Double Daddy Trouble: A Groomsman Menage

by Violet Paige

  She looked back down at me with first shock and then malice.

  “Don’t you have something better to do other than luring little girls with sweets.”

  “If you would prefer,” I said tucking the doughnut back in the bag, “I would be more then happy to set my aim on you.”

  Her eyes narrowed to a slit.

  “You have nothing to lure me with,” she said as she tucked the towel tighter into place.

  “I think you remember what I have. You use to rather enjoy it.”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  I shrugged like her turning me down didn’t bother me.

  “Well there is always beagles and doughnuts if all else fails,” I said holding up the bag. “Can I come in? Breakfast is my treat.”

  I saw her determination waver.

  “Mommy,” Emma said from behind her mother. “He has pink doughnuts. Please.”

  “Fine,” Julie conceded stepping to the side for the benefit of her daughter finally eating something.

  “Just so you know,” she added as I walked into the room, “We don’t normally eat things that are ridiculously sweet or with artificially food coloring. It's not good for her.”

  “Savannah,” I said simply.

  Julie shrugged.

  “She is Em’s Godmother.”

  “Yes well, I hope you are sticking to actual medicine for her cold and not that voodoo witchcraft she is no doubt concocting at her farm.”

  “What’s voodoo?” Emma asked her mom.

  “You can explain that,” Julie said to me, “While I go put something on.”

  I watched her figure as she walked away. Her hair was much longer now and left little drips in her wake. It was like breadcrumbs begging me to follow.

  Instead, I met the eyes of the little girl still waiting for her answer.

  I walked with her over to the table, and she sat down. Taking out the doughnut, I put it on a napkin in front of her.

  “You ever saw the Princess and the Frog?” I asked.

  Emma nodded her head between enormous bites of doughnut. It must have been true that Julie didn’t give this kid much sugar the way she was wolfing it down.

  “Only one time,” she said with a stuffed mouth. “Mommy said it was too scary.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, you know that bad guy?”

  She nodded again.

  “There you go. That’s voodoo.”

  “Auntie Savannah does that?” She asked truly terrified.

  “No,’ Julie said firmly coming back down the hall.

  If she had no interest in me, she sure as hell was going to make a point to flaunt what I couldn’t have.

  Julie was wearing the shortest shorts I had ever seen paired with a floral tank top. She was still drying her hair with the towel as she walked our way.

  Julie didn’t even give me so much as a glance as she leaned over me and reached into my bag for a bagel. I took the moment to inhale her sweet scent. Every muscle in my body was itching to take her in my arms and sit her on my lap.

  Julie didn’t seem as affected by our closeness, and instead sat in an empty chair nibbling on her dry bagel.

  “I was just joking,” I finally said to Emma. “I use to know your Auntie before you were born. I like to make fun of her.”

  “Did you know Mommy too?” Emma asked looking between the two of us.

  It was the first time our eyes really met since I walked through the door. In that look more was spoken then could ever be put into words.

  “Yeah, we use to be good friends too.”

  “So what happened?” Emma asked.

  “Man, you like to ask a lot of questions,” I said with a soft laugh as I rubbed my beard.

  “That’s my Em. Never satisfied with just one answer,” Julie said looking lovingly at her little girl.

  “Well, I joined the Navy. It’s part of the military. I was a doctor for a group of guys that traveled all over and had special missions to capture the very worst bad guys. We were called Navy SEALs.”

  I pulled out the dog tags I still had around my neck. I probably shouldn’t have worn them anymore, but it was still second nature to me. Emma got up and came over to inspect them. I took them off so she could hold them in her hand.

  “Are you still a SEAL?” Emma asked trying the word out for the first time.

  “No. I got hurt pretty bad. When you get hurt bad enough it's not safe for you to still be apart of the team.”

  “Do you have a bionic leg?” Emma asked suddenly excited.

  I looked at Julie surprised at this five-year old’s vocabulary. Instead, I saw pure shock staring back at me. I guess Julie didn’t know what had brought me to retire.

  “No,” I said looking back at the little girl. “I still have all my arms and legs.”

  “Oh,” she said sitting back down to her doughnut. Apparently not losing a leg was a big let down.

  “Mr. Henderson has a bionic leg.”

  “He is the third-grade teacher at her school,” Julie explained to me. “Sometimes he comes over for dinner.”

  I looked over at Julie with a raised brow. She gave me her own penetrating look back, daring me to ask.

  I struggled to hide the crazy amount of jealousy that was boiling between my skin. Of course, I shouldn’t have expected Julie never to have another relationship. At the same time, I wasn’t ready to hear about it either.

  “He is in his late sixties and lost it to diabetes,” Julie finally said by way of explanation. “He lives all alone and in our complex.”

  I smiled at the wave of relief that washed over me. I couldn’t help but notice the satisfying blush my smile brought to Julie’s cheeks. She may have been pissed as hell with me, may have hated my guts, but she was still just as attracted to me as I was to her.

  “How bout you go brush your teeth real quick and then time for medicine,” Julie said to Emma as she licked the last sugary crumbs from her fingers.

