He handed me a gray case, and I eyed him with curiosity.
“What is this?” My feet were aching, so I walked back to the couch I’d been sleeping on, the case in my grip.
“It’s a gift, something useful this time. What are you doing with all of this?” he gestured towards the whiteboard I had filled with information and images. Another one of my attempts to find a lead, I always came back to the man with cufflinks. There was no other indication that he’d be someone of importance except that he wanted me dead.
“Are you sleeping out here?” He asked, and I waved him off. I had found comfort in my blanket piled high and sat in the center of them, the case resting on my lap. He looked at the board for a moment before turning towards me. “Cufflinks?”
“Alex said a man in shiny animal cufflinks hired him to kill me. I have about a dozen pages of articles over there looking for anyone who would wear cufflinks like that but it’s a needle in a hay stack.” I motioned to the pile about four inches high on one side of the couch.
Shoving some papers off the table, I sat the case down as Cole continued to ponder my insanity board. He turned to me as the plastic popped open.
Inside was a gray and bronze pistol. I picked it up, looking it over. It had a nice grip and an even nicer trigger. Ejecting the magazine, I noted it carried eighteen rounds. Looked to be a 9mm, and it was ambidextrous for shooting from either side. I set the pistol back in its case and looked up at Cole fully.
“Figured you’d want something precise from long distances.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. I groaned, getting to my feet, my back screaming its protest as I threw my arms aroundhis neck. There wasn’t anything I could say for the gift, or the thought put into it. Sure, we worked guns, but this one was different; it was special. He had to do his research to pick out a piece like that.
“Thank you, it’s lovely.” I hummed into his chest as he held me tightly. I needed to learn how to let myself be loved, and this was one of the hardest steps. I had been holding him at a distance since I learned I was pregnant, too afraid that what happened to Gabriella would happen to these two.
Looking at Cole now, I knew that wasn’t going to happen again. I pulled away from him and shuffled around to the coffee table. Pages I had annotated flew wildly as I shuffled for what I was looking for in the chaos I had made home. I turned back to him, photo in my grasp, my sweater fell open to reveal my bump, and Cole groaned.
“Have I ever told you how much I love seeing you pregnant?” He smiled, his eyes scoping up my body.
“No, I don’t think you have.” I blushed, forgetting the image in my hand.
“What’s that you’ve got there?”
I didn’t reply, only passing the image over to him. He took it. His mouth almost fell to the floor in the process. I stood there, fiddling with the hem of my sweater, waiting for the harsh words of reality to hit. He studied the image for more than a minute, and anxiety curled around my heart in warning. It wasn’t my fault the first time, hell, it wasn’t even my fault the second time, but a part of me wanted to share it with him. To have a better start than we did. A do-over of sorts.
I tried to pull the image out of his hands, but he held tight and shook his head, and I dropped my hand back to my side. He turned towards the kitchen, rummaging through drawers until he pulled out a thumbtack.
Then he walked over to the wall and pinned it up. “We may not live here for long and that’s okay, but now I have something to come back to everyday. You and these beautiful babies.” He stared at the photo and I snaked my hand into his, staring at the blank wall except for the single ultrasound image pinned with a tack.
“I’m sorry they aren’t yours.” I said quietly.
27
FAMILY DOESN’T MEAN BLOOD
December 13th
Ipulled her hand to my lips, kissing it softly. “It doesn’t matter if they are mine, what matters is they are yours.” I looked down at her with as much love as I could muster. “I will love them because they come from the most amazing beautifulwoman I know. I don’t give a fuck if they are my blood. Just because someone is blood related doesn’t mean they are family. Our family is what we decide of it.” I finished.
Summer had tears in her eyes, and I frowned, shaking my head. “Sorry I didn’t mean—” my words were cut off by her finger on my lips.
“Don’t talk, just kiss me.” she grinned.
“Yes ma’am.” I bent down, kissing her lips tentatively. Summer grabbed my head, forcefully pulling me closer. I groaned into her lips, my hands coming around to grip her ass firmly. I walked her backward to the couch, shoving the stacks of papers to the side. She pushed against my chest, and my knees bent into the couch. Straddling my thighs, she pulled me into her rough kisses, nipping at my lip and pulling it between her teeth. I grinned into her kiss as she grabbed my hair, pulling away.
She looked at me with cautious eyes, and I smirked, “Well firefly, you’ve got me here. Are you going to take what’s yours?”
Her hand came across my face in a stinging slap before I could react. Her lips were on mine. Her tongue shoved mine out of the way as she forced my mouth to her will. My hands found her t-shirt, pulling it upwards as she fumbled with my zipper, forcing my hands down. Papers crinkled under us with the urgency that overtook us. I kissed a trail down her collarbone towards her breast as she moaned out, pulling my hair.
“Fuck I missed you,” she bit out as my tongue danced around her sensitive nipples. Her hand gripped my head, directing it the way she wanted, and I groaned as her hips began to grind against my cock. I pushed into her grinding back as my hands caressed her body, pulling soft gasps where my fingers trailed against her. My hands skimmed across her body, and a soft laugh left me as one of the twins kicked at my hand.
“Guess they are just as excited as you are,” I kissed her bump, shoving her shorts down around her knees.
“Guess so,” she chuckled lightly, stepping out of her shorts and straddling my legs again. Her warm thighs felt divine as my cock pulsed in anticipation. Her breath mingled with mine as I rubbed her clitoris. A broken moan fell from her lips as her hair fell around our faces.
It was a curtain of golden curls as she looked at me with so much warmth and love.
