We broke apart at the clearing of a voice. “Well I guess there is no need to prompt you to kiss the bride.”
I chuckled lightly, my forehead resting against El’s.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He said, humor in his voice.
“Husband and wife huh pretty girl.” My heart soared at the use of the word.
She’s my wife.
“You’re stuck with me forever now cowboy.” El teased.
I’d never been happier about anything in my entire life.
***
We spent the entire night tangled up in one another.
We made love in a way I’d never experienced, it was as though the knowledge we were tied to each other in such a permanent way had sparked an even deeper level of intensity I hadn’t known was possible.
El had been so ready, so eager to have me inside her that we hadn’t even got her wedding shoes off. I’d looked her up and down afterwards and I couldn’t remember seeing anything sexier in my life. There she was, completely naked, just a pair of silver high heels on. The sight alone had been enough to get me hard again. I don’t know what had come over me, but she had me wanting more, even when I was so tired I could barely lift my head from the pillow.
She eventually fell asleep first, the sheet wrapped loosely around her beautiful body. I hadn’t wanted to disturb her, so I left her that way, draping the covers gently over her and tucking myself in beside her.
I drifted off quickly, her moans still a vivid echo in my ears and her scent thick on my skin.
“Forever is a long, long time, but I wouldn’t mind spending it by your side. Tell me, every day, I get to wake up to that smile. I wouldn’t mind it at all.”
- Author unknown
14. Ellerslie
I smiled as I stopped at the fridge and ran my finger over the photo stuck up with a heavy, black magnet.
It was Lawson and I, on our wedding day. He was holding me in his arms, my feet off the ground, our eyes were focused on each other, the blissful look on my face was mirrored on his. It was a perfect moment – captured on Quinn’s cell phone.
I’d just told him he was stuck with me forever and the look on his face had told me it was something he was more than okay with.
I couldn’t believe it had been two months already. We had Stella’s things all throughout the house, her room was finally setup just how I wanted it and we’d made space on the walls for some of the artwork from Michael and Cassandra’s apartment, we were settled.
Stella entering our lives had been challenging, it was a delicate balancing act between home and work life, and I often found myself thinking that the slightest mishap would totally through everything out. It hadn’t happened yet though, and I knew, that despite everything, we were doing pretty well. Lawson and I both had cut down our hours, leaving Quinn and Logan with more responsibility that they were happy to have. Logan had even agreed to become Lawson’s business partner and had bought fifty percent of the company just last week.
I straightened the wedding photo, it had been warmer then, I looked outside at the rainy, cold day that Boston had delivered and sighed, it would be Christmas soon. I couldn’t wait to spend the day with Stella. Having a child in the house made Christmas exciting and magical again. We’d even gone and picked out a giant, live Christmas tree earlier in the week.
I’d been shocked when we got it home, and Lawson announced that it was the first tree he’d ever purchased for himself. I’d made it my mission right then and there to make this the best Christmas any of us had ever had. Stella was going to be spoilt rotten. Not only by us, but by everyone. Quinn, Logan, Reeve and Lisa, and our parents too. I’d joked to Lawson that we might need to do an extension to the house to make space for all of the gifts she’d be getting.
Lawson, of course, had taken me almost seriously, and had begun working on the most amazing and extravagant outdoor playhouse I had ever seen. The thing was huge, it was a mini version of our home, although single story, and it even had its own wraparound porch and real glass windows.
Stella was nearly eight months old, and although she was now crawling around at one hundred miles an hour, she was far too young to be using a playhouse. I’d pointed that out to Lawson, but I think he was having too much fun with it to stop now, even Logan had been coming over to help him build it in the weekends.
Big kids.
“Mamamama.” Stella’s babbling came from the doorway. I watched in amusement and she scuttled on her hands and knees across the wooden flooring towards me. “Mamamama.” She screeched more loudly.
I bent down and scooped her up, blowing a raspberry on her cheek as I did. Stella mimicked me, blowing out and sending spit flying everywhere. I grimaced as I wiped the drops from my face.
Lovely…
I heard Lawson’s deep laugh. “You asked for that one baby.”
I tapped Stella on the nose before smiling at him. “I guess I did huh.”
I popped Stella in her highchair, grabbed a yoghurt from the fridge and set it on the tray in front of her, I didn’t bother with a spoon – Stella liked to use them as missiles and she preferred to eat with her hands anyway.
I was never sure how they knew, but within thirty seconds of Stella being given food, both dogs appeared in the kitchen. They’d quickly learnt that if they sat close enough, she would throw them food. She thought it was utterly hilarious to chuck them her dinner rather than eat it herself.
I’d learned, with parenting, some things just weren’t worth worrying about and now I just laughed along with her most of the time.
“Mamamama!” Stella yelled at the top of her voice.
Sippy cup…
I snagged the handle of her cup from the bench and placed that on her tray too. She clapped her yoghurt covered hands together and sent large drops of it in the direction of the dogs.
I caught Lawson’s smirk out of the corner of my eye. He was always intrigued by the way I always seemed to know what Stella wanted.
“She’s babbling so much now.” Lawson commented as he sat down on the seat next to Stella.
