Avenging Angel's MC - Book 11

Tori was so happy to finally be home, back in her own bed, with her husband. She had tried to put the babies in the nursery but had been too afraid to sleep so Apollo had finally given in and moved their bassinet back close to their bed. He hadn’t wanted to admit it but he had been worried about them hearing the baby’s too, especially Darla since her cry was not nearly as loud as her brothers.

After being woken up about an hour after they had gone to sleep, the first time by Daniel, wanting a clean diaper and to be fed, their fears were discarded that they would hear him at least. His cries had woken up his sister, who wasn’t quite as verbal as him but made her needs known too.

But what really convinced Apollo to let the bassinet stay in their room for a while was seeing how much it pained Tori to move around if she had to stand up. She seemed to be okay once she got to a sitting position but getting from laying down to sitting up or going from sitting to standing was painful and she was experiencing dizzy spells sometimes, which worried Apollo and he made a mental note to talk to Doc about it. He hated seeing her in pain!

Thankfully, Tori’s milk was now coming in. Actually it was so much now that neither of the babies could keep up, especially Darla. Tori had been able to pump enough for Apollo to be able to feed one baby while she fed the other and they would eventually set up a system of taking turns. Tori had pumped just before she went to bed as well as several times today so she quickly changed Daniel’s diaper, without getting sprayed, while Apollo put his bottle in the warmer.

By then Darla was up and demanding attention so he quickly changed her diaper. Thankfully she was just wet that time so it didn’t take him long. Apollo heard the warmer ding, alerting him that Daniel’s bottle was ready so he laid his daughter next to Tori and went to get his son’s bottle. As soon as he tested that it was warm but not hot, he took Daniel from Tori and headed for the rocker while Tori picked up Darla and began to nurse her.

This had happened about 10 pm, only an hour after Apollo and Tori had tried for an early night since they were both worn out from the excitement of her homecoming. When Chopper had heard that they were coming home, he and his staff had made one of Tori’s favorites, lasagna, and for Apollo, blueberry cheesecake.

Thankfully both babies went right back to sleep as soon as they had been fed. Apollo quickly made sure their bedding was dry before helping Tori to put them back in the bassinet. Tori told Apollo, “The nurses at the hospital said they have already established a pretty regular sleep pattern of getting up every 4 hours so we had better get back to sleep and sleep as much as we can because in 4 hours, they are going to be awake again and want more attention.”

“I wish we could bring them on the bed with us so that we could cuddle with them but that’s dangerous. They are so tiny, I’m afraid of rolling over on them and squishing them, not to mention they would keep me from being able to hold you and as far as I’m concerned, you are the only one I want in my bed!” Apollo smiled at her as he crawled back in next to her, gently holding her as he got as close to her as he could and snuggled her neck.

He wished, not for the first time, that she was healed up so that they could be together intimately but made himself be content with just being able to hold her for now, even though, for the time being, he had to be careful because of her incision. He had missed her so much while she had been in the hospital. Those four days had seemed like four months to him.

It didn’t take long for them to fall back asleep but sure enough, like clockwork, the twins were up at 2 am. First Daniel and then Darla but this time, both babies had soiled their diapers and made a mess in their onesies and wet their bedding so it meant changing everything and giving them sponge baths, which Tori had done most of it because Apollo had no clue really on how to do it and had a hard time to keep from gagging all the way through it.

By the time they were done cleaning everything up, Apollo was fully awake but instead of going to the kitchen or his office, he and Tori lay in bed quietly talking.

“Baby, I’m worried about you getting too worn out by trying to take care of the twins. You need to be able to sleep more and get the rest you need, at least until you are healed up and back to normal. Do you think we could either hire a nanny or get one of the other ladies to stay with them on a rotating basis?” Apollo asked softly. He sensed that Tori was fighting to stay awake to talk with him.

“I know that may sound like a good idea but I want to be able to nurse them as much as possible. Mother’s milk is better for them than store bought formula. Although I will admit that because his pull is stronger when he nurses, that it makes my stomach hurt more when Daniel nurses.

