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.
Everyone stopped and turned, staring at me.
“You okay?” asked Darren, a look of worry starting to show on his face.
“My water just broke,” I said.
“Sure did,” my mother added, as if there was any doubt.
We rushed to our cars and headed to the hospital. My mother told Darren to go on without her and that she would follow with a bag of my things.
Soon after getting to the hospital, the doctor told me that he hoped I was ready, because this baby was on its way out.
“This little one is determined to be a Christmas baby,” were his exact words.
“We’re definitely ready,” I told him.
They didn’t even have time to give me an epidural before the baby was out, while I screamed and writhed in pain. Darren was holding my hand the whole time, until the baby’s head appeared and he proclaimed, “The baby has red hair! Just like you!”
“Just get it out of me!” I screamed, fearful of how it would feel for the baby to actually come through.
But, aside from a burning sensation that left almost as quickly as it had come, that was the easiest part. Suddenly, loud crying could be heard and I immediately started crying tears of joy.
“Would you like to cut the cord?” the doctor asked Darren, as he placed the baby on my chest.
I looked down at the head full of red hair, already in love, before I realized almost too late that I didn’t even know gender the baby was. Not that it really mattered. I would still be just as in love.
“What is it?” I asked, kissing the top of the baby’s head as Darren cut the cord.
“It’s a boy,” the doctor answered. “A Christmas boy.”
“Oh, my God,” I answered, happily. “A boy!”
“What should we name him?” asked Darren. We hadn’t discussed names much because we’d agreed it was bad luck. But, I already knew what I wanted.
“George. For my dad,” I said.
The baby’s tiny hand closed in a fist around my finger when I said it.
“George,” Darren answered. “I like that.”
We smiled at each other.
Then he added, “You know, I really thought it might be a girl. I’m glad he’s a boy. I love him no matter who he is. But, I also thought, hmmm, maybe we’d have a girl.”
“We’ll just have to have another one,” I said, and laughed.
“We sure will,” Darren agreed. “I like the name George. It sounds very royal.”
“Yes. My mother will be happy,” I said. “Of the fact that he’s here, and that he’s named George. And my dad would be so proud.”
As if on cue, my mom pushed open the door of the hospital room. She’d never been known for her tact. Darren’s mom was following her, and Bryant squeezed in ahead of both of them.
“It’s a boy,” Darren announced, proudly.
“A grandson!” My mother proclaimed. “Your brothers will be so happy. I took them home to finish opening up the rest of their Christmas presents because I didn’t realize this would be so quick. But, I’ll bring them over here to visit soon.”
“A brother,” Darren’s mom said to Bryant, in a sing song voice.
“Yay! A brother! Can I see my baby brother yet?” came Bryant’s high-pitched squeal from around the corner.
“Sure! Come on in, buddy,” I called from the bed.
He ran over and peeked up at the baby I held in my arms.
“Yay!” said Bryant again, clapping and jumping up and down. “I have a new baby brother! And he gets to come live with us at our house!”
“I’m glad you’re so happy about this news,” Darren said, looking relieved. I knew he’d been anxious that Bryant would be jealous. “We’re excited to expand our family. And, on that note, there’s something I was planning to do today, before little George here stole my thunder.”
“What?” I asked him, looking into his serious green eyes.
By looking over at my mother’s eyes, which lit up with happiness, I had a good feeling of what was to come. I just couldn’t believe it.
Darren got down on his knee right there on the cold hospital room floor, and held up a tiny blue box. He opened the lid, revealing a large, shiny diamond ring.
“Hope, you’ve made me the happiest man ever. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed, reaching over to hug him, then saying, “Ow,” as my rib cage twisted a bit. I was still in fragile condition from giving birth.
“Are you okay?” Darren asked.
“Yes, yes, yes,” I continued, not letting a little injury get me down. “Yes, I’m okay, and yes, I’ll marry you, and yes, this is great. I’d be so happy to b
e your wife.”
“Daddy’s going to marry Hope,” Darren explained to Bryant.
He bent down to kiss me, and then kissed Bryant and then little George, right on the top of his head. He was bobbing around looking for my boob, so I decided to try to nurse him.
“Hooray!” exclaimed Bryant, jumping up and down and clapping his hands. “This is the best day of my life!”
