Stryker’s Fight by Erin Osborne
Epilogue
Stryker
THE LAST TWO years have been the best in my life. Sally surprised the fuck out of me when she asked me to marry her and then had me take her to the courthouse. She didn’t want to wait to marry me or plan some big affair. Killer and Gwen were the only ones with us when we got married and it was absolutely perfect. Shy and the rest of the ol’ ladies put together a huge celebration for us at the clubhouse for after our quick ceremony. The day was amazing. Sally wore a simple white sundress and left her still plum and platinum hair down in loose curls. Everything was simple and exactly how the two of us like things.
Sally stays home during the day with the kids. She runs our home like a champ and makes sure each of us has exactly what we need when we need it. When she’s not at home, Sally hangs out at the clubhouse with the other ol’ ladies. They visit with one another, have playdates for the kids, and whatever else it is they do. Our kids will never know what it’s like to not have someone there for them. Sally is doing everything in her power, not that she has to try hard, to give our kids a full life filled with love, laughter, and everything else they need and want.
Natalia is still my Princess. She’s in school now and let me tell you what a hard day that was. Sending her to school for her first day was agony. Agony, Sally, and I took her there to send her off. Natty wanted Agony there because he’s her bestie still and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. My baby girl hasn’t thought her choice of a best friend through all the way because he’s just as protective as any of the rest of us are. When she gets older, she’s not going to like us being in her business and running a bunch of assholes away from her. Nat still has her crush on Killer. She always hides when he’s around and I’m scared to think this is only a precursor of what kind of boy she’s going to like when she gets older.
Kaden is my mini me. He looks like me, acts like me, and will one day join the club just like I did. At the same time, he’s a complete mama’s boy. Sally is the focus of his world at this point and my hope is he’ll find a woman exactly her; someone who loves with her entire heart, is strong enough to handle whatever his role in the club is, and will support him no matter what he wants to do in his life. When Kaden is around the other kids, he’s always watching and making sure none of them get hurt. Even at just over two years old, he’s already the silent watcher. Thankfully, he doesn’t have any health issues from being born so early. He’s still smaller than normal, but he’s developing ahead of schedule and will be starting preschool soon. That’s going to be harder for Sally then it will me. I know our boy will do amazing in school and anything else he wants to tackle in his life.
Sally and I have one other addition to our family. Well, child wise. Six months ago, my wife blessed me with another little girl I named Emily. She’s the one who completes our family and makes us whole. Emily is already stunning taking after her mama. She is one of the quietest babies I’ve ever seen in my life. I thought Kaden was quiet, but my baby girl has taken the title from him. She’s never fussy and is already doing more than she should. Our girl is smart as fuck like the rest of our children. Emmie will do whatever she wants in her life and come out shining. Or, she’s gonna be full of sass and make her world her bitch. Either way I’ll be good.
Standing at the window overlooking our backyard, I watch my family as they enjoy the nice day. Sally is sitting in a swing with Emily on her lap while Natalia sits just off to the side of her with her books. She’s reading easy books and we love listening to her share her stories. Who knows? Maybe she’ll be a writer when she gets older. Kaden makes sure to keep one eye on his sisters and mama while he chases our puppy Dodger around the yard. Sally found our little guy abandoned on the side of the road and brought him home. She cleaned him up and I couldn’t tell her no when I saw the blond bundle of fur as he laid at the end of Emily’s bouncy chair. Already protective of my babies.
Dodger is a Golden Retriever. He’s four months old now and I’m sure he won’t be the only fur baby we end up with. Sally can never pass up the opportunity to save an animal. Dodger can always be found close to one of the kids. Especially our baby girl Emily. He loves her more than the rest of us, and I know they’re going to be best friends. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind having another dog around the house now that Dodger is with us. He’s shown me a family isn’t just made up of the people in your life, but any person or animal you come across and who sticks by your side.
The club is continuing to grow. We have new Prospects and have patched in a few new guys. Honestly, I can’t wait until our sons get older and can begin Prospecting. These kids are the next generation of the club and we’re making sure they know what it means to be protective of your family and to love with everything they have in them. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had to let some guys go because their morals didn’t mesh with ours, but that’s going to be found in all walks of lives. One of the guys thought it was okay to hurt women and animals. When I found him trying to hurt Dodger, I lost my shit and beat the crap out of him. Killer stood back and watched me work him over. When Slim found out, he was pissed the fuck off and made sure the kid was made an example of. He won’t be patching in to a club we align ourselves with.
There is nothing I want more in my life than what I have in this moment. We’re all growing and as happy as we can be. As long as the drama with other clubs and shit remains away from us, I’ll be even better. No one is coming for us right now. Everyone who we’ve been having problems before is either in the ground or has learned not to fuck with us. Hell, even Dagger has been in contact a few times. He wanted to check in with us to make sure Sally was okay. Slim invited him to the clubhouse and he came with a few of the guys who were trying to protect her. We’re currently in the process of helping them start a new club. They follow the same belief system we have and Slim is ready to make them an allied club of ours. Dagger and the few men with him are good.
Sally was excited to see him. She couldn’t really see him when he was there for her when Chrome had her. They spent a long time talking as I sat at the bar to watch over them. No one gets close to my wife without my watching out for her. Now that I have her in my life, nothing is going to take her away from me.
We have also gone to Dander Falls. Sally took me to Killian’s grave, and I thanked him for giving me two of the best girls in my life. If it weren’t for Killian, Natalia wouldn’t be here, and Sally would be a different person than she is now. He helped her realize her past wasn’t something to be ashamed of because it wasn’t her choice. Yes, being a sweetbutt for the Wild Kings was her choice, but that was for her safety and protection. Without them, I shudder to think she wouldn’t be here with us now. I wouldn’t have my children and life would not be as great as it is. In the next few days, Shadow and his family will be here for a visit. Sally and him are still extremely close and I won’t stand in the way of their relationship. Renee won’t either.
The only thing I would do different is not pushing Sally harder in the beginning. She wouldn’t have run away the way I anticipated. If I had pushed her to open up, my wife would have given me her fears about being with me sooner. We could have talked it out and made sure Killian’s ghost was put to bed earlier. Well, that would have been harder to do, but I could have talked to her about my role in the club and why I accepted the role of the Sergeant at Arms. It’s because I’ve always tried to protect those around me. Now, Sally understands it and wouldn’t change anything about us. I love her more every day and can’t wait to see what the future brings us.
The End
