Duke: Fallen MC #1 (22 page)

A giggle escaped her as she saw Slam tying off the cord with a cable tie. Duke rummaged in his pocket and withdrew the band with an A on. He quickly and very delicately slipped it on the baby’s ankle and adjusted it to fit before Slam handed him his son. She thought he would be wary and fidgety but he was so gentle and steady as he accepted his son from Slam. Her heart overflowed with love, seeing father and son together. She didn’t even realise that she was sobbing. Duke turned to face her with a glowing smile gracing his face. Her arms stretched out to take her son. It felt like she’d waited forever to hold him in her arms.

“Here, Anarchy Aaron Banks, this is your momma.” He spoke softly to the bundle in his arms as he passed her the most precious thing in her life.

She cradled him against her body and pressed kisses all over his face, the gunk and blood not bothering her at all. He was beautiful. He felt too small to be out in the big wide world. She stroked a finger down his super soft cheek as Duke embraced them both.

“Congratulations, you guys.” Slam choked out, unashamedly crying too.

A new pressure rapidly built between her legs again. She handed Anarchy off to Duke quickly.

“It’s starting again!”

Just then, the apartment door banged open as Razor ran in, followed by a team of paramedics. She saw one trying to take Anarchy from Duke as she set about her breathing exercises again. He was reluctant and shouted to Razor to stick with Anarchy no matter what. Razor immediately agreed before stating that Anarchy was an epic name. Shel and Jewel ran around gathering her bag and the babies’ bags. They had so much stuff going with them, they would have to follow the ambulance in a car.

She grasped Dukes hand as two paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher. She wasn’t letting go, she needed him beside her. No matter what. The pressure kept building.

“I need to push!”

Nicole forced her tired eyes open. She was exhausted but was finding it difficult to sleep without Duke next to her. Hearing a deep serenading hum, she turned her head to see Duke standing, looking over their sons. He was checking and re-checking blankets and hats, while humming what sounded suspiciously like ‘Highway to Hell’ by AC/DC.

She recalled his swearing and shouting at the paramedics when she gave birth to Justice Nate in the club bar, and then again when Riot Lucas appeared before they could get her in the ambulance. She guessed he’d been waiting to take his frustrations out on someone. Fortunately, the paramedics had largely ignored him and the rest of the Fallen brothers as they administered care to her and her sons. She laughed to herself, recalling more than a few of the brothers retreating when it came time to get down to the nitty gritty. She had insisted that Slam go with Razor to the hospital with them. She knew Duke trusted him and he needed someone besides her to help him hold it together.

When they had all been checked and cleaned up, they were put in a private room. Nicole was very glad of that. No doubt the nurses didn’t want a large group of bikers disturbing their maternity ward. She had loved them visiting earlier. Razor and Slam had blushed and preened after her and Duke announced the babies’ names. They were ecstatic that their names had been given to their sons. Slam, Razor and Duke had jokingly argued which had the best name. Each was adamant it was the one with theirs. Nicole had them stand together, each holding the baby with their name and took a photo. It was fantastic and was definitely going on the wall in the apartment and in the house when it was completed.

She then asked Razor, Slam and Hollywood to be godfathers, they eagerly accepted. At their frowned faces, Duke promised the Musketeers that they could be godfathers to the next three. Nicole had scoffed and joked, asking who he was planning on having babies with next, because it sure as hell wouldn’t be her. Duke gave her a heart stopping kiss before whispering “we’ll see,” in her ear. She rolled her eyes.

Nicole cleared her throat, drawing Duke’s attention from the boys. He walked over to her and wrapped her in his warm embrace.

“Thank you, baby. Thank you for my sons and making me the happiest man in the world.”

Her eyes teared and she sniffed. She couldn’t bring herself to speak, fearing she’d break down completely, so she just nodded and hoped he could see how happy and in love she was too.

She gingerly scooted over and dragged him into bed with her by his cut. Resting her head on his chest, she took a deep breath in, revelling in the scent that was uniquely Duke. She was just drifting off when a tiny squeak came from one of the boys and Duke was up and out of bed in a matter of seconds. She smiled to herself. He was already the best daddy any child could hope for. She rolled over and embraced her slumber.

