Lost Love

“Fuuck.” He groaned out then positioned himself at my entrance. Slowly sinking down on him, I dropped my head back and bit my lip to keep from moaning in utter delight. Once I had him all the way in, I let my body adjust to him.

  “Jesus… I’m filling you to the fucking core, baby.”

  I nodded and brought my head up, meeting his eyes with mine.

  “Move, Paxton, or I’m going to take over.”

  Amusement danced in his eyes as I started to move. In and out so slow until even I couldn’t take it any longer. Things turned fast and hard quick. I lifted up and slammed down on Steed. Each time I felt him hitting a spot that made my toes curl.

  “It’s not…going to be… long!” I panted.

  “Hurry, baby. I need to feel you come around my cock.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand. Eyes widening, my orgasm burst free and rushed through my body.

  Steed’s body shuddered, and he grabbed me, pulling me to him as he came with me. His body trembled as he filled me with his hot cum. The thought of it nearly had me coming again.

  I slowed down and sat on him. Feeling him twitch inside of me was freaking amazing. Sex with this man would never get old.

  “You know,” he said with a naughty grin plastered on his face. “Any other couple would have waited to see if they were pregnant before they had the celebratory fuck.”

  “We’re not any other couple,” I playfully said with a wink.

  “No, we are not.”

  The knock on the door caused me to jump. “Well?” Amelia asked.

  “I’m waiting to pee.”

  When the handle rattled, I panicked. “I locked it,” Steed said before lifting me off of him and grabbing a towel to wipe his cum off me.

  “Drink water, and hurry!” she called through the door.

  “Stop being so bossy, Meli. If I remember right, you weren’t even invited!” Steed said.

  We could hear her huff. “All I know is you better not be fucking in there.”

  “They’re fucking?” Cord asked on the other side of the door.

  Steed buttoned his pants and said, “There’s a window. We could sneak out.”

  “I heard that!” Amelia cried out.

  I sat on the counter while Steed ran the water in both sinks, the tub, and the shower. Pee was nowhere to be found.

  “It’s because of Amelia and Cord. I can’t perform under stress!” I cried out while burying my face in my hands.

  “Want to fuck again?” Steed asked.

  Lifting my head, I stared at him. He flashed me that dimple, causing me to laugh.

  Then, it hit me.

  I jumped off the counter. “I have to pee.”

  “I’m ready!” Steed shouted as he got ready to hand me the tests. We had a system down we were sure would work. He’d hand me a test and have the next in his hand ready to go.

  “Okay, let’s go!”

  “Jesus, Pax, I’m impressed you can stop and start your pee like that.”

  “Me too!” I chuckled.

  After I peed on six tests, I wiped, flushed, and washed my hands. Steed turned off the shower and tub, and I turned off the faucets. We turned our backs to the tests, laced our fingers together and waited.

  Taking in a long shaky breath, I looked at Steed. “Should we turn around?”

  He shook his head but squeezed my hand. “Wait.”

  Facing me, he cupped my face within his hand. “No matter what it says, I love you, and I’ll always love you. And if we’re not, it just means we’re not ready for that step yet. If we are then we’ve been so blessed the last few months.”

  I nodded. “R-right.”

  His eyes searched my face. “I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

  A warm feeling moved into my chest. He was worried about me and how this would affect me. “I love you and just when I think I couldn’t possibly love you more, you prove me wrong. I won’t lie and say I’m not emotional. I’m thinking about the baby we lost. I’m scared I’ll lose another baby. I’m excited. I’m a plethora of emotions. Disappointed won’t be one of them. Fate. Remember?”

  He kissed my mouth softly and with so much love I swore I could feel it pouring into my body.

  Drawing back, he asked, “Ready?”

  I sighed deeply and answered, “Ready.”

  “On three.”

  I nodded.

  “One. Two. Three.”

  We both turned, and my eyes swept across the tests.

  “Fuck, is that a yes or a no?” Steed asked, staring at one of them.

