Raven's Hacker 2: Raven & Hacker

Chapter 7

Raven POV

Ryder has been a bear these last two weeks. That is to say, he's been grumpy, grumbly, and angry. Ever since his dad said he'd be coming to get him, the ghosting him. Then he promised he'd be coming to get him again, and then didn't come. Again. My poor boy is hurt. He's been acting out and being so mad. Which I understand, I'd be mad too if my dad did that to me. And he's ten now. Double digits. It's been just over a year since his dad and I separated and I filed for divorce. I can't expect him to just...be okay with us no longer being together, and to be okay with how his dad is treating him. He's a kid. I wouldn't be able to process this level of disappointment, and I'm an adult.

So, I let him grumble and groan. We decided to fly in, because Ryder said he did not want to be stuck in a car for hours. Fine by me. Because he's still grumpy and sometimes takes that anger out on me. Then he feels bad about it right after. I just wanna hug him and love him til he forgets about that man and how he's hurt him. Our flight lands just past dinner time, so I'm hoping it won't be too tough getting out of the airport and into a restaurant. We had a lay over so it would take an extra two hours to get layout to Ohio. Thankfully, our connecting flight was nice, no screaming children, just my brooding one. Though, the anger was starting to slip, giving way to sadness. Walking in a herd toward baggage claim, I started to look around for Beckam. Looking in between people as they passed us, while still keeping an eye out for our luggage, and another eye on Ryder, though he was standing right next to me, I didn't see him. There were lots of people here. Maybe it was too crowded.

As I went to grab my white with gold polka dots hard-body suitcase, a hand came in first, grabbing it. It was attached to a well-defined forearm. I quickly looked up at his face and saw him. The softest eyes I'd ever seen stared back at me.

"Hi Raven" his voice sounded even better in person. I smiled as he looked over my shoulder, "Hey Ryder. How you doin, man?" He nodded at whatever non-verbal que he'd given Beckam, he just nodded. "What else are we waiting for?" He looked so confident. So unaffected by being surrounded by this many people. Ryder made a move to grab his suitcase and, after a slight struggle, Beckam offered help. Ryder shook his head, and we waited for it to come back.

"So, this time, how about you try to get in front of it, and bend your knees before you try to hulk it off. Get a better center of gravity." Ryder looked at Beckam's suggestion like he was being completely ridiculous. But he tried it. When it worked, he looked so proud of himself. Beckam offered up a high five to Ryder and my little man hit it as hard as he could. Feeling on top of the world at this moment. We turned, Beckam pulling my luggage behind him, holding my hand with his free hand while I held onto Ryder, just until we navigated our way out of this crowd.

"This her?" A voice asked, making Beckam smile. We stopped in front of an incredibly tall, long-haired man who looked like someone not to be messed with. He looked like a Viking with darker hair.

"This is Raven. Raven, this is my club brother, Hades. Hades, this is Raven and my little dude, Ryder." Beckam said, pointing to Ryder. Ryder looked a little shocked, but then proud to be called his little dude. I smiled back, holding my hand out to shake it.

"Nice to meet you, Hades. We've heard a lot about you, Bullet and Prez." That got me a small smile.

"Let's get you all loaded up and back to the compound. We've got a family dinner tonight, and a huge cook out tomorrow. You guys must be tired from all the traveling."

I held Beckam's hand, happy that he seemed okay with my touch. We made it out to an SUV in about twenty minutes because this place was HUGE. The drive back to the compound was filled with light conversation, getting to know Hades, the huge giant of a man, and Ryder asking a million questions about motorcycles.

So far so good.

Back at the compound, two guys came out and carried our luggage in for us. There was a small gathering of people in the main room off the hallway. Beckam quickly introduced us to everyone. All the kids, their parents. Ryder made friends with a boy who looked close to his age named Bear. Hades was his dad, so it was no surprise that the boy was as big as he was. Beckam seemed to be the smallest of all the men in the room, but he still stood taller than my 5'7" frame. He kept his hand in mine the whole night. The grown-ups all sat at one table while the kids played and ate at another table.

I helped to clear the table while the guys pulled Beckam aside to talk. He said there was some club business going on. He couldn't tell me specifics, but he said it involved Bullet's girl, Becca, and their daughter, Grey. I was taking a few dishes into the kitchen, when Willow, Rowan, Indiana, and Becca all cornered me to talk about Beckam. They were amazed that he held my hand and kept touching me in some way, shape or form. They said it was a miracle that he'd joined us for Friday night dinner as he usually stays in his room. They were all saying such wonderful things about how much he'd improved since we'd started talking.

I went to Beckam's room, holding his hand proudly that night. He and Ryder were up until about 11 playing games in the little gaming area he'd made. He was so proud, showing off his room. He showed before and after pictures. It looked like a whole new room to be completely honest.

"I was thinking," He started nervously the next morning as we were all getting ready, "If you guys like it up here and would want to give this a try, I could start looking for a house on the compound that could accommodate us." He looked at Ryder, tilting his head. Was this something they'd been talking about? Ryder stepped forward out of the bathroom, putting his toothbrush and toothpaste back into this duffle.

"Mom", he started, taking a deep breath, "I asked Beckam a while ago if he could help me find a way to fully terminate dad's rights to me. And after the last couple of times of him promising to get me and not showing up at all, I'd like to show you what he found for me, so we can start the process. I'm," He sniffled, his eyes getting glassy. I moved over to him, kneeling in front of him. Beckam moved over to his side, squatting down at eye level too. Letting Ryder know we were here to listen to him and support him, "I'm tired of dad lying to me. It makes me sad. And it really hurts my feelings. I don't want to have to do this anymore. He's only taken me two weekends the whole year." Tears are spilling down my boy's face as he flings his arms around both our shoulders and cries into us. I looked at Beckam to make sure he was okay, as tears filled my eyes for my son. Beckam looked a little startled, but then he hugged him back, embracing him, telling him it was okay to cry and be sad. That he didn't do anything wrong. That he's an awesome kid. I was sobbing with my boy. The first time actually meeting this man in person, and he was better than my ex in every way.

I knew that after we started texting though.