Chapter 6

Delaney ~

Maddox and I spent his three days being together. He helped me decide on two new servers, since Ashley was put on bed rest with her pregnancy. The restaurant is finally doing good. All our loans are paid off.. mortgages satisfied on the house and the restaurant. Escrow accounts set up to cover insurance and taxes..

We’re now in a position to hire a manager, if we want. I am considering it.. to give me more time with Maddox. I want to finish my online courses in nursing, as well. It’s something to think about.

Today is our court hearing to see if I can adopt Maddox. As I was walking in, I noticed Venom and his ranks sitting in the back pew of the courtroom. Odd.. But I didn’t waste a lot of time thinking about it.

My attorney presented my case for permanent custody.. The judge asked Maddox his feelings on the situation and he said “Delaney has been my everything for a long time. My sister. My mother. My father. My provider. My protector. My defender. My teacher. My teammate. Your honor, Delaney has always been there.. and I don’t want to be without her. Ever.”

I had tears in my eyes.. hugging him to me, I kissed the top of his head. The judge granted my petition and we agreed to change his last name before we left the courtroom.

We walked out laughing and holding hands. Venom was leaned against his heritage classic 114. I grinned “Nice bike.” He laughed “Yours ain’t so bad, either.” I nodded and told him “Yep.. I’m fond of her!”

I was helping Maddox with his helmet and grabbed his leathers out of the saddles. Venom said “I was hoping to talk you both into coming to the clubhouse. We have arranged a cookout and party in congratulations to your new family.”

Maddox started jumping up and down “Can we go, Laney? Please please please? We never go to parties. This one’s for us. Please, Laney? Say yes? Pretty please?”

I laughed and said “So.. you’re kinda on the fence about attending this party, huh!? Well.. make up your mind. Do ya wanna go? Do you really really wanna?” He grinned and hugged me tight. Laughing again, I turned to Venom “What time should we be there?”

He grinned and said “Now.. Come! Ride alongside me.” I climbed on my bike, and started it.. Venom started his, just as Maddox climbed on behind me. We followed Venom out of the parking lot and to his clubhouse.

It was great .. he had decorated with Congratulatory banners.. balloons everywhere.. a huge sign that said ‘Welcome Maddox Quinn’ and he had an above ground pool.. a trampoline and bouncy house. It was all catered to everything Maddox could have wanted.

He ran over and hugged Venom, repeatedly thanking him. I giggled and said “Yes. Thank you so much. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for either of us. It means a lot.”

He smiles “I told you I want us to be friends. We are actually quite similar.” I laughed “You think so? I wouldn’t have guessed that. But.. sure. We can be friends.”

The afternoon was a wonderful time for us. I met some of the Valkyrie whose children were playing and having fun with Maddox.

They were all in the midst of a water balloon and super soaker fight.. my little brother’s laughter filled the air. I bent into a cooler to get a bottle of water and Splat!

The back of my jean shorts were soaked. I straightened up and slowly turned around. Venom stood about twenty feet away bouncing a second water balloon in his hand… Grinning like a possum eating shit.

Oh. The man wants to play? Okay.. I can play. I walked over to the balloon pit and picked up two balloons.. stuck one down my shirt.. holding the other. I took off running and parkoured off a tree.. flipping over his head.. balloon bombing on my way over to land on my feet behind him.

Water sliding through his hair and running down his face, he busted out laughing “That was fucking badass! Definitely unexpected. Truce, oh mighty ninja fairy.” I laughed and said “Truce!”

I went inside to try and dry off a little.. when I heard a knock on the bathroom door. Cracking it open, a Valkyrie handed me a pair of sweatpants and said “It ain’t much, but it’s dry.” And I hugged her. How thoughtful!

Making my way back to the party I overheard two girls talking about me.. the first one was saying “So what? If she’s caught Prez’s eye, ain’t nothing you can do.” The next voice I recognized.. Tammy said “I can make her go away. She won’t have anything to do with him once I tell her I fucked him.” The first girl said “But you didn’t. Nobody does. I don’t think he’s even had one of us give him a blow job in months.”

I went in search of Maddie and found him on the trampoline. He talked me into jumping with him and before I knew it I had ten kids sitting down.. me jumping high enough to land hard enough to bounce their butts off the mat.

I was exhausted. The kids were all sprawled out on the ground.. watching a movie on a huge screen Venom had arranged. They had had dinner.. and after the movie, Maddox would be given gifts and have cake. I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

Venom sat beside me “He’s a good kid. You’ve done a really good job. Just a kid and you stepped up.” Iris growled.. I said “Sorry. She’s very possessive over Maddie. I didn’t do anything more than he would have done for me.. if roles were reversed. He is a good kid because he is inherently a good kid. All I had to do was keep his belly fed.”

Venom chuckled “And you’re humble. I gotta tell ya.. you’re a hell of a lot different than any other woman I have met! If you didn’t have a mate out there, somewhere.. I would snap you up in a heartbeat.”

I whispered “I don’t.” He sat quietly for several moments then asked “What?” I sighed and shrugged “I don’t. I don’t have a mate. He was the Alpha of Tall Pines.. well.. he is Alpha. He came in the diner a couple years back.. We realized we were mates. He rejected me on the spot for being half human. I accepted.. and here we are.”

He growled “That bastard! He better hope I don’t run into him.” I laughed and told him “Odds are you will.. he and his Luna eat at the restaurant once or twice a month. I think he believes he’s rubbing it in what should have been mine. I believe he’s just pathetic for even bothering.”