by Toni Aleo
He was surprised how much the upcoming wedding affected him. He should be happy for her; she loved this kid something crazy, but man, the thought that she wouldn’t be his but that little shit’s killed him inside. Phillip loved Claire more than an uncle ordinarily would, but that was because she was basically his. He was lucky to have such a beautiful, successful young lady as his niece—well, his daughter. He hadn’t referred to her as his niece in a really long time. She was his daughter. His heart. And he wasn’t about to hand that over to some little punk. Yeah, he’d agreed to it and had given Jude his blessing, but still it was a tough pill to swallow.
He’d hoped maybe she’d say no.
Taking a long pull of his drink, he groaned when his phone rang. He knew it was his wife, and while he wanted nothing more than to hear her voice, he knew he was about to get bitched out.
No reason to prolong the inevitable, he thought as he answered.
“Don’t you think you’re a little too old to be fighting? I mean, come on, he’s a kid.”
“A punk, had to shut him up,” he informed her and smiled when she let out an annoyed breath. He loved driving her insane.
“Um, he knocked you on your ass. So really, who shut whom up?”
Phillip glared. “Are you my wife or his?”
“Oh hush, if you didn’t go fighting our future son-in-law, then I wouldn’t tease you.”
“He had it coming.”
“Well, I think it is just silly.”
“Well, I think he is an asshole.”
“He’s the asshole marrying our baby, so I’m going to need you to suck it up and accept him.”
His response was a grunt, but his smile was back when she laughed. Her laugh was so airy and happy; it always hit him straight in the core. He loved to make her laugh. And scream. “I miss you, woman.”
“Aw, I miss you. Sawyer and I are making ornaments.”
Disappointed, he said, “I thought you were going to wait for me.”
“We are only doing the little ones. We’ll do our family ones together.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I think I might wait till Claire gets in. She should be home in a couple days, even though for a minute there, I thought she wasn’t coming.”
Phillip panicked a bit. Everything had already changed so much; he needed Claire to come home for Christmas. “Huh? Why?”
“Jude has a game in New York.”
“So?”
She scoffed. “Well, she wants to be with her fiancé.”
“But we are her family.”
“Phillip, come on,” she deadpanned. “You can’t blame her for wanting to be with him.”
“Yes, I can,” he said grumpily. “I don’t like this.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell.”
He glared even though she wasn’t in front of him as she said, “She’s coming home, he told her to, so she wouldn’t miss Christmas with us since he was flying in and out. He won’t even be able to see his family. They are going to do a late Christmas before New Year’s. Apparently his momma isn’t too happy, but she is dealing.”
He knew he was being selfish, but he was glad that Claire was coming home. “She isn’t happy about it, though?”
“Nope, not at all.”
He kind of felt bad. He wanted her to be happy. So swallowing his pride, he said, “Did you tell her it was okay to go to New York?”
“Yeah, but Jude talked her out of it. He doesn’t want her to miss Christmas with us.”
He grunted again. “Guess I can’t hate the kid that much, huh?”
“It would be nice if you didn’t since very soon, he is going to be our son-in-law,” she reminded him.
“Did she give you a date?” he asked quickly. “I haven’t heard anything.”
“Nope, but they are figuring it out. I think it’s gonna be June.”
“Ugh,” he grunted again.
She giggled. “It’s going to be great.”
“It’s going to be hell.”
When the stool beside him was pulled out, he looked over to see Jude and instantly rolled his eyes. The only thing that pleased him was that his nose was swollen. At least he knew they wouldn’t be getting married anytime soon.
“All right, let me call you back. The punk just sat next to me.”
Reese laughed. “Be nice and tell him I said hi.”
“Yeah, love you.”
“Love you.”
Hanging the phone up, he looked over again and said, “What do you want?”
“I was told I had to apologize to you. Apparently I am an instigator.”
Phillip scoffed. “You think?”
Jude smirked as he shrugged. “I like harassing you.”
“And I like hitting you,” Phillip said, cheersing his drink to Jude before taking a long pull.
“Yeah, so, um…how about we bury the hatchet?”
“I’d rather chop you up with it,” he said as cool as a cucumber, and Jude found that rather funny.
“Really, though,” he said once his laughter subsided. “Claire doesn’t want us fighting. We are getting married soon. You’re going to be my father-in-law. I don’t want us to be jerks to each other. We both love the same girl, you know?”
Not able to look at him, Phillip nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’m going to love her till the day I die. I can promise you that. I won’t ever hurt her.”
He hated how the tears stung his eyes. He didn’t want to trust this kid to do that because no one could love or protect her the way he could, but as he met the kid’s gaze, he could see it in his eyes. Jude wasn’t going to let anything happen to Claire, and Phillip knew that. That’s why he’d given him his blessing to marry his special girl.
“I’ll kill you if you break her heart.”
He nodded. “I’ll let you. I’m not going to do that.”
“Good,” he said with a nod. “Are you old enough to drink yet?”
Jude laughed. “Yeah.”
“Let me buy you a drink then. We can shoot the shit before I’m ready to go to bed.”
