Smoke'n'Booze

XVIII.

Erin's POV

Heaven. Everything is over. I feel like I am lying in feathers. A silky fabric underneath.
I felt someone shifting next to me, but I couldn't open my eyes, the eyelids to heavy for now.
"Mo ghràidh...", I heard a soft, male voice. A smokey and rough voice, I know so well. But that can't be, could it? I am dead. He is not supposed to be dead. No no no no....
I struggled to open my eyes, my mind kept on running.
A warm, calloused hand took mine, caressing it tenderly. "Love,can ya hear ma?" Again his breathtaking and troubled voice.
Slowly I tried to move my right hand, when excruciating pain went through my right hand and my arm. Gasping out loud I opened my eyes in a silent scream. "Erin.... oh shite... Love, I am here with ya, I am here..."
Breathing hard, I glanced around. Chibs face only mere centimeters away from mine, his eyes teared up and his skin unhealthily pale. But he's smiling at me.
"Wh-what happened?" I didn't recognize my own voice, hoarse and croaky.
Chibs smile faltered a little. "Tha doesn't matter, love. Yar here with ma. Yar alive."
"Filip... my hand..."
And then I started to remember. The punches, the flying fists, the rusty knife, my thigh being stabbed, my pinky finger cut off and last but not least blood. Blood everywhere.
"He's dead, is he?" Chibs looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "I did it, right?" Chibs swallowed hard, but nodded after a while. "Aye, love.", he said quietly, avoiding eye contact.
Closing my eyes at his words I sighed deeply. "My uncle used to say 'Girl, don't be afraid of doing bad things, be afraid of doing good things rightfully, because they will last forever.' I guess I understand now what he meant with that."
Chibs bend over me and leaned his forehead on mine. "I thought I lost ya, love...", he whispered. Carefully I caressed his cheek with my good hand.
"For a swift moment I thought I was in heaven... now I am absolutely sure about that, because heaven is everywhere where you are." I smiled at him and nuzzled my nose against his. Feeling him tensing up, I reached out for the collar of his kutte. "Don't you dare blame anything of this shit on you! It wasn't your fault! I don't blame anybody, besides the sick fuck and he is gone."
Chibs looked me into my eyes, staying silent for a long time.
After a while he leaned more in and his lips met mine for a slow and loving kiss. His hand moved to my head, sliding into my hair to hold me close. Then he instantly pulled away and I saw the pool of emotions in his eyes. I tucked at his collar and without further thinking our lips crashed together, devouring each other.

Unexpectedly someone cleared his throat. Chibs and I let go of each other instantly, turning our attention to the door. My son Luke, Tig, Happy, Layla, Venus and all the others stood there, smiling widely at us. "Well I guess, Erin's gotten good care here...", Tig laughed. Layla grinned. "I told you, you two should think about a career in front of the camera...", she snickered.
Chibs huffed and got off from the bedside he was sitting at. He looked at me. I know I just have to say one word and he would throw them out of the bedroom. Smiling softly at him I just nodded. "You know, babe, family could be very annoying and nerve wrecking, but in the end that's what we love about family. We care for each other.", I croaked meaningfully. Layla and Venus pushed through the row of guys and ran to my bed. Carefully both of them hugged me. "We love you, sister." Grinning at the title, I looked at the guys. "You know, you boys are my family, too... I ain't made of porcelain, so come on... give Mama a hug!"

Some days later

Today was my second day out of bed. Chibs almost threw a tantrum when he saw me downstairs, but I told him I was going nuts in the room with doing nothing. I know he just wants me to be safe, but I saw no harm being downstairs in the studio, checking the lists for the bar and the studio in general.
It felt good to do something after the whole regaining strength and healing time. The porn studio and the club where back to business, like they used to before that unlucky incident.

