He wished for success—whatever that word meant to me. And he wished for happiness. And my life—how I turned out—is the messiest of messes.
And I’ve loved every messy moment, every complex second of this journey with him and her—and if I went towards easy, where the heck would I even be?
Alone.
Miserable.
I would’ve never known how much love and how much life I’d be missing. Sometimes, the messiest roads are the best ones taken, and I know when our kid is here, I’ll be telling them that.
Winona is crying. “You’re pregnant? Sulli. You’re having a baby.”
“Yeah, squirt.” Sulli messes her hair. “I’m having a baby. And you’re going to be the coolest aunt around.” They laugh and hug, tears slipping down their cheeks.
Banks is choked up, and my eyes are burning from emotion, watching Daisy and her daughters hug and cry over the pregnancy news.
Ryke’s gaze is bloodshot. Price is keeping a focused gaze on the road. I’m not able to see his reaction, and I’m digging harder to understand Ryke’s.
I swallow the ball in my throat and nod to her dad. “Ryke,” I call out to him.
He opens his mouth but only a choked noise comes out. He glares at the van’s roof and smears a hand over his tear-filled eyes.
Daisy breaks from her hug with Sulli and gives her husband a soft smile. “It’s great news,” she tells him.
He nods repeatedly. “It really fucking is, Dais.”
That slams me back.
Banks begins to smile.
Ryke Meadows watched Daisy’s pain. Stood by her through the trauma, the sadness. I doubt he ever wished that on his daughter either.
He takes a controlled breath and focuses on Sulli. “I love you, Sul. With my whole fucking heart.” He pauses to gather his breath, to say the next words—but his voice comes out shaky and tearful, “I’m going to love your baby just as much.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Sulli is close to another sob. She rubs at her face.
Ryke rubs at his, then he nods to me and Banks. “Which one of you is the father?”
Expected that. The question doesn’t provoke bitterness or anger. I’ll answer that truthfully with pride every time. Both of us are the fathers.
But Banks beats me and says, “It wasn’t planned, Ryke.”
He lifts his hardened brows. “I fucking figured that after the last time.” He spares us another lecture like he gave last time. “So you don’t know who the dad is?”
Banks is shaking his head as I say, “We both are.” I shoot my metamour a look.
“He’s talking about the biological dad, Nine.”
“I don’t care. I need to make this 100% clear, Banks.” To them, I say, “Regardless of who’s the bio father, we’re both going to be parents to the child. We’ll both be raising them with Sulli.”
I fear if the child is biologically mine, people will push Banks aside. He’ll let them.
I won’t let anyone tell me I’m not a parent to Banks’ biological child. I’m forceful. I can be pushy. I will butt in.
Ryke is processing. “So you’ll both be dads?”
“Right.” I add, “DNA doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, who raises you is a bigger indication of a father or mother than the cells in your body. Our child can have two fathers and one mother.”
Banks curves his arm behind our headrests, his hand settling near my shoulder. “Anyone who says otherwise,” he tells her parents, “we’ll be employing a Meadows’ motto.”
Sulli smiles, “Fuck them.”
I smile more.
Ryke nods, his lips rising. “Fuck them,” he agrees.
Winona rests her chin on the backseat, facing us. She seems nervous. “The world might take bets on which one of you is the bio dad.”
Banks lifts a shoulder.
“We’re expecting a lot of crap, Nona,” I tell her. “You don’t need to worry about us versus the world.”
“That’s a life-long battle we signed up for,” Banks pipes in, “and Akara and I like a good fight.”
I tease, “Sulli is the lover.”
She makes a face. “Hardy fucking har.”
Ryke is quieter, digesting everything. Until he asks, “Are either of you nervous about being the father or not being the father?”
“No,” Banks and I say together.
Of course I have my fears, but I prefer just sharing with Banks and Sulli. To everyone else, I just hope to appear solidly confident. Like nothing can take us down.
Ryke finally says, “Whatever you need from me, whether it’s support or just to be a grandparent—I’m fucking there. For her. For both of you. For all fucking three of you.”
“Four,” Winona corrects, adding our baby.
“Four,” Ryke says strongly.
Pride fills Daisy’s eyes for Ryke.
“Thank you,” Banks says deeply.
I’m too choked for words. I just nod. It’s taken us a long time to get to this point, and Ryke’s support is rarely freely given unless you’re family.
Family.
That word punctures me. After my dad died and my mom moved away, I lost sense of family. I know I’ve been trying to recreate it all these years. First with my gym. Then with security. Surrounding myself with people who care. My men. My client. I want family so badly that I’ve been clinging desperately to any piece that fills that void.
Banks reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. I lock eyes with him. I’d never choose anyone else to do this with. To be a third of my heart.
Ryke braces a hand on the seat as the van hits another bump. “Your kid is going to be strong as fuck,” he tells Sulli, Banks, and me. “They’ll have to be.”
They will be.
And if they aren’t, we’ll be strong enough to fight for them.
Daisy glances to us. “You’ll need to be ready for all the attention with the media while Sulli’s pregnant. That can be hard.”
“About that,” Sulli says. “I’m actually not going to tell the public. I’m thinking of holing up in the penthouse. It’s the best thing for the baby. Zero risk. Just…hide out until the birth.”
Daisy’s face drops. She looks to her husband.
Ryke’s brows furrow in equal confusion and concern.
And then the van comes to a screeching halt. Price turns off the ignition. “We’re here.”
42
BANKS MORETTI
Through all the tears and hugs, we failed to mention the other news. The bad news. The Meadows family, Akara, Price, and I unmount from the van. It takes an ungodly amount of time to pull each long paddleboard off the roof. Even with my six-seven giant ass, these things were tied down tight.
The van is parked in a small alcove off the road, right beside the Colorado River. Humongous red cliffs border either side. Triple Shield’s security vehicle sits behind us, Price speaking covertly and quietly with Wylie and Greer. Thank God I’m out of earshot of that conversation.
Price must be updating them on the big news. Hell, by tomorrow, all of Triple Shield will know that Sulli is pregnant.