Southern Sunrise

by Madison, Natasha

  “You don’t have to do this,” I say.

  “I want to,” she tells me. “I blackmailed him, and with that money, I bought my bar and this house.” She smiles now. “For once, I had a home. A real home. Not just for me but also for Ethan. I was determined for him to have a home. For him to know that he was loved, for him to know that he had a home where he was always going to be safe.” She looks around. “This is his,” she tells me. “It was always supposed to be his. Let me give this to you guys.”

  “But I bought it from you,” I say, and she smiles and looks down. “What did you do?”

  “I never signed the papers,” she says, and I open my mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but,” she hands me the papers, “your money is all in this account.”

  I grab the paper and open it. “You took payments monthly,” I say, looking to see the savings account that was open. “I paid the taxes.”

  “You did,” she tells me. “And that is for the kids.” She gives me another paper. “When you have them.”

  “I don’t believe this,” I say, shocked. “You knew I wanted this house.”

  “I knew that if he came back that he was going to get you back. I knew that, in the end, this would be his.”

  “But what if I’d married Drew?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

  “There was no way that was ever going to happen. Worst case …” She smirks. “And I’m saying worst case, I was going to drag Ethan back.”

  “I can’t believe this.” I look down at the paper. “I …”

  “Let me give this to you guys,” she tells me.

  “I know where he gets it from now,” I say, shaking my head. “You know he’s not going to want this, right?”

  “He isn’t going to argue with me.” She shrugs. “And if he does, I’ll play my ace card.”

  “I’m afraid to ask,” I say, and she smirks. “I also don’t want to know.”

  “It’s better if you don’t,” she says. The door opens, and I hear Ethan calling my name.

  I look over and see that it’s earlier than I thought he would be home. “Sunrise, I’m back.”

  “Your mom is here,” I say in case he says something no one wants their mother to hear.

  “Oh, hey, Mom,” he says, walking to her and kissing her cheek. “This is nice.” He walks around and comes down to kiss me, seeing my eyes red. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” I say, kissing his lips and hugging his waist. “Your mom came over to give you something.”

  “Did she?” He looks at his mother.

  “This is yours,” she says, handing him a white paper, and he lets me go to open it, and I read it with him, the house in his name, and he looks at the paper and then at me.

  “This is your house,” he says. “You bought it.”

  I shrug my shoulder. “I thought I did, but it turns out, I was wrong.”

  “But,” he says. “But it’s yours.” He looks at his mother. “It’s her house.”

  “That’s up to you to decide,” she tells him.

  “I’m not taking this.” He hands her back the paper. “I don’t want it. If you want, we will buy it from you.”

  “Negative,” she says, leaning back in the chair. “You left us for five years, and all I could do was hope that you would come back. Now you’re here, and this is what needs to happen. This house was always yours from the moment I bought it. I’ve never asked you for anything in five years,” she says, and now I know the ace up her sleeve.

  “Oh, god,” Ethan says. “You get to use that excuse one time,” he tells her. “But I’ll only accept it if you add Emily’s name to it.”

  “You don’t have to do it,” I say. “I bought this house for you anyway.”

  “I’ll add Emily’s name,” Savannah says. “Now, I have to go and get ready for a mayor dinner, which I hate.” She gets up and comes over to hug Ethan. “You stink.”

  “Of what?” he says.

  “Fish guts, sunscreen, worms, and horse.” She scrunches up her nose. “Now, I want you guys over for dinner tomorrow.”

  “No can do,” Ethan says. “I have to go close up the cabin. I sold it.”

  “What?” I look at him. “You …”

  “No use having it,” he says as if it’s nothing, “so I sold it to one of the boys I knew. I thought we could go up there for a week or so.” I don’t have time to answer him.

  “Well, you better call me when you guys get back,” Savannah says, giving me a hug. “And text me when you get there.”

  “Ready to take a shower?” he asks, picking me up, and my legs wrap around him automatically.