The nurses said my nipples are going to get raw and it will become painful for them to nurse but they said that doesn’t last long, if I can get used to it. I hope I can but if I can’t then I’ll just pump my milk and feed them with a bottle. I will say that being able to nurse them is a special feeling though.” Tori said, sleepily.

“I can only imagine. I do know that I feel so much closer to them when I am feeding them than I do just holding them.” Apollo replied, understanding where she was coming from. He had held lots of babies in the past but there was something special about holding one of his own, giving them their bottles. It made bonding with them so much stronger when he could help his wife with their children.

Apollo had expected to have trouble falling asleep again but it wasn’t long after Tori’s breathing evened out, telling him she had fallen back asleep, that he had felt sleep calling him and because holding her made him feel so peaceful that he didn’t even try to fight it when sleep overtook him.

But because he had always been an early riser he was awake again, just minutes before Daniel began to stir again. This time, he managed to get to him before he woke up his sister. He gathered up his son, put one of his bottles in the warmer then took him into the nursery to change his diaper. Thankfully this time, he had just wet his diaper and his onesie and bedding were still dry. Having learned his lesson that day at the hospital, he protected himself when Daniel tried to spray him again by having a towel ready to cover him.

“You little stinker! I almost had a dry diaper on you! But empty yourself now so that you can sleep in a dry one.” Apollo said as he quickly put a dry diaper on his son and moved him over to the other side of the changing table so that he could take care of the pads they had invested in to handle messes like this, that his son had soaked.

As soon as that was taken care of, he realized that it would be a good idea to invest in washers for the nurseries, instead of having the prospects haul all of the soiled linens down to the laundry room and back. They already had enough to do without the added responsibilities of trying to keep up with the baby’s laundry and it would be a while before Tori could do it. He would mention it to Paul and see what could be done to take care of it asap.

As soon as Daniel was finished eating and had been burped, Darla began to wake up. It was as if she had missed her brother being next to her. Apollo put Daniel back in next to her then picked her up and repeated what he had done for his son, except she didn’t try to wet him half way through her diaper change.

“Good morning, little lady. Are you hungry too?” Apollo whispered to his daughter as he retrieved her bottle from the warmer. Tori might be upset with him for not waking her so that she could nurse them but she had to understand that he needed this bonding time too and he was determined to make her load as light as possible whenever he could. Plus sleep and rest were what Tori needed the most and he wanted to give her everything he could. He knew he was getting behind on his regular workload but he wouldn’t trade this time with his children for anything in the world.

He was sitting in the rocker, burping Darla by rubbing her back, when Tori began to stir and wake up. She knew immediately that Apollo was not in the bed with her as she slowly opened her eyes and spotted him in the rocker with Darla.

“Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?” Apollo asked quietly as he stood up and returned Darla to her bassinet then bent over and kissed Tori on the forehead.

“Yes. I always sleep better when I know you are close, if not in bed with me. Did I miss their feeding?” Tori asked.

“I woke up just before Daniel and got him taken care of just before Darla woke up. They have both been changed and fed so if you want to go back to sleep, you can.” Apollo said.

“Actually, I’d like to go pee and I’m hungry!” Tori grinned at him. She too had usually been an early riser, just usually not as early as him.

Apollo helped her to the water closet and before she closed the door, he asked “Do you want to shower with me?”

Tori grinned at him, “Yes, please. I need help washing my hair. ”

Apollo couldn’t help it but his “little man” jumped to attention. He knew they wouldn’t be able to be intimate for a while yet but that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy each other and while it wouldn’t really be the same, it would still be enjoyable.

Besides, he loved to help her wash her hair, letting the silky strands slide through his fingers. Apollo hurried to turn on the water and adjusted the temperature as he waited for the door to the water closet to open, which it did a minute later. To him, the fact that her stomach was heavily bandaged didn’t detract from her looks at all but it did make him realize that they would have to be careful not to get it wet.

He helped Tori into the shower where they lovingly, but carefully, bathed each other. Tori got tired fast and had to sit down but that also gave her the opportunity to please her husband and his “little man”, which was not the right name for it since he definitely wasn’t little.

