by M. Robinson
“Did someone already feed you?” I asked her.
She smiled with a gleam in her eyes similar to when someone was holding back a secret.
“Was it Jackson or Jagger? No, they aren’t home from their friends’ yet.” I arched an eyebrow. “Your daddy?”
“Da!” she shouted, repeating the only other word she could say that held meaning to her.
“Are you tricking me? I think you’re tricking me. Or maybe he fed you before he went to the hospital?”
She mindlessly blinked, considering what I was saying.
“Little Miss, how are you so smart?”
I shook my head, smirking. She was the smartest baby in all the world, I was sure of it. Carrying her into the kitchen, I buckled her into her high chair.
“Ma!” she yelled, pounding her fists on the tray. Like she was telling me to turn on the music while I made breakfast.
“Alright! Patience, Daniel Son.”
I rolled her chair toward the archway in the kitchen that connected to the foyer, so I could still see her from the living room where the stereo was.
I was hooking-up the Bluetooth on my new phone when the boys came barreling through the front door, throwing their shit everywhere.
“Oh no!” I reprimanded with a finger out in front of me. “You either take that stuff to your rooms and put it away, or you toss it in your designated hamper in the laundry room. I am not picking up after you all week while you’re on spring break!”
“Ah, Mary Poppins, but that’s your job.”
I glared at Jackson, giving him a stern look that meant business.
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “Pick up your shit, Jagger, or she won’t stop talking and you know how annoying that is.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes, walking back into the kitchen.
Little shit.
“Do you see how much of a pain in the butt your brother is?” I spoke to Journey. “Don’t be like him.”
She nodded, playfully.
“Boy’s drool and girl’s rule. Remember that too.”
I pressed play on Journey’s playlist from my cell phone and “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong blasted through the speakers. She went crazy. She always did when she heard this song.
I sang, bouncing up and down with her, mimicking a shark chomping with my hands like I saw on YouTube. She clapped her hands and kicked her feet watching me make a fool out of myself for her.
“Ah shit, I hate this song!” Jackson chimed in, shouting over the music. “Now it’s going to be stuck in my head all damn day!”
I grabbed Jagger’s hand, making him spin me before reaching for Jackson’s to do the same.
“You secretly love it and you know it! Come on! Let me see your moves, boy!”
I busted out in full dance mode, swaying my hips side to side. Shimmying my shoulders, and Journey followed my every move from her high chair, kicking her little legs even more.
“We can’t have a nine-month-old baby with more rhythm than you do!”
They chuckled and reluctantly gave in, turning our morning into a dance party in the kitchen. All of us falling victim to the addicting song, doing the dance that went along with it. I turned around and to my surprise Jackson and Jagger joined in doing the same.
We shook our asses for Little Miss and when we spun back to face her because the song was coming to an end. I loudly gasped, taken back. Stunned by what my eyes were seeing.
Shocked was an understatement.
There was the man I least expected, leaning against the archway frame with his arms crossed over his broad chest. His white cotton shirt snug around his muscular arms.
My heart skipped a beat and my thighs clenched.
Journey trailed our speechless expressions, announcing, “Da!” to an awestruck kitchen while we just stood there, dumbfounded.
Waiting for what happened next.
<>Aiden<>
I should have felt like an intruder or an outsider, seeing as I couldn’t remember the last time I ate breakfast with my kids. The sentiment was warranted. I deserved to feel like the piece of shit father I became.
However, I didn’t feel that response at all. It was quite the opposite, I felt right at home.
With my kids.
My family.
Her.
It wasn’t until they all turned and looked at me like they were seeing a ghost. Finding me standing there, watching the carefree lightness she brought into our house.
Then Jackson bit, “What are you doing here?”
Camila turned down the blaring music from her phone. Just as shocked by my presence as they were.
“Is a father not allowed to eat breakfast with his kids?”
“A father, yes. You? No.”
“Jackson,” Camila warned, hating his response and disrespectful tone.
“So what? You just suddenly remembered you have a family? And we’re supposed to what? Just welcome you right back in with open arms?”
I could see the concern written in Camila’s empathetic stare, her eyes shifting back and forth between us.
Gauging what I was going to reply, I held back my temper. Blurting the truth, “I wanted to eat with my family before I left to do my rounds at the hospital.”
My boys narrowed their eyes at me while my baby girl drooled. Already forming a bond with me, even though I’d never held her.
“We’d like that,” Jagger coaxed, nodding to his brother. “A lot. So would mom, Jackson.”
My oldest held back from telling me off, shrugging out a grumble instead as he walked into the living room. Checking me with his shoulder in the process.
It didn’t surprise me that Jagger came to my defense, he was most like Bailey in that sense. Forgiving to a fault.
“Da!” Journey called out to me, wanting my undivided attention.
I greeted, “Hey, baby girl,” caressing her soft cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Camila wipe away a tear.
