16. Morning Daddy
Chapter 16
Morning Daddy
Tatum || 19 weeks pregnant, October
S ix in the morning, the bakery doesn’t open for another hour yet and I don’t know what to do with myself. Darcy was still sleeping soundlessly when I peeked my head into her room and I intend to let her rest until she wakes up on her own. I throw on jeans and a white shirt, throw a black hat on backward because I don’t want to deal with my hair and head down to the Porsche.
Once I’m headed towards the local store so I can gather the ingredients to make breakfast I dial Maverick hoping he’s up and done with the morning skate.
“Sup man?” Mav says by way of greeting.
“Just going to pick up the gender cake and some flowers. Stuff to make breakfast too. I’m antsy, dude. I was up too early and I didn’t want to wake Darcy, so here I am trying to keep myself busy.”
“And you decided to call me because?”
“Because you’re my best friend and I wanted to talk to you,” I sigh.
“You’re freaking out.”
“I’m freaking out.” It should be obvious that since I’m about to find out the gender of my unborn child, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.
“It’ll be fine, man. Though, if you have a little girl good luck, because you’ll never be able to tell her no. Fuck, even if you have a boy, you probably won’t tell him no either.”
“You’re probably right. We made out the night before our appointment and I finally asked her on a date.”
“No shit, Sherlock. I knew there was more to this than just learning the gender. She said yes?”
“Of course she did. I think I’m already falling for her.”
“That's not a bad thing, Tate. Maybe this is life telling you to settle down. With a pretty, strong, and capable woman at that.” Is this life telling me to settle down? Is this my sign that this is what my life is supposed to look like? That I’m supposed to have a family?
“You’re right. Thanks, man.”
“No problem. I have to take over Bella duty so I’ll talk later. Can’t wait to learn about the gender.” He hangs up the phone, with perfect timing as I arrive at the grocery store to buy some breakfast ingredients.
* * *
Even after stopping for ingredients, flowers, and a Coke Icee, I arrived at Jules and Julia Co. with twenty-five minutes to spare. When Jules sees me waiting in my car, she beckons me in and gives me the cake and envelope before sending me on my way with her congratulations. Returning to the apartment I handle most of the remaining prep work for the grand reveal.
I’m deep in my cooking zone, making some banana pancakes when I hear light footsteps coming down the hallway. Turning, I find Darcy in a messy bun and my t-shirt, sleep lines on her skin where her pillow probably rested.
“Morning, Mama,” I say as she approaches the counter beside the oven, leaning back against it as I continue cooking.
“Morning, Daddy.” Teasing is evident in her tone but her words shoot straight to my cock. Did we just unlock a new kink? I swiftly turn the oven off and box her into the counter, placing an arm on both sides of her hips.
“Don’t call me that unless you mean it,” I growl, playfully leaning into her ear and nipping at the lobe. Her chest expands in an unsteady inhale before I continue speaking, “Went and got the cake this morning. Couldn’t sleep. Too anxious. You ready to find out what kinda kid we are going to be raising?”
“Yes, but I’m starving and smell bacon. Food first?” She says, wrapping her arms around me and looking up at me with a shy smile.
“Go get dressed, I assume you’ll be recording this for the girls which means Mav will see this and nobody gets to see you with no pants on except me.” I place a quick kiss on her lips.
She scurries off, throwing in my direction, “Have to video for your family too.”
Darcy re-emerges shortly, her blonde hair falling in soft curls around her shoulders. She’s put on a light layer of makeup and changed into a white, deep v-neck t-shirt that accentuates her breasts, captivating me. They’ve grown in the time of her pregnancy and Goddamn do I think about them way more than I should.
While I plate our food, she sets up the camera and we sit at the island, our knees touching as we both quickly eat our breakfast and drink coffee. Silence sitting around us like a warm blanket as we anticipate our gender reveal.
“Let’s take some photos first.” I’m not big on photos but I know these are memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. She has me place my hand on her stomach for a few, we kiss or touch our noses together, and I stand behind her smirking into her hair as she holds the cake out. It feels like it took forever when in reality it took fifteen minutes but it’s finally time to find out if we are having a little boy or girl.
“Okay so we will look at each other, and on the count of three press our flutes into the cake. Once both are fully seated, we’ll do a second count of three and pull them out. Sounds good?”
I love how the excitement seeps into her tone, her voice a little higher pitched and more rapid than normal. “Sounds good, D.”
“Okay, ready?” I nod, and she presses the record button. We get our flutes situated then she counts us in, “One, two, three.” We push the cups into the cake and keep our eyes locked on each other.
“You in?” I ask and her giggles make me roll my eyes. “Not what I meant.”
