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A friend of Darren’s helped us out with the remodel, opening up the room to a smaller one beside it to create a big walk-in closet for her. Then he roughed in a bathroom with the rest of the extended space. That way Julie had a private bath with a big marble steam shower that she fell in love with. She insisted on helping out with the painting, so we found a paint with no harmful fumes. She painted it a soft, creamy yellow that reminded me of sandy tropical beaches. Rory did the white trim, and Darren pretty much put all the furniture together.
She swore we had built her a palace. Maybe hanging that little chandelier over her reading nook was overboard, but it was impossible to resist surprising her with it. She’d been delighted by it at the store. We all got a kick out of spoiling her, with Rory turning up after work one day carrying a framed print of some painting he knew she liked and the velvet chair I knew would be perfect beneath the chandelier. Kendall brought over girly stuff—fluffy throw blankets, candles, a vintage mirror. The place looked fantastic by the time we were done with it, although we were going to miss the nights of sharing our beds with her during the remodel.
We fell into a rhythm so easily as a household. It was as easy and fun as before, but without the fear for her safety hanging over us all. She wasn’t here with us out of terror, but by choice now. That made a huge difference, at least to me. When she had a late shift at the ER, Darren or Rory picked her up afterward. On her days off, I usually worked from home or took a half day off to spend with her. I loved showing her things I knew she’d love—the Met which she hadn’t visited since a school trip as a kid, a Broadway show (she was a major Wicked fan afterward), and some fantastic restaurants. She and Darren did outdoorsy stuff together—the rooftop park at Pier 57. She helped Rory out with some physical therapy exercises after he hurt his knee on the job, and he swore that her TLC worked more magic than the prescribed exercises did.
Two weeks, that’s all it had been since the fire. Since the day everything changed for all of us, most of all for Julie herself. Eric had been charged with stalking, parole violation, arson, and attempted murder. Jeremy was confident he’d be a very old man before he ever saw the outside of a prison cell again.
Faced with the thought of losing her, of how close her ex came to a successful murder, we were suddenly crystal-clear on what we wanted. That was obvious. Julie should live with us. Kendall made her bid as the best friend with the fancy apartment, but she never stood a chance. Not when we had such a close bond with Julie and especially not with the shocking news about the baby she was carrying. Our baby. This unexpected miracle that found us, that came from the extraordinary relationship we shared with Julie.
She was bound and determined that we couldn’t make her sit with her feet up constantly while we waited on her, but the fact was, that’s exactly what we wanted to do. Spoil her like crazy, pamper her.
Today, I got up early and had a head start on my work. My Zoom meeting and conference call were both done by nine in the morning. I liked to keep as much time clear as I could. Pretty soon we’d be a party of five and time to do whatever we wanted would be scarce for a while. So making the most of this time meant even more to me. It was a big day for all of us, and Darren and Rory would meet us at the doctor’s office soon for the ultrasound. When I heard her shower stop, I knocked on her door.
“Come in,” she sang out. I loved the sound of her voice now, how carefree and light it was compared to the low anguish of her tone when she’d spoken to me months ago at lunch about Eric.
I opened the bedroom door and found her sitting on the edge of the bed in her blue robe, long legs bare and her wet hair wrapped in a towel. I went to her and cupped her face in my hand. “Today’s the day,” I said softly. She nodded, a sweet smile curving her lips. I pressed my lips to hers and that instant spark flared between us even when I meant for it to be a soft, romantic kiss. After weeks of trying I still hadn’t found a way to kiss Julie that didn’t turn me immediately horny. There it was, ten seconds in and we were already making out, my tongue in her mouth hot and wet and her hand sliding down from my back to my ass. She squeezed my ass and pulled me onto the bed. I lay down beside her and kissed her with abandon, unwrapping her wet hair so it tumbled into my hands. I combed through it with my fingers and kissed her deeper, harder, urgently. Her fingers made quick work of my buttons and her cool, soft hands were on my chest and abs sending sharp need down like an arrow to my already rock-hard cock. I wanted to spear her, to untie her robe and bury my face in her bare breasts, push those soft thighs apart and fuck her until she had to scream my name like it was the only word she knew.
