“Well you missed your chance Zoe, I will be telling them tonight,” Judah responds hotly. “Let them know that their perfect daughter is not so perfect after all.” He pauses, looking at her intently and then down her body.
“Are you fucking pregnant?”
“No asshole!” She shoves against his chest.
“Stop acting like a child Zoe,” Isaac says in an almost exasperated tone.
Growing up, the Judah and Isaac (and me too) would always antagonize Zoe by calling her a child or telling her to stop acting like one. It was a sure-fire way to piss her off - which is what Isaac has just done with his comment.
She pushes pass Judah and gets up in Isaac’s face.
“I am not acting like a child. I am a grown-ass woman who is allowed to make her own damn decisions. You have no say in what I do.” She turns back to Judah and continues.
“And you will not tell Mom and Dad about this. I will tell them - are we clear?” she states, her voice taking on a shaky tone.
I know that shaky tone; she is so mad she is about to cry. This is the first time I am hearing it in the adult Zoe, but growing up, I heard it plenty when someone pushed her too far.
I reach to gently pull her into my arms, but Judah yanks her out of my grasp roughly. So roughly that Zoe stumbles. I quickly step forward and gently moved her behind me and now I am the one all up in Judah’s face.
“I know she is your sister, but she is my wife. I love you like a brother, but If you ever put your hands on her like that again, I will rip your fucking head off.”
“Is that right?” he asks stepping even closer to me until we are damn near nose to nose.
I feel a warm hand on my back.
“Charlie,” Zoe says. Her voice is still shaky and I hope she is not crying. I can’t stand to see her cry.
“I’m okay Baby,” I assure her. I don’t take my eyes off Judah and I am also aware of Isaac moving to stand next to his brother - ready to have his back if this thing goes south. I need to get Zoe out of harm’s way because I already know we are about to come to blows.
“Why don’t you go back into the kitchen while I talk to your brothers for a bit?”
Her hand on my back, grips my t-shirt tightly.
“Charlie?” I can hear the tears in her voice because she knows too that things are about to get ugly. I want to turn around, pull her in my arms and comfort her, but before I do that, I need to deal with her brothers.
“Zoe Baby, please.” I can sense her reluctance as she slowly let’s go of my t-shirt and leaves the room.
I can sense Isaac tracking her movements and once she is out of the room, Judah doesn’t waste anytime swinging on me. I take the punch to the mouth because if the shit was reversed, I would do the same. I stretch my jaw, tasting the blood in my mouth as I straighten back up. That is when punch number two- this time from Isaac - catches me in the eye.
I grunt as I shake it off and straighten back up for the second time.
Both of them are looking at me - pissed but also resigned.
“She’s not pregnant is she?” Isaac asks as he shakes his hand slightly.
“No,” I say, shaking my head and closing my eyes against the vertigo-like feeling. “She’s not pregnant - I swear.”
End Flashback
I come back to the present as my wife grinds into me. I was so lost in my memories, that I haven’t registered that my wife has rid herself of her clothing and is feening for my cock.
“Charlie, fuck me,” Zoe moans in my ear.
I waste no time in pulling down my sweat pants and impaling my wife on my cock, resting my hands lightly on her hips as she rides me.
I love my life.
Chapter 3 – Life Sucks
Zoe - Early September
Life Sucks!
These are the two words that keep running through my head as I pull down my panties and sit on the toilet. Bright blood mars the crotch of my panties and I can feel a gush of blood leave my body.
I thought for sure I was pregnant this time. My period was five days late and Charlie and I were going to buy a pregnancy test tomorrow. We have been trying since January but here we are some nine months later and I am still not pregnant - as evidenced by the blood in my now ruined panties. I shoved them down my legs in disgust and will myself not to cry as I toss them in the trash.
Even though it is about four hours before I need to get up for work, I opt to take a shower because I just feel gross. I know I promised myself not to cry, but I do anyway as I spend too long in the shower.
********
Charlie
I stand in the doorway and I watch my wife for a few seconds as she goes through her nightly routine. She has a sad look on her face; she has been down all day.
Why?
Because we are trying to have a baby and this morning she got her period. We have been trying since January. The doctor did caution us that it could take a while – maybe even a year or more and that it was okay since Zoe had been on the birth control pill for so long.
However, here we are nine months later and nothing. I will admit, I am bummed too. I can’t wait to have a little person around the house that looks like a combination of us. And to hear he or she call me ‘Daddy’.
Daddy – yeah, I am ready to be ‘Daddy’.
I come up behind her as she finishes rubbing some type of cream on her face. Her eyes look at me via the mirror. She gives me a sad smile. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her back to me.
“You okay?” I ask, holding her gaze in the mirror. She nods before turning in my arms.
“Yeah – I’m just tired – long day and all,” she says before wrapping her arms around me and snuggling against my chest.
I kiss the top of her head and lean back some so I can see her face.
“You sure?” I ask softly as I search her beautiful face.
She gives me a look that lets me know that while she is not entirely okay at the moment – she will be. She nods again and rises up on her tip toes to give me a quick kiss before escaping from my arms.
