by Anne Mercier
“I can't move,“ she whispers against my lips.
“Mmm, don't. Your pussy's still spasming around my cock and it feels fucking amazing. The best way to come down.“
She giggles. “I know I've said it before, but you are the most virile man I've ever met.“
“What?“ I ask. “You wanna go again?“ I move my hips slightly, teasing.
She groans. “At this rate I'll be dead by the time I'm twenty-five.“
I chuckle. “Nah.“
“Actually I think we're going to have a hoard of kids with the way we go at it.“
“Likely.“
“You'd be okay with that?“ she asks.
I shrug a shoulder and slide to my side, resting my head on my elbow. She mirrors my position.
“I'm not sure how good of a dad I'll make but I'll do my damnedest.“
“You'll make an amazing dad, Jesse. There's no way you won't love any child with your entire heart and give one hundred and fifty percent to each one of them.“
I nod, my heart thumping in my chest. Babies with Lucy. Yeah. Yeah, I want babies with her. Lots and lots of little mini-me-and-Lucys running around.
She should stop that shot thing she gets. Wait, did she get the last one? When was that? A slow grin pulls at my lips.
“Uh, Lucy?“
“Hmm?“ she asks, her eyes closed.
“How long have we been together?“
Her eyes are still closed but a frown furrows her brows. “Five, almost six months. Why?“
“I was just thinking…“
“About?“
“Your last period.“
Her eyes fly open and I smirk.
“Oh boy,“ she whispers.
I nod.
“Fucksticks.“
I chuckle and nod.
“I never made it to Dr. Brickner for my shot.“
I just smirk and rub circles over her hip.
“Oh boy. Oh boy. I'm taking pain meds.“
At this I frown. “Did they run any tests on you at the hospital?“
“Well, sure…“
“Did you ever get the results?“
“They were supposed to… call,“ she grunts out, reaching over me for her phone.
Her eyes are wide. I just watch.
“Sixteen voice messages.“
She holds the phone to her chest.
“Are you going to listen to them?“
“Jesse. What if—“
I shrug. “Would it be so bad?“
“Well, no. But—“
“Sure it would be nice to have more time for just me and you, but if there's a little baby Kingston baking in your belly, baby, I'm all for it.“
“Seriously?“ she asks, surprised.
“Yeah. I love you, Luce. It's us versus the world, right?“
She nods, tears welling up. “No wonder I'm crying all the fucking time,“ she curses and I throw back my head and laugh.
She laughs with me.
“Oh boy,“ she repeats then listens to her voicemail. “Mama,“ she presses a button, rolls her eyes. “Media.“ Presses a button, “Mama. Mama. Mama. Oh. Hospital. Oh boy.“ She bites her thumbnail as she listens. Her eyes fly to mine and a slow smile pulls her lips. I full out grin in return.
She hangs up. “Oh boy, Jesse.“
I laugh again, then rest a hand against her belly. Then I frown.
“What's wrong?“ she asks, alarmed.
“Do you think I hurt the baby when we fuck like that? I mean, I hit you deep in there. I don't want to hurt the baby, Luce.“
“I don't know. We'll have to find somewhere to stop to see a doctor and find out everything we need to know and I think I have to take some kind of vitamins or something, right?“ she asks.
“I think so. My Aunt Rachel had an ‘oops' baby and she was always going on about her vitamins and hemorrhoids,“ I tell her.
“Oh, lovely,“ she snickers.
“Jesus, Lucy. A mini-us is in there.“ I feel a little panicky but mostly really fucking happy.
“Yeah,“ she breathes, her eyes wide in wonder, a small smile tilting the edges of her lips upward. She throws herself forward and hugs me tight, so damn tight and I feel a tear slip out.
“I love you so fucking much, Lucy.“
“I love you too, Jesse,“ she sniffles.
I hear scratching at the door and pull the blankets up over us, still holding Lucy tight as I lean back against the pillows, her face buried in my neck. I reach up and wipe the tears from my cheeks just as the door opens.
