Chapter 60
Marco
O ne month later
The living room is full of cheerful voices singing in unison.
All eyes are on Josie who is perched in her high chair with a crown atop her head and a rainbow of balloons surrounding her.
I can tell she is loving this attention by the smile she has plastered on her face, one tooth popping through her gums. I laugh softly to myself, feeling all the love that’s in my heart.
Erica sets a small cake in front of her and kneels next to the high chair, looking up at our daughter with a bittersweet smile on her lips.
I know this is a big moment for her too.
Josie is getting older, and while she’s only a year, it’s the start of many birthdays to come.
I walk over and kneel beside her, putting my hand on her back and rubbing it gently.
She looks over at me, blinking back tears and I give her a reassuring smile.
I’m here. I’ll always be here. For every birthday.
We look back up at Josie just as the song ends.
She claps enthusiastically and reaches for the cake in front of her.
They call it a smash cake for a reason because she slams her hands into the cake, a spray of frosting and chocolate cake crumbs flying.
Erica and I fall backward, landing on our asses, cake in our hair and on our faces.
We look at each other and burst out laughing, along with the rest of the party guests, who are watching the circus before them.
I gently pull a few cake crumbs from Erica’s long, dark lashes and she works at getting the frosting out of my hair. I steal a quick kiss before helping her to her feet. We look at Josie, who is shoveling cake into her mouth.
“It’s safe to say she likes cake,” I say with a smirk.
Erica lays her head on my shoulder and laughs softly.
I look around the room at family and friends who are gathered around my penthouse, here to celebrate Josie.
Erica’s parents are across the room with my mother, talking animatedly as they look at their granddaughter.
Erica’s brother, Troy, is nearby with his family.
He’s trying to hold his son, TJ, back from going after the cake.
Jacob is enjoying a whiskey at the bar in true Jacob fashion.
Erica’s best friends, Sadie and Beth, busy themselves with piling presents on the floor.
It feels like one big family, one that’s accepted me into it, despite everything.
There are no more secrets. Erica’s family took the news of me being Josie’s father surprisingly well.
Though their relationship is still strained from a past, that has nothing to do with me, and it’s getting better.
They’re great grandparents to Josie. Telling my own mother was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life.
She’s always wanted to be a grandmother.
She couldn’t care less how it happened, and accepted Erica and Josie into her life like they’d always been there.
I was most nervous about Erica’s best friends.
Beth and Sadie were the only two who knew the big secret that Erica had been hiding.
They had been there for her through everything, which is why when I met them, before we got into the process of getting to know each other, I thanked them.
Sincerely. I owe them so much for helping Erica and Josie get through everything—through pregnancy, and most of Josie’s first year.
Beth was warm and welcoming. Sadie needed a little bit of work, but we’re all past it now.
Erica, Josie, and I are a real family now.
It didn’t take long for me to ask them to move in with me to my penthouse.
It makes more sense for us to be together here, with space to grow.
I missed both of them too much to live apart.
Now, we get to come home together here. Erica and I cook dinner while Josie plays with her toys, which have taken over my living room.
A sight I never thought I would see, but wouldn’t have it any other way.
I love the pastel colors and stuffed animals that are scattered across my old life.
“What are you thinking about?” asks Erica, breaking me from my thoughts.
I look down at her, my arm wrapping tighter around her just at the sight of her.
She looks beautiful. She always does, but today she’s glowing with happiness.
I think she feels what I do too. Happiness.
Our lives have blended together in a beautiful unison.
There’s proof of that surrounding us here at this party.
“I love you. This.” I look around the room and back at her.
“Me too,” she whispers.
A piece of cake flies past us and she shakes her head.
“I think cake time is over.” She laughs.
I reluctantly let go of her and watch as she scoops Josie from her highchair, holding her out in front of her in a cakey mess-like state.
She starts walking her to the hallway down to the nursery to no doubt change her, Beth and Sadie following behind.
I watch her go, the swish of her hips in her linen white dress.
As much as I love everyone being here, I can’t wait to get her alone.
When she disappears from view, I get to work on cleaning the floor. My mother kneels down beside me to help.
“I’ve got it, Mama.”
She just shakes her head in quiet refute and begins wiping up frosting. I can feel her watching me as she cleans up beside me. I look up at her and see tears in her eyes.
“Mama, what is it?” I ask worriedly.
“I’m just happy…”
“Cleaning cake?”
She laughs. “Seeing you as a father.”
“Me too, Mama.”
It’s a special moment between us two in the bustle of the party, and I’ll remember the look of happiness on my mother’s face forever.
Once we have the place cleaned up, Josie opens presents in a fresh party dress.
