by Marie James
When he shuts the dog inside, I open the door to the truck. Kadin runs to my side to help me jump out of the big monstrosity. I’m grateful for his help because it is a pretty big leap.
“I’m going to have to start using the car when we go places,” he says absently.
“I don’t think you’d fit in my car, Kadin.”
He laughs and points to a five car garage. “No offense, beautiful, but I wouldn’t be caught dead in your car.”
The happy gleam in his eye prevents me from feeling offended that he’s unimpressed with my Mini Cooper.
“You ready to see the house?” I nod and let him take my hand, leading me into the home we’ll raise our child in.
Kadin is able to calm Pudge with the snap of his fingers and a quick scratch on his head. I crouch down in front of him and let him sniff my hands. I pet his head gently and coo to him watching his tail thump against the wall at the attention.
He follows us around the house as Kadin gives me the grand tour. “This is nothing like the condo,” I eventually say as we make our way upstairs.
“Savannah decorated the condo,” he informs me. “This is more my style.”
We walk toward the end of the hall, and I can’t help but notice how open and inviting it is. All of the doors are open and welcoming, even the master suite at the very end of the hall. He lets me walk in first and wraps his arms around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder as I look around the room.
Noticing the bed, I smile. “Is that the…”
“The bed from your room in the condo? Yes.” He turns me in his arms. “It’s all I had of you. I know this may seem sudden to you, but I’ve felt you with me every single day that we’ve been apart. I’ve built this life for us, hoping I’d find you again. This isn’t something I impulsively decided the last couple of days.”
“I want to show you something.” He grasps my hand and tugs me to a door on the far side of the room.
I’m a assuming it’s a bathroom and immediately hope it has all of the shower heads that the shower in the cabin had. He swings the door open wide, and I gasp, clamping a hand over my mouth. My eyes rake over everything in the small adjoining room.
“Is this okay?” He asks suddenly unsure about the entire situation.
Tears are running down my face as I look at the dark cherry crib and matching rocker with ottoman. The beautiful changing table in one corner looks like an antique and fits perfectly in the room.
“You need to say something, London. I don’t know how to interpret the tears.” He sounds nervous.
“It’s beautiful, Kadin.” I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my sobs into his hard chest. “You really want us here.”
He pulls away slightly so he can look in my eyes. “You’re home, London.” He kisses my lips delicately. “Welcome home.”
We stand in the small nursery holding each other for a long time until I eventually pull away to have a better look. I run my hand over the changing table. “I love this,” I tell him.
“That was mine and Kegan’s when we were babies,” he informs me. “My mom can’t wait to meet you.”
I turn back to him with wide eyes. “You told your mom about me?” He nods. “When? Does she know about the baby?”
He chuckles. “I told her about you earlier this week; that’s how I got the changing table. I didn’t know if I’d get you back, but I knew,” he pauses like he doesn’t want to finish his thought. “I knew even if you didn’t want me I still wanted to be a father.”
I turn my attention back to the small dresser and the closed, dated book on top. I flip the cover open and see the sweetest little red headed child smiling back at me.
“Is this you?” I whisper.
“I told you I was a ginger.” I watch as he runs his hand over his mahogany colored hair. “The red disappeared completely by the time I was in Jr. High, but I was born a ginger. My mother’s side of the family apparently.”
I trace my finger down his jaw. “I’d wondered. When the sun hits your beard a certain way I can see hints of red in it.” I kiss his lips and whisper in his ear. “I’ve always had a thing for gingers.”
“Is that so?” He asks gripping my ass cheeks in his hands and pulling me as close to his body as my stomach will allow.
“I love this home, Kadin. I can’t wait to build a life with you here, raise this baby here.” I smile down at the bump that keeps me from being able to rest flush against his hard body.
“Babies,” he counters. “I want lots of babies.”
We had a long conversation last Sunday after making love in our bed for hours. I was concerned about her going back to work. She finally admitted to me that Justin, although a very sweet guy couldn’t seem to let go of the crush he had on her. I get it; she’s an amazing woman.
I told her I’d love nothing more than to go to her job and inform him of just how unavailable she actually is, but she wouldn’t let me. She promised she’d discuss it with him, and if she felt like he couldn’t let it go completely, she’d quit.
She came home on Monday and informed me that she wasn’t quitting altogether, but she’d be working from home most days. I shifted some things at work so I could spend a day or two working from home as well. We’ve spent the past week incorporating her things amongst the things I already had in the house and spending as much time in each other’s arms as we could stand.
Just like at the condo we’ve quickly managed a routine that we both seem happy about. We spend quite a bit of time wandering around the property and walking with Pudge, but today is an exciting day. Today we find out what we’re having, and I think I’m just as excited as she is to start buying things for our child.
“London,” I whisper to her back. She’s been sleeping on her left side which means I’ve had to get used to sleeping on the opposite side of the bed I’ve been used to sleeping on my whole life, but change is a good thing, right? “You have to get up. I’m serious this time. We have to get going.”
