Page 45 of Judge's Justice

Nora leans into my touch, her eyes searching mine. Then she nods. "Okay. Go talk to him. Grace and I will be… Wherever Grace is doing cartwheels, apparently."

I smile despite myself. "Good luck with that. She's got a lot of energy."

"Tell me about it."

Saint leads us out of the medical room. The hallway is quiet. Most of the club must be out on patrol or in the common area. We reach the main space, and I hear Grace before I see her.

"Watch this, Canvas! Watch!"

Grace is indeed doing cartwheels across the open floor. Canvas is sitting on the couch, looking equal parts amused and exhausted, while Ivy watches from the kitchen doorway with a huge smile on her face.

Grace spots us and immediately runs over, signing rapidly. "Judge! You're awake and walking! Are you all better now? Does it still hurt? Can I hug you or will that break your ribs more?"

I crouch down. My ribs protest but I ignore them, and sign back. "I'm much better. Still a little sore, but healing. And yes, you can hug me. Gentle hug though."

Grace throws her arms around my neck, and something in my chest goes soft.

This. I want this for the rest of my life.

When she pulls back, she signs, "Mama said we're staying here for a while. Is that true?"

"Yes. You're staying here where it's safe. Where my brothers and I can protect you."

"Good." Grace grins. "I like it here. Canvas taught me poker and I won three times. And Brick showed me his knife collection but said I can't touch them until I'm older. And Ivy made cookies with me, and they were really good even though I ate too much chocolate first."

"Sounds like you've been busy," I sign to Grace.

"Very busy. But I missed you. I was worried you'd sleep forever." Her little face scrunches up. "But Saint said you just needed rest and he was right because now you're awake and everything's okay again."

"Everything's okay," I agree. Then I look up at Nora. "I need to go talk to Phoenix. You good here?"

"We're good." Nora signs to Grace. "Stay with Canvas and Ivy, okay? Mama needs to talk to Judge for a minute."

"Where are you going?"

"Just to talk. I'll be right back."

Grace looks between us. "Okay. But come back soon. Canvas promised to teach me a card trick."

"I will, baby. I promise."

Grace runs back to Canvas, who immediately starts shuffling cards. Nora walks with me toward Phoenix's office. When we're far enough away that Grace can't see, she stops and turns to me.

"Are you really going to tell Phoenix about us?" she asks. "About what we just did? What we decided?"

"Yeah. I have to. He's my president. My brother. He deserves to know."

"And Grace? Should we tell her?"

I consider this. Grace already thinks of us as family. Already told her mother that I'm part of their lives now. But officially telling her that her mother and I are together? That's different. That's putting expectations and pressure on all of us.

"Not today," I say finally. "If we're taking things slow, we should take things slow with her too. Let her get used to being here. Let us figure out what this looks like before we put that kind of responsibility on her shoulders."

Nora's entire face relaxes. "I was hoping you'd say that. Being a stepfather is a huge deal, Judge. Warren. And I don't want to rush her into accepting that before we're even sure what we are."

"Before you're sure I'm going to stick around?" I finish.

She winces. "That sounds terrible when you say it like that."