I smiled. She was growing up so quickly. I thought back to the first time she babbled ‘Mama’ at me. I’d held back my freak out long enough to acknowledge her achievement, and then I’d left the room in tears.
Lawson had given me some time. He’d put Stella down for a nap and then found me hiding in our bedroom.
“What’s bothering you pretty girl?” He’d asked with his arms already open for me.
I’d gotten myself together by that point, but the question had a new wave of tears starting.
“I just feel like a fraud.” I’d choked out between sobs.
“What?” Lawson had asked, clearly dismayed.
“I’m not her real mom. She’s calling me Mama, and I’m not…” I sobbed loudly. “I just feel so guilty that it’s me and not her real mom.”
“Hey.” Lawson pulled me into his arms. “You are her real mom. You do everything for that little girl, and I know how much you love her. That’s what a mom is. What happened isn’t your fault El. You’re just doing what’s best for Stella. And what’s best for her now, is you. It’s us.”
I’d looked up at him through tear soaked eyelashes and known he was right. Michael and Cassandra weren’t here. That couldn’t be changed and it was all up to us now.
Stella snapped me back to the present by doing another loud raspberry and spraying yoghurt all over the newspaper Lawson was trying to read. That was our usual routine, I made the coffee, and Lawson read the paper aloud to me, picking out articles he thought I would like – I didn’t care all that much what he read, I just liked the sound of his voice.
Lawson breathed out deeply as he looked at his messy paper. “You really have to stop doing that with her El.” I could hear the amusement in his voice, and I knew he was trying not to laugh.
I looked over at him and exploded into laughter. He had yoghurt all through his hair.
“What
?”
“Nothing.” I giggled. “I’m just glad you haven’t showered yet.”
“Stella.” He groaned as he ran his hand through his filthy hair.
Stella gave him a toothy grin and shoved her hand back into her yoghurt pot. She had three teeth now and we’d been given an insight into some of the hard yards of parenting a baby – Stella Pierce did not do teething well.
“Go shower cowboy, I’ve got this rat-bag under control.”
He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Yeah… it really looks like it.” He teased as he rose from his chair.
I couldn’t help but stare at the way his muscles bunched and relaxed as he pushed up and moved away from the table.
He really needs to wear a shirt…
He smirked at me on his way past, he knew me well enough to know exactly what was going through my head.
I sighed as he moved out of my line of sight, his swagger all sexy and alpha male.
“C’mon Stella, lets clean you up little lady.”
***
“What color scheme are you having again?” Quinn asked, her head hidden behind one of the wedding magazines she was reading.
We’ve been over this…
“I need a color scheme?” I feigned confusion. I was messing with her – I’d picked it out weeks ago when I’d seen just how serious Quinn was about this wedding reception.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Silver, white and navy blue.” I nudged her knee. “You should know, you choose our dresses.”
“Right.” Quinn nodded, all business.
Something isn’t right with her.
“You need to relax Q. It’s not going to be the end of the world if the tables aren’t quite right, or the wrong lace gets delivered, or –”
“It will fucking so.” Quinn interrupted me. “It’s going to be perfect.”
We’d chosen to have a wedding reception to celebrate our marriage, well in reality, Quinn had decided, and we’d picked New Years Eve to host it. It was going to be in the restaurant Lawson owned. I’d insisted on that, so much had started there for us and in my mind it was the perfect place. We had cancelled all of the other plans we’d made on our original date and made donations to the companies that had refused to take a part payment from us.
We had nearly everything organized for the party. I had become close with a few of the teachers from Stella’s pre-school and more than one had kindly offered to have her over night for us – so that was one less thing for us to organize.
My girls were coming out from L.A, my parents, the twins, Law and Q’s mum, aunties, uncles, cousins… everyone was coming to spend the night with us.
“I’ve given Ricky free range with the food.” I told her as I curled a strand of hair around my finger.
Quinn nodded in approval. “Good idea. That man is a genius in the kitchen.”
She jotted some notes down in the giant planner she’d started bringing around and I rolled my eyes.
“What did Lawson say about the decorations we talked about?”
Quinn wanted to have a living wall installed and fitted out with beautiful plants and twinkly lights. I’d thought it was over the top but when she showed me an image she’d found I couldn’t argue that it looked amazing.
I smiled sweetly at her. “He said I could have whatever I wanted.” I giggled as I looked at Quinn’s face.
“Don’t get me wrong, that’s a win for the living wall, but I’m just wondering where my brothers balls went.”
I threw a bit of screwed up paper at her. “Don’t be talking about my husband like that thank you, I’ll have you know his balls are exactly where they’re meant to be.”
“La, la, la.” Quinn covered her ears as she joked. “Enough about his balls, let’s get some real work done on this.”
I sighed and glanced at the baby monitor longingly, Lawson was asleep in the rocking chair, Stella nestled against his chest. She was getting another tooth and she’d literally thrown her toys out of the cot at nap time. They looked so peaceful together like that.
Quinn interrupted me by tapping the end of her pen loudly on the coffee table in front of her. “Excuse me Mrs. Pierce, could I have your attention for just one minute?”
Mrs. Pierce… swoon.
