by Amy Brent
“Except, you know, childbirth,” I said.
My father chuckled as we pushed through the door to Devon’s room.
Chaos ensued. Nurses were bustling around the bed, and Heather was coaxing Devon through her breathing exercises. The doctor was prepping everything and looked up to meet my eye.
“Hey there, Dad. You ready to meet your son?”
“Uh,” I said lamely, looking at Devon, whose face was screwed up tight as she endured another contraction. “Yes,” I said more sharply, springing forward to Devon’s side. “We’re ready. Right, Dev?”
She looked up at me and nodded through the pain. I held out my hand. She grabbed on tight.
“Everyone out,” Devon muttered, “except for you and Heather.”
I nodded. “Clear out, Mom and Dad. I’ll be out to get you soon.”
My parents wished Devon and me good luck and exited the room, leaving the three of us alone with an overwhelming amount of hospital staff.
Before I knew what was happening, Devon’s legs were being raised and the doctor was between them. “We’re ready to start pushing, love. On the count of three.”
When she started pushing, her grip on my hand tightened like a vise. I gritted my teeth and didn’t say a word. She needed me, and I was going to do whatever it took to help her through this. Heather was on her other side speaking words of encouragement as Devon bore down.
I hated seeing her in pain. It was ripping me apart inside. When she took a quick break from pushing, I brushed her hair off her forehead and held rubbed my thumb on the back of her hand.
“You’re doing so great, babe.”
She tried to answer me, but the doctor told her to start pushing again. Her hand tightened on mine once more, and we rode out the second round of pushing.
This routine continued for what felt like ages. When there was another burst of commotion, the doctor announced that he could see the head. This encouraged Devon to push harder. She could see the finish line. She was almost through it. I told her so, and she pushed, her teeth clenched and eyes closed, until all of a sudden, a single cry filled the room.
“Here he is!” the doctor cried.
My throat tightened, and a wave of emotion rolled over me. Devon’s head fell back on the pillow, and she closed her eyes as the doctor and nurses bustled around her to clean her up and cut the umbilical cord. Then the baby was swept away to be cleaned, checked, and bundled. Once they had a silver identification band on him, they brought him back to us.
A nurse with bright blond hair went to hand the baby to Devon. She looked up at me. “His daddy should hold him first,” she said, her lips curled into a smile. She was still sweaty and pale, but she looked beautiful.
The nurse came around to my side of the bed. She told me how to cradle him, and then she slipped him into my arms. He was wrapped in a pale blue swaddle. All that was showing was his tiny, pink little face. He had a perfect, round nose and lips that looked like Devon’s.
The tightness in my throat overcame me. I cried as I held my son. He was so perfect, and I was astounded to feel so full of love and joy. I had never loved anything as much as I loved this new little human.
I hadn’t had my fill of him yet, but I knew Devon should hold him, so I turned to her and lowered him into her arms. She held him to her like a natural and ran her finger over his nose. She kissed his tiny little forehead and cried openly on the hospital bed. Heather cried with her.
A nurse brought me a chair, and I sat beside the bed watching my son and his mother. There had truly never been a more wonderful sight.
The nurses brought my parents and Liam in shortly after, and we all celebrated the birth of our little boy.
“Do you have a name for him?” my father asked as he held the little blue bundle.
I looked at Devon.
“I kind of feel like he’s an Eric,” she said. “What do you think. Ethan?”
“Eric,” I said, liking how it felt on my tongue. “Yeah. Eric. The newest Garrison.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Devon
Eric was strapped and swaddled to my chest as I made my way out of the clinic. Eric was sucking his thumb with his eyes closed. He winced under the brightness of the warm sun, and I cupped his head closer to my chest, feeling his warm cheek against the bare skin beneath my neck. There was no greater feeling in the world.
“You’re exactly six weeks old today, my little bean,” I cooed to Eric as I made my way to the limo. Eddison was holding open the door for me, and there was a smile on his lips that lit up his eyes. He loved baby Eric and always stole a peek at him whenever I got into the car. I slipped into the back seat and detached the carrier from my torso to put Eric in his car seat. I buckled him in and fixed the little beanie on his head, pulling it down to cover most of his ears. “You’re a happy and healthy baby boy,” I said, bopping him gently on the nose before buckling myself in.
Eddison pulled away from the curb, and I spent the entire drive admiring my baby beside me. I let him curl his tiny fingers around my pinky, and I whispered lovingly to him until we were back home.
I was so excited to go inside. The doctor had checked me as well as my baby and given me the green light in terms of returning to my usual routines. This meant I was cleared for sex again, and not being able to make love with Ethan had been a bit of a struggle for me for six whole weeks. Ethan played it off well, insisting he could wait and that he didn’t want to push when I wasn’t ready.
He was much more reasonable than me and always had been. And patient.
