A Child's Heart (Trent & Cassie's Story) A River City Novel

by E. Ayers

  The knot in his stomach had continued to grow. He walked though the house and into the backyard. There were even more people who had joined the party. Shawn was playing a beanbag toss game, but it took another few seconds to spot Cassie talking with an older woman.

  “Excuse me. I need to steal Cas for a minute.”

  “Oh, there you are. Do you remember Mrs. Winston and Gail from the museum?”

  “Ah, yes, I do. Pleased you could come.” He tucked the envelope under his sling and extended his hand to the women. Putting his arm around Cassie’s waist, he said, “Excuse us. I just need her for a few moments.”

  Cassie looked up at him questioningly.

  He smiled back and steered her away from the crowd. “Who are all these people?”

  “Friends. I’m overwhelmed. Seems the word got out and everyone has come. From what Tate said a few minutes ago, her dad is circling the neighborhood trying to find a place to park.”

  “Maybe this is really bad timing, but I wanted you to have it. Here.” He handed her the envelope.

  “Yes, I know. I had it sent to the museum. I meant to tell you about it, but with the move--”

  “I found it last night when I went for my stuff. I took it to the hospital with me. Open it.”

  His breath caught in his throat as she pulled out the papers.

  “You filled them out. You’re going to do it?”

  He nodded.

  She threw her arms around him and hugged him. “Oh, Trent, I’m so thrilled for you.”

  “There’s one more thing. I have a favor to ask, and I have nothing to go with it.”

  Her brow furrowed as she peered up at him.

  “I mean…I’m supposed to… Damn!” His gut clenched. Her blue eyes stared into his. “Everything has happened too quickly.”

  She pulled away from him and then clasped his face in her hands. “What, Trent? You know I’d do anything for you and Shawn.”

  He took a deep breath. “Marry me, Cas.”

  She smiled as she stood on her tiptoes and put her mouth over his. Her answer was in her kiss. The knot in his gut exploded and fell into a million little pieces like gigantic fireworks and their heat pooled in his groin. His arm wrapped around her as her body meshed with his.

  Her mouth separated from his, but her lips trailed across his cheek and settled on his earlobe, where she whispered, “Do you always get an erection when I kiss you?”

  “Most of the time.”

  “Hmm, maybe I’m not doing something right, if it doesn’t happen all the time.”

  “You’re doing just fine. I’m the one who has to fight it.”

  “We do have to join our guests.”

  “I know. It’ll take me more than a few seconds.”

  They heard their names being called.

  “It’s time for cake. Are you going to be okay?” Cassie asked.

  “Guess I’d better be, or it’ll be embarrassing.”

  “No one is going to look at your crotch, and if they do, they’ll be jealous.” She laughed and pulled his hand.

  ***

  Cassie cut the cake into small pieces and made sure all the children were served first, as there was not enough cake for all those in attendance. Someone had strung lighted lanterns along the fence and the festive mood continued until Trent finally told Shawn he needed to take a bath and go to bed. That brought on an immediate round of tears.

  Ari walked over, took Shawn into his arms, and whispered something into his ear. The child immediately calmed down, and Ari took the boy inside, with Trent in their wake. A minute later, Ari reappeared.

  “What did you do? I could use a few of those skills,” Cassie said.

  Ari chuckled. “Dog obedience training works great on kids, too. I think it’s time for us to take Pamela home.”

  Soon the crowd dispersed and Cassie washed up the few kitchen items they had used. What a night. She looked around and saw nothing more that needed her attention. She turned out the floodlights and turned the lights down low in the living room. She pulled her hair loose from its ponytail and ran her fingers through it as she gazed around the room.

  His application! She remembered holding it until she had cut the cake. Panic bubbled inside her as she flew out the back door and looked around the patio. She came back inside and looked in the dining room where all of Shawn’s gifts had been stacked. Then she went back to the kitchen and looked through the pile of cards on the table. Several three-by-five cards in Dallas’ handwriting gave a quick description of each gift and who had brought it. But there was no manila envelope to be found.

  “Hey, I thought you would have come up for kisses and prayers,” Trent said, as he joined her.

  She swallowed the ball of panic that rose in her throat. “Oh, Trent, I lost it.”

  “Lost what?”

  “Your application.”

  “It’s not lost. I put it in the drawer by the front door. I figured it was safer there. That darn thing took me almost three hours to fill out.”

  “Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried about it.”

  “Go kiss our son goodnight. He’s waiting for you.”

  “Our?” She cocked her head and stared at Trent.

  “If you’re my wife, that makes him our son.”

  She smiled and gave Trent a quick peck on the check.

  Shawn was sleeping in his bed with his old stuffed dinosaur tucked under one arm. A small nightlight glowed from an outlet, casting a greenish light through the room. The child never stirred when she sat on the edge of the bed. Precious baby. She ran one finger over his soft cheek and then leaned over and kissed him.

  Trent was right, it all had happened so quickly. She didn’t care if life never handed her more than what she had: a good job, a pretty house, a handsome man, and a son. She had everything anyone could ever want. Quietly she descended the staircase, only to discover Trent had music playing in the living room.

