by C. C. Gibbs
‘Are you saying it matters if she does?’
‘God, no, she can have purple hair for all I care. She’s perfect.’
‘That’s what I thought you meant.’
He laughed. ‘OK, now she really is looking at me. There’s no question. Come on, Rosie, let your daddy hold you.’
*
And in the following months he did more than just hold her. He stayed home, doing most of the care giving, letting Kate sleep whenever she could between Rosie’s every-two-hour nursing schedule. Their baby was soon plump and chubby with little folds on her arms and legs and Dominic refreshed his babysitting skills from his years watching Nicole and Isabelle. It was like riding a bike, you never forgot and looking after his daughter was a joy he’d never imagined. Very early, whenever Rosie heard his voice and saw her daddy, she’d start pumping her arms and legs in delight. And Dominic’s heart would melt.
*
At three months, when Rosie began sleeping through the nights, their parenting schedule became less demanding and Dominic managed to put in more hours at his computer. Kate slept longer, they actually watched TV again occasionally, and had more than a few minutes to eat their meals. It was practically heaven.
Kate said it first, but then she’d borne the brunt of Rosie’s demands in the early months. ‘Small pleasures, right?’ she said, smiling at Dominic across the kitchen table.
‘A few minutes alone with you, baby,’ he saluted her with his milk glass, ‘heaven.’
‘You can drink, you know. I won’t be pissed.’
‘I’m good. I’ll drink when you drink. I like milk.’
‘Thank God for Patty. I’m hungry all the time.’ Their dinner was the equivalent of Lucia’s five-star cuisine: Lobster Cioppino for an appetizer, toasted goat cheese and fig salad, a perfectly broiled rib-eye to keep Kate’s strength up, four small covered bowls of diced organic vegetables and chocolate mousse for dessert. Patty had tiptoed upstairs before she left, saw that the baby was sleeping and whispered, ‘I thought it was quiet up here. Your food’s on the table for a change.’ She tapped her wrist watch and grinned. ‘Eat fast.’
Then one night, a few days after their daughter first slept through the night, Dominic came downstairs and into the living room where Kate was reading.
‘Jesus, is that a book in your hand. Is life back to normal?’
‘Getting there,’ she said, setting the book aside, surveying him with raised brows. ‘Why are you wearing a robe?’
He held out his hand. ‘Come upstairs and I’ll show you.’
She rose from the sofa. ‘Sounds intriguing.’
Dominic laughed. ‘Depends what you mean by intriguing.’
She put her hand in his. ‘I figure you’re going to show me.’
‘I’m gonna try, baby.’ He put his finger to his mouth. ‘Provided our daughter cooperates.’
She followed him upstairs and into their bedroom, saw all the packages on the bed and quickly glanced up at him.
‘I told you if you came through with flying colours, I’d wrap up the world in a bow. Those are just a token. Go on, open them.’
He led her to the bed, then took a seat in a nearby chair. ‘Open the blue one first.’
The gifts were beautifully wrapped in all the colours of the rainbow. ‘This is where I say you shouldn’t. It’s so much.’
‘That’s just Nana talking. This is nothing, baby. A few trifles.’
She ripped the paper off the blue package and squealed in delight. It was a high-end laptop favoured by hackers and not on the market yet. Kate had seen the prototype and lusted after it. Dominic had paid a premium to have one put together for her. ‘Ohmygod, Dominic. I’m going to be up all night with this.’
‘If only, baby. Not with Rosie. You need your sleep.’
‘Jesus, I forgot for a minute. I’ve been coveting this model.’
‘I know. They hustled for you. Pump a couple of bottles of milk for me and I’ll watch Rosie tomorrow.’ He grinned. ‘You can have sex with your new laptop.’
‘I’m going to take you up on your offer. You’re sure, now?’
‘Absolutely. Rosie and I get along, you know.’
She smiled. ‘I have noticed.’ She hugged the gleaming laptop. ‘Thank you so much.’
He laughed. ‘Kiss your laptop, then open the other stuff.’
