by HJ Bellus
I wore a burnt orange miniskirt with black leggings and grey boots. My blouse was white and loose-fitting with a red tank top underneath it. I wore lots of bangle bracelets and one of Frances’ necklaces.
Annie insisted on doing my hair, so I let her brush through it and then I convinced her that I wanted a messy bun just like hers. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun that sat off to one side, and then let Annie place a matching hair flower into my hair.
Willow and Lacey were home now, but we refused to let them invade our dress up party. Annie and I were locked in Cree’s master bathroom, enjoying our alone time together. Cree kept banging on the door, insisting that he needed us. When we finally made our way out of the bathroom, Cree was perched on his bed with a beer in one hand and the remote in the other. He was watching football on his flat screen TV. When his eyes met ours, he instantly started to tear up. Annie ran to his side and hugged him with all her strength.
“Why are you crying, daddy?”
“Because I’m looking at the two most beautiful girls in the whole wide world, who dressed up for me on Thanksgiving, to eat the turkey I cooked.”
“Oh, Daddy, you so silly!”
Annie went prancing out of the room to find Willow and Lacey. Cree pulled me close and rested his forehead on mine.
“You created a mini-you!”
“You let me.”
“I know. I love you, Milly!”
I shut my eyes tight and let the sounds of his “I love you” rain down all around me. It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Until today, it had been Poppy’s voice saving me from that trailer.
“I love you, too, Captain!”
We decided that since this was our first Thanksgiving together that we would each start a new tradition. Cree insisted on serving mac n’ cheese with sprinkles if needed. He was melting my heart one sprinkle at a time. Annie insisted we dress up as pilgrims and indians, so she assigned the roles and made the appropriate headdress for each of us. Cree and Willow were the pilgrims, so Lacey, Annie and I were the indians. She placed paper headbands on our heads and showed us to our seats. Cree threw a fit when he couldn’t be an indian, so Annie threatened him with a time-out. I loved to just sit back and watch the interaction between the two of them. They were slowly healing the most inner broken part of my heart.
Willow banned pumpkin pie and insisted that cheesecake would be the only dessert at this feast. She was an amazing baker and was adamant that pumpkin pie was way too traditional for us. She had been baking pastries for The Shop the last month. Her pastries were to die for! Cree wasn’t happy about this and made a pretty good argument, but in the end he lost.
Lacey’s was simple—she wanted a picture of all of us together with no griping. We ended up all posing around the table with our headbands on. Annie sat in the middle of the table like a little centerpiece, with Cree on one side of her and me on the other side. Lacey hugged herself tightly to me, and Willow draped herself over the back of her brother. It took us three times to get the self-timer down before we captured a decent picture.
I decided on a movie to kick off the holiday season. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was my selection, and I bought everyone goofy pajamas to wear while watching the movie. Willow threw together a white chocolate popcorn mixture to munch on. We huddled together in the living room to watch the movie. Lacey made all of us squeeze onto the couch for one more group shot in our pjs. Cree, Annie and I took our normal positions all cuddled up on the couch. Annie lasted about a good thirty minutes, before she was snoring into her daddy’s chest. Cree kept sneaking kisses up and down my arm throughout the movie.
“Stop it! You are going to drive me nuts,” I finally whispered to him.
“Stay the night with me.”
“But what about Annie?”
“She knows I love you. She loves you. What’s the problem?
It wasn’t a question—it was a demand, and I didn’t argue any further.
When the movie was over, Cree carried his sleeping princess to bed and I changed into my real pjs. A white cami and black boy shorts from earlier in the morning, when I showed up to watch cartoons with my sweet Annie. I went down to the kitchen to get a drink before bed. I found Cree in his boxer briefs sitting on the counter, eating a pumpkin pie straight from the pie tin! Holy shit! My jaw dropped and my eyes bulged out of my head. I couldn’t look away if my fucking life depended on it. Oh, he was a sexy little pirate!
“Like what you see, Dolly?”
“What are you doing?”
