Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
QUINCY
R ipley is coming home today. She cried when they forced her out, fearing being away from our daughter. They told her not to come to the hospital between eight p.m. and eight a.m. because she needs time to physically recover. They’re letting June stay with the baby a little later though.
I help her into the house and to the master bedroom. My stuff is in there. She turns to me. “I’m not staying with you.”
“I know. I’ll move down the hall. What can I do to help before I go?”
“Nothing. I’ll have Arizona help me shower. I’m going to cry if I can’t wash my nasty hair in the next five minutes.”
I sigh. “If you change your mind, I’m the third door down on the left.”
I grab my belongings and make my way to one of the other bedrooms.
An hour later, I’m lying in bed listening to music when I see my bedroom door open.
Ripley’s gorgeous face pokes through the opening.
I immediately remove my earphones. “Is everything okay?”
Her jaw is tight, but she manages to spit out, “Can you help me deal with the shower? I tried. I can’t do it on my own. When I lift my arms, my stitches start pulling.”
I jump up from the bed. “Happy to. Where’s Z?”
“They’ve been going at it for nearly an hour with no signs of slowing down. I can’t wait any longer.”
I wince. “Ugh. I didn’t need to hear that.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t heard it. She’s so damn loud.”
“I’ve been wearing earphones on purpose.”
I help her to the bathroom, gathering everything she needs. I hang a towel on the hook, turn on the water, and wait for it to get warm.
She gingerly sits on the bench so I can take off her shoes and socks. Once I help her up, I start to remove her shirt, but she grabs my wrist. “Don’t. Just help me take off my bra. I can’t reach around. I’ll manage my way through the rest.”
I nod as she turns around, and I move my hands up the back of her shirt, unclasping her bra. “Okay, thank you. I’ve got it from here.”
“Are you sure you don’t want any more help?”
“I’m positive.”
“Can I help you finish getting undressed? It must hurt.”
“No. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Are you joking? You just had a baby. You had surgery. And I’ve already seen you.”
“Go, Quincy. Leave me alone.”
“Fine.”
I walk out of the bathroom and close the door, but I don’t go far. I listen at the door just in case she needs me.
After just a few seconds, I hear her start to whimper. That whimper soon turns into sobs.
I’m not sitting out here doing nothing. Walking back in, I see her shirt half off.
“Quincy! I said I want to be alone.”
“I know you’re upset with me. I know we need to talk. But you’re hurting. You could injure yourself if you’re not careful. Please, put our stuff aside for a few minutes and let me be here for you in your time of need.”
Her voice cracks and her sad eyes find mine. “Please go. Don’t you understand? I don’t want you to see me like this. This whole thing has been humiliating enough. We don’t need to add to it.”
“I know how much you want your hair washed. You won’t be able to lift your arms to do it. I’m not judging you. Let me help you.”
She squeezes her eyes shut as tears saturate her eyelashes.
I remove my clothes, and then carefully remove hers until she’s standing in the weirdest underwear I’ve ever seen. It’s mesh and enormous, with a ton of padding between her legs.
I saw it the last time I cleaned her, but I thought it was just for hospital use. I didn’t realize she’d come home with it.
Tears stream down her cheeks. I get down on my knees and kiss her stomach before looking up at her. “ Thank you for taking care of our baby for the past seven months. Now it’s my turn to take care of both of you.”
I place my fingers in the underwear. “I’m going to remove the ugliest underwear ever created.”
She lets out a small laugh through her sobs. “I don’t know what they are, but I might have nightmares about them moving forward. The hospital gave me dozens of them.”
I smile. “I might have nightmares too.”
Slowly removing them, I see a little blood in the pad area. She winces.
“Am I hurting you?”
“No I’m cringing that you’re seeing all this mess.”
“Shortcake, I’ve fucked you on your period before. I’m not afraid of a little blood.”
She mumbles, “You coerced me that time.”
“I did no such thing. You jumped my bones. Practically forced me into it.”
Her mouth widens. “That’s not what happened.”
“Hmm. We’ll agree to disagree.”
I discard the hideous underwear and then help her into the shower. She looks around at everything in there and pinches her eyebrows. “How do you know my exact shampoos and soaps?”
“I know what my girl likes. I can neither confirm nor deny that I usually have your shampoo on hand because I need it to get off.”
“You sit and smell a bottle of my shampoo while you jerk off?”
“Sometimes I smell it, and sometimes I rub it on my dick when I jerk off.”
“You’re a freak.”
“A freak for you. Now get under the water.”
She does. I’m half in and half out, freezing my ass off, but I want to make sure she’s taken care of.
Once her hair is fully soaked, I grab the bottle of shampoo. She snatches it from my hands. “I’ll do it.”
She pours it on her hand, but when she attempts to lift her arm toward her head, she winces.
I scoop the shampoo from her hand. “Let me do it. I’m already in here with you.”
Standing behind her, I massage the shampoo into her scalp. She lets out a soft moan, and my semi goes fully erect. I’m standing behind her, so I’m hopeful she won’t notice.
She mumbles, “I can’t believe you’re hard right now.”
I guess she noticed.
“If the day ever comes that I don’t get hard from your naked body, you should just put me down like a dog. Now stay still so I can properly clean you without ripping your stitches.”
I take my sweet time with the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, making sure every inch of her is clean. I don’t know if and when she’ll ever let me be naked with her again, so I’m stretching this out to the max.
She turns her head back. “I think my nipples are adequately cleaned. It’s been ten straight minutes.”
“Oh, I’m…just making sure.”
“I officially have the cleanest nipples in the world. It’s time to get out. I’m tired. I want to sleep so I can get up early to go be with Kaya.”
“Kaya?”
“Yes, I think I want to name her Kaya. It means inner strength.”
I nod. “I like it. Kaya.” I say it a few times as it sinks in. My daughter’s name is Kaya .
“Okay. Let me get out first so I can get your clothes. Don’t move. I’ll help you do everything.”
“I don’t have anything with me except those hideous disposable undies. Can I borrow a robe or a T-shirt?”
“You have drawers full of clothes. I went shopping for you.”
“You did?”
“Yes. Let me take care of you.”
“Fine, but I’ll do the pads and mesh underwear. Not you.”
“Deal.”
I quickly towel off and grab some of the clothes I bought for her. When I return, she’s standing there wrapped in a towel. Her curly hair is wild, and the tops of her breasts are peeking out. I can’t help but stare at her. “You’re beautiful.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m anything but beautiful right now. What do you have for me?”
I hand the set of pajamas to her, and she raises an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me?”
I can’t help but smirk. “Quincy Abbott pajamas are all the rage.” My face is all over them.
She sighs. “Turn around.”
“We just showered together.”
“Quincy!”
“Fine, but I’m not leaving. I want to help you into bed.”
After a few minutes of her getting dressed and me brushing her hair and teeth for her, I help her into bed, desperate to stay with her but knowing I haven’t earned that right yet.