Declare (Declan Reede: The Untold Story #4) (25 page)

I looked at the little bundle again. He seemed so small and fragile, like the slightest breeze would break the bundle of blankets apart.

“If you’re worried, sit down,” Ruby said, smiling widely. “It makes it easier.”

I sat in a vacant armchair in the corner of the room, swallowing nervously. Josh skulked by Ruby, watching intently—as if daring me to make a false move. Once I was seated, Alyssa explained how to hold my arms before placing the baby into them. The bundle felt almost weightless once I was cradling it on my own.

I watched as his little eyes—wide and unfocused—roamed all around the room and his tiny fists clenched and unclenched by his mouth.

“You’re a natural,” Ruby cooed. “Remember that hold for when you have more of your own.”

Alyssa shifted nervously beside me, but I didn’t think Ruby or Josh noticed. I kept my mouth shut. If she hadn’t told them that she didn’t want more kids, I wasn’t going to spill her secret. Instead, I just ignored Ruby’s statement. Luckily, Noah seemed to have impeccable timing and started crying before the silence had become awkward and questions were asked of either Alyssa or me.

Alyssa lifted the baby out of my arms and passed him back to Ruby before we made our excuses to leave. I knew any tentative peace between Josh and me wouldn’t last if I tried to stay while Ruby breastfed.

We had a quiet journey back to the hotel where we went straight to the room that Phoebe shared with Mum. We didn’t even really discuss it, but being around one new little family made us both long to be with our own. We got Phoebe ready before heading out to Southbank and the museums together. It wasn’t exactly how I’d envisaged spending the day after my wedding, but afterward I couldn’t have imagined it any other way.

CHAPTER THIRTY: HONEYMOON

PHOEBE COULDN’T HAVE been more excited with the news about her new little cousin. At least once an hour, while at Southbank, we were asked when we would be going to see little Noah. We wanted to take her to see him, but didn’t want to disturb the other mothers in the maternity ward with an excited toddler. We agreed instead to wait for him to go home—Ruby had already indicated, repeatedly, that she wouldn’t be staying in hospital long.

We stayed one more night in the hotel and when it was time to check out the following morning, we packed up the Monaro and headed back to see Mum in Browns Plains. Once she’d finished her holiday, she’d moved back into our old house, and when we returned from our day out, she discreetly let me know that she had plenty of space if we wanted to stay. I agreed readily because I could easily see that Alyssa wanted to hang around to help Ruby once she got home from the hospital. We had another week before either of us had to be back home for work.

It was surreal entering my old childhood home knowing that someone else had lived there for so many months. All of the furniture was still in place, but the personal touches that had made it our home were still packed away in boxes. I didn’t know whether Mum would actually pull any of it back out or if she would just begin filling the shelves with new memories.

We settled in quickly to my old room, and almost immediately realised the convenience of having a live-in babysitter—a convenience we were sure to take advantage of during our honeymoon. Mum seemed to appreciate the fact that we were newlyweds, declaring within moments of our arrival that she wanted to buy something for Phoebe, not-so-subtly taking Phoebe out for a few hours, leaving Alyssa and me alone.

Alyssa snuggled close beside me on the couch, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. She sighed contentedly as she settled into place.

“It’s been a big week,” she murmured.

I nodded against the top of her head. “But a good one.”

I could feel her grin against my arm. “So, you’re not concerned that Noah’s arrival overshadowed our wedding?”

I laughed. “Are you kidding? It means I’ll never have any problem remembering my nephew’s birthday.”

“Your nephew,” Alyssa breathed. There was so much emotion in those two small words.

“What is it?” I asked, not sure that I understood why she seemed overwhelmed by my choice of words.

She shifted her body weight before climbing onto my lap. “It’s just nice hearing you talk about Noah that way. Even though we were getting married, part of me worried that you might never accept my family again after the hard time they gave you,” she admitted.

“Our family,” I murmured, to ease her concern. I kissed her nose gently to punctuate my point.

“Our family.” She grinned, sliding back onto the couch and settling comfortably back against my side.

We sat in silent awe for a few moments, allowing the enormity of the last few days to overtake us.

Alyssa turned to me. “Are you as curious as I am about the presents we got?”

I chuckled. “God, I thought you’d never ask.”

