Craving Midnight

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Ah, I didn’t think you could be fixed.”

  “I didn’t think I could ... until I opened my heart to you.”

  And if that doesn’t make me the happiest man alive, I don’t know what does.

  Chapter 34

  Midnight

  Harrison wakes me up around nine and drags me into the shower. This pregnancy is making me so tired all the time. He does a great job of washing my hair—and the rest of me. Then he makes sure I get a full breakfast before he hustles us off to the waiting plane. I still have no idea of where we’re flying to our honeymoon.

  Even when we land nine hours later, I know we’re on an island, but which one?

  We deplane to a beautiful Polynesian woman placing flowered leis around our necks and handing us glasses of some kind of pineapple and coconut concoctions. They are delicious.

  “Welcome to Bora Bora,” she says, smiling.

  I squeal and hop into Harrison’s arms. I’ve always wanted to visit Tahiti.

  “Please tell me we’re going to stay in one of those really cool bungalows over the water.” My voice begs him to say yes.

  “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “You’re such a tease.”

  He traces my cheekbone with a finger. “I know. But it’ll be worth the wait.”

  A waiting car drives us to our home for the next two weeks. I’m thrilled to see it’s one of my dream tiki huts over the water. But this just isn’t any tiki hut. This is a magical place, unlike anything I could ever have imagined. It has its own pool, its own private outdoor shower, and a bath that looks up at the stars. It’s so romantic, but the best thing is it comes with our own personal maid and butler service.

  “I’ll be so spoiled, I won’t know how to act when we leave.”

  “Get used to it because I’m going to spoil you every day.”

  I believe him, because he already has. I link my arms around his neck and say, “Well, this is going to be tough to top.”

  “I’ll come up with something.”

  We swim in the turquoise water, and eat like royalty, but Harrison is a gentle lover every night.

  “What happened to you?” I ask one afternoon.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve changed. You treat me like I’m going to break.”

  He cradles me against him. “I’m not taking any chances until you’re well into your fifth month.”

  “Why my fifth? The riskiest part is behind us.”

  “I don’t care. I’m being extra cautious.”

  “I don’t want cautious. I want abandon and desperation and I want you unhinged, uncontrolled. I want you telling me how much you need me and that you can’t live without this kind of fucking, not treating me as though I’m going to break.”

  He flips me over so he’s lying on top. His hair falls over his forehead and I brush it back.

  “I do love you and can’t live without you. But I also don’t want anything to happen to this baby.”

  “It won’t.”

  His hand moves between us as his mouth captures mine. He’s not gentle now. This kiss is demanding, passionate, full of heat and desire, the kind I’ve wanted … needed. I’m wet for this and it only makes me wetter.

  He rolls me to my side so we face each other and lines us up so he can slip inside. Long, slow, and steady is his new game, but I grip his ass, pulling him in.

  “More,” I pant.

  He wraps his arm around me and complies. He hits me on every spot that makes me tingle, spreading delicious waves of pleasure everywhere.

  “I can’t hold out. You have to come. Come for me.”

  “Yeah.” And I do. My orgasm contracts and he groans as the spasms hit me. When it passes, he touches us both where we join, feeling the slickness we’ve created.

  “Was that more to your liking?” he asks.

  “Much more. Please don’t tell me you’re going to be one of those worrywart dads.”

  “You know I will.” He plays with a chunk of my hair. “After we get back and you go to the doctor, we’ll find out what the sex is. I’ll be walking on eggshells if it’s a girl. I can’t imagine how I’ll be if she’s a girl. All those penises I’ll have to worry about.”

  “If it’s a girl, the poor thing won’t date until she’s thirty with you as her dad.”

  He shudders. “Can we change the subject?”

  I crawl on top of him, straddling him. “Aw, something you won’t be able to fix, huh?”

  “Not everything needs fixing, as you like to remind me.”

  The next day, we spend the afternoon snorkeling and have our dinner of fresh lobster brought to our room. We’re lazing around when Harrison brings up the idea of a nanny.

  “I don’t know. I guess we’ll need one if I’m going to be working.”

  “We’ll start interviewing soon because we don’t want to wait until the last minute.”

  “True, and God knows you’ll have to make sure she doesn’t need any fixing.” I wink at him. He picks me up and tosses me on the bed.

  “Stop it.” A playful glint hits his eyes and his fingers find my ribs as he tickles me.

  “Noooo,” I squeak. He knows exactly where to dig to get me going. But soon the tickles turn into something else and he’s tweaking and sucking my nipples. I writhe and moan as his fingers find their way between my thighs, and my moans grow even louder.

  “I love hearing you when we play,” he says. “And I love fucking you. You are everything I’ve craved.”

  His mouth is almost touching mine so I reach for him and put my lips on his. Kissing Harrison is something I’ll always love. He throws everything off balance but then turns it back to the way it was meant to be. Every kiss is the same, yet different. The beat of his heart, the throbbing of his pulse, the rush of his blood, is all conveyed through his kiss. Every time. It’s what he doesn’t say that’s spoken using a kiss. It’s a way to touch and feel his soul with that complex gesture.

