"Does it hurt?"
Angel winced as Zara gently dried his surgical incision before inspecting the wound a few inches below it.
"Hurt worse before," he explained, "I'm good."
"How's the head?" She asked casually knowing if she made it a big deal he'd clam up.
"Two kids, Z," he scoffed.
"So, not good?"
"I'm scared," he admitted.
"Hey, I'm the one who has to carry them and pop em' out," she joked.
Angel shook his head. "I'm more worried about everything that comes after. I don't want to fuck these kids up. I don't think my parents were trying to play fuckin' favorites. Maybe I won't even realize I'm doing it?"
"Hey, hey," she cupped his face. "You will be an amazing father. You will not pick a favorite either because I'm your fucking favorite."
Laughing, Angel relaxed and nodded. "You know it."
"It's going to be okay," she reminded him.
He nodded but changed the subject. "Bastian said he wants to come by."
Zara groaned. "I'm so sick of this shit, Angel. Bastian, Galindo, all of it."
"Yeah, you should quit your job and I'll leave the club, we can live like everyone else," he said mockingly.
"Would you?" She asked, drawing her head back in surprise "Could you?"
"No, and maybe," he chuckled. "I'm sick of it too though, serving masters like this. Bastian is great, as far as bosses go, but Riz and Gabe, that's because of him."
Zara nodded. "I know."
"One day at a time, Z," Angel said. "Let's get through this," he touched her stomach, "Then we'll see where this shit lands."
—
*A few weeks later*
Hiding a pregnancy didn't seem too hard, in theory at least, and it was easy for the first few months. After the first-trimester hiding twins, especially with Zara's short stature, was nearly impossible.
"Why don't I just come by?" Zara asked as she sat at her desk chatting over the phone with Angel. "I wanna see you, talk a little, and with the wedding coming up, it's not like this will last much longer."
"You good with that?" He asked quietly already stunning out his cigarette.
"Honestly, I'm over it," Zara groaned.
"Whatever you wanna do, Z," Angel said sweetly.
"Alright, I'll be by soon," she said, hanging up quickly.
"Everything good?" Hank asked, noticing Angel's somewhat worried expression.
He nodded. "Yeah, wedding shit," he said by way of explanation.
"Don't get involved," Hank advised Angel. "Give her whatever she wants."
"I already fucking do," he complained.
It was only about 20 minutes later that she arrived which told Angel she'd been eager and ready when they spoke earlier.
Bishop just happened to be outside when Zara pulled in. He waited for her to open her door and then helped her out of her car.
"Look at you," he greeted new warmly, "Estás radiante."
"It's not a glow," she corrected him, "It's sweat but you're sweet, thank you."
Bishop chuckled and nodded. "He know you're coming?"
"He does," she nodded. "How is he?"
"Distracted," Bishop told her as he accompanied her to the clubhouse.
Zara nodded, "Yeah sounds like Angel."
"Oh shit," Gilly said absentmindedly. "What happened to you?"
"Idiot," Bishop grumbled at Gilly.
"I think that's a conversation you should have with your parents or your president," Zara joked, although she was slightly annoyed.
Before Zara could make it into the clubhouse, Gilly told Chucky who passed the news on to many others.
"That was quick," Angel remarked as he scurried to greet Zara. "You okay?"
"Fine," she shrugged. "Gilly saw me first."
Angel shook his head. "Anyone say shit? Like, mean shit?"
"No, it's fine," she said dismissively. "I got a call on the way over here."
"From who?"
"My mom," Zara huffed. "She's coming down."
"Fuck," Angel grumbled. "She still hate me?"
Zara grimaced. "She did ask that you not join us for dinner."
There was no hiding how hurt he was and the intensity of rejection that he felt. "Okay."
"I didn't say I'd meet her, I wanted to check with you."
"No, go," Angel said quickly. "She's your mom. It's okay, I'm okay, just make sure she pays."
Zara laughed, "Oh I am totally making her pay. I'm not telling her about the wedding though. Apparently, my dad has been pissed at her, the way she's acting over you and the engagement. I feel like she's coming to tell me they're divorcing." Zara's mouth remained open as she stared at Angel. "I don't know what to do. How do I fix this? It's my fault."
"This ain't your daily," he said angrily. "This shit happened because of your mom and her shitty opinions."
Zara glared at him, unimpressed with the reasoning.
"How about we fuck with her? Send Creep up to get her from the airport? He's a fucking teddy bear but he looks scary as fuck."
