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“Come on, Squirt. This isn’t about you. It’s Hex and Elizabeth’s baby. It’s more important that she’s not stressed or worried about the club while she has this little one than that you get to sit in the waiting room while it happens,” Joker said from the next table.

Lacey narrowed her eyes at him, took a deep breath, and snorted but didn’t argue. Lauren didn’t know if it was because he was right or the nickname. She hadn’t noticed it until she’d seen other people call the girl Squirt. When it came from the older Warriors, she seemed to like it. She would smile or straighten her back and throw her shoulders back. But when Joker said it, she gave him sullen looks. Lauren wondered if the girl had a crush on him and how he would handle it.

Lauren wasn’t worried. She’d already sat down with Joker, several times, to see how he felt about the girl, and what he might do about it. The anger and disgust he’d expressed about the men who had kidnapped her was enough for Lauren to be confident that he would keep a distance between them, at least until the girl was legal and old enough to make sure of what she wanted.

“Days? Really?” Lacey’s words brought Lauren’s attention back to the table instead of her thoughts. Lauren looked at the girl, watching as the thought of sitting in the waiting room for several days rolled through her mind. Lauren knew the doctors rarely let labor go that long, but if the thought of it kept the girl from complaining about coming back to the clubhouse, she’d let her believe it. For now.

Chapter Seventeen

Cypher couldn’t take his eyes off Lauren. She sat in the clubhouse common room, a tiny bundle in her arms.

“You ever think about having one of those yourself?” he asked, keep his voice soft so he didn’t wake the baby.

Lauren looked up at him, eyes wide, then looked back down at the baby in her arms. Smoothing one finger down he downy soft cheek, one corner of her mouth lifted.

“Yeah, I have, but I didn’t want to do it alone and now I think I’ve waited too long.”

Cypher scowled. What the hell was she talking about? She wasn’t too old to have children. Hell, he’d seen a lot of women have children when they were five or even ten years older than she was. Where the hell had she gotten an idea like that.

“You’re not that old,” he said. “Sure, you might not be able to have a dozen kids, but I’m sure you could do one or two if you wanted.”

She looked up, a soft, yet sad smile curving her lips.

“Yeah, but remember, I don’t want to do it alone. First I have to find someone to be my partner, someone who wants to help me raise them, and I’m running out of time.” She lifted one shoulder and let it fall, though he could tell she was careful not to jar the baby.

He wanted to speak up. To say he was willing. That he’d be there to help her. To take care of her when she was swollen and miserable, to get up for 3 a.m. feedings, to hold her as she cried over the little things that were part of life. But he couldn’t help but be hyperaware of the sounds of the club, of his brothers, not to mention Elizabeth, Jenna, and Lacey around them.

This wasn’t the place to say something like that. Not when he didn’t know how she would respond. Not when he had no idea how she might react to the question.

But damn did she look good, and right at home, holding that little one.

“Do you have much experience with babies?” Jenna asked, pulling Cypher from his thoughts. He listened closely, as they hadn’t talked about this yet.

“Not really,” Lauren said without looking up. “I have several nieces and a couple nephews, but I only got to see them a couple of times before they were running around and too busy to be held. I’ve changed a few diapers and spent a few hours with them, but not much. Not enough. At least that’s how I’ve always felt.”

“Well, come on over any time. I’m sure in a week or two I’ll be more than willing to let someone help all they want,” Elizabeth said with a smile.

“Ok, time’s up.” Hex moved in and scooped the baby out of Lauren’s arms. He held the tiny bundle in the crook of his arm. “The little one needs Daddy time,” he announced before looking down at the child. “Don’t you, Charlie? Come on, let me show you my office. I’m sure we’ll spend plenty of time in there. You might as well get to know the place.” He carried the baby down the hall.

“Charlie? I though you said her name is Charlotte?” Lauren asked, looking at Elizabeth with a frown.

“It is. But you know these men. We went around and around with names. What I liked, he hated, and the other way around. Finally, last week I suggested Charlotte and he said ‘Done, I’ll just call her Charlie.’” Elizabeth shrugged. “So there you are. She’s Charlotte Rose Rogers. And knowing my luck, she’ll only hear Charlotte when she’s in trouble.” A soft smile curved her lips as she turned to look toward where her husband and child had disappeared down the hall. “But honestly? There are a lot worse things that could happen than that she have a father who loves her as much as he already does. As much as all the Warriors do. She’ll be lucky if she gets to date before she’s thirty with as many overprotective uncles as she’s got.”

Cypher snorted. She wasn’t wrong. But she wasn’t the only one. He glanced over at Lacey and wondered if she might have just as difficult of time, if not worse. All the brothers were in overprotective mode over her right now, with everything that had happened, and he didn’t see it getting any better for a few years.

He glanced over at Roadkill and found the other man watching Jenna with an expression that Cypher suspected was similar to what anyone else would have seen on his while he’d watched Lauren with Charlie. If he had to put a name to it, he would say want, or maybe yearning. He looked back at Lauren, where she sat among the old ladies of his club and knew that was what he wanted. But not with just anyone. He wanted it with her.

Now all he had to do was convince her it was what she wanted too.

Chapter Eighteen

Lauren spent most of her free time, the time she wasn’t working, over the next couple of weeks with Cypher. As she sat at her desk, eating her lunch, she found her mind on him. She was looking forward to the evening.

That’s when it struck her. When was the last time she’d looked forward to spending time with someone, other than that first glow of a relationship? That first couple of weeks where everything was new and fun.

She and Cypher had been seeing each other for about a month now. In her experience, that was when the sparkle started to wear off. When she would stop looking forward to seeing whoever she was dating and possibly even dreading it instead.

But with Cypher, even with as much time as they were together, she wanted more. And when they weren’t together, she found herself thinking she’d have to tell him this or that or she’d have to remember to ask him something.