Love Realized

by Melanie Codina

  “You still want to go to Morgan’s tonight? I can say I'm in a mood and need you to take care of me.”

  Gillian appreciated Allie’s offer so she smiled as she shook her head. “We can’t back out on Morgan. She needs girl time since she is so busy with the baby.”

  “Okay, only if you can handle it, though.” Gillian nodded, and they got up. They walked to the car, without getting curtains. “Hey Al, I'm sorry we didn’t get your curtains. Are you going to use that against me later?”

  “No worries, this is cooler. And hell yeah I'm using it against you later.” Feeling a little better, Gillian laughed at her as they climbed in the car. Then Allie announced, “I call dibbs on the baby when we get there since we didn’t get my curtains today.”

  “Wow, that didn’t take long for you to use against me.”

  Allie being the total smartass she was said, “I know right. I’m a little impressed myself.”

  “Hey Al, you know I love you more than my luggage, right?”

  Allie looked at Gillian with a big smile on her face, all signs of the smartass gone and said, “Aww, you just used a Steel Magnolias line on me! I don’t even have a good come back for it. I love you, too, sweetie.”

  It wasn’t often that Allie didn’t have a comeback, so Gillian silently congratulated herself and hugged her friend. After a few moments, she pulled back with tears in her eyes. “Thanks, Allie. Pretty sure you’re gonna need to talk me off that ledge a few more times really soon.”

  “I know, right. I was going to ask if I could be there when you tell Jake because I think he will act like a total sap. But then I decided I would rather you just take a video and send it to me. That would be better for me.”

  Laughing again and no longer stressing about the possibilities, she pulled the car out and headed to her brother’s house where a whole lot of different smells were awaiting her. She debated whether or not they should take a minute to pick up a pregnancy test but decided against it. She could just get one at work tomorrow. Until then, it would be business as usual.

  ~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

  Jake smiled when he got the text from Gillian saying she was on her way home and asked if he was coming over. She said she missed him. Jason saw this and said, “I take it from that smile that it’s time to go?”

  Jake smiled big at his brother. “It sure as fuck is. My woman misses me.” They promptly paid the bill and Jason dropped him off at her house. He decided for now he’d leave the ring with his brother. Hopping out of the truck and making his way inside, he was greeted by the sight of her sitting on the couch doing something on her phone. She looked up at him and smiled before coming over to hug him. “Hey beautiful, how was your night?” he asked as he hugged her back and pressed his lips against the top of her head.

  He heard her snort against his chest and then she grumbled, “Allie needs a new superhero name. You need to change it to Babyblocker or something along those lines. That pain in the ass hogged the baby all night long. She’s my niece, and I barely got to hold her because Allie wouldn’t share.”

  He thought her pouting was adorable, but honestly, he was so under her spell, everything she did captivated him. “You know I would totally try and kick her ass for you, but I'm man enough to admit I wouldn’t win. Did you tell on her? Maybe that would’ve been helpful.” She was giggling against his chest now, and damn did it feel good. He reached down and tilted her head up to capture her lips before asking, “Where are all the kids?”

  She pressed upward and met his lips for another kiss before answering, “Cockblocker, AKA Babyblocker, took Dylan and Ryan. Said she needed some big strong men to help her do stuff around the house. Of course both boys were all over that.” Again, she pressed another kiss to his lips. “Madison is over at Logan’s, and Jonathan is at his friend’s house tonight since there is no school tomorrow. I think he was worried he might get stuck with babysitting duties in the morning.”

  No kids? They were alone … all night. He let a slow, knowing smile spread across his face as he said, “Are you saying that I actually have you all to myself tonight?”

  “Why yes, it appears that I am.”

  He proceeded to pick her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Once she was in his favorite position he asked, “Did you eat dinner tonight? Because you are going to need your energy, my love.”

