“The state building’s right over on the next block,” Harry added, his eyes shining. “As you well know, Will…”
“I wanted… if things didn’t…,” she stumbled over the words. “I wanted Violet to have her father. And for you to have your baby girl,” Angel said, looking up at me with big, serious eyes, gripping my hands in hers. “I asked Harry to bring us the forms we needed… so we could put your name on Violet’s birth certificate. To make it real…
It’s your decision,” she added, glancing down at our intertwined hands.
In a second, I was on my feet with my love in my arms. “For God’s sake, Angel… Of course, it’s what I want.” I kissed her, tasting the salt of her tears… and mine.
“Wiseass,” I shot lightly, over her shoulder at Harry. “You knew… and you didn’t fucking tell me…?”
“Doctor-patient privilege,” he said with a smug grin. “I didn’t give away your secret, either,” he added. He looked from me to Angelina, and to Violet. Violet was watching silently, but her eyes slid quickly from one face to the next. I could see her absorbing every look… every emotion.
“You have a secret?” Angel asked, slipping her hands up my waist and around my back. Something hungry raised up inside me and growled with pleasure. “What is it…? Mattie…?” She looked around the room at each of us. Mattie waved her hands in front of her chest and looked innocent, batting her eyes. “Somebody… tell me…”
“Between the two of us, it looks like we’ve been running Harry ragged… I had him make a few arrangements for me, too,” I admitted, kissing her shamelessly in front of the others. We were the center of attention, yet it felt like we were the only two people in the world. “We can wait, if you want… until you’re ready to walk down the aisle on your own two feet,” I said. “But I’m more than ready to carry you down it, Angel. I waited years for this moment, and there were times I was afraid…” I took her face in my hands, so delicate and so strong… “Marry me now, sweetheart. Today.
Harry got the us the paperwork for the marriage license, and there’s a minister on staff. We can have the ceremony right here in Violet’s room. And when we leave here in a day or two, we can go home as a family. In every possible way…
Just say yes…”
Angelina’s mouth was open, her eyes glistening. The moment was perfect and the word was on the tip of her tongue… All of us were was waiting for her to answer…
“Angelina Hollister?”
And the whole room took a noisy breath in at once, breaking the silence. The nurse had a high voice and boisterous nature. She came into the room like a gust of wind, clattering items on a tray and shoes squeaking on the tile floor. “And this sweet thing must be Violet?” She sat the tray down with a loud thump.
“I’ve got lunch here for Miss Violet… Just a little clear broth to start with.” She went about her business, completely unaware of what she’d just interrupted. “If it goes down okay, she can have some gelatin in an hour or so.” She looked up at the faces around her and grinned, oblivious. “And this is for you,” she said to Angelina, and she held out a plastic cup with pills in it and another one filled with water.
Angel took them from her and blinked.
“How long have you and your husband been trying?” she asked, smiling, looking from Angel’s blank face to mine. She glanced down to Violet. “You two sure do make pretty babies…”
“I don’t understand,” Angel said slowly. “They gave me medicine for the pain when they put the splint on…”
“Oh, honey, that’s not for pain,” the nurse went on. “It’s your vitamins. Dr. Kendricks ordered them after she ran the tests. It just took a little while to take care of it on this end.” She leaned in confidentially. “I know I’m not the first, or the last to say this, but congratulations to you both. I just love a happy ending.” And then she was gone, bustling out of the room as noisily as she’d come in.
“Harry…?” I asked slowly, afraid to even think... But inside it felt like a spark had begun… and it was rapidly becoming a full-blown flame. It couldn’t be…
Hope and disbelief were mixed into my voice in equal measure. “…Harry…?”
He made a sound of satisfaction deep in his throat as he eased us both down onto the edge of Violet’s bed. “Forgive me for not telling you sooner,” he said, his whole, kind face creased with the size of his smile. “I’m afraid the two of you weren’t the only ones with secrets…,” he said. I took Angelina’s hand and felt it trembling.
“But there was already more than enough going on… You were both under a lot of strain. I felt it was better to wait until we had Violet safely back with us.” He reached past us and touched the girl’s forehead and she smiled. He turned to us.
“But one of the tests Kendricks ran was a pregnancy test. Standard enough, with a young, female patient.” He looked at me and his smile broke into a grin. “I can’t even explain it, Will. It couldn’t be. Technically speaking, it shouldn’t be…”
“But I did a home test…,” she began. “It was negative…”
“I triple-checked the results myself,” he said. “It’s real… it’s truly real.” He took Angelina’s other hand so we were both holding onto her. “I’ve never been happier in my life to give this kind of news, Angelina…
You and Will are pregnant,” he told her, tears in his own eyes. “You two are going to be parents…
Again.”
43
Angelina
We left the hospital two days later. All three… No… all four of us.
I ran my hands over my flat belly, eager to start feeling the first curves begin to grow… the first movements of a new life. Will ran his hands over my already rounder breasts and smiled.
