Cade crawled into bed sometime well into the night. I opened my eyes and watched him run his hand over my stomach as thoughts seemed to race through his mind. I didn't make a sound or otherwise move to let him know he'd woken me up. I just watched him and thought about how nice it would be to have everything be calm and everyone be safe.
"I'm gonna keep you and your momma safe, baby. You just hang out and don't give her too much shit, I mean crap." He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on my stomach. I closed my eyes and kept my smile off my face so he could get some sleep. He rolled over to his stomach and wrapped an arm around me before drifting off to sleep. I smiled and went back to sleep as well.
"I don't really like this plan, Cade." I shoved my hands down in the front pocket of his hoodie that I was wearing and looked up into his eyes. He nodded and kissed my nose.
"I know but it's the best we've got." He said, loading another magazine with hollow point bullets. I sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. We'd gone home to pick up Shiloh earlier and now he was playing with my shoe strings. Cade slammed the magazine into his gun before putting it on the dresser and turning back to me.
"What about the ATF? They probably can't dream of this kind of opportunity to bust the club in some shoot out." I saw the tension etched on his face and knew he was worried.
"Vic, just trust us, okay? Hopefully we can run them off with numbers and not fire a single bullet. If we can't then we have a backup plan. Stop stressing." He pinned me between his arms and kissed me. It was soft at first but as usual, it started picking up in intensity.
There was a knock at the door and Happy stepped in. Cade pulled away from me with a sigh. Happy gave him a nod and walked towards me with a Kevlar vest. I swallowed hard as he passed it over to me.
"I'm not risking your life or your kid's. You're staying inside and away from the outer walls. If Shiloh needs to go out you get someone to take him. Got it?" He pet our puppy briefly before turning to the door.
"How'd you know?" My question stopped him and he turned back with a smile and a chuckle.
"Kid, I've known you since the first minutes of your life. I know when something's up and you haven't been drinking in a time when we all need a damn drink." He gave me a quick kiss on top of the head before hurrying out of the dorm.
"Cade, really? I'm not helpless." I hugged him and offered him the vest back. He shook his head and pointed at my stomach.
"He wasn't asking you, Victory. I'll be back in a few minutes, they're getting ready to leave." I sat back down on the bed and rubbed my hand over my stomach, it felt strange to know that there was a baby growing in there. I sighed and pulled the vest on over my head.
After a few minutes, I headed out of the dorm and went into the main room. Mom and Misty were sitting over on the couches playing with Zoey. I smiled and joined them, giving Misty a secret smile. She returned a similar smile and nodded. Mom didn't miss a beat and looked between us, wondering what was going on.
"Jesus, why is she here?" I asked as Ally walked in with a stroller. Mom frowned at me and shook her head.
"Victory, like it or not, she's family. She's the mother of Juice's child and the daughter of your father. Of course she's going to be here at a time like this." I took a deep breath and just looked at Mom. She was right about her technically being family, but I wasn't happy.
"She needs to keep her distance from me and Cade. I'm not kidding, Mom." I shook my head and stood up as Cade came back into the clubhouse. He noticed Ally over by the bar and nodded at me, as I walked up to him.
"Sorry, Vic, she's here for the duration. You look good in that vest." He growled, nipping at my neck. I laughed and ducked away from him, shaking my head.
"Cade, stop it. You can have me after this shit is done, okay?" He didn't seem to like my terms but nodded all the same. "I'm nervous, baby."
"It's going to be okay, Vic. We're not going to let anything happen to you all. I promise." He gave me a bright smile and brushed my hair out of my face.
"What about you, Cade? You keep saying you'll take care of us, but what about you? I can't do this alone." He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him. I fell silent.
"Victory, this is the life you were born into and grew up in. You know there's risk and you know that the club has each other's backs. I'm going to be fine. I'm not going anywhere with a beautiful wife and a baby on the way to live for." He kissed me gently as Tig hurried into the clubhouse. Cade glanced back at him and they passed a silent message across the room. I'd been around long enough to know what it meant.
