by Josie Kerr
“Yeah. Thanks for everything, Ed. Everything.” Rory waved a final goodbye and left the lobby.
“Gloria, get in touch with Tripp and tell him I want to meet with him immediately.” Ed rubbed his chest, where the slow burn of indigestion, fury, and disappointment was unfurling. “And see if you can track down some antacid or something.”
Chapter 36
Em and Mick were prepping for the cooking class at the rec center when a tall soldier named Jesse showed up looking for Mick. Mick’s face split into a wide grin as he grabbed the young man in a bear hug and pounded him on the back, whistling at the smart uniform he was wearing.
Mick introduced Em, telling her that Jesse was one of the program’s early participants. Em busied herself by making grocery lists to give the two some privacy, but kept sneaking looks at them. Mick’s obvious affection for all these young men made her heart swell, but it was especially nice to see someone whose success was the direct result of Mick’s interactions with him.
“Where are Sophie and Emily?” Em heard Mick ask.
Jesse’s wide smile vanished. “You don’t know, do you? Sophie lasted six weeks. She stayed clean while she was pregnant, but after Emily was born, she went right back. Granny came over to take them to a doctor’s appointment to get her stitches from the C-section out, and found Emily bawling in her crib and Sophie dead with a needle in her arm. The police said she had been dead about 18 hours.”
“I’m so sorry, Jesse. I really didn’t know. If I had, I would have reached out to your grandmother. Sophie never much cared for me, so I was reluctant to insert myself, you know?” Mick blew out his breath. “What can I do to help now? Is Emily with Granny while you’re deployed?”
“Yes, she is. She’s getting so big. I’m still trying to get them set up in Columbus so they’ll be closer to me.”
“You be sure to let me know if you need help moving them down there, okay? You still have my cell and home phone, right? Be sure to give them to Granny and tell her not to hesitate if she needs anything, and I mean anything, at all.”
“Thanks, Mick.”
Mick patted the young man on the back, obviously overcome with emotion.
“Jesse! You’re back!”
Trey and Andre burst into the kitchen and immediately started in with a barrage of questions, which Jesse confidently answered. When Trey let out a stream of expletives in reaction to one of Jesse’s stories, Em blurted out, “MOUTH, Trey,” and then went back to organizing the pantry.
“Miss Em, you know you cuss more than probably the four of us combined,” Trey complained.
“I know. Now do I say, not as I do, Trey,” Em replied, but a smile tugged at her lips. “You guys need to get washed up. Class is going to begin in five minutes.”
The boys grumbled but began to get ready.
“Could I stay for class, Miss Em?” Jesse asked. “I could use some pointers on cooking.”
“You’re gonna cook, Jesse?” Andre asked incredulously.
“You gotta eat, asshole. Might as well make it not taste like shit.”
“Good grief, Jesse. MOUTH!” Em said with mock irritation. “Okay, then. Suit up, soldier! Apron on and hands washed!”
Jesse winked at Mick. “She’s sassy, Mick. I like her.”
News of the handsome soldier’s participation in class spread like wildfire. Within minutes, all the workstations were filled and soon, 20 casseroles were prepared and ready to go home to be served or frozen.
After the kitchen was spotlessly clean, Em gave Jesse a tight hug. “Thanks for coming, Jesse. You’re an inspiration for all these guys, you know?”
“I couldn’t have done it without Mick, Miss Em. None of it. He saved me from myself.”
“Jesse? Is Jesse in here?” a soft voice called from the hallway.
“I’m in the kitchen, Granny,” Jesse called.
A very small, very old woman came around the corner with a baby in her arms. “Robert told me you were here. We were at the park enjoying the sunshine, isn’t that right, Emily?” The baby gurgled happily.
“Granny Sellars, come give us a hug,” Mick said with a smile.
“Oh, little Mickey! You’re still around!”
Mick cringed at the nickname but smiled nevertheless. “I’ll always be around, Granny.”
“And you have a lady friend, now? It’s about time.” Granny Sellars stared pointedly at Mick.
