by Dahlia Rose
“He’s so small,” she whispered and Favian could hear the tears in her voice.
“Mrs. Rivera, he’s strong. Thirty-two weeks is so much better than what you may think,” the nurse explained. “Those little tubes in his nose are giving him oxygen so he doesn’t have to work too hard to breathe. But other than that, all those wires are just monitoring his heart and pulse. It’s not as scary as it looks. We also count how many wet and poopy diapers he makes to make sure that his liver and kidneys are working.” The nurse started writing things on his chart. “Let me make sure to take his readings and then I can help you hold him.”
She looked up at Favian and then to the nurse. “I can hold him?”
“Being close to mommy and daddy’s chest actually has been proven to help premature babies thrive,” the nurse said. “He’s going to be here until he is at least five to six pounds. I’d say over the next few weeks I’ll be seeing you holding this little man quite often.”
“Yes, we will. You can be sure of that,” Favian said.
They waited patiently while he was carefully checked and his progress charted. During that time Adira stroked his leg through the little ports in the incubator. When it was finally time to hold him, the nurse took him out gently and arranged him carefully in Adira’s arms so his monitors and breathing tube would not be compromised. Favian looked down at the tiny pale brown face. The baby opened his eyes and he swore the baby knew who they were. Adira stoked his tiny fingers and they outstretched as he yawned. Both she and Favian laughed softly.
“Hey, my lovey, I’m your mum,” Adira whispered. “Look at you, my precious little one.”
“I don’t think he can be called Baby Rivera forever,” Favian said huskily. “What should we name him? We never really discussed names.”
“I’ve had one for a while, one that I would love for him to have. Mateo,” she said. “I saw your family photographs; he should have your father’s name. Mateo Favian Rivera.”
He didn’t know if he could love her more than he did at that very moment. Adira thought enough of him and of his family to give their son his father’s name. This time, as he touched Mateo’s hand, his tiny fingers curled around the tip of Favian’s digit.
“Hello, Mateo. We’re your parents, mi hijo,” Favian said. “Get big and strong so we can take you home.”
“Now two men hold my heart,” Adira said. She kissed the top of the baby’s head. “You don’t know how much we love you, Mateo.”
“Yes, he does.” Favian kissed her temple.
The nurse brought another rocking chair for him and he sat close as Adira held the baby. Soon after, it was his turn and the tiny body fit just perfectly in the crook of his arm. He rocked back and forth and sang a song his mother used to sing to him while he was growing up. The anger he felt earlier drained away and the only thing left in his heart was pure joy at being a husband and father.
* * * *
Four weeks later Mateo was allowed to go home. He grew quickly and hit every NICU milestone. He was six pounds by the time he left the hospital and Favian had taken to calling him pequeno muchacho gordo which meant little fat boy. The way he said it was filled with so much love that no one could chastise him for it. Even his aunt and the rest of the family had picked up the loving nickname. They cooed it to him as they held him or as they watched him in his crib when they came in for a peek.
It was during that time that their house reminded Adira of Grand Central Station. Mateo was going to be spoiled. Adira knew it, but she didn’t care. He had made it through the first difficult month of his life and was progressing in leaps and bounds. He deserved all the extra special love he was getting.
Hillary was taken care of, so to speak. Favian was still unwilling to forgive but didn’t press charges. She was barred from their home and it was made clear she was not allowed to ever approach his family again or he then would press charges. She kept her allowance, but not much else. Favian barred her from the offices and from using his name for her various charities. And to keep her allowance, she would be forced to get a job. For Hillary, that was probably worse than prison. Adira was relieved. She wouldn’t have to deal with the spiteful childish woman any longer. She would have never felt comfortable with Hillary around her son and now that wasn’t even a possibility.
They were blessed in so many ways and the greatest man in the world loved her. Favian had been working from home since Mateo came home from the hospital. His business was run from his home office with video meetings and conference calls. Between Suzie, his aunt and cousin, she had more than enough help. But Favian was firm; he didn’t want to miss anything.
“I’m the boss and I can do whatever I want, and I want to take extended paternal leave,” he said and kissed her. “Remy is at the office.”
“No, Remy is upstairs feeding Mateo his afternoon bottle and Lyn is putting him in that onesie she bought him that has little skulls all over it,” Adira pointed out with a smile. “Everyone has been here at some point, love. I fear Carol may be running the whole show at the office.”
