Let Love Shine (4 page)

I don’t wait to see if she accepts my declarations because I
have every intention of showing her just how beautiful I find her new body.
When I slide two fingers into her, I swear I hear a sigh of relief hiss through
her lips. Curling them forward, I massage her relentlessly in a rhythm that has
her pulsing and clenching around my fingers. Her clit pokes out from behind her
glistening lips, begging me to lash it with my tongue.

Challenge accepted.

Alternating between rapid flicks and broad strokes, my
tongue works its magic on her body. “Fuck…Reid…I’m close…” I see her fists
clench the sheets in a white-knuckled grasp. If the vise grip her pussy has on
my fingers is any indication, she’s going to come hard and soon. But I need her
to come around my cock. I need her to feel as connected to me as I do to her.
She whimpers, actually fucking whimpers, when I pull my fingers from her pussy.
I lick my fingers clean as she watches, wide-eyed, but I know it turns her on
when I do this. She’s told me as much.

Standing before her, with her legs still draped over the
side of the bed, I pull both her ankles up to my shoulder. Kneeling in the inch
of space at the edge of the mattress, I drive into her, hard and fast. Hot,
wet, tight—perfect. “Fucking…Maddy…my God, baby.”  My hips are angled up on
each thrust, and I feel her tighten around me as I hit that spot that drives
her crazy. With her legs in one hand up against my chest, I reach down to tweak
her nipple with the other. Her body goes limp as I feel the ripples of her
orgasm against my twitching cock. It’s too soon; I don’t want to come yet. It
takes every ounce of restraint I possess to let the tsunami of her climax pass
without coming myself.

When the rapid fluttering of her pussy slows to a seductive
beat, I flip her over and she balances her weight on her knees and elbows.
“Your ass is a work of art.” I bite it not-so-gently, and I can’t repress the
smile which spreads across my face when I see her skin prickle under the
pressure of my teeth. She crawls more toward the middle of the bed and now I
really have some leverage. Banding my arm around her waist and digging my other
into her hip, I sink into her—inch by agonizing inch. I pull out slowly only to
pound into her with such ferocity that her body actually goes limp in my arms.

“Maddy…” Her name comes out on a low groan as my orgasm
gathers at the base of my spine and erupts with more force than is humanly
possible. We collapse together on the bed—her back to my front, curled in a
spoon. I sweep her hair away from her neck and plant a kiss on her shoulder.
“Before you had Braden, you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. And now
since you’ve had him, you’re the most stunning woman on the planet.” She turns
around in my arms; her lips pull up in at the corners in a shy, but beautiful
way.

“Thank you for saying that, even though…”

“No,” I say with finality. “There is no ‘even though.’ And
if you need me to remind you more often, you know I’m up to the challenge.” I
squeeze her ass and press my groin into hers to let her know just what I mean
by
reminding
her.

“Wanna remind me again later?” A quirked eyebrow and girlish
smile accompany her question, and I have a feeling my plan worked at least a
little.

“Absofrigginlutely.”

Relaxing quietly in the haze of our morning romp, we go over
everything we need to do for the day. The party is around noon at Momma’s
house, so if we want to get everything together and over there in time to set
up, we need to get our asses in gear. When we hear Braden start babbling to
himself in the next room, we get dressed and get on with our day.

“Hey, birthday boy!” Momma reaches for the baby and he
smiles and laughs at her silly faces. Walking into Momma’s house will always
feel like coming back home.

“Let me help you there, Reid.” Evan walks out of the kitchen
tossing a dishtowel over his shoulder.

“Thanks, Evan. Good to see you again.” Reid and Evan do that
guy greeting that still makes me laugh—a handshake, half hug, half back-slap
kind of thing—and then they bring the bags into the kitchen where Evan is
putting the finishing touches on the food.

Momma and I bring Braden into the backyard, which has been
transformed into a little boy’s racecar dream come true. There are balloons
everywhere and the tables are covered in racing stripe tablecloths. “What do
you think?”

Gasping through the hand covering my mouth, I squeal in
delight. “Momma! It’s perfect. Thank you so much for letting us do this here.”
She pulls the ‘are you kidding me’ face and puts Braden in his pack-n-play
where a new set of toy cars waits for him. Melanie and Bryan join us in the
back and help us get everything else set up. “Wow, Mom. When you go for a
theme, you really kill it, huh?” Melanie whistles as she scans the yard before
walking over to Braden and kissing the top of his head.

“It’s an important day, so I just wanted to make sure
everything was perfect.” Momma winks at me before she makes her way back into
the kitchen to help Evan with the rest of the food. “Bryan, can you come help
me carry out some of the drinks?” Momma calls from the back door and Bryan pops
a kiss to Melanie’s cheek before running off to help her.

