Page 40 of Rage’s Rose

“I’m sorry, immediate family only for now.”

I watch as my dad grabs Liz’s hand and they begin heading towards the doctor. He looks at all of my brothers and sisters and nods at them to follow. I don’t know if I am included in that, but I start heading that way anyway. I notice as dad looks at Knox, Peyton and the triplets and he stops.

“You guys come too. You’re immediate family. You’re his ol’ lady, those are his babies. Thorn, son, you too.”

Since we have more than a fucking army heading back to speak with the doctor he walks us into this bigger private room that almost looks like a conference room. It is one of these rooms that looks like they are about to break some shit news to you. I take a seat along with everyone else after the doctor tells us to.

“So I know Dr. Montgomery and that is why I am going to give it to you all straight and why this has not gone to the police. So the good news is that he is stable. We got the internal bleeding under control from the severe trauma and impact of whatever it was that was used to beat him. We did have to repair his liver and remove his spleen because of the stab wounds that punctured those two organs. We stitched up all the wounds he had and made sure that no arteries had been pierced. He had been stabbed a couple of times in the stomach, a couple of times in each leg and arms. I believe that the stab wound on the stomach came after all the beatings and the torture, that appears to have been done to him. He was shot probably after all that, there really is no way of knowing until he tells you. The shot to the shoulder was taken care of and we got the bullet out and everything looked fine. He will need rehab for all those injuries and to take it easy for a little while. He also has a concussion and good news is that there were no brain bleeds. He is going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. But he appears to have a lot of people that love him and will take care of him.”

“We will doc. Now can we see my boy?” my dad asks.

I can’t help, but flinch as he says that.

“You can see him as soon as they move him to a room from recovery. A nurse will come grab you and we ask that there only be a few of you in at a time. I see he has a big family, especially just in this room alone and with the men out there in the waiting room, but we would ask that you all take turns sitting with him. I know that might be a hard ask, but we believe it is for the best of the patient at this time. We do not want to overwhelm him. Once he starts to feel better we can possibly have more at a time.

“Thanks doc. We appreciate it.”

Dad stands up and shakes the doctor’s hand before he heads out of the room and leaves us there. He then tells everyone he thinks Peyton and Fang should remain in the room with Whip and the rest of us can visit a couple at a time. Everyone seems to be in agreement. Peyton leaves with Fang and Thorn after they grab the babies.

No one else leaves and there is so much tension in the room that it feels like it is going to explode. I hate it and I hate it for my younger siblings. Dad looks around the room at Liz, Trevor, Bethany, Cassie, Adam, Brock, Rip, Samantha, Bailey, Ashton and myself and takes a deep breath like he is preparing for war. I’m assuming he is preparing for a war with me. I know that I am the most difficult of all of us in this room and I have my fucking reasons he knows that. He knows, but he doesn’t know what those reasons are. Despite the fact that I came to him at eight, I am more like him than he wants to admit. I keep my shit tight and don’t let other people know about my secrets, my pain and my fucking problems.

“So I think we need to sit down as a family and discuss some things.”

“You mean to tell us why the heck we are in a family meeting about what’s going on with Whip? And why the hell did you call him my boy?” Trevor asks.

Trevor won’t be thrilled about this development either because we were kept from our brother. Yeah, we know Whip, but we don’t really know him. If we had had the opportunity to get to know him growing up shit might have been different.

“It’s pretty obvious there Trevor. Daddy’s got another baby. I think we should throw him a shower.” I sneer.

I know I have no reason to be upset and to act like a dick to my father, but it’s like looking in a fucking mirror and I hate it. I hate that I am in this mess, I am angry with myself. I am angry with Rose, I am angry with fucking Scarlett, I am angry at the fucking world we are apart of for making women think it is okay to keep their kids away from their fathers. Why is that even something that is being made okay. I mean for all the issues I have with Liz, at least she fucking told dad when she was pregnant. Same for Rose. They have shown to be different from the other bitches around this family.

“Okay, this is not going to happen. You are not going to act like this Caleb. If you are going to act like this you can leave. I need to talk to your brothers and sisters. If you don’t want to be a part of that conversation then fucking go. If you think you have all the answers, head on out.”

