If You Could Only Dream

by M. E. Clayton

  She gasped. “Michael Buchanan!”

  I shrugged a shoulder, but finally got up off my knees. “What?” I asked her. “It’s not like they don’t live on their knees in front of Shane, Justice and Denise, too, you know.”

  “You are completely insane, Michael,” she said, shaking her head at me.

  “Maybe,” I mean, the facts of my mental state weren’t a secret. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to make sure you want for nothing during these delicate times.”

  Sophia’s face softened and her eye warmed over. “Michael, you always make sure I want for nothing, anyway. You couldn’t be more perfect.”

  Chapter 8

  Sophia Buchanan~

  My husband smirk and it made my knees weak.

  Even after all this time, I couldn’t believe how blessed I was to have Michael Buchanan as my husband. He could do so much better than me.

  “Just remember how perfect I am when we can’t have vaginal sex anymore later in your pregnancy and you have to keep giving up that sweet, tight ass of yours,” he replied as his arms went around my waist.

  “Jesus Christ,” I grumbled. “I can’t believe I let you talk to me like that.” And because I was honest, if nothing else, I added, “And I cannot believe it turns me on the way it does.”

  Michael and I had both been virgins when we met, but since then, I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t explored. It was a little surreal knowing that what we shared has never been shared with anyone else. It helped with my insecurities and I needed that from time to time. Michael was a great husband, but some days I still felt like that plain, fat, boring loser I was before Michael and his family came into my life.

  “Trust me,” I said. “I don’t turn you on half as much as you turn me on, baby. And I can’t wait until Pebble grows and grows and I can see you waddling around beautifully pregnant.”

  I brought my arms up to wrap around his neck. I played with the strands that tickled the back of his neck. “Michael, I’m already…not slim,” I whispered, a little embarrassed. “I’m going to be so hugely overweight as the months progress and it won’t all be baby weight like Shane.”

  It might have sounded like I was jealous of Shane, but I wasn’t. I believed my sister-in-law to be the most perfect human on the planet. She was beautiful, caring, loving, strong, and she snagged Mason Buchanan, who, by all accounts, was a goddamn psychopath. If Shane could tame Mason Buchanan, that made her beyond special, and boy, did she have him tamed. There wasn’t anything Mason or his brothers wouldn’t do for her. And that included my husband.

  I knew early on that Shane was special to Michael and he was special to her. They had a connection that was different from the rest of the family. It was beautiful, and it was a miracle to witness. But I wasn’t jealous, nor would I ever be. What Shane and Michael shared was special, but what Michael and I shared was live, living passion that he couldn’t control no matter what.

  Michael worshipped me in a way that scared me sometimes.

  His arms tightened around my body, and then he turned around, placing my ass on the bathroom counter. He kept his hands on my hips as he leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Sophia, even if it takes until I am on my deathbed, one day you’re going to see yourself through my eyes and you’re going to be amazed at how truly beautiful you really are.”

  My eyes watered and I wrapped myself around him so tight, I wondered if he could breathe. “I love you, Michael,” I said into his chest.

  His arms wound around me just as tightly. “Enough to let me fuck the shit out of you on the bathroom counter?” he murmured, trying to lighten the mood. And he was right to try. This was a happy time.

  We were pregnant!

  Before I could give him the go ahead, his phone rang, and I recognized the ringtone. It belonged to Mason. Michael dropped another kiss on my forehead. “I gotta answer this, baby.” I just nodded. I knew he had to. “What’s up?” The smile that lit up Michael’s face confirmed what I had hoped. But I also knew this was doubly good news for Michael. It meant we could share our news sooner rather than later.

  Holy crappola. Shane was in labor!

  “Okay…yeah…yeah, sure,” Michael said into the phone. “Let me talk to Shane first, Mase.” I smiled at his tone. I was so lucky to be married to this man. “Hey, Pretty Girl, I hear you’re finally ready to give all of us a baby?” He was quietly listening to her, then said, “Sophia and I are on our way and everything is going to go perfectly, Shane. It has to, you hear me?” He listened for a few seconds, before saying, “I love you, too, Pretty Girl. Now go and shoot out a healthy baby.”

  He hung up and looked over at me. “Shane is going to give the world the most perfect little Buchanan,” I gushed.

  Michael chuckled. “Hopefully, Mason doesn’t drive her insane in the process. He sounded like he was losing his goddamn mind on the phone.”

  I hopped off the counter as Michael took a step back. “What are we waiting for?” I asked, gleefully. “I want to witness The Great Mason Buchanan losing his shit!”

  Chapter 9

  Mason Buchanan~

  It took six hours and seventeen minutes for me to finally meet my son.

  Michael Adam Buchanan.

  We hadn’t told Michael or Shane’s foster dad, Adam, what we were naming the baby if it turned out to be a boy. Just like the sex, we wanted the entire experience to be a nice, loving surprise.

