by Tia Siren
“God, I hope so.”
“Do you still want a baby, Hanna? I mean really?” she asked.
I nodded. “More than anything.”
“Well, I’ve been doing some thinking since Brad essentially quarantined me from the outside world. And…if you want to have a child now, with Kason or whoever, then I’ll support you.”
“Wait. What?” I asked.
Stacey smiled. “I’ll support you.”
“But I thought—”
“I’ll blame our last conversation on my hormones and leave it at that. I know you want children and I know you’d be an amazing mother. I know you can’t stand guys and their shit sometimes. If anyone can successfully pull off the single-mother thing and raise a stable child, it’s you.”
Tears streamed down my face, and we suddenly forgot all about our cake. For the first time, someone other than my mom had told me they supported the choice I’d made for my life, and it made my soul swell with delight. It made my previous conversation with Marcus and Kason disappear. It made me want to renew the conversation with Kason altogether.
“A child is a lot of work,” Stacey warned. “But I’m sure you’ll be up to the task.”
I nodded. “I know I will be.”
“I’ve seen the way your face lights up when you talk about having a child. You don’t talk about it like it’s a fantasy or fetishize it like it would somehow make you a better and more desirable person. You really know what you’re going to get yourself into, and I support you one hundred percent.”
“God, you have no idea how much that means to me. Marcus just keeps railroading me all the time about how I’m destined for better and calls it ‘just being a mom.’ He’s making me so angry, and I just—”
“Hey, Hanna,” she said, “we all know your brother’s always been a hard ass when it comes to you. At first I was worried that maybe your mom was influencing you or something, but I can see it in your eyes even now.”
“I’m so fucking happy to hear you say that,” I said.
Stacey stood me up and embraced me for a long time, and all I could do was hold her in return. I cried into her shoulder, letting out all the emotions I’d been feeling the past couple of weeks. She held me in her kitchen and let me sob. I forgot all about the cake. I forgot about the internship. I forgot about the sex stories. My parents fell to the background and I forgot we had steaming hot coffee to drink. Everything just fluttered from my mind in that moment. I finally had someone on my side, and I wasn’t going to let her go anytime soon.
I’d do whatever it took to keep her on my side throughout this journey.
“God, you know what I forgot today?” I sniffed.
“Everything? You can be a very forgetful person.” Stacey smirked. “It’s why you love that phone calendar of yours so much.”
“I don’t think I took my birth control this morning,” I said.
“Well, you might want to get home and do that if you haven’t gotten Kason to agree yet.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here, the cakes are yours.”
“And I’ll cherish them both while I stuff them in my face.”
“Thank you so much,” I whispered.
“You’re my best friend. Anytime, Hanna.”
I grabbed my coffee and went back out to my car. I was sure Kason would call sometime today and want to see me. The last thing I needed was a lag in my protection since we weren’t using condoms. He hadn’t yet agreed to give me a baby, and while I planned to reopen the conversation sometime soon, right now I needed to get home and get the pill into my system before I did anything else.
I pulled into my driveway and burst into my home. Then I took the stairs two at a time and threw the door open to the bathroom. I dug through my drawer and found the little package of pills, but when I threw it open, my eyes widened and I filled with panic.
I was four pills behind.
“Oh, no,” I murmured.
Fuck! I’d forgotten my pills for four fucking days? Damn it! Oh my god. Kason was going to kill me. He was going to think I’d done it on purpose. If I got pregnant, he was never going to forgive me. He was going to make my life a nightmare and—holy shit, I couldn’t believe I’d fucking forgotten!
In a frenzy, I popped out all four and tossed them in my mouth. I chugged them down with some coffee and looked at myself in the mirror. A wave of panic rushed over my body. Kason wasn’t going to want to be with me anymore if he knew I had been behind on my pills.
So, I just needed to keep him entertained and distracted by other things until these pills worked their magic.
Chapter 24
Kason
“Hello?” I asked. My phone had been ringing off the hook all damn morning, and I was pissed that it had woken me up for a third time. I’d been having quite a nice dream about little Hanna Rendon, and fuck if someone was interrupting me.
“Kason, it’s Brad.”
“What?”
“Look, I know I’m the CFO and you left me in charge for the month, but this prototype that was supposed to be sent out Monday still isn’t done being built. We need you back.”
I sat up in bed and ran a hand through my hair. I could’ve blown through the roof at that moment. Why the fuck was I finding out about this forty-eight hours after it had to be in people’s hands?
“Why am I just now hearing about this?” I asked.
“Because I put a rush on it thinking that would work, but I went to check on it this morning and they’re still projecting a finish date of as late as Saturday.”
“No. I left you in charge for a reason, Brad. Go down there and call up other workers if you have to. That fucking prototype was supposed to be sent out Monday, and me just now hearing about it is unacceptable. Get it done and get it out. Tonight.”
“Kason, we need you—”
“I’ll be back in a week. I haven’t taken any time off or a vacation of any sort in almost five years. You mean to tell me you can’t handle me being gone for one month?” I asked.
