Chapter 14

Tav

W e all eat in relative silence. The Computas tapping away, their plates next to them on the table. Marx has been coming in and out. He even escorted Sergeant Davies into his office. The man didn't look too pleased when he came out half an hour later.

We're all tense as hell, waiting for Pixie's family to arrive. I'm fucking hoping they may be able to help us connect the dots, because we have been floundering for too long, fighting on three different fronts - Hammer, Royal and Officer Martin.

"Babe, it's getting late. Why don't you get the Littles ready for bed, yeah? Give them attention and hold them tight. We'll be mobilizing soon enough," I murmur to her. She presses her head into the side of my arm so I cup her face with my other hand, grazing her soft cheek with my thumb.

She turns her face to kiss my palm before sitting upright. "Come on Littles, time to get washed up and ready for bed. Uncle Tank had something special delivered for you," Pixie teases the kids.

Cove jumps up with a fist pump then races to stand next to Tank, "Thank you, Uncle Tank" she yells at the top of her lungs before throwing herself into the big man's arms. Elio offering a soft "Thank you," from behind his sister.

"Anytime Squirts, see you in the morning," Tank affectionately pats them both on the head, a smile playing on his lips.

"You ever thought of having kids?" I ask, knowing that Tank would make an amazing husband and father.

He lets out a sigh, "I had hoped when I was younger. Now? I'll be pushing 40 in a few years and no sign of my lady. But you can bet your ass as soon as I find her I'll be locking her down and having a passel of little Tanks," he ends with a grin.

"Let's hope she's a big woman then to carry around your giant offspring," Savage says around a mouthful of Mama Debs' dessert.

"You should have looked for a bigger woman," Nat says, frowning at Savage, "I'm stuck not only having to carry around your giant baby, but somehow push your giant baby's head out of my hoohaa,"

"I'm sorry baby," Savage says, kissing her on the top of her head. Nat softens, her glare replaced with a soft smile. "I'll still love your hoohaa no matter what shape it's in afterwards," Nat sits bolt upright and before Savage can move, she stabs him in the hand with a fork. "OW!"

"Serves you right you giant asshole! Do you think I want my hoohaa traumatized? Do you think I want to be ripped open from asshole to breakfast for someone that probably looks exactly like a mini version of you to scream in my face and demand my tits in its mouth every hour? Do you?!"

The sound of gagging has everyone's heads whipping in the opposite direction of Savage and his baby momma. Rider is positively green, and the gagging doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Unfortunately for him, Nat doesn't seem to be slowing down either. Quite the opposite. She's on a roll as she describes, in detail, exactly what's going to happen to her body. Savage is pale and looks like he's going to cry at any moment. Dex is filming this whole debacle. Some brothers have already hightailed it out of the room and still it doesn't stop. Gus is sitting frozen with his arm around Ana, who is beaming up at him, knowing that he has all this shit on top of his usual anxieties to worry about now.

"You men are all pussies, you know that?" Pops butts in before putting a forkful of food in his mouth. "Your woman has sacrificed her body to grow your child. She's going through some big changes. Her body will never be the same, but that's a good thing. All those marks and changes you see will remind you of what she gave you."

Both Nat and Ana smile softly at Pops, the men all pulling themselves back from the brink. Well, apart from Rider who's had to rush to the bathroom.

"Thank you, Pops," Nat says, standing, moving to Pops' side and dropping a kiss on his cheek.

"You're welcome, girl." Pops then turns to Savage. "I delivered my son, you know. Proudest moment of my life when I held that goopy screaming bundle in my hands. Your woman's down belows don't matter in that moment. Or any moment after that for at least six weeks because once that kid comes out? You'll be too scared shitless that you're going to fail them to go anywhere near your Ol Lady's hoohaa." Pops then shovels another bite into his mouth while chuckling.

"That's exactly what it's like," Flack agrees.

"Well, thank you all for ruining the beautiful act that is childbirth. I'll be adopting my children fully grown," Rider says, striding to his seat looking a hell of a lot better.

"You know, I have a way to help with your little problem," Pops says thoughtfully, looking at Rider.

"I don't have a problem, old man," Rider says with a look that could rival Jules' Resting Bitch Face.

"Sure you do. Every time periods and lady plumbing get mentioned you go all wobbly. Whatcha gonna do when you have an Ol Lady and she's got the painters in? Spend 3 to 5 days blowing chunks?"

Rider's frown grows even deeper, but I can tell he's taken the bait. Hell, all of us here can tell. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, son, you could start dating men. No icky periods for you to deal with," he carries on when Rider growls at him. "Or, you can undergo exposure therapy," Pops offers.

"He's right, exposure therapy is a good way for you to overcome your fear," Switch booms.

"I'm not scared!"

"Sure you are. So, what do you say? We still got a couple of hours until Blanche's family arrives. That's more than enough time for me to work my magic," Pops says, rubbing his hands together.

"Fuck it, let's do it," Rider says.

"Rev Room?" Rhodie asks, Chewy's head popping up at the sound of her favorite place being mentioned.

"Rev Room."