Jude nodded, a smile pulling at his lips. “I’d like that.”
Phillip didn’t like the idea of it at all, but he tried.
For Claire.
Running her fingers through her sweet boy’s hair, Reese smiled as Sawyer drifted off to sleep. He had been fighting her lately, but it was only when Phillip was gone. Thankfully, she was patient and didn’t mind sitting with him until he fell asleep. It was hard being without his daddy, she knew that, but when he woke up, Phillip would be home.
Thank God.
Her smile grew as Sawyer pursed his lips, his eyelashes kissing his cheeks as he dreamed about whatever the hell little boys dreamed of. Probably hockey, since he was Phillip’s son. He looked so much like Phillip too, which helped when he was gone. She was so lucky to be his mommy and couldn’t wait till Claire got home. Then their family would be complete again. At least for a little while before she had to go back home.
It had been hard living the last year without her, but they talked every day and it helped. Claire was her best friend and she hated being without her, but she wanted nothing more than for Claire to live her dreams. She was doing that, running the most successful burlesque club in Vegas, making a lot of money. She was amazing, and while it sucked for Reese as a mother, she couldn’t be happier for Claire.
Kissing Sawyer’s forehead, she slowly got out of bed and made it out of the room without a peep from her little man. So much had changed in the last couple years. She’d not only married the man of her dreams and helped raise a successful young lady, but she had a child of her own. Something she’d never thought would happen. Some days she wanted another one, but it made her nervous. Phillip, Claire, and Sawyer took all her love and then some. Could she love another one? She knew she could, but it was nerve-racking.
So much was happening. Claire was getting married, Harper was having a miracle baby, Piper would more than likely be changing
careers at any moment, and then Reese’s business was booming. Life was insane; did she really want to add another to that? Entering the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of tea before opening her computer to send out invoices to her dance moms. When the door opened though, she was surprised when she saw Phillip.
With a bright grin, she watched as he threw his bag down and headed for her. “You’re home early.”
“Yeah,” he said simply before wrapping his arms around her. “I missed you.”
She grinned as she kissed him deeply, his fingers playing with the hair at the nape of her neck. Pulling back, she rolled her eyes when she saw his blackened eye and the bruise along his jaw. He was so immature when it came to their future son-in-law.
“Where’s my little man?”
“Sleeping.”
“Good,” he said before lifting her off her feet and onto the counter.
“What are you doing?” she giggled as he pulled down her dance shorts and panties with one swoop, throwing them to the ground.
“I’m hungry,” he said simply before dropping his mouth to her core.
“Good God!” she gasped as he slid his tongue up her nether lips. Opening her up, he sucked her clit into his mouth, his fingers biting into her thighs as he devoured her with no cares in the world. Closing her eyes, she moved against his mouth, searching for her release. He drove her mad and she loved that he always wanted her. She used to worry that their need for each other would die out, but it still burned like the first moment she’d had the pleasure of having him in her. He was by far the hottest lover she had ever had, and she was more than happy that he was her last.
Coming off the counter, she came hard against his mouth, crying out his name as he continued to flick his tongue ruthlessly against her clit. Squeezing the edge of the counter, she cried out his name, trying to get away, but he wasn’t letting her go. Sliding his finger inside her, he began to fuck her as she thrashed mindlessly underneath him.
“Fucking hell,” she cried as her orgasm started to build again. Holding on, she took the mind-blowing pleasure he was causing, and when she rocketed off the counter against his talented mouth, his name falling from her lips, he pulled away and grinned down at her as she gasped for breath.
“You are the fucking hottest woman I have ever seen,” he said as he took her by the hip, pulling her off the counter. Turning her around, he pushed her torso onto the counter and cracked his hand against her ass, causing her to cry out as her fingers held on to the counter. Closing her eyes, she gasped for breath as he entered her from behind, filling her completely. Lying against her, he kissed her shoulders as he slowly thrust inside of her. He was so big against her and she loved it. She loved how he completely took over when they made love. Sometimes, she surprised him and took control, but being fucked against the counter was just what she needed.
As he stood, taking her hips in his large hands, he pounded into her, their bodies slapping together in tune as he drove her completely out of her mind. She held on for dear life as he thrust once more and came, grunting before whispering her name. Stilling behind her, he moved his hand along her back then the curve of her ass before bringing her face to where he could kiss her.
Pulling away, he said, “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”
She smiled. “I know I won’t of you.”
He kissed her again before backing away to clean up. She stood up and smiled as she watched his ass while he washed his hands. He was so hot. Thick and taut with mouthwatering muscles. When he glanced back at her, she said, “Welcome home.”
He chuckled. “Thanks, babe.”
Their gazes stayed locked for a long time, and then out of nowhere, and really, she didn’t think she thought it through, she asked, “What do you think of trying for another baby?”
His brows came up before he chuckled. “You want another baby?”
She shrugged. “Maybe?” she said, unsure. Maybe he didn’t want one.
“It’s a yes or no question, Reese.”
“Do you think it would be smart with Claire getting married and stuff?”
