by Parker, Ali
While he had been there for us as much as he could after she left, he certainly hadn’t been there for any of us before that. I didn’t want to repeat his mistakes.
The company was older and more established now, but it still demanded a lot of attention. Perhaps not more so than when I was young, but not much less either. It was going to be a struggle to be there for Aston and the baby while at the same time making sure I didn’t run my dad’s company and legacy into the ground.
I was determined to do it, though. To the very best of my ability. Both Aston and the company deserved my full attention, but I was going to have to find a way to split it between both in such a way that neither was neglected.
Aston started stirring beside me, her nose crinkling in the cutest way before her eyes fluttered open. She snuggled into my side, smiling sleepily as she looked up at me. “Good morning.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead and one to the tip of her nose. “Did you sleep well?”
“Well enough,” she sighed. Bringing her head up to rest on my shoulder, she nuzzled my neck. “I’m trying to take advantage of every full night of sleep I can get now. Apparently, I’ll start waking up to go to the bathroom every few hours within the next few months.”
“And then we’ll be waking up every few hours for a newborn,” I mused. “I guess I’d better stock up on sleep for as long as I can then, too.”
Aston’s eyes slid down to where my hand was still resting on her stomach. They widened in surprise before her expression became playful. “It won’t be kicking for at least the next four months or so, but maybe if you feel hard enough you can try to feel it growing.”
“I was just trying to encourage it to grow well,” I grinned. “It’s important for the baby to know that dear old Dad is rooting for it on the outside.”
“Oh, of course. I’ve heard that.” Aston teased, giggling. “It’s crucial for the baby’s development.”
Curving my hand over her side, I dug my fingers gently into the flesh and tickled her as I brought my mouth to her jaw to nip her lightly. “That’s enough of that, sassy. Feeling my encouragement might not be crucial to its development, but proper nutrition for you is. Out of bed, come on! Let’s go get my baby some breakfast.”
“That’s an order I can abide by,” she said, swatting my hand away from her side and rolling to the edge of the bed. “I’ll shower first.”
I scooted off the bed, tapping her firm ass covered only by a pair of skimpy pajama shorts as she walked by me. “No deal. We’ll shower together.”
Turning around to face me, she planted her hand on her hip and lifted an eyebrow. “Will we now?”
“Indeed we will.” I strode over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist and tugging her to my chest. I didn’t give a shit about morning breath, lowering my mouth to claim hers in a deep kiss.
Aston moaned softly, a noise that never failed to get me going. Dropping my hands to her thighs, I lifted her against my stomach. She didn’t hesitate to loop her legs around my hips and hook her ankles together behind my ass.
We had a clear path to the bathroom. I knew this suite like the back of my hand, so it was no problem to navigate our way as I walked us into the bathroom without breaking the kiss.
Aston was so soft in my arms. She felt so damn good. Clinging to me, she twisted her fingers into my hair and tugged at the strands. It was a move I was a sucker for and she knew it.
I groaned deeply, devouring her mouth with renewed vigor. When I finally set her down on the counter, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing deeply. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. You can shower with me.”"
“Gee,” I said with a grin, giving her a nip on the collarbone. “Thanks.”
Aston laughed and hopped off the counter, turning her back to me as she pulled off her tank top and shimmied out of the shorts. Giving me a coy look over her shoulder, she crooked her finger at me and walked into the shower.
A second later, I heard the water starting to run and her lacy panties were flung over the top metal rail of the stone and glass enclosure. If there ever was an unspoken invitation I was going to accept, this was the one.
Shoving my black drawstring pants past my semi-hard cock and down to the floor, I walked into the shower to join her. Steam was already pouring out of the large square shower when I opened the door.
Aston was standing with her head tilted back under the stream of water pouring down on her from the octagonal showerhead above. The way she was standing thrust her breasts forward alluringly. Enticed by the hardened nubs, I bent my head down and sucked one into my mouth.
She gasped, pushing her chest deeper into me. “Blake.”
“Hmm?” I swirled my tongue around the peak, groaning as my hands roamed down her slick sides.
“I thought you wanted to go to breakfast,” she whispered, barely audible over the water running over us and onto the stone floor.
“Later.” I told her, kissing my way up her chest to her mouth. There was no more talking as I sealed my lips to hers, savoring the way she stepped closer to me. Her stomach pressed up against my erection, causing it to twitch and throb.
When we finally stepped out of the shower, sated and flushed, Aston grinned. “This is why we each should’ve showered alone. It’s much faster.”
“Fuck that.” I handed her a towel before grabbing one for myself, lifting it to my head to dry off my hair. “It was worth it. Wasn’t it? Nothing like building up an appetite before heading down to breakfast.”
“I guess we’ll get better value for our money now. I feel like I could eat the entire buffet.” She winked at me, knotting the towel between her breasts before reaching for another one for her hair.
We fell into an easy rhythm together, moving by each other like it was a choreographed dance we’d rehearsed for years as we each did our own thing. Once our teeth were brushed and we were dressed and ready, we headed to breakfast.
