“Well, you’re not the only one with rights to her, you know. She’s my only relative, now that Katrina is gone, and I want to know her.” I wanted to point out that a year ago, she couldn’t wait to be rid of Ollie so she could sip cocktails on the beach, but again, I held my tongue. She was an old lady, and I was raised better. “I guess I’ll just have to go to my lawyer then. I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I see now that you’re hellbent on keeping her from me. She barely calls on holidays as it is. She’s probably going to forget me if I don’t act soon.”
“No court is going to go back to that original arrangement. It was only temporary, Edna.” It was also a huge inconvenience with the back and forth, and I had no plans to revisit that time in my life.
“I am allowed grandparents’ rights, the same as anyone else. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.” She ended the call on an angry note, and I let out a sigh. Lauren wasn’t going to like hearing that when she got home, and neither was Ollie.
Chapter 3
Lauren
There was absolutely nothing going on at the office, and despite telling me we had a big case to go over, Reed spent most of his time on the phone and then left for a lunch date. So, I packed up my case and went home to talk about wedding plans with Chloe, who still wasn’t convinced we’d have enough food at the reception
She sat on the living room floor with me at the coffee table, which we had covered with our planners, notebooks, and bridal magazines to make a checklist. “I think that caterer is skimping. I think they are going to be putting out tiny servings to make it stretch.” I had felt the same way, but I’d take their word for it.
“Let’s ask Ava what she thinks.” We got to our feet and went into the kitchen where Ava was standing over a soup pot and listening on the phone to someone whose voice was nearly loud enough for us to hear.
“And you’re not able to keep her local? There is nothing else you can do for her?” She turned her head and held up a finger as if to say she’d be right with me. “Okay, then do what you have to do. I’ll make the arrangements this afternoon, and I’ll come down to sign the papers.” She ended the call and tucked the phone into her apron as she turned away from the pot and gave me a weary look.
“Is everything okay, Ava?” I knew she was having some issues with her mother’s help, and being her only daughter, she was left with the responsibility of taking care of the old woman.
“It’s mother. They are going to have to move her.”
“Oh no, why is that?”
“They believe she needs a specialist, and there isn’t one in this area. I’m afraid this means I will have to give my notice, though it would only be a matter of a couple of days, I’m afraid. I have to leave and go sign to have her transported. Then they’ll need me there when she’s checked into the new facility.”
I walked forward and hugged the woman who’d been a part of Gage’s family long before I came along. “You do what you have to do, and please, allow Gage and me to pay you for the next two weeks. That will help you until you find another job, and I know he’d like to help you for all you’ve helped us. You’ve gone above and beyond your duties here, and we appreciate you, Ava.” She was a good lady and had helped Gage out with watching Ollie more times than we could count and even a few times while Gage and I needed time alone before the baby came.
“Thank you. I’ll miss it here. This is not only the best job I’ve had, but I feel like a part of the family.”
“You are. And if things change, please come back to us.”
I gave her a hug, and we were both in tears when Gage walked into the kitchen. “What’s going on?” He looked so concerned, like someone had died.
“Ava’s leaving us.”
“I’m afraid I have to go be with my mother. They are moving her, after all.” We had known this was a possibility for months now but were holding out hope.
Gage looked like someone had thrown ice water on him. “I hate to hear that, Ava. I hope your mother will be okay, and we totally understand, but we’re going to miss you. Ollie’s going to be so heartbroken.”
“I’ll miss her, too. I hope maybe one day to come back before she’s grown.” She gave a smile and wiped a tear from her cheek.
“You’ll always have a place here.” Gage gave her a hug.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said. “I need to go and make arrangements.”
As he walked out, Gage turned to me and gave me a solemn look. “It’s a bad day.”
“I know, honey. She meant a lot to you. I hate to see her go, too.”
“Well, that, and the fact that Edna called earlier. I would have come to tell you sooner, but James had me tied up with the current project, as well as a new one. Anyway, Edna wanted to get Ollie for a few weeks and most of the summer.”
My eyes narrowed, and my lips peeled back like a feral cat’s. “I hope you told her no.”
“I did. I tried to keep it civil, but I made it clear, so she’s getting a lawyer and is going to try for grandparents’ rights.”
Now I felt like someone had thrown ice water on me, and hot lava flowed through my veins. “She’d better get a damned good one! She can’t do this!” But I knew damned well she could. “What the hell happened to her wanting to spend time in the Bahamas? I thought she’d raised her kid and didn’t want to spend her twilight years burdened with Ollie’s life.” I couldn’t believe she was really going to uproot that girl’s life for her own selfish reasons.
“I know. I told her that it needed to be up to Ollie, not her, and I know Ollie would enjoy a visit or two, but she isn’t going to want to leave us and go stay for any week-long or month-long visits.”
Chloe placed her hand on my arm. “Can she really do it? You know the law, right?”
“Well, I have worked some family law cases in which the grandparents sued for full-custody, but that was when both parents were either absent or unfit. Usually an unknown father, and a mother who has some sort of addiction or other reason that either puts the child in danger or at risk of being neglected. In this case, Ollie has a stable home with two parents and a sibling, so Edna’s chances are thin. Having said that, she’ll still put us through hell in the process all the same.”