“Okay—lift and look on three?” I nod again in confirmation before she counts down, “Three, two, one.”
Our hands lift together and see bright blue icing filling our champagne flutes. My heart races at the thought of having a son. My eyes fill with tears and looking at Darcy, I see tears in her eyes, quickly turning into panicked breaths. I quickly end the recording and pull her into my arms, resting her head on my shoulder.
“Deep breath, Mama. Talk to me. What's going on?”
“We, we are almost halfway through and we aren’t prepared at all. Oh my God, we are going to ruin this child.”
“Darcy, baby look at me.” She gently steps back from me and I take both of her hands in mine. “We can go shopping right now, I’ll have the guys over here next weekend putting together shelves and cribs and whatever else we need done. It’ll be okay. Kodi has access to the Pinterest board to help me make the nursery of your dreams for our little boy. You’re going to be a great mom to our son. Take a breath, we got this.”
When she finally calms down she asks me, “Are you happy?”
“So fucking happy.” One minute we’re laughing and crying over the gender of our baby and the next my lips are on hers and she's practically straddling my lap on this tiny ass island stool. I lift her, heading to my bedroom.
“Let me make you feel good, Mama.” Nipping at her neck which elicits another one of those pretty, little moans. “Let me get rid of those racing thoughts for you.”
She swivels her hips as I make my way into my room and sit her down on my bed. I force her legs open, stepping between them, dropping to my knees, and pulling her shirt over her head. I reach around, unclasping her bra. When I pull it off her body, her plump tits bounce, eliciting a little groan to escape her lips.
“Are you in pain?” I ask because that wasn’t a moan of pleasure.
“They’re just a little tender.”
“Am I okay to touch them?” I get a feverish nod in response. “Oh, so they are tender and sensitive, huh?” I taunt, leaning into her chest, and taking one full breast in my hand. Gently massaging it, I move to take her other nipple into my mouth.
“Mmm.” She moans, her hand tangling into my hair to hold me in place. I swap between them, showing each of her tits some appreciation before I center my hand on her sternum and gently push her backward onto her elbows.
“Can I take these off?” I ask, toying with the button on her jeans.
“Please.”
Popping the button with one hand and smirking in her direction causes her to roll her eyes at me. I pull them off, seeing that her nude panties have a wet spot.
“Fuck baby, so wet for me already.” I palm myself through my jeans knowing that I am probably going to cum in my pants like a teenage boy touching a tit for the first time, but who can blame me when I have this goddess of a woman laying in my bed, pregnant with my child. I remove her panties. “Put your feet on the edge of the bed and spread that pretty pussy open for me, Mama.”
She listens so well, and fuck I can’t wait to fully have her again. Feasting on her will have to do for now though. I kiss a trail down her thighs, biting and then soothing it with my tongue. Her hips slightly pushing off the bed with each nip. When I reach her slick center, I blow gently on it causing her to jump and moan.
“Tatum, please.” She whines.
“What do you need baby?”
“Your mouth.”
“My mouth where?” I look up at her, her pink cheeks and heavy breathing tell me that this beautiful torture is doing exactly what I want, taking her mind off all the things we need to do to prepare for this baby.
“My pussy.”
“I love when you tell me what you need.”
I let my tongue explore her entrance, licking up and down slowly at first. Darcy’s soft mewls fill the room, her body fully relaxing into my bed. I lick and suck at her clit, keeping a rhythm. When her moans get louder, I take my index finger and push into her, rubbing at her g spot in a come-hither motion while I suck her clit into my mouth. Her arousal covers the lower half of my face, and I can’t get enough of her warm, slightly metallic flavor. Unable to hold myself back any longer, pulling my dick out with my free hand, being very careful not to lose the rhythm of my tongue. Her hand finds my hair again, and she rides my face. I grow desperate, rutting into my hand with each push into her wet heat. She begins to tighten around me. Her body is arching off the bed and when she screams my name, I cum with her, right there in my hand. The culmination of her soaking my face, her pleasured sounds, and the way she ground into me was too much for me to hold out. I should be ashamed but I’m not. She rides out the rest of her orgasm and then I pull away from her, pushing off my knees and leaning over her to steal a kiss. She goes to grab my cock but I stop her.
“What about you?” She purrs.
“Darcy, I want so much more of this.” I push my hand forward, showing her my mess, “that was hot enough to have me coming in my hand. So I think we should go shower.”
She chuckles but lets me help her up. We quickly wash off, stealing kisses all the while. Before long, I’m pulling her into my bed beside me—her in one of my Manta Rays tees and myself in low-slung grey sweats. We are going to have to get up and eat lunch soon, but I can’t help but place my hand on her stomach where her hand comes to rest atop mine.