Dominic had bought enough jewellery that he must have made a number of jewellers super happy. Starting with a huge Bulgari emerald ring with a matching bracelet. ‘To go with your eyes,’ he said. Then she opened boxes with several kinds of earrings in every imaginable jewel, a necklace of natural baroque South Sea pearls, one of gold and Venetian glass beads. ‘You can wear that one with jeans,’ he pointed out, ‘along with these.’ He handed her a package that contained a pair of Dior black velvet beaded flats with a tree of life design. He had three pairs of custom-made boots for her and four dresses, two for evening that were short and flirty.
At the last he handed her two envelopes. ‘This one first,’ he said. Inside was a photo of a green Porsche 918 Spyder. ‘It’s a hybrid,’ he said. ‘Good for the environment and zero to sixty in three seconds.’ He didn’t mention the $845,000 price tag. ‘And you’ll like this one.’ He watched her carefully as she opened the second envelope.
She read what Dominic had written on the card inside.
Your home town needs a new grade school and the last three bond issues failed. We can build a new school for the town and if you agree, it could be named for Nana and Roy.
Dominic had written a cheque to the school district and left the amount blank.
Tears welled in Kate’s eyes. ‘You don’t know how hard Nana worked to try and get those bond issues passed.’
Quickly coming to his feet, he sat down beside her and took her in his arms. ‘I heard. But don’t cry, baby. They’ll have their school now. Everything’s good.’
She sniffled. ‘With Nana’s and Gramps’ names on it.’
‘Nice, hey?’ Grabbing the box of tissues on the bedside table, he set it in her lap.
‘It’s just perfect.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘Really wonderful. All this is wonderful,’ she said, gesturing at the gifts on the bed.
‘They’re nothing compared to what you gave me, baby,’ he said, softly. You gave me love. You gave me an incredible daughter and made me the happiest man in the world. And with my history that was the equivalent of you dragging me up Everest a couple times.’
She grinned. ‘So I’m something of a miracle worker, you’re saying.
‘You’re the miracle of my life, baby,’ he said. ‘And as a small token of my appreciation,’ he opened his robe and smiled, ‘one more gift.’
‘You remembered.’ She admired his lovely erection tied at the base with a white silk bow.
‘Of course I remembered. I promise, I deliver.’ He grinned. ‘I just wanted to wait until there was … time for you.’
‘Because I don’t like to rush.’
He shook his head, laughing. ‘Because you like to rush – repeatedly. We need time for that.’ He pulled the bow open and tossed the ribbon aside. ‘Now at the risk of destroying the romance, condom or withdrawal. Your call.’ Kate wasn’t on birth control yet because she was nursing. Not that she couldn’t have been, but they both were overly protective of their daughter’s health.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘Condoms are—’
‘An issue, I know. I bought some that weren’t latex in case you wanted to give them a try.’
‘I like to feel you.’
‘We’re both on the same page then. I’m super dependable. In fact, I first became interested in Tantra because I wanted to learn how to control ejaculation. So don’t worry. And tonight’s for you, baby, so give me a menu.’
‘I’d say instant gratification.’
‘Menu items one through ten?’
She smiled. ‘You must be psychic.’
But they’d no more than settled into a lovely languorous sexual r
hythm with Kate softly sighing in pleasure and Dominic thinking he’d almost forgotten how good he could feel, when the sound of the first little soft snuffle resonated from the baby monitor.
Dominic tensed for a fraction of a second, then resumed his downstroke.
A second louder snuffle reverberated in the silence of the bedroom.
Dominic’s withdrawal stroke faltered momentarily before continuing.
Kate looked up at him.
He shook his head, then plunged back in so deeply, Kate’s lush groan was a small blast of heat on his throat.
The first little whimper echoed through the monitor speaker. Rosie was waking up.
‘Done?’ Kate whispered, her brows faintly arched.
Dominic smiled. ‘Probably.’
‘You’ve come a long way from whips and handcuffs, Mr Knight,’ Kate murmured, a teasing light in her eyes.
Dominic softly laughed. ‘No shit. On the other hand,’ he said, in an easygoing drawl, ‘you haven’t even had the first item on your menu, so shut your ears. I’ll make this fast.’
