by Natalie Ann
She saw the expression on his face change. She wasn’t sure what it was and now was wondering if she’d put her foot in her mouth. If maybe she showed her cards too soon and he was regretting what he said, what caused her to say what she did.
“What I want is what you want. What I need is the same. You, by my side.”
She knuckled another tear away. “This is the worst conversation to be having in a car,” she said, snorting out a laugh.
He chuckled with her. “I guess so.”
“I want to hug you right now and I can’t,” she said giggling. “I can’t even lean over to kiss you. I’d have to take my seatbelt off for that.”
“And we wouldn’t want you to do anything that is illegal, right?”
“No.”
“Ms. Springfield is always a role model, right?” he said, joking.
She laughed, she had to. She never thought of herself as a role model before. After all, who would have wanted the life she had growing up? No one, that’s who.
She’d like to think she was making a change in people’s lives, showing them they could overcome anything—any nightmare. Except, she’d never told anyone her past before. She’d never wanted to go there.
Very few people knew about her childhood, and she liked it that way. She liked keeping it locked in the closet where she’d hidden so many times. It was too hard to talk about, too hard to even think about, but she knew at some point she’d have to tell Sean. He had a right to know.
It wouldn’t change anything they had. It wouldn’t make a difference in their relationship, but he needed to know. He should know, she understood that. Not right now though, or any time in the near future. She didn’t want to rain on her parade right now. She was just too happy to think about the nightmare she’d lived for so long.
Sweet Girl
“Sean, come give your mother a hug and a kiss.” He’d barely had time to set his and Carly’s bags down in the front hallway before his mother came running over to him, engulfing him in a huge hug.
Claire Callahan was short, a little pudgy, had a lot of personality, and he loved every minute of who she was. “Bend over so I can kiss your cheek. I swear you make me ask on purpose. Let me look at you.” She clucked her tongue. “Still too skinny for me. We’ll put some meat on your bones in the next two days.”
Great. Already babying him and he didn’t even have a chance to get his jacket off. What happened to being on their best behavior? “Mom,” he said pulling out of her embrace. “This is Carly Springfield. Carly, my mother, Claire Callahan.”
Sean watched amused as Claire turned and pulled Carly into a hug. His mother was an inch or so taller than Carly, but much bigger in her frame. “Aren’t you such a tiny thing? Sean has been very close-lipped about you. Now I know why. Sean,” Claire said turning toward him, “I thought you said you were feeding her.”
Oh dear, this he didn’t expect. “I feed her, Mom. Every time you send me food I have Carly over for dinner. And she cooks for me all the time.”
“Are you a vegetarian, dear?” Claire asked.
He watched Carly’s head move back and forth between the two of them, humor riding high on her face. Good, now she could see what he put up with all the time. “No, Mrs. Callahan, I’m not a vegetarian. I just never seem to sit still.”
“Call me Claire, please. None of that Mrs. Callahan crap. I’m not my mother-in-law, thank the Lord, and I never will be, God rest her soul.” His mother stopped her rush of words and waved her hand. “Anyway, I guess running after children all day burns a lot of calories. Don’t you worry; we’ll put some meat on your bones too.”
“I can’t wait,” Carly said, turning and looking at him, her eyes wide and almost bugging out of her head, laughter surrounding them.
“Mom, why don’t you show Carly to my room if you don’t mind? I need to go get the cooler out of the car.”
“Cooler? Please tell me you didn’t bring food. You should have eaten it yourself if there was food in it,” she scolded him.
Carly jumped in and came to his defense. “Actually I made something. I know you told me I didn’t need to, but I didn’t feel right coming empty-handed.”
“What did you make?” Claire asked curiously. He knew his mom and she was thrilled Carly made something, even though he told her she didn’t need to. Carly’s manners dictated she do that and there was nothing Claire liked better than knowing her children were with someone with manners.
“I made vegetable soup, with roasted red pepper hummus along with herbed bread.”
Sean burst out laughing at his mother’s expression. Would you look at that? Carly had a sense of humor and her nerves weren’t getting the best of her. He’d give her credit for saying that to his mother at the first meeting. If he didn’t love her before, he would have fallen in love with her right then. “She’s kidding, Mom.”
Claire looked at Carly. “Are you?”
“Of course,” Carly said, giggling. “I don’t think I could make bread nearly as good as Sean, so I wouldn’t even attempt it. Not to mention I’ve had your soup several times. Actually I was hoping, if you didn’t mind, if I could have a few of your recipes. They’re really good and I’d like to make them for Sean so he has a taste of home.”
“Oh, aren’t you the most precious thing. Of course you can have some recipes.” His mother grabbed Carly’s arm and pulled her up the stairs. “Sean can bring your bags up. Let me show you to his room.”
Their voices trailed off as they climbed the stairs. What a stinker Carly was. She’d just played his mother. She’d been nervous over nothing. If there was one thing Claire Callahan wanted, it was someone to take care of her kids, or take more care of them. He didn’t need it, but no matter how many times he reminded her he was a grown man, his mother wanted nothing more than for him to find someone who would cook for him and care for him like she did.
