Chapter 10
P umpkin balanced the pizza boxes and SJ on his hip as he lifted his hand to the doorbell. It was a good thing he’d dropped Dosia off the other night—otherwise he would have had to have gotten Keys involved to avoid the awkward um, where do you live? text after leaving the bookstore earlier.
Dosia was fooling herself if she thought removing sex from their relationship would make it any less intimate. He could understand, and sympathize, with her cold feet. They were moving fast. He agreed to her stipulation for one reason, and one reason only: it didn’t change a damn thing.
She hadn’t said they would never see each other again.
All she’d done was remove sex from the equation, and while that was a bit disappointing, it wasn’t end-of-world shattering.
Couples went through dry spells all the time.
Mind, he’d never planned on being one of them, nor were they going to be once she lifted the no-sex ban.
On the other hand, he could admit that she had a point.
Sex had a way of distracting them. They’d barely lasted ten minutes in their conversation before clothing started to fly.
So while his brain was trying to convince his cock that this could be a good thing and strengthen their relationship prior to him getting a ring on her finger, his heart was planning for battle.
Dosia had feelings for him. He knew it, even if she denied it.
The plan was simple: over the next several weeks, he would be a good little boy and co-parent with her, use the time to get to know Dosia and their daughter, and cement himself so completely into their lives that Dosia couldn’t imagine life without him in it.
He could be romantic without sex. It would be a test of his patience, and likely his right hand would be raw by the time he had her back in his bed, but he could do it.
Additionally, if he was being technical , he also hadn’t been cleared for sex by his doctors.
Despite the fact that he felt amazing after that afternoon, he currently had a slight twinge in his back and right leg that he recognized as not being normal.
It grated against every nerve in his body to admit that, maybe, just maybe, the doctors knew what they were talking about.
Maybe.
It was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn’t broken his spine in the accident.
The doctors attribute that saving grace to the heavy rain they’d been experiencing that time of year and how soft the ground was where he landed.
His traumatic brain injury wasn’t something a doctor could slap a cast on and say “see you in four to six weeks”.
The coma they’d put him in had given the swelling in his brain time to naturally decrease over having to endure yet another surgery.
A good part of his current balance problems could be attributed to his TBI over his broken legs.
So while he was cleared for ‘sharps and knives’, he hadn’t been cleared for sex yet.
There was a slight possibility he was good to go and the doctors just hadn’t mentioned it yet because he was single and hadn’t been sexually active prior to his accident.
Either way, it would be something he would be discussing with his primary at his next appointment, to which he also planned on having Dosia go with him.
They could make a not-date out of it.
Pumpkin was planning on having a lot of not-dates in their future too, both with and without kids.
Dosia opened the front door—and gaped. “You do know that a dinner invitation isn’t an invitation to move in, right? ”
Pumpkin chuckled and handed the pizza boxes over to her.
“I’m sure you remember how much stuff babies require, and I figured JJ was too old for you to have some of the essentials.
” Keeping one hand on his walker and the other still holding SJ, Pumpkin guided himself into her grandparents’ home.
“This is Darrin. He’s a prospect for the club and my pack-mule. ”
Darrin gave Dosia a single nod. “Ma’am.”
Dosia raised an eyebrow as she watched Darrin carry a pack-n-play, a high chair, a diaper bag, a bag of toys, and an ocean-themed bouncer seat up her front stoop. “Prospect?”
“He’s not an official club member yet,” Pumpkin explained as they watched Darrin try to squeeze through the doorframe. “We have other not-so-kid-friendly words for them too, but I’m keeping it Rated G tonight.”
Dosia chuckled, shaking her head. “Let me put these in the kitchen and then I’ll take SJ for you. Is Darrin staying for dinner too?”
“Of course not,” Pumpkin scoffed. “He’s going to help set things up and then he’ll leave until I call him back.”
Dosia paused for a second and then turned back around. “You can’t drive yet, can you?”
Pumpkin shook his head, making a face. “Darrin’s my official chauffeur for the next several months. I gave him your number, and I’ll need to add his to your phone. He’s at your beck and call now too.”
Dosia glanced between Pumpkin and Darrin. “He is? Why?”
