Chapter Nine #2
“Thank you, you are the best daddy in the world. I know that Sadie already loves you.” Aaron knew that they hadn’t spoken of him telling Sunny that he loved her on the ride to the hospital after Sadie was born.
It was starting to bug him that she didn’t say the words back to him.
Sure, they were a little busy with an unexpected home birth and all the other crazy things that happened that day, but he was starting to think that she didn’t feel the same way about him.
He was dying to just ask her. He was always a straight shooter, but dammit, he didn’t want to have to fish around for Sunny to tell him that she loved him.
He sure as hell wouldn’t beg her to say those three words to him, so he would wait.
Sooner or later, she would have to admit that she didn’t feel the same way about him, or she would tell him the words that he longed to hear from her.
He cleared his throat, pulling her attention back to him.
“Well, I love her—very much.” He dipped his head to kiss Sunny, taking his time with the soft, passionate kiss.
“Enjoy your bath, Sunny.” He turned to walk away, noticing her smirk in the mirror’s reflection.
Well, two could play that game. He was determined not to spill his guts again and say those words until she said them first. He knew that it was childish, but he also knew that Sunny could be the most stubborn person on the planet.
He needed to hear her say the words, and she needed a little persuasion. He could wait her out.
Piper and Lorna hogged the baby, allowing Sunny to just sit and enjoy their company.
Judging from the look of her, Lorna had a fantastic honeymoon, and Sunny felt a pang of jealousy.
She knew that Aaron and she were nowhere near ready to start discussing a future together.
Heck, he told her that he loved her and that should have been enough, but she worried that he said those words because he was swept up in all the emotions of Sadie’s arrival.
The last two weeks since Aaron had been back in town, Sunny ran through a whole gamut of feelings—from angry as hell, to complete and utter love, all for him.
She wanted to say those words back to him so many times in the past week, but she was afraid that he might be having second thoughts.
Aaron took such good care of her and Sadie, making her rest and even giving the baby her baths.
Her heart melted every time she caught him singing to Sadie or telling her a bedtime story.
He was already such a fantastic dad, and she was worried that she would never measure up as a mom.
“Sunny?” Lorna and Piper both looked at her, and she was afraid that she had missed a part of the conversation.
“Sorry, I spaced out for a minute. I’m still pretty tired.” Sunny took a sip of her hot cocoa and tried to keep up with their conversation, but her mind wanted to go back to psychoanalyzing her relationship with Aaron.
“That’s all right, Sunny. You’ve been through a lot in the past week.
We were just wondering how things were going—you know, with Aaron.
” Lorna giggled as Piper bobbed her eyebrows.
Sunny could feel her blush, and a part of her wanted to laugh at her best friend, but instead, she started crying.
That was another joy of the postpartum crap that never seemed to stop—her emotions were all over the place.
Her doctor said that it was quite normal, but nothing about being able to cry at the drop of a hat seemed normal.
“Oh no, honey. Don’t cry.” Lorna handed Sadie to Piper, slid over to sit next to Sunny, and pulled her into her arms.
“I’m so sorry, guys. I can’t seem to control it. I cry at everything.” Sunny wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
“Dammit, I was hoping that these hormones were going to get better after the baby came out,” Lorna swore.
Hearing Lorna swear was always funny, and Piper and Sunny couldn’t help their laughter.
Lorna joined in, and all the noise they were making woke Sadie.
Sunny hiccupped, taking the baby from Piper.
“Do either of you mind if I feed her here?” Lorna and Piper both shook their heads.
Sadie latched on and started eating like it had been three days since she was last fed and not just three hours.
“She eats all the time; she must be growing. If she takes after Aaron, she’ll suck me dry.
” They all laughed, and Sunny could tell that they were waiting for an answer to Piper’s question.
She sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to get out of spilling her guts about Aaron.
“What do you want to know about Aaron and me?” She looked at Piper’s triumphant, evil smile and knew that she was going to have to go into details—a lot of details.
“Are you two together, like a couple?” Piper questioned. Sunny shrugged, not knowing how to answer.
“I think we are. I mean, before the baby got here, it seemed like we were working towards being a couple. But then Sadie came and he told me that he loves me.” Sunny started crying again. She burped the baby and switched her to the other side to let her finish eating.
“Well, that’s wonderful, right?” Lorna asked.
“I thought so, at first. But he hasn’t said it since, and well, I think he changed his mind. I’m not sure what to think.” Piper stood and paced around the room. Sunny knew that her best friend was about to be pissed off on her behalf. Pipe stopped in front of Sunny and pulled her hand into her own.
“Sunny, tell me that you said it back.” Sunny froze, and Piper groaned. “You didn’t? You let that poor man spill his guts and you didn’t say anything, did you?”
Sunny shrugged again and shook her head.
She didn’t want to admit that she was a complete fuckup at the whole relationship thing, but she was.
She dated around, even had a few steady boyfriends, but Aaron was the first man that she ever gave her heart to.
He was the only one that she fell in love with.
“Sunny,” Piper all but shouted. “Why the hell would you not tell him that you’re in love with him?
You are in love with him, aren’t you?” Sunny thought for a minute.
She knew that she couldn’t lie to her best friend.
But she also felt that Aaron should be the first person to hear how she felt about him.
Piper growled—actually growled—and Sunny couldn’t help but smile.
She always seemed to be able to push her friend’s buttons without even trying.
If she let her stew long enough, Sunny would never hear the end of it.
“Fine,” she whispered, not wanting to wake Sadie.
