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When we get to the hotel we’re staying at, Morgan has woken up and is in a better mood. It kills me to see him suffer the way he does because of her actions. It also makes the red that clouds my vision a permanent fixture now-a-days. No child should have to go through what he did. He could have had a great life. I would have still gone into the Marines, but for a different reason. I would have done it to make a life for my son as well as following in my father’s footsteps and fighting for the freedom of my country. I would have had a reason to only do one tour. “Hey dad, can we get something to snack on before the game? I’m a little hungry.” That’s another thing that has gotten better. He doesn’t shy away from asking for something to eat. If he’s hungry he knows that he can go and get himself something to eat. He only does this at home, the clubhouse, and my parent’s house. I’m not raising him to be a caveman.
“Yeah bud. Let’s get checked into the room and then we’ll grab something on the way to the game, or we can grab something from the game. It’s up to you.” I tell him as I park near the bikes that belong to my brothers.
“We can wait until the game. Maybe Posey will want something. She might be hungry too.” He says nonchalantly.
“On game days I pack her a few protein bars and Gatorades. She doesn’t like to eat a lot before a game. It could make her sick, but I’m sure if you brought her something, she’d take it in a heartbeat.” Alanis says. I remember not being able to eat much before a big game. Being on the football field, sweating, running, and getting slammed around by the opposing team members didn’t make for an easy time keeping food down. I learned that the hard way.
“Okay. Let’s go get checked in and get our stuff to the room. We have an hour before the game starts and I want to get a good seat, and a spot that has enough seats for the brood we brought with us.” I tell them. I get out and go to help Alanis out of the car, but my son has beat me to it. I grab her hand in mine when she’s out of the truck and Morgan rushes over to Murdock. They arrived a few minutes after we did. “We’ll come back for our stuff when we check in.” I pull open the door for Alanis and let her walk in before I do and follow her to the check in counter. She doesn’t know it, but I called ahead and had her room switched to a suite that she’ll share with me and the kids. It’s a two-bedroom suite so the kids will have to share a room, but that’s better than having them in the same room as us. I don’t want them to hear, or see, as drop my swimmers off into her pool.
“Hello. How can I help you?” The lady at the front desk asks, not trying to hide her attempts at checking me out. I pull Alanis in front of me and wrap my arms around her waist before I talk.
“Reservation for Holiday.” I tell her. She clicks a few buttons on her keyboard. Her cheeks have turned a bright red and when I look behind me and see my brothers, I know why.
“I see you have one of the suites. The reservation for four?” She asks, adding a purr to her words.
“That’s the one. I didn’t want to skimp on the finer things that my wife and children deserve.” I tell her, giving her a pointed glare. The boys behind me snicker while Ali and Hannah full out laugh. The women of this club don’t take kindly to women throwing themselves at their ol’ men and not taking the hint that’s thrown at them.
“You’ll never get a man acting like that. Don’t be so desperate. It doesn’t suit a woman.” Alanis pipes in, shocking the ever-loving shit out of me. She can hold her own, that’s for sure, and I’ve just learned that. She’s not only a little minx, but a spitfire too. She’ll fit in great with the others. “Seriously. You’re a beautiful woman, don’t lower yourself to that level.” The woman blushes again, but this time in embarrassment, and quickly gets our keys and tells us our room number. I don’t think Alanis said it to embarrass the girl, but she was embarrassed. I don’t know why women think that they need to lower their self-worth and throw themselves at men. They deserve better than that.
“We’re going to go get our things and put them in the room. We’ll meet you all at the game?” I ask before turning to Morgan. “Hey kid, you riding with us or someone else?”
“I’ll ride with you guys. Can Murdock ride with us?” He questions.
“If it’s okay with his mom and dad, it’s okay with us.” Alanis answers instead. “You need to go get your stuff out of the truck and put it in the room though.” The mom in her has spoken. Morgan nods before doing as he’s told with us following him. Time to get settled and over to the school. I’m excited to see Posey play for the first time. The women talk about it all the time and I can’t wait to see it in person.
Alanis
One thing that I have never been able to tolerate is women throwing themselves at unavailable men. I don’t like it when a woman makes herself look desperate. We are strong and should see ourselves as such. Don’t degrade yourself to get the attention of others, but that’s just my opinion. To each their own and all that jazz. We’re at the school and waiting for Posey’s game to start. Our group takes up quite a bit of the bleachers, but the guys don’t seem to care. It amazes me that all these people have come to watch my daughter play. It’s always been me cheering for her in the stands. Not anymore. She has a big support group now, and so do I. It makes me a bit emotional, but I love the feeling of belonging to something so big and so strong.
I watch as Morgan takes over a Gatorade and a thing of nachos and cheese to Posey. That boy cares fiercely. You would never think that he came from the situation he did. I watch as my daughter gives him a grateful smile and a big hug. They’ll get along great. I can tell that they’ll become close and protect one another until their last breaths, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m glad that I agreed to be Morgan’s mom. People may think that it’s stupid, or too fast, but I don’t think it is. Personally, I don’t think it matters how long it takes for someone to fall in love or accept a child that isn’t theirs. It depends on the person, I guess. Some fall faster and harder than others, and that’s just fine, but don’t go judging those who do things differently than you do.
