50
Isabella
I can’t stop staring at my baby angel. I run my finger over her head full of short golden hair and marvel at how soft it is. She reaches out and clings onto my finger, her entire hand wrapping around it, and I stare. Her fingernails are so small!
“She’s perfect, Isabella,” my mother coos, looking down over my shoulder with my father standing beside her.
I can’t argue. Little Jill is blissfully unaware of the world around her, fast asleep against my breast.
“Can I hold my sister?” Madison whispers, in awe of our newborn.
“Not for a little bit. She needs her mom right now,” Colt answers her, but his eyes never move from the baby.
He couldn’t be happier about having a little girl. I don’t have the heart to tell him what kind of madness he’s in for. Although, when I look into Jill’s innocent face, it’s hard to imagine her ever being anything less than wonderful.
It’s incredible how a baby can just calm a room and deflate the usual endless chatter from people’s lips. They have a way of putting it all in perspective.
“Hello there? I’ve got a special delivery!” Everyone looks over at the door where Parker is pushing Julia in a wheelchair.
My body feels like it’s been hit by a truck and then the truck decided that wasn’t good enough, so it backed up for good measure. I can’t even imagine what kind of pain she must be in after a C-section.
Parker parks Julia’s chair beside my bed, and when her eyes meet mine, we both start crying.
“I would like to introduce everyone to Wayne Malone McGregor.” She smiles down at the healthy baby boy swaddled in her arms. “I named him after my father.” Tears well up in her eyes. “I know he’s smiling down on us from Heaven.”
“Both of your parents are, Julia. I’m certain they’re very proud of you.” My dad places his hand on my mother’s shoulder and smiles warmly.
“Thank you, Pastor John.” Her voice strains with emotion as fat tears slip down onto my cheeks.
“Ohhh, Julia, he’s precious!” My mother swoons. “You’ve both made two of the most gorgeous babies I’ve ever seen.” She clasps her hands together.
“Thanks, Mom,” I tease her.
“No, I mean, next to you and your sister, of course.” She starts backpedaling, and the room erupts with chuckling.
“This little guy put us through the wringer there when he tried to jump into the world, feet first.” Parker looks like a puffed up proud papa, standing behind his family as he holds Julia’s chair. “But the doctors here are excellent. They took good care of them.” He leans down and kisses the top of Julia’s head.
I smile as I look down at my newborn daughter, and then over to my step-daughter-to-be in Colt’s arms. My parents are flanking the other side of my bed, lovingly standing arm in arm. A year ago I would’ve asked you what drugs you were taking if you told me this is where I’d be now. It may have been a long road to get here, but I think I finally found my path. I feel like someone just handed me the keys to the kingdom and told me it’s all mine for the taking.
Julia yawns loudly then looks up at the room quickly. “Oh my, I’m sorry! I think I should probably get back to my room. I’m pretty worn out.”
“You know what they say, sleep when the baby sleeps.” Mom shares her wisdom, and Julia nods.
“Okay, let’s get you to bed. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.” Parker smiles down at Julia and pulls her chair back from the bed.
“We’ll stop by your room later.” I wave like she’s leaving for a long road trip.
“Sounds good. You get some rest too, Mom!” she answers over her shoulder as Parker wheels her back out the door.
“We should probably get a move-on too, Shirley.” My father gives my mother’s shoulder a squeeze as disappointment crests her face. “We need to let this family have some time together.”
“I suppose,” Mom answers glumly. She leans over me and gives me a quick kiss on the forehead, then another one on Jill. “I’m proud of you, honey. You’re gonna make a great mother,” she whispers in my ear before reluctantly gathering her purse and jacket off the couch.
“We’re both proud of you, Isabella.” Dad grasps my hand and gives it a quick squeeze.
I look up at him and see the same look he used to have when he taught me to ride a bike. His face is beaming with pure joy.
My heart is about to burst open in my chest as my voice hitches in my throat. My words won’t come out around the lump in my throat. Instead, I just squeeze his hand back and nod.
I watch as my parents quietly walk out of the room and look up at Colt with my eyes full of tears. He puts Madison down on her feet and gives me a soft kiss.
“How about I put Jill in her bassinet? I don’t think a nap is a bad idea for you either. Your mom’s right, you should get as much rest as you can when the baby is quiet.” He carefully takes our daughter into his arms and walks her across the room to her hospital crib.
My eyelids start to droop as I see Colt and Madison look down at our little bub.
“Hi, baby, I Madison. I your big sister and I two years old.”
The baby begins to fuss a little, and Colt runs his hand softly over her hair.
“Shhh, it okay, baby. Don’t cry. Everything okay. We a family!” she explains excitedly. “Right, Colt? We a family?” She looks up for confirmation.
“That’s right, honey, we are a family. And as long as we stick together, everything will be just fine.” He places his broad hand on her little shoulder, and Madison smiles.
A smile twinges upon my lips as my eyes close, and I drift off into a warm, peaceful sleep.