He kissed her again and took the basket of laundry from her hands. “It’s in good hands then. I’ll fold; you put away.”
“Suzie is going to be mad at us,” Adira said.
“We’ll let her take the midnight feeding and she’ll sit in the recliner and sing to him,” Favian said. “She’ll love that and we’ll get some extra sleep.”
“Love, how about we send everyone away tonight and be parents alone?” Adira took back the basket from him and put it on the kitchen table. “I love having them here and the help has been marvelous, but at some point we should be able to walk into his nursery and not find someone camped out in there.”
“This is true,” Favian murmured.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Plus, my darling man, we can once again do certain things, like coupling.”
“Is that your way of saying we can make love? Because I like it,” he murmured. His hand tugged at her hip and brought her closer.
“Then let’s have them go to their respective homes and have a night with our son and our family alone.” Adira kissed him and felt passion bloom in her lower stomach.
“Mi querida, this will be done.” Favian kissed her long and deep.
It took more than a few hours to get everyone to go home. Suzie was uncertain they’d get up for Mateo’s feeding and said that Adira may still need to recuperate. Aunt Carmen wanted to make extra meals before she left. Lynette said she had no problem working quietly downstairs in case they needed help and Remy actually used the excuse of taking care of business in the home office for Favian. She and Favian shot them all down gently but firmly and ushered them out of the house. The promise that they could come back the next day was the only thing that got them to leave.
Finally, they were alone and the house was quiet. They gave Mateo a bath and he smelled so good as she nursed him. Adira still could hardly believe he was theirs. She put him in the crib and watched his little face as he slept.
Favian came in and wrapped his arms around her waist. “He’s our miracle, isn’t he?”
She leaned her head back against him and sighed. “Yes, he is, and I can understand why no one wanted to leave tonight. I’m having a hard time leaving the nursery myself. We almost lost him—”
Favian shushed her with his finger to her lips. “No more, my love. We weathered that storm and our little fat boy is strong. Now we look towards the future.”
“Yes, we do,” Adira agreed.
“And a little girl,” Favian hinted.
She turned in his arms. “How about we let him reach the age of two before we start that task? Birth control is in place until that time.”
Favian sighed. “Fine, but a man’s lot in the world is to procreate and spread his seed over fertile land.”
Adira led him out of the bedroom laughing. “Seriously, did you just say that? I’ll compromise. You can spread your seed anywhere on me that you’d like and when the time is right you ca
n sow once more.”
“Deal.” He swung her into his arms and crossed the hall to the master bedroom.
“Go back, love. We need the baby monitor.” Adira reached over his shoulder.
Favian reversed his steps and she grabbed it before returning to the bedroom. Their kisses became fierce, almost desperate as they clung together and tried to get their clothes off at the same time. With everything they had been through, the tension, the fear, the anger and the pain culminated into this one moment of passionate release. She had longed to be in his arms again. Their son was safe and perfect and they were in love. Their family had beaten the trial and came out stronger because of it.
“Have I told you today how much I completely adore you?” Adira said as Favian set her gently on her feet beside the bed.
“I’ll never get tired of hearing it,” Favian answered and kissed her neck tenderly. He skimmed his hands over her body and cupped her full breasts. “I am beyond happy to be alone with you right now and may I add that I am completely jealous of Mateo nursing at these beautiful breasts?”
“You can have a taste as well, you know.” Adira stepped back and undressed the rest of the way. She lifted her breasts to him. “Come have a taste of me.”
“That’s a head rush,” Favian murmured. “All the blood just rushed to my cock.”
He came close and lifted the fullness in his palms as he kissed the hard nipples and sucked them gently. She could feel when she actually released milk into his mouth. He groaned and sucked harder. Some women may think it untoward to have their husband taste their milk, but it excited her especially when he groaned and she felt his cock press against her. With his mouth against her breast, he reached between her legs and felt that her pussy was already moist and slick. Adira spread her legs further apart so he could slip his fingers inside, but Favian teased her clit instead.
“You want my fingers inside you, don’t you, naughty girl?” he asked softly, but never stopped the movement of his finger against her sensitive flesh. “Tell me you want me and that you want this.”
“I want you so much. Do it, Favian, give me what I need,” Adira moaned.
