by Maine, Miley
“Thank you.” The anger inside of me dissipates the moment Aisha’s mom rests her hand on my shoulder. She’s speaking to me in a much softer tone than I’ve heard from her before. “Thank you so much for doing this. I really do appreciate it. We all do. I know you didn’t have to do this for us, and it’s massive. You have changed our lives for the better.”
I have a feeling that she is not just talking about getting Travis back here. She is also referring to the fact that I sparked the conversation which has hopefully brought them back together as a family. I have started them off anyway, but the rest is up to them. I can only do so much.
“You are welcome,” I reply with a soft smile, knowing that there is no need to explain all of that right now. “I’m just glad it’s all going to work out in the end.”
Everyone is getting a little tearful now, I feel like I might be getting a bit emotional myself. But I can’t cry right now, at least one of us needs to hold it together until we get the hell out of here...
* * *
Taking everyone out to dinner was the best idea. We all need this time, to celebrate and reconnect. I was sure that it would be a little awkward to go back to our house, I figured neutral territory would be preferable and looking around at everyone, I know that I was right.
It’s Travis who I’m watching the most. Travis who has clearly been through a difficult time, but who is so glad to be back with his mother, and who is also trying to adjust to the fact that he now has his grandparents he didn’t know about before.
The boy is surprisingly resilient. He’s really taking it well. He seems to enjoy having grandparents. But then again, since he probably thought he had lost his family forever, any additional family members are probably really exciting for him.
Every so often I just lean back and watch everyone with a grin on my face. After how bad everything has been, sharing this wonderful positive moment feels incredible. It makes everything feel right with the world.
“I can’t believe we are here.” Aisha has said that a few times now. It’s like she thinks she’s still dreaming, and she’s scared to wake up. She also keeps hugging Travis and I actually think even he might be starting to get a bit fed up of it. “I am never going to let anything like that happen again.”
“You won’t,” her mother agrees. “Because we are going to be around now. A lot more often. It’s only an hour and a half of traveling by car, so we can come and see you all the time.”
“And we will come and see you too,” I pipe up, getting involved when maybe I shouldn’t. “Whenever you want to, Aisha. It will be nice.”
She gives me a look, one filled with a whole range of emotions, I can almost feel her expressing all kinds of things that she doesn’t know how to say aloud yet. Even if we weren’t at dinner with the rest of her family, I wouldn’t push her to tell me anything until she’s ready. I figure now that we have all the time in the world. If we have been through all that together and survived, I honestly can’t imagine anything else tearing us apart. Especially if we’re honest with each other from here on out, and I’m sure that’s a lesson we have both learned along the way. Keeping secrets, even if we think it’s for the best of the other person, never works out.
“I am so happy,” Aisha declares with the biggest smile ever. “And I’m really glad that you have agreed to stay a little bit longer, Mom and Dad. I think we need the time.”
I don’t really have the room, perhaps I should have bought that mansion after all, but no one seems to mind cramping in when we get back. We all just want to be together...
* * *
“It is so quiet at last,” Aisha giggles once we are finally alone. “I can’t believe how loud everyone has been today.”
“Well, we have all been celebrating, so it’s completely understandable,” I remind her. The roller coaster has definitely been on the up today. I think it might have reached its highest point, and I can’t see any way that it will sink down again. “But I am glad to get just a quiet moment with you.”
She grabs both of my cheeks and pulls herself up to kiss me lightly on the lips. “Thank you so much for everything you have done. I can’t believe how much you have saved me. I know it has cost you a lot of money as well and I feel really horrible for that... but, before you yell at me, I know you wanted to help and it’s silly of me to let my pride get in the way. I can’t be mad anyway since I wouldn’t have Travis back if it wasn’t for you, nor would I have that signature from Ronnie meaning he will never be a problem again.” I can’t stop myself from smiling. “So, I will find a way to pay you back somehow, but for now I just want to say thank you.”
As she kisses me again, my hand sticks in to my pocket and I pull out something that I have been carrying around with me for a while now, wanting to get back to her. Aisha senses me doing something unusual and she pulls back to give me a strange look.
“Your diamond necklace,” I say coyly. “You gave it back to me when you were upset with me, but I have always been hoping that you will take it back again. I know you got angry because of the cost, but I honestly just got it for you because I wanted to. I didn’t think of the consequences. Do you think you might wear it for me again? Do you think you might accept it as a gift for me?”
With a little laugh, she lifts her hair up and turns her back to me. “How could I refuse such a kind gift from my superhero? I’m just sorry that I reacted so badly before.”
I don’t need her to apologize, I’m just glad that she’s willing to put it back on. I clasp it around her neck, admiring how good it looks on her before I spin her back to face me and I kiss her some more. Finally, it feels like we’re getting things back on track, now I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, my happiness is coming back to me at long last.
“Never leave me again,” I plead with her quietly. “I can’t live my life without you. I miss you too much.”
