“Gabriel is your son?” She nods her head before kissing his head. “You had a baby,” I say more to myself than her.
I look down at the little bundle in her arms, he's beautiful, but I'm fucking hurt that she had someone else's kid.
The timing is off. Did Brooke cheat on me?
As if reading my mind, she tells me, “Our baby, Hawk. I had our baby.” I look at her, my eyes wide. Shit! “I didn't know I was pregnant, I swear to God, I didn't. I wasn't showing, and I had no symptoms. I swear, I would have come back here and told you had I known. I gave birth to him a little over eleven hours ago.”
Eleven hours?
My son is just eleven hours old, and she's walked him all this way in the cold!
“The second he was born, my father dragged me to my feet. He beat me.”
“I'll kill the son-of-a-bitch!”
“He told me that I couldn't keep him, he was sending Gabriel away in the morning. He wouldn't even allow me to bathe him. I don't have anything for him, not even a diaper. I couldn't let him take Gabriel from me, Hawk, he's my baby, our baby. So I waited until everyone was asleep before sneaking out. I walked here. I don't know why when you could have been at your house, but something told me you'd be here.” That's how in sync we've always been. We just know. “I know I hurt you, and I am so sorry, but I thought if I came here, we'd be safe.”
“You are safe, Brooke.” I cup her swollen face, she closes her eyes, and the tears fall.
I have no clue how she's feeling right now, and I have no clue how scared she must have been. Giving birth without knowing you were pregnant, then to be beaten, to have the man who's supposed to love and protect you more than anyone else in this world, tell you that you can't keep your child? Christ, that son of a bitch!
Brooke and I had spoken about children once. We wanted them, and she was it for me. I wanted her to be my wife, but she chose her family because her father didn't give her much choice. The racist bastard!
However, looking at my newborn son in her arms, his little pink cheeks, tuffs of light brown hair, I can't imagine ever hurting him. I am so in love with him already.
“You have to help me keep him safe, Hawk. Please. I'll do anything, anything, but please help me keep him safe.”
I grab the back of her neck, bringing her head against my shoulder. “Shh. It's okay I'm gonna keep you both safe. I promise.” No matter what it takes.
I lead Brooke to my room after telling Ritchie to keep his mouth shut about what he's heard. I don't want anyone finding out Brooke is back from anyone but me. Brooke stumbles into me. She can't even walk!
I lift her into my arms, and she doesn't even protest. Her head falls against my shoulder, our tiny son resting against her chest. This is my family right here in my arms, and I'll die before I let anyone take them from me again.
“It's okay, baby, I've got you.” I soothe.
She nods against me slowly, flip flops falling from her dirty feet. She needs a long, hot shower to wash the dirt and blood from her body, but for right now, that can wait.
I lay her on my bed, but she pulls herself up in a sitting position against the headboard, holding onto Gabriel for dear life.
“Can I hold him?” I hold my arms out to her.
She looks at the baby lovingly before looking at me and smiling.
I take him from her arms, and a sudden rush of love fills my veins so fast it's almost painful. I've never felt anything like this. I've never felt such love in my life. This is what my father meant when he said, The moment you hold your firstborn in your arms, your life is no longer your own, your heart is no longer your own. The love you feel could well kill you, but it would be a death well worth it.
I know I would die for this little boy without question, but then I'd still kill for his mother should it ever come to that.
“Hawk, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about anything. Gabriel and I can find somewhere...”
“No,” I cut her off before lowering myself onto the bed beside her, facing her. “Six months I have spent missing you, wondering if you're okay, whether or not I'd ever see you again, or if you were even alive. I've been living a damned half-life without you. You came here because you knew I'd keep you safe.”
I smile while looking down at my son — such a beautiful child. His skin is fair like his mother's right now, but mine was fair when I was born, and I darkened up the older I got. The small amount of hair that Gabriel has is dark like mine. He's going to have loose curls like me too.
“I never expected this when Ritchie woke me up,” I look into her beautiful blue eyes. “But now that Gabriel is here, I will not let him go, Brooke. I won't let either of you go. You're gonna stay here with me where you belong.”
“I never stopped loving you, Dante.” Only Brooke and my mother would call me by my given name. Not even my father does. Well, unless I've pissed him off a little too much. “I only said what I said because I was scared he'd hurt you.”
