by Amy Brent
Oh man, a free woman? That sounds dangerous.
You know me, danger is my middle name!
I’m pretty sure it’s Isabelle.
I sent him several emoticons that had their tongue sticking out. Thank you, Mr. Literal. You must be real fun at parties.
Careful with all these open mouths, I might start getting ideas.
I giggled and held my phone close to my face. Even after all these months together, with him seeing me at my grossest and most bedraggled, he still knew how to flirt like a champ.
Oh, what kind of ideas?
Nothing you need to worry about. Just get home safe and we can brainstorm on it when I’m home.
Alright, I’ll see you tonight.
I put my phone away, not trying to think how grossed out some people might be by my bathroom texting and turned my mind back to what I had to do. Finish, wash my hands, go back to the driver who was waiting for me, then try to whip up a meal before my afternoon nap forced itself upon me.
Once I finished up my business, I headed out of the building feeling a whole lot freer. Yeah, it sucked having to take away from school when I had been going so hard for so long to finish as soon as possible, but it was what I needed. Besides, Anthony was going to take care of my remaining two years, which made my situation a whole lot less dire.
My heart soared as I remembered everything that he was doing for me. I really was so incredibly lucky. Even as the outside air bit into my cheeks, the bitter wind cutting through what body heat that I had, I still smiled.
Life was going well, and I couldn’t be hap-
A strange thing happened.
Suddenly I was floating. One moment I had just been walking along the main path through the center of school, the next my legs went flying out from under me. I hovered there for a moment, before my imbalanced body slammed into the ground, my head making hard contact.
“Ow…” I groaned weakly, or at least thought I did, before the world dribbled out of existence in a rush of black ink.
Stella
Ow…
The first thing I was aware of was that my head hurt.
No… hurt wasn’t quite the right word for it.
It throbbed like a bitch with a steady undertone of thick agony that wasn’t ignorable.
I wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep, but I found myself floating up towards consciousness. But I also didn’t know if float wasn’t the right word for that either. I was more of a slow, arduous trudge through thick soup that I couldn’t escape or retreat from.
However, my eyelids eventually opened, and I found myself in a room that was entirely too bright.
I groaned, and a shadow came over my eyes, blocking out the painful light.
“Hey, are you awake?”
Now that was a voice that I wasn’t expecting. My vision cleared, and I focused on the face above me, my heart leaping as I realized it was none other than Rachelle.
“Y-y-you-” I sputtered, having no idea what to say other than that.
“Yeah, it’s me,” she answered, her eyes sweeping over me in that concerned way of her. God, I missed that look. I missed it so much.
“What happened?”
“You fell,” she answered, her voice apprehensive but gone was all the rage and hate. “You hit your head pretty hard and lost consciousness. An ambulance brought you to the hospital, but I was still listed as your emergency contact.”
“Oh…”
We went quiet for a moment and I realized that just a simple piece of paper that had completely slipped my mind was the only reason my friend was here. Otherwise she might have never known.
What if she hadn’t answered? Who would be here? My parents? Certainly not. They would say that it was too far, and they just didn’t have the gas. And the hospital wouldn’t know to call Anthony. Despite him being a figure in my young life, I’d never thought to put him down as someone to call when I was in trouble.
Rachelle’s eyes moved to my belly, which had its own set of monitors attached to it. “Can I…” I waited for her to find her words. “Can I touch it?”
I nodded, and her hands came up, the birch of her mixed skin standing out against my alabaster baby bump. She was gentle, almost as if she was afraid that her very touch would hurt me, and I couldn’t help the sentiment that washed through me.
Her little brother seemed to sense that someone very important was touching his temporary home, because I felt him give a kick. Rachelle instantly felt it too and looked to me with wonder.
“Was that him?”
I nodded. “It was. I think he knows you’re his big sister.”
“Does he?” she murmured, completely enraptured.
Alright, now the tears were starting to prick at the corners of my eyes. This was how it always should have been. The two of us, arm in arm and experiencing this miracle together.
If only I hadn’t lied to her for so long.
The door opened, and a form rushed in. I didn’t have to look up to smell the familiar scent of a mechanic’s place, but Rachelle’s head jerked up.
The moment she saw that it was her father, it was like a different person was there entirely. Her hands jerked away, and she affixed me with a glare that could straight up melt acid.
“I guess I’ll be going now,” she said flatly, picking up her purse and heading out the door. But before she did exit -this time for goodness knew how long- she looked to me over her shoulder.
“You need to be careful, okay?”
I nodded and then she was gone.
I couldn’t lie, it did hurt. But that hurt was definitely dulled by the feeling that I had that she was going to come around. I would bet money on it if I wasn’t busy scrimping and saving for holiday presents under Anthony’s nose.
“Sorry,” he murmured, coming to the side of my bed. “I came as fast as I could, love. Are you alright?”
“I think so?” I said, a bit confused. “I’m actually not sure what happened. Rachelle said I fell?”
“Let me go see if I can get a doctor and we can have some more answers.”
