Today is the day I surprise my wife with her last gift. This one isn’t for the babies; it’s for our family as a whole. The guys and ol’ ladies know about the house I’ve had built for our family on the compound since losing our other one thanks to Neil. We’ve decorated it and secretly been putting everything together without Gwen’s knowledge. Until now.
“Sparrow, where are you?” I call out, entering our room and not seeing her on our bed.
“Bathroom,” she calls out, opening the door.
Gwen walks up to me and I pull her into my arms. She sinks into me as if she’s exhausted and can’t bear to remain on her feet any longer. That happens more and more lately. I’m glad she’s still only working half days for now so she can get as much rest as possible. Her doctor says it’s normal since she’s carrying twins. I still don’t like it.
“Can you stay up for a little bit longer?” I ask her. “I have somethin’ to show you.”
“Yeah,” she says, stifling a yawn with her hand as she buries her face in my chest.
Wrapping my arm around her body, I help her out of our room and lead her to the front of the clubhouse where one of the SUVs is already waiting for us to use. After helping her in, I jog around to the driver’s side and hop in. When I don’t leave the compound, she looks at me with confusion filling her face. I drive us up past Slim’s house and toward the back of the compound. Stryker and I have each built a house up here. He doesn’t want to be that far from Gwen.
Stryker doesn’t let many people in or act as if he cares about anyone but the members of the club. However, he loves with his whole heart and when he lets you in, you need to be thankful. The only two women he’s truly let in to see the real him are Sally and Gwen. Gwen was much later than Sally. Ever since she got sick with the tampered food, Stryker has been there for her. Guilt is eating him alive because he doesn’t feel as if he protected her. He’s not getting close to Gwen because he wants her and that’s the only reason I don’t hate him for the way he is with her.
Our home is the second to the last one in the line of houses for the officers of the club. Stryker’s is last. Gwen has always told me she wanted to live in a log cabin home. So, I made it happen for her. When I pull up to the three-bay garage, Gwen’s mouth drops open and stares at the building in front of her.
“What’s this?” she asks me, turning in her seat.
“It’s our new home,” I inform her, leaning over to kiss her tears away. “Let’s go check it out.”
Getting out after shutting the engine off, I run around to help her out of the SUV. Holding her hand in mine, I lead her up the front steps to our door. It’s not locked because I just left here to get her. We literally just put the finishing touches on everything. At the same time, I left, everyone else did too. They want to give us time to be in our home alone together. Later on, we’ll have a housewarming party with everyone.
Everything in the house is wood to keep true to a log cabin. When we walk through the front door, everything is open. There are only three rooms downstairs that have the sliding barn doors closing them off. One is a bathroom, my office, and the laundry room. The living room, kitchen, dining room, and a small nook filled with overstuffed chairs is left wide open. A bar separates the kitchen and living room lined with four barstools. Everything in the kitchen is stainless steel as I watch Gwen walk through the first floor taking in every tiny detail.
She runs her hands over the walls and looks at the pictures resting on the floor up against the wall. That’s the one thing I wouldn’t let anyone else do. Gwen will hang our pictures up in our home so they’re exactly where and how she wants them. In the living room is a fireplace I can’t wait to sit in front of her with. In the living room, a large rug covers most of the floor so we could keep the flooring wood like the rest of the home.
After she inspects the entire first floor, I lead her upstairs. Five doors fill the hallway. Two on each side of the hallway with one at the very end. Gwen opens each door as we make our way through the hall. The first two rooms are empty with the exception of a bed and dresser. No blankets cover the bed because we didn’t want to take everything away from her. On the right of the hallway is a bathroom that’s also left undecorated. There’s a large shower, claw foot tub, toilet, and his and her sinks in the long counter. The last room before ours makes Gwen tear up again. It’s the nursery.
We’ve already got the cribs, her rocking chair, the changing tables and dresses in place along with the toy box. The totes of clothing, bedding, and everything else we’ve gotten for the babies fill the middle of the room. Again, I made sure no one touched this room so Gwen and I can put it together ourselves. She walks through the room, running her hand over everything until she makes her way back to me. I pull her into my body, and we remain still for a few minutes in the middle of the nursery.
When she lifts her head from me and wipes her tears away, I lead her to our room. Opening the door for her, her gaze immediately lands on the king-sized bed directly in front of the door on the back wall. A TV is mounted on the wall opposite of the bed already. To the left of the bed is a huge walk-in closet. It’s big enough for both of us to have a dresser and our hanging clothes in here. Along with Gwen’s shoes. She may have a problem with shoes. And lingerie now. There’s even a rack we can store any extra bedding sets. On the right side of the room is a large bathroom. Like the other bathroom up here, there’s a large shower, bathtub, toilet, and his and her sinks in a long counter. Our shower is big enough to fit six grown ass adults in it with plenty of room.
“Killer, I love it,” she says, tears flowing down her face once more. “These damn hormones again.”
“You really like it?” I ask her, needing to know she really likes it.
“No, I love it,” she states, staring up into my eyes. “I love you for doing this for our family.”
I love you too, Sparrow,” I reply, laying my hands on top of her where they rest on her extended belly. “There’s just one more thing to show you.”
I lead her down to the first floor and into the kitchen. There’s a set of steps leading down to a finished basement. Once down there, she looks around in amazement.
In the middle of the room sits a pool table. There’s a rack on the wall holding the sticks. A dart board is at one end of the room with a few tables spaced throughout the room. There are two pinball games and a Mrs. PacMan game for Gwen down here. A bar lines the left of the room filled with ten stools and several shelves behind the bar filled with alcohol and glasses. This is the only room in the entire house that isn’t completely wood. A large TV is mounted to the wall at the opposite end of the room from the dart board. The floor is carpeted while drywall covers the walls. I’ve got several pictures of motorcycles and the club filling up the walls down here.
“This is a great addition to the house. You guys can come down here and watch games and things,” she tells me, again taking in every detail.
“I love you, Sparrow. I wanted to make sure you had your dream house,” I state, pulling her body against mine.
Looking at her, I can see she’s barely keeping her eyes open now. Lifting her up in my arms bridal style, I carry up until we’re in our room. Laying her down in our bed, I cover her up. Gwen’s already asleep before I’m done placing the covers over her body. Placing a kiss on her forehead, I make my way back downstairs so I can make her dinner while she sleeps. Tonight we’re going to have stuffed shells with garlic bread. Tommy is gonna get her a chocolate shake when I let him know dinner is almost ready to pull from the oven.