by G. Bailey
“Todd,” I moan as he finishes and he makes a sexy groaning noise as he rests his damp head on my chest.
“Ellie,” he says and he doesn’t need to say anything else as he looks up at me.
“I know,” I say, knowing how he’s feeling and how much that meant to him because it meant the same to me.
Andre
“Anything else you need help with while I’m here?” I ask Wendy as she hands me a hot cup of tea. I glance around the café kitchen, not seeing any other issues now that I’ve fixed her dishwasher.
“No hunny, but do give these to Ellie for the baby,” she says handing me a bag. I finish my cup of tea and walk out of the café kitchen after saying goodbye. I wave at the young girl that Wendy has hired to help her and stop when I see Ellie’s parents sitting at a table. Her dad sees me first and stands up, I watch as her mum nods her head, inviting me over.
“Hello,” I say, holding out my hand to Ellie’s dad, and to my surprise, he accepts it. It’s been a month since they turned up at our house and Ellie hasn’t talked about them much.
“Please sit down. We all need to talk.” Ellie’s dad says. I nod and slide into the seat he offers next to Ellie’s mum.
“First off, I’m John and this is my wife, Mary.” He introduces and I nod.
“Do you love our daughter?” Mary asks me gently, I’m surprised it’s her that asked.
“Yes, and so do my friends. I have known them all for years and they are like brothers to me. I know it must be a shock but we will all spend the rest of our lives loving Ellie.” I say and mean every word. I keep eye contact with Mary until she nods.
“We love our daughter and we know we haven’t been as supportive as we should have. I can’t say we are okay with this lifestyle you have all chosen but we want to see our daughter happy. We want to see our grandchild happy.” John says and I nod with a smile. Ellie is going to be happy that they are going to be in her life. I want my child to have her grandparents around.
“They will be.” I say.
“Please don’t tell Ellie about our conversation. I will call her now and set up a dinner with us all. I want to meet the men my daughter loves and see some baby scans.” Mary says. She looks a little like Ellie when she smiles at me but she is far sterner than Ellie is. Ellie’s personality seems to be more on her dad’s side.
“Ok.” I say, not wanting to upset them. Ellie needs her parents to accept her life, she doesn’t need all the stress with the baby only weeks away now.
“Another thing,” John says and I meet his eyes with a question.
“When Drew called us, and told us about your job and the pregnancy, he sounded…well not right.” John says.
“He threatened Ellie before you showed up. We aren’t letting him anywhere near her again,” I tell them firmly. Ellie may not realise it but we are making sure someone is always with her. Even if it’s Todd’s sisters or us, we don’t want her alone when we know he isn’t going to give up on her.
“We liked Drew, he makes people like him and can trick people easily. Just be careful, he was obsessed with Ellie and wanted children. He won’t let it go that Ellie is having a baby with you and not him,” he warns me.
“He won’t touch Ellie,” I say. I don’t need to say more when he nods in understanding.
“We will see you soon Andre,” John says as he gets up at the same time as Mary.
“Nice to meet you both.” I say and they walk out together. That went a lot better than expected.
Todd
“What are you doing in here?” I ask Ellie when she walks in the garage. Her hair is up in a bun and she has a small blue dress on that shows off her amazing body. Ellie looks content, considering all the problems her parents and ex-husband have been causing her recently. I know she’s stressed but she doesn’t let it show and it makes me wonder how strong she is. She just seems to accept that it’s difficult for them to understand how we all feel for each other. Ellie smiles as she comes over, sliding her hand across the Bentley in here. This car has taken me ages to get right, as it had so many problems but there is no way I’m giving up on it.
It’s a real beauty, like someone else in this room.
“I wanted to see you,” she says, like she needs an explanation for finding me. She doesn’t.
“Well, you are always welcome,” I say and she grins. I wipe my hands on a rag before walking over to her. She smiles up at me as I place my hand behind her neck and pull her into a deep kiss.
“Ellie,” I say moving away. Ellie tastes so nice, like everything sweet and amazing at the same time.
