The days were flying by and turning into weeks as Gunner grew more acquainted with Lily being attached to his side—as well as Rowan when she wasn't at the daycare. Lily was working regularly again at the diner.

The only thing that was new were the bikers constantly trailing her around if Gunner wasn't with her. They even patrolled more heavily around Rowan's daycare, Gunner made sure of it even taking the route himself when necessary. The entire thing had Liliana on edge but she was grateful for the biker club.

She'd just picked up Rowan and they made their way to the Mayhem clubhouse. It was the first time she'd have Rowan in the club around other bikers on their territory but Gunner had asked her to stop there so he could drive with her home. So, here she was holding Rowan on her hip and looking at the door into the club. Inhaling deeply, she heard Gunner's voice in her head reassuring her that it'd be fine like he had been doing this morning when she expressed her worries.

When Rowan grew antsy in her arms, she finally sucked it up and pushed her way into the club.

And you would've thought she shot somebody the way that it went silent as soon as she did. Squeezing her eyes shut for a single moment, disguising it as a very hard blink Lily forced herself to give everyone she knew from the diner a polite grin.

Rowan's curious gaze trailed over the area and the people as she held onto Lily tight, resting her head on her slender shoulder. Kissing the top of her baby curls, Lily caught sight of her boyfriend exiting the very office she was walking herself to.

He spoke in a low voice to Jude, his eyes hardened with a serious downturn to his lips. But as if sensing her, Gunner's eyes slid up to her. Immediately, the hardened gaze fell away at the sight of her and Rowan. Patting Jude on the shoulder, he finished whatever he was saying with a pointed look before turning his full attention to his two girls.

"Beautiful," he grinned down at her as he met her halfway. Sliding an arm around her waist, he pulled them both into his chest. Flickering his watchful, green gaze over the bikers watching them he pressed a deliberate kiss to her plush, pillowy lips.

He slid his hand down her body, her t-shirt dress doing wonders for her legs at the moment. Cupping her bottom through the thin fabric he tugged her even harder into his body.

"Gunner," she gasped while steadying herself.

Ignoring her admonishing, Gunner went on. "How was the morning shift?" Rowan, who'd smiled at the sight of Gunner, lifted her hands up demandingly.

Shooting Lily a cocky grin as she made grab hands at him, Lily reluctantly passed Rowan over to him even if she was her current security blanket.

"Morning shift was fine, quiet with the bikers everywhere,"she answered almost shyly. Her voice was barely loud enough for him to hear. Everyone was listening, a pin could drop in the background.

Her fingers dug into the top of his jeans, holding him for dear life as she got anxious.

Humming in response, he leaned forward to kiss her temple even if her head was turned away to look at the bar across the room.

Gunner knew she'd always be a nervous little thing but he wished she'd loosen up and let him handle everything.

"Row, how was yer day huh, princess?"

Lily rolled her eyes, Gunner had been kissing ass to the 16 month old like it was nobody's business. And she fears it was working, Rowan was smitten with the blonde biker.

Majority of her mind was happy, she was so so glad the two of them got along. But a sliver of her feared Rowan and her would get attached only for him to let them down.

But she held strong and pushed past her doubts for once in her life.

Instead, she listened to the two of them babble to each other. That is until she tapped Gunner's thigh playfully. "No baby talk, hun. Clear, pronounced words," she spoke the last part with her lips moving obnoxiously to show him. She could barely push down her teasing grin.

"She usin' that thing?"

Lily nodded as she recalled the toy.

Gunner had come home last week with one of Addy's old toys. Borrowed from his niece that didn't use it anymore, the toy was cute and simple. Rowan could slide a card into a little box where it'd read whatever picture was on the card. The little gift had meant more than Gunner would ever know.

It didn't mean the world because Rowan needed the extra help besides what they were doing but simply because Gunner cared enough to think of it.

The thought made Lily's arms tighten around his middle. Rubbing her back with his free hand, Gunner tightened his grip on the kid on his hip before ducking his head.

"We gotta go over some stuff in the office, ya alright if we do that?"

Her perfectly arched brow curved up even more before furrowing. "We as in me and you?" It sounded like business, and she and Gunner never talked business.

With a sharp nod, he adjusted his chin as Rowan tucked her head into his neck. "Yeah us and a few of the other bikers."

Tilting her head, she could only shrug and agree because sheassumed it was important.

Patting her butt appreciatively, he ushered her towards his office.

Turning to face the club men that still openly watched, Gunner held out an arm behind her back as if to ask 'What the fuck?'. He raised his middle finger, making a mental note to have a group discussion about boundaries.

