by Aria Ford
“Hello, Stella,” I said quietly. “Hello, beautiful, beautiful girl.”
She blinked. The sound of a new voice seemed to confuse her for a moment. She stopped crying. Jackie looked at me and grinned.
“Magic. I wish I had you around more often, I tell you. It would be so much easier…” she trailed off. I blinked.
“Jackie,” I said softly. “I want that too. You and Stella are everything to me.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean for you to know. I don’t want…” she trailed off, sighing. “I’m not the kind of person who likes to chain people. If I thought you felt obligated to stay with me, I’d leave. You don’t owe me care.”
I sighed. “Jackie.”
I followed her into the apartment. She had gone from sad and then angry to busy. She was putting down the cot, hanging up her coat, setting her keys by the door. She was angry with me and trying not to show it.
“Jackie?” I said. I was still holding Stella, who was starting to get uncomfortable. She wriggled and made a little noise, as if distressed. I made shushing noises and tried to comfort her.
“What?” Jackie snapped as she came to take her daughter from me.
“I don’t feel obligated,” I said softly. “I care about you. I love you.”
She stared at me. Her face softened in an instant. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t do anything. Just looked into my eyes.
She mumbled something and took Stella from my grip. I drew a breath to speak.
“Sorry?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Jackie…” I said gently.
“I said, I love you too.”
She said it in a rush, then looked up at me. Her gray eyes cleared, seeing the expression in my own. I couldn’t be sure what that was, except that if it matched the feeling in my heart it must have been glowing like a furnace.
“Jackie,” I whispered. “Oh, Jackie.”
I tried to hug both of them together, but I didn’t want to hurt Stella, so I resorted to putting my arm around Jackie’s shoulders, kissing Stella’s soft hair.
The baby made a few fretful sounds, then started to cry again.
“Hell, she really is hungry. Excuse me, Scott.”
She took the baby and sat down in the chair. Unbuttoned her shirt and fed her. I was speechless.
I was standing in an apartment across town, watching my daughter be fed by the most wonderful, most amazing woman I had met. Who was also her mother.
I shook my head.
“How can I be so lucky?” I whispered. She smiled at me. Stella was getting drowsy and she whispered, not to wake her.
“I’m not sure if you’re lucky, dear. But I know I am. I am.”
I felt her words brush down my spine like tendrils of gooseflesh. She had never called me dear before. I smiled.
“Well, sweetheart, I am lucky. Extremely lucky. The luckiest man on earth.”
I meant it. I really was. I had a family! At that moment, nothing else mattered. What this would mean to my future, to the present, to my parents…none of that occurred to me. This was my moment: mine, Jackie’s and Stella’s. We had just met, finally. And we were in love. All of us. Whatever happened next would grow out of that.
Which meant it had to be a good thing, I reckoned, coming and sitting beside Jackie, my arms wrapped round her, holding her close as I looked down into the face of my sleeping daughter. Anything that came out of such a happy time couldn’t help but be a happy future.
CHAPTER TEN
Jackie
When I had put Stella in her cot to sleep, I turned to face Scott. He was waiting behind me, an expression of such melting tenderness on his face that I caught my breath.
“She’ll sleep now, I think,” I said softly. “We’ll just have to talk quietly.”
“Yes.”
He leaned in closer and I felt my heart begin to pound. It didn’t seem possible that I hadn’t seen him for ten months. My body remembered him as if that one night was yesterday. I shivered as his lips moved to touch mine.
As they had done when we first met, his lips slid over mine softly, a gentle touch like a stroke. He was stroking my back as he kissed me and I leaned against him, feeling his warm, strong arms tighten around me and hold me close.
Whatever was on his mind, talking was only part of it, clearly. Which was no bad thing, I thought with a shaky breath. It was only part of what was on my mind too.
“Scott.” I whispered his name as he moved back. He looked into my eyes. His own were shining.
“Jackie.”
We looked at each other for a long moment. My heart was warm with feeling. I had never seen the expression like the one he had now, on anyone else before. He was looking at me with love. I sighed and snuggled into his arms. Reached up to kiss him again.
His tongue glided across the line between my lips, playing along it slowly in a teasing, gentle way that made my blood smolder and my groin ache. I stroked his head, loving the soft feeling of his chestnut hair under my fingertips.
“Jackie,” he whispered. “Would you let me?”
“Yes,” I said. Yes, I would.
He smiled. He looked happy and that made me happy too. “Thank you,” he said.
I snorted. “Well, we’ll see about that.” I turned and went into my bedroom. As I had hoped, he followed. He fiercely embraced me, leaning back against the door. I gasped and he pressed his lips to mine, his tongue thrust right into my mouth, probing me. I shivered.
I could feel the big, hard manhood I had come to appreciate on our last encounter probing up against my waist. I leaned against it, rubbing my body on his. He growled.