Biting her lower lip, Zara watched as Creeper slammed the hood of the van down and wipes his hands on his jeans.
"Would he mind?"
"He'd love to freak her out," Angel laughed heartily. "Yo, Creep," he hollered.
"Yeah?"
"You wanna have some fun?"
"Always," he laughed. "What's up?"
"Wanna pick my mom up from the airport and give her a good scare, you mean old biker?"
Zara asked with a chuckle.
"Your mom's hot," he smirked. "When and where?"
"Gross," Zara grumbled, sending Angel the flight info via text. "Have at her just don't scar her for life please," she added.
"I'll try," Creeper said with a wink.
Angel forwarded the information to Creeper before ushering Zara away again. "Bastian still all fucked up?"
"He's still kind of sullen," she nodded. "I feel bad."
"Least he had our backs," Angel said. "I wasn't sure we could trust him."
"Yeah, I had my doubts too," she admitted quietly. "I just, with the babies," Zara huffed. "Do we bide our time and keep things low key or," she shrugged. "I don't know what I'm saying."
"Right now, Bastian is the devil we know," Angel said in a whisper. "Leaving him could be dangerous and we don't even know where Galindo is with the H trade."
Angel opened her car door and helped Zara into the driver's seat. Bending over he pressed his lips to her stomach. "Be good to your mom, we gotta keep her calm till you boys are on the outside."
"You're sweet," she cooed, running her fingers through his hair. "I love you," she added as he looked up at her.
"I love you too," he said with a goofy, dreamy smile. "I'll see you tonight."
They kissed deeply but were rudely interrupted by the growing sound of a round of rowdy applause behind Angel. With a big beaming smile, Angel turned to his brothers and nodded, holding his arms out as he shrugged.
"Twins!" He announced, helping Zara out of the car again.
Enthusiastic hugs and congratulations were shared forcing an already emotional Zara to shed a few tears. She met EZ's eyes and nodded, opening her arms for a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered. "You probably saved his life."
"No that was Em," he told her. "I couldn't even catch up to you. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, Uncle EZ."
"For real this time?"
Zara gave him a look but nodded. "Angel said you two are good now. That true?"
"Yeah," he smiled happily. "I missed him. I miss you."
"I missed you too," she said, slightly embellishing for his benefit. "But EZ, I won't forget what happened. Angel either."
It was the most peaceful warning she could give him without having to tell Angel first. Zara respected Angel's decision to forgive and repair things but neither would ever forget what EZ did that night in the shop. She felt it was important for him to know how deeply she was hurt by his actions.
"I know," he frowned. "I'm sorry. Have you talked to Emily?"
"No," she sighed. "She sent flowers, I called and after a week I didn't hear so I sent a thank you note. A thank you note for helping my fiancé after he was shot in the chest. Not something I thought I'd ever be doing," she huffed.
"I don't think any of us thought we'd end up here."
Zara smiled and nodded. "Glad we did, though."
"Yeah me too," he agreed.
Zara left Angel with the others knowing they wanted to celebrate and went to take a nap. She was beat and she knew dinner with her mother would be exhausting. When she awoke hours later, Holly was unreachable, essentially MIA, after sending one text.
"Running late. Can we move dinner back a bit? Love you ZeeBee."
After almost two hours, Zara called Angel and had him come back to the house. She was hellbent on going with him to Holly's hotel but he refused to allow it.
"It's my mom," she argued. "It's not a work thing, Angel."
"Mi amor," he said calmly, "I'm gonna try to be nice here, okay, so you gotta listen. You are not going with me. You are not going up there at all. You are staying home and waiting for my call."
"Ang-" she started but wouldn't get the chance to finish.
"You remember the shit we just went through?" He asked, losing his patience. "I took a bullet to the chest," Angel snapped, punching the spot he was shot, "You were gone for days. Gabe almost killed you. Anhalt, Campbell, fuckin' Adelita," he rambled on, "This is my shit. This is my world. You're not getting involved anymore, it always ends bad. Let me handle it."
Zara glared at him but didn't argue because he was right, she hated it though. "Don't go alone," she muttered, "Please take someone."
"I'm gonna grab Coco," he told her. "I love you. I'm sorry. I gotta put my foot down with this shit. Ain't just about us or your feminist ass, it's about those kids and our shitty track record."
Nodding, Zara followed him to the porch. "It's probably nothing."
"Probably," he agreed. "I just wanna be sure."