“So…” I elbow Melanie in the side, but she just shrugs her
shoulders.

“So what?”

“Oh cut it! Did you talk to Bryan last night?” I elbow her
again and she blushes. Bryan and Melanie just moved in together last week, and
while the last few months of their relationship has been smooth sailing, to say
they got off to a rough start is an understatement.

“Kinda, but not really,” she responds rather shyly.

“Oh, so that’s how you’re going to play it, huh? Come on,
spill it, girl! You got out of it last night by bringing up your newest book
boyfriend, but that’s not going to work now.” I arch an eyebrow at her. She’s
not getting out of it this time.

She flops down onto the bench at the picnic table and starts
picking at a non-existent piece of fuzz on her shirt. “You want the truth?” She
still hasn’t made eye contact with me.

“Of course I want the truth, Mel.” I place my hand on top of
hers and squeeze gently. “Is something going on?”

“No, nothing’s going on…it’s just, I guess it’s not as easy
as we thought, and that’s not exactly an easy conversation to bring up, you
know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I know how closed-up Melanie
can get and I hate what it did to her last time her world was in upheaval. So
even if she tells me she doesn’t want to talk, I’ll get it out of her.

But, much to my surprise, she actually opens up. “Things
between Bryan and I are great, actually. It’s just weird to be so settled down
and be so young. I know Bryan loves me and I love him, but we’re only in our
early twenties. I guess sometimes I get a little freaked out thinking about how
young we are that’s all.” I’m so proud of her for finally being able to open up
about what she’s afraid of, that I can’t help but smile at her.

“Does it help to know I feel the same way about me and
Reid?” Melanie turns her head to me so quickly that she almost falls off the
bench.

“But you guys are married and have a kid together.”

“I know, Mel, and I really do love our life, but I can’t say
it’s not scary to think about how young we are. But you know what? At the end
of the day, I know I’m happy. If I can end each day feeling happy about the
life we’ve created, then who cares how old I am.”

“I know you’re right, Maddy. I am deliriously happy with
Bryan; I just hope he’s happy with me.”

She huffs at me when I shoot her my best ‘you’re out of your
freaking mind’ face. “He wouldn’t be inside with your mom helping and spending
the day with your family if he wasn’t crazy in love with you.”

“You don’t get it, Maddy. You’re perfect through and
through. Reid will never look at another woman the way he looks at you. I still
feel less than perfect some days and I hate that I let those feelings seep into
my relationship.” Reid’s words from earlier this morning flash through my brain
and I instantly feel the weight of his love, settling deep in my chest,
alleviating some of my perceived imperfections.

“I get it more than you think, Mel.” Without getting into
the sexier details of my morning, I share with her just how uncomfortable I
feel about my post baby-body. Being able to talk to another girl about body
issues somehow helps me feel much better about them. We’re able to boost each
other up without bringing each other down. We joke about grandma arm-flab,
Freddy Kruger-like stretch marks, and junk in the trunk. Somehow, by the end of
our chat, we’ve exorcised some of our demons—ones that we see in a much worse
light than anyone else ever would.

By the time everyone else comes back outside, we’ve moved on
to laughing about the shortcomings of our significant others. “I know
seriously, how difficult is it to drop the dirty clothes
in
the laundry
basket instead of
next
to it.”

“Pfft. That’s nothing. Reid dutch-ovened me the other night.
I seriously thought I was going to throw up.” I make a mock-gagging noise,
which Braden finds hilarious. He starts making farting noises with his tongue,
which only adds to our laughter.

“Oh my God, the farting. Seriously, I had no clue guys
farted that much.” Melanie laughs hysterically just as Bryan and Reid walk up
behind us.

“You better watch it there, Maddy. You’re no better.” Reid
pulls a face at me as he lifts Braden up into the sky. “Little man here takes
after you in more than just being cute, you know.”

“Yeah, well at least I don’t suffocate you under the sheets!
And for the record, girls do not stink nearly as bad as boys.” Sticking my
tongue out at him only adds to the childishness of this exchange. When Reid
looks over to Bryan to weigh in, he pretends to be busy not hearing a word Reid
just said.

“So you’re just going to leave me hanging like that?”

“Um, yeah, I am.” Pulling Melanie to his side, he smiles
wide. “I sleep with her. I’m not that dumb.” We all get lost in a fit of
giggles joking around with each other. In the midst of it all, Melanie and I
share a look of understanding, of sisterhood. In that split second of eye
contact, we know we’ll both be okay—all four of us will be okay. Despite our
insecurities about our bodies, and our concerns about our age, the four of us
seem to share something that can never be taken away from us.