Epilogue
Isabella
“Are you ready?” My father holds out his arm, and I wrap mine around it. Seeing him all dressed up for church is nothing new, but I’m used to watching him stand at the front on the stage, not back here as he is now.
I take a big breath as I watch our daughters, Madison and Jill, walk arm in arm, delicately dropping white rose petals on the long red carpet. At one and a half, Jill looks like a little cherub with her big cheeks and blond curls framing her huge brown eyes. Madison looks like a giant next to her, even though she’s not even four yet. Either way, those two are definitely stealing the show. As I exhale, soft tendrils of hair flutter in front of my face.
“I’m ready,” I finally answer my father.
As Parker walks Julia down the aisle, she looks like she’s about to pop. I can’t even remember how many times we’ve had to have her stunning, floor-length teal dress adjusted to make room for her growing baby bump. Even though she’s only six months along, she already looks like she did when she was full-term last time. When I think of how much more she’s going to blow up in the next three months, it makes me think two children are enough for us.
My wedding party finds their places at the altar, just like we’ve practiced many times. Colt is waiting for me at the end of the aisle, standing tall and proud. Part of me wants to run down this carpet and just jump into his arms, screaming “I do! I do!” However, a larger part of me can’t wait to soak up every second of this moment. I always knew I was destined for a red carpet one day, and now I’m gonna drink it in as every eye in this place is locked on me.
The organist begins chiming up “The Wedding Song” as my father and I launch forward. My mermaid-cut gown is difficult to walk in, not to mention breathe in. A little discomfort is worth it for this moment. My eyes lock with Colt’s, and his mouth opens a little as he watches me close the distance between us. I haven’t followed most of the traditional pre-wedding rules. I don’t have something old or new, borrowed or blue, but I did insist on one thing; that Colt couldn’t see me in the dress until right now. As I watch the wide array of emotions battle it out on his face, I know I made the right choice.
My father stops a foot short of Colt and gives him my hand. “Take care of her, son.” His voice trembles and I watch Dad’s eyes
mist up.
“I will, sir.” Colt nods and my father takes his seat in the front pew with my mother, where they both wipe away their tears.
My mind buzzes like a hive as the pastor begins his speech.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”
I can barely pay attention. Instead, my focus is entirely devoted to the man of my dreams standing beside me. I think back to when I first met him, almost five years ago. A smile spreads over my crimson lips as I remember how relentlessly he pursued me that night only to disappear into the ether for nearly two years. When he reappeared in my life, I never could have known the incredible journey we would embark on together, a journey that’s really only beginning.
“I’ve written my own vows,” Colt interrupts my thoughts and frees my hands from his clasp to pull out a paper from his pocket.
My heart is like a hummingbird’s wings in my chest. We agreed we both wanted to speak from our hearts instead of reciting the usual passages at every wedding, however, neither of us has read what the other has written. I’m anxious to hear what Colt has to say.
Colt clears his throat, something I know he only does when he’s nervous. “Isabella, I used to wander around feeling lost and guilty. I had an overwhelming sense I wasn’t whole, but as a man with a lot of privileges in his life, I knew I had no room to complain. The second I met you, I knew what was missing. I remember I had told my brother, Trevor, that you were ‘the one’ before I even introduced myself. He laughed at me then, but he’s looking down on us now, just shaking his head saying ‘the heart knows when it’s right’.” Colt’s voice trembles and he pulls air deep into his lungs. “I never knew I could start and end every day with so much joy, and you are the reason for it all. You’re an amazing mother, daughter, student, and friend. Now I can’t wait to add one more title to that list—my amazing wife. I love you with every smile, with every kiss, with every breath, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life loving you.”
Tears stream down my cheeks, and I try to dab them away carefully, so my makeup doesn’t melt down.
“And now the bride has her own vows to read,” Pastor Greg announces to the church.
I don’t have a paper to pull out, since I have no place to put it. Instead, I memorized my words in front of the mirror like a politician getting ready for an election.
“Colt, I used to be a cynical girl, much too cynical for the twenty-eight-year-old you met a few years ago. I look back on that time with sadness because I realize I had lost myself, and I had lost hope. Then you came into my world, and you breathed new life into my stale soul. I learned it’s never too late to change your life, and it’s never too late to find your happiness. You taught me how to want more for myself, for our children, and for my family. I’m grateful every single day that I met you. I can’t imagine my life as that sad, cynical woman. Thank you for showing me joy, compassion, understanding, and love. With my heart wide-open and my eyes clear I can say I love you, and I want to spend every day I have left on this earth by your side, as your wife.” I wipe the now steady stream of tears off my cheeks. I knew I wasn’t going to get through this without crying, but that’s what happens when you open your heart to someone, I guess. It turns you into a big softie.
“Colt, do you have the ring?” Pastor Greg directs him, and Colt looks over his shoulder at Parker, who hands him the oval diamond wedding band from his jacket as I hold out my shaking hand.
I can’t make out more than fragments of words as I hold my breath, not pulling air into my lungs again until he slides the band over my finger. In a blur, I realize I’m being instructed to do the same. I turn to Julia, who hands me Colt’s ring she was wearing around her thumb for safekeeping. I parrot the words being directed by the pastor before sliding Colt’s band halfway down his finger, and he pulls it on the rest of the way.
