Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“We’re doing what needs to be done,” I spoke up as I moved to stand next to Kai.
“Say we make this deal. What happens if she has a girl and not a boy?” Claude asked.
“Heirs have always been boys,” Chris pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. We can raise a girl or a boy to lead,” Hayden spoke up.
Kai nodded in agreement.
“I don’t care what she has. I want to raise them to be one of us. To lead the next generation of us,” he told us with a firm look on his face, daring anyone to speak up.
“That’s great and all, but this is… asinine. Turning an accidental baby into an heir without hardly any planning,” Bradley said as he shook his head.
“What do you think we’re trying to do? We’re trying to plan,” Kai replied as he gestured to everyone. “Look, we’ll make this as simple and uncomplicated as we can. Aisling will stay with us for… a year. Okay? We’ll protect her while she’s pregnant and make sure the Hornets don’t know about her. After she has given birth, she can go back to her normal life and keep in contact with the baby while we raise it as our heir.”
I nodded in agreement, figuring that sounded like a good deal. I didn’t know what Aisling would say, but it seemed like everyone was content as they nodded their heads. Bradley didn’t shout his agreement, but he didn’t voice his disagreement either. That was good enough.
“Sounds like a plan, boss,” I told Kai.
Kai relaxed a little and nodded, a faint sigh drifting from him.
“Good. Let’s sleep on it,” he said before turning and heading out of the back door of the clubhouse, leaving the rest of us behind as silence lingered in the air.
This was a huge decision and an even bigger change for our club to go through. But the Iron Serpents’ survival and longevity was on the line as our enemy took a step ahead of us, preparing for the future and threatening to leave us in the past. We had to step up, even if we were about to venture into unknown territory.
Everything was about to change.
Chapter 5
Aisling
Kai’s disappointing reaction haunted me for days, but it also encouraged me to do my best to move forward with my life.
At the end of the day, I was having a baby, whether I had his support or not. That meant I had to get my life together before my baby showed up in this world.
It was still weird wrapping my mind around the fact that I was growing an actual human baby, and I found myself gingerly touching my stomach, trying to feel for evidence of it, even if it was too early.
Honestly, Kai’s reaction was… sobering. I really had to take inventory of my life and figure out what I was going to do next.
Being around Madison and her large family made me realize that I wanted that type of love.
The indestructible bond of family that I didn’t fully understand since my parents died when I was young, leaving me to be raised in the foster care system and jumping from family to family until I was thrown out to live on my own.
I could have something that I never experienced before with my child, so I decided to keep the baby and see how my love bloomed.
It already burned bright in my chest as I was struck with a wave of motivation to start planning for my child’s arrival.
“Ready?” Madison asked once I got into her car.
I smiled and nodded.
“Let’s go apartment hunting,” I told her. I was ready to find my own place and get started on decorating a nursery, which would probably also be my bedroom because a two-bedroom apartment was out of my price range. I also had medical bills to think about because my insurance wouldn’t cover every dime of them.
Madison headed away from her house, glancing over at me.
“Are you hanging in okay?” she asked.
“Besides wanting to throw up all the time? Yeah, I’m okay,” I replied with a small laugh, not wanting to drag the mood down.
I would’ve been lying if I said that I wasn’t stressed and upset over Kai and his lack of support, but I was trying to keep my head above water and not be weighed down by disappointment.
“Oh, I remember that. It sucked,” Madison said as she flashed me a sympathetic look.
I knew that I had her by my side, but I wished that I wasn’t doing this by myself. I couldn’t stop the frown that crossed my face, even trying to hide it by looking out of the side window.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Madison asked.
My eyes started burning, which made my teeth grind. Stupid, sensitive hormones.
“Sorry. I just… I wish Kai gave me a better response. He barely said anything to me.” I told her. We had this conversation before, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. Maybe a naïve part of me hoped that he would be more supportive.