by Jen Andrews
“Zoey? Shut up and enjoy the ride,” he commanded.
He licked, and sucked and groaned against me, sending the most mind-shattering vibrations directly to my clit. He slipped two fingers back inside me and began massaging my g-spot.
“Oh, Andy.” I moaned as I began rocking my hips slowly against him.
He picked up the pace, and with his free hand, he gently raked his short nails down my back. I finally realized why it sent him over the edge. It felt like every nerve in my body was alight with desire.
I rocked my hips faster to match his pace as he dragged his hand down my back again. He gripped my ass in his big hand, and my body began squeezing tight around his fingers.
“Oh fuck, oh fuck . . . Ohh . . . fuck,” I mumbled as my orgasm rendered me completely incapable of saying anything else.
He continued to stroke me inside, but I was completely over sensitized. “Oh fuck, you’ve got to stop,” I whispered as the spasms continued.
My body went limp, and I had to grab the headboard so I didn’t sit on the poor guy and smother him.
Once my orgasm subsided, he slid out from under me. I had never come so hard in my life. Shaking, I closed my legs and collapsed onto the bed.
“Jesus fucking hell, Andy,” I muttered as I closed my eyes and threw my arm over my face.
He laughed as he walked his fingertips up my side.
I tried to smack his hand away, and he laughed harder.
“Did you enjoy that?”
He knew the answer, but was trying to get a rise out of me. I moved my arm and met his gaze, feeling my face flush. He rolled me onto my back, slid on top of me, and pushed himself inside me. He thrust slow and hard.
Fuck me. He’s trying to orgasm me to death.
I was enjoying every fucking second of it.
Several minutes later, I was coming again and so was he. After we were both completely spent, he rolled to his side breathing heavily.
“Fuck Zoey . . . I think I need another shower.”
I knew I did. I was soaked and sweaty.
I sat up and twisted my wet, uncombed hair in a messy knot. We stepped inside the shower and washed each other off. We barely had enough energy to brush our teeth, before we fell back into bed and passed out from exhaustion.
One week later, we were on a plane back to Sacramento. Unbeknownst to me, Andy bought us Skycouch seating for our return home since it was an overnight flight. That meant we had an entire three-seat row all to ourselves. The underside of the seats popped up, so we were actually able to lay down side by side.
It was a bit cramped for me as big as he was, but I was in heaven because I could lie down and sleep.
We also may, or may not, have joined the mile-high club on our flight home. I would surely never tell.
My flight to New Zealand hadn’t been too bad, but now that I was further in to my pregnancy and with changing planes twice, I was completely exhausted when we landed in Sacramento. Although, the layovers were at least long enough so we could get off the plane and walk around the airport.
As soon as we walked into our apartment, I went straight to the bedroom, crawled into bed, and fell asleep. It would be a mistake to go to sleep so early, but baby Hannah was running my life. I had no choice but to obey her. If my baby girl wanted or needed something from me, she got it.
My body was completely at her mercy.
Andy woke me up a few hours later. I showered, changed, and almost felt human again. Almost . . .
I was anxious to see my family, so I went across the courtyard to the shop. I snuck through the back door to surprise them, but apparently, nobody was surprised we were home. While I’d slept, Andy had gone over to apologize profusely for going off to New Zealand, at least to my dad and my brothers. My mom was out of the office running errands.
I received lots of belly rubs from my brothers and my dad while we visited in the empty customer lounge. I didn’t even get any snide comments from Adam about my weight gain. He must have learned his lesson. That, or my loving husband had a chat with him about giving me shit all the time.
I’d only been at the shop visiting for a little while when my mom came barreling through the door.
“Mija,” she called as I scrambled from the couch to hug her.
“Mom,” I cried. “I missed you so much.”
After she hugged me, she took my hands and held my arms out to the side to take in the view of my expanding waistline.
“You’ve grown so much since I saw you last. You look positively radiant.”
