Lily sighed tiredly, rubbing her face as she leaned against the bench she sat on. Rowan climbed all over her lap, clawing into her thighs to heave herself up and nuzzle into her soft tummy. The two of them were both in sun dresses. A little sunhat suffocated Rowan's curls.

Liliana normally would be giddy. She and Rowan loved the park. But after last night, coming home upset, she thought Rowan felt her mood shift. The poor girl spent all night waking up and screaming her head off. Liliana tried all their usual tricks, white noise, a warm bath, even a small snack which Lily tried to avoid because the girl's night farts were something sinister.

Of course, Rowan had a full battery after no sleep. Liliana couldn't say the same for herself. She managed to cover her dark circles, but she couldn't hide the exhaustion in her eyes.

Her heavy-lidded eyes still stayed focused on her daughter. The little bugger flopped onto her back and, with the help of Lily lifting her feet in time, tumbled gracefully down into the grass.

Rowan cackled at the bumps along the road into the ground, fisting the grass as she struggled to stand up again. "Very graceful, Rowan Mae," Lily hummed as she wiped some of the dirt off the girl's face.

Hums and babbles fell from the girl's mouth. "Momom got you those shoes... so- Well..." She cocked her eyebrow. "You can actually get those a little messy."

"Yeah?" Lily grinned at Rowan widely while smooshing their noses together before widening her eyes. She wiggled her brows wildly before Rowan was thrown into a fit of belly laughs.

Rowan smacked her hands against Lily's cheeks, a small grunt falling from her mother's mouth, before squealing in her face.

Nodding as if she understood the language, Lily hiked her up on top of her. Fixing her curls under the hat, she stuck her tongue out.

"Very pretty song." Once Rowan's hair was fixed, Lily set her back down. "Don't eat the dirt," she immediately corrected.

Standing up to keep up with her, Lily basically talked to herself.

"Now, we need to have a team meeting because I have a lot of questions going forward. First thing on the list is how we feel about men? In general, and specifically me dating them?"

Rowan tumbled to the ground over a rock, grunting with a whine. "Yeah, that's how I feel about them too." She didn't miss a beat, picking her up and righting her clothes while checking for scratches. Rowan pointed to the tree ahead of them, grunting determinedly before taking off into a sprint towards the trunk of it.

Liliana screeched and took off running as well to keep up, laughing loudly as she made it seem like she couldn't keep up. Rowan kept looking behind her and screeching in glee. And just like Lily anticipated she tripped on one of the first roots, instinctually she looped her arm under her baby's belly and hiked her up.

Huffing from exertion, she saw pink flush Rowan's caramel brown skin from her combination of running and laughing.

"Liliana?"

A voice sounding behind her made her nearly jump out of her skin. Her arms squeezed around Rowan as she turned towards the recognizable voice.

Penelope was wide eyed as she and Addy approached the waitress. "You look gorgeous girly," the blonde said with a grin as her gaze fell to Rowan, who clung to her mother.

Meanwhile, Lily was floundering. Her entire face felt warm because she knew exactly what was happening right now. Gunner's sister knew she had a baby and soon enough so would Gunner.

Exhaling roughly, Liliana pushed a smile onto her face. "Hi Penny. Hi Addy," she spoke softly at the little girl who grinned back at her.

"I didn't realize... How old is she?" Penny admired the beautiful little girl who sucked on her fingers.

Clearing her throat, Lily looked over Rowan and her stress practically melted away. "I haven't really mentioned her to anyone in town yet. We've always just had each other since I found out I was having her. I-I mean it's just been a little tough, y'know?"

Penelope's eyes widened at the admission, nodding with understanding.

"Although, I have a friend Esme who helps out. My parents are a few states over after we moved over here. But they're not always much help," Lily snorted. Finally, Rowan squirmed enough to be let down. As soon as her feet were on the ground, Addy squealed. Rowan's eyes lit up and soon enough the two were running around in circles with one another.

"Hey, so quick question." Penelope cleared her throat. "Does my brother know about her? Not that it's quite my business I just figured..."

Liliana fidgeted, unable to meet Penelope's eyes, instead opting to watch the girls.

"I haven't- I haven't told him," she whispered, almost embarrassed. Her mind began to spiral, what if she thought she was indirectly lying to Gunner? What if she told Gunner herself? And why was it so scary to her that the revelation might turn him away from her?