“It’ll happen before you know it,” he said, reading my mind. “I can’t wait, either. I missed all this the first time…”
“Not tonight, you didn’t,” I teased, playfully. We’d already discovered a dozen new ways to please each other. The new cast on my ankle had only served to increase our creativity. I sat on his lap, my legs stretched out on either side of his hips. His cock stood straight up between us and waved… beckoning for more… “I don’t think there’s an inch left on me… or in me, that you don’t know… very intimately…”
“I aim to please,” he said, sucking air through his teeth, as I licked each of my palms and took his erection in both hands. I looked him in the eye and eased my pussy closer, so his balls rested against my clit. Pregnancy had made me bold and hungrier than ever. I hadn’t been able to get enough of him…
“Mattie and Donna’ll be back with Violet soon,” I said. They’d gone out for the day to buy their dresses for the wedding. We were staying in the city for now, while workmen were putting in tall, secure fencing around both houses on the island. I’d managed to convince Will to put the wedding off, but only for a week. “So I could either make you come right now,” I teased, mercilessly. “Or I could make you wait… until later tonight… or even tomorrow…” I laughed when he groaned. His hips bucked impatiently and the head of his cock was a deep, dark purple… In Will’s arms, I could have or give up as much control as I pleased…
“And I could beg you not to kill the father of your children,” he shot back, pulling a handful of my hair back and kissing my mouth roughly. “Plus, I am still technically your boss, too, you know…
But I think I like this dominant side of you…”
I bit into his lip and felt his cock raging between my legs. “Do you?” I asked, leaning forward, reaching underneath my pillow, searching with my hand for what I wanted. He caught one hard nipple in his teeth and sucked without mercy. I’d already soaked his cock and the sheets underneath us. I sat back, dizzy with desire and held up the ribbon in my hand. “Then you won’t mind if I tie you?”
I shifted back, without waiting for an answer, and slipped the thick ribbon around the base of his cock and pulled it tight. His shaft, already huge, grew bigger with every be
at of his heart. He picked me up by the waist as if I weighed nothing, and held me over his dripping head.
“Tie me all you want, sweetheart,” he replied darkly, licking his lips. “But I’ll make you beg for it, just the same.” He held me as my pussy squeezed a long ribbon of silky wetness down to his cock… and I felt it cool underneath me. “Beg me, Angel…,” he said. “I can wait as long as it takes…”
But I had no such patience. I moaned his name and all my needs. And he filled every one of them. He didn’t stop until my throbbing clit was stroking the rough, wet texture of the ribbon that bound him. He held my hips in his hands, grinding me against him, rocking me forward and back, up and down his shaft… movements that made me dizzy with pure pleasure and building excitement. He rocked my breasts against his mouth, his lips, his chest. He bit and licked, sucked and teased until I was only a breath away from orgasm. He’d always made me come easily… and with our baby inside me, it seemed to happen even faster. “It’s right there,” he whispered in my ear. He bit into the lobe and I felt everything inside me clench down. “I can feel it inside you.” He put his hand on my belly.
“My climax?” I gasped, digging my nails into his hard back.
“The love between us,” he answered, pushing in… pushing us both over the edge. “Family… our child…,” he gasped out as he began spilling hotly inside me… “Our miracle baby…
Just under the surface…”
“I’ve never been so happy in my life,” I said to Mattie.
The week Will had agreed to give me had gone by in a flash. But with Mattie’s help, and Donna’s, everything was finally ready. I turned, looking into the mirror, and sighed with satisfaction. There were no more doubts anymore, no hesitation left inside me… I belonged to Will, heart and soul…
My dress was ankle-length, long enough to cover most of my cast, and made of cream-colored silk that rustled softly with every movement. And I wore the gold and diamond bracelets he’d given me. Just the mere touch of them against my skin made a hunger surge inside me, in anticipation of the night to come… Mattie adjusted the pearl tiara in my hair and a hot blush swept over me. The boxes, I remembered… for the playroom… We hadn’t had a chance to unpack them… yet…
She grinned and turned me around to face her. “You sure as hell have your glow on,” she said. She closed one eye and looked at me critically. Then she loosened another curl and let it fall over my shoulder. “Perfect, damn you. I never saw any woman in the throes of morning sickness look so good. And I don’t remember those pink cheeks when Violet was on the way…”
“I didn’t have Will in my life back then,” I said, taking her hands. She’d chosen a bright red dress for herself, the color of her hair. She was beautiful, too. Perfectly and beautifully herself. “I never would have made it to this day without you, you know.” I said, suddenly emotional.
“Bullshit,” she replied, practically. “It just wouldn’t have been as much fun.”
There was a soft tap at the door. Donna opened it, poking her head in, then leading Violet into the room ahead of her. “Oh my God, baby…” I knelt down to her and reached out my arms. “Look how beautiful you are,” I breathed. I touched the tiny string of violets in her dark hair, the soft chiffon of her lavender dress, and looked up at Donna. “How can I ever begin to thank you both…” I said, my voice breaking.
“By not spoiling your makeup by getting all weepy, that’s how,” Mattie said. “It’s not like we’re never going to see each other again. Rex found us a loft that’s only twenty minutes away from your place in the city, and Will said the boat and even the helicopter are at our disposal.”
