by Diana Currie
Nathan did as she asked, resting his hands up over his head as Maddie’s mouth returned to his groin. He attempted to lie still and enjoy the unexpected attention. Maddie worked him over slowly at first; building the speed and pressure of her movements until Nathan was so stimulated he was mumbling incoherently.
The moment he exploded, Maddie sucked his erection deeply into her mouth and he cried out from the intense pleasure. Nathan lay limp and completely spent. His eyes were closed but he could feel Maddie’s hands fixing his pants and then her lips were on his neck. He pulled her body against his so that they were cuddling on the sofa. Nathan needed a few more moments to recover and he held her close as she kissed him everywhere her lips could reach.
“Did you have a good day,” she murmured against his neck.
Nathan smiled, “I can’t remember any of it prior to ten minutes ago.”
“Liar. How was the fight scene? Looks like your face made it through intact.”
“I was so worried about my own face that I hardly considered the other two guys in the scene,” Nathan chuckled. “Once I made contact with one of their chins but my fist didn’t leave a mark, thank God. It took a lot of concentration and perfectly timed movements, but was definitely a fun scene to shoot. The rest of the week will be just as time consuming; we have a lot of hard scenes to get through.”
Maddie pushed herself up so she could see his face. “Are you going to be home for dinner on your birthday? Because my plans would be spoiled if you weren’t here.”
“I’ll be here. What do you have planned, Angel?”
Maddie smiled sweetly, “You’ll just have to show up to find out.”
“How did your day with Emma go?”
“Very well actually. But do you have any idea what she has planned for upstairs?”
Nathan shrugged. “Something about the closets. I’m not worried about it.”
“Well, I think you should be careful about giving Emma too much design control. That girl doesn’t know when to quit. Remember that she used to shop for a woman. She could probably max out your credit card in one day if you let her.”
Guiltily Nathan replied, “I sort of expected her to since she was going to take you clothes shopping.”
“Oh, great. No wonder she let me out of it so easily! She knew she could buy a lot more without me watching her!” Maddie exclaimed.
Nathan laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Maddie. Emma is harmless. I just want you to have everything in this house that you need.”
“I already do,” she refuted softly. “And I’m lying right on top of him.”
“Is that so? Then allow me to be of service to you, Angel. I need to repay that wakeup call you so generously gave me,” Nathan quipped. He gently rolled away from her on the sofa until he was kneeling beside it.
Maddie blushed but lay back to get comfortable. “I can’t argue with that,” she whispered.
The couple spent the rest of the evening in the living room, enjoying their time together, talking and making love. There was no more conversation about Emma’s crazy schemes. Maddie didn’t panic over red carpet events or missing yellow fan letters. She saw Nathan for who he truly was; the sweet Wisconsin boy who wore sweat pants and fell asleep watching television. And Nathan didn’t worry about his girlfriend getting overwhelmed by his pampered lifestyle or her fears of being front page tabloid news. Their love continued to grow and for that one evening life was almost normal.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Nathan was looking forward to celebrating his birthday for the first time in many years. The Shock and Awe film crew brought out a cake for him in between scenes and everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was a nice, simple party and he appreciated the efforts of his fellow cast and crew. They were a really great group of people and he was going to miss working with them when filming finally ended the following week. They had seven more days in the schedule and the only thing that could add on days would be reshoots, but so far no one was talking about that. Nathan felt guilty for wanting the project to end but there was so much he wanted to do with Maddie once his obligations to Shock and Awe were over. When the filming wrapped he’d be off the hook until January when the promotional tour began for the film’s release. Seven more days… then his summer with Maddie could really begin.
The house was buzzing with activity when Nathan returned home just before dinner time. Emma was in the living room and quickly darted over to him as he entered the foyer. He could hear multiple voices, male and female, coming from the kitchen and dining room but Emma whisked him swiftly into the living room before he could investigate. There were helium filled balloons in every corner of the room and a bottle of wine and glasses on the coffee table. Nathan smiled thinking about how much effort Maddie must have put into this dinner.
