“You both glow,” Mrs. Flannigan said, then looked around the table where only their son was absent as he had a baseball game he was attending that night. “You all are glowing. You men must be magical. All of my daughters look happier than I recall seeing them look before.”
Cait ran her hand across Phoenix’s cheek, the light reflected off her diamond wedding band. “I am happier than I’ve ever been.”
Phoenix left a little kiss on her lips. “Me too, Mrs. Nelson.”
Kel giggled as she watched her younger sister look at her husband. “I can’t believe you two did that without telling a soul,” Kel commented.
“They’re pretty sneaky,” Ethan said. “Not a peep out of either of them.”
Phoenix looked at Mr. Flannigan and said, “Sir, I’d have waited to ask for your permission, but I was champing at the bit to get a ring on Cait’s finger and make it all official. I’ve never known something was so right until I met your daughter.”
“Aww,” Jess said as she laid her head on Griff’s shoulder. “That’s so sweet.”
Cait smiled at Phoenix as she said, “It is, isn’t it?” Then she shook her head as if clearing it. “Oh, and he has a dog too! We’re going to get him from his neighbor’s whenever we find a house of our own. Isn’t that exciting?”
“A dog?” Mrs. Flannigan asked. “What in the world do you need with a dog?” She’d never allowed her children to have pets of any kind. She didn’t see the use in it.
“Oh, he’s the sweetest thing,” Cait said. “Mom, I dare you not to fall in love with him once we bring him to our home.” Giggles erupted out of her. “Our home! That sounds so weird!”
Phoenix just laughed and pulled her in for a hug, leaving a kiss on top of her head. “It doesn’t sound weird at all. It sounds right.”
Griffin and Ethan exchanged glances. Both of them felt a little cheated that Phoenix had made such a huge step, leaving them out of what he was doing. They both felt a bit badly about merely moving in with the women instead of making the grand commitment Phoenix had.
Griffin took Jess’s hand under the table and whispered, “You’re not upset that we’re not married, are you?”
“God, no!” Jess blurted out, gaining everyone’s attention.
“Care to elaborate, Jess?” Kel asked, then took a bite of the roast. “Mmm, great roast, Mom.”
“Thank you, dear,” Mrs. Flannigan said. “So, what was that about, Jess?”
“Um, uh,” her cheeks grew red as she mumbled.
Griffin saved her as he took the attention away from her. “I asked her if she was upset about us not getting married. Because we could.”
“Us too!” Ethan quickly added. “I’d marry Kel in a heartbeat. I would!”
Mrs. Flannigan put down her fork as Kel watched her mother with increasing worry. “Ethan, Griffin, I want you both to know that I am trusting you to make good decisions where my daughters are concerned. That said, I don’t think it’s wise to rush into something as important as a marriage just because someone else did it. I hope all goes well for Phoenix and Cait; I really and truly do. But I think each of you will know when the right time for you to make things permanent occurs. Don’t rush or hold back. That’s my advice.”
“And sage advice it is,” Ethan agreed, then took Kel’s face between his palms. “But I want everyone at this table to know that I love this woman with all my heart.”
Kel blushed and smiled. Shyly, she said, “Oh, Ethan, stop.”
“Never,” Ethen said with a laugh. “I’ll never stop proclaiming my love for you.”
His words had everyone laughing, and the mood had changed drastically from when they first let out the big news. It seemed they could expect quick heat from Mrs. Flannigan, but she was fairly quick to cool too. Things would work out; all of them had faith in that.
Chapter 42
The barking of a dog filled the room as Phoenix strode into the living room of the mansion he had bought in Ashby. “Shh, Toby, be quiet,” he told the dog as it came running to him.” He beamed as he looked at Griffin and Ethan. They’d gotten up when he entered the room and were looking nervously at him. “She did it, guys. We have a daughter.”
The men cheered and raised their glasses of beer as they toasted the news. “Congratulations, man,” Griffin called out as they all gathered in a group hug.
Kel came out of the room where Cait had delivered their child. She was carrying a bundle of pink in her arms. Jess followed close behind her, cooing at the baby, “You’re so adorable, Rosaline.”
“Meet your uncles, Miss Rosaline,” Kel said as she went to the huddle of men. “This big brute here is your Uncle Ethan. He and I will be giving you a cousin in about six months.”
Ethan kissed the baby on the forehead. “Hey there, little beauty. We’re having a boy to pester you. Sorry about that.”
Griff laughed as he pulled Jess into his arms. “You ready to share our news yet, baby?”
Jess batted at his chest. She knew he was eager to let their cat out of the bag, and he’d been more than patient with her when she asked him to wait on telling everyone their news. “I suppose so.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wedding ring. Griff did too, and they placed them on each other.
Ethan and Phoenix both chuckled as Ethan said, “It takes more than exchanging some wedding bands, guys. Take it from me. Our wedding cost us a small fortune.”
Kel nodded. “But it was worth it. Right, honey?”
“Worth every cent, my love,” Ethan agreed.
“Well, we didn’t want a big wedding,” Griffin told him. “We had a small ceremony at our ranch. Only the immediate family was there, and Jess’ favorite horse.” They all laughed.
