A Heart Reborn

by BK Harrell

  Sarah had no trouble allowing Coop to order for them. They started out with the Cosmo Tidbits to sample a variety of appetizers, then moved on to the Surf and Turf and finished with the Chocolate Krakatoe Cake. Sarah sat back rubbing her stomach and moaning with delight at the food they had consumed. She was feeling a little tipsy after the Zombie but the coffee with the dessert was helping to clear her head.

  After Coop paid they went back to the car, and the driver drove them around town to see the Christmas lights and holiday scenes. Not that they saw much as soon as the door closed, Coop pulled Sarah onto his lap and traced her bottom lip with his tongue before she opened, allowing him entrance. She could taste the chocolate and liquor Coop had just consumed. She was nearly out of her mind with want from him. She was dripping with desire and felt the need pooling in her panties. Sarah felt Coop’s hands skim up her thighs and under her dress. His fingers brushed her overly sensitive nub and it nearly sent her through the roof of the car. His fingers pushed aside the barely there fabric of her lace thong and he plunged two fingers into her heated core. Sarah whimpered at the sudden intrusion. She nearly came from that simple act. Sarah kissed Coop’s neck and bit at the corded tendons. She fought to muffle her cries as Coop brought her to climax.

  Sarah couldn’t take anymore, her hands unbuckled Coop’s pants and freed his erection. She took her hand and guided him home. She felt his breathing change, and then his hands took over driving him into her core. Sarah came with a shout that she couldn’t contain and felt Coop bathe her womb with his seed. She collapsed on him and held on. Sarah knew her panties were a loss, but it was worth it to have Coop inside her.

  The car dropped them off back at home. Sarah was so sated from the car ride and activities that she could barely walk to the front door. She almost asked Coop to carry her, but she had given as good as she had gotten and he seemed nearly as drained as her. He opened the front door for them, and took her hand as he led her to the living room.

  Coop turned on the fireplace and Christmas tree before sitting down beside Sarah on the couch. “Sorry about your panties, but you now have an account at Victoria’s Secret, so feel free to get as many as you need,” Coop said as he kissed Sarah gently on the lips. He had to reign himself in as not to just throw her down on the couch and make love to her again.

  Coop walked over to the Christmas tree and picked up a few of Sarah’s presents and she did the same for him. He was excited about the gifts he had bought for her. He hoped that she liked them. He was happy this Christmas, being able to spend it with her. The first of many more to come he hoped. Coop handed her a big box that the bow had taken longer to make than the wrapping. He watched as Sarah carefully slid the bow off and gently peeled away the paper. Coop wanted to tell her it was just paper, but he saw how much she enjoyed the process so he sat back and let her take her time. He watched her eyes light up when she opened the box and found the Vera Wang dress she had been looking at while they were shopping. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him senseless.

  “It’s so beautiful. Thank you.” Sarah handed Coop a present and watched as he tore into the paper. She wanted to laugh because their approaches to opening a present were totally opposite. She watched the smile spread across his face as he opened the bottle of Scotch.

  “I hope you like it. Nicole helped me pick it out. She’s become somewhat of an expert regarding Scotch.”

  “I love it. Thanks.”

  Not wanting to wait, Sarah handed him the box of Opus X Sharks. She didn’t think it was possible, but his smile grew even bigger.

  “How? These are impossible to get, at least an entire box.”

  “Let’s just say, I have my connections.”

  They continued to exchange gifts, and Sarah loved the lingerie she received. She would never have spent the money on it herself, but it was something she would have wanted. Finally, she gave Coop his last present. She watched as he opened the watch and she smiled as he got tears in his eyes reading the inscription. ‘To my one true love. Now and Forever.’

  Coop took Sarah in his arms and kissed her. He couldn’t have asked for a better gift. He handed Sarah her last gift and watched as tears sprung to her eyes as she looked at the Tiffany diamond tennis bracelet. “A diamond for every year we’ve missed and all the years to come.”

