Chelle constantly scoured online news for any mention of his mother. So far, nothing. No body found, no obituary, no Jane Doe matching her description, nothing.
Even if she was never found, Jude would always have a home with them. But he’d always wonder.
While she searched for Jude’s mother, she’d also spend her lunch hour searching articles for Shade’s mother, too.
It took her a few weeks, but she finally found something. Not what she hoped, but what she expected.
She kept her eyes on the falling snow as the bedroom door closed behind Shade.
She had asked him to come up to their bedroom for privacy. He probably thought it was for one reason, when it was actually for a completely different one.
She considered waiting to tell him until after Christmas, but Shade couldn’t care less about the holidays. It wasn’t like he had an opportunity to enjoy them while growing up.
He’d missed out on putting out milk and cookies for Santa, drinking eggnog, decorating an evergreen and waking up early on Christmas morning to rip open gifts. He’d also missed out on holiday meals with family.
Until this year. Trip and Stella decided to start new traditions for the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving dinner on the farm in The Barn. Lots of food, alcohol and, of course, weed. But best of all, lots of laughter, good-natured ribbing, aka busting balls, smiles and fun. Also, plenty of full bellies after the traditional turkey dinner delivered already prepared by the Amish. Homemade pies, free-range roasted turkey, stuffing, fresh cranberry relish and more.
Luckily, Thanksgiving dinner hadn’t been an “anything goes” type of party that the club typically had, it consisted of only the patched members, their ol’ ladies, their kids and even the prospects. No sweet butts, no hang-arounds, no one but the Fury family. It was truly a “family dinner.”
So, she, Shade and Jude went and both Josie and Maddie joined them. Her girls fought over cuddling with Dyna until she needed her diaper changed, of course. Then they had no problem passing her back to Jemma or Tessa. Or even Cage.
Chelle smothered a giggle while watching a badass-looking biker wipe poopy baby butt like an expert. While it was funny, the faces and sounds Cage made to his baby girl to entertain Dyna while he did the dirty deed was endearing.
Chelle witnessed the fact that no matter how tough these bikers were on the outside, they had ooey-gooey centers when dealing with their daughters. She saw it not only with Cage, but with Judge and Daisy.
Chelle turned her thoughts to the package that came early this morning. She’d been waiting for it to be delivered before telling Shade what she’d found.
He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him and nudging her hair out of the way to kiss the tender spot where her shoulder and neck met. One hand firmly and possessively cupped her between the thighs and the other her breast.
His actions and the erection he pressed against her ass proved she was right. He thought she asked him upstairs for a quickie.
They might have time for that before they had to leave for the club’s Christmas party, but his desire for sex might be squashed after she delivered the news she’d been struggling to keep to herself.
She turned in his arms and planted her palms on his chest. He wore a black long-sleeved thermal shirt which fit him like a second skin along with a pair of worn blue jeans. No boots yet, no belt, no cut. It wouldn’t take long for him to get naked.
While she was tempted to put off her news by having the quickie first, she wanted to get it over with.
“I love you,” she whispered.
She caught his confusion before he masked it. “Love you, too.”
“I need you to sit down.”
The confusion was back, but he didn’t hide it this time. “Don’t wanna sit down. Came up here to fuck you. Unless you want me to sit on the bed so you can ride my dick?”
“I want you to sit on the bed but keep your pants on for now.”
He frowned and his hands slid to her hips. “Gonna do a striptease?”
“Not right now.”
“Later?”
She avoided rolling her eyes. “Shade, sit down.”
“Not likin’ this.”
She sighed. “Please.”
“Jude do somethin’?”
“No.”
“I do somethin’?”
“No.” She pulled out her bossy mom voice. “Sit.”
He reluctantly released her hips and moved to the bed. He stared at it for a few seconds before turning and sitting on the edge.
“I know you didn’t want a Christmas gift, but I wanted to do something for you anyway.”
“A striptease woulda been good.”
She would’ve laughed but his brow was wrinkled, and he appeared a bit worried. She quickly grabbed her laptop and sat down on the bed, putting it between them.
“We watchin’ porn?”
She glanced at him in surprise. “You want to?”
“Want whatever you want.”
She shook her head and opened her laptop. “I don’t need porn to get turned on. You turn me on by simply coming out of the shower naked and wet.”
“Yeah?” He finally smiled but it was lopsided.
She finally let her eyes roll. Hard. “Like you don’t know how freaking hot you are.”
“Need to tell me more often.”
“I show you all the time.”
He tilted his head and grinned. “Yeah.”
After another quick eye roll, she pulled up the article she had found. She knew he wouldn’t read it. It would take too long for him to make out all of the words. They didn’t have the time for that and he’d end up frustrated anyway.
“What’s that?” He leaned closer and stared at the composite drawing of a woman below the bold heading of the article. It was the kind of drawing police used to identify unknown people.
“What the fuck,” he whispered. His eyes went from the woman to her, then back to the woman. “What the fuck, Chelle?”
“Do you want me to read the article to you?”
He didn’t answer right away. He only stared at the drawing, then reached out to trace the woman’s face with his finger.
That just about cracked her heart in half. She needed to keep herself together.
“Don’t know,” he whispered.
The uncertainty in his voice made her heart break even more. “I don’t have to read it. I can give you a summary, if you want.”
He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, he shook his head. She could actually hear him swallow. “Read it.”
Chelle had to brace herself to read it again. She’d already read it several times and every time she had, she cried for Shade. She cried for Cecelia Bennett.
She cried for Julian Bennett, too. The little boy lost.
“I’m going to do my best to get through it without stopping, but if you need me to stop, tell me.”
He didn’t answer, only continued to stare at the screen.
She started with the headline of the article and began to read. She did it slowly, which allowed him to follow along if he wanted to and, if not, it made it easier for him to process the words as she read.
Cecelia Bennett had been originally found as a Jane Doe in an alley in Newark, New Jersey. She had track marks in her arms, her legs, in the webbing of her fingers and in between her toes. She’d been found with both recent and old bruises. Her cause of death was a heroin overdose.