by C. A. Harms
Radley nodded his head as I walked away to meet the salesman at the register.
***
We spent Thanksgiving with our friends. Lexi, Megan and Natalie spent the day cooking a feast while us guys played pool and watched sports on Kole’s big screen. I snuck into the kitchen a few times to see my girl and sneak a few kisses too, just to get a chance to spend even a few minutes with her.
After we ate entirely too much food and fell asleep on the couch together, I was able to convince her it was time to go home.
I tucked her into bed and curled up against her back. As I lay there with Natalie in my arms, I knew there was nowhere else that I would rather be.
I could sense by her breathing that she was not fully asleep.
“Nat?”
She turned her head just enough that I could now see her eyes. “Mmmhmmm.”
I placed a soft kiss against her shoulder. “Move in with me. We stay with each other every night as it is. There’s no reason why you should be paying rent. I want you here, baby.”
Her breathing was even and I saw the corner of her lips lift upward. “Okay.”
“Yeah?”
This time she turned completely around to face me and her eyes met mine. “Yes, I’ll move in with you.” Before I could speak, her lips lifted to meet mine. What started as a sweet kiss quickly became more. Natalie was hard to resist, not that I ever wanted to resist my need for her…for us.
Ending my day inside my girl was definitely the perfect way.
***
Over the next few weeks, the guys and I moved all of Natalie’s things in to my place…our place. She only had one month left on her lease so I paid it. She wasn’t happy with me doing that, but I did it anyway.
Christmas was approaching fast and we were having a hard time making plans. My mom had invited us home for the holidays but Nat was torn. I know she wanted to go home to her dad and Granny, as well.
I left her that morning in tears.
We had our first argument since we had moved in together. I felt like an ass because I knew she was emotional, after all she was almost twenty-six weeks pregnant. It just pissed me off that she suggested we spend Christmas apart. She wanted me to go home to my parents while she went to her dad’s. It ended in a shouting match with me slamming the door behind me and coming to work.
Now here I sat at my desk, pissed off at the world.
“What the hell is your problem today, dude?” I looked up from my desk to find Kole leaning against the door frame. “You have a reason why you’re sulking in your office and Derick is handling your eleven o’clock?”
I leaned forward and ran my hands through my hair. “I had a fight with Nat this morning.”
I heard the chair scoot against the floor but I never looked up. “What are you two fighting about?”
This time I glanced up at him. “Holiday plans.”
He laughed…fucking laughed, shaking his head. “Seriously dude?” I just nodded. “Wow man, wait ‘til the kid gets here. It only gets better.” He stood up and leaned forward on the desk. “Why don’t you just invite her dad and Grams to your parents’ house? It’ll give them all a chance to get to know each other. Plus, it alleviates the pussy blocker.”
I looked at him confused. “The what?”
He chuckled and walked toward the door. “You know, the pussy blocker. Because I can guarantee you that you won’t be getting any pussy until you fix this problem.”
I could hear the asshole laughing as he walked down the hall.
Man that dude could piss me off at times, but he might have a point with this one.
I dialed the number and waited for the answer.
“Sweetheart, how are you? How is Natalie?” My mom always sounded so happy and full of life.
“Good Mom, we’re good. I gotta question for ya. What would you think about me inviting Natalie’s dad and grandma home with us for Christmas? Natalie wants to go home and see them, but I need her to be with me. I have plans for Christmas morning and it won’t work if she’s not there.”
“Oh, honey that would be great. Of course you can invite her family home with you.” I could almost hear her mind ticking away already making a huge deal of it all. It was just who she was, always the planner.
“I figured as much, but I needed to make sure before I called him.” I hung up with my mom to make one more phone call.
“Asheboro Police Department.”
I spent the next twenty minutes convincing her father to join us at my parents for Christmas.
***
When I arrived home, I heard Natalie banging around in the kitchen. I took a deep breath and went in to see if I could smooth things over. The moment I rounded the corner she dropped a bowl and it hit the floor as the contents spilt at her feet.
“Damn it!” she complained.
I rushed to her side, grabbing the bowl before she could. “I got it, babe.”
“No, I got it. I dropped it, not you.” From the tone of her voice she was definitely still upset about earlier.
“Natalie, just let me help.” Poking at an angry bear was not always the best thing to attempt, but I did it anyway.
She stood up and walked toward the sink, leaning forward and resting her hands on the countertop. I heard her sniffle and I stood up quickly to join her. “Baby, don’t cry. It was an accident.”
“I’m not crying about that.” She waved her hand in the direction of the mess. “I made up my mind today, I’m going home for Christmas, Adam. I’m spending the holidays with my dad and Grams.”
I placed my hand onto her back. “Yes you are spending it with your dad and grams.” She turned to face me, peering up into my eyes. “You’re also spending it with my family, too.”
“What?” she asked, appearing confused.
I smiled and placed one hand on each side of her against the countertop, caging her in. “I talked to your dad today. He and your granny are going to my parents with us.”
