A Midsummer's Caress

Chapter 16

Half an hour after Quinn left, there was a knock at the door. Looking through the peephole, Harlow found Gemma standing there. She opened the door after grabbing her purse. The elder woman asked if she were ready to go making Harlow smile and tell her she was more than ready. She didn't leave the house often, not including going to club parties, so this was a rare treat for the pregnant woman. Gemma had taken quite the liking to her after she stood up to Tara on the lockdown a few months prior. They talked about all sorts of things as they rode through town to their first stop of the day. Gemma was treating her to a spa treatment making Harlow giggle. They had massages, manicures, pedicures, and facials done. Harlow had never felt so pampered in all her life! Gemma then took Harlow to have her nails done making her giggle again. They talked about the baby and some of the names she and Quinn had found they liked but hadn't settled on yet. The biker Queen wanted to make sure Harlow had everything she needed for the baby. The younger woman said she thought she had everything including a good breast pump since she was planning on breast feeding if she could.

After the nails were done, it was on to have their hair done. Harlow was looking to do something different with her hair so she had a couple inches taken off her already very long hair and had the tips and bangs dyed blood red. It contrasted nicely to her naturally black hair. Gemma just smiled approvingly of the changes Harlow was making. 'She's a good 'ol lady! They'll have a good life together!' Gemma thought as she sat in the chair and half-listened to Harlow and her hair dressed chatting. The elder woman was happy to see Harlow socializing more and not being so reclusive. When Harlow's hair was finally done, she gasped seeing it. "This looks incredible! Thank you!" she exclaimed to the hairdresser. She tipped generously before paying out and following Gemma out to her SUV. Their next stop was to do some clothes shopping. Harlow needed a few new maternity clothes as she was starting to get bigger. Gemma loved taking Harlow shopping. It was like having the daughter she'd always wanted.

They visited several stores before stopping for lunch. It was one of Gemma's favorite little cafés in the town and thought Harlow might like it too. They talked about where Harlow had come from and of her parents while they ate. Gemma was surprised to hear that both her parents had died already and she had no aunts and uncles on either side of her family. Both sets of grandparents were deceased as well so Harlow truly had no family outside the club. Gemma was determined to be there for Harlow so she wasn't alone anymore. The younger woman was loving having this mother-daughter type of relationship again. It was something she dearly missed after her own mother had passed. Gemma finally took Harlow home sometime after three pm. Harlow thanked the older woman for the great time she'd had and stated how she wished they could do it again soon. Gemma just smiled and said they would. The biker Queen made sure Harlow got into her house before leaving to head to the garage to relieve Chucky in the office. 

Harlow put up all her new clothes before walking into the kitchen to try and figure out what to make for dinner. A sudden craving for spaghetti hit so she took out a package of hamburger meat to start thawing. She had already decided not to go to work that day since Gemma had taken her out. She figured Quinn would want to go to that night's club party so she wanted to have dinner ready by the time he got home. She moved back into the kitchen to get the noodles going before moving the meat to the microwave to start dethawing. She had two cans of her spaghetti sauce out and ready to heat up once the meat was cooked. While the meat and noodles cooked, she sliced up a French bread and then liberally spread some of her homemade garlic spread on both sides. The oven was pre-heating for the garlic bread and everything else was cooking nicely. She set the table then poured herself a glass of tea. Just as dinner was done, Quinn came strolling through the door. He headed straight to master bathroom to get a shower and out of his very dirty clothes. It had been a long day and he was more than ready for a hot shower, a good meal, a couple beers and maybe to play some pool.