Page 28 of Iron Rogues: Vol 1
We were surrounded by shrieking kids—a few of them ours—and a ton of bikers and their old ladies. Everyone was having a blast celebrating our son’s sixth birthday. I had never seen Chase happier, and we hadn’t even gotten to presents yet.
“We should do the cake soon, then gifts,” I suggested.
“Sure thing, princess.” Maverick squeezed me and brushed a kiss against the top of my head. “I’ll go round up the kids if you want to grab the cake.”
“Will do.”
I headed inside the clubhouse—which had changed so much over the years as our Iron Rogues family grew by leaps and bounds. It reminded me more of the Silver Saints clubhouse than the place I’d walked into so many years ago after Maverick had brought me here. It'd been inevitable with so many of his club brothers claiming their old ladies and having babies.
I stuck six candles into the dinosaur cake and lit them, then walked outside to sing and watch my boy blow them out. There was a whole table full of other desserts—plus the cotton candy and flavored ices—but that didn’t stop us from devouring the chocolate fudge cake with green icing. When that was done and the table where Chase sat was cleared, Maverick and a few of the guys brought out the presents.
Chase tore into the wrapping paper, tossing it over his shoulder as he exclaimed over each gift. I thought we had saved ours for last, but after he opened the new game system he’d been begging for, my brother called, “There’s one more from your aunt and me.”
Heaving a deep sigh, I pinched the bridge of my nose between my index finger and thumb as I watched him roll a mini, gas-powered bike toward us. It was the other gift Chase had asked for, but we’d decided to hold off for at least another year since he wasn’t old enough yet. But only because I’d resorted to sexual bribery to get Maverick to agree with my decision.
“Awesome,” Chase cried, jumping out of his seat to run over to his uncle. “Is there gas in it? I wanna go for a ride!”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I tapped my foot on the ground and shook my head. “Nope. Absolutely not.”
The bike my brother had gotten for my son was adorable, but there was no way I would let him ride it right now. No matter how much he pouted.
“Aw,” Chase grumbled.
“C’mon, sis. Don’t be a spoilsport,” Dane complained. “Chase is big for his age, and he’s been on the back of Maverick’s bike a ton of times.”
“Don’t worry, princess. I’ll keep a close eye on him. He’ll be fine,” my husband reassured me.
“Only if Luna gets to ride too. Since she’s actually old enough for the damn thing if we go by the age listed on the box that I’m sure my brother purposely didn’t keep it in because he didn’t want me to see it,” I insisted, glaring at Dane.
“Fuck,” Maverick groaned, raking his fingers through his thick hair.
“So now you’re worried?” I asked. “If it’s safe enough for Chase to ride when he’s only six, then it’s safe enough for Luna. ”
Dane shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re still harping on about that double standard shit when we’re all grown up with children of our own.”
“That’s easy for you to say when Dad got you a motorcycle for your sixteenth birthday, but Dahlia and I had to take riding lessons behind his back,” I retorted.
Our dad crouched in front of Luna and asked, “Do you want to go for a spin on your brother’s mini-bike, sweetheart? Or would you rather go for a ride on Grandpa’s motorcycle?”
“Sorry, Mommy.” Luna flashed me an apologetic smile as she slid her palm against my dad’s. “I’m gonna go for a ride with Grandpa.”
“Me too,” Aurora cried.
I glared at my father as he led my daughters away, and then heaved another sigh when I looked at my son’s crestfallen face. “Fine, you can ride your uncle’s present. But you’re going to wear a helmet and elbow and knee pads.”
“Yay,” he cheered, not minding my rules as long as it meant that he got what he wanted.
I wagged my finger at him. “But your sister gets to ride it later if she wants.”
“Sure,” he quickly agreed, which wasn’t a surprise since all of the kids were good about sharing their toys with each other. Even their favorites.
As Dane showed him how the mini bike worked, Maverick pulled me in for a hug. “Look how happy he is. You just made his whole day, princess.”
“Yeah, well…keep today in mind when Luna wants to date, and everything in your body is screaming to say no,” I warned. “Because the rules for our girls are gonna be the same as the boys.”
“Fuuuuuck,” he groaned, making me grin.
It was probably a good thing for Maverick that he hadn’t given me the eight babies he’d talked about so many years ago…or else odds were good he’d have even more daughters to lose his mind over than the two that sandwiched Chase by a couple of years in either direction.