He looks into my eyes with an intensity that I have to turn away from.
"No, you fucking look at me," he commands in a deep voice. I resist at first and he puts his finger under my chin to turn my head to look at him. "I said look at me."
I comply and watch the crescendo of pleasure play out on his face. His lips find mine as his movements become more erratic. His grunts become deeper and more animalistic every time he slides deeper inside me. "Shay, this is what I want with you forever."
His scent, and the way he's commanding my body, sends me over the edge. I let out a long aching moan as I feel him throbbing inside me. We melt into one single being with each labored breath, throbbing in time with one another as the pleasure of this moment reaches its pinnacle.
He guides me down onto the bed beside him. I roll over, curling up into him, and whisper in his ear, "You are my everything."
He kisses the top of my head, pulling me in tighter. "I love you, Shay."
Chapter Thirteen
Planting the Seed
Eli and I are exchanging naughty glances over the dinner table with Jorge and Rosa. The memory of our interlude earlier is playing on a very hot and steamy loop.
"So Shay, are you getting excited about the release of your comic?" Rosa asks, before taking a bite.
"I'm incredibly excited, but it's going to be a few months. There are a few details left to hammer out." I rub Eli's leg under the table with my foot.
Juanita lets out a wail that could stop a train. I jump at the noise and Rosa springs into action, taking her out of the baby carrier. "Now, now." She rocks her tenderly on her lap while trying to juggle her dinner as well as Samuel needing help with his food.
"Here, let me take her." Eli stands, putting his napkin in his lap, and takes the baby.
"You don't have to do that, I've got her." Rosa says apologetically.
"I know I don't have to, I want to." Eli smiles, holding onto the little bean. "She's just so darn cute." Eli bounces her on his lap, making cooing noises.
"So have you set a date yet?" Jorge looks at Eli.
Eli and I exchange a nervous look. "We've been trying to come up with a date that will work for everyone."
"Are you thinking of a long engagement?" Rosa asks.
Eli answers, "Yes." at the same time I answer, "No."
She looks at Jorge nervously. "Well, when Jorge finally popped the question I didn't want to wait one more minute."
"That's because, well, there were other things I didn't want to wait for and Rosa's a good Catholic girl." Jorge looks over at Rosa with admiration and winks at her. Rosa's face reddens with embarrassment and she scolds him. “Jorge.”
Eli's voice wafts through my head. “Yeah, so is Shay.” He has a satisfied look on his face.
Did I just hear that?
Eli shifts in his seat, and I can see he's resisting the urge to put his hands over the baby's ears. He's so cute when he's a prude.
"It's not so much about the waiting. Eli and I have so much going on with our careers that right now we barely have time to spend together, never mind plan a wedding.” My eyes fall sad at the truth of it.
"You've got your whole lives ahead of you, there's plenty of time," Rosa says, smiling. “I think you will be very happy together.”
"I know we will." I can't take my eyes off of Eli, who's doing an amazing job taking care of the baby.
Samuel looks at Eli. "When are you going to have a baby?"
Eli's face goes completely pale; it's not something we've ever really discussed. He looks at me hoping that I have an answer. I lean down to Samuel with his wide innocent eyes and tell him, "We've got plenty of time for that. We're still kids ourselves."
Eli lets out a relieved breath and Jorge summons a laugh from his belly. "I'll bet you weren't expecting the Cuban Inquisition."
"Well, no." Eli's at a loss; I think he's still shaken at the thought of having a child. His face softens and I see him inhale the scent of the baby deeply while looking directly into my eyes. "But it's fine, every morning I wake up next to that beautiful woman tells me that the plan is on right on track."
My face blooms with the slightest shade of pink. I know he's right, everything about us feels right. I breathe out through my silly grin, "Love you."
"I love you too." The baby squeals, surprising Eli. He jumps a bit and lets out a laugh.
"Do you love me, Jorge?" Rosa rests her elbows on the table and bats her eyelashes.
