Chapter Forty
Reid
Caroline passed out on the couch again pretty quickly. I’ve been sitting here on the floor of the nursery, opening cardboard box after cardboard box. Good Lord, this woman got a lot of stuff for this baby. I decide to retire from my projects for the evening and head downstairs to make some dinner.
I throw together some tacos as Caroline begins to stir. She wanders into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and waddling over in her slippers with her arms crossed over her chest.
“What is that smell?” She asks, her eyes squinting.
“That would be taco meat. Hungry?” I ask, laying out all of the ingredients on the island for taco night.
“You wouldn’t think so after all the cookies I had at the party, but alas this baby can’t resist some sizzling Mexican beef,” she says as she sleepily heads over to me in a big baggy t-shirt.
That earns a chuckle out of me as I hand her a plate.
We sit down at the table together, eating in near silence out of pure exhaustion from the day.
We both scroll TikTok on our phones and share funny animal videos with each other.
After cleaning up, we each grab a pint of Ben & Jerry’s from the freezer and find a show to watch.
We definitely both needed some wind down time after today’s events.
“Okay, I am officially stuffed and tired,” Caroline interjects as the ‘Still Watching?’ screen appears at the end of an episode.
“How about we get you back up to bed before you fall asleep on this couch again,” I suggest.
I don’t want to assume that she’s okay with sharing a bed with me, but I also don’t know how to propose the question.
There is no place in this house I would rather have Caroline Baker sleep than in my bed.
But I know that she may need her space, which is why the other two bedrooms are entirely at her disposal.
But... a guy can dream right? I decide to follow her lead on this one.
“As long as you agree to spoon me again,” she smirks, answering my silent internal question. That was easy.
“You don’t have to ask me twice. I even have your pregnancy pillow up there, ready to go.”
“Oh, sexy,” she jokes, heading to the steps.
I go the opposite direction to put our ice cream back in the freezer before meeting her upstairs.
I entered the doorway to my, sorry our, room, and am immediately stopped in my tracks.
Caroline is pulling her shirt over her head and I'm frozen to the spot.
Once she notices me in the room, she just stares at me.
“What? Don’t act like you’ve never seen a pair of tits before. Especially mine. I’m not sleeping in a bra, honey.”
“It’s just that last time I saw them… they did not look like that.” I say, still staring at her chest and not making eye contact with her.
“Yeah, well I’ve graduated from the itty bitty titty committee to the pregnant whale club,” she sarcastically adds, pulling her shirt back down.
“You are not a whale.” I move to my side of the room to find some sweat pants. I dig around and look up from the dresser drawer, just in time for my gaze to now be met with a barely covered ass in black lacy underwear.
“Okay, now you’re just messing with me,” I groan, rubbing a hand through my hair.
“I’m sorry! I don’t like sleeping in pants these days. It’s just big baggy tee shirts and underwear, with my legs wrapped around this pillow. Don’t take the small amount of comfort I have left from me.” She knows what she’s doing, but I also can’t complain.
When I don’t respond, she continues. “Okay, you look terrified. I know my body has changed, but you’re gonna have to get used to this if we’re going to live together.
Is it really that bad?” She must be taking my resistance the wrong way.
In reality, I am utterly shell shocked, unable to respond.
I am resisting the urge to crawl across this bed and throw myself at her.
“Bad?” I mutter. “Far from it, darling.” I pause to take her in and step slowly around the end of the bed towards her.
“Okay, then what is it?” Now she looks worried.
Walking around the bed to close the distance between us, I look down and place my forehead on hers.
My right hand grasped around the back of her head.
Running my fingers through her hair and my thumb along her chin, I quietly tell her, “You are absolutely beautiful.” I say while staring into her eyes.
I know she’s not good at accepting compliments, so before she even gets a chance to respond, I lay a slow tender kiss on her lips.
Pressing my mouth into hers in a surge of passion.
It becomes one long, hard kiss until I pull back to catch her reaction.
She’s looking back at me, longingly and then she stands on her tippy toes and returns the gesture.
This time, slipping her tongue into my mouth and I completely melt into her.
I don’t break our connection as I turn and push her down to sit on the bed, leaning over her before pulling away from the kiss and whispering in her ear.
“I’ve been dreaming of tasting you again for the last ten years,” I admit to her left ear. She blushes and huffs a breathy laugh. I nibble on her earlobe then kiss down her neck. As she slowly throws her head back, I repeat. “Can I taste you, Caroline?”
I come back to kiss her mouth, letting my hand wander to her chest and pinch her peaked nipple through her shirt. “Please do,” she finally whispers between kisses.
“Are you sure?” I confirm. She nods her head while biting her lower lip, in a ‘hurry up already’ gesture.
“Lean back,” I command and she lays down, propping her head up on a pillow, her legs hanging over the edge of the bed.
I drop to my knees and slowly slide her long t-shirt up her thighs to reveal that silky black underwear again.
My breath catches and I look up at Caroline.
She's watching me, her pupils blown wide, her perfect lips parted.
And I smile. Grabbing the sides of her panties above her hips, lifting her ass up to slide them down her legs and reveal her beautiful pussy.