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Honestly, it doesn’t really bother me one way or the other. King knows all about the situation and will know even more because he’s been digging into the so-called Camden’s. That’s what I have to call them in my mind because I’m not sure if that’s who they truly are or not. It’s the only way I’ve been able to get anything to sound coherent in my own mind when it comes to this situation. That and also trying not to think of things while I was waiting for these results to come back.
Wade and Dylan lead me into the living room and sit with me on the couch. One of them on each side of me as they hold my hands in theirs and rest them on their thighs as normal. When we’re not walking around when they’re holding my hand, the guys always rest them on their thighs for some reason. I’ve never asked them about it because it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. I’m comforted by the gesture and it seems to be something they both like doing. There’s no reason to stop them from doing it when we all love it.
Before we can get too comfortable on the couch, there’s a knock on the door. Wade gets off the couch and releases my hand before going to let King and Doc in our home. I hear him telling them Matie is sleeping so we need to be quiet. I’m not sure if Wade knows he’s not feeling well, but he’ll find out once Matie wakes up from his nap. Our son is a cuddle bug when he’s sick. Any other time, Matie is all over the place, playing and trying to walk. Today, he’s not doing any of that.
Wade leads King and Doc into our home and gestures for them to sit in the chairs across from our seats on the couch. He offers them a drink, which they both decline as Doc looks over at me with a small smile on his face.
“I know you’ve been worryin’ yourself like crazy over these results. So, I’m not gonna hold them back or anythin’, Genesis. Here you go,” Doc says, leaning forward and handing over the envelope.
I take it from him, releasing the guys’ hands and hating how my hands are shaking so bad. It’s visibly noticeable as I quickly place them in my lap in an attempt to try and hide them from everyone in the room. For several minutes, I just look down at the envelope and don’t make a move to open it. Dylan wraps his arm over my shoulder while Wade places his hand on my thigh.
“We’ve got you, Sweetness. You open it when you’re ready,” Dylan says, his voice warm and gentle as he whispers in my ear so no one else hears.
Taking a deep breath, I hold it for a minute before releasing it very slowly. Lifting the envelope in my hand, I open the flap that was never sealed since Doc is the one who printed out the results and put the paper in the envelope. He also went to the hotel where the club put Virginia and Richard up so they remain in town while we waited for the results. I haven’t talkedto them since the day I went to the hospital and I probably should have checked on Virginia to make sure she’s okay after being discharged. That’s literally all I know about them because Vault and Slim went to see them several times before Slim went back to Benton Falls.
Removing the paper, I unfold it slowly and take another deep breath as I slowly release it while looking down at the words typed out. Virginia and Richard Camden are my parents. There is no doubt left based on the results that their story in part is true. Now I just need to know if my mom’s mother did this to us or if it’s because they didn’t want me when I was born and this is their way of avoiding that reality.
“T-T-They’re m-m-my parents,” I tell the men sitting in the living room with me. “Here’s the proof right here.”
I show Dylan and Wade the results of the DNA test as they wrap me up tighter in their arms and hold me close while tears fall from my eyes. This is what I’ve wanted for so long. I’ve dreamed of having parents and building a relationship with them. Telling myself that no matter how old I was, I’d give my birth parents a chance if I ever got the chance to find out who they are. Now, I’m not sure if I can follow through with that.
“King, what have you found out?” Wade asks the man who’s been silent up to this point.
“Not a lot if I’m bein’ honest. Richard and Virginia are your typical adults. They’ve both worked for the same companies from the time they graduated college and are still each in the same company. Both of them have gained several promotions over the years. Virginia is now the manager of a nursing home and oversees all the patients, staff, and anythin’ goin’ on in the buildin’. Richard is an accountant and has made it to the highest in his company that he can go without buyin’ into the company.
