Unacquainted Page 15

  “Brody, you remember the night we were together in Sacramento? I’m wetter than that.”

  Brody doesn’t wait. He’s up, pulling off my maternity clothes. Standing between my legs, he positions himself in front of me, pulling me forward as I give him a blow job. It takes him all of a minute to come in my mouth, but he's not done. He never finishes without making sure I’m fully satisfied. When he sends me over the edge with the best orgasm to date—who am I kidding, they are all awesome with him—he holds me in his arms, as he always does after we make love.

  “Now that you got what you wanted, can we start shopping for some baby items?” I say as I grab all the clothes we’ve thrown across the living room during our torrid afternoon session of madly awesome sex. Somehow, he’s still on the couch in his naked beauty and I can’t take my eyes off of him. I realize I love him more than I can formulate in my brain.

  “Today?” he asks, smirking at me. “By the way, Toots, you enjoyed that as much as I did.”

  “Yes, you are right,” I say returning his smirk, “but is there a reason you’re stalling about the baby’s stuff?” I can see something raw behind his eyes and I understand there is so much I don’t know about this man that has won my heart. “Buck, you need to talk to me. You’re my future but I want to know what is going on in your handsomely shutoff brain right now.” I wait, not saying a word. He has to know I’m serious in this moment if I'm not talking.

  “It's not that, I want to get stuff for the baby. I'm just a bit worried about money on my part. I paid Trent four hundred dollars for my last months rent; my student loans come out automatically. I just wanted to wait a bit longer before doling money out.”

  “Well, we haven’t much talked about money. I'm lucky to have no student debt but we are together. I want to help.”

  He adamantly stands, putting on boxers and says, “No, Rose. I’m not going to be a burden to you.”

  “We are starting a life together. Hell, we have a baby on the way. We are talking about marriage.”

  He sits next to me to hold my hand. “You have no idea how deep in debt I’m and I’m embarrassed that I can’t take care of you the way I want to.”

  I guess I have no idea of his financial obligations. It won’t change my love for him, yet I guess it is bad. “Okay, what are we talking?”

  “I went in debt with Jessica. She wanted the world and I gave it to her. My credit card debt is over twenty thousand and my student loans are seven hundred twenty-three dollars a month.”

  Oh, he just lays it out and I’m shocked. I want to say, "Holy shit, Brody, what were you thinking?" But I don’t. I was lucky. I had a full ride and a mom that was borderline obsessive teaching me to live on a budget. I grab his hand and although my anxiety level is through the roof, I love this man, that has not changed. I still have not said anything and he looks down with fear lacing his eyes.

  “Rose, I was afraid I would lose you if you knew.”

  It's my turn to comfort him. “No, Brody. I’m not going to lie and tell you this isn’t hard to hear, but I fucking love you and we will figure this out.” I give him a comforting kiss and continue, “I have a solution for all of this, I have the money set aside. I took my tax refund this year and socked it away for the baby. Remember, I was expecting to do all of this by myself.”

  “But I want to do it with you. I feel I have let you down.”

  “You and me, it came out of left field. I’m not Jessica. I don’t expect the world from you because you’re my world, Brody.” I take his head and make him look into my eyes, “Let’s work on an agreeable budget then, okay? Let’s get this figured out, but I want you to make it your goal to pay down debt.”

  “I don’t like this, Rose. I’m the man. I should be buying all this.”

  I have mixed feelings in this moment. First, it is sweet he wants to take care of me but we don’t live in the 1950s. “Brody, it is the fucking twenty-first century. I’m not this feeble woman who needs your protection. Just knowing you’re with me in this journey is what I want. Does it matter who buys the crib?”

  “Yes, to me it does.”

  “Okay, can we at least go agree on one and put it on layaway? Plus, I want to register for gifts. Hils and my mom are up my ass over strollers, car seats and rocking chairs.” Brody listens to me attentively about how my family wants to help, too. “Does that make sense? Is this a fair compromise?”

