26

Reece

The second the scream pushed past my lips, Asher was on his feet and hovering protectively over me, growling and snarling. This caused Emma to wake up and start screaming her head off. I got up on shaky feet and stumbled to her crib, picking her up and trying not to stare at the blood.

"Reece!" Asher pulled us against him as I tried to calm our daughter and myself. "What's going on?! What happened?!"

"Th-" I took a shaky breath. "There's blood on our daughter!" Not soon after that, nearly the entire pack was at our door, fighting to get in and try to help. "Asher, she's bleeding and-" I turned and found blood on his cheek. "What the hell happened to you?!"

His face paled as he slowly looked down to his hands. I followed his gaze and found that his knuckles were covered in blood. "Asher, what happened?!"

"I-I-I-I, uh..." He met my eyes, then glanced over my shoulder. Only Nyl, Lana, Shelbie, and Jayden remained. "Y-you see... there was a fight and-"

"A fight?!" I shrieked and quickly went to sooth Emma. "Tell me exactly what happened right now!"

He swallowed hard. "W-well... we... went to a bar and-"

"A bar?!" I let out an angry breath and turned towards the group behind us. I paced over to Shelbie and gave her Emma. "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Asher." She took Emma, her eyes wide. She and Jayden left our room, leaving only Lana and Nyl.

"A bar?!" I rounded on Asher, glad my hands were free now. "You went to a bar?! With who?! You know you're underage! Damn it, Asher! How could you?!"

"It wasn't my idea!" He stated quickly. "Nyl, Rorie, Joel, your dad, and my dad all went to the bar! I didn't even finish my one drink! I swear I didn't get drunk!"

"You took him to a bar?!" I turned to see a fuming Lana and a cowering Nyl. "You know he's underage! How the hell did you even get him in?!"

"Kalvin!" Nyl whimpered.

"And that means what to me?" Lana demanded.

"I told him who was coming!" I watched him flinch under her death glare. "He didn't care! He kept us in a secluded part of the bar so no one could bother us! I swear!"

I faced Asher again as he gulped. "Nothing better have happened."

"Nothing!" He held his hands up. "I stayed away from all the women there and even got one off of me. The manager came to help and he kicked her out of the bar! I swear I did nothing!"

I searched his eyes, looking for any sign to show that he was lying. When I found nothing but sincerity, I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I believe you. But this doesn't mean I'm not mad about you allowing them to take you to a bar. My dad is going to get an earful from not only me, but mom too." I shook my head and peered over my shoulder to see that Lana and Nyl were gone.

"What now?" Asher asked, breaking the silence between us.

I sighed and went for the bed. I picked up his pillow and grabbed a spare blanket. I held them out to him, his shoulders sagging. "Right... I get it..." He picked a spot on the floor and covered up. "Night, Reece..." I remained silent as I went to retrieve Emma.

When I came back, Asher was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Go wash up." He craned his head to look at me. "You still have blood on your face and hands." He brought his hands up to look at them, then slowly got up and left the room.

By the time he got back, I had Emma back in her crib. I stood over her and lightly trailed a finger down her cheek, which is now free of the blood Asher had smeared on her. Her night gown had even been changed.

I heard Asher climb into his make-shift bed. I sighed to myself and crawled into bed, sleep slowly claiming me after tonight's events.