“Granny Sellars, this is Em. She teaches cooking lessons here and works for Rory in her spare time.” Mick winked.
“Hmph. Now that you’re taken care of, we need to get that Irishman in line,” Granny Sellars said through pursed lips.
Emily began fussing and squirming in the little woman’s arms. Mick reached out for the baby. “Let me feed her, Granny. You go sit down and taste what the boys have whipped up.”
Mick took the baby from her great-grandmother’s arms and deftly tipped the bottle into her hungry mouth. Emily looked at him seriously while she ate, her chubby hands gripping the bottle. Mick bounced as he walked around the kitchen, crooning to the little girl.
He looked very natural with the baby, Em thought wistfully. And he would never have a chance to have another child of his own as long as he was with her. Em’s eyes got hot and tears threatened to fall, which was completely unacceptable.
“Hey, Em, you okay?” Mick asked, a worried crease in his forehead and a baby on his shoulder. He patted the little girl’s back, and when she delivered a soft burp, he congratulated her on a job well done. “Seriously, Em, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything’s great, Mick. The class was a lot bigger than I anticipated and took a lot more mental energy.” She smiled up at him, and he bent down to give her a quick kiss on the lips.
“Let me hand this little one off to her daddy and we’ll go home. You can have a good soak in my tub and a glass of whatever you want, and then I’ll give you a rubdown, sound good?”
“Sounds fantastic,” Em said. She stretched on her toes to kiss him again.
Emily remained asleep as Mick handed her off to her father. Mick kissed her soft head and gave a knowing look at Jesse, who jerked his chin at Mick. Em was discussing recipes with Granny Sellars when Jesse indicated that they should be going. Em shook Jesse’s hand as he leaned close to her.
“Keep him around. He’s a good one,” he said with a wink.
“I plan on it,” Em replied with a wink back.
*****
“How are you holding up, love?” Mick put his arms around Em, pulling her back to nestle against his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
They had made a quick stop at Bailey’s to make sure everything was okay. When she was around Bailey, Em was all smiles, excitedly talking about the baby and accepting Bailey’s invitation to feel the baby move. When they were alone, though, Em was quiet and contemplative.
“Em, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything.” He turned her to face him. “In fact, I demand that tell me. You have eased so much of my pain and grief. Let me comfort you, please.” He gripped her hands tightly. “Please.”
Em sucked in a deep breath. “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Mick.”
Mick stilled. “Go on.”
“I’d always had really bad periods. Like really bad. In my twenties, I went to a specialist and they said I would probably never get pregnant, or would have to use artificial means to get pregnant. I didn’t worry about it because I was too busy trying to establish my career. Then I met Tripp. We got serious, or I guess, as serious as Tripp could ever get about a fat nerd girl.” Mick made an angry face at that and Em flapped her hands at him, brushing off his objections. “We never used protection, and Tripp wondered if I was secretly on the Pill, so I went to another specialist, because it had been 15 years since I went to the last one, and who knows what sorts of advances had been made, right? They ran a bunch of tests and found a mass.”
“Oh, sweetheart…”
Em wiped her eyes.
“They were worried it might be cancer, so they scheduled surgery to remove it. There were complications during the surgery, and I lost my uterus. Also a lot of blood, so much blood that they thought I might not make it. “
Mick took her in his arms and held her close.
Em spoke against his chest. “And that fucker didn’t even stay during the surgery. They had to track him down to tell him there were serious complications. Anyway, after I came home, nothing was the same. It was like, if I couldn’t get pregnant, what was the point of having sex? I mean, sex with Tripp was never mind-blowing, but afterwards? He would stay away for days and the only time he ever attempted to be intimate was when he was completely plowed. I knew he had affairs. He had an impressive sexual appetite. It was definitely quantity over quality though.” At that, Mick grimaced, and Em smiled sadly. “But it wasn’t the same. And he never told his parents. Madeline, Tripp’s mother, dropped hints about grandchildren. I think she wished I would get pregnant so Tripp would marry me, though truthfully, I don’t know if he would have. “
Em wrenched her hands from his. She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. “Does it bother you that I’m never going to have your babies? That my belly is never going to grow big with our child? God, I’m so presumptuous to assume you would want to have children with me, but I need to know if you want children so I can stop this now, because I can’t deal with that particular rejection again.” She was close to hysterical, breathing hard but dry-eyed.
