by Maren Smith
“Everything is so beautiful. I can’t think of a more romantic way to spend the holiday. Is it always going to be like this?”
“Always,” he said through a wry grin.
“I hope Pete and Sammie aren’t upset that we aren’t joining them tonight.”
“They knew I wanted this dinner to be special. Don’t worry; they’re fine with us joining them tomorrow. I think Pete took Sammie out for an expensive steak dinner.”
“Something smells wonderful, what is it?”
“I’m hoping you’ll like it,” he said, rushing back into the kitchen, only to return holding a plate of filet mignons surrounded by sautéed mushrooms and onions.
Jessie was completely speechless and her eyes filled with tears as she watched him take a seat next to her.
“Is there something wrong? I thought you loved filet and baked potatoes.”
She got up and immediately plopped down on his lap before throwing her arms around his neck. “You’ve made me so happy, and I just don’t want it to end.” As her hand rubbed Trent’s thigh it was obvious that his cock was stirring, but he responded conservatively with a small kiss on her cheek. “Let’s save dessert for later.”
“I know, I know, you’re the head of the house, even on New Year’s,” she teased.
The meal was delicious, and after several toasts with a couple of glasses of ginger ale, Trent got up from his chair and darted into the kitchen.
“Oooh, what’s next, cowboy?”
“Ah! This is where we cook something sweet up together.” He walked back into the dining room with a container of whipped cream and took her hand in his as he began leading her back down the hall to their bedroom.
“I wondered why you purchased a can of Reddi-wip yesterday. I didn’t see anything in the grocery bag to go with it.”
His grin was sly. “It’s a no-bake dessert idea that I came up with. You’ll be the base of the creamy confection tonight, my love.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SAMMIE SAT IN FRONT of the tree wearing her new Christmas pajamas and seemed to be deep in thought when Pete entered the room, clearing his throat.
“What are you thinking about, sweet girl?” he asked, handing her a glass of orange juice before sitting down next to her.
She peered up at him and smiled. “Not much. I guess I’ll be sad when we remove all the decorations tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something is weighing heavily on your mind. You woke up pretty early, and I didn’t hear you move around the house much this morning.” He twisted his neck, his eyes gazing around at their festively decorated home. “Are you sad that the holiday is almost over, and we’ll be going back to work tomorrow?”
“Not really. You know I love working with Jessie, and owning our own law firm is like a dream come true for me.”
“What’s the problem then? You look concerned about something, kitten.”
She raised her eyes to the ceiling as large tears formed in them. “I didn’t get you anything meaningful for Christmas.”
“Doesn’t the beautiful Italian leather belt count? Although I hope it isn’t a gift you come to regret someday,” he retorted, darting a dark eyebrow.
Turning around, she reached under the tree for a box wrapped in silver paper adorned by a gold organza bow. Handing it to him, her shoulders rose. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to give you for quite a while.”
Pete’s grin was wide as he took the gift from her hands. “And I’m sure I’ll love it,” he said tearing open the wrapping paper.” But then his expression changed as he sat staring down at the box in his hands. “This is a pregnancy kit.”
One corner of her mouth raised as she shrugged. “I’m late.”
“Oh, my God! Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s see...”
“I already have.”
“And?”
“It was positive,” she managed as the tears leaked from her eyes. “I know we both wanted this, but it’s been so much fun adding kinky sex to our life, and now it’s all going to end.”
He pulled her onto his lap, hugging her and kissing her wet cheeks repeatedly. “Our lives will constantly be altered in some way, whether we want them to or not. But thoughts of a new baby would be the ultimate way to start our new year together!”
“Do I need to remind you of the hurdles that Trent and Jessie had to overcome with their lifestyle? For God’s sake, you just bought me a spanking bench, and now you’ll have to return it.”
Pete thumbed the tears from her face and gently wiped her nose. “Sweetie, my brother and your sister will be the perfect people to seek advice from. As it turns out, their OBGYN is extremely familiar with our family’s lifestyle, and if you’d like, we can use the same doctor to guide us safely through your pregnancy. As for the spanking bench, we might just have to put it back in the box for a while. But it doesn’t have an expiration date on it, so we can bring it back out sometime in the future,” he teased in a soft, playful voice.
She raised her eyes to meet his and sighed. “I know my pregnancy won’t change our lifestyle forever, but there’s something else I’ve been worrying about this morning.”
“Go on.”
“I know that Jessie is interviewing people to put a daycare facility in place on our ranch, and I’m sure she’s doing a stand-up job with the hiring process, but...”
He inclined his head toward hers. “But?”
“My sister and I were raised by a woman who always made us feel like a burden, and I’d never want history to repeat itself. I don’t want my children to think that my career comes before them. For God’s sake, look what happened to Ben Levy!”
“Sammie, the way you’ve described your mother, you don’t seem anything like her, and Ben Levy’s mother sounds like the epitome of a disturbed, controlling woman. Plenty of adults have successful careers and their children grow up to be emotionally stable human beings even though they went to daycare for the first five years of their life. I think you need to relax and stop worrying so much.”