“Um, I made it before Willow declared her new tradition and pumpkin pie is my favorite.”
“MMMM…Breaking tradition so soon, Captain?” I joked as I nestled between his legs. I opened my mouth for a bite.
“Ha! You broke tradition, too, so no tattling!”
I grabbed the pie tin from his hands and darted down the hall and up the stairs to his bedroom.
“Hey! That’s my pie!”
“You’d better catch me if you want any!”
I threw myself in the middle of his bed holding the prized pumpkin pie. Cree was hot on my heels and desperate to have his pie back. He bounced down on the bed right next to me in his luscious boxer briefs.
“Are you going to share?” he asked with his best puppy dog face.
“Well, maybe…” I said as I took another bite. I scooped up a bite of pie for him and fed it to him, giving him just a tiny taste.
“I think I need to be properly kissed before I share anymore.”
Cree kissed me. I fed him a bite.
“Again,” I said.
Cree kissed me a little longer this time. I fed him a bite.
“Again.”
Cree kissed me, this time using his tongue. I fed him a bite.
“Again.”
Cree flipped me over onto my back, straddling me. He kissed me feverishly while groping all my sensitive lady parts. I fed him a bite while he hovered over me.
“Again.”
This time Cree lowered his head, spraying kisses all down my neck and chest. He pulled up the hem of my cami and found my nipple with his teeth. I propped myself up on my elbows taking a slow seductive bite of pumpkin pie while watching my pirate slave away on my body. When he made his way back up my body, he pressed himself into me. I fed him his bite.
“Did I ever tell you I fucking love pumpkin pie?”
“You did. But I want you to keep working for your bites.” I giggled.
Cree went straight to work for his next bite. Not breaking eye contact, he slid his hand between my legs, cupping my lace panties with his hand. I let the fork fall out of my hand and thrust myself up into his palm. At this point he could have the whole fucking pumpkin pie if he wanted, and my pie for that matter. He slid off of me and lay on his side, facing me. I had enough wits left to feed him a bite of pie.
“Good girl.”
He worked his way down to my panties with his hand, keeping eye contact with me. His hand brushed over my sensitive parts. He wasn’t aggressive. He spent time touching and feeling and savoring me. I reached over and placed a tender kiss on his lips, encouraging him to keep touching me. With one hand, I reached down to explore him. He instantly stilled and threw his head back.
“Look at me, Cree.”
He turned his head back down to look at me. I fed him a bite and then went in for the kill. I wrapped my small hand around his thick pounding erection. I began to smoothly work my hand up and down him. When Cree finally came back to reality, he slid two fingers inside me. We found our perfect rhythm of bucking and thrusting against each other’s hands, trying to find our own release.
Cree bent over and licked a crumb off my lip, and then whispered in my ear, “I love you.”
It was hard to get a word out, but I breathlessly moaned, “Cree.”
“Milly?”
“Oh god, Cree. I love you—please don’t break my heart. I’ve fallen so hard for you. I wouldn’t be able to breathe if you broke my heart.”
&n
bsp; “I promise I won’t. I’ve never loved like this. I need you, too.”
With his words, I found my release. Just when I started to scream, Cree quickly covered my mouth with his to muffle the noises. He rocked me hard to the very core. I suddenly felt hot streams of Cree’s release drip down my side. Between the pie, Cree’s release, and our sloppy confession of love, we were a hot mess. But the happiest hot mess in the history of all hot messes.
CHAPTER 14
Happy Freaking Birthday to Me!
Cree: What do you want to do for your birthday?
Me: You
Cree: Okay & what else?
Me: You again
Cree: And then…?
Me: Seriously, anything that involves you!
Cree: Send me a pic
Me: You are such a dirty pirate!
Me: Here you go!