Tori loved him with her hands and her mouth and since it had been so long since they had been able to be together, it didn’t take him long to find his release and he had to join her on the built in shower bench because she had turned his knees to jello.

“Wow! Thank you! I have missed you more than I can ever say and I promise to return the favor when you are all healed up.” Apollo said as he pulled her onto his lap and held her close. He reached out and turned off the water that was starting to go cold and as soon as he was sure his legs would hold him, he picked her up and carried her out of the shower.

He set her on her feet in front of the vanity, grabbed a towel off of the heated rack and wrapped it around her, helping her to dry off before grabbing one for himself. Thankfully, her bandage didn’t get too wet but he would let Autumn know that she needed a clean, dry bandage when he went down to get their breakfast, not knowing that Tori wanted to go to the dining room.

Autumn had left some bandages in their bathroom and with his help, they quickly covered her incision. “It’s actually looking pretty good.” Apollo said as he checked her incision. He may not know anything about a c-section but he did know about stomach wounds and this in reality was no different.

They brushed their teeth together and Apollo shaved his beard while Tori dried her hair into some kind of style. She realized that she needed to visit the hair salon soon. It had been a while and her hair had lost all of its shape. “What would you say if I cut my hair short? It would be so much easier for me to take care of, especially now that I have the twins.” Tori asked.

“Well, it’s up to you but I have to say that I do like it when it’s long. You have beautiful hair. But I understand if you want to cut it. Long hair is a lot to take care of.” Apollo said as he tried to imagine her without her long hair. He loved running his fingers through the long silky strands, especially when he helped her put creme rinse in her hair but understood that it would be a lot to take care of while she has two small babies to care for. “I will say that long hair helps to keep you warm, especially this time of year.” He added, hoping she would change her mind about cutting it but also had to realize that hair grows back so it wasn’t a permanent option.

“Hmmm. True. Maybe one of the ladies would help me braid it so that it stays out of my face and off of my shoulders. It’s kind of painful to lift my arms too high still. Your son spit up on me one day at the hospital and got it in my hair. It smelled awful but Anne was nice enough to help me wash it. She is such a sweet person.”

“Yeah. Her husband, Ben, is a nice guy too. They make a great couple. So are you ready for breakfast? I’m hungry!” Apollo smiled at her. She was sitting on the vanity stool, wrapped in a towel and she looked like a goddess with her deep auburn hair flowing down over her bare shoulder. His “little man” started to stand up as he committed the sight of her to his memory. He wanted to be with her so badly!

Tori saw the look on his face and the reaction his body was having to looking at her and she got a sly smile on her face which caused his “little man” to jump to full attention as her lady parts got warm. She wished she could lay down with him but she needed to heal first.

“As much as I wish I could take advantage of that, I’m very sorry but I just can’t. In fact, did you send one of the boys to get my pain pills? I took the last one the hospital sent me home with before bed last night and I’m going to need one soon.” Tori said with a sad smile.

Apollo’s “little man” immediately settled down when she said she was hurting. “Yeah, I had them go get it after we got home yesterday. The bag is on the dresser. Hang on! I’ll be right back.”

He hurried back into their bedroom, grabbed the bag with the bottles of medication that Dr. Stiles had prescribed and carried it back into her. They had installed a small fridge to keep the baby’s bottles and a few bottles of water in because she just couldn’t drink tap water but needed water to take her medication.

Apollo was reading the label and they both say, “Take with Food.” he told her.

“I’ll be eating soon so it should be okay. But first I need to pump. I’m starting to leak because I didn’t feed them this morning.” Tori said, not trying to make him feel guilty but simply stating the truth.

Apollo patiently waited while she took care of getting her breast empty enough to give her some relief and to stop them from leaking. It didn’t take long so Apollo got dressed while he waited for her to finish.