“Neither one of them have ever been arrested for anythin’. They aren’t drug users and unless they’re at a dinner party, Virginia and Richard don’t drink. When they are at a party, they each only have one glass of wine and nothin’ harder than that. Richard won’t even drive after havin’ a glass of wine so there’s no accidents caused by him. They’ve lived in the same house since they were married. It was a gift from his family who was thrilled they were married. Richard’s family was all very excited for your birth and they would’ve taken you in a heartbeat if somethin’ happened to either of your parents.
“I did look into Virginia’s mother. She is completely behind Genesis bein’ put in foster care and never knowin’ her birth parents were alive and lookin’ for her. There are letters in this file she wrote to several case workers in the child protection services department. She also wrote to your mother after everythin’ was sealed up to let her know what she did. Virginia’s mother has carbon copies of all the letters she ever wrote regardin’ you, Genesis. I have no clue why she’d keep that shit, but she did. This woman was a real piece of shit and you weren’t the first person she did this to. Apparently her husband got another woman pregnant before they were married and she also made that child disappear with the same story. The parents were told by doctors she paid off that the baby died while everyone else involved were led to believe the parents were unfit,” King tells us making my heart break for the time I lost with my parents and the hell I imagine my grandpa went through after his wife found about his other child.
Dylan takes the file from King and flips through everything. Virginia and Richard’s work history, bank accounts, and everything he could find on them is placed neatly inside. All these papers are a brief history of my parent’s lives and Dylan’s holding it in his hands. Everything I could want to know aboutthem is right next to me. However, none of it will tell me if they’re good people or not. That’s something I’m only going to learn by being around them and getting to know who they are deep inside.
“I think I’d like to get to know them. I want to take things slow and do this on my terms though. Do you think they’ll be okay with that?” I ask my men as they surround me with their comfort and strength.
“Then that’s what we’ll do, Angel. You’re in charge of this. If your parents are the kind of people I believe them to be, I don’t think they’ll have a single problem doin’ things on your terms and in your time. Why don’t you take the rest of the day to think things through and just be here with us. We’ll shut the world around us out and not let anyone in. The baby will be wakin’ up soon and we’ll need to take care of him. Doc, do you think you could check him over when he gets up? He had a small fever last night when I put him to bed and I gave him medicine and stayed in the nursery with him for a while. I’m guessin’ he’s not much better today,” Wade says, turning to face me for confirmation.
“He’s not. I’ve been givin’ him the medicine every six hours today and it seems to be keeping his fever down, but he’s not himself. I don’t know if he’s getting sick from something or if he’s teething again and this is from that,” I inform Doc as everyone looks at me.
King leaves the house and Doc remains behind with us. When Matie wakes up, Dylan grabs him from the crib and brings him downstairs in nothing more than a diaper. He’s burning up and covered in sweat. Matie doesn’t stop crying all through Doc’s exam and I feel horrible as I take in our little guy. Dylan and Wade don’t get too far from him, looking down with concern and fear as Doc finally finishes his exam and tells us that he has a double ear infection, is congested in his chest, and definitelyhas a fever. He prescribes some antibiotics for him and tells us to alternate the two medicines to relieve his fever. This isn’t because he’s teething, though he is actually getting two new teeth in. While Wade and I give him a cool bath to help bring down his temperature until we can give him more medicine, Dylan heads to the store. He plans to get more medicine, his prescription, something to ensure he remains hydrated that’s not formula or milk, and anything else Doc tells him to grab while he’s out.
The quicker we can get him taken care of, the better I’ll feel. Doc said not to force him to eat, but to try to give him something he usually eats very quickly. Wade and I try, but he doesn’t want anything. So, we bring him to the couch with us and hold him in our arms while playing his favorite movies on one of the streaming channels. That’s how Dylan finds us when he returns home, loaded down with bags and takeout for dinner. The rest of the night we spend with Matie and watch him sleep more than usual while he fights whatever is going on with him. Thankfully, we were able to give him his medicine before he fell asleep once again.
