by Amy Brent
The dinner was at a pizza place this time, stripped down and casual. Holly sat with Lisa, Walter, Tanner and a few other people as she looked at Aaron across the room. His arm was slung around the black haired woman as he sipped a beer and he looked comfortable. She wondered bitterly what it would be like to have felt that out like this, knowing they would have been really affectionate had they been allowed to be. She forced her eyes away, biting into another gooey slice of pizza as she wallowed in her misery.
He’d walked away so easily. Did he not care that she was pregnant? Did he really do the math because even if she was protected, there was no way she could have ever slept with anyone else. She knew how special it had been with him and it hurt her that he didn’t understand that. “You okay?” Tanner asked her, bringing her back to reality as she blinked and nodded.
“Tired. Exciting night. Pizza.” Holly broke it down easily, feeling his arm around her shoulders. They left first as he walked her to her apartment, still in his arm. “Thanks, Tanner.”
“For what?” He asked as she slipped her arm around his waist.
“You’ve been great to me these past few months. It means a lot.” She paused at the light and rested her head against him.
“I like you, Holly. It’s been hard watching you go through this alone. I don’t know how he just left you.” Tanner’s voice was soft and sincere and she stared up at him.
“Like like?” Holly asked in shock as he nodded.
“I was going to ask you out before, but you told me that you were seeing someone. After that, you seemed to have stopped and you looked so wrecked over it. I wanted to give you time.” Tanner shook his head. “Then you told me about the baby.”
“What did that change?” Holly asked as he led her across the street by taking her hand.
“It made me want to take care of you and the baby. The father has never stepped up to the plate and you need someone, Holly.” Tanner told her and she felt tears in her eyes.
“Tanner, you’re so good.” She sniffled as he held on tight as she started to cry.
“I want to date you. I want to be there for you when the baby is born.” Tanner told her, making her cry harder as she stopped walking. Looking back over the past few months, she realized that he’d liked her for the entire time that she’d known him. It was so obvious but she’d been too obsessed with her affair with Aaron and she fell against him. Had she chosen the wrong guy?
Tanner got her to her apartment and helped her inside, setting her down on the couch before he got her some water. “I wasn’t dumped, Tanner. I ended things when I realized that I was pregnant.” Holly admitted as she stared down at the floor. “I was scared to tell him and I just told him that I wanted to end it.”
“Is he in your life?” Tanner asked, and she shrugged.
“I see him sometimes, yes. He knows about it now…someone told him. I don’t know what will happen.” Holly admitted, falling into silence for a moment. “I kind of wish it had been you now, but this is a big bag of luggage to take on.”
Her phone chimed and she blinked as tears filled her eyes. “Shit.”
“Take the call. I am here for you for whatever you need.” Tanner assured her, kissing her hair with a firm press of his lips before he stood up. She watched him leave painfully, knowing that he could offer her a good, steady life but it wouldn’t be one that she really wanted. The phone sounded again and she bit her lip as she looked to see that Aaron was calling her.
“Hi.” Her voice was breaking as she tried to answer calmly, crying harder.
“I need to see you. I couldn’t even focus at dinner tonight.” Aaron told her huskily, making her heart beat and her hormones kick in.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I…I want to see you too.” Her willpower was faltering, and she didn’t think she could lie about the baby anymore. It wasn’t in her and Tanner’s confession had only made Holly realize how much she loved Aaron. “I know that you’ve moved on, I do. I just want to talk.”
“Where are you?” His voice was demanding and she sat up straighter.
“My apartment. Lisa is staying with Walt tonight so I’m alone.” She told him the address and he ended the call abruptly after telling her that he’d be there soon. Holly went to wash her face with some cold water and freshen up, changing into a cotton dress that draped around her curves and dragged on the floor. She heard the knock at the door as she stared at herself helplessly in the mirror, not knowing what to do as she ran her hands through her hair.
Holly walked out barefoot to answer the door, watching him stride past her into the living room. “Hi.” She closed the door and walked over to the couch to sit down, absently stroking her stomach. “There’s so much I want to know, Holly. I’m so angry that you never told me.”
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, feeling every bit of his pain as she pinched her eyes closed. “I was scared that you’d quit your job and leave the sport. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” Aaron asked, making her jump as he sat next to her. “How could this hurt me? I think I’m more pissed off that you hid it. Why? Isn’t it mine?”
“You know I was never with anyone else. You know how special you were to me.” She told him, looking over with flashing eyes. “I was protecting you. We both have good jobs, and I don’t want you to give up the game. You love it.”
“I love you more than any fucking game.” Aaron told her, making her choke for a moment. “I don’t have to leave the job. I can take care of you and…what is the baby?”
“A girl.” Holly admitted, feeling everything that she wanted to in that room with the monitor as tears filled his eyes. “I found out today. I didn’t want…I don’t know what I wanted.”
“I can’t believe that I’m having a daughter. Holly, I’ll be here for her as a dad but I want to be here for you too.” Aaron promised her, as she started to cry again.
“I love my job.” Holly told him, her shoulders shaking. “I love the team and I love caring for them. I was going to tell you that this was another man’s baby and just forget about you.” She tilted her head up to look at him. “You have someone now.”