  Sarah stared at the bracelet as the tears finally won over and fell down her cheeks. There were too many diamonds to count, and she knew Coop intended for them to be together for the long haul. Sarah took Coop’s hand, leading him upstairs so they could make love one last time before Christmas. She stood him by the bed, where she slowly stripped him down before allowing him to do the same to her. She took him to bed and made love to him as if it was their last time.

  As Sarah laid there in Coop’s arms she knew she had to leave, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it just yet. She debated telling Coop about Harry, but she needed these last few days of peace before all hell was certain to break loose. Finally, she kissed Coop as she slid from the bed to get dressed.

  Coop lay in bed with his arm behind his head, admiring Sarah as the moonlight glowed off her naked body. She looked ethereal standing in the beams of the moonlight. “I wish you didn’t have to go, but I understand. Thank you for the gifts. I hope Santa was good to you and will be good to you. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, and I wish I could stay but I have a busy day tomorrow and I need to get home. Don’t want my mom to think I’ve become a tramp. I loved my gifts. I hope you enjoy yours as well. Don’t smoke them all at once,” Sarah said as she put her sweater dress back on. She didn’t even feel like bothering with the stockings or panties. Putting her shoes back on she walked over and kissed Coop before leaving to go home.

  When Sarah arrived home, she texted Coop to let him know she arrived safely. Walking in the door, she found her mom sitting in her usual spot sipping tea and reading her Kindle. Shaking her head, she went over and sat down with her mom. “Seriously, you don’t always have to wait up. I’m a grown up now, mom.”

  “You’ll always be my little girl. So, did you have a nice evening? Did he like his presents?”

  “We had a wonderful evening. We went to Trader Vic’s for dinner and then rode around and looked at the Christmas lights before going back to his place to exchange gifts. He liked his gifts a lot.”

  “You must have had a lot of fun because I distinctly remember you wearing stockings when you left.” Her mom said with a smirk. “So, what did you get for Christmas?”

  Sarah showed her all her gifts except she told her about the lingerie. Somethings her mother just didn’t need a visual of. She told her about what Coop said about the bracelet and how she almost broke down and told him about Harry.

  Sarah’s mom put her arms around Sarah and pulled her close. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it was probably best that you didn’t. You have what ten days before your meeting, so just let it be. You don’t know how he’s going to react. Let them both enjoy Christmas without the stress. You won’t see each other until New Year’s Eve, so do what you need to do to get ready for your meeting, and come to terms with the fact that you’ll have to share Harry.

  “What if he doesn’t want to be a part of his life?”

  “Then he’ll miss out on an amazing kid. I know it’ll cause you pain, but you won’t be any worse off than you were two months ago.”

  “You’re right as always, mom. I’m really tired and going to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow. Harry wanted to make cookies for Santa, and then we have dinner and mass. Plus, you know he isn’t going to sleep late on Christmas morning, so that will be a long day. Might as well get some sleep while I can. Thanks for the talk. Love you.”

  “Love you, too. Good night.”

  Sarah trudged upstairs to her room, barely managing to strip off her clothes and put on her shorts and tank top before collapsing on the bed.

  Sure enough, Sarah didn’t need an alarm clock, as Harry came bounding
in to wake her up the next morning. She still enjoyed snuggling with Harry, even he thought he was getting to big. As Sarah laid, there she remembered that she had to go to the grocery store to get everything to make cookies and Christmas dinner. How could she have forgotten? Shit, her mind was just on to many other things.

  “Harry, go tell Nana to get ready, so we can go to the store. Mom forgot to go to the store and buy the stuff for cookies and Christmas dinner.”

  Sarah watched Harry run off as she got out of bed and checked her phone expecting a wake-up text from Coop and she wasn’t disappointed. She sent a quick text back and headed to the shower. Sarah was definitely in need of her morning coffee and her mom handed it to her in a travel mug with a cinnamon roll to eat on the way. Thankfully, they were avoiding the malls so traffic wasn’t too bad on the drive to Whole Foods. Sarah remembered when shopping there was a luxury she couldn’t afford, but one of the great things about having a big paycheck and no student loans was that she could afford to shop there now.

