Forever the One

by C C Monroe

“No, I need to. I’ll be fine. Stay with mom and I’ll be back.” Reaching up I kiss his cheek and slide out from his hold on me. My dad glares at him, moving us out the door. We make it to his big truck and he comes around to my side. Before I can open the door he does it, lifting me up by my hips and setting me in the truck. Reaching over me he grabs the seat belt and buckles me in.

  I smirk. “Dad, I’m a not little girl. I got it.”

  “You’re still my little girl.” Shutting the door I watch him walk around the front of the truck before climbing in and starting her up. The roar of the diesel engine causes the truck to vibrate under us.

  We drive around, getting farther out of town and deeper into the canyon. The mountains are a deep green from the snowfall they got last winter. It looks beautiful on this sunny day, almost making me forget the crappy morning I’ve had.

  “I don’t trust him farther than I can throw him and that’s not far. That fucker has gotten big since you guys left.” I look at his side profile, he doesn’t take his eyes off the road and I look back out my window smiling over his comment, because Kingston has gotten big, he’s my big man. I love how strong and muscular he is compared to my tiny frame.

  “Dad, he’s a great man. He’s not that adolescent playboy you knew, you really think that less of me?” I drop my head, my hands rubbing up and down my thighs wiping the sweat off. My dad hurt me when he said that, telling me I don’t think highly of myself.

  “I didn’t mean to say that, okay? I’m just trying to wrap my head around this. Lana, you’re only twenty-two. You’re still so young.”

  “I know that dad, I was shocked when I found out too.” I want to roll down the window because the truck feels like it’s closing in on me, the tension coming from my father starting to consume me.

  Pulling into a parking space in front of Bridal Veils, he throws the truck into park. I love this spot, my dad and I used to come out here before he would leave on one of his assignments to have lunch and hike the waterfall. The lush green mountain has a waterfall cascading over rocks, it’s beautiful and heavy after every winter.

  “Let’s take a walk around the pond.” My dad slides out of the truck, gaining stares and smiles from other people. He’s still in uniform so people tend to smile. Sometimes people will even come up and thank him for his service. I take pride in knowing he’s my father and the service he has done for our country.

  I see the pond glistening in the high sun. Shielding my eyes with my hand, I squint and do my best to look forward.

  “Here, baby, wear these.” My dad removes his ray-bans and places them in my line of vision. Smiling I take them and slide them on.

  “Thanks dad. I swear the sun burns my eyes these days. Seattle is always overcast, they must need to adjust to the sun again.”

  “Come home, then.” I look up at him, now able to see better and send him a frown.

  “Dad, I’m happy there. Shay and I have a successful business. Kingston and Trey are doing really well also.”

  “Don’t say his name right now, please.” I feel the misty breeze hit me and it cools down my heated skin. I’m so confused on what to say or what to do that I can’t control my bodily functions. I feel like a marshmallow roasting on an open fire.

  “Please don’t hate me. I can’t stand the thought of you hating me, dad.” I pull my glasses from my eyes just enough to slip a finger in and wipe my falling tears. Pregnancy makes me overly emotional. I used to never cry. Ever. I became voided emotionally after the abuse, but my little peanut inside me makes me unpredictable most days.

  “I don’t hate you, baby. I’m just trying to understand this all. I mean you left town against our wants to start a new life. You were fucking broken when you left me, baby girl. I had to lock myself away to keep from going up there to drag you back home.” We stop at a park bench and he sits down. I hesitate and stay standing until he tilts his head, signaling me to sit.

  “For two years of your life you hid a huge secret from me. You lied to my face when I asked about the bruises. I trusted you and that trust could have gotten you killed, it practically almost did.” I wrap my arms around myself in defense, a dreary chill running up my spine at the mention. I still cringe and get shaken up whenever someone openly talks about the abuse. Others can do it easily because they never endured it. I however can’t because I lived through it.

  “Now you come home and tell me you’re pregnant with Kingston’s child. I can’t believe you went there just to fall down a rabbit hole with a different man who is just like Joel.” I shake my head before placing it in my waiting hands.