“That’s awful. I wonder what made her change her mind after all this time.” Chloe wrapped her arms around her middle and looked just as upset as Gage and me.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to get to the bottom of it. This is the last thing we need.”
“We’ll have to talk to Ollie, honey.” I knew that was going to be tough and could see that Ollie wouldn’t take it well already. I remembered the first time I met her; she’d slapped me on the arm and ran to hide under the bed. Gage hadn’t been able to reach her or coax her out. I’d left his home to come to the cabin, but didn’t get a step inside before they both came after me. We’ve been a family since, and now, especially that we had Wade, I couldn’t see anyone tearing us apart.
Gage gave me a weary look. “Yeah, I know. I don’t know what all I should say, honestly.”
“Just tell her the truth. That she might have to go; that we don’t always get a choice in life. You know as well as I do that the truth is always best.” We’d learned that lesson after trying to hide our relationship from my brother, and me not telling Gage right away about the baby.
Gage made a grumbling sound. “It’s a bad day, indeed.”
Chapter 4
Gage
I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how I was going to tell Ollie that she might have to divide her time again, knowing it was going to hurt her feelings that she might have to go.
As a father, I didn’t like anyone telling me what I had to do with my children. I took care of them, raised them, fed them, clothed them, and provided them safety and shelter. What the hell had Edna done over the past year? And even when she had Ollie, she didn’t do anything but bitch about it and beg me to take her so she could enjoy her retirement. Now that she had nothing but time, she mu
st have realized that she missed her only legacy.
I finished getting ready for bed and then left the steamy bathroom with a freshly-trimmed beard, which I kept to hide the scars I’d gotten in the plane crash. They weren’t too bad, just two long and jagged lines beneath my chin, both of which I was lucky enough for facial hair to hide. Lauren and Ollie had never, and would never, see me without it.
Lauren had the covers turned back and lay on the bed in the silk camisole I’d bought for her just after Wade was born. It was my favorite, and I couldn’t wait to peel it off of her.
“Did you get a chance to talk to Ollie about Edna?” She patted the pillow next to her as I laid down and stretched out beside her.
“No, I was busy telling her a story about a little boy who used to go fishing down at Wade’s Creek and how a pretty little girl used to tag along and scare away all of the fish.” It was the story of us and Ollie’s favorite. I’d take it over performing voices any day of the week.
“I didn’t scare them away. You and Noah were lousy fishermen. I was your excuse.”
“You didn’t help, that’s for sure. But I never minded. Not as much as Noah did. I found it fascinating that he had a little sister.” I turned over and laid my arm on her hip. We fit together nicely, no matter how we lay, and her smile brought forth my own.
“You were jealous he had me, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but I have you now, and I get to have more fun with you.” I slipped my hand down and pulled her across me, and she rose up, straddled my hips, and sat on my thighs, just below my throbbing dick.
“What kind of fun are we going to have tonight, Mr. Riley?”
“I’m not sure, Ms. Patrick.” I gave a teasing smile. “Ms. Patrick of Patrick and Patrick law firm.”
She started to move off of me, but I caught her by her waist and pulled her back in place, only much closer. “I’m teasing!” I laughed, but she gave me the side eye.
“Then answer my question.” Her eyes fixed on mine as she rolled her hips and stripped off the camisole.
“I think you know what kind of fun. Take those panties off.” I reached down and tugged at the elastic of her lace, and she rose up on her knees to take them down and then went over to her side to slip them off. She gave me a smile as she tossed them to me, and then she straddled me again, this time hovering above my knees as she slowly peeled off my shorts and exposed my swollen cock.
“I like this kind of fun. You have my favorite toy.” She took my cock in her firm grip and stood it straight up. Then she leaned forward and licked me from my balls, up my shaft, and to the tip of it, where I was already weeping a tear of salt in anticipation.
She flicked her tongue over it and then spread it around before taking me into her mouth. She closed her lips tightly around my head and licked its tiny hole, darting her tongue against it, before taking me deeper. Her lips felt amazing on my shaft, and as I hit the back of her warm, wet throat, she stopped and pulled it upward.
I hissed through my teeth and gathered her hair up behind her head, and then I closed my eyes to enjoy the pleasure she was giving me. She had always worked so hard to pleasure me, even though a simple look from her was all it took to get me worked up. I wasn’t complaining, though. Hell no. She seemed to love what she was doing, and I was all about her happiness.
She worked her way back down again, slowly this time, pushing herself down, forcing my thick head behind her tonsils. It practically snapped into place, lodging there, and she pulled off and on the spot until I thought I was going to pop. Then she pulled away and smiled, running her lips along the side of my shaft and her tongue along the veins that rippled along the muscular flesh.
“You know the rules, baby. You get to come first.” I reached down and stroked her ass. “Turn around, and let me taste that sweet pussy.”
She blushed every time I talked to her that way, and it didn’t matter how familiar we’d become, she always responded the same. “You’re so dirty, Gage.” She let out her little giggle and then rose to her knees where she repositioned herself to straddle my chest.
