Hide and Seek (19 page)

He leaned in to kiss her lips. "Thank you. Thank you for taking me back. Thank you for forgiving me." He kissed her again. "I love you so much. Are you going to get tired of hearing that?"

"Nope." She kissed him back. "I've waited so long to hear it; you better say it over and over to me, every day."

He held her face in his hands. "That's the way I'm going to make love to you, too. Over and over again, every day."

Maddie grinned and whispered, "You make me wet, just saying those words. It's been a long time."

He kissed her again then smiled. "It's been an awfully long time. I've been miserable. We are never going to be apart again."

"I hope you don't mind staying here tonight," Maddie said as she finished feeding Sam. "I just can't think about packing and moving, yet. All I can think about is wrapping my legs around you."

They chuckled and Maddie said, "You had to ask." She got up, buttoned her blouse and went to the front room to check on Sophie. She came back into the bedroom and told Rob, "Guess who fell asleep?"

"Here you go." Rob offered his son to her quickly, and Maddie laughed. She took Sam to his room and laid him in his crib, and pulled his door mostly shut. She returned to her room and closed the door, then locked it.

Rob was in front of her now, peeling off her blouse and unhooking her bra. He ran his hands over her breasts lightly.

She murmured, "A little sensitive right now."

He nodded and continued to undress her, removing her slacks and panties in one smooth motion. He knelt before her, examining every inch of her body. "You're even more beautiful than I remember." He kissed her stomach, and traced a finger lightly over a line he found there.

"Stretch marks and all." Maddie made a face. "Sorry."

He stood up and laid her gently back on the bed. "Sorry, for what? Having my baby? I'm not." He kissed the faint marks on her stomach and murmured, "I hate how he was conceived, but we'll have to get past that, because I'm very happy he's here."

Maddie pulled Rob's t-shirt over his head and threw it across the room. She tugged at his jeans."I would love to discuss this with you in great detail, but can we do it later, please? Right now, I need you. Make me believe you're really here."

He kicked off his jeans and kissed her. "I'm really here," he murmured, his mouth on hers. "And I'm going to make love to you." Then he swore "Shit! I don't have a rubber." He pulled up and looked at her sheepishly. "I wasn't expecting this."

She grinned at him. "You were carrying an engagement ring in your pocket, but no condoms? You never thought the two might be connected?"

He chuckled. "I've been carrying that ring around since I moved back to Meridan. No nerve to do more than that, I guess. And certainly no need for rubbers."

"No," she answered happily. "But I know I can take care of six kids by myself. Imagine how many I could handle with your help?"

"Oh my God." He grinned, and drew her into his arms.

Maddie looked into Rob's eyes. "I love you. I am so very happy you're here. I feel like a whole person again, all of a sudden."

He pressed his mouth on hers and wrapped his arms around her. They kissed passionately, their tongues going back and forth for a long time as they held each other. Rob finally pulled back gently and smiled at her. "Damn, that's good to hear. Now I wish I hadn't been such a chicken. We could have gotten back together sooner."

Chapter Eight

They dressed and lay on the bed, talking and kissing until Sophie woke up. Maddie got up, unlocked her door and said, "We're in here, Soph." She lay back down, and Sophie climbed in bed between them. "Have a good nap?"

She nodded. "What are you guys doing?"

"Making plans," Rob ran a hand over his daughter's face, brushing her hair back. "Talking about moving Maddie and Sam in with us."

Maddie chuckled. "I'd much rather talk about it than actually do it. We have a lot of stuff between the two of us."

Rob smiled and traced a line of freckles up Maddie's arm with one finger. "Tomorrow we'll take apart the kid's room. We can get all that in one trip. You can pack some bags, whatever you'll need for a few days. I'll talk to Smoky and the other guys. I'm sure they'll come back and help me get the rest. We'll put it all in the garage for now, and sort it out as we have time."

Sophie continued, "Mommy never wants to lie around and do nothing. She always has work to do. Even when we took her on a picnic, she brought papers to work on."

Maddie thought about that, and finally said, "Well, Soph, your mom has an important job. She helps a lot of people, and I'm sure that keeps her busy. I thought about becoming a lawyer once."

"Why didn't you?" Sophie looked at her.

Maddie smiled. "I guess it was because I like to lie around and have lazy days. I don't mind working hard, but I don't want to do it all the time."

"Now she tells me," he muttered good-naturedly, and brought the baby into the bedroom. He put Sam on the bed with them, and peeled off his shirt.

"And you without a clean shirt." Maddie smiled at him.

"This one will dry." He spread it across the back of a chair. "We just won't be going out anywhere for dinner." He lay back down, and brought Sam close to him.

"Why don't we order pizza?" Maddie rubbed her toes over Rob's feet. "It's easy and good."

He started to comment and she put a hand to his mouth. "Don't you dare say what you're thinking. There are sensitive ears present."

"Yeah." He laughed, and kissed Sam's head, then Sophie's. "Our children. God, they're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Very. Hey, would you like to see pictures?"

"Sure," Rob agreed, and tried to calm the squirming baby. "But I think our boy may be hungry again. Should he eat again this soon?"

Maddie nodded. "Sometimes it's two hours, sometimes four. At night he can go about six."

"Well then," Rob handed Sam over to Maddie and said, "Soph, why don't you and I go order some pizza? After Sam eats, Maddie can show us his baby pictures."

"Okay." Sophie crawled out of bed after her father. "What's Sam going to eat?"

Rob glanced at Maddie as he led Sophie out. "Can you explain this to her, later?"

"Scaredy cat." Maddie smiled at him, and he nodded and made a face. She laughed and said "Of course. No onions on the pizza, please. There's a magnet on the fridge for Dom's Pizzeria. They deliver."

"No onions, got it. See you soon." He winked and pulled her door shut.

Maddie nursed Sam and leaned back into her pillows, feeling happier than she had in ages. She looked at the engagement ring on her hand, and couldn't believe how much her life had improved in the last few hours. She thought she might burst with happiness.

When Sam was finished and had a dry diaper, she carried him to the living room and handed him to Rob. "How long for the pizza?"

"Hey, Maddie." Sophie came out of Sam's room. "I recognize this. This came from Sunny Days center." She had the 'Farmer Says' toy in her hands. "The farmer has magic marker on him. I saw Henry do that one time."

"Yes, it did come from there." Maddie kicked her feet up on the coffee table. "Bring it over here, and I'll show you what it does."

"Did you steal it?" Sophie looked at her with wide eyes.

"Of course not, they gave it to me as a going away present." Maddie rolled her eyes at Rob, who tried not to laugh. She took the toy and made the cow quack. Sophie laughed, and spent the next fifteen minutes confusing the cow.

They ate then looked at Sam's baby book. The first page had his birth certificate, and Rob traced a finger over his own name on the page. Maddie smiled, watching him wipe his eyes periodically as he looked through the book. She was glad she'd taken so many pictures.

They made a bed on the couch for Sophie, and read to her before tucking her in. Maddie fed Sam and they tucked him in together. She shut out all the lights, except a dim night light in the hall. She pulled Rob by the hand into her room.