Never Over You

by Ryleigh Andrews

  “Both of you. On my last nerve,” she said, stalking out of the studio, but before she did, she stuck her tongue out at them. “I’m going to snuggle with my babies. See me before you leave,” she said, pointing at Luke.

  “So, did you really catch them in the kitchen?” Luke asked, sitting on the large leather sofa.

  Allie smiled. “Oh, yeah … more like heard it first actually. I went back to my car and waited a few minutes before returning, being extra loud so they knew I was there. Ethan was, of course, embarrassed. Mia was like ‘Yeah, we were just having sex, so?’”

  He chuckled. “Definitely sounds like Mia. Now if that was me arriving, I wouldn’t have gone back to my car. I would have walked right in.”

  “No way! They are my employers.”

  “You do realize you are more than their employee, right?” He couldn’t believe after all this time—the wedding, the christening, that she thought Ethan and Mia thought of her as only an employee.

  “I am their employee …”

  “Whatever,” he said, getting up. “And I’m just a person you happen to know. Be honest with yourself. Know your worth. Accept it.” He walked to her, his eyes capturing hers. He stopped in front of her, his body mere inches from hers. Immediately her breathing became ragged. “You are more than that baggage you insist on carrying around, but for whatever reason, you don’t see it.”

  “Why do you do this to me? Why do you make me want to forget my past? It happened. I can’t forget it.”

  “I don’t expect you to forget it. But you learn from it and move on. Your past shouldn’t hold your future hostage, Allie.”

  “My past is bad, Luke,” she said, her eyes swimming in tears. That was the first time she’d admitted something about her past. He had guessed something painful, but having it confirmed wrenched the heart she’d stolen from him.

  He caressed her cheek. “I’m beginning to realize that,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I’m not an enemy, Allie. I’ve been doing all this because I really do care for you. I hope you see that. All I want is for you to let me in there,” he said, pointing at her heart. “Give me a chance.”

  The tears fell from her eyes. “You’ll run away.”

  “Give me a chance, Allie. Give us a chance. You won’t know unless you try,” he said breathlessly, his face hovering close to hers. “Try, Allie.”

  Then he kissed her so softly, so tenderly, he could feel the concrete wall around her heart start to crack. Her notebook fell to the ground with a loud thud and her arms wrapped around his neck. He pushed her against the door frame, increasing the intensity, his tongue dueling with hers. She sighed when his hands touched her under her breasts, holding her in place.

  “Allie, I’m not going to run away. I’ve been pursuing you for over a year. That should say something. I’m serious. So please …”

  “Okay.”

  “What?” he exclaimed, not believing what he just heard.

  “I’ll try, Luke, but I’m scared.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll be there for you during this journey.” He smiled widely. “Um … I don’t have Kaitlyn this weekend. Would you go out with me? You know, on a date?”

  “Yes. I’d like that.”

  “Saturday?”

  “Sounds good,” she answered, her eyes fixed on his mouth. Leaning in to taste her lips, he was rudely interrupted by Mia bellowing his name from upstairs.

  “Saturday, then,” he said, kissing her yet again before he left to see what Mia wanted.

  Mia

  “What is it, Mia?” Luke asked as he entered the twins’ nursery.

  She looked up at him and smirked. He had totally been downstairs sucking face with Allie. “Haha … I know that face, Luke.”

  He looked at her questioningly, remaining silent. She knew he knew, but he wasn’t giving in as easily as she wanted him to. He knelt down beside her. “What face?”

  “I used to see that exact face after the many times we kissed: the bruised lips, your flushed cheeks, and in this case,” she said, swiping her finger along his lips, a smile on her face, “a bit of her lipstick. Good job, Luke.”

  He sat down on the colorful, plush carpet, watching Pierce and Rory playing with their toys. Mia sat next to him, leaning against his side, knowing he needed support.

  “I finally got her to say yes to go out on an actual date with me … just took me over a year to get to this point,” he said, rolling a ball to Pierce.