She nodded. “I’m always trying to convince myself that my mom and I are like night and day. But it scares me that I have her genes. When I heard Ben talk about his mother; well, so many thoughts went through my head. On one hand, it was shocking to me how their negative relationship caused his psychopathic disorders, but on the other, I was impressed with how hard he was trying to move on under the care of a psychiatrist. I’ve read that when a child has bad modeling from a caregiver, he or she can develop a belief that their priority is to only look out for number one to survive. And we both know I’ve been guilty of being narcissistic from time to time,” she said, covering her heated face with her hands. “I know some people feel that there’s a stigma attached to therapy, but I’d hate to pass down any of my insecurities to our child.”
“Sweetie, if you decide not to go back to work, I’m one hundred percent behind that decision, and in my humble opinion, I don’t think being in therapy has any negative implications in our society these days. Whatever you decide, we’re a family now, and I promise to hold your hand through everything.” He smiled and brushed his lips over her forehead. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were late in your cycle? The thought did occur to me when you refused a glass of wine last night, and I noticed that after we toasted on Christmas Day, you never indulged. Passing on an expensive bottle of Pinot Noir was extremely out of character for you,” he teased, tapping her on the nose.
“I thought my being late might have been over the stress of hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were all looking forward to enjoying this holiday together, and I wanted everything to be perfect.”
“Well, now I understand why you’ve been so emotional lately. Those hormones of yours are probably bouncing off the wall! Hey, do you want to tell Jessie and Trent our exciting news at dinner, or would you rather wait until we make an appointment to see the doctor and have it officially confirmed?”
“If it’s okay with
you, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my big mouth shut tonight. My sister doesn’t refer to me as Talking Barbie for nothing,” she joked, playfully trailing a finger down his unshaven cheek. “Hey, I’m sorry for being such a naughty girl lately. I guess I’ve been craving love and attention for two.”
His eyebrow darted upward. “You should know by now that my favorite thing in this world is attending to your needs, and I’m not about to stop now.”
“Hmm, maybe I should start being careful of what I wish for,” she said, rolling her eyes to the ceiling as he dramatically lifted her off the floor and carried her down the hall to their bedroom.
The End
SHELLY DOUGLAS
Born, raised, and still residing in Western Pennsylvania, Shelly Douglas creates fiction that is a combination of her actual experiences and a fantasy world which she’s been immersing herself in since she was a young girl. Her books usually involve authentic personalities engaged in a struggle with who they really are on the inside, and she makes sure that her heroes and heroines always find a happy-ever-after at the end of their long journey.
Having made it to the Top 100 in Amazon many times - she’s not a stranger to that “frequent flyer club”, but more important than public accolades, she hopes you enjoy reading her stories as much as she’s enjoyed writing them.
FIND SHELLY HERE:
Website: http://www.shellydouglas.net/
Blog: http://shellydouglas.blogspot.com/?zx=83f59e6449bd3430
Shelly’s Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/shelly.douglas.412/
Shelly’s Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Shelly-Douglas/e/B00IZO4W02/
Shelly’s Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/PossessingSasha
HER CHRISTMAS DADDY
Molly Alvarado
CHAPTER ONE
Jenny stared at the contents of her fridge, and realized she would either have to go out to find something to eat, or go hungry for just a little while longer. But she was in no mood or desire to face the outside world, or the cheerful rays of the sun just yet. So she was going to have to go with the latter option. Closing the fridge, she slowly trudged back to her living room and fell back on her single couch. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, but that particular respite eluded her. Instead, her closed eyes tortured her with images of him behind her eyelids.
For a few seconds, she let herself get caught up in the good memories. The taste of his lips, the feel of his hands, the hard, rugged expanse of his chest when he allowed her to touch him. His voice when he whispered in her ear, telling her what to do and how to please him. The very few glimpses of himself he allowed her to see when she managed to pleasure him hard enough that the façade he so carefully kept slipped. The way he could make her wait and even more than that, the toe-curling feeling she got when he finally rewarded her for her obedience.
But soon, those memories were replaced by the bad memories. The sound of his voice as he told her he could be with her no more. Her naivety in thinking this was just one more of his games. And then the devastation she felt when she realized he was serious. The heart wrenching sobs that came after, and now this numb sensation that she was feeling now.
Yeah, there was no way she was going to sleep now, Jenny thought. The low growl of her stomach told her she may have underestimated how hungry she was. Grabbing her purse, she began to make a mental list of the things she would need to buy. But as she went through her purse, Jenny realized, or remembered in this case that she was just a little bit past low on cash and swiftly approaching broke. It had been two weeks since she cashed her last paycheck. She had lost her job at the bar after the break up with Barry. It was weird to think of him by his name. Most of the times they spent together, she had little cause to call him by that name.
Now, she mentally edited her grocery list to fit the change she had in her purse and credit card. She grabbed her coat and was reaching for the door when someone opened it from outside and stepped in, briefly letting in the cold Christmas air.