  “Dad, he’s not Joel. Trust me, I tried to push him away and compare him to Joel—that’s my natural reaction, but I couldn’t. He has never once hurt me, ever.”

  “How can I trust you aren’t lying to me now? You lied about Joel.”

  Ouch. I bounce back enough from that slap and cover my belly.

  “Because I have this little person to protect and I may have been weak once with Joel, but I will never put my child through any kind of danger.” His eyes start to glisten, his mouth still set in a hard line as he looks down to where my hands sit on my swollen tummy. I’m only a hundred pounds on a good day, my 5’5 frame never allowed me to gain too much, so even if I’m only twenty weeks, you can see my baby bump, it’s coming in fast and it’s very pronounced.

  “Can I feel it?” he asks, his eyes searching mine for approval. I don’t miss the deflection.

  “Yes. Of course.” With shaking hands he gently covers my bump. The feeling of my father’s hands on my stomach, meeting my child for the first time gives me serenity. It connects my father and me in a way I have never had before. His protecting hands always safeguarded me and right here, right now, I feel him building that bond with my child.

  “We find out when we get home if it’s a boy or girl,” I state, leaning my back against the bench.

  “What are you hoping it is?” he asks, still staring down at my belly.

  “I’ve never thought of it. But honestly, I think I want a boy.” I smirk when he smiles at the thought.

  “Yeah, a boy would be nice. I’ve only had you girls in my life. I need a shooting partner.”

  “He will not go shooting with you until he’s at least sixteen,” I warn, the image of a little boy looking just like Kingston holding a gun too big for his child body comes into my mind.

  “Bullshit, that boy will be able to fire an AK by the age of nine. Just you watch me,” he threatens. I laugh and finally, after a few minutes of him obsessively touching my belly he sits back up straight in his marine posture.

  “I need time to process all this, I still don’t trust Kingston. I saw all the girls he brought around, I heard the conversations him and Trey had. I know that boy and the reputation he built. Payson is a small town, baby.”

  “I know dad. I know. But at least try to get to know him. I can promise he isn’t the man he once was, he’s amazing.” I smile and the memories from our sexcapade last night come rushing in. My core clenches and I feel all the blood in my body start to compile in my pelvis area. One thought of him and the hormones kick in.

  I don’t know if this makes me sane, but the thought of how good he is to me and the way my dad is treating him only makes me want him more. It’s like I’m turned on to defend my man, to stand up for him. I want to go love on him and tell him I’m sorry for all the crap my dad’s putting him through.

  God, pregnancy is weird to the body and the human psyche.

  “I can’t make promises and I swear Lana, if he ever does anything remotely similar to what Joel did to you, I’m trained to kill and I won’t hesitate to protect you this time,” he warns me, his voice scarily low that his last words stick to me like glue.

  “He won’t daddy, calm down. Besides, if he did I would tell you. I’m never gonna hide things from you again.” His face softens and I lay my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes and reveling in the feel of being here with my dad. He only wants to
protect me and even if he has no need to worry, I still appreciate his concern.

  “I promised you I would try, now you owe me a promise,” he states standing after ten minutes of comfortable silence. I give him my attention and smirk.

  “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s your bargain, dad?”

  “You have to come visit more often once the baby is born. You never come home anymore and I already miss out on a lot of time with you. Don’t make me miss out on time with the both of you.” My heart pitter patters and my chest feels full, he really can be the sweetest grouch in the world.

  “Deal.” I thrust my hand forward offering him a shake and he takes it firmly.

  “Good. Now, let’s get some lunch.”

  “Oh, thank heavens! I’m starving! Little monster has to be a boy. I swear I eat all day every day, he is never satisfied!”

  “Welcome to pregnancy, baby girl.”

  I made our bed, went for a run, and had lunch with Becky and I twitched nervously the whole time waiting for Lana to return. Between seeing Joel, listening to the batshit crazy things he had to say, and then Lana’s dad pretty much trying to convince her to leave me, I’ve been a tad fucking stir crazy to get my woman back in my arms.