  “Sweets, the best relationships take time and are definitely worth the effort and wait.”

  “Look who’s the wise one now.”

  “Now? I’ve always been the wise one. You’ve been the pretty one,” she retorted, laying her hand on his cheek.

  “Haha!”

  “This is the part where you say ‘Mia, you’re pretty too.’”

  He laughed even harder. She grabbed the ball from the boys and threw it towards him. It landed about five feet to his left. Her aim was nothing like her husband’s. Maybe she should get some pointers …

  Luke reached out for the ball and the boys took the opportunity to climb on him and tackle him.

  “Aww, they love beating up on Uncle Luke already,” she said. “I’m so proud.”

  “Pierce, Rory, Uncle Luke wants to show you how to deal with your Mommy.”

  She didn’t even have a chance to be curious before he reached over, grabbed an ankle, and yanked her over to him. “Tickle, mama!”

  Mia screamed as Luke’s fingers danced across her midsection and then the boys started on her, their chubby hands grabbing at her, turning her screams into laughter, listening to her boys’ cackles of joy.

  “And boys, here’s the spot that’ll always get her down,” he instructed going for her thigh, right above her knee.

  “Luke! Stop!” she laughingly screamed at him, trying to claw his hand off her leg. The babies were giggling so hard at their mom’s expense.

  “Uh … I know there is an explanation for this,” Ethan said, standing in the doorway, Allie right behind him. Mia looked at the sight she and Luke made, her body completely under his with his hands on her legs. Completely innocent, but she could see how someone just walking in on them would think differently.

  “Dada!” the boys yelled excitedly.

  “It’s all his fault,” Mia said, pointing at Luke which only prompted him to tickle her some more.

  “Just teaching the boys how to handle their mommy, that’s all,” Luke said as Rory blew a raspberry on Mia’s cheek. Everyone laughed and then Pierce followed his brother’s lead.

  “You four are always going to gang up on me, aren’t you?”

  Luke and Ethan nodded while the boys snuggled on Mia’s lap, their heads resting on her chest as their chubby little hands grabbed a hold of her hair.

  “What’s for dinner, suga?” Ethan asked.

  “You think I made dinner today?”

  He looked at her, raising his eyebrows. Yeah, he knew she had made dinner—no fooling him.

  “Yeah, well, I actually made a ratatouille bake and some roasted chicken.”

  “Oh God! Can I stay for dinner?” Luke pleaded.

  “Of course! Allie, would you like to stay for dinner too?” Mia asked, hoping she’d say yes. These two needed more time together.

  “Sure,” she said, smiling at Luke, and not the one who’d invited her. Nice.

  “Great! Ethan, sorry but we’re not eating at the island tonight.”

  “But I can’t see the TV from the table.”

  “Too bad! No TV tonight. We have guests.”

  “So, just wondering and all, but you’ve not had sex on this table, right?” Allie asked and Luke couldn’t help but burst out laughing. She’d never live this down, but that was fine. The sex with her husband was so worth this teasing.

  “Uh, no,” Ethan answered, blushing hard.

  “So, we won’t find any of Mia’s panties like on the buffet, hanging from the chandelier, or anything?” Allie continued.
/>   “Mia, I think you should just forego the panties …” Luke suggested.

  “Just shush!” she said, looking at her husband.

  Ethan shrugged his shoulders at her affronted face. “Sorry, suga, you said they could stay.”

  Standing up, she let out a huge puff of air. “Grab a kid and join me downstairs in about ten minutes. And, just so you know,” she said, a finger pointed at her husband. “Dessert in the dining room tonight.”

  That would most definitely take the sting out of all that teasing.

  Mia

  November 17, 2012

  Hugging the toilet, Mia threw up again. Second day in a row and the second time that morning. She didn’t have time to be sick. She was busy getting things ready for the twins’ first birthday party. Their entire family would be arriving in a couple of hours, many of whom would be staying on through the Thanksgiving holiday.

