by Ash, Nikki
“Perfect! Go pick out a couple of stuffed animals and we will be there in two minutes to watch it.” She nods excitedly and runs back out. I peek my head out again to make sure she goes into her room. Once I see she’s in her room, I step back into the office.
Cooper looks and me, giving me a small, sad smile. “You are the strongest woman I know. You are raising a beautiful, sweet little girl. Thank you for taking such good care of her. But I am here now. Please give me the chance to take care of you.”
“I want to, Cooper. I want to so badly. But you’re the one who told me several times you don’t want to be a father or a husband. I know I owe it to you to let you get to know Bella but I am scared for her and for me. I don’t know if I can handle you breaking my heart, again. What if you wake up one day and decide you don’t really want a family after all? Then what? What would I say to Bella? How would I explain to her that her daddy doesn’t want her? You heard her. She has been on this daddy kick for weeks. She hears at school from all the kids who have a daddy. In her movies and shows there’s a mommy and daddy, or in many cases like the Disney movies, there’s only a dad and no mom. She wants one so badly. What if I tell her you are her daddy and then you change your mind? You will devastate her. And I will be left to pick up the pieces.”
I wipe away a traitor tear and Cooper frowns. “Baby girl, I know my words don’t hold any weight and I know I have confused the shit out of you with everything I’ve said. But I promise you, I am not going anywhere. The fact is, you don’t owe me anything but please just give me a chance to prove I am in this for the long haul, with you and Bella.”
It suddenly occurs to me that he isn’t playing a game. He isn’t keeping points and it doesn’t do any good for me to play games. Bella deserves for us to try. We deserve for us to try. This is what I wanted for so long and I would always regret it, if I don’t give us a shot. Sure, there’s a chance Bella and I can end up hurt but I want so badly for the other option, the one where we end up together as a family.
So, I give in and say, “Ok, one more chance Cooper. We will see how good of a fighter you really are.”
Cooper leans forward, and grabbing my waist, pulls me up into his lap so I am straddling him, one leg on either side of him. “Thank you, baby,” he whispers. Then he kisses me like I just told him he has won the lottery, his lips attacking mine. His hands rubbing all over my body, up my arms, over my breasts, down my back. I can feel him getting excited between my legs.
Instinctively I grind against his hardness while lacing my fingers into his hair that’s just long enough to grab ahold of. We continue to kiss and his fingers tweak my nipples over my clothes. I need him. I need his body on mine without any clothes, and then suddenly I am flying through the air, my butt hitting the couch. What the heck?
I look at him like he has damn near lost his mind but he shakes his head quickly looking towards the doorway and in the next second in walks Bella. Holy. Shit. What kind of mother forgets her daughter is in the other damn room while trying to get laid?
“C’mon! Movie time!” Bella bounces up and down then grabs one of my hands to pull me up.
Cooper starts to chuckle guessing what’s going on in my head. He leans over and whispers, “Tonight, baby girl. You are all mine tonight.” And with that my panties dampen.
Damn this man and his way with words.
Fifteen
Cooper
After Bella determines her bed isn’t big enough for all of us, we get situated in the living room, instead, to watch some movie called Frozen as Bella explains why she wants to watch this movie even though it came out a long time ago. It is so hard to keep a straight face listening to my four-year-old explain why it’s ok to watch an old movie even though she has lots of new movies.
“It’s not that I don’t want to watch Dolphin Tale. It’s still my favoritest ever. It’s just that I love Anna and Elsa and I want to be Elsa for Halloween. I can’t be a dolphin for Halloween because that would be so silly!” She says all this as she explodes into a fit of giggles at her own comment. I have no idea what she is talking about but she is the cutest damn thing.
Liz obviously understands completely as they go back and forth about her Halloween Costume.
“Mom, it’s so important to get my costume now. If I wait too long and they are out of Elsa I will die.” Holy shit. Apparently, costume shopping is a life or death situation to a kid.
