his beard because it wasn’t quite as wild as earlier. He had on a pair of dark jeans with a blue and white plaid shirt untucked. Boots on his feet completed his ensemble, but what had her worrying if she was drooling was his arms. Every time the man rolled up his sleeves and she could see his muscled forearms with a light dusting of hair leading down to his strong hands, all she could imagine was being wrapped in his arms and then those arms unwrapping her like a present.

“Yes,” she said, taking his outstretched hand. She was ready for a night with the man she couldn’t imagine a future without.

He led her out to his truck, walking to the passenger side. He opened the door, but as she started to get in, he slid his finger under her chin and tilted it up.

“We can’t start our first real date without a kiss, now can we?” Hennessy said softly as his lips came closer. At the touch of his lips, she shivered. The cool night air, his warm, soft lips brushing hers, then his tongue played against the seam of her mouth until she opened. His hands tugged her flush against him, chest to where she ached low in her abdomen. She grasped the front of his shirt, holding tight.

His tongue mimicking how she wanted him to mate with her had her forgetting they were outside the bar underneath the pole light until laughter and catcalls of Get a room reached them.

Hennessy pulled his lips away but stayed close, rubbing his nose against hers.

“Woman, you go to my head faster than any liquor. Let’s get you in the truck before I forget everything I have planned.”

She let him help her up into his truck. She was perfectly capable of getting in by herself, but she had to admit, having Hennessy help her made her feel feminine and cared for.

Hennessy got ready to start the truck, then turned to Ellie. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous on a first date.”

Ellie reached her hand out and laid it over Hennessy’s. “Why?”

“If I have my way, this is the last first date either of us will ever have. I want it to be memorable.”

This man. He really was a nurturer and a softy down to his core.

“It will be the last first date we’ll ever have. It will be memorable because I’m with the man I love.”

Hennessy nodded, then smiled back at her. She adored his grin, with his beard framing those luscious lips, which she was really trying to not imagine doing all sorts of things to her.

“I made you a playlist for our date,” he said, sending his music through the truck. She listened to the Christmas music fill the truck. Then Hennessy reversed the truck and pulled out of the parking lot.

He pulled up at the first place, and she wasn’t sure what was going on because it looked like it sold Christmas trees and decorations. The bar and the apartment were already decorated. He parked, then got out and came around.

As they walked into the store, he led her over to a display of ornaments. He turned toward her and pulled her close, sliding his arm around her.

“I wanted to get something to commemorate our first date, and since it’s Christmas, I thought an ornament for the tree. But then I wondered, with all the different decorations, if we should do something else. Which led to this long text thread of messages between all the guys giving me their input. All of this is to say, I’d like us to pick out something to commemorate our first date. Every Christmas, when we pull out the item, we can remember our first date.”

He looked so earnest, and he’d thought so long about this that she couldn’t be anything but touched at all the thought he’d put into this.

“I like the idea of an ornament or even one of those cute lighted villages.”

Hennessy led her over to the lighted villages. “How about we get one of the village building to start our collection and then get an ornament for each of us? Not just us, but the kids too. Then we could make it a tradition.”

She grinned. “Oh, I love that.”

She and Hennessy quickly picked out one that resembled a bar. It appeared as if it had two levels, which was how Nelson’s was set up. Then they found ornaments for all of them with the year on them.

Hennessy paid, and the cashier wrapped everything to keep it safe. She walked outside and waited for him to put the packages in the truck and then help her in.

“Where to next?” she asked.

“I thought we’d have a snacking type of supper. We’ll get hot cocoa when we visit Santa and then caramel corn when we drive through the Christmas lights. Then, if we’re still hungry, I thought we could grab pizza.”

Ellie grinned because it was the best last first date with her man.

Hennessy was heading back toward the bar and their family. Ellie and he had laughed and talked all evening. Seeing the Christmas lights with her was a gift. His Lovely was so tender-hearted she got tears in her eyes when he told her his Uncle Bill had been the one to make the decorations hanging from the light poles years ago. He’d been a blacksmith, making a lot of their items from metal for the shop. He had made the decorations for a lot of the towns in Kansas years ago.

She’d wanted to know if he still did metalwork because she thought the boys would love to learn how. When he’d told her that Bill did, her eyes had lit up, and she’d made a note in her phone to talk to him about it after Christmas.

Besides seeing the lights and rejoicing when they got the text that Cruise had proposed to Willa in the orchard, they’d discussed how to make their relationship work with their jobs being in two different towns, though the towns were only an hour and a half drive time unless he was on his motorcycle. Then it was definitely a shorter drive.