She noticed Andy standing off to the side by himself.
“Oh, Andy honey,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Welcome home, mijo.”
I saw him blink back tears. He’d asked me months ago why my mom always called me “mija” and I explained to him what mija and mijo meant.
My mom was calling him “my son.”
I knew he’d been nervous coming back to Sacramento after everything that happened, but my family was wonderful and caring so he was forgiven and welcomed back into the family.
“So, have you two decided on a name for my granddaughter?” she asked him, her arms still wrapped around his waist.
“Yes,” he said. “We’re calling her Hannah, after my sister.”
My mom grinned and squeezed him again. “What a perfect name, Andy.”
After we said our goodbyes to my family, we walked back across the courtyard to the apartment. Will was unlocking his door when we entered the lobby.
“Will?” I called as we climbed up the stairs to greet him.
A flash of orange fur came bounding down the steps after he opened his door.
Andy scooped up James. “Hey, you little shit.” He scratched behind our cat’s ears. “Have you been a good boy?”
Will shook his head as he stared at James. “He’s been good, most of the time.”
We laughed. Yep, that sounded like James.
“Wow Z,” Will said when he got a good look at me. “You look like you swallowed a basketball, but you look amazing.”
He invited us in, and we sat with him on the couch to catch up. Moving boxes were scattered all around the apartment.
“I’m gonna miss you guys living next door,” I said sadly. “I’m so happy for you two, though.” We talked about their new house until Justin came home from work.
To say he was happy to see us would have been a gross understatement. As soon as he walked through the door and saw us sitting on the couch, he started jumping around and getting all hysterical.
I think he even clapped a couple times he was so happy to see us.
“Dude,” I said. “Chill out before you crap yourself.”
Everyone erupted with laughter. Justin had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard by the time he caught his breath.
After family dinner at my parents’ house that night, we stayed long after my brothers and their families left. We sat down with my mom and dad to tell them about the inheritance, and our plans for the store and apartments. They were taken aback with the news, just as I had been. They asked tons of questions, but once we explained the way Andy’s family had lived, and how we planned to do the same, they were one hundred percent behind us.
My dad was also thrilled Andy was going to be involved in the store. He was ready to retire, but worried about me taking on all the responsibilities by myself. He didn’t have to worry any longer and gave us the go-ahead to remove him from the deed. I felt a little sad to do that, because it had been my dad and me from the beginning. But, being my dad, he insisted and then said how proud he was of me for getting the business as far as I did, with barely any help from him.
With my parents’ blessing in regards to the store, Andy and I were moving forward with our lives. As a team. It felt amazing and scary all at the same time, but I knew we would succeed because we’d never give up on each other or our life together.
Thanksgiving Day had arrived, and we had invited Hamish and Sarah to join my family at my
parents’ house. They volunteered to drive Andy’s truck and trailer back from Sonoma so we wouldn’t have one more thing to deal with. Everyone was being so helpful and supportive. It was fantastic.
When Hamish and Sarah arrived, Sarah parked their car while Hamish drove the truck and trailer over to the shop.
She exited the car and gave me a big hug. “Zoey, I’ve missed you both so much. You look gorgeous.”
When she released me, Hannah began kicking like crazy and I rubbed circles on my belly as I stood talking to her. Sarah watched me with a hint of sadness in her eyes as I tried to soothe my baby. She had told me once before she’d never been able to conceive, but always wanted children.
“Do you want to feel her kick, Sarah?”
She nodded happily and put her hand on my stomach. I rested my hand on hers, and the next time Hannah kicked, I moved our hands to the spot. We moved our hands all around my stomach, feeling Hannah kick and move until the guys came back from the shop. They rounded the corner and stopped dead in their tracks when they found us standing there laughing.
With all four hands on my belly, it must have looked a bit odd.
The expression on Andy’s face was of pure love and adoration. The expression on Hamish’s face was of love and sadness. I didn’t want him to be sad, so I held my hand out to him.
