by Scarlet West
I vowed I’d pay him back for the money someday, but for now I had to take care of myself, and that was what I was doing. After changing my clothes, I put my dirty clothes in the empty bag, then pulled a box of crackers out of the bag of groceries I’d purchased.
They were only supposed to be snacks. I was going to try go find a place to eat for dinner, but I didn’t feel like being out in public for lunch. I was still in shock over what had happened with my grandparents, and I hated what happened with Blake.
I didn’t blame him anymore for what he’d done. I believed he was telling me the truth about the woman who had walked up, but I was clinging to the hurt. Then again, I had to blame myself for the wrong that I’d done in the entire scheme we were part of.
It wasn’t pleasant to face the facts, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to move past it. I didn’t want to go back to Blake’s apartment. I knew if I were to do that, I would just be a beggar, coming back home and asking for him to take me.
I wasn’t even sure that he wanted me back. He had to be pissed over the fact that I’d just walked out on him, and he had to be pissed that I used his card this morning without permission. I didn’t know how long it would take for him to figure it out, but I knew he would.
I was just the girl he’d hooked up with at that party six months ago. Sure, I might have had some status with my grandparents in my life. But now, I was nothing. Why would a man like that want to be with someone like me? He was bound to want to live life with someone who was more on his level, and now, I never could be.
Sure, maybe as a person, but I was never going to make it there socially. I was setting myself up to be homeless, even if he did pay for child support, I wasn’t ever going to be that rich.
I sighed, eating another cracker before putting the box back with the rest of the other groceries. I didn’t want to eat the whole thing right now despite the fact I was starving. I just wanted to take the edge off for the baby.
My phone was about dead, and I knew I should send another message to Jenny and tell her so. I was going to find a charger later that afternoon, but for now, I was fine to sit on the bed and let my feet rest. I didn’t want to go anywhere, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to sit.
But it was short lived peace.
Suddenly, there was a pounding on my door. My heart sank. Perhaps Blake saw the charge and called the police. Or perhaps my grandparents decided to turn me in for the emails after all. I was so full of anxiety, I could hardly move from the bed.
But, another series of pounding brought me to my feet. I slowly walked over and looked through the peephole, relief flooding through me when I saw Blake. I slid the bolt out of its place and took a step back, offering to let him come in.
“You scared the shit out of me,” he said. “I didn’t know where you were, whether you were safe, nothing!”
“I was hurt, and I wanted to get out of there. That was one of the most embarrassing things I’d ever had to experience,” I said. I didn’t want to cry, and I blamed the hormones, but the tears started flowing down my cheeks. “I can’t believe I had to go through that!”
Immediately, the frustration and anger melted out of Blake’s expression, and he took a step over to me. “Can I hug you?”
I hesitated, then I nodded. I tried not to stiffen when he touched me, but I did, slightly. He held me tighter, rubbing his hand up and down my back. “I’m so sorry for everything, really. I don’t want to lose you, Ashley. I really don’t. I know that I did some fucked up things, and you got involved my mess, but I’m sorry. I take responsibility for all of it, and I want you to come home.”
“How can I?” I asked. “How can I come when I’ve got nothing now? I’m never going to be wealthy like you, I’m never going to be on the same social status. I’m going to be the wife who is only rich by default.”
“I’m not rich anymore,” he said with a shrug.
“What?” I asked.
“I quit, and I’m not going back. This isn’t going to be easy, Ashley, but I want you to be there with me. I want to have our family together, and I want to build our new lives, away from the bullshit,” he said. He took my hands. “I’ve got some money in the bank we can live on for a while, but I’m done with Bogart Enterprises, and I’m not upset about it.”
“But what about the parties? The startup investment? The penthouse?” I asked.
“They aren’t worth anything to me without you,” he said. “Will you come home with me?”
I looked up into his eyes. I could see how serious he was, and the tears flowed out of mine harder than before. But, I was willing. I knew what it was like to struggle, and I was willing to do it again.
“Will you be honest with me?” I asked.
“Always and forever,” he said.
I nodded. “Then I’ll come home. Yes, I’ll come home.”
He pressed his lips to mine in reply, and immediately, I started kissing him with the same passion. I had yearned for him over the past three days, and now I was going to give into it fully.
He gently carried me to the bed, laying me down and pulling my clothes off. His jacket was already unbuttoned, and he was disheveled, but I yanked at his clothes anyway. I wanted him so badly, but it was getting harder to have him on top of me with the baby.
“Roll over,” he whispered. “On your hands and knees.”
I obeyed, lifting the weight off the baby and spreading my legs. He ran his hands over my tits, my ass. He held my hips in place as he teased me for a second with his dick. Then, he pushed himself inside. It was the first time he and I had done doggy style, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the pose.
He was able to able to get so deep inside me, and the sensation was so different than it had been the last time – before I was expecting. I moaned, arching my back and letting my stomach sink further toward the bed, allowing him to get that much deeper inside me.
