Total pages in book: 212
Estimated words: 207966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1040(@200wpm)___ 832(@250wpm)___ 693(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1040(@200wpm)___ 832(@250wpm)___ 693(@300wpm)
Not all my songs were hits. But I was proud of every one of them and made sure to pause and feel gratitude whenever I heard one on the radio.
We used the money from selling Aunt Francie’s place to buy the motorhome and lived in it a while, but then got an apartment in Los Angeles that became home base. We still did a lot of traveling and Jesse and I partnered with Fern and Archer in opening a second exotic dance club in Sioux Falls, and then a third in Aberdeen. His mom ran the day-to-day and we all reaped some of the financial rewards.
For a girl who had to go hungry too often, who had to eat food she knew would make her sick because sometimes that was all there was to eat, for a girl who’d had to shove rags in her panties when she got her period because her dad never spared the money to buy maxi pads, it was nice to know I didn’t have to worry about money anymore.
Jesse had gotten the green light to go nomad for a year from Deke with the caveat that Deke still considered him a member of the club and that he could come back to the clubhouse whenever he wanted. Deke wouldn’t reassign Jesse’s room, so that was there for us whenever we visited. He’d immediately be a voting chapter member again the minute he wanted it.
That year had extended to now. He still wore that nomad patch when he rode his motorcycle. He had the Dominion Brotherhood patch inked onto his back. Directly under his left pec, he had Gianna Grace in beautiful black lettering. It was not only one of the remaining spots on his torso available to be inked when he got it, he said the spot was perfect because that’s where my head often was when he woke up in the mornings.
I wrote a song called Window for him, about us, because he told me that waking up with me meant he stopped looking for windows to make sure he wasn’t still imprisoned. I never released it, though. Never wanted anyone else to sing it.
I like to think that it’d be my debut song if I ever decided I wanted to be a singer instead of sticking to songwriting. I’ve got absolutely no plans to be a singer, so that song is just for us. Jesse plays it on the guitar sometimes around our campfires when wanderlust strikes and we head out in the motorhome.
We’ve occasionally spent time with a brotherhood charter when Jesse’s help was needed with matters that came up. He had earned a lot of respect and was still close to several brothers. We spent time in Aberdeen for weddings when our friends got married. We went to big rallies. We were in Aberdeen or Sioux Falls every couple of months for parties or just to say hi. We’re godparents to Vic and Tracy’s second child. As I’ve become close with Jojo, he’s very tight with Fork.
Skip got kicked out of the club two months after he went back to Sioux Falls. I haven’t had to set eyes on him since the night in the ring.
We didn’t have a relationship with my dad. A year after Aunt Francie died I did invite him out for dinner. We weren’t even done with our appetizers when he mentioned a business opportunity he wanted us to invest in. He got sour when I declined, ended the night early, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.
Jesse got his mechanic license a few years ago and two years ago he bought a little garage. He has a great team who looks after it when we’re on the road. That’s where he was today.
I was in between projects, though my guitar and journals were never far away. I woke up with one mission today. Buy a pregnancy test and get the answer I already felt I knew in my heart. I was three days late for my period. I told Jesse about it last night, saying I was late and my boobs have been sore. He told me to take a test and let him know the good news when he got home. He told me to be prepared for his mom to want us to move to their hometown otherwise be prepared to have her move in with us to be near her future grandbaby. I love Jesse’s mom. She’s one of my favorite people in the world.
So, he knew it’d be positive, and I already knew he’d be okay with that since when I’d gotten an infection and was on antibiotics last month, he refused to follow the advice of a backup contraceptive.
Seeing the plus sign this morning, I couldn’t stop crying. I knew this was right. That I was ready to be somebody’s mom. That I was sure my baby would come first, not just for me but for the baby’s daddy, too. That this child came out of love and would not ever be someone I could be jealous of or resent. I wouldn’t have to do it alone. Jesse would be an incredible father and co-parent.