Page 9 of Property of Quake

“Wait a second,” Lucy mutters, pushing Zombie away. “Little mama?”

“Are you…” Zoey begins.

“Yeah, I’m pregnant,” Mellie confirms, and Lucy practically tackles her in a hug, with Zoey joining a split second after.

The three of them are wrapped up in each other, tears flowing, and the entire room watches. Shit, I even see several of my brothers pretend they have dust in their eyes.

Pastor clears his throat suspiciously, while Trick refuses to make eye contact with anyone. Copper’s beer is suddenly very fascinating to him, and Pilot ducks his head to wipe his eyes on his shirt.

I point at each of them. “Bunch of fucking emotional bastards.”

“Says the guy who ran through the clubhouse screaming,” Lyric accuses.

“That was different,” I say.

“How?” Trick asks.

I shrug. “It was important screaming.”

Whiz snorts, sending beer flying out of his nose. He coughs but quickly regains control and glares at me with humor in his eyes. “Remind me never to tell you a secret.”

“The thing about it is, I didn’t have to say shit,” Lyric states.

The teasing banter continues, as does the celebration of the pregnancy news. Not everyone was present when I came running into the common room, and those who arrive now are greeted with the news before they even have a chance to say ‘hi’.

As time passes, I watch and soak up every little nuance, every whispered word, every hug freely given with no thought of how sappy it might be. I commit to memory everything that very few people are lucky enough to see and experience.

“So,” Zombie says, cutting through the noise. “Who’s gonna teach this kid life’s important lessons?”

“Not you,” Mellie and Lucy say simultaneously.

Zombie rears back, looking offended. “I’m a highly respected role model.”

“Says the guy who fucks his wife in a literal lion’s den,” Whiz comments.

“Don’t knock it til you try it,” Lucy quips. “But yeah, I get what you’re saying.”

“You trust me with Sari,” Zombie accuses.

“Sari is our daughter,” Lucy says. “Of course, I trust you with her. But someone else’s kid… that’s different.”

“How?”

“Because, brother,” I say, slapping him on the back. “It’s like the rule of grandparents. You can give the kids all the sugar they want because you know you won’t have to deal with the fallout. Ergo, if you teach this kid all of life’s important lessons, you won’t be the one dealing with the consequences when your lessons turn to shit.”

Zombie scowls, but he’s not angry in the least. “I think you’re all forgetting who taught my precious baby girl her first word.” He shifts his gaze to Lyric. “Pres, I’m pretty sure she learned to call me ‘asshole’ from you.”

“I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about,” Pres replies. “Speaking of the little angel, where is she? I need to keep practicing.”

“She’s down for her nap,” Zombie says. “And that’s where she’s staying because she’s teething and cranky as hell.”

“Asshole,” Lyric mutters, sending the room into more rounds of laughter.

Mellie laughs so hard she leans into her husband as if he’s the only thing that can hold her up. He slips his arm around her, and I don’t miss the way his hand curls protectively at her waist.

It’s a gesture he’s made thousands of times. The two of them have survived things that would’ve broken most couples: memory loss, death, grief, violence. Through it all, they continued to find their way back to each other, and now they’re building something new.

A family.