“That doesn't matter now, baby. Nothing matters. You're here with me where you belong. I'm gonna make some calls. We need stuff for Gabriel, and you both need to get checked out.”
She says nothing in response, just nods her head. She's exhausted and fighting it.
I clasp the back of her neck, bringing her head forward, I plant a hard kiss on her forehead. “Everything will be okay.”
Chapter Four
Brooke
I didn't want to go to the hospital; I knew there would be too many questions asked. Hawk wouldn't hear of it; he called his parents over so his mother could talk some sense into me. I didn't want him to wake them up so early, but he assured me they wouldn't mind. As soon as they got there, Taylor rushed over to me, checking me over and telling me how proud of me she is for leaving that place with my son, whom she adores, by the way.
BlackJack hugged me gently and kissed the top of my head before taking himself off to see his new grandson. He was so honored when I told him Gabriel has his name. It brought tears to my eyes because I swear, I saw tears in his. Hawk's parents welcomed me back into their lives without question. That's how special they are.
Taylor ordered Ritchie to get the truck ready, and he did without question. Hawk rode Gabriel and me to the nearest hospital in the truck with Ritchie sitting bedside me. Hawk kept me next to him, his hand on my knee the whole way there. I felt emotional, still so loved by him.
Ritchie's not as bad as I first thought. The big tough guy seems to be smitten with my baby boy. He kept leaning over and stroking his little cheek with a smile on his face. He even joked to Gabriel that his grandparents were crazy for chasing us on a Harley. It made me laugh.
As soon as we arrived at the hospital, Hawk asked me to hand Gabriel to Ritchie. I did, reluctantly. Hawk and Ritchie then carried my son and me to a private room, where a doctor, whom I'm guessing works with the club to help avoid the cops asking questions, came to speak to me.
Dr. Violet Hale is a tall blonde, with dark brown eyes, and a huge smile. She was kind when she examined Gabriel. She told me how beautiful she believes him to be, which, of course, I agreed. She told Hawk and me that Gabriel is in perfect health, nothing for us to worry about, which settled the unease in my gut.
She then asked her colleague, Annie, a nurse who was also in the room, one who is in a relationship with Ritchie, to bathe my baby, if it was all right with me, of course. I didn't care as long as he stayed in the room. I didn't feel comfortable with him leaving my sight. I have a fear inside of me that just won't quit. I feel like if I don't have Gabriel with me at all times, my father will find him and take him from me. I'll lose my baby boy, and I'll never see him again.
I know it's irrational, but I know my father. He's a monster, and he won't stop until he finds me and punishes me for my disobed
ience.
While Annie bathed my son, Violet checked me over thoroughly, inside and out. I needed a couple of stitches inside from where Gabriel has torn me a little, but Violet said it was nothing serious. Once she'd finished, she helped me into a shower, and it felt so damn good to get the dirt, sweat, and blood off of my body. My father hadn't allowed me to shower. He hadn't even let me see a doctor after Gabriel's birth. He said he wouldn't waste the money and I'd heal eventually.
Violet handed me clean clothes that Hawk's mother had collected and brought in for me, along with the diapers and clothes for Gabriel. I was so grateful.
She helped me to bed and then handed my son over. His little cries of hunger made me smile. I hadn't really heard him cry before that moment, apart from at my father's place. Violet helped my baby latch onto my breast, which ached like all hell, but I didn't care. It took him almost an hour to feed, and I was struggling to stay awake.
I'm struggling to stay awake right now, but Hawk's parents are in the room cooing over Gabriel. It's funny how different a newborn looks after their first bath. The clothes Taylor bought for him fit him perfectly. He's asleep in her arms right now.
“He looks so much like you, Hawk.” He rolls his eyes at her with a smile on his face.
When we were together, we'd planned our whole lives out. Children, marriage, a house of our own, even a dog for our kids to play with. Not one that sheds a lot, but one of those hypoallergenic dogs, one that could grow up with our children. Hawk made it all sound so perfect.
He even told me how he'd talk to my family. If they couldn't support me, I'd tell them goodbye. I would have, too. That's how in love I am with him. All I could think about was being stuck at the farm for the rest of my life with a racist man who hated everyone. Literally. However, the plans Hawk and I made, even if I knew deep down were just a dream, were everything I ever wanted.