She was silent, searching my eyes up and down.
“What else did he tell you?”
I prodded, intrigued, thinking he must have told her I was pregnant. Although I wished I could have been the one to tell her that, I was grateful for whatever he had said to make her change her mind and accept our decisions. I would have to thank him for that later. With a blow job.
I tried not to think of that, since my mother was right here in front of me and it was hardly appropriate. But I missed Darren’s touch. I loved that he had gone and talked to my mother. I wanted to thank him in a proper way, and I wanted us to celebrate a lot of things. But first, I needed to finish this conversation with my mother, now that I was glad to know things had turned back around.
“Nothing,” she answered. “I think it’s something he wants to tell you on his own.”
“Umm, okay,” I told her, more confused than ever.
I was sure Darren would fill me in later, though. When we were alone and could have pillow talk after some hot sex.
“Anyway, I wanted to come here to tell you that you two have my blessing,” my mother said. “But, that’s only if you admit that you did it out of love, not for money.”
“Well, I did,” I said. “I love my family so much that I was willing to do what it took to make sure that we would all be okay. And Darren expressed to me why he wanted a baby and I was convinced that the baby would be taken care of and loved, too. That was important to me. So, I felt that it was a good sacrifice to make that would work well for my family, Darren, and the baby.”
“I know, honey. And I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. I know that you’re not a whore and I’m sorry that that dirty word ever left my lips. I was just speaking out of anger. And I hope that you actually have feelings for Darren, so that it’s not just about the money.”
“I know, mama,” I said. She definitely could be insistent when she wanted to be.
We hugged each other, tears streaming down both of our cheeks. I held my mother tight and she held me just as tightly right back. It felt like we were both literally healing from our pain right in that moment.
“I love him, mom,” I told her. “I don’t ever want to leave him.”
“Oh good, baby,” said my mother calmly. “And you will still always be my baby, even when you have one of your own. But I’m glad to hear that you love him. It will make things much easier when that day comes.”
“About that, Mom…” I said. “I have something to tell you.”
“You do?” she asked, her eyes bright with hope. “Is it what I think it is?”
“Probably,” I told her, laughing.
“Am I going to be a grandmother?”
She hopped up and down around the room, as if dying of excitement.
“Yes, you are,” I told her, and then we hugged again, but this time, we both jumped up and down.
“Now stop that, or you’ll hurt the baby,” she said.
“Oh please,” I told her. “It’s not even the size of a peanut right now. I’m sure it’s nice and snug in there.”
“Well, it’s the cutest peanut there ever was,” she said. “And I’m so happy that I’m going to be a grandmother.”
I smiled, and she let some tears fall from her eyes, but they were tears of happiness, so it was okay. I was glad I was giving her something good to cry tears of joy over, for once, rather than all the sad tears I had caused her to cry.
“I never thought that I would be okay with you going to live with someone, especially a man. And especially a much older and rather crotchety man, at that,” she said, causing me to laugh.
He wasn’t so crotchety anymore. But she was going to have to find that out for herself, which, I thought she was already starting to do.
“You’re my first baby and I’ve always wanted the very best for you,” she continued. “I never in a million years would have guessed this would be it. But, now, after seeing how deeply you two feel about each other, I feel comfortable knowing that you will take good care of each other. I think this opens up a world of opportunity for you.”
“And for you too, Mom,” I told her. “I’m getting more money after the baby is born, and…”
I faltered, realizing that the agreement still said that I had to give him the baby after I had it, and leave him forever. I knew I couldn’t do that anymore. I hoped there was some way to change that clause.
I didn’t want to ruin her happiness, or my own, so I picked up where I had left off, without skipping a beat.
“…then I’ll have money I’m sharing of Darren’s, too, of course,” I continued. “So we won’t have to worry about your doctor visits anymore, and hopefully we can find you a permanent cure. Maybe all the best medical specialists in the world will be able to put their heads together and come up with something. Plus, the boys will be set for college.”
“That’s great, Hope,” my mom said, winking at me. “It’s nice that you’ve thought of everyone else and you’re able to provide for everyone. But, it’s okay to think of yourself and be happy for yourself for once, too. I am happy that you were able to find love, Hope. Take care of it.”
“I learned from the best, Mom,” I told her. “You always cared about and provided for us. So now you have to take your own advice and thinking about yourself sometimes too.”
“Okay,” she agreed, smiling. “But only if you take my advice too, and be happy for yourself now. And really go after what you want.”
“I will, Mom” I said, and meant it. It was time to have a talk with Darren and make sure we were on the same page. “I definitely will.”
Chapter 35 – Hope
“Was that Eve leaving just now?” asked Darren, popping his head around the corner. When my mother and I said our goodbyes, I was overwhelmed with joy and found myself crying happy, cleansing tears.
I nodded in response to his question.
“You’re crying, but you’re smiling?” he asked, understandably confused.
I laughed, brushing away my tears.