Her mouth moved faster than she could stop it. "I um, I've had problems... with her father. He hasn't been involved since I found out, and he was an asshole. I've been cautious. Maybe a bit too much." She rubbed her forehead.

Penelope felt herself flood with understanding. "I've been there," she nodded. Liliana finally glanced up, her brows furrowed as she remembered the biker she was with now. His name was Hollywood, the man she was expecting a baby with now.

Snorting when she saw the face, Penelope shrugged. "Hollywood, the pretty boy I'm with now isn't Addy's biological father. But that's her daddy for sure. The little shit favors him more nowadays too. We're actually talking about official adoption." Penny's stomach fluttered with excitement talking about her biker. "Anyway, I'm telling you this because I get it. I was you, except it seems like I had a lot more help while I was pregnant. I don't know you or your story, but I do know my brother."

The blonde woman's eyes met hers and if there was one thing about the two siblings—Penelope and Gunner both had a certain intensity about them.

"He's a good guy. I can't tell you what his intentions are in terms of an actual relationship because he's a little slut, but he has been different with you, so what do I know. I do know he doesn't like not knowin' things though, girly. But you have to do what's best for you and yours."

Lily nodded in understanding. Her lips parted, but she paused. She thought over what Penelope was telling her before her phone rang.

"Speak of the devil," Liliana murmured to herself as she saw exactly who was calling. "Baby, stay close to mama. Be nice to Addy." She held up the phone to Penny who nodded encouragingly for the woman to answer the call.

Stepping aside, Lily took a deep breath before answering.

"Hey," she exhaled out her nerves.

"Thought you were gonna let me go to voicemail, sweetheart."

"If I didn't want to talk to you, I would let you know," Lily couldn't help the small quirk to her lips at the sound of his rough voice.

"Glad to hear," he rasped. Gunner rubbed the back of his neck nervously, it'd been two days since the day they'd kissed. He was trying to give her space to breathe without him crowding over her. "I miss ya," but the biker just couldn't stand the silence anymore.

A breathy laugh fell from her lips, raking her curls back out of her face. "We have our date coming up in a few days."

"If you'll have me," Gunner grunted. While Lily paced around the park watching her daughter, he himself paced around his desk.

She frowned, "Gunner I'm not mad at you. I... well I wouldn't have kissed you if you didn't catch my attention at least a little bit." Her voice had dropped to sheepish murmur as Penelope was still in the area. "I just haven't dated in a while and the whole thing didn't exactly help your case, y'know."

Gunner nodded as he crossed his tattooed arms, "I know, it was stupid of me. Not really how I wanted our first kiss to go."

A low snort flew out of her. "You were planning?"

"Anticipating would be the right word, actually. Shitting myself over it, might be a better way to describe it."

Grinning, she watched Rowan dance around in circles. "You'll have to make up for that one."

"Oh, so now I'm hearing that it was a shit kiss, huh?" The amusement in his voice was audible.

"It was the execution more than the performance."

"Noted... I got us the tickets for the fair this weekend. I know I make ya nervous, but I'm gonna prove ya wrong alright?"

Liliana nodded.

"Okay, Gunner. I believe you," she whispered. She gave him a soft goodbye as Rowan began sprinting towards her, well it was more of a jog considering how tired the little girl seemed to be. The two would definitely be on their way home. It looked to be the same for Penny too, who rounded up Addy with an understanding smile.

***

When the call was dropped, Gunner glanced down at his phone. Looking up, he saw Jude waiting impatiently with him.

"When did you get in here?"

"When you were busy twirling your hair and kicking your feet on the phone."

"When did you grow a sense of humor? Better yet when did you grow a pair of balls? Last I heard you were getting dog walked by everybody."

Jude scowled, waving off the president. "Fuck you. I only came in here to let ya know I talked to that asshole lawyer."

"That asshole lawyer is your sister's friend as far as I knew it. And he's coming in handy, he can be a dick all he wants to ya. Matter of fact, I'll send you over to him when I give him the good news that my plan worked."

"What exactly was that plan?"

"Fuck with the cop bastards of course." Gunner shrugged. "Few people owed me some favors and now we just wait to see my hard work pay off."