I may have only known Eliot for a short amount of time, but that doesn’t matter to me. I feel this pull towards him and I don’t expect for someone who hasn’t experienced it themselves to understand. In the books that I’ve read, I love it when the two characters fall fast. I love the fast pace of it. I don’t like to wait until the very end for them to get their heads out of their butts and admit their feelings. It ticks me off the longer it goes on. I end up stopping, reading the story and find a different one until I can’t finding something else to read before going back to the one that made me mad. Idiotic? Not to me. It’s just how I am.
I’m not saying that I’m in love with Eliot, but I am falling hard for this man the more I’m around him. I know that it won’t take long for me to fall in love with him. He’s an amazing man and father. He loves just as fiercely as his son. He’s the typical alpha male, and I wouldn’t want him any other way. I know he’ll take care of me and my daughter and that’s all that matters to me. I don’t care about other people’s opinions on my relationship. What’s done in my home is my business and no one else’s. As long as they’re not a danger to myself or Posey, that’s all that matters. I can tell that Eliot will treat us both right. He won’t abuse us, and he won’t allow anything to happen to us. I know if anything were to happen, he would do everything in his power to get us back, safe and sound. That’s how I know this isn’t a short-term thing.
“Alanis. Alanis!” I jump in the air when I’m brought out of my thoughts. I was so deep I didn’t hear anyone calling my name. I feel the blush covering my face as the others chuckle. “What had you so deep in thought?” I look to who’s speaking and see that it’s Eliot.
“I was just thinking that if someone were to look at our relationship, they’d think that it’s fast, but I don’t give a rats patootie what they think. I was also thinking that our kids are going to be close and protect one another for the rest of their lives.” I tell him honestly.
“Damn right! Did you see that smile on her face when he brought her the Gatorade and nachos?” Hannah asks. I reach my hands out to take Linden from her and she gives her to me instantly. I miss when Posey was this small. She was such a good baby. I look down at Linden’s little face and see her mother.
“I did. It warmed my heart. I’m glad that they don’t seem to mind becoming one big family. I don’t want them to fight all the time or give us a hard time because they aren’t happy with the situation. If Posey wasn’t happy with me dating Eliot, I wouldn’t be doing it. Her opinion comes first before anything.” I say, not taking my eyes off the baby in my arms.
“You look good with a baby in your arms baby girl.” Eliot says. I look up at him and see him looking intently at me. He has a look in his eyes that shows what he’s thinking. I have a feeling that he’s picturing me holding our own child in my arms. I am too. I bet they would look exactly like him. Am I ready to have another child right now? Maybe. I’m not sure yet. I’ve never thought about it because I’ve never found anyone attractive, or that got to me the way Eliot does. I was, and still am, more worried about raising Posey. Making sure that she gets through school, college included, as well as getting myself through high school and college. Now that I have a stable job that’s bringing in a stable income, I can finally focus on myself as well as my daughter.
“I remember when Posey was this small. The day when she was born was one of the best days of my life. She was my Christmas gift and one of the best gifts I had ever received. It wasn’t the best birth, but we made it through.”
“What do you mean?” Ali questions.
“When I went into labor, Posey’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. I had to be taken to have an emergency C-Section. If they would have waited even a minute longer, I would have lost her. I honestly don’t know how she survived having the cord around her neck for as long as she did. I didn’t get to the hospital until my contractions were close enough together. I didn’t know that anything was wrong. I had no signs or anything. When I got to the hospital, I was immediately rushed into surgery after they did the initial exam. I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life. Out of all the bad that I had went through, I didn’t want to lose the one good thing that came out of it.” I inform them.
“I know what you mean. When everything happened during the time the twins came, I was scared shitless. I didn’t want to lose the one good thing that came out of my fucked-up situation.” Ali says. I remember her telling me the story about how the twins were born. I couldn’t even imagine that about of fear. I was scared enough with Posey. With my parents coming back into my life, I’m terrified, but I can’t let on that I am. I need to be strong for my daughter.
“I wouldn’t wish something like that on my worst enemy. I can’t imagine being that terrified. I was terrified when I was told about Posey, but to go through what you did, I don’t think I would have been able to handle it. They would have had to knock my butt out.” I say. Linden starts to get fussy and when I go to hand her to Hannah, Jackson swoops in and takes her instead. I’ve heard about how ruthless the Reaper could be but looking at him and his daughter you would never know. I’m sure that all of these men could be ruthless when they need to be, but you can see the love they all share for one another.
“The game’s starting.” Morgan informs us, bouncing in his seat. “I can’t wait to see her play. I bet she’s the best player!” He enthuses. This kid warms my heart every time I’m around him.
“They’re all good players Morgan.” I tell him.
