Chapter 26: Chapter 26
The hospital was buzzing. Triage was full of injured Spartans ranging from superficial to life-threatening. Doctors and nurses running around, trying to treat everyone, machines beeping, alarms sounding. Pure chaos.
After the police were called in, the FBI followed, interviewing—or rather, interrogating, as Taco saw it—every member present. Which was all of them.
They all told the same story: They were attacked on their own grounds while minding their own business. The weapons that were found were all licensed and traceable, thanks to Repo and Quick’s relationship with Blaze Andrews and his brothers. Those Indians had been instrumental in the Spartans winning the battle tonight. Without their ears, the Spartans may not have been ready.
As it turned out, Blaze had been the one to put them in contact with the arms sellers so Country didn’t have to compromise his contacts. Everything they did that night was above board, painting them as the victims of a violent and unprovoked crime, thus getting the heat off their backs and onto the real criminals: Cruiz and her men.
Taco laid awake in bed, listening to the insects sing their songs through the open bedroom window, unable to scrub his mind of that horrible day.
It seemed like only yesterday that he’d watched his beautiful girl lying out on that dirt road, bleeding out right before his eyes. Instead, only four weeks had passed. They were both still recovering from their injuries, Bambi’s much worse than his. She’d suffered a lot of internal bleeding, but the worst was when the doctor told them she might not be able to have any more children.
That didn’t mean they wouldn’t try. Taco was determined to put another baby in her, one that he would be there for every step of the way.
He’d forgiven her for not telling him about Beau right away. That was all water under the bridge now. He may never agree with her method, but he’d more than come to see her point. Since the battle at the compound, he’d moved in with her fully, giving up his apartment located a block down from the compound to one of the prospects, which pretty much sealed the deal. It meant having a big commute whenever they needed to meet, and his partying days were few and far between, but as far as he was concerned, it was a good trade-off.
He didn’t need much besides his girl and his boy beside him.
As he watched Bambi sleep, he wondered what kind of future they had. Would they stay together, have more kids? They had so many differences, yet their passion for life was the same. Bambi fully understood and accepted that he wouldn’t be leaving the Spartans, just as he fully understood and accepted that she wouldn’t be leaving her job at the gas station.
He preferred that she didn’t work, or at least that she work somewhere else, but they’d reached a compromise. Days only. No more night shifts. It was too risky, and her being home nights meant more hours for them to spend together as a couple and a family. Of course, it meant that Bambi wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with her friend, Tina, but Taco had a feeling that would have happened regardless of whether or not Bambi worked nights alongside her.
He smiled remembering the day Tina came up to the hospital to visit. She hadn’t been alone. Steve, the nerdy bachelor, had been with her, and it was obvious the two had some kind of connection going.
An unlikely pair, to be sure, and even Bambi didn’t believe him when Taco told her about his suspicions, but after repeated mentions of him in that way that women did when they were head over ass for a man, Bambi finally asked her what was going on between them.
Tina, somewhat abashedly, admitted she and Steve had been spending time together. It’d started the day that Bambi had left Beau with her while she rode out to check on him. Steve had stopped by to say hello and found Tina babysitting. She’d invited him in for coffee, promising that Bambi would be back soon, but as they’d waited and the hours passed, they’d talked and found they had a lot in common.
And they liked each other. A lot.
Taco was glad. It meant he didn’t have to kill the fucker. That didn’t mean he wanted him around his girl though. The man had put his hands and lips on her once already. He wasn’t going to give the guy a chance for more. Just the thought of him touching Bambi made his blood boil and his fingers itch to put a bullet between his eyes.
If Steve didn’t want to stain his khakis, he needed to stay far away.
Of course, with Tina digging her claws in, he’d probably be around eventually, and that was something Taco was trying to be mentally prepared for. Suburban backyards didn’t make for good burial grounds.
But his girl wasn’t going anywhere, and if she ever thought to, he’d find a way to talk her out of it. Taco didn’t know what he was doing. He’d never been in a real relationship before, but he wanted to be in one with her. There was always time to change old habits, to start learning new things, new ways of being.
Being thrust into fatherhood was a hell of a way to start, but Taco was more than up for the challenge. And it wasn’t too hard, to be honest. He was enjoying the late-night diaper changes and feedings. Bath time was a bit of a tearjerker, though, for both of them. Beau had a hell of a set of lungs on him, oftentimes leaving Taco’s ears ringing afterward.
He wouldn’t have it any other way. The best reward was when the tears were dry and his son looked up at him with that gummy smile. Shit, he loved the little dude.
He wanted three more just like him.
She must have felt his eyes on her. Bambi was smiling before she opened her eyes and looked over, meeting Taco’s soft gaze.
“You’re staring again.”
Taco didn’t sleep much lately. It wasn’t the first time she’d woken to find him watching her sleep. She was his favorite distraction.
“I want to have more babies with you,” he blurted, love filling his chest.
That same love filled her eyes, but along with it was sorrow and doubt. He knew exactly what put it there. Rolling onto his side, Taco reached out and cupped her face with a gentle hand.
“It’ll happen, dollface. You just have to have faith.”
“You heard what the doctor said. It will be difficult, if not impossible.”
“Doctors aren’t always right. Look at Repo and Red,” he said, using them as the perfect example. “They’ve been trying for how long? She goes away for a couple days and suddenly, she’s pregnant.”
“I just don’t want to get my hopes up,” she reasoned.
“Bambi,” Taco said, deathly serious, “I never thought to be with any one woman…before you. You changed my mindset. Hell, you changed my entire life. Until you, I’ve always been brave, fearless, the first to dive into a sticky situation knowing the possible outcome. I never knew what real fear was…until the day you put our son in my hands and left me to sink or swim.”
A pretty smile spread across her face, and she turned to place a kiss against his palm. Taco’s thumb stroked her cheek, and his eyes soaked her in like a sponge. Every freckle, every curve, every slope and angle were committed to memory.
“We’ve been through so much together.” The ups and downs, heartache and heartbreak. They survived battle and close calls with death, and they were still kicking, still fighting for another day. Another day together. “If there’s anything I’ve learned, there’s nothing either of us can’t do. But imagine if we did it all together.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m not going to propose marriage,” Taco assured her, knowing that neither of them were ready to take it to that next level. Yet. “What I can promise you is that I have no intention of going anywhere. Not today, not tomorrow, or the day after that. And when times get hard, I promise to do my best to not be a dick and find a way to get us through. All I have to offer you right now is a future, one that I’ll work hard every day to make better than the last.”
Tears sprung from her eyes, spilling too fast for Taco to wipe away. Voice shaky, body trembling, Bambi choked out, “I would love that…so much.”
“Good, because I’m not going anywhere. Just you try and get rid of me.”
Her smile was fragile but no less beautiful, and Taco couldn’t wait another second. He needed to kiss his woman. So he did, promising himself and her that never again would a day go by that his lips wouldn’t meet hers.
The end.