“Hey – where are you going?”
“I’m going to heat up my heating pad.”
Her heating pad is a thermal wrap that she heats up in the microwave and lays on her lower tummy when she has cramps.
“I’ll do it,” I say as I walk up to her and kiss her forehead. I grab the thermal wrap from the foot of our big bed before heading downstairs to heat it up. Our cat, Blu, weaves between my legs as I wait next to the microwave. The lavender smell of the wrap scenting the air as it heats in the microwave.
When I enter our bedroom almost ten minutes later, the room is dark as I make my way to the bed. I pull back the covers and slide into bed behind my wife, pulling her close as I place the heated thermal wrap against her lower belly.
“Thanks Charlie,” she murmurs as she drifts off to sleep.
Charlie - The Next Morning
I ease out of bed, careful not to wake my wife. I look down at her briefly before taking my phone and leaving the bedroom, closing the bedroom door behind me. I dial Pop - A.K.A., my father in-law - as I walk down the hall and stairs.
Instead of a hello, he greets me with, “Good morning Charlie. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, more or less. I am just calling to let you know that I am going to work from home today. Zoe is not feeling well and I just want to be close in case she needs something.”
Ever since Zoe went off the pill, her periods have been horrible. The first day is not so bad, but day two and sometimes day three are the worse. Heavy bleeding and painful cramps usually keep her in bed. Last night, she woke up in a panic because she was bleeding so heavy that she bled onto the sheets. After assuring her that I wasn’t freaked out and everything was okay, she did calm down a bit.
“What’s wrong? Does she need to go to the doctor?” he asks, obvious concern in his voice.
“Nothing like that - she is just having some female issues.”
While we haven’t told our parents we are trying to have a baby, I think they know.
He is silent for a few moments before he speaks. “Okay. If you two need anything, let me or Ronnie (Zoe’s mom) know - okay?”
“Okay - we will.”
We exchange a few more banalities before hanging up. I pour myself a cup of coffee and make my way to the balcony outside of the kitchen. The neighborhood is slowly waking up as the sun rises over the tree tops. I send a quick text to Wood, letting him know that I won’t be at the gym to work out with him and the guys this morning.
He quickly texts back - asking if everything is okay.
I text back one word - ‘period’ and he responds with ‘let me know if you want to talk.’
While we haven’t told our parents - Wood, along with Zoe’s brothers and our friends know that we have been trying to have a baby - so every month there is an expectant air - them waiting for us to announce we are pregnant.
I text back:
ME- I’m good - thanks for the offer though.
I spend the next ten minutes on the balcony drinking my coffee and watching the sun rise. Entering back into the house, I open a can of cat food and spoon it into Blu’s food dish before I head back upstairs to the bedroom.
I enter the bedroom and Zoe is coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.
“Good morning Baby - you okay?” I ask as I walk up to her, pulling her into a hug. Her body is still shower warm and she smells like her rain scented body wash. She nods quickly before extracting herself from me.
As I look at her, I can tell she has been crying as her eyes are a bit puffy and red.
I know she is up because she thinks she is going to work today.
“I called your dad and let him know you were not feeling well and that I was going to work from home today while you took a sick day.”
A few emotions flash over my wife’s face. I see her eyes tear up before she comes into my arms. I pulled her close, hugging her tight.
“Thank you Charlie,” she says softly.
We stand like this for a few moments before she untangles herself from me and goes into the closet to get dressed. When she comes out, she is wearing one of my t-shirts and a pair of pajama bottoms.
I pull back the bed covers so she can climb in; I tuck her in as I sit on the side of the bed.
“I am going to call in an order from Cracked Up. What do you want?” I ask her as she settles back against the pillows. Her eyes light up at the mention of the insanely popular breakfast spot just outside of our subdivision.
********
After we eat breakfast, Zoe falls asleep and I leave her to work in our home office. Our home office - which we both share - is one level up on the forth floor of our townhouse. The same floor as the roof top patio. The office space was originally designed to be a bonus room and an optional fourth bedroom. However, we converted the two rooms into a workspace for the both of us. Two custom-made drafting tables, each with a matching computer desk nearby sit on opposites sides of the room. A relaxing seating area, consisting of a sofa and two comfortable chairs sit in the middle of the room. While Zoe and I share a home office, we still like to have our own space, hence the two separate work station set ups.
I take a seat at my desk and wake up my computer, shooing Blu away when he tries to sit his furry ass on my keyboard. Not to be deterred, he settles down on my desktop, right next to my mouse, his furry tail swishing back and forth. I pick him up and put him on the floor, but instead of him leaving me alone, he jumps back up on the desk and lays down right under my monitor. His yellow eyes looking at me as if daring me to move him again.
I shake my head. I still can’t believe Zoe and I have a cat, when we both are not cat people.
Flashback - Charlie - Seven Months Ago
I love spoiling my wife. I love the look on her face when I give her a gift or do something for her that she doesn’t expect. I have just gotten her a present that I know she will enjoy - even if I don’t particularly like it. But I have seen pictures of it on her phone and she also has it as her screen saver on her office computer at work. I am little late getting home as I had to pick up Zoe’s present. I enter the house and seek out my wife. I find her in the TV room. I am smiling from ear to ear when I present my gift to her.