“Ummm.” She cleared her throat, turning her back to me. Opening the fridge, she grabbed a few eggs along with a couple of other items. “You can wait in your office. I can call you down when the food is rea—”
I instinctively helped her, hovering behind her small frame in the open fridge. With the front of my body up against her back, I took the batter, juice, and ham out of her hands. My knuckles lingering for just a second, wanting to feel her smooth skin against my rough fingers.
She lightly gasped, her body tensing almost immediately. Looking like she struggled to keep her composure. I could physically feel her conflicting emotions, radiating off her.
They were mimicking mine, and like anything with her, I allowed my impulses to take control.
“What’s the matter, Cami? Don’t think I can glaze your ham?”
Her figure leaned into mine, and the second her ass grazed my cock, she abruptly turned and we locked eyes.
Her lips parted.
Her breathing hitched.
Her natural response to me coming out in waves, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.
Our silence was deafening. Her penetrating glare felt like an array of tiny razor blades on my skin. Stabbing deep within my core. Making me want to surrender all my restraints. Unable to fathom how a look had that effect on me.
The mere sound of her breathing was fucking with my heart. Beating faster and steadier from the effect she had on me.
God, she was beautiful.
Trying to break through our tormenting thoughts from last night’s events, she asked, “Did you feed Journey this morning?”
I nodded.
“Oh…” She paused for a second, taking in the simple nod of my head. “Were you the one who was making her laugh?”
I nodded again.
“Have you been making her laugh every morning for the last month?”
“Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?”
“Oh…”
My eyes followed the movement of her mouth as
it formed an O for the second time, stirring images of something I’d like to stick in between her pouty, pink lips.
She swallowed hard, reading my mind.
The air was so thick between us, it almost made it hard to breathe, let alone think about what kept happening when our eyes bared into one another.
The chemistry.
The passion.
The connection.
That goddamn spark…
It was very much alive. Not only triggering my cock to twitch, but my soul to thrive.
Camila was bringing me back to life.
And I’d be fucking lying if I said I didn’t want her to.
What the hell, Aiden?
The worst part was she knew it.
She felt it.
Because she felt… me.
Nothing about our dynamic, our encounters, our affection for each other made any sense.
I was mesmerized by her since the first day I saw her. But nothing compared to what I’d experienced behind a computer screen to what was developing every time our eyes locked.
Fusing together.
Tethering as one.
An intensity I couldn’t even begin to put into words.
To explain.
To rationalize.
To make any sense of it at all.
It was blatantly obvious to her as well.
What the fuck was happening?
She was the first to shake off the spell that dragged us both under, walking over to the stove.
“What would you like me to cook for you, Dr. Pierce?”
Like bees to goddamn honey, I once again found myself at her back. My body demanding to feel her comforting, yet afflicting heat.
She shuddered when I huskily rasped in her ear from behind, “We’re back to Dr. Pierce now?”
“Yes. That’s your name. You’re my employer.”
“Am I now?”
“Mmm hmm…”
“Is that all I am?” I made her face me, feeling crazed. “Your employer?”
“Mmm hmm...” She baited, “What else would you be?”
Her scent assaulted my senses, making my head spin. I couldn’t believe I was doing this.
“The man who can’t stop himself from being around you.”
Her eyes widened.
“How about you, Cami?” I leaned forward, getting close to her face. “Do you want a certain part of me... up in your personal space?”
She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it when Jackson interrupted, “Is the food ready? I’m starving!”
She was over to Journey in two strides, pretending nothing just happened between us.
When it was everything.
“Not yet, your sister was being fussy,” she lied and for some unknown reason, it pissed me the fuck off.
I growled, doing a shitty job at controlling my emotions. I hastily grabbed the plates and silverware off the island and went to set the table. Placing them down a little too harshly while my eyes trailed Cami’s every move around the kitchen.
Getting to me in ways I never felt before.
Camila cooked up a spread of food, taking her frustrations out on the kitchen counter as I did with the plates.
“Jackson, Jagger wash up. Breakfast is served!” she shouted over the video game system the boys were now playing in the living room. Slipping past me with a plate full of bacon.
“You smell good enough to eat.”
“Interesting. You saying I smell like a pig, Dr. Pierce?”
Oh, we were back to being formal.
“You snore like one…” Jackson brushed past to sit at the table in the breakfast nook.
“Oh my God! I do not!” She stomped away, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
We ate in the breakfast nook for the first time as a family in years. Only this time, it included another woman that wasn’t my wife.
Splitting me up inside.
Chapter 14
<>Camila<>
Several things changed within the following month.
Not only did time fly by at warp speed, it hit us like an avalanche falling on our heads. Burying us beneath layers of emotional turmoil that would take a substantial amount of time to shift.
