But I didn’t have one. “I don’t know about that. I don’t have to re-enlist. I can put that behind me. I do have a family to live for now. I never had anything before. I think knowing I’d leave behind people who love me and count on me would be a bad thing as far as missions go.”
She nodded. “If you went on a mission, I don’t know what I’d do. Freak out until you got back—that’s a given. But this is the government we’re talking about here. They don’t just let you out. Not right away.”
“I’ll have to give them the time I said I would. Another year. I could be sent on missions during that time. But I’d make sure to stay out of danger’s path. Knowing I’d have you and Tatum to come home to would make me stay as safe as I possibly could.”
“And after you get out, what would you do with yourself?” she asked as she eyed me. “Because I’m not about to give up my career. I’m not going to sit around this house like some old retired person. Staying here isn’t exactly a reality, Troy.”
“You can make a practice in Napa Valley.” I turned around to open the door, and she followed me out. “And I could work in the family business. I have a daughter to teach about it all now.”
“Yes, you do, don’t you?” She sighed. “You have lots to do with her.” She was starting to sound jealous and that was worrisome.
Would Blyss be jealous of my daughter? And how the hell would I fix it if she was?
Blyss
The day came when we were to meet Troy’s daughter face to face. I’d never seen the man so nervous. And I couldn’t recall a time I’d been that nervous either. I held his hand as we stood side by side, waiting outside the front door with his parents.
“I’m so excited!” his mother gushed. “It’s like Christmas when I was a kid. Only this time, it’s not some toy I’m getting. It’s a little granddaughter!” She clapped her hands and jumped up and down with excitement.
The car came into view and a lump lodged in my throat. It was time to see how I’d be able to handle everything. I’d battled myself over feeling worried, angry, and jealous over the kid. I reminded myself constantly that I never wanted anyone to experience not being wanted. Not ever!
I wasn’t about to treat some innocent child like I didn’t want her around, no matter what I had to do to make that happen. My guts were twisting and I took a deep breath to help ease that uncomfortable feeling.
The car stopped and Troy tugged me along with him to go meet them. “She’s probably going to be shy. That’s how I was when I met new people,” I told him. “Don’t let that get to you.”
“I won’t. Thanks for being here with me.” He kissed my cheek and gave my hand a squeeze. “I appreciate it more than you can understand.”
“I know you do. I’m glad I can do this for you.”
The passenger door opened and Mrs. Sandoval got out. Troy smiled at her. “Hello, you must be Mrs. Sandoval. I’m Troy.”
She looked at him with no emotion on her face. “I can see that. It’s nice to meet you. This must be your wife, Blyss.”
I extended my hand, and we shook them. Then she turned around to get the little girl out of the backseat as her husband came around to meet us. We exchanged hellos as my eyes stayed trained on the back door that Troy’s firstborn would soon get out of.
She was smaller than I thought she’d be. She was timid. I had a feeling she’d be that. I had a little gift for her and eased it behind my back to Troy. He took it and said, “Well, hello, Miss Tatum.” Holding out the little teddy bear with a pretty pink ribbon around one ear, he handed it to her. “This little fella wanted to hang out with you. Is that okay?”
She took the bear and cuddled it. “It’s cute. Thank you.” She looked down at the ground, then back up at Troy. “You got my eyes.”
He smiled and let my hand go so he could squat in front of her. “And you have mine.” He held out his arms. “Wanna come with me?” She nodded and moved into his arms. He hugged her as he picked her up and tears blurred my vision. They looked so much alike, and I could tell they would be inseparable. I thought I’d feel jealous, but I felt happy. I was even happier when he looked at me and a tear ran down his cheek. “Welcome to your new home, Tatum. I’m so happy to have you here.”
I followed right behind him as we all went inside. Troy’s parents were introducing themselves to Tatum’s grandparents as they followed behind us. I noticed his mother wiping tears out of her eyes and wiped mine too. I’d never seen anything so beautiful. And I knew, without a doubt, that little girl had just gained an entire family who would love her dearly. It was the greeting I’d always wanted but never got when I was moved from place to place.