“Bella, why don’t you wait to decide what you want to be for Halloween? We still have six weeks and you might change your mind.”
Bella huffs, clearly not happy with her mother’s answer but chooses not to argue either. Oh man, I haven’t lived with a woman in years, and now I am living with two. This should be interesting.
After popping some popcorn and ordering a pizza, we all get comfortable. Liz is snuggled up to me with her head resting just under my chin and Bella is spread out lying on pillows from the couches across the floor. She looks so adorable lying on her belly with her hands under her chin. I should probably be focusing on the movie but I can’t help watching my girls. My girls. I had no idea I even wanted any of this and now, sitting here with them, my heart feels so full.
The pizza arrives and we eat in front of the television still watching the movie. Bella gets up every time a song comes on and dances across the room belting out all of the words. She has an awesome personality. When the guy kisses the girl, Bella looks back and gives her mom and I a knowing look. I laugh softly at that and give Liz a kiss on her forehead. She looks up at me and smiles contently.
The movie ends and Liz announces to Bella it’s time for bed. She groans and begs for ten more minutes but Liz isn’t having it. I wonder if she is thinking about what I mentioned earlier.
Bella says, “Fine.” Then stomps up the stairs to her room, Liz following behind her. I’m not sure what my role in all this is, since we still haven’t told her I am her dad, so I hang back and wait to see what Liz wants me to do. A few minutes later I hear Bella scream my name from upstairs and I head up there to make sure everything is ok.
“Hey princess, you ok?” I ask as I walk into her room. She is wearing one of the nightgowns I picked out. It’s pink with ruffles and has a picture of a princess on the front. She is rummaging through her bag, until she finds what she is looking for.
“A-ha! Got it. I found my favorite book. Will you read it to me?” She hands me the book and climbs up into bed.
I look at Liz to make sure it’s ok and she nods her head that it is. I walk over to the bed unsure of where to sit when Bella looks up at me smiling and pats her hand on the bed next to her. Damn, this little girl has officially stolen my heart.
Sitting awkwardly on the bed next to her, I read the title. “The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.” I open to the first page and begin reading. At first, Bella is sitting up, her body not touching mine but eventually she snuggles up next to me to see the pictures while I continue to read. The pages and images are in black and white but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying this book. Several times I hear her recite the words along with me. I don’t think she can read yet but she must have heard this book so many times she has the words memorized.
About fifteen minutes later I hear a light snore and look down to find her fast asleep. I look over at Liz smiling. “She sounds just like you the nights we spent together five years ago. You snore the same.”
She narrows her eyes at me, clearly not taking my comment as a compliment. I laugh as I set the book down and gently move Bella’s head off my side, slowly moving off the bed.
Liz turns the light off, the night-light spreading a soft glow over the room. She leans down and kisses Bella on her head then we both head towards our room.
Once inside, I jump in the shower, definitely not expecting her to join, so I am pleasantly surprised when I see her enter the bathroom right after me.
* * *
Liz
I swear my ovaries just about burst watching Cooper read our daughter Th
e Giving Tree. After she falls asleep and we head to our room. He goes right to the bathroom and a few minutes later, I hear the water turn on. Flashbacks of our first time at the resort in Miami, up against the shower wall come to the surface, sending shivers down my spine.
I don’t know what has come over me, but without even thinking, I brazenly enter the bathroom, remove my clothes and join him in the shower. He turns around, his eyes slowly running down my body, assessing me. Feeling suddenly shy, I cast my eyes down only to find his erection growing.
He grabs my hand and tugs me into him, putting us both under the water, his hands coming up to my face. He wipe the wet tendrils of hair out of my eyes and gives me a soft smile. In a thick voice he says, “Baby girl, I want you so bad. If you aren’t ready, you need to tell me now because having you in this shower, naked, and wet, I will not be able to control myself.”