Mick pulled her to him again. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he said, “Let’s sit down. We need to have a serious talk.”
He guided her to a club chair and sat down, pulling her into his lap. He held her loosely in his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. She felt the steady rhythm of his breathing and the vibration of his words when he spoke.
“First of all, let me say that it thrills me to no end that you would want to have my children, okay?” He kissed her hair. “But Em, I don’t want any more children. I had children. They’re gone. I do believe that everything happens for a reason, and I’ve come to the conclusion that through the loss of my own children, I’ve been allowed to touch the lives of many other children that are not my own. If I had kids, I wouldn’t be spending as much time at the rec center as I do now. Those kids need me. And truthfully, I need them.”
Mick moved Em to look in her eyes. “I can honestly say it doesn’t bother me one bit that you won’t bear me a child. It makes me sad that it obviously bothers you. And it also makes me angry that someone has made you feel that your worth is tied to your fertility, but I want to make it crystal clear that that is so not my belief. You’re a caring, sweet woman who has so much love to give. Seeing you with the kids at the center, teaching them how to plan meals and cook, and then seeing you with Bailey, and the care you take with her, warms my heart and reinforces the way I feel about you.”
Em’s lip quivered as she looked at Mick’s serious face. How did she deserve this man?
“Em, you need to put every doubt about how I feel about you out of your head. And I want you to absolutely know, that I think you’re the sexiest woman I know, and I will never get tired of making love to you. And hopefully, I can supply quality and quantity.”
Em placed her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him deeply. Mick gripped the back of her head, holding her steady while he ravaged her mouth. They sat in the chair, Em draped over Mick, kissing each other until Em pulled away. Mick looked at her kiss-swollen mouth with hunger in his eyes.
“Love me, Michael. I need you.” Mick hooked his arms under her knees and around her back, then got up from the chair and made his way to the bedroom.
*****
Em played possum, waiting for Mick to get back to the bed from wherever he had gone. Their night had been filled with love-making and Em was deliciously sore. Her sex twinged at the memory of Mick’s reverent kisses that cascaded down her body, his cherishing touches that made her heart as well as her body soar.
Of course, it wasn’t all lights-out, sweet lovemaking when it came to Mick. He could murmur in her ear some of the filthiest things she had ever heard, and it never ceased to shock her how it riled her up.
Round one had been sweet and caring, and round two was anything but, full of possession and combustion. Round three was almost playful. Now she was waiting for round four to begin, if he would ever get back to the damn bed.
Em had drifted back to sleep by the time Mick returned. He peeked in the door, expecting Em to be awake and waiting for him. He could tell she had been awake, at least for a while, because she had uncovered herself provocatively. Mick smiled, eyes raking over her naked form while he removed his clothes. His erection jutted out as soon as he removed the gym pants he had thrown on to cover himself when he went to feed Em’s monstrous cat. Beauregard looked at Mick with disapproval, like he knew what the two of them had gotten up to. Mick chuckled silently as he slipped between the sheets.
Em must not have been deeply asleep because her breathing changed almost immediately. Mick played along, spooning against her and placing tiny kisses and nips along her exposed neck and shoulder. Em could feel his hard cock nudging her from behind as she pressed her round bottom into him. A chuckle rumbled through his chest and he breathed “Good morning, Em” into her ear, sending shivers of anticipation down her body. He slipped into her, his hips tight against her rump, slowly moving behind her while his talented fingers firmly circled her sweet spot. Mick’s breath was hot on her neck as he bit the tender flesh there. Em plucked her own nipples, causing them to peak and tighten.
