Page 18 of Emergence: Prequel
“Damn girl, your daddy is no fun,” Cash grumbled playfully at Poppy as he settled her on his hip.
Raising an eyebrow, I looked at him, “Daddy?”
“Well, she has to be something to you as she’s moving in with you. Plus, I know you; by now, you’ve had Hard-Drive add your name to her paperwork because that’s just how you work, so yeah Daddy. I don’t think Ford will mind, but we can check with him,” Cash smirked at me, “plus look at this face, and she already fits in with your other girl as they’re both named after flowers.”
Catching sight of an older lady coming out onto her porch from the corner of my eye and noting the suspicious way she was watching us, I called out to Ford.
“Ford, can you come out for a second and speak to your neighbour? She’s not looking too happy with us being here.”
It didn’t take long for Ford to be framed in the doorway as he looked over to the old lady sitting on the porch watching us.
“Give me a minute, and I’ll let Ms. Emily know what’s happening. She looks after Poppy for me when I’m at school. Damn, I hate leaving her here by herself. She’s not got anyone.”
With those words, he loped off towards her while Dad and I looked at each other. Sighing, I put my phone back to my ear and called Hard-Drive; he needed to do a quick check on the old lady for me. There was a small cottage behind Dad’s house, although I’m not sure what condition it was in.
Once I’d finished my call, I asked Dad, “What state is the cottage in?”
“It’s okay. Could probably do with a new bed, but I’ve had the prospects clean it regularly. Maura and Thor didn’t complain when they last stayed in it.”
“Jesus, Dad, this morning I woke to a houseful, then Stacey officially agreed to be my Old Lady. In the last two months, I’ve gone from being single to being an Old Man, stepfather, and now uncle slash dad to two more. And now I’m making room for an old woman we don’t know because the boy loves her, you can see that plain as day. What the fuck?” I hissed, throwing my head back.
And the fucker that he was, he just laughed, “Welcome to being in charge, son. Here comes the boy.”
Dad was right; Ford was walking towards us with an older lady, but by no means ancient. I doubt she was more than mid-sixties, medium height with long grey hair in a braid, grey eyes, and tanned skin. She was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. I wanted to curse when I saw interest flash over my dad’s face when he got a proper look at her, but I held back.
I figured they were adults; they could do what they wanted. My mom had been gone for years, and this was the first time I’d seen my dad actually look interested in another woman.
“Hi,” she informed me with a smile. My eyes widened at the sound of her voice, the husky quality reminding me of the Janis Joplin records my mom used to listen to. Taking the hand she held out, I gently shook it. “I’m Emily. Ford tells me he and my Poppy girl are moving in with you. Other than you’re obviously related, tell me why I should trust my grandkids to a motorcycle club.”
Dad chuckled at her bravery at voicing her concerns for children that weren’t hers. Holding out his hand to her, he introduced himself, “My name’s Red, darlin’, but you can call me Deck.”
Well, fuck, that raised some eyebrows as we watched in amusement as Dad tried to charm a woman who wasn’t about to be charmed by him.
“And why would I do that?” she queried, brow raised. “Only Old Ladies get to use your government names.”
Dad’s eyebrow rose at her words, and from the corner of my eye, I watched as Cash sent a text to who I hoped was Hard-Drive to do a deeper check on her. The last thing we needed was another MC coming for us right now.
“It seems you’re not a stranger to MCs, darlin’.” Threading her arm through his, Dad turned them back towards her trailer, continuing to talk as they slowly walked away, “Why don’t we go and sit on your porch while this lot finish packing up my grandkids? And before you ask, we didn’t know about them before today, or they’d already be living with us.”
Seeing Ford’s worried look, I laid a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, Ford, Dad will make sure she’s okay. We have space for her if she wants to come with.”
“Really?” he asked in disbelief. “But you don’t know her.”
“No,” I agreed, “but you do, and you love her, so as long as her background comes back clean, she’s welcome with us.”
Ford shook his head, “I wish I’d known about you all earlier.”
“Me too, son, me too.”
I had no idea what Dad had said to Emily, but she’d agreed to come with us. He’d also assured me that there was no other MC to worry about. I took him at his word because there was no way Dad would put us in any danger.
Three hours later, we’d packed up both trailers, and a convoy of sleds and cages took them towards their new homes.
STACEY
After breakfast, Lizzie had taken her brood back home, and Maggie had taken Opal home to pack. If we were going into soft lockdown, they’d be spending their nights here. Tinman kept a trailer further back on the property for his family, not wanting them to see what happened in the clubhouse after hours, although that wasn’t as much of an issue anymore.
Unfortunately, Grudge hadn’t cared, and I’d spent most lockdowns in his room along with our two children, which had been hard when they were younger and hadn’t understood. They’d seen things they shouldn’t, even though I tried to shield them from most of it. That was history and not something anyone had to worry about anymore, not with all the changes Red and Roman had implemented over the last few years.