"Me too," she huffed. "Go and hurry back."
Angel wasn't truly concerned until he and Coco made their way to the hotel. Out of an abundance of caution, they parked a block away and crept up on the place.
"There's the fuckin' truck," Coco said in a harsh whisper.
"Shit," Angel grumbled. "This feel off to you?"
"A little," Coco agreed. "Anyone hear from Creep?"
"Not since he left the yard," Angel grumbled.
They walked into the lobby and noticed a young woman at the reception desk. Angel slapped on a devilish grin as he and Coco made their way to her.
"Room 307," Angel whispered to Coco before their paths diverged. "Hey," he said to the woman as he leaned on the counter casually.
"Can I help you?"
"I hope," he said, clicking his tongue.
"Oh wait," she said, her face suddenly lighting up. "Mayans, I saw one of you guys earlier. You looking for him?"
Angel drew his head back with genuine surprise. "Yeah, yeah I am. Ya know, it would be great if you could give me a key so I could go check on him. It'll be our secret, I won't out you."
"Oh no, I can't," she said adamantly.
"Come on baby," he crooned. "Maybe after your shift I can take you out for a drink as a thank you."
The woman hesitated, thinking over his offer when Coco slipped behind the far end of the counter and snagged the keycard.
"I can't," she groaned. "I can take you out for an apology drink though."
"Sorry, no. It's not you, I'm actually engaged," he said with a wink. "Thanks though."
Dejected, the young girl slipped away to the bathroom to console herself and Angel jumped into the elevator with Coco.
"That was cold shit, man," Coco laughed.
"I thought she was gonna say yes, I felt bad," Angel admitted.
"You really fucking love her, don't you?"
Angel looked at Coco with annoyance. "You're asking me that now? How many assholes have I killed for her, man?"
"That's shit we do, turning down a girl like that is harder," he shrugged. "You got it bad."
"Shut up," he huffed, shoving Coco into the elevator wall.
The doors opened and suddenly they were all business again. Finding the room, Coco pulled his gun and handed Angel the card.
Quietly, he slipped the key in and turned the knob gingerly. The door creaked at first but then opened silently. Stepping inside, Angel saw Creeper on the bed, naked, with Holly on top of him.
"Fuck," Angel gasped. "Shit. Jesus Christ," he said, stumbling to run as quickly as he could from the room.
Coco watched for a second before Holly screamed and pulled the sheet up to cover herself.
"Not bad," Coco said to Creeper about Holly before leaving the room. "Yo, man, she's hot," Coco told Angel.
"For a mom," Angel said with a look of disgust.
"Watch that face, your girls a mom now," Coco reminded him.
Angel pouted briefly but then nodded. "That's a kink I didn't know I had."
"Angel," Holly appeared in the doorway, "I can explain."
"You don't have to explain shit to me," he said dismissively. "Better fucking apologize to your daughter. She's worried about you, calling you after you bailed on her so you could sneak around cheating on Bob."
"Bob and I split up," Holly said shamefully. "That's why I came down, I wanted to talk to Zara."
Angel shook his head and let out a huge puff of air. "Talk to your daughter, Holly."
"We good?" Creeper asked, poking his head into the hallway drama.
"Yeah," Angel said. "Watch it though, she doesn't like felons," he added spitefully. "Come on, Coco. Let's go."
"I'm with you guys," Creeper said, stepping out of the room again now fully dressed. He stopped, gave Holly's ass a slap and hurried to catch up with the others.
Once they hit the parking lot, Creeper grabbed Angel's shoulder. "Angel, you gonna tell Zara?"
"Fuck yeah," he said sharply. "This isn't about you getting your dick wet, man. Holly and Z got into some shit, mostly about me, and didn't talk for a while. Holly practically cut her off, it really fucked Zara up, because she's with me then she hops on your nasty dick? Bullshit."
"Alright," Creeper said as the two hugged. "She's hot though, right? She's got them librarian glasses."
Angel shook his head. "Fucking sick, man."
"Zara's gonna be calling me daddy," he joked. "I'm gonna give her away at your wedding."
"Man, don't even try," Angel scoffed, "Grandma fucker."
"I accept that," Creeper said jokingly before jumping into the truck.
"Go ahead, I'll catch up," Angel said to Coco. With a cigarette between his lips, Angel text Zara.
"Your mom is safe. It's a wild fucking story, babe. I'm on my way home, I gotta see your face when I tell you this shit."