Once we were inside, I took a seat on the far end of the sofa, leaving Troy to start bonding with his daughter. He sat down with her on his lap and looked at me. “What are you doing? Get over here.”
“You two should …”
His eyebrows raised. “Blyss, it’s not us two. We’re a family. Now, come here.”
Getting up, I looked at the little girl who looked at me. Her dark hair was pulled into two pigtails that spiraled down to her shoulders. “You have very pretty hair, Tatum.”
“So do you.” She smiled shyly, then buried her face in Troy’s chest. “Is she your wife?”
“She is,” he lied to her. It sent a chill through me that he had to do that.
“I think she’s pretty,” she said, then giggled.
“Me too.” He took my hand and pulled me to sit next to him. “Tatum, I want you to take this any way you want to. Fast, slow, however you want. I’m your daddy and this is your mommy, okay? But you can call us whatever you want to. My name is Troy and her name is Blyss.”
I felt horrible. I was as close to puking as one can get without it erupting all over the place. I wasn’t her mommy, and I felt it was wrong to tell her such a thing. He and I hadn’t talked about him telling her that. I was feeling angry at him, but then that little girl raised her head and smiled at me.
I gulped back the bile that had risen in my throat as she reached out and ran her little fist over my cheek. “I miss my mommy. You don’t look like her. But I want you to be my mommy now. Okay?”
I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. They oozed right on out of my eyes. I took her hand and held it to my cheek. “Baby girl, nothing would make me happier than to be your mommy.”
Her smile brought something to my heart it had never felt before. That heavy feeling went a few pounds heavier as love for her was added into it.
Troy chuckled. “Fast it is, then.” He took her by the chin. “I’m glad you’re here, Tatum. I have so much to show you.”
She gulped and said, “Daddy, I have to pee.”
Everyone laughed, and Troy got up to take her to the bathroom. I stayed put, but he held out his hand. “Come on, Mommy. Daddy has no clue how to help a little girl do her business.”
Out we went, leaving the others to talk amongst themselves while our new little family went to take care of business. I was overwhelmed with emotions. There were so many of them, it seemed quite possible I could pass out from experiencing so many at one time.
Tatum’s shyness was evaporating at lightning speed. “I knew ‘bout you for a long time, Daddy. But Papa said you just found out ‘bout me. He said you were happy when he told you ‘bout me. Were you?” She stared into his eyes and I had to laugh.
“I was very happy to hear about you.” He kissed the tip of her nose and she giggled.
The sound was amazing. I loved it. I loved all of it. And I loved Troy for making me a part of it all. The man had filled up my vacant world without even trying to.
As I helped Tatum undo her little rhinestone belt and helped her with the zipper, she chatted away. “How did you and my daddy meet?”
I was stumped. I hadn’t thought about how that story would go at all. Then Troy’s voice came through the door. “We met at a night club and Daddy fell in love instantly.”
“Oh!” she squealed as she tried
to climb up on the toilet.
“Shall I help you, Tatum?”
“Yes, please. I don’t want to fall in. I did one time and it was yucky and wet on my bobo.”
I helped her up and nodded. “That does sound bad.”
“So, did you love my daddy, insantly, impatnly…” she was having trouble with that word.
So I helped her out. “Instantly?”
“Yes! Did you? Cause my Daddy is handsome. I bet you did.”
“I did fall in love with him instantly.” Troy laughed and I pounded on the door. “What’s so funny out there?”
“Oh, nothing.”
I finished up Tatum’s potty time and we washed our hands, then went back out where Troy scooped her up and kissed her cheek. She put her little hands on his cheeks and kissed the tip of his nose. “I think I love you insanitily too.”
We laughed at how hard she tried to say the word right but couldn’t manage it. “Tatum, I’ve loved you from the moment I knew about you. And I think it’s time to show your grandparents their new home. We’re all a big family now. You can see them all the time too.”
