Chapter 288: Reception
*What happens between us, is no one else’s business. Fuck them. – Chance*
The simple white cake with pink and teal decorations was cut. The bride and groom fed each other bites. When Chance leaned in to nibble icing off her lips, there were a few catcalls. Rye blushed and Chance whispered encouraging words in her ear. The whole time, Priscilla was snapping pictures with her digital camera.
The groom’s cake was cut, and Chance fed a piece to Trigg. The older biker was happy to be getting cake.
“That’s it? Just one bite?” Trigg grumbled with a giant smile.
“I didn’t marry you.” Chance laughed. “Get your own damned cake.”
Although he continued to grumble and complain about the lack of cake, he was obviously happy for the couple. Part of the patio had been cleared off and Anthony led Rye out to the makeshift dance floor. It had been difficult to pick a song. No one wanted to play a song that was obviously for a father daughter dance. But they didn’t want to pick just a song at random.
“May I?” Tony, Anthony's oldest son asked, and started a song. It was one that he remembered his dad and cousin belting out as loud and as badly as they could.
Rye busted out laughing as Anthony grinned at her as he struck a disgusted teenage girl pose. “Oh my God, Becky. Look at her butt.”
The club saw a completely different side of her as she did a well-choreographed and practiced dance to the song. Chance smiled watching her as she happily danced with her uncle.
“Hey!” Scott called to his brother across the dance floor. “Tootsie Roll is mine.”
Tony gave him a thumbs up and searched it up on his Playlist. His other brother discretely gave the man the middle finger before turning towards Tony.
“You’re not getting Candy Shop.” Tony declared not even looking up.
“Fine.” George smirked. “I get Apple Bottom.”
“Damn. I should have gone with Apple.” Tony complained.
“I would have never guessed that she liked dance club rap.” Cookie grinned.
“Her aunt Tilly is a cheer and dance teacher. She’s why Rye got a teaching degree. After her dad died, her time with Anthony and Tilly was the best.” Chance said watching her hug her uncle as her youngest older cousin teasingly tugged on her arm.
“Mom and dad wanted a girl. For six months, they had two.” Tony said queueing up the next song. “Dad saw the beginning signs in Leigh Anne and put her on meds. Made Donna Leigh take her meds. We all hoped it would be good.”
He looked at Chance who was smiling at his new wife doing the Tootsie Roll with her cousin. “You are good for her.”
“I hope so.” He admitted looking at Tony. “I want to be. I want her to see the wonderful woman that I see. The one that you probably know.”
“You have no idea how excited we were when Geo found her profile on Facebook.” Anthony said as he joined the group.
“The one for the Clubhouse?” Chance asked as Tilly joined the two cousins on the floor. “Why didn’t you reach out to her?”
“I wasn’t sure how she would react. You know her past. I can only imagine what she went through.” Anthony answered. “If you were her, would you want that past popping up on you?”
“Probably not.” Chance admitted as the song changed and Geo chased Scott off. “She sings this shit to Michael. Said it’s from the one bright spot after her thirteenth birthday.”
“As far as I know, she hasn’t celebrated one since.” Tony said. “I know that the Corps didn’t know, and Donna Leigh was too far lost to help her daughters, but you would think that someone-”
“Would have looked at a death notice and think that they needed to make sure that the Marine did not have a child whose birthday was that day?” Chance asked.
“Since you put it that way it does sound kind of stupid.” Tony admitted.
They were silent for the rest of the song. Tony started his and walked out to dance with his cousin.
“He was supposed to come home that week.” Chance said softly. “Her dad. She had just seen where a soldier had come home and surprised his kid at school. She thought that Mike would do that for her birthday.”
“She even wore a dress to school. And when she got pulled out of class, she never thought that he was dead. Then for his service, she had to wear a dress. Donna Leigh made her wear dresses for any gold star event. She hates dresses. And black.”
“She put a dress on for you.” Anthony pointed out.
“No,” Chance corrected. “She put on a dress for little Michael. She chose white for me. Someday, I hope she puts on a dress for herself.”
Anthony looked at the younger man’s profile for a moment. “She doesn’t love you.” He whispered.
Chance shook his head as his friends and brothers looked at him in shock. “Not yet. But she can’t love me until she loves herself. And she has to know herself before she can even like herself.”
“What if she never falls in love with you?” he asked the newest member of his family.
“I have a lifetime to make sure that she does.” He answered as the song ended. “Excuse me, but I’m going to go dance with my wife. “
He nodded at Cookie to pull up the song that Rye chose and refused to tell him what it was. Then he walked over and took a smiling and breathless Rye into his arms.
“Hello, wife.”
Rye grinned at him as she put her arms around his neck. “Hello, husband.”
“Are you happy?” he asked as the first notes of *Take A Chance On Me* by ABBA began to play.
“I am. Thank you.” She said as he began to chuckle at her song choice.
“You’re welcome.” He started to dance with her in the only dance that he knew. A traditional box waltz that he learned in high school. “Anthony and Tilly are here for two weeks if you want them to stay.”
“I do. I’ve missed them.”
“I know. They’ve missed you too.”
“I’m scared.” She mumbled and he stopped moving. He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist as his other hand gently held her head to his chest. Chance kissed the top of her head before tucking her under his chin.
“You’re allowed to be scared. You’re allowed to fall.” He quoted Evie’s dad. “You’re allowed to not be OK. You’re not allowed to give up.”
“Saints stay.” She whispered.
“Saints stay.” He agreed against her hair.
Looking up, he caught Celt’s eye, and the other man brought him the leather cut. Releasing his wife, Chance helped her put it on.
“Now,” Chance whispered against her lips, “you’re never getting rid of me.”
“Saints stay.” Rye whispered as he moved back a little and brushed a tear away from the corner of her eye with his thumb.
He smiled at her as he placed his thumb with the tear between his lips. “Saints stay.”
Gremlin motioned to Chance that he needed to get started so he could go open his shop. Nodding, he guided Rye over to where Gremlin had set up. He sat in the chair that the other man indicated and pulled Rye into his lap.
“You ready?” Gremlin asked and before Chance could respond, Rye nodded.
Chance’s jaw fell open as Gremlin removed her ring and placed some numbing cream on her finger. Gremlin then loaded the gun with ink and motioned for Chance to take his ring off. With expert moves, he wrote out Duchess Ryanne staked on top of each other in an elegant script. The D and R intertwined with each other.
By the time he was done and set up everything again, Rye’s finger was numb. Once again, he expertly wrote out Chance in the shape of a heart. Just as they had discussed, he made the side bands on the top of her finger out of a T on one side and a J on the other.
“I love you so much, Duchess.” Chance whispered in a voice thick with emotion.
