The Diary of Bink Cummings: Vol 4 (MC Chronicles #4) (6 page)

Sitting on a makeshift throne at the front of the living room like the Queen of England—which is nothing more than a rocking chair and a blanket strewn over my bare legs—I keenly watch Gunz carting my precious cargo around the room like a football. About fifteen minutes ago, he’d had enough of everyone playing hot potato with her, so he’s claimed her for himself. Not that I mind. I’m trying to be patient and let everyone get their turn with my babe. It’s harder than I thought it would be, but I keep reminding myself that I’ll have plenty of sleepless nights to bond with her. Giving my family their baby fill is more important than this growing, protective ball in my gut that makes me want to snatch her away and selfishly keep her all to myself like Gollum in
The Lord of the Rings
—my precious. Hey, don’t judge me, I can’t help it. She’s so damn cute all bathed and wearing a tiny pair of black and pink footed pajamas. Even the tiny little
Harley
cap on her head is adorable. Although, I don’t like that it covers her headful of blonde hair.

The entire evening has been nonstop since Big helped me from the bedroom. Everyone held Harley after Big gave her a bath on the kitchen counter, next to the sink. I sat on a stool beside him and watched. Amazingly, she didn’t scream and seems to be quite content with everything—except diaper changes. Those, she despises. Not that I blame her; the cold air hitting my who-ha doesn’t feel good either.

Big and I’ve eaten our dinners that Deb had reheated for us. My Sacred Sisters cleaned up the house. There are premade meals sitting in our fridge for the days to come. My daddy and Mandy even stayed long enough to get Harley snuggles. He mighta gotten choked up, then left shortly after that to regain his manly, no-cry composure. Not that he’d ever admit that. Even though I saw those red, shimmering eyes. Deke stayed as long as he could, but had to leave early on account of his girls. It’s summer break, so they don’t have school tomorrow, which is nice. Blimp even held my girl, tickling her with his grotesquely long, untamed beard. Gotta hand it to Harley: at only a few hours old, she seems to be wrapping the brothers tightly around her pinkie finger. Not that I mind. Gunz has always said I did the same thing since the day I was born. With him, I can believe it. As soon as I’d left the bedroom, he was at my side, handing me a sucker and giving me a big kiss on the forehead. That’s my Gunz for ya.

My eyes track Big as he saunters through the room in a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt. After just taking a shower, his hair’s lying wet down his back.

“Hey, hot stuff!” I holler at him as he passes into the open kitchen.

Stopping, he pokes his head in my direction with that dimple glued in place. “Yeah, Sugar Tits?”

“Can you bring me a brush so I can do your hair?”

That grin grows, making the edges of his eyes crinkle. “Babe,” he sounds all warm and fuzzy, making me feel the same, “ya don’t need to do that.”

“But I want to. I’m kinda sittin’ here with nothin’ to do until Harley gets hungry, or Gunz decides he’s had enough. Which I don’t see happening anytime soon.” Gunz flashes me a knowing smile and wink. Yeah, I didn’t think so. About an hour ago, she ate from a bottle of my breast milk. I’d gone into the bathroom and pumped. Only three ounces came out, but guess that’s better than nothing. I don’t think she’ll be hungry for a little while longer.

Gypsy and Mickey make their way over to me, and both bend at the same time to kiss either side of my cheeks. “Motherhood shines a beauty upon you that looks good there,” Gypsy whispers to my ear—ever the poetic scholar.

Grateful for his words, I pat his shoulder as he pulls away. “Thank you.”

He bows his head in silent reply.

“We’re gonna head up to join the rest of the brothers at the clubhouse. But thanks for havin’ us here. It’ll be nice to see a little baby Bink runnin’ around.” Mickey chucks me under my chin and blows me a kiss. I smile in return.

“Thanks for hangin’,” I call to both of their backs, as they say goodbye to their Prez, before raising their hands in farewell as they hit the entry hall. Everyone returns the gesture in kind.