“How many people are here?” Nathan asked Emma suspiciously. He’d told Maddie he didn’t want a party. Spending the evening alone with her sounded like the perfect way to celebrate his birthday.
“Don’t worry; it’s not what you think. Maddie is preparing a lovely dinner for you and a few very important guests. Just sit on the couch and have a glass of wine while she’s finishing things up in the kitchen.”
Nathan sighed. Dinner guests. “Alright, I’ll just change into something appropriate for dinner and come right back,” he said.
Emma monitored his path up the stairs, making sure he wasn’t going to sneak around the back entrance to the kitchen. Once he reached the second floor she hurried into the kitchen to let Maddie and Lupe know the guest of honor had arrived. The three women worked together to get serving platters out to the dining room and make sure the guests were seated. As soon as everything was in place Emma and Lupe hid in the kitchen where they would do dishes and prepare the dessert menu.
Nathan washed his face and changed into a pair of khaki dress pants and a light blue button-down dress shirt. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror, feeling happy that he wasn’t spending this June 17th drunk and alone like the year before. Even though he wouldn’t have privacy with Maddie all evening, he knew she was hell bent on making his birthday special and he was excited to see what she had planned.
“Am I allowed in there yet?” Nathan asked from the bottom of the stairs. He could hear hushed voices and Emma was missing from her watch post in the living room.
“Yes, you can come in!” Maddie called from the dining room.
Nathan ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. As he entered the room he was surprised to see Maddie was alone. She was dressed to kill, knee length crème colored dress with her hair swooped into an up do. He could see she had a little makeup on and her eyes were bright with excitement.
“Angel, what’s going on here?” he wondered.
“Surprise!” she exclaimed gesturing towards the dining table.
Nathan saw many plates of delicious looking foods but no other people. Strangely, there were iPads and iPhones all over the table. He was very confused as he tried to figure out what was going on and then he heard his mother’s voice. It shocked the hell out of him; he turned around in circles looking for her.
“I’m over here, honey. Oh, you look so handsome in that shirt!” Nancy said through one of the iPads on the table.
Nathan approached the table and saw not only his mother’s face, but his father and brother too. “Hi guys,” he greeted awkwardly. He turned to Maddie and asked, “How did you do this?”
Maddie smiled and pointed to each device as she said, “Nancy’s using her iPad to do Face Time with your iPad. John is on his iPhone, connected to the iPad you bought me. And Garrett’s on his iPad connected with Emma’s iPad.”
Nathan laughed as Maddie directed him to sit at the head of the table. He couldn’t believe what she had done. From that vantage point he could see the three devices were pointed towards him and he could see his three family member’s faces fill the screens. It was an amazing surprise to get the opportunity to have a virtual dinner with his family on his
birthday. He was still speechless with shock.
“Hi, son. Happy birthday!” John said.
“Yeah, happy birthday! You look weird with a buzz cut, bro!” Garrett piped in.
“Really? You’re gonna comment on my hair with that patchy peach fuzz on your chin?” Nathan joked.
“Boys, let’s try to have a nice family dinner,” Nancy chided happily. She secretly loved watching her boys ribbing each other as long as it was in good fun. Their banter reminded her of when they were young boys.
Maddie reached for the food in the center of the table and stuck serving spoons into each bowl. “Lupe helped me make a roasted chicken with potatoes and gravy. Nancy sent her gravy recipe so hopefully it tastes just like you remember.”
“I even sent you the complete recipe,” Nancy replied proudly. “Not like my mother in law! Granny Foster didn’t want anyone to be able to replicate her special recipe so when I asked her for it the year John and I were married, that stinker left out two key ingredients. No matter how many times I tried to make it turn out like just like hers I failed. It was so frustrating!”
“That’s awful,” Maddie said as she pulled her chair around closer to Nathan so she could see his family’s faces too. “How did you find out she did that?”
