They were both mini versions of their mothers.
I teased Zeus ruthlessly and often about the men he’d have to beat away from his daughter. She was only eight years old, but her beauty was already so bright, she seemed to shine.
“Not gonna stop, old man,” I said, standing up so Harleigh Rose and I could meet him at the top of the porch.
He dropped his babies to wrap his arms around his adult girl. She ducked her face into his chest and held on tight.
She never took her loved ones for granted, not for one minute since she put her own life on the line all those years ago.
Sometimes I’d wake up and catch her staring at me, hand to the tattoo I’d gotten for her, fingertips on the scar she’d given me, her face full of sorrow. I’d kiss it from her face, seduce a smile or tickle away the frown, but there was always a fraction of her soul that would remain haunted by the day and the decision she’d had to make.
I’d only recently learned to live with it.
It was Cressida who had told me, “She has you to hold that feeling at bay, you don’t need to worry about the times it moves her, Danner. It’ll pass. And it’s a good reminder that the happy she had now, she earned.”
This was true, but I needed a wise woman I’d once condemned for fucking her teenage student make it clear for me.
Zeus released my wife and slapped a big palm on my shoulder, shaking it slightly. “Happy fuckin’ birthday, Lion.”
I grinned at him. “You make me a cake?”
“Fuck off.”
We moved out of the way to greet the others coming up the stairs, Lou with her son Walker who everyone had started to call “Monster,” King and Cress with their kids, Bat with his family, Nova with his wife, Buck and Maja, Old Sam, Smoke and Riley, Curtains, Boner and Axe-Man, Cy with his Tay. They filtered up the steps in their leather and their black, their smiles wide with pure joy at hangin’ out, at celebrating my birthday.
An ex-cop who’d spent years trying to put them away.
I tagged my wife’s arm and pulled her into my side so I could lay a wet kiss to her mouth. “Love you, rebel Rose. Love the family you’ve given me.”
She melted into my side, her aquamarine eyes I loved so much full of love, my rose in full bloom. “Love that you loved me enough to save them so I could give them to you.”
“God’s Gonna Cut You Down”—Johnny Cash
“Every Rose Has Its Thorns”—Poison
“Short Change Hero”—The Heavy
“Born to be Wild”—Steppenwolf
“Give My Love to Rose”—Johnny Cash
“I Hate Myself for Loving You”—Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
“Snake Song”—Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
“Not Afraid Anymore”—Halsey
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”—AC/DC
“Like Real People Do”—Hozier
“Gun in My Hand”—Dorothy
“No Good”—Kaleo
“Real Wild Child”—Iggy Pop
“Once Upon A Dream”—Lana del Ray
“Game of Survival”—Ruelle
“It Will Come Back”—Hozier
“If I Were a Boy”—Beyonce
“Hazey”—Glass Animals
“Make Up Sex”—SoMo
“Die for You”—The Weeknd
“Can’t Help Falling in Love”—Elvis Presley
“Hot Blooded”—Foreigner
“Die A Happy Man”—Thomas Rhett