IAN's POV :
- - - One Year Later - - -
"I don't like it, it's too wet," Florence whined and pushed her bowl away.
"Baby, it's soup. It's supposed to be wet," I replied.
She gave me an unimpressed look and pouted. At just two years old, this little girl could test my patience like no other. Lately, she was doing this thing where she would eat zero bites for dinner and then ask for a snack five minutes later.
Picking up a spoonful of that chicken soup, I brought it to her mouth and said, "Baby, if you don't eat your dinner, I'm gonna tell mommy's and she's not gonna be happy with you,"
Blackmail, that's where we're at right now.
Shaking her head at me, she demanded, "Where's mommy? I want her to feed me,"
"Mommy's at work, but she'll be home soon," I said as I tried to push the spoon to her face again. "Come on, just one more bite. Please?"
Begging, that's where we're at right now.
"Fine," she sighed finally. "Just one more,"
"Good girl," I picked up the biggest spoonful of soup as I could and she whined as I fed it to her.
"Daddy, I'm ready for bed! Will you read me a story?" she exclaimed.
"Sure, if you go brush your teeth, I'll read you a story,"
"Yay!" she jumped from the seat and raced towards her room.
I picked up the bowl and proceeded to clean it. I checked the time and it was over 8 PM. Normally, Emma would be home by now, but she said she had an emergency at the office and she would be home late.
Sorry kid, I guess you're stuck with me tonight.
Walking into her room, I saw that Florence was standing in front of the mirror holding her tiny toothbrush, waiting for me. I picked up her toothpaste and squeezed a dab out for her.
"Thank you," she said politely and began brushing her teeth.
It was the cutest thing, watching her attempt to get all her teeth brushed. I ended up helping her out a little, but she kept protesting. She wanted to be a big girl so badly.
"Done!" she exclaimed after gargling her mouth with water and spitting it out. Putting her toothbrush away, she raced towards her bed and yelled, "Story time!"
"Okay, what story do you want?" I asked as I helped her up the bed. I checked the books on her nightstand and found a couple that her mom was reading to her. "You want Alice in Wonderland or Beauty and the Beast?"
"No, I want the story of you and mommy," she grinned sheepishly.
"That's a long story, baby. It's gonna take us all night and all morning," I chuckled.
"I want the story of you and mommy!" she shook her head and yelled louder.
"Okay, okay, fine," I relented and put her books away. "Uh, le's see..." I started. Florence was watching me in anticipation, waiting on my every word. Scratching my head, I was suddenly at loss for words on how to begin that story.
"Now, daddy!" she whined again.
"Wow, you're so impatient, just like your mommy," I stifled a laugh, but she wasn't amused. She crossed her arms and pouted.
"Alright, here it goes," I said, pausing for a beat before continuing, "Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess and it was her birthday today. She went out with her friends to celebrate. On her night out, she met this guy and they fell in love..."
Florence's eyes were closed and her breathing became slower. I pulled her blanket up and kissed the top of her head gently before continuing with the story.
"The princess and the guy weren't supposed to fall in love. But they did. They fought hard to keep their love against all odds. It was a long and difficult journey. They almost didn't make it, but they never gave up. Until one day, their love finally conquered all..."
By this time, Florence looked like was deep asleep. Slowly, I got up from the bed and went to turn her light off. I was about to walk out the door, when I heard her little voice spoke and I stopped my tracks.
"Daddy, what is love?"
She still had her eyes closed, like she was fast asleep, but I could tell she was waiting for me to answer. So, I took a deep breath and gave her my take on love.
"Florence, love is..."
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"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late," I heard Emma's voice and the door to our bedroom pushed open. Stepping inside, she put down her bags, took off her jacket, and headed to the en-suite.
Getting off from the bed, I stalked her into the bathroom. Leaning against the doorway, I had a victorious smile on my face as I said, "Guess what? I got Flo to eat dinner, brush her teeth, and go to sleep,"
"Wow, you're a miracle worker," Turning around, she stood on her tippy toes and kissed me on the cheek. "What a keeper,"
"I don't know how you do it every night," I sighed and leaned my forehead against hers. "You make it look so easy,"
My wife was like a superwoman, seriously. Not only that she was holding a fulltime job as a writer and editor, but she was also raising a kid with me, she took care of me and this home, and she still looked so damn good doing it.
"Hey, I'm telling you, it'll never get easier," she laughed jokingly and linked her arms around my neck. "But you're not gonna run out on me, are you?"
"Not in a million years,"
"Good," she smiled, pausing for a beat before saying, "Because... you're not the only one who likes surprises,"
I gave her a quizzical look as she strode towards her bag. She pulled out a brown box the size of a shoebox from her bag and brought it over to me.
"What's this?" I asked her.
"Happy early birthday," she smiled teasingly.
My birthday wasn't until next week. It was way too early for a birthday gift. Narrowing my eyes at her, I opened the box and my jaw fell to the ground when I saw what was inside.