Blake reached forward and took my hair, giving it the lightest tug, sending little tingles throughout my neck and scalp. No one had ever done that to me before, and I loved it. He continued to move his hands over me as he pushed into me from behind, gliding in and out of me with his thick, hard cock.
I eased my hands down to my elbows, letting him tug on m y hair once again. It was the most amazing sex I could remember having. With Blake, every time was better than the last time, and every time made me want to have sex with him again and again.
He held my hips steady, helping me with my uneven balance. But, I was so aroused, it wasn’t going to take long for me to come. I closed my eyes, letting the tension build inside me, breathing with him, taking the rhythm of his cock in me with the movement of the bed.
I was moaning loudly, and he was adding in his own moans of pleasure every now and then. I was getting close, and I let my voice grow to practically a scream. I didn’t care if anyone else in the hotel heard me. I wanted them to know what was going on, that I was finally with the man I loved, and I wasn’t ever going to walk out on him.
He was there for me, and I was there for him. We were going to work through this together, no matter how hard it got. He thrust into me a couple more times, giving my hair the final tug that sent me over the edge.
The tension inside my burst, and I let out another loud cry with my orgasm. I pushed my ass against him, taking him inside me as he pounded fast and hard once again. He was close, too, and when he was about to cum, he grabbed my hips and held me, pushing into me with as much force as he could.
He finally was deep enough to satisfy me as he filled me, and I grinned as I felt his cock giving me his come. I looked over my shoulder and smiled, but his eyes were closed with the pleasure of the moment. I loved seeing what he looked like when he came inside me, and I gently laid myself down on the bed so I could pull him down toward me.
“Thank you for coming back for me,” I said. “I really wasn’t thinking you ever would.”
“I’m glad you finally gave me a way to find you. I was so s
cared that you weren’t ever going to answer my texts, and you were just going to be gone forever. I couldn’t stand the thought of that. Not knowing what I did to you,” he said. He ran his hand over my belly. “I couldn’t stand the thought of losing either of you.”
“So what now?” I asked. “I don’t want to pretend with you anymore. I want this to be the real thing.”
“This is the real thing. Starting right now, this is the real thing. You are my wife, and if you want to have another wedding with your friends and family and a wedding dress, then you’re going to have it. I’m going to give you anything and everything I can for the rest of my life. You’re my whole world, Ashley, and I’m not going to ruin this again,” Blake said.
I wanted to say something, but my voice caught in my throat. I couldn’t find the words to say, and tears filled my eyes. Blake took my hand in his and smile as he brushed my tears with his other hand. “I love you, Ashley more than anything.”
“I love you, too,” I finally managed. It was barely more than a whisper, but I said it to him, finally. I had wanted to tell him for so long, and it finally happened. This man was my whole world. This man and this child, and that’s all that mattered. I didn’t care how much we had to fight.
We were together, and we would take on the world. We weren’t going to be a broken family like I’d had. we were going to stick together and make it through this. I was determined to make it happen, and I knew Blake was, too.
We had gone through so much to get here, and now, we would stand together.
At the time, I never thought I wanted a surprise baby. But now, I felt that it was the best thing that ever happened to me. My baby and Blake, my family.
And I was the happiest woman alive.
25
Blake - One Year Later
“I still don’t know why we need to do these,” I said with a shake of my head. “I had to do them so much when I was a kid, and they didn’t matter after my junior year of high school.”
“I’m sure you stopped caring long before then,” Ashley said as she pulled on her jacket. “But they often matter to parents, and if they don’t matter to you, just know that they matter to me.”
She planted a light kiss on my lips, but sat back on the bed before she got up. I shook my head.
“Alright, if they matter that much to you, then we’ll do it. But I promise you the kids aren’t going to care, even when they’re young,” I said. She gave me another look and I shut up. This clearly wasn’t up for discussion, though I had been doing my best to get out of it ever since she told me she wanted to do it.
We had been married over the summer after little Maddie was born. I had been so convinced Maddie had been a boy right up to the moment she was born, but as soon as the doctor put her in my arms, I knew she was perfect. Ashley had been so happy, and I was proud to her daughter in her arms.
Our little girl looked so much like both of us, there was no denying who the parents were. She had her mom’s hair but my eyes. Her mom’s face, but my nose. She was like an angel. I teared up the moment I saw her, and for most of the baby photos my eyes were watery.
It was a miracle, unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my life, and I was the happiest man in the world. I never thought I wanted anything to change in our family, but it wasn’t long until Ashley wanted to have another wedding ceremony.
“Now that I’m not carrying the baby anymore, I want to have a wedding dress I can fit in,” she said.
“There are lots of wedding dresses you can fit in when you’re pregnant,” I told her. That was the first time when I saw The Look. It had come to be a joke between us. When she gave me The Look, it was time for me to shut up and let her do what she wanted.
She’d remind me that I did promise to make her happy, and I’d only smile and shake my head. If she wanted to have a dress she fit in without the belly, that was fine with me. We planned a wedding for late summer, but it had to be pushed up when she found out she was pregnant again.