I don’t respond. Instead, I squat down so that I am right in front of his hard erection, looking up at him and seeing his chest rising and falling with deep breaths. I love that I haven’t even touched him, yet he is already completely turned on. He doesn’t say anything, so I take his dick in my hand and start stroking it from the root to tip. It is thick with a few veins popping out as it points straight at me, only centimeters from my mouth. I can’t be this close to it and not taste it, so placing my hands on his thighs, I steady myself then take his full length into my mouth until it hits the back of my throat.
“Oh, fuck. Liz, that feels incredible.”
Cooper’s words spur me on as I continue to lick and suck his dick like it’s a lollipop before going deeper and taking more of him. I gaze upwards and see Cooper leaning back against the wall with his fists tightened like he is trying to control himself. I don’t want him controlled. I want him to let go.
Steadying myself by putting my hands on his thighs, my head bobs up and down sucking his dick forcefully, swirling my tongue around the head every time my head comes up. This seems does him in, and a few seconds later, his legs are trembling and he is warning me he is about to come. I don’t stop; I want to taste him. I want him to come undone because of me.
If I am honest with myself, remembering all those girls shouting his name at the UFC fight makes me feel like I need to remind him why he wants me and not them.
A few seconds later, his dick swells and he lets out a loud grunt. Then he is coming down my throat. I can taste his seed on my tongue before it coats the back of my throat. I take it all until he finishes and I feel him starting to go soft in my mouth. His lips lazily stretch into a smile as he looks at me with awe and maybe something else. Could it be love? No, he’s just received good head, that’s all it is. But I can’t deny that it makes me happy that I am the one to put that look on his face.
We finish showering and make our way back into the bedroom to get dressed in comfortable silence. Before I can grab my clothes from the luggage, Cooper pulls me against him, my back to his front. Every time he touches me, I swear my body comes alive.
I look up and can see him in the dresser mirror staring at me with lust filled eyes. Taking both of my breasts in his hands, he begins to massage them. I should be embarrassed that we are both watching him touch me like this but I’m not. Instead, I simply feel wanted… and seriously turned on. I squeeze my thighs together, failing to quell the ache, needing more.
He continues to palm my breast with one hand but moves the other hand straight down to my sex. Thank god!
“Spread your legs, baby,” he murmurs and I do. His hand moves down to the apex of my thighs and separates my pussy lips with his two fingers, inserting one finger deep into me. Simultaneously, he leans down and starts planting kisses along my neck, trailing his way up to the sensitive spot below my ear. He moves his lips up to my ear and gently bites down on my lobe causing my body to shudder and tighten. It feels like sensory overload.
“Oh, my god, Cooper. Please.” I can see him, through his reflection in the mirror, silently laughing at my neediness but my body is wound too tight to focus on anything but him giving me an orgasm.
“Please what, baby girl? What do you need?”
“I need you. Now. More. Now.” I know I am not making any sense but surely, he gets the damn point.
Of course, his ass laughs at my incoherence but at least while he is laughing at me, he obeys by sticking another digit into me. He stops palming my breast and instead begins to tweak the nipple between his fingers. My head goes back against his chest, my eyes closing, as the pleasure from his fingers and mouth shoot straight to my core causing me to moan embarrassingly loud.
And then the feeling stops. My eyes fly open in time to see Cooper walk around to face me until he’s sandwiched between me and the dresser. Before I can ask what the heck he’s doing, he places my hands against the dresser on either side of him then gets down on his knees. I have no idea where he is going with this but I’ll trust he knows.
With him no long standing in front of me, I see my reflection in the mirror. My hair is a mess and my cheeks are a light pink from being worked up and turned on. I look crazy but at the same time, happy, carefree.
I feel something soft and wet on my clit causing me to jump slightly. Looking down, I have a bird’s eye view of Cooper’s tongue lapping at my pussy. Holy. Shit. That feels good. He taps my thigh to open them then puts two fingers back inside me while he gives my clit plenty of attention. Hot damn, this guy is an amazing multitasker.
