Spike’s Perdition (Saints Purgatory MC #7)

15. Ivory

CHAPTER 15

IVORY

“Alright, we’ve got a lot to discuss today.”

Megan stands at the head of the conference room table, waiting for the side conversations to die down. We have three part-time employees: Jackie, Dale, and Stacy. Milton and Jeremy are full-time, along with Megan and me. We called everyone in today for an impromptu round table discussion, so this should be an interesting staff meeting.

There’ll be so many questions I’m not ready to answer.

I stand and clear my throat. “Thank you all for coming in today, even though most of you had the day off.”

“Everything okay, boss?” Milton asks.

Stacy shifts in her chair. “Yeah, we’re not all getting fired, are we?”

Megan shakes her head. “No, and we didn’t mean to frighten anyone by calling you in today.”

“I’m pregnant,” I blurt.

All eyes focus on me. It’s deathly quiet for what seems like an eternity before everyone starts cheering and rushing out of their chairs to embrace me and offer their congratulations.

Megan smiles warmly. “Okay, okay… Give Ivory some room to breathe. We still need to talk about the changes coming your way.”

That silences the room, and everyone takes their seat again.

“Don’t worry,” I reassure. “Basically, what this means going forward is that I’ll be taking a more administrative role in the office. I’ll still do activities, but it’ll be the less strenuous ones. Also, I’ll chip in with pickups and dropoffs, as well as setting up campsites and whatever else I’m able to do.

“That being said,” Megan picks up. “We’ll need one or two of you to pick up extra hours if possible. We’re in our busy season, and we’d rather give you all first pick to work more than higher new staff.”

“We’re family at Chase the High ,” I state. “This place runs like a well-oiled machine, and it’ll be hard bringing in new blood and training them. However, if no one can take more hours, we understand. There will be no fallout if you can’t.”

Dale raises his hand. “Can we all get more hours added? Spread the love between all of us?”

“Yeah,” Jackie agrees. “I could do some extra hours on weekends and after my classes are over.”

“Me, too,” Stacy says.

Milton waves his hand between him and Jeremy. “We can do overtime if you need us to.”

Jeremy lifts his chin in solidarity.

Tears well in my eyes. These people are too good to be true. I don’t know why I was so worried. They’ve all stepped up whenever we asked for extra help, but this is different. This isn’t just for an excursion or two, this is for months.

“You guys do realize that this isn’t just for a week or two?” I ask, giving voice to my thoughts. “We’ll need the help from now until I give birth. Megan will need all hands on deck when I’m on maternity leave, as well.

“Yes,” they all respond in unison.

“Do you know what you’re having?” Jackie asks.

“Not yet.” I grin. “Too early to tell. Besides, I don’t know if I want to know or not.”

“What does Daddy think about that?” Dale teases.

My body goes rigid. I blink rapidly, too afraid to tell them the truth about their boss having a one-night stand with a man who’s in a committed relationship.

They’ll never look at me the same. I’ll be a slut in their eyes.

“Ivory will bring the baby in to visit after he or she is born,” Megan says, changing the line of conversation and allowing me to avoid Dale’s question.

Everyone must sense the tension because the subject of the baby’s parentage isn’t mentioned again. We finish outlining what new schedules will look like and various duties that will be assigned depending on the availability of those who have experience in the activities we offer. Some customers will be rescheduled to different days to accommodate, but we won’t have to cancel anything for the foreseeable future at least.

A couple of hours later, I’m dead on my feet. The baby is an energy sucker, for sure.

Megan links her arm with mine as we make our way back to our office. “Want me to pick up some Chinese and meet you at your house?”

“Can we get dumplings, crab rangoon, spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken, and Mu Shu Pork?” I ask hopefully, suddenly ravenous.

“Damn, someone is hungry.”

I nudge her in the ribs. “Hey, I’m eating for two.”

Megan laughs. “Don’t worry, that’s my niece or nephew in there. I’ll make sure you get your fix.”

My stomach rumbles. “On second thought, you might want to double that order.”