We spent the next hour slowly opening each item. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as I’d hoped though. In fact, Alyssa suddenly switched to methodical bridezilla mode so fast it was almost comical—except for the fact that I was copping the brunt of a full-frontal assault. Before I even touched the first gift, I was under very strict instruction not to separate the presents from cards, because she needed to make a list of who gave us what so she could write the appropriate thank-you notes.

Near the bottom of the pile, I found a gift from Danny and Hazel. It was an achingly familiar envelope. As I slid it open, my mind was immediately filled with the memory of opening the similar envelope in Danny’s office while being reprimanded for my on- and off-track behaviour at Bathurst the previous year. That one had contained the tickets for the trip that had changed my life forever.

At the thought, I made a note to send Danny an extra thank-you card; he had given me the best gift of all. It was through his interference that Alyssa and Phoebe were back in my life.

As I examined the contents of his present, I realised it really was almost identical to the previous one. The only difference was that this time there were
three
tickets to London—premium economy rather than business—leaving Sydney in late January.

“But I thought you didn’t meet the requirements?” Alyssa asked quietly when she saw what I held in my hands.

I shook my head. “I didn’t.”

“Wow. That’s really generous of him.”

“You’re not wrong,” I murmured, turning the key to Danny’s apartment over in my hand again. I didn’t know why he’d chosen to give me the London trip even though I’d failed to earn it, but I appreciated the gift nonetheless. I grinned unthinkingly as I imagined reliving some of the better parts of that trip.

“What are you thinking about?” Alyssa asked quietly, her voice low and husky, making me wonder if she was having similar thoughts.

“I was just remembering the huge stainless-steel island in the kitchen.” I grinned and met Alyssa’s eyes.

She flushed slightly and looked away, gently biting her lip. “That apartment had a great icemaker,” she murmured.

I was impossibly hard as images of Alyssa writhing beneath me while I tortured her with whiskey and ice sprung to my mind. I adjusted myself quickly, but my movement didn’t escape Alyssa’s keen eye. I slid the key and plane tickets back into the envelope and placed it on top of our little pile of treasures before standing and reaching for Alyssa’s hand.

“What?” she asked.

“I think it’s time for a break.” My hard-on was straining desperately. I needed her.

“And what,
exactly
, did you have in mind for our break?” she asked as I pulled her to her feet and straight into my arms.

“Oh, I think a re-enactment is in order,” I whispered against her cheek as I ran one hand along the front of her body.

She shivered lightly beneath my touch, which I took as a sign that I was good to go. I scooped her up into my arms and carried her to my old bedroom, and then dropped her lightly onto the single bed. I quickly turned and ran into the kitchen, grabbed the ice trays from the freezer, and tipped the contents into a glass. I hunted around the pantry for some whiskey, but came up empty. All I could find was some Baileys, but in the end I decided that would have to do. After all, Alyssa was ready and waiting for me. I poured the Baileys over the ice then carried it to the bedroom.

I started to undress as I walked down the hall, shifting the glass from one hand to the other as I yanked my t-shirt off. After I entered the room, I kicked the door shut behind me. My heart began to pound, and I dropped my shirt in surprise when I took in the sight of Alyssa lying down, waiting for me.

She’d taken the time I was in the kitchen to undress down to her bra and panties. She was stretched out along the bed with her legs crossed at the ankles and her hands tucked up behind her head. It meant that I had a great view of . . . well, of almost every part of her.

The cold glass in my hand was all but forgotten as my mouth went dry in anticipation of kissing her all over. I stepped forward to cross the room to get to her, but in my haste I tripped over my discarded t-shirt. I managed to right myself seconds before I toppled onto my arse, but my momentum carried me—or more specifically, the hand holding the cup full of ice and Baileys—into the end of the bed. Before I could stop it, I was covered from neck to groin in the freezing-cold mixture.

“Motherfucker!” I cried as my nipples puckered instantly, and my dick shrank away in shock.

I looked up at Alyssa, expecting her to be at least a little concerned. Instead, it looked like she was struggling to hold in her laughter—struggling and failing. She was suddenly in a fit of hysterics.

“Are you ’right?” I asked, unable to stop the snark in my voice.

She pressed her lips together and actually managed to stifle her laughter.

