Ryker by Jeneveir Evans
Chapter 22
Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers and fathering is a very important stage in their development.
~David Gottesman~
Ryker
October 20th, 1999
After all of our kids had scattered to the four winds, it was just Vip and me on his back porch. A lot of what I’d heard tonight was unclear. I’d been shocked and puzzled when Reb and Pred had come in with two young boys in tow. I knew that they weren’t either of the young men’s. I’d known those boys since they were in diapers. I was puzzled by what I’d heard tonight and wanted to know what was going on.
Vip looked at me and read my expression.
“Reb’s shit got you confused?”
“Yeah, you could say that. Where did those boys come from?”
“Ry, I know I don’t have to tell you not to talk about this but, Brother, seriously never mention this to anyone.”
“You know I wouldn’t ever betray your trust, Vip.”
“I know and, hell, you might as well know about this. When you patch over you will be involved in it too.”
I arched a brow at him.
“I know you noticed when Dog mentioned the team at Church Saturday.”
This time I arched both brows. How the fuck had he known that? He answered my unspoken question.
“I know your tell.”
Well, son of a bitch. I didn’t know I had a tell. He took a quick sip of beer then started rolling the bottle in his hands.
“The club helps out people as you’ve noticed. One of the women who was brought to us had found out her ex was into human trafficking. One of the Brothers is the sheriff, well he is for the next few months then he’s retiring and leaving the force.
“The past couple of years KJ has been investigating a ring that, we’ve recently come to find out, runs through the north/south corridor of the interstate that goes through Rogers. When Sophie gave us her information, it was decided that we’d go vigilante and hunt traffickers. One of our last raids we rescued twenty-six victims. Those two young boys were two of the victims. Our main goal is to reunite them with family, but if we can’t do that, then the club takes care of them.
“We only have a handful of younger kids that we are protecting here. They live with different families in the compound. Those families become the kids’ guardians. There have been some victims that are over eighteen that don’t have any place to go. We do what we can for them. Two have become club girls. We have one who is a house mouse and another who is going to be a nanny.”
“The guardianship for the paperwork is forged?” I questioned. I was curious how all of this worked.
“No, it’s legal. We actually have a lawyer who helps us with it.”
“Hell, now I know why your men became infuriated when I mentioned that King was trying to get HRMC involved in human trafficking. He’s trying to do the very thing your MC is fighting. Gotta say, Vip, that I respect the hell out of the MC for doing this. When I get here, I’d like to help out too.”
“I went on the last raid but I don’t go on all of them. It depends on the manpower needed. Like you saw, we have some very highly trained military men in the MC. They are some of the most elite in the world.
“If the forays are small, then it’s only the main team that goes in. Jace and I helped with the last one because it was so big.”
“Understand that. Vip, you fucking lucked out landing here.”
“That I did, Brother. We’re gonna make sure you luck out too. Your ass is gonna survive this shit. Then you’re gonna bring your men here and y’all are gonna patch over. Ry, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no better place than this MC.”
“It appears to be a wealthy MC. How’s that possible without having illegal businesses?” I asked.
“Dog’s dad Sarge made a very good investment years ago and it paid off big time. Recently the club has accumulated a fortune. We use that money strictly for our vigilante work.”
“Christ. You have a hacker in the MC.”
“One of the best in the world.”
“Holy fuck, Vip. This shit is unreal.”
“You ain’t telling me something I don’t know, Ry. If I didn’t live it, I’d never have believed it.”
We were quiet for a couple minutes while we finished our beers, then Vip spoke back up, “Ry, gotta promise me something here, Brother.”
“What’s that?”
“During my battle with Devil, I kept shit to myself and almost got my family killed. Want you to learn from my mistakes. Don’t do that. Don’t keep shit to yourself. Call and keep me informed of what’s going on. Let the club help you figure out a plan of attack. Ry, these men know what the hell they are doing. If you’ll let us do that, then everything will work out okay. But, Brother, if you try to go it solo, you could get Tor, your men and even yourself killed.
“You don’t want to do that, Ry. It would destroy your kids. Fuck, Bane would go nuts.”
I let what he said bounce around in my head. He was right. I needed help. I trusted Vip and if he said these men could help, then I was going to let them.