I have spent every night with Cree and Annie since Thanksgiving. Cree always can manage to convince me to stay the night with his charm and good looks. Today is my birthday, December 11th. I act really tough and strong on the outside, putting out the vibe that I never needed parents or a support system. Well, that’s all bullshit! Being so close to Cree and Annie scares the living hell out of me, because they make me feel so darned loved and wanted. I do know one thing for sure: there is no other place I would rather be than with them. Cree has been harassing me about my birthday for the last week. I have no idea what he has planned, but as long as it involves him and Annie, I’ll be happy!
I’m closing the store early today to get ready to go to Cree’s house. I look down at Frances’ pink bracelet on my wrist and remember the wild shopping sprees we would go on for my birthday. She would’ve fit in perfectly with my new friends. My phone buzzes, jarring me from my memories of my Crazy Pants. It’s a text from Cree.
Cree: Come outside
Me: Y?
Cree: It’s a surprise
Me: What is it?
Cree: A surprise…come outside
Me: Tell me what it is!!!
Cree: get your goddamn ass out here woman!…NOW!!!
I loved harassing Cree. He was so fun to joke with. He tried to act tough and mean, but was such a push-over. I grabbed my overnight bag and threw on my aviators. Cree wasn’t parked in front on the store. Where was my sneaky, little pirate?
“Milly!” screeched Annie’s little voice.
I looked up into the setting sun and saw Cree parked across the street in front of Lacey’s salon. He was leaning on his truck with a huge bouquet of wildflowers. Annie was holding a puppy! The cutest little Yorkie I have ever seen. She had a pink cheetah collar on and two matching pink hair bows on each ear. I had millions in the bank, but I would give it all away today for the two people standing in front of me—and the puppy, of course.
“Happy Birthday, Dolly!”
I pushed the flowers to the side and hugged Cree, planting a huge kiss on his lips.
“Milly, this is for you. I picked her out the best I could. Daddy even dressed her all up for you.”
“Oh, Annie, she’s perfect. I love her.”
I bent down to take the puppy into my arms.
“Daddy told me you were going to name her Owive.”
“You have a smart daddy. He knows me well!”
I shared my bucket list thingy with Cree one night while lying in bed with Annie asleep between us. He was very interested in my desires and even added tractor sex to the list.
I kissed Annie’s cheek and handed Olive back to her.
“So what’s the plan, Captain?”
“Well, we have a surprise for you at home and then I have another surprise for you, so let’s go.”
We all climbed into the front seat of the pickup. I couldn’t get enough of Olive! I tried to share her the best I could, but I was completely in love with the little mutt. Cree and Annie blindfolded me and led me into the house.
“Surprise!”
I opened my eyes to find Lacey, Greyson and Willow with party hats on. It wasn’t really much of a surprise, but I could tell this was my little Annie’s idea. A huge banner hung in the entry way that read, “Hapy Birfday.” Annie was the best. I picked her up, squeezed her tightly and whispered into ear, “This is the best party ever.”
The girls fixed salad, garlic bread and “basgana” for dinner. I was a fan of any food, but Lacey’s “basgana” was Annie’s favorite. We had a sprinkle-free dinner with lots of laughter.
“Cake time!” announced Annie with a tomato sauce-crusted face.
Annie helped Willow get the cake out of the fridge. It was a huge impressive vanilla cake with custard filling and cream cheese frosting. The cake was completely covered in confetti sprinkles with “Happy Birthday to My Dolly” scrolled across the top of it. I let Annie help me blow out the candles.
“What did you wish, Milly?” asked Annie.
“I didn’t make a wish because mine already came true,” I said as I smiled at Cree.
The cake Willow made was the best thing I had ever tasted in my life. I wanted to act like a feral warthog and hoard the whole damn thing to myself.
“Presents!” shouted Lacey.
Lacey handed me a neatly wrapped package. It was a collage frame of black and white pictures of all of us from Thanksgiving. The happy faces beaming back at me from the frame brought tears to my eyes.
“Remember, Milly, I got you Owive. Daddy wouldn’t let me wrap her.”
“I remember, Annie, and she is the best present ever.”
