Sprite

S prite wasn't sure if going back to the bar for a Harlot's meeting was a good idea or not. She had felt like shit for days now, throwing up five mornings in a row, and staying home would have probably been a better idea. But the Harlots were voting tonight for a few positions that opened up and she wanted to be the club's treasurer more than she wanted anything—well, except Chains.

Of course, he insisted on going into Savage Hell with her since the last time she was there, her mother's boyfriend came in to harass her. had to admit that she was happy that Chains tagged along. He always made her feel safer when he was around.

"You feeling okay?" he asked. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, but that would be a total lie.

"I'm a little nervous about being here again," she admitted.

"And you were sick most of the morning," he reminded.

"It's just a stomach virus," she insisted. "I'm sure that I'll be over it soon." He pulled the door open for her and the smell of stale beer nearly had her running back out of the bar. She never minded that smell before, but for some reason, it had her stomach turning. ran back to the bathroom and made it into a stall just in time to toss her cookies.

"Are you okay, ?" Danger asked. thought about trying to be quiet so that Danger would just leave her alone, but she knew that would be pointless.

"No," she croaked, "I've been throwing up for days now, and the slightest foul smell sets me off."

Someone ran into the bathroom and groaned when she heard the door open. The last thing she wanted was an audience while she puked her guts up. "Is she okay?" Banshee asked. Even whispering, could hear Banshee's Irish lilt.

"She's been throwing up for days now and bad smells set her off," Danger filled in.

"I see," Banshee said. The bathroom door flew open again and had had enough of this circus. She walked out of the stall to find Danger, Banshee, and Phoenix, all staring her down. casually walked over to one of the sinks, splashed some water on her face, and washed her hands. She grabbed a handful of paper towels and patted her face dry.

"Someone say something for fuck's sake," she shouted.

Savage and Bowie's wife, Dallas, walked into the bathroom while she was shouting at her friends, and she couldn't help her groan. "Everything okay in here?" she asked.

"She's been throwing up for days now and bad smells make her sick," Phoenix filled Dallas in.

"Jesus," breathed, "why don't we just go out into the bar and tell everyone out there too?"

"I'm sorry," Phoenix said. "I didn't think it was a secret."

"It's not a secret. I just don't think that everyone here needs to know that I have a stomach virus. I should just go," insisted. The thought of putting on some comfy pajamas and crawling into bed sounded pretty good to her right now.

"Have you considered that you might be pregnant?" Dallas asked.

"Pregnant," almost shouted. "Why would I be pregnant?"

"Well, I'm assuming that you've had sex with Chains," Dallas said. rolled her eyes and slowly nodded her head.

"Of course I have," she insisted. "But I can't be," she whispered. Thinking back, she hadn't had a period since moving into Chains' place three months ago. That meant that she had gotten pregnant on their first night together in the tub. They weren't using a condom, and she had missed a few of her birth control pills until she could go to town to pick her prescription up. She was an idiot for having unprotected sex, but she was in the moment, and so was he.

"When was your last period?" Danger asked.

"It was when I lived back at the trailer with my mom, so like three and a half months ago, give or take. It ended about the time that I met Chains," she said. She wanted to kick herself for being an idiot.

"So, it's possible then?" Banshee asked.

"Yeah, I guess it is," she whispered. "God, how could I have been so foolish? I guess I'll need to get a pregnancy test."

"Hold tight," Dallas ordered. She disappeared from the bathroom, leaving the rest of them standing in silence, staring at each other. Dallas came back in the bathroom and handed two pregnancy test boxes.

"Where did you get these in a biker bar?" asked.

"I keep some in Savage's office," she said. "With two husbands, they come in handy." The rest of the group laughed, but didn't feel much like laughing at the moment.

"Go take them," Phoenix ordered, turning around and giving her a gentle shove to the stall.

"What do I even do with these?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Read the directions on the back of the box," Dallas said. "They are self-explanatory."

"Maybe after you've had over a dozen or so kids," Banshee teased. "But I'm betting that this is 's first time taking a pregnancy test."

"It is," shouted from the stall.

"Do you want me to come in there and tell you how to do it?" Dallas asked.

