Smokey,
I’m pregnant. I don’t want or expect anything from you. I didn’t plan this, and it’s news to me as well.
Ava.
What the ever-loving fuck?
That was it.
She had seen him yesterday. He’d been outside her house all fucking night, and she’d sent him a letter. It wasn’t even a detailed letter. This was basic.
Getting to his feet, he stormed out of his office. The men and women were putting the room back to rights with the few pieces of furniture he hadn’t destroyed. The rest was being taken out.
He stared at the mess and it hit him.
He was going to be a father.
Ava had told him in a letter but … he was going to be a dad. Responsible for another human being. Not that was any different from the club, but a boy or girl of his own flesh and blood.
“You okay, Smokey?” Swallow asked, coming toward him.
He looked at the woman who worked as a porn star for them in the shack.
“I’m going to be a dad.”
This had the entire room pausing. The air felt still. No one moved a muscle. If this was a movie, it would be like everyone had pressed pause. What were they waiting for?
He lifted up the picture. “I’m … a dad. I’m going to be a dad.” Holy shit, he was going to be responsible for a little baby. The revelations kept on happening, repeating themselves, and each time he thought about it, the fear began to build.
A baby was a huge deal.
“Congratulations,” Hunter said.
The brothers came around to congratulate him.
“Ava told you in a letter?” Big Dick asked.
Smokey stared down at the image and the paperwork. Why hadn’t she told him when she saw him? Was this just another sign from her that they were well and truly over?
“Yeah, she wrote to me.”
“Dude, that shit is cold,” Elijah said.
“At least she told you,” Ugly Beast said. “She didn’t have to.”
“That’s why she was at the bakery. She’s opening it back up. She’s not going to leave.” The anger he’d had moments ago evaporated. A kid. He’d forgotten about the risk he’d taken in coming inside her.
A baby. He’d knocked her up.
It hadn’t been his intention to get her pregnant, but now that she was, he was so fucking happy. They were going to have a baby.
“I’m going to be a daddy,” he said.
The club erupted in cheers.
Smokey apologized to each of the brothers. He shouldn’t have attacked them, but Hunter’s words had rung in his head, and it had set him off. When it came to Ava, he didn’t know what to do to win her back. She was the only person he wanted, and yet, she was lost to him. At least that was how it had felt.
With a baby, he had a chance. She was bound to him in some way.
“I’ve got to go.”
No one stopped him as he left the clubhouse. He got on his bike, shoving the paperwork in his pocket.
Smokey arrived at her house in record time, and much to his surprise, she wasn’t inside.
His next stop was the bakery.
The town was busy once again, but he noticed the bakery still wasn’t open, however, he saw the lights on inside.
After parking his bike across the street, he walked across the road and knocked on the window. Ava was wiping down one of the counters. She hesitated.
He pulled out the ultrasound picture and slammed it against the glass. “We need to talk.”
This got her moving.
She unlocked the door, stepping back for him to enter. She closed and locked the door behind him.
The scent of lemon was heavy in the air, and he watched as she walked around the counter.
“You’ve fixed the place up good. When do you start?” he asked.
“You want to talk about my work?”
“No, I want to talk about this, but I figured we could build to it.”
She smiled. “I start tomorrow. I’m going to look at hiring someone for when I’m ready to give birth.”
“You’re not leaving?” he asked.
“It seems wrong to leave now.” She put a hand to her stomach. “I don’t want any trouble, Smokey. I can take care of myself, and I don’t see this baby as a punishment. I see it as a blessing.” She smiled, and how he’d missed it.
He watched her, trying to memorize it.
Seeing her smile was fucking everything to him.
“I understand if you don’t want to have anything to do with our child.”
“I want to be involved.”
“You do?”
He chuckled. “What makes you think I don’t?”
“We never talked about kids or a future. I figured you wouldn’t be interested in having a baby with me.”
He put his hands on his hips. “I was a little pissed that you sent me this letter instead of telling me. You knew yesterday when we talked. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She tucked her short hair behind her ear. Another reminder that he’d fucked up. Until she grew the length back, he was going to be forever reminded of what he’d done wrong with her.