“So, do you have any name ideas?” I ask her, breathing in her scent. The smell of my body wash mingling with her fading vanilla shampoo.
“Um, I’m not particularly sold on any but have a few contenders. Quincy, Logan, Noah, and Finn have been ones that have stuck out to me.” She says pulling out her phone and opening a list aptly called, “Baby names”.
“Hmm, okay. I’m not completely sold on those either, so let's keep workshopping it?“
“I’m open to ideas. I want to decide before he arrives because I saw the cutest sign that we could hang above the crib—it even matches the nursery theme.” She smiles as she speaks and I know even if I despise the nursery theme, Darcy is going to get exactly what she wants.
“Can I see the sign and the Pinterest board?” I ask her, excited to see what kind of work she has in store for me and what she’s always envisioned for her future children.
“Wait Kodi hasn’t shown you?”
“No, she said that I ‘haven’t earned it’ yet, whatever that means.”
“She is so dramatic and overprotective.” She chuckles, “Can you grab my water out of the kitchen first, please? I’m too comfy here.” As if to emphasize her point, she sinks her head back further into my arms, letting her body melt into my bed. I kiss her cheek before untangling my arms and heading to the kitchen. I grab my phone, her emotional support water bottle, and the abandoned, butchered cake for us to enjoy before heading back into the room.
“Oooo you brought treats.” She smiles, taking her phone from me after sitting up.
“Of course I brought treats, Mama, now let's see that nursery. I’ve been waiting forever .” I place the cake and forks on the nightstand and slide back into bed beside her, pulling her as close as possible, my arm wrapped reassuringly around her shoulder.
She places her head on my shoulder once again. Unlocking her phone, she pulls up Pinterest and clicks on a board labeled “Baby Reed”. This board is meticulously organized into sub-boards labeled, “Maternity Shoot”, “Baby Photos”, “Birth Plan”, “Shower” and “Nursery” along with a multitude of others. For someone who said that we weren’t prepared for this baby, I’m amazed at how organized everything seems to be.
“So we know that the beach is both of our happy places and when I found that out, I went straight to Pinterest.” Her voice is fast, but not hurried, as she delves into explanation. “This nursery is the embodiment of a beach baby which I think our little Quincy will be.” Immediately after trying that name, her nose crinkles and she goes back to her notes app and removes the name, Quincy. “I thought I would like that one, but I don’t.”
“May I?” I ask, reaching for her phone so I can see the images up close. “I love the idea of a beach nursery since we won’t be at the beach house all the time.” I take a moment scrolling and clicking on pins up close, as Darcy reaches across me and grabs the cake, nibbling as I look. Pins of a mobile with dangling shells and otters, cream and light sandy wood-looking cribs and dressers, a seashell tummy time mat, some signs with the definition of a beach baby, surfboards, and sea creatures.
“I love it, that mobile is so cute. I think we can use this blue color for an accent wall as well. I think that our little Logan will like it as well.” She takes her phone back from me, crossing another name off the list.
“You know if you keep taking names off the list, we won’t have any left for him?” I tease.
“We aren’t going to know if we like his name if we don’t take it for a test drive. You like the theme idea though?”
“I do, I think it's perfect for us and our little guy. But what kind of nursery will he have at the beach house?”
“Oh, there are backup options.” Of course, there are. “Maybe a dinosaur theme, look how cute these are.” I find myself looking through pins of forest greens, dinosaur artwork, sheets, and fake greenery.
“Okay, dinosaurs for the beach house. We have to get those dresser drawer handles.” Golden dinosaurs replace your typical drawer handle in this particular photo.
“Of course we do.” She turns towards me, blinding me with her smile and I can’t help but lean in and kiss her for what feels like the fiftieth time today. She tastes sweet like vanilla cake, but the feel of her lips on mine is as natural as breathing, I won’t stop unless she makes me. God, I hope she doesn’t make me.
My phone begins buzzing incessantly on my nightstand, and I can almost guarantee that it’s Tinsley or Tessa because we haven’t sent the video out yet and reluctantly I pull away from Darcy. Honestly, we haven’t even watched it yet. I grab my phone and see it’s a video call. I click accept and not only is it either Tess or Tinsley but both of them. My mom is also in the frame, which means my dad must be sitting nearby. I turn my phone to her and she nods for me to pick it up. I make sure we are both in view when all of the excited faces appear across my phone screen.