"You know I do." Jorge stands from the table and walks around to her chair. He leans down and kisses her cheek. "Why don't Eli and I clean up since you made this amazing dinner."
"Oh, that would be wonderful." She smiles.
Eli's expression sours and he looks at me as though he needs help.
"This wouldn't be a ploy to get out of changing a nasty diaper, would it?" She looks at Jorge accusingly.
He looks Eli in the eye. "This is your chance, would you like to help me with the kitchen?"
"I think I would love to." Eli’s eyes are wide. Rosa takes the baby from him. The boys head for the kitchen and Rosa and I go to the living room with the children.
When Rosa finishes changing the diaper she turns to me. "Would you like to hold her?"
Truth is I really would like to hold her, but I'm a little nervous. "I've never held a baby, but I sure would like to try."
She rests Juanita on my lap, and within seconds my rigidness turns to comfort. Juanita is such a happy baby, always laughing and cooing. That diaper was nasty as hell, but hey, for cuddles like this I could endure a few dirty diapers.
"See, you're a natural," Rosa says, smiling and sitting down in a comfortable chair.
Rosa and I share light conversation. Samuel has shown me about a thousand matchbox cars and I've learned quite a lot about dinosaurs that I never knew.
Eli and Jorge join us in the living room. Eli eyeballs the dinosaurs on the floor and sits down with Samuel. He has finally relaxed, taken off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
"So Shay, Rosa and I were talking. We'd love to commission you to do a piece similar to the one in your office. Will you have some time coming up?" Jorge asks.
I try not to let the disappointment show in my tone. "Well, I've already started it."
"You have?" Rosa asks.
"Yes, Jorge mentions it every time he comes into my office. Last week when you came in and also commented on it, I decided I wanted to do one for you." My eyes don't meet theirs. "I wanted it to be a surprise."
"You don't have to do that." Rosa leans forward in her seat. "We both love the way you've depicted the crucifixion in the reflection of one of his follower’s eyes. There's just something about it that really speaks to us both."
"It's strange, but that image came to me a long time ago when I was a kid. I dreamed about it." I get lost in the memory then snap back.
"Oh really? You dreamed that?" Jorge asks with a deep interest.
"Yes, I was about seven."
"It's a beautiful piece," Jorge reflects. "I always wanted to ask you what inspired it."
"I always thought it was the Catholic guilt." A nervous laugh rolls out.
Jorge contemplates for a moment. "I don't see guilt in it. I see the beauty of someone who loves Jesus enough to watch his sacrifice. The pain and love depicted in the eye of the beholder is amazing. I can almost feel that they knew that this was the salvation of humanity. They see the love in God sacrificing his only son for us."
Rosa gets choked up and excuses herself from the room. "I'm so sorry."
Rosa's absence creates a vacuum of discomfort, like there's a haze of sadness. I forget that sometimes my art can have a profound effect on people. It's usually not overwhelming emotion. "I'm so sorry."
"Shay, do not ever apologize for invoking feeling in another. Especially when it comes to the Father. It's a real gift that you have," Jorge says adamantly.
Eli sees that I'm growing more and more uncomfortable and saves the day as a
lways. "So Samuel, did you show Shay this giganotasaurus?"
Eli apparently mispronounced the dinosaur's name and Samuel is quick to correct him. "No Eli, it's Gig-a-not-a-saur-us." He brings the dinosaur over for me to see. Juanita grabs at the toy, but I don't know if babies are really allowed to play with toys, specifically not big scary dinosaurs with sharp teeth.
"Thank you." I look at it and notice how many sharp edges it has. "This is very cool. You should help Eli learn to pronounce them all. He's not very good with dinosaurs."
Eli grins from ear to ear and says in a slightly sarcastic tone, "Yeah, I was too busy playing with dolls to learn much about dinosaurs."
"Gross, you played with dolls?" Samuel is contemplating whether or not Eli needs kicked out of the boy's club.