And he put into practice some of those skills his wife found so attractive, those adept and super competent ones that persistently and compellingly pressed his hard dick against her G-spot with each plunging downstroke. Encouraged an even more heavenly friction on his slow withdrawal. And just for good measure, he brought her clit into the highly stimulating game with the masterful attention of his index finger.
He wasn’t timing it but if he had to guess, he’d say three minutes before Kate’s orgasmic scream momentarily drowned out the baby’s whimpers.
Afterwards, he politely waited less than usual because Rosie was beginning to really wind up. Gently kissing Kate, he whispered, ‘Gotta go,’ and slid from her body and a second later from the bed.
He was hopping into his sweats on the way to the bathroom. After quickly washing his hands, he bolted for the hallway and Rosie’s room.
The crying stopped. Two minutes later, Dominic came back into the bedroom with Rosie in one arm, looking very small against his large frame, all baby pink against his bronzed skin. ‘Say hi to Mommy,’ he murmured to the chubby cheeked baby staring up at him. ‘She’s just waking up too.’
While Kate slowly returned from her very first orgasm in a long time, Dominic changed Rosie into the diaper and jammies he’d carried in. Then sitting down on the bed, he propped his daughter against his drawn-up knees so she had a view of the world. Glancing at Kate still half dozing beside him, he said, ‘You’re going to have to top her off with a little milk. But she’s OK for a few minutes. Change of scene. She’s looking around.’
Rolling on her side, Kate touched Rosie’s toes. ‘Hi, sweetie. Can’t sleep?’
Dominic grinned. ‘I think she doesn’t want us to have S-E-X.’
‘Too late,’ Kate said with a contented smile, running her hand down Dominic’s arm, twining her fingers in his. ‘Thanks, thanks, thanks …’
‘I have to make sure both my girls are happy,’ he whispered. ‘Not a bad job to have,’ he winked, ‘even without whips and handcuffs.’
‘Speaking of—’
‘Someday maybe, baby. We’ll see.’
‘You don’t know what I was going to say.’
‘Yeah I do. The apartment’s still there.’
‘I’m not completely averse, that’s what I meant.’
‘I know what you meant. I’m just not so sure.’
‘Maybe I could change your mind.’ Her voice was a soft purr, her green gaze enticing.
He laughed. ‘Fuck if you couldn’t if you keep looking at me like that.’ Then he glanced down at Rosie and shook his head. ‘We can talk about it later. Not now.’
‘Fine.’ But somewhere in the back of her mind, a lustful little thought remained. Their days there had been a different kind of pleasure – ravishing and ravenous, greedy. He couldn’t have forgotten.
*
When Rosie was ten months old, Kate surprised Dominic by telling him that she’d like to go back to work. So a nursery was set up at the office and they shared child-rearing duties, alternating their schedules to accommodate their daughter. Although when Rosie was tired, only mommy would do. She’d find Kate, climb up on her lap, put her thumb in her mouth and promptly go to sleep.
At times when their meeting schedules overlapped, Dominic would bring his daughter with him and if she’d fuss, he’d whispered, ‘Hush, Rosie, let the nice man talk,’ then rock her or get up and walk her. Even titans of industry took second place to Rosie and were treated to an astonishing view of a domesticated Dominic Knight, the sight eliciting raised eyebrows, the occasional sulk and a continuous flurry of tweets and texts sent round the world.
Dominic Knight as doting father, they’d say. Playing nursemaid – can you believe it? Who would have thought?
Unaware of gossip or complicated schedules, disgruntled colleagues or business activities in the world her parents constructed for her, Rosie prospered. She had all the advantages, including two loving parents at her beck and call. Perhaps it was only natural that she developed into a bright, capable, chatty child.
By the time she was two, she was speaking well, or quickly at least, her pronunciation less than perfect. But Rosie seemed unaware and talked up a storm to whoever would listen. Kate watched with a smile when Dominic sat listening to his daughter with the same concentration and interest he’d give to any of his business associates. And she often thought that Rosie was likely the best teacher Dominic would ever have when it came to talking about his feelings, because Rosie’s favourite question was, ‘Why, Daddy?’ And when he’d answered, she’d say again, wide-eyed and curious, ‘Tell me why about dat you yike, Daddy.’ And as he answered all her constant whys and more whys, Dominic slowly learned to define his emotions with a simplicity his daughter could understand.