“Alright, Vip. Deal. I’ll let you know daily about anything I’ve learned.”
“That’s good, Ry. I want your ass back here with your family. Besides, it’s high time you and I are legit Brothers in the same MC.”
“Agreed, Vip.”
~*~
Rebel
October 22nd, 1999
Zane was truly a magician. How the fuck he managed to get his hands on the birth certificates this fast, completely blew my mind. He said it would take a few more days for the social security numbers. Before I’d left his office the day before yesterday, I’d handed him a piece of paper. It had the names the boys and I had picked out for them.
At first I thought all I’d be able to do was be their guardian, then I’d decided I’d try to adopt them. Then I realized that I didn’t want to chance either of those things. I didn’t want things to go through the court system where someone might possibly learn information that could possibly cause me to lose them. I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
Both of them had come to me one day not long after we moved into the house and let me know that when I adopted them that they didn’t want to keep the names they had now. I know it was all Billie’s doing, but Timmy went along with it. Billie said he didn’t want any reminder that he had ever had any parents other than me.
Both had chosen the names they wanted to be called. I’d choked up a little when they told me. Billie said he wanted to be called Chance. He said it was just a lucky chance that I’d been the one who found him. Timmy had heard him say that and he said he'd wanted to be called Lucky. I’d tried to talk him out of that one but he was adamant. For a seven-year-old, the kid was relentless in his determination to have his way.
I was now headed home with the documents in my hand. Pred had stayed with the boys when Zane had called and let me know that he had the certificates. I opened the front door to find Pred on the couch with a boy snuggled into each side of him. I shook my head when I saw what they were watching. If we would let them, they would watch this every day. Now I know why Pops would groan when it was our turn to pick a movie to watch. Pred and I always picked the same movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
All at once all three of them shouted, “Cowabunga, dude.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. This was my life now and I fucking loved it.
“Hey, guys. We need to pause the movie for a few minutes,” I stated.
Pred grabbed the remote and hit pause. Billie and Timmy, or soon to be known as Chance and Lucky, sat up and stared at me.
“Is something wrong?” Billie asked.
“No, son. Nothing’s wrong at all. I just have something we need to talk about.”
“Okay. What is it?” he demanded.
I sat down on the ottoman in front of the couch and faced the three of them.
“You know how we talked about me adopting you?”
Both of them shook their heads vigorously up and down.
“Well, it’s not going to quite work out like that.”
The expression on both of their faces fell. “Does this mean you aren’t going to be our Papa?” Billie asked in a small voice.
“Nope. That’s not what it means. I need both of you to listen to me really good. You need to listen to what I have to say like you are an adult. Do you think you can do that for me?”
“Yeah,” they both said as they sat up straight.
“I got to thinking about what all is involved in an adoption. It would have to go through a court system. While I know that I can get it done, if anyone ever looked into your paperwork and got suspicious on how a man that is only twenty-four managed to adopt a seven and nine-year-old, that might cause problems for us.”
“Why?” Timmy wanted to know.
“Because, bud, usually the courts want parents who are more mature, especially when it involves an unmarried man. While it’s possible I could be your dad, I would have only been fifteen when Billie was born. That’s only six years older than Billie is now.”
“Wow, that’s not a lot,” Billie responded with his eyes open wide as saucers.
“No it’s not. I don’t want anyone to be able to take you away from me.”
“So what are you going to do, Papa?” Timmy uttered.
Damn, I wonder if Pops gets a thrill each time he hears us call him Pops. The boys had decided they didn’t want to call me father, daddy or dad. That was what they had called their bio sperm donors. They had decided they wanted to call me Papa. I didn’t have a problem with that at all. I had, however, laughed my ass off on what they decided to call Pops. They were going to call him Poppy. Pops had just shaken his head and taken it in stride.
“Well, I had an idea, but I had to talk to someone to see if it was possible to do, and it was.”
“What is it?” Billie quizzed before I could keep going.
That was one thing I’d had to get used to, kids tended to interrupt conversations with questions when if they’d only been patient and let the conversation continue, they’d have learned the answers much quicker.
“I asked him if he could get me a birth certificate for each of you with my name in the spot where a father’s name goes.”