“It’s not my fault you left in the middle of a massive project!” Brad yelled.
“It would be mindful of you to remember who you’re talking to.” I glowered even though he couldn’t see me.
“Sorry. It’s just…we really need you here.”
“Well, I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I’m still on vacation. Get it done. Bring in everyone if you need to. I’ll pay them overtime. Just get it done and get it tested. Then get it in boxes and get it out. By tonight. Otherwise, the first job I’ll be having is yours.”
I hung up the phone and groaned before I flopped back onto the bed. Of course some shit like this would go down during my last week here. I was not about to sacrifice my last week with Hanna and my family unless I absolutely had to, but I knew if that prototype wasn’t out by tonight, I would have to go back.
“Such bullshit,” I whispered.
I got up and went into the bathroom to clean myself up and decided to slum it for the day. I pulled on a T-shirt and some jeans and resolved to call Hanna later and see what she was doing. She’d be a wonderful stress reliever. Maybe I could take her to dinner or something. I still had the pay negotiation for her internship, and I figured I could take her somewhere nice before having a quickie in the bathroom or something.
Or maybe we could break in my car’s back seat.
Or maybe—
“Kason! Honey! You up?”
“Coming down now, Mom!”
“Lisa and Hanna are here! Want a croissant?”
I rushed down the stairs and rounded the staircase. I saw Hanna and her mom sitting in the kitchen. I couldn’t help but smile, and mom clocked a broad grin before she handed me a croissant.
“Never seen you so excited over food before.” She winked.
“Morning, everyone,” I said. I bit into the croissant and went to sit by Hanna. She couldn’t take her eyes off me, was watching me as I came toward her. I honestly wasn’t sure why, but she seemed a little nervous.
<
br /> Maybe something had upset her.
“How are you guys this morning?” I asked.
“Oh, we’re just fine, Kason. Hanna here slept in a bit, but I enticed her with food to get her up.”
I smirked. “Sounds about right.”
“Hey now. Food isn’t all that important to me.”
“Says the woman who’s on her second croissant already,” her mother said.
“You eat as much as you want,” I told her.
“Yeah, like I need anyone’s permission to do that,” she muttered.
We all talked for a bit, and mom made us all coffee, but I could tell there was something on Hanna’s mind. I wasn’t sure what, and I wasn’t sure if we’d have any time to talk about it this morning, but it solidified my intent to ask her out to dinner.
“I went to see Stacey today,” Hanna said.
“How’s she doing?” I asked.
“Much better than I would’ve thought. Apparently she and Brad are going to try for another baby here in a few weeks.”
I stared deep into the profile of her face and could tell her mind was whirling. Our mothers squealed with delight over how quickly they were recuperating, but I could tell there was more going on here. It made me nervous, but I saw pangs of guilt wafting behind Hanna’s eyes. I wasn’t sure what she felt guilty about, but it was yet another reason why the two of us needed to get some alone time to talk.
Really talk with one another.
Our mothers got up from the table and started talking while Hanna got up to go to the bathroom. She was gone for a while and it started to worry me, so when our mothers took another cup of coffee out to the porch, I went upstairs and stood by the bathroom door. I could hear her crying in there. I wanted to shove the door in with my shoulder to get to her, but I resolved to simply stand out there until I heard her clean herself up. The water was running and she was splashing it on her face. When she was done blowing her nose, she swung the door open.
And was met with the likes of me.
“Oh, Kason. Hey there.” She smiled.
“Hanna. You all right?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah. Fine. Just worried about Stacey is all,” she said, brushing off my concern. “You all right? You seemed a bit upset over breakfast.”
“Just some work shit that dropped into my lap,” I said.
“Wanna talk about it? My internship isn’t getting you in trouble, is it?”
“Hanna, I own the company. I don’t get in trouble. Other people get in trouble with me.”
“Well, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t causing you any heartache.”
This type of talk wasn’t like Hanna. In the years I’d known her, she’d never given a shit if she’d ever gotten on someone’s nerves or was overstepping her boundaries. She was always thinking things she shouldn’t and saying things she had no business saying. It worried me that she was so abruptly censored.
“Hanna, what’s going on?” I asked softly.
“It’s nothing. Just gotta work through it I guess.”
She grabbed her head like she had a headache and then took a deep breath. She honestly looked like she was about to be sick when her eyes caught my stare.
“Are you…?” I asked.
“No. Damn it, Kason. I’m…I’m on my period for crying out loud.”
Oh. Oh, shit. Well, that would do it. That would definitely make a woman feel like shit. But I couldn’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I had some stress I wanted to relieve, and Hanna was the only person I wanted to relieve it with. I guess I’d just have to take a longer shower than I’d planned.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked.
She sighed and closed her eyes, and for some reason, guilt still racked her system. I’d known Hanna long enough now to know what she was feeling and when. I just didn’t understand why she felt so guilty. So she was on her period. So she was worried about her best friend. That wasn’t any reason to feel guilty.
“Hanna, are you sure—”
“Would you like a blowjob?” she asked.
