My True Love Gave to Me

by Dahlia Rose

  Next, he took her to the kitchen. “This is our kitchen, notice your highchair with elephant print, I believe it will be you and I in here mostly because your mother’s cooking is not the greatest.” The baby squealed and Jacob held up one hand. “Hey, I’m not trashing your mom, just saying we both know she cannot cook.” He chuckled. “We have the pool area outside for when you get in the water with swimmers on and one of the floating island things. Also, gated around because I’m not losing you to drowning, sweat pea. Okay, let’s go look at your room upstairs.”

  He walked into the large nursery with unicorns and balloons stenciled around the top and the light-yellow color that reminded him of sunlight. Her crib stood off to one side with the matching baby changing table. The rocker glider featured yellow cushions to match the color of the room. Her clothes were in the neat closet he had designed, and on the bottom shelves were tons of diaper and supplies.

  “Think you could be happy here?” Jacob asked the baby. “Your crib, well it can be converted straight down to a toddler bed that will be great until you’re about five or so. We can talk about room design when you’re older.”

  Jacob took her back downstairs and watched her play on the mat, rolling over and being rather proud of herself. When she got cranky, he used the waffle method and gave her the bottle that she didn’t take well. Her gums hurt and Eden said it was totally fine when she video called in the afternoon.

  “Give her the fruit stuff and she’ll be fine,” Eden encouraged him. “You’re doing good, Papa.”

  Her words made his chest puff out a little in pride. For a first-time dad, he wasn’t handling it too badly and he hadn’t even called Jay once. That was until she projectile vomited on his shirt.

  Sera wouldn’t let him put her down for a minute after he got his shirt off and the crying began.

  “Hey baby, I’m sorry you’re hurting,” he crooned. “Let’s put that stuff on your gums.”

  He washed his hand while holding her with the other and then figured out how to get the stuff from the tube to his finger. Jacob rubbed his finger over her lower gums, and she clamped down on the digit, making him wince.

  “Damn pudding baby,” Jacob said. “That’s kinda painful, but I felt the rough edges, those teeth are coming.”

  That was how the rest of the day went, soothing her when she was upset and hurting. Then watching her play when she wanted to laugh and coo. It was stressful, it was exhausting, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. It was just a glimpse of what Eden had to do on her own, so he was in awe of her juggling work, school and taking care of Sera.

  Eden actually came home early.

  By four, he was opening the door to her while being shirtless and again, holding the baby. “She spit up like the exorcist and I was not able to get a shower or a new shirt,” Jacob explained as he stepped back to let Eden pass.

  Eden sniffed and wrinkled her nose, baby milk and fruit puree, the perfume of babies,” she teased and then looked around. “Well hell, Jacob... is this bigger than the house in Texas?”

  He shrugged. “I have zero clue about the square footage, it just felt homey.”

  “Want me to take her, so you can shower?” she asked amused.

  “Please,” Jacob said gratefully and handed the baby over. “Sera, give your mom a tour of the house.”

  He jogged up the stars hearing her talk to the baby she hadn’t seen all day. It was beautiful sound, especially when the baby squealed from being tickled by her mother. Family...it was very important to him but also warped in a way. But he hoped with his entire being that he could give his baby, and Eden more than he ever had. Because money truly didn’t buy happiness, it helped make daily life easier is all.

  After a quick shower, Jacob dressed quickly, grabbed the second set of gifts, and went back downstairs. He was happy to see Eden had kicked off her shoes by the chair and was now sitting on the carpet, watching the baby play and kick her little legs.

  “You have to be tired, want me to order some food, pizza maybe?” Jacob offered.

  “Pizza sounds great,” Eden said with a smile. “See, you can’t always cook when a baby needs you.”

  “I see that now,” Jacob said. “Before I order dinner, I want you to have something.” He sat beside her and gave her a box wrapped in cherry blossom paper. “This is for you.”

  Eden took the box. “Jacob, what are you doing? First, the snow and now, this?”