  “I guess so.”

  I grab onto his hand with a devilish smile, “Can you do something else for me?”

  “What's that, Toots?” he asks, humbled.

  “I need you to be honest with me about stuff like this. If you’re worried about money, I want to know.”

  “But it’s my problem, I’m the one that wasn’t careful for student loans and have blown more money on stuff than I would care to admit.”

  “Hey, if there is going to be an us, it's our problem and if you’re having an issue, I want to help.”

  “No, I will get myself out of this mess.” He’s adamant.

  “That is a total guy thing. If it was reversed, you would have no problem paying for a crib for me or helping me out getting a suitable car for our baby.”

  “You’re right, I would and it is a total guy thing, but that doesn’t change the situation,” he says, not ashamed at what he admits.

  “I want you to think about a joint checking account.” I smile at him, “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours?”

  “Only you, Toots, could make banking sound sexy,” he says, pulling me up and wrapping me in his strong arms. All I need is him. All the other stuff will work itself out but this is where I belong.

  I walk into the den with all his boxes taking up most of the room. I’m glad he’s finally unpacking his shit. About time! I get close to him, as I place myself on the carpet, then wonder how I will get up. I take out the first item in the box and unwrap it to see a beautiful picture. “Brody, this is so sweet.”

  It was Brody around the age of thirteen or fourteen, holding a baby wrapped tightly in bright pink blankets with a matching bonnet. “Ah, look at you and Bryn. How cute.”

  “That picture is one of my favorites,” he says.

  I placed it behind me on the coffee table, “That needs to go up on the bookshelves in the corner that I have of all my family, now we can add it to the mix.” I find a three-fold picture frame. “Look at you as a baby. I have to say, nothing really has changed. I can tell that is you.” He had on a blue sailor outfit, standing next to the number one. In the next frame is his dad pushing him on the swing that is still hanging from the tree in their front yard. The next picture is his mom, standing next to him with his hand on her very pregnant stomach. I look carefully at the picture but he was way too young for it to be Bryn in Ruth’s stomach. I love this swing and it has become quite the popular place to take pictures since the tree that holds the swing is beautiful. As I stare intently at this portrait, I’m having a hard time placing his age to that of Ruth being pregnant with Bryn.

  “Hey, babe, I don’t get this picture,” I say.

  I see hurt in his ocean blue eyes when they are normally so loving. “I haven’t wanted to bring this memory up, not yet anyway.”

  “What do you mean?” Rose asks.

  “My mom, she was pregnant with a baby girl in that picture, obviously it is not Bryn. She had a complication at the hospital and the baby was delivered stillborn. I was nine in the picture. I remember everything about the day they had her. It was absolutely heart wrenching. Her name was Bethany Kate.”

  When my heart begins to race, it feels as if it’s going to jump out of my chest. The look on my face must tell Brody what I’m thinking. “Toots, honey, look at me. I forgot this was in there. I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you would think about our own baby.”

  “I feel selfish, all I can think about first and foremost is my own fears, when in all actuality, your mom and dad lost a baby and you lost a sister. I’m so sorry.”

  “M
y mom doesn't talk about it. She knows I have this picture. She keeps a picture of Bethany in her room, mostly because she can’t bear to tell people about a picture when it doesn’t match her children.” He scoots near me on the floor, “Rose, it is okay to be nervous, I don’t know anyone who isn’t anxious over something like this. But please promise me, you aren’t going to work yourself into a frenzy over this.” He knows me so well already and for me, that is a comfort.

  “I will try.” A single tear runs down my face. “I’m so sorry, Brody, really I am. I can’t imagine. I would get up to try to embrace you right now but I don’t think I can,” I say seriously.

  However, that is enough humor to brighten the mood in the room. “You do look a little stuck there.” He laughs at me.

  After we sit in silence for a while and have unpacked most of his life from the boxes he brought with him, he comes over and hoists me up. Looking around at all the collections of our stuff meshed together, I ask, “So, this is us. What do you think?”

