Dr. Orgasm (A Holiday Romance Collection Book 2)

by Michelle Love

  Weston stood outside of it. His heart and mind a flurry of emotions. It had been so long ago but he could recall the exact feelings he’d had when his son was born. Terror, love, adoration, and most of all excitement.

  He’d been so excited about the baby and their future. So many plans had been made. Weston Junior would be in little league. He’d be the best player on his team. He’d make tons of home runs and make him so proud. His son was going to be something! He’d just known it. How wrong he’d been.

  With a heavy heart, Weston went to the bathroom. Tears had sprung up and he was in need of pulling himself together. It all came crashing down on him. He’d tried so hard to keep this about Aulora and not about him and what he’d lost.

  But it was always there, waiting in the background of his soul. His loss was a part of him. It was such a part of him that at times he forgot it was there. Like you would a small freckle on your back that you seldom catch sight of. But it’s always there and you’re reminded of that, once in a while, when you see it in the mirror.

  His son would always have a place in his heart. He’d moved on. But he could never forget the baby who never got a chance to play baseball, or even learn how to walk and talk. His life was cut short and Weston would never get to know that person.

  The hole that was left when his son left this world, began to fill with longing. He longed to hold a baby in his arms again. He longed to hear the little cries they made. He longed to wake up and look into the face of his child.

  But he’d never resort to making Aulora feel she had to hurry to give him what he so desperately desired, craved, needed. No, he’d hold on. Wait until she was ready.

  But he prayed she’d not make him wait too much longer, though he had every reason to believe that she would, not out of selfishness, though. Out of fear of what might happen someday. And all because her father had made a terrible mistake. One that he might not ever be able to make up for.

  Her first cries were so faint that Aulora had a hard time hearing them. “She’s here,” she whispered to her stepmother. “Your baby girl is finally here!”

  “Thank God,” Clara moaned. “She certainly made me wait. Didn’t she?”

  “Would you like to cut the cord, Daddy?” Aulora asked him as the nurse offered the scissors to her. It had been planned that she’d do it but Aulora suddenly felt that her father needed to do the deed.

  “Should I?” he asked Clara who nodded. He took the scissors and let the nurse position them at the right place on the umbilical cord. He closed his eyes as he clamped them down on the rubbery thing. He shuddered with the act then handed the scissors back to the nurse. “That felt odd.”

  “Yes, it does,” the nurse agreed.

  Aulora watched the red, wiggly baby as she was wrapped in a blanket and handed to her father. “Here you go, Daddy,” the doctor said.

  Aulora and Clara watched Charles as he went stiff. “I don’t know how to hold something that small.”

  Aulora went to her father’s side. Unsure of how to do it herself. “Let me help you, Daddy. I want to see this little girl in your arms a hell of a lot.”

  She caught Clara smiling as she took the baby from the doctor and helped her father hold her in his arms. They watched as he looked down at his new baby girl. “Hi there, honey.”

  With his words, the baby stopped crying and snuggled into her father’s chest. “She knows your voice,” Aulora whispered. “How cool is that, Dad? She already knows you and she loves you.”

  Tears began to flow down his cheeks and he looked at Aulora. “I’m so damn sorry. You’ll never know how sorry I am, Aulora.”

  She nodded and ran her arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder and looking at her new sister. “I forgive you. Don’t apologize for that again. It’s in the past. This family has a new future and it’s starting back over with this little princess right here.”

  Clara’s loud sob had them both looking at her as she said, “This is just so beautiful!”

  Aulora pushed at her father. “Take your baby and go introduce her to her mom.”

  She kissed the baby’s head then gave Clara a nod. “I’ll leave you three to get better acquainted then I’m coming back in here to hold my baby sister for a very long time, okay?”

  Clara gave her a nod and a smile. “You better. I love you, girl.”

  Aulora smiled. “I love you too, Mom.”