  We were in a private birthing room that I donated a shit ton of money to the hospital to have. Everyone was waiting on the other side of an adjoining room, where they sat-or paced-until Shane and I gave them the okay to join us.

  Watching Shane give birth was a miracle and horror all at once. I hated how she was in so much pain-she went drug-free-but, at the same time, what she was doing was astounding. Witnessing what she was capable of made every one of Aiden’s revered comments about women make complete sense now.

  I looked down at my wife, while cradling our son, and told her the only thing I could say. “You are the most perfect thing in my life, Shane. And I’m going to fucking love you forever.”

  Her eyes watered and spilled over, but her smile was captivating. “Should we let them in now?”

  I nodded and gave her a quick once over to make sure she was as presentable as possible. Once I was satisfied, I walked over and opened the door to the adjoining suite. I immediately stepped back and over to Shane’s bedside when I heard Michael let out a whoop.

  He was coming full speed.

  And, just as I expected, he stopped next to Shane on the other side of the bed, leaned down and kissed the shit out of the top of her head. “Hey, Pretty Momma,” he murmured against her hair.

  Shane’s arms reached up and around to give him the best hug she could from her sitting position. “Hey, You,” she whimpered, her entire demeanor full of love. I took the baby so everyone could hug her.

  One by one, everyone else filed in after him; Sophia, Aiden, Denise, Justice, Gabriel, Adam, Maggie and our mother, who was wise enough to leave our father at home. I scanned everyone’s faces, and it was incredible how much love was in this room.

  “Oh, Shane,” Justice muttered, “you did it.”

  “How are you feeling, babe?” Denise asked her.

  “You look horrible,” Sophia grimaced, honestly. “But you look so damn happy and…perfect.”

  “Fuck that shit,” Aiden boomed. “What do we have, damn it? A niece or a nephew?”

  Shane laughed as I cradled Little Michael closer to my chest. She took mercy on him. We all knew Aiden wanted a tribe of little girls. “You have a nephew, Aiden,” she beamed.

  “Oh, thank you, Jesus,” he rushed out, while everyone else laughed around him.

  “A perfect, healthy, bouncing baby boy,” I confirmed.

  “Oh, my,” Maggie muttered as tears ran down her face. She reached over and grabbed Adam’s hand. “We have a grandson, Adam.”

  I looked towards my mother, and Nat
alie Buchanan did something I’ve never seen her do, she let tears run down her face, ruining her perfect makeup. She smirked at me. “There are four of you, so I expect, at least, ten more of these perfect little creatures to fill our lives, Mason.”

  My brows shot up. “Shane and I can give you three more, but that’s it,” I compromised.

  “Gimme, gimme, gimme,” Michael chanted as he elbowed his way around the bed to get to the baby. I already had my arms out, passing him to Michael’s outstretched hands. He stared down at the little bundle and then up at me. “He’s beautiful, Mase,” he choked out.

  I glanced down at Shane and she gave me a small nod. “Uhm, I’m glad you think so, Mike.” He looked up at me and grinned. “Uh, because…well, it would suck if you didn’t like him seeing as how his name is Michael Adam Buchanan,” I said, finally revealing the little guy’s name.

  Gasps and whimpers could be heard around the room. I glanced over at Shane’s foster dad and he was doing his best to keep the tears at bay, but his eyes showed us everything he was feeling. “I…oh, God,” he stuttered, and because he couldn’t speak, he just walked over to the bed and hugged the shit out of Shane. After a few seconds, he whispered, “I love you, kiddo.”

  “I love you, too,” she whispered back.

  When I returned my attention back to Michael, the look on his face said it all. At this point, the women were all a crying mess with Denise wrapped in Aiden’s arms and Justice in Gabriel’s. Sophia was standing next to Maggie and my mother, all three women crying happy tears. Sophia was looking at Michael with so much love in her eyes, I was immensely grateful that she was in my brother’s life.

  Michael’s green gaze kept swinging back and forth between me and Shane, until it finally landed on mine and he asked, “M…Michael? You named him Michael?” His eyes were watering, and he wasn’t embarrassed by it at all.

  “Yep,” I confirmed. “We named him Michael, because…every one of us, me, Gabriel and Aiden wouldn’t know the true meaning of love without you, Mike.”

  Michael handed the baby back to a weeping Shane and dragged me into his embrace, hugging the holy fuck out of me. I hugged him back, hoping my little brother knew how special he was to all of us. “I love you, Michael.”

  “I love you, Mason,” he returned. “I love you guys so fucking much.” He let me go and took a step back. “Sophia.”

  I watched Sophia make her way over to Michael, and as soon as he felt her by his side, he reached over and pulled her into his arms. They stayed like that for a few minutes as everyone else took this time to pull themselves together.

