by Jamie Knight
“You know you’ve ruined everything we had, right?” I ask her. “Our relationship. Our living arrangements. Our work arrangements.”
“I know,” she says. “And I’m not asking for them back. I don’t want the money. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to apologize and explain.”
Well, I guess that’s the least she could do.
I open the door all the way and say, “Come in, I guess. But I don’t have long.”
“Thank you!” she says.
Then, we sit down on the couch, with Carrie in between us, resting a paw on each of our legs as if she wants us to make up and come back together again. And Mariah tells me everything. Every little heartbreaking detail about her dad and his plan to marry her off to the creepy Charles guy, and how even after she did what he thought she couldn’t do, he still wouldn’t honor the deal.
She’s told me some of this before, of course – about her bad relationship with her dad, and about the fight they had had – but this is the first time she fills me in on the parts that explain how and why she came to work at my office. No wonder she’s such a good realtor. She was trained to do this her whole life, and he’s a fool not to let her. How sexist – to give his company to a near stranger rather than his daughter, just because he’s a guy.
I try hard to stay mad at her, because it’s all rather fucked up. But I also realize it must have been tremendously hard to grow up in the shadow of that kind of father, and to do whatever you think is necessary to try to impress him. I had that same kind of issue with my own father, and I know what that pressure can make people do.
“I really wasn’t using you just to sell the house or anything like that,” Mariah says, her lip quivering. “I was very glad for all the opportunity you gave me. I even imagined us working together in the future, instead of me having to grovel to my dad. And I really was- I really am in love with you.”
She puts a hand over her mouth, as if she hadn’t meant to say that last part. Neither of us had ever said it. I love you.
I’ve felt it, and I have felt that she’s felt it, too. But after all those talks of how we shouldn’t be together, and how we had to make sure our relationship remains a secret, I guess both of us were afraid to open up and admit it.
“I’m in love with you, too,” I confess.
In a split second, she’s leaned over Carrie and wrapped her arms around me. I hug her back, deciding that if I’m being a fool, then I’ll be a fool all the way, until the bitter end. But, I don’t think I’m being a fool. I’ve always known that there was something between us, and now I know it’s even bigger than I thought.
“There’s one other thing I have to tell you,” she says, and takes a deep breath.
What else could there possibly be?
“This part is really crazy, and I know it might really hurt us professionally, but someone who has become a friend to me has told me that honesty is always the best policy, so I figure I should just come out with it, and that I shouldn’t have ever even kept it from you.”
Suddenly, I know what she’s going to tell me. It has to do with how she got sick at her celebratory office party. And why she didn’t want even a sip of champagne. And it explains the missing piece of the puzzle – why she ran away and didn’t come into the office until it was time for the closing, plus, the reason she thought she had to quit.
“You’re pregnant?” I ask her, at the same time she starts to say, “I’m pregnant.”
“How did you know?” she asks, pulling her head back from me a little bit and looking amazed.
I place my hand on her stomach. “It just all seems to fall into place now.”
“It does, does it?” she asks.
“And I want our lives to fall into place, too,” I tell her. “Thank you for coming here to talk to me. I know it wasn’t easy and took some bravery on your part. And I want to promise you that no matter what happens, I’ll be here for you and the baby. I’ll make sure you both have the best life imaginable. I won’t ever make it conditional, with strings attached, like your dad always has. I’ll keep my word to you, and be honest with you, and you do the same for me, okay?”
“Okay,” she says, leaning her head into my chest. I bend down to kiss her, but Carrie gets in the way, squishing her face between us and lapping both of us with her big tongue.
“It looks like someone is very happy about this arrangement,” I say, petting Carrie.
“That makes three of us,” Mariah says.
I place my hand back on her stomach, excited for the baby to grow so I can feel her or him kick. “You mean four.”
Chapter 40
Mariah
“Congratulations!” Matthews says, and everyone else in office joins in with their praises. I had made another sale of a house for over a million dollars, and it’s another office party in my honor.
It’s one month after Wesley told me that he’d give me another chance and that he’d always be here for the baby and me. I was so happy.
And I’ve been on cloud nine ever since. Work has been going great – I’ve been selling houses left and right, and I’ve just made another big sale, which is the reason everyone’s congratulating me.
“Here’s your cake,” the new receptionist, Boyd, says, passing me a piece on a plate, with a fork.
“Thank you,” I reply, winking at him.
He’s much nicer than Kristy, and he doesn’t have to wear skimpy clothes. In fact, no one in the office is encouraged or even allowed to wear them, now that I’ve changed the dress policy. And no one better be hiring any coffee girls.
I take a big bite out of the cake. “Mmm, chocolate, my favorite.”
“And this time you can actually eat it,” Wesley jokes.
“No champagne for you, though,” Boyd says, and I snap my fingers and say, “Awww, man.”
“Don’t worry,” he adds. “I’ve got you covered, with some fake bubbly.”
He pops open a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling apple drink, and pours it into a glass for me.
“Cheers!” he says, and everyone joins in by toasting their own glasses of champagne.