Kel cocked one brow as she looked at her sister. “How long have you two been married?”
“Only a week. I didn’t want to take away from Cait and Phoenix and their big day with little Rosaline here.” Jess let the baby hold her finger and couldn’t quit smiling at her very first niece.
“That was sweet of you,” Phoenix said. “And Cait will be happy to know Griffin finally made an honest woman out of you, Jess.” Phoenix kissed her cheek then shook Griffin’s hand. “Welcome to the fam, bro.”
Ethan clapped Griffin on the back. “Yeah, welcome to the brothers-in-law club. What was once a group of rogue bachelors is now a pack of settled down husbands, and now we’re all going to be fathers.” He patted Jess’s round tummy.
Griffin placed his hand on his wife’s stomach. “One more month and little Darla will come out and meet all of us.”
“But at a hospital in Montana. None of this birth at home, midwife thing for me. Cait’s brave,” Jess said.
Kel nodded in agreement. “That she is. But I think I like the idea better than a hospital. I believe we might be having our baby at home too. What do you think, Ethan?”
“Oh, you’re letting me have an opinion?” he asked with surprise.
Kel scowled at him. “As if I don’t confer with you on every important topic.”
“Well, you picked out some wallpaper for my son’s room that is questionable,” he reminded her.
“How so?” Jess asked. “Is it a bit girly?”
“No, it’s a bit demonic. Reds and blacks,” Ethan told her.
“I want him to be strong like his father is.” Kel made her argument.
“I want him to be sweet like his mother is,” Ethan said, then reached for the baby. “Let me have her. I need to get used to this.”
Phoenix and Griffin laughed as he took the baby and held her to his chest. The man was monstrous; the baby looked minuscule against the backdrop that was her uncle.
All had married; all were moving into parenthood; and all were happier than they’d known was possible. Everything was great except for the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Flannigan had yet to show up for the birth of the baby and that was a thing Kel was beginning to grow worried about.
Chapter 43
The sound of the Mas
erati pulling into the circular drive of the Flannigan’s newly built mansion on the outskirts of Ashby had Mrs. Flannigan peering out her second-floor bedroom window. She watched as her husband Josh got out of the new car he had been given by their daughters and their men. He’d changed so much in the last year, she barely recognized the fit man who was wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit.
The suit was no gift; he’d purchased that on his own. With the student debt out of his hair and time to spend doing some much-needed things with his wife, the man was living the dream. He’d joined a gym at the prompting of Ethan and Phoenix. He was in the best shape of his life. And the visits to the salon had his hair and skin looking exemplary. His wife had started calling him her James Bond.
Mrs. Flannigan had made a major transformation as well. Her auburn hair had been returned to what it once was, only a bit better, if you asked her husband of thirty years. She’d gone to a nutritionist when Cait became pregnant and wanted to go to one to find out how to eat optimally for the baby. When she’d accompanied her daughter to the visit, she found herself intrigued by what the nutritionist had to tell them.
With a new way of eating and a new attitude on life in general, the couple, who’d been a bit too involved with their children and not nearly enough with one another, suddenly found themselves full of energy. They found things that interested them they had never thought about before.
Beth watched her husband as he glided up to the front door. A smile moved across her face involuntarily. The couple had found a lot out about themselves as money moved more freely when the business boomed.
Phoenix and Ethan had joined their partnership, making it into a full-fledged company that had allowed them to open three more bars in the last year and five more were scheduled to open in the coming year. There would soon be Flannigan’s Pub and Grill restaurants up and down the Eastern coast. And one in Corpus Christi, Texas, where Phoenix still had his beach house. Money was pouring in, and things felt right.
Scott had been accepted at MIT, and they had allowed him to move into the dorms, a first for the parents of four. They’d begun to see themselves as a couple rather than merely as parents. A couple who absolutely adored one another.
Beth had forgotten how smitten she’d been with Josh when they met in Dublin, Ireland, at a street fair. With the kids gone and time on their hands, they’d rekindled the flame that had begun when they were young, and things seemed to heat up all over their new mansion.
Josh found his wife waiting in their bedroom, a place where they now spent a lot of their time. “I see you were looking out the window and saw me come in, yet your clothes are still on. What gives, toots?” he said with a crooked smile.
“I was waiting to see if you were in the mood, Big Daddy,” she said as she got up out of the lounge chair that was strategically placed by the window that overlooked the entrance.
Taking his jacket off, Josh laid it over the back of a chair and made his way to his wife, who was wearing a robe and nothing more, just as he’d instructed her to when he’d run to the bank to do a bit of business before the day got started.
He kicked off his shoes and expertly pulled his black socks off, using his feet to do the chore. Then he slowly unbuttoned the white dress shirt he’d worn under the suit jacket. That was Beth’s favorite part. Watching him unveil the fantastic body he’d built.
“Slower,” she cooed at him as she took his fine physique in. “Damn it, Josh! You keep getting better and better with age. Like a fine wine.”
“It’s not the age that’s doin’ it, love. It’s the workouts. But I’m glad you like it.” He tossed the shirt away and took off his slacks. In one fell swoop, he moved across the room to get to her. His boxers and the robe were all that was left between them.