  A slightly hesitant looked crossed her face before she replaced it with a playful smile and said, “Energy levels are high and ready to be depleted, handsome.” What better invitation did a man need? He answered with a growl as he took her lips and started walking toward her room. It wasn’t often he had her all to himself, and he was going to take full advantage of the fact that he could make her scream tonight and not worry about the kids hearing it. Just thinking about that had his arousal spiking even higher than usual.

  ~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

  Once they made it into the bedroom, Jake was quick to divest her of her clothes. Not like she made it difficult for him or anything. Lying there naked on the bed, she felt her desire and need for Jake climb as she watched him pull his shirt over his head. The firm, tan skin of his chest, which had a thin patch of hair across the center called out to her, and she wanted to touch him, taste him. She started to get up and do just that when Jake stopped her with a shake of his head and said, “Nuh uh, beautiful. Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I want to touch you,” she said to him as he slowly revealed the rest of his glorious body to her, his erection standing long and proud in front of her. Just the sight of it had her licking her lips as he made his way toward her.

  “Oh, you’re going to be touching me, that’s for sure. But first, I have to taste you.”

  Any words she was prepared to say died on her lips as she felt Jake’s tongue sweep across her hot, wet skin. There was no way she could speak; he made it so her only option was to feel, and she felt everything. It wasn’t long before he had her squirming and calling out his name … twice. She couldn’t handle any more; she had to have him inside her. Pulling on the hair she had wrapped tightly around her fingers, she gave him no choice but to lift his head. Once she had his eyes on her, she demanded, “I need you inside me right now, Jake Michaels! Don’t you make me wait another minute.”

  His one-sided smirk was ignored. Yeah, he knew what he did to her, and she loved every minute of it. Her grip in his hair prevented him from making a slow trail up her body. She wanted his lips on hers and to feel him inside of her. Just before his lips made contact, she felt him position himself, poised to enter as he said, “I love it when you want me so bad, baby. It tells me I'm not alone, because I need to be inside your body more than I need to take my next breath.”

  Then he slammed his lips down on hers at the same time he lunged forward. Breathe … who needed to breathe? She thought this as she felt him fill her and stretch her. He stayed still for a moment, allowing her body to adjust as he buried his face in her neck. She felt him nibble on the sensitive spot he knew she loved as he started to slowly thrust in and out of her body. It was exquisite, it was consuming, it was everything she needed and wanted.

  Gillian felt those wonderful sensations begin to build in her center again; she loved how Jake always took care of her. He always made sure she had more than him, his attention and need to please her was overwhelming at times and only heightened her arousal. She could feel his warm breath against her neck as he growled, “Give me another, Gillian. I want one more.” It was so hot how he talked to her and it spurred her on, causing her muscles to tighten around him.

  Jake reached his arms down and wrapped them behind her knees, opening her up to him as he picked up his pace. His thrusts were harder as he lifted his head and gazed down at her. “I want it, Gillian, give me what I want.” Once again his words heightened her arousal, and she amazed herself by finding the ability to speak.

  “Take it, Jake, it’s all yours,” he growled again and slammed into her as her body came to pieces beneath his. Hi
s body dropped back down to hers as his thrusts became erratic, and she dug her nails into his skin, trying to hold on as she came apart.

  “Jake!” She heard her voice call out his name as a roar rumbled in her ear. Jake’s body tensed as he reached for his release deep inside of her. She briefly thought about sharing what happened earlier today with him, but decided it would be better if she waited ‘til she knew for sure. Lying there in his arms, she was content to just absorb the feel of his body against hers and how safe and cherished he made her feel.

  Once their breathing calmed down, she could feel his lips softly kiss her neck and then make their way up to her cheek and then her lips. He pulled back slightly, smiled down at her, and said, “I love you, baby.”

  Gillian smiled back at him and whispered against his lips, “I love you, too.”

  She felt his body slowly begin to harden inside of her as he said, “Say it again.”

