Epilogue
I couldn’t fathom what was fundamentally wrong with you as a man to wash your hands of a life you created. Then again, that was just one of that man’s many mistakes.
But Chase’s loss was my gain.
And I felt luckier by the day as Willa and Adelaide became so tightly entwined in my life.
Especially as Adelaide began to recognize me.
She started to give me a big, gummy smile and kick and flail her arms and legs when I walked in the house.
Then, when I caught some time alone with her when Willa was showering or running the vacuum, and would blow on her belly or feet, I’d get these big, whole-body laughs out of her.
I’d swear I’d never heard a sound so sweet in my life.
It was easy in those moments to imagine myself being there for all her future changes. Like when she would reach for me for the first time, when she would lean against my chest and listen to me read her a story, when she would start crawling and talking and becoming her whole own person.
Then, of course, there was Willa. With her bright smile when I walked through the door.
With her endless insane stories about her family and their adventures.
With her visions for the future. With her obsession with clean mirrors and her love of really good coffee.
With the way she would curl up close to me in bed, would seek me out when she was feeling overwhelmed or upset.
What did I even do with myself before these girls came into my life?
I had vague memories of lingering at the gym because I knew I didn’t have much else to do when I got home. Of nights sitting alone in my house reading or watching mindless TV with Tuna at my side.
As for him, he was thriving with his new living arrangements. He followed Willa around like a lost puppy. He cried when Adelaide cried and loved to poke at her to get those belly laughs out of her like I did. He got someone at home with him all day to take walks or con treats out of.
Life was just… fuller for the both of us.
I was just peeling the tape off the new mirrors in Willa’s completed—at long last—primary bathroom when I felt like I was being watched.
Turning, there she was, leaning in the doorway watching me with a heated look in her eye that took my breath away.
“Well, now, Mr. Matthews, I feel like I owe you a tip for such… excellent work,” she said, her voice going exaggeratedly suggestive.
Playing along, I nodded. “You were an exacting client.”
“And you satisfied my every,” she said, walking her fingers down my chest, “single… desire.”
“I always like to get your needs met.”
“And your dedication deserves to be rewarded,” she said as she unfastened my jeans and slid her hand inside to cup my cock, which was already straining for her.
“And how are you planning to reward me?” I asked, my voice husky with need.
“Oh, I can think of a way,” she said, lowering herself down to her knees and pulling my pants and underwear down as she went.
My body tensed as she looked up at me with want-heavy lids and slowly took me into her mouth.
Desire jolted through me as she took me deep inside, moaning around my length, then working me up and down—slowly at first, then faster and faster as my breath went shallow and deep, needy groans escaped me.
My hand held the back of her head before the need got too strong, and I grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled until my length slid out from between her lips with a pop.
“I can think of another way you can reward me,” I said as I traced a finger across her swollen lower lip. “Stand up and take off your clothes.”
With her eyes getting even more heavy-lidded, she stood and slid her shorts down her legs. Her tank top went next. Then her panties. And, finally, her bra.
For a time, she’d been insecure about taking off her top, about the changes in her breasts, the possibility of leaking, and the way the area no longer felt sexual to her. But over the last few weeks, she’d gotten more comfortable with me, knowing I found her sexy just the way she was.
And, God, was just the way she was… sexy.
“Is this what you wanted for your tip?” she asked, eyes going all doe-like.
“I don’t think that’s quite enough.”
“Hmm,” she said, turning in a circle. “Are you sure?”
Reaching up, I whipped off my shirt as I toed off my shoes and socks before stepping out of my pants and underwear.
“Maybe,” I said. “Why don’t you come over here so I can show you how the shower works?”
She shot me a smirk as I moved inside to turn the water on.
As soon as the water was warm and she stepped inside, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her under the spray.
Our hands roamed greedily then, sliding over slick skin as our lips met, soft and slow at first, but harder and hungrier with each passing moment.
It wasn’t long before I was sliding inside her, both of us groaning as her walls closed around me, then moving together as the desire spread, grew, and overtook us completely.
And as we were still trying to catch our breaths, a tiny little cry drifted down the hall toward us.
Two seconds later, Tuna came rushing into the bathroom, crying.
