I drew in a deep breath to compose myself, so that I wouldn’t climb on the counter and rip all his clothes off. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t here to have sex with Isaac. I was here to talk to him as a mature adult. I would ignore the tingling feeling between my legs by distracting myself. Think of flowers, nuns…garbage, anything! But try as I might, I could not deny that I was horny as hell and wanted Isaac to fuck me really, really hard!
It was definitely my own hormones and not the babies’ fault this time. I was in so much trouble.
27
Isaac
I watched as Greta took a bite of the chicken, desperately praying that she would love it. After all, I had gone to extreme lengths to ensure that dinner was a success. But she was the judge of that.
I raised an expectant eyebrow as she chewed slowly. Her shoulders eased and she looked at me.
“Oh my God,” she sighed. “This is amazing, and I’m not saying that because I am ravenous. It’s so delicious.”
“You do not know how relieved I am to hear you say that!” I smiled with relief. “It was really important to me that you like the food.”
“I do. All this food is just incredible,” she exclaimed.
I was really relieved now. I had set the dinner table just for the two of us, with candles, grape juice because Greta couldn’t have wine, and a flower arrangement in the center. In the candlelight, Greta looked even more beautiful, with the light highlighting her beautiful face and making her eyes sparkle. We ate in silence for a few minutes, until I thought I’d explode from the anticipation.
“I am so glad that you called today,” I told her. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I hate not hearing from you. I know that if anything bad happened, you would let me know. But it was just a terrible week for me to be without you.”
She pursed her lips and lowered her gaze, making me feel as though I had said something wrong.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, it’s fine, Isaac. We need to be honest with each other. That’s why I wanted to see you and talk to you. We need to talk honestly about some things. There’s so much I want to tell you that I might just be here all night. That’s how long the list of things I need to get off my chest is.”
“Then tell me,” I said. “Tell me everything and ask me anything you want to know. Now is the time to be honest.”
She drew in a deep breath, wiping the corners of her mouth with the napkin. “First, what is going to happen after the babies are born?”
“I’ve already been making preparations. I’m trying to be as prepared as I can be.”
“Are you arranging for childcare? Newborns need a lot of attention. They totally depend on you.”
“I know. I’m taking time off of work to look after them,” I reassured her.
“By yourself?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. I’m their father.”
Greta cleared her throat. “Aren’t you worried about work, considering that the board is making it tough for you? What is their problem anyway?”
Now was the time to come completely clean with Greta. “They found my uncle’s new will, which had been misfiled, apparently. I still find that hard to believe.”
“His new will?”
“Yes. It has a clause that if I didn’t produce an heir by the coming February, I would lose all control of the company.”
Her shoulders straightened and she stared at me in shock. “So, this was the real reason? You wanted me to help you have a baby so that you’d stay in control of your uncle’s company when he gave you an ultimatum? To have a baby, an heir, before you turn thirty? Oh my God!”
“I know. I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
“I’m not upset with you, Isaac. I’m actually upset with your uncle.”
“What?” I asked, dumbfounded. Had I underestimated Greta by expecting her to freak out after hearing the truth? Instead, here she was, telling me that she was pissed off at Uncle Anthony for forcing me to have a child.
She rose to her feet and said, “That is the most selfish thing I have heard in my entire life. How can he expect you to…” she motioned to me. “To have a kid when you don’t even have time to date?”
I stood up as well and held out my hands. “Greta, it’s okay. It’s done. You don’t have to get upset.”
“I know, but it’s unfair, you know. Look, I know you’re going to be a great dad, there’s no doubt in my mind. I just wish that your uncle would have given you some choice in the matter. Like, find someone you love, get married, and then have a baby. These days, most people prefer to start their own business or build their careers, starting families later. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said as I approached her, taking her hands.
“I’m sorry. I’m just a little emotional again. My feelings are all over the place.”
I brushed a lock of hair from her face. “You don’t have to apologize. I’ve got this figured out.”
“You do?” she asked.
“I’ve been working toward liquifying some of my assets, and quietly buying up stock to gain a majority hold, without alerting anyone of it. This way, I can finally drive the board members out,” I explained, holding her hands. “My ultimate goal is to own one hundred percent of Destiny Developments, just like my uncle did when he had started the company.”
“Won’t it be difficult to do both? Raising the twins while defending your empire?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “It would be nice to have help, you know. To have a partner to go through this.”
Greta looked at me and I had to stop myself from saying what I actually wanted to say. I didn’t want to scare her by telling her that the person I really wanted to have beside me was her. That I loved her, and hoped that she loved me back. But I couldn’t do that.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said softly.
“Okay,” I said, feeling breathless all of a sudden. Was she going to tell me what I was hoping for?