“What the fuck?“ Xander shouts. “Why is she crying?“
“How the fuck did you know she was crying?“
“I had to take a piss and the music stopped. I heard her sniffle.“
“Dude, mind your own. She's fine.“
Xander frowns. “Luce, did he hurt you?“
I want to laugh at Xander's overprotectiveness where Lucy's concerned but in truth, I'm grateful. Not so much that he's like that with me, but that he's like that all the time with everyone. No one would ever be able to hurt her when he's around and that makes me feel better about having to pick up Janalee while they have sound check.
Lucy pokes her head up. “Nope. I'm good, Xan my man. Just had a moment.“
He looks skeptical. “You sure? Is there anything you need?“
She looks at me and I wink.
“Close the door.“
“Fuck yeah, threesome.“
“Get the hell out of here,“ I tell him when he tries to crawl in bed with us. I laugh along with Lucy and Xander smirks.
“I knew it was too good to be true.“
Lucy raises a brow, looks at me, looks at Xander, and my heart stops. Seriously? Is she considering that? Man, I just don't know how I'd feel about sharing her, even if it is Xander. We've shared women in the past, but this is Lucy…my wife.
A good minute goes past as she stares at me and I hold my expression blank as best as I can because if she wants that, I don't know if I could say no. To deny Lucy's sexuality would be wrong, but…
“Maybe,“ she says and Xander's jaw drops. He meets my gaze and I meet his head on.
If she wants that, I won't say no.
Xander arches a brow. Really, dude?
Would you—no, could you deny her anything?
He looks at Lucy who's looking between us, eyes darting right and left.
Nope. Couldn't do it either. You'd be okay with that?
You're my brother, dude. I'd trust no one else.
He blinks then nods once. Honored.
I nod once.
“I don't know what kind of funky-ass communication thing you two just did, but stop it!“ Lucy tells us with a laugh. She looks at Xander. “We have a secret.“
“Yeah?“ He looks at me.
“Well, two now.“
He lifts a brow.
Lucy grins.
“What?“ Xander asks.
“You have to be quiet. I don't want anyone knowing, not even Sera until she feels better.“
He stares at Lucy for a minute who just grins, his eyes widen, then his gaze snaps to mine, back to Lucy. “No shit?“
Lucy nods and grins wide.
“I want to yell right now, so fucking loud I can't stand it,“ Xander whispers. “I'm going to be an uncle. Holy shit! This is epic! This is just…“ He shakes his head and hugs Lucy.
I push him back. “Dude, she's naked and she didn't say yes.“
“Yet,“ he tells me with a smirk.
Lucy bites her lip then shakes her head. “We need to see a doctor.“
“Well, it just so happens my dad is one of the most prominent obstetricians in California. I'm sure he could help us out with this little issue,“ Xander tells us with a smug smile.
A tear slips from Lucy's eye and Xander wipes it with his thumb, then caresses her cheek. I want to slug him right now but yet I don't. Anyone other than Xander…
“A baby,“ Lucy whispers in wonder.
I blow out a breath. We all glance at each other then start to laugh softly.
Xander's smile is the biggest I've ever seen. “Epic.“
“Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.“
—ARTHUR MILLER
“WHO'S THAT?“ I ask Damian.
“Who?“ he asks looking toward where I pointed and when we turn back, no one's there.
“I don't know, some guy I've not seen before.“
“It might just be a fill-in roadie. I'll ask Cage if he ever gets back from his booty call,“ Damian sneers.
“Seriously,“ I say. “What's up with him? I thought he was into Sera?“
Damian shrugs. “How would I know? The dude doesn't tell me shit. Honestly, I thought he was too and I thought she was into him as well but that day at the truck stop when we picked up Misty, she was all over Ben again.“ He shakes his head. “Mixed signals.“
“Hmm,“ I say, crossing my arms. “Maybe he wouldn't be getting mixed signals if he wasn't fucking somebody else, ever think of that?“ I say loudly as I poke him in the chest.