“Before today, you have kissed each other perhaps a million times,” Pastor Greg proclaims. “However, it is my honor to announce that now you may share your first kiss, joined in your promise under God. Colt, you may now kiss your wife.”
My husband wraps his arms around me and looks deep into my eyes before softly kissing me. I close my eyes, and I swear, I can hear both our hearts beating at the same time, in sync.
The church erupts in clapping and cheers as I face the crowd as Mrs. Isabella Grant. Our children are all smiles as they rush over to us and wrap their arms around our legs. I know this is just the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, our chapter as husband and wife. As long as we all stick together there’s nothing we can’t do together… as a family.
The End
The Beauty’s Beast
Full Length Bonus Novel
Synopsis:
In Hollywood everyone dreams about the fairytale ending. But I’m not promising her happily ever after. Just one night with the beast.
Gabe
You know what’s f*@#ing ironic? They used to call me Gabe the Babe.
Of course, that was before an IED blew half my face off.
Now my scars are all anyone can see. Unless I’m prowling the floors of an LA sex club.
When I walk in there, barely dressed, women aren’t looking at my face. Not when I’m packing a python like this.
I thought I had it all figured out. Meaningless sex, no strings, no pitying looks…
But then I saw her. With her innocent doe eyes, her plump lips and her breakneck curves… I know one night could never be enough. Hell, one lifetime seems too short.
Vanessa
I can’t believe I just landed the role of a lifetime. Every actress dreams of her big break and my star is on the rise. It’s a dream come true.
I’ll be playing a nymphomaniac in the blockbuster of the year. There’s only one problem: I’ve never had an orgasm.
Ever.
Not even one.
So now I’m in a sex club trying to research my role when I run into the sexiest beast I’ve ever seen.
Literally.
All of a sudden I’m thinking of doing a different kind of research.
With him. Between the sheets. Naked.
1|Gabe
I know a lot of guys like to get pumped up before they come to places like this, and I don’t mean they give themselves a pep talk in the mirror. I mean, what do I know? They could be jerking their cocks in the mirror, that might be their thing.
I’m not judging.
When they come to a sex club, they want the goods to look as big, as eye-catching, and hopefully as mouth-watering as possible. After all, if we’re going to be walking around in our tighty-whities, they want to make sure they have something to fill them up with.
That’s not my game. I don’t need to give myself a painful set of blue balls before I show up. My confidence might have been shaken when they pieced me back together after our Humvee hit an improvised explosive device overseas, but no one is looking at my sewn together face when they see what I’m packing.
I walk past the familiar faces crowding the different parts of the club. As I strut by, I glaze over the usual bunch of women out tonight. My white, almost translucent, underwear reflects the lighting in each area as I walk through. They glow an eerie purple and the ridge of my cock’s helmet and all the veins seem to pop as I make my way through the seated section under black light where women are taking things slow, engaging in the art of seduction, dragging it all out. The walls flash in erratic shades of gray and white as I look like I’m choppily hopping over the floor under the strobe lights on the edge of the dance floor where some women are already completely naked and having their bodies sucked, licked, squeezed and teased by more than one guy.
I take a look as I pass them, but seeing them exposed like that, it just doesn’t have the same effect. I’ve been doing this circuit for over half a year now, and I’ve met all the women who come here. I’m not sure what I’m looking for anymore. When I first showed up, it was obvious, I just wanted to feel wanted again. I wanted someone to look at my body
, at my fat cock, and give me a chance for the night. No conversations about the military. No pitying glances at my scars. No discussions about how many surgeries it took to put me back together. Just pure passion. It gave me nights where I could feel normal again. It took stripping off almost all of my clothes to feel less naked and less vulnerable than my deep scars down the side of my eye make me feel in the day.
I stop at the bar and Mitch nods at me. He finishes mixing some girly cocktails and hands them off to a couple of ladies wearing leather bodysuits with holes for their tits to peek out. They wrap their arms around each other and hold their pink drinks in their free hands, walking off toward the dance floor. I’ve met that duo before, they’re broken.
All the women I’ve met in places like this are. They might not have the same physical scars I do, but when I’ve gotten to know them, when they’ve spent the night here drinking and getting fucked, I’ve heard the sad stories. Sure, I’ve seen the girls who come out just because they’re in Los Angeles and they want to have a crazy story to tell their friends back in Wisconsin when they get back from their vacation. But the regulars, the ones I see every single time I’ve been here, they’re just as damaged as I am.
Mitch walks to my end of the bar, his eyes shamelessly travel over my body, just like he always does. I don’t mind that he flirts with me or checks me out. He knows that I’m here for the women and he’s always respected that. I’m putting my cock out on display, if he wants to soak it in, I don’t really care. Besides, he always mixes me doubles, on the house. It must be how chicks feel when they go out for the night and just have to suggestively smile and have ten guys falling all over themselves to buy their drinks.
His Promise Page 20