“I want you so much, Jackie.”
I smiled. “Well, then.”
I reached up and started to undress him. He blinked, surprised, and I laughed. “Need I say more? I want you too. Now come on.”
I wasn’t sure what it was that had ignited this new boldness inside of me, but I felt bold. I kissed him and he sat down heavily on the bed and then drew me into his arms. I sighed and pressed my body against him.
My hands were deft at undressing him and soon I was drawing his blazer down his arms, undoing his tie, moving his shirt back. He laughed.
“Hell, Jackie. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but…” he breathed, his eyes open wide.
“Nor do I. Maybe you’d better ask Santa.”
“Santa?” he laughed aloud. “Why?”
“Because apparently you’ve been a very bad boy this year.”
I pushed him back onto the bed and he laughed aloud. I straddled him and he looked into my eyes with a mix of wonder and trust. It made my throat hurt. I felt his hands reach up to my shirt and tug at it and I let him undress me with a tender urgency.
He stayed where he was, beneath me. We were both half dressed. He reached for one of my breasts and teased the nipple with his hand while I ran my fingers over that magnificent chest.
“You are stunning,” I whispered to him. He laughed.
“I should tell you every single day how stunning you are,” he said throatily. “Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to suck those breasts.”
I laughed. When he took my nipple between his lips and sucked, my body caught fire with all sorts of sensations. None of them were maternal.
Then he was sitting up and his hands were unfastening my trousers as I undid the button of his.
***
I was aching with longing beyond anything I had ever known as I lay Jackie down on the bed. I looked at her stunning, beautiful body with awe. This was the woman I wanted. This was the woman I would always want.
I kissed her neck and then turned her over. She made a little sound of inquiry.
“Can you trust me?”
She chuckled. “It depends.”
All the same, she let me roll her over onto her tummy. I looked at her back, with the sweet round buttocks all pink and inviting. I wanted to squeeze them but I fough
t for self-control.
“I want to spoil you,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if I could, mind: I had received loads of massage over the years, but had not actually given one. I found a tube of body lotion on her bedside table, rubbed it between my hands to warm it and rubbed it into her back.
She sighed. I took the noise to be approval and continued. It was nice to feel her back under my hands, her muscles hard and tense and as I worked on them, easing and relaxing.
“Mmm.” She moaned as I worked on her shoulders, and I wished I could spend forever doing just this. Rubbing her, touching her, pleasing her. Every noise she made sent shivers through me and made me want more.
I moved down to her butt. I resisted the urge to squeeze the firm, round shapes, working on massaging the muscle there too. I could smell her warm, musky scent and I wanted to bury my face between her thighs and move my tongue over those smooth, wet folds. But I didn’t.
I massaged her legs and her feet and then worked back up again, doing her arms and hands and finally her neck. I think she was sleeping by the end of it.
“Jackie?” I licked the small, dark earhole. She turned, a smile on her lips.
“That was wonderful.”
I smiled and we kissed. “Thank you,” I said modestly. She laughed.
“Well, then,” she rolled onto her back, taking my breath away with her beauty and making me want to kiss her all over here too. “I think you might have made me sleepy.”
“Very sleepy?” I asked, teasing. “How sleepy?”
“Very sleepy,” she said drowsily. “Want to find out?”
She parted her thighs playfully and I drew in a breath as my finger met her wet folds. She was certainly not tired down there. She was dripping.
I moved my fingers, sliding in the wetness, and she moaned. I knew her clit would be big and hard and throbbing and the thought made me aware, painfully, of how much I wanted her.
I looked into her eyes as I took myself in my hand and guided myself into her. She gasped. Closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.
I pulled out and pushed in again. This was the woman I had longed for. She was tight and wet and she took all of me, my cock throbbing and pulsing uncontrollably as she panted and whimpered and drove me to even greater heights.
I moved and thrust, moved and thrust and she was moving below me, panting and grimacing and crying out. Finally, she let out a huge cry, her whole body spasming below me. I sighed and let myself move, then. In. Out. In. Out.
I could feel my own orgasm growing inside me, building and building and then, overwhelmingly, crashing.
I found myself panting and shaking, helpless with the waves of pleasure that were flowing through me and around me and across me, drowning every one of my senses and carrying me far beyond myself.
I lay on her chest and she lay in my arms. My head rested on her chest beside her heart. I could feel it move under my face. I moved up a little, not knowing when I had felt so wonderful. I wasn’t sure if I could have felt this wonderful before.
Later, I rolled off her and slid out of her. I washed myself and her and then looked at the clock. It was dinnertime.
“Snooze first, then dinner?” I asked her. She rolled over sleepily and looked into my eyes.
“That, dear, sounds wonderful.”
I smiled and nodded and slid into bed beside her. With her head nestled into my neck, my arms holding her and her hand on my chest, I drifted off into sleep.