The telephone rang, and Beth looked at it. Josh’s hand caught her face and pulled it to look at him. “Whoever that is will wait. You’re mine right now. Now turn around and let me take that robe off you. I want you on your hands and knees on that bed.”
Beth couldn’t help but smile as she turned around and he pulled the robe off her. The phone kept ringing, and they kept ignoring it. Inch by inch, Josh kissed his wife. First her shoulder, then all the way down her back, then he picked her up and placed her on the bed.
She looked over her shoulder at him and whispered, “Take me, Master.”
A swift slap met her ass, and a growl came from Josh as he dropped his boxers and took his hard dick into his hand. “You ready, Slave?”
Beth’s body was already hot and ready. “For you, I’m always ready. Show me who I belong to.”
Another slap on her ass heated it and she was dripping wet with need for her husband. He toyed with her for a moment, playing with her clit as he ran his hand around her. She moaned, and he slapped her ass again. “Bad girl.”
“I’ve been very bad. I think I need you to punish me, Big Daddy.” She said with a saucy tone to her voice.
“And what kinds of bad things has my slave done to be punished for?” he asked her as he gripped her waist and pulled her back so the head of his cock was at the edge of her vagina, making her ache to have it inside of her.
“I’ve lusted after another man, Master,” came her response.
He slammed into her. “This is the only cock you get, Slave. Who have you lusted over?” He smacked her ass and gave her another hard thrust, making her breathe out with a loud gasp.
“This morning the weatherman was talking about rains in New York and winds in Delaware. And he kept brushing his cock when he clicked the thing in his hand. It made me want to know what his cock would feel like inside of me,” she said, to provoke his jealousy.
Josh rammed into her as he held her waist tight in his hands. “Mine is the only cock you will ever feel.”
His was the only one she’d ever had. She was a virgin when she married the man she’d been with for over thirty years. Beth wondered if the ten years that had gone by with them having no sex at all had actually helped them to have the sex life they’d found again. The truth was, she didn’t care what had made them find one another again; she was just damn glad they had.
“Only you, Master. Only you!” she squealed as he banged into her with a force she marveled at.
“Damn right, only me!” Josh kept it going, then reached around her to play with her clit as the climax was beginning in him. “You get ready to cum on my command, Slave. I want your pussy to cum all over my cock.”
“Yes, sir,” she moaned as she moved her body back even more to give him complete access to her personal pleasure button. “Oh, baby, fuck me. Fuck me hard. Teach me not to lust after other men.”
Her words about lusting after other men had him seeing red and his cock seemed to grow more just to prove to her she didn’t need to lust after anyone. He could be more than enough for her.
Suddenly, he wanted to see her face when she gave him what he wanted. He pulled out and tossed her onto her back, then moved quickly to mount her. She gasped again as he slammed into her. “You are mine. No one else can have you.”
She gripped his strong arms and looked him in the eye as she whispered, “I am yours. Only yours.”
With a sigh, Josh ground his cock into her, making her moan with the sensation. “You like that, huh? You like that fat cock all up in you.”
“I do,” she moaned back.
He ground it into her again, going deep and loving the way she was taking the punishment he was putting out. “Am I better than the weatherman, Slave?”
“Way better,” she said as she groaned and arched up to him. “Big Daddy, my body is racked with need. Please let me cum.”
“Not yet,” he told her, then kissed her with a hot kiss that melted anything that was left cool in his body. His heart banged in his chest as he took her with a furious pace.
The phone began to ring again, and it took his mind off the impending action. “Damn that phone,” she said as she held her hands over her ears.
He kissed her ag
ain, trying his best to make them both forget the damn ringing phone. Moving faster and harder, he felt his cock jerk, then pulled his mouth off hers as he shouted, “Cum for me, Slave!”
“Yes!” she screamed as she let her body go. He’d trained it so well to orgasm only on his command.
Beth was proud to say that he could call her on the telephone and talk dirty to her then tell her to cum and she’d have an orgasm. He’d trained her very well, and she was happy he had.
Their bodies shook with the intensity of the climax. Both were out of breath as he collapsed onto her. She loved the way his weight pinned her to the bed. The helpless feeling elated her. Beth could feel her juices spurting and making an incredible wetness that saturated them both.
Running her hand through his hair, she muttered, “Time for a shower, Master. Your slave has to clean you all up.”
He raised his head and kissed her. “And your master needs to clean you all up. To the shower, Slave.”
Getting off his wife, he picked her up and carried her to the shower. For so many years they’d held so tightly to their children who had grown up. So many years had passed with them looking past one another to see what others were doing.
Josh would never let his wife look past him again. He’d move heaven and earth for the woman he had thought was long gone. He had thought the man he once was had vanished too. He’d been wrong. They both had.
The real them had been there all along, lingering beneath the surface, hiding behind problems like money and work and kids. But they were still there. It took a bit of digging to find themselves again, but they’d done it.
Everything would be all right. Both were sure of that.
Beth stroked her husband’s cheek as he carried her to the shower. The phone rang again. “Should I go answer that before we take a shower?” Beth asked him.
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