  “Humor me,” he answered wanting her to figure the whole 12 days thing out on her own.

  She opened the fragile paper and then lifted the cover of the box to reveal silky fabric. Eden lifted it from the box, it was a kimono, soft teal in color and red cherry blossoms print. “This is beautiful.” Eden’s voice held wonder.

  “But wait... there’s more,” Jacob said with a wicked grin.

  “I feel like I’ve heard that on those nighttime sales channels,” she teased. Her laugh was of pure delight when she picked up the second mini kimono but this one had pink cherry blossoms that almost matched the wrapping paper. “This is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life!” Eden exclaimed in delight. “Oh, we have to get pictures of her in it.”

  “We will,” Jacob said. “Eden, I want to put all my cards on the table.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Not like that.” His voice was amused. “I know you met my mom and yeah, she was not likeable in the least when you met her. She wasn’t always that way, she turned bitter and hard after my father died, pushing myself and my sisters into excelling in everything. Until we rebelled and even then, she meddled so much that my sister Lyn and her weren’t even on speaking terms when mom died.

  Eden was silent as he continued the story of his life.

  “Sonja is the youngest and she was always a wild child, so it was harder on Lyn and I. We wanted to be what she wanted us to be, but we were born in America and we had lives and friends she didn’t approve of. I started not caring and putting my foot down. I am so sorry that she came in and disrupted our world. Imagine where we would be if we had just stayed together.”

  “Raising this little one together sooner.” Eden smiled. “I kinda cried when she was born because you weren’t there, and I was missing you.”

  He cupped her cheek. “You’re my moon. I would’ve torn heaven apart to get to you, if I had known.”

  “I’m sorry,” Eden said suddenly. “I should’ve come to you, heard it from your mouth. But she made it seem like she spoke for you and your family. I didn’t understand how any of that worked...”

  Jacob kissed her hand. “I cannot fathom how that must have hurt you. Of course, you didn’t understand, my mother was a formidable woman. My father and his wealth meant nothing to him, not like his children. He would spend days at home with us, playing, laughing, and my mom slowly started going into the office instead of him.”

  Jacob looked at his daughter who was using her little legs to try to scoot on the mat. “It just seemed like the kind of transition that worked. I never felt like she loved us, we were a duty to give her husband children, but we never really felt it. Even at the end, when she said she loved me... I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t mean to be cold, or it was how she was raised. From the time she met you, I should’ve seen it coming and told you the truth. I saw it happen with my sisters, so why did I think I was different?”

  “I can see why you wouldn’t say anything,” Eden said and then laughed. “At least, you didn’t have a father who was in the police department and ran background checks on all your dates and their families.”

  Jacob laughed. “That does not sound like fun.”

  “It wasn’t, my prom had a three-car escort, and the other teens stared at us so hard,” Eden said shaking her head. “No spiked punch, no leaving for wild parties... I think the entire graduation class was in bed by eleven and I was mortified. It was part of the reason I moved to Texas because I needed a little space from my dad, everyone knows him.”

  “But you came back home,”
Jacob surmised gently.

  Eden met his gaze. “Its home, you run there for security and unquestionable love. I needed that while I was pregnant and trying to heal my heart.”

  “I appreciate the fact that he did not shoot me at that first dinner,” Jacob teased.

  “My mom talked him out of bringing guns.” Eden laughed and stopped suddenly. “I am so serious... he was going to be armed.”

  “At least, your mom likes me.” Jacob got to his feet with a grunt.

  “Hey, Dad may like you, he’s just reserving his judgement,” Eden retorted and lifted Sera into her arms. “This one, he dotes on.”

  “And I can’t fault him for that.” He grabbed his cell phone. “Cheesy bread with the pizza or stuffed crust.”

  “Stuffed,” she answered. “Sera never did give me the tour, so I guess you’ll have to.”

  “Next on the list,” he promised.

  Jacob watched her play with Sera and he felt for the first time in a long time that they’d gotten over the hump. Eden was starting to trust him again and maybe, it would lead to them having a future together. He loved her a year ago and he loved her now. Jacob couldn’t help but hope that they would be together as a family when Christmas morning arrived.