He slowly slipped his finger inside and she could tell he was being careful. After the trauma of Mateo’s hard birth, she knew Favian was trying not to hurt her in any way. She felt the walls of her pussy clench around his finger and he moaned. She rocked her hips back and forth on his digit as he fucked her and his palm pressed against her clit. He pushed deeper and Adira gave a soft cry of pleasure. She could feel the ache building inside her, her knees felt like jelly and his strong arms held her up. He pulled her nipple ravenously into his mouth and both sensations made her delirious with pleasure.
“I’m going to come!” Adira panted.
“God, you’re making me ache. Give yourself over. Come for me,” he groaned.
Her body trembled as she reached the pinnacle of her need. He found her G-spot and that sent her over the edge with a scream. She felt her body release its fluid, and the guttural noises he was making only heightened what she felt. Adira had never wanted or needed like this in her life. She never knew love like this existed—both physically and emotionally—until he came into her life. He lifted her into his arms and walked the few steps to the bed. They kissed hungrily, tinted with a hint of desperation to consummate once more.
“I need you,” she whispered against his mouth. “I will always need you, Favian. I love you so much. The need almost scares me, yet I know I couldn’t be without it.”
“Never, mi amor, my heart. This is eternal; I am yours forever.” Favian said it like a prayer with such emotion in his deep voice she was humbled.
He placed her on the bed gently and sat down beside her.
“Tonight I’m going to take you,” she said as she pushed him back against the bed and straddled him.
“Oh, God, yes.” His voice was a harsh groan.
Adira positioned his cock and slid slowly down on him. He was thick and, God, she loved how he fit inside her. She threw her head back and cried out. She looked down at him and his face was a mask of pure pleasure. His hands cupped the smooth cheeks of her ass. She moved up and down and he thrust high and hard and he impaled her. The surge of pleasure took her by storm. Their bodies met savagely, thrusting and retracting, striving to give pleasure and take it.
“Madre de Dios, Adira. My God, you feel so good,” he panted.
She was slick and with each move she could feel the wetness between them.
She leaned down and kissed his neck before whispering, “Te amo, Favian.”
He sat up and wrapped his arms around her as Adira continued taking his rigid length slowly and then picked up the pace. She wanted to drive him insane with the pleasure of it just like he did to her. Favian took one of her nipples in his mouth and grabbed her hips and locked her in place as he pumped into her hard. She cried out and it met with his harsh breathing.
Favian’s movements sent them both over the edge and she was swept away on a sea of sexual bliss. Favian was with her, always with her, and that made it all the sweeter. When they finally caught their breath, Favian lifted her in his arms and took her to the bathroom. He made sure the water was nice and hot before he placed her in the shower and stepped in with her.
“You don’t have to do this,” she protested as he washed her back.
“Hush, I want to. This is one of my favorite things to do,” he murmured. “Are you hurting?”
“No, love, I’m absolutely perfect,” she said with a smile.
After they had cleaned each other thoroughly, they dried off with the thick plush towels in the bathroom before she donned her pajamas with the button-down front that made it easy for nursing. She got into bed and looked at Favian curiously as he stood next to the bed with a small frown on his face.
“Is something wrong, love?” she asked gently. She knew exactly what was wrong. Daddy was thinking of his son sleeping in the big crib alone. She was in the same mindset, but was trying to be brave and not be an overprotective mother.
He hesitated and looked at her in bed before looking towards the nursery. “Maybe we should go check on him one more time.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” She scrambled out of bed, taking the king-size quilt with her. “We’ll stay in there for a little bit, but then we must go to bed and stop being over protective.”
“Exactly, because he needs to thrive and we cannot be nervous nellies as you like to say,” Favian whispered as they stepped into the nursery.
Favian took the quilt and wrapped it around his shoulders before sitting with his back against the wall. Adira sat in front of him, between his legs, and he cocooned them both in the quilt. They talked in whispers until sitting turned into lying down and then words stopped altogether. Favian fell asleep first; his deep breathing comforted her. She slipped from his arms to check on Mateo once more and stroked the soft skin of his cheek.
“I love you, my little man,” she whispered.
Adira went back to Favian and snuggled into the arms and let sleep claim her. Tonight it was perfectly comfortable to sleep on the nursery floor to be near their son. Tomorrow night they’d be brave and sleep in their own room…maybe.
The End