A few of them snorted as Taz suddenly stepped in from outside.

Immediately, he commented what they all were thinking. "Ya trading in the bike for a minivan, yeah Pres?" The older man laughed at his own joke. "Saw a nice red one in the lot down on Main Street- looked right up yer alley!" The Seargent snorted as he trailed behind the trio.

Gunner's smile hadn't faltered or wavered, looking at Rowan who clawed her surprisingly sharp nails into his shirt. "She's a step up from any bike ya throw my way. You wouldn't get it, ya ain't chained Taz, remember?"

Bikers around them 'oohed' and hissed at the jab. The Seargent sneered but still, Gunner only grinned in his face.

Until Lily turned around with narrowed eyes, "Who the hell are you calling chained?"

Immediately, the smile dropped a bit and he turned his attention right back over to her.

"It's a compliment, baby I swear-"

Was all the club heard as he slammed the office door behind him and Taz.

Before she knew it, Liliana was in the stuffy office with four obnoxiously large bikers. Gunner stood with crossed arms above her, she sat on the floor with Rowan as she stomped all around. The baby's toys were strewn around their little area. Lily leaned back against Gunner's leg as Rowan crawled all over her.

Not only Gunner watched them but Taz who followed in after them. And after they made their way in, it wasn't long before Butcher and Jude found themselves in the office.

Even with Rowan running from the wall to Lily back and forth and occupying herself playfully, the room still felt stifling.

She couldn't help but speak up, since none of them were. "We don't have to be here while you all-"

"Yer fine where ya are, honey. You just relax."

Butcher rolled his eyes. "Don't make the girl sit here if she ain't wanna be here with your clingy ass."

Gunner sent him a sharp glare, his hand coming to toy with Lily's curls that were out and wild today. "Just sayin' that cause you're pissed ya had to leave your dungeon. She needs to be here 'cause Daminger is becoming too much of a problem for her and the baby."

Sighing roughly, Butcher's unreadable eyes met Lily's sheepish ones and then slid to the kid now running full speed at Gunner. Both Gunner and Lily reached for her to keep her steady. Growling under his breath, Butcher nodded once.

Everything is more complicated when you throw kids in the mix.

"This weekend the cop bastards are havin' some convention. All employees at the precinct at the same time and I think it's a good time to make a fuckin' statement... we've talked about it and we've planned it. You all know your roles, the club is gonna roll up on 'em and we'll do what we have to do from there if they don't get the memo. We've got four cops we need contact with, the chief, Daminger, and the two lieutenants. They're the dirtiest bastards in town."

Liliana worried her bottom lip, taking the toy from Rowan that she was about to throw in frustration. But deep down inside, she felt similarly to the baby. This entire thing was so far out of her depth, so different from anything she'd experienced before. Sure, she's never had great experiences with cops but this was insane.

Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, she focused her ears on Gunner's voice. He barked orders without any room for the other men to butt in or disagree about when the convention would be happening. She focused on his fingers that brushed over her scalp, curling into one of her coils lovingly. Reaching behind her, Liliana gripped the back of his thigh she supported herself against.

Exhaling deeply, Lily assured herself that Gunner wouldn't let her down. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

Gunner, mouth running a mile a minute, seamlessly reached down to thread their fingers together.

"And then there's you two," Gunner squeezed her hand softly. Her head tilted back to look at him upside down. Obviously craving the same attention, Rowan laid flush against Lily's soft chest, peering up at the blonde biker with the same expectant look as her mother.

His eyes softened almost immediately, having the identical two pairs of eyes on him. Looking up at him with the utmost trust.

Gunners' breath hitched when he couldn't help but get distracted by Liliana's pretty face turned up at him. His face pinked as his blood rushed up his neck, feeling the effects of his boyish crush all over again with just a glance at her soft lips and fluttery lashes hiding those eyes that resembled stars.

With how hard he was staring, you'd think he would notice how her brow ticked up and a grin tugged at her mouth.

"Pres," Jude cleared his throat as the uncomfortable silence grew in the room.

Doing a double take at his VP, he cleared his throat before speaking up. "Ya both are gonna stay far away from all this when it goes down. After the shit show, we've got a contingency plan set in place but if that falls through we'll be laying low. If that happens I'll come get ya myself after it happens."

Lily nodded slowly. "We'll be out of your hair."

"My hair is all yer's to be in baby, but I don't think you're hearin' me. You won't be with me you'll be with Taz."