  Sitting back on her heels, she opened the cabinet to grab a wash cloth. Her eyes fell on the box of tampons and a light turned on in her mind. After quickly washing her face, she went to the bedroom for her phone. The last time she remembered having her period was the week of Ethan’s birthday in October.

  No need to get excited yet, she thought, grabbing her purse. Her periods had been irregular since they had returned. This could be a stomach bug.

  “Ethan, I’m running to the store for some things before the party,” she yelled, grabbing the keys and opening the garage door.

  When she returned home, she ran upstairs to the master bathroom, she locked the door and dumped out the packaged sticks on the counter. Her hands shook as she took the test. After she was done, she placed it on the counter and waited, hoping no one would bother her in the next three minutes.

  Needing to distract herself, she decided to work on her makeup. She pulled out her makeup case and starting applying her foundation with the brush. She decided to add a little blush because her face was so damn pale lately. Her eyes kept darting over to the little white stick.

  “Willpower!” she admonished herself, picking up her mascara. She thought about eyeliner, but her hands were shaking so badly that would probably not be a good idea.

  Three minutes should be up by now, she thought, yet she stayed where she was. Nerves rooted her to the floor. Her chest felt tight. If she was pregnant, that would mean three kids under the age of two. And she had no idea how crazy that would be, but then she thought of all the reasons this would be okay. She had more help now with Bridgette. After Thanksgiving, she’d be interviewing a few candidates for the personal assistant position.

  She would have three children.

  Three.

  Then she smiled. That was over halfway to five. Their dream of five kids would be that much closer to reality. With new determination, she crossed the room and picked up the test.

  Two pink lines.

  No doubt about it. Two strong, bold pink lines.

  “Holy crap!” Mia exclaimed. She needed to tell Ethan!

  Unlocking and opening the door, she stopped in her tracks as her husband walked into the bedroom. He assessed her and his eyebrows quirked up. “What’s in your hand, suga?” he asked, making his way towards her.

  The smile she had only grew bigger as she held out the stick to him. His eyes still on her, he took it from her. With her head, she gestured at the stick in his hand. When he glanced down at it, she spoke. “So, it appears you knocked me up again, Mr. Christopher.”

  He looked up at her, his eyes wide with happiness. “Seriously?”

  She nodded, the lump in her throat not allowing her to speak.

  He picked her up and twirled her in his arms. “I can’t believe this. Another baby!”

  “So, I’m taking you’re excited by this piece of news.”

  “That I am, suga.”

  She was glad he felt this way and would look to him as to how to act. Because right now, she was remembering weeks of bed rest and the crazy and wild birth of the twins. She didn’t remember the chaos of her seizure or her bleeding out. Thankfully, she was unconscious during that time, but she did remember the stricken faces of Ethan and Luke after the fact. That was bad enough.

  A big part of her didn’t want to go through that emotional drama again and an even bigger part didn’t want to put her husband through the wringer again either. He’d seen all that—her seizure, her coding, the attempts to bring her back to life.

  But he obviously wasn’t thinking of those things right now. His face was alight with pure happiness. Yes, she would follow his lead and be happy right along with him.

  He stopped spinning her and framed her face with his big, strong hands, his whiskey-colored eyes locked on hers.

  “I love you,” he spoke solemnly.

  “I love you too,” she said in return right before his lips descended upon hers in one of the sweetest kisses she’d ever had.

  He pulled back slightly, his breath just a bit jagged. “I had originally come up here to tell you it was party time.”

  She smiled. “Well, now we have one more thing to celebrate.”

  “Should we tell them now while we have them all here?” Mia asked her husband as they made their way downstairs. “Or should we wait until we can go to the doctor?”

  “You don’t have to tell them right now. Why not call the doctor on Monday and we can decide then, okay?” he suggested. She nodded and he kissed her forehead.

