The Rampage MC #2: Beard and Emily

Chapter 5 (Beard): The Answer Is Still No

I went sixty years without one single thought of ever having a child, and then suddenly...I was going to be a father to not one but two children.

Two.

Twins.

I could barely wrap my mind around one -- holy hell, Emily needed to slow down: she was doing forty-eight in a forty-five zone -- and now I was trying to fucking grasp two babies.

Two. Babies.

At an age when I should be bouncing a grandchild on my knee and handing it back to its parents when I was done, I was about to be bouncing my two children on my knees. What was that movie where Danny Glover kept saying he was too old for this shit? Wasn't it the Lethal Weapon one? Yeah, that sounded right. That could be my motto now. I was too old for this.

But when Emily had delivered the surprise news of twins, I hadn't felt old. I'd felt a charge of excitement, thankful that I came from a long-lived line. My mom and dad had been seventeen when I was born, and they both came from young parents, so I still had three of my four grandparents alive, all in their mid-nineties. My dad's dad had died two years back in an accident on the farm, otherwise I had no doubt he'd still be raising hell.

So maybe I'd live to see my children's children. If not, I'd see my children...something I'd never even thought about. My mother was going to have a cow and want to meet Emily. Would Emily want to meet my family?

Her speed had inched up to forty-nine miles per hour. We would definitely be discussing her lead foot problem.

That was an unusual thought. Caring about another person like that. Wanting her to be safe. I cared about my brothers but could give a fuck if they went fifty over the speed limit. But Emily? And the babies? I might have to get one of the prospects to drive Emily around if she continued to speed like this.

She pulled into a gated community -- I'd have to start a prospect patrolling if she refused to come live in my house on the compound -- and we drove a few minutes to a nice brick, ranch home. I'd have to see about electronic security if she insisted on staying here.

I pulled up behind her and turned off my bike. Throwing my leg over the seat, I walked to her car door and pulled it open.

"Thanks," she said. "It's harder to maneuver now."

"Well, twins'll do that to you. But now it makes sense why you're so much bigger than the other pregnant women I've seen."

"You can stop talking now."

She kept glaring at me for some reason but did accept the hand I held out to her. Apparently, you can't mention the size of a pregnant woman at all, even when telling them that their size now is understandable. As soon as Emily and I were done hashing things out tonight, I made up my mind that I was heading straight for Genny. She'd have some helpful advice. Chain had messed up with Genny and won her back, so I figured she might give me pointers on that, too.

In the months I'd been without Emily, I realized I'd liked having her in my life. Chain had been right -- the three months I'd spent with Emily had meant something, much as I didn't want to admit it. The fact that I hadn't even been tempted by a club girl since I met Emily was telling. The fact that I let her spend the night with me in my bed meant something. Maybe I'd fought it but I wouldn't be doing that any longer. I'd always learned lessons the hard way, but once they were drummed into my skull, the lesson was learned.

I followed Emily into her house, noting with relief that Emily wasn't a frilly and fluffy kind of decorator like my mother. It was clean lines and minimal things that broke if you knocked them over.