  As we kiss, he slides inside of me and rocks his hips against mine, back to being the gentle lover. Do I miss the way we used to fuck? Hell yeah. But this ... this is making love and there’s a sense of closeness I’ve never had with another human being before. That displaces anything we used to do. We’ll do it again after the baby comes. It’ll be something to look forward to. But I’ll treasure this forever.

  He hooks an arm under my knee and rolls over, bringing me on top. Then he keeps up the rhythm until we both come. He likes for me to be able to lie on top of him. He’s afraid of crushing me. It’s funny really because I’d tell him if he did, but he still worries. A brief thought flashes through me.

  “How’s this going to work when I’m as big as a house?”

  “You’ll never be as big as a house. But you can be on top or we’ll spoon, just like the book said.”

  “What book?” I ask.

  “Oh, the one I got on pregnancy.”

  I raise myself up and stare. “You got a pregnancy book?”

  “Well, yeah. Doesn’t everyone?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You can borrow mine when I’m done. Or wait, it’s on my phone. Maybe not. I’ll just buy you one of your own.”

  “Oh my God. My husband got a pregnancy book before I did.”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “Nothing.” I should’ve known my fix-it dude would have answers to everything.

  We stay in Bora Bora for two weeks and I know Harrison has other plans. But on the next to our last night, I lean over and ask, “Would you be terribly upset with me if I asked you to take me home after this?”

  He’s instantly on alert. “You want to skip the rest of the trip?”

  “Yeah, but not for any other reason other than I want to sleep in our own bed.”

  “You’re feeling okay?”

  “Perfectly fine.”

  “Then home it’ll be. I have to admit, I’m ready too.”

  When the plane touches down in LA, we both grin
. “Welcome home, Mrs. Kirkland.”

  A week later, on a Saturday, we’re sitting at home watching TV when the phone rings. It’s the landline and that’s completely weird. I answer it because Harrison is in the kitchen grabbing us something to drink.

  “Hello?”

  “Uh, Velvet?”

  My belly hits the floor. No one, and I mean no one, calls me that. My spine tingles as the tiny hairs rise on the back of my neck.

  “Who is this?”

  Harrison hears and stomps over to me.

  “This is Rusty, your, uh, foster brother.”

  “Rusty?” I’m so shocked to hear his voice.

  “Yeah. It’s me. I heard, uh, about everything that happened and I … look, is there any way we can meet?”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m here. In LA.”

  “Oh my God. You have to come over. To the house.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Can you come now?”

  A weird laugh rumbles out of him. “Yeah. I can do that. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

  When I hang up, Harrison explodes. “Are you crazy? He may be like his father.”

  “He’s not. He never was.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I just do. You have to trust me.”

  He rubs his hair and walks around in a circle. Good thing we don’t have carpet in here or there’d be a hole worn straight on through already.

  An hour later, the doorbell rings. I fly to answer it, but Harrison’s voice stops me. “Let me get that. Honest to God, you’re gonna give me a fucking heart attack.”

  “It’s fine. You’ll see.”

  Pulling the door open with Harrison standing behind me, I gasp. Rusty is no longer the scrawny redheaded teenager that I remembered. In his place stands a tall, brawny, auburn-haired man. I stand gawking at him.

  Hesitantly, he asks, “Velvet? Or Midnight, I guess it is now?”

  I throw myself at him, hugging him. He hugs me back as I break down in tears. After a few minutes, Harrison clears his throat and asks, “Would you like to come in?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Rusty, this is my husband, Harrison.”

  “Pleased to meet you, sir.”

  Harrison’s brows arch. “Sir?” he asks. Harrison is only a few years older than Rusty.

  Rusty chuckles. “It’s tough to lose the military, you know.”

  We move inside and Rusty fills me in. Of all things, he’s a Navy SEAL.

  “Since I was no good at helping you when my dad was such a shit, I decided to be of help to others. It sort of snowballed, I guess.”

  “I’ll say.”

  “I want you to know, Midnight, I called the police in Phoenix and told them I’d testify on your behalf. For the trial, if they needed me. He was a son of a bitch to you. Well, to all of us, but you got the worst of it.”

  “Whatever happened to your mom?”

  “She died of liver disease. I guess alcohol was her way of dealing with him. She wasn’t much of a mother to me, or to you, as far as that goes. Alcohol was her escape. I’ll never touch the stuff.”

  Rusty and I catch up, Harrison patiently listening in and asking questions here and there. Several hours fly by and when he says he has to go, we exchange phone numbers and emails. He never knows where he’ll be, but he’s stationed down in Coronado, so maybe we can get together every so often. We promise to try, since neither of us has any blood relations.

  After he leaves, Harrison says, “I like him. He’s solid, you know?”

  “Yeah. I’m glad things worked out for him.”

  “I’m glad they worked out for us too.”

  Epilogue

  Harrison

  Midnight never turns into a house. Okay, maybe one of those tiny houses that people are building these days. She claims she looks like she swallowed a huge watermelon. The kid is going to take after me, unfortunately.