Mick nudged her over on her stomach, gently raising her bottom to him so he could remain inside her. He placed a pillow under her hips to keep her close to him.
“I want to try something, sweetheart,” he breathed in her ear. He propped his upper body on his elbows to keep his full weight off of her, but pressed his lower body hard against her hips, rolling back and forth against her, his movements pressing Em’s nub into the pillow and eliciting some delicious friction that had her practically purring with pleasure.
Mick’s hard torso pressed against her, and Em could feel the hair on his chest rubbing along the smooth lines of her back. Mick hotly kissed her turned face. She groaned with pleasure as Mick increased the pressure of his grinding.
“God, you feel so good under me,” Mick breathed into her ear. “I can’t get enough of you, Em.”
He bit her shoulder, then ran his tongue over the mark to soothe it. He pulled out almost completely, making Em moan with the absence of his cock, then forcefully reseated himself in her, causing Em to gasp. She wiggled her hips against the bed, applying exquisite friction to her clitoris. The pleasure was almost too much for her to handle.
Mick pushed into her, his legs straining against the bed as he tried to get as close to her as he possibly could. His hips curved against her bottom, grinding into her and pressing her further down into the pillow.
“Michael, please. Please, Mick,” she begged. She felt his chest rumble with a chuckle at the shift in his name.
“Please what, Em?” he said, his voice right by her ear, his breath hot on the side of her cheek. “What do you want me to do?”
“Make me come, Michael. Own me. I’m yours.”
Mick’s breath caught at her last statement. He adjusted her hips, pulling her ass up so he could go even deeper. His chest was still tight against her back, her thighs in between his, making her beautifully tight around his cock. One hand held her wrists softly yet firmly, while the other gripped her hip against him. He pumped frenziedly, pounding into her. He felt the familiar tightening in his balls and pumped faster, determined to bring her over the edge with him.
“Come with me, Em.”
Em’s breath hitched and she let out a keening wail of pleasure, dragging Mick to the brink of oblivion with her. The sides of her core milked him, drawing out every ounce of his pleasure.
When the last reverberations ceased, Mick lay
across Em’s back. He felt her body begin to quake, and he rolled to his side and pulled her into him. It was a few moments until he realized that her body was shaking with laughter.
“Em? What’s going on?” The look of confusion and worry on his face made her laugh even more, tears spilling down her face as she giggled. “Em?”
“Holy shit, Mick. I almost blacked out, I came so hard,” she laughed. “Now that was a proper fuck, right?”
Mick pulled Em tighter into his body, his hands smoothing her hair and softly touching her face. His eyes grew soft, even as hers twinkled with merriment. “I’ll give you a proper fuck for as long as you’ll let me, Em.”
Her mirth finally subsided, Em gently kissed Mick’s mouth. She pushed him over on his back and curled up to his side, her head on his chest, listening to the thumping of his heart. She threw her leg over his and murmured into his chest. “I’ll let you love me as long as you want to.”
Mick stroked Em’s hair as she fell into a sated sleep. He gazed at her, wondering how he was lucky enough to have this smart, sweet, beautiful woman in his life. He kissed her forehead and chuckled as she pursed her lips for a kiss even as she slumbered. He acquiesced and she sighed contentedly and settled back against his chest.
Mick held her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go. He realized she was becoming an integral part of his life, a companion and confidant, someone with whom he share his innermost thoughts and feelings. There were things he shared with Em that he hadn’t shared with anyone, even Rory.
He had opened his life to her, all the losses and sadness, and she didn’t make him feel pitied or pitiful, just cherished and, dare he say it, loved like he never had been before, not even with Grace. In return, he hoped he also provided some lessening of her burdens. He could barely stand that she had such huge disappointments in her past.
Overcome with emotion, Mick pulled Em tighter to his chest, kissing the top of her head and running his hands over her back.
“God, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Em,” he murmured quietly, almost too softly to be heard. “I’m falling in love with you.” He sighed and closed his eyes, falling into his own oblivion.
