25. Mason
Chapter twenty-five
Caramel. Berries. Smooth warm skin. Callie.
My eyes flutter open with a smile as I soak in the feeling of waking up wrapped around my girl.
My heart has never felt so steady, my mind never so clear.
This is how I should be waking up every day until the end of time.
My knees are tucked behind hers, my rock-hard cock nestled against her arse. Yep, this, every day.
I flex my fingers, and I realise they’re still linked with Callie’s, stretched under her pillow as she sleeps on my arm, the same way we went to sleep last night.
After the first round, we rested under the sheets, legs tangled together as we spoke long into the night.
Callie ended up pumping an extra bottle of breastmilk, claiming I made her too full with my stimulation.
I loved being part of that with her, the reality of her motherhood.
I didn’t realise how attractive it was, but I know it’s a Callie thing.
She’s fucking amazing in everything she does.
We sat up in her bed, with her back resting against my chest as she did it, and she told me all about the cool headboard that sat behind us on the wall, which she repurposed from an old door. I’m in awe of her. I love her inquisitive mind and her unguarded approach to everything she does.
When she was done, there were still beads of milk on the ends of her puckered nipples, and I couldn’t help but pinch them between my fingers.
I kept going until Callie was squirming, then pulled her underneath me and got her right to the brink of release by sucking on her tits, then finished her off by eating her delicious pussy.
Thankfully, I’d brought an extra condom with me.
She didn’t take long to make me come with her riding me.
It was even better than the fantasies I’d built in my head.
Callie’s not just the girl of my dreams, she’s the girl that rewrites my world.
I bury my nose in her hair with a content sigh as light little coos come through the baby monitor on the table beside her.
I lift my head, seeing Navie on the small screen.
She’s holding her feet in the air as she happily talks to herself.
Callie seems deep in sleep, so I carefully pull my arm from under her and slide out of bed.
Throwing on my boxers and jeans, I ease Callie’s bedroom door open, careful not to wake her, and head upstairs.
I don’t know which room Navie’s in. Only Callie’s room, the kitchen, the lounge and dining rooms are downstairs.
When I get to the top of the landing, there’s a wooden N fixed to the first closed door.
Pushing it open, I find a projector light spinning butterflies around the walls and ceiling.
Wainscoting covers the bottom half of the walls, painted in a muted green, with the top half covered in white wallpaper with little pink flowers.
Pink curtains are closed over the window, and the crib in the middle of the far wall is painted in the same green as the walls.
When I cross the room and peer inside, Navie’s on her back, looking up at the butterfly mobile that spins over her head.
“Hey, Blue.” She smiles, and her feet start kicking like crazy when she sees me, and I absolutely take it personally.
I scoop my hands under her and lift her to my chest. She stares at me, probably wondering why the fuck I’m here instead of her mum, but she doesn’t seem too bothered by it.
Checking my watch, I see it’s just before six. I got here last night around eleven. “I think you had a big sleep last night, didn’t you?” I bounce her on my hip as we walk to her change table. “Think we can let your mama get a bit more?”
The open shelves under her change table have a basket of clean nappies and wipes, so I grab what I need before laying Navie down.
“Now, thankfully, I have a niece, so I know what I’m doing, but I should warn you, I’m not great with getting legs back in these footed onesies, so we’re going with an easy outfit today.”
I unsnap the buttons on the white outfit she wears, covered in scruffy dogs.
Briony’s a few months younger than Navie, so I’m comforted by the fact that she doesn’t feel like she’s going to break as I manoeuvre her legs out of the outfit.
It freaked me out the first few times I changed Briony, but Gage helped guide me through it.
It blows my mind how naturally the parental instincts can kick in.
Gage looked like a pro the second Briony was born.
I get Navie into a clean nappy, then pick her up as we search through her drawers for an outfit.
Together, we pick out a peach-coloured, short-sleeved onesie with bright blue, orange, and yellow palm leaves all over it and a pair of yellow shorts with ruffles on the butt.
I’m about to shut the drawer when I notice the same patterned fabric in a little basket full of bows.
“Surely, this wouldn’t be here unless you were meant to wear them together.” I pull out the bow, which is fixed to a thick, soft headband, and get to work on dressing Navie for the day.
The bow is gigantic, and ridiculous, and I have no idea why Callie never seems to put them on Navie when she looks this stinking cute!
There’s a spring in my step as we make our way downstairs for a bottle.
“Good thing your mum made one of these last night,” I say, reaching into the fridge. “Umm, don’t ask me how I know, though.”
I turn on the kettle, recalling how Isabelle has shown all my siblings how to reheat breastmilk, just as there’s a knock on the door.
“Who could that be so early?” I ask Navie.
When I open the door, I’m greeted by a scowling big brother.
“Morning, Westley.” Callie’s big brother.
His eyes take in everything. Navie in my arms, me shirtless and answering his sister’s door before six in the morning.
He huffs a breath through his nose like a bull. “If you hurt her,” he says low and menacingly, “I’m not afraid to do jail time.”
“Got it.” I nod.
His arms drop from where they were crossed over his chest before he steps forward, kisses his niece on the cheek, and storms back over to his house.