Damian's eyebrows are up and he lifts the hand that isn't holding the clipboard. “I surrender though I didn't do it.“
I sigh. “I'm sorry. I'm just edgy and pissed off about that whole…“ I make a circle with my casted hand, “situation.“
“You can't fix everyone, Lucy,“ he tells me quietly.
I sigh. “I know.“ And now I want to cry again. Damn it. Hormones are out of control. Dr. Donovan knew I was knocked up in the hospital and, apparently, had told me when we were alone but I didn't remember. I feel so stupid. I can't be held responsible for what I'm like when I'm under the influence of hardly-any-stronger-than-Tylenol pain meds. I'm such a light weight. For real. Tylenol with Codeine. I'm surprised Jesse didn't laugh in my face, but then again he's been amazing with this whole thing. At first I was sure it was guilt, but now I know it's just him being him.
“What's wrong, Luce?“ Xander asks, putting his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.
“Nothing.“
He gives me a look.
“Seriously,“ I tell him with a lop-sided grin. “Just being you know,“ I flit a hand in the air.
“Uh-oh,“ he nods. “Gonna be a long nine months.“
“Who're you telling,“ I snap.
“Whoa, Cujo,“ he chuckles. “Just sayin'. And I put a call in to the old man. He said you're doing good with the vitamin water, especially with the shows and to keep it up. He said to take,“ he pauses and looks around then leans in close, “something called folic acid and prenatal vitamins so I went and picked some up while you were in sound check.“
“Aww,“ I sniffle. Tears flow and I can't stop them. “See?“ I say with a stomp of my foot.
“Aww, Luce my goose.“ He hugs me close and strokes my hair.
“How am I going to get through the ballad?“ I whine.
He pulls back, holding my shoulders, shrinking down to meet my gaze at eye level. “You got this.“
My lip quivers and he raises a brow.
I suck in a breath and shake back my hair, blinking rapidly to clear the tears.
“You got this,“ he reaffirms.
I nod, holding back a sniffle. He smiles softly.
“Yeah, you got this.“ He pulls me back into his side.
Celeste comes bounding up. “Finally I catch you while you're not in the middle of sexing up that rock god husband of yours or singing your gorgeous lungs out.“
I snicker. “What's up?“
She hands me an envelope.
“What's this?“
“Your name change is official.“
“What?“ I ask.
“You're officially Luciana Antonia Kingston.“
My lip quivers and Xander chuckles. “Aww, Luce.“
“This… it's such perfect timing. Thank you so much, Celeste.“
Celeste just shrugs me off. Apparently my being a watering pot isn't a shock to her. When she walks away and heads toward Damian, I look to Xander.
“Jeez, she didn't even blink when I started bawling. Am I always like this?“ I ask.
“Nah,“ he shakes his head. “Only when it comes to love and Jesse. Well, and me, of course.“
“Of course,“ I agree with a wink.
“Luciana Kingston, get your ass in this room and in the chair so I can try to fix your insane blotchiness from your happy crying,“ Spenser commands, everyone looking in our direction.
I lift my chin and straighten my shoulders. Xander chuckles then smacks my ass as I walk away. I don't look back but I do wiggle my ass extra for him. I hear him laugh louder before I close the door behind me.
THE CONCERT IS going amazingly well even if I am sweating like a pig running from a crowd of people shouting, “Bacon!“
“How are you feeling out there, Denver?“ I rest my casted hand on my head and shout to the overwhelmingly large and boisterous crowd. Their roar brings grins to all of our faces. Sera, Meggie, and Jace all strum riffs while Trace drums out a beat.
“All right! This crowd means business! I like it. I like it a whole fuck of a lot! You know we've got one song left before our duet with Falling Down and it's a special one. We've decided to make a new tradition. A Blush tradition.“
The crowd starts to chant “Blush Baby“ and I frown, Sera notices and steps up to her mic.
“Uh-oh. Don't look now Denver but you've got little Mrs. Kingston pouting over there.“ The crowd responds with a mix of emotion. “You see, our little Lucy, she may love pink as you can see from her cast—and let's applaud her for bitchslapping a skank in need of a reality check.“ The crowd cheers, hoots and hollers their approval and I grin.
