On The Rocks

Nine

The cookout continued well past the sun setting that night, but it never turned into anything too wild. These men knew when to party and when to just relax with the company around them, which was a reassurance that Kimber needed. If she was going to expose her son to this life then she needed to know that he wasn't going to be scarred for the rest of his life. She had been sitting in a chair near the fire pit for a few minutes before Orion was curling up in her lap, yawning as he snuggled into her. He had been playing non stop since he finished eating and she was surprised that he was still awake. "Should we head home, bud? Get you into bed?"

"Can we come back again? I like my new friends." He mumbled, eyes fighting to stay open as he looked up at her.

"We'll come back, I promise." She assured him as she stood up, her arms wrapped tightly around him. A quick glance around told her that Ryan was no where in the crowd so she walked up to the first person she recognized. After they had all finished eating he had taken her around and introduced her to everyone, though she couldn't remember all of the names. "Hey Ghost, have you seen my dad?"

At the sound of his name Ghost turned his attention away from the conversation he was having with two of the prospects. "He's in the med room with Whiskey, I think they're talking to Viper about what happened."

With a quick thank you she headed for the opened door in the back of the building that led past the kitchen and would bring her to the hallway she needed without going through the barroom. She knocked on the closed door once she reached the room, the muffled voices behind it had stopped once her knuckles tapped on the wood. The door swung open to reveal Bishop and behind him his wife, Slate, Viper, Whiskey, and Ryan. "Hey, we're going to head out. It's way past his bedtime." She explained, her eyes focused on her father.

"Actually I was hoping to talk to you. Why don't you put him down here for a bit?" After what had just been discussed he had no intention of letting her leave the compound until they got further details about what was going on.

"I'll take him." Piper stood from her chair, giving Viper's hand a quick squeeze before moving toward the door. "I just put Alice down in the spare room she uses when we're here. He can crash in there so I'll be able to hear them both if they need anything." She pointed to the baby monitor that was clipped to one of her belt loops.

Kimber was about to argue, all she wanted to do was go home and put Orion to bed so that she could get some time to herself to process everything, but the looks on all of the faces in the room had her changing her mind. "That'd be great. Thanks." It took them a moment to transition the boy from one set of arms to the other and she paused a moment to kiss his forehead before she stepped out of the way to let Piper leave. Bishop closed the door once his wife was gone before resuming his spot against the wall, giving her a better view of everyone. "Well you look a lot better than the last time I saw you." She spoke as her eyes landed on the man who was still on the bed.

He gave a weak smile, "I heard that I had a good doctor to patch me up. Thanks for that by the way."

She took a moment to study him now that she wasn't focused on saving his life. It seemed that out of the family Piper took the recessive gene when it came to hair color, because even though it was cut short she could tell that it was the same blonde shade as his older brother's. Other than hair color the brothers were completely different. Where Slate had a sharp bone structure and bulging muscles, Viper had almost a baby face and a slim, yet still toned body. All three siblings had a sprinkle of freckles across their noses and hazel eyes. "I wouldn't call myself a doctor, just the most qualified person around." Her jaw clenched slightly as she spoke, hoping to skirt around the topic. Turning to her father she tried to calm herself down as she changed the subject, "What did you want to talk about?"