“I’ve been having a hard time accepting the fact that when the babies are born, they won’t be coming home with me. That I won’t be able to see them, or hold them, or rock them to sleep. I know that the contract makes it clear that I am just the surrogate, nothing more. I was okay with that, up until the day when I felt them move. Then shit became very real, very fast. And that’s why, I want to run something by you,” she said, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Greta—”
“No,” she held out her hand, stopping me from talking further. “I need to get this out. Please.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “What do you want to run by me? I am willing to renegotiate the terms.”
Hearing this, Greta let out a sigh of relief and nodded gratefully, clasping her hands together. “I read about postpartum depression in that book you’d given me. I also read about surrogate experiences, and even about women who had lost their babies at birth, and those stories are so scary. I don’t want to imagine how I’ll feel if you leave with those babies. I don’t think I’d be able to cope at all, especially not with my emotional state being as screwed up as it is.”
I nodded. “So, what exactly are you proposing?”
“I’m not proposing anything, I just want you to maybe, consider the possibility of me staying here with the babies for a few weeks. Just to feed them and spend a little time with them before….”
Her eyes welled up and she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even be asking this of you. It’s not fair. You don’t have to say yes. In fact, you can refuse. I just wanted to—”
“Greta, stop. Please.”
She looked at me, tear stains on her cheeks and I reached for her hand.
I wanted to tell her that she could stay in my house for as long as she wanted and that I didn’t want her to leave ever. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, that I had never stopped loving her. I wanted to tell her t
hat I wanted her to be in my life and the babies’ lives. But before that, I wanted to show her what I had been up to the past week. While she had been figuring herself out this past week, I was doing something to keep my mind off her and figure out what I really wanted.
“I have to show you something,” I said.
She looked at me expectantly. I took hold of her hand and led her up the staircase, down the hallway, to the door right next to my bedroom.
“What is it?” she asked.
I opened the door and asked her to enter the room. The room was completely dark, and I switched on the special light switch that I had installed in here. The lights on either side of the room flickered like candles, lighting up the room and creating a warm ambiance. Against the wall, standing four feet apart, where two sleigh cribs, decorated with mint and light gray-colored bedding. Because we didn’t know the genders of the babies yet, I didn’t want to go wild with themes or colors.
Greta stood perfectly still, and I glanced at her expectantly. “Do you like it?”
“You did all this?” she asked.
I nodded. She looked at me for a moment, then turned back to the room and walked to the cribs. Her hands skimmed over the smooth wood.
“Greta?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
She glanced at me over her shoulder and nodded, giving me a look that I recognized.
Her face expressed her feelings perfectly – she was both grateful and sad.
28
Greta
I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The whole room had been converted into a nursery. The two cribs stood side-by-side, separated by a window. Twin mobiles hung from the ceiling, swaying slowly. The bedding was soft and the colors he’d chosen – mint and light gray – were perfect. To the side, there was a large changing table, with a soft cover in the same colors, and a shelf full of stuffed animals. The walls had been painted in panels, in alternating colors, and separated by very fine black lines. This was unusual for a nursery, but it looked incredibly pretty.
I turned to the built-in closet to my right and slowly walked toward it. I opened it and couldn’t believe what I saw. The entire closet was kitted out with baby clothes, ranging from clothes for newborns, all the way to those for one-year-olds, all in neutral colors.
I bit my lips as my emotions bubbled to the surface. I turned to him. “You did all this?”
“I did.”
“When did you get the time to do everything?”
“After I dropped you at your apartment, I took a few days off from work. Also, I needed to get my head straight, and when I was sitting at home, I got this idea. I wanted everything to be perfect and ready for when the babies came home,” he explained, looking adorable all the while. “I made everything neutral-colored since I don’t know the genders yet. When I do, I can go shopping again.”
Still in shock that he had done all this by himself, a sudden and unexpected feeling of sadness overcame me. Tears spilled from my eyes, pouring down my cheeks before I could stop myself.
“Hey, it’s okay.” He put his arms around me and pulled me close to him, and I bawled in his arms.
For once, Isaac was wrong. It wasn’t going to be okay. Not by a long shot. I wanted all this too. I wanted the nursery to be for both of us, in our own home, not his home, where he would look after the babies by himself. I wanted to be the one who helped him, who woke up in the early hours of the morning to feed and soothe the babies. I wanted to walk into the nursery and see Isaac sleeping on the reclining chair after having fed the babies and put them to sleep. I wanted to be here when they slept through for the first time. I wanted to be the one beside him.
I could blame my hormones for the emotions, but the truth was that I felt robbed of this experience. What he’d done was absolutely amazing and heartwarming, preparing the house for the babies.
But what about me?
I wanted Isaac to love me. I wanted to have our babies, and be in his life, in their lives. Be by his side, in this nursery, nursing our children, raising them to be people we would be proud of. But my sobs got louder and I felt breathless. My chest tightened and I wheezed.
“Are you okay?” Isaac asked as he released me from the hug.
I shook my head. “I can’t breathe,” I gasped.