“Yes! This was a happy visit and these are happy tears. Thank you so much for going to her and making things right.”
He sighed, relieved, like the weight of the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders.
“Phew! I’m glad to hear that. Because I have something that I need to say before anything else happens.”
“Okay,” I told him. “Because my mom said you had something to tell me…”
“Shhhhh,” he said, interrupting me from continuing my train of thought.
He came over to where I sat on the bed as if he couldn’t wait another second, knelt down in front of me, and held my hand.
“Hope, I love you. I want to be with you forever. Please stay with me,” he said. “Don’t leave after the baby is born. I’ll still pay you, of course. I’ll pay you whatever you want. What’s mine is yours. Just don’t leave the baby and me. Or Bryant either. We need you.”
He was pleading, begging me to stay. The timidity in his voice let me know that he was baring his soul in hopes that I wouldn’t shatter his poor little heart to pieces.
“I love you, too, Darren,” I admitted to him. “And I need you, too. I’ll never leave if you don’t want me to. I love you too much to leave. And it’s not because of the baby. The baby is just the icing on the cake. I love you for the man that I’ve grown to know. I love you for the beautiful, kind-hearted, and generous man that you are on the inside. And not only that, you are beautiful on the outside, too.”
He looked at me as if he were trying to see if I was playing a joke on him or lying. When he saw that I wasn’t, he reached up and took me into the tightest hug that he could muster. For a second, I thought that he was going to squeeze all of the breath out of my body. But, I didn’t care because feeling the genuineness of his love made my heart happy.
He scooped me up in his arms and then he laid me on the kitchen counter.
“There are a lot of things I’ve been wanting to do to you,” he sa
id, as he tore off my clothes and then his. “And I’d better fit them all in before your baby bump gets too big.”
“Oh really?” I asked, looking up at him as he spread my legs and stuck his cock into my willing pussy. I seemed to be perpetually wet for him. “What other things do you want to do with me?”
“Oh, I have a certain fantasy of walking through the woods, carrying you while I fuck you,” he said. “I built this house for me, but now it’s become ours, and that just seems like the perfect thing to do to christen it.”
“Wow,” I said, liking the idea. “Let’s go outside and do it.”
“Nah,” he said, shrugging and smiling. “It needs to be snowing outside. But for now, we have this perfectly good kitchen counter.”
“We sure do,” I told him.
He pinched my nipples and I jumped even more than usual, surprised at how much it hurt.
“I think they’re sensitive,” I joked.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “You’re pregnant now. And I’m truly happy about that.”
“Me too,” I told him. “Now that everything’s straightened out with us, I couldn’t be happier.”
“How’s this?” he asked, moving his hand down to my clit and rubbing it.
“Oh, my God,” I said. “That feels even better than usual. My nerve endings must be extra sensitive due to the pregnancy.”
“I think it increases blood flow,” he agreed.
He thrust in and out of me, rubbing my clit until I was close to coming. Out of habit, he grabbed my hair and said, “Come for me.” Then, he let go and said, “Sorry. Sorry. I almost forgot you were pregnant. How could I forget already? I just got caught up in the moment and lost my mind. You do have that effect on me.”
“It’s fine,” I laughed. “You can still pull my hair, even though I’m pregnant. And get back to it, please, because I’m about to cum.”
“Oh, good.”
Relieved, he grabbed a hold of my hair and really pulled it hard. I went with the rhythm of his cock slapping into my pussy on the granite countertop until both of us were coming.
“This feels so good,” he said, as he shot his cum into me. “This is exactly what I love to feel.”
“Me too,” I told him, as both of us panted and grunted.
Then, he pulled me up close against his tattooed chest and whispered, “I love you, Hope. Thank you for having my baby.”
He truly loved me. I had never been so happy.
“I love you, too, Darren. And I’m glad to live here with you forever.”
Chapter 36 – Darren
8 Months Later
Christmas carols floated through the air in my house on Christmas eve, mixed with the pleasant sound of polite conversation and laughter. My house had never been so alive, so full of love.
Harlow, Ramsey, and Jensen Bradford were all there with their wives and children. The toddlers, Drew and James, played cars on a race track with my son Bryant. Our fellow former SEAL, Larson was there too, with his wife Brynn. He had adopted her son, Caleb, who was the oldest of the bunch and who was alternating between playing cars with Drew and Bryant and James, and wandering over to where Harlow and Whitney’s now nearly one year old daughter, Bella, was playing blocks in the corner.
“Boom!” Caleb said, knocking over some blocks and causing Bella to laugh and stack them up again.
“Boom, boom, boom!” Bella repeated, before going back to blowing raspberries.
Caleb was really good with younger kids, and enjoyed helping her stack the blocks back up. I hoped that Bryant would be as good with his younger sibling— we had decided not to find out if it was a girl or a boy, and instead be surprised after the baby’s birth, which, judging from the size of Hope’s baby bump and her overdue due date, could be any day now.