“How is that possible?” she asked. “You aren’t supposed to be very fertile for a while after a birth!”
“I have strong swimmers?” I said with a shrug. “I don’t know, but this is one of the happiest days of my life.”
When she told me she was pregnant the second time, I knew our lives were now complete. We got married before she was far enough along to start showing, and I endured The Look before we went through all our wedding photos.
Things didn’t turn out as badly as I thought they were going to for me financially. I still had enough money in the bank to take care of Ashley and her maternity needs in my apartment. My father didn’t realize how much I had stocked away over the years.
Peter, who proved to be an excellent negotiator and salesman when he wasn’t under the stress of working for my father, managed to land us several investors for our startup company. Though it was still in its relatively early stages, we were working hard at it, and it was bringing in enough money for both of us to live on.
Our accountant was sure the stocks would go up, and we would be looking at six figures a year within a five year period. It was way more than I thought it would be for being so young, and with the money I was already using to supplement our lifestyle, I knew it would only be a matter of time before we were back to being able to eat out whenever we wanted and where we wanted.
“Can you get Maddie ready? We’re going to be late!” Ashley called from the bedroom. I smiled. I loved getting my daughter ready to go places, though I had a feeling I wasn’t going to put on the right outfit. Ashley had gotten it into her head that she wanted to do family photos every year, promising me that it was going to be something that I was glad we did when the kids were older.
I wasn’t so sure about that. I was never happy with the family photos we did when I was a kid, and she didn’t have any of her own on display, either. But, after she gave me The Look several times, I knew I had no choice in the matter. She would launch into reminding me that I did tell her I wanted her to be happy, and that was true, I did.
If that meant we were going to get dressed up in these matching outfits to get our photo done, that was fine. I wasn’t going to argue with her about it. Hell, she had gone through so much for me, and now it was my turn to give back to her.
I didn’t care if I spent the rest of my life making her happy. It was all I wanted to do with my life now.
Maddie was in her crib, already mostly dressed. She was sleeping, and I hated to wake her. But, I knew Ashley would be ready in a minute, and I didn’t want to keep her waiting. She was concerned we were going to be late, and I didn’t want to be that guy who made us late.
It had taken me quite some time to get used to the new lifestyle. Though we still had plenty of money to live comfortably, there were things that I did give up. I was never in any of the parties that I used to attend. I would have gone, if I had been invited, but I knew my dad would have made it clear to his friends that that wasn’t an option.
At the same time, I wasn’t sure that I would have had fun at those sorts of parties anymore. I wanted to move on from that shallow kind of life, and it wasn’t the sort of place I could take my kids.
I also changed banks. I got a bad taste in my mouth when I went into the bank my father used for the company. I hated the fact that we all had similar account numbers, and he was the one who had started the account in the first place. I didn’t that I was missing out on various perks by no longer banking there, I was just glad to find somewhere else to go.
Of course, with my banker wife, it wasn’t hard to open another account with her firm. We were set up with our joint finances, ready to split and share everything. That’s how I wanted it to be in life. She had grown up with the knowledge she wasn’t equal to her grandparents.
They told her more than once that it was because of them she was able to do anything, and I wanted her to know that was no longer the case. It shouldn’t have been true then, and I wasn’t going to let it be true now. Sh
e was free to spend what she wanted when she wanted, and she was always careful.
She’d buy things for the kids, and she would treat herself to the occasional spa day, but I never wondered where the money was going, or had a fear she was going to spend too much on something we didn’t need.
Life had all fallen apart for me in one night, but it slowly came back together in its own way. I never thought I could be so happy. Even when I was partying, living what I thought was the dream, and being the center of attention, I was never as happy as I was when I was with my family.
I’d learned that I would rather see the smile on my daughter’s face than I would want to be welcomed into an exclusive club. I would rather have a date night with my wife in our own kitchen then I would in the back of a member only restaurant.
There were so many things that were so much better when I wasn’t so worried about living my old life. I had my friends and family, and I felt so much more fulfilled now than I ever had before.
There were times when I thought about my father, but I had a feeling he was too set in his ways to want to be part of our lives now. He had never tried to contact me, despite the fact that I reached out to him several times. I finally wrote him an email, letting him know that I would be around if he ever wanted to talk.
It wasn’t going to be easy for me, but I was willing, and I did want him to have the chance to meet his grandchildren.
“Honey! Let’s go! We’re going to be late!” Ashley called out again. I held Maddie close to me as we walked out the door. Since finding out she was pregnant again, we moved to a more practical townhouse in the suburbs. It was quiet, much different than the hustle and bustle of the City itself.
Once I got used to it, I was glad that we made the decision. I would rather raise my kids there than anywhere else in the world. I put Maddie in her car seat in the back of our family car as Ashley took her place in the passenger seat. She was fastening her seatbelt as I slid into the driver’s seat.