“Hey, West!” I call before he reaches his door, making him stop. “Hurting her is the last thing I plan to do.”
He doesn’t turn around, but he glances halfway over his shoulder and gives me a single nod, then disappears inside.
I guess that’ll do until I prove it to him. It’ll be the easiest thing to show him, and everyone, that I’m serious when it comes to Callie and Navie.
I wonder how long you’re meant to date before asking someone to be your girlfriend? I’m pretty sure it’s not as simple as in high school when you hand someone a note that said, “Do you wanna be my girlfriend? Tick yes or no.”
A notepad and pen sit on the end of the kitchen counter.
Tucking them under my arm, I finish prepping Navie’s bottle, and sit down with her on the couch.
I test the temperature on my wrist first, place the notepad and pen beside me, and arrange Navie in my arms. She takes the bottle with ease, her tiny fingers wrapping around mine where I hold it.
With her content, I pick up the pen and start writing what comes to my heart.
Callie,
From the moment I saw you, I wanted more.
For years, I had built up the idea of love and forever, and it had grown so big that it started to feel just like that.
An idea. A dream. An impossible reality I’d created in my head.
But that night was only the start of what reset the course of my life over the coming weeks.
This morning was the first time I woke up with you in my arms. You don’t know it yet, but it’s where I’m going to keep you. I think it’s where you were always meant to be.
I’m going to make you fall so hard for me. I promise I’ll always look after your heart.
Yours. Always. Mason.
Navie finishes her bottle, so I bring her to my shoulder like I’ve seen Callie do and gently pat her back.
She lets out a deep burp, making me laugh, before she sighs against my shoulder.
I start talking to her about my niece, which then becomes my siblings and my parents, until I realise she’s fallen asleep on me.
Before I know it, an hour’s passed, and Callie comes stumbling out of her bedroom.
I quickly tear the page from the notepad, fold it as best I can with one hand, and shove it in my pocket as she moves towards me.
One eye is still shut, her hair’s a tangled mess, and she’s thrown on my shirt from last night.
Damn, my clothes look good on her. Bet my last name would too.
“Hey, Trouble.”
She pauses when she spots us sitting on the couch, a smile catching in surprise. “I didn’t hear her wake up.”
“No, you were very tired.” I wink.
Her smile grows bigger as she sits beside me, resting her head on my shoulder next to Navie’s as she rubs her back.
“I can’t believe you got her to settle without a feed.” Her brows knit together. “Did you change her?”
“Yes, and I used the bottle you made last night. Got her to burp, and also… exchanged some words with your brother.”
Callie’s head snaps up, a myriad of thoughts exploding on her face. “You changed her. You feed her. You somehow got her to keep the bow on her head, and you exchanged words with my brother. W-what words?”
“I’ve changed and fed my niece plenty of times. Little Blue was more than happy for me to do it for her.” I press a kiss to Navie’s head. “And, yeah, I kinda opened the door without my shirt on, holding your daughter. I can say with confidence your brother knows you’re not just my assistant.”
Callie chews her lip. “Did he seem mad? Concerned? Disappointed in any way?”
I rest a hand over her bare thigh, rubbing over the smooth skin to settle her. “No. He just wanted to make sure my intentions were in the right place. Same as both my brothers and I would do for Beth.”
She blows out a breath and links her fingers through mine over her leg. “I’ll go talk to him later.”
“Much later, though, right? I was hoping you two might want to spend the day with me?”
She squints her eyes in amused assessment. “Both of us?”
“Obviously.” I lean forward and kiss her.
She sighs happily, shifting her gaze to Navie. “I love my mornings with her, but I won’t lie, it was an unexpected luxury to wake up slowly like that. Thank you.”
“Mmm, maybe I should be here more often to help out.”
She drapes an arm around my shoulders, pressing into my side. “You are very tempting, Heartthrob.”
“So give in already.” I smile against her lips as I steal another kiss.
“Okay,” she says, then announces she’s going to shower. I follow behind her, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet in her bathroom, still holding a sleeping Navie against my chest, so I can keep talking to her—keep existing in her orbit.
Navie wakes up when Callie’s midway through getting ready, and we all move together as one until we’re ready to leave.
Callie follows behind me in her car, back to my place, so I can quickly shower and change since I don’t have a car seat for Navie.
When we get to a restaurant along the waterfront, a five-minute walk from my penthouse, I rectify that problem and order a top-of-the-line seat. It should be delivered tomorrow.
Reluctantly, I let them say goodbye so Navie can get home for her afternoon nap and I can get ready for the usual Sunday dinner with my family.
I use the hours in between to start researching the letters we found at the house.
With Carmen’s help, we managed to track down the name of the owner that fits the dates the letters were written.
Otto Hill was a town mayor from 1891 to 1894 and again from 1896 to 1898.
He lived in the house with his wife, Eugenie, and their three daughters, Lydia, Odette, and Florence.
I couldn’t find anything on Florence Hill or Greyson by the time I had to leave for Grams’s, but at least I had more to go on. I saved everything to tell Callie when I see her at the house tomorrow.
I was reading about one love story while writing my own.