I could already see her glistening, and I raked my finger through her juices, pulling a taste into my mouth before I closed my lips around her little, swollen clit. She cried out and then leaned forward to get busy on my cock again, this time taking her time on my cock as she bobbed her head, licking and sucking, matching my motions.
I slipped my fingers into her sweet hole and worked them against her G-spot as I swirled my tongue around her tight star. I pushed my tongue hard against her, and she moaned out and then wiggled as she came. Her head and mouth went still on me as she moaned through her pleasure, but she didn’t dare pull away. Such a good woman.
After the release passed, she went back to work and this time, pushed herself down hard on my cock, taking me to the back of her throat. I felt my balls tighten, and by the time I could think about giving her a warning, my cock exploded inside her mouth. She gulped it down like a pro and continued sucking, keeping me hard for round two.
Once my cock was diamond hard again and her pussy was soaked and ready, she rose up and spun around to meet my eyes. “Now I want that big cock in me, Gage.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I held it up as she straddled it, and once she lowered herself, letting it pierce that sopping slit deeply, I rose up and held her around the waist. “Ride my cock, baby.” I crushed my lips to hers, and we kissed hard as she ground herself into my lap, her tits resting on my chin.
I cupped them and nibbled on her nipples, and she writhed with pleasure and then met my eyes. “Suck them, Gage. Hard. Please.”
I pulled her nipple into my mouth and sucked it hard like I knew she liked, and once I got a taste of her milk, I moved to the other, doing the same. She was still lactating a little from the pregnancy, and she knew how hot it made me to take from her. Her pussy went into spasms, pulsing around my dick as I sucked, and just as she came, I came again, too, filling her deep.
“You’re never going to stop producing if you keep having me do that.” It wasn’t that I minded, but it always made me come so fast. Just thinking of pumping into her as she pumped into me, it got my dick hard thinking about it.
“They’re still so heavy now and then. It feels amazing.” She kissed my lips as she sat there with me still deep inside of her, even as I felt my cock slowly decreasing inside of her.
“All of it feels amazing. Did you get a good come in, baby?” I always liked to make sure that her needs were satisfied, even if it meant round three with my hands and tongue.
“I did. I just want to sit here like this with you.”
“Until the wedding?” I made my cock twitch inside her.
“Forever. I love you.”
“I love you, too. But let’s lay down, okay? My leg’s going numb.” I gave a little laugh and earned one in return.
“Okay, okay.” She reluctantly got off my cock with a huff and then stood. “I need another shower. Come take one with me, and we’ll talk about what to do about our daughter.”
I took her hand and let her lead me. As much as I wanted a hot shower with her, the last thing I wanted to think about was how I might lose full-time custody of my daughter.
Chapter 5
Lauren
I woke up to find Gage lying next to me, awake and quietly staring at the ceiling. “You’re going to be late getting Ollie to school if you keep lying there.”
“I need to talk to her, and I don’t even know where to start.”
“I’ll go with you. We are a family, after all.” I leaned forward to give him a kiss, and he held me close a moment as if he would never let me go.
“Fine, do we have to do it now, though? I mean, the whole your grandmother is going to try to take you every other week for the rest of your life part?”
“I say we mention Edna and see if she’s interested in a visit first. We’ll feel it out. Come on.” I sat up and inched my way to the edge of the bed, and he jumped up and hurried into the bathro
om ahead of me. “Not nice, honey.” I got to my feet and followed to wash my face and brush my teeth before completing my morning routine before him.
We walked into Ollie’s room together and saw her peeking out from under the covers. “Good morning, sweet cakes. How’s Daddy’s little girl?” Gage went in and sat with her on the bed. She pretended to wake up, giving a dramatic yawn and a very convincing cough. Her fake sneeze, however, had Gage and me exchanging a glance.
“I feel so sick, Daddy.” She closed her eyes and then lay back, turned her head and moaned. “So sick.”
“Do you have a tummy ache?” Gage gave her a suspicious look, and then she coughed again.
“I think I have a bad fever.” She opened one eye and peeked at me. “I might even be conscientious.”
“I think you mean contagious?” I pulled my lips in tight to keep from laughing. Gage didn’t fair too well at trying not to laugh and gave a little chuckle.
“Yeah, that too.” She coughed again, and I was afraid by the time she got done with her performance, she’d have a sore throat from faking it.
I reached down and felt her forehead. “Nope, no fever.”
“I should stay home from school anyway. Just in case, right Daddy?” She turned her head and gave him a sweet smile.
“No, I think you’re well enough to go to school.”
“No, Daddy. I feel like I’m dying.”
“Then let’s load you up and take you to the hospital. I’m sure they’ll want to take a pint of blood to do tests and see what’s wrong. You might have to stay there, so it’s a good thing you’re still in your pajamas.” He reached down to get her, but she screamed and kicked.
“I think I’ll be better in my bed all day. Tell him, mama!”
I shook my head, not about to undermine his authority. “No, I don’t want to take chances. If you were well enough to go to school, that would be different, but I have to agree with your father.”
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