Epilogue
Brynn
DO YOU KNOW what it’s like growing up in everyone’s shadow and constantly being teased that you’re the ‘oops’ baby of the family? My brother Maddox and sister Zoey are always teasing the hell out of me because Zoey is seven years older and Mad is six years older than I am. And when I say I grew up in their shadow, it’s not a lie or any kind of stretch of the imagination. From the second I started school, I was compared to my sister who is a damn genius while Mad is the jock. They won every award possible for everything they did and Mad took two of his three sports teams to the championship game at least three of the four years he played in high school and won those games. Zoey went to an ivy league school while Mad was granted a scholarship to any college he wanted to play ball in.
At the end of the day, I’m neither one of them. I don’t play sports like my brother and I’m not a genius like my sister. Yes, I was a cheerleader in high school because I always loved gymnastics and dancing. I figured cheerleading was the best of both worlds and I discovered it was something I was extremely good at. While I got almost straight A’s in school, I had to study for hours a day and earn every single one of those grades. Nothing came easy to me and I struggled more often than not. Add in the fact that I wasn’t very girly when I wasn’tcheerleading and I was constantly bullied and picked on by my peers. They hated the fact that I rode a sport bike from the time I got my license and I was even in a race or two over the years.
Another shadow I grew up in is that of my dad, grandpa, and uncle. See, I grew up in a motorcycle club. My mom was one of the strippers for their club and that’s how my dad met her. I don’t give a fuck what my mom did, but apparently some people in town did. Maddox and Zoey were never picked on for what our mom’s profession was before she started having kids and met my dad. When it comes to me, it’s like I have a giant sign on my forehead that it’s okay to bully me and not to worry about how I feel because I’m never going to do anything about it. Anyway, my grandpa is the infamous Blood, President of the King’s Vengeance MC. Scathe is my dad and Ace is my uncle. My grandpa alone is known by a ton of men in MCs all over the States and I’m not sure that it’s a good thing he’s so known by everyone.
On one hand it made it very easy for me to fade into the background and disappear when I wanted to. Other times, it was very hard to disappear and fade into nothing because one of my parents, my uncle, or my grandparents would be searching for me. I was usually lost in a book somewhere if I’m being honest. It was the one way I could escape my life and forget about the world of assholes around me. Especially the bullies and those who pretended to be my friend in order to get closer to the club. Especially my older brother. No one was ever genuinely interested in getting to know who I am as a person because I’m the loser of my family.
If I had told my brother, sister, parents, or anyone else in the club, they would’ve stepped in to put the bullies in their place. Especially the boys who I considered my cousins. Since none of them had the problems I seem to have in school, itwas never something I was going to burden others with. Despite being on the cheerleading team, bullies found it hilarious to beat me down on a daily basis.
Now that I’ve graduated high school and don’t want to go to college, I’ve moved away from my family to carve my own path in the world. My dad and mom weren’t happy that I wanted to move so far from them, but my grandpa chose to step in on my behalf when I ran off in tears because no one truly understands how hard things have been for me. He’s always been close to me and I’ve always been a Daddy’s girl. This was one time being so close to my dad didn’t work in my favor. Anyway, my grandpa stepped up and told my parents the truth of what I’d been dealing with all through school on my own without telling a single person about it. How he found out, I have no clue, but he knew every minor detail of everything the bullies ever did and said to me over the years. Even about the time I ended up with a broken arm during a football game because the other cheerleaders thought it would be hysterical to drop me while I was up in a mount. I almost quit over that, but refused to give them the satisfaction.
Pine View is a small city I overheard Maddox talking about one day. He’d gone on a ride through several states and stopped there for a week or so. He was talking all about a new MC in the city and it was someone Grandpa knew from years ago. So, I figured I’d be safe there with another MC so close. The day I moved, my mom almost didn’t let me go once she wrapped me up in one of her tight hugs. My dad shed a tear over me leaving and tried to pretend like it never happened. Even Uncle Ace got emotional when I left. Don’t get me wrong. My family loves me very much. Even Zoey and Maddox love me and will be the first ones to step up and defend me. They were pissed when they found out from our grandpa that I was being bullied and Inever once said a word to them. Both of them were in college or Prospecting for the club and I didn’t want to be a burden to them as I said before.