“What’s a birth certificate?” Timmy asked.
“When you’re born, buddy, the hospital takes all your information down and it goes onto a piece of paper. It says things like what your name is, who your mom and dad are, how much you weigh, things like that.”
“Oh, okay,” he replied.
“So this man could do this?” Billie inquired.
“Yeah, son, he could.”
Billie scrunched up his nose. “But, Papa, I don’t want my mom’s name on it.”
“Her name won’t be on it.”
“So it’s just gonna say we don’t have a mom?” he quizzed. I could tell he was confused.
“No, bud. It will have a woman’s name on it. Pred and I had a friend who was in school with us that was the same age as us. Sadly, she died when she was twenty-two. Since she’s not alive, then there’s no one that can say she wasn’t your mom.”
“Oh, okay. I get it,” Billie said, nodding his head decisively.
“Timmy, do you get it?” I questioned.
“Kinda. She’s gonna be our mom, but she’s not because she’s dead.”
“Yeah, buddy, that’s basically it.”
“Now I need you to listen close to me and remember this part. Don’t ever forget it either. If you do, I could get into big trouble.”
Both of them looked scared at that. They loved Pred and me and didn’t want to be taken away from us.
“We’ll remember, we promise,” Billie proclaimed.
“Yeah, Papa, I promise, I’ll ‘member,” Timmy added.
“Good. You need to remember that I’ve always been your Papa and that Elle was always your mom. We were both fifteen when Billie was born and seventeen when Timmy was born. Can you remember that?”
“Yes,” they called out.
“You both need to remember this. Your mom’s name is Elle Wheeler and your Papa’s name is Joshua Davis. Before we moved here, you always lived with your mom and Papa at Poppy’s house.”
“Think you can remember that?”
“Yeah,” they said again.
“What if someone asks what she looks like?” Billie asked.
“Later, Pred and I will show you a picture of her.”
“Okies,” Billie murmured.
“Now there’s something else you both have to remember.”
“What?” they chorused.
“Your new names.”
“I’m Chance Davis,” Billie called out.
“I’m Lucky Davis,” Timmy stated.
“We’ve been practicing,” Billie added. After the dinner at Pops, I’d told them what their new last name was.
“That’s real good, but you both have a middle name to remember.”
“What’s mine?” Timmy cried out excitedly.
“Yeah, I wanna know mine too,” Billie stated.
“Timmy, your name is now Lucky Cole Davis. You’re named after Poppy.”
“I want to be named after him too,” Billie whined.
I laughed. “Patience my young grasshopper. Billie, your name is Chance Taylor Davis.”
“Is that after Poppy too?”
“Yeah it is. Poppy’s real name is Cole Taylor Davis.”
“Cool,” they said at the same time.
“Alright, from this moment on, there isn’t a Billie and Timmy. The only two little boys in this room are Chance Taylor Davis and Lucky Cole Davis. Your mom’s name is Elle Wheeler and your dad’s name is Joshua Davis. Until we moved to Arkansas, you’ve always lived in Poppy’s house. We were both fifteen when Chance was born and seventeen when Lucky was born. There’s more to remember, but we’ll worry about that later. For now, I want you to concentrate on remembering what I just told you. Y’all practice that, okay?”
“We will, Papa,” they both chorused.
“Uncle Pred?”
“Yeah, Chance?”
Chance smiled at being called his new name. “We have the same last name as you now, isn’t that so awesome.”
“Yeah, little man, it is awesome.”
“Me too, Uncle Pred. My last name is the same as yours,” Lucky cried out.
“I know, Lucky. Y’all are very lucky little boys to have your Papa. He’s a good man.”
“He is,” Chance agreed.
Lucky shook his head wildly. “Yes, he is.”
“Uncle Pred?”
“Yeah, Chance?”
“We’re lucky to have you too.”
Pred lifted his gaze to mine and I saw on his face the struggle to contain his emotions. Yeah, it was working. He already cared about these boys more than he let on. I had a feeling it wouldn’t take my sons long before he fell in love with them just like I had.
Both boys had it right in a way, only it was me who was lucky they wanted to take the chance of having me as their Papa.
I swear I don’t think there was a better feeling in the world than being their Papa.
~***~