“Is the baby monitor hooked up?” Tori asked as she finished and unhooked herself from the hated machine that made her feel like a cow. She wiped her breast clean and because her stomach was cramping a bit, she took the bottle of medication and shook the required amount into her hand. She popped the pill into her mouth and took a sip of water to wash them down then slowly stood up. “Ooooh. That smarts.”

“Tell me what you want to wear and I’ll get it for you. I know you are anxious to get back to your normal routine but I don’t want you over exerting yourself.” Apollo said, his tone told her he wouldn’t take any guff from her and she decided that it was nice having someone to spoil her for a little bit. She knew that it wouldn’t last long, so she was going to take advantage of it now.

“One of the caftans please. I wish I could put on pants but it’s too much pressure on my stomach.” Tori said.

Apollo chose a “tie dye” printed caftan in mostly blues and purples with touches of a deep ruby red in it. The website she and Gloria had found had stuff she could wear, both while and after she was pregnant, so she had bought 4 or 5 of these long flowing dresses and this one and an emerald green one she had bought had been his favorites.

“Is this one okay?” Apollo asked, holding it out for her to see.

“Great!” Tori smiled at him.

They got dressed and Tori checked that the babies were settled and covered before she got on her scooter. “Are you sure you are ready to be back out? I don’t want you to over do too fast.” Apollo asked.

“I’ve been trapped in this or a hospital room for months now with very little time outside so yes, I’m more than ready and I promise not to over do. I’ll say something if I start to feel tired.” Tori promised. It touched her heart that he was so concerned about her.

Apollo didn’t say anything more, knowing that it might lead to an argument, so he just grabbed the baby monitor and made sure it was working. Tori tried not to show how anxious she was about leaving her babies alone but knew she couldn’t let herself become afraid to get out into the house without them. They wouldn’t do anything but sleep for the next few weeks at least and she couldn’t stay cooped up in there without going crazy.

They rode the scooters and quickly went down the hall to the dining room and as they entered, everyone cheered, “Welcome home, Queen Tori”. Club members came around to hug her and kiss her on the cheek while they took turns shaking Apollo’s hand and bro hugging him.

“How was your first night home? Did the twins keep you up?” Autumn asked.

“I actually got more sleep than I’ve had in a month. The twins have already established a regular sleep schedule of every four hours.” Tori said.

“If you can get to Daniel before he wakes up Darla, he can be changed and fed before she wakes up.” Apollo added. He had really enjoyed his time with the twins this morning.

“Autumn, after breakfast, can I bother you to come change my bandage? I got it a little wet in the shower this morning. Not bad but it was damper than I would like. We put a temporary one on but it needs to be checked.” Tori asked quietly as the men stood talking.

“Sure. I’ve ordered some special bandages that will be okay for you to bathe in that will keep the wound dry. You can’t soak in the tub but you should be able to shower without having to worry about it too much.” Autumn told her.

When Lenny came in with Samantha, the room got very quiet and poor Lenny was so nervous that he almost chickened out but he knew for him to do so would make Samantha think that he was ashamed of her when in truth, he was so proud he was about to bust. He glanced over at Apollo who just smiled at him and nodded his head so Lenny took a big breath and called out “Listen up everyone. This is my lady Samantha! Hands off but please make her feel welcome.”

“Welcome Samantha!” Went around the room and Sam just smiled shyly then followed Lenny over to the buffet table, holding tightly to his hand, making him feel 10 feet tall.

Chopper had made the breakfast casserole and because it was New Year’s Eve the main topic of conversation was the fireworks display that was planned for tonight.

Tori wished she could stay and get in on the planning but even though she had taken the pain medication, sitting on the upright rigid back chairs was making her uncomfortable and Riggs noticed. He discreetly motioned to Apollo, who had been talking with Sarge and Atlas, catching up on what had been going on within the house while he had been at the hospital.

When Apollo turned and looked at Tori, she tried to give him a weak smile but he knew instantly that she was hurting by the look in her eyes. He jumped up and hurried over to her, lifting her out of her chair. “Come on, my love, time to go back to bed. I can tell you are hurting.” Apollo whispered in her ear. “Can you manage your scooter?”