I was up almost all night with nightmares.

~~~~

There were few words spoken between my dad and I, mainly because he was hung-over when he came over to Emma's party. I know I made his headache worse when I screamed at him, in private, about letting Asher in to a bar. Once I left the room, mom picked up where I left off.

Asher and I are on limited speaking terms, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Though, if he had stood his ground and demanded to be taken to a different place, this wouldn't have happened. There are other places to go to besides a bar for a bachelor party. Asher isn't even legal to drink! Neither is Rorie! Joel, I'm not sure about. He's maybe twenty, possibly twenty-one? But that's beside the point.

Point is, Asher shouldn't have let them take him to the bar.

With a sigh, I looked around the room the three of us shared, spotting the new things Emma had received. Mom had gotten her a few pieces of jewelry, dad got her a dress to wear for the wedding, and everyone else we invited got her either clothes, books, or toys (as if she doesn't have enough toys...). All her things were now put away.

Asher had taken her somewhere for a few hours, just the two of them. He said he had something for her and that he would tell me what it is when he gets back. The two of them have been gone about an hour or so, and I'm starting to get a bit worried. I know I shouldn't, but my daughter is out who knows where and I want to make sure she's safe.

"Reece, there's no need to be worried." I looked to the door to see Emma asleep on Asher's shoulder. "I just went out to open a savings account for Emma and look at a few things."

I tipped my head a bit. "A savings account?"

He nodded and sat beside me. "Yes. Five hundred dollars each month will be put into her account via the pack funds until she's sixteen. Then, when she starts working, she can start earning her own money and putting it in her account."

I thought this over. "You know, this is a great idea. Wait a minute... We're going to allow her to have almost one-hundred thousand dollars in her account?!"

"Will it really be that much?" He asked as his eyes scrunched together a bit.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "She's making five a month, right? Multiply that by twelve to represent how much she gets a month. That's six-thousand. And that by sixteen is..." I pulled my phone out to do the math. "Ninety-six thousand!"

"She's a year old now." He pointed out. "So, wouldn't it be only fifteen years?"

I narrowed my eyes. "The point is, does she really need all that in her account?!"

All he did was shrug. "It wouldn't hurt. Besides, she doesn't have to know about the account until she starts working. We'll renew the card if necessary to keep her account going, but she doesn't have to know about it."

I took a deep breath and slowly shook my head. "Okay, fine. We don't have to tell her. So, what was the other thing you were talking about?"

He grinned. "You'll have to find out after the wedding. I actually have two surprises for you after the wedding."

"Two?" I blinked slowly. "What kind of surprises?"

He chuckled. "If I told you, they wouldn't be a surprise, now would they?"

"No, but I wanna know." I crossed my arms. "I'm not a big fan of surprises."

This only made him laugh more as he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "I promise you'll love them. Emma went nuts when she saw them."

"Emma gets to see them, but I don't?" I narrowed my eyes, but was grinning. "That's hardly fair."

"She only liked the pretty pictures, Reece." He assured. "She doesn't know exactly what we're doing."

I groaned playfully. "Fine, be that way." I stuck my lip out in a pout.

Asher let out a soft moan. "Reece, don't do that. There is a child present and I don't think we want her waking up."

I stuck my lip out farther. "It wouldn't be my fault if something happened. You'd be the one who acted upon your impulses."

"But you started it!" He stated defensively. "It's your fault for making me think and act the way I do around you. You're just so beautiful and perfect and I just can't stand being away from you and everything I've become attracted to about you."

I felt my cheeks heating up a bit. "Still..."

He simply rolled his eyes and gently placed Emma in her crib. "I promise we'll have plenty of time to ourselves after the wedding. Can you believe that it's in a month?"

I shook my head. "It seems so surreal. I can't believe that it's actually happening. Oh! On the subject of the wedding, I have something to ask you."

"Yes?" He sat back down next to me and gently laid us back so we were laying down and facing each other.

"Can we write our own vows?" I asked softly. "I don't want to recite the traditional vows. I want what I say to come from my heart and be my own words."

He smiled softly. "I think it's a great idea. I was actually thinking the same thing; I just wasn't sure how to go about asking you."

"Awesome!" I grinned. "I can't wait. I'm so excited! Here I thought I would be panicking and freaking out, but I'm taking this quite well. You swear that our venue space will be completely decorated as I want it by the time the wedding rolls around?"

"I swear that everything will be perfect." He assured me as he took up my hand and placed it between us. "Everything will be just the way you want it and should go smoothly."

"Good." I snuggled close to him and lightly shut my eyes. "I'm glad I decided to give you a chance."

His arms went around me and pulled me closer to him. "As am I, Reece. I'm glad I listened to everyone and decided to stop trying to fight the Connection. We may have hated each other at first, but no one can deny the deep feelings they have for someone."

"I didn't hate you." I opened my eyes a bit and found myself staring at his chest. "I just found you super annoying and I didn't like how you presented yourself. I only tried to avoid you because I didn't want to get caught up in that mess again."

"But this is nothing like you had expected, is it?" Asher lightly stroked my hair and shoulders.

I shook my head. "No, nothing like I had expected. Aside from everything that's happened so far, I'd say it's better than what I expected."

"Is it?" He gently pulled me closer to him.

"Yes," I allowed myself to move even closer to him, our bodies molding perfectly against each other. "It's been an interesting experience and I wouldn't want to change anything if given the chance. This whole experience has been a real eye opener as to what the world is like. It's helped me find true love and what that's supposed to feel like. So, thank you, Asher, for opening my eyes and being here for me."

He kissed the top of my head. "Anything for you, Reece."

Emma began to fuss a bit in her sleep. With a soft sigh, I pulled away from Asher to take care of her.

As I settled her back down, my mind wandered to the wedding. Will I be ready for the day, or will I break down and lose it and have to postpone the wedding?

I seriously hope it doesn't come to that...