Viper slips around Beth, who’s busy talking to Gunz, then pops a squat on the floor right next to my feet. It’s the exact same spot Pretzel usually mans. “So you’re actually naming her Harley, eh?”

Playfully, I flick him in the back of the head. “Yeah. You gotta problem with that?”

“Hey,” he scolds lightheartedly, rubbing his head. A chuckle forms under his breath. “I was only askin’.”

Sure he was. I’ve been getting ribbed about it for hours.

Jizz steals a vacated chair in front of one of the windows, diagonal from us. Then he runs his hand through the back of his ponytail. “Yeah, sis, what the hell is up with that name? When I think of a Harley, I think of a dude. Hell, I know two different Harley’s from two of our other chapters. Don’t ya wanna give her a more feminine name?”

Not sure if he's serious, or just a teasing jackass like normal, so with oomph, I flip my brother a big fat double bird. “Fuck off, Jizz. Unlike her hair color, we’re not runnin’ a bet on her name, or getting outside input.”

Yep, you heard that correctly … a hair color bet. I swear these dumbasses find anything to gamble on. Apparently, the boys decided to run one on what hair color Harley would have when she was born. Only four people bet blonde. Everyone else thought brown, because they all swore she’d look more like Big. Guess they didn’t realize how strong our genes are. Well, they should have, considering every single one of my biological brothers and sisters have blonde hair and bluish eyes. However, you won’t hear me complaining about the bet, because Gunz, Big, Deke, and Mickey all put their money on my hair color. Yes, my old man bet on me. So now we’re sittin’ pretty on an extra two hundred bucks.

“Stop givin’ her shit, Jizz.”

Big sucks up the entire space with his massive hotness, and eyes Viper with a raised brow, silently communicating something. Viper moves away without question and Big drops down in front of me, expelling an aged groan. His back rests against the front of my chair, his shoulders wide. Unable to stretch my legs on either side of him, thanks to my seat’s narrow arms, I tuck my legs under me instead. Reaching over his shoulder, he hands me the handle of a brush. Taking it, I get to work gently brushing through his hair—something that I love to do. It’s so silky smooth under my fingers and smells just like him—delicious man.

My brother doesn’t want to let up. “Big, you’re tellin’ me that when you hear Harley, you don’t think dude? We’ve got brothers with that name.”

Despite the itch to tell my brother off, I continue to run my fingers and the brush through Big’s hair. Sometimes that boy has gotta shut it. And I trust Big enough to handle this correctly.

Reaching over his shoulder, Big lays a hand on my knee. “If your sister wants to name our daughter Harley, she’s gonna name her Harley. It’s not up for discussion.
Period
. I don’t like you questionin’ her about it. That’s not your place. You’re not her old man or club Prez. I am. So you’re gonna show her respect, not only ‘cause she’s your sister, but because she’s my old lady and the mother of my child. Ya hear me?” His voice is deathly low—lethal.

With apologetic eyes, Jizz raises his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry. You’re right. I just thought I’d see my sister havin’ a baby named Chelsea or Chloe, or somethin’ like that.”

“Harley’s her name, and her nickname is Leech. That’s the end of the discussion.” Big is firm.

The hell it is. I pinch the top of his hand, and he tips his head back to give me a what-do-you-think-you’re-doing look.

“Her nickname is still negotiable,” I mutter harshly, my eyes delving into his.

Smugly, he shakes his head. “Nope.”

Gah! When is he gonna let this go? As soon as he introduced Harley, he also announced her nickname. I scowled at him when he did while everyone else laughed. Now he’s got half of the brothers already using it, even Gunz and Deke, who are supposed to be on my side—traitors.

Harley cries in her grandpa’s arms, and my eyes instantly lock on them. He lifts her, resting her chest on his while his fingers gently pat her back. The sight is beautiful, ain’t it? Badass Gunz wearing a black t-shirt and holding his grandbaby to his chest. His gray beard’s nearly tickling the top of her head. Next to him, Beth reaches out to tap Harley’s bottom to calm her as well. She quiets down.