  * * * *

  Sitting in his new home, eating pizza with him while he fended off Sera’s little grabby hands, felt natural and comfortable to Eden. The house was immaculately decorated, the champagne-colored tree with red, matte blue and silver balls stood in the corner and had to be more than six feet tall. Eden noted his affinity for vaulted roofs and open floor plans, and he put a lot into getting it decorated for Christmas.

  Then he showed her Sera’s room, double the size of the one at her house.

  Painted and decorated for a girl and a crib that could probably sleep her until she was four. Eden did feel a little jealously and resentment seep in. He had the means to give Sera everything she wanted in her life. While if he hadn’t come back into their lives, she would have to work damn hard to provide for them both. Eden pushed those thoughts away, how could she fault the man for his fortune? There were many men who would have either thrown money at her to get rid of the baby, or altogether denied her, rich and poor.

  Jacob saw Sera and knew she was his from the time Eden opened the front door. It was like an instant connection and Sera‒ even as a baby and being able to recognize people‒ didn’t hesitate.

  Downstairs, they watched a movie... a familiar movie that was reminiscent of Texas. Christmas was the theme of this night, with the tree and then Frosty the Snowman on the screen in front of them, making for the feeling of the holiday spirit.

  The baby yawned and Eden looked at the time, it was well after her bedtime and she hadn’t noticed. The family like bubble completely made her lose track of time. “I need to get her home and to bed,” Eden said sitting up from next to him.

  “Stay.” Jacob put his hand on her knee. “There’s a nursey and I’m not presuming that we sleep together, there is more than one bedroom you can use. I like the thought of my sky and my moon, sleeping under the same roof as me.”

  Jacob opened up to her, more than she’d ever thought possible, he’d uprooted his life to be with them. If he could forgive, who was she to deny him the same? Her mother’s words to take that leap with closed eyes into the unknown came back to her thoughts. Her body never forgot his touch and while she tried to push it away, her heart never lost the love she felt for him.

  To Eden, the decision was clear, it was time for them to come together without her trying to push him away. “I’d love to stay.” She smiled up at him. “Not just for her, but for us.”

  “Do you mean that?”

  She heard the hope in his husky voice. “I mean it.” Eden squeezed his hand. “Let’s try because if we can be a family for this little girl, then why shouldn’t we give it all we have?”

  “You have everything I’ve got Eden, and more,” Jacob answered.

  She could hear the intensity in his words. He never said anything he didn’t mean, so Eden knew this was the truth. She nodded. “Okay, well you are on bath duty and I’ll get the bottle. I assume you have milk in the kitchen and a baby tub upstairs.

  “She’s got her own bathroom, so of course I have a tub.” Jacob grinned and took Sera from her. “Let’s go get you cleaned up, so when mommy comes back, you can have that warm milk and go right to sleep.”

  “So, we can have some alone time for ourselves,” Eden said brazenly. “If we’re going to do this, we’re doing it right.”

  “I like how you think,” Jacob said and as he moved with the baby, he bent to kiss her. “For later.”

  Eden felt the thrill of anticipation at the touch of his lips and words. She went to the kitchen and found a cupboard full of the same type and brand of milk and bottles they had at her house. This told her he’d paid attention at her house and that he wanted everything to be perfect for his daughter. Heading up the stairs, she turned lights off as she went, only leaving the glow of the Christmas tree in the corner.

  Sera was just coming out of the tub, unhappily of course because she was sleepy. Wrapped in a large yellow towel with a ducky hood, one minute she was smiling and then she was fussy.

  “We have a cranky Pudding baby,” Jacob said.

  Eden grinned. “You’ve adopted my term, good man.”

  “She is fluffy and squishy, I fell into it,” he joked.

  “Welcome to my world.” Eden helped him button up her pajamas with kicking legs.

  After feeding her and getting the baby down for the night, it was about them.