I was so happy.
I had found the woman I loved, and my daughter. I was a father. I could not have ever imagined anything that could have made me happier.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Scott
I couldn’t quite believe I was waking up next to the woman I loved. I breathed in, savoring the amazing feeling.
I looked across at Jackie. She was lying on her side, her face relaxed in sleep. Her lips moved, parted gently, as she breathed. I watched her. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, all her cares erased in sleep. I wanted to reach out to touch her soft, fluffy hair.
As I moved, she woke. Her eyelids fluttered open. She looked into my eyes. She smiled.
“Good morning,” she whispered. “Nice to see you.”
I smiled. “Nice to see you too.”
I felt my breath suck in as she stirred, rolling closer. Her body was warm on mine, her breasts pressing against my chest. I held her close, stroking her back as we lay together. We had been woken twice during the night by Stella, but I had been amazed by how deeply and regularly she slept. I had been expecting to get no sleep, if I thought about it.
Not that I always think of sleep when Jackie is close.
I felt my loins tense with longing as she pressed into me and I wanted to take her right there. My cock was throbbing and I was so, so ready. I stroked her and then touched between her legs. She was wet there, wet and warm. I played my fingers between her folds and she moaned.
“Do I get a greeting?” she said.
“I said good morning,” I whispered.
“You did. You said it, yes. But I was thinking something more…tangible.”
I drew in a breath as her hands slid down my chest and moved to my waist. She gripped me in her hand and I groaned aloud as her fist moved along my cock, squeezing it firmly yet gently.
“You do need a more tangible greeting,” I said, hearing my voice shudder. “And I would like to give you one.”
“Mm. Good.” She smiled.
I rolled over so I was kneeling between her thighs and then slid into her. I was shivering so much I gritted my teeth to hold back. I was so close! She moaned as I filled her and I felt all my self-control evaporate as I pounded in her faster and faster and faster…
I came and she came an instant sooner, our voices mingling in a cry that was in itself a thing of beauty.
I collapsed into her arms and lay on her chest, panting and shaking, perspiring madly.
She smiled and wriggled underneath me, holding me against her. I don’t know if we dozed or not, because my awareness was somewhere else for a long while, drifting somewhere in the haze following orgasm.
I heard her cough and rolled off her. “Sorry,” I said.
“No,” she smiled at me, her palm stroking my face. I shuddered with warmth and lay where I was a moment, my arms round her.
“I should go and check Stella,” she whispered. “Be right back.”
As I listened to her talking softly to the child, I lay there, wrapped in the haze of delight and thought about how complete my life was.
Yesterday morning I had woken up full of dread, thinking that my father was about to succeed in pushing me into marriage with Alexa and that, more or less, life as Scott was ending. Now I had rediscovered the love of my life. And I had a child.
I heard the slight wail from the child subside into the soft sounds of sleepy contentment and felt my heart so full that it might burst. I slid out of the bed and went through to the sitting room to join Jackie there. As I watched my family, I knew that I was the happiest man alive.
I spent the morning with my new family. I would never have thought that such things as making breakfast, reading the paper or washing dishes could be so pleasurable. I had never, I realized, felt quite so happy about the simple facts of being alive.
Later, as it neared lunchtime, I realized I should go. I had to sort some things out. For a start, I had to make preparations for finding myself, Jackie and Stella somewhere to live. Then I wanted to propose properly—so there were some things to do about that. Then, lastly—because it was going to be the hardest part of all—I would have to confront my father.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that. Not only would I have to explain to him that I had fathered a child out of wedlock. I also had to explain to him that I couldn’t follow his directives in this anymore. I wasn’t his to marry off as he chose.
I looked at Jackie and Stella where they sat on the sofa together, fast asleep. I felt courage flood through me then. I could do any
thing for them. I just had to try.
“Jackie?” I whispered.
“I’m awake…” she opened her eyes and gave me a sleepy grin.
“I have to go, sweetheart,” I whispered. I kissed her and blew a kiss at my daughter’s sleeping face. I didn’t want to wake her. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“Good,” she whispered. “I’ll see you after work.”
She took the child to a day care while she was at work, one of the perks of her job, apparently. I thought about how we could make another arrangement and decided to inquire about Au pair services. If we were both working, the least we could do was have Stella in the home she was used to, taken care of by someone we both trusted. That would make us both feel more secure. “Good,” I said. “I’ll see you soon, my gorgeous woman.”
She smiled, eyes still closed. Stretched languidly and patted the child’s head. Opened her eyes. “See you soon, dear.”
I walked out of that house feeling as if my heart was flying.
I spent the rest of the day in a whirlwind of preparations. By the end of it I was fairly confident I had found an apartment that was equidistant from both our work, with a month’s notice. I’d found a new baby stroller—she’d complained about this one—and an au pair agency.