I swaddled Eric to my chest and made my way through the lobby and up the elevator. Eric was content against me, and I could read all the signs that he would be ready to be put down for a nap when we got inside. It would probably only be an hour if I was lucky, but it was something. Then I could spend some much needed alone time with Ethan.
The elevator doors chimed as they drew open, and I made for our front door. It was unlocked. I stepped in, closed it behind me, and then turned around and stopped in my tracks.
Ethan was there as he always was to greet me. But this time, he was down on one knee. It took a moment for me to register what was happening.
“Oh,” I inhaled sharply, my eyes taking in the sight of him before falling to the small blue velvet ring box he held in one hand.
“Devon Marie Mansfield,” Ethan said, his eyes locked on mine, “ever since we started this crazy journey, I’ve known things could never go back to how they were. And I didn’t want them to. In just a short time, we’ve built a life together. We have a beautiful son. We have each other. There is nothing else I want more than our family. I was wealthy when you came into my life, but I’m rich now. Rich because of you. I want to finish this adventure together because you’re the love of my life. Will you marry me?”
Ethan opened the ring box. The light from the chandelier above caught the diamonds and sent sparkling reflections all over the ceiling and walls. I didn’t look at the ring, not yet. All I could see was the man I loved on his knees asking to be mine forever.
I was crying. Nothing could have prepared me for this moment. Everything was perfect.
“Yes,” I said, nodding fiercely and holding Eric to me. “Yes!”
Ethan rose from his knee and took my left hand. He held my ring finger gently and slipped the dazzling diamond ring over my knuckle.
It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was white gold with a band that was covered in frosted diamonds. The biggest diamond was set in a halo and was round, which flattered my small hand. Colors bounced in the diamonds from the light, and I wondered for half a second how much money such an exquisite thing would cost.
“It’s gorgeous,” I said through my tears.
“You deserve nothing but the best,” Ethan whispered, leaning in to kiss me.
Then he held me close, careful not to squish Eric, and we stood in an embrace for a full minute.
“I’m so happy,” I whispered. “I hav
e everything I could ever need. You and our beautiful son. There is nothing better.”
Ethan pulled away and held my face in his hands. “You are what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I just didn’t know it.” Then he kissed me passionately, his fingers sliding into my hair and his teeth grinding against my bottom lip.
I forced him away with a giggle. “Let’s put Eric down for a nap,” I said, and then gave Ethan a wink. “The doctor has told me we’re good to go.”
“Really?” Ethan asked, one eyebrow arching dramatically as that devilish, crooked smile of his appeared. He walked behind me toward the nursery, peeking over my shoulder at a half-asleep Eric while he held my ass in his hands. “You better sleep for a while there, kid,” Ethan said. “Your mom and I have a lot of time to make up for because of you.”
“And a lot to celebrate,” I added with a wry smile.
“Indeed,” Ethan said, kissing the back of my neck as we went into the nursery.
I lowered Eric into his bassinet. Soon, he would be ready for his crib. He wiggled around for a minute as Ethan and I stood over him. Ethan wrapped a hand around my waist and tugged me to his side. It was the one place I felt like I fit better than anywhere else. We watched our son drift off to sleep, and once we were sure he was down for the count, Ethan took my hand and pulled me out of the room. The baby monitor was on, and we wouldn’t have anything to worry about for the next sixty minutes.
Hopefully.
We half-ran, half-skipped to the bedroom, giggling like high school kids about to have sex for the first time. Ethan closed the bedroom door behind us.
“Why are you doing that?” I asked, unzipping my jeans and wiggling them down my thighs.
“I don’t know,” Ethan said lamely. “I don’t want him to hear us I guess.”
“He’s six weeks old,” I teased as I pulled my shirt over my head. “Even if he does hear us, he won’t know what it is. Besides, this is what made him.”
Ethan’s eyes raked over my now nearly naked body. I let him take in the sight of the curve of my hips, my thighs, my ankles, everything. Then, I slowly took off my panties, twirled them in my fingers, and shot them at him like an elastic.
He burst out laughing as they hit him in the chest and fell to the ground at his feet. Then, he came for me with the clear intention of ravaging me in his eyes.
I squealed as he picked me up and spun me around. He carried me to the bed and tossed me down on the mattress. I propped myself up on my elbows and watched him undress in front of me. He was all rippling muscle and broad shoulders. He had kept the stubble on his jaw because he knew I liked it so much. He was a dad. He was my fiancé. He was everything.
I continued squealing and giggling playfully as he climbed on top of me. He pinned my arms above my head with one hand and tried to give me his most menacing glare. I could see the humor in the corners of his mouth, but I played along anyway.
“Are you ready to have your socks blown off?” he asked me.
I nodded.
“Speak,” he demanded.
“Yes,” I purred, wiggling my hips beneath him teasingly. “I’m ready.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, his eyebrow arching in that way I liked so much.
“Pretty sure.”
He grinned as he straddled me, and then he showered me with kisses, starting with my mouth. He worked his way to my ear, which he pinched with his teeth, and then made his way down my neck to trail kisses along my collarbones.
