Chapter 5-Nessa & Annalisa learn about the MSMC
Annalisa's POV
When we first pulled up to the compound, I was surprised at how big it looked from the outside. More like a motel than an actual house and I was worried about what we've gotten ourselves into. That fear increased as we walked through the front door. "It's a bar!" I thought to myself and turned to look at Eagle, who had an uneasy look on his face. I shot him a look that said "I'm NOT bringing my daughter up in a bar!" but then Nessa said "Calm down. Give it a chance." I nodded my head but I wasn't pleased with the situation.
Dixie was obviously showing off her status in the club when she yelled for a "prospect" to bring 7 cups of coffee to the living room and then began leading us through the "bar" and down a hallway to a large living room that looked something like a mix between a family living room and a hotel lobby.
She introduced everyone, even the children and explained who belonged to who and after hearing how we had come to be at the clubhouse, began to tell us some of the history of the club and how it operates. I'm sure there's a lot more to it all but I guess we'll learn more over time, IF I decide to stay here. At this point, I'm not really sure about all of this other than I want to be with Eagle.
Over the past two days, he had somehow worked his way in to begin knocking down the walls I had built up after Dennis had destroyed my life, my heart and my ability to trust. The only thing that had kept me going for the last year and a half was Carmella. And for her, I felt like I was going to have to make some really hard choices soon but I am determined that I will do what is right for her, no matter what it costs me!
When Hulk and Eagle came to collect us and take us up to see where we would be sleeping, both Nessa and I began to realize just how big this place was. The second floor of the rooms seemed to go on forever.
We came to Hulk and Nessa's room first and I heard her say "Geez! This room is just for us? It's huge! Hell, both mine and Annalisa's apartments would fit in here!" before their bedroom door closed behind them.
"Come on. We are two more doors down at the end. I have a corner room which means I have a larger room and more windows." He said as we finally reached his door. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door then pushed it open and let me go in first. Like Nessa, I had to stop just inside the doorway and was amazed at how large the room actually was. Eagle stood by the door as he watched me walk around and investigate the room that would be our home for a while. The walls and curtains were a bit dark for my tastes as they were painted a midnight blue as well as the curtains but it was a nice room.
There was a huge, king size bed in the middle of one wall with nice matching bedside tables on either side, all done in a dark cherry wood. There was a seating area near the floor to ceiling french door windows that led onto a private balcony on one side that overlooked the front of the property. The seating area had a full size sofa and two large recliners, a coffee table and a couple of tables between the chairs and at one end of the sofa where a book lay as if he had been reading and had laid it there until he could get back to it.
There was also a large dresser with a large flat screen TV on top of it. And a very nice upholstered bench at the foot of the bed done in a light blue velvet. The comforter on the bed was done in dark royal blue with a black diagram quilted on to it, making it look very rich and impressive.
On the wall opposite the french doors there were two other doors. Behind one was a walk-in closet that was bigger than my apartment living room and kitchen combined back in Tulsa but there were hardly any clothes in it.
The other door was a massive luxury bathroom fit for royalty! Double sink vanity with marble countertops. A shower big enough to hold six men his size with a large built in bench, and three shower heads. One a rain shower that hung from the ceiling, a handheld unit as well as a standard shower head. There was also a massive jacuzzi bathtub that could easily seat four large men and a separate water closet for the toilet with a pretty stained glass window above the toilet.
When I came back into the bedroom, I found that Eagle had settled Carmella in her playpen and he was just covering her with a lightweight blanket that I kept for her in her diaper bag. He had pushed the playpen against the back of the sofa so that the sun coming in the windows would not disturb her. The beat up old playpen looked so out of place in the room that was as nice if not nicer than a five star hotel room.
He walked over to me as I looked around and pulled me close. "Well? What do you think?" he asked anxiously.
"The bedroom is very nice. Kind of dark but it suits you." I said honestly.
"Well you can change anything you want but I do ask that you leave the curtains or if you decide to replace them that you add room darkening shades. I sometimes suffer from migraine headaches and the light hurts my eyes. So does sound and I can't really stand to have anyone touch me when it's really bad. But I haven't had them for a while and they are usually caused by a smell or not having enough caffeine or from drinking canned beer."