"Go, Cade. We'll be fine. I love you." He hugged me tightly before looking down at my stomach and smiling a little.
"I love you too, Vic. Stay in here until one of us comes in and tells you it's okay. Gunnar and Terry and going to be in here with you, just in case." I nodded and caught his arm, pulling him back for another kiss before he went outside. Mom appeared by my side and wrapped her arms around me in a hug that made me feel like I was a little girl again.
"They'll take care of it, Victory. This is all going to blow over and then we'll have the wedding tomorrow. It's all going to be okay." She kissed my cheek and smiled brightly. I smiled back and tried to seem convinced.
The sound of motorcycles started rumbling in the distance. Shiloh dashed down the hallway and clawed at my legs for me to pick him up. He never did that. Normally he got excited and playful when he heard bikes. It sent a weight to the pit of my stomach as I squatted down to pick him up.
The rumble grew louder as it came closer to the clubhouse. My breathing got more and more labored and a tension started filling the air. Mom called Misty over and we headed into the kitchen, getting as far away from the street and lot as possible. I grabbed Ally's arm and jerked her along as she chatted with Stephanie.
Time seemed to slow down as the bikes pulled on the lot and then shut off. I held my breath until I felt light headed. Mom was biting her lip so hard I thought it may start to bleed as the babies started crying. Shiloh started licking Zoey to try and fix her.
There were sirens followed by gunfire. Ivy's big green eyes turned to look at me as she started to cry. Both her parents were probably out there, dodging bullets. I felt my stomach flip and crawled over to the trashcan, my morning sickness kicking in at the most inopportune time.
There were more sirens and the gunfire stopped. I couldn't sit still any more. I darted for the door, ignoring Cade's orders from earlier and my Mom and Misty yelling after me. I burst out of the clubhouse to find police and bikers everywhere. There was yelling and blood. It was chaos.
"Get on the ground!" A man's voice yelled as he shoved me down onto the pavement. I let out an involuntary scream and slammed the heels of my hands onto the ground to keep our baby safe.
"Hey! You can't do that!" It was Cade's voice coming from a few yards away. I felt my chest loosen a little. I heard hurried steps moving towards me but the officer's knee between my shoulder blades made it too difficult to look up.
"Get off her! Jesus Christ!" It was Jarry. I took a deep breath as the pressure on my back was lifted. Jarry offered me a hand up as she shot the ATF agent a dirty look.
"Victory, you need to go inside, sweetie. Cade and your dad are fine, okay?" I heard what she didn't say and felt weak. I could see my eyes moving as my head shook back and forth, but I couldn't feel it or control it. "Let him through, damnit!"
"Vic, baby. Hey, look at me. Breathe." Cade caught me in his arms as my legs gave out. I was sobbing and shaking my head. He lowered himself down to his knees and held me close as I cried.
"Who is it, Cade? Who did we lose?" He was reluctant to answer me and covered my mouth with a kiss. I could taste a mix of both our salty tears. "Cade, I need to know."
"It's Happy, Vic. I'm sorry." His voice cracked and I completely fell apart. I clamped my eyes shut and put my forehead to my knees as I cried and cried. It felt to real and it hurt too much. I shook my head and pushed Cade away as I took off towards the ambulance that was still parked in the lot. An ATF agent moved to stop me until I pulled my Glock and shook my head.
"Happy! Come on, wake up! Hap! Please! Please wake up. I need you! Come on, Killah." I knew he was gone as I put my head on his chest. I noticed he wasn't wearing a vest and my heart almost stopped. I closed my eyes and put my hand in his. I should have known he'd protect me until the very end.
A/N: I almost cried at work while writing this but it is important to the changes that will be happening in the next couple chapters. This story has maybe five more chapters and an epilougue and that'll be it on Hard Time. Thank you for your love and reviews.