His eyes widened, and he quickly scooped me up in his arms. He rushed out of the room holding me. Walking to the room next door, he gently laid me down on the bed and switched on the air conditioner. In an instant, cold air filled the room, and I curled up into a ball.
He sat down beside me, his hand resting on my side. Not my stomach, as I had expected him to, protective of the babies. No, he was concerned about me.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped and buried my face in his pillow. It smelled of him. Spiraling in my thoughts, I got sad knowing that I’d never sleep in this bed. Never fall asleep beside him and wake up in his arms the next day. I sobbed harder and Isaac stroked my arm.
“There is nothing to be sorry about,” he whispered. “I’m sorry if I upset you by showing you the nursery. I thought you’d be happy seeing how much I’d prepared.”
My tears would not stop. I was pretty sure that Isaac was freaking out, not knowing what to do or how to console me. However, to my surprise, I felt him get up and move. But he lay down beside me, stroking my arm and whispering that everything will be okay. The tenderness and softness in his voice began to calm me. However, I was still upset because I knew that this wouldn’t last.
“Greta, please talk to me,” he whispered. “I know that you’re upset and I know why.”
I frowned and turned over to face him. “You do?”
“Of course,” he whispered, and brushed a lock of hair from my face. “I know you better than you think I do. It’s a little insulting, to say the least, but I won’t hold it against you.”
I stared into his eyes and felt myself drowning in those green pools, filled with longing and sadness.
“I don’t want you to feel that you are being left out. I want you to be a part of their lives too because you’re more than just a surrogate to me, Greta,” he told me, his hand slowly caressing my skin. My body temperature started to soar and my heart pounded in my chest.
“I want you to stay here after the babies are born because I don’t want you to feel like you don’t matter to me. You do. You matter a lot.”
A small smile formed on my lips. “You matter to me too. More than I could ever explain.”
The corners of his mouth curled up and he leaned in, kissing my lips tenderly. I closed my eyes and felt myself melting into him as he wrapped his arms around me. I couldn’t explain the sense of contentment that I felt in that moment. This was where I wanted to be. In his arms, feeling safe.
For the first time in my life, I truly know what it felt like to finally come home. Isaac’s hands set my skin on fire and we kissed each other with longing. I reveled in the familiarity of his scent. His hands moved down to my hips and slipped under my t-shirt. I gasped as a smile formed on his lips.
“You feel so good,” he murmured. “I want to taste you.”
I threw my head back against the pillows as Isaac moved down. He slowly pulled off my jeans, kissing my bare skin. I glanced down at him, hooking his fingers on my underwear and pulling it down. I inhaled slowly as his lips trailed up my legs, gently spreading them apart. I closed my eyes, relishing in the intense feelings running amok inside me.
Isaac’s breath warmed the soft skin of my inner thigh, making me shiver. I waited with bated breath for the moment. He pressed his lips gently on my skin and I let out a satisfied sigh, finally exhaling. His tongue licked my pussy before he started to suck on my clit and I cried out in pleasure. My back arched as I grabbed the headboard, the passion washing over me.
“Oh my God,” I panted as he put his tongue inside me, sliding in and out with ease. I released the sheets, pushed myself up onto my elbows, and stared at his head, between my legs. His green eyes sparkled and he raised an intr
igued eyebrow. He moved away and bit his lower lip.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Yes, a big one,” I panted.
He pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed, still between my legs, and I grabbed his shirt. “Get this off,” I said and gripped the front of his sweatpants, “And this too. It’s getting in the way.”
He cocked his head, mischief lighting up his eyes. “Then take it off.”
I bit my lip and urgently removed his shirt, throwing it across the room. Pushing him back against the bed, I slid his sweatpants down, releasing his hard cock. Pouting, I bent down to suck his tip and he groaned. As I sucked on his cock, I moaned along with him, the passion increasing even further.
When he was rock hard, I moved back, and repositioned myself on top of him, his cock sliding into my wet pussy. He gripped my hips, guiding me as I straddled him, moaning with every thrust, and regained control. He moved his hands away from my hip, and started stroking my clit with his thumb, forcing me to climax sooner than I had anticipated.
All my muscles contracted as I felt Isaac’s pelvis move underneath me. He reached for my breasts and bit my nipples gently, driving me mad with pleasure. Within seconds, I felt the orgasm escape me and Isaac came inside me. A loud groan escaped his throat as I leaned in and kissed him, his arms wrapped around me, holding me in place.
I leaned back to rest my head on his pillow, and he followed suit. I rested my head on his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart in my ear.
“I love it when you do that,” he said and I raised my face to look at him. He reached for my face and brushed the locks of stray hair away.
“Do what?”
“When you climax at the same time as I do.”
I felt my cheeks flush and I lowered my gaze. “I should go.”
“No.”
“No?” I asked with a frown.
“Stay, please,” he said, his eyes pleading. “Stay with me.”
“Are you sure?” I whispered, as I sat up and placed my hand on his chest.
Twins for Brother's Best Friend Page 18