  This moment; this occasion was as emotionally intense as I thought it might be.

  Once Michael gathered himself, he stood to his full height, threw his arm around Sophia’s waist, and said, “We’re pregnant.” Squeals and laughter engulfed the room, but once everyone settled down, Michael continued, “We weren’t going to say anything, because we didn’t want to steal Shane’s spotlight, but,” he glanced over at her, and then me, “I’m calling dibs on Mason’s name now.”

  “You can’t just call dibs on his name,” Aiden protested. “Mason belongs to all of us, damn it!”

  “Yeah,” Gabriel chimed in. “What kind of bullshit is that?”

  Sophia planted her hands on her hips. “Thought you were only having girls, Aiden?”

  That stumped him for a bit, but then he countered with, “What if you have a girl?”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter,” she replied. “We’ll still be naming her Mason and we’ll just call her Masey for short.”

  “What’s wrong with naming your son after me, you asshole?” Gabriel barked at Aiden, and then added, “And if it’s a girl, you can name her Gabriella with Gabby for short.”

  Aiden pointed his finger at Gabe. “Then you better do the same, jackhole,” he countered. “And if it’s a girl, her name will be Aiden, too. Period.”

  Justice raised her hand. “And us mothers have no say in the naming of these children, I take it?”

  “No!” came all four Buchanan responses, including mine.

  She threw her hands up in surrender. “Just double checking.”

  “Calm down everyone,” my mother instructed. “What with you all giving me about 16 grandchildren, there will be plenty of kids and names to go around.”

  “You’re expecting four a piece?” Aiden asked.

  “You boys are forgetting that there is a great probability that there will be a few sets of twins thrown in the mix,” she reminded us. “Reaching 16 won’t be that hard to do.”

  Sophia’s eyes immediately began studying her feet.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “Sophia?”

  And then Michael narrowed his eyes at her. “Sophia?”

  Her arms dropped and her head was thrown back in quite a dramatic fashion as she announced, “I wanted to wait until things were past the…delicate stage, but…ugh, fine,” she huffed and then looked at Michael. “I did an actual ultrasound at my appointment the other day and,” she grinned, “there were two heartbeats, Michael.” The entire room was shrouded in a second of silence before the whoops and hollers became deafening.

  I looked down at my wife and her face was positively radiant in the glow of the aftermath of birth and with the love evident in this room. I jerked my head to the side, and she immediately scooted over to make as much room for me as she could. And, with no shame at all, I crawled into the bed with my wife and son.

  Shane nestled into the crook of my arm, and feeling her relax against me, knowing she felt loved and safe, meant everything to me. “I’m going to worship everything about you until the day I die, Shane.”

  “I love you, Mason,” she whispered against my chest. “I love you, so much. You’ll never know just how much.”

  I didn’t need to know the extent of her love for me. Hell, I didn’t care if she only liked me a little. All that matter was my love for her and how I was going to prove that love to her forever.

  Well, my love for her and for my family.

  Always my family.

  Epilogue

  And they lived happily ever after, with many more Buchanans added to the mix!

  The End.

  About the Author

  M.E. Clayton works full-time and writes as a hobby. She is an avid reader and, last year, she decided to trade in some of those reading hours to try her hand at writing her first book. With much self-doubt, but more positive feedback and encouragement from her friends and family, the Seven Deadly Sins series was born and a hobby she is now very passionate about. When she’s not working, writing or reading, she’s being pampered by the best husband in the world, having heart-to-hearts with her son, giving her daughter life advice or spending time with her grandchildren If you care to learn more, you can read about her by visiting the following:

  Smashwords Interview at:

  https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MonClayton

  Bookbub author page at:

  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-e-clayton

  Follow my Goodreads author page:

  https://www.goodreads.com/MEClayton

  Other Books

  Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by M.E. Clayton:

  The Seven Deadly Sins Series (In Order)

  Catching Avery

  Chasing Quinn

  Claiming Isabela

  Conquering Kam

  Capturing Happiness

  The Buchanan Brothers Series (In Order)

  If You Could Only See

  If You Could Only Imagine

  If You Could Only Feel

  If You Could Only Believe

  If You Could Only Dream

  Standalone

  Unintentional

  In Enemy Territory

  Purgatory, Inc.

  Facing the Enemy

  My Big, Huge Mistake

  Contact Me

  I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from
you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a fulltime job, and a family I love spending time with, at this time, I’m afraid it would be very hard for me to maintain a multitude of social media sites. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:

  Favorite my Smashwords author page:

  https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MonClayton

  Like my Facebook author page:

  https://facebook.com/claytonbooks

  Follow my Bookbub author page:

  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-e-clayton

  Follow my Goodreads author page:

  https://www.goodreads.com/MEClayton

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  https://meclayton2016.wixsite.com/mysite