My Redemption Too: a Second Chance series

by S. K. Lessly

  Well shit, she didn’t have to ask twice. I crawled up her body, kissing our baby as I went. I sat back on my hunches, draped her legs over my bent arms, lined up and slid home nice and easy. We moaned together as I pushed into her until I was buried to the hilt in heaven.

  “So fucking good, baby, shit,” I whispered down at her. “I love you.”

  Lauren smiled at me and whispered, “I love you, too.”

  And in that moment, I made love to my woman slow and easy me on top for a few strokes until I wanted to feel her skin to skin. I at least waited until I made her come before I switched us, putting her back to my front, her leg over my hip. I kept a slow, languid rhythm, dragging my cock in and out of her. I whispered in her ear how much I loved her, how I couldn’t wait to start forever with her, and how she was made just for me. When I felt her slick pussy walls start to close around me, I went fast and hard; her face in the mattress and that glorious ass of hers in the air.

  After we both were fully sated, and I cleaned us both up, I went to my chest drawer and pulled out the ring I had bought for Lauren. It was a simple princess cut solitaire diamond ring, the band white gold. There wasn’t nothing to the ring, but it was completely different than the one Sebastian had given her. Also, it was bigger. Yeah, I was petty, but fuck that. It was expected, and I didn’t disappoint.

  I crawled on the bed took her hand and placed the ring on her finger. Fuck all that we were still trying to catch our breaths. I felt like the moment wasn’t complete until I made it official.

  “Oh, Paul it’s beautiful,” she gushed as she studied the flawless diamond. I had to sell both of my kidneys to get this ring, but the look in her eyes made everything worth it.

  “You like it?” I asked, wrapping her up in my arms. A blanket covered our cooling bodies as the quiet sounds of the coming dawn and the baby making playlist coming from my phone were all that could be heard.

  “Like it, I love it. It’s exactly like me— simple but dazzling.”

  I chuckled and kissed her shoulder. “I don’t know about you being simple but okay,” I replied and tucked her to me, one arm curled under my head and the other draped over her hips. We both fell into a comfortable silence. Considering what just transpired, I didn’t want quiet. I wanted to see what she was thinking.

  “You okay, baby?” I asked, my lips grazing her still dampened skin.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” she replied, but I wasn’t sure if she caught my meaning. I wasn’t just talking about how she was after our lovemaking but with everything that happened tonight.

  I leaned up and pushed her on her back so that I could look her in the eyes.

  “No, baby I mean are you okay with everything? With getting married and committing to be with me forever. You know I’m never letting you go, right? You’re stuck with me.” I grinned down at her.

  Lauren touched the side of my face gingerly. “I’m good with everything. I can’t wait to be yours forever. I’m already yours forever, but we can make it official.”

  I leaned down and gave her a kiss that otherwise would have woken the beast but thankfully he was taking a much-needed breather. I did take this time to ask, “When do you want to make it official?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. When do you?”

  “If I had it my way, tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow!?” she blanched, her eyes lit up with surprise.

  “Or within a week. If I had any say, you’d be Mrs. Paul Joshua Logan in seven days. How does that sound to you?”

  She lifted her eyebrows. “Honestly, terrifying.”

  Damn.

  Lauren

  I could see the worry in his eyes, and I immediately placed my hands along his now red cheeks.

  “Wait a second, before you take what I said out of context. I’m terrified because we wouldn’t have everything done by then. I need a dress, a church, and stuff like that. So, a week is not enough time.”

  I visibly witnessed Paul relax above me. He settled on his side, his arm propping up his head as he studied me.

  “Okay, how much time do you need? And what kind of ceremony do you want to have?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to my parents. First I need to tell them you—”

  “They already know,” Paul informed me in a matter of fact tone.

  I leaned away from him, my mouth open, my eyes large.

  “Uh, what do you mean they already know? Did you call them when I was in the bath?”

  Paul took a lone finger and traced my collarbone before he dragged it down the center of my breasts. “Sweetheart, I’ve already spoken to your family about making you an honest woman months ago. In fact, it was the day they came to visit when I got out of the hospital.

  I sat up a little, propping myself up so I could look at him fully. “You did? Wow, I had no idea.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, baby, that was the point.”

  “What did they say?” I asked, folding my arms protectively around myself.

  Paul sat up more and rested his back against the headboard.

  “They had some concerns— your father and Brian mainly. They wanted to make sure we both were ready to get into another committed relationship after we just got out of one. Mark wanted to make sure I wasn’t asking just because you were pregnant. I assured them that I wasn’t. I told them just how much I wanted you. I didn’t want to play around with words. I explained in words I won’t repeat just how much you mean to me and how I was devoted to making you the happiest you’ve ever been.”

  I smiled at him, knowing that he would have a hard time convincing the men in my family of his intentions but the women I knew would be much worse.

  I smirked up at him and asked, “What did my shrinks have to say? I know they gave you a hard time.”

  “Actually no,” Paul shook his head, and again I was shocked at what he told me.

  “You’re kidding me? Those two are bulldogs. They grilled Sebastian so hard that I thought he would crumble.”

  Paul shrugged again.

  “They weren’t that bad. Don’t get me wrong. They were scary as shit. I think Janet was the scariest, the mama bear protecting her little sister. Nevertheless, I won them over. I just told them how I would never let you go, and I wouldn’t ask you to marry me unless you were ready. That seemed to ease their tension a little, enough that I wasn’t going to go up in flames from their hard stares.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Those are my shrinks. I love them to death.”