  “I don’t want to wet my hair,” I tell him. “I just washed it.”

  “Sunrise,” he says my name. “You know that I love washing your hair.”

  “No,” I say over my shoulder as I turn on the water. “You love holding my hair while fucking me.”

  “I do love doing that.” He smiles wide, taking off his shirt and tossing it into the basket. “Now get your ass in there and sit down. I didn’t eat my breakfast this morning.” He slaps my ass, and the way he says the words makes my knees weak, so I do the only thing I can do. I walk into the shower and sit my ass down while he buries his face between my legs.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Ethan

  “I’m going to miss this view,” Emily says from on top of me after we finished watching the sunrise sitting on the porch of the cabin, her naked back to my chest. A cover wrapped around us, and my cock buried still inside her have become a morning ritual up here. We got here six days ago. I was nervous to show her the little cabin, afraid she would run for the hills. But instead, she smiled big and asked two things—if there was a toilet and hot water. We spent every day hiking and the nights with the lights on, getting lost in each other.

  “I’m going to miss being naked with you outside and not caring if anyone can see you,” I say, holding her tits in my hands and rolling her nipples between my fingers, and she winces. “Does that hurt?”

  “They are just sensitive,” she says, looking at me sideways. “That is all.” She smiles and moves her hips, making my cock wake up now. “Is he ready for round two?”

  “You mean four,” I say. “You forget the twice before we came outside.”

  “We got it in six times yesterday,” she says, and my hands hold both tits as she rides me again, and her moans start and echo in the forest. “Also, never fucking against a tree.”

  “It was one splinter.” I bite her shoulder, and the cover falls off her, and I see she is playing with herself.

  “It was a splinter in my ass.” Her hips go around and then she gets up and slides down again faster and faster.

  “You didn’t want to put your hands on the ground, so how else was I going to get inside you?” I roll her nipples, and she winces again, so I move my hands to her hips, and I help her move up and down. When she yells out that she’s coming, it takes a minute more for me to follow her. She gets up off me now or else before we both know it we’ll go for round two.

  “What time is he coming to get the keys?” she asks, looking at me naked standing there with the sun behind her. “Stop looking at me like that. I have shit to do like shower and wash the sheets.”

  “You don’t have to wash the sheets.” I get up, grabbing the cover, and walk into the cabin with her. “He’s a soldier. We sleep on dusty cots half the time.”

  “We’ve had sex in that bed. It smells of sex,” she says, shaking her head and walking over to strip the bed.

  “You know what I’m going to miss,” I say, and she looks up, holding the sheets in her arms. “You being naked all the time.”

  She throws her head back and laughs. “I wouldn’t be naked all the time if you gave me my clothes back.” Another thing I’ve done is take her clothes and hide them. Knowing no one can see her and having her naked around me is so much better than her in my shirt.

  “I gave you clothes to wear out on our hike,” I remind
her. “But I’ve also decided that every Saturday will be naked Saturday in the house.”

  “In our house?” she asks. “The house in the city? Where people just drop by, and we have all those windows.”

  “I’ll tell them they can’t come over on Saturday,” I say, and she gasps.

  “You are not going to tell anyone that they can’t come over because it’s naked Saturday.” She walks out and tosses the sheets in the wash. I make her tea, and by the time the guy comes to get the keys, we are already packed up and ready to head back home. “Do you want a minute to say goodbye?"

  “Nah,” I say, looking at the house. “This was never home.”

  I open the door for her and toss Carey my keys. “Hope you find what you are looking for,” I say, and he looks at me. His brown eyes are almost like mine were five years ago—empty.

  “I’m looking to disappear,” he says, running his hands through his short black hair, and I nod at him. “Figured this was the perfect place.”

  “It is,” I say. “Let me know if you need anything.” He just looks at me. “Even if it’s just to talk.”