  As she left the hospital room her sister had just been born in, she caught sight of Weston, leaving the bathroom. He looked at her and came to her, holding out his arms. “I need a hug!”

  She was more than surprised by his actions. Weston was the typical strong guy. He was always in control of his emotions. But there he was, practically shaking in her arms.

  They swayed back and forth as she lent him some of her reserves of strength. She was unaware she had any but she found some. “Weston, it’s going to be okay.”

  “I miss him, Aulora.”

  The pain that filled her heart was almost more than she could bare. But her man needed her to be there for him and she’d be damned if she let her emotions get in the way of what he needed from her.

  “I know you do, baby.” She ran her hand over the back of his head as he leaned on her shoulder, burying his face. “If you need to leave here, I’ll go with you. I know this is hard for you.”

  Suddenly, he pulled his head back, looking at her with red-rimmed eyes. “No! No way! We’re staying. I’m meeting that baby! I just needed to share that with you. I miss him. I miss what could’ve been. But I want to be a part of your family, Aulora. I do.”

  She smiled and tugged him back into her arms. “Okay, then we’ll stay. I get it now. And I think it’s healthy for you to stay and see her.”

  Sniffling and pulling himself up, he gained control over himself, wiping his eyes and laughing a little. “What a girl I am.”

  “Don’t say that,” she chastised him. “You have a valid reason for your actions.”

  “Enough about me,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Did you hold her yet?”

  “I kind of did. I took her from the doctor and put her into Dad’s arms. I thought it would be best if they got a little time alone together. You and I can go in later and get to know the newest member of the pack.”

  “That was thoughtful of you,” he said as he took her hand and led her to the elevator. “Let’s go to the cafeteria and get something to eat and you can tell me how the whole thing went. I want it all. And I want to know how you felt every minute of it.”

  She laughed as they got onto the elevator. “I felt like there’s a ton of pain that goes along with having a baby. That said, there’s more joy than anything else. I found myself thinking that having a baby is a lot like anything else. Anything worth having takes blood, sweat, and tears for you to truly appreciate it.”

  “That’s one way of thinking about it,” he said as they got off the elevator and found the cafeteria. He pulled a couple of ham sandwiches off a cold tray and grabbed a couple of bags of chips. She picked up two bottles of water and they went to the cashier to pay for their lunch.

  Finding a seat, they sat and started eating their little lunch.

  “You know Clara told me something while I was with her.”

  “Oh yeah, I bet she did,” he said with a chuckle. “Women in labor can be real chatterboxes. So, what were her words of wisdom?”

  “That you and I would make great parents.” She leveled her eyes on him and watched his body language tell her he wasn’t about to fall for what she’d said. Not yet anyway.

  “And we will. Someday. When you’re ready.” He took a bite of his sandwich.

  Aulora watched him. His response wasn’t what she’d thought it would be. She kind of thought he’d agree wholeheartedly and ask her if she was ready to get started on the baby-making. When he stopped talking and only ate, she began to wonder if he wasn’t quite ready for a baby.

  Men were odd, she decided. One day they wanted one thing a
nd the next it was like that didn’t really matter at all. She didn’t know when or how she’d ever figure Weston out.

  If ever!

  With their lunch finished and an hour had passed, they went back up to see if they could go in and see the baby. They found her father outside of the room, talking to the pediatrician. They waited until he was done and the other man had walked away. Charles leaned back against the wall and looked at Aulora with fear-filled eyes.

  They approached him with much hesitation then Aulora asked, “Is there something wrong, Dad?”

  When he nodded, she felt her knees go weak and was thankful for Weston’s strong arm that tightened around her to hold her up. “The baby has a heart murmur,” her father said with a long sigh following.

  “Oh God!” Aulora said, stunned. “What does that mean, Dad?”

  He shook his head. “Just that she’ll have to be specially monitored. One of her heart valves doesn’t seem to be closing tight enough. The pediatrician said it can get stronger with time. If she’s not better by the time she’s a year old, they’ll do surgery to fix the problem.”

