On arrival back in Athens, my first port of call was to settle Skylar back at the clubhouse and then take a ride out to the Sunshine Cottage Inn to check on Megan and Cleo’s progress.
As I walked into the reception area, I noticed the bright colors on the walls and the happy and cheerful staff going about their life-saving work. I had called through and arranged a room after the accident, and was hopeful that Megan was still here and accepting the help she so desperately needed.
“Hi there, can I help you,” the cheerful receptionist called out as I walked through the doors. Her beaming smile was welcoming, but I could also see the way she studied me. They were very careful and cautious here, and so they should be. They were protecting people, and every person who stepped through the door that they didn’t recognize was a potential threat.
“Yeah, I’m Eagle,” I told her with a lazy smile and her shoulders instantly relaxed, her posture becoming a lot less defensive as she heard my name. “Megan and Cleo… hoping I can have a visit with them?”
“Sure, I’ll call through and check for you.”
After a short time, a young woman stepped into the reception area and guided me through the hallway to Megan’s room.
“Megan and Cleo are in there. She’s looking forward to seeing you.”
After a quick knock, I carefully turned the door handle and opened the door a fraction to look inside. Megan had Cleo on her knee and was gently stroking her hair.
She looked up. “Eagle, I’m so happy to see you.”
“How are you doing? They treating you okay?” I took a look around. The room was simple— a bed, a bassinet for Cleo, a TV that was playing silently, and an attached bathroom. It was nothing fancy, but it was a place where she could feel safe and secure for a while until she figured out what her next step was.
“This place is amazing. They’ve given me everything I could possibly need for Cleo, and above all, I feel safe and protected. They’re looking into long-term housing for me as well, as I know I can’t stay here forever.” She looked up at me, her eyes sparkling in the light. “I honestly can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me, Eagle.”
She looked far too young to be holding that precious human life in her hands. I felt overly protective of her and Cleo. I wasn’t entirely sure why there was just a part of me that felt like I was responsible for them.
“You want to hold her?” Megan grinned, lifting up a sleeping Cleo to me. My body gravitated toward her, and I moved my arm close to my body so Megan could settle her in the crook of my elbow.
I brushed my finger across the top of her head, the baby strands of hair feeling like silk against my skin. “You don’t got any family around that are missing this little one?” I asked, keeping my eyes focused on the baby, but noticing the way Megan’s head hung down at the mention of anyone who might actually care.
“No,” she replied, her voice a careful whisper. “My mom has never been around. My dad died while on active duty a couple years ago… that’s when my stepmom got custody of me. She made it quite clear that she hated how I reminded her of my dad every day.”
My lip turned up in a sneer, and I rolled my shoulders, trying to keep the agitation at bay and focus on Cleo. “She the one who left those bruises?”
She cleared her throat. “New husband,” she replied simply and straight to the point, letting me know there would be no more discussion about this topic today. I had a really fucking shitty feeling in the pit of my stomach that those two words were also going to be the answer to the question, ‘How did you end up with Cleo?’ But I chose to leave that one alone, noticing the way Megan was already shutting down.
I didn’t want to take any of the light away from her that she’d found while she was here in Athens. I could tell she was already feeling more optimistic and excited about the future.
The conversation about her stepdad could wait for another day, but it was going to be sitting in the back of my mind, and Iwouldfind out. And then I would decide what to do with that information.
“So you’re going to stick around then?” I questioned, trying not to smile when Cleo blinked at me sleepily and stretched her little arms and legs, driving her tiny foot into my ribs.
That question brought a gentle smile back to Megan’s face. “Yeah, I heard Athens is nice.”
I nodded in agreement, happy that for now, they were staying close where the club or me could help them out if necessary. “It is, real nice.”
Polishing my bike was kind of like therapy to me.
I know some of the brothers often got the prospects to do it, but I found it somewhat peaceful, and there were very few men who I trusted to touch my baby. This bike had carried me all over the country, it was like therapy when I was feeling trapped or overwhelmed. To just wipe it down, make it sparkle, I owed it that much at least for the times where it had saved me.
“Hey man.”
I looked over my shoulder and spotted Leo standing in the doorway to the garage. It was attached to the far end of the clubhouse, a place where brothers could come to fix up their rides, build shit, have a bit of peace and quiet from an environment that was steadily becoming a little crazy, as we had more brothers joining the ranks and a handful of babies and children filling the space like never before.
It was all a learning experience for us, and I was seeing the older members of the club looking for houses close to the club, but away from the younger group of boys that were coming in. They were respectful of the old ladies and the fact that there were kids living in the clubhouse, but they also wanted to live that life we had all experienced as we prospected in the club. Parties, drinking, girls, going to church with a hangover the size of fucking Texas. There was going to have to come a point where we sat down and decided where the balance was.
“Hey, just making sure my girl is sparkling clean,” I told Leo as I turned back around and brushed over the detailed gas tank with my rag.
Leo chuckled. “Well, can you stop touching her for just a minute, there’s someone here asking for you.”
I stopped, folding my arms as I turned around. “Who?” I asked, but he was already walking back down the hallway that passed Op’s office and led to the main room. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I murmured in annoyance and tossed the rag onto a bench before following after him. As soon as I got close enough, I was going to slap him around the damn head.