"No, I read the directions," shouted back, "kind of." She pulled the cap off the test and said a little prayer that she'd be able to pee enough for the test to work. "Maybe a beer or two would help," she said. Each of the women waiting on her seemed to have a different response and her favorite was Banshee telling her that whisky might work better.

finished up and put the cap back on the test. She pulled up her jeans and walked out to the sink, putting a paper towel down on the counter before laying the test down. "What now?" she asked.

"Now, we wait a few minutes and then, you'll have your answer," Dallas said, as if it was going to be that easy. If she was pregnant, she'd have to tell Chains and wasn't sure how he'd take it. She wasn't sure if he even wanted her long-term. They hadn't talked about the future or the next steps in their relationship. They were focusing on one day at a time, and telling Chains that she was pregnant wasn't a part of today's plans.

"I'd like to put my name in for treasurer," she said to Banshee. "I figure that if I'm pregnant, I might be crying too much to tell you that later."

Banshee nodded her head, "What are your qualifications?" she asked.

"Well, I passed my CPA and now I work at a local firm. I'm only a junior accountant, but I hope to be more someday." She frowned, looking down at the test. "That might not work out for me if this stupid test is positive," she mumbled.

"Women have kids and work all the time. We don't have to quit our jobs just because we pop out a few babies," Phoenix insisted.

"Yeah, and if Chains doesn't want to have a baby with me, he'll probably kick me out, and then, I'll have no choice but to work—possibly two jobs, so that I can find a home for me and my kid." She wasn't sure how she felt about saying anything about the kid being a possibility. "Shit, I've probably just jinxed myself saying that out loud."

Dallas chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm pretty sure that isn't the way things work."

The alarm went off on Banshee's phone, making them all jump. "Shit," Banshee cursed. "I guess it's time to check the test."

"It's the moment of truth," Danger said. shot her a dirty look and Danger took a step back. "Sorry," she breathed. sighed, looked down at the pregnancy test, and gasped. It shouldn't have been a surprise to her, but it still was.

"It's positive," she whispered.

"I'm not sure if I should congratulate you or say that I'm sorry," Banshee said.

"I'm not sure about which to say either," admitted. "I need to figure a few things out. Could you guys give me a few minutes?" she asked.

"Sure," Dallas said, "come on guys. We can get church started. We'll put your name in for treasurer," she promised. nodded and tried to smile as they walked out. From the pity on their faces, she wasn't doing a very good job of putting on a brave face for her friends.

She stood at the sink, just staring down at the test, and trying to figure out her next move, when Chains came bursting into the ladies' room. "What are you doing in here? You're not allowed to be in here, Chains," she shouted.

"How about you tell me what's going on, and then, I'll answer your questions?" he asked. stood in front of the test, trying to hide it behind her back.

"What do you mean?" she asked. She wasn't ready to give him any answers that weren't necessary right now.

"Banshee and the other women just left the bathroom and when I asked them if they saw you in here, they all got weird and scattered in different directions. That's when I decided to come in and check on you myself." One of the Harlots' Prospects walked into the bathroom and Chains growled at the poor girl. "We're having a private conversation. Go outside and pee in the woods," he shouted. The poor woman looked about ready to cry.

"Chains," chastised, "you can't treat her that way. I'm so sorry, we'll leave and give you some privacy." She started for the door and forgot all about the pregnancy test until she found Chains holding it in his big hand.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I have no idea," she lied.

He looked her over, cocking one eyebrow at her, which was always a sign that he didn't believe her. "You want to try that again?" he asked.

"No," she sobbed.

The Prospect turned around as she called back over her shoulder, "I'll use the woods after all," she shouted.

Before the door even closed, Chains had her in his arms, "Are you pregnant?" he asked. She shook her head against his chest, and he chuckled. "," he growled, "are we going to have a baby?" Hearing him say "We" gave her some insane hope that he wanted the baby, even if she wasn't sure that she did.

"What if I said yes?" she asked. "How mad would you be?"

"I wouldn't be mad at all, honey," he insisted. "I've always wanted to be a dad," he said. "How do you feel about being a mom?"

"I'm not sure," she whispered. "I don't know if I'll be very good at it. I mean, look at my own mother. She wasn't winning any Mother of the Year awards."

"I think that you'll be a fantastic mother, despite your own mom. You know what not to do now. That has to count for something, right?" he asked.

She wiped her nose on his shirt, causing him to chuckle again. "I guess I need some time to process all this. Would you mind taking me home?" she asked.