“Todd,” she replies, her tone breathless. The first time we were together is stuck in my mind, on repeat. It was amazing being with her like that, loving her like that.
“I saw this when I first moved in,” she says picking up my sketch book.
“I draw the cars when I’ve finished them. I’m not good but I like to do it,” I say as she opens the book. I watch her nervously as she looks through the images.
“They’re really good Todd, and there’s so many. I didn’t realise you had done this many cars up,” she says, looking around the garage. I only have the one at the moment but there’s a local auction coming up in York and I’m going to pick something up to fix there.
“I like to do it,” I say and she nods, putting the book back down.
“Todd, can you dance for me?” she says and blushes when I look down at her. I’m surprised she asked but there is no one else I would love to dance for.
“Come here,” I say and lift her onto the car bonnet. She giggles and holds onto her bump, which is getting bigger by the day. I can’t wait to meet our little girl. I know I’m not her dad but I won’t walk away from her. That’s never going to happen. I’ve always wanted children and I will protect her the best I can.
“Stay there,” I say, thinking of a sexy song to play while I do this dance for her. There are so many I could choose from. I flick through my iPhone and choose Pour it up by Rihanna and plug it into the wireless speakers we have. I wait until the music gets to the bit I need and then start moving. Most dances are easy to move your hips to and make it look attractive. It’s not exactly hard to do and I move my body, knowing how I want it to be and her eyes widen. I lock my eyes with hers, knowing this is only about her and slowly lift my white shirt up. When I pull it off over my head, I throw it at her and she catches it with a giggle. Stripping was always a way to pay the bills for me and now I just do it because I wouldn’t know what to do without it. I don’t want to strip forever and I make a fortune selling the cars I do up now. The last few years of this are paying off now because I have clients who will pay for the cars I do up because of my track record.
I move closer as I undo the buttons on my jeans and Ellie shocks me, as she slides off the car and stops in front of me.
Ellie starts kissing me, the kiss is fast and hot and I don’t stop her, instead sliding my hands over her chest. She lowers herself to her knees and pulls my jeans down with my boxers. I’m so hard that I can’t move when she kisses the tip of my dick and then sucks the end into her hot mouth.
“Fuckkk,” I hiss out as she takes all of me into her mouth. My hand goes into her soft hair and she starts moving her head. Shit she is good at this.
“El you’re…” I start to say and she sucks me harder, stopping any more words. Every suck is pulling me closer to the edge and when I’m close, I try to pull out as I come and she grabs my ass to hold me in place as I finish in her mouth.
I pull her up to me when she leans back and I kiss her, loving the feeling of her tasting like me.
“El,” I say and she sighs.
“I needed that, I needed time with you,” she says and kisses me again.
“Todd, I love you,” she says and I lean back, so I can see her.
“I love you, too” I say knowing it’s true. I loved Ellie the first time I met her. I loved her more when she met my niece and nephew and watched films all day with
us. I fell even more when she gave up our first date to come to my sister’s house to look after her kids. She didn’t need to do any of it but she did. She did it for me.
Ellie is it for me.
“Can you come tomorrow to see my parents with me?” she asks as I pull my boxers up.
“They finally want to meet us all?” I ask and she laughs.
“They do and I want to introduce you all as my boyfriends.” She says.
“Well at least they know about us all and what we do for work. The awkward conversation is done with,” I chuckle. Kaiden told me what she said and how brave she was. It only makes me respect her more and know that this is going to work between us all.
“Yeah, they know. They didn’t say much on the phone, other than asking me to bring you all and that they wanted to talk. I hope it’s a good conversation with only six weeks left until the baby comes. I want them to meet our daughter,” she says and I love how she calls her baby all of ours.
“Why don’t I take you back to the house and cook you something?” I offer.
“What did you have in mind?” she asks me.
“I was thinking brownies and you can lick the spoon,” I say and she laughs. She has had a craving for chocolate recently.
“I love the idea and oh—” she stops talking, her hands going to her stomach.
I reach over and place my hands near hers, feeling the bump moving and knowing that is our little girl kicking up a storm.
