Claire swoops her up and kisses her cheeks, then starts singing “Happy Birthday” to her.
I cover my ears, teasing Claire about her not-so-great singing voice. She tosses a couch pillow at me with a grin. “And because of that, you get to make the bed this morning.”
I snort. It’s always my job to make the bed in the morning. My phone pings, so I grab it and check the messages while I’m pouring a cup of coffee.
Blade: You mind if I bring my kid? My plans for the afternoon kinda fell through.
I shake my head. Blade’s protective of his son. I’ve never even met the kid. He’s careful to keep his personal life personal.
Me: Yeah, man, everybody’s welcome. All Phantom’s kids will be there. It’s all good.
And that applies to every area of my life. Work has never been better.
Mad Dog got arrested coming back into the US on at least four outstanding warrants. He’s locked up until his trials because nobody in the Hellfires would postbail. He’s not gonna be a problem for us for a long time, if ever.
Shadow has taken on a leadership role on the business side. We have a dozen irons in the fire, and while I don’t know what the future holds, I crack open a lot fewer heads these days, and I haven’t taken a beating myself since I last tangled with Mad Dog.
Claire has a part-time job working for the city. The temp position got extended under a special contract, and while she’s not yet making full-time money, she gets benefits for herself and the baby.
Poppy has gone back to work, so Claire and Poppy share a nanny. Three days a week, when Claire has to be in the office, she drops Aurora at Phantom’s house, and their nanny watches Aurora and little Lilly.
I pour myself a cup of coffee and slice up a banana for the birthday girl. Claire is on the phone with one of her mom’s friends—an old guy named Theo who used to play in Neon Dawn. She’s been making friends and reconnecting with people from her life before Anthony.
As we move through the morning, I watch the woman I love and the baby I have come to adore. I’ve stopped setting aside as much money for my mom as I did before. I used to hoard the cash I made, thinking that I’d send it to Mom when she was old and sick and had no way to care for herself. I knew my old man wouldn’t, and I never thought I’d be back in her life.
Now that I don’t have to save up guilt money, I can think about what else I want to do with all the shit I’ve worked for over the last twelve years. I’ve more thanmade back what I spent to free Claire from the Hellfires. A house for my family might be in my future. We just bought Claire a car, and I’ve been dropping hints about a ring. But so far, we’re just living it. Taking it day by blissful day.
When we getto Phantom’s, he’s got his shirt off, which, let me tell you, is not a sight I was prepared for. He’s showing off the new ink he got for his newest daughter. “Holly, Daisy, Lilly,” he says, proudly pointing to the design around his heart.
Poppy’s son Jax narrows his eyes and pretends to glare at it. “That’s not what I drew.” He rolls his eyes. “Artistic license.”
Phantom flicks the kid on the arm and gives him a wink. Those two are thick as thieves. Seeing Jax around the compound was weird at first. I avoided the nerdy kid who always had his nose in a drawing pad. But now that I have Aurora, I can see the appeal of a son. I don’t get ahead of myself, though. I’m still getting used to the baby I have.
Speaking of which, I jostle Aurora in my arms and settle her on a hip. Claire brushes her bangs out of her eyes and follows a few steps behind me, holding on to the baby carrier just in case Aurora gets fussy or needs to lie down.
We barely make it inside Phantom’s house before we’re besieged by squealing teenage girls.
Holly and Daisy come skidding into the living room, their faces decorated with glitter. They have pink and purple glittery crowns on their heads, and they each have one in their hand. They’re both wearing dresses and makeup and perfume, and it’s like a roving cloud of happiness as they circle us with their hands out.
“Okay, okay, this one is for the birthday girl.” Daisy takes charge, holding out her arms to take Aurora from me. I learned long ago not to fight the pull of a teenage girl who sets her sights on something. Besides, Aurora loves her babysitters and practically leaps out of my arms to get to Daisy.
“Whoa,” I say. “Easy, Ror.”
I set Aurora on the floor, and Daisy uses matching glitter hairpins to attach the crown to Aurora’s hair. She has enough of it that the crown stays, but the look on her face tells me she’s not sure whether to cry or like it because it’s coming from some of her favorite people.
“Don’t feel bad if she pulls it off,” Claire says, a knowing grin on her face. “She’s in a don’t-touch-my-hair phase.”
Daisy shakes her head. “I never went through one of those.” Not a surprising statement since every time I see Daisy, some wildly unnatural color stripes through the front of her hair.
Holly is equally as excited to see Aurora, but she sidles up to Claire and loops an arm through hers. “Can you please distract my dad a little today? He’s on fire about Corbin and me.”
I look from Claire to Holly. “Who the fuck is Corbin?”
Daisy rolls her eyes and adjusts Aurora’s crown. “Holly’s flavor of the week,” she says. “Since Dad won’t let her date until she’s eighteen, she has a lot of boyfriends.” She raises her brows dramatically, and I narrow my eyes.
“I’m with Phantom,” I grit. “Where is this little prick of the week?”
“Savage.” Claire grabs my arm and tugs me away, whispering something under her breath to Holly. “Let’s go greet our hosts.”