***
“So, I made a good impression, didn’t I?” Carly said, smothering a grin.
They were lying in his bed, the light out, whispering. His father had gotten home less than an hour ago. He and Carly had gone to the pub for dinner and he introduced her. Somehow he ended up working behind the bar like he always did when visiting, not for long though. He didn’t want to leave Carly alone. But she’d surprised him, and his father, by clearing tables during the dinner rush.
Patrick Callahan had been mortified and told her to sit down and relax. Sit at the bar and keep Sean company—the rush would die down soon—but she didn’t listen. She just smiled that bright smile of hers, the apples of her cheeks all flushed, her eyes sparkling with laughter, and said, “I bussed tables in college. I won’t break anything, don’t worry.” Then she got up and grabbed a bin off the bar and walked around picking up empty plates and bottles. She even came back with a few drink orders.
Carly was just full of surprises. He’d never pictured her as a waitress, but she had the personality for it. She was so good with people. She had everyone smiling that she came in contact with tonight. She’d won his father over, there was no doubt.
He didn’t even need to hear his father boasting to the regulars that Carly was “Sean’s girl” to know his father was well and truly smitten. And if working at the pub tonight didn’t do it, hearing what Carly brought did. He thought his father was going to get down and kiss Carly’s feet. “Claire won’t let me have as many sweets anymore. She bakes and sends everything to Sean or the grandkids.”
Sean explained. “My father’s cholesterol is higher than it should be, or at least that’s what my mother says, so she teases him by baking every week and giving him no more than two cookies before she ships them off to everyone else.”
“That’s not very nice.” Poor Carly’s face turned purple with embarrassment after she’d spoken those words. “Not that I don’t think your wife is nice. That isn’t what I meant.”
Patrick just burst out with his robust laugh, slapped Sean on the back and said, “You did well.”
“You did make a great impression. I think my mother might even forgive you for the fact that you allowed my father to have two pretzel rods tonight.”
“I made plenty,” she reminded him.
“You did, and since you let me have one too, you’re forgiven.”
“I didn’t know I needed to be forgiven from you.”
“You wouldn’t let me have any on the trip here.”
“Because they weren’t for you,” she reminded him. “Yours are at the house for when we get back.”
“Is that so? Aren’t you just a sassy little thing lately? I like this side of you.” He rolled over on top of her, lowering his voice even more. His parents’ room was at the other end of the house, so there was no way they could hear them. Not to mention he knew his parents were watching TV in bed; they always did.
“I think I like this side of me too. I’ve been so nervous and I always put my foot in my mouth, but for some reason I had fun teasing your mother. I shouldn’t be surprised she still treats you like a kid.”
He frowned, his mother still did. She’d never stop, but he didn’t want to think about that. Not now, not when he was in bed with Carly, and she was all warm and soft under him. “Enough talk about my parents,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers, his lips tasting and seeking, opening her mouth and swooping in.
His hand glided up her waist and cupped her breast, his knee sliding between her legs and settling in. “Sean, we can’t,” she said weakly.
“Yes, we can.” He continued to nibble his way around her face, neck and then her ears, pulling her lobe between his teeth, causing her to arch into him.
“Your parents are right down the hall.”
“Yes, so? Let’s feel like teenagers again.”
She laughed, a soft quick sound but enough to be a punch to the gut. “I never did this as a teenager before and I shouldn’t now.”
“There is a first time for everything. Think of it as quiet time in class. Like a church mouse.”
She gasped. “Sean, that’s horrible. Using the word church at the same time that you’re doing what you are.”
“Okay,” he amended, his fingers having found her nipple, now pinching and then rubbing it and pinching it some more. “Think like a mouse then.”
“We really shouldn’t.” But her body was telling her something else, because her nails were now digging into his back, her hips were moving up to his and her teeth were starting to graze his neck.
“Yes, we really should.” He pulled back and leaned over the bed. Groping around for his wallet on the bedside table, he found a condom, quickly shed his underwear and told her, “Get undressed.”
He heard the bed move and assumed she was complying. Sometimes she really was so easy. “I really shouldn’t give in the way I do with you,” she said quickly.
He pulled her back under him. “Yes, you really should. You know why?”
“No why?” she whispered back to him, he’d barely heard.
“Because you enjoy it just as much as I do.”
“More,” she said.
“More what?” he asked.
“I enjoy it more than you.”
That did it. He’d wanted to drag it out, play with her a little, tease her some and make her beg all the while trying to keep her quiet. But he never seemed to have enough control to drag it out.
He had to be in her, and it had to be now.
Covering her lips with his, he slid in fast and urgent, quieting the moan that escaped at the moment he made them one. He slid his hands up and laced his fingers through hers, then moved her hands over her head.
Slowly he pushed his hips forward, then pulled back, small motions, just teasing her the way he wanted to. But she didn’t want any part of that and started lifting up and pulling back herself. He heard his bed squeak and then she stilled. “Not so fast,” he whispered back to her. Now he knew why he never did this when people were in the house before.
