AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So yeah, Cora would not go and stay with Riley and Leo unless she had no other option. The same reason applied to staying at her mom’s. From what she told me, Ian has more or less moved in with her mother.
“That was awesome,” she says almost shyly, her warm breath fanning my chest.
“I’m glad. It was great for me too.”
“I’m beginning to come to terms with being homeless,” Cora says with a laugh.
She says it like a joke, but I detect the fear in her voice. “You’re not homeless. Your building will be renovated soon enough, and you’ll be back home. I’m hoping that by then, I can convince you to stay longer.”
“Don’t joke about that,” she says.
I’m not joking. I think it, but I don’t say it. It’s a frightening thought and the first time that it’s sprouted in my mind.
“Losing my home and business is the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.” She slides off my chest, rolls onto her back, and stares up at the ceiling. “I felt so frightened and out of control.”
“I know what you mean,” I tell her. “It’s a frightening thing to feel. I felt it for months after Tessa died.”
“One moment, your wife was alive, and in the next, she was gone. I can’t imagine how you managed to come to terms with that,” Cora said. “I’ve lost my home and business temporarily, and I feel like my life has ground to a stop.”
“There’s no scale to the things that make you feel as if the world has tilted. You’ll feel better as the days go by. The human spirit and survival instinct are very strong. Plus, you have a lot of us here for you.”
She turns her head and smiles. “Thank you. I’ll be all right, and as everyone keeps saying, what matters is that our little munchkin is okay.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Munchkin?”
She laughs and pats her belly. “Yeah, since I can’t decide on the gender I want.”
I reach out and stroke her belly. “You realize that you have no say?”
She smiles mysteriously in response as if she knows something that I don’t. A loud sound comes from her belly, and we both laugh.
“Luckily, dinner is ready,” I tell her.
She lifts the comforter and looks down at her naked body. “I’m going to have to borrow one of your shirts.”
“I have a better idea, which I’m sure you’ll like more. Go to the closet.”
She looks at me questioningly.
“Go on.” I nudge her, and she gets up and goes to the walk-in closet. I’m smiling even before I hear her reaction.
She’s quiet, and I’m about to follow her in when she peeks out. “Are those my clothes?”
“Yes. I got your sizes from Riley. I’m not sure I got everything you need. Let me know what I missed, and I’ll go grab it tomorrow.”
She looks over her shoulders and then back at me. She covers her mouth. “I think I’m going to cry. No one has ever done something so thoughtful and so nice for me.”
“You’re welcome.”
She looks over her shoulders again. “You must have spent a fortune. I want to pay you back.”
“No, wipe that thought away from your mind. You’re my lover and baby mama. I’d do anything for you, Cora. I mean it.”
She stares at me solemnly. “Thank you.” She turns back, and I hear the rustle of clothes. I dress too and make her bed.
“I’ll leave you to dress and go and warm up dinner,” I tell Cora.
Downstairs, I warm up leftover dinner from lunch and serve it onto plates. Cora comes down just when I’m placing them on the table. She models a pair of shorts and a tank top.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her following her with my gaze. “You’ve got perfect legs, and figure, and ass.”
She laughs. “I’m glad you think so. You thought of everything.”
“I had help. From the store assistant.”
“What did you tell her happened to my entire wardrobe?” Without ceremony, she takes a bite of her food and fills her mouth with it. I love that about Cora. When she’s hungry, she eats. No wrestling with her hunger.
“They’re trained not to ask.”
“If I were her, I’d still want to know, training or not,” Cora says.
I laugh. It’s nice and natural having her in my house. The house feels more lived in. As if a family lives here. I like that thought.
The topic moves on to our families.
“It was nice of your family to come and see me at the hospital,” Cora says and starts to giggle. “Everyone offered me a place to stay, including your parents.”
“They love you, and so do I.”
She doesn’t bat an eyelash. I might as well have told her the color of her hair for all the attention she paid to it. I slowly exhale. I’d have hated it if she’d made a big deal of it.