Blanche

I gently stroke Cove's dark hair back from her face, pressing my lips to her forehead before checking to make sure she's tucked in. It won't matter in a few hours as she'll kick those blankets off and starfish on the bed, but as long as she's tucked in when I leave, my mom conscience is clear. I lean over my clever little boy and do the same thing, smoothing his hair to the side, how he likes it.

"Love you, my babies,"

Turning, Sage and Niko hover in the doorway with pillows and blankets in their arms.

"We're going to bunk in here tonight. We know the Uncles are coming and things have been tense, so we'll stay in here," Niko whispers softly,

"But not on the floor," Mama Debs says, coming out of nowhere, with Takoda following carrying two camp beds. "No grandkids of mine sleep on the hard floor," she cups both my big kids' cheeks before bustling off somewhere else, probably granting wishes and turning pumpkins into carriages.

"Thanks, Takoda," Sage says softly as he sets up a bed next to Cove for her.

"You're welcome, Sage," his impossibly deep voice answers and I can't help but notice my girl turning pink. Interesting.

Niko sets up the other camp bed at the end of Elio's bed. It's a little cramped, but they both assure me they're fine. They'll probably both be on their phones anyway, so I guess they don't need that much space.

"You can give our rooms to whoever needs it, brother," Niko tells Takoda, whose lips curl a little.

"Thanks, man, it's appreciated," the prospect answers before quietly leaving the room.

My raised brow has Niko mirroring my exact expression, "What? I'm thinking of prospecting. This is a good place, Mom, and we all know I'm not college material."

"But you're MC material?"

He shrugs. "I don't know about that just yet. But I know I'm hardworking, good with my hands and I want to help people."

I can't argue with that, as what he says is true. I just never thought my son's future was in an MC. Hell, I didn't think my future was either, but I guess things change. "We'll put a pin in this for now, but we are definitely coming back to this conversation, got it?"

"Yeah I got it," Niko says, making his bed and then laying down, his sister snickering at him.

"Don't think I didn't notice that blush on your cheeks either, Missy!" Sage's jaw drops before she slams her mouth shut so quickly her teeth clatter.

"What did I get myself and you kids into?" I mutter under my breath.

"You got us into an MC family, Mom, and it's pretty sweet," Niko answers, giving me a small smile then putting his ear pods in and lying down.

"Yeah, I guess I did." I drop kisses onto the tops of their heads before turning and making my way to the almost empty common room, the Computas the only people in there. "Where is everyone?" I say to myself under my breath.

"Oh, they're in the Rev Room," Debs' voice sounds out from the kitchen. Shit, that woman has good hearing.

"Have they got a guest?"

"No, they've got Rider,"

What the hell? I make my way to Chewy's happy place, letting myself in the door and then coming to a complete and utter stop.

Rider is cable tied to a bright yellow chair in the middle of the room facing a big screen. His thighs are spread and a metal bucket has been secured between them. He's wriggling and begging, but Judge stands behind him holding his head steady. Turning my gaze back to the big screen I watch as a woman in white pants rollerblades on a boardwalk.

"What in the actual fuck is happening in here?" I whisper quietly.

"Oh hey babe, you made it." Tav beams at me, comes forward to drop a quick kiss to my lips and then moves behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me into his hard chest.

The image changes to Amy Schumer talking about Tampax and Rider damn near levitates out of the chair. "Fuck no! It's too much!"

Tilting my head sideways, I whisper to Tav, "What's happening?"

He leans down, his warm breath ticking the shell of my ear and causing my sex to clench. "Pops said he could desensitize Rider to periods and women's problems. It's not going too badly. He's only thrown up four times."

"It's mesmerizing," I whisper back as the images change again and again. I don't know if this is a weird playlist of period videos Pops has found or if it's something that Pops made up himself for this very purpose. Whatever it is, it's very informative. And effective. Rider seems to have calmed right down and is even bobbing his head along to the music.

"What in the fuck are you all doing?" Marx's voice booms out in the middle of a catchy tune about bleeding monthly, complete with dancing tampons. Gus stands behind him with Ana looking like she's going to burst into laughter at any moment with another dark-haired man who looks vaguely familiar. He also looks like you wouldn't trust him as far as you could throw him.

"Helping Rider with his little problem," Pops answers completely seriously. "Hey Roman,"

"Pops, good to see you've been keeping busy even with the murder ban," the Roman guy answers.

Marx rummages in his pocket looking for something and coming up short. Gus reaches into his own pocket, then holds out a pack of antacids to Marx who nods once, then takes what's offered.

"Tidy this shit up and meet us back in the common room, we have things to discuss." With that, he leaves, Gus and the other man leaving behind them.

"Well, son, you did good." Pops saying, slapping a hand on Rider's shoulder. "Oh, might wanna clean up before our guests get here. You stink." With that, he leaves the building.

Judge cuts the cable ties, and the brothers start handing over cash.

"What in the…?"

"They took bets on how many times Rider would barf," Tav says, chuckling as he leads me out of the shed.

"I tell ya, I love this place," Flack says as he smells the wad of cash in his hand.

I chuckle to myself, shaking my head, because I wholeheartedly agree with him.