"Do you have medication for them?" I asked.
"Yeah but I don't like to take them unless the pain gets really bad. Come sit down, please. There's something else I need to tell you." He said as he led me over to sit on the padded bench at the foot of the bed. He sat next to me and held my hand, took a deep breath and said "I probably should have told you this before I took you away from home but I'm really hoping it's something that won't make you turn away from me."
"Oh god, please tell me you are not an ex con that spent most of your youth in jail for murder or something?" I said, getting even more worried about what I had brought my daughter into.
"No! No, nothing like that. I was in the marines and I spent some time overseas. I saw things and did things over there that scarred me, Annalisa. I have PTSD because of it. If I have night terrors, don't try to wake me up or even to touch me. Get out of bed and just call to me until I wake up. I don't want to hurt you by reacting to something in a dream and not realizing it's you.
If you can't get me to wake up, call for Hulk. He's really the only one big enough and strong enough to deal with me when I get like that. It doesn't happen as much anymore and I've got medication that does help me control it but sometimes something will set it off and I can't control my dreams." He said and my first thought was of Carmella.
"What if Carmella was to crawl up in bed with you and you didn't know it was her?" I asked in a voice that showed my fear.
"I pray it never happens, baby and we'll just have to teach Carmella to be careful around me when I'm sleeping. My bed is too high for her to be able to get up on it by herself right now and besides, she'll be sleeping in her playpen or a crib, right?" He said.
"Yeah, but babies don't stay babies forever, Eagle. And my little girl is like a little monkey. If she wants up somewhere she will usually figure out a way to get there. The older she gets the worse it will probably get too. She's already figured out that she can stand on certain toys and almost pull herself out of her playpen. That's why I don't leave toys in there with her once she goes to sleep, especially when I'm going to sleep or be out of the room for an extended period. She's come close to giving me heart attacks several times when I was distracted either cooking dinner or if I went to take a bath while she was asleep and forgot to remove her toys. She's a clever little minx."
"I understand and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt either one of you and so long as I stay on the medication, it shouldn't be a problem." Eagle said.
"Can I ask you something that I've been curious about since I first met you?" I asked and he nodded. "Why are you called "Eagle"?
He smiled at me and said "I earned the name Eagle because of my shooting skills. I was a sniper in the Marines. One of the guys in my squad nicknamed me with the name and it just stuck. It was that or Ghost and I don't like that name but if you ask Doc, he will tell you it would fit me. He keeps threatening to put a bell around my neck because I walk so quietly. I had hoped to join the Navy Seals at some point but it just didn't work out that way. Now I'm glad. I saw and did enough during my tour overseas.
Unfortunately, some things are things I will never forget but have learned to forgive myself for most of them. I try not to think about them and rarely ever talk about them because it makes me relive it and I had a hard enough time putting them behind me." He explained. "I was kind of worried about it after seeing that woman raped the other night that I was going to have an episode that night but thankfully I didn't."
"Okay but then what is your real name?" I asked.
"Jason Matthew Walker. I was almost a second except my mom and dad didn't like my father's middle name, which was Marvin, and my mom wanted to honor her brother who had died when he was a kid. His name was Matthew and my grandmother used to say I was the spitting image of him when he was little.
My family always called me Jason but sometimes my grandmother would slip up and call me Matt. That used to upset my mom a lot because it brought back memories of her brother." he explained then added "You can call me by my name in private but around other people, I'm just Eagle. Okay?"
"Yeah. This is a lot to take in and this place is not at all what I expected but then to be honest, I wasn't at all sure what to expect. I do know that I don't want my daughter exposed to any activity in or around the "bar" down stairs. I was very upset when that was the first thing we walked into." I told him honestly.
"I know and I'm sorry. I should have warned you but everything has just been moving so fast. Don't worry. None of the parents want their kids around that. Except for Friday and Saturday nights, the bar area gets used as a dining room for meals. But on the weekends this place will undergo a definite transition.