  Lying on her bed upstairs with my headphones in, blaring some fucking Papa Roach to calm my ass down, I totally zone out. My eyes are closed with the image of beating the fuck out of Joel playing on replay. I’m certain I’m dreaming when I feel the familiar sensation of small legs wrapping around my muscular waist. I bite my lip and let the new dream take over.

  My dream gets even better when Lana starts grinding on me, her hands massaging my pecks. I did some push-ups today so my chest and arms are sore even in my dream. Fuck, this dream feels real. I start to thrust my hips up, going along with her sensual pace, it feels incredible.

  The music suddenly stops in my ear, causing my eyes to fly open when I lose an earbud. My eyes adjust and like my dream, the reality feels ten times better. Lana is straddling me, grinding against me, holding my earbud in her hand, smirking like the Cheshire cat.

  “You like to moan really loud, you know that?” she teases and I smirk, my back leaving the bed, my arms banding around her back.

  “I thought I was dreaming of you grinding on me like a dog in heat, so yeah.” I kiss her exposed neck, biting her collar bone.

  “You’re so dirty when you want to be,” she breaths on a husky exhale.

  “I want to be fucking dirty with you right now. I want to fuck every inch of this body that I can.” I lick from her collarbone down to the dip at the start of her small cleavage, the bra she’s wearing doing wonders for her supple tits.

  “Kingston, my dad’s downstairs and he wouldn’t like it if he came in and saw you doing me.” My boner dies down instantly with the mention of her dad.

  “Fuck, that wasn’t in my dream. How’d it go by the way?”

  “Huh. Not the best, he just worries, Kings.”

  “I know.” She looks so conflicted, her eyes not really making contact with mine.

  “Part of that is my fault, his worry for me. It has to do with me lying about my past. Now he feels he needs to overdo himself.”

  “Hey.” Grabbing one of her hands from my chest I bring it to my lips, kissing her fingertips. “We can’t go backward, only forward. Besides, if your dad hates me, he hates me. The only person I care about is you, as long as I have you that’s all that matters.”

  “Kings, I know that. It’s just I want the two men I love and care about to get along.”

  “I get that and as long as he plays pretend, so will I. I’ll do whatever you want Lana, forever.”

  “I can’t promise he’ll play nice but if you behave, I will always take your side.” I’m in love with this sweet little angel. I bite her delicate little fingers, making her giggle. That lighthearted giggle, the soft little smile she gives me when she’s completely carefree, makes me remember what exactly I would do to keep her.

  “Up, up!” I slap her ass and she yelps, jumping up from the bed.

  “What?” She steps back a few steps.

  “I’m taking you out for the afternoon and we are gonna have a great time visiting some of the places we went to growing up.” I grab my zip up hoodie and slip it on.

  “A trip down memory lane?” she asks.

  “Yes, babe, a trip down memory lane.”

  The rest of the afternoon was perfect with Lana. We went by the high school, where she cheered and I played football. Flashbacks of her in her sexy cheer uniform often crept into my mind.

  After that we went to the campsite where I first knew I had feelings for Lana. My ex, Hilary, knew I was hot for Lana and I heard that shit for months until I called it off before Seattle. I think it was more serious for her than it was for me. Sure we were a “couple,” but I didn’t love her and she knew I fucked around on her. When we broke up she didn’t say a word to me, just slapped me and then disappeared. I left for Seattle and long forgot her.

  The best part of today was getting away with Lana and seeing all the places that we once went to as friends but now we can visit as us.

  Coming back to the house, Jeff is hiding out in his office working on some stuff while Lana helps her mom prepare food for the barbecue. Now I’m sitting at the kitchen table watching my girl prepare her King a meal—this is the life.

  “Baby, do you want steak or chicken?”

  Taking a sip of my beer, I place it down and answer, “Steak, I’m starving.” She turns her head and peers at me over her slim shoulder, giving me a flirtatious smile. I bite my lip and then sooth it with a lick. I steal a quick look at her mom and see she’s distracted with some shit so I grab my semi hard cock and squeeze it. My eyes roll back and I come back to and see Lana gaping at me with blushed cheeks. It’s her fault, she looks irresistible cooking me a meal while tending to me, pregnant in an apron.