  An hour and a couple of hundred dollars later, they had everything they needed and more. Sarah swore she didn’t understand how Harry could eat so much gelato and not gain weight, and her trip down the beer aisle didn’t help any either. They loaded up the car to go make cookies. Something Sarah had been looking forward to. She didn’t know how much longer Harry would want to make cookies for Santa, so she tried to relish the even every year.

  Once they got home and the groceries were put away, Sarah pulled out her trusty Santa’s Little Helper apron and all the ingredients they needed. Sarah smiled as she watched Harry dust up every surface possible with flour. Picking up a pinch of flour Sarah tossed it onto Harry, causing him to burst out laughing, and that started an impromptu food fight that her mom unexpectedly got caught in the middle of. Before Sarah knew it, the kitchen was covered in flour and a few broken eggs.

  Sarah’s mom finally shouted in her best motherly tone, “Enough already. Sarah get the mop and Harry get the broom. I want this room spotless in thirty minutes or less. Then we’ll make cookies. Now, get to work.”

  Sarah and Harry worked side by side laughing all the way through their chores. Even though they were cleaning, they still had a good time. Finally, they got the last of the flour up and called her mom back to help them make cookies.

  With all the cookies baked and iced, they sat down with big glasses of milk and enjoyed the fruits of their labor. After they ate and cleaned up, Sarah sent everyone upstairs to get ready for Mass. They needed to get there early so they weren’t squished in the middle of the row, and, they wanted a prime seat for a quick exit.

  Mass was a peaceful experience for Sarah. Since she’d been to confession and she had started to share some of her burdens, her world was more centered. Even though she had to tell Coop about Harry.

  With Mass over, Sarah continued their tradition of riding around looking at the Christmas lights. She remembered how much in awe Harry was as a small child of all the lights. He still looked at all the lights with such rapt attention. By the time they got home, it was time for Harry to head to bed, but she helped him put out his cookies for Santa and his letter.

  After Harry went to bed, Sarah and her mom sat in front of the Christmas tree admiring the lights and talking about Harry. Sarah hoped that he liked his presents she got him. He was getting harder to buy for, since they bought him the things that he wanted and needed as they went along. Sarah decided it was time to go to bed, so she and her mother put out the rest of the presents and took care of the cookies and milk. Sarah thought at some point Santa needed some bourbon to wash the cookies down. Sarah kissed her mother on the cheek and headed to bed.

  She hoped she could talk to Coop for a few minutes, but she knew he was staying at his parent’s house and she didn’t know what time they were getting home from Mass and their neighbors house. She sent him a quick text but when she didn’t get an immediate response she fell asleep with her phone in her hand.

  Sarah was awoken the next morning at six-thirty by a bouncing bundle of energy jumping up on her bed.

  “Come on, mom. Wake up, Santa came and it’s time to see what he brought me.”

  “Okay, Harry. Go make sure Nana’s up. Give me a chance to wash my face and get dressed.”

  Sarah got ready and walked over to her mom’s room and together they all walked downstairs. Her mom had her camera ready to catch the exuberant expression of Harry as he saw the presents laid out. Sarah wasn’t disappointed in Harry. Watching him brought back memories of her childhood, and how excited she would get on Christmas morning. As her mom snapped pictures, she snuck away to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. With coffee for her and her mom, they sat down on the couch and began to open all the wrapped presents. Harry definitely took after his dad by the way he just tore into the wrapping paper. Sarah cringed thinking of all the time she wasted making sure every package was perfectly wrapped.

  “Mom, Mom, thank you so much. How did you get a signed Harrison Cooper bat and ball?”

  “I know a guy,” Sarah said as she smiled. She swore he was more excited about the bat and ball than anything that Santa had brought him. If he was this excited over the bat he was going to love the jersey. She knew when he opened it by the yell he let out and a few whoops. Sarah had hit the jackpot with those gifts. She pondered how he would feel if he knew it was his dad who signed the bat and ball. Sarah was shaken out of thoughts as she was barreled over by an exuberant nine-year-old. “I hope you like it. I know it’s big but it’s an actual game jersey from Harrison Cooper.”