Duke couldn’t believe it had been a year since his sons were born. He could hardly recall times when they weren’t in his life. His whole life now revolved around them and Nicole. They were already handsome little bruisers. They were all him in looks apart from their eyes and hair. They had Nicole’s emerald green eyes and black hair. Nicole joked that if it wasn’t for their eyes and hair, people would question whether she’d been involved at all. They did everything together. They still shared a room after they’d moved to the new house, they refused to be separated. They had managed to get them to sleep in separate cot-beds at night, but at nap time in the day, they piled up like puppies on the family room floor. If he or Nicole tried to move them, there was hell to pay for the rest of the day.

Anarchy was the leader, Justice always instigated any mischief they got into, while Riot was the funny one. He would have Duke rolling on the floor laughing at some of the faces he pulled. It amazed him that they had rolled over, crawled and walked on the same day as each other. If they carried on like this, they would be a force to be reckoned with when they were older. All the brothers loved them and visited on a regular basis. He took them to the compound quite often now that they were getting bigger. They toddled around like they owned the place. A photo hung behind the bar of the three of them each sat on a Musketeers knee, drinking from their bottles while the Musketeers each had a bottle of beer. He had a copy made for his home office.

He walked out to the back yard to help Nicole with the barbecue they were hosting. He stopped and took a moment to drink her in. She was still as beautiful as the day they met and he loved her infinitely more each day. He loved waking to her wrapped in his arms and ending the day the same way. To Shel’s chagrin, her figure had returned to its pre-baby state, without much effort on her part. And their sex life was better than ever now that the boys were sleeping through the night. He was a lucky bastard and tomorrow he planned on asking her to make him her lucky husband.

Razor and Slam were babysitting while he whisked her away for a day alone together. He knew she’d say yes but he was still battling a few nerves, more about what to say than anything else. She was watching the boys playing in the ball pit. He walked behind her and tugged her into his body. She jumped in surprise, then turned and circled her arms around his neck, indulging him in a hot kiss.

“You need any help, baby?” He cupped her luscious ass in his hands, giving it a brief squeeze. His cock started to fill, so he moved his hands up to the base of her back. He needed to calm down, everyone would be arriving soon.

“No. I’ve got everything sorted. You just need to man the grill. Shel is bringing the salads. I turned Jewel down when she offered to help. She’s just too big now and I don’t want her to strain herself.”

Nicole still looked out for everyone. She mothered all the single brothers, particularly Slam, and they never complained. Every spare minute she had was spent doing something for someone else. He’d tried to get her to calm it a few times, she never did, that’s just who she is.

Jewel had gotten pregnant a couple of months after the boys were born and should be ready to drop any day now. Shel and Nicole had been surprised as she was pretty traumatised after seeing Nicole give birth, yet they were so happy for her. Hollywood was constantly at him for father advice and didn’t find it funny when he described the night all three boys had shit up their backs and then rolled in it, spreading it everywhere. Duke knew Hollywood would make a great dad, he would figure that out for himself soon enough. He’d even heard the Musketeers trying to convince Bianca to get in the family way and he was sure it wouldn’t be long before Razor put a baby in Chloe too. Prez liked to grumble that they’d have to build their own schools and daycare centres if they all carried on like this or at least invest in a black, chromed-out, Fallen Schoolbus.

He heard the gate from Razor’s side squeak as it opened. His brother had insisted that his, Duke’s and Slam’s yards should be connected for safety reasons. Duke was pretty sure he was just a lazy bastard, who liked to interrupt his time with Nicole in the hot tub. Razor waved hi before diving into the ball pit, much to the delight of his nephews, who adored him. Chloe put her mouth-watering potato salad on the table and started chatting with Nicole. They were as close as sisters and Chloe stayed with Nicole when he and Razor were out on runs. Duke settled himself in a chair and popped the cap off a cold beer. This was the life he was so sure he’d never get or deserve but thanks to Nicole all his past was now firmly behind him. He was finally content and home at last.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read Duke (Fallen MC) and I hope you enjoyed it. I would love to hear what you think so please leave a review on Amazon or on Goodreads.

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C. J. Washington