It All Falls Down

by M Dauphin

  “Oh fuck,” she moans. “Shit, shit, shit.”

  I mumble something unintelligible and collapse by her side, pulling her into my body. My hand finds her bump, our fucking baby, and a panic rises inside me.

  “I didn’t just hurt it, did I?” I whisper.

  “No.” She laughs. “No you’re most definitely perfect. Holy shit,” she pants. “That,” she huffs. “That was fucking perfect. Holy shit.”

  I sigh and hold her to me, words not needed for now. I just need her. My Nora. And I have her.

  We’re lying in bed, curled together, when we hear the front door open. Nora groans and looks over at the clock.

  “Noon. Nice.” She laughs.

  “Ava?”

  “Yep. Stayed the night with Deig, I guess.” She curls into me again and sighs.

  There’s a pang of jealousy towards best friend who’s had more time with my girl these last few months than I have, but that’s no one’s fault but my own. Deig knows I’m back in town, but I haven’t seen him yet. I probably should… but I don’t want to leave Nora.

  “We should all go out tonight. Dinner and a movie or something.”

  “Like a double date?”

  “Yea.” I smile at the normalcy of it all. “I want to start all this over, Nora. I fucked up big time. From the lying to you, to the leaving, I was never truly here with you in the now. That’s not us. That’s not me. I want to prove to you I can be who you need.”

  “I know you can be who I need, Max,” she whispers. “Like you said, love conquers all, right?”

  I smile and kiss her head, my hand sprawled out over her stomach, praying to God I feel something move.

  “You won’t be able to feel anything for a few more weeks, Max.” She sighs.

  “I’m not going to stop trying, princess.”

  She stretches then shifts to her back.

  “We need to get ready. Dinner at my grandma’s tonight.”

  “So no double date, then?” I pout.

  “After Gram’s house.” She kisses me on the shoulder and stands, tossing on my shirt and her underwear.

  “I about pissed myself when your dad started lecturing me on the phone, Nora. Is Gram as scary as him?”

  “Worse.” She smiles and I groan.

  “Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

  “Good thing I never told her you left me.” She shrugs and I laugh.

  “Oh you think you’re so smart, don’t you?”

  “I knew you’d be back, Max. It was just a matter of how long you’d be gone.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I manage. I’ve never apologized this much in my entire life, but in this situation I feel like I can’t do it enough.

  “You just pull out that southern charm you were carrying earlier and we’ll be golden tonight.” She winks at me and leaves the room to get ready.

  Fuck I love this girl.

  I walk over to my pants and praise the lord she didn’t try grabbing these for something. Sliding my hand inside the pocket, the tiny black box still secure in it’s place. I smile and slide them back on. If tonight goes well, I’ll have some planning to do rather quickly.

  “Holy shit, babe, quick come here!” Max yells from the living room. I’ve been trying to get ready to go out tonight, but every time I start to put on my clothes Max has come in and ripped them off of me and shown me just how much he loves this new shape my body is taking. I eventually had to kick him out of this part of the apartment just so I could finish getting ready.

  He hasn’t really been back to his place since he’s been back, but I’m okay with that. Ava’s been spending more and more time with Marcus, so we’ve had the place to ourselves most of the time.

  I roll my eyes and smile, walking into the living room as I put my earrings in. He smiles over at me from the couch and turns up the TV.

  “Nicholas Grendom, son of Mark and Amanda Grendom, local business tycoons, was arrested yesterday on three counts of public intoxication and fighting, alongside charges that include multiple counts of harassment and trespassing.” The screen flicks to a cell phone video of him being arrested outside a club and Max hits pause.

  “Babe… are those fucking tears?” He stands and walks over to the TV. “Holy shit, Nora, he’s crying!” Max barks out a laugh and my eyes go wide.

  “Well, looks like he finally got what he deserves.” I chuckle. “Press play, I want to hear what he’s crying about,” I say, laughing.

  “You think your dad did this?” he asks in wonderment as the footage keeps rolling.

  “I mean… I don’t know,” I whisper. “Why would he after he told us not to?”

  Max shrugs and laughs.

  “Whatever happened, I’m so happy karma finally bit his ass.”

  “Come on, come on!” I whisper to Max. We’re trying to get to the New Years Eve fireworks display they’re putting on downtown, but he’s taking forever!

  “Chill, we’ll get there.”

  “Yea, we’ll see them, but we won’t be there to experience it up close and personal!”

  “You’re a damn child, you know that?” He grins at me and I laugh.

  “Yep.”

  I take his hand and we walk down the street at a brisk pace. The cold has taken over this part of the country and I thank God daily I have a store where I can easily find goods to fit the rapidly changing weather. Christmas day wasn’t too bad. Now, a few days later, and I feel like my toes may freeze off.

  “How’s baby doin?” he asks. “Did I layer her up enough?”

