Love Me Like That (44 page)

“London,” I whisper to her back. She’s been sleeping on her left side which means I’ve had to get used to sleeping on the opposite side of the bed I’ve been used to sleeping on my whole life, but change is a good thing, right? “You have to get up. I’m serious this time. We have to get going.”

She grumbles incoherently until I pull her shoulder back, forcing her buried face upward. “You shouldn’t have fucked me stupid.”

I slip my hand between her thighs and laugh heartily when she parts he legs for me, her body ready for more already.

“If you don’t get up now,” I chastise in her ear as I slip two fingers inside of her. “You won’t have time to shower and the doctor will know exactly what you’ve been doing all morning.”

She moans and opens up even wider, unconcerned about my warning. “I’m going to make you come one more time, dirty girl then you have to get up. I want to know if I’m having a son or a daughter.”

I pull her back to my chest and pin her leg down with my own, biting her shoulder I set my fingers into motion until she’s a quivering mess and I have to carry her to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

“I called this place a half dozen times,” I tell her as we pull up to the small family practice. “They wouldn’t tell me shit.”

She’s still laughing when I make my way to her side of the truck and help her out. I told her we needed to start taking one of my cars so she’s not so high off the ground, but she insists on the truck. I think she likes when I lift her out and let her drag herself down my body. If I'm completely honest, I’d rather do this every time also.

Half an hour later we’re in a small dark room as a middle-aged woman in scrubs squirts a blue looking jelly on London’s stomach. We spent the next twenty minutes in anticipation as she points out all the body parts that the baby has except what I need to know most. I can’t be mad, though. Tears are running down my face as I look at the most beautiful black and white baby I’ve ever seen.

Perfect little legs and arms.

Beautiful little arms and fingers.

Amazing head and pouting mouth.

“This here,” the technician says moving the mouse around on the screen “is the labia majora of your little girl.”

“A girl?” London says quietly looking up at me.

She reaches up and wipes tears from my face. “A daughter,” I whisper to her. “I’ve always wanted a little girl.”

She smiles as I lean down and kiss her with the salt of my tears still on my lips. Unable to resist I deepen the kiss, my hand instinctively reaching for our sweet princess and then lower on her body. I pull back when the other woman in the room clears her throat, realizing my hand is now covered in the jelly from London’s stomach. I shrug my shoulders, unashamed of loving this woman.

She hands me a Kleenex but not before giving me a disapproving look at my inappropriate celebration. She hands another tissue to London, but I take it from her and clean her stomach myself, planting a soft kiss to her stomach when I’m done.

The technician then hands London a long strip of tiny pictures of our little girl. I want to ask her for more, but I won’t press my luck with the look she has on her face. I’ll take her for a dozen more sonograms later if she wants.

“Let’s go shopping for our little girl,” I tell her as I unroll her yoga pants back up onto her lower belly.

She tilts her head to the side. “You actually want to go shopping for baby stuff?”

I laugh. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how hard it was all those months to walk around those stores for hours and not buy anything?” I place my hand over our growing bundle. “She will have two of everything.” I kiss her forehead and help her off of the table.

“She doesn’t need two of everything, Kadin,” she admonishes me half-heartedly.

“I never said anything about need, beautiful.” I clasp her hand in mine and tug her out of the office and back to the truck.

I hoist her inside of the truck and make my way around to my side. I barely have enough time to shut my door before she’s climbing on my lap.

“Where were we,” she pants against my lips “before she interrupted us.”

I moan loudly as she reaches between us and grips my already thick cock in her small hand. “Don’t, London. I’ll fuck you right here in broad daylight if you don’t stop.”

She pulls away from me when I start to tug her yoga pants over the globe of her ass. “That’s what I thought,” I say in short huffs. I groan uncomfortably and adjust my hard-to-ignore erection in my jeans.

She settles back in her seat, and I tilt my head back and to the side so I can look at her. A mischievous look crosses her face. “I still have the keys to the cottage.”

I can’t get my seatbelt on fast enough considering I was wondering how upset she’d be if I suggested getting a hotel room for a few hours, five stars of course.