  “And your family loves you to pieces. They were very protective of you and just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t fuck you over. They even threatened to castrate me if I hurt you.”

  “Oh yeah, who said that, Brian?”

  “Nope, Mark.”

  I put my hands up stopping him from saying anything else. “Okay, that’s enough. I don’t think my heart can take any more shocks tonight. Back to what I had said before. I need to talk to my mom and sister. I don’t want to be big as a house when we get married, but I also don’t want to bring our child into the world, and we’re not married.”

  Paul reached for my arm and pulled me close over his body until I was straddling him. He caressed my face with the back of his fingers before he rested his hands along my belly.

  “I agree with you. I don’t want you giving birth without having my name. So why don’t we get married, with maybe two witnesses before the baby gets here? Then we can have a small ceremony at my family’s home a few months after the baby.”

  A grin played on the side of my face. “I like that idea. You don’t mind saying I do to me twice.”

  “Baby, I’ll confess my love to you every day for eternity.”

  I chuckled and trapped his face between my head. “I love you.”

  Paul pulled me closer to him, as close as my belly would allow, and placed a soft kiss to my lips. “I love you more.”

  Epilogue

  Lauren

  I am officially Mrs. Paul Joshua Logan.
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br />   Well, I’ve had that title for a while before we made it official in the eyes of our family and some of our friends and just in time too. Paul and I didn’t want to have this baby without me becoming his wife, so we decided to get married in secret. He had to practically roll me into the courthouse a week before Christmas, but we managed to get hitched in front of our closest friends. Samson, Melissa, Tonya, and Tyler were standing behind us as we became husband and wife. We then swore them to secrecy. The secret didn’t last very long, however.

  Not long after we were married at the courthouse, I gave birth to a baby boy that we named, Ian Kelly Logan. He was eight pounds even and twenty-two inches long. Paul was there with me as I delivered our baby, and he coached me the whole way. I didn’t think he would make it though. When I went into labor, he was of course out fighting a fire. However, I will say this— his squad got him to the hospital just in time for him to see the birth of his son.

  Both of our parents weren’t very happy with us about having this baby without making it official. They were all huddled in my hospital room fussing and carrying on about how things were done back in their day blah, blah, blah. Paul and I got so tired of hearing them chastise us we broke down and told everyone that we were already married. There were some hurt feelings, but we made up for it when we officially said our vows.

  We decided to get married on the beaches of Jamaica. Paul, sometime back before his accident, had somehow scheduled a trip for us to go to Sandals Negril in Jamaica. Naturally, due to his accident and me being sick as a dog, we had to reschedule the trip.

  Our immediate family and close friends made the trip, and Paul and I said our ‘I do’s in front of a beautiful sunset. I wore an off-white long silk dress, which happened to be similar to Paul’s dream. You remember the one where he said someone came up behind me and slit my throat. I was here to say there was a happy ending instead of a bloodbath, thank goodness.

  Anyway, the evening was amazing. Paul looked mouth-watering all dressed in an off-white linen suit. In fact, he was so hot that I had to pull him in the bathroom of the hotel we were staying at to get in a quickie before the reception started.

  The memories we made that night far exceeded anything I ever hoped or dreamed would happen. Every female was a blubbering mess by the end of the ceremony, including me, and it was Paul that started it all. My father gave me away to a man that couldn’t stop the tears welling in his eyes from falling as he watched me.

  I had told him, hours later, how surprised I was that he had become so emotional being that we were already married. However, he kindly put me in my place by saying, “The courthouse to me was just a prelude for the real thing. Seeing you walk toward me, a vision of ultimate beauty, I couldn’t stop thanking God for that flat tire.”

  Do you see how much I love this man?

  “Lauren Logan, where the hell are you? Come and get your son!”

  I looked up at the steps from our kitchen and couldn’t help the smirk that appeared on my face. I had left Paul to tend our freshly bathed son while I went to get a bottle for Ian. Paul was an amazing father, not that it was a question. Our son loved his daddy too. His little face would light up the second he would see or hear Paul. He also loved to shower his father which, from the sound of his voice just happened.

  “Baby?” Paul called at the top of the steps. I rubbed my growing belly with baby number two and grinned up at the sound of his voice.

  “Yes, I got you. I’m coming.”

  “You won’t be if you don’t come and get your son. The little terrorist. I swear he waited for me to change my wet shirt to a dry one before he pissed on me.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when I heard my son squeal and babble.

  “Yeah you think your funny, huh lil man?” Paul chastised our son with humor all in his voice. I heard the sound of raspberries on bare skin and the happy squeal and screech of laughter from our son. I shook my head and finished making Ian’s dinner. I made my way back upstairs and stopped at the doorway of our bedroom. Paul was leaning over the bed talking to our diaper clad baby. Ian was so focused on his daddy’s face, as if he was absorbing every single word his daddy was saying. It made my eyes tear up and my heart swell.

  There were times when I found myself watching my husband, as he played with our son or when he was by himself watching television, in awe. Strange I know, but here’s why. Do you remember the day I first saw him? After he changed my tire and turned down my invitations to coffee and a ride? Well, remember when I said to myself as he walked away, “Whoever gets to wake up to that man every morning is blessed and highly favored.”

  What were the odds that I’d be the one who gets to wake up every morning to a wonder man? I was indeed truly blessed and highly favored. I was a very lucky woman and I thank God every day!

  “Sometimes there are no second chances, no timeouts, no next time. Sometimes it’s now or never” -Unknown

  The End