“What is that?” she asks.
“It’s a Russian Blue kitten, like the one you have as your screen saver at the office and in your photo album on your phone,” I say confused because she doesn’t seem interested in the fluff of fur I have in my arms.
“It’s a cat,” she says with a little bit of bite in her voice.
“Yeaaaahhhh...”
“I don’t like cats.”
“Since when?”
“Since always.”
“But you have a picture of a cat…this type of cat to be specific…as your screensaver at work. That means you like cats?” I insist.
My beautiful wife looks at me as if I have two heads. “No. Just because I have a cat as my screensaver does not mean I like cats,” she says.
“Well shit – and here I thought having a reminder of something that you see every fucking day meant you liked it.”
I continue to look at her – mostly at a loss, but also slightly pissed.
“Charlie –did you buy me a cat?”
I don’t say anything, I just nod.
“Ugh,” is all she says as she takes the kitten from my hands and stomps up the stairs.
What the fuck just happened?
Before I can try and figure out the craziness that just happened, Zoe comes back and is at the top of the stairs looking down at me.
“Male or female,” she asks, holding up the kitten.
“Male,” I reply, confused.
She then turns around and a few moments later, I hear our bedroom door shut firmly.
About ten minutes later, I am sitting in the kitchen, nursing a beer when the doorbell rings. I trudge to the front door and I am surprised to see Wood and Ivy Ellis.
Ivy kisses my cheek hello before making her way up the stairs. I turn back to Wood when I hear my bedroom door open and close.
I lead Wood into the kitchen and hand him a beer. He takes a pull from the bottle before he speaks.
“So what did you do Mate?” Wood asks.
“Why do you think I did something?” I ask, indignant.
He gives me a look that says ‘because I know you’ before replying.
“Your wife calls my wife and ten minutes later; I am at your house…you do the math.”
I take a sip from my own beer bottle, gathering my thoughts.
“I bought her a present,” I finally say.
“Okay…,” he says, waiting for me reveal the crazy part that has him and his wife at my house.
“That’s just it! I bought her a present– she tells me she doesn’t care for my type of present - she has a minor conniption fit and then she takes the present from me, goes into our bedroom – apparently to call your wife and ten minutes later – here you are.”
“What did you get her?” he asks finally.
“A cat – well a kitten,” I say.
He just looks at me like I am the one who is crazy and not my wife.
I sigh.
“You know the big ass screensaver pic Zoe has on her computer at the office?”
“Yeah - that cat.”
“The cat is a Russian Blue. She also has pics of the same type of cat on her phone. I assumed that she likes cats.” I shake my head, taking a swig of my beer before continuing. “Yeah – so not the case; I surprise her with the gift of a Russian Blue kitten – like the one on her screensaver and you know what - Zoe doesn’t like cats.”
The fucker has the nerve to laugh.
End Flashback
********
About two hours later, Zoe shuffles into the office, wrapped in a blanket - looking somewhat pale and tired. She climbs onto the sofa and curls into the corner. Blu leaves my desktop, scampers to
the sofa and curls up with her. I push away from the desk and walk over, taking a seat before pulling her into my lap, dislodging Blu momentarily before he finds a new cuddle spot next to Zoe’s feet. Zoe curls into me, her head resting against my shoulder.
“How are you feeling Baby?” I ask as I kiss her forehead, her headband holding her curly hair back.
“Crampy,” she replies back.
“Did you take anything?”
She nods. “Yeah, I took some Aleve when I woke up. It should kick in soon.”
“Do you need me to get your heating pad for you?”
She gives me a weak smile as she unwraps the blanket some and shows me she already has her heating pad - it is partially shoved down the front of her pajama pants.
I laugh a little and pull her closer, hugging her just a bit tighter. We fall into an easy discussion about work, discussing some of the company’s upcoming projects. While I deal with the construction side of the business, Zoe is involved with bidding and contracts.
We eat a late lunch around two and then Zoe goes back to bed for a nap. Before she falls asleep, I let her know that I’m going to run a few errands and will be back by dinner time.
While I am out, I check on a couple of job sites to make sure everything is going smoothly and on schedule. The last job site that I check on is near my mom’s job, so I decide to pay her a visit.
My mom started out as a nurse, but now teaches and her office is located in the nursing building on the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) campus. She got her nursing degree while she was a single mother raising me. After my sperm-donor of a father left us when I was five, she put herself through nursing school by going to school during the day and working at night cleaning office buildings. During that time, we lived with my grandparents in Alabama. It took my mom almost five years to get her nursing degree, but she did it and my ten-year-old self was so proud of her. It was also around the time that we moved from Alabama to Richmond, Virginia because Mom was offered a job at the VCU Hospital.
So we moved and looking back, I can see how hard it must have been for her. She worked the nightshift and in the beginning it wasn’t so bad, she had someone at night to stay with me, but shortly after, that person moved away and I was left on my own a lot.
Love & Happiness (Sexy Secrets Book 3) Page 4