Wetness bloomed between my legs. It had been so long. I was aching for him the same way I used to when we first started fucking. The tightness I had become so used to was gathering below my belly with the anticipation, and he had barely even touched me yet.
His kisses fell lower to my breasts, where he licked my nipples knowing how sensitive they were from feeding Eric. He continued down, down my stomach, over my belly button, to the heat between my legs. He kissed me there, too, pressing his lips to my clit softly and looking up at me.
I could only see his dark eyes, eyebrows, and hair as he tasted me. The view alone was enough to make my head swim with need.
“I need you inside me,” I said. “Now.”
Ethan met my request by standing, pushing my legs open, and leaning over to grab a condom from the nightstand. He rolled it on as he stared at my breasts and belly. He put a hand flat on my stomach as he held himself between my legs.
Then he entered me.
I had never felt anything like it. He felt so much bigger than I remembered. I felt so much tighter. I didn’t know how that was possible. I had been doing the exercises the doctor recommended, and I had been diligent about it, but I had never expected them to work so well.
“Holy shit,” Ethan breathed, his eyes closing as he moved in and out of me. “You’re so tight.”
I smiled up at him as he pressed down on my lower stomach with his hand. This made his cock hit a particularly wonderful spot inside me.
“You’re huge,” I breathed, lifting my ass off the bed so he could enter me deeper.
He held my hips, so I didn’t have to balance myself. He pushed in, his cock stretching me as he forced me to take all of him. I moaned as that tightness grew more intense. I grabbed hold of the sheets beneath me as he quickened his pace, thrusting in and out of me hard and fast.
All at once, the tightness was gone, and it gave way to a feeling of warmth that spread throughout my whole body. Everything tingled as I came, and I shook in Ethan’s hands. He held me up until I was weak with pleasure, and then he turned me over and entered me from behind.
I loved that he was being rough with me again. When I was pregnant, there wasn’t very much room for that kind of thing, and I knew Ethan had always been concerned about hurting me or the baby. But now, things were like they had been in the beginning.
He entered me and forced my head down on the bed. He slapped my ass, and the sting was more pleasure than it was pain. I moaned and bit my bottom lip. He slapped me a second time, harder this time, and I yelped playfully and wiggled my ass, his cock pressing up against all the walls of my pussy.
He groaned deeply in his throat and thrust into me deeper, pulling my hips against his desperately.
I came again. It rushed over me before I knew it was happening, and I stifled my scream in the sheets.
When I was done, I pulled away from him. His cock sprang out of me, and I looked over my shoulder at him.
I rubbed my pussy for him and let him watch. “Lie down,” I told him. “I want to ride you.”
Ethan never took his eyes off me as he lay down on his back. I knew what he liked, and I knew the view he wanted when we were fucking. I put my back to him and straddled him. I lifted my hips off his, curving my spine to give him a view of my ass and pussy.
He held his cock up for me to sit on.
When he was inside me, I rotated my hips slowly, keeping my back arched so he could see what I was doing.
He grabbed my ass with both hands and squeezed before spreading me open. I bounced up and down on him and braced myself with a hand on each of his muscular thighs.
I could get him so deep inside me this way. It felt so good. I looked up to the ceiling and closed my eyes as I fucked him. I held my breasts to stop them from bouncing and massaged them gently.
Then, when I knew the moment was close for him, I lowered my hand and rubbed my clit. Ethan’s grip tightened on my ass, and I heard him suck in a sharp breath. His cock pulsed inside me, and I continued bouncing, my finger rolling over my clit in quick circles.
When he came, so did I. I followed him on his wave, and we both sighed with pleasure as I rocked above him.
When we were done, I fell to the bed beside him. He pulled a pillow closer and tucked it under my head.
“So, first time having sex as fiancés,” he said.
I looked up at him and grinned. I was still a bit out of breath, and my whole body was still giving way to little spasms of pleasure every fifteen seconds or so. “Fi
ancée. I like how that sounds.”
“Me too,” Ethan said, clasping his hands behind his head. “How do you feel about an October wedding?”
I blinked up at him. October was only three months away. “This year?”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“I would love that,” I said honestly. I would be married to the man of my dreams in three months. Why wouldn’t I love that?
Ethan pulled me closer to him. I nestled into his side and rested my cheek on his chest. He twirled a strand of my hair in his fingers.
Then, we heard baby Eric hiccup through the baby monitor. We both exchanged a knowing look before swinging out of the bed to get dressed and go check on our bundle of joy.
Epilogue
Ethan
I adjusted the silver cufflinks at the collar of my suit jacket and clasped my hands in front of me. I took a shaky breath as the music began playing.
Liam nudged me in the back. “Here we go, buddy!”
I swallowed. This was it. This was the big day. As I looked down the red velvet carpet laid out on the grass, I tried to calm my nerves.