She’s overjoyed with every colorful gift wrapping she tears into, everyone ooh ing and ahh ing around her.
Afterward, I see Erica in the corner of the room with her friends, looking troubled.
She spots me and gives me a small smile.
I wait until she’s alone to ask her anything.
“Everything okay?” I ask as she sidles up beside me, watching Josie play with her new walker toy. She’s already got the hang of it, gripping the handles and moving unsteadily around the room.
“Mhmm. I’m fine. Beth and Sadie were just telling me something…”
“Are they okay?” I ask, concerned.
“Yeah.” Erica nods. “They said something happened with some man. Something that makes our story look normal. I don’t know the details yet.”
“Yikes,” I say. “How about this? I’ll take off tomorrow, so you three can get together and figure things out.”
“Really?” she asks, her brows raised above her perfect face.
“Of course.”
“Thank you, babe.” She stands on her tip-toes and gives me a kiss. I pull her into me suddenly and she lets out a little gasp. I run my tongue over her lips slowly, to let her know how much I want her. She pulls away and looks up at me in surprise.
“Easy now,” she whispers.
“I can’t help it.”
“Save it for later.” She smirks up at me.
Another hour goes by and the guests begin trickling out, saying their goodbyes.
The apartment is a mess, but I don’t care.
I don’t plan on touching it until tomorrow, after I’ve explored every inch of Erica’s body.
I’ll get to start sooner than I expected when my mother offers to take Josie for the rest of the evening.
Erica and I pack an overnight bag and give her what feels like a thousand kisses before we wave goodbye to her from the door.
Erica closes the door and sighs, looking around the room. “Everyone’s gone,” she says.
“Good,” I whisper, grabbing her hand and pulling her to me. She stumbles slightly, but I help right her on her feet.
“You,” she says, shaking her head.
“I’ve wanted this all day.”
She wraps her hands around my neck and looks up at me.
My hands find their way to her hips. I lean down and watch as her eyes flutter closed before I brush my lips against hers.
She parts her lips and I feel her breathe me in.
I take it as an opportunity to run my tongue between them, causing a quiet whimper to escape her throat.
She opens her mouth wider, and I coax her tongue with mine.
I’m already growing hard by the taste of her and the feeling of her against me.
She reaches for my hands and pulls me to follow her to our bedroom. My eyes don’t leave hers as she leads me through the apartment. A slight smile plays across her lips and all I want is to kiss her again. Everywhere.
Once we’re in our bedroom, she leads me to our bed where we stand just at the edge of it.
I turn her so her back is to the bed, and reach up to the bare skin of her tan shoulders, sliding my thumbs under the thin straps of her dress.
I pull them slowly down her arms, my eyes falling to where her breasts spill out.
I reach up and trace circles around her perfect flesh.
Her eyes close and she tilts her head back slightly.
I lean in and press my lips against her neck, while my fingertips continue to circle her breasts, tightening their reach until they brush across her erect nipples.
My breath hitches at the feeling, knowing how much she wants me too.
Her hands pull at the white fabric of her dress, pulling her white lace underwear with it, until they fall at her feet, leaving her naked before me.
I kiss her neck one more time before pulling back and taking her perfect body in.
I know I can’t wait much longer to dive into her.
My erection is pressing adamantly against the resisting fabric of my slacks.
I see her eyes fall to it and her top teeth dig into her bottom lip hungrily.
Her hands are suddenly at the waistband of my pants, unfastening the button and pulling at the zipper.
She wants it as much as I do. It’s not long until my pants are at the floor and her hands are at the hem of my shirt, tugging it above my head.
She takes a small step back and falls back onto the bed, her eyes traveling down.
She sucks in a quiet breath when she sees just how much I want her.
She pulls herself backward across the plush bedding, and props herself on her elbows, watching me.
She continues watching me as she slowly spreads her legs in invitation.
I swallow hard at just how sexy she is. I climb over her, my lips desperate to find hers.
Our tongues move against the other in a slow dance as I hover over her, every fiber in me desperately screaming for her.
I reach down between her legs and feel her back hitch at my touch between her upper thighs.
I trace her in circular motions with my thumb, slowly at first, only moving faster once her hands are desperately pulling at my hair, quiet moans escaping her.
As I move against her, I dip a finger into her warm wetness with ease. She doesn’t need coaxing.
Her hands reach for my hips that hang above her and I know what she wants.
I slowly pull my hand away from her as she wraps her hand around me, guiding me toward her.
I position myself slightly, so the tip of me is against her.
She looks up at me and I suck in a breath at the desperate look in her eyes.
I give her what she wants, what we both want.
Guiding the length of me inside her, letting out a growl as I feel her surround me tightly.