Her eyebrows creased together. “You did that?” I just nodded my head as I watched the fresh tears begin to fall from her eyes. Only this time they were tears of happiness.
“Really?” she asked.
I brushed the tears from her cheeks with my thumbs before kissing her softly. “Yes, I did that.”
Natalie wrapped her arms around my neck tightly. “I love you so much. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, beautiful.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Natalie
“When will my dad and grams be here?” I whispered up to Adam once I woke up on Christmas Eve morning. We arrived at his parents last night and my dad and grams would be flying in sometime today.
“They should be here around one. My dad and I are gonna pick ’em up from the airport.”
“So we have a few hours?” she verified.
“Yeah. What do you feel like doing?”
Her hand slid down my chest and I hardened instantly. Natalie’s touch was so gentle and I was pretty sure it was meant to be just that. A gentle, sweet gesture, but hell if I wasn’t instantly turned on.
I let my hands begin to do a little roaming of their own down her thigh, gripping her behind her knee and bringing her legs up over my hip. The moment I grabbed her ass and pulled her closer, she moaned, “Adam, we can’t.”
“Oh, we can,” I assured her. “We definitely can.”
She smiled up at me as I bent forward to kiss her sweet lips.
“Everyone is awake already and I’m sure they’re downstairs.” I looked at her, raising my eyebrows waiting for the point in her argument. She pushed against my chest and laughed. “Stop looking at me like that, they’ll hear the bed squeak.”
“The bed squeaking didn’t matter to you last night.”
“Everyone was asleep and you went slowly.” Her cheeks reddened. I loved that about Natalie, after all the times we’ve had sex and everything we shared, she still got embarrassed.
I traced my fingers along her thigh and
watched as her eyes rolled back slightly. A low moan escaped her just as I slipped my hand between her legs and traced the edge of her panties. Slowly I let my tongue flip against the side of her neck before whispering in her ear. “I promise I can go slow again. I won’t make the bed squeak, baby.” I kissed against her neck just below her ear. “I wanna start my day inside you. Let me make love to you.” Before she could answer, I slid my finger inside her panties and found her wet and ready. I knew she wanted it just as bad as I did.
The moment her hand gripped my hardness she began stroking. The talking was done.
As I entered Natalie I bit my lower lip hard to control the groan that rumbled inside my chest. Every fucking time with my girl was better than the last.
The second I began pumping my hips, Natalie was the one who moaned out loud. “Shh, baby.”
“Feels so good,” she whispered back.
I chuckled. “I know it does, baby. Remember though, you don’t want the whole house to hear how good it feels.”
She buried her face into my chest and hiked her leg just a little higher, allowing me to go deeper. In no time at all I felt her tightening around me and her teeth sink into my shoulder. My movements quickened and the first twitch of her slick walls had me groaning out my own release.
“Fuck, baby, so fucking sweet.”
A few minutes passed before I noticed the burning sensation from my shoulder where Natalie had bit down. I looked over to find the visible outline of her teeth.
“Um, babe?”
“Yeah?” she breathed out.
“You almost drew blood.” I rubbed my fingers over my shoulder.
“I’m sorry. It was that or scream,” she said in her defense. “I didn’t want anyone running in here to see what happened and finding us like this.”
I kissed her forehead and slowly slid out of her. “Next time scream, baby.”
I heard her giggling as I made my way to the bathroom, still rubbing the tender spot as I started the shower for the both of us.
***
By the time we made it downstairs, the table was overflowing with everything you could think of. My sister and mom had really outdone themselves. I could tell by the look on Natalie’s face she instantly felt guilty about not being up early to help. Kate must have noticed the same expression because she placed her hands onto her hips, looking directly at Nat. “Absolutely not Natalie. Don’t you dare feel guilty. It’s good for you to sleep in, honey.” Kate took her into a big hug and I heard her whisper near Natalie’s her. “You need to kick him outta your bed though, make him take a cold shower so you can actually get some rest.”
When Kate pulled back she winked at Natalie, but glared at me. The sweet giggle that came from Natalie had me gripping her waist and pulling her close. “What are you laughing at?”
I kissed her softly only because there was a kitchen full of people and I didn’t want to embarrass her.
“Please dude, not everyone wants to watch you eat her face.” Brock brushed past us. “I for one get nauseated seeing it.”
Brock usually had some sort of sexual comment to make toward any situation, but today he just acted pissed off. I made a mental note to ask him about his mood later.
***
While dad and I went to the airport to pick up Natalie’s family, she stayed back to wrap presents. She had this secret stash in her suitcase and I was forbidden to go near it. I told her not to get me anything but she of course didn’t listen because let’s face it, when did she?
By the time we got back, they had everything wrapped and surrounding the tree. It really felt great having Natalie, her dad and grams here.
They were welcomed with open arms and Greg and my dad really hit it off. Of course, Grams found her way to the kitchen and became Mom’s new best friend. There were nothing but cooking tips flying back and forth between the two of them.
Kyle and Tyler had Brock and I wrapped up in a game on the PlayStation in the family room within minutes of their arrival.