“I’ll tell you what Q, you can have all the attention you like… if you talk to me about Colt first.” I told her quietly.
She sighed, still staring down at her page.
I waited her out, seeing the internal debate she was having with herself.
C’mon Q.
“Okay. What do you want me to say?”
I shrugged. “You tell me what there is to tell.”
She dropped her planner down and threw the pen down on top of it. “I don’t know El. I don’t know what you want me to tell you, you know I’ve tried to end it with him.”
“Clearly not hard enough…”
“I’ve tried.” She snapped.
“Q… I’m not having a go at you okay?” I replied quietly. I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I just don’t like seeing you like this. I know you’re not happy.”
She shook her head. “I’m not unhappy.”
“I know.”
“But you’re right. I’m not all that happy either.”
“Why are you still seeing him?”
“I told you, he just seems to have this uncanny ability to remain in my life.”
“You stopped seeing him a while back though?” I prompted.
“But yet he’s back.” She sighed again. “I didn’t see him for a whole month, and then bam… he comes by the office. ‘Just friends’ he tells me. Well one thing leads to another and I find myself right back to the start again. I really don’t know how it happens.”
“Is his age the only reason you think it won’t work?”
She shook her head quickly. “Not at all. I gave up caring about that a long time ago. It’s just not quite right. I can’t put my finger on it, he’s gorgeous, he’s my type, he’s kind, sweet… and he likes me. I just don’t know why it’s not clicking for me.”
“He’s not the one.” I told her.
That was the problem. I knew Quinn was getting to the point in her life where she was beginning to want something more than ordinary. I think Lawson and I were partially to blame for that.
“He’s not. He should be.”
I laughed. “It doesn’t work like that babe.”
She giggled. “Yeah… I know. I’ll end it after your reception okay? I can’t do it to him before then.”
“Okay.” I agreed. “Just make sure he knows it’s for real this time. He’s a nice guy Q. He needs to move on.”
She nodded and picked up her planner again. “Okay, lace or tulle on the centre pieces?”
Oh god… help me.
***
Christmas came and went faster than I’d thought possible. My parents had arrived five days before which was an absolute god send. They adored Stella, and since her pre-school had closed down for the holidays, we needed extra help in the form of babysitters.
Lawson and Logan were flat out at work and Quinn and I had our hands equally full. Dad being around was amazing, he’d helped out in the office for a few days while mum stayed home and fussed over Stella non-stop.
The twins had both arrived the day before Christmas Eve, surprising us all. Molly wasn’t due in until the afternoon of Christmas Eve and we hadn’t expected Kyle until the early hours of Christmas morning. They’d arranged to meet up overseas and travel back together. It was so good to see them, I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed them until they were standing right in front of me. I’d bawled like a baby.
They’d missed so much in my life and we had the best time sitting around the fire, having a few drinks and catching up on the past few months. They were fans of Lawson, that was safe to say, and they’d fitted into their new roles as aunty and uncle respectively with delight.
Stella had taken a real s
hine to Molly, crawling around after her everywhere she went, and Kyle was also a hot new favorite for attention.
I’d looked around the room, filled with the people I loved more than anything else in the world, and I couldn’t remember a time when my life had ever been so rewarding and felt so full.
Lawson had been watching me like a hawk all night and he’d given my leg a squeeze, no doubt unsure about the emotions I was experiencing.
“Thank you.” I’d whispered. “None of this would be complete without you.”
He’d stood without a word and raised his beer bottle. Everyone quickly caught on and followed suit.
“To family.” He said simply.
“To family.” We replied in chorus.
***
Christmas day itself was magical. I’d never experienced anything quite like that day and I wasn’t sure I ever would again. It was so complete, so utterly perfect. I’d sat in a room crowded with people that I had nothing but love for, and by the end of the day my cheeks had hurt from smiling so much.
I gave Lawson a cowboy hat. I wasn’t sure what my intention for it was when I saw it in the store. It was an expensive bloody hat and I’d deliberated back and forth about whether or not to buy it. I eventually decided to get it. If he wouldn’t wear it in public then I was willing to bet he’d be my cowboy in private. I shouldn’t have worried about it. Lawson had opened it and his mouth had turned up in a huge grin. He’d put it straight on his head, walked towards me and dipped me down, kissing me passionately.
“You like it then?” I remembered asking when I finally caught my breath.
“Now I can really be your cowboy.” He’d replied with an unmistakable sparkle in his eye.
All of a sudden I hadn’t been able to wait for bed time.
Lawson had given me a wooden photo frame he’d crafted with his hands, inside it sat a photo of Quinn, Reeve, Lawson and I on that very first night at his restaurant. I wasn’t sure I could even recall a picture being taken, but there it was. We were seated in the booth, Quinn and I opposite each other, Reeve next to me and Lawson across from him. Quinn was reaching across the table, lightly squeezing my arm, and we were laughing together about something I couldn’t remember. Reeve was sipping on a bottle of beer; his eyes looking in our direction, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth. And Lawson… he was staring at me with an intensity I couldn’t even begin to describe. He was like a man seeing the sun for the first time.
Pierced (Love like Yours Series Book 2) Page 7