We ended up staying the night at the cottage and didn’t get any shopping done until the next day. We’re home now, and I’ve unloaded the truck, filling the nursery and a guest bedroom with more things than one little girl could ever use in a lifetime.

London hums softly to herself as she removes tags from clothing ranging from newborn to some she assures me she’ll be able to wear once she starts kindergarten. She seems happy and content, and that knowledge makes my heart smile. Pudge has just about given up on me and has become her dog. He ignores my existence if she’s near. I don’t mind, though; if anything I completely understand. I’m drawn to her much the same way.

I’ve helped her move things around and been her insistent pack mule for almost everything. I don’t want her hurting herself, but I also don’t want her to overtire either. I have plans for her this evening that will require her full attention.

“What about this one?” I hold up a medium sized box.

She angles her head, slightly confused. “What’s in it?”

I shrug my shoulders and hand it to her. “No clue.”

She pulls back the tabs, opening the box. “Looks like a box inside of another box. I don’t remember getting this…” Her voice trails off when she pulls a pale blue box with a tiny white ribbon on top from the large nondescript box.

The larger one falls to the floor when she raises her eyes, finding me on one knee. Her hands tremble as she holds onto the blue box with one hand and lifts her other one to cover her mouth, preventing a sob from escaping.

I gently wrap my hand around hers and pull the box from her unsure fingers.

I clear my throat and pray for strength and courage to get through this without becoming a blubbering fool myself.

“London, I, of all the people in the world, know how precious life is. I know just how fast life can change. I know that one tragedy has led me to a destiny I’m certain I was always meant to find.” I clear my throat again as I begin to be overcome with emotion and use the back of my hand to swipe away a tear from my cheek. “You are my future, London. You saved me that day you ended up at the cabin with me, and you’ve saved me each and every day since. I swear I’ll be everything that you need for the rest of your life. I’ll provide for you and our children. I’ll be the man of your dreams. Marry me, and be the woman of mine?”

Her answer is a guttural sob as she launches herself into my arms, nodding her head frantically. “Yes,” she finally whispers in my ear. “You’re already the man of my dreams, Kadin.”

I smile from the kitchen window as I watch my amazing husband chase my redheaded daughters around the back yard. Daughters. Plural.

I went for my checkup eight weeks after having our first angel only to find out that Kadin apparently has super sperm. I practically forced him to make love to me four weeks after she was born; consent was dubious on his part at best. So my girls are just under ten months apart.

Anastyn was born in late September and came out looking exactly like her ginger daddy. There was no denying her paternity, so we never bothered with a test; the results wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She just turned five last month. Her late birthday means she missed the cutoff for school by just a few weeks, which I don’t mind. I never went back to work at the office and eventually helped Justin find someone else to fill my spot. I don’t know how I’m going to handle three, I think, as I gently stroke over the little boy growing inside of me; but Kadin is beyond ecstatic about having a son.

His relationship with his family has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and he strives every day to be the man his father was for him and Kegan. His mother treats me like the daughter she’s never had and spoils the girls beyond anything I could’ve ever imagined. For the first time in more than half my life, I have a family, and I’m surrounded every day by people I love and who love me back.

I still can’t believe how close both Kadin and I came to not ever having this. I was devastated and relieved at the same time when he disclosed to me shortly after we got back together that he was in that cabin in Poison to take his own life. Just the idea of living a life without ever meeting him is unfathomable to me and still brings tears to my eyes. I’m beyond happy with the life I have now, and I would suffer through every ounce of heartache and pain all over again if it meant this is where I’d end up.

The girls are running around kicking through piles of leaves Kadin has been trying to rake up all morning. He chases them away, playfully turning his back so they can do it again. He notices me watching and makes his way across the yard to the sliding glass door off of the dining room.

I open the door just as he clears the patio, and he first kisses my stomach and then wraps his arms around my waist.

“I love you,” I whisper in his ear.

“You make me happier than I’ll ever be able to show you,” he returns.

“You can at least try,” I tease seductively letting my breath warm his neck. “As soon as the girls go to bed I want you to put on those suspenders so we can play lumberjack.”

His laugh registers secondary to the heat in his eyes that say he’s more than ready to chop some wood.