  When she entered the main living area, Mia was greeted by the wall of noise. A grin covered her face as she looked upon her family, blood and otherwise, all in one place.

  Putting on her host hat, Mia made the rounds and visited with everyone. Some of these faces she hadn’t seen since the wedding—like Marc and Lizzie. It was still weird to be around Lizzie and not think of her with Tom. Even though it had been three years since his death. One year to the day that her twins were born. One year to the day that he saved her life yet again. He’d given her life. He saved her that cold day in the ocean. He helped her get to this point in her life when she was so fucking happy and she would be eternally grateful for that.

  “Hi Lizzie,” Mia said, going in for a hug. “So glad you could be here.”

  “We wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

  Gesturing towards Marc who was chatting with Marty and the guys, Mia continued. “How are things?”

  “Very good … we’ve got some news.”

  Mia looked at her expectantly and when Lizzie didn’t say anything, she egged her on. “Well … don’t leave me hanging.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she said in a hushed voice.

  God, Mia wanted to say something so badly that she was too! Instead, she pulled her friend back into her arms and hugged her tightly in congratulations. “I’m so happy for you guys! How far along are you?”

  “Just hit eleven weeks today.”

  “That is so exciting. I—”

  “Mia!” Luke bellowed from across the room.

  “What?” she shouted back, totally annoyed at his interruption but thankful because she had agreed with Ethan that they’d wait to tell the news and here she almost told Lizzie that she was pregnant too.

  “I’m going to Europe with you, right?”

  She excused herself from Lizzie and walked over to Luke. “Yes.”

  “See? Told you guys,” Luke said to Ethan and some of his teammates.

  “Better not annoy me otherwise I’ll have to rethink this.”

  He threw an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side before planting a kiss on her head. “How you doing?”

  “I’m really good,” she replied, her eyes locked on the golden eyes of her husband, a huge grin on his face.

  “So, sweets, what ya gonna feed us?”

  “You hungry?” she asked the crowd of big football players.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  She worked herself out of Luke’s embrace and answered. “Let me get on that. Ten minutes, okay?”

  Their happy answers followed her as she made her way
back to the kitchen. She pulled out the multiple trays from the ovens and set them out on the island, then she went to the fridge and was about to pull out her salads when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her mid-section. His perfect scent filled her nose as he nuzzled her neck.

  “Mrs. Christopher, did I tell you how extremely happy you made me today?”

  “No, you did not, Mr. Christopher.”

  “Can I show you later?” he asked right before his open mouth latched on to her neck. Her legs gave out on her and she gripped his arms now holding her up.

  “You keep that up, you’ll have to show me now.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” he said, sucking on her earlobe. Goddamn him, she was going to be a puddle of arousal in no time.

  “Don’t tempt me,” she shot back, rubbing her ass up against his erection.

  “Fuck—I love you.”

  “Love you too. Help me get this food out or your teammates will riot.”

  After everyone had eaten and mingled, people started chanting for the main show—the cake eating showdown featuring Pierce and Rory.

  As Mia was getting everything all ready, she felt a little bit nauseous. Swallowing it down, she put the cakes on the counter and went to help Ethan put the boys in their highchairs. With the boys all set and the camera rolling, they started to sing and that nausea she bit back earlier came back with a vengeance.

  Oh, fuck, Mia thought, feeling the eruption of her stomach about to happen. She stopped singing and swallowed, hoping to stave it off, but it didn’t work. She hurriedly put the cake on the counter and bolted to the bathroom where she proceeded to throw up.

  How embarrassing, Mia mused as she rinsed out her mouth. When she opened the door, a big group of people greeted her.

  “Hey,” she said, not looking at any one of them.

  “Hey, you okay, sweets?” Luke asked.

  “She’s fine! Just pregnant,” Allie blurted out.

  Mia didn’t have to say a word—the huge smile that covered her face spoke for her and a multitude of congratulations broke out. The smile didn’t leave her face all night long.

  Mia was one happy woman.

  Mia

  November 2012