“Hamish, come and feel her kick.”
He jogged over smiling and placed his hand in mine. I set it where Hannah was kicking. Andy came and stood next to me, waiting for his turn.
It was his favorite thing to do.
A day never went by that he didn’t have his hands on my belly, or wasn’t talking to Hannah and kissing my stomach. In fact, that was how he would lull us both back to sleep when she woke me up in the middle of the night. On rare occasion, he even sang what he told me was an old, Maori lullaby his mother had sang to him as a child.
It was perfect, and I could not wait until she was born so Andy could hold her in his arms. I knew it sounded unusual to be excited for him to hold her, instead of me, but she was growing inside me. I had been holding her since the moment she was conceived.
Without a doubt, I wanted to hold her in my arms too, but the love I had for Andy, and the love he held for Hannah and I, made me want to give him the world.
We were his world, and all that mattered to him. He made sure to tell me so daily.
After the baby visiting, the guys took Hamish and Sarah’s luggage upstairs to the guest bedroom. They were staying with us for a few days, so we had bought a new bedroom set for the guest room.
“Wow, this is a great space,” Sarah said as she examined our apartment from bottom to top. She looped her arm through mine and smiled. “Show me where you’re going to put the nursery for my great-niece.”
“Right this way,” I said. As we walked toward the hallway, I pointed at the wall that separated the two apartments. “This wall is getting knocked down to start with, so Hannah’s bedroom will actually be the current guest room.” Quickly, I showed her the guest room where she and Hamish were going to sleep then led her next door to the other apartment Justin and Will had vacated.
“Over here, we’re going to add on to the kitchen and dining room, add three more bedrooms, a full bath and a half bath,” I explained as we wandered around each room.
Sarah gave me a sly grin. “That’s a lot of extra bedrooms, Zoey.”
Laughing, I placed my palms on my growing belly. “Well, your nephew has already decided he wants a big family, so I’m preparing myself for three or four. I have four brothers, so I think that’s about all I can handle.”
“That’s wonderful, Zoey.” Sarah hugged me. “Thank you so much for giving A.J. everything he’s always wanted . . . and so much more.”
“He’s my everything, Sarah. I would give him my life.”
“You already have Zoey,” she said quietly as we rounded the corner of the building.
When we found the men outside in the courtyard, they were in mid-conversation.
“I do have one more question,” Hamish said to Andy. “What about an outside play area for Hannah? With grass to run around in.”
Andy saw us when we came into the courtyard and immediately smiled. “What do you think about doing something with the courtyard Zoey?”
“Well, I thought about adding an extra section of fence to the other end so we’ll have a completely fenced in lawn area,” I explained. “The kids can play out there safely and we can have barbecues and things like that.”
Andy agreed. “That sounds good, and there’s enough room to play rugby.”
We all laughed at him.
“One track mind when it comes to rugby,” I joked.
Hamish and Sarah nodded in agreement.
When we arrived at my parents,’ Andy, Hamish and Sarah carried the food in while I brought the gift bag containing souvenirs from New Zealand for our nephews and niece. Once inside, Jake and Alex came screaming into the kitchen when they found out Andy was home. He knelt down on the floor to greet them, and they slammed against him, knocking him over onto his butt.
“Hey guys!” Andy said, over-exaggerating his accent for them. “How are my favorite nephews doing?”
He looked back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match, as they both talked at the same time.
“I want Aunt Zoey’s chocolate pie,” Jake said, while little Alex chanted, “Pie, pie, pie!”
I was smart this year and made two. Turns out baby Hannah liked chocolate cream pie too, because I’d had to eat a slice of it with my breakfast.
Andy stood and held his hands out to Jake and Alex. “Hey, come with me, we brought you pressies from En Zed.” The boys each grabbed a hand, and he led them away.