“Don’t worry,” she reassures me right away. “I’m never going anywhere ever again. You are stuck with me for good.”
Well, that sure as hell sounds amazing to me!
26
Aisha
January 25th
I don’t know what to say. I have to admit that I feel really weird sitting here like this. Now that all of the drama has passed and things have calmed down, I’m not sure how I should behave. Sitting here, in Marc’s living room, across from my parents… I don’t know if it will ever stop being strange. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to accept it fully.
Luckily, Marc is out with Travis at the moment. They have gone to the corner store to pick up some things for our final lunch together before my mother and father return back to their lives. I guess that will be the main test. Then we will see if we’re actually going to keep in touch in the future. Because it won’ be easy then and we won’t have a purpose. Having Travis to fight for has given us a focus. Now… well, now I don’t know what we have.
“I’m proud of you,” my mother suddenly starts, sparking the conversation for us. “I can’t believe how much you have handled, what you have been through and survived. I’m shocked that you went through all of that without our help and I’m ashamed that we didn’t know anything about your issues.” Her head falls into her hands. “I could only live with myself and the way that I treated you because I thought that we were helping you out…”
“It doesn’t matter.” I shake my head. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter now. It’s over and done with. We can move past it. I’m happy to just move on…”
“But I hold a lot of responsibility,” my father jumps in. “Because I lied to everyone. I kept… well, I kept thinking that I was doing the right thing for everyone but clearly I wasn’t.”
It’s strange as hell but I honestly feel bad for them. I always thought that the hate I held towards them would be the way that I felt about them forever. But now everything has changed.
“We all did things wrong,” I declare, trying to make things right for all of us. “We all messed up,
but that doesn’t mean we need to dwell. With everything that has just happened, I think that it’s safe to say life is short and we should just take advantage of this opportunity.”
I’m pretty much directly quoting what Marc said to me, but that’s because he’s right and I’m not afraid to admit that. I’m having to push a lot of my preconceived notions to one side these days and to change the way that I am living. But it’s all for the best.
“I want to hug you,” Mom says with a tone of uncertainty. “Can I? Or would that be weird?”
She hugged me yesterday when we got Travis back, but I get what she means. This is different, this isn’t getting caught up in the heat of the moment. I nod along, feeling emotional.
Mom rises to her feet and moves over to me, my father not far behind her, and soon we are having a family hug with all of us weeping equally. So many feelings are unleashed in this moment and it feels really good. There are so many weights being pulled down on me right now. This really is going to be the start of a new era for me. A new life for all of us.
“Marc is a good guy,” Dad finally says as we pull apart. “He is a really nice person.”
“I know.” I can’t believe how much I pushed him away in the beginning, thinking that it was for the best. I should have let him change my life right away. “He really is nice. He has helped me out of so many situations, and he’s treated me so nicely.”
“Much better than Ronnie, right?” Mom cocks an eyebrow at me. “I always knew that he was bad news. I’m sorry that I didn’t go about it in the right way…”
“It doesn’t matter. He was bad news.” I smile at them both. “I’m with Marc now. Thankfully, a guy who you approve of, so I’m really confident in what I share with him now.”
“You should be.” Mom touches my cheek gently. “But I want you to know that we are in your life forever now. And Travis’s too… wow, what an incredible boy you have there.” She beams from ear to ear. “He’s sweet and sensitive. Intelligent too. You have done a very good job of raising him. I want to be in his life more as well.”
“You can be. As much as you want,” I reply earnestly. “Whenever you want.”
We hug some more, but it isn’t long until Marc and Travis return with lunch which we all set about together. It is the first time we have all had a really lovely family moment together. I have to keep stepping back to admire it because it really feels so nice and I want to really see it. I want to witness everyone together in this minute to commit it to memory forever. Not that I think it will be the last time we’re all together, but just because it’s new.
One of the moments that I am stepping back to look at everyone, Marc catches my gaze, and a wave of warm happiness overcomes me. Gratitude as well. I’m so glad that he never gave up on me, even when it would have been so much easier for him to do so, and that he didn’t walk away even when things got hard. That shows just what sort of incredible man he is, how lucky I am to have him, and how it would be crazy of me to ever let him go.
“I love you,” I mouth to him, finally letting my feelings out. It might not be the most appropriate time, but I can’t hold it back any longer. I need him to know.
“I love you too,” he mouths back with a giant smile on his face. “So much.”
My heart skips about ten beats, I am on fire, this has to be the best day ever…
* * *
His lips are all over mine the second we are alone. It’s as if he has been holding back all day long, just the same as me. There has been a sizzling chemistry between us all day long and now it has finally come to fruition. Thank God because I think I am about to explode.
“You really love me?” he murmurs, while his lips trace down to my neck.
“I do love you?” I gasp as his fingers dip into my trousers, my underwear…
“I love you too. I have been wanting to tell you for a while now. I love you so much.”