The baby was supposed to be here by Christmas but it turned out babies have their own ways of doing things and sometimes like to take their own sweet time. I had decided long ago that whenever the baby wanted to make his or her arrival would be fine with me, even though I was rather impatient.
I realized now, though, that some things had to be worth waiting for, and were. I was also treasuring the time together with Bryant, making up for lost weeks and months and years, before his baby sibling arrived. I hoped he wouldn’t be jealous and that instead we could all be a happy family.
Everyone was in a great mood. It was like the accident had never happened and we were just five happy families enjoying our holiday together. Plus Eve was there, of course, as was my mother. Bryant had been really enjoying living with Hope and me, but he always loved when Grandma came over to visit, or when we went over to her house. Those two would always have a very special bond thanks to how she had cared for him when I needed her to the most.
“Hope, you look absolutely amazing,” said Ramsey’s wife Monica. “Do you mind if I touch? I always hated when people just did that to me without asking.
“Go right ahead,” Hope answered, giggling, while Monice rubbed her very pregnant belly. “And thank you for the compliment. I hope that I look a lot better than I have been feeling these days.”
That got laughter from everyone in the house.
“Is everyone ready to eat?” called Eve from the kitchen.
She was looking better than ever and had insisted on coming over and cooking for the party. She didn’t usually cook or clean any more, as she had enough money to live on and we had hired someone new quite a while back.
I had told her that she didn’t have to cook today, either, but she said that she would be glad to do that for her future son-in-law, daughter, and grandchild. She was quite insistent on calling me her future son in law, so I knew I should get the ball rolling with plans to make that official soon. I could tell that Hope was happy to have her there doing what she loved, and that Eve of course enjoyed cooking Christmas dinner, so I didn’t put up much of a protest, even though I would have rather her just rest instead of slave over the stove.
Eve had been seeing some of the best doctors in the country. I had told them to find the best treatment and that I would pay for it, whatever the cost.
It seemed that as soon as she started being treated by the doctors, her condition improved dramatically. She came right back to working for me, even though I told her that I would have to find someone to replace her. There was no way that my child’s grandmother was going to be working for me or anyone else if I had anything to do with it.
So, as far as I was concerned, the day she insisted on coming back was the last day she was ever going to work for me. She took her time, making everything sparkle and shine, for her last time being my housekeeper.
At dinner, I felt like I wanted to make a speech.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Everyone turned to look at me and the music was turned all the way down.
“Thank you all so much for joining us here today. Your love and support means the world to me. I know that it has not been easy with all that we have been through, but I am happy that we are able to spend time together as we prepare for a new chapter of our lives. Cheers.”
Everyone raised their glasses and called out “cheers”.
“I’d like to say something, too,” said Ramsey, standing up. “I am so grateful that we are here with you today. For a while, I thought that we would never come back together. And the fact that you welcomed us into your home to celebrate Christmas and the birth of your new child says a lot. We love you, man.”
Ramsey and I hugged like long lost brothers. And soon, the rest of the Bradford brothers joined us, as did Larson. Because, that’s what we really were.
Ramsey had saved my life. And Harlow had helped me restore it. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.
I motioned to Hope, and she came over to join the hug. Her hair smelled like cinnamon as I pulled her in close to me.
“Have you been baking?” I asked her.
“Perhaps I got up earlier than you to make you one of my famous apple pies,” she
said.
I laughed, and kissed her. Bryant had been busy with his toys, but— never one to want to be left out— he bounded over to us to join in the group hug, as did my mom, and the rest of the women who had been at the table.
“I love you, Daddy,” he said.
“I love you too, son.”
I looked around at everyone there with us and decided to say something cheesy. It was Christmas eve, after all, and the first time I had ever been able to put this expensive cabin to use, filling it with love and light of friends coming together for a special occasion.
“I love all of you, too.”
“Cheers,” said Harlow, grabbing his bottle of beer and holding it up high. We all did the same. “To our reunion.”
“To our reunion.”
We had certainly been reunited by love and a baby.
Merry Christmas to us all.
Epilogue
Hope
Christmas dinner was beautiful. The party the night before had been epic and I was glad Darren had thrown it. It was wonderful to meet his friends. But, now it was great to have Christmas dinner with just our family.
The table was draped in red, green, and gold. There was so much food on the table, there was barely any room for our plates. But, it was wonderful sitting there with my whole family, which in my mind included Bryant, and Darren’s mom, and my mom and brothers, all of whom were there with us as they deserved to be.
This is how life was meant to be lived, I thought.
I could feel my mother’s eyes staring at me from across the table. She looked so happy, like she was realizing a dream that she’d held for a very long time.
I stood up to speak. I felt it was my turn to give a toast, and I was planning to let my mom and Darren and Bryant know how much I loved them. And to thank them for all they had done for me.
But, before a word could leave my lips, I felt something pop and water started trickling from between my legs.
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