There was a real battle going on and the two of them seemed to be giving Brock and me a run for our money, especially in the talking smack department.
I glanced up to find Kate and Natalie thumbing through a baby magazine. I could hear Kate explaining things to her and Natalie’s face looked puzzled.
“I may come live with you for the first year. I don’t know how I’m gonna remember all this stuff.” Kate smiled back at Natalie while she continued flipping through the pages looking more lost with each turn.
“Nat?” Natalie met Kate’s gaze. “Sweetheart, you’re gonna be fine. It’s scary at first, but after a few times you’ll feel like you’re a pro. Plus, you have Adam.”
Her eyes immediately flipped across the room to meet mine and I winked. Her face softened and at that moment I knew that my original plans for tonight were gonna happen. At that moment I felt there was no better place or time.
After we finished dinner, everyone made their way back to the family room to watch Kate’s Christmas movie of choice, “Polar Express.”
I took this opportunity to approach Greg. “Do you have a few minutes? I need to talk to you.” He nodded and we snuck off to the side as I led him to my father’s office. Once I closed the door, I turned to face him and took a deep breath.
“Sir, I wanted to tell you…”
He held his hand up to stop me, “Stop with the sir stuff, Adam. Call me Greg.”
I nodded my head and after nervously running my hands over my jeans, I continued, “Greg, I need you to know that I’m gonna take care of Natalie and our son. They both mean the world to me and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them.” He held my stare without speaking a word. I took another deep breath and went for it. “I wanted to ask you for your blessing, because I plan on asking Natalie to marry me. It would really mean a lot to know that you trust me to take care of her and protect her.”
When he just continued to watch me, my stomach began to tighten. I never planned for him to tell me no. I wasn’t sure how I would take that. Just when I went to speak, his eyes softened.
“Adam, it says a lot for your character that you came to me before you even asked her.” He turned from me and took a seat on the couch as I sat across from him on the reading chair.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows onto my knees, waiting for him to continue.
“I was always so worried about Natalie growing up without her mom around. She took the passing of her mother very hard. To watch your daughter lose her mother is heartbreaking. Damn, those two were inseparable, the best of friends, most people thought they were sisters.” With that thought, Greg smiled. “I watched Natalie go through some pretty hard things since then. I’ve watch her completely shut down and almost become someone I didn’t recognize. Every day I blamed myself for not being who she needed me to be.”
He looked up from his hands that were rested in his lap. “I’m gonna trust you to be the man that she needs you to be. I’m gonna trust you to stand by her and protect her no matter what each day brings you, because I believe you do love my daughter as much as you say. Don’t make me regret giving you that trust.”
“I won’t. You have my word.” And nothing would make me break that promise.
We both stood and he shook my hand before we made our way back to meet everyone else in the family room.
Kate smiled and I winked, indicating that all went well and the plan was a go. Once Kate hit play, the movie started. It wasn’t what everyone expected and I felt all eyes flip to me as I continued to stare forward watching the television.
Lexi was the first one to appear on the television. “Okay, Nat, first off I hope your Christmas is amazing.” Lexi waved as if she truly could see everyone in the room staring at the television in confusion. “Hey everyone, hi Dad, I love you all.” Then she straightened back up and looked straight ahead. “Back to you my BFF. I love you, Nat, and I wanted to tell you how proud of you I am. Look at you, you’re gonna be a momma and you have a
man by your side who adores you. I’ve seen it, girl, and I know what love is. Kole loves me like that.” About that time, Kole and Hanna appeared next to Lexi. Hanna squealed and everyone laughed.
This time, Kole spoke. “Hey Nutty Nat,” he winked. “A love like Adam has for you is special. Yeah, the way it started probably wasn’t the way most relationships start, but when it’s meant to be…it just is.”
Natalie gripped my thigh and I looked over into her puzzled eyes. “What is this?” she asked.
“Shh, just watch.” I said looking back toward the screen.
Kole continued to speak like Natalie was right in front of him. “I’ve watched Adam change completely. I’m as surprised as anyone else. Hell, I think I’m the one who least expected it.” He chuckled. “He and I weren’t the best of friends, you know that.” I saw Natalie smile out of the corner of my eye.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is Adam’s love for you is real. I think you two went through hell and back just to be planted in one another’s lives for a reason. You two balance each other out.” Kole looked off to the side of the screen and nodded. Megan and Radley stepped in just beside him. “Natalie, we just all wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, and to let you know that Adam has a blessing from all of us.”
About that time, I slid from the couch and knelt down before Natalie. Her eyes grew wide and her hand instantly flew to her mouth.
“Natalie, I want to spend the rest of my life making you smile and laugh. Those are two of my absolute most favorite things. I’ve thought about this so many times, and I wanted you to feel like our friends were with us.” I held up my phone, indicating that I had Lexi and Megan on speaker.
She blinked and a tear fell from her eye.
“I wanted everyone with us, including your father and your grams, when I asked you to become my wife.” I opened the lid to the ring box and her eyes shifted to my hands.
“Baby, will you marry me?”