  “I love you,” she said, and her body responded to his hardening erection with a little squeeze. He answered her body’s request by taking what he wanted … again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  After sitting at her station completely spaced out while she waited for her lab results to post in the system, she realized she needed to stop obsessing about them. She was pretty confident she knew what the results would say, but seeing them confirmed would just cement it all in place. Part of her anxiety was that it had been two days since she suspected it was possible, and she hadn’t yet mentioned it to Jake. She felt a little bad about keeping that from him, but justified it by saying it wasn’t confirmed yet … so why say anything?

  Shaking her head at her own internal debate, she had just finished updating her last patient chart for the morning when she heard one of her coworkers say something about ‘two good-looking young men heading her way.’ Of course her reflex reaction was to look up in anticipation of what the older nurse had spied. A giant smile spread across her face when she realized the two good-looking young men were hers.

  Two of her favorite little people were strolling toward her like they owned the world with a gleam in their eyes. They were certainly on a mission and had some sort of agenda. This was just what she needed today—two doses of her favorite tranquilizers—Dylan and Ryan. Her kids just calmed her down and relieved her anxiety. And it didn’t matter what anyone said—Ryan was as much hers as her own were, and he had the same effect that the other three did. A visit from her boys would help take her mind of the blood test results she was waiting for.

  “Hey Mom Dylan called, followed by Ryan saying, “Hi Aunt Gilly!” Both of their smiles got bigger, only confirming her suspicions that there was some sort of plan-in-action going on here. She bent forward to hug each one and got a kiss on each cheek from them.

  “Well hey there, you two. To what do I owe this honor? And why don’t I see an adult with you?” she asked while she cocked one hip to the side and placed her hands on both hips. She attempted a serious questioning-mom-glare but must have failed because both boys giggled.

  Dylan turned to Ryan and said, “See I told you that she would say something like that. Now you have to let me borrow your new Nintendo game for one whole day.”

  Ryan turned to Gillian and whined, “Aw man! Come on Aunt Gillian, you made me lose the bet.”

  Laughing slightly, she bent over and whispered in Ryan’s ear, so Dylan couldn’t hear her, “Well, next time you have to let me in on the bet, so we can beat Dylan at his own game.” She winked at him before kissing his cheek and standing back up.

  “Okay, so back to my question … spill it. What and who brings you here?”

  Dylan, always the spokesman between the two boys, spoke up and said, “We are here to take you to lunch. We wanna go have some pizza, and I know you can’t say no to pizza, Mom.”

  Ryan chimed in, “My dad is downstairs and said that we need to take our favorite lady out to lunch because we need to make sure we keep you happy.”

  “Oh, he did, did he? And you both think pizza is the way to do it?” she asked.

  Ryan smiled and said, “Plus we want to play at the arcade. I’ve been saving up so I can get tons of tokens.”

  Laughing out loud at Ryan’s blatant honesty she said, “There it is! I knew there was some motive there.”

  Standing up she took a look at her patient board, which appeared to be under control, then gave a questioning glance at her co-worker, Marsha. She was the shift leader and honorary grandmother figure around there, and she was apparently enjoying the scene in front of her. Marsha obviously knew what her question was before Gillian even had to ask because she smiled down at the boys then looked up to Gillian and said, “Go ahead girl, I’ve got the board. Besides, you gotta eat sometime. Take a few extra minutes if you want.”

  Marsha’s emphasis on the word gotta reminded her that Marsha was going to be watching over her. If her test confirmed she was in a delicate condition, she was sure the woman would be all over her in the coming months. She was both equally worried and thankful for the older woman’s motherly qualities. Gillian smiled at her as she stood up and walked over to her desk to grab her things. “Thanks Marsha.”

  While picking up her stuff, she saw the message light blinking on her screen. Thinking it was possibly her test results, she took a deep breath and clicked on the icon. She let it out slowly when she saw that it wasn’t what she was hoping for, but then groaned when she saw it was a message from Adam. She had managed to safely avoid him since the infamous pool party at her house, but she knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.