  I picked the first one up. Pregnant. Then I picked up the next one. It read the same thing. Pregnant.

  “This is two lines! We have two lines!” Steed cried out. “Pregnant! It says pregnant!”

  Tears were burning my eyes as I tried not to get emotional. Steed dropped the tests, grabbed me, and picked me up in his arms.

  “We’re having a baby! We’re having a baby!” he said while squeezing me.

  He quickly put me down. “Shit! I squeezed you!”

  Laughing, I wiped my tears away. “It’s okay. I’m sure the baby is nice and safe in there.”

  Steed took a step closer and threaded his fingers in my hair, the palms of his hands on my face.

  “We’re having a baby, Pax.”

  I half-cackled, half-cried.

  Wow.

  The last few months we had come full circle. My heart felt like it was floating in my chest.

  “Crazy three months, huh?” I said while he pressed his forehead to mine.

  “The best three months of my life,” he answered softly.

  “We better go tell Amelia and Cord,” I said with a giggle.

  The moment we walked into the living room, they both jumped up. Cord almost looked sick, and I knew memories of ten years ago were floating about in his mind.

  “So? Am I getting another niece or nephew?” Amelia asked.

  I remained quiet, letting Steed tell them.

  Squeezing my hand, he chuckled. “Yes, you’re going to be an aunt again.”

  Amelia jumped up and down and Cord rushed over to me. He picked me up in his arms and spun me around. “Holy fucking shit! You two make my head spin! You hate him, you love him, you get engaged! You get pregnant!”

  “It’s like a romance book!” Amelia shouted as Steed pulled back from her hug.

  “Are you happy?” they both asked at the same time.

  “Yes!” I answered.

  “Hell yes, I’m happy!” Steed replied.

  “How far along do you think you are?”

  “Well, I’m almost positive I know when we conceived.”

  Amelia covered her heart with her hand. “How romantic! When?”

  I couldn’t help it, I busted out laughing and so did Steed. “October.”

  Amelia glanced back and forth between us and then a horrified look moved over her face. “My cabin?”

  Steed nodded. “Hey, did I ever give you that bandana back, Meli?”

  Thanksgiving Day

  Melanie and my mother quickly moved about the kitchen. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them talk and laugh. I also couldn’t help the small amount of guilt I had for insisting my mother not talk to me about Melanie or any of the Parkers. She eventually stopped spending time with Melanie and that broke my heart. They had been the best of friends and the reason I met Steed at such an early age. Our families had traveled together. Vacations, Sea World, Six Flags, and Steed and I were always joined at the hip. Then one day…we fell in love.

  Melanie placed a dish of stuffing on the island and stopped to look at me.

  “Paxton, are you feeling okay?”

  My eyes lifted from the yummy cornbread stuffing to meet hers. “Yes! Why do you ask?”

  She shrugged, then tilted her head. “You seem flushed.”

  Lifting my hands to my cheeks, I smiled. “I feel fine. Just thinking of how we used to spend our family vacations together.”

  Melanie smiled. “That
was fun. But still, you seem a bit off. You’re sure you’re okay? All that cooking last night got to you, didn’t it?”

  “No! I loved it!” I answered as Chloe climbed up on the stool next to me.

  “Paxton spent the night in the guest room,” Chloe busted out as my mother and Melanie looked at Chloe, then me. Little stinker ratted me out.

  I had told Steed I didn’t think I should stay, but he wanted to celebrate the baby and since I had the cooking party with his family yesterday afternoon, Steed said he needed to be with me. Who was I to say no?

  “Is that so?” my mother asked with a huge smile.

  “Yep. Aunt Meli stayed too.”

  I grinned. Ha! Take that! Steed only had to pay her two hundred dollars for that little favor.

  “Yep, but poor Paxton was throwing up this morning before Daddy took her back home. Daddy had to pull over, and she got sick again. Ain’t that right, Paxton?”

  “Isn’t that right. Ain’t isn’t a word, Chloe Cat,” I said, attempting to keep my voice still and unaffected.