“Sorry,” she murmured as she scooted up the bed to get closer to me. “I shouldn’t laugh.” Her hands reached out for me, grabbing my waist and pulling me closer to her. She pressed her mouth against my stomach, and I felt her wet tongue swirl gently against me.

“Mmm,” she hummed. “Baileys?”

I tipped my head back and pushed my hips toward her. “Uh-huh.” I sighed as she continued her ministrations on my stomach.

She ran her tongue from the waistband of my shorts to my abs in one smooth motion.

I moaned with desire as she licked the cool liquid off my body.

She hummed again as her hands came to rest on my waist. She pulled me closer to her, holding me tightly as her mouth moved around my stomach and up to my chest.

I put my arms around her, and my hand tangled into her hair. I pulled her gently upward as I dipped down, desperate to taste the Baileys on her tongue. I held her body closely against mine, and she gasped a little as the liquid soaked into her bra and coated her skin. I pulled back from the kiss and grinned evilly. “Now you’re covered too.”

She gaped at me. “You did that deliberately.”

“Not initially, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up.” I shrugged.

“Ooh, you know that means war, don’t you?”

I laughed. “Bring it.”

She leapt up from the bed, practically jumping onto me.

I caught her easily and she wrapped her legs around me. I held on to her with one arm, using the other to tickle her.

She squirmed against my arms, fighting me roughly to the point where I worried I might drop her.

I wrapped my arms around her tightly and kissed her, distracting her long enough to move back over to the bed. I lowered her most of the way to the mattress, but let her fall the final distance—wanting to see more of that mock-anger burning in her eyes. As soon as I let her go, gaining the desired reaction, I climbed on my hands and knees to hover over her.

She looked up at me indignantly for a second.

“That’s it, buster,” she threatened teasingly. She tried to tickle me, but I twisted away and got her first. We wrestled like that for a few more moments until we were both panting from exertion and sticky from the drying Baileys.

When our eyes met, we had one of those perfect moments. We both smiled at each other before I moved the hair away from her face and lowered myself over her. Our lips brushed over each other’s gently at first, soft and tender, before building to a crescendo.

Then everything but each other was forgotten and all our remaining clothes were shed. We began to move together as only we could. I was intent to lose myself in her, and held her eyes captive to declare it.

AFTER OUR afternoon delight, Alyssa and I showered then started dinner. The rest of the evening flew by as we showed Mum and Phoebe some of the gifts we’d received, including the trip to London.

As soon as we’d read Phoebe a story and tucked her into bed, we headed to bed ourselves. I would have felt guilty that we weren’t spending much time with Mum, but she’d announced that she was going to the movies and would be home late. I knew she was just giving us our space, but I didn’t like thinking about her imagining what I was doing to Alyssa.

“Ruby goes home tomorrow,” Alyssa murmured as we lay in each other’s arms drifting toward sleep.

I hummed, knowing she wanted to say more.

“Maybe we can take Phoebe over there to meet Noah?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” I agreed.

“He really is a cute little baby, isn’t he?”

I shrugged. How could I do anything more? After all, I had no real basis for comparison. He was the first newborn baby I’d ever really seen up close. He was just tiny and pink, not to mention just a little bit wrinkly.

“You don’t think so?” she asked. I felt her head turning to appraise me.

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never been around a baby before.”

I felt her head rest against me while she turned thoughtful. “I forget sometimes.”

“Forget what?”

She sighed. “That you missed out on all those early experiences.”

I was silent. I knew her well enough to know her tone wasn’t accusatory—she wasn’t blaming me for not being there—merely stating the fact. I resisted the urge to apologise again. I knew there had to come a time when we were able to move past it and talk about it without apologies and pain. It was a fact that I hadn’t been there. An inescapable and horribly shitty one, but a fact nonetheless.

“They’re hard work,” she said after a few minutes.

“What are?”

“Babies. They’re a lot of hard work.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I stated.

“They’re worth it though.”

I thought of Phoebe. Even though she was no longer a baby, she was proof that it was worth the hard work. I smiled. “I don’t doubt it.”

We fell back into silence again.

“And you’d want more kids?” she murmured thoughtfully after another couple more minutes had passed. “Even with the hard work?”

I thought before answering. I knew her stance on the issue, and I didn’t want to upset her. “I would love to have another child
with you
. But you don’t want more kids, right? And I can live with that.”