Happiness radiated off her pretty little face as we went into the main living area. His mother got up. “Are we ready to take the Sandoval’s out to their new home?”
“We are,” Troy said, then we all walked through the house to get to the back door.
There was a lavish guest house on the other side of the backyard. Three bedrooms and four baths, along with three living areas, an office, and a bonus room that was all windows and filled with plants. Troy’s mom called it a green room.
The outside matched the main home beautifully, with dark woods and brown stones. A three-car garage was attached to the guest house too. The third bay was opened to reveal the golf cart that was in it. Troy’s father pointed out, “That’s for your use, Juan. Feel free to use it to go all over the winery. Make this place your home. We want you to feel absolutely comfortable here.”
Mrs. Sandoval was fanning herself. “This is just so beautiful! My goodness. Our old car will look even older in these surroundings.”
Mr. Sandoval was quick to add, “Never mind that, Lucy. I’ll get us a new one as soon as I can afford it.” He looked at Troy’s father with pride. “I retired a few years ago. Our budget is pretty strict, but I won’t bring the beauty of this place down with our car. I’ll keep the garage closed.”
Troy’s parents looked at one another, then his father winked. “Oh, I think we can set you up with something. We have fifteen cars. We can afford to let you two have a couple of them.”
Mrs. Sandoval put her hand to her chest, and I hurried to her side, putting my arm around her. “Please don’t let this overwhelm you, Mrs. Sandoval. We’re all family now. And family takes care of each other. These wonderful people taught me that. You’ll never find better people in the whole world than the Mastersons.”
Troy opened the front door and in we went. “Oh, my goodness!” Tatum shouted. “You’re giving this to Momo and Papa, Daddy?”
“This will be their home for as long as they want. They took such good care of you that I wanted to do something for them.” He kissed her cheek, something he just couldn’t seem to stop doing.
“This is too much!” Mrs. Sandoval said as she looked around the gorgeous home.
“Nonsense. We have a maid who cleans this home three times a week. And you can use our cook’s apprentice whenever you want. A groundskeeper takes care of the outdoors. You have no need to worry about a thing,” Troy’s mom said as she went to her and took her by the hand. “Come on. I want to show you the master suite. It has this great Jacuzzi tub.” Off they went as his father took Mr. Sandoval to show him some interesting man things.
“Do I have a bedroom here?” Tatum asked.
We’d made her one right next to ours, in hopes we’d get to settle her into a routine of living in the main house. Troy looked at me with a bit of worry in his expression.
I stepped in. “Well, there are three bedrooms here, and when Daddy and I are out of town, then you can sleep here. But we have your room all ready for you. It’s right next to ours. We’d like you to sleep there, Tatum. Daddy wants to read you bedtime stories. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“It would,” she said hesitantly. “But what if I get scared?”
“We put a little monitor right next to your bed. All you have to do is call out for us and we’ll wake up and rush to you.” I patted her on the back. “How does that sound?”
“It sounds like I want to go see my new bedroom. Can we do that now?” The smile she wore made my heart leap.
“Can we, Daddy?” I asked him.
“Sure.” He called out to everyone else, “My little princess wants to see her new bedroom, so we’re taking her to see it. We’ll meet you guys in the dining room at dinner.”
Tatum’s grandmother came out of the hallway. “You sure you want to stay over there, honey? You can stay with us, you know. We don’t want to rush you.”
“I want to go see my bedroom. I think I want to stay in it.” Tatum kissed her father’s cheek. “I love them already, Momo.”
Her grandmother nodded, and I saw a tear. “You go with your daddy and mommy, baby. Me and Popo are right here when you want to see us. We’re really glad that you love them already.”
“Me too!” Tatum shouted.
Off we went to show her the bedroom we’d put a lot of thought into. It was all going smoothly, something that had never happened when I went to a new place. I was happy the little girl, who’d lost her mother, wasn’t having similar experiences to mine. And I’d try hard to make sure she never did.