“I ended it tonight. It never felt right but after seeing you, I just couldn’t be with her anymore.” Aaron told her, making her heart stop for a moment. “Marcy was a nice woman and my family really liked her but I didn’t feel it. I have always wanted to be with you.”
“You ended it for me?” Holly asked him and she felt him tuck her hair behind her ear.
“No, I needed it for me and I ended it for her. She deserves someone that really cares about her.” Aaron told her as she nodded. “I thought that you were with Walt. I was so pissed off and jealous and then I hear he’s with Lisa. You really know how to fuck with a man’s head, Holly.”
“I didn’t mean to.” She looked at him with a long stare, revealing her current state of desire. “I was trying to do what I thought was the right thing. I was jealous too when I saw the pictures of you with her. I tormented myself most of the night thinking about it and feeling fat and insecure.”
“Hardly.” Aaron looked down her body with a hungry gaze. “I knew that you looked different and even more beautiful than ever, but I didn’t suspect this. You were on the pill, weren’t you?”
“There was a bad batch prescribed. There are probably a lot of pregnant women out there right now.” Holly smiled and shook her head.
“Tell me how the pregnancy has been for you. I want to know everything.” Aaron told her, sitting back as she described all of the odd feelings that came along with it, showing him pictures on her phone that Lisa had taken along the way. She also went into the kitchen to get the sonogram pictures from the kitchen to show him, cutting one off for him. “Look at that.” His voice was filled with wonder and she smiled with tears in her eyes.
“I wanted you here for all of this.” Aaron looked up at her and met her eyes. “I have an appointment every month until the due date is closer. Then it will be more
often.”
“When is she due?” Aaron asked, resting his hand on her stomach as the other one clutched the picture.
“April. They keep changing the date with every sonogram so I am just leaving it up to her.” Holly replied, shrugging as she sat down beside him. “Want to see her room?”
She took him into the small den and he looked around with a half-smile. “It’s nice but small. Are you planning on moving?”
Holly blushed as she heard the words and he closed his eyes. “Shit. I think I know the only place that you’ll be moving.”
“Do you want me to someday?” Holly whispered, staring into his face as he nodded slowly.
Aaron stepped closer to her, lifting his hands to cup her face. “More than anything.” Holly sucked in her breath as he kissed her softly, closing her eyes as she memorized the feeling. She’d missed him so much though she was scared to hold on too tight, frightened that he would disappear. “I love you so much.”
“I love you.” Holly told him, finally slipping her arms around his neck. “I never want to live without you again.”
“You won’t have to.” Aaron told her, kissing her between sentences. “Will you be my girlfriend, Holly? I always fought it before but now I know what it’s like to be without you.” He kissed her again. “I’ll talk to the league. I’ll figure this out.”
“Aaron…I don’t care about my job. I’ll quit if I have to. I can work somewhere else. It doesn’t matter…I just want to be with you.”
He kissed her harder this time as she clung to him, giving back all of the passion that he feeding to her as he slipped his arms down her body and tugged her closer. “I want you, Holly. I want to see you.”
“Bed.” Holly told him, feeling him grab her ass and tell her to wrap her legs around him. Aaron carried all of them as she protested, telling him that she was too heavy.
“I’ll never put you down again.” Aaron promised her as he kissed her and pressed her back onto the bed. Holly shuddered as he lifted the dress from her body, taking her in with a lascivious gaze and tossing it to the floor. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.” He ran his hands over her stomach gently, leaning down to kiss her skin as she felt another tear slide down her cheek.
Pregnancy made her cry too much.
Aaron looked up, asking her if she was okay. Holly nodded and he parted her legs, moving down to kiss her thighs as she cried out. “Does pregnancy make you as horny as I’ve heard in the past?”
“Worse.” Holly admitted, biting her lip as his mouth found her and sucked her between his teeth. “Ohhhhhhh.”
“So sweet. So wet.” Aaron panted as he sucked and licked her in alternating moves, making her come fast and hard. “Oh, baby.” He drank it in as she closed her eyes, sobbing happily as she whispered his name.
Aaron made love to her after making sure it wouldn’t hurt her, making her laugh as she told him they could do that until the baby was born unless anything arose. He pressed her back, looking down as he entered her slowly where their bodies joined. “Oh, Aaron. I’ve missed this. I’ve obsessed about this.” Holly told him between moans. He took her harder, unable to hold back as he pushed her legs back and drove his cock inside of her until she was screaming his name. Aaron followed soon after with a guttural cry of his own, dropping down to kiss her forehead as she trembled beneath him.
“I think there’s going to be a lot more babies in our future.” He promised her, kissing her lips.
“Let’s see how this one goes first. Let’s do everything we can to catch up on each other before we’re parents.”
EPILOGUE
Eight months later, Aaron looked back from seat of his box seats to see his Holly snuggling their daughter. Lola Rose Neller was born three months after they got back together in March with a scary time spent in the hospital growing into her premature body. They’d gone out every night once he spoke to the league about their relationship, with Holly taking their recommendation to work for a prominent doctor’s office where she wouldn’t be working so hard or traveling so much. Both Aaron and Holly agreed that this was the best choice, leaving him as the owner of his favorite hockey team.