  “She’s doing fine. Stop worrying daddy, I’ve got these next few months down pat. Your big worry comes after she pops out of here.”

  He laughs and nods.

  “We’ll see.” He stops and looks at me. “This is perfect.” He smiles wide at me and I shake my head.

  “No. This is not perfect. This is on the other side of the lake. They’re shooting them off over there!”

  “Right.” He shrugs and turns around to look across the lake. “Perfect view.”

  I huff and roll my eyes.

  “I’m letting you have this one only because this bus stop right here has a heater on it,” I say, walking over to it and hitting the button. The light buzzes on and I sigh. “I feel like a chicken.”

  “Say what?” The look he gives me makes me laugh way too hard.

  “A chicken under a heat lamp!”

  “No. That’s a chicken sandwich. You feel like dead chicken?” He raises his eyebrows, trying not to laugh at me.

  “I’m warm. That’s what I fucking feel like.” I close my eyes and take in the warmth. Maybe stopping here isn’t such a bad choice anyway.

  When I hear the first of the fireworks go off I open my eyes and reluctantly move to Max.

  “Hey there, princess,” he says, wrapping an arm around me. I nuzzle into him and we watch the start of the show. It’s beautiful, the lights brightening up the fresh coat of snow on the ground; the music playing in the background.

  And then the music changes and a country song comes on.

  “Oh hey, I know this song,” I say, smiling. Something about Peter Pan… or something. I’m not an avid country fan, but this one’s pretty good.

  “Yea,” Max says. “Look at that!” he points to my right and I watch as a firework explodes and creates a pink and red heart in the night sky.

  “Holy cow that’s cool,” I whisper, rubbing my hands together. Spinning, looking for him to keep me warm I shriek when he’s not where he was. Instead, he’s kneeling in the cold snow, smiling up at me.

  Kneeling…

  “What’s going on?” I whisper, butterflies in my stomach going insane.

  “I was always the type of man that did what he wanted when he wanted. Nothing rattled me, Nora. I lived by the seat of my pants, no commitment.” He shakes his head and smiles. “I met you and fell in love with you almost instantly. I thought at that hotel room the things I was feeling were just crazy, sex-driven emotions… but now I know it was so mu
ch more. You’re everything and anything I need in this world, princess.” He pulls out a small black box from his pocket and I feel a tear slip down my cheek. “Nora-no-last-name,” he starts and I let out a laugh. Smiling widely, he goes on. “Will you please be my other half for the rest of our lives?”

  I smile at him, eyes wet from tears, and nod.

  “Of course, you goon.”

  He sighs and smiles, standing and pressing his lips to mine as the music ends and the fireworks finale starts up. I slide the ring on my finger and stare at it, letting the colors of the fireworks reflect off the sparkling diamond.

  Love is crazy. It makes you do insane things. I wasn’t looking for him, but Maxwell Holzer barged into my life and wouldn’t leave until I promised him he could stay in my heart and my life until the end of time.

  I can’t wait to start this family with him.

  Scratch that… I can’t wait to see him change his first diaper.

  ;)

  I’ve never been a man that likes to cry.

  The day my daughter was born I blubbered more than she did. Damn did she have a set of lungs.

  Now here we sit, across the room from each other in a stare down. I swear she’s as stubborn as her father. And mother. Combined.

  “I want cake!” she screams and I hold back a smile. This parenting thing is hard when your kids are so damn cute.

  “No cake before dinner, Livvie.”

  “CAKE!” she screams. Two-and-a-half and already so demanding. I wouldn’t have expected anything else, but man these twos are difficult.

  “Olivia, sweets, you know the rule. Come on, let’s eat.” Nora walks into the room and smiles at me while walking her back to the kitchen. The little girl listens to her mom about ninety-five percent of the time and me about ten. It’s probably because I have no self-control when it comes to her beautiful baby blues and that little pout. She gets what she wants if daddy’s involved.

  “Why does she listen to you, but screams at me?” I scoff, pretending that my feelings are hurt. Nora laughs and shakes her head.

  “Get used to it, Daddy. You two are cut from the same cloth.”

  I growl and rush her, wrapping my arms around her while our baby girl climbs into her booster seat.

  “I love you, Nora,” I whisper in her ear.

  “I love you too, Maxwell.” She walks away, always on mom duty, and starts serving dinner. I thought I loved her before all of this, but now that I see how amazing of a mother she is, I love her even more than I did. And I didn’t even think that was an option.

  Once we’re cleaned up and Olivia’s in bed, I walk into the living room. The snow outside is falling heavy now and the fireplace is getting its workout for the evening, keeping us warm. Nights like this don’t happen too often where neither of us have work to do, but tonight we’re both home and both able to sit and relax together. With Smudge Design taking off in a worldwide direction and clientele from all over the globe wanting to work with us, I’m either traveling or in the office until at least seven at night and the boutique is opening a new branch in Chicago, Nora’s stepmom is helping head that project, but it’s still busy as hell for her. If someone had told me I’d meet a girl randomly at the airport one day and fall head over heels in love with her and turn into a family man, I’d have laughed at them. Growing up with my childhood, jumping from foster home to foster home, I never figured a ‘normal’ life would be possible for me.