“To another sale for you, and a happy future for us,” Wesley says.
A couple weeks ago, Wesley took me back to Seafarer’s and proposed to me. He had the large diamond ring put into a chocolate cake and he got down on one knee in front of the whole restaurant and asked me to make him the happiest man in the world and be his wife.
Everyone in the restaurant clapped for us and it was definitely the best moment of my life. What a better restaurant experience than the one I had had with my dad and Charles, that set off this whole crazy chain of events.
I couldn’t wait to go tell Sterling and Elle the good news. I’ve stopped working at the diner but I still drop in to see them. Plus, they have amazing potato soup.
“Girl, I knew you and that fancy realtor were meant to be,” Sterling said, as he gave me a congratulatory hug. “I’m glad you took my advice to be honest, too.”
“Hey now,” Elle said, with a wink. “She took my advice to go talk to him before it was too late.”
“Thank you both so much,” I told them. “For everything.”
The next Monday, Wesley and I returned to the office and let everyone know we were together, and engaged. Now that Kristy was gone, no one really cared – and the board members were just happy to hear that it was consensual and that we were getting married.
“There’s more,” Wesley said, with his hand on my stomach. “We’re having a baby.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Boyd said – it was his second week at the office – “if this gets any more perfect I’m just going to puke.”
Now, after we finish the champagne (and fake champagne) and cake, it’s time to set up my new office. This one is bigger and has a better view. I take a moment and look around at the spaciousness, wondering how I should decorate it and make it my own.
It seems like just yesterday I was reluctantly donning a schoolgirl out
fit to serve coffee at the one job I could get. Now, I’m so happy I’ve gotten a promotion in the office – to senior realtor – as well as the promotion I’ve received in real life – to future Mrs. Drive.
My journey here has been fraught with drama but I’m so glad I went through it all. As we move in some furniture, Wesley comes over and gives me a kiss, putting his arm around my waist.
“Are you sure you’re okay to move this?” he asks, pointing at the lightweight bookshelf we just carried in and have been moving around to different places in the office to see where it looks best.
“Honey, I feel fine,” I reassure him with a smile.
“Okay,” he says, “because I don’t want any harm to come to you or our little baby in there.”
I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him, so happy I found him. Marrying Charles just to pretend to get my dad’s company would have been the worst mistake I could have ever made. But going out on my own to seek my own destiny and earn my own fortune has been the best decision ever – not to mention that otherwise I never would have had the opportunity to work at Drive Realty and I never would have met Wesley, nor would I be having his baby.
I guess life works in funny ways sometimes. And all we can do is everything in our power to work with it to try to make things go the best way possible for us.
Chapter 41
Mariah
Five months later, I’m marrying the love of my life. I walk down the aisle to meet him as he stands and waits for me under the altar. My dad isn’t here – I didn’t ask him to be. I haven’t heard a word from him and don’t expect to. But that’s okay because I have Wesley. And we have our business, together.
I’ve been working as a senior realtor and closing so many deals that they’re going to make me a partner soon. I know that one day Wesley and I will own it all – not just as husband and wife, but as equal partners and owners in the business. But I want to earn it the old fashioned way.
Kristy isn’t around to accuse me of anything, but no one can say I slept – or married, or inherited – my way to the top of this company. Everyone has seen me there working late, even sleeping on that couch sometimes out of sheer exhaustion – and closing deals.
Wesley’s mom is among our guests, as his Aunt Shelley of course. She’s ecstatic that we’re getting married, and tells me she always knew we were meant to be, from the first moment she saw me. I’m glad I have such great support from his family, because I don’t really have any from my own. But, I do have friends here, who have become like family. Sterling and Elle wave at me from the front row, beaming at the sight of me in my wedding dress, which was specifically tailored to float right over my baby bump.
Wesley and I had decided to get married before I have the baby, but wait until after the baby arrives and is a bit older to go on our honeymoon. I want to drink some alcoholic beverages on a Caribbean beach, after all.
When I take my place in front of Wesley, I notice that a slight tear is running down his cheek. “You look beautiful, my wife,” he whispers to me.
The pastor starts the ceremony, and when it comes time to say our vows, which we wrote ourselves, neither of us has ever been more honest in our lives.
“I promise to tell you the truth, always,” I tell him. “To not let any secret come between us. To let you into every part of my life.”
“And I promise to stand by your side always,” he says, “To live with you, work with you, parent with you. To respect you, to protect you, and to honor you always.”
We dance with our guests until late into the night. And then later, in our honeymoon suite at the hotel where we had the wedding, he picks me – and my baby bump – up and carries us through the door.
“Look at my strong man, picking me up like that,” I laugh.
“Oh please,” he says. “That was nothing. Plus, I want to ravish you.”
“Ravish me?” I ask him. “Didn’t you just vow to respect me always?”
“I respect your curves,” he says. “And I respect your wet pussy by sliding my cock into it.”
“Is that so?” I ask him, as he struggles to undo the lacy tie on the back of my dress.