“I’m in love with Aaron, and I haven’t told him yet.
I’ve been a little busy with life and having a baby come out of my body and all.
I want to tell him how I feel, but I’m also afraid that he’s changed his mind.
What if he was just caught up in all the emotions of having the baby and everything?
” Sunny looked down at her sleeping daughter, and dammit, she was crying again.
She loved how peaceful Sadie looked when she napped.
Her peach fuzz hair was blond like Aaron’s, and Sunny hoped that it stayed that color.
Sadie also had Aaron’s blue eyes and his dimple on just one side.
She was completely in love with her baby girl.
What if Aaron looked at their baby and just got caught up in his emotions, telling Sunny that he loved her?
“Listen, Sunny, there is no way to know what Aaron is feeling unless you ask him. You need to have an honest, adult conversation with each other. Unless you want to continue living with the father of your baby, not knowing where you stand with him.” Lorna was always the voice of reason in the group.
Sunny knew that she was right, but she was still scared to confront Aaron.
She wanted a future with him and Sadie; the question was—did he want the same with her?
It was time to stop hiding behind excuses and confront her feelings.
She was going to go after what she wanted, and she wanted Aaron Steele.
Sawyer pulled up the footage on his cell phone and showed Aaron the pictures of what looked like a man stabbing his tire in the condo’s parking garage.
He looked at the still photos that Sawyer enlarged and was at a loss.
He had no idea who the guy was, although he seemed oddly familiar.
Maybe someone he saw around town, or someone he knew from his past. Tag told him to try to think of anyone who might have a grudge against him or a score to settle, but Aaron couldn’t think of anyone.
“How about a family member from one of the guys in your old company? Maybe someone is angry that you made it down the mountain and their loved one didn’t.
” Tag almost whispered his question. He knew that his friend didn’t want to bring up such bad memories, but he was right.
Maybe someone was holding a grudge that he survived the fire while their family member didn’t.
It was a long shot, but they were running out of options.
“We also have the footage from the hospital, and I hate to tell you this, but it looks to be the same guy. Whoever this guy is, he is targeting you or Sunny. I think we need to bring her in on this and see if she might know who this guy is.” Sawyer waited for Aaron to get out, letting him take in all the new information.
He didn’t want Sunny involved any more than she had to be, but Sawyer was right; Sunny might have a clue as to who this asshole was, and they could catch him before he did something worse than slashing a tire or looking at his daughter.
“Send me the footage. I’ll show it to her tonight and let you know if she recognizes that guy. I don’t want to ruin her day with Piper and Lorna; she has been looking forward to their visit,” Aaron said.
“There is one other thing.” Tag said. He shared a look with Sawyer and then continued. “Sawyer got a partial print, but we haven’t been able to place it yet.”
Sawyer nodded. “It’s going to take a few more days, at least. With a partial print, we sometimes get lucky and sometimes not. It’s a crapshoot, really,” Sawyer said.
Aaron sighed, “I appreciate everything that you are doing for us, guys. Sunny and I have so much going on with Sadie; I just want to get this crap over with. I want to get on with our lives and not keep looking over our shoulders.” Tag clapped Aaron’s back, and he pulled him in for a quick man hug.
“You and Sunny are family, man. We would do anything to keep you both and Sadie safe,” Tag said. Sawyer shook his hand and promised to keep Aaron in the loop. Aaron agreed to show Sunny the pictures from the security footage and get back to him.
“We’ll catch this guy, Aaron. But until we do, you and Sunny need to lie low,” Sawyer whispered the last part as they made their way back into the main living room.
He pulled Sunny in for a hug and collected Lorna.
Piper and Tag said their goodbyes, and they all left, leaving him alone with Sunny.
She looked so uncertain that he couldn’t help himself; he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
He could tell that she had been crying—her hormones were still out of whack, and he loved how soft her lips were from her tears.
“You all right, honey?” he asked. She nodded, and he pulled her in for another long kiss, leaving her breathless when they broke apart. “You sure, baby?” She looked like she wanted to nod again, and he leaned in for another kiss until Sunny put her hands on his chest, halting his progress.
“I need to talk to you, Aaron, and you should stop trying to distract me with all of this kissing. I’m going to need all my wits about me to get through what I need to say.
” Aaron’s stomach dropped and he felt a little nauseous.
Sunny sounded like she was about to give him the ax, and he didn’t want to hear her say the words.
He flexed his fingers on her hips, wanting to pull her into his body and beg her not to leave him, but he knew that once Sunny made up her mind about something, there was no changing it.
“Don’t say anything that you’ll regret, Sunny.
We have a daughter to raise together, and you can’t take back words once they are out.
” Sunny looked up at him, seeming unsure of herself.
He waited her out, not knowing if she was going to go through with breaking his heart or not.
Sunny nodded and looked down at her bare feet, taking a deep breath.
“Please don’t break up with me, Sunny. I don’t want to lose you or Sadie,” Aaron whispered.
Her gaze shot up to meet his, and she barked out her laugh.
“Break up with you? Aaron, is that what you think I was going to do?” He nodded, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. “No, you crazy fool. I’m in love with you.
” Sunny smiled up at him, and his whole world seemed right.
The woman that he loved, loved him back.
He picked her up and swung her around, making her squeal.
“You’ve made me the happiest man on earth, baby. I love you too.” He pulled her up for a kiss as Sadie started to cry from her crib. They both sighed and walked back to her nursery, hand in hand. He finally had everything that he wanted—a family, and no one was going to take that away from him.