“I’m never going to get over this spread,” Aston said with a sigh, picking up a plate and selecting various fruits before drizzling it with yogurt.
I cocked my head, scratching my chin before following her lead. “Maybe you don’t have to. We could always move into one of the suites if you wanted to.”
She lowered her voice, raising both eyebrows disbelievingly. “Raise the baby in a hotel?”
Rocking my head from side to side, I reconsidered. “Okay, fair point. I’ll keep working on it.”
“You do that,” she smiled, turning to find a seat at one of the nearby tables. The dining room was full, but not packed. Aston kept her voice low as she continued once I took my seat. “You know, the baby and I could always stay at my apartment and you could come and go when you could.”
“No,” I said firmly. “I don’t mean no to your apartment, I know you love it there. No to me coming and going. There’s going to be a lot of traveling in my future, but I’m hoping to get most of it done before the baby is born. Even if I have to keep traveling often for a while after it’s born, I won’t be a temporary figure.”
“I know,” she smiled, leaning over to take my hand across the table. “You’re going to be an amazing father. I know you’ll be there as much as you can.”
I laced her fingers with mine and squeezed. “That’s more like it.”
“Speaking of all the traveling you have to do, what’s on your agenda for tomorrow? Being Monday and all, I’m sure you have to get back to work.”
“I do.” Sometime this coming week, I would have to go to New York. My stomach clenched at the thought of leaving Aston and the baby alone. I wondered how long it would be before I would be able to leave her without feeling sick about it. “But before I have to get back to it, we should go to the doctor. I’ll call early and make an appointment for us. I want to be there for that before I even think about doing anything else. All the other stuff can wait.”
“Okay.” Excitement lit her eyes, shining like a beacon. “That sounds great. I can’t wait to see this lit
tle bean for the first time.”
Strangely, I felt the same way. For the first time, I could feel my own excitement mounting for what tomorrow would bring.
Chapter 54
Aston
“Mommy! Look at that.” An excited toddler pointed to a picture of a newborn baby printed on a canvas in the doctor’s waiting room. “It’s a baby. Is that my little sister?”
The mom smiled, ruffling his light blonde hair as she shook her head and pointed to her protruding belly. “No honey. Your sister is still inside Mommy’s tummy, do you remember? You saw her picture last week on the doctor’s machine.”
His little face crumpled in thought. “How did she get into Mommy’s tummy again? I want to draw a picture for her. Can I draw Mommy? Now?”
The women reached into a gigantic diaper bag open on the floor. With what looked like great effort, she managed to reach a coloring book and some crayons. Plopping down on the floor, the boy kept chatting as he took the book and the crayons from her and proceeded to scribble all over the page.
Blake and I exchanged a glance. We were waiting for our appointment along with three other women, two of whom had very active toddlers with them. All of the women had to be much further along in their pregnancies than I was, since they all had large bellies and looked significantly more uncomfortable than I was feeling.
The walls were lined with pictures of babies, diagrams of what would happen at each appointment, and a number of posters advertising everything from prenatal testing and cord blood saving services to maternity clothing and first aid courses.
Nervousness made it hard for me to sit still. The moms, the kids, and the pictures on the wall were making things feel all too real. In a few short months, my belly would be as big as theirs and after that, I would have to come for the postnatal check-ups outlined on the diagrams, and with our baby in tow.
Or would Blake look after the baby while I came for the visits alone? Maybe we would have a nanny to help out when I couldn’t be there. My head spun with all the things we had to consider and make decisions about.
“Ms. Brier?” A plump nurse called my name, drawing me out of my thoughts. Her eyes searched the room until they met mine. With a soft smile, she said, “If you would follow me please. The doctor will see you next.”
A heavily pregnant woman waddled out from the hallway behind the nurse, patting her belly as she passed her and walked to the receptionist. “I’ll see you next week, Rhonda. Have a good one.”
The nurse gave her belly a pointed look. “We might be seeing you before the end of the week.”
“I wish.” The woman laughed. “It’s about time for this little madam to make her appearance.”
“She does seem to be rather comfortable in there.” The nurse sympathized, then turned her attention back to me. “Ms. Brier?”
Blake and I stood up just as the nurse turned to show us down the hall off the waiting area. “You and your husband can follow me. We’ll just take you in here first. We need to weigh you and check your blood pressure. Your husband can wait across the hall in the exam room. We won’t be a minute.”
Firmly avoiding Blake’s eyes, I awkwardly tried to correct the nurse. “Oh, he’s not my husband. He is—uh—”
The nurse waved a hand, then pressed it to her chest. “No need to explain. I apologize for assuming. Things get so busy around here I sometimes don’t stop to think before I talk.”
She flashed me an apologetic smile then pointed Blake to the exam room and led me into a room with a chair, blood pressure monitor, computer and a couple of other gadgets. “You can hop on the scale first. We need your weight as a baseline to use from now on and then we’ll need to make sure your blood pressure is holding up.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, though I had no idea why I was thanking her for wanting to weigh me. Thankfully, I wasn’t the kind of girl who freaked out about scales.