  Eden was very focused on the man next to her, who had the restraint to push her away until the time was right. Eden was suddenly shy and nervous. It had been over year since they last shared a bed. She’d had a baby since then, her body wasn’t the same, there was a little more fat around her tummy and thicker thighs. In the bedroom, her steps faltered.

  Jacob turned to her. “If you’re not ready...”

  She looked at him. “It’s not that, my body isn’t the same since you saw me last. I had Sera and well, bad eating habits eating when I can. Plus, you know me and the kitchen are not real friends.”

  Jacob laughed as he pulled her into his arms. “Every inch of you is beautiful, I’ll kiss each stretch mark because they were created from you bringing my sky into the world.”

  “That’s a sweet way to see it,” Eden said. “I plan to get back in the gym at some point.”

  “Hush woman, I’m telling you, you’re perfect as is.” He kissed her on the nose.

  “I need a shower,” Eden said. “Bathroom through there?”

  “Yes, it is...” His kiss was longer, lingering before he moved his lips from hers. “I’ll be waiting right here.”

  Eden felt the thrill of arousal in her stomach and her pace picked up to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, noting with a smile that Jacob had stocked his bathroom with the products she loved to use from bodywash to lotion. Whatever doubts she had slipped away and washed down the drain. Deciding not to dress wasn’t an option, since she had no clothes at his house, so Eden went to the bathroom door and dropped the towel, revealing her body to his aroused gazed.

  Jacob was gloriously naked while casually lying on the bed with a beckoning smile on his lips.

  Eden moved toward him, already feeling the slickness between her thighs. The mattress dipped as she climbed on to it.

  He pulled her into his arms with greedy intent. Jacob kissed her with such passion that it left her breathless.

  “Do you have a baby monitor?” Eden asked against his lips.

  “Even better, video monitor,” he answered. The kiss took on a new hint, gentled while he ran his hands down the dips and curves on her body.

  It felt like he was showing her she was a treasure with his lips and the way he touched her. “I love you,” the words came as easily as the gasp that escaped her.

  “Say it again,” Jacob demanded as he rolled her beneat
h him.

  “I love you, Jacob.” Eden met his gaze.

  “And I love you,” he answered. “Don’t ever doubt that or me... Ever. Eden, I would go to the gates of hell for you and Sera.”

  This time, it was her who pulled his head down to initiate the kiss that would consume them in heat and pull them under its waves.

  She was blessed. Yes, it took a roundabout way to get here with hurt and a broken heart. But in the end, she had Sera and Jacob and that humbled her. It could have taken so many different turns but now, she was in his arms and it felt like perfection. The thought of family warmed her heart, coming home from work to a house warm with love. She could almost see Sera growing, running, playing and enjoying every Christmas with her parents. And she had a man who loved her without reservation.

  Their naked bodies moved and pressed trying to feel more and sink further into the arousal that coursed through them. Jacob kissed every inch of skin he could taste as he promised... as if committing her form to memory. Their lips met once more and she lost himself in his taste and the subtle scent of his cologne. Eden’s nipples were already beaded hard, aching, and pleading to be touched. She arched in a silent plea, needing to feel his hands on her body.

  Jacob fulfilled what she sought and lifted her full breasts in his palms. He kissed her beaded tips before sucking them gently. He tasted the light sweetness of her milk on his tongue and looked at her in surprise.

  “Sorry still lactating, I can put a shirt on if you’d rather—”

  He cut her words off with a groan, going back to tease and taste her nipples until Eden couldn’t help the sound of pleasure that escaped her lips. Jacob moved so he had full access to her body and ran his hands down her torso to settle between her legs.

  Eden parted her thighs eagerly, already wet and slick when his fingers delved between the soft folds of her labia to find her clit and tantalizing it with the pad of his thumb. His touch made her body tremble in anticipation and he upped the ante by moving to tease the entrance of her sex. Eden lifted her hips greedily seeking penetration and the arousal it created. Jacob scissored her clit between two fingers and moved them down her slit to penetrate her.