  Grabbing a small cherry tomato, she throws it at me and like the champion I am I catch it in my mouth and bite down hard.

  “Thanks baby, I love ripe cherries.” Sexual innuendo written all over my last statement, she shakes her head and covers her mouth with her hand.

  “I heard that!” Becky hollers turning and shaking her head at me.

  “Sorry mom, he’s such a smug shit,” Lana chimes in, causing us all to erupt in laughter.

  “What did I miss?” Jeff enters the room, finally dressed in a more casual look, cargo shorts and black v-neck.

  “Nothing, just catching up on old times. Do you want chicken or steak?” Becky asks, ignoring his question.

  “Steak.” Looking down at me he tilts his chin. “Can I talk to you in the backyard?”

  “Sure.” Lana and her mom both look between Jeff and me and I see the worry present on Lana’s face.

  “Lead the way.” Topping off the rest of my beer, I place it back on the table and follow him out, giving her a quick nod.

  Behave Kingston.

  Stepping out onto their deck where the fire pit and patio furniture sit next to the grill, I take my stance crossing my arms over my chest, while he leans against the railing facing me.

  “I wanted to talk to you about earlier and the way I reacted,” he starts.

  “Okay.”

  “Lana is my only child, my little girl and the last thing I need is another man coming into her life and destroying her.” I shake my head, I thought this was gonna be an apology of some sort or a moment where we shake hands and he gives me a blessing to have his daughter as mine. Nope, this is another way for him to get under my skin and compare me to Joel.

  “I’m not him.” Just as I finish telling him this, the sliding patio doors open, Lana and her mom stepping out with the tray of food for the grill. Lana changed into shorts and a tank top when we got home to be more comfy, but it’s almost sundown and it’s chilly outside. I don’t want her to get cold.

  Slightly turning I say over my shoulder, “Lana, put on a jacket or something.” She just nods and goes to walk back in
the house, knowing exactly what I mean.

  “No, Lana, stop right there,” Jeff warns. “That shit there, that controlling tone of his, that’s what I mean. Lana can wear whatever the hell she wants!” he yells at me pushing away from the railing and getting within inches from my face.

  “Daddy,” Lana attempts to stop him before he starts, coming to stand beside me.

  “No, stay out of this Lana,” he says putting his hand up in her face.

  “Don’t fucking silence her. If she has something to say, let her fucking say it.” I get right back in his face, so close I know he can feel the heat from my breath with each of my words.

  “Kingston, stop.” Lana puts her hand on my chest and tries to push me back, but my body is too heavy for her to even nudge me a little.

  “No, she isn’t going to make excuses for you. You’re no better than that controlling punk before you.” He shoves me hard and by natural reaction, I snap. I dive in, tackling him to the ground.

  “Kington!” Lana screams stepping back.

  “Jeffery!” Becky yells, rushing to Lana’s side. I see her move to stand in front of Lana, guarding her. In the split second that I check on L, Jeff clocks me in the face, getting the upper hand. He is a fucking marine for God’s sake.

  “Daddy!” she screams as he rolls us over, him on top of me, giving me a couple good punches to the face. I reach up and uppercut his jaw, causing a wailing noise to leave his mouth and his body to loosen enough for me to push him off.

  I stand and lift my foot back to kick him in the ribs when her voice halts all movement form me, “Baby stop, don’t do this to me.” The deafening sound of her begging me to stop snaps me back into momentary sanity.

  I stop and go to rush for her but she holds her hand up stopping me from coming closer. The motion causes a sudden rush of regret to run through me. Did I seriously just fucking hit her dad?

  Dragging himself up off the ground, he dusts off his shirt. “Look at this guy, Lana! This is the man that you let get you pregnant! This piece of shit is the one who will be the father to your child!” Her dad points in my direction and I don’t even look at him. I can’t take my swollen eye off of Lana’s pained face. She’s covering herself in defense, her arms banded tight around her. She’s scared of me. I scared her. I lost my fucking cool and let rage slither in.