  “Thanks,” he says and turning around, walking to the house, he grabs a small duffel bag and throws it over his shoulder. I get in the truck and see that Emily is wiping a tear from her eye.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

  “That little boy is so lost,” she says. “You can see the anguish in his eyes. Do you know his story?” she asks, and I shake my head. I don’t fill her in on the talk from the other soldiers either. It’s his story to tell, not mine.

  The drive home is spent with her dozing off. “I’m so tired,” she says when we pull up to our house. “All that fresh air has me ready to fall.”

  “Go to bed, and I’ll get the things out of the truck.” I kiss her, and she just nods, and when I finish unloading the truck, I find her curled up in a ball. I slip into bed beside her, and even though I find her naked, she doesn’t budge. She sleeps through the night and is dragging ass the whole day after. When I come in, I find her sleeping on the couch, and I call my mother.

  “Mom,” I say as soon as she answers the phone. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “What happened?” she asks, and I hear a door close, and the noise around her is now quiet.

  “Emily keeps sleeping,” I say, and it suddenly sounds so stupid even to me. “She gets up to eat and then goes back to bed.”

  “Is she sick?” she asks. “Does she have a fever?” I walk to the couch and feel her head.

  “No, she’s fine,” I say, and she opens her eyes, looking at me, confused. “She’s up now.”

  “What are you doing?” she says, moving away from my hand.

  “Mom, she has no fever,” I tell my mother and see Emily close her eyes again.

  “I’m taking her to the emergency room,” I tell my mother and Emily, who opens her eyes again.

  “I’ll meet you there,” my mother says at the same time Emily says, “No, I’m fine.”

  “Honey,” my mother says. “Go talk to Emily and let me know what you decide. If you want, I’ll come with you guys.”

  “Okay, Mom,” I say, hanging up the phone and getting on my knees, but Emily sits up now. “Seriously, maybe you caught something at the cabin.”

  “I didn’t catch anything at the cabin,” she tells me, pushing me away, getting up, and then walking to the bedroom with me following her. “I was,” she starts to tell me, and she has this stick in her hand. “I had this whole thing I was going to say, but I’m just too tired.”

  “What do you mean?” I say, grabbing the stick and seeing what it is.

  Pregnant

  Is written in the middle of the small clear window. “Oh my god,” I say, putting my hand to my mouth.

  “I know it’s crazy.” She shakes her head. “Jenna brought it over today, and well, I didn’t think anything of it, but I am late by two days.”

  “You’re having my baby?” I say, my chest feeling so full it might crack open. “Holy shit. My boys got the job done.” She looks at me shocked now. “What? We had sex six times a day. How did you not think you were going to end up pregnant?”

  “You wanted me pregnant?” she asks, and I shrug but then smile.

  “Do you not want to be pregnant by me?” I ask, suddenly getting scared that she doesn’t want this.

  “Of course I do, but I didn’t expect to get knocked up month one,” she tells me and then puts her hand on her stomach. “We've made a baby.”

  “We did,” I say, smiling.

  “Baby McIntyre,” she says, and I look at her.

  I walk to her and kiss her lips. “I have to do something,” I say. “One last thing. I was going to do this at a later date, but I need to do it now.”

  “Are you going to tell me what it is?” she asks and I nod.

  “As soon as I get back.” I kiss her lips. “Lie down and don’t move.”

  “What?” she says to me.

  “You have to rest, and you need to get medical leave. I’m going to see about maybe getting a wheelchair and stuff so you don’t have to stand. Or I can just ask Grandma to move in here and help out until the baby is born,” I say, grabbing my keys, and she just looks at me. “I’ll be back.”

  “Can you bring back normal Ethan when you do that?” she tells me, and I run back in and kiss her.

  I get in the truck and rush over to my father’s house. I’m about to ring the doorbell when it opens, and Travis comes out, and he smells like he’s in heat. “What the fuck is that smell?”

  “It’s Abercrombie,” he says, puffing out his chest. “It’s what the guys wear.”