Sean didn’t reach out to me. I hadn’t seen or heard from him, but the most pivotal adjustment was definitely for the kids. Aiden started showing up for breakfast every morning and dinner every night.
At first it was just as shocking and confusing to me as it was to them. Although as the weeks went on, it evolved into something else entirely. As if he was making it a priority, his kids coming first.
Jackson went from completely ignoring his father to actually answering his questions about school and football. It wasn’t much, but it was a step in the right direction. Each day their conversation flowed a little easier, a tad smoother, a bit more natural and less forced.
Jagger opened up as well. He came out of his shell to discuss things beyond my comprehension with his dad. Topics I’d never heard come out of his mouth before. He was always a boy of very limited words, but you wouldn’t think that if you heard him speaking to Aiden. Jagger was smart, like really fucking smart. Often discussing material from his advanced placement classes at school I couldn’t even pronounce or begin to understand.
Skyler wasn’t exaggerating, this kid truly was a genius. And the fact that Dr. Pierce could keep up with the intellect of his gifted son was as sexy as it was impressive.
Journey, my sweet Little Miss, was still Journey.
Adorable.
Intelligent.
Perceptive with those all-knowing bright blue eyes.
I started to teach her numbers, colors, and shapes. She was beyond fascinated by them. Her daddy began taking all her attention away from me when he was present. Any time he walked into the room, her eyes lit up like Christmas morning, and I was chopped liver. Everything was “Da”, wanting to have his focus any chance she got. Longing for him to hold her in the exact same way he ached to.
It was heartbreaking.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to do more than caress her cheek, make her laugh, or look at her with loving eyes. Which ultimately seemed good enough for her for the time being. Knowing it would happen sooner rather than later, at least I hoped it would.
For both their sakes.
On top of all that, Aiden hired a high school girl named Willow from the neighborhood to relieve me three evenings a week, so I could go to class. She was pretty, but very developed for her age which made me nervous about how the boys would react to her. By that, I mean with their overly testosterone-driven bodies.
Willow was there for Journey, not for them. Jagger wasn’t swayed in one direction or another by her presence. Jackson on the other hand, hit on her every chance he got. She was almost three years older than him, about to turn sixteen.
Do you think that stopped the little shit? Nope.
He’d spit pick-up lines with the swagger of a man. Reminding me so much of his father.
Both complete assholes.
I still remember the day Harley first met Willow. Skyler dropped by with her, and Jackson didn’t miss a beat at the chance to mess with her.
We were all sitting around the kitchen island. I was going over Journey’s schedule for the night with Willow, about to leave for class.
When Jackson walked in, running his mouth without hesitation.
“Hey, Harley, did you check out the tits on Journey’s new babysitter? Makes you look like a little boy.”
“Jackson!” I reprimanded while Willow turned three shades of red, crossing her arms over her chest.
Harley winced, and I never wanted to slap him in the back of the head more than I did in that moment.
I was about to, but Harley came back with a vengeance, spewing, “I bet she has bigger balls than you do too.”
Oh my God, I can’t with these two…
Since then I’d kept a close eye on Jackson and Willow, just in case. However, Aiden didn’t bat an eye abo
ut them, stating, “My boy has to learn.”
Men.
To top it all off, their father became the biggest pain in my ass.
Controlling.
Arrogant.
Stubborn as fuck.
Adamant about everything…
First and foremost, me driving the SUV as if it were now my own personal vehicle. Saying some shit about adding me to his insurance policy and it wasn’t a big deal.
“Are you out of your mind? You can’t just add me without asking first!”
To which he simply replied, “I already did,” in a cocky tone that left no room for arguments.
The nerve of that man. He knew no boundaries.
He terminated the lease on my apartment and took it upon himself to change the address of where my mail was delivered.
His house.
He paid off my nursing school student loans. As in all of them.
“Aiden, you can’t just do shit like this!” I yelled out, holding up the payment confirmation letter.
There was no emotion on his face when he shared, “I donate money to assist students with financial aid every year. This year I chose you. You’re welcome.”
“Without asking me! Or even telling me!”
“Cami, just learn to say fucking thank you.”
Random things I’d say to Journey would still show up daily. Making me fully aware he still watched us on the nanny cam. Listening in on our conversations.
Two could play this game, so game on Aiden!
Depending on the day, I went as far as giving him little shows occasionally during Journey’s naps. Purposely dropping things and picking them up slowly and seductively accentuating my assets. Dancing where I knew he’d see. Hoping he was sitting at his desk with the worst case of blue balls.
Or sometimes I’d just flip him off when he did things to piss me off.
Which was often.
The cocky son of a bitch bought me an Apple MacBook Pro, only because he saw that my laptop was ancient and hanging on its last whim. The next day, guess what I found on the corner of my bed when I woke up?
I sat there staring at it, processing not only did he buy me an extravagant gift, but he also walked into my room when I was sleeping.
