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None of that matters anymore, though.
I have a relationship to focus on. A family to put back together and to build up, stronger than before. I have myself to work on, my girls to take care of, and another baby on the way. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, and I almost lost my tomorrow tonight. I will protect what I have with the same ferocity I went after Toby’s leg just an hour ago. I’m done sitting on the sidelines. My alphas need me at my full potential, and so do my children. Their love makes me feel invincible.
32
Avery
Summers in Nebraska are getting hotter with each passing year. And being closer to my due date has July feeling like a genuine oven. There’s a state-of-the-art air conditioning system throughout the mansion, but every time I go out, the hot air hits me like Hell’s lashing tongue.
I don’t normally leave the house in such scorching weather, but it’s a special occasion.
Helen and my men have just come out of the courthouse near North Platte’s townhall. I was in first thing in the morning, testifying at Charlene and Toby’s trial. With Helen and the guys’ testimony, it’s a sealed deal.
“Toby got life without parole,” Kellan says as we all take our seats at a café terrace across the street from the courthouse. “He’s lucky the D.A. didn’t want to go for the death penalty.”
“What about Charlene?” I ask.
“Thirty years minimum, no early parole,” he replies.
Helen winces as she shifts in her chair. She is fully recovered from her gunshot wound, but the weeks she spent in a hospital bed have had a negative impact on her muscles and joints. A woman like Helen is used to moving around a lot, particularly in her advanced age, so any time spent in complete repose will affect her mobility and flexibility when she starts moving again. But I’m glad she’s okay. Soon enough, she’ll be running circles around my girls again. “Let them both rot in prison for all I care,” she grumbles. “I can’t play in the pool with Annie and Miley because of them.”
“Now, now, Helen, you heard what the doctor said. You just need to take it easy, and you’ll be hurling beer kegs by fall,” Fallon replies, half-smiling.
“I’d better. Otherwise, who’s gonna help poor Avery here with miracle number three?” she shoots back, nodding at my ginormous belly.
I feel like a bloated balloon these days. Motherhood is not without its perks, but damn, it does take a toll on the body. I don’t regret a single moment, though. Heck, in fact, I think I’m gonna miss the mindless cravings and having this sweet little baby nestled inside. But soon enough, I’ll have another little human to raise, and this time, I’ve got three strapping dads to help me.
“Hey, are you completely forgetting about us?” Kellan asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “We didn’t just donate the genetic material, you know.”
“You’d better stick by her side,” Helen jokingly warns them. “Or I’ll string the three of you up like turkeys for Thanksgiving.”
We can’t help but laugh. The shooting may have hindered Helen’s physical mobility, but her mind and her tongue are as sharp as ever. Annie and Miley are back at the mansion in the care of agents Pike and Langley. After the Toby debacle, they felt so bad that they offered to babysit my girls whenever Helen isn’t available, and given that the first two months of post-op had her laying mostly in bed, the guys had their work cut out for them.
“Listen, we’re a team,” Luke says. “We got in this together, and we’re gonna stick through it. Speaking of, don’t you have a baby shower to organize?” he asks me.
“Who for?” I reply, somewhat confused. “It’s not like I have any friends around here.”
Helen scoffs. “Why, thank you.”
“Sorry, Helen. So, a baby shower for one? Is that what you’re asking?” I say, chuckling softly.
Kellan’s gaze softens. “You’ve got more friends in Lincoln County than you know, Avery. And you deserve a baby shower. You deserve all those great moments you never got in the past, before you came to us. You deserve to be loved and spoiled, to be cared for and protected. We’re here to do just that and more, baby.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” I say, melting in my chair. “And I would positively kill for some lemonade.”
Fallon raises his hand, signaling the waiter to come over and take our order. “Say no more, my love.”
“Hey, what about Elizabeth and Bill?” Helen asks after the waiter leaves our table. “Their names were repeatedly mentioned during the hearing. Is the D.A. really trying to goafter them this time?”
“Key word is trying,” Kellan replies. “We’ll help however we can, but I’m not sure it’ll stick just yet.”
“There have been rumors about them possibly being linked to a drug trafficking ring,” Fallon says, his brow furrowed as he’s still trying to wrap his head around that nugget.
We’d heard about this through the grapevine. A whisper here, a rumor there, but nothing concrete. Just enough to horrify Bill and Elizabeth’s sons. “We’re looking into that in the meantime. One way or another, we will nail them to the wall, Helen. Rest assured, Maurice’s downfall and death will not go unavenged.”
“Whatever happens, happens,” Helen concedes. “As long as we’re happy, safe, and thriving, I’m not sure anything else matters.”
“I’d like nothing more than to agree with you on that,” Kellan says. “But the truth is, our parents’ influence is still casting deep and ugly shadows over the county. I can’t allow them to keep getting away with this. And if these more recent allegations are true, then I have no choice but to go after them with the full force of the law.”