“Our little girl,” I say and I can believe it. I know there’s a baby but it’s different to actually see one and not just a bump. I remember my sister being pregnant and I was right outside in the waiting room when the twins were born. They were so small and I helped a lot with nappies, and night feeds when their father went to the pub. My sister just couldn’t cope on her own and I liked to help her. They woke up a lot in the night but I’d stay three nights a week and slept on the sofa. It wasn’t the easiest time but we made it work.
We walk into the house and there’s a knock at the front door. Ellie lets me open it and standing on the doorstep is a blonde woman. It’s clear she has been crying and the woman looks a mess.
“Liz?” Ellie asks and I look at the woman in anger. So this is Ellie’s best friend who betrayed her and hurt her so much. Ellie steps in front of me and goes to close the door. I don’t fucking blame her.
“I need to tell you something and please, please don’t shut the door,” she says and Ellie holds the door open slightly. She doesn’t open it further but she looks so angry as she stares at Liz.
“What is it?” Ellie finally says and her tone is anything but kind. I don’t expect her to be at all.
“Drew has kicked me out. You were right. He doesn’t care that I’m pregnant or that the baby is his. All he went on about was you.” She says. I wrap a arm around Ellie’s waist and she looks up at me for a second. I’m sure we are thinking the same thing, I don’t like that Drew has gotten rid of Liz. Why would he do that now?
“I want to say I told you so, but I feel it’s an understatement,” Ellie says, her voice very soft.
“I know you won’t forgive me but I wanted, no needed, to say sorry. I’m so sorry.” Liz says and she walks away. Ellie doesn’t move for a long time as she watches her friend get into her car and drive away.
“El, you okay?” I ask and she wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my chest. She doesn’t reply, and I know she doesn’t need too. I’m just here for her as she says goodbye to that part of her life.
Ellie
“Kaiden, stop it,” I laugh as he starts sliding down the zip of my dress and kissing my neck. I moan slightly when he gently sucks on a spot, just under my ear, that he knows turns me on.
“We have time,” he says and I laugh. No, we don’t but I seriously wish we did.
“We have to leave in ten minutes,” Todd says, walking into my bedroom and picking up his coat off the end of my bed. The guys take turns sleeping in my bed now, and I don’t know why we don’t sleep in theirs when this room is full of baby stuff. The cot is made up at the end of the bed, there’s a changing unit near the wall with boxes of nappies stacked up. Andre bought the matching wardrobe to the cot, and that’s next to the door, and it’s filled with baby clothes. Four weeks to go.
“Fine,” Kaiden mutters and zips up my dress slowly. “We can finish this later,” he whispers before stepping back. I’m sure my cheeks are as red as my dress when Todd looks at me.
“You look lovely El,” Todd says.
“No, I don’t. I’m the size of a house and waddling everywhere,” I chuckle and he shakes his head.
“You’re stunning El,” he says and I laugh.
“And you are such a sweet talker but we should go, I don’t want to leave my parents waiting,” I say, making both him and Kaiden smile at me. They both seem almost nervous. It’s funny how they can strip on a stage in a room full of women, but meeting my parents is scary to them. We go downstairs and find Andre waiting for us in the living room. When Dominic comes into the room, and they are all standing next to each other, I can’t help but think how lucky I am. Holy ducks, each one of them look as attractive as the next. Dominic has a blue shirt on, a little lighter than Todd’s green shirt. All of them are in jeans but they pull it off so well. They seriously look like a hot stripper sandwich.
“Let’s go, I don’t want to be late to see your parents,” Dominic says and holds a hand out for me. I slide my hand into his as we make our way to the car. It takes thirty minutes to drive to the pub my parents wanted to meet in. There’s a hotel next door to it and a restaurant at the back. I’m guessing they are staying in this hotel, it’s one of those posh ones that is gated. They wouldn’t stay anywhere cheap, so makes sense. We walk in together, and Kaiden wraps an arm around my waist as I look around. The restaurant is quite simple but in a classic way. It has light wooden tables, low lights that cast a yellow glow around the room. I spot my parents straight away, sitting on a large table near the window. My mum waves when she sees me and my dad nods. We make our way over and everyone sits down, with me in the middle of Kaiden and Dominic, and directly opposite my mum. Todd and Andre sit at the ends of the table and there’s an uncomfortable silence as I stare at my parents. My baby kicks in my stomach, like she is telling me to speak.
