Page 20 of Always My Fate

Blackie sat in the recliner pulled right up to the bed, one hand laced with Peaches’, the other resting on the swell of her belly. The room lights were dimmed, casting long shadows across the sterile walls. He hadn’t moved in nearly an hour.

“You’re still here,” Peaches murmured, voice soft and tired but warm.

“Damn right I’m still here,” he rumbled, thumb stroking slow circles over the back of her hand. “Ain’t goin’ nowhere, honey. Not while you and our boy are fightin’ in this bed.”

She smiled faintly, shifting enough to press her free hand over his on her belly. Daniel gave a lazy kick, strong enough to make both of them feel it. Blackie let out a shaky breath that was half laugh, half prayer.

“Little shit’s got so much try in him already,” he whispered, voice thick. “Just like his momma. Stabilizin’ on us today... but they won’t let you out of here. High-risk my ass. You’re the strongest woman I know, Peaches.”

The quiet vigil stretched between them, comfortable in its heaviness. Blackie kept watch—on the monitors, on her breathing, on every small movement. Each time a nurse came in to check vitals he went tense, ready to bark orders or demand answers, but tonight things held steady. No alarms. No sudden spikes.

Still, the fear lingered just under his skin. He could lose her. Lose Daniel. After everything they’d built—their five beautiful kids sleeping safe at home under club watch, the life he’d clawed back from the ashes—this felt too fucking fragile for words.

“I keep thinkin’ about those early days,” he said quietly, not looking away from their joined hands. “You carryin’ Randi and believing you were entirely on your own, you and your dad taking care of your mom, survivin’ on grit and nothin’ else. Then me comin’ back into your life like a goddamn wreckin’ ball. I swore I’d never let you carry shit alone again. And here we are...you hooked up to machines while I sit on my ass. Sit and spin.”

“You’re not useless,” she whispered, squeezing his fingers. “You’re exactly what I need. Right in this moment, in this place.”

Blackie leaned forwards, pressing a slow kiss to her belly, then another to her lips. The kisses were tender, reverent, and full of all the things he didn’t have the words for. “I love you, woman. More than my next breath. You and Daniel and all those hellions back home. We’re gettin’ through this. You hear me? No matter what it takes.”

Peaches’ eyes drifted shut again, exhaustion pulling at her, but her hand was tight in his. Blackie settled back into the recliner, unwilling to sleep more than a few minutes at a stretch. The vigil continued through the night—quiet, watchful, fierce.

His queen and his unborn son were safe for now.

He’d make damn sure they stayed that way.

***

Blackie eased out of the recliner after Peaches finally drifted into a deeper sleep, careful not to jostle the monitors or wake her. The room felt too small, the air too thick with antiseptic and worry. He needed a minute. Just one goddamn minute to breathe.

He slipped into the hallway, nodding at the prospect Gunny had posted outside the door, then took the elevator to the ground floor and pushed through the exit doors into the cool night air of the hospital’s small courtyard. The Texas sky stretched wide above him, stars faint against the glow of the city lights. He leaned against the brick wall, pulled a cigar from his pocket, and lit it with hands that carried a slight tremor.

Smoke curled up as he took a long drag, eyes closed.

“Fuckin’ hell,” he muttered to the empty night. “You got a woman fightin’ for her life and your son’s in there hangin’ on by a thread, and you’re out here smokin’ like it’ll fix anything.”

The fear was there, raw and ugly, but standing under the open sky let him face it head-on. He thought of the five rounders they had back at home. The way Randi stepped up like the strong girl she was, Tater trying to be the man of the house at eight, Possum and Punkin were sweet girls needing their momma’s gentle touch, and little one-year-old Edith probably asking for her daddy. Then Daniel, not yet of this world, still fighting alongside Peaches in that hospital bed.

Blackie’s jaw tightened, and he straightened, staring out into the darkness.

“I ain’t losin’ any of you,” he growled under his breath. “Not my queen. Not my boy. Not the family I bled and fought years to build. I’ll sleep in that damn chair every night if I have to. I’ll bring the whole club to this hospital if it keeps you safe. You’re my life, Lottie. Forever and a day past that. And that boy Daniel? He’s gonna know his old man stood tall for him from the start.”

He took another drag, the ember glowing bright in the dark.

The club needed him too. Horse and Duane holding Belle in safety, Rook and Oaky running things back home, Gunny and the rest ready to ride at a word. MDMC ghosts sniffing around the edges. He couldn’t let the club fracture while he was here—but he wouldn’t abandon his family either.

“I’m doin’ both,” he vowed quietly, voice rough with conviction. “I’ll be the president this club needs and the husband and father my family deserves. No more half measures. No more missin’ the important shit. We protect what’s ours—club and blood. All of it.”

Blackie flicked the cigar butt into the nearby ashtray and stood taller, the night air clearing some of the weight from his chest. The fear wasn’t gone, but the resolve burned hotter.

He turned towards the hospital doors, boots steady on the concrete.

Time to get back to his woman and their son.

The Langdons didn’t break. Not tonight. Not ever.

Chapter Eleven

Blackie gripped the steering wheel a little too tight the whole drive from the hospital, stealing glances at Peaches every few seconds. She sat in the passenger seat, pale but smiling faintly, one hand resting on the swell of her belly where Daniel was making his presence known with occasional kicks. The discharge papers felt like a goddamn miracle in his pocket, but the doctor’s warnings still rang in his ears. Peaches was on strict bed rest, close monitoring, and no fucking around. Literally. He snorted.