Page 39 of Emergence: Prequel

Maggie slapped him gently on the back of the head. “No, but you thought it.”

“Ow, Ma, you can’t punish me for thinking,” Bolt whined, looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

“Boy, you know that look never works on me,” she grinned at him, pushing his face away, then pulling it towards her so she could kiss his forehead.

Maggie went around the table, kissing all the boys before ending up by the stove to help Opal.

“Thanks, baby girl,” she said, wrapping an arm around our youngest and laying her head gently against her. It was like looking at a carbon copy of Maggie thirty years ago. I was just thankful that the world had come a long way since then and Opal didn’t suffer from the same self-doubt about her looks that Maggie had.

“You’re welcome, Momma,” Opal said, picking up the pot and placing it in the middle of the table.

Standing, I pulled out Maggie’s chair for her, bowls already laid out for her to dish up. In the seamless and unhurried way she had, Maggie dished up and handed bowls out to be passed around the table, all the time keeping up with the running commentary that ran around the table—from the gentle teasing that the boys gave Opal to the usual shit-talking that so often happened between the boys when they were sat at our table.

It was like the years fell away when we were all together, and they fell into the roles they’d grown up with. Our table had always been like this—a little wild, not always the best manners, but in it all, there was always love and understanding.

We’d lived a hard life when we’d been a one-percenter club, and we sometimes did things that weren’t good and definitely not on the right side of the law. We didn’t believe in senseless violence, but we did what was needed to protect the club and our families. While that had changed in the last year or so since Red and Maestro moved us out of doing illegal shit, the core values of our club still held true.

This house was the one place that all our kids had known they could come to when they needed to vent, and there’d be no judgement. Maggie had made sure they’d all known that from the day they prospected, that we were here for it all—the good and the bad.

I hoped that as they grew and eventually had families of their own, they would be able to offer the same to their families.

Supper was long finished, but we were still sitting at the table talking, coffee cups and cake littered over the top.

Looking up, I caught Coal’s eye from where he sat at the bottom of the table.

With a nod, he broke into the chatter, “I have news,” he stated in a serious tone.

The table immediately silenced, and all attention switched to him. I took Maggie’s hand where it rested on the table between us, twining our fingers together as we waited for Coal to speak.

COAL

Catching my dad’s eye, I knew it was time. We’d enjoyed a family dinner like we hadn’t had in a long time. Too long, now that I came to think about it. Our house had always been the one place we could come to growing up, knowing that both our parents would be there to listen and advise.

I’d taken them for granted when I was younger, as I guess all kids do. We’d all been embarrassed by how in love our parents were, and we’d all caught them at one time or another going at each other. I’d known that they’d struggled financially when they first got together until Dad had started getting paid a bigger cut, but we’d never gone without. And we’d never been hungry, not with the amount of food Mom managed to grow in the backyard.

As I’d matured, I realised how lucky we were, that was partly because we had a dad who gave a shit about all of us and was always there with a word of advice or a hard hand, depending on what we needed. But mostly it was my mom. She held us together through everything. I hoped that one day I’d find even half of what they had. Although I wasn’t holding out much hope; I’d hit twenty-eight and still not found it.

I hadn’t realised how much I’d miss them when they left until the moment that Maestro had offered the new chapter to me. It had been then that it had hit me. Other than it being a huge fucking responsibility and something I’d always wanted butnever expected to have, it would also mean that I wouldn’t lose this. This right here, my entire family sitting around the table. I’d be able to keep this, and yes, it would be in a different country without some of my closest brothers, but I’d have the six most important people with me.

“I have news,” I state, seeing Dad immediately taking Mom’s hand. Not that she would be sad about it. If anything, she was going to be ecstatic that she was keeping all her chicks together.

Mom looked alarmed, blurting out, “Am I going to be a grandmother?”

The silence was deafening as they all turned as one to look at me.

Mouth open, I gaped at Mom, before choking out, “What the fuck?! No! Mom! Why the hell would you even ask that?”

Mom shrugged, and her eyes went to Bolt, “Can you blame me? The last time those words were used, it was by him?”

The silence was deafening because she wasn’t wrong; I should probably have used better wording.

“Well, that’s not the news I have,” I muttered in frustration, rubbing my hands across my face.

Dad chuckled, informing me, “It’s only going to get worse, son.”

“Fuck, don’t I know it, especially if these three agree to come on board,” I agreed motioning with a finger to Nickel, Copper, and Bolt.

Now I had everyone’s attention.