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“Where’s Aimee and the pets?” I asked worried.
“Safe with Rosie and Calamity,” Jett replied and turned as somebody approached. He laughed and winked and disappeared as Klutz barrelled in. Klutz held several pairs of fluffy socks, three hot water bottles, some of those hand warmer things and two scarves.
“You met Gauntlet.” I nodded sagely.
“Did you really request all this shit?” Klutz urged, stepping into the room. He stumbled over his feet and flung his arms out to catch himself. Everything he’d been holding flew towards me, and I ducked as packages rained down around me. I poked my head out from under the covers as Klutz righted himself, looking sheepish.
“No, I asked for socks or a hot water bottle. Gauntlet went overboard,” I replied as Klutz sat his ass down and grabbed my hand under the blankets.
“The baby is fine, growing well,” Klutz said, and I knew he’d spoken to the doctor outside.
“Yeah, somehow we’re lucky Jellybean is holding on.” I smiled and rubbed my tummy. “Klutz, what’s going on? Who was that woman? And where is your asshole brother?”
Klutz shifted his chair around the bed so he could see the door.
“Daryl is long gone. Gunner took care of that. He’ll be found somewhere in a burnt-out car, looking like an accident. Daryl’s wife won’t have to worry about fighting a divorce. She’ll get everything as his widow.”
I noted how smug Klutz sounded, and I didn’t blame him. His brother was fucked up crazy. Daryl’s poor wife must have suffered.
“Who was the woman? Your sister?”
“Yeah, Lynda was the next youngest after me. Seems she has her own story. Not everything was the way I believed with her,” Klutz drawled. He took a deep breath and spilt the beans.
I listened and waited to see what he planned to do.
“Nothing to say?” Klutz sought.
“No. This is your life, your pain, and only you can make this decision. But whatever you decide, I’ll stand at your side and support you,” I replied.
“You’ll never waver, will you?” Klutz asked, awe in his voice.
“No, because we’re meant to be together. And I know that just like I know the sun will rise tomorrow.”
???
Klutz and Lynda spoke. As soon as I was discharged from the hospital, Klutz grabbed me to stay with Calamity and Rosie. Aimee and the pets also came. To say two pregnant women un-nerved both guys was an understatement. Each time one of us moaned, Calamity or Klutz rushed over. Klutz ensured that we had a barrage of armed men and women around us when he met Lynda. Artemis, Lindsey, and Marsha looked amused, especially as Artemis was ready to drop her own baby.
When Klutz returned, he was quiet. We spoke about the repairs to my home, but he avoided the subject of his sister. Two days later, Klutz went out and returned much happier. I didn’t ask because I’d sensed something was going to happen. A week passed, and the stories were full of the dirty doctor and his family of clones in national papers. Lynda and Klutz were not mentioned, but their family was under arrest for a multitude of charges ranging from blackmail, extortion, and tax evasion. Lynda certainly had built her evidence. And Klutz used it to blow his family wide open.
The newspapers ran the stories for days as new ones emerged. Lynda hadn’t been the only one blackmailed by Klutz’s parents, and more charges followed. Klutz sat back and watched everything with a smug air, while Lynda was more vindictive and cattier. Lynda sniggered with Klutz as she told tales about her in-laws, pointing them out on TV, and while nasty, she was humorous.
But that impacted little on our lives. We had a few reporters, and the exiles soon chased them away. Daryl’s body had indeed been discovered, as Klutz had mentioned, down a gully where he’d run off the road. The coroner had ruled it an accidental death, and Lynda had contacted Jemma to come out of hiding and join us in Rapid City. Klutz was bemused to find himself with a sister and an in-law with a niece and nephew moving to Rapid City.
For me, everything settled down. My house was being repaired. The bombs thrown by the retrieval team had done some damage. Those who’d survived had been charged, and I guess next time, they’d do their homework instead of taking someone at their word and a stack of dollars.
We’d all been called to a meeting at Rage, and Rosie and I left there wrung out and weary but happy with the outcome. Only one thing bothered me. Had that been Fury I’d seen that day? I was still unsure if I had seen him. And uncertain if I should tell Drake, why waste his time on a wild goose chase?
It was a question for the future, I thought, and shelved it as I walked down the porch steps in the backyard to where my family was. Klutz was waiting at the bottom, hovering as usual. Mac and Casey dragged Lazybones away from a grill while Pirate clutched Mac’s shoulder. Mine and Klutz’s pets were seeking fuss and love from Fanatic and Gauntlet while Rosie and Calamity’s were running riot. Peter and Precious were having a full-blown argument, Precious holding her own from the safety of Calamity’s shoulder.
I took in a deep breath as my gaze swept the yard. This was an image I wanted to imprint on my brain. Friends and family, together, forever.
Epilogue.
Klutz
I was amused when Phoe dragged me outside the clubhouse and ripped my tee from me before shoving me into a fresh, clean black one and yanking me down the compound green to stand in front of an arch. Axel was in front of me, and Calamity and Fanatic stood at my side.
“Yo, I’ll teach you fucker to marry without me holding the ceremony,” Axel growled. Concerned, I glared at Calamity, who grinned.