Eli smiles and looks past Samuel to me. "Shay was my best friend when I was seven, and I always thought she was pretty like a doll."
The baby starts pulling at my hair and getting fussy. I shift in my seat to make her more comfy, turning her around to face me, and start making cooing noises to her. What is it about babies that turns a grown woman or man into a blithering idiot?
Samuel is not satisfied with Eli's answer. "That's even grosser, you played with girls?"
"Shay isn’t like other girls, she likes lizards and turtles and getting dirty. She was the best wrestler and she used to beat me up all the time," Eli says, as though he's explaining the politics of NATO.
Samuel looks at me and then to Eli. "You're really big. If she can beat you up, I bet I could."
"You probably could, buddy; I'm not up for a whoopin'." Eli smiles.
Jorge is leaning back in his chair smiling, and we both take in the whole scene of me holding the baby, which, by the way, I don't want to give back. She smells so good and it's heaven holding her little tiny body on my lap. Listening to her squeals of joy fills me with hope. Samuel has tackled Eli and they are wrestling on the floor. I smile at Jorge and shrug my shoulders a little. Jesus Christ, I think I just popped out an egg.
Chapter Fourteen
Family Planning
Eli comes around my side of the car and opens the door for me. The compromise was that we would stay at his house tonight. Rex has been cooped up in my house for far too long, so Eli's going to put him outside in the newly fenced back yard. Eli's still getting settled in the house after having it built.
When I get out he immediately starts to nibble on my ear. "Eli, stop. I'm going to drop the leftovers."
He takes them from my hand. "Fuck the leftovers, I want you."
"Eli," I say with surprise.
"What? You're sexy as hell. I can't help myself." He puts the food on the counter when we get into the kitchen but doesn't stop kissing my neck.
"Eli, quit," I say, only a little annoyed. "I'm tired and want to just relax for a few minutes. That was a long drive."
Eli's lip puffs out like Samuel's when we announced we had to come home. "But, but—"
"No buts, let's just child for a few minutes," I say absently, heading for the back yard to let Rex out.
"What did you say?" Eli has a questioning smile on his face.
"I said I just want to chill for a minute." I continue out the back door and sit in one of the pool chairs.
"That's not what I heard. You said 'child,'" he insists as his smile grows.
"I said no such thing," I protest, folding my arms across my chest.
He sits in the chair next to mine and puts his hand on my forehead. "Oh no, it's just as I thought."
"What?" I ask, pushing his hand away.
"You've got it."
"Got what? What are you talking about?" I'm getting a little worried, or irritated, or maybe both.
"Baby fever. You've been bitten by the baby bug." He raises his eyebrows.
"Whatever." I turn away from him, facing forward in my chair.
"You know, I'm okay with that. As a matter of fact, I'd love to start trying right now." He takes my hand and starts sucking on my fingers.
"Eli, stop it. This isn't something that you joke about." I'm trying not to be bitchy, but honestly I feel like there is something totally wrong with me, since I've never really thought about having kids before.
"I'm not joking." He looks me in the eye as serious as a heart attack. He turns my head and brands me with those amazing sapphire eyes of his.
"You want to have kids?"
"Yes, I want to be the father of your children. I want us to have a beautiful family one day." He tangles our fingers together and sits back in the chair.
"I didn't know you wanted to have kids. I always assumed..." I stop for a minute. "Well, to be honest I've just never really thought about kids before."
"Wow." He says, amazed, "I thought every woman dreams of landing a good looking guy like me so they can pop out hordes of children and live happily ever after."
A giggle runs through me. "Yeah, well I would hope you would have learned long ago that I'm not like 'every woman.'"
"Well there's that." He looks out at the yard and is silent for a long time before he speaks again. "Shay, do you know why I built this house?"
"Because you needed a place to live?" Seems obvious.
"Yes, because I needed a place to live." He pauses, looking for the right words. "I needed a place to build my family. With you."