Olive was currently sleeping on my lap while I opened my gifts. Willow gave me a gift certificate to an all-day spa in Fort Collins. The gift certificate was for three people. I gave her a huge hug, and whispered thank you in her ear.
Cree passed me a package wrapped in green and yellow wrapping paper. I gave him a funny look, but he just nudged the box closer to me. I didn’t argue or protest. He already gave me Olive, but I was all in favor of more presents. I had years of presents to make up for in my life. I loved them!
I tore open the package to find a beautiful set of bangle bracelets. I picked each one up and realized they each stood for something. There was a thin silver one with “Iced Heaven” inscribed on it, and green and yellow bracelets with the word “Captain” on them. But my favorite one was a light pink bracelet, with three hearts and the initials “MAC” inscribed on it. It stood for Milly, Annie and Cree. None of the bracelets matched, which made them perfect in my book. Well, the boy did it—he had me crying. I mean crying big, ugly, sobbing tears with nasty sounds escaping from my throat. I looked up at everybody’s serious face and started to giggle. Poor Greyson looked like he wanted to run.
I slipped all the bracelets on and said, “I have never had a birthday party before. This is a first for me, so thank you, guys!”
I went around the table and hugged everyone. Willow and Lacey started to clean up the kitchen while Annie and I brushed Olive. Cree stepped out to make a phone call.
“I’m going to the movies with Aunt Willow and Lacey tonight.”
“Oh you are?”
“Yep, Daddy said he wanted some awone time with you.”
“Did he?” That sly little pirate!
Cree cleaned Annie up, and then bundled her up for her movie date with Lacey and Willow. We followed them out to Willow’s VW Bug. Cree hugged and kissed Annie while he buckled her into her booster seat. I also reached in and gave her some loves.
Once they pulled out of the driveway, Cree grabbed my hand and pulled me to his truck.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“You suck ass!”
Cree just shook his head and pulled me close to his side, while he drove down a dirt road towards the back side of his farm. The song “Like Jesus Does” played on the radio.
“You know this song is how I feel about you, Captain.”
“I know…”
Nothing else was said for the remainder of the drive. We were happy to just sit there and sing
. He pulled into a driveway where a small cabin was nestled between a grove of willow trees. He grabbed a bag and led me inside. Yes, he was just like his daughter, and made me close my eyes while I entered the small cabin. The one-room cabin was lit up with white Christmas lights; candles and rose petals were scattered everywhere. It was a scene straight from the movies, and I was standing smack dab in the middle of it.
“Why?”
“Because I love you, and I’m trying to seduce you…”
I cut Cree off. I couldn’t catch my breath at the sight of the room and the man before me. I felt a rush of emotions erupt inside me that I had never felt before. It was time. Time to grab hold of the little courage I had to grasp onto what I really wanted. And what I really wanted was the man standing in front of me. I wanted him now and forever.
“Just shut up! I’m so in love with you. I see you and only you. You touch me in ways that no one has ever touched, or will touch me. You have changed my complete world by being the first man to truly love me. Cree, this is my first birthday that I don’t hear my parents telling me I should have been an abortion and I don’t feel like that little girl sitting in her urine for days, scared and lonely. It’s all because of you. Cree, you saved me.”
“I need you, Milly.”
“You have me. All of me.”
Cree pulled me into a tight hug and started to gently sway. We stayed like for several minutes. I couldn’t let go of him. He pulled me over to the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and I straddled his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. I started kissing him. I needed to show him just how much his love meant to me. I pulled back and spotted a platter of brownies and a bucket full of ice cold beer on the end of the bed.
“What are those for?”
“Well, I thought we could play the pumpkin pie game with brownies.”
I started laughing. I instantly fell even deeper in love with the Captain.
“Oh, you are truly a naughty little pirate.”
I did want to play the pumpkin pie game with him, but first I had some unfinished business to attend to. I pushed him back and remained straddled across his thighs. I unzipped his jeans and released his length. I massaged him with my hand, then bent over and swirled my tongue around his head.