Donna nodded. “And I’ll be seeing Vi almost every day for her sessions,” she added, her plump face all smiles. “This isn’t the end of anything, honey. It’s the beginning of the whole world…”
The three of us locked in an embrace, bound forever by the strength of our love and devotion to each other. Will had been right… Love is what makes family…
“Time’s up.” His resonant voice came through the door. “I know the groom isn’t supposed to see the bride until she walks down the aisle, but since I’m the one carrying her…”
He opened the door and I watched him exhale, all the air seeming to leave his massive chest. He looked at me like no one ever looked at me before. Like I was the beginning and the end of his whole world. I certainly knew he was for me. He taught me how to love, how to trust. He’d shown me that everyone needs something, someone to have faith in. I’d wanted him from the day I’d first seen him. I’d loved him from the night he first danced with me. I’d belonged to him from the moment he’d first touched me. This incredible man had given me permission to find my own strength… and the courage to own it. He’d given me back my heart.
He bent down and swept Violet up into his arms, then he caught me against his chest and kissed me in a way that threatened to undo all the careful work Mattie had done. “You made me a father twice over, my sinful little angel,” he breathed against my lips. “Are you finally ready to make me a husband, too? My patience is starting to run out,” he threatened.
“Six more months to fatherhood again,” I said tangling my fingers in his thick, dark hair. “But only another minute right now.
There’s just one more thing I need to do…”
44
Will
I watched as she pulled a long satin sash out of the dresser drawer and handed it to me. The others had already slipped downstairs, taking Violet with them so we could be alone. If everything went according to plan, our daughter would be playing the music that would lead us out to the garden where the minister waited. I could hear Harry’s rambunctious kids playing in the grass and smiled.
I took the sash from her hands and slipped it around her waist, using it to pull her close. Her breasts spilled over the top of her gown, growing more and more luscious by the day. I buried my face in her scent… the scent I loved so much, her hair… her neck… “I’m using this later, you know,” I warned her, my voice low and thick with desire. I tied it around her waist, looping it into a bow and letting the ends trail down in back.
“I’m counting on it,” she breathed, biting into my lip until I wanted to gather up her skirt and take her right there… “And then I’ll be using it on you,” she said, through her teeth. “You made me beg, sweetheart… And one good turn always deserves another…”
“Now I’m counting on it,” I breathed back as she let me go. “You’ve answered every prayer… given me every dream…,” I said, holding her, touching her, almost unable to believe she was real. “There isn’t anything more I could ever want more than this moment… than having you in my arms, Angel. I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you what you mean to me.” I held her face between my palms and kissed her like the precious gift she was. “If I can make you happy, our children happy… I’ll be the happiest, the luckiest man alive.”
And she smiled at me as the music started. I watched her eyes sparkle… as the song began to register. I could see it on her face that she recognized it. I nodded, and swept her off her feet and into my arms.
“Oh my God… It’s the piece from the hospital,” she said, looking up at me, her arms around my neck. “The one you hummed to her… and she remembers it…
It’s the song that brought her back to us…”
We’d planned for Violet to stand between us. But she’d continued to play throughout the ceremony instead.
It had been short and beautiful. We had said our own vows, spoken straight from the heart. And Violet played very softly while we were speaking. She looked, not at us, but out over the water… as if she was miles away.
I remembered little after the I do’s… except for the color of Angel’s eyes and the love that shined out from them. Every time I realized anew that my child was inside her, growing larger and stronger every day, I loved her more. And I knew, that if every man had the chance to feel this way, even once in his whole life, it wou
ld be the end of violence, of hatred, of war. Because man wasn’t made to hurt or to destroy. He was made to love… the way I loved Angel. And he was meant to protect those he loves… the way I would protect my family to the end of my days. I saw… truly saw… beneath the surface for the very first time. And I was both strengthened and humbled by what I found there… In a quiet, private moment, I stood with my wife in my arms, close to our daughter, and looked out over the water, too.
“Why blue,” I asked, turning her to face me, turning the satin of her sash in my fingers. “It was always a pink sash for us…”
Violet stopped playing and came over to where we stood. She raised her arms up to me, and I shot a questioning look at her mother. This had never happened before…
Angel’s eyes were wide with wonder as I leaned down and picked up our little girl. She was light as a feather. Delicate looking, like her mother, but I knew the true strength underneath…
She wrapped her arms around my neck and looked at my face for a long time. She looked to her mother, and back to me. She touched her own dark hair and then put her little fingers to mine, as if she was putting the puzzle together. She pointed to her mother’s lovely eyes, sparkling with unshed tears, and touched her fingertip to her own face.
“Blue eyes,” I said, almost unable to manage the words. “You have dark hair like Daddy… and blue eyes like your mother…” My voice cracked in sweet, sweet pain. “Because you’re part of us, Violet. Because we made you out of love.”
“And my sash is blue… for little boys,” Angel said, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “Because Mommy and Daddy have made a baby brother for you, sweetheart.”
And the love I felt, already more than I could contain, spilled out in laughter and gratitude and tears. It was reflected back in Angel’s eyes… the promise of the night ahead of us, and the future that spread wide and far beyond.
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