While fucking me with his fingers, his mouth is feasting on my pussy. At first, he licks his way up my slit then he sucks on my clit before he bits down on it, only to lick away the pain. I can hear the slurping sound coming from my pussy while he drinks up all my juices. I can’t stop watching him. I have never witnessed something so intimate and erotic in my life.
He continues to suck and lick while fingering me deep. His fingers start to hit that spot, the one that I know will have me coming in no time. Then his tongue hits my clit in just the right way and I know I am about to experience the biggest orgasm to date.
He takes his mouth off of me for just long enough to say, “Look in the mirror. Watch yourself as you come all over my tongue and fingers.” And then his mouth is back on my clit. My body, wound up too tight, begins to spasm and shake, as waves of pleasure course through my body as I ride out my orgasm. His tongue and fingers never stop until I have completely come down from what I can only imagine heaven on earth feels like.
“Damn, baby, that was fucking hot, the way you just came all over my tongue. You taste damn good.” He stands up and licks his fingers clean, leaving me wanting him all over again.
We both clean up in the bathroom then get dressed. As much as I want to lay naked with him, I can’t chance our four-year old running in here in the middle of the night or in the morning, and seeing us without clothes on. He flicks the light off on the nightstand and spoons me from the back.
No words are spoken for a few minutes so I assume he has fallen asleep, when he says, “I want Bella to know I am her dad, Liz.”
I know it’s only been a few hours but I’m all in. Watching him tonight with her, I can’t deny him this chance. All I can do is hope and pray he doesn’t break either of our hearts.
“I know, Coop. We will tell her tomorrow. I promise.”
I can feel him relax into me as we both let sleep overtake us.
Sixteen
Cooper
I wake up to the smell of vanilla and it makes me smile. I look down and my beautiful girl is next to me, wrapped up in our blankets, and laugh at the fact that she is still a sheet-hogger. I don’t know how I got this lucky to be given this second chance but I am going to do everything in my power to make sure Liz never regrets it. I start to stretch and remember today is Sunday which is my day off from training. I am hoping we can tell Bella about me being her dad and do something as a family. What do families do?
Not knowing the answer to that simple question reminds me of the fact that my parents never did any family stuff. My
dad was either traveling for fights or at the gym training. My mom was always home with me but we didn’t really go anywhere as a family. She always seemed upset my dad was gone. Eventually she would leave me with a sitter and go out by herself.
And those thoughts start to make me panic. I am home right now but soon I am going to have to be away from home training long hours. I will have to start traveling again to promote the upcoming title fight. There will be press releases and conferences and then the fight itself. Bella is in school so Liz will have to stay home. Will she regret giving me this chance? Will she turn to someone else who can give her more attention? I feel my anxiety rising, my chest tightening at the image of another man comforting Liz. I need to calm myself down. Liz is not my mom and I am not my dad. We will get through this.
“Mommy, Cooper, can I come in?”
Lifting my head up, I see my little princess poking her head around the corner. I look back at Liz and she’s still sleeping, so I place my fingers over my lips so Bella doesn’t wake her mom up.
Carefully, I get out of bed, making sure not to jostle Liz. Then, taking Bella’s small little hand, I give her a smile and whisper, “Why don’t we make your mom breakfast in bed?”
She lights up at the idea and starts skipping down the hallway pulling me along.
“Yes, please! Can we make chocolate chip pancakes? Oh! And bacon? And can we make cupcakes and cookies, too. Mommy loves all that.”
“Bella, you sure it’s your mom who loves cupcakes and cookies for breakfast?” I ask, chuckling The fact my daughter is already trying to get one over on me has me grinning like a Cheshire cat. This girl already has me wrapped around her cute little finger and I am absolutely ok with that.
“Ok, maybe it’s me that likes all that stuff but I bet my mom would eat it all. She likes junk food, too. Her and Auntie Kay always buy it and say junk food makes every woman happy.”