Looking at his fiancée with their daughter, he knew that he had the best of everything.
THE END
HOT NAVY SEAL SECRET BABY ROMANCE
THE SEAL’S SURPRISE BABY
I knew I was going to have a tough night when the group of marines walked into the bar.
It was a Tuesday night, which was usually a pretty slow night. We had all the regulars here: the handful of lonely men who sat on the same bar stools every night, nursing their drinks; the couple who got a table near the window, splitting a bottle of wine; and the table full of rowdy college kids, who always insisted on getting the exact same table and always got separate checks. I was keeping myself busy stocking up behind the bar, taking advantage of the slow period to make sure we had plenty of napkins, straws, and sliced limes. But then half a dozen burly men with buzz cuts and boisterous attitudes strolled in and took over two tables near the center of the room.
One of them walked up to me and slapped his hands down on the bar, grinning wide. He wasn't in uniform, but I could tell he was a marine by the dog tags around his neck and the USMC t-shirt he wore. A couple of his friends were wearing fatigues, probably having just gotten off duty. They'd no doubt come from the base a few miles up the road, near the docks.
“Couple of pitchers of whatever you've got on tap, little lady,” he said.
I turned an annoyed look on him. I hated being called “little lady,” both because it was a sexist term meant to put a woman in her place, and because at my weight, no one called me “little” without meaning it ironically. But I kept it professional, and simply asked him, “You boys want to run a tab?”
He handed me a credit card to swipe. “You bet. And keep 'em coming, okay?”
I poured him the first two pitchers and added them to the tab. The marines worked up quite a ruckus as they started drinking, I kept an eye on them as I served the few other customers that came in. I usually didn't have any serious trouble when the boys from the base came down here. They were loud, they took up a lot of space, but they were good tippers and they didn't harass anyone. Mostly, they just gave me a headache.
That would have been all, if not for the second group that came in about half an hour later. There were four of them, and they were as muscular and hopped up on testosterone as the first bunch, though they were quieter about it. They had more of a deadly grace about them. They took a seat at a table near the back, and one of them walked up to place an order.
When I poured drinks for the man and his buddies, he looked me right in the eye and said, “Thank you, ma'am.” He had a slight southern accent, and held himself with more dignity than I would have expected. He wasn't too tall, but he was broad in the shoulders and had a solid build. He wore a navy blue t-shirt with a logo on the breast, depicting an eagle clutching an anchor and a trident in its talons. Above the logo were the words “U.S. Navy SEAL.”
He took the drinks back to his friends and they sat and shared a toast. I didn't expect any trouble from them at that point. But I was in for more than I'd bargained for.
I noticed the marines leaning close and whispering something to each other, right before one of them came over with their empty pitchers and ordered a refill.
I filled the pitchers and handed them to him. Then he leaned close and asked, “And can you do something for me, sweetheart? Send a round of drinks to our friends over there.” He nodded towards the SEALs.
I took a deep breath, knowing where this was going. “What do you want me to send them?”
He smirked. “Four Shirley Temples.”
I sighed and shook my head. I made the drinks—as long as they were paying customers, I'd give them what they wanted—but I gave the marine a serious look and said, “I don't want any trouble from you boys, now, you hear? You keep this nice and friendly.”
“Don't worry, Miss,
” he said with a wink. “We're just showing our navy buddies our appreciation.”
I delivered the four bright pink cocktails to the SEALs' table and nodded over to the marines. “Courtesy of your friends there, gentlemen.”
The SEALs frowned at the drinks and cast some scowls at the marines. But the man I'd spoken to earlier played it real cool. He picked up the drink and turned to the marines, raising his glass in a salute. The rest of the SEALs followed suite.
“Mighty kind of you ladies to buy us a round of your favorite drinks,” he said.
The marines scowled. A couple of them slapped each other on the arms and pointed at the SEALs, leaning close and whispering to each other. Both groups cast death glares across the room at each other.
“Don't go starting trouble, you understand?” I told the SEAL.
He nodded and took a sip of his Shirley Temple. “Nothing to worry about, ma'am. I wouldn't dream of letting anything inappropriate happen in your bar.”
“You'd better not.” I headed back to the bar to deal with a couple of other orders from my regulars. I kept watching the marines and the SEALs as much as I could. I knew their types, and I knew this little pissing contest wasn't over yet.
The next round started a little later, after both groups had a few more beers in them. A couple of them headed to the men's room. When they returned, one of the taller SEALs patted one of the marines on the shoulder and said loud enough for the whole bar to hear, “We need to get these boys out on a boat. This boy here clearly doesn't have his sea legs.”
The marine just glared at him, clearly not getting the joke.
The SEAL snickered and added, “I saw you swaying in there so bad it looked like you were about to fall in! And don't they teach you marine boys how to aim.”
The marine stepped closer, shoving his face in the SEAL's. “I keep trying to work on my aim,” he said, “but your momma can't seem to hold still and keep her mouth open.”