I nodded, and he left my side, but I didn’t miss the incredibly stressed and worried expression that had been so stark across his features. Oh goodness, the poor man. While I was grateful that Rachelle must have called him, I couldn’t imagine what that conversation had been like.
Thankfully, I wasn’t left to wonder long, because he soon returned with a doctor in tow.
“Ah, Ms. Lawrie. I’m glad to see that you’re awake.”
“Me too,” I answered with a wry chuckle that didn’t exactly come out right. “I didn’t even know I’d gone to sleep.”
“Yes, well you had a pretty bad fall. Witnesses said you slipped on a patch of ice under the snow.”
Finally, I got to ask the question I had been avoiding thinking about. “Is the baby okay?” I figured he was from the stable heartrate on the monitor and the fact that I wasn’t in the ICU with a team of doctors around me, or even surgery, but it never hurt to hear it from an expert.
“Yes, as far as we can tell. You are lucky too. You have a bit of a concussion and you dislocated your shoulder. Thankfully we were able to pop it back into place while you were unconscious, so you didn’t have to experience that particular pain, but it’s still going to be sore and swollen for a bit.”
“Dislocated my shoulder? Geez.” I had just been walking along! It was insane to think that one moment everything had been normal, and the next my head had suffered severe trauma.
“We want to keep you for observation overnight, after all, losing consciousness is always a bid deal as we like to say, and we hope you take it easy for the next couple of days.”
“She will!” Anthony said with authority. “I’ll watch her like a hawk if I have to.”
“You make it sound like I need to be cocooned in bubble wrap or something!” I loved how he wanted to take care of me, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t object at least a little.
“Hey
, now that’s not a bad idea.” I stuck my tongue out at him, but he just looked to the doctor.
“Is there anything else I should know?”
“No, I think that’s it. If you need anything, you have the nurse’s call button. They’ll be in periodically to check on you.”
I nodded and the doctor left, no doubt to see his much more critical patients. I looked to Anthony, sliding my hand into one of his.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” I murmured, feeling a wee bit guilty.
“I know, babe, I know.” He leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead before grabbing one of the chairs and sliding it to my bedside. And we stayed like that for as long as we were both awake, the world seeming a lot more conquerable when we were together.
Anthony
It was late night on Christmas Eve and I was in the living room, sitting. I had placed new firewood in the fireplace and it was kindling nicely, filling the air with a wonderful smoky home-y smell. I always enjoyed relaxing and watching a fire burn and when I bought the house, I made sure there was a fireplace, so I could do just that.
I leaned back onto the couch, watching the flames flicker and burn through the wood. I was filled with contentment. Stella’s pregnancy had been going well and I did my best to make sure she behaved. It was hard to make sure she got the rest she needed, but I did my best. But, of course, Stella was Stella. If there was something she wanted, she didn’t stop until she got it. And me being Anthony, I gave her whatever she wanted because I loved her.
She knew she would get her way eventually too. Sometimes she would throw a bit of a tantrum and just stand there until I gave in because she knew I would eventually. It was so cute to watch, and I know she wasn’t being bratty seriously. She just liked to tease me and test my limits.
Another positive thing was that my business was running smoothly for once. Having four locations had really taken a toll on me, but I finally got everything straightened out. There was a manager I trusted at every location now, filled with a team of hard workers and I knew they would get the job done. I only had to work four days a week, checking in on each store for a day a week and it felt great to have a long weekend that I could spend with Stella. Luckily for her, she was on maternity leave.
Suddenly, there she was, the woman always on my mind, walking into the room wearing a Santa hat that read “Mrs. Claus.” She was wearing glasses and a red baby doll with white fur trimmings and a black belt just under the breasts. I could just barely see through the negligee, making out a tiny matching thong.
“Merry Christmas, Santa.” She giggled, walking up to me and I smiled.
“What is all this for?”
“It’s midnight. I timed it perfectly, so I would say Merry Christmas first.” She laughed, stopping in front of me and poking my nose.
God, she was the cutest, most adorable thing I had ever seen. And the sexiest. I had never wanted to have sex with Rachelle’s mom when she had been pregnant, but then again, she had been a nightmare. Stella had been a dream. She listened to me for the most part and her requests weren’t impossible. The pregnancy had brought us closer than ever before.
“Well, Merry Christmas my sexy Mrs. Claus. Where did you get this?” I said fondling the fur trim.
“I’m not going to tell you where I got your gift!”
“What if I wanted to get you more stuff like this?” I asked.
“Well then you’ll just have to do some research. I’m not telling!” She giggled.
“Oh, so this is my Christmas gift?” I raised an eyebrow at her, amused.
“Why yes, yes it is. I thought you might like to unwrap it before morning though.” She smirked, and I immediately knew where this was going.
Now that she was pregnant, her libido had tamed a bit, but she still wanted sex at least once a week when the urge struck her, and it seemed like it was one of those days.
I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.
I just knew I had to be careful. Having sex meant maneuvering around her belly. I couldn’t be as rough with her as I might like to be, and she couldn’t do certain positions which left us with a limited options, but we always made it work. When there’s a will there’s a way, and we had more than will. We had intense desire.