While it's calmed down a lot since the babies started coming along, this is still a bikers club house and we can't stop the rest of the men from having time in their own home to relax and enjoy themselves. The partying doesn't usually start until well after the children are asleep. Boomer and Kaylee have the room between ours and Hulks and we all chose these rooms because it's quieter back here than up closer to the bar." Eagle told me and I felt better about it.
"You said that Rooster and Dixie, Hunter and Marley have homes away from the club house. Is it possible that we could do that too?" I asked, hopefully.
"Sure. We can either buy a place but it has to be close by or we could build somewhere on the club's land. I want you to be happy here, Annalisa, so you just let me know about anything you want or need and I'll do my best to give it to you." Eagle said as he pulled me onto his lap then kissed me in a way that had me forgetting any anger that I had felt earlier. All I wanted now was for him to lay me down and make love to me the way he had last night.
Unfortunately, a knock sounded at the door and a young male voice called out "Lunch!". Upon hearing that Eagle's stomach growled, loudly, telling me that he is hungry and I had to admit that I am too. A glance at the clock told me that Carmella would be out for at least another hour but I was still worried about her waking up in a strange place and me not being there. I expressed my concern to Eagle and he said he understood.
"I'll go make us plates and bring our food up here, okay? When she wakes up, I want to take you to town and get some of the things we'll need for her, like a baby monitor, a crib and more diapers and anything else you both need. I still can't believe that you managed to get all of not only yours but her clothes into one suitcase." Eagle said.
"Okay. While you're gone, I'll hang up my stuff. Do you have room in your drawers for some of her things and my lingerie?" I asked.
"I could make room for you but I want to get you both your own things. A place for your things to make you feel like it's yours and yours alone." Eagle said and then lifted my suitcase up on the bench. He left the room and I began to unpack.
I was about half done when he came back with a tray loaded with two plates of food and sodas. "Open the french doors. There's a table and chairs out there where we can eat."
I walked over to the french door and opened them and under the overhang, it was nice outside. He sat the tray down on the table and unloaded our plates and drinks then put the tray aside. He held my chair for me and I grinned up at him. "Such a gentleman!"
"Hey, we marines know how to treat a lady!" he grinned back as he sat down across from me. "Damn, I'm glad Marley and Dixie are back cooking again! The final months of their pregnancies were hell on us! I was getting so sick of take out, especially pizza."
"Well, I'm no gourmet and neither is Nessa but we can cook. She makes awesome stroganoff and I do pretty good Mexican food. Our cook at home, Cookie, was an awesome cook. She taught me a lot, much to my mother's disapproval but then there wasn't much about me that she did approve of. Anyway, Cookie said it was good wife skills. Little did I know at the time that my mother had already picked out my husband!
That's why I let Dennis convince me to run away with him so easily. I mean, I cared for him but what I felt for him, is nothing compared to what I feel for you." I said without thinking first and then blushed bright red when I realized what I had admitted and looked up at Eagle's face.
His fork was half way to his mouth but his mouth wasn't hanging open because he was preparing for the bite of food, but in amazement at what I had just admitted. I saw him swallow and then blink and then he said, barely above a whisper, "Are you saying what I hope you are saying?"
I nodded and saw his eyes get huge followed by a smile so big I thought the corners of his lips were actually going to touch his ears. He dropped his fork, causing it to clatter on his plate as his hand shot up into the air and he yelled "YES!" to the sky. He jumped out of this chair and at first did a few "happy dance" moves that showed me his natural rhythm and then picked me up out of my chair and kissed me soundly.
"Woman, you just made me the happiest man in Texas! I can't believe it. I love you, Annalisa. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me." He held me close and I shared his joy. I was so happy to know he was feeling the same thing as me. I didn't believe it was possible but my heart had already decided and I know we still have a lot to learn about each other but now at least I have someone who cares enough about me to share life's struggles with me.
"Let's finish eating and as soon as Carmella wakes up we'll go to town and maybe even drive by some houses for sale? Sounds good?" He asked me and I couldn't have been happier at that moment as I nodded in approval.