  The message stated that he needed her sign off on a verbal x-ray order for one of her patients from yesterday. She could’ve sworn she had already done that and sent it down to him via interoffice envelope. Even though medical records were electronic, there was the occasional piece of paper that needed to be submitted. She decided now would be the perfect time to pop in there and do it because she could use the boys as an excuse to avoid conversation with him, so she responded to his message saying she was on her way down.

  She made her way back over to the boys, who were happily regaling the other nurses with the details of their most recent trip to Disneyland, even though it was almost two months ago. She was sure her co-workers knew all there was to know about the place, but the smiles on their faces as they enjoyed the animated details from Dylan about how they rode Space Mountain four times was great to see. Just like her boys made her feel better, they did it for others. She thought to herself that this was just further confirmation that her son had actual magical powers.

  “Okay boys, we just have to make a stop on the second floor, and then we can go spend as much of Ryan’s money as possible in one hour.” Ryan turned to say something in protest at her declaration, but then she winked at him, and he realized that she was only joking. As they headed toward the elevator, the boys were engaged in a debate over who got to hit the button. It probably could have gone on forever if she hadn’t jumped in with a suggestion. “How about one of you hits the button to go down, and the other hits the button inside the elevator?”

  Seemingly satisfied with her solution, Dylan took it upon himself to hit the down button, and the doors promptly opened. Scooting inside with them she said, “Go ahead and hit the button for the second floor Ryan. I need to stop in x-ray to sign something.”

  When they got to the second floor, she didn’t want to get sucked into having to talk with Adam. Thinking that she could hold the elevator to further her cause, she said, “Hey boys, I will only be a second, so how ‘bout you wait here, and hold the doors for me? I would prefer that you weren’t around the x-ray equipment.” Since they would be in her direct sight for those few seconds, it didn’t bother her that she was asking them to wait there. “But I need both of you to hold the button for me.”

  Both boys enthusiastically agreed to her plan, so she took each of their fingers and pressed them against the button to hold the doors. She smiled at them and said, “Hold it tight, I’ll be
right back.” You would have thought that they were performing a mission that was a matter of life or death the way they held that button—almost like holding the clip of a grenade, and if they let go it would explode. It was definitely comical to see. Walking backward toward the entrance to the radiology control room so she could see them, a laugh bubbled up, and she smiled at those boys she loved so much. She was still smiling as she turned to the door of the radiology department and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her.

  She was standing there, just outside the door in the hallway, in sight of Dylan and Ryan, face to face with the barrel of a gun. Ohmygod! Ohmygod! There was a gun … pointed directly at her! Was this a joke? Who was holding it? She could barely tear her eyes off of the giant hole at the end of the gun to see the person who was pointing it at her. It looked like a fucking cannon! Forcing herself to attempt moving her eyes from the cannon, she saw Adam. Was Adam really pointing a gun at her? This had to be a joke, because seriously this kind of shit only happens in the movies. She hoped.

  Trying to actually get her tongue to move in order to allow the words to come out was one of the hardest things she had ever done. She mentally coached herself, Come on Gillian, that’s it, bring in the oxygen, and let the sound come out. “Hey Adam,” she managed to squeak out before needing to swallow again, “W-what’s going on? Is this some kind of prank? ‘Cause you got me, I think I peed my pants.” She gave him a weak smile while trying to sound like she had a sense of humor in a situation that she could only hope was a joke. A fucking sick joke at that.

  She glanced to her left to see that the boys were still standing there in the elevator waiting for her. They didn’t look scared in any way, just devoted to holding that damn button down. Okay, so they must not be able to see the gun. Good. That was a good thing … a very good thing.

  Adam’s growling response brought her back to face him when he said, “I have to make him suffer. Make him feel the pain.” Just the sound of his voice confirmed her fear that this was in fact happening. Holy shit, this was really happening! Wait, what? Him who? What the hell was he talking about? In the span of a few seconds she tried to process all that was going on.