His excitement was contagious. Darren’s mother and my own both started clapping along with Bryant. And I could agree with him on that.
A new baby. And an engagement to Darren. On Christmas. This definitely was the best day of my life.
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Tackled by the Team: An MFMM Menage Reverse Harem Romance
Copyright © 2018 by Sierra Sparks;
All Rights Reserved.
Published by Juliana Conners’ Sizzling Hot Reads.
Cover Design by Cosmic Letterz.
Chapter 1 – Lexi
I was standing outside the Sea-Eagles’ locker room, nervous as hell. The Sea-Eagles had pulled off a squeaker to move up in the playoffs; 14 to 13 over the Hawks. Two birds of prey and only one emerged the victor.
I was prepping for a stand up shot and checked myself in the monitor. This gig was too important for me not to make a good impression with the network. Sports Ring, the newest name in sports channels, promoted two things: sports and the beautiful people who reported on them.
Hey, I’m not full of myself— I’m just 23, with a body that many guys have referred to as “the perfect hourglass figure” and a face that was cute enough to win Ms. Baskin County when I was 17.
On the monitor, I did my beauty pageant check in my head. (You can’t do anything that girly in public on this network!) Legs? Toned and ready. My beige skirt was midway between my knees and my butt. My butt was out there, round, but not so my skirt was strangling it. (This was a sports segment, not a night at the club.) Boobs? Still perky. I was showing a little cleavage between the blue blazer and sky blue shirt underneath, but not a lot. This wasn’t Hooters. Teeth? White. Hair? Black, silky and shoulder length.
Finally, the face. Yes, this is my money maker. I had that girl-next-door look with just a dash of mischievousness. Plus I had rosy cheeks and dimples. I mean, I could’ve been one of the Campbell Soup kids if they hired models for that.
Yes, this was my dream job and thankfully, I just happened to fit the look the network had wanted: attractive, tomboy-ish and curvy. I looked knowledgeable about sports. That last part was totally optional in this business, with my looks being a lot more important for this gig, but it just so happened I knew tons about sports. My dad had drilled Sea-Eagles stats in my going back to the 70’s.
Baker, my cameraman, had worked the field for every network. A consummate camera jockey and freelancer, he had a great eye but the look of Jabba the Hut. (I loved the guy, but he definitely belonged behind the camera.) He was 50-something, with a beer gut, an always unshaven gray beard and a sloppy mess of clothes that looked like they spent time in a heap on his apartment floor when he wasn’t wearing or washing them.
Baker had just gotten a new camera from the network. It was about twice the size of an iPhone.
“Jesus, this thing is small,” he said for about the fiftieth time. “Back in the day, I developed real muscle tone lifting a camera. These days, I don’t know whether to shoot with it or download a mobile game on it!”
“I think you can do both with that,” I pointed out. “How do I look?”
“Gorgeous, as always,” he replied, while lining up the shot. “And I mean that both professionally and as a guy who would totally jump your bones if I was 20 years younger.”
“Yeah, right,” I scoffed. “Baker, as my dad would say, you couldn’t get laid in a whorehouse.”
“Nah, seriously. I was a looker,” he insisted. “I used to dress nice when I spent money on clothes.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’d you stop? And where’d you get those clothes you’re weraing?”
“The thrift store was throwing them out. Can you believe it?”
“Umm, yeah. Totally.”
“And in answer to your first question, there’s no use in playing a part I’ll never get. Okay, the studio’s about to throw it to you. Ready?”
“Always.”
Baker got quiet and gave me a silent three finger countdown that ended with him pointing towards me. It was his signature move, letting me know it was time to smile and shine.
“Hey, Sea-Eagles fans! That’s all from Lincoln Financial Field. The final score, Sea-Eagles 14 and Hawks 13. We saw a lot of amazing plays today. Jackson Blake found his groove, especially in the second half. Carey Ellis ran for over 400 yards. And Kyle Fowler score the game-winning touchdown with just 12 seconds left. But the big question is: can the Sea-Eagles make it to the Super Bowl? We’ll find out next week when they play the Miners, right here in their home field! For Sports Ring, I’m Lexi Aaron. Back to you in the studio!”
Baker signaled that the segment was over.
“Real nice, Lexi,” he assured. “You nailed it. Only one thing missing.”