They’d decided to discuss with the boys where they wanted to attend school because that decision would make a difference. If the boys wanted to attend in Dodge City, then they’d live in Dodge City the majority of the time, with Ellie driving back and forth to work on the days she worked. If the boys chose Bluff Creek, then they’d still have a room in Dodge City, but Hennessy would be doing the majority of the driving. Hennessy was okay with whatever made Ellie and the boys happier. Sutton would adore all the kids at Bluff Creek either way because Ellie would take her to the daycare on some of the days she worked, so Sutton would have friends her age.

He'd told Ellie he wasn’t asking her to marry him on their first date, but soon he’d want to do that special for her. He wanted her to think about what she wanted. He’d wanted to kick her brother when Ellie had tearfully said she couldn’t think about the fun of a wedding until she knew what her brother had done to Lyle, and she knew that he couldn’t take the kids away. He could understand her reticence because she hadn’t ever gotten to dream and hope. It was one of the things he planned on working on teaching her and their kids.

He had to admit he hadn’t in any way expected Ellie’s answer when he’d asked if she wanted more kids. He chuckled when she’d first answered because he thought she was joking; then, when she didn’t laugh, he’d been stunned. He understood she really wanted a big family. Uh, yeah, six to ten kids was a big family. He had no problem practicing or participating in the activities required to increase their family. She’d blown him out of the water when she’d mentioned she wouldn’t mind adopting some kids either.

They’d need a separate house because they’d crammed a lot of kids in the apartment, but if they had ten kids plus the two of them, they’d have twelve people before adding in any other siblings and their families.

Her smirk and taunt of Well, Hennessy, you said you’d make my dreams come true had him picking her up and kissing the daylights out of her before she dropped any more bombshells. When they’d gotten back, Whiskey had the bar under control, so they’d headed upstairs. Sutton had immediately run to them with her two stuffed animals and wanted to be held.

By the time they’d given her a bath, they’d chatted with the boys and heard the top contenders for names: Grey, Blue, Morgan, Elijah, and Cider. He had to laugh at the boys when they were trying out the names with Nelson and then rating how they sounded. He’d deferred to Ellie when the boys asked what if they both wanted the same name. She’d stared at them a minute, then told them she really didn’t want to call them Blue One and Blue Two, but if that’s how they wanted to go through life, she’d have Quinton check the legalities. Both boys had immediately said they were sure they would pick different names. Ellie had learned quickly how to deal with kids, and Hennessy had no doubt she could handle any situation they faced over the years. And that’s what he wanted—years with her.

Now, he was lying in bed with Sutton between them. Tomorrow, December twenty-third, was the day her toddler bed was being delivered along with new twin beds for the boys. His Uncle Burt had called his friend at the furniture store. Two twin beds, dressers, and two desks were being delivered for the boys’ room. Whiskey had added a desk for Ezra too. Sutton was getting a convertible bed that started as a toddler bed with a rail on one side but then became a twin.

At some point, he’d really like to make Ellie his. He’d imagined all the ways he could make her his, but if their kiss was any indication, his imagination was sorely lacking. He’d had to adjust himself after he’d kissed her outside the truck because the steel pole in his jeans made walking difficult.

He didn’t want to be that ass who only wanted sex, but it had seemed like forever since he’d first noticed her smiling across the room. He’d seen her in the Bluff Creek Clubhouse and had immediately been attracted to her, but he’d been dating someone. They’d broken up, and then he’d had to find someone for that stupid dating game he’d had a hand in making.

Vivi had still been making them play the last time that he’d spun the wheel. She’d changed the terms so only one person spun a night. His spinner had stopped on Single Mom Proficient with Firearms . He’d laughed because a large amount of the female population he hung out with was proficient with firearms. He’d already been interested in Ellie, and his dumb ass hadn’t even realized Ellie fit the description until one of his cousins pointed it out. He’d cornered Vivi later when she was alone in the kitchen, and she’d refused to admit she’d rigged the wheel. He’d gone in to check it and couldn’t find anything wrong. He’d even spun a few times and gotten different responses each time.

Even if she’d rigged it, he didn’t care because it had made him think about whether he wanted meaningless sex with someone he didn’t care about, or if he wanted love with a woman who made every day better with sex that would set the sheets on fire. He wanted it all with one woman—Ellie.

Now he needed to help figure out how to make his family safe. Maybe he needed to check with the Saint’s Outlaws MC in Kansas City and see if they knew anyone at Percy’s prison who could impress upon him the severity of not signing the custody papers. He knew he should let Quinton work his lawyer magic, but he was worried. A small hand and stuffed animal smacked his nose as Sutton flung her arm behind her. She’d snuggled into Ellie’s side and laid her head on her shoulder. They looked darling together, but he couldn’t wait until it was just him and Ellie in bed. Soon. He had to be patient. His dad had always said anything worth having was worth the wait.