I turn to look at him and find the seriousness in his eyes. He points to one part of the yard. "Over there is the perfect spot for the play fort. And I was thinking we could lay out paver stones when they are older and make roads throughout the backyard so they can ride their bikes back here."
"They?"
"Yes, I want to have two kids. A boy and a girl." His level of parental planning is surprising.
"Eli, I had no idea you'd given this so much thought." I'm really shocked.
"Every day, Shay. I've wanted to be your husband since before I can remember wanting to be anything." He gets down on one knee in front of me and takes my hand, looking up at me with sincere eyes. "I would ask you to marry me every day just to hear you say yes again."
When Eli gets this enthralled it's hard for me to take. It's like too many compliments frazzle my brain. I just don't know how to handle it. I shift in my seat and try to think of what to say and finally come up with, "I would say yes every day."
He closes his eyes and kisses my hand. "Will you be the mother of my children?"
"Of course I will." Is it possible for a woman to ovulate twice in one day?
I kneel down to meet him and wrap my arms around him, melting into him, feeling his warmth and strength radiate through me. Life may not be perfect, but it certainly is right now.
Chapter Fifteen
Fruition
Eli and I bump into each other rushing around in the bathroom. "I can't believe the alarm didn't go off." I'm so pissed. I have a meeting with the creative team and there's no way I'm going to make it.
Eli sneaks in behind me, looping his arms around my waist, and rumbles hot into my ear. "The alarm went off, we just didn't get out of bed. It was way too hot under the covers."
I'm not sure why, but every time Eli does this my face turns bright red. "Eli."
"What?" He leans his tall frame down, brushing up against my ear. "Can't I appreciate my beautiful fiancé?"
"Yes, but not during work hours. You're going to be late too," I point out, squirming out of his arms.
"I'm going to be right on time." He looks at his watch.
"No you aren't, you have to take me to my house to pick up my car," I remind him.
"Shit, I'm going to be late." He hurries from the bathroom, throwing his neck tie over his head. "Or, if you wanted, you could drop me off and take my car to Orlando."
"I guess I could do that." I really don't mind, his Audi is much cooler than my Civic. "But we still need to get a move on."
Eli and I meet in the garage, me armed with my backpack and portfolio case and him with his briefcase. I can't help but laugh a little. "This is funny."
"What?" He looks at me, bewildered.
"We're like," I look up as though able to pluck the answer from the ceiling, "grownups."
Eli laughs out loud. "I wouldn't go that far."
"We are, we're just like grownups." I get in the car, pouting only a little that he doesn't agree with me.
"You're something alright." He opens the garage door and backs out into the street.
My phone rings, and after I finally dig it out of my backpack it stops ringing. I look at the screen and see that I have one missed call from my dad. I try to dial him back and Eli's phone rings.
"ADA Walker," Eli answers. See, grownups.
Eli pulls the car over to the side of the road. His pallor fades to a ghostly white as he gasps."Oh God."
"What is it?" I'm very concerned; whatever this call is about, it isn't good.
Eli turns to me. "Hang up your phone, I'm on with your dad." He returns his attention to the phone. "What do you need us to do?" Eli pauses, listening. "Okay, yeah I'll ask her." He cups his hand over the phone and looks at me with moisture in his eyes nearly spilling over. "Do you know how to contact Aiden?"
"No, I have no idea." I feel like a wound has just been opened up.
"No, she doesn't." Eli listens. "Should we meet up with you?" After a pause, "Okay, but why my mom's?" I can tell that Eli has very bad news and this apparently involves his mom.
"What is it?" I ask, because I can't stand being in the dark one more second.
He shakes his head, dismissing me. "Okay, I'll see you there in about ten minutes." He clicks the off button on the phone and looks straight ahead.
"Eli, what is it? What happened?" I plead for him to tell me.
"Shay, um, it's Oliver." Eli's having a hard time keeping it together; he can't seem to get the words out.
INK: Sketches (Book 0 - parts 1 & 2) Page 8