I can’t reply. I want to say something, but his fingers have plunged deep inside of me, and he’s taken my breath away. He’s massaging me, driving me wild, finally giving me a little bit of what I want. But the finger fucking isn’t quite enough. I need everything from him.
“I want you,” I gasp out, my lips edging towards his ear lobes as I do. I want to nibble over him, taste him, lick him everywhere. “I want you inside of me, Marc.”
He lifts me off the ground, literally sweeping me off my feet, and we fall on to the couch together. The weight of him on top of me feels so good, I am enjoying it, I have missed us being like this. It might not have been that long ago since we were last entangled like this but considering everything that has happened and all that we’ve been through, it also feels like a lifetime since everything has been this simple and electrifying as well.
Marc slides down my body at the speed of light and whips my trousers away, dragging my panties off as well. He grabs my legs and flings them over his shoulders all while blowing a deliciously hot breath along my soaking wet clit. I immediately start writhing as if I am trying to escape the tickling sensation, when really, I just love it. I want more from him.
“Your scent is intoxicating,” he murmurs seductively. “I want to taste you.”
Before I can even tell him that he can do whatever the hell he wants to me, he does it anyway. His lips brush over my clit as his tongue starts massaging me just where his fingers were exploring a few moments before. Yet his tongue feels even better than his fingers did.
“Oh God.” His movements speed up, he becomes a mad man on a mission. I can barely contain myself as he tastes every damn inch of my hypersensitive core, pushing me dangerously close to the knife edge of desire. “Oh God, Marc, that feels so…”
I don’t want to make too much noise, so I grab the nearest pillow and stuff it into my teeth as he swirls his tongue all around me, dragging me deep under the waters of pleasure.
I want to hold back, I want to keep it together for a little while longer, I want to grab on to the pleasure and hold it tight before I release it… but I want to do that on my own terms. I can’t help groaning in frustration as he yanks his head away just as I was about to fall over the edge…
“Oh God,” I moan out. “What the hell are you doing to me, Marc?”
“I need to talk to you.” He drags himself into upright position and presses his lips to mine. I can taste myself on his mouth which is strangely sexy. “I think it might be time for us to stop using protection.”
I let my eyes slide closed while I attempt to process these words. I know that they are heavy, but it’s hard for me to deal with the magnitude of this while I’m feeling so good.
“You want a baby? You want a family with me?” I can feel him nodding. “Me too.”
It surprises me to hear myself say this. I know that it’s wild to be rushing into things with Marc when my last pregnancy wasn’t exactly the smoothest thing in the world, but I love this man and he loves me too, so why the hell not? He has already proven himself to me when it comes to fatherhood and to being a stable wonderful person as well.
Yes, this actually feels amazing. I smile to myself knowing that it’s the best way.
Plus, the sensation of Marc slipping inside of me without a condom sheathing him makes me feel a million times closer to him than I ever have done before. I cling on to him, I hold him tight, I touch every inch of him while he slams into me over and over again. Each thrust is more intense than the last and every time our bodies connect, I feel even closer to him. The bond that I share with Marc is on another level, it’s out of this world, and that comes through even more when he is buried deep inside of me.
“Oh fuck.” The orgasm hits me hard. The pleasure smashes against my body like a tsunami. The waves of bliss drown me in joy, and it feels utterly amazing. I wrap every part of myself around him so that I can really feel him as my head swims in the clouds. The stars that I can see twinkle so brightly, so desperately, so much.
It’s always been incredible with Marc, every single time, but t
his is even more intense than before. I think it’s because we love each other now, I think it’s because we have just decided to take the next step, I think it’s because he is everything I want and so much more.
27
Marc
March 8th
“…right, so we have everything signed off,” I say with a grin to Luis, the man who I have just hired to be the new manager of this office, to give me more time off to spend with Aisha. I feel like I have given so much of myself to this place and that I have earned more than enough money to have this time away, and that I can be with her more if I want to. Luis is a wonderful guy who is more than qualified and experienced to take over. I feel more than comfortable with him stepping up. “I appreciate you coming in and meeting with me again.”
“I look forward to starting on Monday.” He extends his hand out and I shake it willingly. “I won’t let you down. I already have some great ideas about where we can go…”
“I’m sure you do. I can’t wait for us to work together.”
As I walk him out of my office and towards the exit of the building, I notice all of the women ogling him as we go by which makes me smile to myself. He really is an incredibly good-looking guy who is going to create a stir. But thankfully, it isn’t just because he’s got the eyes of everyone upon him. It’s because he knows exactly what he’s doing as well. He will keep my vision and my passion alive, which gives me more time to explore my new love.
We chit chat about nothing for a little while longer before I send him on his way, confident with him. I think about the changes I’m sure we will make together as I walk back to my office. I have a lot of positivity circling through my veins…
Ring, ring… Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