He bends me over the bed and takes me from behind, just like I love to feel him do. And now, he can cum in me without us having to worry about anything. He spreads my ass cheeks wide and sticks his finger into my pussy.
“You’re so wet for your husband,” he says, rubbing the slick juices between his fingers.
“I sure am,” I agree.
He spanks my ass, but not too hard – he’s been gentler ever since he’s found out I’m pregnant, although he tells me that after the baby arrives and I’ve had time to heal, he’s going to take my anal virginity just like he took my regular virginity.
He thrusts his cock inside me and says, “What a bad girl you are. Letting me spank you and fuck you.”
“I’m your bad girl,” I tell him. “Your bad wife.”
“And I’m still your boss, for the next couple years or so,” he says, as he thrusts in and out of me. He reaches around to play with my clit while he fucks me. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Yes, sir,” I tell him, as he holds onto my hips and moves me front to back while his cock has his way with my pussy. “Yes, boss.”
When he starts to play with my sensitive nipples, I lose my mind, crying out “Oh, my God, Wesley, I’m cumming,” as I let the wave of a powerful orgasm wash over my entire body.
“Cum for your husband,” he commands me. “For your boss. Cum all over my cock.”
As I’m doing so, I feel his cock pulsing and throbbing as he, too, cums in me. He shoots his load inside me, filling me up with his warm cum.
“Holy shit,” he says, taking his cock out of me and pausing, with an arm on the bed. But with his other hand, he rubs his cock around my pussy and ass, saying, “I left such a cream pie in your pussy. I can’t wait to put one in your ass, after the baby gets here.”
“I can’t wait until you do that either,” I say.
He picks me up and carries me onto the bed, where he wraps his strong arms around me and gives me a kiss goodnight, on our wedding night.
“Good night, my wife. I love you.”
“Good night, my husband. I love you too.”
Epilogue
Wesley
“Holy fuuuuuuuuck!” Mariah yells, as she’s in the throes of labor a few months later.
I feel so bad for her pain and wish I could do something to take it away. I’ve done all our Hypnobirthing exercises with her, I keep bringing her wet washcloths and offering her massages. It seemed to help for the first twenty-four hours or so, but now all she wants is this baby out of her, and I can’t blame her.
“The baby is almost here,” the doctor says, with an excited grin on her face. “Daddy – you can come down here and see her head if you want.”
The word “daddy” hits me like a gust of wind. I still can’t believe I’m about to be a father. Letting go of Mariah’s hand, I go stand next to the doctor and see curly brown hair on the baby’s head.
“There’s hair!” I call out. “Lots of it!”
“There sure is,” the doctor says. “And here comes the rest of the baby. One more push, Mariah, you’re doing great.”
Mariah gasps and breathes deeply before delivering the last one push that brings our baby out into the world.
“Good job, honey!” I shout. “You did it! You did it!”
The doctor pulls the baby out and announces, “It’s a girl.”
I smile, because it’s what I’ve wanted all along. I vow silently to my daughter to be a good father to her – a better father than mine was to me and Mariah’s was to her. I’ll support her in whatever she wants to do, and would happily pass down my real estate company – Mariah’s and my real estate company, I correct myself, since I know that she and I will continue to build a vast fortune together – to her.
I don’t have much time to reflect on my promises, because the doctor lays the ba
by on Mariah’s chest and asks, “Do you want to cut the cord, Daddy?”
“I sure do,” I answer, even though I have to admit to myself so that I’m fucking scared to do anything that could go wrong.
“It’s okay,” the doctor says, as though sensing my fear. “You can’t hurt her.”
She shows me what to do and I do it, without causing any major damage, as far as I can tell. Then I head to where Mariah is holding the baby and join her in mutual admiration.
“She’s so beautiful,” Mariah coos.
“She really is. Hello, adorable.”
The baby had been staring up into Mariah’s eyes, but when she hears my voice, her pretty brown eyes move up to look into mine.
“Yes, hello,” I tell her. “I’m your daddy.”
A nurse who has been in the room takes the baby to clean her and weigh her, and then brings her back to Mariah’s arms and says, “Once she has eaten some, Daddy is welcome to hold her.”
Mariah tries to nurse her for a little bit, cuddling her and encouraging her. It’s slow going, but finally the baby latches on and suckles some.
“Good job,” a nurse says. “She was very determined to get that right.”
“She’s got a lot of determination,” I agree. “Just like her mom.”
Mariah looks up at me and laughs, but it’s a weak one and I can tell she’s getting tired.
“I’m so proud of you,” I tell her. “You did great, Mama.”
“Thanks,” she says.
I know this is an inopportune time to be feeling horny, but I can’t wait until the mandated recovery time period has passed so that I can properly ravish my not-pregnant-anymore wife. I guess I just find her irresistible no matter what else is going on.
I keep my thoughts to myself, though, because I’m sure it’s the last thing Mariah wants to think about right now. But once some time has passed, I’m going to take her on our delayed honeymoon and do all the things we’ve talked about doing with each other that we were waiting until then to do. I can’t wait.