  The little girl obediently got up and walked down the hall.

  “Still got a fever?” I asked as I watched her walk down.

  “It’s a little better, but not much.”

  “Has she been keeping hydrated?” I asked.

  “Yes, Dr. Smith, she has been drinking Gatorade to keep hydrated.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that. I can see you know what you are doing.”

  She softened her hard exterior at my words.

  “I’m actually a little glad that she finally ate something, even if it was a doughnut.”

  “Not eating? Is it because her throat is too sore. I could give another exam real quick if it would make you feel better.”

  Julie gave me a soft smile before shaking her head no. Emma came back into the room, and we dropped the conversation.

  I spent the next hour on Emma’s bedroom floor playing dolls and having princess berets styled in my hair.

  I could hear Julie around the apartment cleaning this or that poking her head in from time to time. I ached to get to know every inch of this little girl in front of me. I couldn’t believe I had gone the last six years without knowing she existed.

  Finally, I could tell she was getting pretty tuckered out. The fever still kept her skin pretty warm, even with the reducers, and it was a lot for such a little thing. Without so much as a word, she grabbed a little pink bear lovey and, with thumb in mouth, crawled into bed.

  “Are you getting tired?” I asked.

  She nodded her head.

  I grabbed the cup of Gatorade that Julie left in the room.

  “How about you finish drinking this, and then I can pick a book to read to you?”

  She nodded again and took the cup from me. I scanned her little shelves of books before coming on one I liked. I sat down next to her on the bed and took the now empty cup from her.

  In my head, I was doing my calculations. Probably wasn’t more than four ounces in there. Not nearly enough for half of a day. At least it was better than
nothing.

  I leaned against her headboard as I read Emma the story of Corduroy Bear. She happily rested against my chest to look at the pictures. I couldn’t help but wish to have this moment not just now but for forever.

  Soon I felt the heavy weight that told me she had fallen asleep. I set the book aside but wasn’t ready to move. I softly stroked the length of her black hair. Softly I ran one finger down her cheek. It was still that soft, cherubic chub of a young child.

  She stirred a little, so I pulled my hand away. I moved to get up and realized that Julie was standing in the doorframe.

  She was staring at me with an unreadable expression. Maybe I had crossed a line for her.

  “Sorry, she just fell asleep,” I said trying to move as stealthily as possible as I got out of her bed.

  “No, its fine,” she said turning away.

  I could swear she wiped away a tear in the process before walking down the hall and to the living room.

  I followed after her and found her folding laundry on the couch.

  “It never ends,” she said without looking at me. I could tell her voice was a little husky from emotion.

  “I guess I should go,” I said rubbing the back of my neck.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said looking my way for just a split second. I could tell by the red rim of her eyes she had been crying.

  “Jules, what is it?” I urged as I instinctually pulled her into my arms.

  She didn’t fight me. Instead, she crumbled against my chest. I held her and soothed as best as I could as she cried against me.

  I was waiting for her to yell at me. Tell me these tears were my fault. That I had left her, hurt her, and cause her so much more difficulty then she should have had to face over the last six years. I deserved it. That and so much more.

  “What if you died,” she finally whispered against my chest. “What if you never came home and Em never got to meet you.”

  I was shocked. She was upset because I got hurt? The only thing worse then her hating my guts was the fact that after all I did to her, she still cared for me.

  I walked her over to the couch and pulled her onto my lap as we sat.

  “I’m fine. It wasn’t that bad, Jules. I’m the last person you need to cry over.”

  “Not that bad. If it wasn’t that bad, then you wouldn’t have come home. Hawk what if you died,” she pleaded again.

  “I’m here now. That’s all that matters. I won't leave again. Not you, not Em. I swear. I’m here for both of you.”

  She lifted her head and looked into my eyes. Searching for truth in my words. What I wouldn’t give to make her see how much I felt for her, how much I wished I had never left her.

  I brushed a thumb across her cheek to remove a tear. When she did push away from my touch, I continued to trail it along her neck. Bringing my thumb back up, I brushed it on her lips.

  She parted them ever so slightly, inviting me in. It was all I needed. I took her mouth with mine. At first our lips just touched softly. I let my hand tangle into the thick brown locks that still splayed damp around her.

  Her arms encircled over my shoulders and around my neck. She opened her mouth to me, and I dove in greedy.

  “Hawk,” she moaned no more than a whisper against our lips.

  I gripped her ass and pulled her down on the couch under me. She arched her hips up to meet the hard pressure I was giving her.

  “I’ve missed this,” I said as I nibbled a trail down her neck and onto her shoulder.

  I pulled her tank top and bra strap aside giving me better access to her shoulder and down on to her breast.

  “Wait!” Julie suddenly said. “I can’t do this.”

  She pushed against my shoulders, and I instantly stopped.

  “I’m sorry,” I said cursing myself. I knew I needed to move slow to gain her trust back and I had just blundered it. “I should go.”

  Eight

  For the rest of the weekend, I did my best to keep my head down, focus on Emma, and forget about what happened on my couch. It wasn’t very easy when Hawk’s simple kiss burned down to my core.

