Chapter 1

Ainsley's POV...

This was not what I had planned upon becoming a single mother at such a tender age. I was supposed to finish high school and become a lawyer dammit! Here I am giving birth to a child just a few weeks after my 18th birthday. I do wish that she could be here with us, but I am grateful for who I have become.

“You know.” Shannon begins to say this while rubbing my back when I am hit with yet another painful contraction. “Two weeks ago, you reached the legal drinking age, and I wasn’t even able to take you out to celebrate.” I know, no matter what she says, that she is just as eager to meet this child as I am.

“Sweetie, did you hear me?” Doctor Fourie pulls me back to the present with her words. “What? Oh no, sorry I kinda spaced out while trying to block out the pain.” I sheepishly admit, and she smiles at me kindly. “Understandable honey, but I need you to focus now, okay? I think it’s time for this little one to say hello to the world.

Shannon looks at me angrily as she asks: “You were thinking about that no-good POS again, weren’t you?” I can clearly hear her hatred for him.

“Not exactly.” I say, I was thinking about you and how lucky I am to have you as my best friend. You could have walked away like the rest, but you remained by my side, even dropping out of school when I did, so you could help me out and you didn’t have to do that, you know. Also, I wish she were here.” I say honestly, and her face instantly softens.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way!” She exclaims as my baby’s loud cries fill the room.

A few days later and we’re all packed and ready to leave for Fochville. Scarlet-Rose is strapped in and sleeping soundly after crying for almost the entire night, and right now she looks like a sleeping angel. ‘I really hope keeping her is what’s right for her.’ I think, and Shannon suddenly startles me by whispering in my ear. “What are you thinking about Ains?” She asks, carrying the last box before we leave.

“Nothing, just that I hope I’m doing the right thing by raising Scarlet by myself instead of finding a nice loving family to care for her.” I say with a sigh.

“Please stop thinking that way now, Ainsley Grainne MC Ghee.” She sternly chides me. “There’s no way on God’s green earth that strangers are going to raise my precious goddaughter, do you hear me?” she asks. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She says as she stares at me, knowing that she is absolutely right. She may have an idiot dad, but at least he gave me Scarlet.

"Now tell me, bitch, are we ready to roll or should I follow Scar’s example and find myself a nice napping spot while you say your goodbyes to this place?” I ask, knowing what her response will be.

“Hell no, bitch!” she yelled. “Now let’s go! Let’s leave this place behind us, we’ve been waiting for months.” She jumps into my 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby Eleanor, motioning with her hand for me to get my butt in gear and get moving.

“I understand that we decided a small town would be the best place to start fresh, but do we really have to move to the world’s end???” Shannon inquires after roughly three hours.

“Even though we’ve been driving for hours, we’re not even halfway there yet.” My attention is drawn to a gas station up ahead, so I pull in, making a mental note to change Scarlet and to make sure she's fed and comfortable before we set off again. “It feels like we’ll never get there at this rate.” I say.

“What are you doing? Why are we slowing down and not speeding up?” Shannon asks, and I point towards the gas station as I answer her. "Since we’ve been driving for hours, I think it might be a smart idea to fill up the tank and stock up on snacks and drinks. Aside from that, Scarlet needs to be changed and fed, and it might be time to stretch those long legs of yours. “Who knows when we’ll get a chance to before we get there? I ask, coming to a halt. She gives me a nod as she looks at me.

“Once again, you’re right. I hate it when you’re right, you know?” She sighs, getting out to buy snacks and drinks and I tend to Scarlet-Rose while the petrol attendant fills up our tank. In less than fifteen minutes, we’re back on the road.

“It’s time to wake up, sleepyhead. We’re here.” I softly tell Shannon as I pull up to our newly purchased home. We really owe our dads a big thank you for setting this up. After buying the apartment, they had their friends from the Broken Skulls MC help move the furniture in and decorate the place so all we had to do was unpack the few boxes and suitcases we brought with us. Did I mention they did all of this from Scotland without even letting us spend a cent of our own money? We have super awesome dads!

“We’ve finally made it. Wait... How long have I been out? The fuck didn't you wake me up?!” She bombards me with a string of questions before perking up and squealing like a preteen, just realizing her crush knows she exists. Her voice echoed out, “We’re here! The place is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!!! We’re finally here!!!! ” Shannon screams as she jumps out to get Scarlet-Rose from the car, but just then a couple of bad ass bikers storm out of the building, with guns raised, aiming right at Shannon as she brings Scarlet out of the car and my heart stops...

“What the fuck is going on here!!!” An exceptionally large biker bellows. With long blonde hair tied into a man bun, he looks like one of those Vikings of old, complete with his freaking tank-like build. There was something mesmerizing about his large frame, tattoos all over, and piercing blue eyes. The thing that pisses me off the most is not how hot he is, but how he’s aiming his gun. Right. At. Shannon. As she holds my baby!

Shannon is holding my infant in her arms while that fucking monstrosity is aimed at her head! Immediately, Shannon shields Scarlet while I step in front of her, not caring that I’m likely about to sign my own death warrant. "First of all, Mr. ‘ME HULK, ME SMASH!’ Drop the fucking weapon; did you not notice the infant in her arms???" I practically scream at him as I poke him in the chest, not caring that his equally large buddies are staring at me in horror.

“Secondly!” I continued shouting. “We live here. In fact, we just moved into our new place today, and I am prepared to kill you with my bare hands if you ever aim that thing at either of my girls again, I don’t care if you’re built like a goddamn tank or if you look like you can take on an entire army alone. Do we understand each other?” My voice is dangerously low, and Shannon’s shudder can be seen out of the corner of my eye. There’s no way I can figure out whether it’s for fear of what he and his buddies might do to me or for fear of what I might do to him, honestly at this point I couldn't care less. My best friend and my daughter have who-knows how many guns aimed at them and that has me madder than a bloody wet hen after getting caught out in a rainstorm.