Kissing her again, he moved in deep and held her there, short fast movements of his hips, rubbing and grinding against her. Trying to get her there without shaking the bed too much.
He sensed she wanted more, needed more, so he unlaced one hand from hers and slid it between their bodies to find just the right spot. Going to work, he moved around her, in between her and all over her until she was squirming under him and he was holding on by a thread.
The entire time he continued to kiss her, squelching any noises she would have made. When he felt she was just about there, he pulled out enough that she bit his tongue, no doubt in an effort to get him to slide back in. He’d had no intention of stopping or leaving her.
One more time, pulling all the way out, sliding all the way back in, slow precise movements, barely shaking the bed, but more than enough to send her over the edge, with him following quickly behind.
“That was naughty,” she said moments after he’d rolled off of her and took care of the condom.
“You have no idea what naughty is then,” he said back.
“You’d be right; I really don’t. But I still can’t believe we just did that with your parents in the house.”
Neither could he. His mother would probably have a cow if she knew. His father would probably slap in him on the back again. Oh well, his mother had wanted him to find a nice sweet girl, and he did.
Memories
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Carly asked Claire the next morning at the pub.
She and Sean had gotten up a little after eight, and had both showered and made their way to the kitchen for breakfast. Carly was shocked to find out that Claire had been at the pub since six that morning already cooking the turkeys.
Patrick was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper in front of him. “Hey, Dad,” Sean had said. “Did you have breakfast yet?”
“No, just coffee. Trying to enjoy the peace and quiet before we head over to the pub. I thought I’d catch a ride with you.”
“Sure. You aren’t in a hurry, are you? I’m thinking the peace and quiet of the house is just what I need too.”
Patrick looked up and grinned at Sean, then winked at her. “I hope you prepared Carly for today?”
“I tried to,” he replied back, chuckling. “Somehow she decided to still come and meet everyone.”
“Love will do that to you, won’t it?” Patrick asked her.
“It will,” she agreed. “But since Sean has been subjected to my mother and grandmother, I figured coming for Thanksgiving was the least I could do.”
Patrick snorted. “Two women. Sean can handle two women in his sleep. That’s nothing to what you’re going to experience today. Trust me.” Patrick looked back to Sean, his hazel eyes squinting, the laugh lines so apparent around his aging face, and asked, “Can I go back with you after today? You know how bad it is when everyone is together all at once like this.”
“Sure, Dad. I’ll sneak you out the back door before anyone is the wiser.”
Carly had thought the conversation was funny, but she soon realized that Patrick was delighted by every bit of the women in his life. While she cooked breakfast for the two of them, she listened to Patrick boasting about his daughters, their husbands and all the grandchildren. There may have been a lot of teasing and jokes in the family, but she was positive Patrick was completely comfortable around the women.
“Carly, come on in. Where’s Sean? He should be in here introducing you to his family,” Claire said, frowning, looking ready to read Sean the riot act.
“He introduced me to everyone’s spouses and the children already, but several of the younger kids grabbed his hand and pulled him into the back room for a game of pool. I told him to go ahead, I’d be fine.”
“Aren’t you just the nicest girl,” Anna said, rushing forward. Carly was so happy she’d seen pictures of everyone and knew who they were without being introduced.
Claire grabbed Carly’s hand, pulled her forward into the kitchen some more and pointed to each
one of her daughters, all wearing aprons and all abandoning the stations they were working at when they noticed Carly. “Anna, Kristy and Melissa, this is Carly. Remember, best behavior or Sean will get mad.”
Carly’s eyes widened at that statement. She didn’t know what would possess Claire to say that, and she couldn’t imagine Sean mad at anything.
Anna spoke first, almost elbowing her younger sisters out of the way and Carly could see that she was the most like her mother. “We’re so happy to finally meet you. Please come in and talk to us. Tell me that Sean is a gentleman. Please tell me that everything we taught him rubbed off.”
“Anna, cut it out,” Kristy said. “Leave the poor girl alone. I swear you are worse than Mom.”
Melissa jumped in. “Please, Kristy, you and Anna were bumping heads twenty minutes ago gossiping about all the things you hoped Sean was doing right, and taking credit for it all if he was.” Melissa turned to Carly. “Ignore my sisters, sometimes they think they are Sean’s other mothers rather than his older sisters.”
Anna huffed out. “And that is why Melissa is Sean’s favorite. She always comes to his defense.”
“Girls,” Claire said, interrupting what Carly thought for sure was going to turn into an argument and was hoping that wasn’t the case. Least of all did she want to be the cause of it. “Best behavior,” she reminded them. “Melissa, take Carly over to the dessert station with you. She can help you until the other two find their manners.”
Carly silently thanked Claire, but said, “That sounds good. I like to bake.”
Twenty minutes later, Sean popped his head into the kitchen and made his way to her side, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head. “Do I need to save you yet?”
She tilted her head up and gave him a kiss, Melissa snorting next to them. “She could have used saving twenty minutes ago, but like Dad, you always make yourself scarce when Anna and Kristy get into it.”
“You saved her for me, right, Melissa?” he said, reaching over and tweaking her hair.