We were almost done eating when Carmella began to stir. I quickly changed her wet diaper and carried her out to the patio with me and set her on my lap. I fed her some of the mashed potatoes and peas and then gave her a sippy cup of milk.
I had broken her from the bottle several months ago and we had both been happier since. She'd had colic problems when she was a tiny baby that made us spend several sleepless nights walking the floor and a couple of expensive trips to the clinic to visit the doctor to be sure there wasn't something more to the stomach pain.
As soon as I cleaned her up, changed her clothes and made sure I had everything I needed in her diaper bag, we took off for town, after letting Nessa know where we were going.
Eagle took us first to a store for some furniture, like a crib, a dresser, a highchair and he spotted a folding screen that we could put between her crib and our bed, so that we would have some visual privacy even if we would have to work at being more quiet when we were intimate. That was going to be a real challenge. I had never been a vocal lover before but Eagle made me want to scream and he loved hearing it when I called his name and that I was reaching my climax, which he had made me reach three times last night.
"I want to get us a small fridge too. Something where we can keep her stuff cold and not have to run to the kitchen in the middle of the night. We can put it under the sink in the bathroom, I think, if not, in the closet." Eagle said as we walked through the "baby department" of the furniture store. We found a beautiful and sturdy crib with a matching dresser that the top of it was a changing table. The crib would convert to a toddler's bed when she outgrew the crib so it was something that would last her for several years.
We also found a dresser for me, that I tried to object to him purchasing but he insisted. "I've never known a woman with so few clothes! I'm going to make sure you have an outfit for any occasion we might go to. One night I want to take you out to a fancy restaurant and then dancing. I hope Nessa and Hulk won't mind watching Carmella for a whole night so that I can bring you home and make love to you until the sun comes up!" His reasoning made me shut up and just accept it and I did so with a huge smile on my face.
He was acting so silly but we were both so happy and it was fun to watch him play with Carmella as he lifted her from crib to crib. She finally gave the approval of the one we had chosen by laying down on the mattress and stuck her thumb in her mouth as if this was the one that she was comfortable in.
A salesman came over and we showed him the pieces we were interested in and by the time we left, he was one happy salesperson. He agreed to deliver it all later that afternoon and we moved on to the next store, which was the hardware store. We found a nice under counter fridge and it fit easily in the back of the SUV we had come to town on.
Next we went to the baby store where Eagle went slightly crazy. We ended up with a new diaper bag which was actually shaped like a back pack but had features that allowed us to carry her sippy cup outside of the pack and other handy pockets on the outside. She also got a new car seat that would allow her to grow into it better. Her old one was getting too small for her and it had come from the thrift store so it had been rather beat up when I got it.
He also bought the baby monitor, a new stroller, several new outfits including a t-shirt that said "Biker babe" on the front of it but Carmella's best present of the day was the pink chenille teddy bear that Eagle bought for her. She grabbed it and hugged it tight when he had shown it to her and wouldn't put it down. She got very upset when the cashier tried to take it to ring it up but handed it back instantly as soon as she had the price of it. She even clipped off the price tag so that it was not a danger to Carmella.
"I'll take you shopping on a day when we can go by ourselves because I want you to model them for me when you try them on." Eagle whispered in my ear, causing me to blush and smile.
Our last stop was at the grocery store, where he purchased a couple of jugs of 2% milk, pedialyte, juice, jars of toddler baby food, animal crackers and cookies and all kinds of stuff for her. We picked up diapers, wipes, baby soap and shampoo. I also made sure to get Orajel and baby tylenol for when she cuts another tooth. She already has 4 of her front teeth and had suffered badly with each one, my poor thing. The shopping cart was half full by the time we picked up some stuff for us and I was scared he was going to object when he saw the bill but he paid it without blinking an eye and we loaded it all up into the back of the SUV.
After I put Carmella in her new car seat, I turned to find Eagle standing behind me. He slid his hands around my waist and pulled me close and whispered, "I think after the day I found you, I think this is one of the happiest days of my life!" Then he kissed me with such passion that I wished we were not standing in the parking lot of the grocery store in the middle of the afternoon.