I thought her being pregnant would make me wary of sex, but as soon as our doctor said it was okay with a few precautions, all my worries flew out of the window and I was ready when she was. There were some days when I would be turned on and she wouldn’t, but I held out for her because I wanted to save my orgasms for her. They somehow suddenly felt sacred to me and only meant for her. I didn’t have the urge to masturbate or anything. If it wasn’t her, I didn’t want it.
I checked in a lot more often than I did before she was pregnant because I wanted to make sure she was okay and that I wasn’t hurting her.
I pulled her closer to me and lifted the baby doll over my head. I kissed her belly, rubbing it. I liked to smush my face against it because it was the softest part of her body for some reason.
I stood up and popped her breasts from the cups of the lingerie. I loved playing with her breasts while she was pregnant because they were extremely sensitive. I groped them with my hands and she immediately began to moan, which made me smirk with delight. I loved pleasing her and I always enjoyed hearing her moans. With her heightened sensitivity, I could hear more of them more quickly.
I flicked my thumb over her nipples, causing her to cry out and grip me for balance. I made eyes contact with her and watched as she fell apart. My fingers squeezed her nipples and she was a moaning mess. My lips glided down her neck and across her collarbone, planting soft, light butterfly kisses against her velvet skin. I wanted to hear even more of those heavenly moans.
I brought my head down to her chest and started flicking my tongue over her nipple, playing with it with my tongue. She twisted her fingers into my locs and held me to her chest, arching her back to give me better access. I made sure to give the other side the same amount of attention loving the symphony of moans that had filled the air. I always had to resist the urge to suck because it had become painful to her because of how sensitive her nipples were now. I wondered briefly what it would be like when they were filled with milk for our baby.
When I felt like she was significantly turned on. I guided her to kneel on the sofa, holding onto the back of it with her butt sticking out.
“Is that comfortable?” I asked, rubbing her belly and back at the same time. She nodded, spreading her legs in anticipation and I smirked, pleased.
I moved behind her and slipped my rod into her after pulling it out of my pants and pulling her thong out of the way. I noted that the material was slippery in my hands, signifying how wet she was. I was very careful not to push in too deep, which was unfortunately another down side to having sex while she was pregnant, but I was happy just feeling her warmth surround me. Her walls were like a blanket for my manhood and it was December after all.
Her canal was slick with juices and I was able to move easily. My stroke was slow, allowing her to feel the most of every inch I could give her until I pulled it back out again, only to return. Stella could pop any minute and I didn’t take any risks during sex. I wanted to pleasure her without hurting her or the baby and slow was the way to go.
The great thing I found about taking things slow was that when we finally reached our orgasms, it was sudden and fast, hitting us like a hurricane.
This time was no exception. I continued my slow pace until Stella’s moans reached a crescendo and suddenly she was holding onto the couch for dear life and I could see her legs trembling. The vibrations of her orgasms traveled through me, bringing on my own climax that hit me like a jolt of electricity. Shockwaves descended through me and I released a string of curse words as I milked myself with a few final thrusts.
I took a moment to enjoy the elated feeling coursing through me and then I helped Stella sit down. I sat beside her, allowing her to lean on my chest as we both basked in the eu
phoria that was our lives. This is what happiness looked like, just enjoying each other’s company.
Ring. Ring.
We both groaned as my phone rang.
“Don’t answer it.” Stella whimpered. I checked the caller ID.
“I can’t, honey. It’s the supervisor from the location I just opened up. I’ve got to take it, I’m sorry.” I answered the phone. “What’s going on?”
“Hey man, you’ve got to get down here. I called you s soon as I got here myself. The place is swarming with cops. It looks like it was broken into.”
“What?!” I felt myself fill with rage and tried to contain it, reminding myself that I had Stella in my arms. “I’ll be right there.”
“Noooooo.” Stella whimpered, pouting at me.
“I have to go, baby. One of my shops as broken into and the police are there. I don’t want to go, but I’ll be back home to love you up as soon as I can, okay?”
“Okay. I know your businesses are important. Try not to be gone too long, my love.”
I got up and kissed her on the forehead before I grabbed my coat to head out.
I was not looking forward to what I might see. Break ins could be nasty and very damaging. I wonder what they took. I kept the money for my businesses triple protected, so there was no way they left with any of that. Maybe they took parts to sell? I wasn’t sure, but I did know that it was interrupting a great night with the love of my life and I wanted nothing more than to return to her.
Let’s make this quick.
Stella
I laid there, swaddled in the blanket Anthony had wrapped me in, and I finally felt content. I half dozed, half preened for at least an hour or two, cherishing the peace flowing through me. Goodness knew with a newborn on the way, those moments of quiet would be few and far between.
My lower half throbbed a bit and I let out a little giggle, recalling what I had just done with Anthony. I had been so self-conscious and unsure about that Mrs. Santa get up, but apparently, I had made the right choice. Sometimes I didn’t understand how he still found me attractive with my stretch marks, my swollen ankles, my pregnancy acne and my irritable moods. I certainly didn’t find myself attractive most of the time.