Coming to her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and looked deep in her eyes as he said, “I think if you want to have another baby, then let’s do it.”
Her heart exploded in her chest as she grinned. “Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve wanted another kid for a while, but we all know how skittish you are,” he teased, his grin growing. “I would love nothing more than to have another baby with you.”
She begged her heart to be still, but that wasn’t possible when she was locked in her husband’s blue gaze. “I love you, Phillip Anderson.”
He winked before cupping her face. “Well, Reese Anderson, you are very lucky because I love you so fucking much that it hurts. You complete me, baby, and I can’t think of anything else I want in the world other than to be married and make babies with your sexy ass.”
“Me either,” she agreed before he dropped his mouth to hers. She would have kept kissing him if her phone hadn’t rung. Parting, she looked down to see that it was Claire.
“It’s our daughter.”
“Answer it,” he said, his hands falling to her bare ass. She really needed to put some pants back on before Sawyer woke up. Hitting answer, she put it on speaker as she said, “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Hey! Whatcha doin’?” she asked, all happy and sweet.
Reese smiled as she slid her shorts back up and Phillip did the same. “Putting some pants on.”
“Always good to have pants,” Jude said and Reese’s grin grew.
“Hey, Jude.”
“Hey,” he answered back, and she didn’t miss the bored look on Phillip’s face.
“Is Phillip home yet?” Claire asked.
“Yeah, I’m here. How are you, sweetheart?”
“Good! So glad you are there. We picked a date!”
Reese smiled when Phillip mouthed “fuck” before she said, “That’s wonderful! When?”
“We want to do it Valentine’s day!”
Phillip’s eyes went wide as Reese’s heart stopped. So soon? “Honey, that’s in two months. There is no way we can find a venue.”
“I called the mansion you guys got married at and someone canceled yesterday! They have opening, so I took it.”
“Oh wow,” she said, and she was convinced Phillip was having a heart attack.
“Are you sure, Claire? That’s quick. Don’t you want to wait, I don’t know, ten years?” he asked.
Claire and Jude laughed, but Reese knew Phillip wasn’t joking.
“Come on, Phillip, this is awesome! I hope you’ll give me away. It would mean the world to me.”
Yeah, that did him in, and Reese saw the tears in his eyes as he slowly nodded his head. “I would love to, Claire. I don’t want to, but I will.” Reese smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Awesome! We are pretty excited.”
“We are too. It’s going to be amazing,” Reese promised as she silently consoled her freaking out husband.
“Yeah, so merry Christmas to us, right? Finally got a day. It’s the greatest gift, in my opinion, since agreeing about this has been a pain!”
Smiling, Reese laced her fingers with Phillip’s and squeezed. She was pretty sure that he didn’t agree about this being a great gift, but this was a part of life. They knew that Claire wasn’t going to stay little forever, and they knew one day they would have to give her away. Jude was a good guy for that. He loved her and Reese trusted that he always would. While it didn’t seem like it now, it was a great gift for them all. They were going to grow as a family with the possibility of a new child and then the reality of a new son-in-law.
And she was beyond thankful for that.
She had everything she’d never thought she needed.
As she kissed Phillip’s jaw, he met her gaze and she said, “Merry Christmas to us all.”
Leaning against the back wall, Claire Anderson s
urveyed her work with a wide smirk on her face. While three girls hung from chandeliers in seductive acrobatics, nine girls were on stage dancing provocatively to Sia’s “Chandelier.” It was her favorite dance she had choreographed yet. She was so proud of it, and it was everything she could have ever dreamed it could be. Moving her head to the music, she watched as her girls killed it. The crowd seemed to like it too. The place was packed, money flying as the men hooted and hollered at her girls.
She had done a fantastic job.
Content with everything, she smiled as the song ended and the girls went still, the lights going black. She knew this meant she had to go, but she didn’t want to leave yet. She had seen the show over a billion times it seemed, but she couldn’t get enough of it. This was her dream come true, and she loved watching it come to life. Watching until she knew she couldn’t any longer, she said bye to everyone before rushing out of the club to the car that was waiting on her.
Sitting back in the seat, she let out a long breath before pulling her phone out. Clicking her fiancé’s name, she smiled as she texted him.
Claire: I don’t want to go home, I want to come to New York. I miss you.
She didn’t have to wait long for his response.
Jude: I miss you, babe, but I’m gonna be so busy. Just enjoy your family. I’ll meet you on Thursday. No biggie. I’ll have your present and everything.
Claire: I don’t want any, I want you.
Jude: I want you.
Claire: Then I am coming to New York.
Jude: Don’t be difficult. You won’t even miss me, you’ll be too busy with Sawyer.
She would, but she really wanted to spend Christmas with the guy who made her life worth living. Yes, she loved Phillip, Reese, and Sawyer and really didn’t want to spend the holiday without them, but she would if it meant she got to spend it with Jude. He had completely changed her life. He was the missing puzzle piece and gave her everything she needed. Yeah, she would see him the following day, but he wouldn’t be there to open gifts and get stuffed on food on the actual day.