“Now I'm sure you're figuring out that Lucy is pretty bad ass so she doesn't like being called the Blush Baby, as cute as the title is.“ They boo and Sera laughs. “Hold up for a second… just hold up. You see, Lucy doesn't want that title but she's not going to leave you hanging.“
“Hell no!“ Jace shouts.
“That just wouldn't be our Luce,“ Meggie adds.
“So, the ever-wonderful Luciana Antonia Russo-Kingston has stepped up and she's found not one but two Blush Babies: a female and a male!“ The crowd screams and Sera nods. “That's right. Lucy went the extra mile for you, Denver, so what d'ya say you go the extra mile for her. Spread the word that Miss Lucy just too bad ass to be the Blush Baby and there'll be an announcement of just who is the Blush Baby very, very soon! Don't forget to mention, we're equal opportunity Blush Babies—we've got a female and a male. Plenty of ogle-worthy awesomeness for both sexes!“
I let out a laugh as I step up. “What d'ya say, Denver? Think you can help clear this up for me?“ I ask.
I get a deafening affirmation from the crowd and nod my approval.
“We picked the perfect location to start our new tradition! Denver is more than deserving of this honor, don't you all think?“ I ask the band, who sound off.
“Alright Denver. What we're starting tonight is for Blush to close out the show with something from someone else, past or present: so here we go.“
Meggie strums the first chords to Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen and I look to the side of the stage where the guys are standing and Jesse smirks.
“This thing, called love…“
About halfway through the song, they all come out and joins us, Jesse sharing my mic, standing next to me, his lips inches from mine as we sing the end of the song. The crowd goes nuts. I mean nuts.
“Well, lookie here what we have boys and girls. The fabulous Falling Down has decided to come out a little early for you.“
The screams are insane and I laugh. “Jesse.“
“Yeah, Cupcake.“
“I think the crowd likes you, just a little bit.“ I hold up my thumb and index finger.
“Nah. If they really liked us they'd show us more lovin' than that.“
“That wasn't enough
for you?“
He shakes his head no.
“How much do you all love Falling Down… no holding back now. Give it to 'em straight, all you've got.“
The screams are off the charts and this time Jesse grins.
“Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about Denver! I'm feeling your love! How you doing tonight, Denver?“
More screams.
“Did you enjoy Blush?“
More screams.
“Well, it sounds like they liked you all,“ Jesse says, turning in a circle. “That last song was kick ass. Let's hear it for Blush!“
The crowd goes nuts.
“They rocked this joint!“
More screams.
“Why thank you,“ I say with a grin.
“But, Cupcake, you know I can't let you walk off this stage until I respond to your challenge.“
I raise a brow. “I didn't know it was a challenge.“
“You did. But we're up for it, right guys?“
Xander pounds on the drums while Kennedy, Ethan, and Ben wail on their guitars.
“By all means. Far be it from me to stop you.“
Jesse grins that panty-melter and winks as Xander taps his sticks together to count it out.
I laugh when I hear the first chords of Robert Palmer's Bad Case of Loving You. Jesse wraps an arm around my waist and I join in on the chorus. When the song ends, he kisses me and I don't mean just a brushing of the lips. We're talking tongue tangling, toe curling, nipple-hardening, no-holds-barred kiss.
The crowd hoots and hollers as does the band. When we pull apart, I look to the crowd.
“Whew. I've got to tell you ladies, his kisses are toe-curlers.“
They all scream.
We all rock out the Falling Down duet and Jesse lays another lip lock on me.
“Jesse, I think you pissed off about fifty thousand women.“
“Nah. They don't mind, do you ladies?“
There's a mix of “no's“ and “yeses“.
“And you know why they don't mind?“
I know what's coming and God, Jesse Kingston is smooth.
“Why's that?“
“Because we're going to love them all night!“ Love You All Night is Falling Down's number one song right now.
“Be sure you love 'em right, baby,“ I say with a wink as the band and I head off stage.
“That was fucking awesome,“ Jace says with a laugh. “Every show gets better and better.“