"I'd love to," he agreed. "But honey, next time you have something important to tell me, don't hide it from me. We're a team and we need to learn how to work through things together." She had never been part of a team before. She wasn't much of a team player, but Chains made her want to try.

"I can try to be part of the team, Chains, but that's not something that I have much practice at." He put a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at him. Looking into his eyes, swore that she saw something more than she usually did. She thought that she saw love, but how would she even know that? She had never been in love, and knowing what it looked like was impossible for her.

"We can practice together," he promised. "This is unchartered territory for me too, ."

"Okay," she whispered as he kissed her lips.

"Let's go home, honey," he said, taking her hand into his. She didn't argue with him. She wasn't worried about the Harlots' vote or anything but cuddling up with Chains and falling to sleep in his arms. She could worry about all the rest another time—there would be plenty of time for that later.

rolled over in bed and realized that Chains wasn't next to her. For the past two weeks, Chains liked to lay in bed with her and talk to her belly. He was sure that the baby could hear him, and she didn't have the heart to tell him that according to her baby books, the baby didn't have ears yet. She thought that it was cute that he was so excited about the baby, but she was afraid to be as excited. worried that something was going to go wrong—it usually did, so why should now be any different?

She got out of bed and put on her robe to walk into the kitchen where she was sure that she heard men's voices. "You can't just sit here and wait for them to come and arrest you," Savage's voice said. She couldn't help her gasp, giving away the fact that she was in the hallway.

"You should just come in here, honey," Chains insisted. "You need to be a part of this little meeting."

stepped around the corner and peeked into the kitchen. "What did he mean about you getting arrested?" she asked.

"He meant that I'm going to be charged with the murder of your mother's scumbag boyfriend," Chains said as though it wasn't a big deal.

"Jake is dead?" she asked. "How did he even get out of prison?"

"I have no idea how he got out of jail and, yes, the cops found him in the dumpster outside the bar this morning. They called me down to the bar and asked some questions before the sun even came up. Apparently, someone left an anonymous tip that there was a body in my dumpster. They asked me if I knew him, and I told them how he's your mom's boyfriend, and that's when they started poking around. They asked where you were, and I told them that I didn't know. A few of the guys said that they overheard Chains threatening Jake and now, the cops are looking for you both. Chains is a person of interest and possible suspect," Savage said.

"And I'm not?" asked.

"No," Bowie said, "apparently, you have an alibi for the probable time frame that he was killed. Plus, you couldn't have put Jake into the dumpster by yourself. That's why they are looking at Chains."

"What was my alibi?" she asked.

"You were working at the time of the murder. Chains said he was working late, but there is no record of him being on base that evening," Savage said.

"The night guard didn't scan my ID and just let me in. I didn't think anything of it when he did it, but now, it's going to come back to screw me," Chains admitted. "I mean, I thought that the guy was just being nice, but I should have insisted that there be a record of me being on base."

"You couldn't have known that this was going to happen, Chains," she insisted.

"No, but it was reckless of me," he said. "I was trying to save some time because I wanted to be able to pick you up that night after your shift," he said. "And now, the cops think that I killed a guy."

"But you're innocent," shouted.

Chains got up and crossed the kitchen to where she stood. He wrapped his arms around her, and she felt safe for the first time since she walked into the kitchen. "I am innocent," he assured, "but the cops won't just take my word for it. I'll have to let them work through the process and figure out that I didn't kill Jake."

Savage barked out his laugh, "You are putting a whole lot of trust in the police in the area. Maybe you should come up with plan B," he said.

"How about leaving town for a while?" Bowie asked.

"No," Chains growled. "We haven't shared this news yet, but and I are going to have a baby."

"Chains," she shouted, slapping at his chest. She didn't want to tell a whole lot of people that she was expecting until she started to show. She had sworn Banshee, Danger, and Phoenix to secrecy. She just wanted to keep the baby a secret that she and Chains could share. And she certainly didn't want anyone at the bar treating her differently because she was pregnant, and now, she was sure that Savage and Bowie would do just that.

"That was private news, and I wanted to be the one to tell my bosses about the baby when the time is right. I hope that you don't hold my pregnancy against me. I want to work at both of my jobs until I can't work anymore," she insisted.

"Why do you have to work both jobs?" Chains asked.

"Because I want to buy my own place and I can't do that without working both jobs," she explained.