Carmella giggled and it brought me back to realize where we were. I pulled back and looked behind Eagle to find there was a woman in the aisle next to ours that gave me a thumbs up with a big smile on her face and I don't think I could have been any happier than I was right then.
On the way home, we drove down a couple of roads that were close to the compound that had for sale signs out on display but they weren't anything either of us were interested in and since we had things that needed to be refrigerated we decided to head back to the compound.
When we arrived the delivery driver was there unloading the furniture we had purchased and there were several prospects helping him to get our stuff out of the back of his truck. They carried it upstairs and down the hall to our room and then they helped us to assemble the crib and get it set up for Carmella.
Our room looked much different after all the baby stuff was installed but to me at least, it felt much more like we belonged there.
Carmella was tired after our afternoon of shopping so I gave her a bath using the chamomile soap we had gotten at the store, fed her some baby food and a sippy cup of warm milk and then put her in her new crib while Eagle set up the new baby monitor. She had not let her new teddy bear go, except for her bath.
The stuffed animal was not big enough that she would be able to use it as a "footstool" to help her get out of the crib so I felt it was safe enough for her to have in there with her while she slept. I hoped it would give her a sense of security if she woke up and I wasn't in the room.
We took the other half of the baby monitor and went downstairs for dinner and I was a bit surprised at the amount of men that were lined up at the buffet line they had set up for the evening meal.
"Do they always have a buffet like this?" I whispered to Eagle as we joined the line.
"Yeah. It's enough that the women cook for us. We don't expect them to serve us too. It also makes it easier if anyone wants seconds or in Hulk's case, sometimes thirds if there is enough left over." Eagle teased his friend as they joined the line behind us.
"Did you guys get everything you need on your shopping trip today?" Nessa asked with a huge smile.
"Oh yes. I think the only other thing we might get is a small microwave so that I can heat Carmella's milk and baby food. Thank goodness it won't be much longer that she will be able to switch over to table food." I answered.
"We got what Carmella needs but one day soon, I want to take Annalisa shopping for clothes and shoes and anything else she needs! Can we impose on you guys to watch Carmella that day and night?" Eagle said, giving Nessa a hopeful look.
Nessa giggled and said, "Sure. No problem."
"I'm looking forward to shopping for lingerie the most!" Eagle whispered in my ear and I must have turned bright red because Nessa and Hulk both started to laugh.
Everyone enjoyed a very good meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and for those that wanted it, green salad. We sat around the tables in the bar and visited for a while after dinner and I met several of the "brothers". Some of the prospects cleaned up everyone's dishes and took care of the kitchen while members either went outside to smoke or to the bar to get the drinks of their choice.
Some played pool, while others headed to either the living room to watch TV, or the games room to play video games. A few even headed to the library, I thought to read but as it turns out they were using the tables in there to play cards.
I couldn't help but ask Marley, who ended up sitting next to me, when the sweet butts would arrive.
"Oh, Rooster stopped them coming during the week except on special occasions. Now they are only allowed to come on Friday and Saturday nights. If those nights get to be too much for you, just come over to our place for the night." Marley said and Hunter, who's lap she was sitting on, nodded in agreement.
"Actually we are going to look for our own house. Any ideas of a place close to the compound?" Eagle said. 'Maybe something like what you guys have?"
"Hmmm. I'm not sure. We kind of stumbled on it the day we went riding around looking but man, I'm so glad we stopped. So far it's perfect for us. If you can't find something already built, then talk to Rooster about building a place on the land."
"Yeah. We may have to go that route but I'm kind of hoping that we can find something already built so that we can move in faster. It took months for Rooster to build his place." Eagle complained.
"Yeah, but Rooster built a huge place so that he can accommodate a lot of guests. You just need a place big enough for you and your family." Hunter said.
Just then Marley's baby monitor sounded and Marley pushed her way off of Hunter's lap. "Sounds like Faith is waking up. Time to feed her again."
"I'll walk back with you. I want to take a shower and check on Carmella. She's going to panic if she wakes up in a strange place and I'm not there. Eagle, you can stay and visit with your friends if you want." I said, bending over to give him a quick kiss and whispered "but don't stay too long."