Our news explodes like fireworks. The dining room erupts in a flurry of excitement and congratulations.
“Oh my God!” Lilly jumps out of her chair and runs over to us, hugging Serena fiercely. “This is so great. I’m so happy for you guys. How do you feel?” She peppers Serena with a breathless list of questions. Hope and Heidi join them, pulling Serena slightly away from the table.
“We had a pact,” Rav moans and pounds his fist against the table. “No more babies for a while.”
“Absolutely no one signed onto that,” Teller answers with an eye-roll.
“We’re still team ‘no babies’ down here,” Wrath says, pointing to Trinity, and then himself.
“Hear, hear.” Shelby leans over the table and gives Wrath a high five.
“Thank you, brother!” Rav shouts. “You too, sister!” He points at Shelby.
Rock walks over with a smile stretched across his face and shakes my hand. “I had a feeling something was up with you two. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
Two heavy hands land on my shoulders and yank me backward. “You know I’m just fucking around, right?” Wrath rumbles. “Congratulations, brother. Happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
“I hope you have a girl, though, because I still want to be your favorite son.”
“You’re the only one with an ego big enough to come up with that,” Z says.
“It’s a gift, right?” Wrath grins at us.
Teller joins us and hugs me. “You’re gonna be a great father, Grinder. Congrats.”
“Thanks.”
As the excitement dies down, most of the club returns to discussing other things. The girls still have Serena in their circle, reinforcing my gut feeling that this was a good time to share our news.
“Take a walk with me.” Rock wraps his arm around my shoulders, not giving me a chance to say yes or no, and steers me toward the hallway.
“Where you taking me, Prez?”
“Somewhere quieter, that’s all. How are you doing with all this?”
Now that we’re far enough away from everyone, I blow out a breath. “Honestly? Scared shitless. I’m worried I’m way too fucking old to be having a kid.”
Rock nods knowingly and opens the war room door, motioning for me to go in ahead of him.
He stops at his cabinet and raises an eyebrow at me. “Yeah, I’ll share a toast with you. Ain’t seeing my P.O. until next week.”
He sets two tumblers on the table and adds a neat pour of less than two ounces to each. “Worried I’ll go wild on ya?” I joke.
“Trying to ease you in slow, Gray.” He lifts the bottle, silently asking if I want more.
“This is fine.” I nod to the bottle. “Fancy stuff. Didn’t realize you’d acquired such expensive habits.”
“Hope buys it for my birthday.”
“Ahh, figured she was the one with the classy taste.”
He huffs a short laugh. “Got that.”
I take a slow sip, savoring the smooth burn. Been a long time. “Glad we finally told the club.”
“Serena didn’t want to?”
“She was worried.”
“Yeah, Hope didn’t tell me right away.” He lifts his glass and stares at it for a second. “We waited to tell everyone, too. Just in case.”
“I’ve barely figured out the landscape of how the world works these days. Now, I’m going to try to raise a kid for the first time? At my age. It seems crazy.”
“Being an older first-time parent isn’t all that bad.” Rock’s gaze shifts to the closed door. “At first it’s annoying. Everyone feels the need to point it out to you. In case you’re not aware.”
“I hear that,” I grumble.
“But hopefully with age comes wisdom and patience. Fuck knows you’ll need both.”
“How can you say that? Grace is a doll.”
He huffs with laughter. “She’s sweet ninety-nine percent of the time. That one percent is murder, though.”
“I believe it.”
“What I mean is, things you might not have understood when you were younger, or cared enough to figure out, will be easier to accept.” He holds his hand high in the air, parallel to the table. “Our life experience gives us an ability to see things from that thousand-foot perspective we don’t have when we’re younger.”
“Yeah, but kids think they know it all and don’t give a shit about life experience.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re old enough to understand that about kids and react accordingly.” He smirks. “Seriously, Gray. You’re going to be fine.”
“I’m scared to death I’m gonna fuckin’ die and leave her alone with a kid who won’t have any memories of me.” Wow, I finally found the words to express what’s been eating at me the most.
“That’s a harsh possibility.” As usual Rock doesn’t sugarcoat things to soothe my feelings. “I worried about that a lot at first too.”
“You’re not as old as me, fucker.”
“I’m aware.” He drills me with a shut-up-and-listen stare. “I hope, by now, you know I keep my promises. Anything happens to you, the club will take care of your family.”
Shit, yeah. He sent money to Rose for years at my request. Even when she told him to fuck off. Things are different now, but I’m still confident he’d do right by Serena. “It’s the only thing that allows me to sleep at night.”