“Whatever.” We both knew he wouldn’t back down from a challenge, be it his sister, or not. He wouldn’t come up a pussy even if he did get his ass kicked.

The fight went on for much longer that we thought it would. Apparently these two had a lot of shit they needed to work out. Both G.T. and Princess were bloody from face cuts and a bit wobbly from all the chest kicks. They were both still standing, barely. Neither one of them were backing down, which was what I’d expected. They’re too damn stubborn to give in.

“Daddy!” I heard Coop’s small voice behind me as he ran up into my arms. Ma followed closely behind.

“What the hell is going on here?” she barked, causing Cooper to look into the ring. Cooper’s body went ridged in my hold as if he were a statue. Looking at the shock and horror on his face, I didn’t move quickly enough as he got his bearings, wiggling out of my grasp faster than a slippery eel.

Running after Coop, I called his name reaching for him, but he didn’t slow down. “Mommy!” He yelled as he reached the ring with me right at his heels. “Mommy!” he yelled again making my mouth drop to the floor.

Princess stopped sparring with her brother, ripping the head guard off her head. She slipped under the rope of the ring to the floor kneeling in front of him staring into his eyes. “I’m okay, Baby.” Her tone was soft and gentle.

“Hurt. Owie,” Coop said looking at Princess’s face.

“Get me a towel,” she ordered to no one in particular. She wiped her face gently getting rid of some of the blood. “See, Buddy. I’m okay. Just a few scrapes.”

“Why fighting, Mommy?” he asked her innocently. Princess looked up at me, her eyes showing me a small glimmer of a tear that wanted to escape with tons of unanswered questions swirling inside of them. She breathed in a deep breath trying to regain control.

“I was just practicing to be strong. One day I’ll teach you.” She brushed his hair away from his face lovingly.

“I be strong.” He smiled.

“You are Buddy.”

“Mommy?” Princess looked stunned as if she didn’t know if she should answer. She looked to me asking for permission and I, of course, smiled, loving the fact that I was witness to this remarkable exchange.

“Yeah, Baby?”

“You need Band-Aid?” Princess laughed, wrapping her arms tightly around his little body.

“Yeah, Buddy. I sure do. Let’s go find those Spiderman ones. I think that’ll make it all better.” Princess picked Coop up, carrying him to the clubhouse, the huge smile she sported, even with the cut up lip, was beautiful.

“You sore?” I asked, walking into the bedroom expecting to see Princess and Coop hanging out, but only found Princess.

“I’ll be fine.” Her face had been butterflied, and the caked-on blood removed. She was beginning to sport some serious bruises, but her beauty still shined through.

“What the hell was that shit?”

“What shit? My brother or the fact your kid just called me mom?” She glared at me. I didn’t feel the need to touch the mom comment, so I moved on.

“Your brother. What’s going on?”

She blew out a deep breath, “Fuck if I know. He’s been distant since I got out, and when he blew up on me, I couldn’t hold back. Even in the fucking ring, he didn’t talk to me, though.” She shrugged.

“You two fight like that a lot?”

“We used to. He taught me how to fight and how to protect myself.”

“While I’m gone, you need to work that shit out.”

“Yes… Dad,” her words dripped with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. “You okay with Coop calling me mom?”

I walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. “It’s more of a question of how you feel about it.”

“Why do you do that? I ask you how you feel about something then you turn it back on me. I hate that shit.”

Giving her a sexy smirk, I said, “I’m completely fine with it. You’re my ol’ lady and someday soon, my wife.”

“Wife?” She sounded stunned. I didn’t answer; I just let her sit on the idea for a few. If she didn’t want to marry me, I’d throw her over my knee and spank her ass, and the fact that she hadn’t confirmed yet that she was my ol’ lady was not lost to me.

“We’re leave in the morning,” I said, pulling her out of whatever thoughts were racing through that head of hers as I wrapped my arms around her.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Be smart. You need anything you get the Prospects to handle it. You keep our boy safe.”

Her eyes narrowed into mine. “Always.”

“You know I wanted to fuck you, but you had to go get yourself beat the fuck up. Now I’m screwed.”

Princess moved from her chair dropping to her knees in front of me. “Let me see if I can help.”

I woke up to the sound of crying scaring the shit out of me and jumped out of bed to Cooper’s bed. “What’s wrong buddy? Come here.” I reached, grabbing him from the bed. He was sweating, burning up. Yelling out the bedroom door, “Ma!” I screeched as loud as I could.

I laid Cooper out on the bed as his screams were subsiding a bit now that his little body was waking up. “What’s wrong, Buddy?”

“Icky,” was all he said.

“You feel icky?” I said, rubbing his leg, not sure what I was supposed to do.

“Yeah…”

“Where at?”

“Don’t know… icky.” I guessed that was the best answer I was going to get.

“Okay, let’s see what we can do. Lay here for a minute.”

“No, go!” he yelled, as he clutched onto my arm.

“Okay, Baby, come with me.” Carrying him into the main room of the clubhouse, two club mommas were laying naked on the pool table. I’m sure they were leftovers from last night, and I didn’t want Coop to see, so I nudged Tug. “Can you get them out of here?” I asked, pointing to Cooper.

“Sure thing.” He walked over, slapping them on the thighs. “Get the fuck out of here, now.”

These women were all the same. They wanted the life and sucked dick to try and get there. But what they didn’t understand was that would never get them a brother. They don’t want whores for ol’ ladies. My stomach churned. I knew now, that Cruz wouldn’t do that. But it was always in the back of my mind.

They scurried off as I yelled, “Ma!”

Walking in, she yawned rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Coop. He’s sweating and hot. He woke up screaming. Ma, I don’t know what to do.” I heard the panic in my own voice, and it was very much warranted. Bullet holes I could patch up, but a sick child, not so much.

I handed him off to Ma as he tried to cling to me. “It’s okay, Buddy, Ma just wants to see if she can help you feel better. I’m not going anywhere.” This feeling inside of me was terrifying. It’s as if I’d cut my own heart out of my chest so this little boy would feel no pain, ever. I periodically thought about being a mom, but never put too much stock in it because of my no-brother rule and I’d never dared to go with a brother from another club. I saw that as disrespectful. It’s amazing how everything changes.

Now, I couldn’t imagine my life without this little guy. He’s mine, just like his daddy.

After assessing that Cooper had the flu, we cuddled up on the couch down in the basement of the clubhouse. Ma brought down chicken noodle soup, which he didn’t eat much of, and she made me pump liquids into him. We watched movie after movie, which normally I wouldn’t mind, but how many times are we gonna watch this movie where the cars talk to each other; I was getting a little burned.

Cruz called, and I updated him on what was going on. He said he’d try to get back sooner, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. A run was a run, and he had to finish it out. It was fine, though; I had everything under control; I thought.

On the second night, Cooper’s fever broke, bringing back the fun kid I had grown to love. It’s kinda crazy to admit, but I actually liked him being sick. He was a great snuggler, and I enjoyed every second of it, minus the back-to-back movies, but I dealt with it. I was glad he was better, and Cruz would be home soon.