AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tired but happy. Beth is still with her. They are moving Sarah into a room now. The babies are being taken to the NICU. They are small, but healthy. Claudia wants to monitor them for a while.”
“I’m gonna go check on them,” Jessica said, quickly kissing her uncle’s cheek. “Congrats, Uncle Cord.”
“Only one boy?” Cameron grumbled. “Aw, dude. Couldn’t you get two boys? We already have too many Bettys. Sissy, your kid better be a boy or I’m moving out.”
“What?”
“No way!”
“Are you shitting me?!”
Pyro sighed, rolling his eyes as he hugged his wife to him while Skylar glared at her brother. “Big mouth.”
“Chase? Skylar?” King grinned, looking at them both.
“Fine. Yes. Skylar is pregnant,” Pyro admitted happily. “We didn’t want to say anything until Sarah and the babies were home. But big mouth over there can’t keep a damn secret.”
“The Sons of Hell are getting bigger.” King smiled, shaking his head. “Mom and Dad would be proud.”
It was late when I pulled up in front of the clubhouse.
Henley had said very little after the announcement, which worried me, and I wondered if I pushed her too far today.
What most people took for granted, Henley had a hard time coping with. Any unknown social setting was bothersome to most people, but for someone like Henley, it could be overwhelming and, in some cases, debilitating.
When I learned from Sugar just how badly her anxiety affected her, I took some time to read up on the subject. Not that I was entirely unfamiliar with it. Even I had moments where my own anxiety reached maximum level, but to deal with it day in day out had to be crippling for her.
One of the main things I learned was that someone who suffered from anxiety needed to decompress when put in a situation that overwhelmed them. For Henley, it was her aversion to social settings, meeting new people, the fear of condemnation and ridicule. Her whole life, kids, even adults, bullied her, judged her, made light of her looks and the fact she wore glasses. It had gotten to where she couldn’t be around them anymore and needed a safe haven.
For her, it was her small cabin on the mountain and her books. With her filling in for her sister at the mayor’s office, Henley had forced herself into a situation where she felt uncomfortable, heightening her anxiety. When I spoke with Devlyn, she told me that Henley wasn’t comfortable around large crowds of people. That’s why she rarely came into town, and when she did, she never stayed long.
Devlyn knew asking her sister to fill in at the mayor’s office was a big ask, and now, with everything going on, she regretted it big time. But I got Henley’s desire to help her sister. Devlyn had always been there for her, protected her, accepted her for who she was. She wanted to repay her. To help her sister as Devlyn helped her.
It made sense.
Turning off the ignition to my truck, I turned to Henley.
“I want to apologize for today.”
Henley looked up at me, confusion written on her face.
“Why?”
“I shouldn’t have brought you to the hospital. I should have taken you somewhere else. Somewhere quieter. Your sister’s maybe.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you do that?”
“Because you would have been more comfortable with her than around the club. We can be a handful and a lot to take in at times.”
“Scribe,” Henley whispered. “I enjoyed meeting your family. Yes, they are loud, opinionated and rowdy, but that’s who they are. I wouldn’t change anything about them. Not even Cameron and his potty mouth. It’s who you guys are. Though I think I’m going to get Cameron a bar of soap for Christmas. He really does have a mouth on him.”
I chuckled at that.
“Look, Scribe,” she said, taking my hand. “All I know is that today someone scared me terribly and then you showed up and that fear went away. One minute I couldn’t breathe and the next I could. The whole time I was with you at the hospital, I felt fine. Relaxed even. I’ve never felt that way in a crowd before.”
Smiling, I asked, “Really?”
She nodded.