Hey, now that I think of it, Gunz and Beth have pretty much been inseparable all day. Constantly chatting, in each other’s space, even sucking on suckers at the same time. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say something fishy was going on behind my back. But Mr. Kinky-Fucker and Ms. Virgin definitely aren’t doing the nasty. If anything, I bet he’s taken her under his wing to give Big more family time.

Hell, since the crowd has thinned out and most of the brothers have siphoned to the clubhouse for a birthing celebration, it’s as good a time as ever to catch up with them. And I’d also like to know a little more about this sudden cord cutting agreement that I wasn’t privy to. I’m not a fan of being kept in the dark.

Running my fingers through Big’s hair, I open my mouth to talk. “So Big and Gunz, would either of you care to fill me in on the cord cutting arrangement?”

Gunz and Beth take a couple steps closer. Jizz, knowing he’s said enough, gets up and waves his silent goodbye. Viper does the same, joining him. That leaves only the five of us and Deb, who’s busy cleaning. We’ve sent her home three times already, but she’s refusing to budge. Even Dallas tried to drag her away, which didn’t do much except make us listen to them fucking in the bathroom for ten minutes. Then Dallas, Bulk, Tripper, Jez, Pix, Axel, and a few more of the crew said their goodbyes and went to party. You can hear the tail end of the loud music from here, and the scent of bonfire wafts in whenever the front door is opened. Big told me he’d asked Niki to bring extra club whores tonight as his thank you to the brothers for stickin’ it out all day. From the sounds of it, they seem to be appreciating the new pussy. I’m shocked Gunz hasn’t gone up there yet to join in. I know him and Niki are as thick as thieves.

Bouncing Harley on his chest, Gunz is the first to reply. “We were talkin’ about her birth and preparin’ if something were to go wrong. Big and I got to talkin’ about some shit, and he told me he’d like for me to cut the cord.” He’s being vague.

I knew they had an ambulance on standby just in case something happened. Big has told me as much. Thankfully, we didn’t need to use it.

“That’s it?” I ask, and Big’s hand that never left my knee, squeezes it with an unspoken request. In other words, he wants me to drop it. Not sure how I can tell from his touch, but I can. And because I’m not feeling up to a debate, I give in, not mentioning it again.

With normal ease, we lapse into casual conversation. Beth takes a seat on the chair Jizz vacated while Gunz leisurely ambles around the room with a sleeping Harley propped on his chest. Time passes, and Deb finally disembarks. I grow more tired, yawning behind my hand numerous times. Big remains on the floor, in front of me, his presence an impenetrable comfort. Just because I adore it, I continue combing my fingers through my lover’s hair. Dark, silky strands cascade through my digits. An intoxicating whiff of Big’s scent envelopes my senses as it delves deep into the recesses of my soul to burrow itself there, along with all of my fond memories of him. A content peace floods the room, spreading a serene warmth. Emotions surface that I’ve not been able to embrace due to the day’s beautiful chaos. Appreciation, love, joy, admiration, and so many words that I can’t seem to express all crawl out of the woodwork, filling me fuller than I’ve ever felt before. My family is complete now. I never knew what that felt like until this very moment as Big is talking with Beth and Gunz, who’s is in utter rapture, unwilling to let his grandbaby down. Using his phone, he continues to snap pictures of her, and my sense of fulfillment rises.

Is this what true love and happiness feels like? I thought I knew what it meant when people speak about it. Now, I live it. Encompass it. And I damn well sure appreciate it. I’m beyond blessed.

To keep myself from crying, I dial back into Beth and Big’s conversation. “So what’s your plans when Jonesy finally goes into a home?” Big asks her.

Lifting her shoulder, she drops it in a severe shrug. “I don’t know. Gunz and I’ve discussed it, and I think I’d like to apply for a job at your auto shop. I think it would be a good move for me. Get me away from caretaking and into something new.”