  Emma still didn’t seem to be getting much better, in fact, her cough started to get really nasty. I thought about calling Hawk on Sunday but figured I was just over reacting. Worse, I worried I was just looking for an excuse to get him back over.

  On Monday, with Em still running a low fever and coughing I called into work and kept her home for one more day. I was pretty sure we were over the worst of it, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

  Emma was going just about as stir crazy in the house as I was. She finally was feeling well enough to eat and that brought her energy back just about instantly. Aside from her coughing fits she was back to being the regular little inquisitive girl she always was.

  “But Mommy,” Em said with that wine that told me she was feeling better. “I don’t want to take a nap.”

  “I know your feeling better honey, but you still have that cough. Resting your body will help you heal faster. Then you can be back to school tomorrow.”

  Emma loved her kindergarten class and teacher, and I knew using that as leverage would get her in her room.

  “You don't have to sleep if you don't want to. Just lay in bed for a bit with your dolls and play.”

  Emma reluctantly retired to her room as told. She may have started to get a bit of that girl wine to her now and then, but for the most part, she was an angle of a child. I knew I was lucky to have such a good kid.

  Twenty minutes later I looked in on her to find Emma sound asleep surrounded by dolls and sporting a princess dress. I did my best to pull the blanket over her and her massive entourage before tiptoeing back out of her room.

  I stretched out on the couch and decided to flip through the channels. I very rarely watched TV. Frankly, I didn’t have time for it, so it wasn’t that easy to find a show to catch my attention. Before I knew it, like Emma, I had dozed off without realizing it.

  I felt the warm sensation of his arms moving up my legs before I open my eyes. I didn’t have to see; I knew it was Hawk. I looked around; I was in my bed. Hawk must have come in and carried me here.

  He was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for his trailing hands to wake me up.

  When I looked at him, he smiled back at me satisfied. He was wearing the same tight t-shirt and jeans that he had worn the last time he was here, and his long black hair flopped over to one side.

  Seeing that I was awake, he moved his hands now with more purpose up my legs. He came around and on top of me spreading my legs between him. With a quick yank of my hips, I slid down so that my center was pushing right into the fold of him.

  He leaned his head down with his arms on either side of me. Up until this moment I hadn’t moved. I only watched as he stalked me like I was his prey. My heart was pounding in my ears as he dipped his head just short of my lips.

  I wrapped my legs tightly around him and arched my back up encouraging him to kiss me. He pulled away, however, choosing instead to tease me. I watched my own hands as they trailed up either side of his thick muscles and settled in his hair.

  He smiled down at me with that cocky air.

  “You think you are so smooth, don't you?” I said barely above a whisper.

  He didn’t reply but instead bore his mouth down on mine. It wasn’t like last time that started soft and gentle. He was hungry, and I let him take all of me.

  Arching my hips upward I ground against the bulge bursting to get out of his jeans. He wrapped one arm around my waist and encouraged me to push harder against him.

  I felt him tug at my shirt and within an instant, it was over my head, and his mouth was back on me. I reached down to take his shirt off too.

  He stopped me, gripping my hand and putting it over my head. He stopped kissing me then, and I looked up at him questioning. He took my other arm and pinned it over my head, holding both of my arms in his one strong hand, and I let him.

  With his one arm holdin
g me in place, he began to send soft kisses down my neck and along my collarbone.

  He got to the rim of my bra, and with his teeth, he pulled one cup back exposing my whole breast. My nipple was already hard and aching for his touch.

  He kissed it softly, getting it wet, then blew cold air on it. I arched harder against him with my hips as I moaned in satisfaction.

  He took my nipple whole into his warm mouth, and the sensation was almost too much. I could feel him rolling my hard peak against his teeth.

  "Hawk," I moaned as I struggled against his hand holding me.

  He let me loose and my hands when immediately to tangle in his hair. I encouraged him to take more of me. Leaning over, he pushed aside my other bra cup and took my other nipple in his mouth.

  I only half felt his hand unsnapping my shorts and his fingers finding their way in. In an instant, I could feel the warmth of his touch on my most delicate spots, and it was maddening.

  He dipped his fingers deep inside me and continued to pulse them as he sucked on one nipple and then the other.

  I could feel the rise building deep inside of me. It had been so long since I had done this I honestly was surprised my body remember how. Under Hawks touch, my body had no chance of fighting the rising orgasm building in me.

  “Come on Jules,” he moaned against my breast. “You know you want to cum for me. Cum for me baby,” he whispered in his husky voice.

  It was so much sensation my mind was spinning. I could feel Hawk slip his fingers deeper and deeper inside me; now moving slickly against my arousal. He reached forward with his thumb and with one quick thrust combine with his rubbing mensuration I called his name.

  I woke up startled on the couch. I was bewildered, my body was pulsing with unfinished arousal, and I wasn’t entirely sure if I had actually said Hawk's name out loud.

  I sat up and waited for my body to stop tingling. Even in dream form, Hawk was a force to be reckoned with.

  I laid back down on the couch while I replayed the dream in my head. Even after all these years, after being left to raise our child alone, I still hadn’t gotten over him.