Page 5 of Ella’s Data

Fee: That’s why we get along so well. See you soon!

Me: Absolutely.

CHAPTER

THREE

Data

I come out of my office to absolute chaos. The women are rushing around, putting up decorations and I quickly deduce that Prophet and Phoebe must be on their way home from the hospital.

Walking over to Rebel I ask, “Anything in particular I need to do?”

He chuckles then says, “Maybe make sure none of the women break their necks. Red, Pipes, and Slammer have the grills going, and the prospects went to grab the meat from the butcher. Esther and the club girls are in the kitchen putting together the rest of the food, and I’m keeping an eye on the kids.”

I look around and see Mina, Ruby, and Becca in front of the giant television that’s on the back wall. PJ and Cami are in the playpen, babbling and banging on the toys they’ve got in there, while the girls watch a Disney movie. “So, basically, do what I can wherever it’s needed,” I jest.

“Pretty much. Stay out of the kitchen, though, you know how Esther gets,” he warns.

Shaking my head, I walk toward where Holly and Marnie are on chairs trying to tape the ‘Welcome Home’ sign across the top of the bar. “Y’all get down before you hurt yourselves. I’ve got this.”

Holly sticks her tongue out at me as Rebel swoops in and grabs her around her waist, causing her to throw her hands in the air and scream, while Ash does the same to Marnie. “Rebel Sherman! You almost made me fall!”

“No, I saved you from falling, that’s a big difference,” Rebel retorts as Ash and I laugh. “You two keep your feet on the floor, every man here is tall enough to hang whatever your heart desires.”

I move around the room hanging up balloons, then, when Esther comes out and starts moving the tables, I say, “Tell me how you want them and I’ll move them for you.”

By the time I hear tires on the asphalt, the common room has been transformed with every table now covered in a pink tablecloth, balloons on the walls as well as rolling on the floor, and a huge bowl of alcohol-free punch. Seeing my brother walk through the door, his newborn baby girl cuddled against him on one side with his wife on the other has me wishing it was me.

The problem is, the only woman I can see myself having that with, won’t talk to me long enough to tell me what the hell is going on with her. I wasn’t lying when I told her this morning that I thought we had something good, because we did. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was going to be important to me. She felt like the one. Maybe I should’ve communicated how I felt back then, but I thought she’d think it was too soon for any kind of profession of love. The only problem is that I did fall in love with her. Quickly.

From her prickly morning persona to her solid work ethic, and everything in between, Ella was it for me. Even all these years later, and it has been at least eight, maybe more, I still feel the same. I mean, I wasn’t pining away and I sure as hell wasn’t celibate during our time apart, but I knew if I ever saw her again, I was going to tell her how I felt about her.

I just need to pin her down.

Esther, Holly, and Marnie fuss over Phoebe, while Prophet holds Colleen and acts like he was the one who gave birth, showing her off to the brothers who couldn’t make it to the hospital. Once the women have Phoebe seated in a comfortable chair, he brings Colleen over to her, then he walks over to the playpen and picks Cami up.

“Do you wanna meet your little sister?” he asks Cami as the three older girls trail behind him. He crouches next to Phoebe and when Cami reaches out to touch the baby, he gently takes her hand and says, “Careful, she’s a tiny baby. This is Colleen, your baby sister, Cami.”

“She’s pretty,” Mina says. Looking at Phoebe, she asks, “Can I hold her? I know how to hold babies because of PJ.”

Esther, thankfully, steps in and says, “We should probably wait a few days, Mina. Colleen was just born yesterday, and she doesn’t need to get anybody’s germs.”

Mina sighs, loudly, and grumbles, “It’s not fair, but I’ll wait.”

Like my brothers and their women, I’m biting my lips to keep from laughing out loud. I don’t blame Esther for saying that, either. It’s the start of the cold and flu season and a baby has minimal defenses, except what they get from their mother. Hearing the door open, I turn and my breath catches.

She’s here, looking uncertain, which is weird because she’s been here before. Unless it’s because of my behavior this morning. I walk over and softly say, “Hey, Ella, you’re right on time. They just got here.”

“Um, hey, Data,” she says. “Let me… let me go say hello to Fee and then, I’m ready to talk.”

Before I can answer, she walks over to Phoebe and leans down to carefully hug her. I can’t hear what she says, but Phoebe’s eyes glance in my direction and her brows raise. She then makes a motion that has me smirking, but her glare makes me salute her instead.

Message received. She may not know what Ella’s going to talk to me about, but she’s going to make sure I don’t hurt her best friend.

“We can talk in here,” I say, motioning to my office door. It’s where I feel most comfortable. All my monitors, servers, and screens are at my fingertips, ready to hunt down information at a moment’s notice.

“Um, okay,” she replies, her voice subdued. As she passes me, I notice her eyes are red-rimmed and realize she probably cried after I left, which makes me feel like a total ass.