  “May I have this dance?” he asked.

  Seeing him standing there with his arm in a sling caused her to giggle. “You’ll do anything won’t you?”

  “I like to dance.” He held his hand out to her.

  She took it as the last few bars of the song were played. “See even the music knows I can’t dance.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Can’t dance? Impossible.”

  “No, really. I can’t. All those years of ballet lessons were wasted on me.”

  “I doubt that.”

  He snuggled her against his side as he softly swayed to the music. He took a step. She followed, and then he took another and another until they were dancing. When the music slowed, he nibbled on her ear. His soft moan told her it was having the same effect on him as it was having on her. He touched his tongue to the shell of her ear, following its curves. His tongue slid down her neck. He nipped and nibbled on it.

  He gently rocked to the music. Her body rubbed against his and with each pass, his erection grew. The feeling was slow and unhurried, yet intense. She savored the slow burn he had produced deep inside her.

  “Think we need to take this dance upstairs?” she whispered.

  “Oh, yeah,” he breathed into her ear.

  He checked the doors as she got the lights, and when they entered their bedroom, she locked that door.

  “No more wild sex in the living room,” Cassie said with a grin.

  “It’s called having a family.” With difficulty, he pulled her shirt over her head.

  “It’s much easier if I do the undressing, being you’re one handed.”

  “But I like undressing you.”

  “I’ll save something for you.”

  She helped him out of his clothes and ran her hands over his body. Downy soft blond hair covered his forearms and legs, but it was the soft hair that spread across his chest that evoked something very primitive in her. She loved the way it tickled and tantalized her breasts.

  Slowly she removed her clothes, all but her tiny underpants. “I guess you’re going
to have to finish the job.”

  A grin spread across his face and he hooked the fingers of his good hand into the tiny waistband and slid the panties down. His fingers toyed with the set of beads that hung from her labia, triggering a pulsing deep within her.

  When he kneeled in front of her and touched his tongue to her folds, her body shuddered. Her hands grabbed for his head to steady her quaking knees. Warm, wet, and probing, his tongue electrified every nerve in her body. She breathed through her teeth, and with one more thrust of his tongue, her knees buckled as white light flashed through her closed eyelids.

  “Stop!” she squeaked.

  “Mmm, a little too much?”

  It was a question that needed no reply. His warm hand caressed her thigh, buttocks, and back. Her vaginal walls still trembled as he stood in front of her. Her hands slid down his chest and she gripped his waist as he pulled her to him.

  His fingers were now at the nape of her neck, massaging and caressing as she pressed her cheek to his chest. His heart drummed in her ear. The steady rhythm soothed her, but the fire he had lit still burned.

  ~~33~~

  Trent dropped his son off at the hospital and then went to his mom’s house. He stood at the front door and wondered if he should knock or just open the door. He decided to open it.

  “Mom?” he called.

  “In the kitchen, ironing.”

  “Hi. Mind if I grab a cup of coffee?”

  “Not at all. Have you decided to move back home?”

  “No.” He filled a mug. “I brought some papers for you, and I need a few things that I left behind. I want you to reconsider moving.”

  “This is my home.”

  He could feel the hair on his arms rising with frustration, and he needed to control it if he was going to converse with his mom and not get into an argument. “Mom, you’ve been here all of my life. Maybe it’s time for a change.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” She never looked up at him.

  “No one is forcing you out of the house. Amanda McGuire gave me these papers to give to you. They are some sort of market comparison on rentals.” He sat at the kitchen table

  “I’m not renting my home.”

  “Will you at least come look at what we have?”

  “We?” She hung a blouse on a hanger and sorted through the basket of clothes for another one.

  “Yes. We. I’m going to marry her.”

  “Oh, right.” The sarcasm was thick in her voice.

  “Father Theo is marrying some friends of ours on Saturday. We’re hoping to have a word with him after the wedding.” He took a sip of his coffee and watched his mom iron another blouse. “Haven’t set a date, but I did propose.”

  “That was a mistake, especially since she’s been in the arms of another man.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll admit, you had me going for a while. Of all the men in the world, I’d rather know it was Berto comforting my wife.” He took another sip of coffee. “You shouldn’t take things out of context. You saw something and assumed. That’s wrong.”

  “I know what I saw.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Yes, you saw Berto hug Cas. Mom, really it’s not what you think. Berto is marrying Amy Schulster on Saturday, and I know for a fact that she’s a virgin bride.”

  “Not in this day and age.”

  “Yes, virgin. The women talk.” He ran his fingertip around the rim of the cup. “So do the men. She’s a virgin.”

  “I knew she was marrying some Mexican.”

  “He’s a U.S. citizen, and he's very proud of that fact.” He took another swallow of his coffee. “Mom, I didn’t come here to talk about Berto. I want you to at least come look at our house.”

  “There you go again. Where did you get the money to buy a house?”

  “I didn’t. Cas did. My name is on the deed with right of survivorship. The mortgage is slightly less than what she was paying in rent over at Sweet Grandview.”