Tori had to admit that she was very uncomfortable so she didn’t argue with him and told him “I think so. Thankfully it’s smooth riding and it definitely makes getting there go a lot faster.” Tori replied.

Doc noticed that Apollo was carrying Tori and walked over to make sure everything was okay. “Tori, hon, are you alright?”

“Just tried to do too much too soon, Doc. I guess I should have had breakfast in our room. I just wanted to get out and see everyone. We have several new people that I haven’t even met yet and now it’s going to have to wait because I’m being impatient and hard headed about getting the rest that I obviously need and now I’m paying for it. My stomach is not strong enough for me to be sitting in these upright chairs for so long yet.” Tori admitted.

“I wondered about that when I first came in and saw you but come on, we can talk more when you are more comfortable. I’ll walk back with you.” Doc said.

He didn’t say anything to either one of them but he really wanted to see how Apollo would handle the long walk back to their room. The last time Doc had checked, Apollo’s blood pressure had still been on the slightly high side.

Doc had had a long talk with both Sarge and Atlas and made it plain to them that they needed to step up and take as much of Apollo’s responsibilities as possible off his shoulders. Granted, Apollo was still going to have his hand in everything but at least they could do a lot of the leg work.

He had also talked to Chopper about getting some salt substitute. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for a lot of the men to change over to it. He had watched a lot of them who had gotten into the habit of putting extra salt on their food before they even tasted to see if it was needed. An added bonus would be that the pregnant women could have some, not much, but some.

Chopper and Evan had agreed that they would make stew and homemade chicken noodle soup with stuff for sandwiches for dinner tonight in addition to the traditional black eyed peas “good luck” soup and some cornbread. They were dishes that would not only fill everyone up but would keep them warm if they spent time outside watching the fireworks that they had planned to set off about 11 pm. It should be dark enough by then that the fireworks would really show up and then the entire display would take about an hour or so.

A lot of the guys had pooled their money and bought aerial fireworks in addition to rockets and spinners that could be set off on the pavement in the parking lot in front of the clubhouse. Apollo had been adamant that the fireworks were to happen before too much alcohol got involved.

Sarah had invited her friend, Shawna, from the pretzel shop to come. Shawna had called her before she had left work yesterday, asking what her plans were for New Year’s Eve and Sarah had invited her to come to the party at the clubhouse. Sarah had already talked to Doc about it, who said that she would be welcome and if there was a room open, she would be able to stay over as well.

Shawna had been curious about the MC ever since Sarah had met Doc, so she jumped on the chance to see it for herself. Doc had joined them for lunch one day in the mall food court and she had been very impressed by him. He was a very nice man who obviously genuinely cared about Sarah.

When Sarah had shown her the ring, her ring, of course Shawna had been happy for her but at the same time sad for herself. She was beginning to think that she would never find someone. At least not someone who was not an abusive asshole, like the one that was currently stalking her.

Wayne Gardener (her stalker) had been in the food court yesterday and Shawna had called Sarah. She had been prepared to ask her to tell someone from the AAMC to come but when Wayne had seen her pick up the phone and dial while glancing at him repeatedly, he must have thought she was calling the police because he got up, glared at her with an angry look and then left.

At first she had been so surprised that it had been so easy to get rid of him that she almost forgot that she had her phone in her hand until she glanced down and saw that Sarah had picked up on her call and then she realized that she wasn’t holding the phone to her ear.

“Shawna? Are you alright?” Sarah asked in a worried tone.

“Sorry. Yeah, I am now.” Shawna said and then explained what had just happened. “He’s been texting me too. He’s using a different phone but I know it’s him. He’s been hanging out in front of my apartment again too.”

“Are you still going to come to the party tomorrow night?” Sarah asked.

“YES! I’m looking forward to it! It will be nice to be able to go somewhere fun, where I don’t have to worry about him for a change. I’ve gotten into a rut lately, mainly because I’m afraid to go out at night because I’m afraid that he will follow me and make trouble.” Shawna said.