When the three of them came back into the kitchen, the boys were dressed from head to toe in All Blacks gear. They were wearing All Blacks hats, scarves, pullover hoodies, and black Adidas track pants with stripes down the legs. They were each carrying a rugby ball too.
Andy had even put his hoody on to match them. Yep, I need a picture of this.
I pulled out my cell and situated them on the couch, Andy in the middle, and a nephew on each knee. The three of them had big toothy grins on their faces when I snapped the picture.
A-freaking-dorable. “This picture is definitely going in a frame on the wall.” I showed the picture to them.
For Thanksgiving dinner, we decided to go completely traditional, and make turkey and all the fixings. We would always sneak some tamales or some other Mexican dish in, but this year Noah and Jess wouldn’t be here, and neither would Adam and Angie. Jeremy was here alone, as usual, but he and Andy got along well, so they played poker and talked about cars.
Mya started crying from the other room a while later. She had been asleep since before our arrival. Heather started to get up, but Andy beat her to it.
“Can I get her, Heather?” he asked eagerly.
Heather smiled up at him as she sat back against the couch to relax. “She’s all yours, Andy. Go get some practice for when your little girl arrives.”
After Andy left the room to get Mya, I looked over to Heather. “Don’t be shocked if she comes out wearing All Blacks footy pajamas.” I knew he’d bought her some, and sure enough, Andy came out carrying a happy Mya in her All Blacks outfit. Everyone said how adorable she looked, so I took a picture of Andy and Mya together for our album.
Mya giggled and attempted to kiss Andy on the cheek, but she ended up licking him instead. When her tongue touched the stubble on his face, her little mouth puckered up like she had tasted a lemon.
Yep, I took a picture of that too. It was so cute.
He sat holding Mya on his lap until she got fussy and needed to be fed. He handed her off to Heather and then patted his lap, so I took Mya’s place on it. I sat carefully, so I didn’t squish him. I hadn’t gained that much weight, but my belly was sticking out quite a ways.
Thankfully, I was all belly so far. I’d finally gone up a bra size
too, although I didn’t mind that part. I would eventually, when they were too big, but for now I was happy with an actual C-cup without padding.
“Hey,” he whispered into my ear as I rested my head in the crook of his neck. “Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?”
Yes, my heart just melted in to a puddle of mush. I hugged his neck with one arm and kissed his cheek.
“You tell me every day, but I’m glad you decided to tell me again right now,” I said quietly. “I’m feeling a little . . . round.”
Andy wrapped one arm around my back, resting his big hand on my hip and rested his other hand on our daughter. He took a deep breath and let it out. “I can’t believe it’s been a year.”
Unsure of what he meant, I asked. “A year for what?”
He smiled. “Since I took the job at your dad’s shop. We’ve known each other a year.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the way everything had turned out for us.
“And look where we are now,” I joked pointing to my belly. “Married with a baby on the way. Who would’ve thought?”
Definitely not me, that’s for sure.
He squeezed me a bit tighter. “I’m so happy, Zoey.”
I squeezed him back, nestled in a little closer, and closed my eyes. “Me too, baby . . . me too. I love you so much.” I sat snuggled up on my man’s lap, wrapped in his warm arms, in complete bliss.
The next thing I knew, he was waking me up, and I was on the bed in my old bedroom. He must have picked me up and carried me in here after I fell asleep on his lap in the living room. He was always very gentle when he needed to wake me up, which was getting to be more frequently as tired as I was all the time. I would wake to him rubbing my back, or running his fingers through my hair.
Lately though, when Andy woke me up, I’d want to jump his bones. This was one of those times.
It wasn’t my fault really. He was on the bed, pressed up behind me, and gently running his fingertips up and down my arm.
“Dinner is in thirty minutes. Your mum wanted me to start waking you up now,” he said softly, as he kneaded my shoulder and the back of my neck.
“Is the door locked?” I asked quietly, unsure that the door was even closed, let alone locked. I’d have to roll over to check it, and I wasn’t gonna move.