As Tina left, my boys returned. They stood at the foot of the bed. I sensed they were about to tell me something.
“Get on with it.” Markey elbowed Maddox.
“I am,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Mom, I know I’ve already apologized for the way I behaved at the motel. But we want to be sure you know that we support you.”
“I appreciate you saying so. I might not be in this bed if I’d told you both from the start.”
Markey came to my side. “Why didn’t you?”
“I was afraid of the blowback I’d get from both of you, the club and society. Twelve years is a big age gap for some people. Not to mention half the club knew your dad before he passed. They’re loyal to him.”
Markey reclined in his chair. “So when you’re seventy, Art will be…” He thought for a moment.
“Fifty-eight,” I told him.
“And we’ll be forty-eight.” Maddox screwed up his face. “Shit, that’s weird.”
Markey cut his gaze at me. “It kind of is, Mom, but we’ll deal with it.”
“I appreciate it because the age difference doesn’t bother Art and me.”
Maddox sat in the chair on my other side. “What if Art wants a baby? I mean, he’s only gonna be thirty.”
I shrugged. “What if I want a baby?”
The boys’ eyebrows shot up.
“What? I’m not too old to have a baby.”
“Yeah, but what if Markey or I had a baby like next year?” Maddox appeared astonished. “Your kid and our kid would be like brother and sister, instead of what, cousins?”
Markey snorted. “No, dumbass. Her kid would be our kid’s aunt or uncle, and it’d be our brother or sister.”
“Markey is correct. Is there a girl I don’t know about?” I asked Maddox.
He waved me off. “No. Just figuring this out. Now we’re going to be a blended family.”
“Dude, just shut up already. We grew up in an MC. Family isn’t only blood-related.”
“Point made.” Maddox looked me in the eyes. “Sorry, I’m being a dick about it. I support you. I do. It’s just gonna take me some time to get used to it all.”
“It’s okay. I expected as much. Just don’t ride Art’s ass about it. He is your superior.” I winked, adjusting myself in bed and counting the minutes until I could see my man.
“Only until I become Prez, then I’ll demote him.”
“You would be a jerk once you had all the power,” Markey shot back.
Oh boy, here we go again…
Their little battles used to annoy me. Now it was sweet music to my ears because I was alive to hear.
25
Art
Eve was alive. I couldn’t believe my sweetness hadn’t died when that fucker shot her up with meth.
“The doctor said she should be able to go home tomorrow or the next day since she wasn’t a drug user.” Storm’s jaw twitched, showing his aggravation. “She’s damn lucky help came within fifteen minutes of that motherfucker injecting her. We’ll need to watch her, but the doctor feels she’ll make a full recovery.”