Troy
Our first night with Tatum was at hand and I was so worried she’d want to go sleep at her grandparents’ house that it made my stomach hurt. Blyss was drying Tatum’s hair after she’d given her a bubble bath. I heard them laughing and singing. It melted my heart in ways I didn’t know possible.
We’d bought a bunch of children’s books that I looked at as I sat on the edge of her bed. It looked like Cinderella’s coach that took her to the ball. Tatum had fallen in love with the room. That was a no-brainer, Blyss had said. I was happy things had gone so smoothly, but I had to be honest--bedtime was something I’d heard horror stories about when little kids were involved.
When the two finally emerged from Tatum’s private bathroom, I had to smile. She was all decked out in a pretty, little, pink nighty and some satin slippers that matched. Her dark curls hung to the middle of her back and I’d never seen a prettier little girl in my whole life.
I had to get up, pick her up, and hug her. “Oh my goodness. Daddy’s little girl looks so pretty. I could just eat you up, princess!”
Her giggle was already ruling me. I’d do anything to hear it.
“Should I leave you to it then, Daddy?” Blyss asked as she headed toward the door.
She was bound and determined to let me have alone time with Tatum. It’s not that I was afraid of that. I wasn’t. Not one bit. But I want Blyss and Tatum to form a bond too. I wanted my little family to have a tight bond, all three of us.
“Please stay,” Tatum cried out. “Please, Mommy! You can snuggle me while Daddy reads. Okay?”
Blyss was helpless to let the little girl down. “Okay, I’ll cuddle you.”
I put Tatum under the blanket as Blyss climbed up and snuggled up to her. Tatum was in hog heaven. She was eating up all the attention we were giving her, and I was glad she was.
One book was read, then another, and then one more before she was out. But so was Blyss. I turned out the light and laid down on the other side of my daughter. Right there, in that little bed, was the start of my family. I knew it, and all I needed to do was make Blyss my real wife.
I took Blyss’ left hand, looking at the wedding ring on her finger. It matched the one on my hand. How I wished she would stop worrying about making a real commitment. She and I were more married than most couples who were actually married. We thought
about one another all the time, and now that a child had been added, it was naturally falling into place.
I looked back and forth from my daughter to the woman I loved. There was no one I loved more than the other, already. It was crazy. I’d just met Tatum, and she had taken a prime spot in my heart that’s reserved just for one’s children. It felt awesome. But I wanted more. I was greedy. I wanted Blyss to carry my name, and as soon as she was ready, I wanted her to carry my child.
But I’d have to focus my attention on one thing at a time. The marriage was first. It had to be. I didn’t like lying to my child about it, nor her grandparents. Somehow or another, I had to get Blyss to accept a real proposal. The real question was how I’d get that goal accomplished.
When I tapped Blyss on the shoulder, her eyes popped open. “Did I fall asleep,” she whispered.
“You did. I’m excellent at telling bedtime stories, it seems. I think we should go get into our bed. What do you think?”
She ran her hand over Tatum’s head, then kissed her cheek. “I think she’ll be fine. And there’s the monitor. Let’s go to bed.”
We got off the bed as if we might set off a charge of dynamite and watched Tatum’s reaction to every move we made. She never stirred a bit. We were successful on our first night. That was a major accomplishment!
Neither of us could stop looking at the precious little bundle in the ornate bed. It was like pulling teeth to close that door. But we did it.
I picked Blyss up and carried her to our room, right next door. I took her all the way to our bed, then I kissed her before I laid her down. “I love you even more somehow.”
She held my face in her hands as she looked deep into my eyes. “I love you more too. Funny, isn’t it, how a child can stir up even more love in your heart than you knew it could hold. Do you think we even have room for more kids?”
“We most certainly do.” I pulled off my T-shirt, dropped my pajama bottoms, and pulled off her nightgown. “Now, let me put Mommy to sleep.” I eased my body between her legs and pushed my engorged cock into her soft, wet pussy. “I’ve been aching to do this all day. You being Mommy is hot as hell, Blyss.”
The Naughty One: A Doctor’s Christmas Romance (Season of Desire Book 2) Page 104