  She snapped her fingers and peered up. “Darn it. Why don’t I ever remember that?”

  A quick survey of the area, and I saw Amelia. I went to call for her when my mother said, “Not feeling good, huh?”

  Don’t. Look. In. Her. Face.

  “Yeah, I’m sure it was something I ate last night.”

  Melanie leaned over and said, “Chloe, sweetheart, will you go find Uncle Trevor? I need him to do me a favor. He’s around here somewhere.”

  Chloe’s eyes lit up. “Okay, Grammy! I’ll go find him.”

  Watching her run off, I slid off the stool. A voice stopped me.

  “Stay, Paxton Lynn Monroe.”

  Shit.

  I took in a deep breath and blew it. Act normal. Just be yourself, I chanted to myself.

  “Did y’all need help?” I asked with a fake grin.

  They both shook their heads. Melanie crossed her arms and stared. “I knew it! Didn’t I tell you a few weeks ago, April!”

  Huh?

  “Um…you knew what?” I asked as my gaze swung between the two of them.

  “You called it, Melanie.”

  “What are we talking about?” I asked.

  Raising her eyebrow, my mother said, “Maybe she doesn’t know.”

  “I don’t know what?” I asked.

  “Oh…that could be.”

  They turned and started cooking again. I was about to ask them what in the hell they were talking about when I felt Steed’s arms wrap around me. He gently placed his hands over my stomach and kissed my neck.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked in a soft voice.

  “Okay,” I stated, looking suspiciously at our mothers. “I think they know,” I whispered.

  Steed chuckled. “They couldn’t possibly.”

  Spinning around, I motioned to go outside. Once we were off the porch, I started to tell him what Chloe had said and what their reaction was followed by the whole I don’t think she knows.

  Steed ran his fingers through his hair. “You think Amelia or Cord said something?”

  I shook my head. “No. They promised, and I believe they won’t spill.”

  Next thing I knew, Steed was spinning us around. “They’re looking out the window. They totally know.”

  “Shit. Do you think they’ll keep it a secret? And how? How do they know?”

  “Amelia said you’re glowing.”

  I chuckled. “I am not.”

  He cupped my face in his soft, warm hands. “You are.”

  “It could be because I’m engaged to be married to the love of my life.”

  His eyes closed, and I knew he was attempting to get his emotions in check. When he opened them, he looked directly into my eyes. “I know this isn’t a do-over. I know we lost a precious child, and there will always be this void in my heart, but a part of me thinks I’m the luckiest son-of-a-bitch for getting this second chance with you. I would have been happy with just you saying yes to marrying me. But a baby. Pax, I’m so over the fucking moon it’s not even funny. I feel like God is giving me another chance to get this right. When I found out about Chloe, I wasn’t happy.”

  Sadness moved across his face. “I was angry, and I hated Kim for getting pregnant. But then I realized what was at stake. There was no way I was going to lose another baby.”

  I shook my head. “Steed, you never have to explain your love for Chloe. Ever. Everything happened for a reason, and I’m so happy to have her in my life. I can’t wait to see her face when we tell her tonight at dinner we’re going to get married.”

  The corners of his mouth raised, and I was blown over by that smile. We had decided to wait and announce the engagement, even though everyone knew. Chloe didn’t, and Steed wanted her with the family when she found out.

  “I can’t wait either.”

  He glanced back and chuckled. “Want to have fun with them?”

  I lifted a brow. “What did you have in mind?”

  Dropping to his knees, he cupped his hands at my stomach and started talking to the baby.

  “Hey little one. Your two nosy grandmas are spying on me and Mommy.”

  My fingers ran through his dark thick hair. Happiness blossomed in my chest with Steed talking to our child.

  “Oh yeah, one more thing. Go easy on Mommy with the whole morning sickness thing.”

  I chuckled.

  He gazed up at me. “Are they still watching?”

  Trying to peek without them seeing me, I covered my mouth and turned away. Melanie and my mother had been hugging each other and jumping up and down.

  “What?” he asked standing up and looking. “You think they’re happy?”