She grumbles incoherently until I pull her shoulder back, forcing her buried face upward. “You shouldn’t have fucked me stupid.”
I slip my hand between her thighs and laugh heartily when she parts he legs for me, her body ready for more already.
“If you don’t get up now,” I chastise in her ear as I slip two fingers inside of her. “You won’t have time to shower and the doctor will know exactly what you’ve been doing all morning.”
She moans and opens up even wider, unconcerned about my warning. “I’m going to make you come one more time, dirty girl then you have to get up. I want to know if I’m having a son or a daughter.”
I pull her back to my chest and pin her leg down with my own, biting her shoulder I set my fingers into motion until she’s a quivering mess and I have to carry her to the bathroom to get cleaned up.
“I called this place a half dozen times,” I tell her as we pull up to the small family practice. “They wouldn’t tell me shit.”
She’s still laughing when I make my way to her side of the truck and help her out. I told her we needed to start taking one of my cars so she’s not so high off the ground, but she insists on the truck. I think she likes when I lift her out and let her drag herself down my body. If I'm completely honest, I’d rather do this every time also.
Half an hour later we’re in a small dark room as a middle-aged woman in scrubs squirts a blue looking jelly on London’s stomach. We spent the next twenty minutes in anticipation as she points out all the body parts that the baby has except what I need to know most. I can’t be mad, though. Tears are running down my face as I look at the most beautiful black and white baby I’ve ever seen.
Perfect little legs and arms.
Beautiful little arms and fingers.
Amazing head and pouting mouth.
“This here,” the technician says moving the mouse around on the screen “is the labia majora of your little girl.”
“A girl?” London says quietly looking up at me.
She reaches up and wipes tears from my face. “A daughter,” I whisper to her. “I’ve always wanted a little girl.”
She smiles as I lean down and kiss her with the salt of my tears still on my lips. Unable to resist I deepen the kiss, my hand instinctively reaching for our sweet princess and then lower on her body. I pull back when the other woman in the room clears her throat, realizing my hand is now covered in the jelly from London’s stomach. I shrug my shoulders, unashamed of loving this woman.
She hands me a Kleenex but not before giving me a disapproving look at my inappropriate celebration. She hands another tissue to London, but I take it from her and clean her stomach myself, planting a soft kiss to her stomach when I’m done.
The technician then hands London a long strip of tiny pictures of our little girl. I want to ask her for more, but I won’t press my luck with the look she has on her face. I’ll take her for a dozen more sonograms later if she wants.
“Let’s go shopping for our little girl,” I tell her as I unroll her yoga pants back up onto her lower belly.
She tilts her head to the side. “You actually want to go shopping for baby stuff?”
I laugh. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how hard it was all those months to walk around those stores for hours and not buy anything?” I place my hand over our growing bundle. “She will have two of everything.” I kiss her forehead and help her off of the table.
“She doesn’t need two of everything, Kadin,” she admonishes me half-heartedly.
“I never said anything about need, beautiful.” I clasp her hand in mine and tug her out of the office and back to the truck.
I hoist her inside of the truck and make my way around to my side. I barely have enough time to shut my door before she’s climbing on my lap.
“Where were we,” she pants against my lips “before she interrupted us.”
I moan loudly as she reaches between us and grips my already thick cock in her small hand. “Don’t, London. I’ll fuck you right here in broad daylight if you don’t stop.”
She pulls away from me when I start to tug her yoga pants over the globe of her ass. “That’s what I thought,” I say in short huffs. I groan uncomfortably and adjust my hard-to-ignore erection in my jeans.
She settles back in her seat, and I tilt my head back and to the side so I can look at her. A mischievous look crosses her face. “I still have the keys to the cottage.”
I can’t get my seatbelt on fast enough considering I was wondering how upset she’d be if I suggested getting a hotel room for a few hours, five stars of course.
We ended up staying the night at the cottage and didn’t get any shopping done until the next day. We’re home now, and I’ve unloaded the truck, filling the nursery and a guest bedroom with more things than one little girl could ever use in a lifetime.
London hums softly to herself as she removes tags from clothing ranging from newborn to some she assures me she’ll be able to wear once she starts kindergarten. She seems happy and content, and that knowledge makes my heart smile. Pudge has just about given up on me and has become her dog. He ignores my existence if she’s near. I don’t mind, though; if anything I completely understand. I’m drawn to her much the same way.
I’ve helped her move things around and been her insistent pack mule for almost everything. I don’t want her hurting herself, but I also don’t want her to overtire either. I have plans for her this evening that will require her full attention.
“What about this one?” I hold up a medium sized box.
She angles her head, slightly confused. “What’s in it?”
I shrug my shoulders and hand it to her. “No clue.”
She pulls back the tabs, opening the box. “Looks like a box inside of another box. I don’t remember getting this…” Her voice trails off when she pulls a pale blue box with a tiny white ribbon on top from the large nondescript box.