“I worry more about him getting you alone somewhere and hurting you again. I seriously think he’s unstable. Anyway, make sure you pack an overnight bag. Apollo’s already given orders that the prospects are not to allow anyone to leave if they get tipsy. Drinking and driving is not allowed at the clubhouse.” Sarah told her.

Yesterday had been Sarah’s last day at work and she was going to miss their lunches at the food court or going for dinner in one of the restaurants in the mall on the nights when Shawna had a worker for the evening shift. But once she closed tonight, she was closing the bakery until Jan 2nd. She and her employees definitely needed the break and since most of the mall would be closed for the holiday, it didn’t make sense for her to be open.

When Wayne started stalking her, he had given her a good scare a couple of times but thankfully there had been other people within shouting distance and Shawna hadn’t been shy about calling for help. More like screaming her head off!

After it happened twice, she had decided to hire someone to work on a permanent basis for the evening shift at the bakery so that she could leave before dark and before he would be off of work. They didn’t have to bake any of the other many pastries she offered, just the pretzels or “individual pizzas”. She could prepare things, like pretzels or the Boboli bread for the different styles of pizzas to be baked in a toaster oven ahead of time.

She had hired two college kids, one girl and one boy, both were aspiring cooks taking culinary classes at college who were willing to learn and would come on Saturday’s to learn to make some of the pastries she offered. The girl, Kara, was very talented when it came to cake decorating and had hinted that she would like to offer “mini cakes” that were decorated like small wedding cakes.

“They would really dress up the cupcake display case and I bet they will sell like hotcakes if we do themes.” Kara said.

“Make up some and we’ll give it a shot. I’m not saying we can keep it going but I’m willing to try it. I just don’t want to invest a lot of time or materials into it if they don’t sell well. Make sure you keep track of your time and the materials so that we can price them correctly.” Shawna told her. She was also teaching them about the finances involved in running a small business. That was something their school classes were overlooking, in their opinions.

So far the two college kids were working out well and it gave Shawna the relief she had not realized that she needed. Her life had become running the bakery, putting in very long hours to not only run the store front but baking the goods to keep it going. She was often in the bakery hours before the mall even opened in order to preheat the ovens, then to get the cupcakes and muffins that sold so well ready for when the shop opened.

The stress of having Wayne stalking her was beginning to take a toll on her health too and she was losing weight, which she really couldn’t afford to do since she had never been a big person to begin with.

Thankfully he had not tried coming around early in the mornings because the mall security came around once every hour but he didn’t know they did not stay on property until the mall opened but patrolled several business locations around the area, making sure they were locked up and had not been broken into or had vagrants hanging around.

~~~~~~

Simone, the owner of the jewelry store, had found a girl that he felt would work out to take Sarah’s place at the jewelry store. She had previous experience, a pleasant personality and had good customer service skills. She was a widow, like Sarah, but slightly younger. Much like Sarah had been when she had first gone to work for Simone.

Sarah had moved out of her apartment the weekend after Thanksgiving and was living at the clubhouse full time now. The distance and having the snow on the ground made it harder for Sarah to get to and from town and it made her worry about Shawna too.

Shawna had called her a couple of times when she had spotted Wayne either following her through the supermarket or just sitting in the food court, watching her or parked outside her apartment at night.

One night she was sure he had been standing outside of her apartment door because she had seen a shadow of someone’s legs in the crack at the bottom of her front door. She knew it wasn’t a neighbor fumbling with their keys because the doors are not directly across from each other.

She had only noticed it because she had clicked off the living room light and had started to walk into her kitchen when she could have sworn she heard someone try her doorknob. Thankfully, she always kept her front door locked and had installed a deadbolt and it was locked as well but in reality, that knowledge did very little to erase her fear that he might get in. Even though she kept a burglar bar under her door knob, she’d gotten very little sleep that night.

Shawna was looking forward to celebrating the holiday with Sarah and her new family. From all the stories that Sarah has shared with her, it was definitely going to be a new experience. She didn’t even let herself hope that she might find her soulmate in one of the men there. She just didn’t have that kind of luck! Her track record with men had proven that.