I glare at my dad and clench my fists. Fuck that. I will be here for my siblings even if everything is fucked up. They need their big brother. So I am going to keep my fucking mouth shut.

“Alright, so the reason we are here and why we were the immediate family of Cooper is because this morning we found out that he is my son. His mother was a club girl over twenty-nine years ago and disappeared, apparently pregnant with Cooper. Cooper was lied to about who his father was and obviously his mother never told me about him. So I want you guys to know that Cooper is your big brother. I hope that you will ALL welcome him to our family. No matter what, we are family. I want to get to know Cooper as my son and I am sure he wants to get to know me as his father and all of you as his brothers and sisters.”

The more dad talks the angerier I get. I just have been seeing red for days. Honestly, I’m fucking stressed. It’s not even just rage anymore, it's fear. It’s all these things running around in my head and the secrets I am keeping to try and not being able to solve the problems myself. Before I can control myself, I let my frustration and bitterness come out.

“So are there going to be any other siblings popping out of the woodwork here?” I snark at my dad.

Within seconds he is looking at Liz, “Take the kids out of here, please.”

Liz gathers the kids up and heads out of the room so fast, I’m sure she knows that my dad is about to lose his shit and she doesn’t want the little ones within range. The second they are out the door my dad is spinning on me.

“What in the hell is your problem? If anyone should be understanding about years without an actual father it should be you! You also know all the shit Cooper has been through!”

I stand up on my chair and put my hands on the table in front of me. Everything is boiling over. Every single fucking thing. Every secret, every word that Rose has thrown at me since that night at the clubhouse. Well deserved I know, but I just can’t fucking seem to care if I deserve it. I’m angry at the life I had to live as a child because my mother hid me from this man in front of me, I’m angry at the stupid bitch that kept Cooper away and all the fucked up shit that family did to him. I’m pissed at Trevor’s mother for walking away because she found out she wasn’t going to get my dad’s patch so she didn’t want the responsibility and the kid that came with it.

“It has nothing to do with Cooper and everything to do with you! Do you know what a fucking condom is? You just had to keep fucking women bare or something? Knocking up bitches left and right not giving a shit if you got them pregnant or not. Leaving all these kids without their father! Do you even care or think about what you are doing?”

My dad looks at me like he is seeing someone he doesn’t know. Like the man in front of him is someone that he has never seen before. Which may be true. I have never been like this with my dad. Everything has started to pile up in ways I can’t even explain to him.

“Let me be real clear, I never went without a condom until Liz. In case you didn’t know, I’ll give you some fucking sex education because your fucking ass is twenty-seven years old and should fucking know that condoms are not 100%. Now, I didn’t ask for all this to happen to me. I didn’t ask for Whip’s fucking mom to keep him from me for twenty-nine fucking years. I didn’t know that my own fucking kid was in the club. That he was right in front of my fucking face for years! He slams his hand down hard on the table. My breathing is growing rapid and it is taking everything in me to not storm out of this fucking room. I do not want to have it out with my dad.

“Your mom didn’t fucking tell me she was pregant with you and I didn’t know you existed until she died. You think that is fair to me? You think I woke up one day and said I’m going to fukcing knock up every bitch I come across and see what one sticks? I was young! I did a lot of shit, kind of like what your fucking ass is doing right now!” He has no idea how that statement lands because I see the irony in why I am angry with him. I see that we both have made the same mistakes and I’m currently reliving history with my son.

“You think no one sees the fucking shit you pull. I’ve been at those parties, boy. I know what the fuck you do! I also know about the games you are fucking playing with that sweet girl that Peyton and Parker are friends with. You want to fuck around, you go ahead and fucking do it. I can’t sit here and tell you not to because my ass stuck my dick in a bunch of bitches before I met Liz. I tried to find a woman to be like a mother to you after yours passed. I tried to settle down and I’m sorry Trevor’s mom wasn’t the one that was going to be there for either of you.” I know he had always hoped that that bitch would come back. I mean it was two sides of a double edge sword. He wanted Trevor to have his mother and maybe I could find one in her too, but he also knew she wouldn’t be good for either of us.