“After she passed John and I had to clean out her house over in Maple Bluff. I found the handwritten recipe stuffed in the bottom drawer of her credenza.”
Maddie smiled. “Well, thank you for sharing it with me, Nancy. I’ll keep the family secret close to my breast.”
“You’re welcome. And I trust you with it, Maddie. I’m honored that you asked,” Nancy said honestly.
“Granny had lots of secrets,” Garrett chuckled. “Remember when we found her stash of scotch, Nate?”
“No, I don’t remember because you made me drink so much of it!” Nathan answered. He took a hearty helping of mashed potatoes as he scowled at his older brother.
“When was this?” John asked surprised.
Garrett laughed. “High school. We were sent over to her house to clean out the den and family room. I guess Ma didn’t know that Granny kept her Glenlivet in there. Did you, Ma?”
“No, I did not!” she asserted.
Maddie passed the green beans to Nathan as she tried to stifle a smile. She loved hearing about Nathan’s childhood. The Fosters were loading up their plates at the same time in their Madison home. John shook his head in learning about his mother’s hidden liquor bottles and the fact that his teenage sons had indulged in them.
“How did I not know about this?” he asked.
“You did,” Nancy corrected. “They went over there to clean her house as a punishment for missing curfew the weekend before. I remember because Nathan had just started high school and Garrett brought him to Ryan Donovan’s house. I died a thousand deaths that night waiting for them to come home, remember? They tried to sneak in through the garage at two in the morning!”
“Oh, yeah. We almost called the police.” John added.
Maddie noticed Garrett and Nathan smiling at each other. “Totally worth the punishment,” Garrett sighed. “Becca Martin was at that party.” Nathan nodded in agreement.
“I don’t want to know why Becca Martin was worth scaring your mother to death,” Nancy pleaded. “Spare your poor mother the sordid details!”
“You’re probably better off not knowing,” Garrett agreed with his mouth full.
Maddie laughed. “You two were a handful for poor Nancy, I can tell.”
“They really were. One or the other was always grounded; all through their teen years,” John confirmed. “What’s your family like, Maddie?”
“We’re less exciting I think. My dad’s a police officer and my mother has done a little of everything over the years. I have a younger brother but we don’t have any stories as entertaining as Nathan and Garrett. There are more years between us so Kyle spent his youth purposely grossing me out and playing jokes on me.”
“Tell them about the worms,” Nathan said smiling.
Maddie shivered involuntarily. “When Kyle was eleven my grand pop took him fishing and when they came home there were three Styrofoam containers of worms left over. Grandpop told Kyle to put them in the refrigerator to save for their next fishing trip. So, he did… except he knew someone else in the house would find them there so he labeled the containers “beef lo mien.”
“That’s a good one. I should do that to Jackie!” Garrett laughed.
“And another time he found a dead mouse in the back yard and decided to give it a proper funeral. He tried flushing the thing down the toilet like his goldfish. Of course, it got stuck when he tried to flush. So instead of telling me what really happened, he just asked me to help him unclog the toilet. I used the plunger on it and up floated the dead mouse. I screamed so loud the neighbors heard me.”
Everyone laughed and Nancy said that she had many more stories to share whenever they were able to meet in person. Maddie blushed when Nathan briefly took her hand in his under the table and gave it a good squeeze. He then promised his mother that he would try to make it home sometime before the end of summer. Maddie had been so fixated on coming to Los Angeles that she never thought to consider that he might want to take her to Wisconsin! Thinking quickly, Maddie replied that she looked forward to meeting all of them in person sometime too.
The family continued their virtual dinner together until everyone’s bellies were full and many more stories were told about growing up in southern Wisconsin. Maddie noticed that Nathan had three helpings of everything and poured the gravy over it all. It had been so important to her that she not only provide Nathan with a family dinner for his birthday, but also that he felt like he was eating his mother’s cooking too. As he patted his full stomach she knew that she had succeeded.