I was caught off guard by her question, but my dick throbbed inside my pants at the mere mention of her lips wrapped around it. The vulgarity that had poured from her lips shut down every other question that was rolling around in my mind. After the words left her lips, I grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway to my room. I put my finger on my lips to tell her to keep quiet when she squealed. When I slammed the door behind me and shoved her to her knees, her hands made quick work of my jeans.
“So thick for me,” she said. She pulled my cock from my pants and shoved my jeans to my knees. The way she stared at what I had to offer her was nothing short of intoxicating.
She worshipped me, and I wished to god I could’ve worshipped her in return.
“Wrap your hand around the base,” I commanded.
Her small hand wrapped around it, and my stomach fluttered in anticipation. She kissed up my length with those pillowy lips, and I stumbled backward and pressed my back into the wall. Her tongue ran along the throbbing vein protruding from my wanting cock, and when she started teasing my tip, I wrapped my fingers desperately in her hair.
“Take it all in,” I growled.
I felt her sink my cock into her warm, wet mouth, and when she hollowed out her cheeks, I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from grunting. Her tits pressed against my legs and her moans vibrated my cock. She worked her hand with her lips while she lapped up all I had to give. My cock leaked for her and my legs began to pull taut. She brought her free hand around to play with my ball sack that was hanging low with full need. When her tongue swirled around my tip, I felt them pull up a bit.
“Just like that.” I groaned. “God, your mouth is perfect.”
I looked down at her, and she fluttered her gaze up to mine. She looked absolutely angelic with her big beautiful eyes and her long flowing hair. Her cheeks were hollowed out and her delicate hand was working the base of my dick like it was her job. Those beautiful, perky tits stood at attention for me as she shoved them into my legs.
“Fuck, Hanna. You’re perfect,” I said.
I started thrusting faster into her mouth while I watched my dick run against her lips. Her throat closed over it as I pushed it to the back of her throat. When her arms wrapped around my legs and her fingernails dug into my thighs, I felt my balls pull up completely into my body. My legs trembled and her tongue felt so silky smooth. When I felt my orgasm crash along my body, I banged my head into the wall and tightened my grip in her hair.
“Oh, yes, Hanna. God, yes. You’re so amazing. Fuck. Hanna. Hanna. Hanna.”
Stream after stream of thick cum shot down her throat, and she gobbled me up and swallowed me down. I felt her throat contract with every swallow, and it shook my knees, sliding me to the floor until my ass hit the carpet in front of her. My legs sprawled up and she crawled into my lap. When I wrapped my arms around her, she buried her body in mine.
“You’re incredible,” I said. I ran my fingers through her hair like I always did after she put in such effort to be with me, and she sighed in contentment.
I didn’t know what was plaguing her so badly, but I was really glad that—at least for the moment—it was gone.
Chapter 25
Hanna
“I have something to admit,” I said. I couldn’t keep up this charade about my period much longer. I had lied to him and I knew it was wrong. I knew if I just told him, he would understand. I’d taken so many birth control pills that it made me sick, so all I had to tell him was I’d taken some medication that was making me ill. I didn’t need to tell him I was on my period. I could trust Kason.
Mostly, I thought.
“What’s up?” he asked.
I looked up into his eyes and felt like absolute shit. How was I going to tell him that the medication was my birth control? How was I going to tell him what was happening to me and my body?
How was I going to tell him I was scared?
“
Hanna, you’re worrying me,” he said.
“I just…”
I sat up in his lap and wrapped my legs around his waist. He pulled me as close as he could get me. He brushed the hair from my face and my dizzied head kicked in again. So I laid my head on his shoulder and started to breathe deeply.
“Would you like a massage for your cramps?” he asked softly.
I groaned. “I’m not on my period.”
He stiffened and stopped moving. For a second, I thought he was going to push me away. I thought he was going to throw me off, get angry, call me a liar, and then kick me out. I thought I would be left alone, forced to explain to my mother why Kason was so pissed.
But instead he took my shoulders in his hands and pulled me out to look at him.
“Hanna, are you pregnant?” he asked.
“No,” I said. I mean, it was the truth. I wasn’t actually pregnant. I just had a really bad feeling about not taking my birth control for a few days before taking them all at once.
“You’re not lying to me?” he asked.
“Of course not,” I said.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I…um…”
I stared deep into his eyes and knew I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t risk him running away from me, not when we were getting so close. Being in his arms like this felt so natural and real, like I was born to be right here with his pants hanging around his knees. But I could see he was getting impatient. I had to come up with something that was as close to the truth as I could get.
Maybe I’d have my period soon and then we could move past this issue anyway.
“Hanna,” he said sternly.
“So you know how we talked about not actually doing the whole ‘deal’ thing?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“And you know how I agreed to table the baby talk?”
Kason nodded. “Yeah?”
“Well, I got paranoid, I guess, so after our greenhouse encounter I took some of the money I saved up working on campus and went and got the morning after pill.”
He was staring at me as intently as I’d ever seen, and I still thought he might get upset with me. But instead, all he did was continue to ask questions.