Happy was sitting at the table across from me, playing with a knife while stealing glances of Layla. She produced a mashup of Christmas figures for the upcoming Christmas time. I never saw sluttier elves costumes or even a Mrs Clause costume made out of Latex. The porn movie was a special for the online porn catalogue, they recently started on the Redwoody homepage. Christmas was just a few days away and everything was already decorated, even the whole studio smelled like freshly baked Christmas cookies. Happy fidgeted more with his knife, huffing silently.
I pushed my glasses further on my nose and looked at him directly. "Stop it, Hap. What's going on?" Happy looked at me like a little boy getting caught stealing candy, but he didn't answer my question. "Listen. I see how you two look at each other when the other looks away. Maybe it is time to make the first move." Nervously he glanced back to Layla, who recently got up to give some instructions to her  busy cock sucking elves. "She is ready to move on. Layla deserves to be happy. You make her happy, you know that." Happy looked back at me.  "How? How should I do that?" Smiling  at him, I wrote an adress on an empty piece of paper and handed him that. "Take her there for a date. She told me last week, she always wanted to go there for dinner, but never had the opportunity to. The kids can stay with me, I take care of them." Happy eyed the paper in his hands. With a genuine smile he got up and kissed my temple. "Thanks, you are the best, Mama Bear." He gathered all his strength and went over to Layla, leaving me behind, chuckling at that.

I turned my eyes away from them and  studied my lists again. When Layla squeaked with pure bliss, I knew she accepted his offer. That's when I felt a hand gliding down my back. "How are ya doin', love?" I looked up again from the list I was working on and saw Chibs at my side. "Better, having you by my side." Chibs kissed my forehead and seated himself in the chair next to me. He seemed tired. "How about you?", I ogled him from my side. "Tired to be honest. The automotive repair shop is busy these days and they were short in stuff so I helped out there." Smiling at him I sensed the faint smell of motor oil and fuel. "I bet you like working there." Chibs lighted a cigarette. "Aye, I do. But working ya over and over again I enjoy more..." he grinned and breathed out his toxic smoke. I returned the grin and snatched the cigarette out of his grasp and took a drag. "You, mister, are an insatiable Scottish man." Chibs laughed and laid his hand on my thigh, caressing my healed stab wound underneath my skirt. "Still the bandages, love? I thought the doc said yar healed for good?" Pulling a grimace I avoided directly eye contact.  "Yeah, I was a little eager yesterday... I bumped into a box in the storage room... I scratched it a little, nothing to worry about, just a bit of precaution." Chibs frowned. "Shall I look at it?" "No, no, all is fine. Layla helped me, the bandages are new. No need to rip them away anyway." Chibs nodded and let go of the topic. "Can't wait till Christmas is over...", he mumbled. I looked at him shocked and he realized what he just said. "Sorry, love, I know ya are a big fan of these festivities and shite, but since Kerrianne isn't with ma anymore to celebrate properly, I don't like it tha much." "Well the girls and I organized a amall Christmas eve party here. Just us. Just family and friends. Happy and Quinn already volunteered to get a big Christmas tree tomorrow. And Rosie volunteered to gather all the kids and build gingerbread houses with them." Chibs smiled faintly. "Sounds like I can't keep away this year, huh?" I shook my head no. "Nope. Because we decided that Santas coming one day earlier this year. And besides, I already have a gift for you." His eyes lightened up. "Did ya get yar hands on a good whiskey again?" I grinned. "I won't tell you, you have to wait for Christmas eve, mo ghràidh!" Chibs wetted his lips with his tongue. "God, love, I am totally a sucker for ya talking in my mother tongue...." I pulled him.closer to me and kissed him slowly. "A h-uile dad dìreach dhutsa, a ghràidh nam bheatha!" I whispered to his lips and he growled lowly. Suddenly he jumped up and lifted me up. "What are you doing, Filip?" He smiled at me. "Taking care of ya. Ya know I am insatiable..."
And with that he carried me out of the studio and upstairs to his room, followed by wolfwhistles and laughter from everyone in the studio.

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a h-uile dad dìreach dhutsa, a ghràidh nam bheatha -> all for you, love of my life.

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I am sorry for the delay of the story in the last couple of days. I wanted to continue writing, but I had some problems in the way and I had to take care of them first of all. (In three days my car broke down twice, i guess somebody really hates my driving...well and Christmas isn't far away either,  so there is a lot to handle there as well)
But now I am back on track and I am trying my best.
Thank you for your patience, your votes and your reading. I hope you enjoy the story.

xoxo