“Morning, boys. Who is this lovely young woman you have joining you? You’re not here against your will, are ya, sweetie?”
That gets a glare from Juan and a chuckle from Jane. “No, I’m here of my own free will.”
“This is our girlfriend, Jane. Jane, this is the beautiful, but incorrigible, Millie. She runs this diner and is Jameson’s mom.”
“Well, pleasure to meet you, sweetheart. You need a menu? I know what these three want.”
“Nope, I know what I want. I’d like a vegetarian omelet but add bacon. I’d like my hash browns extra crispy and a side of fruit. I’d also like to get an order of pancakes for the table first.”
I see that all three of us must have a look of confusion on our faces, so she explains.
“What, don’t you know, everyone always wants something a little sweet for breakfast. As adults, we almost never order pancakes or anything like it, ’cause we know it’s not a balanced meal. This way, we all get a few bites to enjoy and can still have our more normal, adult breakfast. That’s why it’s known as an appetizer pancake.”
“Well, shit. Boys, you got yourself a smart one. Appetizer pancakes. That’s a new one, but damn if I’m not gonna start offering that. I’ll get your orders in and bring some coffee over.”
Jane
“You’re right, baby. I can’t tell you the last time we ate pancakes, but since you said that a second ago, I can’t wait to have a couple bites.” Juan smiles at me with his dimple showing.
“See, Ben, I told ya that was our little Janey.” Hearing a voice from my past, I turn around so fast, I’m surprised I don’t fall out of my chair.
“Uncle Tim? Uncle Ben? What? What are you doin’ here?”
I stand up and give them both a hug. Turning back to the table, I say, “Guys, these are my dad’s closest friends, Tim and Ben. I’ve known them both my whole life.”
Uncle Ben speaks up, “You three must be the young men our Jane here is seeing. Mike told us about y’all when we saw him this week.”
“You went and saw Dad?”
Before they can answer, Jon speaks up, “Babygirl, why don’t we get them some chairs and have them join us for breakfast.”
“Oh, sorry, of course. Please join us. We just ordered a couple of minutes ago.”
Ror grabs a couple of chairs and puts them at my end of the table.
Anxious to hear about them seeing Dad, I ask again, “You guys went and saw Dad?”
“Sweetheart, we go a couple times every month to see him.” Dad never mentioned having any club brothers visiting him.
“But I thought that no one from the club had visited him since he was arrested. I know they weren’t at his trial.”
Uncle Tim speaks up. “Well, we were retired at the same time he was. As in it was a forced retirement. Since then, we’ve been kinda nomadic throughout the area.”
Uncle Ben chimes in, “But when we saw your dad earlier this week, he said you were seeing some men in an MC and you were having someone leaving you strange gifts. We thought it was about time to come check these boys out and see our favorite little lady.”
“Not that I’m not glad to see you, but I hadn’t told my dad anything about the things that have been left at my place.” Looking at all three of my men, I ask “Y’all haven’t talked to my dad, have you?”
“No, they didn’t go see your dad darlin’, but their dad, Jonah, did.”
“Our pa went and saw him?” Jon asks, sounding as surprised as I am.
Nodding at all of us Tim continues, “He did. He told your dad he wanted to meet father to father and make sure it couldn’t be anything from your dad’s past coming and affecting you. Apparently, they both had heard of each other before, but had never met.”
Ben adds, “Between your dad, Jonah, and us, we ruled out anything from your dad’s past. We can confirm that the current leadership of the Sangre Devils have no idea that Mike had any children. Since your mom refused to change your last name to his, and you never really came around the club after the age of around five or six, they have no reason to know you exist.” Looking at my guys, he continues, “We’d heard of your club and its reputation back when Jonah was President, and knew you guys were most likely of good quality. Honestly, we have our doubts that anyone would be good enough for our little lady here.”
Jon speaks up, “We aren’t good enough for her, but we plan to give her the best life we can.”
They are already thinking that seriously? Why did Jonah really go see Dad? Why were they retired? I take a few sips of coffee as I try to organize the questions in my head.
