Chapter 57: Epilogue

Candice
"How's this?" Max asks from above me.
"A little higher."
"This?"
"Perfect, keep it right there."
I turn and grab the staple gun and pass it to him. He is high up on the ladder, so I have to go up a few steps to hand it to him while he holds the string of lights. I move back down the steps and bump into a very firm and familiar body. I turn around and smile up at Austin as he helps me down the last step. He places his arm over my shoulders as we both look up at the completion of decorations around the club. There are green and red lights everywhere. A large Christmas tree in the center of the room where the dance floor normally is, and about two hundred wrapped presents for the local children's shelter that Chance sponsors. We will all drop them off tomorrow morning. Turns out I was right; the warriors are making the community better.
I had asked Austin right after thanksgiving if we could do a Christmas party at his club for all the members and their families. After spending six minutes and thirteen seconds laughing his ass off at the image, I pulled my dress down, stood naked in front of him, and asked again. The next day I went into the club and there were bags and bags of Christmas decorations and Miles was bringing more in from the SUV.
Now here we are two weeks later at the Nightmare Warriors nightclub Magic, and every brother here is pitching in. I step back so I can survey all the decorations. Everyone is coming tonight including grandma, mom and Rodger. Rodger popped the question the other day and mom said yes. I was so excited for them. I thought I cried enough when I found out I was getting a step-father but cried even more when he brought me adoption papers to sign. So my daddy's name is Rodger, and I couldn't be happier.
Mom is doing much better with everything. We got a phone call a few weeks back from a detective in Michigan. He asked mom if she knew of a man named Ryan Tennilson. Once mom confirmed she did indeed know him, an ex of hers, he told her that Ryan had died by a self-inflicting gunshot wound to the head. In his suicide note he had confessed to several crimes, including the fire in my mother's café. After a few days of investigating they confirmed it and mom was finally paid for her café. We all thought mom would be happy to finally have her own place back, but she told us she just didn't have it in her again. It wasn't until Laynie told her she has been slammed with everything since opening her restaurant and asked mom if she would come and manage it. Laynie wanted to focus more on cooking. Mom and I cried for a while and she finally excepted the other day.
"What time is your brother coming baby?" Austin asks while helping to bring in a case of alcohol.
"Said he would be here around seven. Had to pick up a friend of his named Alan."
Jared and I had gotten very close over the last few months. He had gotten back together with Laynie and she and her friend Anna were both coming tonight as well. I had gone out with both girls a few times and Anna has even done my hair a few times. The girl is seriously talented. When I introduced Jared to Austin I was a little taken back by Jared being a little overprotective but later that night Austin had explained something special to me.
As a big brother that's his job. I argued that we didn't know each other like him and Max did, but he told me it didn't matter. The moment you find out that you have a younger sibling, something in you changes. Your whole mentality goes towards guiding them through life and protecting them. Just as I was about to kiss him for being so damn sweet, Max walked up and belched in his face. Austin shook his head and told me he wished he had a sister.
Austin and I moved in with each other just the other day. It felt like such a big move until Austin explained to me that I was always at his house anyways. I had expressed to him that I loved my home and I always pictured myself eventually living there with my white picket fence, so he and Rodger had a talk and now Rodger and mom live there. I get to visit all the time and when I came home the other day Austin, Max, Miles, and Chance were outside building a small white picket fence around the property. I didn't mention to Austin that I was more excited to have our hot shirtless men to gawk at then I was to see my fence.
I walked over to Shane who is sitting at the bar drinking away his sorrows. Something happened between him and Lyla a few weeks ago but neither has told anyone what it was. All I know is they are both miserable. Every time I'm at the compound he is either drunk or fucking every club whore he can. Meanwhile Lyla is completely depressed at work and whenever I ask her about it she just either ignores me or cries. I think they have a long story there that neither wants to talk about.
"You going to stick around for this one?" I ask Shane pulling up a chair myself.
He grunts then slams back the rest of his Jim Bean. I shake my head at him and look back at everyone else. My new family. We have had barbeques, kid's birthday parties, I was even able to meet Shawna, Max's ex, a few weeks back, although that was not under happy circumstances, but that's a long and depressing story in its own.
Austin reaches me and holds his hand out for me to join him. I hold his hand tight while I feel him squeeze mine back in return. We have had our moments, neither of us used to a committed relationship, but we are trying and that's all ether of us can ask for. We walk up to Jared and Laynie, who just arrived with Anna and who I assume is Alan. The man is gorgeous, but he sort of reminds me of Ben, good looking with the boy next door vibe. Definitely has nothing on the dark and mysterious man holding my hand right now.
We chat and laugh and have a good time. Jared and I even exchange gifts which has my mom in a frenzy and taking lots of family pictures, all is perfect in our world until….
"Babe do you know who that man is talking with Anna?" Austin says pulling me away from speaking with Abby and her new boyfriend James.
I look towards where he is indicating and see a tall man with blonde hair and bright green eyes and it seems he and Anna are having an argument. I narrow my eyes and look a little closer and it hits me.
"Oh, that's Anna's father."I've seen pictures of him and her mother at her house before but have never met the man in person. I look back up to Austin and see he is completely tense, his hand forming a fist every few seconds as if he is mentally telling himself not to react at this stranger.
"Austin, do you know who he is?"
"Yeah babe, I fuckin do."
END OF VOLUME TWO