  “I love it, thanks for making me do this.”

  “Well, there are two things missing.” I run to the hallway closet and grab two picture frames and hand them to him.

  “Rose, I love them, where did you get these?” I had a picture blown up of us when we spent the day with Marah and Trent. She had taken a spontaneous picture of us and emailed it to me. We aren’t posed. He’s looking at me and my big mouth is open laughing. It is perfectly us.

  He looks intently at the next picture and can’t take his eyes off this one in particular. “As much as I love our picture and I do, I love this one. I have never seen this before.” In a small three-by-four frame that says Baby’s First Picture, there is the ultrasound portrait of our baby. The ultrasound tech had printed on it Lorel or Drew? Only time will tell.

  “These are perfect. I love our little family.” He’s always embracing me with his large arms and in them, I feel at home. As he does it this time, I see a future that even a couple of weeks ago I was scared to grab. Now I have this with him and I’m never letting go. I walk over to the book case and put our little family on display for all to see.

  I turn to him as I say, “I have a great idea. You know what, Heidi and Derrick own a cabin at Lake Coeur d’Alene. They are always offering it to Kai or me for the weekend. I’ll ask them if it’s available.”

  “It sounds like a great idea, but one question?”

  “What is that?”

  “Who are Heidi and Derrick?”

  I have wanted to buy Brody a housewarming present, something that suits his taste, however I know money is an issue for him, especially using my money for him. He’s very particular when it comes to décor but will never say anything to me because he still feels my house is just mine and not ours. In an effort of continuing to make it ours, I decide to give our bedroom a facelift. Thankfully, the paint on the walls is a light grey, however, I change out all the girly finishing touches. I decide on the more industrial style furnishings as it is now popular. Finding a steal of a deal at the local furniture store with metal rectangle shapes connected to one another vertically with all varying lengths, my idea had taken shape. I thought of Brody immediately and knew it would look perfect over our mahogany bed frame.

  Then I found all of these large disks that looked as if they were old car part gears or clock gadgets. I have a friend at work whose artist boyfriend was able to mount a hook on them to put over my dresser, opposite the bed.

  My next finds were large silver metal letters, three feet wide, and were placed on the larger of the two walls where the window is, opposite the door. It’s the first item that he will see when he enters the room. The letters are a B and R with a large ‘&’ sign connecting the two. I want to connect our worlds together and it’s fitting for this to be the first thing he sees when he walks in.

  Ruth was part of my plan, too. She had taken spontaneous pictures of Brody pushing me in the same swing that he had his picture in as a kid. I blew it up and framed it to sit under the letters of our first names. This swing will be a staple in our life, part of us.

  The last part of the room is the wall next to the door. I searched forever for an old wagon wheel at the local antique store. Again, my friend’s boyfriend made it able to be hung and it is in between the bathroom and bedroom doors.

  I found a simple industrial lamp that is made with metal plumbing piping along with a black and grey vertical pin striped comforter for our bed. I want him to know this is ours and I designed it with us in mind.

  When he walks in from work, I’m waiting for him at the stairs, in the same nighty I’d worn the first night we made love here. He drops his keys and wallet on the table next to the door with his eyebrow cocked and with a sheepish smile on his face, he says, “Well, this sure is a welcomed surprise.”

  “I hope you like it, but I have more surprises for you upstairs.”

  “Really? More than my beautiful woman dressed and ready to seduce me?”

  “Yes, but don’t worry. You will be seduced tonight but I have more than just my nether regions for you to lick.”

  “Good Lord, woman, look what you’re doing to me. Can you please talk to me like this more often?”

  “I hope you aren’t mad at me?”

  “What? Why would I be upset with you?” He’s confused but turned on as I see his pants have tented a little.

  “I wanted to do something for you, special, just for you.”

  “And your wet nether region isn’t that?” he teases, coming at me with one thing on his mind.