“Hey,” her roommate greeted her, and Jenny’s eyes lighted as she spied the box of pizza in her hands.
“Debbie,” Jenny said, taking one step forward. “I have never been so happy to see you.”
“Really?” Debbie smiled, and opened her hands to receive the hug she thought she was getting, then she chuckled when her roommate went for the pizza in her hand. “I knew you only loved me for the food I bring.”
“Yeah, that and those Manolo Blahniks. Don’t forget the shoes, they were actually the only reason why I actually allowed you to move in with me,” Jenny joked, placing the pizza box on the table in the living room and getting napkins from the kitchen. Debbie dropped her tote bag on the couch and followed her.
“And here I thought it was because we’ve been friends since high school.”
Jenny chuckled at that, and Debbie paused a bit behind her. “Well, I gotta say that I’m kind of happy to see you smiling once again.”
“Yeah,” Jenny made a noncommittal sound as she picked the box of napkins and headed back to the living room.
“I mean you are feeling better now, right?” Debbie asked, still clearly trying to gauge Jenny’s reaction.
“Nobody died, Debby,” Jenny replied curtly. “I just got dumped.”
She realized how she sounded, and she turned around with an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry for biting your head off, I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t mind you biting my head off, I just wished you’ll talk to me about it. I mean, you went out with the guy for almost four years, and for him to just dump you like that is not cool at all.”
“He didn’t dump me. We both decided that the relationship wasn’t going anywhere.” The lie was boldfaced and so blatant, Jenny could not even meet her roommate’s face.
“Are you sure about that? Because it’s been almost two weeks now since you both amicably dissolved your relationship,” she put air quotes around the word relationship. “Two weeks where you have barely gone outside for any reason at all, barely eaten anything except for dry cereal. You lost your job and you wouldn’t even talk to me about that one. Hell, it’s been weeks since I heard you laugh. And I can’t even believe I am saying this, but I miss that terrible sound you make when you laugh.”
“You are not my mother, you know?” Jenny stated defensively.
“Don’t I know it? At least, if I was, then your boyfriend would have been polite enough to stay for more than five minutes every time he visited you here. For dinner, or maybe even sleep over every once in a while.”
“If you honestly think that my mother would allow my boyfriend to stay with me overnight, then you don’t really know her, or me for that matter.”
“Come on, you know what I mean. The guy was spooky, and not in a good way. I think it’s great you guys finally broke up. If you ask me, he was too domineering.”
He was that and many more. But Jenny didn’t say anything, just picked a slice of pizza and started to eat. The truth was that she had no reply to Debbie’s accusations because they were true, mostly. So she focused on the hot slice of pizza in her hand. It had been a really long time since she had felt the desire to eat anything other than a few handfuls of Cheerios at a time. Either she was really hungry or she had started to get over Barry. The empty and dark feeling in her heart told her it was probably the former.
Apparently realizing that she was getting nowhere, Debbie groaned in exasperation and grabbed a napkin. “Well, you can’t keep mooching forever.”
Jenny nearly scoffed at that one, then suddenly realized that her friend was right and she was not dealing with the break up as well as she should. “I’m sorry okay, for the bitchy mood and everything. And yes, it is because of the breakup, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Debbie considered that for a while, “Okay, I’ll let go for now, on one condition.”
“What is that?” Jenny asked as she went for her second slice of pizza. It t
urned out she was even hungrier than she thought she was.
“Did you love him?” Debbie asked, and Jenny paused with the pizza halfway to her mouth.
She didn’t need to think of her answer, she already knew, but she needed to decide if she was ready to tell her friend all about it. “Yes, I did,” she finally answered. “Yes, I loved him. And I used to think he loved me, too.”
Debbie listened to the reply, and then quietly nodded as she began to eat. Appetite not as strong as before, Jenny grabbed the remote and put on the TV. Immediately, the sweet serenading voice of Dolly Parton filled the air as she sang about believing in Santa Claus.
Debbie, with a smile on her face was opening her mouth to join in the song when Jenny hissed and switched the channel.
“Scrooge,” Debbie mocked her friend. “Just because you’ve decided to be mean-spirited and grumpy this Christmas does not mean we all have to suffer with you.”
“I’m not grumpy, I just think Christmas is stupid.”
“No you don’t, you love Christmas. And I have all the pictures and videos to prove it. Especially that one where we sang karaoke.”
Deciding there was nothing worth watching showing, Jenny turned off the TV and dumped the remote back on the coffee table. Then she turned to look at her friend. “I’m not the one who should be scared of that video coming out. I’m not the one who sounds like Kermit.”
“Ha-ha, Kermit has a beautiful voice, so there.”
“I meant you sounded like a frog.”
“Still beat you to the lead role when we played Romeo and Juliet in school.” Debbie sounded smug, and Jenny could not help the small smile that crossed her face. Her friends had the kind of cheerful spirit that made it impossible to stay glum in her presence for too long. Than Jenny had been mourning her broken relationship this long just showed how badly her heart was broken.