We went through the motions, the nurse carefully taking note of things as we went along. When we were done, she smiled and led me to the exam room where Blake was waiting.
Concern clouded his eyes. He watched as the nurse got me settled on the bed, tucked paper towels into the waistband of my jeans and lifted my shirt. Butterflies zoomed around my stomach as I glanced at the ultrasound machine next to the bed.
In a matter of minutes, we would be seeing an image of our baby for the first time. It was kind of weird to think the little wand thing sitting innocently in its cradle next to the machine was capable of seeing right into my uterus and showing me what was growing there.
When the nurse left, Blake came to stand next to the bed. “You okay?”
“So far, so good.” I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was hard to hide the nerves. “How are you feeling?”
Grinning, he ran his hands through his hair before he lowered them to grab my hand. “I can’t lie to you, I’m bit nervous.”
“Thank God.” I squeezed his hand, pressing his slightly sweaty palm to my own. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one freaking out a little inside.”
“Definitely not,” he agreed. Eyes darting around the room until they finally came to rest on mine, he managed a grin. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this with anyone else. Being here is a little intimidating, isn’t it?”
“Very.” The atmosphere was fine, friendly and warm even. But it was nerve racking not knowing what to expect next, yet knowing what we were about to see was going to cement the change coming into our lives.
I looked up at Blake, taking in the stubble peppering his jawline and how his blue eyes met mine under slanting long lashes as he gazed down at me. In that moment, I knew I wouldn’t have wanted to be doing this with anyone else, either. “You’re the only person I want to be doing this with, too.”
He winked, breaking some of the tension in the room. “Good, cause you’re stuck doing it with me.”
“Darn,” I joked, clicking my fingers. Just as I was about to try what probably would’ve been a lame attempt at a joke, the door opened.
A middle aged, greying man walked into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He glanced down at the tablet he was carrying. “Aston Brier, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Doctor Evans.”
He walked over to the side of the bed and smiled first at me, then at Blake who extended his hand to the doctor. “Blake McAllen.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Blake.” I liked how he immediately started using our first names. The interaction between that woman and the nurse out in the waiting room, as well as the way she had treated me during the preliminary tests, I got the distinct feeling that these people became like your family during the pregnancy.
The ease with which the doctor was treating us was adding to that feeling. “Right, let’s get started. I have the results for the blood test you had earlier this morning. You’re definitely pregnant. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” I blushed. Blake’s grip on my hand tightened.
The doctor started gently pushing on my abdomen, fixing me with a friendly smile. “How have you been feeling?”
I thought back over the last few days. “I’ve been tired and a little nauseous. My breasts are tender and I seem to have developed a tendency to become emotional over silly things.”
Doctor Evans gave me a good-natured smile. “That’s all completely normal. You’re going to become tired of hearing it, but most things are normal so long as they come in waves and aren’t crippling.”
“So, I’m just going to have to buck up and bear it, huh?” I grinned nervously.
He lifted his hand and tilted it from side to side. “There are some things you can do to mitigate the symptoms, but I’m afraid for as long as there is something inside you that needs your energy and nutrients in order to grow and is doing a number on your hormones, the symptoms are going to remain present to some extent.”
“What can we do to ease the symptoms?” Blake asked, his voice a touch more gravelly than I was used to. It was cle
ar he was worried about me. I hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about how I was feeling, so I didn’t say too much to him about it before now.
The doctor pressed the corners of his mouth in, shaking his head. “I’m afraid there’s not much you can do, Dad.”
Blake paled a little at being called Dad, but nodded dutifully as the doctor continued. “Your job is to make Mom’s life as easy as possible and to understand the mood swings and the occasional emotional outbursts.”
“I can do that,” he said, sounding more confident than he looked. “Anything else?”
“Lots of support. Your role for now is a supportive one while Mom here is spending her time and effort growing the baby.”
With another smile at Blake, he cast his eyes to mine. “You, young lady, need to remember to give yourself a break if you need it. Most of what ails you during pregnancy can be eased with a nap, staying hydrated and eating small, healthy meals as often as you need to.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.” If only I could nap and eat while Blake saw to everything else, that would’ve been wonderful. But it also wasn’t me. I had the hotel to look after and with all the changes Blake was going through, I had to be there to support him too. “What can I do if I can’t nap and need to keep going?”
The doctor didn’t seem at all surprised by my question. “It’s best to slow down if you need to. If you can’t take a nap, just take a break. Have a glass of water and take a minute to get off your feet and recharge. Sometimes it will be enough, other times it won’t. The symptoms you mentioned should start easing up naturally after the first trimester.”
“It gets easier?” I thought I was going to be stuck feeling like this until the baby finally came. Hopeful that the doctor would have good news for me, I waited for his answer.
Unfortunately, he shook his head sympathetically. “Well, I said these symptoms would ease up, but others will take their place soon enough. Generally speaking though, the second trimester is much easier than the first or the third. You’ll start getting your energy back, the nausea should subside and you won’t be starting to feel too big and uncomfortable yet.”