  “She lived there? They want outrageous rents on that place.”

  “She makes good money. She’s a PhD.”

  “So what does someone like that want in you?”

  His gut clenched. “Knock it off. I don’t need you tearing me down. I’m going to college this fall.”

  “How are you going to do something like that? You have a child to take care of.”

  “You’re right. I do. And working at River City Manufacturing means I’m never going to make a fortune, but as an architect, I’ll be better able to provide for Shawn. Going to school is not going to be easy. I know that.”

  He watched his mom hang the finished blouse and pull another from the pile.

  He sighed. “Mom, I need you. Shawn needs you. Cas and I have talked about this at length. She really likes you. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have picked out a house where we can all live together.”

  “You just need a babysitter.”

  “No, Shawn needs his grandmother, and I can’t keep up with two houses. The way our house is set up, you’ll have freedom that you’ve never had before.”

  She turned her iron off and set it on the counter. “Fine. Drive me over there and show me whatever you want. I’m not going to settle into some little room and give up everything I have.”

  A half hour later, Trent pulled into his driveway.

  “I don’t have the key to your front door on me, so you’ll have to come into the house through our side.” He stuck the key in the lock and opened the door. “This is our portion and everything is far from perfect. We’ve got plenty to do on your side before it’s ready for you.”

  “This house is huge.”

  “I know. Come take a look upstairs. Wait ’til you see Shawn’s room. Dallas Nixon painted it for him.”

  “What did that cost?”

  “Apparently nothing. Cas is friends with Dallas.”

  His mom walked up the stairs and then gasped when she saw Shawn’s room.

  “Told you.”

  “He must be in heaven!”

  “He is. I didn’t think I’d get him settled down that first night he was here.”

  Trent showed his mom the rest of the house. “Now, come look at your side.”

  He walked his mom through the laundry room and into her kitchen.

  “Remember, it needs work. I’ll make sure it is ready for you.”

  “There are less cabinets than what I have.”

  “True, and I can add more. It’s still a decent size.”

  She shrugged and looked around. She opened the door to the small patio and stepped onto it. The pirate ship in the middle of the yard caught her attention.

  “Berto and another friend built it for Shawn. The backyard is quite nice.”

  “There’s a lot more yard here. And plenty of perennials.”

  “And that garage is enormous.”

  “I can see that.”

  He opened the kitchen door. “You’ll have your own space, except for the laundry room. That we share. It's much nicer than going into the garage.”

  She looked around the yard one more time and returned inside.

  “There’s no dining room. That’s the only thing that is missing.” He waited for some sort of negative reaction, but there was none.

  His mom wandered into the living room. “This is much bigger than what I have now.”

  “Yes, and this is your bedroom.” He opened the door to the spacious room. “There’s a nook that will be perfect for your sewing machine, and a nice sized walk-in closet.” He waited for her response.

  “The place needs paint.”

  “Yes, it does. You need to pick out the colors.” He studied his mom and her expression as she walked back through the rooms.

  “I don’t like all this wall-to-wall carpeting. It’s not healthy.”

  “We’re certain there are hardwood floors under there, but I have no idea what shape they are in.”

  “And where would I put my dining room table and hutch?”

  “Why not in the k
itchen? You’ve always said you loved them and we never did use them.”

  “They won’t look right in there.”

  “I could redo the kitchen cabinets to match.” At least she was considering, and he figured that was positive. “Mom, I can’t keep up with two houses. You won’t have any expenses here. No light bill or water to pay. You’ll have privacy, but you’ll be here with Shawn and me. And renting your old house will give you some additional income.” He looked at his watch. “I’ve got to pick up Shawn.”

  ***

  The church was packed with people for Amy and Berto’s wedding. Colored light streamed through the modern stained glass windows. Each windowsill had been decorated with ferns, white roses, and sprigs of baby's breath. Amy was positively glowing in her wedding gown. The full, bell skirt made her waist look even smaller, and its sleeves puffed at the shoulders and narrowed into tight lace down her forearms. Amy's lace veil draped almost to the floor in front and flowed over her long train.

  Berto looked as though tuxedos were designed just for him. His broad shoulders and trim waist were emphasized with the cut of the jacket. No man could have been prouder than Berto, and he looked at his bride with total adoration. If there ever was a perfect wedding, Amy and Berto had it.

  Solemn, yet impassioned, they recited special vows to each other, then the traditional vows of the Church. There was barely a dry eye in the entire sanctuary.

  Cassie sighed as she sat beside Trent and kept her hand on his knee almost the entire time. Shawn was an angel through the whole Mass, but once the wedding was over, Shawn discovered several children his age, and they began to play on the church grounds.

  “Let him be,” Cassie whispered to Trent. “He’s allowed to play. They’re just being children, and they’ve been cooped up and on good behavior for over an hour.”

  “I know.” A few minutes later, he whispered in her ear, “Do you want a big wedding like this?”

  She shook her head. “I’d like a wedding, but nothing this big or formal, maybe something small with just a few friends. Have you ever been in the old chapel?”