Nathan was so touched that Maddie had gone to such lengths to make his birthday special. He couldn’t imagine anything that would have made him happier. “Thank you for doing this, Maddie. This is amazing,” Nathan said sincerely after his family had said good night and the devices were turned off.
“You’re welcome. I wish they could have been here in person,” she replied.
Nathan pulled her close for a kiss. “You gave me the next best thing. And I love you for it.”
“I love you too,” Maddie smiled and kissed him back.
Emma came out of the kitchen with her hand over her eyes. “Sorry to interrupt the make out session but you have an important call,” she announced and handed Nathan her phone.
“I do? Who is it,” he asked surprised.
“It’s your agent.”
“Melissa is on the phone? She can wait until tomorrow,” Nathan replied.
“No, no she can’t apparently. She’s calling my phone because she said you weren’t picking up on yours. Please talk to her, she’s very persistent!”
Nathan smirked and took the phone from Emma. “Hello?”
“You know I could hear that, right?” Melissa said in greeting.
“Good, I’m glad you did,” Nathan said smugly. “So, what’s going on?”
“I got you the cover of Men’s Health Magazine. You’ll be the August issue, isn’t that exciting? Chris Pratt backed out at the last minute so I got you in. The only thing is you have to do the interview and photo shoot on Saturday. Will you be free? Say yes, this is a big opportunity, Nathan.”
Nathan held the phone away from his ear and looked at Maddie. He was really looking forward to taking her to a bed and breakfast for the weekend, but once again his job was trumping his social life. He whispered to Maddie, “Melissa wants me to interview with Men’s Health on Saturday for the cover of their magazine. It would probably take all day; a sit down with one of their writers and a photo shoot. I wanted to take you away for the weekend. Just the two of us.”
“We can go away next weekend to celebrate the end of Shock and Awe. Do the interview. I’ll be fine,” she said with a smile.
Nathan thought for a minute. �
�Will you come with me?”
“To the shoot? Yeah, sure I guess. I won’t be in the way?”
“Not at all.” He lifted the phone back to his ear. “Saturday is a go.”
“Good decision, Nathan,” Melissa said. “By the way, happy birthday.”
“Thank you. You’ll send me the time and location?”
“Already taken care of. They’re sending a car to pick you up at 9am.”
Nathan scoffed. “What if I hadn’t agreed?”
“I knew you would, darling,” Melissa said confidently. “Ciao.”
Nathan handed the phone back to Emma. “Sorry about her.”
“I’ve seen worse,” Emma replied cheerfully. “Maddie, your dessert is ready in the kitchen. Dishes are done and Lupe left a few minutes ago. I’ll be excusing myself now too; Rhett’s taking me out to a club tonight. I’ll leave you with this,” she said handing Maddie the remote to the stereo in the living room. She winked at Maddie and hurried off to leave the couple alone.
“Happy birthday, Nathan! See you guys tomorrow!” she yelled as the front door closed behind her.
Maddie grinned and hit the play button on the remote. Classical music filled their ears as she tugged Nathan’s hand so he would follow her into the kitchen. The lemon meringue pie that Lupe and Emma made was waiting for them along with a few wrapped gifts and cards. “There’s wine in the living room,” she said softly.
Nathan remembered seeing the wine bottle and balloons when he came home from the studio. “Let’s take dessert in there then.”
Maddie cut two slices of pie and they went into the living room to enjoy the remainder of the evening together. Nathan opened his gifts from Lupe, Emma, and Stanley. He paused when he saw the last one was from Maddie.
“You didn’t have to get me anything, Maddie. Everything you’ve done for me tonight, dinner with my family, was the best present I could have asked for.”
“This was a last minute gift. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to deliver, but Emma is an unstoppable force and she was the one who found it.”
Nathan was intrigued about the mystery gift now. It was wrapped in what looked like a shirt box but hardly weighed more than a few ounces. “Two tickets to Disneyland?” he joked as he shook the box inquisitively.