  “Well, yes and no,” I say in front of the closed door to our bedroom.

  “Okay, Toots, you have me utterly confused. Why is our door closed?” I love the sound of him calling this our door.

  “Close your eyes and don’t be mad.” I open the door to lead him in. “Okay, I did this for this room to be ours, together. You can open your eyes.”

  He opens his eyes and is unable to talk. “Rose, what in the world?” He’s looking at every corner of the room, not sure where to start, his eyes quickly dashing to all the new furnishings.

  “I didn’t spend very much money at all, I have been searching for deals on these items. I had come in under budget last month and used the difference to give you a non-girly bedroom.”

  “I’m not mad at all, but I’m sorry you feel you have to account for every penny. It’s your money and Toots, I’m touched you did this for me. You loved your bedroom.”

  “I love you more and I still have some girly things on our bookshelf over there. I moved some stuff into the guest room that never really got decorated and if we have a girl, all the pretty girly things can go in her room.”

  He looks around at all the new decorations around him. “You did this for me? Did you work today? How did you get this done? And please tell me you didn’t lift this.”

  “Anna’s boyfriend came over and hung all this stuff for me. He was the one that was able to get these old gears and mount hooks, the wheel, and he hung the design over the bed for me. He used screws and brackets and all the guy stuff, you say I have to use when hanging heavy items. Those letters and the picture I was able to do along with washing the comforter and making the bed.”

  “I didn’t even see that picture. Oh, my mom? Right?”

  “You know it.”

  “Good Lord, I fucking love you so much!” he says, pushing me against a wall with an agenda in mind. “So, those nether regions of yours, still wet?” he asks, taking my nighty off of me.

  “I don’t know, why don’t you find out,” I dare him.

  28

  Brody

  I think I fell in love with Rose at the wedding. It isn’t just the fact that she’s knock-down gorgeous; she has an energy to her that reels me in. But in this very second, knowing she gave up the brand-new furnishings of her room to make me feel more at home with her, I’m more in love, if that’s possible. She’s by far the least selfish person I have ever met. Since moving in with her, this has been her missi
on, to make sure I know I belong. In this simple, but wonderful effort she has made, I have never felt that I belong with her as much as I do now.

  I take the strap of her nighty slowly off of her. I see just a glimpse of her nipple and it’s just enough to make my cock stir. “You turn me on, your little tit, that’s all I need,” I say as I lead her hand down to my stiff dick, which needs release right now. Against the wall, she kneels down and I laugh, knowing kneeling is not easy for her, but as I unleash my erect member in her face, she takes me fully into her mouth. Her tongue is making flicking probes that will make me explode in her if I’m not careful.

  I pull her head back to see her taking me fully in. There has never been a sexier sight. “Rose, I won’t last long like that,” I say in a long, drawn out moan. “I want all of you tonight.”

  I have been wanting to try more sensual positions with her and by her grin, I know she gets what I need from her in this moment. She reaches for my hand and I graciously help her up as she pulls some much needed items out of her nightstand.

  “Fuck, Rose, are you sure?” I ask.

  “Yes, but I can’t lay on my stomach so we have to be imaginative,” she says in her sexy as fuck voice she has just for me.

  “Oh, that is not a problem. I have this all figured out.” Being imaginative with Rose in the bedroom or out of the bedroom, hell, anything to do with sex is easy as apple pie with us.

  I take charge and look at her tenderly, “Can you bend on your knees, and lean against the bed?”

  “Yes, anything. I need you inside of me now. I’m so fucking horny.” When Rose says the word horny, I almost come undone.

  Well if I wasn’t as hard as the statue of David already, I certainly am now. “Rose, I love your naughty mouth.”

  “Well, there is a lot of me to love right now, that’s for sure,” she says as I lean her body toward the bed and work one finger in her virgin hole. This is something neither of us have tried but with Rose, there is nothing I won’t do to feel as close to her as I can.