“I’ll go. You enjoy the shower,” I said, leaning down to steal a quick kiss before moving out, toweling off, and pulling on some pants before going to scoop up an indignant Adelaide.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I said as I pulled her into my arms.
And I knew I wanted to do exactly that a thousand more times.
“Did something wake you up?” I asked as I brought her over to the glider, pressed a blanket to my bare shoulder, then positioned her onto it. “It’s okay. You can go back to sleep. I’ve got you.”
I glanced up, seeing Willa standing there in her robe, her wet hair in a quick, messy bun.
“Is it too soon to say I really like seeing you with her like this?” she asked.
“Is it too soon to say I really like being with her like this?”
The smile she gave me made my damn heart stop.
Willa - 2 months
“Ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma,” Adelaide babbled as she sat in a tripod position in front of the mirror in Owen’s primary bathroom.
“You, my sweet girl, are getting too big too fast,” I said, not quite able to wrap my head around the fact that just eight weeks ago, she couldn’t sit up if she wasn’t assisted. “At this rate, you’re going to be asking for the car keys and coming home after curfew in just a few months.”
“Ma-ma-ma.”
It didn’t matter how much she said that—and since her vocabulary consisted of exactly two words, it was a lot—it never failed to make my heart go all gooey. Sure, I’d practically said it nonstop to her for a week until she started repeating it. But still.
Mama.
I was Mama.
Downstairs, I heard the front door close and Owen’s voice greeting Tuna as he got home from work.
We’d been ‘enjoying a long weekend’ at his house for a week and a half now.
Neither of us seemed inclined to leave, let alone talk about the fact that we didn’t appear to have any plans to go back to my place.
I’d even gone back to my house twice to get more of mine and Adelaide’s supplies—and, you know, make sure nothing else broke over there while we were gone.
While I’d been visiting with my cousins at the farm, Owen had moved the bed out of the guest room and added in Adelaide’s swing, a little bookshelf with her favorite books, added a rug to the floor for tummy time and crawling, and stocked extra diapers in the closet.
Without discussing it, we both seemed to make up our minds about what felt like home. And it wasn’t my crazy expensive, perpetually broken, house. It was Owen’s cozy, warm, inviting house.
“Come here, you,” I said, scooping up Adelaide and making our way downstairs to greet Owen.
“There’s my girls!” he said, coming over to us. He wrapped one arm around me, put the other on Adelaide’s back, and leaned in to give me a quick kiss. “How’d work go?” he asked.
I’d been slowly phasing work back in. Just a couple hours here and there to keep clients happy. And everything from home while Adelaide slept or kept herself occupied in her enrichment center.
So far, so good.
“I got a full hour and a half of uninterrupted work time. It was a miracle.”
“Were you good for Mommy?” he asked as he lifted Adelaide from my arms.
“Ma-ma-ma.”
“Yeah, Mama. What do you say I take Adelaide with me to the store to get the makings for dinner and you just relax?”
“I say stop talking dirty to me.”
That got a sexy little chuckle out of him.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“We’ve had a heavy week, and I need to fit into my old suits eventually. Maybe fish?”
“Fish it is. But for the record, I like your body exactly how it is. And for you, milady?” he asked Adelaide, who babbled back at him.
“Pureed pears and sweet potatoes? Quite the refined palate you have there. We will be back,” he said, giving me another quick kiss before making his way to the door, grabbing the diaper bag and my car keys before slipping Adelaide into the pumpkin seat before heading out the door.
“Well, it’s you and me, boy,” I said to Tuna, who whined to see his baby being taken away. “We probably should do the laundry or run a vacuum,” I said. “But I think we should curl up in bed and take a nap. Thoughts?”
It didn’t escape my notice how a carefree nap wouldn’t have been possible just a few months ago. There were so many things that having Owen in my life had changed.
I didn’t have to do every feeding or every diaper change.
If the sink got full, he would run the dishwasher without having to be asked.
Daily tasks no longer kept compiling until I felt suffocated by them as I tried my best to take care of my baby.
Because now, there was someone to do the chores.
Or take care of Adelaide while I handled them.
It was such a foreign thing, having an equal. Even in serious past relationships, I’d never been able to rely on someone to pick up the slack. Let alone take care of something before I even thought about doing it.
I really couldn’t have found a better man to be a partner.
Sure, things were still in the beginning stages.