With parted lips, she nearly went to protest as she looked at Taz uneasily. Wouldn't they need all hands on deck for the... confrontation? He wouldn't want to babysit them-

"I volunteered, missy. Don't wanna hear nothin' about it. Gunner agreed with me."

With sagging shoulders, she found herself nothing but grateful for the older biker. "Thank you," she whispered. Reaching up, Gunner lifted her to her feet.

"Everyone settled? We've got until next week to fine tune the details and get our ducks in a row. Been a while since we've had a job like this."

Butcher grunted, already on his way out. "Been a long time comin'," he knew well all the struggled the police in town have caused them.

"He took the words outta my mouth," Gunned smirked. "We'll meet tomorrow at nine!"

And then, there were three. One of which was on the cusp of throwing a fit when one of the toys rolled underneath the couch and out of her reach.

Lily leaned against his desk, crossing her arms as she licked her lip. Her eyes were trained on the hardwood floor.

Invading her space as he usually did, Gunner held her sides with his ever soft taught. Hugging her close, he rocked the two of them side to side as he could practically hear the gears in her head grinding.

"I've got this taken care of, you know that?" Gunner hummed against her temple. He breathed in her floral scent deeply, he too was feeling the weight of the next week on him. It felt all the more intense with the two more people relying on him. He'd pulled a lot of strings to get this to potentially work all so he could go about his day without having to worry about the cops bothering Lily.

Who would've thought the thing to get him to finally go for the kill would be a woman, it was almost comical. But the reality is that to insure his family, every single member of it, is safe this is what he needs to do.

Gunner can't afford to get them caught in the crossfire. Not Penelope and Addy, not Rowan, not Lily.

"I know, I'm not worried," she was lying a bit. She was worried.

As if hearing her thoughts, he pulled away to look at her sceptically before laughing at the little glare she shot him before he could call her out.

To shut him up, she smushed kisses all over his lips. Groaning wildly, he still chuckled between the kisses as he savored each and every last one of them.

"Don't fuck this up," she whispered as their tastes commingled with one another. "Don't get hurt, please God don't get hurt. We- We've only had so much time together... I don't know what I'd do if-"

Now he was the one cutting her off, this time pressing an albeit gentle but stern kiss to her pout. "Stop. Ain't goin' nowhere. Worry about you and the baby, that's all I need you to do for me, mama." Gunner rasped against her mouth as he dragged his tongue over her bottom lip. His deep voice rattled her insides around at his momentary intensity.

"I'm always going to worry about you," Lily admitted as she brushed his hair back. Practically cooing, Gunner buried his face into Lily's shoulder while squeezing her tight into his warmth.

Rowan meandered her way over finally, bumping into their entangled legs. Her chubby hands holding up the stuffed toy that she reached under the couch all by herself. After shoving her chubby arms under there determinedly.

"Mama," Rowan demanded attention right this moment.

Both Gunner and her, that'd been wrapped up in each other and watching Lily froze.

Eyes nearly popping out of her skull, Liliana squealed. Hopping in Gunner's arms, he whipped his head over to the toddler. "Holy shit."

"Baby!" Lily screeched as Gunner let her go only for a second to heave her up. Rowan was matching her mothers energy, screaming right along with her in loud laughs and squeaks blind joy.

As soon as she was safe in Lily's arms, Gunner was caging the two of them against the desk and cradling them into him. A wide, toothy grin on his face as he pushed Rowan's little curls out of her eyes.

Rowan held Lily's face, their smiles matching one another as they just shrilled together in triumph. "You did it! I told you, you could! That's two words in the same month, Rowan! I'm so proud," her voice wavered with so many emotions.

"Mama!" Rowan repeated, louder to see if the adults around her would get more excited.

"That's me!" Liliana said, a watery laugh bubbling from the frog in her throat. The baby whipped her head to Gunner, waiting for his approval.

"Perfect pronunciation, princess," he clapped softly to show her how good of a job she did. Clapping her own hands, Rowan did so enthusiastically. "Proud of ya," he reassured her quietly, even if she didn't fully understand at the moment.

His chest swelled after he was privy to witnessing the moment. His throat clogged with the weight of what Lily was opening up to him, the space she was making for him in both of their lives. Blinking away the sheen over his eyes, he cupped the back of Rowan's head and gave her a tender kiss to the top of her crown. Quickly, he bent down to press a hard kiss to Lily's, lingering for a second longer than he normally did.

Still on a high, Lily had to tilt her head up to him when he knocked against her chin. "That was a good omen if I've ever fuckin' seen one. We'll be just fine."