  “To attract bugs maybe. Jesus,” I say, fanning the air away from my nose. “Is Dad here?”

  “Yeah, he’s inside with Mom. They were making out.” He grimaces. “So gross.”

  I walk inside, and sure enough, he has her in his arms, and he’s talking in her ear. “Hey,” I say, and Kallie looks up and smiles at me. “I …” I say, pointing at the hall. “Travis let me in.”

  “Stop that shit,” Kallie says. “And the next time you use the bell, I’m going to Taser you.”

  “Isn’t that illegal?” I ask, my eyebrows shooting up.

  “I know someone,” she says, and my father laughs at her.

  “What’s up? You look frazzled.” He looks at me and grabs the beer that’s on the counter and brings it to his lips.

  “Can I speak with you?” I ask and then look at Kallie. “Kind of man things.”

  “Oh, good God.” She puts her hands up. “I don’t even want to know. The last time you said that, you put condoms on all my bananas.”

  “I was practicing,” I say as she walks away. “I got an A in that class.”

  “Yet, you failed biology!” she shouts back.

  “That was gross. They wanted me to cut open a frog, Kallie. You know I don’t like those things!” I shout at her retreating back and look at my father, who tries not to laugh. “I hate frogs.”

  “I know, trust me, I know,” he says. “So what’s up?”

  “Emily is pregnant.” I come right out and say it, and I swear I can’t help but smile so big I think my face is going to crack. “She’s having my baby.”

  “Holy shit,” my father says and comes over to me and hugs me, slapping my back. “My boy is going to be a father,” he says, wiping his own tear away. “I knew this day would come.” He slaps my chest. “My boy, a father.” He puts his hand in front of his mouth. “God, I hope you have a girl. She’s going to be so beautiful, and you are going to hate it. You know, with boys, you have to worry about one penis; with girls, it’s all the other penises you have to worry about. Especially with Emily’s looks, you're fucked.”

  “Nah,” I tell him. “It’s a boy. I feel it in my bones.”

  “I felt you were a boy, too,” he says. “We used to fight over finding out, and your mother never wanted to know. She wanted it to be a surprise, but I felt it.”


  “I want your name,” I tell him. My heart speeds up, my palms get all fucking sweaty, and I feel sick in the pit of my stomach. “I want my kids to have your name. I want them to be McIntyres. I know that changing it was a slap in the face, and there is nothing I can say that will justify that. I know I need to earn that name,” I tell him. “I know this, and I promise you that I’ll earn your name back,” I say, wiping my tears. “But I can’t have my kids have any other name than McIntyre. I want them to be McIntyres.”

  “Son,” he says softly. “I don’t give a shit what is written on any fucking paper.” He walks to me. “In here.” He points at my heart. “It’s McIntyre.” I nod, and he takes me in his arms.

  “Thank you,” I say, “for not making this harder than it should be.”

  “You’ll be a dad before you know it, and then you’ll get it,” he says, squeezing my shoulder. “You want them safe, you want them healthy, and you want them happy. The rest is just icing on the cake.”

  “I have to get back to Emily. I just left her there,” I say, and he rolls his lips. “I needed to make sure this was okay before anything. She’s going to have my name, too.”

  “I can’t wait,” he tells me. “I’d be honored.”

  “I told her she isn’t allowed to move, and she looked like she was going to stab me,” I tell my father, and this time, he laughs. “I also mentioned that she shouldn’t go back to work and that Grandma can move in.”

  “What?” he asks, shocked. “Why?”

  “She shouldn’t move for the baby,” I say, and he shakes his head.

  “Son,” he whispers, “marry her before she changes her mind.”

  Epilogue One

  Emily

  “Is she sitting down?” I hear Ethan through the door and look over at Savannah.

  “You’re lucky that I love your son with everything I have,” I say to her “or I would leave until after the baby is born.”

  “Would you relax?” I hear Jenna tell him in the hallway. “How do you want her to walk down the aisle? Do you think she is going to float down there?”