  It’s November, and we’re watching TV when she gets up to waddle into the kitchen for a glass of water. I’d gladly do it, but she claims sitting too long only adds to her aching back.

  As she’s standing there, she yelps like a puppy.

  I’m there in a second. “What’s wrong?”

  She lifts up her shirt and her pants are wet.

  “Did you pee?”

  “My water just broke. I’d better shower so we can go to the hospital.”

  I help her to the bathroom and almost want to jump in with her.

  Prescott and Vivi had their baby, a girl, and he claimed it was awful—the most nerve-wracking thing ever. I’m beginning to understand that now.

  “Are you okay in there?”

  “I’m fine.”

  About thirty seconds later, I ask, “How’s it going?”

  “Good.”

  Another thirty seconds pass and I can’t take it anymore. “How long ...”

  “Harrison, I have to rinse off. Jeez, give me a minute.”

  She finally comes out and her hair’s wet. “You washed your hair?”

  “Yeah. I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to again.”

  “Okay, let me help you dry it.”

  “No, we’re going with it wet. Did you call the doctor?”

  “Was I supposed to?” She gives me the you’re a dumbass look. Of course I was supposed to call. “Right, I’m calling now.” We’ve had this thing rehearsed forever and now I’m failing miserably.

  “You can call on the way. Did you grab my bag?”

  “Your bag?”

  “Yes, my bag for the hospital.”

  “Right. I’ll get it now. Uh, where is it again?”

  “In the closet, remember?”

  I slap my forehead. “Right.” I run to her closet and grab it. Then I run out to the car, only I leave her standing in the bedroom. I run back inside and she’s smirking at me. Shit. “Let’s go.”

  At least I’m together enough to usher her to the Mercedes and not the Mustang.

  “Hang on.”

  “What?”

  “I need to grab something.” I jog to the Mustang and grab her bag out of the backseat where I tossed it. She rubs her temple.

  I buckle up and we leave.

  “Did you call the doctor?” she asks.

  Shit. “I will now.”

  She grabs me by the shoulder and says, “Honey, take a deep breath. Now. For me.”

  I pause and do as she asks.

  “Better?”

  Nodding, I command the car to make the call to the doctor. When the answering service picks up, I say, “This is Harrison Kirkland and we’re on the way to the hospital. We’re having the baby.” Then I hang up.

  Midnight taps my arm.

  “Yeah?”

  “You do realize my last name is Drake.”

  She didn’t change it because of her movie career. I’m not that big of an egomaniac, so I was cool with it.

  “Yeah.”

  “The answering service has no idea who the patient is. I think I’d better handle this.” She ends up calling. It works out much better that way.

  Midnight is given a room and the nurse arrives. She’s progressing well and eventually gets the epidural, which may help me as much as her. I’m doing my best to remain calm, but the truth is, I’m worse than a wreck. To see my wife, scared to death, groaning and writhing in pain, and not able to help her is the worst-case scenario for this fixer. I want to knock down the walls of this place. The nurses hate me. Not once, but several times I was down at their little station, demanding someone do something for her. They all assured me it was normal.

  I finally grabbed one by the arm and got in her smug little face. “Listen to me. It may be normal for you, but the last time my wife had a baby, it was born with a congenital heart defect and ended up dying. This is traumatic for both of us, but especially her. Can’t you do something?”

  The smugness instantly disappears and is replaced with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. We’ll have the doctor in there immedia
tely.”

  The doctor shows up soon after and Midnight gets much better care after that. Our daughter finally announces her arrival into the world with one hell of a screech. They hand the baby over to us and Midnight has a loopy grin on her face.

  “Guess she doesn’t like it out here too much,” she says.

  “It’s too bright for her. She wants to be all snug and cozy again.” She’s kicking her tiny legs out and crying again.

  Then Midnight asks, “Is our baby ... is she okay?”

  The doctor moves to the other side of Midnight from where I’m standing. “Yes, she is. Hear that cry? See how she’s kicking her legs and how strong she is? And look how pink her skin is. She’s healthy.” The doctor takes a stethoscope and listens to the baby’s heart. “She has a strong heartbeat too. Her Apgars are fine.”

  Midnight’s smile brightens the room even further. A nurse comes over to wrap the little one in a blanket.

  “Are you going to bathe her?” Midnight asks.

  “Yeah, but we wanted to let you hold her awhile,” the nurse says.

  “Isn’t she beautiful?” Midnight asks me.

  “Looks exactly like her mother. Now we have to decide on her name.”

  “I want to go with your suggestion.”

  “And what if her eyes aren’t lavender?” I ask.

  “I still like it.”

  “Lavender Summer Kirkland.”

  She moves the blanket down to get a good look at the baby’s face. “Are you sure it’s not a goofy name? I don’t want her going through life with a name like I did.”

  “There’s the other option.”

  “You mean Harley?”

  “Yeah. Harley Lavender Kirkland.”

  Midnight lets out a fierce laugh. “Helen would absolutely love that.”

  “And who’s your best friend?”

  “Helen.”

  “Let’s do it. Harley, it is. I love the sound of that. Harley Kirkland.”

  The nurse comes over to take Harley to be weighed and measured.