“OMG, a boy!” Tessa and Tinsley scream simultaneously and with voices full of excitement. Darcy and I look at each other in utter confusion, wondering how the fuck they knew when I see it. Darcy has the tiniest speck of blue icing sitting on the corner of her mouth and how they spotted that is beyond me. I mute us and place my phone face down for a moment, pulling Darcy’s face to mine, flicking my tongue out to lick the icing off her mouth, the tiniest moan leaves her lips and I am very glad that I turned the microphone off.
“Got a little icing there.” I wink at her before putting my arm back around her and picking my phone back up.
“Well, there’s that. Um, surprise I guess?” Darcy laughs anxiously. “I can’t believe this is the second time I’ve ruined a surprise for y'all.”
“These are memories that will last a lifetime, it’s special and will make the little guy laugh one day or embarrass his future girlfriend.” My mom chuckles from the other end of the phone, dabbing at the corner of her eyes with a napkin.
“Congratulations you two.” Dad smiles from behind Mom, his arms gently wrapped around her, cocooning her in his love.
“I still want to see the video so I can make fun of Tate for crying.” Tessa pokes fun at me, Tinsley joining her in maniacal laughter.
“Remember that when I tell your first boyfriend about your tenth birthday party.”
“You wouldn’t?!” They scream in unison.
“I would. Don’t try me brats.” They both huff and Darcy laughs beside me. “But honestly, we haven't watched it ourselves, but once we do and we get it ready, we will text it to you guys.”
“Well, we should let you guys make the rest of your calls and enjoy this day together. See you at game night in two weeks.” My dad cuts in before we can continue going back and forth like he’s always done when we argue.
“Can’t wait!” Darcy beams beside me.
“Us either, love you both,” Mom says.
“Love you too.” We say in unison before ending the call.
“We better get that video out before we receive about ten more of these calls,” Darcy says, pulling her phone out. “Oh look, it’s already starting. I have thirty messages in the girl's chat and a missed call from Dom.”
“Let’s watch it together first.”
She nods against my shoulder and turns her phone landscape before pressing play on the video. We watch as the realization of a baby boy hit us both and Darcy’s panic set in before I abruptly leaned in and pressed stop recording. What happened after is going to live rent free in both of our brains for the rest of our lives.
“Thank you.” She says as she begins cutting the video together to make her vision of a reveal video come to life..
“For what?”
“Helping me calm down earlier, it helped.”
“Of course, Mama.”
“Alright, it’s ready.” We watch the video again, the video starts with a black and white hue, us laughing as we pull the flutes out, discovering the gender of our baby. It then transitions to color, revealing the blue icing within the flutes.
“Looks great.”
She pulls up a text thread with me and sends me the video then pulls up her girl's chat, attaching the video and I see her type, “Not reading all these messages, you impatient hoes, love you.”
“Well, that was fast.”
“Some of us aren’t old men when it comes to the internet. Plus if I want to be an author, I have to learn how to make videos, I’ve been doing my research,” she chides.
“You and I both know that while I may have the know-how of an old man on the internet,” I say, turning my head towards her and whispering in her ear, “I’m very proficient where it’s important.” She shivers in my hold but focuses on the incoming responses from the girls and I send the video to my family and the guys.
Dom
Fucking finally. I’ve been waiting ALL day for this.
Me
Oh shut up Dominic. It’s been a few hours, we were enjoying the moment.
Maverick
“Enjoying”
The chat is quiet for a moment as the guys, I assume, watch the video that was sent.
Nik
*Screaming and running Elmo gif*
Nik
Holy shit, a little man!
Collins
I am doing my very best not to scream in Wake, Bake, Repeat right now.
Maverick
Congrats Tatum, can’t wait for Bella to have someone to play with!
Me
Thanks, guys.
“How are the guys holding up?” D asks from beside me, chuckling at her phone.
“The guys are acting like the guys, but they are happy for us.”
“Same, all the girls have sent me photos of them crying.” She turns her phone to me, showing me her friends' eyes red with tears streaking down their faces.
“You know I never answered your question that night?” My nerves are kicking up, I know she agreed to go on a date but for some reason, I still have the jitters.
“What night?” She puts her phone down, giving me her full attention as her eyes sear into mine.
“That night of the wedding when you asked if I wanted what Kodi and Maverick have. For a long time, I thought I didn’t. That night my answer would have been no, I liked being single and having my personal space. But I know now that I do want what they have. Having you here and us having a baby has changed all of that for me. I know we aren’t together but I’d like to be if you’d give me the chance, for you and our son. For us to raise him together as a family, whole and together. So I was wondering if next Friday night, I could take you on that date.”
“I would like that.” The smile that adorns her face is blinding.
“Me too. Very much.” I raise my hands up to bookend the sides of her face, pulling her in for a kiss. It’s slow and tender, both of our phones continuing to vibrate on the bed but we are lost in this moment together.