  Nora proved me wrong. As always.

  “Hey, princess.” I sit down next to her and she curls into my arms, closing the book in her hand.

  “Hey you,” she whispers, then falls silent as we watch the fire dance.

  We bought this land shortly after our wedding. The engagement was short, neither of us wanted a huge wedding. With her family, Scott and his family, and a few close friends, we got married on her grandma’s property about three months after Olivia was born. We moved about a year ago after that to a place just outside of town. Country life is where it’s at. No noisy neighbors, no busy streets. The small ranch house is perfect for our growing family and the yard space is great for Olivia to play in without worrying about cars barreling down the street.

  “Don’t forget tomorrow Ava and Marcus are coming over for dinner.”

  “You think he’s proposed to her yet?” I laugh when she growls.

  “No. But he better or I’m going to junk-punch him.”

  I let out a laugh and she punches my stomach playfully.

  “I’m not on Olivia duty if you wake her up.” She raises an eyebrow at me and I smile. “You know it’s not going to work. That smile can only get you so far, but after 8pm I’m off duty for a while. At least until midnight.”

  I laugh and pull her closer to me.

  “Hey, Hun?” she asks quietly.

  “What do you want?” I ask, grinning. She hates it when I answer like that, so naturally I try to do it every time.

  “What would you name a boy if we had one?”

  “That’s easy. Scott.” He’s not my dad, per say, but he’s the only father figure I’ve had in my life. I owe him the world, so naming a child after him is a given.

  “Mmm,” she purrs, nodding.

  “Why?” Strange fucking question, but she’s known to pull things out of her ass at times.

  “Just curious. Baby Scott. Sounds nice, right?”

  I pause, my brain not working at the speed of light tonight, but it slowly registers.

  “Babe are you telling me…” I shift and look at her, curled into my side. Her skin is radiant, her black hair practically glowing in the fireplace light. She’s smiling up at me, her eyes bright.

  “Telling you what, Maxwell?”

  “Mrs. Holzer, is there something you need to tell me?” My heart’s beating out of my chest. She smiles and nods.

  “Holy shit, Nora! We’re having another baby?!”

  “We… well kind of,” she says, smiling.

  “The hell does that mean?” My brows pinch together in confusion.

  “We’re having two more babies.” She grins a nervous grin and watches me carefully.

  “Two? You said two?”

  “Twins. Surprise!” She smiles widely and my mouth falls open. I can’t form a correct sentence right now, so I do the only thing I know how. I kiss her like my life depends on it. I kiss her like it’s our first kiss in a long-ass time. I kiss her like I need her… and I do.

  “So this is a good response?”

  “Babe, this is amazing!” I boast. “Twins!” I laugh and pull her to me. “Holy shit, twins.”

  “Yea.” She laughs. “So many diapers.”

  “I’m buying a gun,” I growl, making her laugh.

  “Why?”

  “So I can scare off the potential boyfriends.” I shrug. “It’s never too early.”

  “And what if they’re boys?”

  “Then to scare off the women. I know how you girls get. Ya’ll are crazy.”

  She laughs and curls into me.

  “I love you, Maxwell Holzer.”

  “I love you too, Nora Holzer. Thank you.”

  “For what?” She looks up at me, eyebrows pinched together.

  “For giving me a second chance. And for making me the happiest man on earth.”

  She leans up and kisses me, then snuggles back into my side.

  This is what life’s all about. Nothing else matters other than my family. I won’t fuck this up.

  I can’t.

  Because I have Nora by my side this time, and she’s all I need.

  The End

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  About M. Dauphin

  An avid, self proclaimed closet book nerd by the ag
e of nine, Dauphin didn’t take her love of fictional worlds public until she self-published her first book almost 20 years later. Since putting to paper the voices in her head, she’s fallen in love with a career of building, ruining, and rebuilding fictional character’s lives. Her love will always reside with the romance genre, but she does enjoy going off the grid every now and then with non-fiction.

  From Southern Illinois, born and raised, she now resides with her husband, two small boys, and one very busy dog.

  If you friend her on Facebook, you’ll be subjecting yourself to a whole lot of awesome…. So what are you waiting for?! Find her here: www.facebook.com/authormdauphin if you want to follow her author ramblings, go here www.mdauphin.com if you want to see what she has to offer (and some hot guys, too) and if you want to chat, email her here: authormallorydauphin@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Instagram at @M_Dauphin3 or Twitter @AuthorMDauphin.

  Other Works by M. Dauphin

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  Broken Promises Series- http://amzn.to/2bO9uLO

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