"Now that we're having a kid, I thought you could just move in here with me. The house is big enough for a growing family," he said. really hadn't thought much about where she was going to live. All she knew was that when the baby came, she wanted to be settled. She and Chains hadn't discussed what came next in their relationship. Hell, they had only been together for about three months now—how could he be thinking about moving her into his place so soon?

"You can't be serious, Chains," she said. "We've only been together for three months now. It's too soon for us to be talking about moving in together."

"I don't give a fuck about how long we've been together, or any of that other shit. You're having my baby and that makes us a family now," he said. "I know that might scare the shit out of you, but it doesn't me. I've wanted this since the night that I first saw you working at the bar, honey."

"That's very sweet," she whispered, looking over to find Savage and Bowie watching them, "but can we talk about this later, when we're alone?" she asked.

"Sure," Chains agreed, giving her a quick kiss.

"So, what's it going to be?" Bowie asked. "You going to lay low or are you going to stick around here and wait for the cops to knock on your door? It shouldn't be too long now before they show up here asking you a shit ton of questions."

"I say that we lay low until we can figure out what's going on and who killed Jake," insisted. Chains had taken such good care of her over the past months, that she couldn't imagine going through her pregnancy without him. When she was sick every morning, he held back her hair. And when she had a crazy craving, he'd run out and pick her up whatever it was that she wanted. She loved Chains, and it didn't matter that she hadn't been able to tell him that—it was the truth. She needed time to figure out what she wanted and then she'd find the nerve to tell him how she felt.

Chains looked her over and nodded. "If that's what you want, that's what we'll do," he agreed.

"Thank you," whispered.

"Great, pack a bag, and let's head out," Savage ordered. "I've got a place you can stay about an hour out of town," he said. "You'll still have your job at the bar, if you want it, ."

"What about your job at the accounting firm?" Bowie asked. "Will they hold your job for you?"

She nodded, "They have been letting me work from home. I told them that I'm pregnant and that the doctor wants me on bed rest."

That little white lie was Chains' idea after Jake showed up at her office and threatened her. He said that he didn't want to risk her or their baby, and she had to agree that her run-in with Jake wasn't a pleasant one. She couldn't expect Bowie to spend every day babysitting her at work. And she refused to allow Chains to take off either.

"She gets to work from home for as long as she needs. So, if this safehouse has Wi-Fi, we'll be fine," Chains insisted.

"Great," Savage said, "you are leaving in about ten minutes, so get a move on."

"Thank you for doing this for us, Savage," Chains said. didn't miss the way that he stressed the word, "Us" and she had to admit that she kind of liked it.

"We're brothers, and that makes us family," Savage said, "and the Royal Bastards always do whatever we can to take care of our family."

"Speaking of family," Bowie said, "Banshee is pissed that you haven't been in touch, ." She hadn't been back to the clubhouse in a while now, and she had to admit she really missed the girls. They were her family and not being able to share anything with them was killing her. She worried that if she showed up at Savage Hell, Jake would show up and harass her there. also worried that if she told any of the other women what was going on with her, Jake might start poking around the bar, asking questions. If the other Harlots didn't know what was going on with her, they'd have nothing to tell Jake, and that was just how she wanted things.

"If you wouldn't mind filling Banshee in about us leaving town for a bit, I'd appreciate it. She, Danger, and Phoenix all know about the baby but, I just didn't want Jake finding out where I was or that I'm pregnant, so I didn't tell the rest of the club anything," she admitted. "I feel awful for shutting them out, but I had no idea what to do."

"I'll let Banshee know what's going on," Savage promised. "But when you get settled, you should give her a call yourself. I'm sure that we can get you a burner phone so it can't be traced."

"That would be great, Savage," she said. "I appreciate that. She's going to be pissed that I went on the run with Chains and didn't fill her in from the beginning." She was sure that Banshee was going to be upset that she didn't reach out to the Harlots when she found herself in trouble. But a new baby in the club would help forgive part of her indiscretion.

"Sure," Savage agreed, "I'm pretty sure that she'll feel better if you call her and fill her in on everything when you get settled. She'll want to hear your voice. You know how she worries."

"I agree," she said, "and thank you for everything, Savage." She wasn't sure if they'd be able to prove Chains' innocence, but she had to try. There was no way that she wanted her baby to grow up without a father like she had. She needed Chains by her side and there was no way that she'd give up before proving that he didn't kill Jake.