  “I’d say they were a little happy.”

  To say this Thanksgiving was both the best and weirdest would be an understatement. I was bursting at the seams to tell Chloe about marrying Paxton. My mother and April had calmed down when Paxton and I walked back into the house. I guess they were waiting on us to tell them, because neither of them said a thing. We decided we were going to make them sweat it out for a few weeks, or at least until one of them broke down and asked us.

  Then you had the whole Tripp, Mitchell, and Corina thing. Tripp had invited Corina over, and she had accepted. Mitchell couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, and she did everything she could to avoid looking at him. Even my mother noticed it.

  “What’s going on between Mitchell and Tripp’s Corina?” she had asked.

  With a shrug, I told her she needed to ask Mitchell. No way I was getting dragged into it. But I also couldn’t help but notice how she called Corina “Tripp’s friend.” I was sure it was because of the way he’d introduced her.

  “Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Corina. She’s from Chicago and her parents are out of town so she had nowhere to go.”

  The look on Corina’s face was utter embarrassment, and I was waiting for Paxton to kick Tripp in the balls. She didn’t need to. Corina did it for her with her own introduction when she made it clear she was friends with Paxton.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Parker, thank you for the invite. Paxton’s told me so many wonderful things about you both.”

  My mother tilted her head. “You know Paxton?”

  Corina wore a huge smile. “We went to college together, and she asked me to move here to fill the first grade teacher’s position.”

  Glaring at Tripp first, my mother then grinned when she looked back at Corina. “Well, we’re so happy you could join us, Corina.”

  “Okay, everyone! Dinner is served!” my mother called out from the kitchen. Walking into the formal dining room, my stomach dropped as I watched Paxton help Chloe set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. Chloe stood on a wooden chair, and Paxton handed her the bowl and showed her where to put it. She then high fived Chloe and pulled her in for a hug. She was going to make an amazing mother. She already was for Chloe, and she had no idea. Chloe was no longer my daughter, but ours.

  Tripp took a ce
nterpiece from Corina and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Corina had been placing flower centerpieces along the massive pecan table my father had built years ago. It seated twenty when you put the two sleeves in. Dad had said he needed a large table for when all his kids got married.

  Chloe tugged on my shirt. “Daddy, I want to sit between you and Paxton. Is that okay?”

  I lifted her up and kissed her cheek, making her giggle. “Of course it is, pumpkin!”

  When I put her down, she ran over to Tripp. “Uncle Tripp! Next year I get to shoot the turkey with you!”

  Tripp dropped to Chloe’s level and flashed her a wide grin. “I think that sounds amazing! I had to shoot two this year! I could have used your help.”

  Chloe snapped her fingers and said, “Dang it.”

  Tripp laughed and pulled her ponytail before giving her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. Corina stood off to the side and observed it all. One glance around and I noticed Mitchell at the opposite end of the table.

  My mother cleared her throat as she carried out the turkey. “Okay, all the food is on the table, but we have one announcement.”

  Pulling out my phone, I sent a quick text before looking back up at my mother.

  “Steed?”

  Standing, I reached behind Chloe and motioned for Paxton to stand. We held hands, and I felt her engagement ring. She’d taken it off before Chloe got home last night and slipped it back on just now.

  “Paxton and I would like to announce we’re getting married.”

  Chloe jumped up in her chair and focused on me. Tears filled her eyes. She turned and looked at Paxton. Holding up the ring, Paxton showed it to Chloe. My heart was in my throat as my daughter wrapped her arms tightly around Paxton. I wasn’t surprised she had fallen in love with her so fast. Especially with as much time as we had all been spending together. When Chloe pulled back, she was sobbing.

  That surprised me. Full. On. Sobbing.

  “Does this mean…you’re my mommy… now? Oh, please say yes! Please, Paxton.”

  It didn’t take long for Paxton’s eyes to water, but somehow she held it together. She nodded, until she could find the words. “Yes, Chloe Cat. I’m going to be your mommy.”