"Wait... what?" I gaped.
There was a pair of little baby shoes and an envelope inside the box. The shoes were so little, they wouldn't even fit Flo. I picked up the envelope and a smile curved up my face when I saw what was inside. It was a pregnancy stick and there were two lines on it.
My eyes shot up at her and I asked, "Are you serious? You're pregnant?"
She didn't answer me in words, but she didn't have to. That look on her eyes said it all. She was biting her lip to stop herself from smiling. And she was blinking hard, holding back her tears.
"Fúck! Yes!" I lunged at her, grabbing her by the waist, and pulling her into a hug. I was also shouting so loud, I forgot my baby was asleep in the next room. "Wait, how long have you known?"
"This afternoon," she smiled brightly. "I took the test at work, and when I saw it was positive, I could barely work at all. It took me three hours just to read a page of the document. And then I also stopped by the Baby Gap on the way home. Which is why I was so late,"
"Oh my God. I can't believe this," my heart was racing so fast. This felt like a dream. I cupped her cheeks with my hands and crashed our lips together, kissing her deep and hard. "This is the best birthday present ever!"
Emma and I had been thinking about expanding our family for some time now. She wasn't sure at first because of our busy schedules, but we decided to just give it a try anyway. A couple of months had passed and there was nothing... until today.
"Hey, since you got to name Florence, what do you say I'll name this one?" Emma said suddenly, breaking my train of thought.
"You're not still thinking of Heath and Kath, are you?" I eyed her suspiciously.
"You still don't like the name?" she pouted.
"Baby, no," I shook my head.
"Okay, fine," she said curtly. Then she raised her eyebrow at me and smirked, "You wanna fight me on that?"
I snorted a smug laugh and said, "Baby girl, you remember what happened the last time you try to play dirty?"
"Well, hey, I've learned from my mistakes," she said as she rubbed her hand across my chest and down to my stomach. Smiling a seductive smile, she leaned her lips to my ear and whispered, "They say practice makes perfect and I've had a lot of practice,"
I decided to entertain her and play along. With both hands pressed against my chest, she pushed me back until I fell to the bed. With my elbows propping my body, I watched as Emma seductively strode towards me and she slowly climbed on top. Her slender body was curved at all the right places and just the sight of her made me swallow hard.
She started trailing kisses from my jaw to my neck and down to my chest. We were both still fully clothed, but I could feel her hot lips all over me, and I started to imagine how good they'd feel wrapped around my shaft.
Her hand traveled to my pants and she started rubbing me from over the fabric. I didn't wanna make it easy on her, so I responded by rubbing her back. She stroked me over my pants and I stroked her over her skirt. Letting out a soft moan that could drive me wild, she tipped her head back and grinded her hips to meet my fingers.
"Mmmhm," I let out a muffled groan when I felt her wetness pooling in her panties. She pushed herself further towards me and now her sex was sitting right on top of my groin.
"Oh, Ian, I can't wait to feel you inside me," she said huskily as she nibbled on my ear. "I love it when you stretch me out and fill me deep,"
Ah, fúck. I was already hard and twitching. And we were only dry humping.
As if my hand had a mind of its own, I unzipped my pants and let my erection sprang free. It felt so good not to be restrained by the fabric, and I bet it would feel even better once I buried myself deep inside her.
"Hmm... who's being impatient now, Mr. Hayes?" she teased, rocking her hips over my shaft, grazing and coating me with her juices, but never fully taking me in.
"Shit, I'm gonna lose this one, aren't I?" I said through gritted teeth. I was getting so painfully hard, it was starting to hurt.
"Tell me the magic word, and I'm all yours," she whispered.
"Fine, you win," I grunted. "I surrender,"
I tried pushing myself into her, but she pulled away abruptly.
"That's not the word I'm looking for," she tsked.
"Baby girl, please..." I pleaded.
Begging, that's where we're at right now.
Smiling triumphantly, she closed the distance between us and slammed her lips onto mine. She kissed me hard and deep, and finally, she let me out of my misery.
I surrendered myself under her touch. My body was moving and responding to her like I never really had control of it in the first place.
It was at this moment when I realized the true meaning of Frederick Buechner's quote when he said, "Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which is the human heart. It is the most powerless because it can do nothing except by consent."
And I consent. Boy, do I consent.
I held her in my arms and I let her have her way with me. Whatever and however way she wanted it, I'd give it. Because only by giving myself away to her, fully and unconditionally, that I could finally feel like myself.
And as I sat there kissing my wife and making love to her that night, I was reminded of my baby's question earlier today.
"Daddy, what is love?"
"Florence, love is... the most powerful and yet the most unknown force in the world. People spend their entire lives searching for it, studying it, or writing about it. No one really knows for sure how it exists, but it does. So when you find that love, you best hold on to it. Because I promise you, it'll be worth the fight,"
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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -