Back in the Office.
The guys were sitting around discussing what kinds of punishment to give Soldier for breaking the rules. Traci was the voice of reasoning. Reminding Prez, he had broken the rules for her. Granted they had just formed the club and didn't have all the rules and things voted on yet.
"Ok baby, sorry but you have to leave now. Official club business." Prez explained.
"Fine, but remember what I said." Traci warned before leaving.
"Well, we can't let him off with no punishment." VP replied.
"No, but can we honestly say if we were in his position we'd have done it differently?" Radar asked.
"Yeah, when have you ever known Soldier to break any rules? That has to count for something." Tracker stated.
"The heart wants what it wants." Cash replied.
"This fucking sucks." Prez rubbed his face.
"I know! He's grounded from missions for 6 weeks! He doesn't get pay without missions. And he broke a mission rule. So seems fitting for the crime." Scribe explained.
"Hmm, kind of like a leave of absence without pay." Prez mused.
"And we save face but dishing out punishment, and he gets the girl. Win win situation." VP stated.
"Ok. Are we ready to vote? Any other ideas?" Prez asked.
No one else had any idea, so they voted. "Should we tell him?" Radar asked.
"Nah, let’s let him sweat it out for a little while longer." Prez laughed.
So, the guys discussed other matters and took as long as they could to stall telling him the good or bad news. Finally, Prez sent for them to come back to the office for the news. They walked in hand in hand and stood in front of the table the guys were sitting at.
"We voted and came up with a fitting punishment." Prez announced.
"Ok." Soldier agreed.
"You're grounded for 6 weeks from going on missions. 6 weeks without pay." VP explained.
"I understand." Soldier replied.
"Dismissed." Prez replied.
They left the office and went to his room. After they were inside Jocelyn sat on the bed. She thought it was great news! For the next six weeks she'd have him close by. But Soldier didn't seem pleased.
"Talk to me." Jocelyn urged. "Isn't this good news? You're still in the club, and they didn't beat you up."
"The punishment itself isn't bad. But the meaning of it with the rest of the club is what's the worst part. It's like a disgrace or embarrassment of the club to get grounded." Soldier sighed.
"But surely they know why you did it. You can't help who you love. And we get the next six weeks to spend together. Surely that's not bad?" She questioned.
"No, that's the good part. Although I'll bet, I get a lot of the shit jobs since I'm grounded." He explained.
"If it helps, I love you and am here for you. Whatever you need." She replied.
"Yeah baby, that helps a lot." He agreed.
"I've been meaning to have a talk with you about the club and women. When a brother finds the woman, he wants to spend his life with he asks her to be his old lady. It's not an insult and is a high privilege to be asked. So, I was wondering if you think you'd be ok being mine?" He asked.
"Well, I'm not an old lady, but I guess I can be your old lady. On one condition." She warned.
"What's that?" He asked.
"You only call me that when absolutely necessary!" She ordered.
"Got it baby. Only when necessary." He agreed.
Soldier grabbed her and kissed her breathless. It was hours later before they both merged from his room. they went to the trailer she was living in and packed up her stuff to move to his room. His room was like a small apartment. It had a bathroom, bedroom, large closet, and small sitting area. He even had a small fridge and microwave in one corner.
Jocelyn texted Traci the good news. And Soldier texted the Prez that he had asked Jocelyn and she had agreed. Now it was time to make it official in front of the whole club. Jocelyn was nervous, but she had no doubts about it.
They had a huge party that evening to celebrate Soldier getting an old lady. Jocelyn noticed several of the club women giving her nasty stares. She'd be cool about it after all she got the man. However, if they said or did anything to her, she'd put them in their place.
Her brother was able to finish his senior year and got enrolled into a community college. He was still trying to decide what he wanted to do career wise. He thought he had it figured out, but the last few months had changed his mind. So, enrolling in local college to get his basic classes out of the way seemed like a good idea for now.
Her mom was finally ok with the move. She was happy to have both her kids nearby, and her niece Traci whom she had missed was a nice bonus. The house the club helped her get was even nicer than the one she had before.
Soldier was giving her time to get used to being his old lady and living with him. He already had bought a ring and was just taking it slow and giving Jocelyn time to get adjusted to her new life. He didn't want to overwhelm her with everything that had happened. Especially since the last guy she lived with didn't go well.
He wanted to prove to her that he wasn't nothing like her ex. And to show her how a real man treats the love of his life. Like a priceless treasure, and not a punching bag. Little did he know that Jocelyn was getting impatient waiting on him to ask her to marry him. A few of the club women had hinted that he didn't ask because it wasn't going to last. That he was already getting tired of having only one woman.
She tried ignoring them, reminding herself they were just jealous and wanted to plant seeds of doubt. She was not about to let them tear them apart by doubting the man she loved. Later that evening they had a date planned.
Soldier had a table in the main room set up for the two of them. They were on lock down because Team B was getting ready to leave on a mission. And there would possibly be victims coming back when the job was completed.
The table had a candle, and beautiful place settings with China dishes. The silverware was real silver. There were lacey napkins folded lying on each plate. Soldier held out her chair for her to sit down. Then he sat down. She lifted her napkin and her breath caught. Under it was a beautiful diamond solitaire ring. And written in chocolate were the words "Marry Me?".
She looked over to him to see he wasn't siting in his chair, but kneeling beside her. She was all choked up and afraid her voice wouldn't even work if she wanted it to. He picked up the ring.
"Will you marry me and become my wife?" He asked.
She shook her head yes. He grinned. Then wiped a couple tears away from her cheeks.
"Words baby, I need words." He grinned.
"Yes." She finally managed.
He placed the ring on her finger then jumped up. He pulled her to her feet and hugged her hard. Then kissed her breathless. She heard cheers and clapping around her.
He looked up to the crowd of their family. "She said YES!"
Next up is Lainey and Ace's story.