“What’s that?”
“My shoulder harness!” said Baker, finally realizing. “You know if I had that, along with this little gizmo.”
“Shoulder harness? That would be way heavier than the camera!” I pointed out, incredulous.
“I know, but that’s what I’m missing. The weight. It’s a shame we don’t have anything else to shoot.”
“Well, let’s go try and get an interview with some of the players,” I suggested.
Baker scoffed at the idea.
“No way,” he insisted. “Look, kid, I’ve been doing this a long time. Sports Ring is like a month old. They never give decent press credentials to a network that new. There are guys with YouTube shows with better access.”
“C’mon, I’ve talked my way into places,” I said. “Remember that time I almost got an interview with O’Shea Hayes, the famous running back?”
“You were at the same car wash. You didn’t even have a camera!”
“Look, if you let me try I’ll wait for you to run back and get your shoulder harness.”
“Dammit, Lexi,” relented Baker. “But you owe me a beer and a cheese steak after this.”
“Done. Let’s do it!”
Baker got his shoulder harness and strapped his new camera to it. It sort of looked like an iPad sticking out of a shoulder pad. He looked ridiculous, but that was something he was used to. We reached the first security guard we’d encounter before we could enter the players’ area.
“Hi,” I said to the guard, who had his back turned. “I’m Lexi Aaron from Sports Ring. I was wondering if we could get past you?”
The guard turned around and I realized it was a 50-something squat woman with short hair. Weather-beaten and craggy were the two best adjectives to describe her face. She didn’t look too pleased to see me and I immediately got the vibe my sexy hair flip wasn’t going to work with her.
“Sorry Sugartits, you’re not on the list,” she said bluntly.
“Emma?” said Baker, astonished. “It’s me, Adrian Baker.”
Emma squinted at Baker a moment and then a spark of recognition made her smile.
“Holy shit! Adrian! How have you been? It’s been ages! What are you doing here?”
“I’m a cameraman at Sports Ring now. For Lexi here.”
“Baker and I go way back,” she explained. “We used to go to Greatful Dead concerts together. Those were some times.”
“That’s so sweet you two know each other,” I smiled.
“I guess you wanna get inside,” Emma said to Baker. “Why not? You’re going to charm me anyway!”
“C’mon. You look amazing. And that’s the truth!”
“Aw, stop it.”
“No, seriously.
We should catch up with beers.”
“Yeah, I know what ‘beers’ means to you!” she smiled, knowingly. “That’s the old version of ‘Netflix and Chill.’”
“The old version of what?” Baker asked, with a purposefully dumb grin spreading across his face. “There’s only one version of ‘beers’ and that will never change, no matter what these millennials try and tell you.”
“Well, I get off in 20 minutes,” she said, leaning in closer to Baker. “And maybe we can both get off in 40 back at my place.”
I guess Baker still had some game left in him, after all— thrift store clothes and all.
“Okay, yeah. We’ll just pop in and get an interview. You still in that place on Pine Street near Dirty Frank’s?”
“That’s the one. Go ahead in,” she smiled hungrily. “I’ll see you later.”
We got inside and I was genuinely impressed with Baker.
“Wow,” I said. “You really did have it going on back in the day.”
“I told you,” he laughed. “You would be putty in my hands back then.”
I laughed too. If anyone heard the kind of banter that Baker and I regularly engaged in, they’d say I should sue him for sexual harassment. But I enjoyed being told I’m beautiful. Is that such a crime? Plus, I knew he was harmless.
“Well, it’s nice that you’ll pretend to take one for the team.”
“Pretend? Lexi, Emma was hotter than you back in the day,” he assured. “And she has other talents that, quite frankly, a gentlemen doesn’t discuss in public. So with that, I’m outta here!”
“Wait! You got me in and now you’re going to leave?!”
“Lexi, at my age, these offers are few and far between, ya dig? You’ll be fine. Take the camera.”
“But I’m going into the locker room. I don’t want to capture… too much.”
“Are you nuts? I thought you were going to wait outside. The team could react very badly to that. I’m out,” said Baker, taking the camera off the harness and handing it to me. “Point and shoot. You’ll do fine.”
“Aw, c’mon. What about beer and cheese steak?”
Triple Pass: An MFMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 67