The larger one falls to the floor when she raises her eyes, finding me on one knee. Her hands tremble as she holds onto the blue box with one hand and lifts her other one to cover her mouth, preventing a sob from escaping.
I gently wrap my hand around hers and pull the box from her unsure fingers.
I clear my throat and pray for strength and courage to get through this without becoming a blubbering fool myself.
“London, I, of all the people in the world, know how precious life is. I know just how fast life can change. I know that one tragedy has led me to a destiny I’m certain I was always meant to find.” I clear my throat again as I begin to be overcome with emotion and use the back of my hand to swipe away a tear from my cheek. “You are my future, London. You saved me that day you ended up at the cabin with me, and you’ve saved me each and every day since. I swear I’ll be everything that you need for the rest of your life. I’ll provide for you and our children. I’ll be the man of your dreams. Marry me, and be the woman of mine?”
Her answer is a guttural sob as she launches herself into my arms, nodding her head frantically. “Yes,” she finally whispers in my ear. “You’re already the man of my dreams, Kadin.”
I smile from the kitchen window as I watch my amazing husband chase my redheaded daughters around the back yard. Daughters. Plural.
I went for my checkup eight weeks after having our first angel only to find out that Kadin apparently has super sperm. I practically forced him to make love to me four weeks after she was born; consent was dubious on his part at best. So my girls are just under ten months apart.
Anastyn was born in late September and came out looking exactly like her ginger daddy. There was no denying her paternity, so we never bothered with a test; the results wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She just turned five last month. Her late birthday means she missed the cutoff for school by just a few weeks, which I don’t mind. I never went back to work at the office and eventually helped Justin find someone else to fill my spot. I don’t know how I’m going to handle three, I think, as I gently stroke over the little boy growing inside of me; but Kadin is beyond ecstatic about having a son.
His relationship with his family has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and he strives every day to be the man his father was for him and Kegan. His mother treats me like the daughter she’s never had and spoils the girls beyond anything I could’ve ever imagined. For the first time in more than half my life, I have a family, and I’m surrounded every day by people I love and who love me back.
I still can’t believe how close both Kadin and I came to not ever having this. I was devastated and relieved at the same time when he disclosed to me shortly after we got back together that he was in that cabin in Poison to take his own life. Just the idea of living a life without ever meeting him is unfathomable to me and still brings tears to my eyes. I’m beyond happy with the life I have now, and I would suffer through every ounce of heartache and pain all over again if it meant this is where I’d end up.
The girls are running around kicking through piles of leaves Kadin has been trying to rake up all morning. He chases them away, playfully turning his back so they can do it again. He notices me watching and makes his way across the yard to the sliding glass door off of the dining room.
I open the door just as he clears the patio, and he first kisses my stomach and then wraps his arms around my waist.
“I love you,” I whisper in his ear.
“You make me happier than I’ll ever be able to show you,” he returns.
“You can at least try,” I tease seductively letting my breath warm his neck. “As soon as the girls go to bed I want you to put on those suspenders so we can play lumberjack.”
His laugh registers secondary to the heat in his eyes that say he’s more than ready to chop some wood.
Marie James Facebook: Marie James
Author Group: Author Marie James All Hale Fans
Twitter: @AuthrMarieJame
Hale Series
Coming to Hale
Begging for Hale
&nbs
p; Hot as Hale
To Hale and Back
Hale Series Box Set
Psychosis
Matthew Hosea FanFiction Novella
Co-write with Gina Sevani
This is the 6th time I’ve been blessed enough to write this part. Each and every time, I’m humbled by the people who are right beside me through this journey. As the support grows so does the number of people I have in my corner. Had I known years ago the support I’d have in the Indie Author World, I would’ve had the courage to begin this journey long before this year.
My husband remains my number one fan. Without his support and dedication to my brand, I’d be lost. He helps me plot, he works on some of the research, and then he suffers through the editing. On top of all of that, he spends extra time with the boys when I just can’t manage to pull myself away from a story.
My betas have been imperative every step of the way. So more thanks than I’d ever honestly be able to give go out to Brittney, Tammy, Brenda, Jessica, and Diane. These ladies have been my sounding board and read and reread this book more times I think than I have personally!
Brittney C….lady you’re amazing! If it weren’t for your help plotting and the back and forth for weeks this book would’ve never seen the light of day! You’re an amazing woman and an even better friend!! Can’t wait to talk to you about the next one!!
Huge thanks to Shauna Kruse for her awesome photography for the cover. As always I’m impressed with each and every picture Mr. Justin James Cadwell takes. Thanks for agreeing to be my lumberjack!! Kari Ayasha did the incredible cover and I couldn’t ask for a better person to work with! Kari Nappi helped out with teasers for the book and they’re amazing!!
Give Me Books did an amazing job with the cover reveal and release day blitz. Kylie is incredible to work with! I look forward to the process each and every time because she makes it so stream line and easy!!