Mac (Riders of Apollo #8)

Chapter Forty-Four: Mackenzie Grant

I don't know why but I'm being dragged out for dinner. I've been awake for all of two hours and Gears suddenly has another kid and Evangeline is telling me we're going out with Bear, Lexie, Gears and Ophelia. I've given up trying to fight her on it, I'm just waiting on our bed for her to finish getting ready to go.

The others are downstairs waiting and I was downstairs with them but I'm clingy so I followed her up as soon as I saw the opportunity to escape. "How come Marie isn't coming?" Eva asks as she steps out of her closet, now wearing a tight dress and even higher heels. 

"They broke up." I reply absentmindedly as I stare at her in both adoration and lust. I want to forget about our guests downstairs, throw her on this bed and fuck her into next week but the look she gives me says 'no'. 

"What? Why? When?" I snap out of my reverie and fix her with a confused look. 

"Umm he didn't give me details. I think it's because she's leaving the state and he didn't want to do long distance, they also disagreed on a lot of things. Besides, she's probably fed up with biker clubs at this point so." Eva steps in between my thighs as I sit on the end of the bed and rests her hands on my shoulders. 

"Let's go and eat some steak." I kiss her gently before pulling her down the stairs after me, watching her on the stairs in case she falls. I'm probably smothering her at this point with my possessive, protective urges but she hasn't complained once and I'm so fucking grateful for that. 

"Okay, let's go." I state the minute we hit the bottom of the stairs and everyone stands up, following us out. I won't let Eva on my bike until the baby is born so she gets in the car with a disgruntled glare aimed my way. Lexie and Ophelia also go in her car for protection's sake but Eva still looks pissed. 

Bear leads, Gears flanks and I bring up the rear as we head to Vivre for an early dinner. "Evangeline! Welcome back!" 

"Thank you, lovely. You have a table for me, I didn't call ahead..." 

"We always have a table for you, follow me." I slip my arm around Eva as the maître-d focuses all of his attention on her. She soothes me with a gentle smile and I kiss her head in thanks. I pull her chair out for her and she thanks me softly, "I will bring the menus for you and Lacey will be your main server but if you need anything, just shout."

"Thank you, dear." Eva squeezes his hand and he hurries off as we all peruse the menu. I place my hand on her thigh as I read through the scotch list not having a clue what the fuck any of them are. "You'll want that one, honey." She points one out and turns the page to look at the foods. "Ooh pasta."

"If you eat anymore pasta you will become pasta." 

"Don't care, it'll be worth it." I laugh softly and snatch the menu back now that she knows what she's ordering. "So, Ophelia, what year are you in?" 

"I'm a junior, going into senior year in September." 

"You looking forward to it?" Lexie asks, smiling happily. She's always wanted a sibling and now that she has one by blood, she will treasure the kid forever. 

"I've never done very well at school, I'm not particularly smart so I struggle to get Cs. Good thing about boarding school is the teachers never leave you alone because they're basically your parents too." I know she's speaking sarcastically and I can't help but bring my hand to press against Eva's stomach. 

I couldn't imagine someone else parenting my child besides us, especially not a school that is literally just there to teach a kid whatever the syllabus says and then throw them out at the nearest opportunity. Eva rubs my hand with hers and looks at me with promise in her eyes. She knows how much this baby means to me, they're my second chance at parenting from birth. 

I held a few babies when I was younger, Bear, Lexie and a few others but none of them were mine. "We could get you a tutor if you want, Eva is great." Lexie points at Eva, who rolls her eyes.

"Just because I got two girls through hundreds of exams does not make me a decent tutor. Trying to get Riley to sit an exam was impossible and Lucia loved them."

"You have kids?" 

"I have three... technically. I adopted Riley when she was a new-born, I adopted Peyton when she was fourteen and I helped raise Lucia from birth as her godmother." Ophelia looks surprised at that and smiles happily. "I'm also pregnant so that makes four."

"That's exciting! I wish I had a mother like you." 

"Well, I'm here for you, Lexie and all the other girls too." Ophelia looks ready to cry at that and I feel a little bad for her, she was dealt a bad hand and now she's found her real family. 

"Thank you... this place is like really expensive. You know I'm happy with McDonald's." She turns to her father, who just smiles and brushes her hair back from her face.

"I'm not paying and this is Eva's favourite place so I wasn't about to argue with her." The waitress comes over and writes down all of our orders, her eyes lingering on Eva for a few more seconds than normal.

"I think she has a crush on you." I tell Eva, who just smiles.

"She's a sweet girl." Her hand caresses my thigh and I know that's her way of telling me that she doesn't see her that way. I already know that, she's proved it over and over again and I love her for it. 

"So, why a biker club?" Ophelia looks at all of us in turn and we all look at each other, thinking over our answers.

"Lex and I were born into the club." Bear replies, brushing Lexie's hair behind her shoulders and dragging his hand down her back. 

"I joined when I was fifteen, dropped out of high school and had nothing better to do with my time. Needed a family after mine died and they needed someone who was good with numbers, I fit right in." 

"I joined a few years after him," I point at Gears, "my parents kicked me out so they could have another baby so I needed a place to stay. Bear's father offered me a room and a few weeks later I started prospecting." 

"My daughters joined the club, I got involved in some drama and then I never left."