"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?" Dalton asked Mandy as they lay in bed together the next morning. "It's not that big of a deal, and I would man up for you to do it."She smiled at him, biting her lower lip. "As much as I would love for you to, I don't want to get into it with anyone, and I don't want any questions about where I was last night. Layla's been out here with Deacon before, so she knows where we are and to keep her mouth shut. I trust her.""I do too." Dalton leaned over, kissing her softly. He ran his fingers through her hair, still not able to believe he was here with her, like this. He had morning stubble, something she'd never seen on him before. Normally he was always clean-shaven and it made her feel special that she'd been able to see this side of him. It made her excited about graduating high school and moving on with their lives."Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her, quietly."I'm fine." She nodded, feeling her face heat up with a b
"Fuck, its cold." Tyler breathed heavily into his hands as he and Drew stood outside one morning in November. He stomped his feet against the hard ground, trying to warm them up. They were about to start their warm up run, before they would move it inside to where the old boxing ring was still erected. "C'mon, me and Mer have an important appointment this morning and I can't be late," he told the teenager as he started them off on a jog."Oh yeah?"His smile was huge. "We get to find out what the baby is today.""That's exciting." Drew grinned back. "I remember when mom found out about Tatum. We were all pretty pumped, although I can admit to you that at the time, I had wished it was a boy.""Understandable," Tyler told him as they ran along the property of the compound. "Is something weighing on you? You haven't been as talkative the last few days."It had been on Tyler's mind to wonder if he should ask Drew if something was wrong, but he hadn't wanted to pry. "It's stupi
"Oh my God, Tyler. Are you okay?"He came to with Meredith and Ashley standing over him. He was lying in the floor, his back pressed against the hard tile. "Did you hit your head?" Ashley asked, as they helped him sit up."No, I'm good," he did his best to reassure them, but he still felt a little faint.Meredith did her best to keep the smile off her face. "You're good? You passed out."It all came back then, they were having a boy. He wasn't sure why that affected him in such a way, but the room swam again, this time not as a bad. "It was a shock," he tried to explain."This isn't unusual," Ashley explained to the both of them. "Let me go get you some peanut butter and crackers, you'll feel better once you have something in your stomach."They were left in the room alone as the technician went with her."Are you sure you're okay?" Meredith asked as she had a seat on the examination table. "You went down like a pile of bricks.""Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair
"What the hell is going on?" Tyler asked again, this time not nearly as nice."Let's take it inside the office," Travis said, marching towards it. Liam followed and Tyler looked around. "Why are you coming too? Did you have a hand in this?""Stop jumpin' to conclusions and let us talk to you," Liam told his friend, pushing him through the office and shutting the door.Meredith had a seat and motioned for Tyler to do the same. Nothing would get accomplished if he stood there, arms folded across his chest, attitude in full effect. "Did you know that Stephanie was Addie's aunt?" she asked quietly, throwing a pointed look at Travis."What the fuck?" Tyler glared at his two brothers, walking up to Liam and getting in his face. "You knew that and you didn't tell someone? That woman was living at CRISIS, around Meredith every goddamn day. Addie was there with her sometimes. What the fuck were you thinking?""I'll accept a lot from you, my man," Liam told him. "But get outta my
"Liam!"He glanced up from where he sat at the head of the table in the clubhouse. He, along with Tyler, Jagger, and Layne, were working out the new protection runs for the month of December. They were about to get much busier than they'd been in a long time. The men had been in the middle of deep conversation when Denise came storming in."Hey, baby." The smile he gave her was uncertain. He was completely unsure as why she would be so pissed off."Don't baby me!""You pissed?" he asked, not because he was stupid, but because he was curious. He wasn't ready to argue with anyone tonight, especially his wife."What was your first clue? I found this," she reached into her jeans pocket and produced a ripped empty condom wrapper, "in the truck.""Oh damn." Tyler chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. He sat back to watch whatever this was unfold. He had a very good idea of whose it was, but he wasn't about to mention names."That ain't mine! We don't even use condoms, we'
"Are you ladies sure you're gonna be okay here tonight?" Tyler asked the group of women who had gathered at his house. The run Heaven Hill was about to go on would take most of the manpower they had, and since March was upon them and the newscasters were calling for snow, he hadn't wanted to leave Meredith and Addie alone. March could sometimes be the worst when it came to snow in south-central Kentucky. When he'd called for backup, he was surprised when Mandy and Charity had readily agreed to stay with Meredith for him."We're good," Mandy told him. "And if anything should happen, Drew and Dalton are a phone call away.""And," Meredith reminded him, "You know that Travis has eyes on this house all the time. He's sticking behind, and no matter how irritated I get at him, I trust him."Tyler did too, but he really wished Rooster, Layne, or Jagger were also sticking around. He knew he could trust Drew and Dalton to take care of things too, didn't mean he couldn't shake the feeli
Mandy got up from her seat and went to stand in front of Meredith. She wasn't carrying a child, and she realized that at certain times in her life, she had been meek, but one thing she did know how to do was take care of herself. She realized that between the three adults in the house, she probably had the most experience, even though Meredith was older and Charity was the daughter of a stripper.Looking back at the two of them, Charity wondered what she should do. Stephanie took advantage of the mistake, and pushed herself through the door, locking it before she took stock of the scene in front of her."Doesn't this look cozy?" she asked, pulling a gun out of her handbag. Meredith gasped as she saw the gun. A million thoughts ran through her head, and she wished with everything she had that Tyler would come home. Maybe he would realize that something was wrong, maybe he would feel it. It wouldn't be the first time he had known. She wondered if Travis was in his cave; she hoped
"You need to shut your mouth," Stephanie told Mandy, holding the gun tighter in her hand. "Or you're going to find out what else I'm good at."Mandy knew she was playing with fire and honestly didn't know how far she should try and play the game. From behind her, she heard Addie's room door open and took the chance to look. Standing there like an oasis in the middle of the desert were her dad, Tyler, Drew, and Dalton, and they were all pointing guns at Stephanie."Get out of the way, Mandy," Tyler commanded as he walked towards where they stood with his gun drawn.Meredith watched her husband, worried. She hadn't seen the look in his eyes in a long time. She hated that he had been pushed to this point, hated that either of them were in this situation. How many times in their lives would they have to defend themselves? How many times would they have to fight for one another?"Get in the bedroom," he ordered the women. "You don't need to be out here for this. Grab Addie and go."