“Hey mum, dad,” I say and they smile. It’s a tight a smile and then they glance at each other. This is not going well.
“So, this is Kaiden, Dominic, Andre and Todd,” I say, leaning forward and pointing at each. There’s silence for a while until Kaiden speaks,
“Wow, Mrs. Taylor, you are just as stunning as your daughter. It’s a real pleasure to meet you and Mr. Taylor. Ellie has told us a lot about you both and how much of a happy childhood she had.” He says, reminding me of the conversation we all had yesterday. We had our usual movie night and they asked what it was like growing up. I told them about the picnic we had every Saturday in the park and the way they would decorate the house for my birthdays. They were never bad parents but I truly don’t believe they love each other anymore. I mean, when I was thirteen they decided to have separate bedrooms, but still stay together. I always wonder if they stayed together for me.
“Oh, thank you, Kaiden.” My mother says with a blush. It doesn’t surprise me, I had a feeling Kaiden would be good with my parents.
“Let’s order some drinks and food, and then I want you to tell me about what’s going on in your life,” My dad says with a smile. I nod, feeling a little emotional that they are accepting this. Accepting me and my guys. We all order our drinks and food, with Kaiden keeping my mother talking the entire time.
“So, my name is John and my wife’s name is Mary. It would be easier for you to call us that,” my dad says, leaning back in his seat with his pint of beer.
“So, tell me about the baby and well, anything,” he says with a kind smile.
“I’m thirty-six weeks, and having a little girl,” I say and watch as their faces ligh
t up. They can’t fake that, they are happy. I glance at Dominic when he takes my hand under the table and squeezes it. I know he’s happy for me.
“Oh, a girl. Our granddaughter,” my mum says and I nod with a smile.
“She is healthy and so am I. I’m working with the guys at the club,” I start to say and my dad coughs out his beer. My mum taps him on the back and I realise how that just sounded.
“I’m working as their accountant. I’m not working now as I’m on maternity leave,” I get out and he nods. I haven’t been back to the club in two weeks but I’m helping Kaiden at home with the books. I’m just so tired now and I end up falling asleep at night.
“Will you call us when the baby is born? Maybe even use the Faceprime thing,” my mum says, nodding with my dad. Holy ducks, I forgot that they are not good with technology.
“Facetime and yes I will. When are you going back to Scotland?” I ask.
“Soon. We really don’t want to and we have been discussing moving closer to you. You’re our family and we want to watch this little girl grow up. So if that’s not an issue with you, could we move here?” my dad asks me and I wipe my eyes as tears start to fall. I didn’t expect that. Kaiden pulls me to his shoulder and Dominic gets a tissue for me and I wipe my eyes.
“I would really love that,” I say eventually and my dad clears his throat as he watches me.
“I’m glad you’re happy, Ellie. You were never as happy with Drew, as I saw you were with that guy when I walked into your home the other day,” my dad says and nods his head towards Andre.
“I am happy, Dad,” I say.
“So who ordered the orange juice?” the waitress says behind me and I put my hand up.
“That went better than expected,” Kaiden says and I nod, resting my head back against the seat. I’ve spent the last week doing nothing but worry about this night. I really didn’t think my parents were going to be okay with us all but they were, they sat and asked the guys questions about their lives. I learnt that Dominic doesn’t know any of his family and was brought up in care. I knew he was in foster care, because that’s where he met Andre but I didn’t know he spent his whole life there. The guys told them how they got into the stripping business and what each of them do in their spare time. My parents really did try hard to get to know them and I feel it’s their way of saying sorry for not being in my life for the last year. I don’t know if I can forgive them but I’m going to try and move past this year in my life. I know Drew manipulated them as much as he did me. I have no doubts he told them things about me that made them not want to see me. It’s just something he would do.