Rosie’s from the mouth of babes innocence modulated Dominic’s disciplined restraint. The demons from his past slowly receded, the crushing weight of his memories lightened, he smiled more.
Although on one matter, he was unreformed. He wouldn’t allow his parents anywhere near Rosie.
During Rosie’s toddler years, one of her favourite activities was having tea with Daddy and her toys. The company cafeteria baked a variety of cookies, daily, since Rosie’s tastes varied and like so many small children she wanted what she wanted when she wanted it.
The ritual never changed. She’d arrange her toys in a certain order on the floor of Dominic’s office, point to Daddy’s seat, wait with the calm patience of a stage director for him to sit cross-legged on the floor. Then she’d show the cafeteria lady where to put the tea tray, smile up at her, say, ‘Tank you,’ and sloppily pour the first tiny cup of tea for her favourite doll.
Dominic’s appointment schedule was always adjusted on those days when Rosie wanted to play teatime. CEOs waited, politicians waited, his managers waited, ambassadors waited.
Rosie was his precious darling.
Dominic taught his daughter to surf before she was three. He came back up to the beach where Kate was waiting that first day because they’d just learned she was pregnant again and Dominic’s protective rules were back in place. He didn’t want her in the water. Not that she minded complying when he’d finally agreed to have another child. He was smiling proudly, his plump wet-suited daughter in his arms. And Rosie called out from ten feet away, ‘Daddy thas I’m a nathur,’ she glanced up at her father.
‘A natural, Rosie,’ he said, bending to kiss her cheek. ‘You’re going to be a great surfer.’
Kate felt a small sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach because her baby was small and the waves weren’t. But she also knew Dominic would safeguard his daughter with his life. In fact, he’d added a security team that was devoted to her.
Each year in August, they stayed in Kate’s hometown. Nana enjoyed having their family around and Kate and Dominic liked the peaceful community and their home on the lake. It was a vacation of sorts, although neither
of them was ever completely free from work. But they deliberately lightened their schedules in August.
One morning, Dominic and his daughter were at the bakery to get their breakfast pastries. In northern Minnesota the weather could be crisp even in August and both Dominic and Rosie wore sweaters. She was sitting on her father’s shoulders, eating a cookie while he paid for the pastries, raining crumbs on his head.
‘We got cookie for my bruuver?’ She tapped Dominic’s head with her half-eaten pink frosted sugar cookie. ‘He yikes cookies.’
‘Jimmy has a sugar cookie and the chocolate one you picked out. Is that enough?’
‘More, Daddy, more!!’
Dominic smiled faintly, briefly contemplating what more might mean ten years from now when cookies and toys wouldn’t be enough. ‘Pick out some other cookies then. Whatever you think Jimmy would like.’ At six months, it didn’t really matter; the baby put everything in his mouth.
Nor did it matter how many cookies Rosie wanted today or tomorrow or next week. His children could ask for whatever they wanted.
He never said no.
Occasionally, Kate took issue with some wild extravagance, but not often.
Dominic had been denied a childhood. She couldn’t fault him for wanting to make up that deficit and give his children what he’d never had – unconditional love and the joy of innocence.
But when James was almost a year old, Dominic sat Kate down in the living room one evening after the children were sleeping. ‘I’m a little tense,’ he said.
She been aware of his unease since they’d come home, his restlessness patent. ‘Oh God, you’re sick?’ Panic flared in her voice.
‘No, no, I’m fine.’ He wrapped her in his arms. ‘But I have a serious question to ask you.’
She was so relieved, she overreacted with a quip. ‘If you’re going to ask for a divorce the answer is no.’
His scowl was instant. ‘Don’t joke about that. And don’t ever think you’ll get one because you won’t.’
‘Hey!’
He put his finger on her mouth. ‘I don’t want to argue right now so cool your jets. I want to ask you something important.’