The bonds of being a family.

The rest of the afternoon passes in more laughter and happy
conversations. For the most part, the guys man the grill. Men and their
meat—don’t even get me started. As I watch Reid try to put out a burger that
has somehow caught on fire, Dylan struts up beside me. “Hey! I was wondering
when you were going to get here.” He hugs me and pops a quick kiss on the top
of my head before reaching for Braden.

“Hey, little man. Happy birthday.” Dylan tosses him in the
air a few times to which Braden’s reaction is giggles. Mine is to stop
breathing. Seriously, why do people feel the need to toss my baby into the air?

Reid comes up behind Dylan and claps him on the shoulder.
“Hey, man. Good to see you.”

As if it’s written into their DNA, Reid and Dylan
immediately start talking about some baseball game that went into forty extra
innings or something like that. I just tune them out and greet the rest of the
guests as they arrive.

After dinner is done and it’s time to serve the cake, I go
into the kitchen to get out my masterpiece. Okay, fine. It’s so not a masterpiece,
but when I put the “1” birthday candle into the center of the best
racecar-shaped cake I’ll ever make, I get a little emotional.

Reid surprises me as he wraps his arms around my waist from
behind. “It turned out great, babe.”

“Ehh, it’s not perfect, but I’m glad I was finally able to
come up with something.”

“It’s chocolate and icing—that’s all a one-year-old needs.”
He kisses my temple and carries the cake out to Braden who’s strapped into his
high chair out on the back deck.

Reid and I stand next to Braden who looks more than
shell-shocked when everyone starts singing. But at the end of the song, when
everyone starts clapping, Braden brings his chubby little hands together and
claps along with them. He just stares at his cake for a minute, like he doesn’t
know what to do. Leave it to Reid to show him, though.

“Like this, B,” he says as he swipes his finger through the
icing and right onto my cheek. I watch Reid lick the icing from his finger,
more than a little shocked he just cake-faced me. Going in for the kill, I grab
a handful of cake and toss it at him. Agile as ever, he ducks and it lands in
Melanie’s hair.

She grabs a cupcake from the table next to her and launches
it me. When it hits me square in the chest, Momma calls out, “Stop…” But before
she can get any more words out, Evan squishes a cupcake on the top of her head.
She turns quickly on her heels and shoots Evan a death stare quickly followed
by a fit of laughter. “Oh, that’s it, Ev!” she calls out as she smashes a
cupcake into his cheek. Reid’s busy watching the food-fight he just started.
Catching him off-guard, I manage to smear a handful of cake into his face. He
quickly repays the favor while managing to leave a streak of icing across my
chest.

Through it all, Braden catches on, and by the time we look
over at him, he’s covered in icing from ear-to-ear. Everyone “ohhs” and “ahhs”
at how cute he’s being when he licks his fingers and says, “Mmmm.”

Calling a truce, Reid and I stand next to Braden and each
kiss a cheek—another perfect snapshot to add to our growing list of happy
memories.

When most of the chaos of our little food-fight calms, Momma
takes Braden inside to wash him up. Reid hands me a napkin and leans into my
ear. With a seductive lilt to his voice, he whispers, “Can I lick you clean?”

“Maybe. Under one condition, though?” His eyes widen a
little and I know he must be recalling what we did only hours ago.

“Anything, you name it,” he mumbles his words against my ear
and chills race across my skin.

“No more dutch ovens.” Reid taps his frosting-covered lower
lip as if he’s actually weighing his options, before he plants a slow, sweet
kiss to my lips.

“I think that can be arranged.”

He grins at me goofily, but when I pull his ear down to my
lips and whisper, “Good, then you can lick me all you want.” His smile is
replaced by a look of surprise.

Leaving him standing there, slack-jawed and shocked, I sit
with Braden, who is now somewhat clean, so that he can open his presents. Of
course, he finds the wrapping paper more entertaining than the toys themselves.

After everyone leaves and all of the gifts and leftovers are
packed in the Jeep, we say our goodbyes and head home. Braden falls asleep on
the ride home and Reid and I get lost in sharing some of our happiest, and
funniest, memories of the past year.

Once everything is unloaded and Braden is in his crib, I
turn on the shower and call out to Reid who is sitting on the couch in the
living room.

“Wanna join me?” I make a “come hither” motion with my
finger as I crack the door opened just enough for him to catch a glimpse of me
naked. If he was less coordinated, he might have tripped over his own two feet
as he launched himself from the couch to race toward me.

It’s a perfect way to bookend a perfect day.