“Sorry, Ma. I'll try better.” I roll my eyes knowing damn well that Chains will do no such thing.
“Everything's ready.” The kitchen door that leads to the backyard opens and Princess steps inside. “Oh, hello everyone. Happy Birthday, Rose.”
“Hi, Princess,” Rose says with a wide smile. It makes me so happy that Rose and Princess are getting on as well as they are.
“Don't worry, the king has arrived, and the party can begin,” shouts Hawk as he and Trigger walk into the kitchen.
Ma's kitchen is by no means small, but with all of us big ass men taking up room, it's getting a little crowded.
“Logan, take this cake to the building,” Ma says, ignoring his crazy twins’ outburst. “Boys, head on out. Everything is all set up.”
“What's going on, Bear?” Rose asks with wide eyes.
“It's your birthday, baby. We're having a party to celebrate your life.” Her eyes fill with tears, but for the first time since she ran into my life, they are not tears of sadness, fear or loneliness. Those are tears of pure joy.
Before I can say anything else Princess taps Rose on the shoulder. “Happy Birthday.” She hands Rose a pink gift bag decorated with white circles. “Normally gifts come later during the party, but I bought this special for now. So, Bear, go on outside, and we will meet you in a few.”
I wait to make sure Rose is okay with this new development. She nods her head and I knew at that moment that everything would be just fine. My sweet Rose is a hell of a lot stronger than she thinks she is.
Entering the building, we use for get-togethers such as this, I'm not at all surprised. I told Ma not to go all out but she never listens. The room is filled with balloons, streamers, banners, and a giant sign that says, 'Happy Birthday Rose'.
“How the hell did you pull this off in such a short time?” I ask Ma who is just standing there staring at me.
“I had most of this stuff in storage. You said not to go too big. You also said she's never had a party before. So, I figured big decorations, cake and food, and a small crowd.”
“You did good Ma.” Wrapping Ma in my arms I let my appreciation show.
“You gonna tell me what's wrong with that beautiful girl, Landon?” Ma steps away to look up at my face. “Why does she have fresh bruises on her face?”
“The bruises are from Carrie, Ma,” Hawk says. “She got jealous and cornered Rose in the bathroom.”
“I told you a thousand times to get rid of that hussy.” Ma was pissed. She never did like Carrie and wasn't shy to let everyone know. Including Carrie herself. “Logan, please tell me your idiot brother is finally taking my advice?”
“She's gone, won't be coming back,” I answer for Hawk.
“Good.” Is all Ma says before she turns and walks toward the food table.
About ten minutes later I'm about to lose my shit and send a search party out for Rose when the door opens. Princess walks in first followed by Rose. The room is instantly quiet as everyone stops what they're doing to look at what’s mine.
I allow it this time.
Rose is wearing tight jeans, knee-high black boots, and a black club sweater that Princess designed. She calls it an off the shoulder sweater. It has our club logo on the front, the front view of a motorcycle engulfed in flames. Below the logo, it says, 'Infernal Sons, MC'. Circling the logo is the quote, ‘Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.’
Rose has her hair in a high ponytail and the bruises on her face are gone. You can see the small cut to her bottom lip, but it was already going down.
“I figured since she was going to be a biker babe anyway, she might as well start looking the part,” Princess says to the quiet room. “I wanted her to feel comfortable and to fit in. Only if she wanted to, of course. I totally asked her first.”
I take a step forward, then another and another until I'm right in front of Rose.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” she says shyly.
“You look beautiful, Rose. You looked beautiful before, too. You could wear a trash bag and still look beautiful.”
“Alright, stop making the poor woman's face burn and let's eat,” Hawk says. “I'm starving.”
The rest of the evening went great. It took a little while for Rose to relax but once she did it was a beautiful sight to see. She was dancing around with Princess and Ma. She was smiling, laughing. She was happy. She cried for each gift she received. I have yet to give her mine, I'm waiting a little while longer.
“She sure is beautiful, brother.” Hawk stands next to me and we watch the women dance. “You're one lucky bastard.”
“Yeah, sure am. We have today. She gets to be carefree and relaxed today,” I tell Hawk. “Then tomorrow we need to get eyes on Roman Hernández. He's after my woman and I'm not at all happy about it.”
“Agreed. Also, Brian Pierce. Rose's father won't sit idly by either. You saw the look in his eyes. He will do anything to get her back.” Hawk breaks out his evil smile. “Don't worry brother, no one will take our Rose from us.”
Leaning over, I punch Hawk in the shoulder. “She isn't our anything, fucker. She. Is. Mine.”
“You don’t have to worry about me stealing your woman, Bear. Not my type,” Hawk says as he walks away.
Turning back to my woman I find that she's the only one left dancing. Ma must have gone inside, and Princess was wrapping uneaten food.
Rose had her eyes closed and was swaying to the music with a smile on her face. I walk over to her and put my hands on her hips. She opens her eyes but doesn't stop smiling. Reaching into my pocket I pull out the gift I had Hawk pick up for me.
“Happy Birthday, baby.”
“Oh, Bear. I love it,” she says with fresh tears running down her face.
Laughing, I reach up and wipe her tears away. “You haven't even opened it yet. You have no idea what it is. So, how do you know you're going to love it?”
“It doesn't matter what it is. Everything...today has been the best birthday, no, the best day of my life.”
Knowing that today was the best day of her life makes me both happy and pissed. How could anyone hurt this beautiful woman?
“Open your gift.”
I hold my breath as she opens the box. I had to take Ma's bracelet into the shop a few months back to fix the clasp. Pops got her the bracelet before Hawk and I was born and it's her favorite piece of jewelry. While I was there, I saw this necklace with a small golden rose hanging from it. The stem and leaves were gold, but the rose petals were red gold. I haven't thought of it twice until this morning.
Rose lifts the lid and inhales. “Oh, my goodness. Bear, it's too much. I can't accept this.”
“You can, and you will, sweet Rose.” I grab the box and remove the necklace. Walking behind Rose, I move her ponytail to the side, wrap the necklace around from the front and clasp it in the back. Leaning down I kiss her one bare shoulder before walking back in front of her.
Rose has tears running down her face, but her eyes are alight with happiness. Looking down at her mouth, I see that beautiful smile. I can't help myself. I lean in and kiss her smiling lips. Her lips are soft and warm against mine. I leave the kiss short and sweet, not wanting to scare her. Leaning back, I look into her eyes to make sure she was doing okay. So much happiness and something a little deeper is looking right back at me.