“Good, because I won’t tell you and ruin the surprise.”
“All finished,” she declared and handed me a fully dressed baby. “I’ll show you how to do everything next time. We really do need to go.”
Right on cue, Copper came back inside to tell us the car seat was installed and ready when we were. “The truck’s running. I just need to grab my ph—What the fuck happened to my phone?”
I looked over and saw his phone lying in a puddle of piss. “Sorry, Uncle Copper. I got too excited and made a little wee on your phone,” I said in the best baby girl voice I could manage.
“For fuck’s sake,” he cursed and curled his lip in disgust. His eyes flicked to another spot on the table, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. “She got yours too, Baby Brother.”
“Fucking hell,” I grumbled.
Changing his tone, he added, “Should probably hold off on the Uncle Copper shit until a paternity test proves that’s your child. Just because some crazy-ass woman showed up at the clubhouse and put a baby in your arms saying she’s yours doesn’t mean she is. You feel me?”
I nodded in agreement. He was right, very much so. I was getting way ahead of myself. But, it was hard not to because I could see my features in her tiny face.
However, Copper’s words triggered the logical side of my brain, and I realized something else might be going on. For all we knew, someone could be using the baby as a distraction or as a way to pin something on the club. “Shit! We can’t leave the clubhouse unattended.”
“I’ve already called Grant and Coal to come in. Leigh’s going to wait for them and meet us at the hospital once they arrive,” Copper explained.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If this is some kind of setup, I’d rather the clubhouse be completely empty than have Leigh here alone like a sitting duck.”
“It’s a moot point now,” Copper said at the sound of two motorcycles pulling into the forecourt. “They’re here. Let’s go.”
When I got to the truck, Layla showed me how to fasten the car seat straps and told me I had to ride in the back with the baby. At my look of panic, Layla climbed into the seat on the other side and rode in the back with us.
“Where are we supposed to take her?” I asked.
“We’re meeting River at the hospital, and we’ll go from there,” Copper said.
River was waiting for us just inside the sliding glass doors that led to the ER. “Come on back. I’ve already got you registered and checked in.”
I carried the little bundle, who had been screaming since the moment Copper turned off the truck’s ignition, to the exam room and placed her in the plastic baby bed as River instructed.
River reached for the baby and started to undress her as she continued to wail. “Aw, it sounds like somebody’s hungry,” River cooed and pulled something out of a drawer with one hand while she continued to examine the unhappy infant. After placing a few items on the small table attached to the baby bed, she looked up at me. “Go wash your hands.”
I heard Leigh stifle a laugh as I did what River said and returned to her side when I was finished. River handed me a tiny baby bottle. It was so small I would’ve thought it belonged to a doll. “It’s time to eat, hungry girl.”
“River,” I said low enough for only her to hear. “The only thing I know about babies is how to make them. And that this one right here can soak a pool table in piss in less than a minute.”
“Sorry,” she mouthed then spoke louder. “Bronze, let’s have you sit in this chair right here, and I’ll hand you—uh, does she have a name yet?”
“No, but let’s call her Blue for the time being. I don’t want to keep referring to her as the baby, and since she hasn’t been confirmed as my biological child, I don’t think I should call her my daughter just yet. So, Blue it is.”
“Cute,” River smiled. “Did you choose that because of her eyes?”
I snorted. “No, she’s wrapped in a blue blanket, and it was the first thing that came to me. But I’m going to say it was because of her eyes if anyone else asks.”
“Okay, so I’m going to hand you Blue like this, and once you’re both comfortable,