  “I love it, mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Make sure you give Nana a hug and tell her thank you for your gifts from her.”

  Sarah watched as Harry jumped over and gave her mom hugs and kisses. She was amazed that all the work they had put into everything was totally destroyed in less than an hour. Shaking her head, Sarah grabbed a couple of trash bags to put all the paper and boxes in. While she took care of the clean-up, her mom went to fix breakfast. After cleaning up the trash, Sarah ran upstairs to send Coop a quick text. Apparently, he was already up as she had a missed text from last night and one from early this morning. Sarah figured she had a few minutes so she dialed Coop instead of sending him a text.

  “Merry Christmas, to the most beautiful woman in the world. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, and Merry Christmas to the best man I know. What are you doing up to so early?”

  “Mom and dad still get up early, so we exchanged a few more gifts and dad and I are sitting outside on the patio smoking a cigar and drinking coffee. What about you?”

  “We exchanged presents and were about to fix breakfast. I just wanted to hear your voice. Sorry I missed you last night but I was so tired I fell asleep waiting for you.”

  “Sorry, we didn’t get home until after midnight from the neighbor’s house and when you didn’t respond to my text I figured you were asleep, so I didn’t call.”

  “I wish I could see you, but we’re flying out to Las Vegas this afternoon. I decided to give mom and dad a little trip, and they wanted me to go with them since I didn’t have any pressing plans. Have no fear though, I’ll be back in plenty of time for our big date on New Year’s Eve.”

  “I know you will. I hope you have fun and win lots of money.”

  “I’ll have fun. A lot of time to smoke cigars and relax at the spa. I’ll call you tonight when we get in and we can talk some more, but breakfast is ready and you know my mom always on a schedule.” Harrison said.

  “That I do. Enjoy your breakfast and have a safe trip. I love you to the moon and back.” Sarah replied.

  “I love you to infinite and beyond.”

  “Always have to top me don’t you.”

  “Just had to watch Toy Story the other day. Just stuck with me. Love you. Talk to you later. Bye.”

  “Love you, too. Bye.”

  Sarah was smiling as she went back downstairs to breakfast. H
er smile didn’t go unnoticed by her mother who gave her a knowing look that Sarah confirmed with a small nod of her head.

  After breakfast, Sarah spent the rest of the morning helping Harry set up his Playstation and getting beat by him at every game. Sports games Sarah was pretty good at, but she hadn’t yet mastered the concept of Call of Duty. No matter what, she enjoyed the time, even shooting zombies. After killing zombies for a while, Sarah excused herself to help her mom with lunch. She smiled as she watched Harry play his games in his Harrison Cooper jersey. She wasn’t sure she would be able to get him out of that anytime soon.

  “I take it you talked to Harrison this morning. I mean the smile on your face told me everything. Hopefully, this will be the last Christmas you’ll all be apart. Next year should be epic.”

  “I’m glad you think so, because I’m worried about his response. I guess we’ll know in a few weeks. What can I do to help with lunch?”

  “Just peel the potatoes and the eggs. I just put the turkey in the oven, so other than the potatoes and eggs, we just have to wait a while. Have you been working on the picture album for Harrison?”

  “It’s finished. It brought back a lot of memories for me, as I looked through the pictures. I barely remember being pregnant anymore, but the pictures made me smile and shed a few tears.”

  “You were so beautiful when you were pregnant. I just wish you and Harrison had been together so you could’ve shared the experience.”

  “I know, mom. I screwed up, and have had to live with that for the last ten years. Every time I looked at Harry, I saw Harrison. The older he gets the more he resembles him in attitude and looks. Hell, he even plays ball like him. I can’t tell Harry who his father is…crap. He missed a present.” Sarah got up and walked over to the tree and hunted for the package Santa left for Harry. She found it and walked over to him. “Harry, you missed a present.”