Ruin’s Embattlement (Tenillo Guardians AIMC #19)

Ruin

I watched my girls playing on the swings.

I was keeping them occupied while Desi made dinner.

Shane was off somewhere.

He was probably fiddling with his motorcycle.

He was sixteen and a rider if there ever was one.

Sometimes, it was hard to believe that this was my life.

Here I was, married to the love of my life.

We had three wonderful kids. Our extended family surrounded us and gave us support and love. I had a fulfilling job.

The club had grown and changed over the past ten years.

The older members were still young.

Other than Trident, who was sixty-seven, the older ones were in their early fifties and younger.

At thirty-two, I was still in the youngster category, according to Dad and Ex.

However, the officers were saying they were just waiting for more of us to get older, and they’d be turning over those positions to us.

My best military friend, Konrad, was also a brother.

He easily survived his prospecting time.

Out of the kids, there was me, Tyson, at thirty, Zavier, who was twenty, and Josh, who was seventeen.

Zavier was off serving his country with the intention of joining.

He was waiting to prospect, though, until he was out.

Sin’s son, Josh, was adamant he planned to serve and join as well.

As for Tyson, well, he finished college, and he went off to serve like I did.

It was a bit more complicated for him, though, since he at first had to endure a long-distance relationship.

Luckily, it lasted and became a permanent one.

A year after he joined the Navy, he got married.

He was still in, but he hadn’t given up the dream of joining the club. He was planning to get out after his tenth year was up, which was in a few months.

I knew Desi and I would be doubly happy when it happened, not just because we missed our brother but also because we missed his husband, Isaiah.

Yeah, that had been a huge shock to everyone.

A couple of months after Isaiah’s beating, Tyson came home and informed the family he was gay and that he was dating someone.

It didn’t matter to us if he was, but we did wonder why he kept it from us.

He’d gone out with some girls in high school, and everyone assumed he probably slept with at least one or more.

We didn’t ask if he had.

It wasn’t our business.

Then he told us who he was dating.

Suffice it to say, we were all thrilled.

The time Tyson spent with Isaiah as he healed from the beating and the fact he knew that Isaiah wasn’t into women after all led them to get together.

They were waiting until Tyson was out of the Navy before they had a family.

It was up in the air whether they’d adopt or use a surrogate.

Mom, Skye, and Desi couldn’t wait.

Mom wanted more grandbabies.

Dad liked to joke and grumble that at this rate, he’d never get Mom all to himself because even with all the kids out of the house, there was always a grandchild around. We knew he loved it.

Yeah, life had been rough for a few years when Desi and I were no longer friends, but I had a guardian angel looking after me.

I thanked God every day for her and my family.

It had been a battle at times, but in the end, it all worked out, and we found our way back to each other—the way it was always meant to be.

I looked forward to seeing what the next fifty-plus years would bring to me personally and to the Ares Infidels as a whole.

Look out, world, the second generation of the Infidels was coming!

The End of the Ares Infidels MC…or at least the first generation.

Who knows, maybe one day, the second-gen will tell their stories.