  “Oh, so it’s not like some terminal thing then?” Aulora asked, feeling more than a bit relieved.

  “Not terminal, no,” he said. “If she has to have surgery a lot can happen. I hope she doesn’t have to undergo that.”

  Weston clasped Charles’ shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll get stronger on its own. We’ll research the shit out of what to do to make sure it happens for her. Don’t worry. How’s Clara taking it?”

  “Typical of any new mother. She’s devastated,” Charles let them know.

  Weston shook his head as he thought, at least he got two months of pure joy before it was all taken away from him. This poor couple got a few minutes before doubt was put into their heads about their child’s future.

  “Let’s go see her, Aulora.”

  Going inside, they found Clara, holding the baby. Tears were in her eyes and it gave them both pain in their hearts. “Hey, there,” Aulora said as they came in. “Do you feel up to company?”

  “Did your father tell you?” she asked Aulora.

  She nodded and came to her side. “He did. Can I hold her?” Clara nodded and Aulora took the tiny baby in her arms. “Hey, you. You know you have to get that little valve problem under control, right? You’re scaring Mom and Dad. As your big sister, it’s my job to make sure you’re always okay. So, you have to get okay, New Aulora.”

  “Oh, we didn’t name her that,” Clara said. “Her name’s Hope. Because we want to remember to have hope for her every time we talk about her.”

  “Hope, huh?” Aulora asked. “I like it. So, Hope, you have to get better. I have big plans for you and I.”

  Weston took a seat as he listened to Aulora talking to her sister, much the same way he’d talked to his son. He’d had hopes, dreams, plans. But he shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts that would only send him into a funk.

  Clara looked worried and defeated. Weston made an attempt to ease her mind, “You know most babies get through this early on.” He held up his cell to show her what he’d looked up. “It says here that most of the babies with this condition when born are better before they reach six months old. That’s great news. Don’t you think, Clara?”

  “I guess,” she mumbled. “I just wish I knew what I had done wrong. I don’t want to do it again with our next child.”

  He looked at the article and shook his head. “It says there’s no one who’s at fault with this kind of thing. It can happen to anyone. And the mortality rate for this type of thing is extremely low, even if they have to do surgery to correct it. I think you should focus on the baby and not worry about that too much.”

  “Can you move in with us for a while, Aulora?” Clara asked her. “I think I could use your help.”

  Weston looked at Aulora who’d gone pale. “Me? Move in? Um,”

  Weston got up and came to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist, he said, “Of course, you can.”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Only if you come too.” Aulora looked at Clara. “He and I are a package deal.”

  “I know that. Of course, he can come too. I can use all the help I can get. I will not have nannies looking after my children. Only family members. I consider Weston part of the family. So, it’s settled. You two can move into the room right across from ours, so you can help us out. Can you be in there before we get released from the hospital?”

  Weston took charge. “We can. Not to worry. I think it’s fantastic that you don’t want to use a nanny. I had one and I hated her. She was so stoic and strict. I could feel the fact I was nothing to her. My younger brother could too. I hated it when I had to go to school and leave him alone with her. We’d be glad to help with little Hope. And one day, I hope you and Charles can help us with our own brood.”

  Aulora blushed as she looked at the baby in her arms. “Would you listen to him, Hope. He’s counting his chickens, isn’t he? Calling what we’ll have, a brood!”

  The baby wiggled in her arms and she saw Weston looking at the bundle she held with great interest.

  “Might I hold her, peach?”

  He took a seat beside her as she handed the baby over to him. “Hi there, you precious little girl. I’m not sure what you’d call me. Not uncle.”

  “She’ll probably come up with something on her own when she’s old enough,” Aulora said as she ran her hand over the cute tiny head of her sister. “Probably something like, Bubba.”

  “Bubba?” he asked with a frown. “That sounds hillbilly, don’t you think?”