“I told you, being my ol’ lady comes with more perks than just protection. Part of a prospect’s job is to obey the ol’ ladies, so if you need something and I’m not able to do it, call Darrin. He’ll get it done.”
She still looked like he was joking. “Like what? If I need my lawn mowed?”
Pumpkin nodded and said evenly, “Sure.” Turning away, he instructed Darrin, “High chair goes in the kitchen and everything else can go in the living room. You can go once you set up the pack-n-play.”
Darrin blinked at him. “Are there instructions? ”
Pumpkin just stared at the man. “Can’t be any more difficult than assembling an M4A1. Figure it out.”
Weighed down by all of SJ’s things, Darrin struggled his way into the living room, looking quite dejected. “I’d rather the rifle,” Pumpkin heard him mutter as he went.
Dosia quickly left to put the pizza in the kitchen and then came back into the foyer.
From what Pumpkin could see, the living room was immediately to his left, a staircase was directly in front of him with a hallway leading to the back of the house, and the kitchen was to the right.
It seemed like a good-size house, maybe four bedrooms.
She greeted SJ with a big smile, tickling his belly to get him to laugh before taking him from Pumpkin’s hold. As much as he hated to admit it, he was grateful. His son was a chunkster, and while it chafed that his small amount of weight made a difference, balancing with him was awkward at best.
“Where’s JJ?” Pumpkin asked, looking around. He hadn’t seen another cage in the driveway, so he assumed her family was out as she’d promised. They hadn’t taken JJ with them, had they?
“Up in her room. She knows we have guests coming over but not, uh, who you are. We hadn’t exactly discussed what we were going to say and I didn’t want to overstep,” she added with a slight blush. No doubt she was remembering what had kept them from having such an in-depth discussion.
Pumpkin stared directly at her. “Overstep,” he instructed. “I’m here to stay. She’s mine, and I don’t want another minute to go by where she doesn’t know that.”
Dosia swallowed, the blush on her cheeks intensifying. SJ was playing with her purple-tipped hair like it was a fascinating discovery, but Dosia’s caramel eyes were fixated on Pumpkin. After a moment, she nodded. “I’ll call her down then. Or,” she glanced behind her, “are you okay on stairs?”
Pumpkin grimaced. “I can do them, but it takes a lot out of me. If it’s okay, maybe save that for later? After dinner and some playtime, we can tuck the kids in and then have some Mommy and Daddy time. ”
Dosia’s eyes went wide. “But… I mean, you agreed. You said you were fine with us not having sex.”
Pumpkin ignored Darrin’s obvious cough from the living room.
“I did. I meant time when we can discuss without the kids what we’re doing moving forward as co-parents.
” It hadn’t been what he meant at all, but he liked seeing her flustered.
That blush was fucking adorable. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Dosia,” he mock-scolded.
Dosia covered her face with a hand. SJ reached up and covered her other cheek with both his hands. She shook her head, clearly not sure what to say.
Pumpkin chuckled. “SJ’s going to get hangry soon. Are you okay with calling her down so we can eat?”
He tried not to let his impatience, and nervousness, to finally meet his daughter show.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dosia said quickly. “Go take a seat in the living room. I’ll bring her down. You okay if I bring SJ with me?”
“Of course,” Pumpkin said honestly. He wanted SJ and Dosia to spend time together too. Pretty soon, he wouldn’t just be Pumpkin’s son anymore. He’d be theirs .
The day SJ was born, Pumpkin thought his heart would burst. He never knew he could love another human being so entirely as when he’d been handed his newborn son.
The sight of him, all mushy and gross, had literally taken Pumpkin’s breath away.
In that moment, he understood every sacrifice his mother had made for him during his childhood, and knew he would do no less for his son.
In the impossibly long minutes that Dosia was upstairs getting JJ, Pumpkin sat on the couch.
His leg was bouncing, giving away his nerves, but he couldn’t seem to make it stop.
Darrin, being the smart prospect that he was, clearly noticed but kept his mouth shut.
After setting up the pack-n-play, sans instructions, he delivered the high chair into the kitchen and then left out the front door.
Leaving Pumpkin entirely alone .
Finally, he heard footsteps descend the stairs. While he’d technically met JJ the day before, it wasn’t the same. Shock had clouded his judgement and actions. This would forever be the first time he’d met his daughter.