  “It does,” Clara said with a nod.

  “Well, I like it,” Aulora said. “It’s so not him, you know?”

  Clara smiled and so did Aulora. Then Clara pushed it a bit as she said, “So, when will you two start trying?”

  “To do what?” Aulora asked without a clue as to what her stepmother was talking about.

  “To do what,” Clara said as she laughed. “Trying to have yourselves a baby, Aulora. What else?”

  “I think we should be married before we even begin to discuss such a thing,” Aulora said.

  Weston got up and took the baby to Clara. “Hold her for a sec, will you Mum?” She took the baby then they watched him as he opened the door and left the room, leaving them wondering what the hell he was doing.

  “Did I offend him?” Clara asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Aulora said as she got up to go after him. “I have no idea why he’d react like that. It’s not as if he’s never thought about us getting married and having kids.”

  Before she could get to the door, her father came inside. “What did you do to the boy, Aulora?” he asked her as he gently pushed her to go back and sit down. “He walked right past me and got into the elevator.”

  “I… I didn’t do anything. Clara asked us when we planned on trying to have a baby and I said something about being married first and he left,” Aulora stammered.

  “Well, you shouldn’t have put him on the spot like that. Take it from a man who took a long time to believe in the sanctity of marriage, it’s a real game-changer when a woman starts thinking in those terms,” her father told her.

  “But I wasn’t. I really wasn’t. I’ve never tried to force the marriage issue. If he wants kids, though. Well, I’m not doing it unless we’re married. I saw all too well what can happen when there’s no real commitment.”

  Her father cast his eyes to the floor, guilt written all over his face. “You should follow him. I’m sure he went to the lobby. Maybe he’s planning on calling a cab or something.”

  “Maybe I should follow him. I never saw this coming. What the hell should I say to him, Dad?” Aulora asked as she got up.

  “Whatever you feel in your heart, honey.” He pulled her into his arms and rocked her back and forth, leaving a kiss on top of her head. “Whatever you feel in your heart is what you should always say.”

  He let her go and she left
the room, feeling more than a bit confused.

  When the elevator doors opened, Aulora stopped walking just as she stepped out of it. The lobby was dim. Only candles lit it up. Tons of them.

  She saw no one as she stood perfectly still. Then the sound of men humming filled her ears. One by one, men dressed in tuxedos stepped out of the shadows, still humming a soft and tranquil tune.

  An acoustical version of John Berry’s ‘Will You Marry me’ was what the men started signing and out of the darkness, emerged Weston, also clad in a tuxedo. Holding out a black box and making his way to her.

  Aulora stood, trembling, her hands covering her mouth and her heart pounding so hard, she was sure everyone could hear it even over the singing.

  When the song was over, Weston was in front of her on bended knee. He opened the black box, exposing a diamond the likes of which she’d never seen. “So, will you, Aulora?” he asked her with a smile on his lips and a gleam in his golden eyes. “Will you make me the happiest man alive and become Mrs. Weston Calloway?”

  Would she?

  Sky Rocketing Investments: Part eight

  Sky Rocketing Investments

  Weston couldn’t believe how long Aulora was taking to answer his very simple question.

  Would she marry him?

  What he didn’t know was a lump the size of Texas had lodged in her throat, preventing her from saying even one word. Her hands covered her mouth, her blue eyes were wide and shining with tears which were streaming in small trails over her pink cheeks.

  Weston wanted to remember how she looked exactly. Her dark hair had freshly cut bangs that hung to the tops of her dark brows that were expertly shaped. Her blue eyes were shiny with more than mere tears, there was happiness in their depths. Her creamy skin was blemish free, a rare thing for her. Not a hint of makeup and still gorgeous, he thought. She was his choice, a perfect choice for him. Now she needed to give him the answer he wanted.

  “Aulora?” he asked as he repositioned himself, his knee was beginning to grow numb with his wait. His heart was beginning to beat faster as nerves settled in.